Pokémon: The Cheating Life

**Chapter 8: Challenges Sabrina**

Three days flew by quickly, and a plane landed smoothly at Saffron City Airport, a bustling metropolis. Ronaldinho helped Lillie off the plane. She was dressed in pure white casual clothes, her long hair tied back in a ponytail, and she cradled a snow-white Pokémon egg in her arms.

The egg was kept warm by an incubator, allowing Lillie to touch it gently. This Pokémon egg had been brought to Professor Oak by Lillie's principal, who was also Professor Oak's cousin. Ronaldinho estimated that this egg was the same one featured in the anime. Originally, Ash had taken a Vulpix from the Kanto region to the Alola region, but this time, it was the other way around: Lillie was bringing an Alolan Ice Vulpix to the Kanto region.

This Ice Vulpix would be Lillie's starting Pokémon. After all, Ronaldinho would never travel back to Pallet Town for another Pokémon egg. If he were to do anything, it would be to take the already-hatched Ice Vulpix to see Professor Oak. He didn't believe that Professor Oak would steal a little girl's first Pokémon.

After a long day of travel, everyone was feeling quite sleepy. Ronaldinho first took Lillie to the Pokémon Center to restore both the Pokémon and the egg before they took a nap.

Once they had rested enough, Ronaldinho promptly took Lillie to the Saffron Gym in Saffron City. Upon their arrival at the enormous gym, Ronaldinho noticed there was no sign of Sabrina's father. He had a plan in mind and wasn't afraid of Sabrina's psychic powers.

While it was technically a vacation, they encountered several travelers who enjoyed battling. After three days of sporadic fights, Ronaldinho's four Pokémon had all reached level 30. Charmeleon was on the verge of evolving into Charizard, and Froakie had already evolved into Frogadier.

Unfortunately, Frogadier was only level 31, making it too soon for it to evolve. Otherwise, the fully evolved Greninja, with its Water and Dark attributes, would likely have been able to defeat Sabrina's Kadabra. However, both Charmeleon and Beedrill were high-damage Pokémon, and with Kadabra's fragile level, they could potentially take it down in just one or two hits.

When they opened the door to the gym, Ronaldinho and Lillie saw many people in a side room practicing their psychic powers. Lillie watched with great interest, while Ronaldinho curled his lip in disdain, commenting that such weak powers couldn't even measure up to his bond power.

At that moment, a masked man approached them and asked, "Are you challengers? Do you have psychic powers?"

"I don't have any, but Ronaldinho does. He wants to challenge the gym, and he also hopes your gym leader can help him," Lillie replied candidly.

Upon hearing that Ronaldinho had psychic abilities, the man nodded and said, "Follow me; I will take you to the owner of the Saffron Gym."

He then led Ronaldinho and Lillie into the gym. They soon arrived at a vast arena where the lights on the opposite side illuminated. There they found Sabrina seated on a high chair, holding a rag doll in her arms.

As they walked into the arena, the doll made a noise, saying, "You are here to pick a fight."

"You are the challenger of this battle. I am Sabrina. If you win, I will give you the badge, but if you lose, you must stay with me."

Lillie immediately asked Ronaldinho curiously, "Is she Sabrina? How come the doll is talking?"

"Yes, it's just a psychic power that controls the doll, and the sound is conveyed through telepathy," Ronaldinho explained. He continued to Sabrina, "Master Sabrina, I accept your conditions, but if I win, I would like to ask you for a favor. This person is Lillie, and there is a seal in her brain that is preventing her memories from returning. If I win, can you help remove the seal?"

"Well, there is a seal, but it's not a significant issue. I agree. Let's start the game. We'll determine the winner in one round. Go, Abra!" the doll in Sabrina's arms commanded. As it spoke, it used psychic powers to make the Poké Ball float to the field, and Abra appeared.

"It's a deal. Go ahead, Charmeleon!" Ronaldinho shouted as he sent out Charmeleon. "Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!"

As soon as Charmeleon emerged, it released a column of fire toward Abra. Abra effortlessly dodged and vanished, only to reappear on the opposite side of the field. Ronaldinho felt uneasy; this was teleportation, which allowed the Pokémon to quickly leave one spot and reappear elsewhere. If his Pokémon wasn't of a special type like Psychic or Ghost, it would be challenging to catch Abra's movements. Ronaldinho suspected that Sabrina was using her psychic abilities to assist Abra, but he couldn't expose her. He had to come up with a clever plan.

"Charmeleon, use Smoke Screen! Then follow up with Dragon Rush!" he ordered.

Thick black smoke enveloped the entire arena, and with a flash of fire, a violent explosion shook the Saffron Gym. When the smoke cleared, Charmeleon stood in the middle of the field, breathing heavily, while Abra was encased in a light blue ball of energy, unharmed.

After glancing at Sabrina, who appeared pale and worried, Ronaldinho realized she was not as calm as she seemed. Though hurting himself while damaging the enemy wasn't ideal, it was a last resort. He saw that Charmeleon only had a quarter of its health remaining and knew it would struggle to continue fighting. However, if Sabrina still had some strength left, she might lose.

Charmeleon roared in frustration, its flames blazing fiercely as its Blaze ability activated. A white light enveloped Charmeleon, and when it faded, a massive Charizard stood in its place.

As the light surrounding Abra dissipated, Kadabra appeared, holding a spoon in one hand, standing opposite Charizard.

"Charizard, use Wing Attack!" Ronaldinho commanded. After evolving into Charizard, its speed had significantly increased, making aerial maneuvers much easier than on the ground.

Kadabra skillfully dodged the Wing Attack and raised its psychic spoon. Its eyes glowed blue as it utilized telekinesis to restrain Charizard.

Charizard broke free from the telekinesis, and at the same time, a Flamethrower successfully hit Kadabra, who was unable to react.

After taking the Flamethrower, Kadabra was left with only a trace of blood. Ronaldinho laughed, saying, "Charizard, the last Flamethrower will incapacitate it!"

Charizard roared and unleashed another Flamethrower. Although Kadabra managed to use teleportation, he still suffered from the flames. When he reappeared to the side, he had lost the ability to fight.

Ronaldinho ran to Charizard and hugged him. This match had certainly been unusual, highlighting Ronaldinho's current problems: he had too few Pokémon and lacked a diverse range of attack attributes.

Deciding to improve his situation, Ronaldinho resolved to start saving diamonds to purchase skill machines that would expand the attack capabilities of his Pokémon. Otherwise, facing similar challenges in the future would be too frustrating.

At that moment, a golden badge floated in front of Ronaldinho. Sabrina approached him and spoke in a cold tone, "You won. This badge is for you, and I will also fulfill your other condition."

After saying this, she walked over to Lillie, gently touching her head with her finger, before turning and walking into the depths of the gym.

Ronaldinho stared in amazement, wondering, Is it really resolved just like that?