Disclaimer: I DO NOT own pokemon or its characters

Here's chapt 4

As the title says, Ash comes home and he still needs to tell Professor Oak his condition. How will he react? Read...

Returning Home

Night time fell and the group finally arrived in Pallet Town. Ash felt nervous again as he reached the porch of his house. He had to stop for a moment and take a deep breath.

"It'll be alright Ash." Brock reassured.

"Yeah I know. I just gotta calm down a little. ……Okay I'm ready."

Ash opened the door to his home and walked in. The others followed. They didn't see anyone at first.

"Mom…? Are you here…?"

Then they saw someone come out of the kitchen, but it wasn't Ash's mother. It was her pokemon, Mr. Mime.

"Mime…?" he said.

"Hey Mr. Mime!" Ash said. "Is my mom around?"

"Mime!" the pokemon said as he pointed up the stairs. Ash walked up to them and called for his mom again.

"Hey mom, I home!"

Just then he heard his mother's voice.

"Is that you Ash?" she asked.

"Yeah!"

She then emerged at the top of the stairs and then ran down them as fast as she could.

"My baby's home!" she yelled. She wrapped her arms around Ash and gave him a gentle hug. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Mom!"

"Hello Mrs. Ketchum!" said Ash's friends.

"Oh hello everyone! It's so nice to see you all again."

"It's nice to see you as well." Brock commented.

"Wow. The place looks really nice Mrs. Ketchum." said May.

"Well I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect for my little boy's return. Also Professor Oak, Misty, and Tracey will be coming here tonight to welcome you home Ash."

"They are? …..Do they know..?"

"No. I didn't feel it was right for them to here it from me. I want you to tell them when you feel comfortable with it."

"Oh okay."

"So were you planning to cook anything for the evening?" asked Brock.

"Well…I was just considering getting some take out. I was kind of busy cleaning up around here that I forgot to make something."

"I could probably whip something up real quickly." offered Brock.

"Oh Brock, you don't have to do that. I don't want you to go to the trouble."

"Believe me, it would be my pleasure. It's no trouble at all."

"That's so nice of you Brock. Why not. Thank you!"

Within a few minutes Brock threw on an apron and started preparing everything. He asked May and Max to take a quit run down to the mini mart to by some groceries for him. Meanwhile he started to cook what he had.

"Wow, Brock is like super man or something." Ash commented.

"Ash would it be alright if I talk to you upstairs?" his mother asked.

"Uh…sure okay."

Of course he already knew what she wanted to talk about. Ash sat at the end of his mother's bed and she sat next to him.

"Have you been alright since we last spoke to each other?"

"Uh…yeah I've been fine. Just a few cramps here and there but otherwise, fine."

"I didn't want to ask this over the phone so I should ask it now. How in the world did you get pregnant in the first place?"

"Uh…!" this was the question that Ash was scared to answer. "Well…like how any woman would get pregnant."

"You had…sex? With a man?"

"Yes ma'am…."

"Oh Ash, I thought we had this talk about protection! Of course I never thought it'd be you who'd become pregnant."

"I know we talked about it but… it happened so fast and was so unexpected that…"

"Who was it?

"A…huh?

"Who did you have sex with?"

"Well….um…?"

"Tell me Ash! This is important!"

Ash didn't want to say it but it seemed like he had no other choice.

"It was Richie…"

"Richie? You mean the one we know?"

"I don't know any other…"

Delia stopped for a moment and put her hand over her eyes. She started to cry again as the reality of the situation hit her. She sat quietly.

"Mom, please don't cry… It'll be okay."

"This is all just so overwhelming… The two of you are just so young… You have no idea how hard it is to take care of a baby that completely depends on you to live. Your father and I struggled so much to make ends meet when I was pregnant with you. My mother kicked me out of our home when she found out. I was only 16. And I never wanted you to go through what I did."

"I'm sure Richie and I can handle it. I know we're young but… that's no reason why we can't do it."

"Does Richie even know about this?"

"Eh…no…"

"Well let's just hope he's going to be responsible about this and help you out. You need to tell him as soon as possible."

"Yeah I know…"

"And don't worry. There's no way I'd ever do to you what my mother did to me. Even though you should have used protection, I understand that this was an unusual outcome."

"So you're not mad that I'm gay?"

"Of course not! You're my son. I could never be mad at who you are. If your interested in other guys than that's fine. I love you all the same."

"Gee…thanks mom…" he said as he started to tear up. "For everything. You're the best mom in the world. And I mean that a lot."

Ash grabbed on to his mother and started to hug her. She wrapped her arms around him as well.

"Don't worry about it. I'll help you out anyway that I can. It's what mothers do. And when you have your child, you'll understand how it feels to love someone so much that you'd do anything for them."

"I'm sure I will…" he said as he wiped the tears from his face.

"I'm just wondering how we could get you some care without attracting too much attention."

"Well, the doctor I saw has my information. He'll probably call me back soon. And I'm sure Professor Oak could help us some how…"

"I supposed so….Oh my! The professor should be here any minute! I should see how Brock's doing."

"Heh…alright mom!"

Down stairs, Brock had almost finished up with the dinner he was preparing. May and Max were setting the table.

"Oh my goodness." Delia said in surprise. "This is so beautiful!"

"Thanks!" Max said. "Brock's practically done with all the cooking. We'll start bringing the food out."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Oh that must be them!" Delia said.

"Don't worry, I'll get it!" May said. She headed for the door and opened it. There was Professor Oak accompanied by Misty and Tracey who were holding each other in a loving way. "Hi everyone!"

"Hello May!" said Professor Oak. "It's nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too! Well come on in."

"Is that Brock's cooking I smell?" asked Misty.

"Sure is." May answered.

"It smells awesome!" Tracey commented.

They entered the dining room and began to greet each other after a 2 month separation. Ash was still a little nervous to speak to them.

"Ah there you are Ash." said the professor. "Welcome back! Have you been doing okay?"

"Uh…yeah. Okay I guess. Thanks"

"Hm…What's wrong? You don't seem like your normal self."

"Uhm I'll tell you after dinner."

"Alright Everyone!" Brock announced. "Take a seat and get ready for the most delicious meal you'll ever have."

Everyone gathered round the table and took there seats. Brock had made a lot of good food today and the group couldn't wait to eat it. The aroma was delicious enough alone. They didn't even need to taste it.

"I'd like to thank Brock for making this wonderful meal for us!" said Delia. "Thank you so much. You did a wonderful job as usual." The others joined in saying thanks as well.

"Heh…you're all too kind." he said while blushing.

Once that was taken care of, they all began to eat. There was even some food that Brock prepared just for the pokemon.

"Wow Brock this is really good!" Misty said. "This is probably one of your best creations yet."

"You really think so? It was just something I made up really fast."

"Even so, it's definitely exquisite." said Professor Oak. "You really have a knack for this kind of thing."

"Pika!" said Pikachu.

After dinner, it seemed like Ash was trying to avoid Professor Oak so he wouldn't have to tell him about why he dropped out of the Aspen League. Ash stepped outside for a moment to get a breath of fresh air. Pikachu followed.

"Oh boy… I don't know how I'm gonna do this." he said.

"Pika-pika…" said his Pikachu.

"I know that it probably be best if I just got it over with and just flat out told him, but still…. I just don't know what he'd say."

"Pikachu…"

"Ugh…I can't keep getting scared like this. They're gonna find out sooner or later so I might as well say something now. Let's go Pikachu."

"Pika!"

When he walked back into the living room he saw Professor Oak, Misty, and Tracey talking to May and Max about how the Aspen Region was. They really couldn't tell them how it was because they really didn't do anything there. Then the professor noticed Ash approaching.

"Oh Ash. There you are." he said.

"Hey guys." said Ash. "What's up?"

"Well, I've been meaning to ask you why you decided to exit the Aspen League so soon. You didn't even get your first badge there."

"That is kind of unlike you Ash." commented Tracey. "I don't ever recall you quitting on a competition before."

"Well it's not like I wanted to quit. I didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean when you say 'I didn't have a choice'?" added Misty.

"Okay, you really wanna know why I left?"

"Yes." they all said at the same time.

"What I'm about to tell you is going to seem very strange and you probably won't believe me at first."

"Ash, just tell us." said the professor. "It couldn't be that unbelievable."

"You have no idea." Brock thought to himself as he was over hearing the conversation."

"The reason why I dropped out is because…." There was a defining silence before Ash answered. Brock, Pikachu, Delia, May, and Max looked on with anticipation. "….is because…… I'm pregnant."

The three of them stood there with there mouths wide open. It took a second for one of them to say something.

"Excuse me..?" said Professor Oak. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

"Did you just say that you were…. pregnant?" Misty asked.

"Yes…. I take it you don't believe me."

"Well Ash…. It's just physically impossible for you to be pregnant." said Tracey.

"Well I am okay!" he shouted.

They all looked at Ash a little reluctantly. Then Brock felt he had to step in and talk to them.

"It really is true." said Brock. "During our journey, Ash came down with morning sickness. We didn't know at first of course. But when we visited this one doctor, he told us that Ash was pregnant."

"Oh he did, did he?" said Professor Oak in disbelief. "And what was the name of this 'doctor'?"

"His name was Dr. Lawson." said Ash.

"Lawson…? Dr. IVAN Lawson?"

"Yeah. You sound like you know him."

"He was a friend of mine for years. But recently I've lost contact with him. He was the one who delivered my own son when he was born. Now why would he even think that a boy could get pregnant?"

"Because it happened to his grandson." said Ash. "He showed us pictures and everything when he was pregnant. He told me that there was about one billionth of a chance it could happen but it did and it happened to me. Even Nurse Joy said I was pregnant."

"Look, there's no reason for us to make this up, am I right?" said Brock.

"Hmm…. you do have a point there." said the professor.

"So Ash… you really are pregnant?" asked Misty.

"Yep…"

"So how are you taking all this?" asked Tracey.

"Well… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. However there's no way out of the situation so I have to stand up and face it like I do everything else."

"That's really mature of you Ash." said Misty. "You've definitely changed a lot from the kid you use to be."

"Well I guess I'm not a kid anymore. I'm going to be a father soon… or mother… what ever. Either way my life is now going to be dedicated to my child."

Ash continued to explain the whole situation to everyone throughout the night. He even showed the pictures of the baby that Nurse Joy gave him to his mother and the others. From this point on, the Ketchum Family would be changed forever.

The next day Ash would try to figure out where in Kanto was Richie. He made a few calls to some Pokemon Centers to see if he may have checked in there but with no luck. Some other places did say that they have seen Richie but not for about a week or two. After about 50 calls later he decided to take a break.

"Oh boy…" Ash sighed.

"Any luck honey?" asked his mother bringing a cup of cocoa.

"Nope. No one down in the battle frontier has seen him lately. They heard that he one a Frontier Symbol from Tucker but that's about it." Ash stopped talking so he could take a sip of the cocoa.

"Well don't worry too much about it Ash. I'm sure we'll find him soon."

"I'm kinda worried of what will happen when I do find him. What's he gonna say?"

"Pika…pi.." said Pikachu trying to comfort his trainer.

"Oh Ash…"

"I think I'm going to go for a short walk. After all, I'll be too big to take walks in public in a few months."

"Do you need anyone to come with you?"

"Just Pikachu is fine. Let's go Buddy."

"Pika." he said as he jumped on Ash's shoulder.

The two went outside and started to walk down the path that Ash would always head down when he started his journeys. Just a couple of months ago he walked down it to hopefully compete in the Aspen League. But now he wasn't sure that he'd ever go on another journey ever again. Not unless he planned to take a baby with him. And he felt that a pokemon journey was no place for a baby to be.

It was a slightly windy day today. But the breeze felt good to Ash. He decided to stop for a little break and sat on a nearby boulder. Pikachu sat next to him.

"I think that our pokemon journeys are over Pikachu."

"Pika…?" he questioned.

"With this baby, there's no way I'll be able to travel anymore. I'll have to stay home and take care of it." he said as he placed both of his hands on his growing stomach.

"Pika…"

"So much for my dream of becoming the world's greatest pokemon master."

"Pika..pi…"

"You'll stay by my side. Won't you Pikachu?"

"Pika!" he said happily raising his tiny paw in the air.

"Thanks. I knew I could count on you."

Ash didn't notice but Brock was approaching him from behind. When he heard Ash left for a walk, he decided to go and check up on him.

"Hey." he said.

"Uh… Brock? What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check up on you. How are you feeling?"

"Okay I guess. I've just had a lot on my mind today."

"I can imagine. You do have a lot to think about."

"I just don't know if I could do it all."

"I'm sure you can. You just gotta believe in yourself is all."

"I guess…"

"And don't worry. I'll be there to help you also. And so will your mother and the others."

"Pikachu."

"Thanks Brock. For everything you did for me. Even before my pregnancy. You've been on journeys with me much longer than anyone else has. And you've always been the one who took care of us. You're a true friend."

"No problem. It's what friends do right?"

"Yeah." he said while chuckling a little.

"Well I'll be heading back now. If you want you could come back with me or continue your walk."

"I think I'm ready to go home now as well. Okay."

The two headed back to the house talking about old times. When they got back, Delia had already prepared lunch. Today, Ash had his unusual cravings. His mother made her famous chili-dog pizza pot pie which Ash wanted to put chocolate ice cream on top of. May and Max kind of stared at him strangely as he downed the whole thing quickly. After lunch, Ash felt a little tired and decided to take a nap. But he still had a lot to think about. Like what would happen in the future for him and his baby.

XD Ash and his weird cravings! r&r please