Aohan sat alone in the corner, having a crisis of existential doubt. He hadn't expected the people here to be all about developing their own Pokémon, which offered no help to him whatsoever. He was beginning to wonder what point there was in him staying here at all.
Purple-Hair, unaware of what was going on in Aohan's melancholic mind, simply shook his head, lamenting that Aohan could not appreciate the charm of Psychic Power, and went back to flipping through his book.
"Ral... Ralts..." Ralts floated down from upstairs. Over the past few days, Ralts had practically been glued to Sabrina. Perhaps Psychic Powers possessed a natural mutual attraction.
"Ral..." Ralts nudged Aohan's body, then pointed toward the upper floor.
Aohan knew this meant Sabrina wanted him to come up and play. Whenever Sabrina got bored, she would always send Ralts down to summon him.
"Let's go." Distracted, Aohan followed Ralts upstairs.
"Playing" essentially just meant playing with building blocks on the floor with Sabrina, constructing houses of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes Aohan found it rather amusing that Sabrina, already an adult, still played with these childish toys, but right now, he couldn't muster up any joy.
When Aohan accidentally knocked over their constructed tower yet again, it finally drew Sabrina's attention.
"What is wrong with you? I can sense that you are very unhappy." Sabrina's tone of concern was filled with an icy chill that made many people extremely uncomfortable, though Aohan had grown quite used to it.
Sabrina was accustomed to being alone, with no one to converse with, which left her with a perpetually cold, blank expression. Consequently, even her words of concern sounded entirely devoid of human warmth.
"It's nothing." Aohan managed a forced smile.
Suddenly, Sabrina reached out and grabbed Aohan's wrist. Her eyes turned sharp, a pale blue light flooding her pupils. Aohan had no idea what was happening and grew nervous, clueless as to what Sabrina was up to.
"Ral!" Startled, Ralts instantly dropped the toy in its hands and hid behind Aohan, trembling in a way that bore a striking resemblance to when it had first met Sabrina.
"You want to learn how to develop a Psychic-type Pokémon's Psychic Power?" Sabrina's eyes returned to normal.
"Yes." Aohan nodded nervously. "How did you know?"
"Psychic Power allows me to understand what is in your heart." Sabrina said.
"That's incredible!" Aohan genuinely felt that Psychic Power was terrifying. It was basically Mind Reading—a bug-tier ability—and this was just one of its many facets.
"You want to develop Ralts's Psychic Power?"
"Yes."
"I can help you." Sabrina scooped Ralts into her arms. "I am also very interested in Ralts's Psychic Power. It is an energy I have never seen before."
"Really?" Aohan was overjoyed. Sabrina was a Psychic-type Gym Leader after all. Though he didn't know why she was holed up here, her strength was unquestionable. Having her willing to help would make things twice as effective with half the effort, and at least she was vastly superior to the weirdos downstairs.
"If you play with me, I will help you develop your Psychic Power." Sabrina said.
"Ralts, you should learn a lot from Teacher Sabrina from now on." Aohan teased.
"Ral... Ral?" Ralts looked bewildered, having no idea what this so-called learning entailed.
If you don't think about troubling things, they cease to be troubles—this was Ralts's motto. It instantly cast the notion of learning to the back of its mind, deciding that playing was far more enjoyable.
But the moment it used its Psychic Power to float up, Aohan grabbed it by the collar. "We'll play later. You need a balance of work and rest. You have to study before you play."
"Based on the contents of this book, I will first explain the concept of Psychic Power." With a casual wave of her hand, Sabrina summoned a book from the bookshelf into her grasp and flipped to the page she wanted.
"Psychic Power is stored within our bodies, transforming into the energy we use. No matter what we do with Psychic Power, it consumes energy. Once that energy is completely depleted, we can no longer use Psychic Power."
"You must learn to perceive your own energy, like this." As she spoke, Sabrina closed the book, suddenly lifted off the floor, and floated into mid-air. Pale blue energy filled her eyes, looking even more terrifying than before, and an oppressive aura washed over the room.
Aohan instantly felt the surrounding area fall completely silent. Sabrina's presence permeated the entire space, making him afraid to even breathe.
"Ral... Sob... Ral-oo..." Suddenly, Ralts burst into tears. Sabrina's terrifying pressure was overwhelming the newborn's nervous system.
Seeing Ralts break down into howling tears, Aohan had no choice but to scoop it into his arms and soothe it like a baby. In his heart, he couldn't understand why Ralts was sometimes so terrified of Sabrina. Both of them possessed Psychic Power; logically speaking, shouldn't they get along harmoniously?
"It is afraid of me." Sabrina said. "Just like the people outside. They are also very afraid of me."
"Why is that?" Aohan didn't understand.
"I don't know." Sabrina shook her head.
"Can't you use your Psychic Power to read other people's thoughts? You could try that." Aohan suggested. He genuinely wanted to know why Ralts was so terrified of Sabrina.
"I used my Psychic Power to read your thoughts because you don't possess Psychic Power yourself and you wouldn't resist, which is why I succeeded.
But Ralts also possesses Psychic Power; it will fend off my Psychic Power."
Sabrina explained, "I could forcefully use Psychic Power to read Ralts's thoughts, but the consequences wouldn't be very good."
"What consequences?" Aohan asked.
"The book says that if you forcefully invade someone else with Psychic Power, at best it will inflict major psychological trauma and lead to a lifetime of depression, and at worst, the subject will fail to withstand the Psychic Power and die on the spot." Sabrina then turned the book around to show the passage to Aohan.
Seeing that the book literally said that, Aohan quickly abandoned the idea. Are you kidding? He was not about to let Ralts risk its life.
"There is a more convenient method you can try." Sabrina said.
"What method?" Aohan's eyes lit up.
"Psychic-type Pokémon all have the ability to communicate with humans. You just need to have your Ralts establish a telepathic link with you, and then both of you will be able to hear each other's inner voices."
As she spoke, Sabrina reached out and grabbed Aohan's hand. "Like this. Relax your mind."
Hearing this, Aohan tried his best to calm his emotions and relax. Sabrina's voice echoed directly in his mind: "Like this. You can feel each other's words without speaking."
Aohan was overjoyed. This method was much more convenient, and at the very least, far safer than using Psychic Power to read minds.
"How do we establish this link?" Aohan asked.
"It's very simple. Just guide the Pokémon. Have it actively use its Psychic Power to establish a connection with you, and you just passively accept it. Do not resist that force."
Sabrina handed another book to Aohan. "This book records the method for establishing telepathy. Just do as it describes."
"Alright, I am tired. I need to rest." Sabrina suddenly announced.
"Tired?" Aohan was somewhat bewildered by Sabrina's abrupt conversational pivots, having no clue what she had just done that required rest.
"The teaching just now depleted my energy. I need to rest to replenish it. I am going to sleep." Sabrina lay down on the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.
Aohan was left dumbfounded. Sabrina's behavior completely defied his understanding—she had barely done anything at all, yet suddenly needed to rest. In the end, he could only chalk it up to his own ignorance of Psychic Power and the mysteries within it.