Ray Chu felt something poking at his face, and he jumped awake, immediately alert, scanning his surroundings cautiously.
He found himself in a valley. He distinctly remembered standing in the forest moments ago—how had he ended up here?
Right, the moonlight!
The moon's glow had enveloped him, pulling him upward through some luminous tunnel, after which he'd promptly passed out.
Voices spoke nearby, but Ray Chu couldn't understand them. Pokémon communicated with simple words or psychic impressions—spoken human languages were entirely foreign to him.
Ray Chu turned toward the voices and saw two… humans?
One was a pretty young girl, the other a slightly shorter boy—wait, the boy had a tail?
A sense of familiarity overwhelmed him. Reaching out, he pinched the boy's tail. The boy immediately trembled and collapsed on the ground, prompting Ray Chu to clap excitedly.
No mistake! These two are definitely the young Bulma and Son Goku!
"Wow! It's so cute!" Bulma immediately melted at the sight of the adorable creature before her, reaching out eagerly to scoop him up.
"Be careful! I think he's really strong!" Goku warned shakily, still recovering from having his weak point grabbed.
"Strong? This little guy?" Bulma doubted it instantly. She thought even Master Roshi's perverted turtle seemed scarier than this cuddly-looking creature.
As she spoke, the little yellow thing suddenly flashed with electricity, vanishing from sight, reappearing atop a nearby cliff after just a few quick leaps, shading its eyes and looking around.
By the time Ray Chu jumped back down into the valley, he'd confirmed that this was indeed the world of Dragon Ball—the unique landscape entirely different from the last world.
Bulma, shocked by his speed, quickly hid behind Goku. Trembling, she asked nervously, "I-it's not going to eat me, is it?"
Goku, looking very serious, concluded that anything capable of grabbing his tail unnoticed must be strong. "Let me talk to him."
Taking the Power Pole from his back, Goku stepped up to Ray Chu, striking a confident pose. "Hey! If you wanna eat us, you'll have to defeat me first!"
Bulma cried out, exasperated, "What kind of negotiation tactic is that?!"
Ray Chu: "…"
After staring awkwardly at each other, both sides quickly realized they couldn't communicate at all. Goku put away his pole, shrugging, "Well, if you don't plan on eating us, we're leaving."
Ray Chu quickly jumped in front of Goku, making Bulma tense up again.
Suddenly, Ray Chu pointed at himself, then at them, and gestured as if to say "let's go together."
Dragon Ball's world was famous, and though Ray Chu didn't know how he'd ended up here, it wouldn't stop him from continuing his training!
The moment he saw Bulma and Goku, Ray Chu had already crafted a whole set of plans. Joining these two was clearly the best choice.
Bulma guessed aloud, "You want to come with us?"
Ray Chu realized Bulma was speaking "Japanese." Though his vocabulary was limited, he could roughly guess her meaning and nodded eagerly.
Bulma dragged Goku aside to whisper a few words, then returned to give Ray Chu their answer—only to find him already leisurely perched atop her motorcycle, causing her mouth to twitch slightly.
Goku casually summoned the Flying Nimbus and hopped on. Seeing this, Ray Chu eagerly gestured to try it out himself.
"Oh!" Goku jumped down, watching Ray Chu leap confidently onto the Nimbus, only to promptly fall through.
Ray Chu's mouth twitched again as Bulma giggled. Looks like this yellow guy isn't as pure-hearted as he appears.
With his Flying Nimbus dreams crushed, Ray Chu had no choice but to obediently sit on Bulma's motorcycle. Standing on the handlebars, he looked suspiciously like a mascot.
Along the journey, Ray Chu eagerly looked around. The Dragon Ball world had similarities to his previous world: abundant resources and plenty of dangerous wildlife. He even saw a massive dinosaur casually stroll by, completely uninterested in them.
Fields alongside the road were farmed by various humanoid animal-people who walked upright, their intelligence seemingly equal to humans'. No wonder Bulma and Goku weren't shocked at Ray Chu's appearance.
Bulma tried communicating with Ray Chu, but after realizing he genuinely didn't understand the local language, gave up. Though unsure why the strange little creature joined them, he at least didn't seem malicious.
That night, Bulma took out a capsule, releasing a dome-shaped house, a marvel of this world's unique technology. Ray Chu stared, slack-jawed, prompting Bulma to secretly laugh at the country bumpkin.
Unbeknownst to her, Ray Chu had already locked onto Bulma as a benefactor. From now on, he'd cling tightly to her for food, clothing, and comfort.
At dinner, Bulma prepared a feast for the three of them. Afterward, she hummed a tune, took a bath, and opened her bedroom door—only to see Ray Chu boldly standing on her windowsill.
She quickly covered herself, screaming, "What do you think you're doing?!"
Incidentally, this world had plenty of animal-people—and the males among them were famously perverted.
Ray Chu hopped lightly in front of Bulma, holding a book and gesturing urgently.
A genius who created the Dragon Radar at sixteen, and later built a time machine, Bulma quickly grasped his intention. "You want me to teach you to read?"
Ray Chu nodded vigorously.
Bulma thought this was actually pretty good. Since they'd be traveling companions, teaching him to read would make communication easier and strengthen their bond.
Bulma took out a children's picture book to start the lesson. She quickly discovered Ray Chu was extraordinarily intelligent, needing only one demonstration before mastering each word.
Ray Chu, however, soon faced an awkward reality: Pikachu vocal cords seemed unable to form human speech. Whenever he tried, the result was always a perfect, cheerful "Pikachu!"
He had no idea how Team Rocket's Meowth had managed to speak human language.
"Pikachu? Is that your name? So cute!" Hearing his adorable voice, Bulma felt her heart melting.
Ray Chu felt a headache coming on. After some thought, he dragged over a writing board and clearly wrote down "Ray Chu," pointing at himself, then wrote "Bulma" and "Goku," indicating each in turn.
"Wow!" Goku exclaimed in amazement, recalling his struggles learning to write from Grandpa Gohan—he'd had trouble remembering any words at first.
Having dealt with many geniuses, Bulma wasn't overly surprised. Instead, she accelerated the pace of her lessons.
Thus, their group traveled by day and taught Ray Chu at night, quickly arriving at the next village on their journey.
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T/N: WOAHOHOWA DRAGON BALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL