Chapter 5: The Realization

As much as he hated to admit it, Ash found he was starting to accept the reality of this strange new world.

Just enough, that is, to realize events he had been though in the last unknown number of hours had not been merely a nightmare brought on by pain and fever…

The shadows of the bars fell in upon the golden straw flooring of the cell, weaving over it like the hand of a spider web.

Morning.

He quickly began to wake up, his head jerking upward with a sudden start as he tried to pull again on a neck chain that was no longer there, and fell forward on all fours like a bug, scurrying to stand upright.

Acting on a desire that had been denied of him, for what seemed liked an eternity of his limbs being tied down, the boy ripped with a renewed surge of passionate energy at the leather band around his neck.

Stopping at last when his fingers began to ache and the corset like bindings of the collar showed no signs of giving in, he sighed deeply, eyeing the area around him.

The iron door that he had heard being closed the past evening was now open a little more than a few inches, letting in the fresh feeling of circulating air and daylight that had awoken him.

Ash strained against the cell’s bars for a moment testing their strength by trying to force his body though them. After almost getting his head permanently wedged in-between the pieces of metal the boy quickly gave up on that plan.

Whoever or whatever had built this place, it was definitely made to keep in even the smallest of prisoners.

It was an odd feeling to him, no longer having the argue to sleep in like he had once, back in his own world of clean soft sheets and the sound of his mother cooking downstairs.

Rice.

Ash’s ever-hungry thirteen-year-old stomach growled at the thought of the simple basic food he had once taken for granted.

Then, as if in answer to his unspoken prayers, he noticed a spot of color half hidden under a pile of the grassy flooring…

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A collar that keeps me from talking but not breathing or eating. Weird...

Then again, maybe eating’s part of some sort of torture here to…

Sitting crossed legged in a far corner with the early morning light just beginning to highlight his youthful featers,

Ash looked down distastefully at the contents of the clipped red wood bowl he was holding.

It was filled with leafs in many bright shades of green and yellow mixed with small white pieces of root that looked like uncooked noodle

s and tasted remarkably like celery.

Nice to know the pokémon here are vegetarians, I guess.  Ash mused thoughtfully

All his life he had always been a true believer in the fact that deep down, all pokémon, no matter how bad their master ordered them to act,

were basically good at heart. But Ash had a feeling deep down in his gut that if the pokémon in that room he remembered had

been meat eaters he would be being served up with gravy and a side of baby potatoes right about now.

He thought, scooping the mix into his mouth as fast as he could to avoid tasting it.

Somehow that same feeling in his gut seemed to override his taste buds, asking an even more trying question:

Did they even have masters?

The thought sent a shiver down his frame.

If those pokémon had been acting of their will..

There was definitely something different about these pokémon though..Something about their eyes...

A sudden sound broke the morning silence,  making Ash's mind snap out of thought and his body edge immediately nearer the bars,

as if acting on a primal need for freedom.

The noise was clear and sharp, soundly oddly out of place like the rhythm of a sick steam engine.

The way in which it echoed thought the space around the corner of the hall his cell was located on gave the boy a mental picture

of a maze of corridors just beyond his line of vision.

Ash eyes brightened as he recognized the familiar pokémon speak.

"Chic, Chic, CHI!"

"Chic, Chic, CHI!"

The unmistakable sound of wood being dragged over dirt accompanied every "CHI!"  of force as Ash heard it grow nearer and nearer,

finally catching sight of its source as it rounded the corner.

Despite the depression he had been feeling Ash couldn’t help but smile to himself.

Two Chikorita, one pushing with its head and leaf, and the other pulling with its vine whip in a cart horse fashion, were transporting a box,

nearly the size of both their bodies put together, between them.

They moved slowly but steadily up to his cell, staying far toward the other wall, as if knowing that any closer would put them within grabbing distance.

He mouthed an unfruitful greeting as the two pokémon came to a stop in front of his enclosure, their eyes turned toward him.

“Chico, Chi, ck!” The first spoke cheerfully, its eyes shining.

Ash could tell by its slightly paler yellow color that this one was the female of the two, as well as the pokémon who he had grown accustomed to seeing twice before.

“Chioro…” Its companion replied in an almost business like tone.

The glace the male shot him of piercing consideration made Ash gulp involuntarily.

Something about that mere look made him feel very like a frog in science class.

But, before he had time to even begin to think of this visit as an opportunity for escape, a winkle of gritting gold Stun Spore quickly clouded his eyes and mind.

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“Don’t you think that was over doing it a bit?”

Chikorita spoke flatly, eyeing the human parlayed in place like it was a hatchling that had been punished for a crime it didn’t commit.

The poor thing… She added to herself silently

“Now Chikorita, you know as well as I if you give it an inch a human will bolt…”

Sunspot retorted, whipping his leaf to the side with an air of importance, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he added,

“ Besides…I didn’t care for that look he was just giving me..”

Chikorita let her usually merry laugh ring out, a showing for emotion that was all but forbidden in the normally over formal gatherings of her fellow doctors.

Somehow, being within the walls of her own center with only her subjects and a pawfull of hired assistants always had a way of putting her mind at ease.

It even seemed to have had some effect on Sunspot over the two years they had been researching together, melting off some of his usual habit for saying just what he thought when he thought of it.

“Now who’s the one that has been spending too much time in the human  pens?” Chikorita spoke lightly, as if playing a tried and true part in an age-old debate between the two.

Sunspot sighed, drooping his leaf in mock defect and winking

“Alright, alright, perhaps I did use a bit too much for such a young one. Let us go in and tie the little male for testing before he decides wake up though, all right?”

Chikorita nodded firmly and cheerfully to Sunspot…

But somewhere, in the very back of her mind, the small female felt a wave of regret at the thought of tying this particular human again.

She shook her head a bit, fighting off a certain alien feeling she could not put a name to that had been growing nearer and dearer to the surface of her thoughts.

What’s wrong with me? She pondered and then stopped herself as she joined Sunspot in a teamwork effort to open the door by standing on his head as he reared up.

Oh, it doesn’t matter. Right now what’s most important are the tests, yes that’s right, the tests...

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Author’s note: Just make things clear,  this chapter takes place before Chap 4 but also while some of the events of 4 are happening.

It will all come together soon; thank you kind readers for your support.