Chosen by a Legend
Miracles, Growing and Redheads
Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted character
AN: For the Brock fans out there... I' sorry but there will be no Brock in this fic. He will only appear during the Pewter city gym battle.
In the pokémon world surprise is one thing everyone quickly gets used to. However sometimes even the most experienced professor can be taken aback with the infinite mysteries of the world.
The world renown pokémon professor Samuel Oak had been taking a late night walk with his long time friend Delia Ketchum through Pallet Town when the sky had been illuminated by a bright light and the roar of an explosion had swept through the town waking up everybody. Already accustomed to being woken up by the sounds of pokemon battling, usually some trainer trying to catch nocturnal pokemon, most people just went back to sleep. However the wondering pair was nearer to the forest than most of the town people and as they gazed in the direction of the explosion they heard the distinct sound of a baby crying.
"Do you hear that Sam?" Delia softly asked as she surveyed the tall grass wearily a hand clutched over her heart as the crying tugged at her motherly instincts.
"Yes, I hear it. Wait for me I'm just going to get a pokémon from my lab!" Professor Oak yelled already running towards the biggest building of the whole village, his lab.
Delia looked after him and silently wished for him to be faster. The crying hadn't stopped and it pained her having to wait when she could already be helping the defenceless child. Tired of waiting she ventured in the forest with a silent prayer that for the child not to be hurt. Professor Oak who had just been returning saw Delia disappear into the forest and immediately went after her crying for her to wait.
They ran through the forest with only the child's cry for a guide and soon came upon a clearing full of unconscious spearow and fearow with a jolteon, vaporeon and flareon lying protectively around a newborn child in the center. The pokémon professor hesitated at the sght of the pokémon but Delia only got more determined and continued to walk forward ignoring the professor's suggestion of stopping.
All three pokémon who had been worriedly looking at the child stood up and started growling at Delia as soon as they sensed her approaching, flareon stepping in front of her menacingly sa his mane ruffled and gained a shine of red. When Delia didn't stop he fired a flamethrower at her feet trying to dissuade her. Even so the woman didn't retreat, just stopped and offered he hand to the pokémon to show that she didn't represent a threat. Flareon sniffed her hand and slowly backed up to allow her to pass through, his siblings doing the same.
Delia praised mew that she had been allowed to pass and hurriedly went to the child always followed by the watchful eyes of vaporeon and jolteon while flareon watched their sorrounding for threats. Kneeling down next to the newborn child she quickly gave him an once over and greeted him with her best cheerful smile while she rocked him on her arms, "Shh little one, do not cry. You're alright now. No one is going to hurt. Shh..."
Under Delia's gentle ministrations, soothing voice and body heat the baby slowly stopped crying until just a few sobs were heard and carefully opened his eyes to look at whom was holding him. Seeing the smiling face of Delia the baby went completely quiet and after a while slowly lifted his hand to grab a lock of the hair cascading around him and tugged at it making happy noises. The pokémon who had been watching the pair immediately gathered around them and Delia laughed gently an she sat on the ground with a little miracle in her arms so that the pokémon could also watch the happy baby.
The little miracle as Delia took to calling him grew to be known as Ash Ketchum after Delia registered him as being her own child with the local authorities. Energetic and always laughing the child ran from place to place always followed by the three pokémon who had protected him on the night he had been found and often could be found helping professor Oak around the lab and playing with his one year junior friend Gary Oak and his friend older sister Mary Oak under the watchful eyes of Delia. Until he reached the age of twelve, when he set off on his pokémon adventure.
Delia, who had been dreading the day Ash would leave for his trip around the world, was feeling the what she had definitely not expected to be feeling that day, annoyance.
"Ash! It's time to wake up!" she called from downstairs and received no answer. After calling once again she wasn't answered a second time. Really not feeling like climbing up the stairs she turned to jolteon who had already had breakfast and was lying near the front door with its siblings and whispered quietly in his ear. The pokémon rubbed his head against her hands affectionately and bounded up to Ash's room.
"Aaaaahh!" The sound of jolteon's wake up call and Ash's stumbling upstairs brought a mischievous and satisfied smile to her face as she put her son's breakfast on the table.
Ash who had just been woken up by jolteon electrical discharge came running down the stairs intent on strangling the life out of the thunder pokemon.
"Stay still so that I can kill you properly!" he yelled at the fleeing pokémon running around the living room at a leisurely pace clearly mocking him.
Delia who had had enough of the raucous finally decided intervene from her place on the table, "Ash, that's enough. Come sit down and have breakfast this minute young man."
Ash went stiff and immediately obeyed after hearing the annoyed tone his mother's voice carried only muttering an "Yes mother."
Smiling at her son's answer she once again turned to her own breakfast and her most importantly her morning coffee mug as she watched her son happily eat the last home made breakfast he would have for a long while. She let out a wistful sigh at the thought. Her little miracle would be soon leaving Pallet behind and going alone on one of the most important journey of his life all alone. She almost wished to have that cheerful baby she had found all those years ago back in her arms. Almost but she loved her son more now than she had then and wouldn't let him go for nothing in this world.
"I'm done mum." Ash's voice broke her out of her reverie and she smiled at the sight of Ash's inquisitive look.
"Have you already packed everything?" she inquired
"Yes mum." Ash curtly replied clearly annoyed with Delia's question.
"Are you sure you have enough changes of underwear?" she insisted just to annoy him further.
"Yes mum I'm not a little kid anymore." Ash whined with his arms crossed and a pout.
Delia just giggled at her son and pulled him into a hug.
"I know Ash, I know. I just wish I could still call you my little miracle. I'm very proud of you Ash and I know you won't disappoint me." she whispered in his ear and hugged him a little longer so that he wouldn't see her cry before letting go and holding him at arms length as she looked into his face.
"Look at you already as tall as me and just twelve years of age. Now you better run along and go to Samuel's lab to get your pokédex and pokéball for your pokémon. I very much doubt vaporeon would like be always outside when there isn't any water around and the same goes for the other two. You very well know they can be very picky when it comes to the weather." she told him with a smile and went with him to the door where his three pokémon were already standing anxious to get outside.
Ash picked up his bag and played a little with each of his pokémon before standing up and surprising his mother with a quick hug and an hushed "I love you mum" before bolting out of the house with his three companions happily bouncing around him.
In the pokémon professor's lab Samuel Oak sighed as he eyed the contraption he had created in conjunction with his colleagues abroad to study and record pokémon behaviour and species. The pokédex and this one in particular was going to the most curious of the people he knew, Ash Ketchum. If he was honest with himself ever since he and Delia had found in the forest, well Delia had found him in the forest, he had always held a special place for the boy and with time he had come to see him as his own son. He would miss the boy when he was gone but he couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect the amount of information he would gather with the help of Ash. He had installed by Ash's request a small camera on the pokédex, allowing him to record pokémon's behaviour and battles for further study, along with a cellphone feature allowing them to communicate with each other no matter how far away they were as long as the area was covered by Kanto's wireless information network, K-WIN for short. He just hoped he wouldn't mind the extra weight.
Ash smirked to himself as he approached the pokémon laboratory main door and mentally plotted his course across Kanto. He was so distracted that he would have run into one of the professor's aides had vaporeon not tugged him out the way. After giving vaporeon a pat on the had as a thank you Ash quickly found professor Oak in the backroom of the lab looking over a pokédex with a faraway look.
"Hello professor. Anybody home?" Ash playfully asked waving his hand in front of Samuel's face.
Professor Oak gave a start and jumped back holding the pokédex as a weapon and groaned as he watched as Ash sniggered at his expanse. Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down the professor greeted Ash with a strained smile.
"Hello to you too Ash, I see you took upon yourself the task of sending me to an early grave" the professor greeted the tall pre-teen back and watched with annoyance as Ash stopped sniggering and settled for an unnaturally large grin.
"So is this my pokédex?" Ash inquired already examining the machine he had discreetly taken from Oak's hands.
More than used to Ash's behaviour just nodded his head in answer to the question before taking the device from the youth's hands.
"I have added the extra features as you asked and that had the side effect of your pokédex being quite a bit heavier than a normal one. I hope you understand that you are a special case as I was only able to make this changes on the bases that you would be helping me and countless other people with their research with the footage you will be gathering throughout your trip. And on a side note I have already given your mother your mother the number of your pokédex so that she can contact you anytime during your travel." professor Oak explained to Ash as he showed the features of the pokédex.
After thanking him and picking up the pokéball professor Oak had put aside for his pokémon, secured them to his belt and left with his pokémon for Virdian City.
Ash was already half the way to Virdian City when he heard screams coming from behind him. Looking back he saw a red haired girl, that he had seen fishing on the nearby stream, on a bicicle being chased by an angry cloud of spearow.
Misty Mayflower hadn't been having a very good day. She had spent her entire day seating on the bank of a stream where she had caught her goldeen two years back and not even a magikarp had bitten. She had been so frustrated she had pulled back on her cane with al her force and hit a spearow who had been flying by. Now normally that would be nothing bad but the god damned bird had started squawking like a loon and called on all of the spearow of the forest. They had atacked her all at once not giving starmie and staryu a chance. They had continued to chase her even after she had got on her bike. She had been on her last breath when she had seen a man on the road ahead of her with three pokémon around him. Fuelled by hope she began peddling with all her strength trying to catch up to him all the way yelling to get his attention. She saw him and his pokémon stop and look at her but as she approached and he did nothing despair once again took over and tears were already pouring over her face when she suddenly felt a strong arm lifting her by the waist and her head being pressed against a chest as a strong voice commanded "Jolteon, thundervolt!". She sobbed against his chest while the sound of electricity filled her ears and when they ended and she couldn't hear no more cries of spearows she let herself fall asleep in whoever arms she was in.
Ash looked over the sleeping redhead he held in his arms and and sighed. This wasn't how he had expected his journey to begin. Nonetheless he couldn't stop now so might as well continue on and leave her at Virdian's Pokémon Center. Taking a treat from his backpack and throwing it to jolteon to congratulate him for a job well done Ash stood up from his kneeling position and put his feet to the road intent on reaching Virdian before sundown.