Sabrina

"The Master of Psychic-Type Pokémon"
Sabrina
Species	Human
Hair color	Dark Blue
Eye color	Red
Base	Saffron City Gym
Voiced by	Lizzie Freeman (2019)
Debut	Pokémon: Red/Green Versions

Sabrina is one of the gym leaders who must be battled in the first generation games of the Pokémon series. She acts as the leader of the Saffron City Pokémon gym and specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. Sabrina herself has had Psychic powers since she was a child.

Background

Sabrina is a trainer who has had powerful psychic powers of her own since childhood. Her psychic powers included telekinesis and some level of precognition. It was believed that she was even capable of communicating with her Pokémon without speaking, which implied a form of telepathy as well. Although she disliked battling, she defeated the Karate Master of the Fighting Dojo with ease, in order to establish her gym as the Saffron City's official gym within the Kanto Pokémon League. Her gym was a maze of rooms (or a series of building roofs in Let's Go!) that were connected by warp tiles rather than doors.

Generation I

In Pokémon: Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Versions (as well as FireRed and LeafGreen), Red battled her after liberating Silph Co. from Giovanni. She had a vision of his arrival, but she was shocked when Red defeated her, and awarded him with the Marshbadge and TM 46: Psywave (or TM 04: Calm Mind in FireRed and LeafGreen). In her Fame Checker message, she claimed that Red's superior power was the power of the love he had for his Pokémon.

She was instead challenged by Chase/Elaine in Let's Go!. In these versions, she gave out TM 33: Calm Mind upon being defeated and could be challenged to rematches after defeating the Elite Four. She claimed that the trainer had inspired her to grow strong and live freely like them. Sabrina also mentioned that she would not meet another trainer like them "for around another three years", apparently in reference to her vision mentioned in the second generation games.

Generation II

Sabrina still resided in her gym three years later, in Pokémon: Gold, Silver, and Crystal Versions (as well as Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions). This time she was challenged and defeated by Ethan/Lyra, and she acted as the second of the Kanto gym leaders who could be battled in that generation. Upon meeting the trainer, she said that she had foreseen their arrival three years ago (which would have been when she battled Red, with the vision being referenced in Let's Go!). After being defeated, Sabrina surrendered another Marshbadge to them (as well as 48: Skill Swap in HeartGold and SoulSilver). Realizing that the trainer's power was greater than she foresaw, she admitted as a consequence that their power was beyond her psychic ability. Afterwards, she further mused that love might also be a psychic ability.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she appeared at Olivine City's harbor near the S.S. Aqua on Fridays, due to a sudden urge to see the ocean, and the trainer could exchange Pokégear numbers with her there, and it was also possible to take pictures with her there on Mondays. Calling her on Sundays (between the hours of 10AM and 8PM) caused her to appear at Saffron's Fighting Dojo for a rematch.

Generation V

Sabrina returned in Black and White 2, which brought her to Unova. She could first be found at the Pokéstar Studios, where she acted as the villainess of the Mystery Doors of Magical Land series, known as Magical Queen Bellelba, and she was battled twice over the course of the film series. She also appeared as one of the competitors in the Pokémon World Tournament, taking part in the Gym Leaders, World Leaders and Type Experts Tournaments as well as the special download tournament called "The Battle Between Legendary Pokémon". Her dialogue in the tournament battles was similar to her dialogue from the second generation games, including claiming to have foreseen this battle three years ago.

Pokémon Roster

Generation I

Sabrina in HeartGold/SoulSilver wardrobe.

Sabrina specializes in Psychic-type Pokémon. In the original Red, Green and Blue versions, her line-up consisted of:

• Kadabra
• Mr. Mime
• Venomoth
• Alakazam

In the Yellow Version, she instead used an Abra, a Kadabra and an Alakazam. In Let's Go!, her roster instead had Mr. Mime, Slowbro, Jynx and Alakazam, with a Hypno being added in rematches.

Generation II

Sabrina used an Espeon, a Mr. Mime and an Alakazam in the second generation games. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, she used the following roster for rematches:

• Alakazam
• Espeon
• Mr. Mime
• Jynx
• Wobbuffet
• Gallade

Generation V

In Black 2 and White 2. her tournament roster includes Alakazam, Slowking and Espeon, as well as Hypno, Mr Mime and Jynx in the Kanto Leaders Tournament, or Metagross, Exeggutor and Sigilyph in the World Leaders and Type Expert Tournaments. For "The Battle of the Legendary Pokémon", Sabrina has Mewtwo in addition to Alakazam and Espeon.

When acting as Bellelba in the Mystery Doors of Magical Lands films, she is battled twice. In the first battle, she uses Woobat and Swoobat. For the second battle, instead of Pokémon the player has to defeat two enchanted doors, one of them Fire-type and the other a Grass-type.

In Other Pokémon Games

Sabrina was the sixth gym leader to be battled in the Gym Leader Castle of Pokémon Stadium. In this game, her roster consisted of Alakazam, Kadabra, Mr. Mime, Hypno, Exeggutor and Jynx in the first round battle. In the second round she used Snorlax, Mr. Mime, Alakazam, Hypno, Exeggutor and Wigglytuff. Sabrina also appeared in the Kanto Gym Leader Castle of Pokémon Stadium 2. Her new roster consisted of Wigglytuff, Alakazam, Slowbro, Hypno, Mr. Mime and Furret in the first round; and Sandslash, Alakazam, Hitmonlee, Typhlosion, Slowking and Scizor in Round 2. Sabrina, as she appeared in the anime, appeared in Pokémon Puzzle League as the seventh opponent, between Koga and Blaine. She used an Abra, a Hypno and an Alakazam.

In Pokémon Masters EX, Sabrina and her Alakazam appeared as a playable sync pair that could be recruited at random through the Sync Pair Scout feature starting in March 2020. She was depicted wearing her FireRed/LeafGreen outfit, and her Alakazam was capable of Mega Evolving into Mega Alakazam by using its sync move in battle. There was also a New Year's 2022 variant of Sabrina in a festive outfit that was paired with Chingling, which was made available through the Sync Pair Scout during limited time periods, starting in January 2022. When battled in some events, she has also been shown using Venmoth and Espeon. Within the game's Main Story, Sabrina was featured as an opponent in Chapter 24, in which she had formed a team for the Pokémon Masters League tournament with Elesa and Fantina. They were battled and defeated by the player. It was also shown that Sabrina's teammates encouraged her to smile more, but she only ended up smiling in response to Elesa's bad jokes. Sabrina also helped to fight Team Rocket in the Kanto chapter of the Villain Arc. Her New Year's variant was featured in the "New Year and New Friends" story Event, in which Sabrina's precognition led her to team up with Volkner for a New Year's Battle Tournament, and she was able to use her Chingling to calm down some rowdy electric Pokémon. She was shown to prefer celebrating the new year quietly, but she ultimately enjoyed that adventure.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Sabrina was featured in a three-part episode of the Pokémon anime, where she had a second personality that manifested itself in the form of a little girl looking for someone to play with. Ash inadvertently cured Sabrina when a Haunter he had acquired caused Sabrina to laugh.
• Sabrina appeared in the Pokémon Adventures manga, initially as a villainous gym leader working for Team Rocket. She captured Moltres for the team and used her Mr. Mime to create a barrier around Saffron City, where Team Rocket was based, until Red's Pikachu defeated it. In the final battles of the Red/Blue/Green arc, Sabrina battled Green and was defeated by her. She also commanded the fused form of Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres until it was defeated. During the Yellow arc Team Rocket returned to battle the Elite Four on Cerise Island, at which point Sabrina's Kadabra created Spoons of Destiny to link them together. She and Green battled Lorelei and defeated her, although the ice handcuff used on Sabrina caused some intense form of frostbite which she had to cure at Mt. Silver's hot springs in the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc. She met Red there and gave him a Spoon of Destiny that later led him to the final battle at Ilex Forest. In the competition with the Johto gym leaders, Sabrina battled and defeated Bugsy. She also made an appearance in the Black 2/White 2 arc, where she was shown as an actress at Pokéstar Studios.
• She was featured in a chapter of the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, where she was shown to be a gentle shrine maiden who was traumatized by a childhood incident in which a giant Haunter called the Black Fog had killed her Pokémon by sucking out their souls. In the present day, she defeats Ash in a Pokémon battle, but then they go to confront the Black Fog. It sucks out her soul, temporarily killing her, leaving it to Ash and Brock to defeat it. The Black Fog chooses to self-destruct rather than be caught, which revives Sabrina, who laments her foe's circumstances.
• Sabrina made a brief appearance in the Pokémon Origins anime, which depicted her defeat at Red's hands.

Trivia

• Sabrina's name origin is uncertain. It could be a play on 'Abra' (one of her Pokémon), 'brain' or the plant 'Zebrina'. It may also be intended as a reference to the fictional character Sabrina the Teenage Witch, who was featured in a popular television series of the same name at the time that the games were released in America.
• Her Japanese name is Natsume, which means 'jujube'. Her character in the Mystery Doors Films, Bellelba, is called Jujube in the Japanese version as a reference to this.
• In FireRed and LeafGreen, she claims that everyone has psychic power, but they do not realize it.
• She is officially considered the sixth of Kanto's gym leaders in the first generation, even though she can be fought well before Koga (who is officially the fifth)
• She discovered her psychic abilities as a child, when she accidentally bent a spoon that she had dropped.