Chapter 97:

  Psychic Psycho

  Things that sound too good to be true often are. The chance of winning the lottery is smaller than the chance of being murdered; the shady website saying you won the newest iPhone is either a virus or a scam and the cute girl offering you a date to the museum is actually walking you into a trap.

  "Okay," I said. "But before we go, what's being stolen and what's in it for me?"

  Sabrina's eyes widened. She instinctively leaned away, as if she expected me to explode.

  "What? Something is going to be stolen," I smiled smugly. "That's what you were about to say right?"

  "...but how?" The psychic girl muttered perplexedly.

  I saw how much my reply caught her off-guard but pretended not to notice. I was curious how long I could keep up the act. "Eh," I shrugged. "I don't know how it will be stolen but I suspect via some form of teleportation."

  Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "Why do you think something is going to be stolen?"

  "You were just about to tell me, "I mustered the dirtiest smile I could and said, "don't you know? I'm a psychic."

  Sabrina was experiencing multiple emotions at once and it was actually pretty fun to see. If one could throw rage, confusion, shock and even more anger into a blender; it would come close to Sabrina's current emotional state.

  Fay silently shook her head and gave me a disappointed look. Midna looked like she needed a bowl of popcorn and Luna was just, well giving me the cold shoulder.

  Sabrina gave me one more glare before closing her eyes, muttering something obscene while her stance relaxed.

  When she opened them again, they briefly flashed a bright purple before fading back into regular, non-shining purple eyes.

  I wondered if she quickly used Calm Mind on herself. If so, unfair! That's cheating.

  "You know I don't need psychic powers to hit you?" Sabrina said calmly, a vacant smile present on her face.

  "Meh, maybe I'm into that kind of stuff. You really wanna risk that?"

  Midna almost exploded behind Fay but with great effort, she managed to hold it.

  Sabrina just shook her head, even refusing to get flustered. "I literally forgot how annoying you can be. Besides that, I know you aren't a psychic. I'm not falling for that twice."

  I chuckled once before finally deciding to act a little more serious.

  "Okay, fine I'll explain. But first, can we sit down somewhere? My psychic senses are telling me this will be a long story."

  Looking back on that, my prediction was spot on.

  While buying breakfast for the squad, which Sabrina agreed to pay for, she started talking about her ex-career as a stage performer. It was actually kind of unexpected and I kind of didn't know why she was even telling me something that personal, but like a good friend, I just listened without interrupting. Seemed like she needed to unload some energy anyway.

  Basically she missed performing (which I didn't even know she used to do in the first place) but she felt that keeping the regions safe was her true calling and thus she stopped her career as both an active Gym leader and as an actress.

  Because I had no idea how to respond to that, I tried to subtly shift the conversation into something I could talk about.

  "Hey, that’s so true. By the way, I saw you on TV. You looked pretty cool during the entire mutant Houndoom shitshow."

  Sabrina smiled sheepishly. "Oh yes. That was one nasty Pokémon. Thanks to my accurate precognition and organization skills we didn't suffer any civilian casualties."

  I was pretty sure people had died during the initial appearance but didn't bother to point it out.

  Sabrina offered some change to the barista without even looking. In turn, the barista didn’t seem awfully surprised. Probably doesn’t get paid enough to

  "Got any lead on what the deal was with that Houndoom?"

  Sabrina's gaze darkened. "Not much, we do know an organization named Galactic is behind both its rogue transformation and the attack on Viridian. For now, it's not really our job to do the investigating part. We rely on people like you to do that, we just clean up the trash." I wasn’t sure whether it was a complement or not, but from the look of her face I could see she wasn’t happy with it.

  "Your coffee, ma'am." The barista nervously handed Sabrina three cardboard cups. 2 Long Macchiatos with foamed milk and 1 special Moo Moo Milk-shake. She smiled sweetly at the man before returning to the subject.

  We took a seat at one of the many empty tables.

  Midna and Fay shared a chair and milkshake. Luna sat down on her chair and spent her time glaring at Sabrina who didn't even notice it. Just your standard Monday morning.

  We both took a few sips and enjoyed the smell of caffeine. Sabrina looked like she was experiencing heaven. Since we both had almost the same drink, I figured that it must have been the 5 sugar cubes she added that made it so good.

  Sabrina’s eyes shot open and she gave me a startled look, clearly showing that she had totally forgotten that I was sitting there.

  I took a calm sip, not saying anything but looking her dead in the eyes.

  "So, you're going to tell me how you knew about the heist?" Sabrina awkwardly tried to start the conversation again.

  Considering it allowed me to play coy, I put up my best detective face. "Look, you didn't make it that hard for me to guess. First, you show up looking for Gardenia, when she isn't around you immediately ask me if I want to go on a date to the museum."

  "It could be anything," Sabrina muttered half-heartedly.

  "You're a clairvoyant and seeing how you weren't in a rush to get Gardenia it could only mean it still has to happen."

  Sabrina bit her lip.

  "That raises the question. What could happen at a museum? Maybe a terrorist attack but then, why not pick the Sinnoh National Museum instead of this backwater town? Two other things came to mind. Option one; someone is going to invoke a Legendary Pokémon through the use of a ritual or artifact but if that were the case you wouldn't just show up alone. There’s only one other possibility that is often associated with museums but not important enough to involve the big guns. Meaning; Theft." Besides, I know how museums work. I've seen way too many heist movies. Museums are like loot boxes for thieves.

  Sabrina looked at me like I just suggested the earth was flat.

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  "Elementary, dear Sabrina," I added, feeling pretty good about myself.

  "You are so damn annoying." Sabrina said. She then lowered her head. "But you are right indeed. This afternoon an invaluable artifact will be stolen, unless I intervene. And I don't think it's a coincidence we met today."

  "I agree." Fate's up to something again. She definitely planned for me running into Sabrina, the timing was just too perfect.

  "Okay, stop me if this sounds crazy but hear me out, have you considered, you know, calling the police?"

  "The person stealing the artifact works for Team Rocket. The police won't even be a nuisance to them, that's why I hoped to recruit Gardenia but since she is off playing with ghosts you'll make a good second choice." Sabrina smiled at me very kindly.

  I opened my mouth to say something but Sabrina gestured to me to keep my mouth shut. I complied and instead just took a sip of coffee with way too much milk.

  "But seriously, I could really use your help. The Hunt can not openly interfere with Team Rocket because of Kanto politics." This begged for so many more questions and little things I was interested in, but again she gestured to keep my mouth shut.

  "However I can not let my mortal enemy-"

  "You have a mortal enemy?" I couldn't help myself.

  The psychic blushed. "We crossed paths before but she always manages to slip past me. But with today's heist maybe I can finally beat her."

  A picture was slowly starting to form in my head. Seems like this wasn't at all about justice, but instead something personal.

  Also, Team Rocket. I had no freaking clue what they could want from the muse-

  Damn. I think I just realized what they were after.

  They had their city just torched to the ground and they were already out again?

  "What's being stolen?" I asked.

  Sabrina showed me a picture on her phone. The image quality was really bad but I could see there was a small, shiny white orb sitting on a pedestal.

  "The Adamant Orb," Sabrina clarified.

  I sighed. Yup, the in-game item that could be given to Dialga to have their attacks boosted. Somehow it popping up shouldn't have surprised me. The real question is, why does Team Rocket want it? To Galactic it might be a useful artifact because they are insane.

  It felt as if I was missing something.

  "But what can Team Rocket do with that?"

  A little known fact- Stolen art isn't as valuable as people think it is. Mainly because it can't be sold legally and even if it was sold it would be worthless to the new owner since a stolen piece of art can't be displayed without getting caught red-handed. It’s usually sold at a loss, though if you have no money it’s a lot. But Team Rocket didn’t need this kind of money, it’s a lot of trouble for something not all that valuable.

  "Money?" Sabrina shrugged. "It could be anything with them." She didn’t seem to be interested about their motives at all.

  "Well, it does look shiny," I admitted. "If we manage to stop the thief, do I get to keep it?"

  Sabrina gave me an incredulous look. Then she saw my grin.

  "You are a moron," she complained loudly.

  Midna scoffed but didn't say anything. Sabrina ignored her scoff, she folded her hands over her chest and gave me a weird look. "But you are an incredibly useful one. And seeing how you managed to track down Crimson within a week this should be a breeze."

  Oh yeah, I totally forgot I did that. That was awesome.

  "I have my moments," I admitted.

  "So, are you willing to help me defend a national treasure from a heinous thief?"

  Sabrina extended her arm out, offering me to take her hand.

  {No!} The hand was slapped away by an angry-looking Kirlia on her chair. {No fucking way.} Her voice rang into my head, from Sabrina's expression I could see she heard it too.

  I sighed and turned to look her in the eyes.

  "Luna, I haven't even said yes."

  {But you were going to!} Luna said accusingly. She got on top of the table to meet me at eye level.

  "Uhm," Sabrina awkwardly tried to get a word in but was silenced by a flying croissant. She caught it before it hit her but it was fun to see, weren't it for those big red Kirlia eyes piercing into mine.

  Sabrina didn't make any effort to free me from Luna's stare. She gave me a shrug that roughly translated to, 'well you are on your own now'.

  "So you can talk," I replied, trying my best to keep my inner emotions neutral.

  {I tried to make it clear to you by not talking but for some reason, your human brains can't understand.} Luna looked like she wanted to say something else but she was reminded of Sabrina's presence.

  "If it's about the thing, we voted on it and I already told you that you don't have to go. I can send you over to Chelsea if it b-"

  {That's not the point!} Luna yelled again. Why did she have to yell? I was literally not even 10 centimeters away from her. Her yelling felt like a tiny glass shard crashing into my mind. Fuck, it was psychic conversation, there was no way I could not hear her!

  It didn't look like Luna was about to stop anytime soon.

  {It's always something small. Sleep here for a week, get our stuff back, check out this building but it always ends up the same. You find yourself in danger.} She heaved a deep sigh. {You know you were going to say yes!}

  "Maybe Dust is trying to do the right thi-" Fay tried to butt in but was interrupted as psychic energy began fizzling around Luna. Luna looked absolutely pissed.

  A weird feeling in my stomach started to pulse.

  Then all of a sudden, a wave of purple energy exploded from Kirlia's horns. Shattering the pavement as it tore through multiple tables and chairs. Fay and Midna were launched up in the air before they could react. The people sitting at tables around us looked up startled and slowly backed away or reached for their own Pokéballs.

  Fay managed to twist her body while falling and landed on both her legs. Her paws were fuming with blue aura in the rough shape of several daggers.

  Unlike Luna Fay was the very definition of calm.

  Midna took the easy way out and turned into a Pidgey to stay airborne. Not even bothering to get involved.

  {It's your fault!} Luna shouted at the Riolu. {You and your talks of heroism! You ever think about how it'll get him killed?}

  Another crash of energy headed towards Fay. This time dragging along wooden splinters and sharp bricks.

  {I bet you don't!}

  Luckily, what I had done right was to train Fay. She didn't move from her position but instead transformed the aura daggers into a big flat shield just as the purple energy flew towards her.

  Without breaking a sweat she held the newly made obstacle in front of herself. Claws dug into the concrete to provide more backup.

  Bricks, stone and other rubbish flew past Fay like a miniature storm. They didn't hit her, instead they bounced off the improvised shield or flew around it.

  Luna's aim was a bit off.

  "Me? I'm the one in the wrong?" Fay removed the shield calmly. "It looks like you have a sense of humor after all."

  Luna gasped. The air around me began to feel static. Like how the atmosphere unloaded before a lightning strike.

  Everything began shaking.

  It was like an earthquake hit.

  The bricks that made up the ground underneath us, the tables previously not destroyed and even the liquid from my drink. All of it pulled itself free from gravity and began to lift itself up as if pulled by invisible strings.

  The static energy began to charge up, almost reaching a boiling point. Automatically my hand reached out to the nearest weapon, a knife.

  Luna's eyes were burning with energy. It looked almost demonic.

  "That's enough." Another female voice broke through the noise. It was Sabrina's.

  Sabrina slowly stood up from her seat and gave the surrounding mess an annoyed look. Luna glared at Sabrina. The static energy in the air began to twist. The two psychics had a staring contest. An invisible battle between the two followed.

  Luna was fuming with anger. Sabrina managed to look bored. And whatever Sabrina was doing, it was working!

  I could almost see Luna's hold over the surrounding objects diminish, usurped by Sabrina's superior strength.

  Everything around us slowly returned to the ground in a controlled manner. The ravaged pavement all fell back into place, though still looking like an improvised jigsaw puzzle, but back on the ground still.

  Slowly the air unloaded until the silence returned.

  Finally when it looked like Luna's powers were completely subdued, Luna finally calmed down a little. I had the idea that she herself was also surprised by her outburst. A red flush of shame colored the psychic.

  "Are you done?" Sabrina asked Luna. “Out of everyone, Psychics should know best not to let their emotions control them.”

  The Kirlia in question appeared to contemplate that question for a second. She stared at her surroundings before finally turning around to look me in the eyes.

  A short silence followed before she finally answered.

  {If you want to stop that stupid heist, fine, but go do it without me and just see how far you'll get.}

  Before I could respond she teleported away, leaving me completely stunned.

  Sabrina wisely decided to keep her mouth shut, as did Fay.

  It was Midna who was the first to respond.

  With a jovial tone she said, "Just wow, teenagers these days."

  No one laughed.

  A/N Welcome to another chapter of ‘I can not believe people are still reading this’! Thanks to you all this story keeps being expanded.

  -CaptainMoonShine-