| “ | So now, time for us to play. | „ |
| ~ Sabrina in the anime. |
Sabrina (in Japanese: ナツメ, Natsume) is an antagonist from the first Pokémon anime. She is the Gym Leader of the Saffron Gym and a powerful psychic who often used her powers to make others suffer.
In the Japanese version, she was voiced by Kae Araki, while in the English version, she was voiced by Lisa Ortiz, who also voiced Mars.
Appearance[]
Sabrina is a slim young woman of medium height. She has long black hair with shorter layers around her face and a fringe and small purple eyes. She wears a red and black dress with yellow cuffs over black tights/leggings, white gloves and red and yellow knee-high boots.
Personality[]
Sabrina's personality, compared to the executives and other Rocket members, is initially shown to be a cold, emotionless person, who communicates through a doll that represents her cheerful side. She is also very calculative, as shown when she used her Mr. Mime's ability Light Screen to enclose Saffron City from outsiders. Being a Psychic-type trainer, Sabrina has a connection with her Pokémon and even share certain emotions.
As Sabrina's psychic powers increased, she grew more obsessed with developing them. She also became less emotional, using her abilities for destructive purposes. This caused a deep psychological rift, and the emotions she tried to shut off developed into a separate personality: a young girl who manifested as a puppet around Sabrina. Sabrina's mind was then divided into the cold, callous woman with a thirst for power; and the little girl who just wanted to have fun.
Prior to befriending Haunter, Sabrina was a menacing and strong Gym Leader. She was shown to be able to telepathically command her Pokémon. However, her lighthearted nature was seen after her defeat.
After being "defeated" by Ash at Silph Co., Sabrina's ruthless personality disappeared, as she smiled and laughed with the wild Ghost-type Pokémon that entertained her. Since then, as time goes on, she gradually starts showing a better side to her character, such as loyalty toward her allies - even if they were formerly her enemies - and she eventually changes her evil ways, becoming both a proper Gym Leader and an actress.
History[]
Sabrina inherited her psychic power from her father, who had the ability to teleport from location to location, as well as telekinesis. It manifested when she was young, and it was soon apparent that Sabrina's abilities far exceeded her father's. She was able to use her psychic powers to do many things: teleportation, telepathy, psychokinesis, and transmutation.
As her power increased, she grew more obsessed with developing it. She became less and less emotional, using her abilities for destructive purposes, even transforming her mother into a doll and destroying her house. This caused a deep psychological rift. The emotions she tried to shut off developed into a separate personality: a young girl who manifested as a puppet around Sabrina. Sabrina's mind was divided into the cold, callous, emotionless woman with a thirst for power and the little girl who just wanted to have fun.
Sabrina became the leader of the Saffron Gym and turned it into an institute where fellow psychics could develop their powers.
Biography[]
Sabrina was the fourth gym leader Ash encountered. He challenged her initially in "Abra and the Psychic Showdown", and had a rematch with her in "Haunter Versus Kadabra". Ash was headed to Saffron one day to challenge her, unknowingly watched by Sabrina. Sabrina's younger self used her psychic abilities to save Ash and his friends from Team Rocket. The next day, despite warnings from a mysterious man, Ash challenged Sabrina and lost miserably.
Sabrina used her powers to shrink Ash and his friends, but they were saved by the man. He cautioned Ash that only Ghost-type Pokémon could defeat Psychic-types.
Ash resolved to catch a Ghost-type Pokémon. After a trip to the Lavender Tower, Ash returned with a Haunter he had befriended. Ash challenged Sabrina to a rematch, but Haunter had wandered off before the battle could start. Ash managed to escape Sabrina's wrath, rescued by the mysterious man once again, but Brock and Misty were transformed into dolls and placed into a dollhouse, where they met Sabrina's mother in the same predicament.
After talking with the man, who was later revealed to be Sabrina's father, Ash returned once more, and during the match, Haunter appeared and started to playfully tease Sabrina. Haunter's antics delighted Sabrina so much that she was no longer able to contain her emotions and started to laugh. This caused her two personalities to merge back into one. Ash was deemed the winner of the match due to the inability of Sabrina or her psychically linked Pokémon to battle, and the young man won the Marsh Badge. Haunter chose to stay with Sabrina and her reunited family.
Gallery[]
Sabrina's Pokémon[]
