Poke-genetics: recovery
«Is that… me? »
Genno tried not to be ironic. It was a pretty big shock to see yourself talk to you, even more when you weren't yourself at the time.
«Yeah… I copied you when I realized you were changing… to make sure you didn't just vanish off the face of the Earth to everyone else. I thought it would ease your pain a little if your friends weren't trying to look everywhere for you while you might be just in front of them. »
«Oh. That's… »
Good? Brilliant? Tactless? He wasn't sure how to describe it. It was a pretty good reason and he was surprised Genno thought of that while he was turning into a pokemon, but… still… all he wanted was to get inside his own body. And his body was not even five meters away. It was harsh.
«I'd understood if you'd be mad, Ash. I'm not sure how I'd reacted if I was in your shoes. »
«No, you don't need to feel bad. It's hard, but it's not your fault. If anything, I should just be mad at Team Blast. They were the ones that started this whole mess. Anyway, I think I should just… »
He wanted to add something, but his body reminded him how badly he needed to rest. He fainted mid-sentence.
«Wow, I think that was too much for him, Pikachu. »
«Will he be alright? » he asked in a worried tone.
Genno lifted Ash and put him back in his bed.
«I already told you that. He'll be just fine if he rest. I gave him enough super potions to kill a ghost pokemon. His body is in a much better shape now than when we found him. All Ash needs is his body building up strength again. »
«Still…»
«You can just stay with him if that makes you feel better. Just tell me when he wakes up; he'll have to eat something. »
«Okay. »
For once, Ash could move when he escaped the darkness of unconsciousness. «Well, that's a nice change. I hope it'll stay that way. That too could become a nice habit. » He had just seen a plate of food on the other side of the bed. It was a big, nice hamburger with French fries and ketchup.
His stomach didn't lose any time and shouted his approval. Ash literally jumped on the food.
«Thanks for the food! » he shouted before taking an enormous bite of hamburger.
Naturally, he had seen too big. He didn't consider his body was that of a mouse. He choked.
Pikachu, who was waiting on the ground for him to wake up, reacted quickly. As Ash's face was getting blue, he got behind him and did the Heimlich maneuver.
Between two abdominal thrust, Pikachu scolded his master.
«Seriously Ash.»
He gave another thrust.
«After you choked so many times, one would believe…»
He thrust harder.
«… that you'd have learned to chew! »
Ash expelled a big piece of hamburger that flew all the way to the face of a famous scientist on the wall.
As Ash was catching his breath, Pikachu looked at the mess on the poster.
«Hum… I'm pretty sure that's not the kind of decoration Genno wanted for his room. »
«Is he awake? » asked the said person.
«Yes. »
«Ok, I'm coming and remind him to chew slowly. He might have trouble swallowing. »
Pikachu glared at Ash.
«It's too late for that… »
«SORRY. »
«Just chew. »
He didn't need to be told twice. He got back to his meal in the second.
It felt good to do something normal for once. Nothing crazy like turning into a pikachu or almost being capture by the first trainer he crossed path with. He was just eating a crazy good hamburger with French fries. Mew, that was nice.
«So, how are you feeling now? » Genno said as he entered the room.
«Muberfh. » Ash answered with his mouth full.
«What? »
Ash took a few more seconds to chew completely before swallowing. One choking per day was more than enough.
«I said: much better. »
Two more bites and the snack was gone.
«Whew, that hit the spot. »
Genno and Pikachu looked at each other and smiled. If he could eat like that, he wasn't in a bad shape.
«Well, Ash, I must tell you something that you won't like. »
Suspecting the worst, Ash reluctantly asked:
«What is it? »
«A pikachu's diet is essentially made up of berries. You'll have to eat less meat from now on. »
«Oh, I thought you were going to say something about the poke-geneticist or somethi… wait, what? Less meat? You have got to be kidding me! »
«Ask Pikachu. »
Solemnly, the mouse pokemon nodded.
«Oh great! » said Ash, sulking a little.
And he was getting in a better mood minutes ago. So much for that.
«Don't worry. They're better than they look. » Pikachu said to encourage him.
«But I'm not a normal pikachu! »
«Except the human mind, you're exactly the same as Pikachu. You'll have to deal with it. »
«…fine… »
«Great, now you can begin to train. »
«Already? »
«Nothing big, just you learning how to walk and jump. »
He took a few seconds before adding:
«Then, when your body will be healed up, you'll train a little for pokemon battles. »
Ash stared at him in disbelief.
«Pokemon battles? You're not serious, are you? »
Contrary to what one might think, he didn't like the idea of fighting in a pokemon battle himself. Sure, he'd jump in if his pals needed help, but…
«Oh yes, I am. You know how to tackle and that's pretty much the most basic attack a pokemon could ever learn. Oh, you can do tail wipe too, but if you intend to use THAT, tell me so I can get a camera. »
«Hey! I used Thunderbolt on that fearow, you know. »
«Consciously? »
«Err…»
«Ash, I know it's not fun at all, but if you have to be on your own for a while, we'd appreciate it if you weren't a bloody mess again. »
«Can't I… you know, just continue to use my pokemon? »
Genno seemed surprised, then looked at Pikachu, who didn't understand the emotion on Genno's face.
«You don't know? »
«Know what? »
«Your pokemon aren't here anymore… »
«WHAT? Where are they? »
«In professor Oak's lab. »
«You sent them back without telling me? »
«No! It just… happened by itself. »
Ash wasn't buying it.
« Seriously, you expect me to believe that they just teleported there for no reason? »
«There is a reason. There wasn't any human nearby. »
«What does that have to do with anything? »
«Everything. It's a feature of the pokeballs. Whenever a pokemon gets a hold of a pokeball for too long, the pokeball is directly sent to the professor registered in it. It was made to prevent wild pokemon from taking away a trainer's pokemon. The pokemon inside the ball could have been lost forever, so they add this auto-recall thing on them. »
«I've never heard of that. »
«It's a new thing. A pokemon center must have added the update automatically the last time you went in one. So, when you turned into a pikachu, the pokeballs considered that a pokemon stole them and they teleported back to Oak's lab. »
«They're all gone? »
«Yes, and you can't get them back until you are human again, otherwise they'd just disappear again. We're just lucky you don't keep Pikachu in his pokeball. »
«One more reason to hate them… » the yellow pokemon whispered.
«Actually, Pikachu, there's even more reasons to hate them. I read some of my father's researches and there was an essay on pokeballs mechanism. »
«What's the problem? »
«A pokeball works by locking on the caught pokemon DNA, so it will only work on it. »
«That makes sense. »
«Right now, I believe that our DNA is stable, but could still be modified by a great poke-geneticist. The big problem is that if you and I get caught in pokeballs, it will lock our DNA and then the change will be permanent.»
«You mean permanent as in forever, ever? »
«That kind of permanent, yes. »
He let the information sink in. If they hadn't gotten to him in time in the forest… just thinking about it made him shivers.
«As you now realize, it's important that you don't get trashed by the first trainer you meet. You'd had to serve him for the rest of your life. »
Curiously, during the next few days, Ash was extremely dedicated to his training.
Trainer and pokemon had their role switched for once and while Ash wasn't particularly pleased or bothered, Pikachu enjoyed it a lot.
«Your knees are too weak! You won't be able to do a decent quick-attack with that stance! »
And he was a bit of a military when it came to training.
«Aouch! »
Pikachu, as a merciless coach, had just swipe Ash's legs with his tail to prove his point.
«Hey! Easy! I'm still a poor trainer stuck in the body of a pikachu, you know! »
«That's no excuse! » replied Pikachu as he thundershocked him. «Plus, a pikachu's body is plenty strong. »
If Ash had been human, he'd have been hurt. Luckily, his pokemon body could take electric attacks fairly well.
«Now, do it properly. »
«Yes, sergeant…»
«Did you say something? » he asked in an authoritative tone.
Genno looked through the window with an amused grin. Both of them were getting used to the situation. Ash had seemed to accept he couldn't just be desperate about it, though he did «complained» a lot. Both Genno and Pikachu knew they weren't serious and considered them as jokes.
He saw another flash of yellow light outside. Ash had made another mistake. Though it was more about the landing than the starting move this time. He had headbutted a tree that had decided to stay where it was… a tree with a solid trunk.
Genno tried not to think about what it would be like when it would be time to do the thunder bolt training…
His father's rubber suit would probably a really useful thing to have when it would be time for that dreaded training.
Indeed, that day, Genno was watching at a prudent distance and was wearing a rubber suit too big for Ash's body.
Pikachu and Ash were both staring at each other in the middle of the courtyard.
«Remember Ash, your goal is to be able to perform a thunder bolt attack while fighting a moving target. Ready? »
«Bring it on! »
Both pikachus ran towards the other.
«Double frontal assault? » though Genno, a bit surprised.
When they were but inchs away, Ash did a quick-attack.
«Wow. Good thinking. »
Pikachu immediately jumped on his right and countered the assault with an iron tail. Ash only saw a big flashy tail make contact with his face. The hit made him flew the air on a meter or so. Without losing time, Pikachu jumped over him and attempted another iron tail.
«Woah! Incoming! »
He dodged the attack by a hair. Literally.
Ash tackled Pikachu to the ground and charged a thunder bolt. Before he had the time to finish, Pikachu quick-attacked out of the way and the electric attack missed.
«Not bad, Ash, but you have a long way to go before that hits me! »
Pikachu decided it was time to show Ash what a real quick-attack was like. He poured all his body strength into his legs and jumped forward.
Ash didn't have the time to blink. He had been head-butted into the stomach. Really hard.
«Ouffff… » Ash said as his lung lost their oxygen.
«CHUUUUUUUUUU! »
Ash rolled on his left, dodging a lightning bolt at the last second. He got on his legs with difficulty this time. He was breathing loudly. Pokemon battles were this exhausting? How come some of his pokemon were eager to fight?
«You're not focused enough! » shouted Pikachu as he hit him with an iron tail.
He tried not to pause as he saw his master on the ground, shaking heavily. He slapped himself once. He was doing this to help him. If he wasn't serious, he'd be in trouble in a real fight. «Okay, Pikachu, just get this over with.» he said to himself.
Ash couldn't stop trembling, he was in pain. His first pokemon battle ever was a really bad experience so far. Maybe it would have been better not to have tried in the first place.
Wait. What did he just think? Was he really a quitter like that?
Ash was angry at himself now. He may have been turned into a pokemon, but he wasn't going to let himself think like a boy too afraid to even try! Mustering all his remaining strength, he concentrated on his cheeks.
«Wow, are they really going to do what I think they are? » wondered Genno, fascinated by the battle.
They did. Both Pikachu and Ash released their thunder bolt attack at the same time.
The lightning attacks clashed.
«Wow, scary. I'm glad I'm wearing that rubber suit. »
He had good reasons to be. The attacks meeting had caused lightning bolt to be shot all over the courtyard. And the pikachus were still attacking!
«I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up, I'm not GIVING UP! » Ash repeated.
His whole body was feeling hot now. «I must… » His body betrayed him. His lightning bolt interrupted and Pikachu's hit him dead on.
Genno and Pikachu ran toward him as he screamed in pain.
«Ash, are you alright? » they asked.
«Huh… I've felt better. »
«Why did you shot a lightning bolt when you couldn't even get up ? » Genno said, angry at the recklessness of his friend.
«I just… didn't want to quit. »
«Honestly, you should learn when to. »
Ash didn't answer, instead he turned to look at Pikachu.
«So, how was I, coach? »
«Hum… better than I thought. »
«Really? » asked Ash with sparkling stars in his eyes.
«Yeah, you'd do fine if you were to battle with pichus. »
Ash felt his ego take a powerful hit in the face.
«So in your opinion, I wasn't even supposed to be able to fight baby pokemon? »
«Well, not on your first try…»
«Oh great… »
«Stop sulking Ash, at least, you're able to compete a little. You have no idea how many times I got my bottom kicked by random wild pokemon before meeting you. » Genno said.
«How many times? »
«Hum… I stop counting after the seventeenth time. I'm a pathetic fighter. »
«It didn't look that way when you two rescued me. »
«I only taunted him into attacking something else, that's not exactly me being a good fighter.»
«If you say so… »
«Anyway, let's get you inside. You're done for today. And you better rest. Tomorrow; we're going to Viridian city. »