"And that's what happened," Delia said as she finished telling them about
the final
Pokedex presentation.
For a moment she was staring at the awestruck faces of three teenagers. Then, a cascade
of questions suddenly overcame her.
"When did you get married?"
"How'd you end up here?"
"Who was Professor Hale's wife?"
"Who thought of my name?" (from Ash, of course)
"How did IT...well...happen?" (giggles in the background)
"So were you rich, Professor?"
"What happened to Ki?"
"Why did you keep it a secret?"
"Why didn't you both live in the same house?"
"Why is my name still Ketchum?" (Ash again.)
"Hold it, kids..I'll answer them, only one at a time, though.." Delia suddenly
remembered why she didn't become a teacher, and she shot her husband a helpless
glance.
"I SAID QUIET YOU BRATS!!!!!!" she bellowed.
"Okay!" (a/n can you say kids' day??)
They glanced at one another. "Which one should we start with?"
"I believe," said Professor Oak, "That Ash wanted to know why he was still a Ketchum
and not an Oak."
Turning to her son, Delia responded, "After we got married, you know, the whole Pokemon world was gossiping like mad about the man and his wife who was younger than him, and how she was cheating on her fiancé.
"So when we found out that I was going to have you, I didn't want you to live in shame. I
just wanted you to be normal boy. Sammy's reputation was already bad enough in that
way and a son would make it twice as bad, when he was already getting grandchildren.
So after you were born, we moved away to Pallet town."
"Why would anyone wanna live here?" Asked Brock suddenly. "No offense, but its not
exactly the most exciting place to be."
"Well, that's exactly why we moved here," Professor Oak interjected. "I wanted a quiet
town where I could carry out my research and be with Delia-er, Mrs. Ketchum."
"And," she continued, "I kept my name the same. So now I was a Mrs., but I kept my
name Ketchum. And that's why yours was too."
"So, did anyone ever discover you there?" asked Misty, leaning foreword with
anticipation.
"Yes, eventually people followed the famous Professor Oak to his home. He decided that
I living there just wasn't worth it, so he built a cottage next door for me and our
child..Ash."
"My father's rich, ya know," threw in Ash, feeling the strange sound of the word "my
father" on his lips. Never before had his mouth formed these two words in succession.
"Shut up, Ash," said Misty. "Not all of us are you."
"What about Ki? Did I ever meet her?" Continued Ash, ignoring Misty.
"Well..you did meet her once, a few years ago. She brought her little girl, Molly, and
her husband."
It took a few seconds for this to register, but when it did, his mouth dropped open.
"Spencer Hale's wife was Ki?"
"Yep."
"This is weird."
"Tell me about it," added Brock, thinking about the girl he'd been hitting on.
Ash excused himself that evening and went out walking alone in the fields, his mind
spinning in all directions. To his whole identity swiped out from under him, and to
suddenly be someone he never thought he was..it was all so confusing.
As he walked, he let his eyes wander up towards the sky. The stars were glittering
serenely in the sky, but inside chaos reigned.
A voice cut through the darkness.
"Well if it isn't Ash *Ketchum*," smirked a voice contemptuously behind him.
"Gary!" He exclaimed, whirling around.
"What are you doing here?" Gary demanded, "This is MY grandfather's house, not yours.
So get out!"
Normally Ash would have retorted with a "make me!" or a "Suuuure I will," but today he
just smiled.
This infuriated the already-irritated Pokemon trainer, who expected to get a rise out of
Ash.
"I bet you wouldn't beat me in a battle if we had one right now!" shrieked Gary
obnoxiously, already playing his last card. If one thing could get Ash Ketchum riled, it
was battling.
"I bet I would," Ash shot back, reaching for a Pokeball at his belt.
Gary was in an especially abusive mood tonight, and next he threw the ultimate insult.
"You'll never beat me, Ketchum. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be an Oak,
and we Oaks have superior blood. And at least *I* had a father around *my* house to
teach me Pokemon training, unlike some people I know." He glanced sideways at Ash
with a cocky grin splitting his face.
Ash's eyes widened, and he fought the urge to rush forward, to throttle him, to wipe that
smirk off his face forever. He clenched his fist in front of him.
"If you had heard what I just did," Ash whispered almost inaudibly, "You wouldn't be
laughing, Gary Oak."
His resigned, quiet voice silenced Gary.
"What is it?" He asked, still trying to sound tough, but his voice had a slight tremor in it.
For a moment Ash said nothing.
"I did have a father, and I do know him, and he DID teach me about Pokemon training.
So there."
Without saying another word regarding this subject, he pulled out his Pokeball. "Now are
we going to battle, or are we going to talk?"
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," remarked Delia, gazing up at the sky, interlocking
her hands with her husband's.
He felt that she needed him somehow. Her hands were just as small and delicate as when
she was young..a mere girl in the world.
Delia thought to herself how she'd always found that protection in him. His hands,
though aged 16 years, still felt the same as always-warm, work-worn, and securing.
But something was missing, and he felt it too.
"Delia." He spoke softly, though there was not another soul in sight. They were sitting on
the front porch of his house, watching their son trailing around in the field.
"Yes?" she asked, turning to face him. She never grew tired of gazing into his eyes and
seeing the undying love shining back at her.
"I have something for you," he said and dug around in his pocket, and finally pulled out a
little velvet box.
She gasped. "Is this..is this what I think it is? You saved it all these years?"
"I thought one day, you might want it back."
With trembling fingers that made her feel like a hormonal schoolgirl again, she opened
the box and admired at the ring inside. Its shining light, though dulled by years of
darkness, still glowed back at her.
"I remember how surprised I was when I found out that you'd made the wedding ring
with a part of the stone..it was so hard for me to give it up. It was like I was giving up
on *us*."
"Don't be silly." He stroked her head like a kitten and slipped it on her ring finger.
"Now we don't have to keep it a secret anymore, Delia. We can tell everyone in the
world that our son is Ash Ketchum, the new trainer from the town of Pallet Town who is
taking the world by storm."
She leaned her head back into his arms and they watched as Gary sauntered up to Ash
and challenged him to a battle. They couldn't hear their words, but it was all right. Their
actions were enough.
"I'm so proud of him." She spoke suddenly, her voice cutting through the silence. "I can
tell that he's your son."
She felt him inhale, then exhale. "I'm proud of him, too, Delia. My son. Ash Ketchum Oak."
*sniff sob sob* I'm so sad!!!!!!!!! The story's over!!! Well, it was fun to write, and I'm glad you guys liked it! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!!! Especially peeps who reviewed every chapter! A thousand thanks!!! Oh, yes, btw, can someone help me? I was wondering if anyone knew how to format html into a document to make text bold, italicized, etc when it appears on fanfiction.net. Or do you not use html? ARIGATOU!!!!
Lotsa love, x~Aurora
Pokedex presentation.
For a moment she was staring at the awestruck faces of three teenagers. Then, a cascade
of questions suddenly overcame her.
"When did you get married?"
"How'd you end up here?"
"Who was Professor Hale's wife?"
"Who thought of my name?" (from Ash, of course)
"How did IT...well...happen?" (giggles in the background)
"So were you rich, Professor?"
"What happened to Ki?"
"Why did you keep it a secret?"
"Why didn't you both live in the same house?"
"Why is my name still Ketchum?" (Ash again.)
"Hold it, kids..I'll answer them, only one at a time, though.." Delia suddenly
remembered why she didn't become a teacher, and she shot her husband a helpless
glance.
"I SAID QUIET YOU BRATS!!!!!!" she bellowed.
"Okay!" (a/n can you say kids' day??)
They glanced at one another. "Which one should we start with?"
"I believe," said Professor Oak, "That Ash wanted to know why he was still a Ketchum
and not an Oak."
Turning to her son, Delia responded, "After we got married, you know, the whole Pokemon world was gossiping like mad about the man and his wife who was younger than him, and how she was cheating on her fiancé.
"So when we found out that I was going to have you, I didn't want you to live in shame. I
just wanted you to be normal boy. Sammy's reputation was already bad enough in that
way and a son would make it twice as bad, when he was already getting grandchildren.
So after you were born, we moved away to Pallet town."
"Why would anyone wanna live here?" Asked Brock suddenly. "No offense, but its not
exactly the most exciting place to be."
"Well, that's exactly why we moved here," Professor Oak interjected. "I wanted a quiet
town where I could carry out my research and be with Delia-er, Mrs. Ketchum."
"And," she continued, "I kept my name the same. So now I was a Mrs., but I kept my
name Ketchum. And that's why yours was too."
"So, did anyone ever discover you there?" asked Misty, leaning foreword with
anticipation.
"Yes, eventually people followed the famous Professor Oak to his home. He decided that
I living there just wasn't worth it, so he built a cottage next door for me and our
child..Ash."
"My father's rich, ya know," threw in Ash, feeling the strange sound of the word "my
father" on his lips. Never before had his mouth formed these two words in succession.
"Shut up, Ash," said Misty. "Not all of us are you."
"What about Ki? Did I ever meet her?" Continued Ash, ignoring Misty.
"Well..you did meet her once, a few years ago. She brought her little girl, Molly, and
her husband."
It took a few seconds for this to register, but when it did, his mouth dropped open.
"Spencer Hale's wife was Ki?"
"Yep."
"This is weird."
"Tell me about it," added Brock, thinking about the girl he'd been hitting on.
Ash excused himself that evening and went out walking alone in the fields, his mind
spinning in all directions. To his whole identity swiped out from under him, and to
suddenly be someone he never thought he was..it was all so confusing.
As he walked, he let his eyes wander up towards the sky. The stars were glittering
serenely in the sky, but inside chaos reigned.
A voice cut through the darkness.
"Well if it isn't Ash *Ketchum*," smirked a voice contemptuously behind him.
"Gary!" He exclaimed, whirling around.
"What are you doing here?" Gary demanded, "This is MY grandfather's house, not yours.
So get out!"
Normally Ash would have retorted with a "make me!" or a "Suuuure I will," but today he
just smiled.
This infuriated the already-irritated Pokemon trainer, who expected to get a rise out of
Ash.
"I bet you wouldn't beat me in a battle if we had one right now!" shrieked Gary
obnoxiously, already playing his last card. If one thing could get Ash Ketchum riled, it
was battling.
"I bet I would," Ash shot back, reaching for a Pokeball at his belt.
Gary was in an especially abusive mood tonight, and next he threw the ultimate insult.
"You'll never beat me, Ketchum. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be an Oak,
and we Oaks have superior blood. And at least *I* had a father around *my* house to
teach me Pokemon training, unlike some people I know." He glanced sideways at Ash
with a cocky grin splitting his face.
Ash's eyes widened, and he fought the urge to rush forward, to throttle him, to wipe that
smirk off his face forever. He clenched his fist in front of him.
"If you had heard what I just did," Ash whispered almost inaudibly, "You wouldn't be
laughing, Gary Oak."
His resigned, quiet voice silenced Gary.
"What is it?" He asked, still trying to sound tough, but his voice had a slight tremor in it.
For a moment Ash said nothing.
"I did have a father, and I do know him, and he DID teach me about Pokemon training.
So there."
Without saying another word regarding this subject, he pulled out his Pokeball. "Now are
we going to battle, or are we going to talk?"
"The stars are so beautiful tonight," remarked Delia, gazing up at the sky, interlocking
her hands with her husband's.
He felt that she needed him somehow. Her hands were just as small and delicate as when
she was young..a mere girl in the world.
Delia thought to herself how she'd always found that protection in him. His hands,
though aged 16 years, still felt the same as always-warm, work-worn, and securing.
But something was missing, and he felt it too.
"Delia." He spoke softly, though there was not another soul in sight. They were sitting on
the front porch of his house, watching their son trailing around in the field.
"Yes?" she asked, turning to face him. She never grew tired of gazing into his eyes and
seeing the undying love shining back at her.
"I have something for you," he said and dug around in his pocket, and finally pulled out a
little velvet box.
She gasped. "Is this..is this what I think it is? You saved it all these years?"
"I thought one day, you might want it back."
With trembling fingers that made her feel like a hormonal schoolgirl again, she opened
the box and admired at the ring inside. Its shining light, though dulled by years of
darkness, still glowed back at her.
"I remember how surprised I was when I found out that you'd made the wedding ring
with a part of the stone..it was so hard for me to give it up. It was like I was giving up
on *us*."
"Don't be silly." He stroked her head like a kitten and slipped it on her ring finger.
"Now we don't have to keep it a secret anymore, Delia. We can tell everyone in the
world that our son is Ash Ketchum, the new trainer from the town of Pallet Town who is
taking the world by storm."
She leaned her head back into his arms and they watched as Gary sauntered up to Ash
and challenged him to a battle. They couldn't hear their words, but it was all right. Their
actions were enough.
"I'm so proud of him." She spoke suddenly, her voice cutting through the silence. "I can
tell that he's your son."
She felt him inhale, then exhale. "I'm proud of him, too, Delia. My son. Ash Ketchum Oak."
*sniff sob sob* I'm so sad!!!!!!!!! The story's over!!! Well, it was fun to write, and I'm glad you guys liked it! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!!! Especially peeps who reviewed every chapter! A thousand thanks!!! Oh, yes, btw, can someone help me? I was wondering if anyone knew how to format html into a document to make text bold, italicized, etc when it appears on fanfiction.net. Or do you not use html? ARIGATOU!!!!
Lotsa love, x~Aurora