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Chapter 12: The Deal | Pokémon
🕑 Added 2025-05-07 05:05:14 +0000 UTCOrin struggled to lift his head. The phantom pain still lingered in his skull, pulsing with every beat like a cruel echo. His sister's icy voice, still reverberating through his mind, did nothing to help.
In front of him, nothing had changed.
Sabrina still sat in the same posture, still and composed, staring at him with those same expressionless eyes.
But as his own red eyes faintly glowed, sharpening his senses, he noticed something else.
The air around her looked... heavier. Like a thick haze of red and purple mist clinging to her. It wasn’t visible to the naked eye—only through his growing psychic awareness.
The longer he looked, the more it pressed in on him, like a weight on his chest. It was as if his thoughts were slowly being pulled apart, unraveled strand by strand.
And for just a second, he thought he saw it—
A flash of something behind her calm red eyes. Not anger. Not hatred. But something colder.
Malice. Quiet. Controlled. Waiting.
The lifeless doll was gone and what replaced it was something terrifying.
He blinked, and the vision vanished. Or maybe it had never been there at all.
Sabrina’s eyes remained still. Empty. Unchanging.
But the feeling still lingered in his mind.
He opened his mouth to speak—but no sound came out.
It was as if something had stolen his voice, sealing his throat shut.
Closing his eyes, Orin took a slow, steadying breath.
He adjusted his posture, sitting straighter, grounding himself. When he opened his eyes again, he looked directly at his sister.
“I didn’t know being strong was a requirement to attend Nexus, Big Sis.”
His lips didn’t move.
The room remained silent.
But the words were spoken all the same—
Not aloud, but mind to mind.
What he had just done could be categorized as thinking aloud. The technical term was Psychic Thought Projection—or Telepathy, in short.
It was one of the most basic skills taught and practiced here in the Psychic Center. Naturally, Orin had learned it years ago, back when he was still a child.
He had experienced this same inability to speak during those early lectures. And while everything else—his big sister’s hostile behaviour, the psychic pressure—felt unfamiliar and deeply unsettling, it still wasn’t enough to scare him.
So he steadied his mind and reclaimed the faint smile he had worn before, eyes locked on his big sister.
Sabrina’s detached gaze rested calmly on him.
“You will attend… Saffron University.”
The same chilling voice resonated in his mind with quiet authority, not a single muscle moving on her face—like the words had come from somewhere else entirely.
Orin pushed back gently, hiding as many stray thoughts as he could.
“Why not Nexus Academy? It’s much better than the university here.”
Her reply came instantly, razor-sharp and commanding:
“Because I have decided… so it’s final.”
Her crimson eyes never blinked.
A faint twitch passed across Orin’s lips.
That voice—
That cold, imperious tone reverberating through his mind, wielded by Sabrina with such effortless control—
It stirred something deep within him.
A slow, simmering anger bubbled in his chest.
He had been a good boy. A good brother.
He had honoured their unreasonable demand to never leave Saffron City, staying obedient for years.
But if he gave in here—if he compromised again—
He knew exactly what would happen.
He would become just another bird locked inside this gilded cage called Saffron City.
He couldn’t live like that.
He didn’t want to spend his second chance at life hiding.
He wanted to live—to explore, to breathe, to see the world beyond the city.
His red eyes burned as he glared at his Big Sis, fury rising to meet resolve.
Then, summoning all the willpower he had left, gathering it into a single point—
He opened his mouth.
“NO!”
The word ripped from him like a psychic roar.
A gust of wind burst out with it, scattering the stack of papers in the room into the air, sending them spinning like leaves in a storm.
But the triumph was short-lived.
In the very next second, time seemed to freeze.
The papers halted mid-air—
Then floated gently back to their original position, returning to the exact, orderly pile they had come from.
Orin slumped back in his chair, panting. His voice was gone again. Sweat trickled down his face.
But inside, he was elated.
Even if just for a moment—
He had overridden his sister’s control.
A fleeting victory, yes, and she probably hadn’t even tried to stop him seriously.
But it was still a win.
He looked up.
Sabrina sat exactly as before.
Unmoving. Unbothered.
As if none of it had ever happened.
The silence returned. His voice remained sealed.
“I want to attend Nexus Academy,”
Orin projected, calming himself and concealing his thoughts once more.
Her reply came after a pause.
“Why?”
This time, her tone was subdued—not as commanding as before, but still devoid of emotion.
“Because it’s the best there is.”
He answered simply.
While keeping most of his thoughts guarded.
She said nothing.
Her gaze remained on him, still as empty.
Orin exhaled quietly, then looked at her again.
He added gently,
“And because it’s the college you graduated from, Big Sis.”
He smiled.
“Please let me attend Nexus, Sister.”
His crimson eyes softened, searching her face.
Sabrina’s expression didn’t change.
The room felt cold and still, filled with an oppressive silence as they stared at one another.
But Orin didn’t look away.
He wanted her to see his resolve—
To understand this mattered to him.
So he waited, smiling patiently.
He knew full well that Master Psychics could read thoughts with ease.
But he had extensively trained for this—how to guard his mind, or rather, how to guide it.
It wasn’t about blocking thoughts—
It was about focusing on one harmless thread so tightly that it drew attention away from everything else.
Right now, Orin focused solely on the entrance exam he had just completed.
That was the only thing he allowed to echo in his mind and he was confident in keeping it that way, for a short while at least.
After what felt like an hour of silence, Sabrina’s detached voice finally echoed in Orin’s mind.
“It is not… impossible for you to join… Nexus.”
“Oh?”
Orin’s eyes lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face.
She was talking about the Academy—that meant she was at least halfway convinced.
“If you truly want to join Nexus… then we will make a deal.”
Her voice was still cold, but it had lost some of its usual chill.
“What kind of deal?”
Orin asked, a flicker of apprehension passing through him.
Surely, she wasn’t about to ask him to join some shady organization, right?
“There is a ranking system at Nexus Academy… one for each academic year.”
Her voice was unusually heavy on his mind.
Orin blinked. That wasn’t what he expected.
“Okay…?”
“I will allow you to attend Nexus… only if you can claim one of the top three spots… in your year’s Nexus Academy rankings.”
Her voice carried an edge of haughtiness.
For a brief moment, Orin thought she almost sounded teasing—but that had to be his imagination.
“So I have to be a Top Ranker in the Best Pokémon Academy?”
Orin asked, raising a brow, feeling a bit weird.
Did she… just want him to study seriously? Was this her way of showing concern for his future?
“Yes. If you fail to secure one of the top three spots each year… then you will abandon all thoughts of Nexus… and quietly attend Saffron University.”
Her voice turned cold—like ice pressing against his mind.
“Do we have a deal?”
Orin made a face and tilted his head, trying an innocent, cutesy expression.
“Isn’t there… any other way Big Sis?”
He asked acting meek, as he still wasn’t sure if this was a trap.
“If you decline… you will find an acceptance letter from Saffron University on your desk tonight.”
Was that… satisfaction beneath her serious tone?
It felt like she really wanted him to say no.
“Alright, alright, I accept your deal.”
Orin grinned, bright and confident.
“I will study hard and make you proud, Big Sis.”
Sabrina’s expression, however, didn’t soften. If anything, it grew more vacant.
Her red eyes darkened, turning almost glassy with a chilling light.
“Remember your words.”
Her voice felt utterly cold.
“I won’t allow you to run away from this deal.”
A wave of red and purple mist surged out, swallowing the room in an oppressive psychic haze.
“Y-yes… I understand, Big S-sis,”
Orin stammered, even his thoughts were trembling, as the very air seemed to grow heavier with each breath.
“I will keep my word.”
The pressure vanished the instant he replied.
“...You may go now.”
Her voice inside his mind felt duller than before, emotionless to the point of being hollow.
Her red eyes were also dimmed, like the light inside them had flickered and burned out.
“B-but Big Sis, I still have some questions… some doubts.”
Orin blurted out his thoughts, while quickly putting on a pitiful expression.
He winced internally—as he was definitely copying Brina’s behaviour right now, and it felt a bit shameful.
“...Speak.”
Sabrina’s voice was flat, her disinterest practically tangible.
[GIve Sabrina One Pokédoll Chosen]
[Ask Sabrina One Question Chosen]
Orin looked at his big sister’s still, unchanged expression and sighed inwardly, realizing that she really didn't look like she was in the mood for questions.
Still, he smirked to himself remembering that he had one more of those Pokédolls he bought earlier.
“Ahm, Big Sis… before that, I have a present for you.”
He told her brightly, pulling his backpack onto his lap with a wide hopeful smile.
"… A Present?"
Sabrina’s voice echoed dully in his mind, flat and uninterested. Even he could sense that she just wanted this over with.
“Yes! Look, a Pokédoll! It’s small and cute—perfect to keep nearby,”
He said, taking out the pink Clefairy doll and glancing around the room for a spot to place it. But her walls were stark and sterile white, completely bare. The whole room felt like it existed in opposition to the smiling Clefairy in his hands.
Finding nowhere else, he gently placed it on the large white desk, just beside the computer screen, facing her.
"There! It fits perfectly, Big Sis! Don’t you think it brightens up the whole room? They say looking at cute things can help heal your mind, and even your eyesight, you know?"
Orin's thoughts have started rambling, nervous under her sharp gaze. Her stare which was dull before had become... piercing since he brought out the doll.
"A doll."
Her mental voice sliced through the room like a blade.
"You brought me… a doll. Is this some kind of a… joke?"
She asks as, her voice feels even icier then before.
“N-No, I… I really bought it for you, Big Sis… I thought… you might like it.”
His thoughts squeak out silently, as he reached up to rub the back of his head, feeling strangely awkward and wronged. He really meant well.
Sabrina said nothing. The silence stretched long and thin. He could feel her eyes on him—intense, unblinking. She hadn’t spared the doll even a single glance.
Had he messed up by giving her the doll?
“Ask your question… and leave.”
After what felt like ages, her voice rang again in his mind, breaking the silence, but it had gone back to how emotionless it was before.
Well… she didn’t throw the doll away. That’s a win, right?
Orin gulped and carefully chose his words.
“Big Sis… wh-why wasn’t I ever allowed to leave Saffron City?”
It was a question that had haunted him for years—something Brina always dodged. Why did she never want him to leave?
He waited patiently, his red eyes locked on her face, searching for… anything. A flicker, a twitch, some sort of reaction.
Nothing.
Her face was still as emotionless and dull.
Just when he was about to give up, her voice returned in his mind… slow and faint.
“You will come to know… when the time comes.”
His red eyes widened.
Her voice… had it flickered? For the briefest instant, it felt like something heavy hid beneath her words—sadness? Regret?
He couldn’t tell. It slipped away too quickly.
But her answer just left him more puzzled than ever. Why all the secrecy? Especially now, when he was already leaving?
“That doesn’t tell me anything, Big Sis.”
His thoughts pushed against her cold silence, a pout forming on his face. But she gave no reply. No reaction. Just more cold silence.
He sighed softly. At least now he knew there was a reason. And maybe… maybe one day he would learn of it.
Now, should he be cheeky and ask another question?
Orin eyed her face, hoping for a clue to her mood. But as always, it gave him nothing.
Should he risk it… or not?
[Don't Ask Sabrina any more Questions Chosen]
***
Not part of the chapter
The choices for the questions that can be asked (Suggested by me and the Readers) in decreasing number of votes were:
[“Why wasn’t I ever allowed to leave Saffron City?”]
["Can I get your personal phone number?”]
[“Where are our parents? Are they… still alive?”]
[What rank were you when you were in Nexus?]
[Whan sum fuk?]
[is Brina your clone?]
[“Are you really part of Team Rocket?”]
[“Are you single?”]
[“What are your sizes?”]
[“Do you know someone named Red?”]
[“Is Brina really my little sister?”]
