The Leader of Team AMBR

[Undyne]

The post below includes a few curse words and a detailed, non-graphic description of pain. Reader discretion is advised.

Damn it. Damn everything! And most of all, damn those trainer-kids…

Sabrina pressed her back up against a large tree and peeked around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse of her pursuers. She couldn’t see them, not yet anyway. But she could see the cones of their lamps passing left and right, scouting the forest and searching for her. Her Kadabra was concealing her scent with its psychic powers to prevent the Growlithes deployed by the Officier Jennys, but after her Mr. Mime had fainted after she was forced to engage a dozen of them at the same time, she could not hide herself from sight anymore.

How had it come to this? Well… to fully explain it one might need to go way back, perhaps even to when she had been born. In the short version, after she had discovered that she had ESP and was able to mentally communicate with Psychic Pokemon to some extent, she had become a Pokemon Trainer and later a Gym Leader. And she had joined Team Rocket as an admin, become a powerful ally to them and eventually fused the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres into a new form named Thu-Fi-Zer, to make Team Rocket undefeatable and take out the pesky Pokedex Holders, once and for all – effectively eliminating the last resistance on their way to taking the world over. But, she had been defeated and forced to run. With Thu-Fi-Zer split back into the three original birds, the two other admins defeated and Team Rocket scattered with no leadership, she had had no choice. At least the kids hadn’t caught her, but now she was at risk of the law enforcement finishing the job. Damn them!

As soon as the search-party had gone by she mentally told Alakazam to follow her and took a step away from the tree, then slid into the thicket. Had they heard her? Alakazam followed after and she recalled it to her Pokeball for now, so that they would leave fewer tracks. Next came a trek through a muddy river… within seconds her shoes and socks were soaked, and her legs were freezing and going numb, but she smiled to herself at the thought that the Growlithes would not be able to pick up her scent that way. The muddy water would wash away any traces she might have, and the mud would not hold her tracks for long enough that they would notice.

After ten minutes of wading she finally slid back out of the muddy water and onto dry land. Had she lost them now? She could not hear a thing… she sat down on a rock near the river, hidden inside some bushes, and took off her boots and socks to squeeze out the water. At least for a while it looked like she might be safe… but that was wishful thinking. She was about to be dragged back into the cold reality.

“Hey! She’s over here! I found her!” a female voice yelled and Sabrina cursed. An Officier Jenny was rushing towards her from the other side of the river, with two Growlithes following right behind her. More Officiers would arrive here in a minute at most! No time to put her socks back on… she slipped into her boots and stuffed the drenched pieces of clothing into her pocket then grabbed Abra’s ball and threw it behind herself. “Abra, use Teleport on Growlithe!” she yelled and did not look back to see if her Pokemon did so successfully – though from the shout of the Officier behind her she could tell that at least one of them was gone, teleported to some city. Saffron City, perhaps. But Abra could not recharge its energy in time before Jenny’s other Growlithe used Quick Attack followed by Bite, knocking the psychic Pokemon clean out. It would probably be captured and used as evidence against her, but if she had not used it now it would just have been confiscated if she got caught. With no time left to send out another Pokemon she closed her eyes and focused her psychic powers on the other Growlithe, which caused the simple-minded Pokemon to blink and look around erratically, as it found itself briefly confused. Valuable seconds that she used to send out Alakazam again and have it erect a barrier to block Jenny’s passage, if only for a time. Then the psychic Pokemon followed her again, floating by her side. Behind her the screams of Jenny ordering Growlithe to attack the barrier could be heard, but they would be stalled for a bit.

An hour later, Sabrina stopped and caught her breath, completely exhausted. She had been walking or running without break since having nearly been discovered at the riverside, and she was completely lost. Had she crossed the border into Johto by now? No, Mt. Silver wasn’t yet in sight… and it was slowly turning into morning. She needed to get a little rest somewhere… perhaps there was a secluded cave nearby? Alakazam had continued to mask their scents now and she had found a rocky slope where her footsteps left no traces so she felt relatively confident in that she could get at least a little sleep. Once she was in Johto she would have more time to think of her further way, though if she could catch a boat in Olivine City and make off to one of the remote regions of the Pokemon world…

A crack in the twigs caused her to flip around, but it was just a curious Dunsparce. She took a deep breath to calm her beating heart and shooed the Pokemon away, then on second thought followed its motions as it rapidly drilled into the ground using its tail. That direction? That must mean that there was a cave… and it was uphill too, it made sense. She waved to Alakazam to follow her closely and made her way up the slope until indeed, she found a cave carved into the side of the mountain. From the looks this might have been made by Digletts or Onix, but it wasn’t suited for Ursaring to live in. She slid inside and found only a handful of Zubats that would likely go out for hunting very soon. Not to worry… she let out Kadabra, her only Pokemon besides Alakazam and the only one at full strength, and told it to guard the entrance and warn them of any Officier Jennys, trainers, Growlithes or other suspicious Pokemon coming closer… and keep the Zubats away from them, too. She really didn't want to get sucked dry by those buggers. Then she threw her wet socks on the ground and pulled the uniform over her head, underneath which she still had her heat-, cold-proof and insulated suit to protect her from Thu-Fi-Zer, so she was neither naked nor cold in the damp cave. The soft uniform served as a pillow for her head as she could really not be had lying her head on some rocks. Her exhaustion quickly overcame her worries, and within minutes she was off to dreamland.

She was flying through the sky. Everything was upside down, it turned and twisted, she barely saw where she was as she soared. Right, she had been thrown. But by who? And why? Oh right… a Machoke had thrown her. She screamed as the ground came closer, then she remembered that she could fly. So she extended her wings out but they didn’t carry her, because they were really just a Ditto that had latched onto her back. So she plummeted towards the ground, knowing that this was the end. But as she was about to hit, a black void opened in front of her, and she fell in.

She fell through the engulfing darkness, then floated. The sensation of falling was gone, but there was no ground to stand on. She had no idea where she was. Then, out of nowhere a white face appeared, smiling at her, it looked like it was mocking her. The rest of its body followed suit soon after. She wanted to speak, but no word left her mouth. Instead, the white being spoke.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

What an odd dream, Sabrina thought. But then she realized that she was thinking… that she was feeling. It felt like there was a breeze coming through this blackness, and she could feel it on her exposed skin. So… this wasn’t a dream? Her worries were confirmed when the white figure, Omni, handed her an orb glowing in all colors of the rainbow, and she could feel it between her hands. Yes, this definitely wasn’t a dream.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.”

Thinking, huh… that was what she did best. She eyed the orb in her hands, wanting to ask more, but again no sound came from her mouth. If it didn’t feel so real, perhaps she would have reconsidered if this wasn't reality after all or not. Of course, her silence allowed Omni to speak on uninterrupted.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.

That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

Sabrina darted up from a lying position and gasped for air, before gradually regaining her composure. Where… what, who… where was she? She rubbed her forehead and looked around. She was lying on the ground, near a… a large fountain. Is this Celadon City? The Hell… No, it wasn’t. The fountain looked quite similar but there were no buildings to be seen. Not to mention that beyond a certain distance the tiled ground just… disappeared, turning into white nothingness, like the sky above. Slowly she rose to her feet and grabbed the Team Rocket uniform her head had been resting on. How weird. It was almost like she’d been brought here in the exact same position that she had been in when lying down to sleep…

Suddenly things cleared up in her mind. Of course! It must be some well-made illusion, maybe a Hypno’s or Gengar’s, used at a distance to keep me confused and made an easy target. Most Officier Jennys only had Growlithes, maybe an Arcanine at best, but she knew that they occasionally used powerful hypnosis Pokemon to get them to confess their crimes. Well, unfortunately for them psychic powers didn’t work on her, if she knew that she was caught in them that is, because she could force her way out. With that in mind she sat down with her legs crossed after having adjusted the uniform on herself, placed her palms on her knees and took a deep breath as she focused her power. Her hair began to flutter around her head as she searched for the source of the powers influencing her, and prepared a mental strike to break the illusion.

But she found no source. No psychic power influencing her mind, not even the slightest bit of trace energies in the air. Shocked, Sabrina turned her powers inwards and attempted to eject any external psychic powers that were messing with her. But again, there was nothing! Could it be… no, no it couldn’t! This couldn’t be real! Her eyes fluttered open and she pushed herself back on her feet, looking around. Alakazam, you must… Wait… Alakazam wasn’t around either, she couldn’t sense its presence even with her ESP! Frantically she reached for her belt but found that there were no Pokeballs hanging there. This can’t be! I’m defenseless out here?! She whirled around on her feet and forced her mind to focus more. They HAD to be around here somewhere, but where?! As she reached out with her perception powers, she soon found herself confronted with a mental barrier. A wall of glass which was keeping her stuck inside her mind… she couldn’t reach out beyond it. And she could swear that she saw a face in that barrier, laughing at her weakness. It was mocking her. It was Green’s face, the bitch that had defeated her not only once but twice… she had done something and now she was mocking her! Her laughter resonated through every fiber of Sabrina’s body and bounced around in her head, which made Sabrina bend over and hold her head as a terrible pain spreaded through it. A pain worse than the strongest headaches she had ever experienced.

“Shut up… stop it!” Sabrina yelled at the laughing face. Her head was hurting as if red-hot needles were being driven through her skull with hammers. There was nothing that she wanted more than to escape that pain right now. Because she had her eyes closed from the intense pain she could not see the Omnilium orb that came from her chest and floated before her, waiting for something. The pain in her head, as if her skull was being cracked by the needles, was driving her insane with fear – fear of dying from the sheer pain, fear that she could not escape it. But from the deepest, darkest parts of her mind a new emotion began to surface as she stared at Green’s laughing face.

Anger.

Anger that was fueled by her pain, that grew bigger and forced the fear back. Anger that erupted at the thought of Green defeating her again in her own mind, of killing her even! She could not lose against that bitch… she had to win!

“I’m Sabrina… the Psychic Master! I’ve got the strongest mind in the Pokemon World! I WILL NOT LOSE TO YOU!” She screamed off the top of her lungs, balled her fist and smashed it straight through Green’s laughing face, breaking the barrier as if it was paper-thin glass. The laughter ebbed away from the shards lying around, her headache quickly dissipated, and Sabrina saw the glowing orb of Omnilium that Omni had given her, floating in the darkness beyond the barrier. She took one step forward, passing the limit where the barrier had been, into the darkness, and reached out for the Omnilium. Instead of being material and grabbable however, the glowing orb passed through her hand. But then it came closer as if it had a will of its own, sinking into her chest and covering the area in darkness again as it vanished. But it was only dark for a few seconds… then Sabrina herself began to glow. Her body floated a few centimeters off the ground, she reached her hands out and threw her head back as newfound power pulsed through her. Her body became surrounded in a blue and green aura, her eyes glowed from the inside out – one green and one blue, like her aura – and illuminated the darkness around her. Then she opened her eyes once more, and she saw that there were several bricks that composed the tiled floor, floating around her. The holes beneath them hinted at that they’d dislodged themselves from the ground and had floated up, forming a ring around her. Like herself, they had a glowing aura about them.

What is this…? Is this me still? I feel so… so powerful. It felt good. She had only been able to lift a Pokeball or two in her best days, and with a lot of focus. Now she was lifting five or six bricks with little effort. It dawned on her that it was the work of the Omnilium that she had absorbed into her body. She had broken her mental barriers, and gained power beyond everything she had ever experienced before. Her lips curled into a grin, then she let it out with a loud laugh. Her Pokemon were gone… so what? She now realized that she didn’t need them here! In Kanto she was weak, she needed to rely on them to fight for her… but here she was strong! Powerful! In a test of her own strength, she sent the bricks flying away from herself, and though she felt her grip loosening rapidly the further they got from her the strong momentum of throwing them sent them flying a great distance.

So this is what the ultimate Psychic Pokemon felt like… what Mewtwo must have felt like when it first woke up. She was disappointed to this day that she had never gotten to see it in action… but the stories she had heard of its psychic powers beyond measure had given her a good idea of it. She had gained telekinetic powers that rivaled that of the strongest Psychic Pokemon, she was able to fly, even use Reflect as she found after trying it out a bit. Her team would certainly be a powerful asset, but for the first time in her life she didn’t need to rely on it anymore. It was a pity that Green wasn’t around, she would have loved to try her new powers on a little guinea pig. But that was wishful thinking for right now: she needed to focus. Right, focus…

She needed her Pokegear back, first of all. She might not be the only trainer around here, and it couldn’t hurt to have her digital notebook with all the utilities that it brought. She could inquire about other trainers later… or if Giovanni, Lt. Surge, Koga or other Team Rocket members were around. Not to mention… if anything could be hers with this Omnilium, and if without it she was nothing, she had to have more of it. Much, much more. There had to be ways to find it in larger quantities. But first of all, she needed to get herself situated. She took a seat back on the ground and put her hands together, closing her eyes and picturing a PokeGear. That had to be the first thing she got. She’d think of the rest later.