The gang had finally arrived in Saffron City. May signed up immediately for the contest. There was only one spot left and Ashlyn let May take the spot. She wanted to prepare herself for the Battle Arena. But she also wanted to see her mentor again. At the moment, May was practicing for the contest.
"You're doing great, May." Ashlyn complimented her.
"Thanks, Ashlyn." May thanked.
"Ashlyn, if you're not training today, what are you going to be doing?" Max questioned.
"Oh, I plan on seeing my mentor." Ashlyn answered.
"Mentor?" May and Max asked.
"Sabrina, she was my teacher on my psychic abilities." Ashlyn explained.
"Cool!" Max beamed, "Can I meet her too?"
Ashlyn chuckled, "Sure, Max. Alain, wanna come?" She asked.
Alain nodded, "I'd be glad to." He said.
"Alright. We'll see you later." Ashlyn waved at May and Brock as she, Alain, and Max went over to see Sabrina.
===================
Ashlyn, Alain, and Max were walking towards the Saffron Gym. Max looked super excited to meet Sabrina.
"So you learned everything about being a psychic from Sabrina?" Max asked.
"Yeah. I'm very grateful towards her." Ashlyn replied.
"Is she really powerful?" Max questioned.
"Well she's the only psychic I know who's powerful. But I believe she is." Ashlyn admitted.
====================
Then they soon arrived at the gym.
"Wow, what a gym." Max commented.
"I'll take that as a compliment." A female voice said behind them.
The trio turned around and Ashlyn's eyes widened with surprise. The owner of the voice was her mentor; Sabrina of the Saffron Gym. Right beside her was her faithful Alakazam.
"Sabrina!" Ashlyn squealed and hugged her mentor who returned the hug, "It's so good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, Ashlyn." Sabrina hugged her back and then the two let go of each other, "You've grown stronger now."
Ashlyn nodded, "Yes, I have."
"Indeed." Sabrina agreed.
"Oh, before I forget, Max, this is Sabrina, my mentor and Saffron City's gym leader." Ashlyn introduced, "Sabrina, this is my friend, Max. He and his sister, May, are traveling with me. And this is Alain Sycamore, one of my childhood friends."
"Pleasure to meet you, Sabrina." Max held his hand out to her.
"Likewise, Max." Sabrina gently held his hand and the two shook hands, "So what brings you all here?"
==========================
Sabrina brought Ashlyn, Alain, and Max to a cafe to relax. Ashlyn told her mentor about her adventures in the Hoenn Region and how she and Alain are participating in the Battle Frontier while she and May are doing contests.
"Wow, you've been doing a lot, haven't you Ashlyn?" Sabrina said.
"Yeah, but I've been doing well." Ashlyn stated.
"That's good. I'm surprised you were able to find more history on your ancestor." Sabrina commented.
"Yeah. It's almost hard to believe that I'm a descendant of Sir Aaron." Ashlyn said.
"Well, many things in the world can surprise you." Sabrina stated.
"That's true." Alain agreed.
"So Sabrina, when did you first become a gym leader?" Max asked.
"Since I was ten. I actually enjoyed the experience. My father was the gym leader before me. He taught me everything I know." Sabrina replied.
"Do you have any other Pokémon besides Alakazam?" Max questioned.
"Yes, I do." Sabrina took out a Pokéball and released an Espeon.
"Wow! An Espeon!" Max beamed.
"When did Eevee evolve?" Ashlyn asked.
"Yesterday, actually." Sabrina replied.
"Wow, she's beautiful and very strong." Ashlyn stated.
Espeon smiled at that.
"Where did you get an Eevee?" Max questioned.
"Ashlyn here gave me an Eevee egg before she left on her Hoenn journey." Sabrina answered.
"Really?!" Max exclaimed.
"I only give my Pokémon's children to people I trust. I know that they'll take good care of them too." Ashlyn explained.
"I see." Max understood.
"Hey, would you like to watch the contest with us, Sabrina?" Ashlyn offered.
"I would love to." Sabrina accepted.
=======================
When the gang arrived at the contest hall, May had told them that Harley was also competing for the Kanto Grand Festival which brought a small damper on their mood. But it was brightened when Sabrina showed up the next day as the contest was about to begin. May was happy to meet Sabrina.
=======================
Lilian did the usual introductions and showed off the Saffron ribbon. It was a pin with two ribbon tails dangling from it and the ribbons were pink with a light pink outline.
========================
Harley went up first and he sent out his Cacturne. He had Cacturne use Cotton Spore first and then Cacturne used Needle Arm and pierced through all the cotton balls with its needles. It was clear that Harley had trained more since the Hoenn Grand Festival. More performances went on after Harley and soon it was May's turn.
This time May used her Combusken for the performance round. She untied her bandana and threw it towards Combusken, and then she told him to use Fire Spin and Sky Uppercut. Combusken used Fire Spin to keep May's bandana in the air and he used Sky Uppercut to fold up the bandana again. For the finish May stepped in to have the bandana back onto her head.
========================
The battle rounds in the Saffron contest began. May decided to use her Squirtle in the battle rounds. Even though May's Squirtle was small and still a starter, he was a good battler. And he knew good moves like Tackle, Bubble, Ice Beam, Withdraw and Water Gun. But he didn't have control of Ice Beam yet. Harley had a new Pokémon on his team, an Ariados. Harley and May defeated their opponents one by one until finally, they were up against each other in the final round.
========================
The battle between Harley and May were on the way. Harley started off by telling his Ariados to use String Shot, and Ariados climbed up the string up to the ceiling.
"Hit Ariados with Water Gun, Squirtle!" Squirtle tried to hit Ariados with Water Gun, but Ariados dodged the Water Gun thanks to the string shot. The misses made May lose points at once.
"Use Spider Web, Ariados!" Ariados created lots of spider webs in the hall and then Ariados wrapped Squirtle up with String Shot and tossed him into one of the webs. Squirtle was now like a trapped fly. May was in trouble now; if she didn't do something then Harley would win the match.
'It's now or never.' May thought.
"Use Ice Beam Squirtle!" Even though Squirtle hadn't mastered Ice Beam yet, she was willing to try anything in her situation. When Squirtle fired ice beam, the Ice Beam attack not only froze Ariados but all of the webs as well. Harley lost half his points at once.
"Now use Bubble, Squirtle!" Squirtle hit Ariados well with Bubble as well as freeing it from the ice.
"Time to fight back Ariados!" But Ariados couldn't do anything because the frozen webs were too slippery for Ariados.
"Use Tackle, Squirtle!" Squirtle slid down the web and that gave power to Squirtle's Tackle attack which defeated Ariados at once.
So May was the winner of the Saffron contest. Harley was not happy with that; he returned Ariados and walked off in a huff.
=============================
It was soon time to leave Saffron City. Sabrina was there to send them off.
"Good luck on the Battle Frontier and your Contests, Ashlyn." Sabrina said.
"Thank you, Sabrina." Ashlyn smiled.
"Make sure to try and practice your aura as well." Sabrina reminded her.
"I will." Ashlyn promised.
============================
And so, the gang is now heading towards the Battle Arena, Ashlyn and Alain's next Frontier battle is located.
===========================
Pokémon Caught: Shiny Arcanine (Sonia)(F)