Chapter 7. Sabrina

Jenny was practically blinded by the light of hope and youth Alex was radiating. As a mid 20s single woman with a hefty savings account, Jenny was more than capable of adopting Alex. If anything, it was strange that she doesn’t have a love life yet given her obvious beauty and capability.

“You don’t even have to do anything. I’ll take care of myself. Just leave me with a computer that I can pay for by myself and I'll stay out of your business. I just need to independently reach the age of 16.” Alex bargained.

He was hoping to coax the incorruptible Jenny to lend him a hand in this matter. He should have considered this option even before he was put back in the orphanage. He could have avoided a fiasco with the Director of the orphanage.

Unfortunately, he was not and is still not that close to Jenny so it would not have been surprising to have been rejected then. Now, however, there is hope considering his recent accomplishments.

“I’ll… think about it.” Jenny replied unsure.

Cue visible deflation and obvious loss of hope from the young and frail Alex. He is truly milking this young frail body for all that it is worth.

“...okay. Thank you for visiting me Jenny. I really appreciate it.” Alex said with a strained smile.

Jenny visibly looked uncomfortable with the interaction. Critical hit.

“Okay. Rest up for now. I’ll be back to check up on you later when I have more news regarding your situation.” Jenny says as she leaves the room leaving Alex to his thoughts.

Regarding his current situation, he is in a much better position. For one thing, he has a loyal Pokemon and quite a bit of stolen money that would allow him to comfortably reach 16 years old before it runs out.

Of Course this amount is merely for daily sustenance. If he buys any additional resources on top, he would run out quite fast. Even buying the computer would force him to be frugal for the next three years.

He can forget about paying for a place to live. The expenses would not even cover a year.

On the bright side, he is now healthy. At least, he is no longer skin and bones. His situation would only improve with his recovery over the next week. The food in the Pokecenter is quite a bit of a step up compared to his usual meals since it is high level Pokemon meat which is specifically cooked to promote recovery and nutritional balance.

For now, he has to wait to be discharged before making a move. He also has to wait for the League to make a deliberation regarding his situation. Considering the extensive injuries he had suffered under the Director, he might be entitled to compensation depending on the laws of the League.

In the first place, he doesn’t even know the laws here. For all he knows, he might be in trouble for defending himself against his guardian as absurd as that sounds. This reminded Alex of the primary resource that he has been missing out on ever since his parents died.

Information. He lacks critical information to be able to wade across the laws of the League. He lacks information on how to properly raise Pokemon. He lacks information regarding his current location and their so called common sense.

This will need to be addressed as soon as he is discharged from the Pokecenter. For now, he might as well rest as the doctor ordered.

The next day, Alex received a surprise visitor. A beautiful woman with long, straight black hair, piercing red eyes, and a slender yet athletic build entered his room, wearing a form-fitting red and black bodysuit with a long, dark coat. It was Sabrina, the Psychic Gym Leader herself, visiting Alex.

‘Wow! She is gorgeous,’ Alex thought to himself.

“Thank you, but you are a bit too young for me,” Sabrina replied as she moved from the door to Alex’s bedside.

‘Right. She’s psychic,’ Alex thought.

“You must be Alex. I’m Sabrina, the Gym Leader of the Psychic Gym here in Saffron City,” she continued.

“Nice to meet you, Gym Leader Sabrina,” Alex replied courteously while simultaneously trying—and failing—to stop his thoughts from further complimenting her.

“No need for formalities. I am here to see the wonder boy himself. You caused quite the commotion yesterday, you know,” she replied in an accusing manner.

“I only did what I could to survive,” Alex replied sharply, which surprisingly got a nod of approval from Sabrina.

“You certainly did. In any case, I am here to ascertain more facts about the case—in particular, the reason for the current state of the director of the orphanage.”

That put a damper on Alex’s fighting spirit. He had no idea what happened to the director after he left him in his office.

“Again, I only did what I could to survive,” Alex repeated.

“Yes, well, he is now in a coma and may never awaken. Brain damage is quite complicated to fix in humans, unlike Pokémon, who are able to shrug it off with a simple Heal Pulse. I will need to read your memories to determine a proper ruling regarding this specific case. Do I have your consent?”

“What happens if I refuse?” Alex asked.

“As a Gym Leader, I will assume the worst case scenario where you had murderous intent before the act of self-defense, in which case I would name you a criminal. That would legally allow me to forcibly read your memories anyway in order to reach a proper ruling. I suggest you give consent,” she replied almost automatically.

“What about my guardian? Aren’t you supposed to ask them for consent?” Alex asked, practically grasping at straws.

“Unfortunately for you, you currently have no legal guardian, as he is indisposed. This temporarily grants you certain rights as your own person, even as a child. I’ll ask one last time—do I have your consent?” Sabrina said as she increased her aura, making her significantly more threatening.

As much as Alex wanted to avoid revealing his deeper secrets, he truly had no choice in the matter. Thus, he simply gave up resistance. What will be, will be.

“Fine,” Alex replied.

Sabrina immediately grabbed his head and forcibly started prodding around in Alex’s memories. She read everything from the day he was born to the present moment in a matter of seconds.

As an experienced psychic, Sabrina had been sifting through memories since she was a child. Her current expertise allowed her to immediately toss out all irrelevant information while honing in on all the secrets her victims were harboring.

One particular secret she was keen on uncovering was how a frail 12-year-old was suddenly able to defend himself when he had previously shown no signs of such capability.

Unfortunately, other than a miraculous change of mindset after having almost died, she found nothing else of note.

‘No, there is something. Memories that are being blocked from my prying. He must have some talent for Dark-type Pokémon to be able to block even me from prying.’

Reviewing the memories again, she noted that everything was accounted for. Nothing stood out as a particular date and time when memories had been secretly hidden. Even the timestamps looked accurate. This greatly puzzled Sabrina.

‘How is it possible to block specific memories and yet not show a timeline of when they were blocked?’

There should have been a void in the memories where those specific moments had been erased, but there was no discrepancy at all.

‘Trauma, perhaps?’

Even then, she found it highly suspicious.

In any case, this would have to remain a mystery for Sabrina, as those memories had nothing to do with the current case. She had already found and confirmed his innocence in the matter. So, for all intents and purposes, he was clean.

“Congratulations, Alex. I found nothing incriminating in your memories. You are free to go. The League will contact you for an update regarding your assault and any injuries you have sustained. Good day,” Sabrina said as she made her way to the door before leaving Alex alone in the room again.

‘She comes and goes like the wind. She didn’t even allow me to ask questions after the fact. She really is gorgeous though.’

Alex lay back on his bed after Sabrina’s abrupt exit.

It was apparent that she hadn’t found his memories from Earth, given her lack of excitement during and after her search. Had she discovered that he was from another universe, he would have likely been interrogated or subjected to inhuman experiments.

‘Wait. Anabel also came from another universe but lost her memories. Maybe it might not be such a big deal after all?

No, Anabel was her own person, while I hijacked some kid’s dead body. There must be a reason why I was tossed here.’

Alex gave up on that train of thought immediately. So what if he had been sent here with some grand purpose? The fact that no one had come to tell him what he should do meant he didn’t have to care about it at all. Let them solve their problems—Alex would just go on with his life.

He had no reason to go back, nor a reason to leave this place, so he would simply have to make the most of his current situation.

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