Who I Am - Lightning99

Chapter 14:

A Mother's Love

The group tarried on the beach, chatting and laughing, the sudden incident forgotten like a bottle in the sea. It didn't matter. They didn't speak about it after Lillie concluded Ash's contentment. The atmosphere was cordial once more.

Lillie – sat on the sand with her legs pulled to her right side and her hands in her lap – was pleased that Ash was grinning again and that he slowly livened. He even accepted Kiawe's passionate challenge to a battle soon, and he and Pikachu chased Mallow barefooted across the shoreline after she stole his hat, unveiling his handsome face from beneath it. Lillie didn't talk as much as the others did, nor did she become playful when the others electrified. Lillie admired instead, warm feelings of enjoyment and camaraderie blossoming inside her as she treasured the fruition of her childhood desire: spending time with people her age, a group she could call her friends.

Lillie loved watching them. She loved their company, knowing she was a member of their group, their friend, without forcing her involvement in a feigned way. She didn't have to pretend to be as excitable as they were. She could be herself around them.

They all returned to the Poké-Center at around half-eleven as fatigue hit. They talked quietly in the dimmed foyer until twelve, about plans for the next day. Mallow invited Lillie and Lana shopping, the boys were going to do some training, and then they would meet up again in the afternoon. Their plans pledged, Ash yawned wider than a Snorlax, and headed up to sleep, giving a friendly farewell. Mallow and Lana went to collect their belongings, and Kiawe, Sophocles, and Hau left to tend to Charizard for Kiawe's flight back to Akala. An unknowing smile slightly puffed Lillie's cheeks, and she swung her legs inadvertently, waiting for Mallow and Lana.

"I know we said we wouldn't ask about it, but doesn't it worry you? Ash suddenly acted so… bizarre. These past few weeks, he's been nothing but upbeat and involved. It's strange seeing him change so drastically because of something like Poké-Vision, especially after watching him battle so excellently today. I mean, he was amazing! Aren't you as worried about him as I am?" Lillie overheard Mallow say upon the duo descending the stairs into the Poké-Center's foyer.

"What do you mean, Mallow? Of course, we're worried, he's our friend," Lana replied quickly.

"Come on, Lana, you know it's a little different for me!" Mallow whined, looping her rose handbag over her shoulder.

"Different how?" Lana asked slyly.

"Oooooh, don't tease me!" Mallow responded, nudging Lana's side.

"Tease you about what?" Kiawe said, sauntering into the doorframe with a satchel draped over his padded shoulder, his Charizard saddled in the background being petted by Hau. "I think I deserve to tease you for how you've been joking about me lately."

"Just about Ash. Mallow's cr-"

Mallow's cheeks flushed, and she frantically clasped her hand over Lana's mouth. "Ignore her, please! Jeez, are you trying to kill me from embarrassment?!"

Kiawe leaned back against the doorframe, folded his arms and grinned. "Oh? Please, Lana, continue," he teased.

"Ahhh!" Mallow cried, releasing her gag on Lana, who was laughing to herself. Mallow hurriedly, tensely shuffled outside.

Lillie placed her hat atop her blonde head and followed Lana out. Lillie had suspected Mallow's attraction to Ash the moment she boasted meeting him at the festival and had noticed the rising affection she was showing him throughout the previous week. Lillie considered Mallow her best friend even if Mallow and Lana were each other's, so she knew her well, what her tells were, and the aims of her mood and action fluctuations. Her manner of addressing Ash blatantly unveiled her feelings; she acted like all the adoring boys from their school had done around Mallow in the two months Lillie spent there. Flirty, Lillie supposed, but happy described it well, in a way judgement couldn't dampen. Infatuated, maybe.

Strangely, Lillie was jealous of Mallow's feelings, not because she shared them for Ash, and not because boys never offered her their affections – all of which she was too shy to respond to and couldn't comprehend, or share – but because she had never experienced such feelings for anybody outside her family. Likely originated from her sheltered, shy childhood, Lillie longed to experience it, just once, feel as happy as Mallow displayed. She wished she could have had a normal childhood like her new friends.

"Umm, Mallow, I'm unsure whether or not you are aware, but it is kind of obvious that you act a bit differently when Ash is around," Sophocles said, surprisingly attuned to the conversation.

"What?! Really?!" Mallow cried again, her voice growing higher but more distressed.

"He's not wrong. Though, I don't think Ash has noticed. He seems really dense," Kiawe said, throwing his arms behind his head.

"Aww…" Mallow sighed. "Well… Aside from that, aren't you all worried too? Lillie?"

Lillie straightened after being addressed, aware of her friends all looking at her. It was a lot more pressuring than when she talked to Ash. "Umm – I – Yes, I would say I am worried. I-It was very sudden for him to change after being so happy. I think there must be a reason for it."

"See! I'm not the only one!"

"Yeah, there must be a reason. But what could it be? I mean, Ash hasn't talked to us at all about himself. What do we really know about him?" Hau said, creating a metronome by tapping his sandal on the stone.

"That's a good point, you know. Do you think he doesn't trust us with something?" Lana asked.

"Woah, hold on, don't talk like that!" Kiawe said loudly, frowning. "He's our friend, right? He'll tell us when he's ready. Besides, we've only known him just over a week."

"Me and Lillie have known him for two weeks," Hau interjected.

"That's not the point," Kiawe said.

"But two weeks without knowing anything is a bit strange. Surely you bond with people, become friends, by learning things about them," Sophocles said.

"While that's true–" Kiawe muttered.

"What if we find out he's, like, a serial killer?" Sophocles asked.

"Oh, come off it! Where the hell did you get that idea, man?" Hau asked.

"I don't know, I'm just suggesting! I don't know why he won't talk to us!" Sophocles replied.

"Ignoring Sophocles being unable to distinguish from games and real life, it will admit it gets me wondering. I don't mean we should judge or force anything, but who is Ash?" Kiawe asked, adopting a thinking pose.

"M-Maybe it's because nobody has asked him about himself," Lillie suddenly said, louder than she had intended. They all looked at her again, surprised this time. Lillie flinched backwards. "W-We haven't sat down and asked him anything. He's been so active we haven't had the chance. Maybe he intended to do that, maybe it's a coincidence, but if you call him your friend, you shouldn't make things up like that! W-We may not know everything about Ash, but I'm sure there are things we all don't know about each other, and you wouldn't talk about any of us like this!" Lillie said, her confidence depleting the longer they all looked at her. "I-I'm sorry. Goodnight."

Lillie kept her gaze down as she scurried down the road, embarrassed and upset. She hadn't told them much about herself either. It made her wonder if they spoke about her as they had just done with Ash. She knew they didn't, that was not who they were. What she had just berated was a moment of curiosity, and she had probably overreacted. But she worried.

Professor Kukui was not home when she arrived. She unlocked and re-locked the door with the spare key he had lent her, and carefully climbed the ladder into her attic bedroom. It was a small but cosy space. Kukui had graciously obliged to decorate it to her taste. She had a settee bed – that was all Kukui had, and she didn't allow him to buy a brand-new bed for her – adorned with white and pink sheets near the ladder. It was out of view of the living room, placed beneath the angled roof on which a curtained window shone a light on a dresser in the other corner, a Clefairy doll sat upon it. A cabinet with a small bag on top and a short bookshelf stood beside the dresser. It was simple, with a pink circular mat covering the open floorboards, but Lillie loved it.

Lillie flipped her floral sheets and dropped into her bed when she topped the final ladder rung and snuggled into her sheets and pillows.

She felt awful. That was the first time she had ever spoken out against her friends, even if for a cautionary purpose. Their manner of discussing Ash did not suit their characters, not at all. But Lillie felt bad that she didn't know whether she spoke out in Ash's defence or her own. There was so much she lacked the courage to tell them, so much about her past she was too afraid to relive, and so much she could not remember. They said they didn't know anything about Ash, but they didn't know anything about her, either. It was her own fault, and she knew it. But Lillie couldn't tell them. A spur of the moment, happy outburst allowed her to unveil her phobia of Pokémon to Ash. It took her a month and a half to tell Mallow, and two months to tell the others about it. She and Ash were the same.

Unable to get it off her mind, Lillie changed into her white nightie, pulled across the curtain, and decided to get some sleep. She would text her friends over Pokégear in the morning to apologise and hopefully continue their day as planned. She didn't have the courage to do it so soon after her outburst.

Three hurried knocks thumped Delia's front door, like the pleading of a horror film victim desperate to escape pursuit, and alerted Brock. He jogged to respond, or retaliate, depending on the visitor. Brock swung it open and Clemont fell inside, holding himself up against the wall, panting.

Panicked at his exhausted condition, Brock inspected Clement, expecting to see some sort of injury given his haste and Oak's sudden personality reversal. His jumpsuit was unscathed, and his glasses were intact. He had no cuts or bruises.

"Are you alright, Clemont?"

Clemont nodded. "Yeah," he huffed, "I'm fine. I'm just not very athletic, and I had to run here so Oak didn't see me leave."

Brock blew out deeply, "I gathered as much. Well, come into the living room. We've been worried," Brock said.

Straightening up, Clemont followed Brock through to where Delia was sitting. She sprung to her feet as he entered, and quickly hugged him. He sat next to her then, and Brock assumed his position opposite.

Last time Clemont visited, he had to leave quickly to return before Oak realised his absence. Before Clemont left, he confirmed he would return, and Brock had been waiting for him. He felt it was his duty, now that he knew about it, to help Clemont and Bonnie out of their situation.

"I'm sorry it's been almost a week since I came last," Clemont began.

"It's alright, Clemont. I'm just glad to see you are safe," Delia said dotingly.

"I've tried to come, honestly, but Oak is surveying everything. He's like a dictator. It's as if he doesn't want anybody to leave, especially me. I think he's suspicious of me. I was only able to come here because he left on an errand somewhere and placed Tracey in charge, who went to take care of the Pokémon," Clemont said.

"Really, it's alright, Clemont. You don't have to force yourself to come here if it endangers you."

"T-Thank you, Mrs Ketchum," Clemont said, bowing his head slightly. "H-How can we help Bonnie?" Clemont said, his voice strained. Brock empathised.

"I'm not sure, dear. But that's why we're here," Delia softly said.

"We can't just leave her there with how Oak is acting. Arceus, I can't even think of a reason he might've changed so suddenly," Brock said. Samuel Oak had never before shown signs of scorn towards Ash's dream, nor distaste for his countless efforts. All Brock had witnessed from the man was confidence and support. It was bizarre, but there was a reason. A reason Brock wanted to uncover.

Suddenly, Brock hammer-punched his thigh. "Hang on, Clemont just said something really important! Of course, Oak doesn't want anyone to leave! Since I used to be a gym leader, a mandatory part of the job was to read up on all of the laws and rules passed. You probably had to as well, Clemont. There's a law in place that states that anyone who tries to sabotage a trainer can be arrested. It's like any other job. If you try to sabotage or undermine an employer or a business, you can end up in jail."

"That includes taking and distributing a trainer's Pokémon without permission, which I saw him doing with Ash's Pokémon… If such an unfortunate incident occurs to a trainer, their Pokémon should go to their family, but Oak hasn't done that…" Clemont added.

"Exactly! He's broken the law! And if anybody was to leave, especially you – someone who resisted at first – they could put in a claim against him. That would ruin everything he's built," Brock said. He edged forward; that sounded a promising way to reprimand Oak, a sure-fire opening for Arceus' Judgement.

Brock looked to Delia, the deciding vote. He could see their idea troubled her. Her benevolence probably created turmoil; she likely didn't want anybody to come out of this situation any worse than they started. Anybody except herself, Brock realised, because she had lost Ash. Brock didn't have that; he didn't care if they ruined Oak. All he wanted was to avenge Ash because he, too, would leave with scars.

"I wish it was as easy as putting in a claim against him," Delia said. "I wish we could talk to Lance about it. But I don't want to ruin his life. I want to try and resolve everything correctly."

"I – I get that, yes. Personally, I don't believe he deserves to be thought of in that way. You are a much nicer person than I am, Delia. It's difficult, though, to make that decision… I was a Gym Leader. Lance would meet with me. Would you like for me to do that?" Brock asked heatedly.

"I would love it if you could, Brock, and kindly explain everything," Delia softly said, "but it isn't as easy as telling Lance, putting in a claim," she repeated.

"Because of Bonnie," Clemont added. "When Oak hears of a claim against him, who do you think he will suspect?" Clemont asked, dropping his head into his hands as if he were at fault.

Brock hesitated, "He'd suspect you… Of course, he would. Damn it. What do we do?" he asked, mimicking Clemont's thinking pose.

Brock was clueless to any solution. He couldn't think of a plan, no matter how long they pondered in profound silence; it was so quiet he could hear the click of the clock. If they were to get Bonnie out, they would have to avoid being seen. But he had seen too many people recuperating inside the shambolic remains after the attack. If only Jessie and James hadn't left.

"I should go straight over there and confront Oak," Delia stated. Brock flicked his head up. Delia's face was set, set into a straight lipped, frowned eyed, purposeful stare, conveying her conviction clearer than Brock could think. Delia was right, and he was thinking too hard.

"He's not there right now…" Clemont argued.

"I will wait for him, then! As Ash's mother, I think I am entitled to do so! And as a caring mother, I can't just leave Bonnie there! He wouldn't be able to stop me from bringing the two of you to stay with me before your flight home."

Brock looked over at Clemont, catching his eyes. It was so easy. Something he never would have considered. "That – uhh – that would actually work…"

Despite his compliance with that simple idea and how thorough it sounded, and the finality Delia used in her motherly tone, the warning in it, Brock felt that more could be done. All they would be doing by allowing Delia to retrieve Bonnie would be just that, but, in his opinion, Oak deserved more than a warning. They could use the situation, especially with what they had just discussed. But how?

Clemont sighed, his tone overflowing with relief. "And I was thinking we had to plan some big escape to get my sister out, that I would have to create an invention, maybe use my Aipom Arm to pull her out of a window. Jeez, I'm so stupid. We're not in some kind of drama story."

"A mother's love is much more effective than a plan like that. Don't you worry, Clemont, I'll go and get her now," Delia said. She stood, swiped her hair over her shoulder like a model, and marched towards the hall.

"Wait!" Brock called. "Please don't be hasty, Delia."

"How do you mean?" Delia asked, half-sitting back down, half-way ready to leave.

"I – I don't know. But we can use it. We just have to think–"

"Just before I came over here the first time, a man I think was Gary Oak's father, so probably Oak's son, said he was going to find somebody, and then they would talk to Oak about everything," Clemont queried. He looked back up at Delia. "What if he's gone to–"

"He's gone to find Officer Jenny!" Brock exclaimed. "He must have! Blue used to be a champion and a gym leader; he was still a gym leader back when I was young; Before Gary was born. That means he knows about that law, and if he knows what happened, he can get Oak arrested for it."

"He does. He found out about everything just before he left. What if we wait for him to come back with Officer Jenny, and then we act? It can be a double whammy: we get Bonnie out, and get a bit of revenge for Ash," Clemont asked.

"I don't want revenge," Delia said, settling back into her seat. "If Officer Jenny does come, then I will have a word with her about things. Naturally, I want to give Samuel a piece of my mind for what he did, but he couldn't have stopped what – happened to Ash."

"I'm not sure it would be so easy," Clemont said.

"Well, nonetheless, that is my plan," Delia said, and Brock could tell her mind was unmoveable. "When will Blue return?"

"I'm not sure," Clemont said.

"It's been about a week, right?" Brock asked.

"Just over."

"Blue can't be away for much longer, then," Brock said.

"But a week to find Officer Jenny? And we are putting all of our trust in a guess…" Delia reasoned.

"Yes, that's true. What if we just give it a day or two? If he returns, we act. If not, we just get Bonnie out. I don't want her to be there for longer than she has to be," Clemont suggested.

Delia seemed to ponder it for a moment. "I suppose running straight in may be foolish. If that is what you want, Clemont. She is your sister, after all. We will do as you say," Delia smiled again, a much more welcome sight. Mothers truly were scary when angry.

Suddenly, three quick clacks against the door echoed through the room. Brock looked at Delia, then Clemont, then the door.

"Gary, are you ok?" Dawn asked, rubbing Gary's shoulder as comfortingly as she could. They had just left the hospital after seeing Gary's mother and sister for the first time since the accident, and Dawn couldn't believe the severity of their injuries. Yellow had broken her arm and sprained her ankle, and Daisy had broken a few ribs. All because of the same incident that stole Ash from them.

"Yeah, I'll be ok," Gary said, placing his hand atop hers. He softly smiled. "Thank you, Dawn. It's just hard seeing my mum and sister so hurt like that."

"A broken arm and some broken ribs… Yeah, I'm gonna say the ribs are worse. Your sister is in for a tough few weeks, or months," Barry said, stepping out of Viridian Hospital.

"Thanks for that, Barry. Seriously. I appreciate the sentiment," Gary said sarcastically, shaking his head. He smiled, nonetheless.

"Idiot," Paul said.

"What'd I say?!" Barry yelled.

"What should we do now? We had to wait a week to see your mother and sister, but now we have nothing to do," Dawn said.

"Nah, there is something we have to do. Follow me," Gary said, and he led them back through Viridian Forest and into Pallet Town – what was left of it, at least. By that point, so long after the incident, most of the houses were undergoing repair. Large sheets of tarp and towers of wooden and metal scaffolding walled the wreckages, and people worked, doing their part to repair anything they could. Machop, Machoke, and Machamp lugged the wood and brick around, providing the materials to any hard-hat-wearing residents.

Gary led them to one of the only houses that remained intact, and one Dawn had only been to once in her life – Ash's house. He knocked on the door, there was a pause, and then it swung open, but it wasn't Delia on the other side. It was Brock.

"Brock?!" Dawn cried, stepping in front of the boys to announce herself.

"Dawn?! You guys too! You're here!" Brock said.

"Yeah, I heard what happened and decided to come home. I brought these guys with me," Gary said. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, probably. I've been here a while, making sure Delia is alright," Brock said, stepping aside to let them all in. "It's nice to see you all."

"Same here, it's been forever, Brock!" Barry said. Brock pushed the door shut behind them and wandered into the living room. Dawn followed behind him.

"Dawn, dear? Is that you?!" Delia asked as she stepped into the living room. Dawn hugged Delia the second she saw her, and she couldn't stop the tiny tears from flowing.

"Mrs Ketchum I – I'm so sorry!" Dawn cried. She didn't care what the boys thought of her, not at that moment when everything returned to her harder than before, as if she shared it with Delia herself. She had been strong the entire trip, but now she couldn't block the cracks in her heart.

It took a few minutes for her to calm down, by which point Brock distributed teas and coffees around the room. Dawn finally noticed the stranger in the room, and immediately recognised him from their intrusion at Oak's lab. He was the boy that ran off right at the end.

"Mrs Ketchum, we have never met, but I am an old rival of Ash's, Paul Shinji. We were not entirely close, but I can truly say that Ash changed my life. He opened my eyes to things I never considered before. I'm sorry for your loss," Paul said, bowing his head lightly. Delia nodded her thanks, smiling across the room.

"Uh, yeah! And I'm Barry, another old friend of Ash's! Gary asked me to come over with him, so here I am!" Barry announced.

Delia laughed, "It's nice to meet you both. Thank you for coming." She turned to Gary, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No, there's nothing like that. We just wanted to check in, but it seems Brock beat us to it." Gary nodded to the elder trainer, out of respect, Dawn assumed. "Just wondering, though, what's he doing here?" Gary asked, pointing at the blonde across the room, who's head dropped into his hands.

"Gary, don't," Brock said. There was warning in his voice, and anger too. Dawn had rarely heard Brock sound so serious.

"You see Gary–" Delia began.

"My name is Clemont," Clemont said, interrupting Delia. "I'm here because I'm asking Mrs Ketchum and Brock for help. Yes, I was present when Oak tried to stop Ash from being a trainer, but he forced me into it. He threatened my little sister. I couldn't do anything. So, I'm here making a plan to get her out," Clemont said hurriedly, tempered, and Dawn realised he must have already suffered the accusations Gary's tone insinuated. Whatever suspicions Dawn had when first seeing Clemont transformed into sympathy. Oak was despicable.

"That's the situation," Brock said, "we have an idea for how to get Bonnie out, we're just waiting for your father to get back, Gary, hopefully with Officer Jenny. Did he tell you when he's getting back?"

"No, he didn't. Annoyingly," Gary said.

"Wait, hang on, I can't be the only one here that's a little confused," Barry announced, wobbling on the edge of his cushion. "What's going on?"

"Clemont, do you want to explain everything from the start again?" Brock asked.

Clemont nodded, and Dawn steeled herself. She was about to find out something she had been curious about since Oak called her: what truly happened? "Alright. Bonnie and I received a call from Professor Oak asking us to come to Kanto to celebrate Ash's runner-up placement. But when we got here, he gathered a large group of us together and asked us to betray Ash. So many of the group agreed, probably because of how Oak worded it, but–"

"How did he word it?" Paul asked. "That could be vital to some people's change of character."

Clemont considered his question a moment. "He said it was for Ash's benefit. He said Ash had lots of potential in him to move on to better things, but his current path was holding him back. Of course, that isn't how it came out when he confronted Ash. It never is, is it? Anyway, he said things like Ash can finally stay home and be with us all, that he's better off letting Oak study him, or something along those lines."

Gary clicked his fingers. "It makes sense now. So Oak said that he was doing it to make Ash stay at home?" Clemont nodded. "Then that's why Misty agreed. Brock, I'm sure you know why."

"Because she liked Ash? That's why she agreed? So she could be around him more?" Brock asked, and Gary grunted his confirmation. "Wait, but I thought she was–"

"Nope, it's both."

"Gah, stop talking in riddles! What're you saying?" Barry said loudly. Brock shook his head in dismissal as if it wasn't his to say.

"That doesn't matter," Dawn added, slightly curious about the boys' cryptic conversation, but ignoring it for now, "What I'm curious about is why so many of the others agreed. I get that Oak said Ash would come home, and everybody probably missed him, but so many people live in different regions anyway. Why would they agree?"

"Think about it logically," Clemont said. "Ash hadn't seen some of these people in a few years, had he? A few years can change people a lot, especially during their teenage years. Sure, they may have been Ash's friends a few years back, but they could have changed a lot since then."

"Hmm, yeah, you just need to take May as an example," Brock said. "She was a very close friend at one point, but since we left Hoenn and Sinnoh, we haven't seen her once. It's been around two years. She's in a relationship with Drew now, and when you're a teenager, relationships seem like the biggest thing in the world, don't they? Who knows how that could have changed her?"

"But she was so nice before…" Dawn said. She was struggling to believe how May could have possibly changed so much.

"Anyway, does that really matter now?" Paul said. "What's done is done. We should live in the here and now. Time is a dangerous thing, yes, but we can only change what's happening now. Whatever you have planned, I'm in."

"Yes, time is a very dangerous thing. It's beautiful that you are all still such good friends of Ash's, even after years apart and…" Delia trailed. She shook her head. "We plan to have Samuel taken for questioning, not arrested, for the mishandling of Ash's Pokémon, as well as possibly some repercussions for keeping Bonnie, Clemont's sister, there. We are hoping Blue will return with Officer Jenny."

"I see… Smart. How do we know Blue will come back with Officer Jenny, though?" Paul asked.

"Well, we–" Clemont was cut off by three more knocks on the front door.

"Jeez, how many friends does this kid have?!" Barry asked aloud.

Dawn watched the door as Brock stood to approach it, but it opened before he left the living room.

"Delia? You here? It's me, Blue!" Blue's voice called from the hallway.

Dawn looked across at Delia, who peered around the corner of the settee into the hallway. Dawn looked too and saw Blue walking in, but Officer Jenny was not at his side. It was a man. Clad in a red jacket and hat, his soft eyes wavering between brown and red, his hands lodged in his pockets, and a Pikachu on his shoulder, Dawn thought she was looking at Ash.

Delia leapt out of her seat, her eyes teary, wide, and sparkling.

"Red!"