Hello there, everyone! Long time no see, huh? I apologize greatly for my failures. College suddenly dropped a ton of work and tests on me, so I found myself insanely busy for the past few months. I only had a little time to ever go online for fun, certainly not enough to write. However, vacation has started for me, so that means I can actually get stuff done! And I thought that I could kick off my vacation with a new story taking place in the world of Pokémon!

By the way, to those who are waiting for an update for "A Father's Duty", don't worry! I'm not abandoning it! I've mentioned that my library only has a limited number of copies of Finding Nemo. Thanks to a series of events, we now have even fewer, and they've been taken out. My library has a rather long lending period for movies. But the second I get my hands on a copy, we'll start up the next chapter of that story. Also, sadly, I'm afraid I'm going to have to delete the story "Our Lives At Hogwarts". I apologize to everyone who liked the story and wished to see more of it, but I have lost any and all inspiration and motivation to continue it. And it's not fair to you readers if I just keep it lying there. So, I'm removing it. I am sorry for that.

So, getting into this story, as the summary suggests, I'm taking on the characters of Ash and Red (gameverse, since I am not into the manga) through a series of connected one-shots. Now, just to make things clear, I have stuck with the anime since it first aired here in the United States and I have also played FireRed, SoulSilver, Platinum, Black, and Black 2. I love the games and I treat the Pokémon I battle with as though they were real (which has led to several awkward moments of my Dad walking in on me giving my Pokémon a pep talk before big battles). What I also want to make clear is that I love both Ash and Red. I find the character of Red from the games to be rather cool and definitely interesting to think about. But I love Ash way more, ever since I first watched the series all those years ago. This story will combine elements of the game and anime, along with a bunch of stuff I'm adding in for the sake of creating a fun universe. Since the beginning notes are already this long, I'll continue what I wanted to say about these two and the direction I plan on taking this story in the bottom notes of this page.

P.S…There will be absolutely no shipping. Pokémon is one of those shows I've never wanted romance in. Didn't ship anyone as a child, don't ship anyone now. So, let's get into the story now!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, whether it be the manga, the anime, or the games.


"The poor dear…To be widowed so soon."

"He was so young too…"

"Their child is only nine months old…"

The adults were all whispering amongst themselves, shaking their heads in disbelief and pity. Everyone was dressed in some sort of black attire as they sat in the funeral hall.

In the front row, a six year old boy with black hair and reddish-brown eyes sat beside his mother. His face was impassive as he looked in the direction where the ones the adults were whispering about were seated.

A young Delia Ketchum sat beside the closed casket that contained her beloved husband, staring at it with blank eyes. In her arms was an unusually quiet baby, her son Ash.

Red was rather surprised at this, having never seen any baby stay calm for so long before. Then again, glancing over his shoulder to where the Oak family was seated, even Red's chatterbox of a friend/rival, Green, was abnormally solemn.

Funerals just had that effect, Red supposed, though Red couldn't help but think that Green was probably being reminded of his own parents' deaths nearly one year ago.

The fact that Mr. Ketchum was so well known and loved in Pallet Town only added to the dark mood filling the air.

Mr. Ketchum was one of Professor Oak's assistants at the lab, smart and exceptionally talented for a man so young. He was always the first to go into the field and get hands on with the wild Pokémon. He enjoyed interacting with all kinds of Pokémon, no matter their size or attitude. When he and his wife had their son, he was eager for him to grow up so that he could instill his passion for Pokémon in Ash.

No one expected that Mr. Ketchum's life would be cut short by the Pokémon he loved so much, by a sudden stampede of panicked Rapidash and Ponyta.

Red was the only one in the funeral hall, other than baby Ash, who was neither crying nor feeling despair over the tragic loss. It wasn't that he didn't think Mr. Ketchum was a nice man. Red just didn't get particularly close to people in general. And it was rather hard to mourn someone he didn't know that well.

Some liked to say it was because he had been affected by the fact that his father had abandoned him and his mother two years earlier. Those same people also cited this abandonment as the reason why he talked so infrequently. But, truthfully, Red had always been like this. He loved his mother, was rather close to the Oak family, and adored Pokémon without question. But he just wasn't that much of a social kid, and he preferred to talk only when he really wanted to.

That didn't mean he was an emotionless stick in the mud though. He just let his actions and facial expressions do the talking for him most of the time.


A few hours later, Mr. Ketchum was laid to rest in a cemetery that was filled with flowers and the soft cooing of Pidgeys.

Once all of the mourners had departed, Red's mother and Professor Oak insisted on going over to the Ketchum residence to comfort Mrs. Ketchum. Professor Oak asked Green to go home to the lab, where Green's twelve year old sister, Daisy, had been watching over their brother Gary, who was a few months older than Ash and far too fussy to take to the funeral. Red's mother told Red that he could stay at the lab too, but Red shook his head and clutched his mother's hand.

The second Mrs. Ketchum opened the front door, she threw her arms around Red's mother and sobbed. The group eventually made their way inside as Red's mother and Professor Oak comforted the distraught widow.

"What am I going to do without him?" Mrs. Ketchum cried.

Red stood off to the side, teetering back and forth on his feet. As he looked at the pictures on the wall, he heard a faint sound…A whimper…

He looked over towards the three adults, but it didn't look like they had heard it. Red glanced up the stairs as he heard the whimper again.

With one more look at the adults, Red quietly climbed the stairs. He went down the hall, letting the sounds guide him to a room at the end of the hall.

Red glanced through the open doorway. The small room was covered in blue wallpaper that had pictures of Horsea, Vulpix, and Pikachu all over. Stuffed versions of Pokémon littered the ground, surrounding a crib.

Red slowly approached the crib in which Ash was sitting up, tears pooling in those big brown eyes of his.

"Ba…" Ash moaned lowly once Red was right next to the crib.

Red raised an eyebrow at that. "Ba"? What did that mean?

"Ba," Ash repeated a little more loudly, his sniffling getting worse, "Ba!"

Red looked around, wondering if Ash was trying to say "bottle". Was he hungry?

Ash kept repeating that word, though Red couldn't see any bottle in the room. He sighed as he started to head out, not wanting to be anywhere near the baby when he started to really wail.

"Baba!"

Red paused at the doorway and looked back at Ash, whose tears had finally started to fall and looked utterly miserable. The six year old found himself going back to the crib, though he had no idea what Ash wanted. Ash lifted his arms and reached towards something past Red.

"Baba!" the infant sobbed.

Red followed the boy's gaze. He was reaching for the wall…No, it was the picture on the wall.

As Red stared at the picture, one of the Ketchum family, he finally understood what Ash wanted…And there was no way he could give Ash what he wanted.

Ash lowered his arms as Red squeezed his own arm through the crib bars and started to gently pat the tufts of black hair on the infant's head. Ash's lip still quivered but the gentle pats convinced him to lie down.

Red then moved his hand to Ash's hand. The baby's fingers wrapped around Red's index finger. Red looked at Ash's face, not as miserable looking as before but still streaked with tears.

"There, there," he whispered, "You'll be okay…"


And we're done with chapter one! A rather short chapter, this is more of a set up. This chapter and the two after it are going to be in chronological order. Their purpose is to set up the bond between Red and Ash as this series goes on. Maybe the fourth one will also be in chronological order, I'm not certain yet. After that, the chapters will jump around a bit. I may even add in a couple of AU chapters.

As you can see, I named Red's rival Green. This is because the original games were called Red and Green, so it was my choice to go with that. And, in an interesting twist, I made Gary into Green and Daisy's little brother. Honestly, this was because I had no idea how else to have it work. I mean, I didn't want them to be cousins but both families were orphaned so that's why they live with Oak (yes, I do think those kids are orphans, but that's a headcanon of mine). Green and Gary will make the occasional cameo, but this story will primarily focus on Red and Ash. Also, I'm aware that the anime states that Ash's dad is on his own journey, but I said that I would be adding in some of my own elements to make this universe a bit different.

Like I said before, this will be a series of one-shots. Most will involve friendship and humor, though a few, like this chapter, will go into some sadder or darker stuff. I do have a couple of AU chapters in mind and there is one chapter I would like to do that will sort of be a take that concerning something about the anime series that has annoyed me.

So, let me talk a bit about Red and Ash. A good portion of the fandom seems to have this idea of idolizes Red to the point of perfection while making Ash seem too stupid to live. Is everyone entitled to their own interpretation of characters? Yes. Does that mean I have to agree with them? Nope! Look, I love Ash more than Red but I firmly believe Red would beat Ash in a battle (though, unlike some people, I know some of Ash's Pokémon can put up a good fight). I also think fans treat Ash way too harshly and scold him for things that are perfectly reasonable. Not that he doesn't do some silly things. Also, some fans have to remember that there are different rules concerning Pokémon in the game universe and anime universe. But that's another thing. For this story, I'm going to play Ash as true to character as I can…A lovable goofball who is capable of some awesome things. As for Red, you can see in this chapter part of my interpretation of him. Someone who is not too social but perfectly capable of showing emotions through actions rather than words. I'm going to try and make sure Red has as few spoken lines as possible, but he will speak at least once. Though, I do have a couple chapters in mind where he's a bit chattier. I'll also try to expand upon Red's character and how being a Champion affects him. I will also see if I can have at least one chapter on the fact that I made his father abandon the family. And yes, I made Red a few years older, because I like to think of him as a big brother figure.

Well, I'll add more notes as I go along with this story. So, I'll see you with the next chapter soon! Please read and review!