"Tsk tsk, what a cheating ability."
Although Robert had read the original novel, he couldn't help but want to recite a poem at this moment.
Ah... No, now was not the time for that.
As someone familiar with the story, Robert knew that Sabrina's Kadabra had originally been in the process of evolving. With Sabrina's psychic amplification, it was normal for Kadabra to evolve mid-battle.
However, if others saw it, they would undoubtedly criticize her for being shameless. Although evolving during battle wasn't against the rules, forcing evolution to gain an advantage was undeniably underhanded.
Despite this, Robert didn't mind. Even if Kadabra evolved into Alakazam, he had no reason to fear. After all, he was also a "cheater" in his own way.
"Kadabra, use your psychic power to cover the entire battlefield."
"Kadabra!" The Pokémon obeyed without hesitation.
Although Kadabra didn't fully understand Sabrina's intentions, it had unwavering trust in its trainer. Under Sabrina's amplification, its already powerful psychic energy intensified and began spreading throughout the battlefield.
Robert watched the scene unfold, observing Sabrina's actions closely. It didn't take long for him to realize her strategy. She was using her psychic power to block the entire battlefield, limiting Haunter's mobility and positioning.
A shameless tactic, indeed.
But then again, only Sabrina could pull something like this off. No ordinary Psychic-type user would dare attempt such a move. Just covering the battlefield with psychic energy was enough to exhaust most psychics completely.
Seeing that she had opted for such an underhanded method, Robert smirked wickedly. If she wanted to play dirty, then he had no reason to hold back either.
Originally, he hadn't intended to use underhanded tactics, but since Sabrina had already started, he would gladly reciprocate.
"Haunter, use Imprison!"
Imprison had a specific effect in battles. Once used, if the opponent had the same moves as the user, the opponent would be completely unable to use those moves. Meanwhile, the user could still wield them freely.
When Robert first captured Haunter, it had very few moves. To remedy this, he had bought numerous Technical Machines (TMs) from the Pokémon Mall, allowing Haunter to learn a variety of techniques.
Among them were strategic moves like Imprison, as well as several Psychic-type techniques, including Confusion and its advanced form, Psychic.
Sabrina, upon hearing the command, scoffed.
"Imprison? You think a Ghost-type Pokémon can use Imprison to seal off my Psychic-type Pokémon's abilities? That's naive—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Robert cut her off.
"Soleiwado Kana!"
"What?!"
In an instant, Kadabra, which had been spreading its psychic energy across the battlefield, suddenly found itself restricted. A white glow briefly surrounded its body before vanishing. Its psychic power was completely sealed.
"..."
"What happened to all that confidence, Sabrina? Weren't you just boasting a moment ago? What about now?"
Hearing Robert's taunting tone, Sabrina's Psychic power flared up in anger.
She was just about to teach Robert a lesson when she recalled that her abilities didn't work on him. Suppressing her fury, she could only glare at him venomously, cursing his shamelessness in her heart.
Despite her frustration, the battle had to continue. However, just as she was about to issue a command, something dawned on her. She looked at Robert's smirking face, then at Haunter, who was glowing slightly.
A realization struck her.
"Wait a minute... How is your Haunter using Psychic?!"
Her shock was justified. While it was true that some Pokémon could learn moves outside their natural typing, it was an incredibly rare phenomenon. Pokémon needed extraordinary aptitude, talent, and training to pull off such feats.
Sabrina had always believed that Pokémon were best trained to master their own type rather than spreading their efforts thin by learning moves outside their natural capabilities.
In fact, most trainers followed this philosophy. While some wealthy families could afford to train their Pokémon in multiple disciplines, most civilian trainers never even considered it. Their focus was on maximizing their Pokémon's strengths rather than experimenting with other techniques.
But Robert operated on a different level.
Aptitude? Talent? Resources? Those things didn't matter to him.
If he wanted a Pokémon to learn a certain move, all he needed was a TM. If one didn't work, he'd use two. If two didn't work, he'd keep stacking them until his Pokémon mastered it. He refused to believe there was any move his Pokémon couldn't learn.
Sabrina, still in shock, gritted her teeth and gave a command.
"Kadabra, use Confusion!"
Kadabra's eyes glowed momentarily.
"Kadabra!" It tried to release the move... but nothing happened.
Sabrina frowned. "Impossible... Then use Psybeam!"
Again, nothing happened. Kadabra was unable to use its moves.
A silence fell over the battlefield.
No matter how many commands Sabrina gave, Kadabra simply couldn't execute its attacks.
Yes, you heard that right. Sabrina's commands, Kadabra's attempts—everything resulted in failure.
This was the effect of Imprison. Because Haunter had learned almost every Psychic-type move used in battles, Kadabra was now rendered nearly useless.
For the first time in a long while, Sabrina felt a wave of helplessness. She had always been in control. Always the one to manipulate battles to her advantage. But now, she was at the mercy of Robert's strategy.
She clenched her fists and exhaled deeply. She refused to accept this so easily.
"Alright then," she said, regaining her composure. "If direct attacks won't work, then I'll just change my approach! Kadabra, use Recover!"
But again, Kadabra couldn't execute the command.
Another failed move.
Sabrina's expression darkened.
Meanwhile, Robert was grinning ear to ear.
"Looks like you're in trouble, Sabrina," he said mockingly. "What's wrong? Can't fight without your fancy Psychic moves?"
Sabrina glared at him. "You…!"
She took a deep breath, calming herself down. Getting angry wouldn't help.
Her mind worked rapidly, trying to come up with a counter-strategy. But no matter how she analyzed the situation, the reality remained unchanged—Kadabra's psychic abilities were completely sealed.
She had never encountered such a ridiculous scenario before.
Robert, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Haunter, let's wrap this up! Use Shadow Ball!"
Haunter gathered a swirling orb of dark energy and hurled it directly at Kadabra.
With no way to counter, Kadabra took the hit head-on. The explosion sent it tumbling backward, struggling to stand.
Sabrina's heart sank.
Robert took a step forward, his expression full of confidence.
"Looks like this match is over."
Sabrina gritted her teeth. She was a Gym Leader. She couldn't afford to lose so easily.
But deep down, she knew.
This battle was already decided.
To be continued…