Sorry for the super late update. christmas season has just pasted and my laziess is in the way. i hope you enjoy this chapter and i hoped it isn't rush. Also this fic is coming to a end. (NOOOO!) Well it was never going to last forever. anyway enjoy!

~midnight

Shippings in this chapter: Minor Advanceshipping

Rating: PG (K+)

Chapter twenty five

Soon we arrived at the Maple's resident. The place remained the same from what I could be able to recall in my mind. Instead of heading inside the home we headed to the gym. The gym had a martial art look to the building. The fence was made out of huge rocks placed together well and the stairs were thick and hard to get over. The walls looked like it was made out of stone as well but was made out of the usual stuff old temples homes would be made out of.

"This is my gym." May recalled proudly. She slide the door open and inside was Max looking after a Slaking.

Max looked much older from the eight year old boy still in my mind barley. My guess by the looks he was around sixteen. He still had his glasses but the lens was much smaller. His sea green hair was now touching his shoulders. He had a lime green long sleeve shirt with black jeans. We were all shocked to see Max, especially May.

"Max?" May question in shock. "I thought you would be in Unova by now?"

"I was." He grinned as his niece came to greet him. Max picked her up in his arms. "The Unova ledge is a month away from now so I thought I might as well come and visit you, Mom and…" Max's reply was interrupted when he saw me. He dropped Ashlyn and made his way towards me. "Ash?" He asked. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah. The one and only." I could hear Dawn chuckle a little.

"You look so old." Max teased. I gritted my teeth together.

"Annoying as ever." I muttered.

"Like you." Paul muttered to himself.

"Don't start Paul." I muttered back at him.

Soon a heard sounds coming into the room. Thing was they weren't the sounds of footsteps. The far door at the end of gym opened and soon came in was May's father, Norman. In a way I didn't expect from him.

He was in a wheelchair.

The front tips of his hair were a slight pale white. He still worn the same maroon jacket I remember him from. Everything else remained the same other than him having grandpa glasses and in a wheelchair. I wanted to ask what happened but my gut told me I rather not find out. He made his way to his children and granddaughter. He gazed at me annoyed and I can't blame him why. Drew offered Dawn and Paul to enter into the house and May helped Max and Ashlyn out of the gym.

Soon I was all alone with Norman. He moved closer to me without saying a word to me. And in a flash he grabbed me by my jacket with a fierce look in his eyes.

"How dare you do that to my only daughter!" He yelled as he released his grip on me. I regained my balance soon after. "Breaking up with her and then to find out she was having a child with you. Your disgusting Ash." He soon added. "And I thought I could trust you with my daughter eight years ago!"

"Before you rub in the all mistakes I've done. Let me explain what you missed out in the last eight years!" I paused and continued. "I fell off a cliff eight years ago to save my best friend from dying. I told May not to leave the house on that night to protect her. I was in a coma for a year. A soon decided to become a coordinator and then met up with May once again. I fell in love with your daughter again and soon discovered she was the missing girl I was looking for. Then we broke up after and now discover that the girl I found in the rain was my own daughter. my mother dies from a long life illness and I've come back to raise my daughter." I took a breath after my long ramble. "Now tell me if you can repeat that I'm horrible person!"

Silence grew between us.

"You forgot to add your still in love with my daughter." I blushed quickly. He turned around from me. "I'm sorry if I said you were a horrible person Ash." He looked out of the window. "I admire that you came back here to be a father to my first grandchild but is that the only reason you came back here to Hoenn?" He turned his chair back facing me.

"I don't understand Norman." Norman's words left me in confusion.

"Dense as ever Ketchum." Norman laughed at my so called denseness. "If you don't love my daughter no more than show up on her wedding day. I want you to make the speech at the reception. I want you to wish May and Drew a happy life together." I didn't reply. "If you truly don't have any more feelings for my daughter than you will do this for her. Think this of a way to rest us in peace." He turned his wheelchair away from me and made his way back to the back door of the gym until a question popped into my mind.

"What if I don't show up?" I asked.

"Then it proves to me you're the same man I knew eight years ago. The young ten year old that loved my daughter for everything she was. No matter what bickering you two did together you would always forgive her because you loved her."

And those were the last words I heard from Norman for the rest of the day. I sat down on the floor of the gym. Norman's words floated in and out of my mind.

"You forgot to add your still in love with my daughter."

"…want you to wish May and Drew a happy life together."

"…rest us in peace."

"Then it proves to me you're the same man I knew eight years ago."

"…loved my daughter for everything she was."

"…because you loved her."

I held my head together. All his words affected my so much. I couldn't stay in the gym any longer and just slid the door wide open and ran out of the building. I could hear Dawn calling out my name but I continued to run. I didn't want to hear anyone else telling what to do, or what feelings I had with May. I could feel the rain beginning to pour over me but I didn't care. I wanted to keep on running. Running away from the problems I had to face. I wanted to hide away from them because I knew when I come back I have to face against them and there was no more running away. I soon stopped and soon saw where I was.

I was at Petalburg woods.

Lighting flashed in the skies and the thunder roared. The wind made the leaves swayed from left to right and every pokemon I saw scattered to shelter. I knew I had to head back but the problems I had to deal with repelled me into the forest. I made my way through the forest. The deeper I went the little the source the light around me would become. I saw on a wet log and dug me face behind my knees.

I hate my life.

"How come every time I want to do something right, it comes out the other way around?" I looked at my palms. "Maybe I should of died when I tried to save Dawn from that cliff eight years ago."

"Please don't say that Ash." a sweet voice called my name. I looked up to find out it was May. All soaked up and wet from the rain. "If you did I don't know how I would of deal with your death."

"At least I would be with my parents and Alex!" I quickly stood up onto my two feet in response. "At least I wouldn't have to ruin your life and everyone around me!"

"Ash please stop!" I felt May embrace her arms around me. Her voice sounded like it was about to tear up. "Don't you ever say you want to die! Ashlyn needs you." She looked right into my eyes. "I…I still need you."

"She's right. We need you. Everyone you know needs you."

"Alex?" May stopped hugging me as I looked around me in search of where my older brother's voice came from. "Alex is that you?" I called out into the thick forest. "Please show up if that's you. Alex!" I felt May tugging my arm to calm me down.

My emotions had let me down once more. But my heart still kept me calling him out.

"Alex I'm sorry!" the flashback of the night I saw Alex getting killed by the avalanche haunted into my mind. "I'm sorry if you thought dad loved me more. I never wanted you to think that! He loved us all the same. I'm sorry if I treated you bad when told me that you were my older brother on Mount Silver. Alex please come back!" I soon felt May released her grip and a soft hand was placed on my right shoulder. I looked over my shoulder and was shocked to see who it was.

"Alex." I felt myself ready to tear up.

"Yeah. That's me." He faintly smiled at me. "You were always a little sook. Do you remember the time I bet you in that battle at Dad's place? You lost and you began to cry so hard that-" but I stopped him when I decided to hug my older brother. He wrapped one of his arms onto me. "I'm sorry for begin such a jerk back then. I should have helped you off that mountain when you were sick. I wasn't a very good brother to you and Amelia ever since dad past away in that accident."

I wiped my tears away and distanced myself away from Alex. I looked up and saw Celebi beside him. I looked back at my brother.

"How did you survive?" I asked.

"Celebi was near the mountain when I got hit by the avalanche. She saved me and teleported me here, in Petalburg woods." I looked up at the grass type pokemon.

"Thank you so much Celebi."

"Celebi!" she cheered. I looked back at May and saw her smiling back at me. It reminded me a question I forgot to ask her.

"May." I turned around to face her. "Why did you come here in the woods in this kind of weather?"

"Shouldn't I ask you that question sooky?" May teased. I could hear Alex chuckle behind me. "I came here to look for you. Don't you know how worried I— we were?" May had a faint blush on her cheeks. "I mean why did you run out of the gym like that? All broken up and stuff."

"Your dad told me a few words back at the gym." He words began to re-run in my mind. "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Ash stop making us worry about you on a regular basis." Alex told me from behind. "We are your family. At least talk to us when you have a problem." I looked back at my brother.

"You want to hear it? It's a long story." I asked. making sure Alex was ready to hear my long story ahead.

"I have the time." He softly grinned at me. I glanced over my shoulder to find out that May was ready to help out.

"Alright then." I paused and continued. "It started after your accident…"

A few days had past after my confrontation with Norman and the discovery that my older brother was still alive. Amelia had finally arrived and couldn't stop crying tears of joy all over Alex. May and Drew were always in town since the wedding was coming in a matter of two days. I was able to spend my time with Ashlyn and be a proper father to her. Caroline, May's mother welcomed me back with a huge feast the first night I came here. I sat out in front of the gym with a concern I had in my mind.

It was about Paul and Dawn.

They were rather close in the last few days. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the sounds of Norman's wheelchair coming towards me with Ashlyn on his lap, taking a right on his grandpa wheelchair. After all she was only four. He seemed more relax and less frustrated with me after out huge talk a few days ago.

"What are you doing here Ketchum?" Norman asked.

"Thinking to myself as usual." I sighed. Ashlyn hopped off Norman's lap and went to embrace me.

"What are you thinking daddy?" she asked in her normal sweet tone of voice.

"I'm thinking of that chocolate cake I still own you." I grinned. Ashlyn cheered.

"Yay chocolate!" Ashlyn did a small dance in happiness. I could just see in the corner of my eye that Norman was smiling.

"Ash." he asked me after Ashlyn's little dance. "Let me tell you something." He moved his wheelchair beside me. "I got paralyzed and was stuck in this wheelchair right after a tree in the Petalburg wood fell on me. The doctor told me I could still of been able to walk if I told my family I was heading out there." he looked at me. "What I'm trying to say is that if you don't tell your problems to the people that care for you, you will make a mistake that you won't be able to fix."

"My problems can't be fixed because I've ruined the solution to them." I sighed.

"Don't talk rubbish Ash. You know you're better than to give up without trying. What happen to the persistent pokemon trainer that never gave up on his dreams?"

"Dead with his parents." Silence grew between us. "My father died out in an accident at sea. That's why my mother left Alex and Amelia with my aunty when I was only eight. We moved to Pallet and never talked to them again. You see Alex and Amelia are only my half brother and half sister. They were never my mother's real children. I was her only child." I paused and soon added. "My mother died from a bad illness that was too late to be cured. I begged her that I wanted to stay and look after her but she force me to head to Johto where May and her rivals were."

"I'm sorry to hear that Ash. I now understand why you want to be a good father to my grandchild. You want her to have a father." Norman moved in front of me and pointed at my heart. "I'm happy to still see the old Ash Ketchum in there." and soon he made his way back to house, leaving Ashlyn by my side. I looked at my daughter. She was already asleep on the steps. I picked her up and laid her in my arms as I walked back to the house. Thinking of the words Norman had told me.

"I'm happy to still see the old Ash Ketchum in there."

"Guess his right." I added a smile and headed back into the house.

End of chapter.