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Under the waiter's enthusiastic—yet slightly dazed—gaze, Sato swiped his card without hesitation and handed over 50 million PokeDollars.
In return, he received a syringe-like vial containing a drug said to open the door to an entirely new world for ordinary people.
After acquiring the Awakening Serum, Sato didn't linger in the room for even a moment. He quickly exited, and with the help of the staff member who had led him here earlier, he left the top deck of the cruise ship altogether.
Upon reaching the deck, Sato didn't wait for the cruise to return to the Cinnabar Island port. Instead, he summoned Crobat on the spot and had it carry him back toward town.
In truth, the cruise ship had only sailed a few nautical miles from the Cinnabar Island harbor before coming to a stop at sea. With Crobat's assistance, it didn't take long for Sato to return to the island.
But the first thing Sato did upon his return wasn't to find a secluded place to use the Awakening Serum. Instead, he went around asking where the best clothing store in town was.
He had already received a mission update on his communicator: no later than the afternoon after tomorrow, Team Rocket would summon all those who had advanced past the first phase of the rookie competition for a gathering.
That meant Sato had to act fast—he needed to find a skilled tailor and have them make three outfits using the special materials he had just spent a fortune on.
Fortunately, this didn't take long. After paying a 1 million PokeDollar production fee, Sato left a high-end tailor shop in downtown Cinnabar. The owner promised the clothes would be ready by the morning of the day after tomorrow.
With the clothing matter settled, Sato checked into a luxury hotel in the city center and booked a room for two nights.
Although the system's analysis had confirmed that the Awakening Serum had no side effects, Sato didn't want to take chances. He posted Swampert and Crobat in the room to stand guard, took the vial out of his dimensional backpack, and downed the drug in one gulp.
The liquid, clear as nightfall, tasted just like plain water—completely flavorless.
Ten seconds passed. A minute passed. Ten minutes passed.
But the drug seemed to be taking its sweet time. Sato felt nothing. No reaction whatsoever.
"Don't tell me that was really just water? Even if it failed, there should've been some kind of reaction, right? It's been eleven minutes already and still nothing?"
Sato eyed the now-empty glass vial suspiciously.
When he had first drunk it, he'd been both excited and anxious. But after all this time with no change, he was starting to doubt it was real. If he hadn't verified the drug himself before taking it, he'd think he'd just been scammed with a fake.
Another ten or so minutes passed. Still nothing. Sato gave a bitter laugh. He figured he'd simply run into the drug's failure rate.
It had been nearly thirty minutes. If it were going to work, it would've by now. But from beginning to end, there had been no change.
"I guess when the info said 'no side effects,' it meant literally nothing happens. Ugh… There goes 50 million PokeDollars down the drain. A failure's a failure... but why does it feel like my heart just got stabbed? Damn it, I really was looking forward to it."
Realizing there was no more hope, Sato slumped in disappointment and stood up from his chair with a sigh.
But just as he stood, the world in front of him began to twist and warp in a strange and eerie way. A splitting pain then exploded inside his head, as if something were tearing through his brain.
Despite this, Sato's willpower was extraordinary. He didn't scream, nor did he pass out immediately from the agony. He braced both hands on the desk, clenched his jaw, and held on for dear life.
His face contorted in pain, turning almost monstrous. His eyes gleamed with a terrifying brightness, and faint, dim-blue light flickered within them.
At the same time, his heart began to race uncontrollably. It felt like he'd just sprinted several kilometers—his chest felt like it was about to burst.
Moments later, his entire face flushed red, and his body was drenched in sweat, like he'd just stepped out of a shower fully clothed.
Time ticked by slowly. Sato had no idea how long he endured the torment. All he knew was that he was utterly exhausted, barely clinging to consciousness.
Then darkness came. His mind blanked out, and he collapsed to the soaked floor.
....
When Sato regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a soft bed. Outside, dawn had already broken, and sunlight pierced through the white gauze curtains, gently illuminating the room.
"Swamp~"
"Chi~"
Swampert and Crobat, who had remained faithfully at his bedside, immediately let out delighted cries when they saw him awaken. They rushed forward, visibly anxious over their trainer who had collapsed so suddenly the night before.
'It's already 8 a.m… Looks like I didn't manage to hold out in the end. I must've passed out from the pain, and Swampert and Crobat carried me to the bed after that.'
Sato turned his head with difficulty to glance at the vintage clock hanging in the room, quickly piecing together what must have happened after he lost consciousness.
"Thanks for looking after me last night. I'm fine now... cough, cough…"
He raised a trembling hand to pat the worried Swampert and Crobat, his voice hoarse and dry.
The moment he spoke, his throat felt like sandpaper. A wave of dry coughs racked his chest.
With Swampert supporting him carefully, Sato, still feeling completely drained, got out of bed. He grabbed a glass and shuffled over to the water dispenser.
After gulping down eight full glasses of water—enough to bloat his stomach—Sato finally felt his throat moisten again, and his body started to feel alive, the hydration slowly restoring his strength.
"Did I succeed... or not? I don't feel any different."
Inside the bathroom, with hot water pouring down from the large showerhead, Sato stood there naked, letting the heat soothe his aching muscles. He wiped the fog off the mirror and stared blankly at his reflection.
Now that he'd regained some energy, Sato began carefully examining himself. He was certain he had overcome the 20% success rate of the Awakening Serum. He had to be a psychic now.
And yet, ever since he'd stepped into the shower due to the unbearable stench on his body, he hadn't noticed any meaningful changes.
Sure, he felt a bit more mentally refreshed than usual, and his eyes did seem slightly brighter—but that was it. So far, nothing suggested he was now a psychic.
He couldn't even perform the most basic psychic feat: bending a spoon.
If not for the faint trace of dull blue psychic energy flickering on the spoon's surface, Sato would've started questioning whether he'd actually awakened at all.
He stared intensely at the tiny spoon in his hand until the blood vessels in his eyes bulged and he was practically cross-eyed—but the spoon didn't move an inch.
"Maybe my psychic aptitude is just that awful... I'll ask Maya when I get a chance. I need a real expert to verify this kind of thing."
Faced with such an awkward result, Sato could only give up with a defeated sigh, his heart full of resentment toward the tiny spoon in his hand.
Even though he'd been mentally prepared for this possibility, deep down he'd still harbored a sliver of hope that he might awaken with powerful psychic talent.
But reality was harsh: he wasn't some protagonist beloved by the world like Sabrina. He was just an ordinary person who had relied on external means to awaken his powers—nothing more.