Summary: Ash has had depression for many years, though the symptoms come and go as they please. Now that his journey has begun, he has to explain everything to his friends one by one, and wait for the relapse when they finally leave.
Chapter One: Delia
Before it all began, Ash had been quite the rambunctious child. He would spend his afternoons running around, playing with Pokemon, his mornings getting in trouble for talking to Gary too much in class, and his evenings playing video games or arguing with his mum about going to bed. The hyperactivity wore Delia out to no end, but nonetheless she was grateful that her son was so happy- a joy that would soon come to an end.
The signs were subtle at first; sometimes he'd get more angry at his mum during their arguments, and a lot more often. Other times, he would just go to bed without warning, and when she asked about it, he'd say he wasn't feeling well. She thought it was normal for a kid to wind down every once in a while, but she still worried.
After a while, the signs grew more and more prominent. With each passing week, she would get less and less calls from his teachers, and less and less smiles from Ash in general. She noticed a drop in grades, a drop in energy, yet an increase in times she caught him crying. Then he started not eating, not going to friends' houses, not wanting to play video games… Delia was really starting to get worried now. She she took him to a doctor, and he was diagnosed with depression.
Ash didn't seem to care when the man broke the news to them (he didn't seem to care about much of anything, really), but Delia was shocked. A seven year old with depression? This couldn't be right. But the doctor explained that while it was relatively rare, it wasn't unheard of, and he'd dealt with it many times in the past. So he prescribed some medication and some therapy, saying he'd be back to normal in no time. And he was right; the next thing Delia knew, Ash was running around and being all hyper again.
The thing was, the pills and the therapy weren't working as well as everyone thought they were. The medicine just made Ash numb, not happy, and the therapy just made him embarassed. It made him feel weak. So at a young age, Ash Ketchum learned how to fake a smile and pretend nothing was wrong, and eventually he got so caught up in the act that he forgot about the lies that lay inside of him.
A/N: Sorry this is so short, I promise the next chapter won't be!
And, I'm really sorry that I haven't been updating anything recently. I'll try to work on that this semester, as I'm taking a creative writing class and after this project that's due on Monday, we have like, one thing, and then the rest of the class is free write. So, hopefully that will give me time to write.
I hope you enjoy!
