Part 1

Our new jobs with Sabrina were going well. We worked with her non-psychic pokemon, mainly ghost types that she kept to challenge her Alakazam and her other psychic pokemon. James was nervous around them at first, and so was I, though I wouldn’t admit it. After a while we started finding them pretty funny. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be able to speak or play tricks along the lines of the Gastly at Maiden’s Peak. We hadn’t yet gone out on any more “special assignments.”

James and I were both nervous but happy about the idea of marriage, but the wedding itself caused many arguments. Considering that neither of us had any family that we actually spoke to, I saw no point in making a big deal out of the wedding. James was convinced that I was abandoning every girl’s dream.

“Jesse, haven’t you always wanted a long white wedding dress?”

“We already did that.”

“You’ll probably look a little better in the dress than I did. Seriously Jesse, I want you to have a nice wedding.”

“How about we wear our old uniforms. It’ll be a theme wedding.”

James sighed. “You’re not taking this very seriously.”

“I’ll tell you what James. We’ll take a vacation, get married in a courthouse somewhere, and we’ll have a nice honeymoon instead of a nice wedding.”

James walked over and kissed me. “OK, if Sabrina will give us some time off…”

We kissed again, and then the phone rang. It was Sabrina, calling us to the gym for a meeting. I didn’t really suspect of her of using her psychic powers to interrupt us but it always did seem to work out that way.

We took Meowth to the gym with us, as Sabrina usually insisted on including him as a member of our team. He was concerned about his friend Meo who was still staying with us. It looked like her trainer might never be well enough to take care of her again.

When we got to the gym, Sabrina was waiting in a big chair as usual. She used to intimidate me terribly, but really she’s just another young woman with a bad past. That’s not to say that her powers don’t make me nervous, they do.

“We were just thinking of calling a meeting and asking for some time off. I have a feeling we’re not going to get it,” I said.

Sabrina shrugged. “Well, you may be able to combine this assignment with some time off,” she said. “We’ll see. What do you want the time for, anyway?”

“We’re getting married,” I said. Sabrina nodded. “I suppose you knew without us telling you,” I went on.

“Not by reading your minds, if that’s what you mean. I don’t use my powers to pry into people’s intimate moments.”

James spoke up. “We haven’t had any intimate moments. We’re going to wait until we’re married. Anyway, you keep interrupting us.”

He was telling the truth, though our reasons had more to do with our own fears than her interruptions. I glanced over at him, expecting to see a smirk on his face, but he looked completely innocent. Finally I gave up and started laughing, and Meowth and Sabrina joined in.

“This is serious, though,” said Sabrina. “I need you to steal a Pokemon.”

“I thought we were finished with that,” said James.

Sabrina looked at him. “It’s not the same. This is a psychic Gyarados, and the owner doesn’t have a clue how to handle it. It needs to be stolen for its own safety and the owner’s.”

I raised my eyebrows. “A psychic Gyarados? Sounds powerful to me.”

“It is,” said Sabrina. “But don’t worry, Giovanni isn’t after it, I don’t compete with him. The problem is that the trainer isn’t psychic and he doesn’t understand what he’s got. If I can’t get it I’ve got to at least get it away from him.”

“What has he got?” asked James. “Isn’t an ordinary gyarados bad enough?”

“A psychic gyarados makes an ordinary one look like a Magikarp. Tidal waves and ship destruction are their specialties. And they can function outside out of water too.”

“Can’t someone reason with him?” I asked.

“Usually, but in this case, apparently not. I’ve sent him several messages through other gym leaders but his ego is acting up and he refuses to listen. Usually he’s the type who likes to do what’s best for his pokemon but he really doesn’t know what’s at stake here.”

This personality profile was starting to sound familiar. I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach. “This person isn’t anyone we know, is it?” I asked.

Sabrina nodded, and held up a picture of a gyarados with gold and silver coloring. Next to it was Ash Ketchum.