Summary: Based off of my headcanon for the Ketchum family.
~oOo~
A Pokemon Fanfiction
"Welcome Home, Ash"
Chapter Three
~oOo~
Previously...
"I wonder where Red is... If he isn't visiting Green... Where else could he be?" She asked herself.
~oOo~
After being woken up by his mother at six in the morning, Red thought about the way his mother had reacted during that time. One would have thought she'd be used to it by now.
The twenty-seven years old boy sat on the sofa while his mother was somewhere in the house. Probably freaking out some more about Ash coming home and what Red would do since she would be kicking him out in a way. Red's fingers folded neatly on top of each other as his lips pressed onto the overlaps of the thumbs and index fingers. His elbows used his lap as support. His eyes were closed and he thought of all the things that him and his mother had done previously. He didn't understand why she was making this such a big deal. If worse comes to shove, he could simply say that he was an old friend. What can another lie do, anyways? He's been lied to throughout his childhood life. With their father being abusive and blatantly told their mother that he does not want to help take care of Ash and all.
His eyes fluttered opened and a scowl was freshly placed on his face. He hated having to think about their father and what he put their mother in. She had it tough; two months pregnant with Ash and he just up and left. Apparently, Ash believed the safe version. That their father was off on his own journey.
"Dammit all..." He cussed under his breath.
Soft footsteps sounded all the way into the living room. He turned around in his seat and saw Delia already downstairs. He looked at her and sighed. The things she has to keep from Ash. Neither party enjoys it. He would do anything to tell Ash the truth about him.
"Why can't everything be easy?" He asked himself before he threw his head into his hands.
"Mime?"
He lifted his head slightly, his hands still covered the lower half of his face. He saw Delia's Pokemon with an apron around his waist and a broom that occupied his hands. He had worn a frown and Red knew he was worried. He sat up with his hands on his lap and smiled at Mr. Mime.
"It's fine, Mr. Mime. I'm just... Thinking..."
"Mime? Mr. Mime, mai..."
He chuckled. "I guess... It's the whole thing with Ash. I hate that we can't tell him the truth... But I mean. You know Ash. He's just going to try to live up to whatever expectations he believes I may have of him. And if he were to fail, he'd just put himself down... Not to mention he'll begin to think that he's living in my shadow. I don't ever want him to feel like that. The feeling sucks, believe me."
The mime Pokemon nodded and uttered a couple more words to Red.
"Mr. Mime?" Called Delia.
The Pokemon left Red on his own in the living room and tended to receive whatever request his trainer wanted him to do.
Red laughed quietly and gazed on after him. He looked down at his pokegear to check up on the time.
"Eight huh..." He put it back into his pockets and got up from the sofa. Red made his way into the other room where Delia and Mr. Mime were. He didn't quite make himself go unheard of when he entered the dinning room. His mother and Mr. Mime turned to face the creator of the heavy pounding and saw Red bashfully lean against the door frame.
"What is it, Red?" Delia asked worriedly.
"Um," Red's eyes wandered around the room as he bit his lip. His hand mindlessly played with the bill of his cap before he answered his mother's question. "I'm going to head out for a bit," he paused. "To visit Green."
She tilted her head. "Oh. Green's here in Pallet Town?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I promised I'd meet him uh, soon or whatever."
Delia gleamed towards her eldest son. "Okay then. You go on ahead. Remember to come back soon for breakfast."
He gave her a quick nod of the head. "Will do, mom!" And with a salute, he left the house.
~oOo~
Red kicked a stray rock and it bounced away from him. He reached the rock again and gave it another harsh kick. He wasn't really off to see Green. His former rival was in Viridian City, taking care of the Viridian City Gym. It would have been his – though he gave up that position to Green. Red didn't need it. He wanted to continue on his Pokemon journey.
But now that he's the Champion of Kanto, there really isn't anything to do. He pretty much lives on top of Mt. Silver in the damn cold. Why he continues to wear the same black t-shirt, red vest and jeans every day whilst he stood there and waited for a strong opponent beats him. It surprised him that he hasn't gotten sick either. During his day off, he'd go into one of the near-by city and ask Nurse Joy to give him a blood test to see if he could be some sort of alien. Turns out negative every time.
The young man mindlessly walked to wherever his feet took him. He didn't bother to check his surroundings. Nothing happened much in Pallet Town. He heard Pidgey's chirp above him. He tilted his head back and watched as they flew out into the vast skies. From the distance, he saw a flock of Spearows squawk at each other. He chuckled before he continued his aimless walk.
"Come on Nidorina!"
"Dodge it, Caterpie!"
Red heard the cries of young Pokemon trainers battle it out on the wide field. His eyes stuck closely on their battle. He checked the time on his pokegear and sighed with a smile. He still had time. He wandered off the path and sat down on the hilt that connected to the pathway and the field – it was pretty much a miniature cliff, so to speak.
"String shot, Caterpie!"
"No! Nidorina!"
He observed the two trainers. The Nidorina was caught in a sticky string of silk caused by the Caterpie. Nidorina's trainer tried to get his Pokemon to break free. Caterpie's trainer giggled and spun around, her skirt flowed gracefully as it floated back down against her legs.
"I win! I win!" She shouted.
"No you don't! You haven't won yet! One of our Pokemon has to faint first, dummy!" He retorted.
He saw the girl put her hands on her hips roughly. He would have thought she punched herself in the side or something.
"Hey! I'm not a dummy!" She shrilled.
The little boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you are a dummy, dummy!"
When she didn't say anything. Red got a little worried. Thoughts were going off in his head. Was she going to cry? Was she crying right now? What about a temper tantrum?
The little girl stuck her hand out and pointed at the boy. "Caterpie, string shot him, now!"
Red winced as the boy shouted in terror. Caterpie's string shot binded him tightly – leaving his head out however. He was wrapped up like a cocoon.
"That much suck," he said quietly. He saw that nothing much would come of interest to him now that the children were having their little spat, he decided to leave before it became cumbersome. He wasn't exactly in the mood to be trapped by string shot. He's been frozen before obviously, but he'd rather remain free and moving.
He hopped back onto the dirt road. Though now that he's got a very clear mind. He looked around and realized he was fairly close to Professor Oak's lab. His fingers idly rubbed against one another. He was pretty tempted to head on over there, but he knew that if he wasn't back home on time, he won't have any breakfast.
~oOo~
He had to sprint at the last few minutes before it was ten. He was already late for him and his mom's daily breakfast routine. He had a feeling she hadn't packed up everything just yet. Once he saw his house in sight, he pushed himself as much as possible and reached the front door. He twisted the knob and fell in. His face landed onto the soft rectangular carpet with Sunfloras and Hoppips everywhere. His crash landing did not go unnoticed. Mr. Mime and Delia rushed to the front door to see who had caused that noise. Mr. Mime believed it was a break-in, so he was ready to use one of his moves on the burglar. Delia held up a broom just in case.
"Mime!"
"Red!"
He pushed himself up with his arms and somehow knelt on the floor. His head rose up to see Mr. Mime and his mother towering over him with furrowed brows and upside down smiles.
"I'm fine, ha ha." He assured them.
Delia frowned even more as he helped him up on his feet. "You should be more careful, Red. Why did you even fall on your face in the first place?"
He looked away with a face that very well sums up why his name is "Red".
"Sweetie..." She warned.
"W-well... I thought I wouldn't get breakfast because it's already ten and whatever. So I rushed back home." He explained quietly.
Delia's face fell with a smile. "Red, honey. I would still have saved you breakfast."
"I-I know... S-sorry mom."
"Good." She pulled him into her arms and gave him a nice long hug. "I also know that you didn't went to see Green." She felt her son tense up around her arms and expressed a giggle.
"H-how did you..."
"Professor Oak said that Green was still in Viridian City."
"Oh..." Came his reply.
She pulled away from him and rested her hands on her hips. "'Oh' is right, Red. I don't want you to have to lie to me when something is bothering you."
"I'm sorry." He lowered his head.
An exasperated sigh exited her lips and she dragged him back into her arms, his head just inches away from her kisses. "Please. If you ever feel like anything is bothering you. Tell me. Don't just lie about where you'll be and go off somewhere. I hate not knowing where and what Ash is doing every time he goes off on his adventures. I want to know that at least one of my child is safe." She whispered.
Red blinked for a moment. His back arched up awkwardly from having to bend his upper body forward. His lean arms lifted themselves and encircled his mother's waist. "I'm sorry." He said again.
Delia stroked Red's hair and shushed him. "No... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for not being a good mother."
Upon hearing his mother put herself down. Red pushed himself away from her gently and stared straight into her eyes. His brows tilted upwards and his lips parted. "What are you talking about? You're a great mom!"
She shook her head. He noticed a tear had fell down her face. "You needn't be so modest. I know I've been a bad mom. I mean. Just look at me now. I've been lying to your baby brother for seventeen years. I've lied to him about everything. From his father and to you."
"But you were only trying to protect him... He's shown signs of-"
She whipped her head left and right violently. "No. Don't try to reason with me, Red. Please..."
He slumped his shoulders and dispatched from the touch of his mother. He saw Mr. Mime was merely a room away from the front entrance now. Red ran his fingers through his matted hair and leaned against the perch of the door frame.
"Mom. I'm serious. You've done the best you could. You've been a terrific mother to me. And I'm sure Ash feels the same way. Don't be so hard on yourself all the time. It worries me, a lot, actually." He stated.
"I know..."
"Guess it's my turn to tell ya the same thing you said to me earlier..." He snickered. "If there's anything you deem troubling to you. Talk to me, alright?" He gazed up at his mother.
She returned the stare and her aura grew warm again. "Yes. Thank you, Red. I don't know what I'd do without you..."
He shrugged. "Well, you'd have one less mouth to feed. And less laundry to do."
She playfully slapped his arm. "You really should do your own laundry sometimes, Red."
"Eh." He looked up into the ceiling and lifted his shoulders with his hands next to his head; the palms faced upwards.
"Come on. You should eat your breakfast now. I'll go heat it up." She suggested. Red nodded and the two entered the dinning room where Mr. Mime suspiciously busied himself with more work. It was evident to the Ketchum's that Mr. Mime had been eavesdropping. They decided to let it slide, seeing how they weren't so concerned about it. Delia thought it was touching that Mr. Mime was so worried about her; Red believed Mr. Mime was just curious.
As the eldest son sat down at his seat – which coincidentally belonged to Ash – he watched as his mother picked up his cold dish and went towards the microwave. The porcelain plate was gently placed onto the roller dish in the microwave. Delia shut the door of the appliance and pressed for thirty seconds. She walked away from the kitchen, not wanting to be hit with extra radiation.
Red could smell his breakfast already despite it still being warmed up in the electric box.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
He grabbed the fork and knife from the table and had them stood tall as his hands gripped the utensils. Delia laughed at Red's action as she pulled his breakfast out.
"Oh man. It smells really good!" He complimented.
"Thank you. But just wait until you try it, Red." She said. The plate was in front of him, steaming absolute warmth. He could swear the smell and smoke of his breakfast had seeped into his clothes. But he didn't exactly care.
"I'm eating now!" He cried. His fork and knife stabbed into his breakfast. The screech of the stubby points of the knife against the hard surface of the plate made even the normal of humans wince. But not to Red's ears. He found them to be melodic in every way possible. He jabbed his fork into a large pile of scrambled eggs and stuffed them down his throat while he poked a sausage and let it fall into his mouth.
"Eat slowly, Red. You don't want to choke, now." Delia warned him.
"Mmm..." He replied – unable to speak since he was taught to never talk when there was food in his mouth – whether it be a small or large portion, it was deemed rude to say anything while food sprayed everywhere.
Delia marvelled and rolled her eyes as her eldest son gobbled down his breakfast in that bottomless pit of a stomach.
"What am I going to do with you?" She asked with a smirk on her face.
He shrugged. He had already swallowed and was able to give a reply. "Not sure. But you still love me, admit it."
She chuckled. "Finish up your breakfast, Red. We have a couple hours to ourselves before you head on over to Professor Oak's place."
He placed his fork and knife down onto the table mat and lifted his head up. "Remind me again why I'm going to his place?"
Delia picked up his empty plate and dirty utensils and walked over to the sink while Mr. Mime was busy doing the dishes.
"You're heading over there because he thought it'd be better than to have you travel all the way back to Mt. Silver. Plus, it'll give give you some time to get to know him better."
"But I do know him, mom."
She sighed. "I know that... It's just. He's being awfully gracious to offer you a place in his house. I'm sure he's already such a busy man with his research and everything. He couldn't begin to think about having you to leave home so fast. And besides. I'll visit you every day."
He snorted. His finger wagged a little in her direction as the arm stood up firm on the table top. "But you have Ash to worry about. He's the baby, here. Not me. I'm twenty-seven, remember?"
She nodded. "Yes, Red. I know that. But right now, you're my top priority." Delia answered with a huff. She gave Mr. Mime the rest of the dirty dishes and wiped her hands on her apron.
Red's face was crestfallen. He felt like he was four years old again and had done something wrong like having a Pokemon battle in the house again. His eyes gazed upwards at his sullen mother and he apologized in a tone so soft that it made Delia believe her eldest child was twenty-three years younger again.
"It's alright, Red. I should be the one apologizing. I'm sorry for having to say such things to you like that..."
"You're stressed about Ash coming home. It's a given." He replied with a smile on his lips.
Her lips turned upwards. "You're a good son, you know that, Red?"
He sat back tall again in his seat and puffed his chest out, gently hitting it with his fists. "I know."
~oOo~
Red couldn't help but make quick peeks at the clock every minute. Mr. Mime was keeping him company by playing a board game he loved as a child.
"Mime! Mai, mime! Mr. Mime! Mai!"
"S-sorry!" he flustered.
Mr. Mime crossed his arms and pouted angrily at the Champion.
Red picked up the die and encased them in his hands. He shook them as hard as possible and threw them down onto the coffee table. His face lit up when he saw that he had rolled two sixes.
"Alright!" He cheered. He picked up his piece and move it twelve spaces.
The mime Pokemon rolled his eyes and went. As the Pokemon rolled the die, Red checked the time on the clock again. Suddenly, Red felt two hard objects possibly puncture his head. He touched the area that has been hit and shot a hurtful glare at the one person in the room with him.
"Not nice, Mr. Mime!" He hissed.
"Mime! Mime mime, Mr. Mime, mai, mai mime!" He got up and left the living room.
Red leaned back into the sofa and looked at the board game and the die that laid on the carpet next to his feet. He didn't bother to do anything now. Mr. Mime was probably right. He was distracted – make that very distracted. The issue with Ash coming back sometime at four or whatever unnerved him. He should have been used to this by now... But seeing how Ash always ends up taking months and months off in an unknown Region for his journey, Red would always, always be at home with their mother and spend actual time with her instead of neglecting her – kind of like what Ash has been doing for seven years.
He sighed as he took his hat off. He sort of forgot he still had it on this entire time. His mother would have said something about no hats in the house – but he assumed she forgot because of the stress and worrying. He couldn't blame her. He too was feeling every bit of those things.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
Red turned around in his comfy seat and watched his mother picked up the video phone.
"Ash?"
"Oh boy..." Red whispered. He got up and reached the other room. Delia saw him coming in and reverted her gaze back to her youngest son. Red crouched down and moved to the other side of his mother. He ended up having to sit down on the ground too in order to listen in without being seen by Ash.
"Pidgeot and I just made a stop not too far from Pallet Town. We'll be there in probably an hour or so!" Ash piped. Red cringed at his brother's hoarse voice.
"Oh! That's lovely! I can't wait to see you, Ash."
"Same here, mom! I really miss ya..."
Red wanted to gag. He wasn't sure why he was being so critical of Ash right now – maybe it was the fact he had a pair of die thrown at him. Or maybe because everything about Ash is just too damn stressful.
"I also miss Mr. Mime," Ash added quickly with a laugh.
"Well. You and Pidgeot have a good trip back now. Be safe okay honey?"
"Don't worry mom. I'll be back in no time flat! And right now, we may even be back in less than an hour probably."
Red watched from below as his mother and brother talked like everything was normal. He bit his lip and lowered his gaze to his crisscrossed legs. Maybe they were both wrong. Maybe the one who would resent their brother was him and not Ash. Red couldn't believe what he was currently feeling towards him. Ash didn't do anything personal to him at all – asides from worrying their mother every damn day and neglecting her as he skips around on his journey.
A 'click' put Red back into reality and when he looked up, Ash was no longer on the screen – instead, it was just black. He pushed himself from the floor and stood next to his mother.
"He's going to come back much earlier than anticipated..." Delia commented as she looked at the time. It was almost one forty in the afternoon.
Red shrugged. "Well... I'll start packing up my things and make the bed..." He began to trudge along to the wooden stairs that led to his room – or well, in this case, Ash's room.
Once he reached the narrow walkway, he side stepped to his former room and entered. It hadn't really changed much, asides from the messy bed and pillows all over the floor. He kept it the way it was. He was sort of glad Ash didn't touch anything or changed anything when he used this room after he left for his own journey.
Red bent down and reached for a duffel bag that hid under the piles of weird suspicious items that covered the empty space below the top bed. He sniffed the bag to make sure it didn't smell like dirty gym socks being washed with a mix of expired milk and rotten eggs.
"It's still good." He announced to no one in particular. He laid the bag zipped open on the floor and started to collect his things. His clothes, personal items and of course – underwear.
A knock sounded in the room. Red was busy to see who it was so he told whoever it was to come in.
"Red, sweetie?"
"Oh, hey mom." He said, still folding his shirts and pants.
"Do you need any help with that?" She asked.
He shook his head. "I'm fine, mom. Thanks."
Silence arose awkwardly in the room. As much as he enjoyed the peacefulness, he could sense his mother was getting uncomfortable.
"Actually... I think I may need to pack some extra underwear..." He said with a smile.
His mother giggled before she agreed to get some more. When she left the room, Red sunk his head down between his knees – he had been sitting down by then – and clutched his head with his two hands. They intertwined with his hair and he made sure to grab a hold of them and pulled to keep him grounded.
Small faint footsteps drew nearer to his room but he could barely hear them. His mind was exploding with different emotions that he thought he might as well died right there in his room. He felt small hands placed on his shoulders which caused him to tense up a little. When one of the hand went to rub his back, he relaxed and felt the hot tears drip onto his clean clothes.
"I'm sorry you have to put up with something like this every time... I just wish everything was different... I wish we didn't have to do this..."
"I know... We've had this conversation before, remember?" He sniffed. "I don't blame you... I don't, really... I too, wished everything was different. I wished that I would still be here to greet Ash back when he came home. I wished that he would tell me everything that he had encountered on his journeys in different Regions, the people he's met, the Pokemon he's saw..."
"Maybe one day... One day, we'll tell him the truth..."
He nodded. "Yeah..." He wrapped his arms around his mother tightly, breathing in the smell of her natural sweet scent.
~oOo~
"Have you gotten everything?"
"Yes."
"Toothbrush?"
"Got it."
"Pyjamas?"
"All in here."
"What about underwear?"
He laughed. "You've already given me five extra pairs of undies, mom."
She leaned on one of her leg and crossed her arms. "I know. I just want to make sure you have enough clean underwear."
"Don't worry. I will. Heck, I'll even wash the dirty ones myself at Professor Oak's place."
Delia rose a weary brow at him. "You? Doing the laundry? Well... If I knew you were going to do that, I would have sent you off to live on your own ages ago."
"Technically, I am living on my own. Remember, I live on top of Mt. Silver."
She rolled her eyes playfully. "Even so, you stay up there for so long. You don't do much on top of a lonely mountain you know."
His shoulders shook and an open wide grin flashed across his face. "I guess not."
"Mime, Mr. Mime! Mime mime!"
Red looked at Mr. Mime and patted his head. "I'll be back soon, I promise. I bet you anything that Ash will go prancing off to another new Region to try and become the Champion and all that."
Mr. Mime beamed at Red and nodded in agreement.
"I give it 'bout two weeks tops, that he ends up leaving here to whatever Region Professor Oak mentions to him about." He joked.
"Red," Delia said in a warning voice.
"Right, right. Sorry..." He replied, laughing.
"You have a safe trip to Professor Oak. Call me when you get there." Delia said to him.
"And what if Ash is in the room when I call?"
"I'll handle that. Just remember to call, okay?"
Red nodded. "Not a problem." He hoisted the strap of the duffel bag over his head and it hung heavily at his side. The curve of his shoulder and neck had begun to hurt already too. "Well... I'm off..."
"Be safe." Said Delia.
He saluted his mother and gave her a quick nod. "Will do."
As he left his one and only home in Pallet, he turned back around and gave them a wave. Of course, they'll still see him soon when Ash leaves. But for now, it's a simple 'good-bye' and 'see you soon'.
It wasn't even twenty minutes and Red had already lost sight of his house a quarter way to his trip to Professor Oak's place. He looked up into the spotless blue skies and shielded his eyes from the sun despite the visor part of his hat to have done it for him already.
"It'll get better..." He said to himself. "I just know it will..." When he took the next few steps, he hadn't watched where he was going and accidentally bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry about-" He paused when he realized who he had ran into.
"It's no problem!"
"Pika, pi! Pikachu!"
Red couldn't believe what had just happened. He didn't believe who was standing in front of him. He thought this was a little trick his mind was playing. He wanted to pinch himself but it may come across odd to the person in front of him.
"Um... You alright, there...?"
Red snapped out of it and quickly thought of something to say. "Oh uhm... Y-yeah, I'm fine..."
"Pika?"
Red looked down at his feet and saw a Pikachu gaze up at him with beady black-brown eyes. His cheeks were as red as fire and small sparks of electricity shot out from it. The Pikachu seemed to be very happy.
"Pikachu seems to like you."
Red laughed. "I did own a Pikachu before... Maybe that's why."
"Whoa!" The boy shouted. "Really!? I thought my Pikachu was the only one! Well, asides from Lt. Surge's Raichu – but that doesn't count. He evolved his Pikachu quickly so..."
Red couldn't help but continue to be amused at the boys' rambling.
"Oh geez! I'm sorry! I'm probably holding you up or something, right?"
"Huh?"
The boy pointed to the large bag that was threatening to collapse onto the ground. "That bag. You going somewhere?"
"O-oh! This..." He replied as he touched the side of his bag. "Uh... Yeah, I'm... I'm going somewhere, alright, ha ha."
"You on a journey?"
"Mm... I guess you can say that." Red smiled.
"Oh neat! I just recently got back from my journeys in Unova."
"I heard that place is one amazing Region." Red commented.
The boy nodded. "It is! It's absolutely wonderful! So unlike the other places I've gone to."
Red rose his eyebrows. "Others? You must be a trainer then, I'm assuming."
"Yeah! I'm striving to become a Pokemon Master!"
"Pika pi!"
The Champion of Kanto smirked at his comment. He never realized something like this would happen to him. He's been hiding himself from this boy his entire life – and yet here he was. He was talking to that very boy he and his mom decided to lie to. Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu stood before him. Ash was once again babbling about his dreams and goals and whatnot.
"I'm sorry, again. I sort of need to get going." Ash said as he checked the time on his wrist.
Red shook his head. "Hey. It's not a problem." He sank down and began to pet Pikachu.
Ash smiled. "Come on Pikachu. Let's go home."
Upon hearing this, Pikachu escaped Red's touch and ran up next to Ash's leg and sat there with a button of a smile.
Red stood up and adjusted the position of the strap and the bag. "It was nice talking to you. Hope you achieve your goal, kid."
"Thanks!"
As the two of them were about to make their way past each other, Red added one more thing with a scarce whisper that was loud enough for only Ash to hear.
"Welcome home, Ash."
Red continued to walk on as he faintly heard Ash in the background, confused, probably. But that didn't stop the Champion from turning around. He just continued to move forward with his hands in his pockets and his head held high.
oOoOoOoOoOo
A/N: This story is completed. Don't bother checking the "story alert" button or whatever. Please.
But anyways. Man. I thought I'd never finish this chapter. It's longer than the previous two that's for sure...
And I realized the title page and this last scene does not make sense. In the title page, Red has no duffel bag on him... But... Whatever... I-it's a title page... And... Y-yeah... Bad planning on my part...
-EPRika-
