This chapter is a bit longer, but you don't mind do you! Wait for a secret that Ash's mother is holding in. Maybe by the end of this story, Ketchum family will be of three members!? Who knows!?

CHAPTER 3

Ting tong~

"Good morning Mrs. Ketchum, nice to meet you!" Gary greeted with a sweet smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you too Gary! And please call me Delia, Mrs. Ketchum is too formal!!" Delia greeted the boy and allowed him a seat in one of the couch.

"Okay, I'll try to! Where's Ash?" Gary asked immediately when he saw Pikachu rush towards him for a quick hello. Gary smiled and gave him a pat and allowed him to sit on his lap.

"I'm here Gary!" Ash replied with a cheery voice.

"Oh my Ashy-boy! You've grown up!"

Ash chuckled sheepishly and then sat next to him. Conversations flew from Ash growing up to Gary's job these days. From old times to the future and finally it came back to the main point of the meet-and-greet.

"Ok so I heard you've been drinking and acting weird!" Gary said, looking towards Ash's mother.

"So what! I'm a grown up."

"But you worried me!" Ash added in a small voice.

"You don't know Ash. Your phone number changed and I had no idea where you were. I was very much anxious and didn't know what to do. I tried asking Gary's grandpa but he wasn't aware of anything himself. I couldn't give you a phone call, neither a letter nor a mail. Then one day Sam's mother came here and offered me drinks. I never knew it was that good."

"But you did know that I'll return one day." Ash tried to assure.

"Well, parents' worry is on a different level Ash!" His mother looked at him apologetically, or in a sorry-not-sorry look, because she enjoyed those night outs with her girl friends.

"Are you talking about Sam, as in Samuel Hunter?" Gary inquired. Ash's mother nodded. Gary slapped his forehead. Ash looked at him, confused, waiting for him to explain.

"Well, he is not a very good boy. He kept asking me questions on the day he got to pick his starter. His mother is not a very good person either. I'd suggest you stay away from his whole family as much as you can. They appeared weird to me and I'm speaking from experience!" Gary raised is hands up to prove what he said as a fact. His face showed how pissed he was at the mention of that name.

Although the day Gary became an assistant researcher he learned new things, patience and emotional understanding one of them. But he lost it that day. And he doesn't want to even think about it now.

"Well, I still needs a psychiatrist though. I wonder why I didn't go to one all this time. Actually I forgot that word!" Mrs. Ketchum scratched the back of her head and the other two just laughed nervously. You go to Ketchum's house and come out without losing a piece of your wit; is impossible!

"So, did you find any?" Gary asked.

"Yeah I did! We'll be going to meet her this evening. Her name's Leaf Green and she has her clinic on the outskirts of Viridian city. She was very busy so we couldn't get a morning appointment."

"You didn't tell me." Gary narrowed his eyes at him.

Ash chuckled nervously. "I was about to tell you right now. But I think she won't be the right one for you."

"Why?"

"You demand that doctor to come to your home right!? She appears very busy and I highly doubt she'll be able to visit at home."

"Ah, that's no worry then! I'll look for someone else!" Gary swept the thought away and then started to talk about how Ash's muk has been annoying him to know when he's coming back.

Leaf straightened herself before calling for her next patient. She went through her documents and knew it was him. She was waiting for him to step foot in and she's going to greet him with her biggest smile. And there he was.

"Hello doctor! I'm Ash Ketchum and here's my mother!" Ash introduced and the two greeted her with a bow.

She smiled and bowed down herself. "Nice to finally meet you Ash! I'm Doctor Leaf Green, and you are welcomed to my clinic!"

The two son-mother duo sat in the chairs and let Leaf sit too.

"So, you were talking about 'finally' meeting me. Why that?" Ash inquired in a friendly manner.

"Oh I'm aware that you're the first Pokemon master from Pallet town. I'm originally from Pallet, so it's an honour to meet you. I'm so excited that our Pallet got a gym of its own. You've really done a great job!"

"Wait, so if you're originally from Pallet, how come I've never seen you? Plus Leaf, you're a beautiful girl!" Ash's mother said, admiring the brunette with stars in her eyes.

Leaf giggled at her reaction and explained, "Well, both of my parents are from there. I've never been there personally, just heard about it and seen pictures. I do want to visit Pallet, but I'm just so busy!"

Ash smiled. So far she appears to be a good person. He allowed Pikachu off his shoulder and he went to sit on the table. He was about to scold him for disturbing her table, but when he saw that she didn't mind much, he shut himself. In fact she happened to be enjoying the yellow rodent's presence.

"So, what brings the Ketchum duo here?"

"I needed help. You see, Ash's been away for almost eleven years and I really missed him. I thought I was mentally prepared for him going away, but it appeared that I finally lost my cool. He did come back for the first few years, but when he stopped coming and I also lost communication, I lost control and started drinking around." Ash's mother explained herself.

Ash listened intently. He always thought of his mother as a carefree person but it appears he didn't understand her completely. And now hearing it all, he wonders how bad it must've been for her. He wasn't able to believe it when he heard her this very morning, and he was surprised when she mentioned that she felt like he's going to leave her like her husband did, which Ash noticed wasn't mentioned here. But he needs to believe it, it's for their good.

"But now that he's back, I think I'm feeling better!" His mother concluded with affection.

"So Ash, what are your plans?"

"I don't plan on going anywhere else now. Surely I'm a Pokemon master and I know those people are invited for competitions and other meets, but I'll try to return. I have one home here, I have my friends here and I don't intend on going away at all." He finished with a smile. After this horrendous news, he is afraid of leaving his mother alone.

"That's great! But I think your mom still needs some more help, so if you don't mind, please excuse us for a while!" Leaf said, motioning him to go outside for a while. Ash agreed immediately and exited the room and sat in the waiting area.

Pikachu, who had followed him down, looked up at his usual cheery owner when he saw his back slouched down.

Ash sighed. "I know mom's hiding something from me and whatever that thing is, she doesn't want me to know it. But I guess after she talks to Leaf, it will get fine!" He almost asked the last portion of his sentence to which Pikachu spoke his name with joy and tried to assure him that it's going to be alright.

After waiting outside for about twenty-five minutes, Ash was allowed to come in.

"Ash, you'll feel nice to know that our chat together has helped your mother a lot. She'll be fine in no time!" Leaf assured him with a small grin on her face.

Ash sighed with relief and looked at his mother, whose eyes were shining with determination, a different kind of fire once again. A fire which he had inherited from her twenty-one years ago.

"I wanted to ask though. Do you have any hobbies Mrs. Ketchum, because that will help your mind off your anxiety." Leaf asked looking intently at the older brunette.

"I love making food for Ash!"

Leaf and Ash chuckled at that.

"No, I meant something of the artistic appeal. Maybe knitting, or gardening, or paining, you know what I mean!"

As that question reached Delia's ears, her son and her psychiatrist looked at her attentively, waiting almost impatiently for an answer. And when it took too long...

"I did love gardening once but it doesn't speak to me now. I don't think I have any hobbie." Ash's mon replied with a pout.

"Aw, you needn't be ashamed of that. What you need to do is find a new hobby for yourself!"

"I have my eye on this swimming club though, but the owner says it's only for children!" Delia pouted and started fidgeting with her fingers.

"Don't worry mom, I'll talk to them for you!" Ash placed a hand on her shoulder and said with the brightest smile.

"That's great! And if they don't allow, then you can tell them that it's a doctor's prescription. And if they still don't allow, then I'll have to shove some brains into them!" Leaf pulled some invisible sleeves up in the spirit of her sentence and knitted her eyebrows together to prove her point.

The two Ketchum duo erupted into a light laughter and then excused themselves from her clinic. In the process of bidding them farewell, Leaf told them to call her if anything goes wrong, and also come for a monthly checkup once in a month.

"Leaf is a good girl, isn't she?" Delia asked her son with something in her eyes he could read.

"Yeah, I agree. It's great to meet such great people once in a while!"

"She'll be a great wife!" Ash's mother said dreamily, telling him how she would be there to support her husband at all times and stuff like that.

Ash and Pikachu sighed together.

His mother seemed back to normal.