"You got a Rattata? You're really lowering your standards, Ann," said a voice. Cybele opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred. She could see the rough outline of a human face, presumably the one which had spoken and had awoken her. She dug her claws into the surface below her, but found that it was unusually hard and smooth. She attempted to stand, but instead slid and fell on the slippery surface. She heard several chuckles as she struggled to gather herself. She blinked several times, her vision improving. She could clearly see the human boy's face now.
He had narrow, beady dark brown eyes. His nose was upturned at its end, revealing his small, round nostrils. His complexion was blotched with blemishes and he had a strange, lop-sided smile. His hair was jet black, curly and very unkempt. He reached out one of his fingers and patted Cybele roughly on the head. She jerked away. She needed to find her children; they would be looking for her. She backed away from the groping hand of the ugly human. She felt her hindquarters slip, and she dangled from the edge of the strange object that she was lying upon. She desperately scratched at the edge of the russet surface. Cybele observed that it had dark lines running through it, swirling and curving at random. She saw a tree once whose bark had been eaten by a Pokémon, and found that it looked vaguely similar to the stripped tree; except it was not round.
As she desperately clung to the odd thing, she felt something on her rump. It pushed her back onto the peculiar floating plateau.
"Silly Rattata; you're gonna fall off the table!" spoke another voice; one that Cybele had heard before. It was the girl who she had seen with the Ekans. She appeared into her view, sitting next to the boy. She seemed quite pleased with herself, although Cybele was feeling very self-conscious as they both stared at her as if she was on display. So they called what sat on a table.
"Sort of ugly, don't you think? Nasty-lookin' teeth," remarked the boy. Cybele's expression contorted in surprise. How dare he insult her! When she told her children of how rude the humans were to her, they would be as outraged as she was. She could imagine what they would say—Mama, we think you're real pretty!
"I can hear you, you know," Cybele retorted scornfully. The humans laughed again.
"Look Tad, it squeaks!" exclaimed Ann. Cybele tilted her head to the side in confusion. She did not squeak; she spoke. Deciding that she didn't like these human children one bit, she closed her mouth and stared down at her paws. They were no longer muddy or damp from treading through the brook.
"Don't bother trying to talk to them," said a third, male voice, "they can't understand." Startled, Cybele glanced around. She looked up and saw that the sky looked very strange. It lay low and flat, like very thick clouds. The large white blocks that the sky was composed of were held together with long metal strips that ran the length of what seemed to be a very peculiar valley. The sides of the valley were short and perfectly straight, and also white like what she assumed to be the clouds. There were rectangular holes in the center of the sides, and she saw what seemed to be a very strange world. The ground through the hole was a deep charcoal color, and there were large boulders grouped beside the straight stretch of ground that were, like the walls of the valley, perfectly shaped. Some were giant cubes and prisms, and some came to peaks at the top. Humans were everywhere. They went in and out of the boulders, and it only occurred to Cybele then that they must be hollow, and that she must be in one of them right now.
Once she had gazed in awe at the odd landscape, she turned her head and saw that there were many tables such as the one she sat on. Some were longer and narrower than others, and she saw that they did not float, but were supported by thin columns beneath them. Humans gathered around them, sitting upon strange instruments which seemed to be portable, as they slid them this way and that. She saw another, lower table, which had a faded blue cushion upon it. The color of the cushion reminded her of the sky's hue at dusk.
Sitting on this strange object was what appeared to be an uprooted tulip. It had a thin, brown stem which divided into two sections of roots. In the center of its slender stem were two large spade-shaped leaves that spread out from it. Perched on the frail base was a large, bright yellow blossom. It drooped below the top of the stem. The edges of its petals were lined in a soft, fleshy pink. It was only upon closer examination that Cybele realized that the tulip had eyes. She gasped in surprise when it moved.
"You don't get out much, do you?" asked the tulip-like creature, noticing her puzzlement. A small smile spread across its lips. She stared at it unabashedly. She had never seen a flower that talked to her before. She realized that its voice was the same one who had informed her that the humans could not understand her speech. It lifted one of its leaves, which were apparently utilized as limbs, and rested it upon a metal bar which protruded from the plateau.
"What are you?" asked Cybele in amazement.
"I'm a Bellsprout. The name's Jeremy. And what is yours, confused Rattata?"
"Cybele. How do I get out of here? I need to find my kittens."
"I'm afraid you can't get out of here. Ann owns you now. That's the girl's name, you know. She's my master too." Jeremy stood up from the odd sitting instrument and strode in Cybele's direction. "And the boy, he is called Tad. But his real name's Timothy."
Cybele observed as Ann fumbled with something in a large knapsack she carried. She pulled out a glass vial which appeared to be filled with a thick, blue liquid. It was held shut with a piece of cork. Cybele looked upon it with interest. She had thought that water was the only substance which was not solid. Ann struggled to open the vial, and eventually successfully did so with assistance from Tad. Ann then pulled the loose skin on the back of Cybele's neck and dragged her towards her. Cybele struggled, unsure of what was happening, but before she could think of her next action of protest, the liquid in the vial was being poured down her throat. It was creamy, and she swallowed it with some difficulty, but its taste was strangely agreeable. There was a slight sweetness about it, accompanied by a tanginess that reminded Cybele of a tart fruit. When the vial had been drained, Ann loosened her grip and placed the empty vial into a tall, hollow gray cylinder perched on the ground which was as smooth and solid as the tabletop. Cybele saw that its inside was lined with a shiny black film of some sort, and there were other strange things placed in it as well as the vial.
A few moments after she had finished drinking the strange substance, she found that she was feeling suddenly energized. It was an energy which she could usually only obtain from a long afternoon nap, but it seemed that whatever she had drank had fulfilled the same void. She felt as if she could run and romp for an eternity; race to the end of the world.
"What was that blue-colored water?" Cybele asked, looking at the Bellsprout who was now contenting himself by trying to catch the attention of another female Pokémon, although Cybele did not recognize what species it was. There were so many strange creatures and objects in the land of the humans! Jeremy started, unprepared for the abrupt interrogation, and then took a few moments before he composed himself and said in a bored tone,
"It was a Potion. It gives you energy."
"I do feel energized! Why do I need this much energy?" Cybele had many questions to ask about this new, strange world. She was so caught up in the moment, and taking in all of her foreign surroundings, that she had nearly forgotten about her now motherless kittens back in the field which she had known by no other name than home. It was she who was the child now, eager to be taught by the seemingly omniscient Jeremy.
"What do you think you need it for?"
Cybele paused. She remembered that the humans enjoyed battling the Pokémon which they 'owned' with each other. "Fighting?"
"Very good; but that's not all you'll need it for."
"What do you mean?" Cybele inquired breathlessly, speaking so quickly that she could scarcely be understood. She was impatient to learn more, know more.
But once again, she could see nothing but a blinding white light, which seemed to shine through every fiber of her being, and surround her completely. And then, the room was gone to her, and she felt extremely dizzy and disoriented, unable to comprehend what had materialized before her.