Just as Icarus had guessed, Sabrina was currently trapped within her own sea of consciousness.
It felt as though she had returned to her childhood, back to when she was only three years old—the day her Psychic powers went berserk and killed all the children who had been playing with her.
"Blood… blood… it's all blood!"
Little Sabrina's eyes were completely crimson.
Having awakened from her rampage, she stared in horror at the dismembered bodies and scattered flesh around her. The scene resembled a living hell of blood and gore.
Even worse, those children she had killed seemed to return as ghosts within her sea of consciousness.
"Hehehe~ Sister Sabrina, come play with us!"
A little girl in a pure white dress stood before her. Her neck was bent at a ninety-degree angle, and blood tears streamed endlessly from her hollow eyes as she sincerely invited Sabrina to join them.
"Sabrina, you should try it too. Breaking your limbs apart is really fun."
Nearby, a little boy whose arms and legs hung at impossible angles spoke with a smile.
"Yeah, and splitting your body in half feels great too~"
"Connecting your head and your butt together is fun as well Hehehe"
"Come join us, Sabrina. You were the one who started the game."
"That's right. Now it's your turn~"
"We've been waiting for a long time. Hurry up and come play, Sabrina~"
More and more horrifying ghosts appeared around her.
Each had died a terrible death, their bodies twisted and mangled as though they had suffered unimaginable torture.
And now, every single one of them was inviting the one responsible.
"N-No… Don't… Don't come closer!"
Young Sabrina backed away in terror as the ghosts slowly approached.
She remembered everything.
These memories had originally been sealed away by the elders of her family and later reinforced by her own Psychic powers.
After killing everyone, the terrified Sabrina had fainted on the spot. The family elders rushed over after sensing the disturbance and took her away.
As for the aftermath, others handled it for her.
As the ruling family of Saffron City and one of the strongest Psychic families in the region, the children who played with Sabrina had all been specially selected companions from subordinate families.
After compensation was paid, the matter was settled.
When Sabrina eventually woke up, her unparalleled Psychic talent caused the family elders to immediately place her under strict training.
From then on, she spent every day in a dark training chamber.
Only when she turned fifteen, after subconsciously strengthening the seal on those memories herself, was she finally allowed to appear before the rest of the family again.
The moment she emerged, she swept through every member of the younger generation in Saffron City with her peak Superior-rank Confusion.
From that day onward, she was known as the Psychic Queen.
In response, the family elders awarded her the family's only Royal-rank Abra.
With the combined efforts of Sabrina and Abra, she broke through to Gym Leader rank in just over three years.
Afterward, she defeated everyone in Saffron City—including the family elders themselves—and truly became the Queen of Saffron City.
Yet she wasn't happy.
Everything in her life had already been decided for her.
Because of her unprecedented talent, the elders had confined her from the age of three until fifteen.
There were two reasons for this.
The first was to allow time to bury the tragedy and prevent anyone from using it against her.
Some might ask why they didn't simply silence everyone involved.
The answer was simple.
The incident had occurred in a public amusement area in the center of the city.
Too many people had witnessed it.
The entire playground, including the attendants and maids, had been wiped out. It had been a true massacre.
No amount of secrecy could completely suppress such an event.
Enemies could always find ways to reveal the truth to Sabrina and potentially destroy the family's greatest genius.
So the simplest solution was isolation.
And it worked.
After more than ten years of careful control, very few people still knew the truth.
The second reason was to cultivate Sabrina as efficiently as possible.
From the age of three onward, she focused solely on training.
Calm Mind.
Battle techniques.
City management.
Leadership.
Subordinate control.
These were the things that filled her life from childhood until adulthood.
Did she resent the elders?
Perhaps a little.
She hated being treated like a bird locked inside a cage.
She hated having every aspect of her life arranged for her.
But that resentment was only a small part of her feelings.
Far more than hatred, she felt respect and trust.
After all, those elderly men with white hair had always treated her kindly.
They taught her everything they knew and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to her education.
So what she truly felt wasn't hatred.
It was loneliness.
After receiving Abra and her other Pokémon, things became slightly better.
But Pokémon were still Pokémon.
They weren't human.
In the end, she still had no friends.
Because of the tragedy from her childhood, she subconsciously desired friendship more than anyone else.
Unfortunately, everyone around her was too weak.
They were merely subordinates.
None of them dared to approach her as equals.
That was why, when Giovanni invited her to join Team Rocket, she accepted.
Part of it was youthful rebellion.
She wanted to escape the path others had laid out for her.
But a larger reason was much simpler.
She hoped to find friends among Team Rocket's powerful members.
Yes.
The real reason Sabrina joined Team Rocket was actually that simple.
Of course, she could never admit such an embarrassing reason out loud.
Otherwise, what would become of the dignity of the Psychic Queen?
Sadly, even after joining Team Rocket, she never made a single friend.
First, she had become so accustomed to acting cold and aloof that she didn't know how to make friends normally.
Second, as one of Team Rocket's three secret executives, she rarely interacted with the organization directly.
Most of the time she worked under disguises and false identities.
As a result, she had very little genuine contact with other members.
Naturally, no friendships ever formed.
"Waaah… Waaaah…"
Inside her sea of consciousness, three-year-old Sabrina sat curled up in a corner, crying helplessly.
Her mental world was gradually being consumed by two colors.
Blood-red and black.
The blood-red was the most terrifying.
It represented the countless vengeful ghosts from that bloody day.
The black was somewhat better.
It represented the cold, lonely training chamber where she had spent most of her childhood.
"Waaah… Why isn't anyone coming to save me?"
"Why don't I have any friends…?"
Rather than relying on herself to overcome the invasion of her consciousness, Sabrina continued to cry like a helpless child, desperately hoping someone would come rescue her.
It was as though the deepest flaw in her heart had finally reached its breaking point.
Either someone would truly accept her—
Or she would simply disappear.
"Sabrina, I really do want to be friends with you."
"The kind of friend who's genuinely close."
"Although… you probably wouldn't think much of someone like me."
"But could you please wake up?"
"Otherwise we're both going to die down here…"
Just as the blood-red ghosts finally cornered Sabrina against the wall, Icarus's voice suddenly echoed through her sea of consciousness.
"Friends…"
"Someone wants to be friends with me?"
The tiny three-year-old Sabrina immediately stopped crying.
The dullness in her eyes vanished, replaced by a brilliant light.
As for Icarus's awkward implication that he was attracted to her, Sabrina completely failed to understand it.
The family elders who raised her had all been old men.
Teaching her about relationships and romance had never been a priority.
They had simply handed her a few books and told her to learn on her own.
Unfortunately, that was not one of Sabrina's strengths.
So the only thing she heard was the part that mattered most.
Someone wanted to be her friend.
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