A/N: Well, here's the Kurt version of chapter 2.

A middle age man was walking down a trail, heading to where he used to call home. He shivered from the March temperature air.

("Man, I've forgotten how cold Sinnoh is. Hoenn sure made me appreciate the beach. I wonder how Delia is doing now, poor girl. And... Ash.") The man closed his eyes, remembering when he left.

It was in 1991, 2 weeks after New Years Eve when he came home from the store. Entering the house, he immediately noticed the love of his life with a happy smile on her face.

"Hey Sweetie. What made you so happy?" He asked her.

"Well, why don't you take a look at this?" She handed him a pregnancy test stick. After looking at it, he was shook to his core.

"You... you mean..."

"Yes. I'm pregnant. Oh Kurt, I'm so happy!" Delia cheered as she hugged him. And deep down, Kurt was also happy, but something else made it bittersweet.

("Me, a dad? But do we have the money? Do we have help? What if I'm like my dad?") He remembered how his dad treated him, and he's heard how those that grew up in abused, unfortunate lives would treat their children the same way. He was scared. He was terrified. He was mortified. With no way he could see himself as any kind of a good dad, and unable to ask for an abortion given how happy Delia was, he had no choice. Kurt left his second life behind leaving nothing but a note the next morning.

Kurt sighed in shame and disappointment. He really needed to make up for this grievous error, though he wasn't too confident it would work. By the time the man opened his eyes, he was coming up to Twinleaf Town. The musky-sweet scent of the town brought a nostalgic smile to his stubbled face. ("I sure missed this place.") It wasn't hard to find the house, and to his surprise, in the doorway was a younger version of himself with an absol next to him. ("My son.") He paid no attention to the threatening absol. "Hey there Ash. My have you grown."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" The champion asked him. Ouch, that hurt. Doesn't he see the resemblance?

"Come on Ash. Is that how you greet your old man after all these years?"

"'Your old man'? What are you-" Ash went silent as he looked into an aged face that looked like his own. "Dad?" Ash looked flabbergasted, which Kurt couldn't blame. He saw the two women behind him, one being who he recognized as Dawn from the news and magazines, and the other his sweet Delia. Older, but no less beautiful to him. He smiled warmly at this reunion.

"That's right, son." He spread his arms out for a second before letting them flop back down to his side. "I'm back. Now, I know you may ha-" Kurt never had the chance to finish the sentence when he felt a sharp pain in his nose, followed by a rolling pain from his butt up through his back. Before Kurt could comprehend why his face hurt, multiple blows bashed against his face and head, forcing him to block the incoming attacks the best he could.

"How! Dare! You! You! God! Damn! Bas! Tard! You! Left! Me! And! Mom!" Delia managed to pull his son away, allowing the deadbeat dad to regain some of his senses.

"Ash, that's enough!" He heard Delia yell.

("He... attacked me. Damn, even knocked out a tooth. Kid's no string bean.") "O-okay, I rather admit, I did deserve that. Thanks for saving me swe-Augh!" It appeared the punishment wasn't enough as the woman he loved started kicking and stomping him down. ("Ah! Delia, you too?!") Crack! ("Ow, my rib!")

"How could you just leave us?! Do you have any idea how much you damaged me and my beautiful son?!"

"Guys, guys! I think he's ha-Ahhh!" He heard an unfamiliar cry of pain, followed by his son stopping his mom to get her away. She got one more kick to his stomach before going away, allowing Kurt to try to comprehend things. Clutching his upper torso, he was too focused on the pain racking through his body until he heard Ash shout at the neighbors, told his absol go away, and turned his direction to his father.

"Ow. I can... understand you for beating me up. What I did was... not cool, but I never would've... expected Delia to continue what you did. Ouch. I think she may have... cracked one of my lower ribs."

"That's nothing compared to what you did to us." Kurt felt his body being lifted by his jacket, and came face to face with Ash, a face he registered full of tranquil fury. "Mom has been in a depression for 17 years. Half of the time she was like a shell with no soul. I had to care for the both of us because you left. Why? Why did you come back into our lives at all after being gone this long? If we could survive almost 20 years without you, we would've gone the other 80." Ouch. Apparently the hurt has not diminished in the slightest due to his absence. That bit of truth made his heart sink a bit.

"I- I'm sorry, son. No, Ash. I'm sorry for leaving Ash. I was just lost is all."

"Lost? Lost?!" Ash shouted as he pushed his father into the ground, causing the older man to gasp in pain, holding his ribs. "What were you lost for, getting a carton of milk from a store?! For 17 years?! You just don't leave someone like you did!"

"I was scared!" Kurt yelled, feeling defensive and angry from being shouted at by his own son. "Delia likely told you about me and my parents but you don't know it all, do you?! I ran away when I was only 15. I travelled for four years before meeting your mother. I loved the time I spent with Delia, the years I spent with her. I loved her, but time went too fast and next thing I knew, you were on the way and I panicked. I wasn't ready to be a father, and I couldn't ask your mother to have an abortion. So I did the only thing that seemed beneficial for both of us. She had her parents at least so she had support."

"If that's what you know, then let me tell you. Her parents died after you left." Ash retorted.

"They died in a plane crash shortly before I was born. I guess you've been gone for quite awhile to not know that."

"So she was alone?"

"Only neighbors." With this shocking news, Kurt turned away, placing a hand over his eyes as he started to cry.

("No. Oh god, no. What the hell have I done? I shouldn't have run away. My sweet, beautiful Delia, utterly alone. I'm such a horrible dad.") Feeling hands gripping his shoulders, the man was brought to his feet roughly, feeling his chest sting in sharp pain again. "Ow! Wai-what? What are you doing?"

"Fishing dad. We're going fishing." And based from his tone, it appeared there was no room for no.

("Ugh, I can barely breath. How am I not suffocating with a damaged nose and cracked rib?") Kurt thought to himself with his heavily bruised face. the two sat there on the fishing boat in Lake Verity, facing away from each other as their fishing lines bobbed in the water. It's been half an hour since they've gotten their, but both were uncomfortable to break the ice. Eventually he asked his son, "I uh... wouldn't have thought you liked fishing."

"I actually don't. I just lay here every so often when I just want to listen to the water and occasionally birds. But, I sort of practice where I can. So that if I ever get a son, I'd at least have the knowledge to teach him and treat him better than you ever did."

"Er... right." He nodded, a fresh wave of guilt washing over him. ("He's never going to let that go anytime soon.") Silence continued for 5 more minutes before Ash spoke up.

"What's your name?"

"My name? Kurt."

"Kurt Ketchum?"

"Yeah. Who was that pregnant woman with you? You sure gave her attention when she cramped."

"My wife. Used to be Dawn Berlitz."

"Wife? At 19? Then again, I wasn't much older when Delia and I tied the knot." ("If you can call two years at most years from that tibit I said earlier. He doesn't need to know that.")

"Yeah, uh... Dawn and I uh... had a real good night shortly after I became champion. We first learned so after a psychic type gave a strong implication."

"Heh, you sure took a lot of steps fast there, champ. Never trusted them psychic Pokémon. Don't want them reading my mind like it's a book."

"Ever owned a Pokémon?"

"Still have just the one I ever caught. Gemmy is a real faithful Sableye." Thinking back, he recalled befriending Gemmy when he made a cave exploration. Aware that there were Sableye there, he had a few bags of gems to distract a few before needing to leave, but he never expected one would follow him back home. They've been together ever since.

"You seem to have a connection with dark types, don't you?" His son asked, noting that it sounded more like a probing question than something casual, even if he sounded more laid back.

"I relate to them. Poor misunderstood critters. People always seem to jump to the conclusion that they're out to steal your purse or watch while you're not looking. They just don't mind doing dirty work is all or are just curious. Practical stuff. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive."

"Is that how you survived?"

"Ehhh, I tried not to be too much of a crook. I've tried to find work but never could keep a job. The great outdoors are my bed. Sure it gets cold but Gemmy knows Will-O-Wisp so she knows how to make a fire. Alright, you asked enough questions about me the past few turns so it's mine the next several. What's your favorite Pokémon to use?"

"Interesting. Why do you have the 6 Pokémon you had up to the championship?"

"Strategy. The first four were the best of their type, while the last two were for specific cases. I got Dusknoir to fight Lucian and Mamoswine for Cynthia's Garchomp."

("So he didn't just brute force his way through the league with the first six Pokémon he encountered. Smart boy.") Kurt smiled proudly for his son.

"How long have you known Dawn?"

"Nearly about a year and a half."

"Dang, you two must've been love birds. What are you expecting?"

"A girl. Haven't figured out a name yet. And we weren't all that romantic at first. We were best friends fast, but we only hooked up after saving the world."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Crazy stuff." Kurt chuckled, before wincing and holding his side. "Sounds like stuff I could never do." He was just about to ask another question when Ash cut him off.

"Why did you come back? I was serious in that we didn't need you. We thought you'd be gone forever, either living your own life away from ours or dead."

("I guess that's fair. Never even sent them Christmas cards.") "Ehh... you might say I was just tired. After you've travelled pretty much everywhere for nearly 20 years, you just want to go somewhere that was the last time your life was stable. You should visit Almia, such a beautiful piece of land."

"Is that where you hid?" Ash asked accusingly.

"Not for too long. Like I said, I've been everywhere. Half of my time was spent in Hoenn though. I swear, nowhere else has as much beaches as that place, except maybe Oblivia. Hoenn's also the region where I caught Gemmy. How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Been a long while since I've done a head count, but personally I own between... I'd say 20-30, maybe? You'd already met my Absol."

"Yeah, nice to have an early disaster radar, huh?"

"He's certainly saved the day the couple of times. You know, now that you mention it, you most know I was in Hoenn, right? I worked with their champion for business." Kurt has heard of that. When he came back, he just couldn't believe he missed his son visiting of all times. Of course, there's more than one reason why he couldn't meet him even if he was there, so he partially lied.

"I wasn't there at the time, and even if I was, no way a bum like me could walk up to both a champion and a hero." Ash nodded, seeing his point.

"You know, it's been nice catching up with you Ash. For the first time, I feel somewhat like a father."

"Well, glad to give you that positive feeling." Ash said flatly, not really caring. "Dawn probably feels better by now. Let's go back."

"Yeah, maybe Delia won't beat me up this time." Kurt laughed at his own joke, though he groaned as he clutched his side. When they returned, there was a note on the front door that Ash read.

"Dear Ash, Delia and I are going to Sandgem Town. Your mom just can't stand the sight of your dad and is getting some divorce papers. I know, a little harsh, right? Well, just stay here for the time being. Don't worry, I'm staying with my family so don't worry about us, your mom and our child. Spend time with your dad. I love you sweetie!" That sent a new crashing wave of guilt over Kurt, but at this point, the feeling was starting to lose its sharpness, even if this one hit so strongly it made his stomach slightly nauseous.

("Divorce? Huh, now that she mentions it, we never went through the process.")

"I never saw mom wear a ring. Claims she lost it, but given that you ran on us, I wouldn't be surprised if she threw it away. You gave her one serious case of depression, though the plane crash also didn't help. She's still seeing a therapist, and recovering well."

("Sheesh kid, is every sentence going to guilt trip me? It's starting to get old.") Kurt groaned, but made sure Ash didn't hear him.

"Now I'm a little depressed that Delia doesn't want anything more to do with me. But if she doesn't want me around, oh well. I could at least try to be the occasionally visiting dad."

"Long as you don't bail on us again, I don't really care what you do." Ash sighed as he flopped down on the table and put his feet on the table after taking off his shoes.

"Mind I use your shower and wash? I've cleaned up recently but that was several days ago." Kurt requested. Ash shrugged so the dad went to clean himself up. Once he came back, he asked his son, "So, got any drinks here?"

"Nothing that's alcoholic if that's what you mean. We don't even have apple cider." The champion answered while he watched a hockey game.

"Hmm, not much selection to party with. Ah, but there's something I never forgot." Kurt sighed with clear signs of nostalgia as he took a slice from the fridge. "Your mom's cherry pie. She was such a great cook."

"She's working in a cafe. Most popular cook in Jubilife City."

"No kidding?! For how long?" Kurt inquired with a delighted tone.

"About a year." Ash said.

("Oh Delia, you actually managed to grow without me at the last minute, have you? Amazing.") "Wow. At least part of the region recognizes her delicious tastes." The dad sat down with his son and enjoyed some pie as they watched the game.

"Come on Sinnoh Snovers, get them Kanto Kabutops!" The two men were essentially screaming as they watched the hockey game while they ate pie and drank root beer. Once the Snovers have won, they cheered and roared in victory.

"Hell yeah, that's how you do it!" Kurt then clutched his side, forgetting a rib was cracked again.

"Yeah, Kanto stands no chance against us in hockey!" But as quickly as they celebrated, they also calmed down.

"What a great game that was."

"Yeah, can't wait for the championship." Ash agreed. Yawning, he looked at the time. "5:30? I'm not usually this tired during the afternoon."

"Well, it has been a rough afternoon, hasn't it? Meeting and beating your own father and watching a hockey team with him after some fishing. Huh, sounds weird now that I actually say it."

"Super weird." The young champion actually chuckled before yawning. "I think I'll check on Absol before taking a short nap."

"Don't take too long, or you may fall asleep standing and fall on its horn." Kurt laughed at his own dark comedy. Ash rolled his eyes and stepped outside as he called out for his Disaster Pokémon. As he watched his son interact with the absol, a ringtone snapped him out of his concentration. Opening the flip phone, he asked,

"Yeah?"

"How far along are you in your job?"

"I've slipped the flavorless sleep powder into the kid's root beer. Not enough to make him suspicious but it's starting to take effect."

"Remember that you're already on a time table. And remember; no witnesses, no prisoners."

"I got that boss, but how can you expect me to just off them like that? Sure I ran off, but they're good people."

"Who know you ran off doing who knows what. You'd better do your job, or else I'll send someone who'll do it, and it won't be sweet and quick. You'd better have my money soon Kurt, or else the Ketchum line will be extinct." The call ended. Lowering the phone, Kurt growled as he snapped the phone in half and threw them away. That was when Ash came back in.

"Well, while I'm taking a nap, why don't you go to Sandgem. I don't trust you won't steal anything."

"Ash, I'm offended." Kurt expressed, actually insulted. "I may have done some questionable things, but I wouldn't steal from my family."

"Well forgive me if I don't believe you, so please get out."

"What if I don't want to?"

"You want another cracked rib? I will do it."

"Fine, I'm going! Sheesh, no respect for their elders."

"Just because we had one good afternoon-." Ash pointed out up Kurt closing the door loudly.

"Well, he made this job just a little easier." He growled, before feeling deponent again. "Still, I can't believe I have to kill them. Delia, Ash... I'm sorry." Kurt then walked towards his mission.

"Soo, are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this? Dawn asked Delia, whom was carrying a couple bags of groceries along with the divorce papers in her coat walking down a road back to Sandgem Town. Zappy rested on Dawn's head though.

"Think about it; what if Ash left you for over 15 years straight right after you just learned you became pregnant with nothing more than a note saying it's better this way? How would you feel?" The older woman huffed in annoyance.

"Yeah, when you put it like that I'd give him a good beating as well. I've literally never seen him that furious.

"Neither have I. Then again, with how I was and the town, I guess there wasn't much opportunity to feel anything." The mother sighed, feeling a returning sense of shame. "You know, I must thank you Dawn. Again. You helped my son so much. Certainly more than what I've actively done for all his life."

"Hey now. From what Ash has said, he still appreciated what you did. You may not have always been there for him, but he still loved you, and is grateful that you're his mother." Dawn reassured. Tears streamed down Delia's face as she smiled.

"Thank you. I'm so glad you became my daughter-in-law." The research assistant smiled at the sincere compliment.

"Sable." The two women stopped and looked down to see a Sableye staring at them.

"What's a Sableye doing here? They don't appear here naturally." Dawn questioned, confounded on why it was there. Its eyes glowed purple, using Confuse Ray as the females suddenly felt disoriented, stumbling around. Delia cried out as she was attacked from the Darkness Pokémon whom used Shadow Sneak.

"Pi...Pika!" Zappy yelled, not sure where to attack as he fell from Dawn's head.

"De-Delia! Empoleon... I-" Dawn didn't get a chance to release her starter when a blunt object bashed against her head, turning everything black. Kurt stood over the unconcious women and Pikachu, looking down on them with shame and self-loathing.

"Forgive me for that." He told them. Staring down at Delia, Kurt stooped down and slowly, softly, placed a hand on her face. He quietly sobbed to himself, unable to possibly bring himself to kill the woman he fell in love with. Yet he couldn't risk his boss offing her in any cruel and inhumane way. So, after taking some rope he was carrying in the more likely way this happened, he tied her to a tree deep in the woods along with the electric Mouse Pokémon, leaving them for anything that might eat them. "I'm sorry my love. I still cherish our time together." Taking a second to kiss Ash's mother on the forehead, he stood up and went to tend to Dawn.

Dawn was starting to wake up, feeling a massive headache. She noticed it was night time, and was at a beach. And that was when she was pulled from the ground and put in a chokehold, though not too strongly, and felt the tip of a knife to her throat.

"Don't scream or call for help. You really wouldn't like the consequence of doing so." She heard Kurt threaten.

"Wha... Mr. Ketchum? Why are you doing this?"

"Sorry sweetie, but I'm in a tight corner here just like you. I need money and fast. But I don't have the charm to swindle or skill to rob banks. However, I remembered that my son is a multi-millionaire. I wish it hadn't come to this, but you gotta do what you gotta do."

"Please, Mr. Ketchum, maybe we can help you." Dawn pleaded. "After all, he's a champion, and I'm a research assistant of Prof. Rowan, so we have a lot of influence."

"True, but then the police would know my past, and I'd be put away for a long time, so I'm going down the path where I get no jail time."

"You think you'll get away with this? I know Ash will save me." Dawn questioned her kidnapper, not willing to completely submit to the damsel role.

"Look, just be quiet, I've been in the game for over 15 years. You don't kidnap someone without taking in account all of the variables." Kurt snapped at her, his tanned skin glistened with sweat. Soon enough, Ash managed to find them after a little looking.

"Ash." The pregnant woman sighed with relief.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Ash asked in a threatening tone.

"I'm sorry son. I truly am. It's nothing against you, Delia or Dawn here. I mean, I really don't want to have to stick my knife into her. But I'm not in the best of circumstances.

"Well, what do you want? Money, is it?"

"That's it. I work with people. People that aren't afraid to off their underlings. And recently I bungled up real bad. I need to get my boss $2 million, and I get to keep my life. And that's where you came into mind. You're freaking loaded, dude! Freaking rich! Surely you wouldn't miss a couple of millions!"

"Dad, dad, listen to me Kurt. I get it. If money's all you want, then fine." Taking out his check book, the champion took a pen and wrote out everything that was needed. Extending his hand, Gemmy walked over and took the piece of paper, examined it, and returned to Kurt's side, handing him the check. Taking a quick glance at it before looking at his son, whom looked angry yet stoic, he let Dawn go, whom ran as fast as she could into his arms.

"I knew you'd save me. I love you so much."

"Don't worry Dawn. I got you. I got you." Seeing the two hug each other tenderly, what he had to next nearly broke his heart. Tossing his hunting knife up before catching it by the tip of the blade, Kurt threw it into Dawn's leg, causing her to cry out in pain. A cry that Kurt cringed from since it was from someone he really didn't want to hurt. "Dawn! Dawn, it's okay, we'll get that healed up quick!"

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen champ." Kurt objected as Gemmy stood in front of him. "Gemmy, get ready." Holding her hands out, she formed an orb of blue fire. This... this felt horrible. Everything was becoming hard to see due to his despair filled tears running down his face. He could feel his fingernails digging into his hands so deeply he could feel blood. He almost dropped down to his knees, feeling the overwhelming sense to apologize and then throw up from how emotional he was feeling from doing something so morally bankrupt, but there was no way he could back out now. "I'm sorry son. I truly, truly am. But I can't let you go and alert the authorities. I need to buy time for a few hours before your corpses are discovered. Believe me, this hurts me way more then it hurts you. You know, I would've loved to have a granddaughter. A living, breathing, bouncing one."

"You won't get away with this." Ash snarled, his eyes filled with hate.

"Unfortunately, I have. Will-O-Wisp." Gemmy fired the ghostly flame, but before it could reach them, an Air Slash cut through the attack, saving the married couple. Kurt and Gemmy looked up into the sky to see Ash's Crobat fly above them. From below the ground, orange arms grabbed Gemmy's ankles and dragged her down below just barely before she could make a yell of surprise. Seeing that he was now at a sheer disadvantage, Kurt ran as fast as he could without aggravating his cracked rib. However, he was stopped by a ticked off shuppet that appeared out of nowhere. Spooked, he tried running the other way, but the middle aged man was knocked down onto his back by a skarmory, pressing down on his chest, causing him great discomfort.

("Agh! Damn this thing is heavy! Ugh... well... at least there's one plus side to this. My family's alive.")

Kurt was stuffed into a police car, and the door was slammed shut by Officer Jenny. He didn't know what happened to Gemmy, but he knew she was likely detained like he was. Taking a deep breath, he evaluated what was likely to happen in sequence. 1. He'd go to jail. 2. He'd be disowned from his family. 3. He'll be released by the time he's a senior citizen if he's not killed by a payed hitman inmate hired by his boss. 4. If he did live beyond that, he'll probably be on parole until he suffers from dementia. With his life over now, there's a lot of regret in it. But his family's alive. And at least he'll die with that as the only good thing from here on out. It was then he noticed his son approaching him, and he turned away with shame.

"I wasn't lying about not wanting this. I knew my chances of having a family life with you two was doubtful at best. But it's like I told ya; you gotta do what you gotta do. But just because I did it didn't mean I wanted to hurt you all inside."

"Like a dark type. Well, even with all that you did, there's one thing I could do for you. One last favor." Ash told his deadbeat father.

"What?"

"If you confess all your crimes... ALL of it, then I'll tell them to give you witness protection and tell the court to consider giving you 22 years of jail instead of 30." Kurt smiled in gratitude. Sure, his life would still be over, but if he singles out his boss, then he'll be too preoccupied with special government type people than killing his family.

"Thanks Ash."

"Welcome, but after the trial, consider yourself disowned from us. You're just Kurt from then on." The older man nodded, accepting his fate. Ash became a man that accomplished so much out of life. There's no need for a deadbeat criminal dad to besmirch the now proud Ketchum name.

"I accept that. Never had the quality of a parent, so why start now?" With Officer Jenny getting in the car and driving away, that was one of the last times he was sure he'd see his son again. But like he said, he'd accept that. When he gets out with no fear of dying, Kurt would settle down in Southern Hoenn with Gemmy. His life was basically one of a loser, and one he wished he done differently, but considering what his future will be, he supposed his golden years won't be too terrible.

A/N: Well, that's my attempt to at least make Kurt more likeable for the haters. Since I couldn't change his actions, I figured knowing what he was more personally thinking and feeling would give more insight to the kind of person he was. Was this attempt at least good, or was this an effort that didn't pan out as well as you hoped? Also, what did you guys think about the previous chapter? I wanted to make Regigigas as awesome as it deserved and I didn't get any reviews about what you guys think. Let me know in the reviews down below.