It was a nice summer afternoon. The sun's intense rays beat down upon the already scorched earth. Lately there had been a bit of a drought throughout the Johto region. The lawn in front of the Ketchum's house had begun to turn a pale brown.

It had been about three months since Ash had returned from the hospital. Little by little Ash he began to do more and more. Just two weeks after Ash's return Dr. Heiner called to check up on his condition. The next week Ash began a therapy program. They started him off by just doing exercises to stand. After about a month and a half of that they progressed to crutches.

Ash walked out of the house using the crutches that he had been given. It had been slightly difficult getting used to standing up again and using the crutches considering Ash had spent a good part of the past several months either in bed or in a wheelchair. He still used the wheelchair around the house, but for short distances he would use the crutches.

Mrs. Ketchum stood outside trimming her rose bushes.

"Hey Mom."

"Good morning honey. Are you feeling alright this morning?"

"Yes mom."

"Now Ash don't over exert yourself. You know the doctor said…"

"I know mom. Don't worry about it."

Ash recalled one day when he had pushed himself too hard. Mrs. Ketchum had left to go get some groceries and said she would return in an hour. It was not even 20 minutes after she had left that he had tried walking over to Professor Oak's. It was a good thing that Tracey had been walking along the road. He still hadn't heard the end of that one.

"Good morning Delilah," said Professor Oak as he strolled up to the house.

"Hey Professor Oak, how are…"

"Yes Ash your pokémon are doing fine," said Professor Oak chuckling slightly.

"What are you working on there Delilah?"
"I'm just pruning my rose bushes."
"They sure are lovely."

"Well it's a lot of hard work. This year's been extremely harsh on them. All of this dry weather we've been having has caused them to start wilting."

"Well I'm sure they'll turn out alright. They're rather hearty. Everything goes through a period where it withers a little. Even people. But if they can just make it through they will be stronger than ever."

"Wow! Professor Oak that was very poetic," Ash stated.

Professor Oak blushed slightly.

"Well I've tried my hand at poetry…"

"So what brings you here Professor Oak?" asked Mrs. Ketchum.

"I was just taking a stroll and I thought that I'd check in on you and Ash."

"Well, that's very kind of you," replied Mrs. Ketchum.

"Oh by the way Ash, Gary decided to hit the road again. He just wanted to give you his regards."

"Oh…" said Ash with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Would you care for some lemonade?" asked Mrs. Ketchum.

"Thank you for the offer, but I must be going. It's good to see that everything's going well for you."

"Thanks for stopping by professor, and…"

"Don't worry Ash I'll continue to look after your pokémon. They'll be alright."

"Thanks Professor."

Professor Oak began to walk back down the driveway turning to wave as he reached the end. Ash was glad that Professor Oak had stopped by. Staying around the house on such a nice day was slowly driving him insane, and whenever he got up and tried to walk around his mother would always get so concerned. Ever since he returned from the hospital Mrs. Ketchum had grown very protective. He couldn't wait till he could get back on the road again. This time he'd make it to the finals in the Indigo league for sure.

The day seemed to drag by as Mrs. Ketchum tended to her flowers. Ash offered to help her with the pruning and weeding, but she told him that it would be too strenuous work for him in his condition. Pikachu also seemed to be rather bored by this. After a few hours Ash went back in the house to watch some tv. It had been awhile since he had last sat down and watched it. Yet no matter what channel he switched to nothing could keep his interest. His thoughts constantly returned to planning on what he would do once he was healed up, and how he would train his pokémon to win the tournament.

The Sun was setting as Mrs. Ketchum was finishing her gardening. In spite of her vigilant watering and care for her rose bushes they still continued to wilt.

Mrs. Ketchum walked into the house exhausted from her day's worth of gardening. Between the strenuous heat and the intense sun she had taken quite a beating. As soon as she reached the kitchen she collapsed into a chair.

"Hey Mom, are you feeling alright?" Ash asked as he wheeled himself into the kitchen.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, just a bit tired from the long day."

"You know Mom I'd be more than happy to help you."

"Oh Ash, don't worry about it. I know your intentions are good, but you'd probably end up overstressing yourself, and then you'd be worse off than you already are."

"I know mom, but I…."

"Yes I know you'd like to get out and do something. I wish that you could just get up and about too, but for right now this is the way it has to be."

"Alright," Ash sighed.

Ash wheeled himself back into the other room in front of the television. Pikachu lay perched on the sofa. He too seemed restless, yet he didn't want to leave Ash's side. Mrs. Ketchum felt sorry for the poor boy having to stay cooped up inside of the house all day, especially considering the fact it was summer.

With a sigh and groan Mrs. Ketchum got up from her chair. She peered over at the clock on the wall, which read at 8:31 P.M.

"I can't believe it's so late," Mrs. Kethcum said to herself as she began to look through the large stack of papers that had amassed on the kitchen table.

Most of them were bills from Ash's hospital stay. The hospital's services had been quite nice and probably had saved Ash's life, but the price they charged for it was an exorbitant amount of money. She didn't know how she was going to pay for it all. She tried her best not to let Ash see the concern that she had due to their current financial problems. Professor Oak, as was in his kindly nature, had eagerly offered to help with the expenses, but Mrs. Ketchum had declined his generous offer.

Meticulously she looked over the financial statements; comparing and calculating the sums and balances. She stifled a yawn as she paged through the small booklet where she kept note of her bank records. The more she waded through the papers the more overwhelming it seemed as a wave of papers numbers and numbers washed over her, closing off the rest of the world.