A/N: So apparently I'm now on a bit of a Pokemon kick. Eh. Well, could be worse. I hope you like it!

Title: Notes in a Melody

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Family/Tragedy

Warnings: AU

Summary: Rattata found Ash on the edge of the forest, in the arms of a dead woman. Pokeraised!Ash, first part of a series.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


A bundle of cloth sat on the edge of the forest. A few feet away, the ground was stained with now-dried blood, a black-haired woman still and dead on the grass, a little boy cradled in her stiff arms.

The boy, about a year old, cried desperately, tears streaming down his face. He was cold, and scared, and hungry, and Mommy wasn't moving.

"Tatta?"

The boy's cried slowed and quieted slightly as a Rattata poked its head out of the trees, red eyes round. Her eyes widened and she chirped in distress as her eyes fell upon the scene.

Rattata was confused. Just a moment ago, she'd been over the moon, having escaped from the prison Butterfree and Pidgeot – her parents, of a sort – insisted was a den. But now there was this, a crying child and a dead woman, and she suddenly wished Pidgeot was there to help her.

The human boy had stopped crying and was staring at her with tearstained, dark brown eyes, sniffling. Hesitantly, she crept forward, and he held his arms out hopefully, ignoring the restraints around him.

She didn't see very many humans where she lived, mostly just a noisy woman in a noisy car that drove around and spoke loud human words. "Ra rattat?" Rattata said hesitantly. Little boy?

The human chirped at her wordlessly and held his arms out further.

She crept forward a little more, low to the ground and uncertain, ending just within his reach, eying the woman uncertainly. He patted her head clumsily and she cooed in pleasure. "Raaa!"

He giggled and Rattata chittered happily, worries gone, beaming and waving her tail. Her first trip alone out of the den and she'd already made a friend, even if it was a strange human child!

She nuzzled his arm happily and he giggled again, cooing. Then he snatched for her tail and she flicked it out of the way, biting him gently, but crossly. He flinched and whimpered and she cooed in apology, nuzzling him again and offering her tail.

He smiled at her and snatched for her tail, holding it surprisingly gently.

"I like you," Rattata told him, chittering soft laughter. He smiled, though she knew he didn't know what she'd said. Then, suddenly, she brightened. "Hey, human boy, do you want to come home with me?"

Pidgeot and Butterfree, she knew, would almost certainly take him in. After all, they'd taken her in when she'd been half-starved after two weeks on her own, when she was still just a baby Rattata – even if that was now so long ago that she barely remembered.

He looked at her and cocked his head, and cooed wordlessly. She sighed in pure exasperation and pulled her tail from his hand. He gave her a despondent look and whimpered.

"Hey, human boy, come with me," she insisted, backing away a little and waving her tail again.

He looked at her uncertainly and reached for her tail again, but it was just out of reach. She waited impatiently, hopping around a little in place, and he slowly sat up and then tumbled forward as he tried to reach her tail again, the woman's arms falling limp. His eyes welled up with tears, ignorant of the scene behind him.

"Human boy!" Rattata complained. She waved her tail again.

Uncertainly, he crawled forward a few steps and reached again, and Rattata let his fingers brush her tail before she backed up a few more steps.

This time, the boy didn't hesitate; he crawled forward and reached again, and she backed up with surprising patience, luring him forward a few more steps. On the third round, he caught her tail and held it so tightly it hurt, and she cried out. He let go quickly with a teary-eyed whimper and she hissed a little before backing up and waving her tail again, determined.

In this manner, she lured him all the way to the den, curious pokémon occasionally pausing to watch their progress. They always quickly moved on, though, and eventually, they were at Rattata's den.

Rattata was tired, but pleased; the human boy had followed her all the way home, and now Pidgeot had to let her keep him. She crooned happily, darting in quick circles around the human boy, who laughed. Then his stomach grumbled and he frowned, looking at his stomach and then back up to her helplessly.

She tilted her head curiously. "Are you hungry, human boy?"

He looked at her uncomprehendingly and then looked at his stomach and whimpered, hugging it.

"You're hungry," Rattata decided. She brightened. "I can fix that! Wait here, human boy!"

He stared after her confusedly as she scrambled out of the cave. Within minutes of her departure, he looked around and suddenly realized that he couldn't see his mother anywhere. He whimpered, tears welling up in his eyes, and cried out, fidgeting fearfully.

Soon, though, Rattata returned, rolling several berries in front of her triumphantly. His cries quieted again and she sat in front of him, victorious.

"Here, human boy!" she said cheerfully, pleased with herself. "I found food!"

He tilted his head at her and she sighed in exasperation and rolled a berry forward. "C'mon, human boy, eat it."

He frowned for a moment, but, hesitantly, reached forward and held it uncertainly in clumsy hands. He looked at her and whimpered in confusion.

"Human boy!" Rattata complained. She reached forward and grabbed a berry for herself – she was getting rather hungry by now – and munched on it, then looked at him expectantly.

He stared at her, then looked at the berry and tried to bite it. It mashed in his mouth and he winced as it squished half over his face, but swallowed; the berry was rather soft.

The human boy smiled and cooed, and Rattata cooed in triumph. "Raaattata!" she cheered.

This was the scene Butterfree came to; having spent half the morning trying anxiously to locate the missing Rattata, she'd come home to check the den again to see if Rattata had found her way back. Apparently, she had.

And equally apparently, she'd found a friend.

"Ra-rattata?" Butterfree stuttered, shocked.

Rattata looked up at her, beamed, and hopped up, skittering over to her. "Mama, Mama, I found this human boy and his mom wasn't waking up and I brought him home, can we please, please keep him?" Her red eyes shone hopefully up at the Butterfree, and Butterfree blinked down at her.

"B-butterfree?" she choked. She looked at the human boy, who beamed at her, squished berry all over his face.

He crooned and slowly leaned forward to crawl toward her. She tipped her head and let him approach, red bug-eyes concerned, and he reached forward and brushed a hand carefully along her wing. He chirped happily.

"Oh, sweetie," Butterfree murmured, motherly instincts kicking in and finally processing Rattata's words. So his mother was dead. That meant that he likely had nowhere to go. She couldn't just leave him alone, the humans would never find him in time, and even if they did… well. She leaned forward and brushed one hand along the boy's head. He giggled. "I'll speak to Pidgeot about it, okay, Rattata? Maybe you and I together can convince him."

Her tone was wry and Rattata chirped in amusement, thinking of Pidgeot's often overcautious nature. He'd be none too pleased to have another family member to take care of, but Butterfree knew he had a soft heart – he'd taken care of her, after all.

The boy yawned and rubbed one eye sleepily, and Butterfree crooned. "Okay, child, it's time to go to sleep," she said softly. She shooed him to the corner with gentle wingbeats and then used String Shot on the corner, creating a soft surface for him. He yawned and curled up, blinking sleepily, and Butterfree added to Rattata, "You, too, honey."

Rattata gave her a cross look, but obediently curled up next to the boy, and he instantly wrapped her in a hug and fell asleep. She sighed, snuggled closer to him, and dropped off, too.

Butterfree crooned fondly and then flew off, small, rapid beats sending her out.

"Pidgeot!" she called out. "Pidgeot!"

Within minutes, Pidgeot appeared, black eyes wide and frantic as he perched on a branch above her. "Butterfree, did you find her? Oh, that girl is going to be in so much trouble when I get to her!"

"There's no time for that right now, Pidgeot," Butterfree scolded, fluttering up to settle beside him. "Rattata found a human boy."

Pidgeot blinked. "Whaaat? Butterfree-"

"I know, Pidgeot," Butterfree said patiently. "But he's just a baby, really. And you can't fool me; I know you like humans."

It was true; Pidgeot had spent his younger years as a trainer's pokémon, and he'd picked up quite the fondness for humans over that time period.

"Butterfree, it's not safe to keep a human child around," Pidgeot said crossly, fluttering his wings in preparation for flight. "We need to send him home."

"He has no home!" Butterfree snapped, beginning to lose patience with the male pokémon. "Pidgeot, if we don't keep him, he'll most likely die."

Pidgeot let out an agitated scree. "Butterfree, I know you don't have much experience with humans, but when one of their young goes missing, they just… forget all limits, sometimes."

"If I can trust humans after they wrecked my home, you can trust them after your time with your trainer," Butterfree insisted.

"That was Team Rocket, that was different," Pidgeot muttered rebelliously. "We've all had bad experiences with Team Rocket and I know you know that they're different from other humans."

"Enough, Pidgeot. We're keeping him."

Pidgeot ruffled his wings crossly. "Oh, fine."

If she could have, Butterfree would have smiled. "Good."


The day after they decided to keep him, Pikachu came calling.

"Pikapika!" he called cheerfully. Heya, family!

Pikachu, usually called only 'Pika' due to their close friendship with his mother, Pikachu, and father, Raichu, had met them when a Fearow had attacked their den while Pidgeot was badly ill. Pika had taken down the Fearow with surprising ease and they'd been close ever since. Eventually, Rattata started to playfully refer to him as her cousin, and the title stuck.

Butterfree blamed Pidgeot for the whole extended family concept, honestly.

"Shh!" Rattata hissed, almost vibrating in place. Too late; the boy woke up and sat upright with a yawn, peering around and then finding Pika and brightening. Pika tilted his head.

"Who's that?"

"Human boy," Rattata said confidently.

"…I don't think that's a name."

"He's right, you know," Butterfree said thoughtfully, crooning a laugh as Pidgeot opened one beady eye and glared at them for waking him. "The child needs a name."

"Human boy works fine," Pidgeot grouched, closing his eyes again.

"Pidgeot!" Butterfree scolded. Pidgeot sighed and shook himself, rising to his feet resignedly. "Good. Now, what should we call the boy?"

All of them stared at the boy. He tilted his head and cooed curiously.

"Ash?" Pika suggested, not sure where the name had come from, but liking it.

"Yeah, Ash!" Rattata agreed enthusiastically. "Hey, Ash, wanna play?"

He tilted his head at her. She sighed and waved her tail at him. He grabbed at it and laughed. Pika snickered at Rattata and she gave him a cross look. "Shut up, Pika."

"Didn't say a word," sang Pika, smirking at her. "Hey, can we show him to Ma and Pa? I know Ma'll be curious 'cause she's never seen a human before."

"Yeah!" Rattata agreed happily. "Mama, can we?"

"Certainly," Butterfree agreed, overruling Pidgeot's stern objection. Pidgeot sighed and wondered why he even bothered.

Rattata beamed and twisted around, whipping her tail away from Ash to show him her face instead. He tilted his head curiously and she chirped. "C'mon, human boy, let's go see Pikachu and Raichu!" she enthused.

He crooned in confusion, but when she gestured with her tail, he hesitantly got up and crawled after her. Pika crooned triumphantly, half-laughing, and Rattata stuck her nose up and marched past him, Ash crawling curiously after her.

It wasn't far to Pikachu's den, and soon Pika hollered in, "Hey, Ma, Pa, I've got someone ta show you!"

Raichu poked his head out, frowning. "Pika?" His eyes landed on Ash and widened. "Oh."

"Yeah!" Rattata said happily, bouncing about. Ash giggled and snatched at her. She danced out of the way easily and continued, "His name's Ash and I found him all by himself, and Mama said we could keep him!"

"Did she, now?" Raichu said dubiously. "And did your Papa agree to this?"

Rattata giggled. "Mama didn't give him a choice, silly."

Raichu sighed and muttered something about controlling women.

"What was that, Rai dear?" Pikachu asked cheerfully, and Raichu flinched slightly – between the two of them, Pikachu was stronger, despite her pre-evolutionary form – while Pika and Rattata laughed at both of them. Ash just giggled, not quite sure what was going on. Pikachu emerged and her eyes landed on Ash and widened. "Oh. Oh. Is that a human?"

"It is!" Rattata agreed happily.

Pikachu and Raichu looked at each other and thought the same thing.

Oh, dear.


So yeah. There's this. By the way, the title is a reference to a metaphor I initially came up with for how pokespeech worked, but I've figured out a better way so it's kind of redundant. But I'm keeping the titles anyway. By the way, the next part of the series takes place during the anime, but it's not going to be a full run, because I know I can't do that.

RELATED TO THAT, I'm taking requests for episodes, which I'll start posting after this is done (it has three parts, already finished). Any episode, any season. Thanks for reading and please review!