"Do you think he's all right?" Delia asked worriedly as she glanced at the clock on the wall. "He's been gone for over an hour now."
Samuel handed her a cup of tea and sat down next to her at the kitchen table. "As I said, Delia, he needs time to digest what's happened."
"I just wish he hadn't found out about us this way," Delia said sadly as she looked down at her cup of tea.
"Delia, we had to tell Ash about our relationship someday," Samuel said as he took her hand in his. "And I don't think you wanted to wait until we got married to tell him, did you?"
Delia choked on her sip of tea. "Got…got married? Samuel, are you serious?"
"Yes. I've been thinking about us a lot lately – especially today. You're the one I want to be with, Delia. I love you. And I would like to marry you."
Delia, stunned by her lover's proposal, dropped her teacup on the floor. It broke and sent tea and pieces of cup scattering across the kitchen floor.
"Oops, there goes another teacup," Samuel said as he bent down to clean up the pieces of the shattered teacup. "I really do need to buy some sturdier ones." As he reached up and put the pieces on the table, he saw that Delia was staring at him with wide eyes. "Delia? Are you all right? Say something, please."
"I'm…I'm…I'm shocked, to say the least," Delia said as she continued to stare at him with a stunned expression on her face.
"Why?" Samuel said as he took her hands in his. "I love you. And since I'm already on my knees, I might as well do this the right way." He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "Delia Ketchum, will you marry me?"
Delia bit her lip to try to halt the tears forming in her eyes. "Yes."
Overjoyed (and relieved) by her reply, Samuel leapt up and pulled her to her feet in a vigorous embrace. "Thank God. I was so afraid that you were going to say 'no'."
"I love you too, Samuel," Delia said as she kissed him. "And I want to marry you more than anything. It's just that I'm worried about what Ash is going to…"
The sound of the front door slamming caused them both to jump.
"Professor Oak! Help!"
Dashing into the hall, Delia and Samuel found a frantic Ash holding an injured Pikachu.
"Ash! What happened?" Professor Oak exclaimed as he saw the unconscious Pokémon.
"Pikachu and I were down by the Fire Pokémon Preserve when we saw that two of the Houndoom had gotten loose," a near-hysterical Ash explained as he ran over to Professor Oak. "They went after Pikachu and attacked us. Pikachu didn't have time to get away."
"How did you get away?" Professor Oak asked as he took the burned and bloody Pikachu from the boy and then ran down the hall to the Pokémon treatment room.
"I started hitting and kicking them to make them let go of Pikachu," Ash continued as he followed at Professor Oak's heels. "But that didn't work, so I let out Totodile. He took care of them with a Hydro Pump attack. But…but Pikachu…" Ash's eyes filled with tears as Professor Oak gently placed the injured Pokémon on the examination table, and the boy reached out to pat his wounded Pokémon. "Oh, Pikachu."
"Ash, you'd better wait outside," Professor Oak said as he started to examine the injured Pokémon.
"Please, Professor Oak. Let me stay with Pikachu," Ash pleaded. "I don't want to leave him."
Professor Oak looked up at the boy's tear-stained face. "All right, Ash. But stand over there so I can work on Pikachu."
"Okay, Professor," Ash gulped as he moved to a nearby lab bench and sat down and watched anxiously as Professor Oak treated the injured Pokémon. Finally, Professor Oak picked up the still-unconscious Pikachu and gently placed the Pokemon on a nearby bed.
"Professor? Is Pikachu…"
"Pikachu's badly injured, but it'll pull through," Professor Oak said as he began hooking up a monitor to Pikachu's chest. "The Burn Heal should start working soon. It's just that the other injuries will take a little longer to heal. But the Full Heal I've administered will help speed things along."
"Oh, Pikachu." Ash reached over to pat his Pokémon's head and Professor Oak gasped in horror.
"My God, Ash! What happened to your arm?" On the boy's left forearm was a burned, bloody gash several inches long.
Ash looked down at his injured arm. "One of the Houndoom went after me when I tried to get it off of Pikachu. It doesn't hurt too much."
"Ash, you need to see a doctor right now," Professor Oak said as he started dragging the boy away from Pikachu's bed. "Your mom needs to take you to the hospital."
"No, Professor Oak. I'm not leaving Pikachu!" Ash insisted as he broke away from the older man's grip and ran back to his Pokémon's side.
"Ash, you're hurt, too. You need to see a doctor," Professor Oak insisted as he went after Ash once more.
"No, Professor. I can't leave Pikachu," the boy said firmly as he started stroking Pikachu's head with his uninjured arm. "Professor Oak, you're like a doctor. You can fix me up."
Professor Oak shook his head. "Ash, I take care of injured Pokémon. Not people. Besides, Burn Heal doesn't work very effectively in humans."
"Please, Professor," Ash pleaded. "You can do it. You can help me, too. I trust you."
Those were the words he had been wanting to hear. Sighing in resignation, Professor Oak went off in search of the items he needed to treat Ash's arm.
"Sit down, Ash," Professor Oak said as he returned with an armful of first-aid supplies. "And let me take a look at that arm."
Fifteen minutes later, Professor Oak stuck his head through the door of the Pokémon treatment area into the hallway. "Delia?"
Delia jumped up from the chair where she had been waiting anxiously. "Samuel, what's going on? Is Pikachu all right? Where's Ash? What's…"
"Calm down, Delia," Professor Oak reassured her. "Everyone's all right. Pikachu's pretty banged up, but he'll pull through. And Ash is okay, too."
"Ash?" Delia replied, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Professor Oak took her arm and led her into the examination room. He pointed to a bed at the far end of the room where Ash and Pikachu lay side by side. The boy was cuddling his Pokémon and murmuring reassuring words to it.
"It's okay, Pikachu. I'll be right here when you wake up," Ash whispered softly as he stroked his Pokémon's head.
"Ash, what in the world happened to your arm?" Delia exclaimed in shock at the sight of her son's bandaged left forearm.
"It's okay, Mom," Ash reassured her as he looked up. "Professor Oak took care of me and Pikachu. We're both gonna be okay."
"Ash tried to stop one of the Houndoom from attacking Pikachu," Professor Oak explained to her. "He'll be all right, but just to be safe, I'd like for you to take him to his doctor first thing tomorrow to check my handiwork."
"Don't worry, Mom," Ash said as he returned to his Pokémon. "We're both gonna be…"
Pikachu's eyes fluttered open. "Pika?"
"Pikachu!" Ash cried happily as he hugged his Pokémon. "Oh Pikachu, you're gonna be all right now. Thanks to Professor Oak." Ash smiled at Pikachu's doctor.
"Why don't we let Pikachu get some rest now?" Professor Oak suggested. "He'll need to stay here overnight to recover."
"Can I stay here with Pikachu? Please?" Ash begged. "Please, Mom?"
"If Professor Oak says it's all right," Delia smiled.
"I'll go get you and Pikachu a blanket," Professor Oak said as he went off in search of one.
"You know, Mom," Ash said. "Professor Oak's a great guy."
"Yes he is, Ash," Delia replied. She then reached over and took her son's hand. "Ash, I have something important to tell you."
"What is it, Mom?"
"Ash, Professor Oak asked me to marry him."
Ash's jaw dropped. "Whoa! What did you tell him, Mom?"
"I said 'yes', Ash," Delia replied as she squeezed her son's hand. "But Ash, I want to know how you feel about all this. Are you okay with Professor Oak becoming your stepfather?"
"Well, I'm still kinda getting used to the idea of the two of you being…well, a couple. But when Pikachu and I were out walking around, I starting thinking about it and I realized that the two of you do spend a lot of time together. And you do seem pretty happy when you're with him."
Delia smiled. "Yes, Ash. I am."
"And Professor Oak's been kinda like a dad to me all these years," Ash continued. "I guess it wouldn't be much different than things are now."
"Here you go," Professor Oak said as he came back into the room and spread a blanket atop Ash and Pikachu. "I also found a pillow for you, Ash."
"Thanks," Ash replied as Professor Oak fluffed the pillow and put it under his head. "So when are you and Mom gonna get married?"
"It's okay, Samuel. I told him," Delia said when she saw the surprised look on her fiance's face. "Ash, I know it's going to take some time for us to get used to how things are going to be in the future. We probably won't get married for a while."
"Ash, in spite of everything that's happened today, are you…do you want me to be your stepfather?" Professor Oak asked the boy somewhat nervously.
Ash looked at Professor Oak, then at his mother, then at Professor Oak again. "Yeah, Professor Oak. I do."
Both Delia and Samuel breathed a sigh of relief.
"Like your mother said, we'll probably be engaged for a while, so that'll give us plenty of time to adjust to being a family," Professor Oak said as he checked Pikachu once more. "Meanwhile, I think we all need to get some sleep."
"Sleep well, honey," Delia said as she bent down and kissed her son. "You too, Pikachu. Get plenty of rest so you can get better."
"Pikachu," the little Pokémon said as it curled up next to Ash and closed its eyes.
"Let me know if you or Pikachu need anything," Professor Oak said as he turned out the overhead light. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."
"Thanks…Dad," Ash grinned as he cuddled Pikachu to him and pulled the blanket snugly around them.
"Guess that means that Ash is all right with us getting married," Samuel smiled as he took Delia's hand and they left the sleeping boy and his Pokémon.
---
Late the next morning, Ash came bounding into the lab. "Hey, Professor."
"Morning, Ash," Professor Oak smiled at his visitor. "How's your arm?"
Ash looked down at his bandaged limb. "The doctor said you did a great job treating my arm. He said that if you ever get tired of doctoring Pokémon, he wants to hire you."
Professor Oak chuckled. "Thanks for the compliment."
"How's Pikachu?" Ash asked as he looked around.
"See for yourself," Professor Oak replied. Ash looked down and saw Pikachu sitting in Professor Oak's lap.
"Pikachu!" the little yellow Pokémon cried happily as it leapt into Ash's arms.
"Hey, buddy!" Ash smiled as he hugged his Pokémon. "You're all better!"
"Pikachu is back to full health," Professor Oak smiled at the pair. "He didn't wake up until after you and your mom left for the doctor's office, so he's been keeping me company until you got back."
"Speaking of which," Ash smiled mischievously, "when we were out, we got you a surprise."
"A surprise? What is it?"
"See for yourself," Delia said as she came into the room and handed her fiance a piece of paper. "It was Ash's idea."
Professor Oak gasped in astonishment when he read the document. "Ash, are you saying that…?"
"Yep, Professor Oak," Ash grinned. "When you and Mom get married, I want you to adopt me. That way, you'll really be my dad."
"Thank you, Ash," Professor Oak said as he handed the adoption papers back to Delia and laid a hand on his future stepson's shoulder. "That means a lot to me."
"Now if you and Pikachu will excuse me," Delia said as she grabbed her fiance's arm. "I'm taking my future husband back to the mall because I saw an absolutely gorgeous engagement ring while we were out shopping."
"See you guys later," Ash called out as his mother and Professor Oak left for the jewelry store. As Pikachu hopped off of Ash's shoulder, the boy noticed a sketchbook sitting on the nearby table. Ash picked it up and realized that it was the same one that Professor Oak had shown him the day before. Slowly, Ash began to flip through the sketchpad of drawings until he came to the one of Celebi. He studied it for a moment, then smiled. "So, Celebi…did you know all of this was going to happen?"
Ash wasn't sure, but for a moment he swore he saw a twinkle in the Pokémon's eye.
THE END
