Who was Ash's father, and why wasn't he around his family? Why were Brock and Misty willing to step down from their gym duties to travel with a boy they just met? Why did Giovanni disband Team Rocket so easily, and why did he disappear? Answer these questions and more in this short narrative, in which the tale of our favorite pokémon master is expanded, with a twist.

We'll all know how the story begins after the prologue, but only I know how it ends. If you guys like the story, and I'm confident you will, I kindly ask you to support me through more than the number of views. In other words, reviews. I'm not saying this to pressure anybody to do things they don't want to do; I just decide how prioritized my stories will be (meaning how often stories are updated and revised) through the abundance of their reviews. I'm more than happy to write this story, for I do believe it has potential. If nobody shares in my delight, however, it will be taken down so the more popular stories will be more attended to. I repeat, this is NOT take a threat or plead for more reviews, but a simple FYI for those who will be upset if the story is shut down without a considerate note.

Thank you for selecting my story! I hope you enjoy what you're about to read.

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Delia screamed at the top of her lungs as the doctor told her to push. Her arms kept her body up before they collapsed at the weight of her pain. Nurses left and right wiped sweat from Delia's forehead. Delia writhed in agony before letting out another scream.

"Push, Miss Delia!" the doctor encouraged. "It's almost out!"

"Hang in there, Delia!" Giovanni gripped her hand. "Look at me, honey. Breathe, breathe!"

Delia let out another blood-curling scream before collapsing on the mattress. The doctor carried away the new-born child, but something was wrong. Giovanni looked up from his wife, who had fainted from labor, and turned to the people surrounding his offspring.

"What?" he called out. "What is it? What's wrong?"

The doctor and nurses looked at each other. They were wearing masks over their faces, so Giovanni didn't see their worried expressions.

"We have to run some tests, Mr. Ketchum," The doctor told him.

"C...C-Can I..."

Everyone turned to Delia, who was waking up from her stupor.

"Can I hold...my child?" Delia asked.

"In a moment, Mrs. Ketchum," the doctor handed the baby to a nurse. "In the meantime, you will be moved to your own private room. Our nurses will be close by if you need assistance."

"Wait, hold on," Giovanni stepped forward. "Why do you need to run tests? What's wrong with our child?"

Delia's eyes immediately widened, but because the woman was too tired, she didn't do anything else.

"Babies usually cry when they are born," the doctor told them. "Your baby, on the other hand," he gestured to the bundle in the nurse's arms, "was born silent."

Giovanni and Delia stiffened.

"But don't be alarmed Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum," the doctor assured. "This could be nothing. Your baby is breathing, so I assure you he's alive. We just need to run some tests to make sure he's healthy."

"W-Wait," Delia called out wearily, "i-is...our child a...a boy?"

"Yes," the doctor nodded, grinning faintly under his mask. "Yes, Mrs. Ketchum. You and Mr. Ketchum have a baby boy."

Delia quivered in joy before passing out again. Giovanni would've beamed himself, but the doctor's words haunted him. Even when he and his wife were moved to their private room, and his wife was sleeping on a more comfortable bed, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The nurses tried to console him, but their words were empty and vague. They were not qualified to give him a diagnosis, after all. Unless the doctor himself told him his son was healthy, Giovanni had a lot to worry about.

And he was right to worry, because when the doctor came to their room, he came with bad news. Giovanni didn't register the name of the disease, but he remembered the sentence that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Your son has about ten years to live."


"Honey," Delia called out. She was wide awake now, sitting up on her hospital bed. She cradled her baby, who was sleeping in her arms. "Honey, please talk to me."

The man sitting on the chair beside her bed finally looked up. The expression on his face made Delia cringe.

"Our son is dying, Delia," Giovanni reminded her. "Aren't you upset?"

"I'm still a bit too weary to feel anything," Delia admitted, "but I am sad."

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Giovanni shook his head. "I was going to do many things with him. Teach him how to hunt, to drive, to fend for himself."

"You can still do that, Giovanni," Delia told him.

"How?" Giovanni asked. "The boy's disease is going to confine him inside the house. He might as well be bedridden because one misstep, and he's dead!"

"Honey!"

"But am I wrong?" Giovanni demanded. "Our son is a ticking time bomb! How can he do anything if everything will kill him? I can't even let my pokémon near him without sending him to an early grave!"

"We'll make the best of it, dear," Delia urged. "Being born healthy doesn't always guarantee a long life. You know how reckless kids can be."

"But being born healthy would've given our son a chance to live at all," Giovanni remarked. "But our boy doesn't have a chance; he has a death sentence!"

He suddenly stood up, alerting Delia to look at him.

"Gio?"

"I need to leave for a while," Giovanni told her. "I need to find a way to fix this."

"Fix what? The disease?" Delia asked. "But the doctor said there's no cure."

"Then I'll find a cure, damn it!" Giovanni remarked. "I'll be damned if I just sit here and watch my son die!"

Delia's widened.

"But...where will you go?"

"I don't know yet," Giovanni answered, "but I'll be gone for a while."

"Gio," Delia trembled, "I am not going to raise our son on my own!"

"And you won't," Giovanni told her. "I'll send money while I'm gone, even more if you need it. We'll call or email each other so we don't lose contact."

"But why do you have to go at all?" Delia asked. "Why can't we search for answers here? Together?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt!" Giovanni snapped.

Delia widened her eyes.

"Wait," she said. "You're not..."

Giovanni stiffly turned away.

"Damn it, Gio!" Delia spat. "You promised me you were done with that life! You promised!"

"I know, Delia, bu-"

"You swore you changed, Giovanni!"

"And I HAVE!"

A cry suddenly broke through the air. The couple looked down to see that the baby had started crying.

"Oh honey," Delia rocked the baby. "It's okay. Shhh, shhh. Mommy's here."

Giovanni only stared at the infant and grimaced. The baby was in distress, but his cry wasn't loud enough.

"Delia."

Delia looked up at him.

"I want us to be a family," Giovanni told her. "We can't be a family if our son is this weak."

"You can make him strong, Giovanni," Delia told him. "That's what fathers are for. No boy should ever grow up without his father."

"No son should die before his father either," Giovanni closed his eyes. "You can try to comfort me all you want, Delia, but it isn't going to save our son."

"But you've gone so far!" Delia insisted. Her voice started cracking at that point. "We've gone so far."

"And we're still going," Giovanni told her. He took his wife by the shoulders, careful not to block the baby. "Remember when I was in the darkest point of my life, but you were the only one that still believed in me?"

Delia stiffly nodded.

"I need you to believe in me again, Delia," Giovanni pleaded. "For us, for our son, for our family."

Delia looked down. Her baby was still crying, and she rocked him again to soothe him.

"Just don't do anything wreckless, Giovanni," Delia looked back to him. "When I tell our son about his father, I want him to be proud."

Giovanni leaned in and kissed Delia on the temple.

"I won't," he vowed, "for you and..."

He leaned down to the kiss the baby's head.

"For our child."

The baby immediately stopped crying. A smile stretched across his face, and his eyes lit up.

"Oh honey," Delia quivered, tears falling down her cheeks, "he loves you already."

Giovanni turned to the baby and finally smiled.

"I love him too," he said. "That why I'm going to make sure he grows up to a bright future."

"He's so beautiful..." Delia sighed, gaping at the baby's granite eyes.

Then she gasped.

"Honey!" she cried. "We haven't named our son yet!"

Giovanni blinked and turned to the child again. The baby responded by stretching his arms to him. The gesture was weak, but persistent.

Delia smiled and handed the child to his father. Giovanni was hesitant at first, but eventually accepted his son. The baby cooed at the sight of him. His arms continued to stretch until his fingers brushed his shirt.

"Ash," Giovanni said, finally looking into his son's eyes. "His name will be Ash."

Delia smiled. She gave Giovanni a supportive grip on the arm before stroking their baby's back.

"Ash," she said. "What a pretty name."