Saffron City, Iron Heart

"Any tips on defeating Sabrina?"

Yoake asked Ren for advice as they waited throughout the ride. They were on a train, from Viridian City to Saffron city. They didn't tell Professor Oakido and Leaf that they were going to the gym, and instead of actually trying to find answers to Battle Bond, they went to the specialist's layer.

"Well, you can just use Claudine and activate Battle Bond, that'll work out." Ren sarcastically suggested to her rival.

"Ha ha Ha, as if Battle bond is that easy to activate. Besides, I don't even know how to properly control it, there are times when Claudine is the one that's doing it." Yoake explained. Ren looked at Claudine with utter suspicion.

Claudine quickly noticed the trainer's skeptical look and quickly rebutted her assurance.

"Don't look at me. There are times when I don't even know what is going on." Claudine stated.

"Okay then." Ren rolled her eyes as she was doubtful of Claudine's claim. She can tell that there was anger brewing inside of Claudine, an anger that she released upon her Gengar but she doesn't know why and what was that spice of anger coming from.

Was it from Claudine herself? from Yoake? From whom? There's no proper explanation on what just happened earlier other than Battle Bond activated and there was chaos in the battle.

'Battle Bond, Blood type K? My parents barely mention my grandparents. Is this some sort of rabbithole that is deeper than the trenches of the Ocean? My father did not let me know or enter his office, there must be something about this family that I must know. Yoake discussed his thoughts. The boy was curious about the evidence about his skepticism of his family name, and he is willing to do everything he can to know the truth about Battle Bond and the Katsuragis.

Later on, the train finally arrived at the Saffron City Grand terminal. A terminal that is considered as the Iron Heart of the Kanto beast. Veins of railways, roads and traffic are present in the terminal, from buses to trains to cabs to cars, there's always a vehicle in the terminal, and all of them travel and circulate throughout the grand nation of Kanto.

There were vendors, food stalls, restaurants, and street performers scattered across the grand terminal. The place was crowded, from businessmen going to work to families going for a vacation or a visit to the provinces, this is Kanto's and possibly, the mainland's busiest Terminal.

As soon as three steps out of the train, Claudine was awed about the place. There's a lot of people and Pokemon scattered across the terminal. Everything is a sight to be seen. They were frozen in place as they were overwhelmed with this many people in one area.

"Alright. Is this your first time entering the biggest city in Kanto?" Ren asked the two as she suspected that they had never visited Saffron city before.

"Yeah…" Yoake scratched his head.

"Damn, you're a city boy from the Pallet city. Welp, how about we get some lunch first?" Ren suggested the two.

"Yeah, we should get lunch first." Yoake agreed to his rival's suggestion.

"Good, I know a place. Follow me." Ren stated.

She led the two out of the overcrowded terminal and headed to a steakhouse near the core of the Grand City, The Outback Steakhouse. It's labeled as "Saffron's little Anglo steakhouse" because all of the food they cook is mostly based on the Anglo-sphere, mainly from Galar. From Ribs to Beans to Mutton to Berry delights, every Saffron citizen can taste the fine dinery of Galarian food all in their metropolis city.

It's the middle of the day, which means lines are shorter than what many think. Due to how busy the city is, most of the people eat their lunch either in small canteens or in their offices, and it's often that tourists are the only ones who eat at fine dinery at this hour of the day.

"One table for Four please." Ren told the Restaurant Receptionist.

"Okay, Please wait for a minute so we can give you a table. May I ask for whom?" The Receptionist asked the trainer.

"For Ren Mirai." She stated her name. The receptionist registered her name and quickly took Four Menus from their counter.

"Follow me." They told the three to follow her and they did. They escorted them to a table near the open glass, where they could see passersby and the busy streets of Saffron's core district. The four sat on the chairs with Claudine sitting near the glass as she continued to glance around while Yoake and Ren sat on the chairs that are closer to the interior.

"I'll give you a minute to decide, please call out our waiters when you want to take your order." They said as they left the group and went to their desk to continue their job.

"So, what do you guys want?" Ren asked the two as she opened the menu and began finding their best seller. Yoake and Claudine looked at their menu as well and looked for meals that might cross their eyes.

"Wanna try their best seller?" She suggested the two. Since they know nothing about this steakhouse, they agreed.

"Sure, what is it?"

"It's the Straya Uluru Steak. The best steak imported from Straya that looks like their famous monolith in the outback. A thick, red and juicy meat that can break someone's mouth." Ren described the steak.

"Okay then, how about some dessert?" She asked the two.

"Sure, I'll try the White Cliff cake." He said as he looked at the dessert section of the menu.

"Okay then. let me just call the waiter." Ren said as she looked around, finding a nearby waiter that could write their order. It didn't take long for one of the waiters to walk to their table and ask for their order.

"Hello, have you finally decided what you guys want for lunch?" The waiter politely asked the three.

"Yup. We'll take three Straya Uluru Streak, one Four Cheese Pizza, Four Bottomless Ice Tea and One White Cliff Cake." Ren stated their order. Yoake was confused on who's the four pizzas so he decided to ask Ren.

"Who's pizza for?" Yoake curiously asked.

"For a friend of mine?" Ren stated.

"Friend?"

"Gengar!" A Pokemon suddenly appeared in the empty chair. This spooked Yoake and Claudine after Gengar quickly showed itself to the two.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." Claudine panted. Gengar laughed as he was poking fun at Claudine after seeing her shocked.

Claudine rolled her eyes as she tapped Yoake's shoulder signaling him that she wants to continue reading her book. Yoake sighed as he opened the zipper of his bag, took the book and handed it over to Claudine. She opened the book and continued reading .

"Is that all?" The waiter asked Ren.

"Yup." Ren nodded.

"Okay then, please wait for 15 minutes or so." The waiter assured the group as they left and headed to the kitchen.

"Alright. Since you actually defeated Sabrina, any good tips?" Yoake asked Ren once more as he wants to be fully prepared for their battle later.

"Well, if you want a recommendation, you should prepare since Sabrina's Ace is Alakazam, and with your current predicament, she'll be using Mega Alakazam so be prepared."

"Fast, hard-hitting but frail. How did you defeat her?" Yoake asked.

"Well, Scizor and Gengar made me win. Bullet Punch is just way too godly." Ren answered her rival's question as she remembers the time when she fought Sabrina.

"I see. Do you think my team can handle it?" He asked as he gave his pokedex to Ren and showed his team to his rival.

"Damn, well, that's a team built for disaster. Let's just hope Battle Bond will carry you." Ren sarcastically suggested.

"Tsk." Yoake giggled as he realized his vital mistake.

While the two were having their conversation, Claudine on the other hand felt something was watching her. She raised her head and saw Gengar was busy looking at the streets.

'What was that? That familiar feeling, when I was looking at a-' Claudine looked above her and saw the Greninja, standing on one of the buildings above and was observing them.

She felt a connection to the Greninja, she couldn't tell what it was. Genga also notices him but he decides to ignore it and continue on.

She blinked for a quick moment and the mysterious Greninja left with no trace. She rubs her eyes and decides to continue her reading.

Later on, they finished their lunch and headed to the Saffron city gym.

Yoake looked at the gym with utter doubt on himself, he wasn't sure if he's ready as he tried to master up the courage to battle Sabrina but all of it was destroyed, flamed and 'sliced into pieces' after his battle against Ren earlier that day.

He clenched his fist and opened the door of the gym, looked behind him and saw Ren and Gengar giving him a thumbs up, supporting him with the best of wishes. Yoake smiled and slowly walked into the gym with Claudine behind him.

The door slam shut, as soon as they enter, there's no other way of getting out besides battling Sabrina.

The two slowly walked into the empty hallways of the gym. Its hallway was designed with futurism, from purple wallpaper to neon lights scattered throughout the floor. At the end of the hallway, there was a steel door, waiting for them to enter and to see the other side.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Claudine asked her trainer.

"I don't know, but we can try to." Yoake coldly answered his Pokemon's question.

They continued to walk along the hallway until they finally reached the steel door. The two were nervous to say the least, the pressure, stress and anxiety about the battle slowly crawling through their legs even though the battle was too far from their reach.

"Let's go." Yoake said as the steel door opened. It slowly splits itself and allows the two to enter the other side. As they walked into the door a bone-chilling voice greeted them.

"Welcome. Mister Katsuragi, I've been waiting for you to enter my domain." A feminine voice greeted them. They entered the gym and there's no turning back from here.

The room, like the hallway, is futuristic. Gray floor, Purple Walls and Neon lights. The battlefield is lit with Green neon with the traces of a traditional Pokemon battlefield. In the center of it all is Sabrina, standing there with a menacing look.

"Sabrina... " Yoake coldly uttered the specialist's name.

"Yoake Katsuragi. Son of Trevor Katsuragi, I might say, the son always has his father's looks." Sabrina said.

"How do you know my father?" He curiously asked.

"You see boy, I know everything." Sabrina stated with pure pride and grin on her mouth.

"Oh really? Well then, what's the meaning of life? Why are we here?" Yoake mockingly asked the specialist.

"grrr, you're an annoying shit just like your father." Sabrina growled after hearing those stupid questions from the trainer.

"So you know my father then, you must be close to my family huh?" Yoake asked the specialist as he prepared for the upcoming battle.

"You want answers? Come and get it!" Sabrina teleported to her place in the battlefield and the hype of the battle slowly rushed to their veins.

Let the Battle of Wits Begin!