Ash lay down in his hospital bed and sighed. His first day in the "real world" was hard to process. Almost nothing was familiar. No one knew what Pokemon were or could relate to his life as a Pokemon trainer. His head hurt when he tried to consider the idea that it was all just a long dream.

Have I really been dreaming for two years? Ash asked himself.

The boy looked out the window and toward the night sky.

No, that can't be right. It-it had to be real. Ash thought.

The boy closed his eyes and thought about his buddy Pikachu and the adventures they had together. He imagined his buddy's warm soft fur and "electrifying" personality.

Pikachu...I'll find you, buddy. Then maybe we can get out of this strange world. Ash thought.

"Pikachu..." Ash whispered as he again tried to drift off to sleep.

The "real world" suddenly disappeared in a veil of darkness and Ash awoke to a familiar scene, albeit a fuzzier version of it.

"Alright, Pikachu, thunderbolt! Aim for the horn!" Ash said.

Ash's yellow furred companion obeyed without hesitation, leaped in the air, and electrocuted the charging Rhydon opponent.

"The winner is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the announcer shouted.

Ash leaped in the air with excitement and Pikachu followed. Then, the two embraced each other for a victory dance.

"We did it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted

Ash suddenly shot up from his bed with a smile on his face and arms in the air in a cheering position.

"Yeah! We won! Alright! I knew you could do it, Pikachu," Ash said while clutching his pillow.

The night was strangely silent.

"Pikachu?" Ash asked.

There was no response. Ash looked around the hospital room, and his eyes fell on the pillow he was clutching. Realization suddenly hit him.

"It was...just a dream?" Ash whispered.

Frustration was nagging at the young teen. He lay his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes tightly, as if he was trying to drown out some kind of terrible warning, Ash's body started shaking with anger.

Was it really all just a dream? Was it really all just a dream!

In a flash, the boy's joy turned to disappointment and anger. He balled up his fist and punched the pillow he had been holding lovingly earlier.

"No! Pikachu..." Ash said. The boy's voice was merely a whisper that broke into a sob at the end.

Ash continued punching the pillow, harder and harder, as if each blow would bring him closer to waking up from this nightmare and being back with his friends. Ash punched the pillow until his knuckles were sore. Finally, Ash grabbed the pillow and cried into it.

Exhausted, Ash finally entered into a dreamless sleep.

Ash again opened his eyes to be greeted by his sterile environment.

Nurse Joy was taking his vitals and asking him how he slept.

"Okay," Ash said weakly. It was a lie, but he knew from the previous day that no one here would understand his disappointment.

"Good," Nurse Joy replied, almost robotically as she finished his vitals.

The Nurse Joy in Pokemon world is almost always happy. I wonder what's wrong with this one. Ash thought.

Ash sighed as Nurse Joy finished checking his vitals.

"You seem upset, is there anything wrong?" Nurse Joy asked.

Ash studied Nurse Joy. She had long brown hair, pulled back into a bun. She wasn't wearing her Pokemon nurse uniform, just plain white scrubs.

She didn't look like his world's Nurse Joy, but she sounded just like her. Ash almost told her about missing Pokemon world but caught himself at the last minute.

"I miss...my friends." Ash said with a small whine at the end.

"They probably missed you, too..." Nurse Joy replied cautiously.

Ash got the idea that she didn't know what he was talking about, and he was probably right.

The boy sighed as Nurse Joy finished checking his vitals.

Briefly, he found himself lost in a daydream.

"Chansey!"

"Your Pokemon are fighting fit! Come see us again!"

Ash blinked.

"Are my Pokemon going to be okay?" Ash asked.

"With a little rest, they'll be just fine!" Nurse Joy replied.

"Blissey!"

Ash shook himself out of his daydream in time to see Nurse Joy walking away with the cart. These were all very familiar sounds. It seems like he found himself at a Pokemon center almost every day in Pokemon world.

The sound of hard shoes echoed off of the tiled floors.

Ash looked up. It was Professor Oak. Well, the man he had been calling Professor Oak; he responded to it anyway, but even though he sounded like Professor Oak from the other world, he again didn't look that much like him. This Professor Oak had short silver hair, and he was a lot more serious than the playful Professor Oak he was used to. If Ash closed his eyes, though, he was almost identical to the other Professor Oak besides that.

"It's good that you're awake. Did you sleep well?" Professor Oak asked.

"I guess so..." Ash said.

"Do you think you might be able to do physical therapy today? We need to get your muscles back in shape," Professor Oak asked.

Ash nodded his head, not really interested in whatever was just said.

"Good, after breakfast, I'll have someone begin your regimen," Professor Oak said.

Eww...even the food here is terrible. Ash thought.

Ash stared at his watered down oatmeal and almost refused to touch it. His growling stomach directed him to do otherwise, though. With a little hesitation, he picked up his spoon and dipped it into the bowl.

The spoon felt heavy and strange; he couldn't lift it with the ease like he could in Pokemon world. It also took a little bit longer to eat. In Pokemon world, he could polish off several bowls of this stuff and ask for seconds.

Ash swished the oatmeal in his mouth and tried not to gag at the odd consistency. The texture and flavor of real food felt foreign to his mouth. In the world he was in before, he only ever noticed what he was eating if he slowed down and thought about it. The food was delicious, when he could taste it. A lot of it tasted like candy and fruit, for some reason, but there were also very strong savory dishes that tasted like his favorite foods usually.

In comparison, the oatmeal tasted like sweetened hot water. It took everything he had not to just spit it out and ask for an Oran Berry instead.

Ash forced himself to swallow the last bite.

Yuck! Even Pokemon food tastes better than that! Ash thought.

Briefly, Ash fantasized about Brock and his great cooking.

Man! I wish Brock were here. Ash thought to himself.

Suddenly, Ash heard a familiar voice.

"'Hey, Ash..."

Ha! I must have a good imagination. I thought I heard

"Hey, Ash, over here..."

"Brock?" Ash asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Yeah! It's me, Brock. How did you know?" Brock asked.

Ash would have spit out his oatmeal if he had any in his mouth.

"How? How did you get here?" Ash asked.

"I work here," Brock said.