Chapter Ninety: Dreams and Reality

Chen Ou thus watched, as though in a dreamlike theater, the first time Granny Kikuko buried someone.

He showed no other expression, only admiration for Granny Kikuko and grief for the people of that town.

Compared with her, Chen Ou’s own act of bringing back one urn of ashes was truly insignificant. Granny Kikuko had buried an entire town by herself.

It was hard to imagine what kind of inner struggle that girl of blooming youth had endured then. He watched her wordlessly dig the grave, then place the body inside it. She clenched her teeth so hard she said not a word.

She would not even let the Pokemon help.

The gathered Pokemon, led by Gengar, could only stand there and watch their mistress carry out this task...

Chen Ou could see Granny Kikuko’s unwillingness and self-reproach. They were feelings without purpose, yet feelings everyone would have...

Before the Alliance was first founded, this world had been so savage. The relationship between people and Pokemon could hardly even be called harmonious; to call it peaceful and undisturbed was already a great kindness.

What lay before him, cruel though it was, was only a small reflection of the whole world.

When the dark clouds dispersed and the morning light once more shone upon this small town, all that remained here besides Granny Kikuko was a field of graves and a blank tombstone.

The young Kikuko sat before the tombstone, holding her knees, silent, staring blankly into space.

Chen Ou stepped forward and looked at the crude tombstone, made from some billboard.

Upon it was the name of Harmony Town...

Chen Ou had never heard that name; it seemed it had already vanished.

Looking at the dazed young Kikuko, Chen Ou smiled and said, “You’ve worked very hard.”

“But I came too late,” said young Kikuko dully.

“How could that be? If I had come a little earlier, then...” Chen Ou’s words stopped abruptly. He looked down at young Kikuko in astonishment. Then he was startled to discover that she was looking up at him.

“You can see me?” Chen Ou asked in surprise.

“What else? Though you appeared out of nowhere in a rather eerie way, Gengar told me you meant no harm, and that you were an ordinary human...”

Chen Ou vaguely sensed that something was wrong, yet he could not say exactly what was wrong. And then, in the next instant... his body began to grow faint, fading like colored paper washed pale in water. Kikuko widened her eyes at him, shock flooding her heart so completely that she no longer even had the mind to feel sorrow.

Chen Ou instinctively reached out to Kikuko. “Granny!”

Kikuko saw him reach out and reflexively prepared to grab him, but halfway there she heard those two words.

“Hey! You’re older than me, okay? Who are you calling granny?!”

Unfortunately, before she had finished speaking, Chen Ou had already vanished.

She looked all around, but could no longer see Chen Ou anywhere. The strangeness of it all left her uneasy, and it stirred up a very bad association in her mind.

“A human ghost? First time seeing one. Though he didn’t seem very fierce...”

----------------

Chen Ou opened his eyes all at once.

He sat up rapidly, scanning his surroundings, his left hand already at his waist and his right hand already blazing with fire—white fire at that. He looked thoroughly frightened, so much so that he had unconsciously brought out the white flames.

“You’re awake?”

Granny Kikuko’s aged voice came from outside. Faintly, one could still hear the clarity of her youth, though the erosion of time was unavoidable.

Chen Ou took a deep breath and returned to his usual self. He said irritably, “Granny, you let Gengar scare me with illusions again. Can’t you use a more normal way of talking me through things?”

As he spoke, Chen Ou twisted his neck to either side, producing a series of cracking sounds. Then he prepared to stretch.

Halfway through the stretch, Granny Kikuko’s rather cool voice came over.

“You forgot what I taught you? Or did sleep make you stupid? When a person is asleep, Gengar’s illusion cannot be used. Misdreavus is the one that can.”

Chen Ou did not mind and kept stretching, saying casually, “Yes, yes, Misdreavus then. By the way, where’s little Misdreavus? If it’s going to invade my dreams, shouldn’t that little thing be crawling around on my head?”

Granny Kikuko lifted the tea on the table and took a sip before saying calmly, “I didn’t bring Misdreavus when I came out this time.”

“What?” Chen Ou’s stretch froze there. He widened his eyes and shouted, “You didn’t bring Misdreavus?!”

Granny Kikuko set down the teacup, frowned, and said with displeasure, “Can’t you be a little steadier? If I didn’t bring it, then I didn’t bring it. This time I only brought Gengar and Banette. What about it?”

Seeing the somewhat stunned look on Chen Ou’s face, she also sensed that something was wrong and quickly asked, “What exactly is the matter?”

Chen Ou collected himself and then asked, “Granny, do you know Harmony Town?”

Kikuko’s brows immediately knitted into a deep furrow.

“How do you know that?” Her tone carried the distinct feeling of not wanting to remember.

“You didn’t give me an illusion, and you didn’t create a dream for me?”

“No means no! What, do I need to lie to you?” Granny Kikuko’s tone was clearly angry now.

“...Did you know me before?” Chen Ou seemed to be asking a very stupid question.

Granny Kikuko gave a cold laugh, ready to snap back at once, but after looking at Chen Ou more carefully, she gave a soft exclamation and stepped forward, staring fixedly at his face.

“In my mind, there’s a ghost I remember. He looks a bit like you...”

Kikuko felt that something was off, yet her memory was not wrong—she had indeed seen such a ghost. But why was she only remembering it now?

Shouldn’t she have realized at first sight that this child resembled that ghost who had left a fairly deep impression on her?

Chen Ou’s expression darkened.

Celebi? Darkrai? Cresselia?

No, that was wrong! Something able to draw him into a dream, and even let him travel through time inside the dream itself? What on earth was going on???

“What’s wrong?” Granny Kikuko asked, seeing that his face had become even uglier than her own.

Chen Ou shook his head and fell silent again. After a long while, he raised his head with a bitter smile. “Granny, I think I’ve gotten tangled up in some event I don’t even understand...”

Granny Kikuko also pressed a hand to her forehead helplessly at his words...

Just what kind of constitution did this kid have?

Chen Ou was deeply troubled, but this time he had no clue at all. An existence capable of changing time within a dream—did such a thing really exist???

Then was that dream, or reality? For a moment, Chen Ou could no longer tell.

Just as Chen Ou was suffering from a headache, Rotom beeped and chirped as it rushed in through the doorway, with old man Fuji following behind.

“Professor Oak is on the phone, Rototototo!”

P.S. Everyone can try guessing what this is all about.