Chapter 3
Truth and Artifice
"Ash… Ash… Ash!" Ash saw an unspeakable beast in front of him. It had mouths all over it; some of them were sideways. The mouths dripped with venom and saliva. The beast moved closer to Ash and began licking him with his tongues. It made Ash feel uncomfortable. He wanted to run away, but his legs wouldn't move. "Ash…" The monster spoke with Misty's voice. It gently caressed his body with one of its tentacles. "…I love you."
Ash awakened in a cold sweat. He was breathing fast and heavy, like he was gasping for air. He saw a strange ceiling above him, one that he did not recognize. "Where am I?" He asked himself. He got up and noticed that this was not where he remembered falling asleep. In fact, he didn't remember anything of what happened last night. It was like his mind was attacking its own memories and had suppressed the trauma that he went through.
The next thing that Ash noticed was that his clothes were neatly folded for him on a chair. "Huh. Why are my clothes there?" Then, he noticed that he was wearing nothing but his underwear. He started to wonder why this happened. He tried his very best to remember everything that happened last night, but his mind would not allow it. Not thinking much of it, Ash got dressed and walked out the door. He saw that he was in The Cerulean City Gym. He didn't remember much of how he got there, just that Misty made him a late night dinner and he went to bed.
Ash walked downstairs and saw Misty crying in the kitchen. It looked like she didn't get a lot of sleep. "Morning, Misty. What's wrong?" Ash said. She couldn't look him in the eye. "You know what's wrong." She said. Ash tried to think. "No, I don't. You can talk with me." He said. Ash's upbeat demeanor confused Misty. "What is wrong with him? Did he just sort of forget? Or maybe he's just pretending it never happened. Forgive and forget?" She thought. Ash sat down with her. "Hey, what happened? Did your sister mistreat you again?" Ash said. Misty looked up at Ash. "Do you remember last night?" She said. "What about last night? You made me some eggs and I went to bed. Those were some good eggs, by the way." Ash said. Misty smiled through her tears. "You're so sweet, Ash." He gave her a confused look. "I am?" "Yeah. You are."
Brock walked into the kitchen, ruining Ash and Misty's moment together. "Hey, good morning you two! So, are we heading out today?" "Pretty soon, yeah." He turned to Misty. "Think you could come along with us too?" Ash said. She stood up. "I'd love to come with you." "Cool. I took a quick look at the map. We can make it to Celedon by tonight of days if we head south and cut through Saffron." Brock said.
Even though Ash didn't remember anything of what happened the previous night, Pikachu remembered all of it. He was the only true witness, a creature that could only communicate through actions and the repeated sound of its own name. Pikachu was disturbed by everything that he had seen and was even more disgusted with himself for doing nothing to stop it from happening. Pikachu loved his trainer Ash and he loved Misty. He didn't want to hurt either of them, even when they were hurting each other.
Ash found Pikachu curled up in a ball in the corner of Msity's kitchen. The pokemon appeared to be sleeping, but he wasn't. He was still horrified by what he had witnessed. "Come on, Pikachu. A new day starts!" Ash said with a smile. Pikachu got up and pretended to stretch. He squeaked a few times and tried to hide the fact that he was still horrified.
Ash picked up Pikachu and put the pokemon on his shoulder. Pikachu was a worried. He started to piece everything that he had heard Ash and Misty say along with Ash's return to his normal happy demeanor. A thought popped into his head. "Should I tell Ash?" Pikachu looked over at Misty. She still looked like the kind, friendly, yet short-tempered girl that he knew. "Looks can be deceiving." Pikachu thought.
Pikachu squealed a worried squeal and tried to communicate to Ash that Misty was trouble. "What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash said. Pikachu tried to point to Misty and tell Ash that she did something horrible. It only came out as worried squeaks. "Aw, it's okay Pikachu. Misty didn't do anything." "Yes she did, Ash! Yes she did!" Pikachu wanted to say. Instead, he just repeated his name through squeals. Ash hugged Pikachu. "Hey. It's okay. Whatever you're worried about won't hurt you, okay?" Ash said.
Misty noticed that Pikachu was aware of what had happened. She knew that this could be a problem and made note in her head to talk to Pikachu when they were alone. Until then, he could just squeal like an animal and try in vain to communicate what he had seen. If Pikachu kept it up, Ash was going to know everything.
Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu walked southward to Saffron until they stopped to take a break. Misty saw Pikachu leave Ash and Brock for a moment to pee. Misty followed Pikachu. The pokemon didn't notice Misty until it was almost done urinating. "Hey, Pikachu." Misty said. Piakchu turned around and nearly jumped when he saw Misty. "Hey. Sh… Sh…Calm down. Okay? I'm not here to hurt you." Misty said. Pikachu squeaked a worried squeak. He didn't trust Misty, not after what he had witnessed.
"I know you have every right to not trust me. I understand. What I did back there was unforgivable." Misty said to Pikachu. Pikachu gave her an angry squeal. He started to charge his electric cheeks. "Just please… Don't tell him anything. If he doesn't want to remember, then he doesn't have to. The truth will hurt him. Just please… Just this once, do you think you could pretend it never happened?" Pikachu shook his head. "Please, Pikachu. Everyone will be much better that way." Misty said. They both heard Ash calling from far away. "Hurry up, Misty and Pikachu! We're moving on!" "Just a second!" Misty said. She turned back to Pikachu. "Please? I need you to do this, not just for me, but for Ash too."
Pikachu turned to Ash, who was approaching from the distance. He looked happy, like someone who had never been raped, like someone who had never even heard of the concept of rape before. He seemed so child-like at times. That innocence that Ash had was preserved by his retrograde amnesia. It kept him happy. It kept him blissfully ignorant of his trauma. "In the end, maybe he will be happier this way." Pikachu thought. He smiled and played along. He felt dirty, like he was siding with a horrible person by doing this, but since it was for his best friend, he allowed it. Ash was the man who trained him from being a weak and unruly creature into a strong and disciplined fighter, the man who he shared countless experiences with, and the man who was the most important thing in his life, a person that he could not live without. Pikachu didn't want to open those wounds. "Perhaps she's right. Let's just pretend it all never happened."
-o0o-
There was something that Ash did not know, however. The world that he was living in was a lie, a fabrication made by his own mind. In a different world, the real world, Ash was comatose. Pokemon, Kanto, gyms, everyone he ever knew, everything that he ever loved, it was all lies made by his mind. Ash wasn't aware of this at all. To him, this was all just a happy fantasy, a dream. His father, Giovonni, was aware of this dream. His goal, and by extension, the goals of Team Rocket was to awaken Ash. The answer lied in his best friend and greatest companion, his pokemon Pikachu.
Giovonni was in his hideout in Celedon City. He was awaiting Ash's arrival. He secretly knew that the whole tournament was a ruse. It only existed to get Ash to come to him. He stroked his Persian in his office. He heard a knock on his door. "Come in." He said. Jesse, James, and Meowth walked in. "You wanted to see us, Sir?" Jesse said. Giovonni smiled. "You know, I don't tell you three this enough, but I'm actually proud of you. After all these years, you're still loyal to me and are still willing to follow orders. Let me just say that, even after all of your failures, I still like you, all three of you."
Jesse, James, and Meowth weren't sure what to make of this. Usually Giovonni was upset or angered at one thing or another. This time, he was actually happy. They suspected something might be up. "Boss?" James said. "What is it?" He asked. "…Why was no one else here?" James said. On their way in, Jesse, James, and Meowth didn't see anyone else in the hideout. "Oh, the rest of Team Rocket? I fired them all. We're going into Operation Sunrise." Giovonni's words confused Team Rocket. They had no idea what this meant.
Giovonni reached into his wallet and handed Jesse, James, and Meowth some money. "Here. Go do whatever you want. Spend it on something that makes you happy." He said with a smile. "What? Why?" Meowth said. Giovonni put on a smirk. "Don't worry about it. You're not fired or anything. I like you guys too much to fire you, not after all you've been through." Giovonni said. Jesse gave him a confused look. "You didn't capture Pikachu, did you?" She said. "Not yet. I will have him soon, though." Giovonni said. He paused for a moment. "Oh, one more thing. I'll need you to work The Game Corner for a bit. It'll only be for a few days. Ash should be coming. You need to trap him. I trust that you are at least competent enough to handle that?" He said while stroking his Persian. "Yes, sir." Team Rocket said. "Good. Now get out of here. I have a lot to think about right now."
Giovonni turned to his Persian. "Pretty soon all will return to nothing. My son will finally awaken and experience life for the first time in years." He said. Persian purred. "The end is coming soon, Ash. You're going to have to grow up sooner or later." He thought.
-o0o-
Relapse
-o0o-
I look at you
You look at me
My open eyes
Are all I see
The pale white walls
They look so bleak
I close my eyes
I'm back to sleep
And in those dreams
I cry.e dove at H
