Chapter 26
"Porygon"
Billie had asked if I was okay. I hadn't answered her…verbally…I had just walked away……but Taper knew. Taper was the only other one who knew.
…Maybe it is best not to get rid of the virus……but I have to be careful about this…There may be someone else who can help you more than I could.
Who?
…Ash…would you happen to know who created that virus?
No.
…The boss would know…
The Master won't tell you…He's too smart for that. Besides, I'm not going to ask him.
Maybe Billie will.
Billie? She doesn't even know!
…Then I'll just have to tell her…
Wait, don't do that…
I couldn't hear Taper trying to talk to Billie. I guess it could only talk to one person at a time…
I didn't look back. I just kept walking. I'm pretty sure that I was leaving them behind.
"Ash!!" I heard Billie suddenly yell.
I cringed and turned around. Billie, Taper, and Pikachu were jogging to catch up.
"Ash!…Is it true?"
I put on a mask of confusion.
"Is what true?"
Looks like Taper got through to her…
"…Did he really……put…something…in…you?"
"…Huh?"
"Did he put a virus in you?"
I'm not sure…
"What gave you that idea?"
"Well, you said that you were going to obey him, sometimes it takes you a while to say anything, and plus, Taper just told me so, and I'd have to be pretty stupid not to take the word of a psychic Pokémon."
"Pikapika."
'That's right.'
"Drrowzee…"
'I told you, Ash…'
…Now look what you did! I'm going to have to come up with some good lies to cover this up…
Why lie? Just tell her the truth.
I decided to ignore it.
"Come on, Billie. He didn't put any virus into me. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Ha! A virus. That's a good one, Billie."
"…So it is true…"
I stopped laughing.
"…Huh?"
"…Ash…? If that isn't what he did, then what did he do? I know he punished you somehow. He punishes everyone who doesn't listen to him, but you came out with nothing to show for it. What else could he have done?"
"Ah…heh…heh…heh……Umm…"
"…I knew you were lying. I knew it. Ash, we are going right back to the HQ and I am going to make sure he figures out how to cure you. Understand?"
"Um…You…can't…do that…"
"You wanna bet? Come on."
She grabbed my wrist and started dragging me right back the way we had come. We hadn't even gotten to the Pokémon Center yet. The others were gonna wonder what was going on…
Taper and Pikachu followed along too. Taper grinned up at me.
See, Ash? I told you everything would work out.
Everything will work out, but not in your favor, you little…whatever you are…
Drowzee. I am a Drowzee.
Whatever.
* * *
Billie, still holding me by the wrist, knocked on the boss's door.
"Who is it?" he asked impatiently.
"Billie…and…Ash…" she said darkly.
"What? Back already…?…This had better be important…"
"Oh, it is…" She said that quietly, so only the four of us could hear.
She opened the door, waited for my Pokémon to go in, shoved me inside, then closed the door behind us.
The boss stared critically at us.
"…You look upset, Billie," he said.
"Yeah. I am."
She straightened up and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes.
"…Any particular reason?"
"Yes…I demand to know what you did to Ash, why you did it, and how we can get him back to normal."
He narrowed his eyes.
"…You do not demand anything, Billie. I am the boss. I am the only one who can demand."
"Oh yeah? Well, to hell with that! I'm sick and tired of you hurting everybody! Now, what did you do to Ash!?"
He stood up.
"Billie, that kind of attitude will get you nowhere. Now shape up or I will have to shape you down."
"…You…can't…do that…" she said, gritting her teeth.
"I can do whatever I please! Now remember who is in charge here before I have to remind you myself!!"
They were both scaring me.
Billie bowed her head, but there was still anger in her voice.
"I know who is in charge. I just wish you would let us know why you are doing these things to us…I have reason to believe that you have infected Ash with a genetically altered virus that is trying to program him just like a computer…Is that true?"
I think that caught him off guard.
"…That…is none of your business. Besides, I am the one who asks the questions here, not you!"
"Boss…please understand where I'm coming from…Ash is my partner, and if something is different about him, don't you think that I deserve to know?"
"Pikachu, pika…"
'I deserve to know, too…'
"Drowzee…"
'It only makes sense…'
Shut up, all of you!
The boss looked at each of us in turn. He lingered a little on me. Finally he sat down and sighed.
"Fine. I suppose you're right. You do deserve to know…"
He stared at nothing for a moment before continuing.
"…I did do exactly what you said I did…Ash is, in fact, a living robot…I tell him to do something, he does it. It's a simple as that. There is nothing personal involved. No doubts, no second thoughts……Almost too good to be true…" He sighed and smiled sadly.
I kept a straight face…Billie didn't.
"…Why did you do that?" she asked softly.
"Because I had no choice! He left me with none. It was either that, or run the risk of him trying to pull off another stunt like that again. I can't have team members running off whenever they feel like it. If one person tries it, who knows how long it will be before someone else tries the exact same stunt? It just won't do…This was the most reliable solution to that problem."
"But you hurt him!"
"…That's his own fault. He shouldn't have run off in the first place."
"You shouldn't have done that to him! You just…You…"
"I, what?"
"You're…"
She lowered her head and muttered softly.
"…evil…"
I don't know whether he heard her or not. He didn't react.
"…Well, now you know, so there's no point in staying here. Go to the Indigo Plateau and defeat the Elite Four…Do you hear me, Ash?"
"Yes."
"…And are you going to do that?"
"…Yeah."
"…That's good."
He smiled at Billie. "See? Isn't he much easier to handle this way?"
She didn't smile back.
"…You may go now……….…Oh yeah…I almost forgot…Don't let your Pikachu shock you…With that new…installment…an electric shock could be…very…um…Well, you just don't want it to happen, okay?"
Billie stared at him with wide eyes. She was either excited or horrified. I couldn't tell.
"What would happen if he was shocked?"
"Oh, um…That would cause the program to malfunction, resulting in…something similar to…self-destruction…I'm sure you wouldn't want that, would you?"
I shook my head sincerely.
"No…That wouldn't be good…" Billie said.
"I thought so. Well, you'd better get going…"
We saluted and promptly left…I was a little nervous, though…