NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
Author's note:
So what is Daddyshipping, you ask? Well, it all started with a little picture from Pokemon 4 (aka Celebi – A Timeless Encounter) of Satoshi (Ash) and a young Yukinari (Professor Samuel Oak) sitting side-by-side in a tree, arms around each other. This lead to the proposal by other members of the Eldershipping Brigade that a new 'ship could be inferred from that picture – thus, Daddyshipping was born. Why Daddyshipping? Well, given his interest in Ash and Ash's mother, some people believe that Professor Oak might be Ash's father. But even if he's not, Ash does appear to regard Professor Oak as a father figure. Either way, Daddyshipping seemed like an appropriate term for this 'ship. And as far as I know, this is the first Daddyshipping fic ever."Oh, Sammy, this has been the best day ever. I'm so glad I met you."
"Me too, Ash."
"I'll never forget you, Sammy."
"And I'll never forget you, Ash."
Professor Samuel Oak awoke with a start. The dream again. Sometimes the setting would be different, but it would always be the same person. And he would always wake up puzzled and somewhat disturbed by it.
Why am I having a dream about one of my students?
And the problem was that it wasn't just any dream. Sometimes the dreams would get rather intimate – kissing, hugging. And the problem was that it just wasn't any student he was dreaming about. It was Ash, the boy who had been his next-door neighbor for years…and the son of his lover, Delia.
Why am I dreaming about Ash like this?
The dreams had started a couple of months ago. At first he had dismissed them as nothing – after all, it was normal to have dreams about people you knew. But the dreams persisted and gradually became more and more intimate. He – albeit a younger version of himself -- and Ash sitting together side-by-side, arms around each other, laughing, hugging, sometimes kissing.
He liked Ash – he wasn't going to deny that. He had known the boy all his life and knew that Ash thought of him as a father figure. Particularly since the boy had never known his biological father; he had abandoned Delia when she told him she was pregnant. But he cared about Ash in a paternal way – not the way he had been dreaming about. Not the same way he cared about Delia.
The dreams sometimes made him question his sexuality, but he always soon dismissed that idea. He knew he was very much a heterosexual. After all, he had been married before, had children, grandchildren…and shortly after Ash had left on his Pokémon training journey, he and Delia had become lovers. He had intimate dreams about her, too.
But why do I keep dreaming about loving Ash in the same way as I love Delia?
Ah well, he didn't have time to dwell on it now. He had to get up and attend to the Pokémon. Tracey had left the day before to visit his family in the Orange Islands, so he had to attend to his chores as well as Tracey's. He had just finished feeding the Pokémon when the videophone in the lab rang.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Samuel," smiled the pretty auburn-haired woman on the video screen.
"Good morning, Delia," Samuel smiled back. "How are you this morning?"
"Fine, thank you. If it's not too much trouble, could I ask you a favor?"
"You know I'd do anything for you, Delia. What is it?"
"Do you remember that trip I won a few months ago?"
"You mean the one you won at the Harvest Festival raffle?"
"Yes. Anyway, you know I kept putting it off and putting it off because something kept coming up."
"Yes."
"Well, I was looking at the papers today and it turns out that if I don't take that trip by the end of this week, I'll forfeit it. Apparently you have to take the trip within six months of winning it or else it becomes void."
"So what's wrong with that? Don't you want to go to the spa on Cinnabar Island?"
"Of course I do. But the problem is that Ash is here. He arrived yesterday for a visit."
"Can't you take him with you? He might like seeing the Pokémon on Cinnabar Island again."
"The trip is only for one person. I was thinking that you might like to have it instead. Go in my place."
"That's very sweet of you Delia, but I can't go, either. Tracey is gone this week, so I have to keep the lab running by myself until he gets back."
Delia sighed. "Oh dear. Now what'll I do?"
"Why don't you go on your trip and let Ash stay by himself?"
"I can't do that! Ash is too young to stay at the house alone."
"Delia, the boy's been out on his own for quite some time now. I think he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself."
"Maybe, but I still think he's too young to have the house to himself for a few days." Delia's face brightened. "I know! Would it be too much trouble to ask you if Ash could stay at your place for a couple of days? He could help you out with the Pokémon since Tracey's gone."
"Hmmm, I could use the help around here. I didn't realize how much I depended on Tracey until he left." He turned and saw a Rattata munching on his apple. "All right then, send him over and go pack your bags."
Delia smiled broadly. "Thank you so much, Samuel! I'll definitely find a way to make it up to you when I get back."
Samuel smiled to himself at that thought. "Don't worry about that, Delia. Just go to Cinnabar Island and have a great time relaxing and enjoying yourself."
"I'll do that. And thank you again, Samuel. I love you."
"I love you too, Delia. I'll see you soon."
Two hours later, Delia and her son turned up on his doorstep.
"Now you listen to Professor Oak and do everything he tells you to. Remember that he's in charge when I'm not around," Delia said as she fussed over her son one last time.
"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore," Ash bristled. "I can take care of myself."
"Make sure you change your you-know-what every single day," Delia reminded him as she straightened her son's baseball cap.
Ash's face reddened with embarrassment. "Mom!"
"Don't worry about a thing, Delia," Samuel reassured her. "We men will get along fine, won't we, Ash?"
"Can I go put away my things, Professor Oak?" Ash said, eager to escape his mother's fussing over him.
"Certainly. You'll be in Tracey's room. It's upstairs, the second door on your right," Samuel said as he pointed to the stairs.
"Be good, Ash," Delia said as she kissed him.
"Okay, Mom," Ash said as he wriggled out of her grasp and headed upstairs with Pikachu.
Delia pulled a list out of her purse and handed it to Samuel. "Make sure he eats well and gets plenty of sleep. Don't let him stay up too late. He's allergic to strawberries, so don't let him have any of those. Here are the phone numbers of Ash's pediatrician, the spa where I'll be staying, the fire department, the poison control center, the…"
Samuel silenced her with a kiss. "Don't worry, Delia. I've raised my children and grandchildren, so I think I'm capable of taking care of Ash for a couple of days. We'll be fine. Now you'd better get going or you'll miss your flight."
"Thank you again, Samuel," Delia said as he escorted her outside. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"That's what I'm here for," he smiled as he kissed her again, this time more passionately. "I'll miss you, darling."
"I'll miss you too, sweetheart. See you in a couple of days."
Samuel watched the woman he loved head down the road until she disappeared in the distance, then turned around and went back inside.
---
"Did you get everything settled, Ash?" Professor Oak asked the boy as he came downstairs.
"Yeah, pretty much," Ash said as Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. "But I still don't think I need a babysitter for a couple of days. I can take care of myself, you know."
Professor Oak smiled. "I know that and you know that, but your mother still thinks of you as her little boy. Besides, it's not as if I'd be babysitting you. I need someone to help me around the lab while Tracey's gone, so you would actually be my temporary live-in assistant. You'd be my employee."
"Well, that sounds better than being babysat. So what do I do first?"
Professor Oak handed Ash a shovel. "Since I finished feeding the Pokémon before you arrived, then it's time for you to clean up after them."
Ash's face fell. "You mean I've got to be a pooper-scooper?"
"Yes, Ash. All my assistants start out at the bottom and work their way up," Professor Oak smiled as he handed Ash a pair of gloves and a garbage bag. "Besides, hard work will give you a good appetite for lunch. We'll be eating in an hour."
"Hope Snorlax hasn't gone poop yet," Ash grumbled as he and Pikachu headed outside.
Professor Oak was finishing up his morning's research an hour later when he realized it was time for lunch. Turning off his computer, he headed to the kitchen and began making some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (Remembering Delia's warning from earlier, he made sure Ash's sandwiches had grape jelly instead of strawberry.) After putting them down on the table, he glanced at the clock and noticed that it was fifteen minutes later and Ash still wasn't back yet.
Wonder if he's still cleaning up outside,
he thought as he headed back to the hallway and nearly collided with a frantic Pikachu."Pika! Pikachu!" the little yellow Pokémon said frantically as it gestured in the direction of the backyard.
"Slow down, Pikachu," Professor Oak said. "Is something wrong?"
Pikachu nodded. "Pika-pika-chu!"
"Where's Ash?"
Pikachu grabbed his hand and started dragging Professor Oak to the back door.
"Pika-pika!" The Pokemon pointed in the direction of the grass Pokémon preserve.
Professor Oak followed Pikachu down the path to where the grass Pokémon played and saw something lying facedown in the middle of the field surrounded by several plant-type Pokémon.
"Oddish?" the little purple bulb Pokémon said curiously as it lightly touched the shoulder of the prone form with one of its leaves.
"Ash!" cried Professor Oak as he realized that the creature lying facedown in the middle of the field was Ash. He pushed aside the crowd of curious Pokémon and knelt down beside the unconscious boy, who was still clutching his shovel.
"Ash? Can you hear me?" He gently shook the boy's shoulder. No response. "Ash?" He shook the boy's shoulder harder, but Ash's eyes still remained closed. Alarmed, Professor Oak quickly pressed his fingers against the boy's neck. As he felt the steady beat of the boy's pulse beneath his fingertips, Professor Oak noticed that the boy's skin seemed rather warm to the touch. He then saw that Ash's face was flushed.
But he didn't seem sick a little while ago,
Professor Oak thought as he felt the boy's forehead and discovered that Ash had a fever. Just then, Ash's eyes opened a fraction and he began to moan."Ash? Can you hear me?" Professor Oak asked once more. "What happened?"
"Vipuuum," Ash mumbled in response.
"Vipuuum? What's that?"
"Vileplume," Ash mumbled again.
"Vileplume? What about Vileplume?"
"Stnsprrr," Ash muttered.
"Stn…do you mean Stun Spore? Vileplume hit you with Stun Spore?"
Ash nodded and closed his eyes once more. Professor Oak shook his shoulder again and forced them to open. "Ash, stay awake. Do you think you can stand up?"
Ash opened his eyes again and made an attempt to sit up. Professor Oak then helped the boy to his feet. "Come on, son. I've got some salveo weed back in the lab. I'll brew you some tea and that should help you feel better."
---
Back at the Oak house, Ash was lying on the couch in the laboratory (with his bad back, Professor Oak knew there was no way he could carry Ash upstairs) while Professor Oak was searching for some salveo weed, the antidote to Stun Spore.
"Don't worry, Ash," he called from the other side of the lab where he was searching through the cabinet that held medicines and antidotes for Pokémon. "I know I have some salveo weed extract some…aha! Found it." He triumphantly held up the bottle that contained the dried weed. "I'll go find the teapot in the kitchen and brew you up a batch as fast as I can. Be back in a few minutes."
Ash nodded, pulled his blanket up to his chin, and closed his eyes.
When Professor Oak returned ten minutes later, he discovered that Ash was sound asleep. Even though he knew the boy needed the tea to help counteract the effects of Vileplume's attack, he figured it would be best to let him rest right now. Besides, the tea was fresh out of the teapot and too hot to drink anyway. Professor Oak put the steaming cup of tea on the desk next to the couch and felt Ash's forehead once more.
Still pretty warm,
he thought as he went to get a cool compress to help bring the boy's temperature down."Sam…"
Professor Oak whirled around to see who was speaking.
"Sam…" Ash mumbled again.
That's odd
, he thought as he looked over at the sleeping boy. Ash has never called me by my first name.Curious, he went over to the couch where Ash lay and stood watching the boy for a moment.
"Celebi…"
Celebi? Why in the world would Ash be talking about a Pok
émon like that?"Love you…Sammy…"
Shocked, Professor Oak dropped the washcloth he was holding. It fell atop the cup of salveo weed tea and knocked it to the floor. As the teacup landed with a crash and broke into several pieces, the noise woke Ash up.
"Wha…? Professor Oak, what's going on?" Ash said groggily as he opened his eyes and saw his mentor hovering over him.
"I…uh…dropped the cup of salveo weed tea," Professor Oak stammered as he bent down to pick up the pieces of the broken teacup. "I'll go get you some more. Just…just lie there and rest for a while."
Back in the kitchen, a white-faced Professor Oak located another cup and poured the tea with shaking hands.
Why did Ash say that? Surely he's not having the same kind of dream that I…
Some of the hot tea sloshed out of the cup, burning his hand and jolting him out of his thoughts. Startled back to his senses, Professor Oak cleaned up the spill and headed back to the lab. "Sorry about taking so long, Ash," he said, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Give this a couple of minutes to cool and then drink the whole thing," he said as he handed the cup to Ash. "You should start feeling better soon. I'm going to go upstairs for a couple of minutes. Yell if you need anything." As the boy slowly sipped the hot tea, Professor Oak headed upstairs to the attic.
"Where can it be?" he muttered to himself as he began searching through the rows of dusty bookshelves. "Aha!" he exclaimed as he located an old sketchbook, pulled it out, and began flipping through the drawings. And there it was – a drawing of a small, elf-like looking Pokémon with huge eyes.
"Celebi," he whispered softly. He then turned to the next page to a drawing of a boy – a dark-haired boy of about eleven or twelve wearing a baseball cap.
"Ash."
