Wait, They Really Shrunk?!

"Play with you for a while?"

Holding Pikachu, Ash looked in confusion at the doll in Sabrina's arms.

"But we still need to go to the Pokémon Center. Pikachu got hurt just now and needs treatment right away."

"Pika..."

Pikachu gave a weak cry.

Misty quickly added, "That's right! Since the match is over, we should get going."

With that, she grabbed Ash and prepared to leave.

But just as the three turned around, the doll's displeased voice came from behind them.

"No!"

"I haven't played enough yet!"

Misty stopped in her tracks.

"What?"

Before she could react, an eerie blue light suddenly lit up the entire battlefield.

Brock was the first to notice something wrong.

"Watch out!"

He hurriedly reached out to grab Ash, but a second later, an invisible force enveloped all three of them.

"Aaaah!"

Ash felt his body grow light, and suddenly his feet had nothing to stand on.

The gym floor rapidly receded before his eyes, and the surroundings blurred with it.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself sitting on an unfamiliar wooden floor with Pikachu in his arms.

"Ow..."

Ash rubbed his head, then curiously surveyed his surroundings.

"Huh? Where are we?"

Before him was a rather beautifully decorated room.

Pink walls, a round table covered with a lace tablecloth, a cabinet full of toys, and an enormous bed.

It looked like a little girl's bedroom.

But...

"Ash!"

Misty suddenly screamed beside him.

"Look over there!"

Ash looked in the direction she pointed.

A gigantic teddy bear sat in the corner, its round head almost two stories tall.

Several colorful building blocks lay scattered beside it, each one bigger than their entire bodies.

Ash froze.

"What is this place?"

Brock looked up at the absurdly tall furniture, his expression gradually changing.

"I think we might have been shrunk."

"Shrunk?!"

Misty looked down at her hands, then up at the gigantic teddy bear.

A few seconds later, she abruptly ducked behind Brock.

"You've got to be kidding! How could people suddenly get this small?!"

"But everything here has gotten huge."

Ash still retained some curiosity.

He walked up to a building block and gave it a hard shove.

The block didn't budge.

"Whoa! This block is practically a wall!"

"Ash!"

Misty stamped her feet in anger.

"Is this really the time to study building blocks? We need to get out of here!"

"I know!"

Ash held Pikachu tightly and ran toward the far end of the room.

There was a small white door there.

Although it wasn't large compared with the entire dollhouse, its handle was still absurdly high for them now.

"Darn it, I can't reach!"

Ash stood on tiptoe and jumped several times, but couldn't even touch the edge of the handle.

Brock hurried over.

"I'll lift you up!"

After struggling for quite a while, the two finally managed to reach the handle.

But just as they were about to turn it, blue light suddenly spread across the door.

Click! The door locked itself.

"What?!"

Ash's eyes widened.

Then familiar laughter came from above the room.

"Hee-hee-hee!"

"Found you!"

All three looked up at once.

The doll that had originally been in Sabrina's arms was now leaning over the dollhouse's open top, smiling down at them.

Behind it, Sabrina stood quietly as well.

From Ash and the others' perspective, the girl's figure looked like an enormous statue.

"Miss Sabrina!"

Ash hurriedly shouted.

"Turn us back!"

Sabrina didn't answer.

The doll, however, clapped excitedly.

"No! Let's play hide-and-seek!"

"If I catch you, you have to be good and play with me!"

"Who wants to play a game like that?!"

Misty couldn't help shouting.

But the moment she finished speaking, the gigantic teddy bear beside them suddenly moved.

Creak.

The teddy bear slowly raised its head and reached its two furry arms toward them.

"Aaaah!"

Misty grabbed Brock in fright.

"It moved! Brock, it really moved!"

"Run!"

Brock pulled her along, turned, and dashed under the table.

Ash followed with Pikachu in his arms.

The teddy bear's paw swept over their heads, stirring up a gust of wind and knocking several small building blocks on the floor askew.

"This is ridiculous!"

Ash looked back as he ran.

Who could have imagined that after finishing a challenge at the renowned Saffron Gym, they would end up being chased by a doll?

"Pikachu, are you okay?"

"Pika..."

Pikachu huddled in Ash's arms and gently shook its head.

After its fierce battle with Kadabra just now, it really didn't have much strength left for any more of this.

Ash gritted his teeth and quickly held it a little tighter.

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of here!"

The three hid beneath the table, but just as they breathed a sigh of relief, another burst of cheerful laughter rang out overhead.

"Found you!"

The tablecloth was suddenly lifted.

An enormous smiling doll's face abruptly poked inside.

"Ah!!!"

This time, even Brock nearly jumped in fright.

Ash ducked out the other side with Pikachu in his arms and ran forward as hard as he could.

Misty followed close behind, shouting as she ran, "I'm never coming to the Saffron Gym again!"

The doll, however, enjoyed itself more and more.

It manipulated several building blocks to block their path, then sent a little toy train running toward them along the floor.

Just as Ash went around the blocks, the little train came from the side, startling him into stopping in a hurry.

"Hey! How can this toy move on its own too?!"

"Because this is my dollhouse!"

The doll answered as though it were perfectly reasonable.

Ash gritted his teeth in anger.

But Pikachu was still injured, and he didn't dare have it use Electric-type attacks carelessly.

The three were chased all over the room, and before long, they were exhausted and panting.

"Huff... huff..."

Misty braced herself against a building block, her forehead covered in sweat.

"I can't go on..."

Brock was panting too.

"If this keeps up, we'll get caught sooner or later."

Ash looked up at Sabrina outside the dollhouse and couldn't help shouting, "Miss Sabrina! I already admitted defeat! What more do you want?!"

Sabrina remained expressionless.

But when the doll heard those words, it suddenly stopped moving.

"Why won't any of you play with me?"

It tilted its head, seeming a little hurt.

"It was always like this before, too. Everyone always wanted to leave."

Ash froze.

Before he could say anything, the doll began smiling again.

"That's okay! You can stay here this time!"

As it raised both hands, blue light lit up the entire dollhouse once more.

The building blocks beneath Ash and the others' feet began moving, and the surrounding toys converged on them.

Misty turned pale with fright.

"Ash! Think of something!"

"I'm trying!"

Just then.

A deep voice suddenly rang out.

"That's enough, Sabrina."

Immediately afterward, another psychic power appeared outside the dollhouse.

Two blue lights met in midair.

The doll paused.

"Huh?"

A second later, the three saw everything blur before their eyes, and their bodies became weightless again.

When they regained their footing, they found that they had returned to normal size and were standing in an alley outside the Saffron Gym.

"We're out?!"

Ash looked down at his hands and shouted in delighted surprise.

Misty simply collapsed onto the ground.

"Thank goodness! We're finally out!"

Brock looked at the man standing a short distance away.

He wore plain clothes and a hat, and his expression looked somewhat weary.

He was the mysterious psychic who had just rescued them.

"Thank you for saving us."

Brock said earnestly.

The man shook his head slightly.

"Don't thank me yet. You'd better stay away from the Saffron Gym for now."

Ash held Pikachu in his arms, still somewhat unwilling to give up.

"But my Badge..."

"With your current strength, you can't defeat Sabrina's Kadabra yet."

The man glanced at Pikachu.

"Besides, your partner needs rest."

Ash lowered his head.

Pikachu lay in his arms, leaning wearily against his arm.

He finally nodded.

"I understand."

The man stayed no longer and turned toward the mouth of the alley.

"Take it to the Pokémon Center first."

With that, he disappeared at the other end of the street.

Ash watched him go and scratched his head in puzzlement.

"That's strange. Who exactly is that guy?"

Brock shook his head.

"We don't know yet. But he seems to know Sabrina very well."

Misty hurried them along. "Never mind that for now! Let's get going. I don't want to run into that doll again!"