Chapter 29
"Things"
I couldn't take it anymore. All of the heat, and the light, and the growing, and…all of it…I couldn't stand it.
…
"…Pika?"
"Drow…zee?"
"Pikapika…chu…"
"Drowzee…"
What was that? A noise…? Something…what were they called…voices?
"Pikapi!!"
The darkness and the light disappeared…There was light…but there was something different about it……There was also a noise……beeping……It didn't stop…
…Am I alive…?
"Drowzee!"
The light was blinding…I had to…squint my eyes to block it…
…eyes…? I must be alive…!
I moved my eyes around. Everything was white. It wasn't as nice to look at as the darkness and the dancing lights…
"Pikachu…?"
What is that noise…?
I turned my head to see…Something yellow…It was alive too…
"Pika…"
That was what was making the noise…
"Drrowzee?"
Something else was making a different noise…I looked just to the side of the yellow thing, and I saw another yellow thing…It was bigger than the first yellow thing.
"Pika!"
Why do they keep making noises…?
"……Pikachu?"
"…Drowzee…Dr…owzee…"
"Pika…"
The big yellow thing left, and the little yellow thing stayed. It got closer to me. I could hear it breathing…
"Pikapi…?"
I didn't know what to do…I don't think I could've done anything anyway…
"Pika……chu…"
A little time passed, and suddenly the white place was filled with more things…larger… more colorful…They made more noises…Their noises were louder too…I didn't like those things……They scared me…
"Drowzee! Drowwzee!"
That one noise rose above the rest. Everything else quieted down.
I looked for the big yellow thing, but I couldn't see it.
"Drowzeedrow!"
The big colorful things made quieter noises, then they each came up to me and made noises at me. I wanted to make them stop, but I didn't know how…
…After what I thought was a long time, all of the big colorful things left except for one. After making lots of noises at me, it got quieted and started touching me with cold things. I didn't like that, but I don't think it was trying to hurt me, so I let it go ahead. Finally, it stopped, made some more noises, waited a little while, then left.
"…Pika…"
The little yellow thing popped up beside me again.
"Pikachu, pika?"
I stared at it, and it stared back.
What is it trying to do?
"…Pi?……Pikapi…?"
I decided to try something.
"…Pika…" I said.
…It wasn't easy to say that. My mouth was dry, and I wasn't sure what I was doing anyway.
The little yellow thing straightened up.
"Pikachu!?" it said.
I took a deep breath and tried again.
"Pika…chu."
The little yellow thing blinked and talked to me.
"Pikapika…?"
This isn't so bad…
"Pika pika," I repeated.
The little yellow thing looked over its shoulder and the big yellow thing appeared.
"Pikapikachu?!" it said to the big yellow thing.
"Drowwzee…"
Something new…
"…Drowzee," I said.
We kept going back and forth like that. It took me a while to figure out that those noises could actually mean things. After that, the two of them started teaching me things. They told me their names, and they told me mine too. They taught me about me, and the other humans, and about Pokémon, and about lots of things. I couldn't remember everything, but they also told me what the most important things were…
…I didn't learn that all in one day…It took a while…Every day, the humans would come in, make noises, then leave…After a day or two, a Persian started coming every day too…It helped Pikachu and Taper teach me.
One day, the doctor came in and said that I could leave…I didn't understand him, but Taper translated for me.
Taper, Pikachu, and the other humans helped me get outside and into another building. Persian was already there.
"Drowzee…Drowzee…drow…"
'This is Dr. Gray's house…We'll stay here until you can remember everything for yourself…'
"Pikachu…?" I asked.
'What about after that…?'
"Pika pika…"
'We don't know…'
They all seemed sad about something, and I wanted to ask them about it, but the humans wouldn't let me. They took me to some strange human who looked similar to the doctor…
"Drowzee?" I asked.
'Who is this?'
"Drowwzee…"
'This is Dr. Gray…'
I didn't like Dr. Gray…
He nodded his head and smiled at me. He started making sounds, but I still couldn't understand what he was saying.
"…Drowzee?"
'…What's going on?'
"Perrrrsian…Perrr…"
'He's saying hello…He hasn't seen you for a while…'
"Sian?"
'Why does that matter?'
"Perrrrrsian…Persian per. Siiiann…"
'It doesn't really…Humans just do that. It's polite…'
"Drowzee drow…"
'You're supposed to say something to him…'
"…Pika?"
'…What?'
"Pikachu."
'Just say hello.'
I looked up at him. He was staring at me and his mouth was open.
"……Pikachu," I said.
'……Hello.'
Everything was too quiet. I really didn't like it. They were all staring at me…I didn't like that at all…
Dr. Gray started making lots and lots of noises all of a sudden. He was really scaring me.
"Siiiaaannn!" I cried.
'Help me!'
"P…ersian!!"
Persian jumped on top off Dr. Gray and almost knocked him over.
"Siian, perrr!"
'Now's your chance!'
Taper stared at me for a moment, then smiled.
"Drowzee, drow…Drowzeee…"
'Just come over here, Ash…They'll get the picture…'
I tried to hide behind Taper. It wasn't easy, because it was smaller than I was.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
'Why are you hiding?'
"Pikapika chu," I said.
'That guy was scaring me.'
"Cha…"
'Oh…'
"Drowzee drowzee!" Taper said.
'Persian, I think that's enough!'
A little reluctantly, Persian let Dr. Gray go and walked over to us. It sat down and smiled at the humans.
They all started talking at once. I didn't like that.
Persian looked up at me and smiled.
"Perrrsian…"
'Come this way…'
We followed Persian into another room. Taper closed the door behind us.
"Pika…zee…Persian?" I asked.
'What were they all doing back there?'
"Persiian…Persian…"
'They were just being humans…Ignore them…'
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
'You don't like them?'
"Chu…"
'They're scary.'
"…Drowwzee…Drowzee."
'…You should probably learn the human language…Then you'd be able to understand each other.'
"Pikadrow! Chu persian…"
'But I don't want to! They're too scary…'
"Pikachuu…"
'But Ash, you're one of them…'
I bit my lip. I knew Pikachu was right, but I didn't want to admit it…
"Pikachuu……Perrrsian…"
'Well, even if we look alike……I still think they're scary…'
"Drowwzeee……"
'You'll get used to them, Ash……'
I didn't want to believe them, but I knew that I would…Besides, that was them knocking on the door right then…