Chapter 344: Your Bro Asher Will Always Be Your Bro Asher (Membership Extra - )

Chapter 344: Your Bro Asher Will Always Be Your Bro Asher (Membership Extra Chapter)

The video continued playing.

Saffron Gym, Battlefield.

The instant Asher pushed open the doors and stepped inside—

Bang!

The doors behind him slammed shut on their own.

Sabrina sat in a high-backed chair on the opposite side of the battlefield, her black hair falling around her shoulders and her red eyes cold and emotionless.

A cloth doll rested in her arms.

"Another challenger?"

A voice came from the doll in Sabrina’s arms, high-pitched and childish.

"Let me warn you first~"

"If you lose, you’ll have to stay here and become my friend."

"You’ll have to play with me forever~"

Asher pulled a piece of candy from his coat, leisurely unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth.

"Sure."

His expression didn’t change in the slightest.

"But if you lose, you have to smile at me."

"How about it?"

The doll tilted its head.

Then it let out a silvery giggle.

"Hehehe~ You’re really interesting!"

"Okay! I agree!"

"I’m not talking about the doll."

Asher chuckled.

Then he raised a hand and pointed toward Sabrina herself in the high-backed chair.

"I’m talking about you."

The doll’s laughter abruptly stopped.

Its head slowly lowered.

Its voice turned cold.

"How annoying..."

"You’re really annoying."

Sabrina rose from the chair.

Her body floated into the air before slowly descending onto the battlefield.

"This will be a one-on-one battle."

Her voice was so calm that not a trace of emotion could be heard.

"No taking it back."

"Come out, Abra."

At Sabrina’s words, the Poké Ball held by the doll flew from its hands.

Red light flashed and an Abra appeared in the center of the battlefield.

Asher leisurely pulled out a Poké Ball of his own and tossed it forward.

Red light flashed again.

A golden Gardevoir landed lightly on the field.

The lazy look in its eyes was almost identical to Asher’s.

Sabrina’s voice remained devoid of emotion.

"Abra, Confusion."

Blue light appeared in Abra’s eyes.

An invisible force surged toward Gardevoir.

Gardevoir didn’t move.

The psychic force reached a point two meters in front of it and dispersed automatically, as though it had crashed into an invisible wall.

"There’s no point testing me."

Asher stood with both hands in his pockets.

"If you want to beat me, you’d better use everything you’ve got from the start."

Sabrina said nothing.

She merely closed her eyes.

The next instant Abra’s body was suddenly enveloped by an intense wave of psychic power.

Within the light, Abra’s body began to grow and change.

Its curled-up posture gradually stretched out.

First it evolved into Kadabra.

And then, without stopping it evolved again into Alakazam.

Blue light shone in Sabrina’s eyes as she continuously amplified Alakazam’s power.

"Psybeam."

Alakazam raised both spoons.

A purple psychic shockwave blasted straight toward Gardevoir.

Even the air along its path was compressed into visible ripples, while dust across the battlefield was swept outward in rolling waves.

Gardevoir still stood exactly where it was.

Only when the Psybeam was directly in front of its face did it finally tilt its head.

The beam brushed past the tips of its hair and smashed into the wall behind the battlefield.

Boom!

A crater nearly three meters across appeared in the wall.

From beginning to end—Gardevoir hadn’t used a single move.

"Your power has increased."

Asher’s voice became slightly more serious.

"But the result hasn’t changed at all."

"Sabrina."

"Do you know why your psychic power keeps going out of control?"

Asher raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

A faint blue flame appeared from thin air above his palm then disappeared with a soft poof.

"Blindly suppressing your power and sealing away your own heart won’t make that power obey you."

"It’ll only make you lose yourself completely."

"Are you finished?"

Sabrina continued increasing the psychic amplification surrounding Alakazam.

"Alakazam."

"Psycho Cut."

Blue light erupted from Alakazam’s eyes.

The air around it began spinning as though it had been thrown into a blender.

Seven or eight invisible psychic blades formed simultaneously and slashed toward Gardevoir from every direction.

"Sigh."

Asher shook his head.

"You really don’t listen."

"What a headache."

"In that case..."

"Gardevoir."

"Show her what it actually means to control psychic power."

Gardevoir finally moved.

It simply raised one hand and gently brushed it to the side.

The ferocious psychic blades instantly unraveled into countless fine strands of psychic energy.

They swept toward Alakazam from every direction and wrapped tightly around its body.

Alakazam struggled twice.

The more it struggled—the tighter the psychic threads became.

In the end, it was completely wrapped up like a giant glowing rice dumpling.

Cold sweat appeared at Sabrina’s temple.

For the first time a trace of uncertainty appeared in her red eyes.

Snap.

The blue light in Alakazam’s eyes completely shattered.

With a heavy thud, it collapsed to the ground.

Unable to battle.

"You lost."

Asher’s lazy voice rang out.

"So..."

"Shouldn’t you fulfill our agreement now?"

Sabrina didn’t answer.

She simply recalled Alakazam into its Poké Ball.

The corners of her mouth seemed to be sealed beneath invisible chains.

No matter what she did—she couldn’t make them curve into a smile.

Asher watched her expression.

He didn’t press her any further.

Instead, he pulled a pure-white invitation from inside his coat and held it out toward her.

"Three days from now."

"Saffron City Grand Theater."

"I’m holding a magic show there."

The corner of Asher’s mouth curved upward.

"A bet is a bet."

"Surely Gym Leader Sabrina isn’t the type to break her word over something this small?"

"..."

Sabrina remained silent for a moment.

Eventually she reached out.

But the instant her fingertips touched the invitation—

Poof!

Asher’s entire body suddenly burst apart into a flock of white paper doves.

They scattered in every direction and vanished without a trace.

The invitation slowly fluttered down from midair.

It landed gently in Sabrina’s open palm.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Raihan]:@Asher, bro, seriously?! You had to make it that cool?!

[Volkner]: Your Bro Asher will always be your Bro Asher. Shows up for a few minutes, finishes showing off, disappears immediately—and still remembers to leave her a ticket.

[Valerie]: My, my~ Is this the romance of a magician? That’s completely unfair! How is anyone supposed to refuse something like that?!

[Steven]: Brother Asher’s methods of flirting have always been dimensional suppression. You simply have to admit defeat.

[Wallace]: It certainly is an exit nobody would’ve expected. Far better than a certain someone jumping off a parade float while clutching a Diancie standee.

[Steven]: Hey! That was obviously just an accident!

[Bianca]: I’M SHIPPING THIS SO HARD! This is what you call planning everything in advance! Asher definitely imagined this entire scene beforehand, right?! He’d been setting things up for Sabrina from the very beginning!

[Caitlin]: Rather than "setting a trap," I think "tailor-made" would be more accurate.

[Lorelei]: Heh. Men.

[Sabrina]: ...

The video continued playing.

Saffron City Grand Theater.

Night had fallen.

When Sabrina arrived the theater was completely empty.

The lights were off.

The stage was dark.

Every seat was vacant.

The only light came from the faint green glow of the emergency-exit sign.

"..."

Sabrina lowered her eyes toward the invitation in her hand.

She had even gone out of her way to arrive exactly on time and he’d actually stood her up?

Without expression, Sabrina turned around and started walking toward the exit.

What a waste of time.

She decided that the next time she saw this man called Asher—she would turn him into a doll immediately.

The biggest one possible.

Then she’d throw him into the basement of Saffron Gym.

As Sabrina walked, the sharp clicks of her heels echoed through the empty theater.

Click.

Click.

"Leaving already?"

A voice suddenly came from behind her.

Sabrina stopped.

Then turned around.

...

TL: Thanks to Vincent for yet another month of membership!