Chapter 24
"To Unite All Peoples"
"…How are you, Ash?"
"I'm fine," I replied.
"That's good…Has there been any trouble?"
"…Not too much," I told him.
"…That's…very good to hear, Ash…I'm proud of you."
"Thank you."
"Hmm…Are you ready to be released?"
"I'm ready when you are."
"…You are quite the model Rocket. Both skilled and disciplined. Just what I knew you had in you…You just needed a little help, that's all."
"…Everything's fine now."
"Then there's no point in you staying here. Go to your room and wait for Billie………Oh…I'm so glad everything worked out okay. I wasn't sure if you were supposed to pass out or not…When you were asleep…you looked so…distraught. It was as if you were having a nightmare…"
I laughed nervously. "Oh…That? A…nightmare? Uh…Nah…Not really…uh…heh…heh…"
"…Very well then."
* * *
I waited patiently for Billie to arrive…Well, it was boring, but……who cares about that anyway?
The door creaked open and I looked up. It was Billie, of course.
"Hello, Ash…" she said quietly.
"Hi."
"Um…ahem…um…"
She stood in the doorway and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"…Aren't you going to come in?" I asked.
"Uh…I guess so…Um…Yeah…Why not?" She laughed a nervous laugh.
She came in and closed the door behind her. She glanced at me, then crossed the room and pretended to be interested in something on the wall.
"…What's the matter?"
"Huh!?" She glanced back then quickly turned away. "Oh…um…nothing…Nothing at all…Heh…heh heh…" She gulped.
"…Is something wrong?"
"Wr-wrong?! Huh!? Oh…Nothing's wrong…Nothing's…wrong…"
"…Something's wrong," I said.
"Nothing's……wrong…Ash……It's just……um…I…I dunno…" she sighed, "It's just that…He kept you in there for such a long time…even after you recovered…I…I don't want to think of what he might have done to you…what punishment…he could've……" She trailed off. I thought I could hear her trying to hold back a sob.
"…I'm fine, Billie. What he did to me……Well, it's all over now, and I'm better for it…It's all right now. He won't punish me again…because I'm not going to disobey him again."
Her half-sobbing disappeared. She turned around slowly. I met her gaze and saw her staring at me with wide eyes.
"…You can't mean that…" she whispered.
I nodded. "Sure I do. There's no reason not to listen to the boss. He's only trying to help us, and the more we try not to listen him, the more hurt we'll end up. It's better to just do what he says right from the start and not worry about anything else."
Now her mouth was hanging open. I waited for her to say something. I waited for quite a while.
"…I…can't…believe you…" she breathed, "After all this time of…of hating him, you're going to just buckle down after one little…" She gasped and covered her mouth, but finally lowered her hands so she could speak. "…Ash……He must have done something terrible to you to make you just……Oh Ash……I'm so sorry……I……"
She almost started crying on me.
I grinned at her.
"Billie, don't worry about it. It's over now. I'm better…Everything's gonna be fine…Come on. We're supposed to get ready to go back to the Indigo Plateau."
She still looked tearful, but she nodded.
"Right…" she said, her voice muffled by her hands, which were covering her mouth again, "…We should get…going……"
* * *
We went to the Pokémon Center first. Pikachu was there, and so were Brock, Misty, Togepi, and Richie. I knew I should've been glad to see them…especially Pikachu…but…instead, I felt…nothing. I put on a smile anyway and pretended. I hugged Pikachu and joked casually with the others, but I didn't really mean it. For some reason, I didn't care. I didn't like the fact that I didn't care, but I couldn't even care about that, either.
What is happening to me…?
That thought was in my head for less than a second, and then I forgot that I had even thought it.
"So are you ready to go back to the Indigo Plateau?" Richie asked.
I smiled at him. "You bet. Now that I have all of my Pokémon with me, and…my little…adventure…is over, nothing can stop me…Right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!"
'I hope so!'
I laughed…I think…I couldn't tell if I was faking it or not…and then, the next second, I couldn't care less.
"…Do you know which Pokémon you're going to use?" Billie asked me.
"Hm…I know I'm going to use Pikachu…"
"If you're going to use Pikachu, you might as well give Magnemite back to the boss. There's really no point in carrying around two electric Pokémon."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point there……Hey, I wonder if Pidgeotto's better?"
"Probably…You left it with him a long time ago, remember?"
"Oh yeah…"
"So what other Pokémon will you use?" asked Richie.
"Um…Bulbasaur…Squirtle…Pidgeotto……"
"That's four down, two to go," Misty grinned.
"Um……I think I'll bring Taper, too," I said.
"That's a good idea," Misty said, "You can't go wrong with a psychic Pokémon."
"Uh…I know that…That's why I'm bringing it," I said.
"What's your other Pokémon gonna be?" asked Brock.
"Um…Sandslash."
"……It looks like we've gotta go back to the HQ," Billie said.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Come on, Ash…See you guys later, okay?"
"Bye!"
"Pi pikachu!"
'Hey, don't forget me!'
Pikachu jumped up on my shoulder. It was still wearing my hat and my Pokébelt.
"Hey, how could I forget about you, Pikachu? We're not gonna lose each other ever again, right?"
"Pika!"
'Right!'
"See…? We're remembering each other already."
Pikachu giggled, and the three of us returned to the Team Rocket headquarters.