Anima: Hey guys, welcome to the 4th chapter of 'Rise from the ashes'. Sorry it took me a while to update but as well as writing the chapter, I had to create a basic outline of what I'm planning to do for future chapters, as well as do some drawing that relates to this story and put it on my DeviantArt. It's the same name as my Fanfiction username so it should be easy to find.

Quick note: I mentioned earlier that I am currently doing my A-levels, so, in the future, I will not be instantly writing and posting a new chapter. Instead, I will post one chapter sometime between one-two weeks after I have posted the last one. I will do my best to update regularly, but here's a heads up so you don't think I've discontinued the story due to not updating in a while.

Also, I am very sorry for the lack of action, but Ash is only a baby right now. When she gets older and can actually talk, she'll be the center of most of the chapters and said chapters should be more interesting to read. Please hold on until then.

Anyway here's the Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, only the new and improved Ash that stars in this story.

Anyway, on to the story.

Pokemon communicating in English without actually speaking (not Meowth): *…*

Pokemon speaking: '…'

Normal human speaking (Meowth): "…"

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So… Ash was in shock… again. Seriously, what was with this world and throwing so many fucking curveballs at her? She was only just over one month old. Was this going to get worse as she got older? Honestly, she was starting to think it was good she didn't have much future knowledge. It was obviously going to be useless.

As Ash watched Professor Oak (and it could only be Professor Oak, now that Ash was looking closer she had noticed that he was wearing the iconic lab coat) drink a cup of tea on the couch opposite from the one she was on, and on the other side of the coffee table that took its place in between, she could only wonder, how the hell was this even her life now?

After Oak (repeatedly calling him Professor Oak got annoying) came into the house, Delia handed Ash to Lopunny before gently scooping Gary up from Oak's outstretched arms. She then started calming Gary down, all while ushering Oak into the house, closing the door behind him, situating him on the couch and making a bottle of milk for Gary and a cup of tea for Oak. Then she finally gave Oak his tea, sat next to Lopunny on the couch (with the rest of the Pokemon hovering) and started feeding Gary the milk from the baby bottle. Seriously, Ash's mum was a complete BAMF. This? This right here just proved it.

Ash looked over to the, now quiet, baby drinking from the bottle, eyes closed contently as he suckled from within Delia's arms. This was Gary Oak? Ash couldn't see it. Though that was, honestly, no surprise. He was just a newborn now, and Ash only knew what the ten-year-old Gary looked like. Not to mention, in the future, Gary was supposed to be a jerk. Right now? He was just an innocent baby. Ash snapped out of her pondering when her mother started to talk.

"So Sam," Delia started quietly as she stared at the hunched up man "how exactly did you find Gary here?"

Oak (Sam?) sighed as he started to run his right hand through his (brown?) hair. "I came outside to get the morning paper, just like any other day" he put his head in his hands "then I nearly stepped on the little guy when I didn't notice him on my front doorstep."

"You stepped on him?" Delia asked quietly, and as Ash watched, shadows seemed to gather behind her, as her eyes glinted at the now rapidly paling Pokemon Professor.

Oak rapidly shook his head, and waved his arms, as he did his best to backtrack. "A-a-almost. I didn't actually step on him. I noticed him just in time when he started crying. There was no stepping." He let out a sigh of relief, and Ash stared, as the shadows surrounding Delia disappeared and she smiled pleasantly.

"Oh, is that so?" Oak nodded shakily at her. "That's good. I'd be very upset if something bad happened to this little one." Ash blinked, stunned, as Delia took the, now empty, bottle from Gary, before starting to tickle his stomach, making him gurgle and giggle. It was at that moment, that Ash realized, that her mother was not someone you wanted to be on the bad side of.

Oak nervously cleared his throat before continuing his story. "A-anyway, after he started crying, I decided to bring him inside to try and calm him down. It was when I started to pick him up that I first noticed the note attached to his blanket." As he opened his lab coat and started to rifle through the pockets, Delia started to speak.

"You mentioned a note back when you first showed up. What note?" Delia questioned, before blinking at the folded up piece of paper that Oak held out to her.

"This one." Oak finished with a somber look on his face, as Delia shifted her hold on the currently sleeping Gary so that she could use her, now free, left hand, to pluck the note from Oak's hand.

Of course, Ash, not wanting to be left out and curious about the contents of the note, started to squirm around from her place on Lopunny's lap, reaching for the note and letting out a small cry as the two adults attention shifted to her.

Delia gave a resigned but happy sigh, as she passed the note from her left hand to her right and, slowly moving over, so that she didn't disturb Gary from his impromptu nap, she leaned over and carefully lifted Ash up from Lopunny, who gave out a thankful sigh at Delia's help, and cradled her in her left arm, before moving back to her previous position, now with two babies in her arms and a note in her right hand.

As Ash got comfy in her new position, Delia skilfully managed to open the note with the hand that held it, after which, she brought it closer so that she, and Ash (but she didn't know that), could read. To Ash's immense relief, the note was indeed written in English. Yes, she didn't have to learn a new language in order to be able to communicate. Anyway, moving on.

"Dear Professor Oak," Delia began "I'm terribly sorry to ask this of you but please, look after my son. His name is Gary and he was born yesterday on the 31st of June. I won't go into details, but I am unable to take proper care of him. As I was close to Pallet town, I had an idea that, as the Pokemon Professor, you would most likely have the necessary knowledge to take care of a child. And so, I entrust him into your care. Please take good care of him and love him as your own."

As Delia finished reading, a stunned silence seemed to descend upon the room. Oak then sighed, leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling with a frown. "After I read it, I didn't really have time to think about it. Gary was crying so loudly that he was starting to disturb the Pokemon at the lab. I didn't want something bad to happen, so I brought him to the only person I know that's raising a young child, here in Pallet Town."

"Me." Delia finished quietly.

As a short silence seemed to ring in the room, Delia got a determined glint in her eyes and nodded decisively. "It's settled then." She announced, grabbing Oak's attention. "You'll adopt Gary and be his new father." She finished with closed eyes and a smile. Stunned silence… then-

"WHAT?"

Complete and utter pandemonium. The previously quiet and still Pokemon were letting out various noises and moving in different ways, Oak was shouting and had stood up from his seat, Ash was yelling in shock (though it sounded more like wailing), and due to the loud noise, Gary had started crying again. Delia, completely calm in the eye of the storm, took a deep breath in and then yelled "QUIET!" at the top of her lungs. This caused all of the various noisemakers to still and before he could start crying again, Delia quickly calmed Gary down.

Breathing in deeply, Delia exhaled and then started to explain her earlier statement. "It makes sense. Whoever wrote the note obviously wanted Gary to be well taken care of. Who better than you? You make a lot of money from all of your work and Gary's parents entrusted him to you. Not only that, but they did ask for you to love him as your own." As Oak spluttered, Ash was wondering what the hell was happening.

She remembered Gary being Oak's grandson, not his own child. And what was with the whole, being left on the doorstep, deal? Ash was pretty sure that this event didn't happen in the anime. Besides, what about Gary's parents? The original Gary's anyway. What happened to them? As Ash pondered over this new development, Oak in the meantime had finally stopped spluttering and was beginning to argue with Ash's mother.

"Delia" He protested. "I can't take him in. I'm too busy to raise a child, what with all of the Pokemon at the lab, not to mention I'm working on some new inventions. Besides, I don't have the slightest clue how to raise a child. If Gary stayed with me, he would probably turn into some sort of work-obsessed hermit!" After Oak finished, he sat back down, with a heavy thump, and a look of self-depreciation on his face.

Delia sighed at his stubbornness and then raised an eyebrow at him. "If I recall correctly, this isn't your first time raising a child." She said with a cheeky grin.

Oak leveled a look at her. "You don't count. You were seven when you came to stay with me." Whoah, whoah, whoah, hold the phone. Mum lived with Professor Oak? When she was seven? "You knew how to take care of yourself. Gary is a baby, I can't take proper care of him. He didn't stop crying until I took him to you. If anything, I would probably keep bringing him here for you to babysit." Delia hummed in thought, and then a smile lit up her face. Oak flinched, smiles from Delia always had a catch, just what was she planning?

Clearing her throat, Delia turned to her Pokemon (except Gyarados because he was currently at the river by Oak's lab) and asked them "Do you guys remember when we all used to live at Sam's place a few years ago?" The 5 Pokemon gave her a various range of different looks. Venusaur and Absol looked disbelieving that Delia would ask that question, Alakazam looked indignant at the insinuation that he had forgotten, Butterfree looked joyful and Pidgeot gave a deadpanned stare. Lopunny just giggled at the various reactions that the Pokemon belonging to her trainer's mate gave.

Delia nodded happily at the answers she had gotten, as they answered her question with a resounding yes, and then turned to Professor Oak, who was eyeing her warily. "Sam, do you still have my old room at your lab?" Oak blinked at her, dumbfounded, before puffing up in indignant rage.

"Of course I do." He answered her. "It didn't feel right replacing all of your things with my equipment, so I decided to keep it as it was when you moved out most of your stuff, just in case you decided to come over and stay the night." Oak shrugged nonchalantly before shooting a look at Delia. "Why do you want to know?"

Delia smiled at the answer before getting up from the couch and plopping the two babies in the, now stunned, Professor's arms. As Delia started to move out of the room, she turned back and told Oak. "Then its settled. I'll go pack my bags. After I unpack back at your place, we'll head out to go and get Gary registered as your son. We can then move Ash's crib over to the labs and then her and Gary can share until they're older."

Delia hummed happily, leaving the silent and shellshocked Professor with a similarly shocked Ash and a blearily blinking Gary. Oak then leaped up from the couch to call after Delia. "Delia, this idea is insane. I already told you, I can't be Gary's father." He called out to the retreating woman, who then turned around to give him a cheeky grin and retort.

"Grandfather then." She joked, before slipping out of view.

Oak yelled after her, positively steaming. "I'M ONLY 39. I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A GRANDFATHER." He then panicked and started bouncing Gary in his left arm, when said baby gave a small wail at the noise. Ash, however, blinked at the news. 39? Yowzah he was young. Oak made a very good point there, 39 was way too young to be a grandfather. I mean, in her past life her parents had her in their early forties.

"As I said earlier, you'll be Gary's father then." Delia's very faint voice echoed back to the now deflating Professor, who collapsed back onto the couch. He gave up. There was no changing Delia's mind once she had it set on something. He was going to be a father.

Oak let out a heavy sigh. Him? A father? He was hardly father material. When Delia first came to stay with him, he was more of an older brother to her. She already knew how to take care of herself, he just let her stay with him at his home and took her on as his assistant. She and Spencer were brilliant, and a great help in the labs. After Delia first went on her Pokemon journey, it just seemed odd to not be having some help around the labs. Then on a business trip, to talk about some scientific discoveries, he met Spencer.

The young boy wanted to become a Pokemon researcher and asked if he could apprentice under Oak. He agreed. When going back to Pallet Town, Oak went back with a new assistant.

When Delia came back, just over two years after first leaving, Oak was thrilled to have her back, and he was more than happy to meet all of her new Pokemon. She and Spencer also got along great, which was a good thing in his books (he didn't want to think about what might have happened if they didn't. Delia was scary when she was angry).

Sure, Oak readily admitted that he wasn't too happy when the boy she traveled with asked her to be his girlfriend; He was even less happy when Delia agreed and asked him if Red could board with them in the labs. Red offered to pay, but Oak declined, he didn't need the kid's money. Besides, Red boarding in the labs meant he could keep a closer eye on him.

So after all of that, everything was the same schedule for the next few years. The four of them (not including their Pokemon) made new discoveries, looked after many different Pokemon together, sent new trainers on their journeys, and much more (Delia, Oak, and Spencer more so than Red). It was great. Of course, Red wasn't staying idle in the meantime. He had been working on a very big project of his own.

In 1992, Red managed to start his new rescue organization for people and Pokemon. The 'Origins Rescue Association' or O.R.A. (pronounced Aura) for short, was an international success. It operated all over the different regions, saving both people and Pokemon. One of the reasons it was most likely a bigger success was that the rescues weren't always huge things like forest fires. Instead, O.R.A. also saved people and Pokemon from abusive households and/or trainers. The afflicted were always found a safe place to stay, whether it was with a new family or in the wild.

Even though O.R.A. was a rescue organization, it made a lot of money. Whether by being paid for from the governments for the continued good work or from the various donations, which meant that by the time 2 years had passed, a 19-year-old Red had become very wealthy. Which meant that, in 1994, he had more than the necessary amount of funds to commission a house to be built near Oak's lab. The house and the accompanying buildings were very impressive.

Not long after the buildings were finished Red asked Delia to move in with him and she said yes. She still helped out in the lab so the absence wasn't really felt until later. Not long after the move, Red then proposed to Delia, who, again, said yes. The wedding was not too long ago in 1997. However, it was at the wedding that things really started to change.

Spencer talked to him, about how he had learned a lot from him and was really thankful for it. But… he wanted to leave, to become a Pokemon researcher, study new discoveries and make his mark. Oak accepted it and after telling Delia, who tried to hit Spencer with a frying pan for telling her at her wedding, he packed his things and left. They all kept in contact with each other and while it was odd not having Spencer around, phone and video calls made the loss barely felt.

Then… Delia asked if it was alright if she stopped working at the labs. She was pregnant and, refusing to lay down and let Red be the only person bringing income in, decided to open a restaurant so that she could still work while not having to do anything too strenuous for the baby. Oak was alright with it, his student and friend was going to be a mother, he couldn't be angry at her for wanting to look after her family while not risking the baby. So he released Delia from her apprenticeship under him and she opened a restaurant named 'Pallet House', that quickly became very popular.

Oak was happy for Delia, he really was… but after she stopped coming around so much as before, he realized how the lab seemed quieter without any of his assistants around, not to mention the much larger amount of work he had to do now he had no one around to help him.

In fact, due to this, he wasn't even able to come over to see Delia and her new child until now because of how it was around this time of year that the Pokemon tended to have their eggs and, while Oak was happy that there would be new Pokemon around the lab, he was not happy about how much paperwork he had to do regarding new additions. Honestly, he had been absolutely exhausted and sleep deprived when he had opened his door that morning that, even with Gary crying, it was a miracle he had noticed the boy in time.

Oak let out another heavy sigh. Honestly, he could barely take care of himself, how on earth could Delia just expect him to be able to take care of a newborn baby? He was hopeless at managing to look after his own needs, and a newborn's would be-

Oak was snapped out of his doubtful thoughts by a sharp tug on his shirt. He looked down to lock eyes with the curious gaze of Delia's child. What was it Delia had called them again? Ash? So the baby was a boy? Or was that a nickname of some sort? Oak smiled softly, the name Ash really brought back some old memories.

Oh, what an adventure he had gotten that day. He was just trying to draw some Pokemon and he was then brought forward into the adventure of a lifetime. He could never forget it, nor could he ever forget the friend he had made that day. Thinking about their friend, it should have been nearly 30 years since he met them, so that meant that it should be around now that they were born.

Really, Oak chuckled, looking at the baby that stared up at him with wide eyes from his arm, it was quite the coincidence that this child had the same name as that gold-hearted girl. Now that he thought about it, Oak squinted, this child had the same dark hair and bright brown eyes of her too. Not to mention the last name, Ketchum. Honestly, what were the odds that there was another child named Ash… Ketchum… that looked so similar.

As the aforementioned baby gave him a curious stare, due to Oak starting to stare blankly at them, Oak was having a heart attack. He couldn't believe it. It was impossible, I mean, what were the odds? This couldn't be that girl, it absolutely couldn't be… but he had to make sure. He had to ask Delia about this little one so he could get some answers. And speak of the devil...

"I'm back." Delia practically sang as she entered the room, two large suitcases rolling behind her with their handles in her grip, and a big backpack upon her shoulders. "I've got everything we need. Diapers, baby powder, baby milk formula, baby bottles for both of the kids and some clothes for me and Ash." Oak breathed in deeply, the baby's name was Ash, he had to ask.

"Delia" He started, thinking over what he was going to say, as Delia, who was talking with the Pokemon, turned over to him.

"Yes, Sam?" She asked with a smile.

"I'm sorry for just bringing it up now, but I don't believe you told me this" he lifted the arm holding Ash up "little one's name." As he brought his arm back down, Delia gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Sam. I completely forgot you two haven't been introduced." She lifted her right arm to point at her child. "This is my daughter, Ashlyn Elizabeth Ketchum." Oak's heart jumped, so it wasn't just a coincidence, this was her.

"Thank you Delia" Oak said as he gave her a shaky smile. "I was curious about what her name was." Delia giggled.

"Yes, I probably should have told you earlier huh? My bad." She then gestured in the general direction of the front door. "If we want to get everything set up by tonight though, we should probably hurry up and get going."

Oak's stomach sunk as he began to feel a little lightheaded. The adoption. Right, right, how could he forget? But… he wasn't ready to be a father, most likely would never be ready. He couldn't raise Gary, he was a baby and he couldn't take care of people and-

Oak was, once again, cut off due to a certain someone yanking on his shirt. He looked down to see Ash pouting at him before smiling as she patted his face and then pushed up the corners of his mouth. Oak couldn't resist the urge to laugh, even as a baby, she was still just like she was back then.

Turning back to Delia, who smiled fondly at the scene before her, he smiled at her. "Yes, we should." He agreed as he carefully got up from the couch with the two adorable bundles in his arms. Was he ready to be a father? No, not really. But for his friend, apprentice and the young boy, he would try. Besides, it would be nice to have company around the lab again. With a gigantic grin on his face, Oak said to Delia "Lead the way." as he gestured to the door. He might not be the best dad but he would try, by Arceus would he try.

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Anima: So that's the chapter. We get to know a bit more about the past, and how it affects the present in the story. And it seems that somehow Oak recognizes Ash. How? You'll have to wait and see. Also, give a warm round of welcome to GARY OAK, the soon to be, new member of the Oak family.

Quick note, I have put a few pictures of the letter to Oak on Deviantart, so go and check them out sometime. As well as that are some attempts to draw the house plan for the Ketchum family. It probably could be better, but I think it went okay.

Also, I am so sorry it took so long to update but I was having difficulties writing out the house's description, so I just decided to post a plan of the Ketchum residence on Deviantart, so much easier to have a clearer picture of something if you can actually see it. Not to mention I'm starting to get into the more difficult part of my A-levels, so I will be spending more time studying.

Anyway, thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.