I don't have much to say, it must've all melted away in this heat, but phew, am I ever so happy to present chapter five? It took a little longer than anticipated, but it's here. Mostly thanks to the amazingly kind review I got last chapter.
Hope you enjoy yourself reading it!
Forget his expectations, today was shaping up to be a string of anti-climactic events that made little sense to the teen. Instead of his mother and his transceiver, he got his mother and another smiling nurse, along with the announcement that they were going to do the test to determine whether or not he was Red's son. Don't get him wrong, Ash would be pleased to hear he wasn't born from a cabbage, but he had other expectations. Especially the test, he had been subjected to so many of them, how he wasn't leaking from his skin already with all the needles they had been poking at him. And the last test had involved a terribly big and loud machine… so to think that a test this important consisted out of rubbing the inside of your cheek with a cotton swab?
"That it?" the boy asked, handing the thing back to the nurse.
"Why yes," she answered, plopping the 'contaminated' object inside a little, protective case. "We do try and keep it as efficient and quick as possible. Also, this test can be done on small children rather easily, hence why we tend to stick to doing it this way."
"Oh," was all he could say to that.
"Right, I'll be off then. We'll get the test results in a couple of days, so look forward to it, yes?"
Ash smiled at that, but the expression faded from his face as soon as the nurse left the room.
"Did you have to do that test?" he asked his mom, who smiled warmly at him.
"I have no doubts that you are my child, sweetie."
"Oh," he said again, coming up empty on what else to say.
There wasn't much happening around him, except for his own weirdness. Even Brandon had been strangely absent today, despite Ash's previous worries there might have been repercussions for his actions yesterday. But no, nothing had happened and thanks to his mother forgetting all about the transceiver, the teen didn't expect much else to happen.
"I'm sorry, I was just so busy with the parental test, oh, it's going to be amazing, sweetie," Delia said, eyes all dreamy. "I've spoken to Red, I mean, he's still a man of few words, but his intentions are clear. He's going to live with us if proven you are his son and you'll finally have a daddy, sweetheart. Won't that be amazing?"
The boy blinked and nodded slowly. The reaction seemed to upset his mother but he was kind of neutral to the idea.
"You've not given up on him, have you?" she asked. "I mean, he's got his issues still, but he's working on them, just like you are and-"
"I'm not doing much at the moment, to be honest. And I don't know how it feels to have a dad, I hear the few friends of mine who still have their dads around complain about him too but then again, they clearly love him too so I don't know what expect, mom. Also, you've never told me what his issues were, I don't know who he is, what he does, he's a stranger to me. I don't know what to tell you, but I do care if that's what you want to know?"
His mother sighed at his reaction and now Ash felt bad about having voiced his opinion.
"Look, you love him, I know you're all excited."
"Just give him a chance, Ash. Please."
"Of course, I'm like, the only thing all my friends have in common. And I know I'm not good with explaining myself but I'm good with the words I know. He's just gonna have to deal with that too. Bet he'll even understand if he can only talk for a couple of seconds at the time."
"I didn't say that!" Delia hissed, instantly upset.
"Mom, you've not said anything, you're letting me guess and then get upset because I guessed it wrong. If you don't want me hurting your feelings, tell me what to expect before I'm faced with it."
"Ask dr. Knight what PTSD does with a person."
"I kind of know what it does, I've got the jumpy thing-"
"The worst kinds of symptoms," the woman interrupted. "Not the mild ones."
"… Alright."
Ash pointedly decided not to press his mother for any kind of information right now, or in the near future. She nearly stomped out of the room, all because of something he said.
'Her classes aren't helping too much with that,' the boy thought dryly, almost happy he was back on his own.
He didn't like how everyone was telling him to be mindful of the man who apparently had similar issues like him. Worse, apparently, but since when did anyone take any of his ailments seriously, hm? Delia had taken greater offence in his lack of excitement than he had thought, as dr. Knight came in a couple of minutes later.
"So… This dad of yours… I suppose you have questions?"
"Yeah, why is it okay for people to warn me for my own father? And then be annoyed I'm not excited to see him?"
The therapist looked at him all confused, before bursting into laughter. Ash could only look as the man tried to regain his composure.
"Oh, how she got it all wrong again," he chuckled. "I should have known."
"What did she tell you?"
"All I can tell you is that talking to her is starting to feel like entering the twilight zone," the therapist chuckled.
"And that's supposed to make me smile, knowing my mother's losing it?"
"You can't lose what you've never had, Ash. Your mother still doesn't have a clue on how to raise you properly. She's a mom, yes, but she's not supportive and not motherly. The reactions she has to you, are similar to what any person has when faced with something cute or something they love."
"… I know she loves me," Ash said. "She's told me that."
"Of course, she does. But you can grow to love someone during situational acceptance."
"Is having my dad back in the game gonna help?"
"I think so, if only for the fact your father had therapy for nearly a decade now and certainly knows how to be a decent father. He's ready for you, that much I can see and honestly, I see him ready to stand up for what he believes his right. It'll be good for your mother to have someone with a spine near her. Other than you, of course."
"That's gonna be fireworks. Mom's never taken kindly to anyone telling her how to raise me."
"Except professor Oak, that is," dr. Knight stated.
"He was there when no one else was. You can't blame my mom for letting him in, he supposedly was the wisest person in Pallet and she couldn't have known he would start being so… two-faced."
"True."
"How do I know Red's not gonna hate me on sight either, though?"
"I'll beat him up with my two own hands," the therapist answered, causing the teen to stare at him. "What? You're a good kid, Ash."
"… Thanks."
"Is that what's troubling you the most, though? The fear that Red will reject you the moment he lays eyes on you?"
"It happened before. Not with him, but it happened." Ash answered yet shrugged. "I don't care if he doesn't like me, he's married to mom, not me. I guess I can live with him if he's a bit tolerant for me too. It's just… no one gets into trouble for doing things to me, not like I get in trouble for doing things."
"Ah," the man said. "You know you're allowed to send your pokémon at him, don't you?"
Ash gave the therapist a look of disbelief.
"Yeah, look at me like that, but when you leave this hospital, it'll be with a disability card and advantages, as well as a pokémon who'll always need to remain by your side. This is called a Pokéhelp and by god, as soon as Red raises his voice at you, beyond what is necessary for a conversation, the pokémon can fire off any attack at him. And they'll be excused for it, that's what a Pokéhelp is for."
"I don't think the world is ready to give Pikachu the right to fire an attack at everything that annoys him."
"That's the world's issue," dr. Knight answered simply. "Funny how you didn't hesitate to pick a pokémon as Pokéhelp."
"You have no idea what I would do to get Pikachu right here with me now," Ash said, looking down at his hands. "I know it's not up for debate, that Red probably needs to step up as my actual guardian before anything gets decided, but I miss him so badly."
His voice cracked at the end of his sentence but even without that, the man could tell the boy was suffering.
"I'm sorry, Ash. I can't help you get Pikachu here. Is there anything else I could help you with, though? I know it'll be hard to find a substitute for something as important as your pokémon but…"
"Yes!" the teen said, perking up.
The therapist was taken aback, but nodded nonetheless.
"Mom's completely forgotten about my transceiver, I want to talk to my friends as well. Are there videophones downstairs? Could we go to them?"
"I… don't think that's a good idea, Ash. There's always a lot of people downstairs and I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to let you make calls during my sessions."
"Please? I… It's been two weeks already since my accident happened, I can't delay it any further and expect them to just forgive me for forgetting to tell them about this! If it wasn't as serious, I could've just waited, but I can't spring this on them. Not with the leg thing, they… They're gonna be upset, doctor, all of my friends think I'm as good as invincible. If they found out something happened to me, they're gonna be upset. To hear that I didn't think about them during a time like this, as if I didn't care about contacting them, to tell them about this, i-it's not gonna go down well."
The man stared at the teen and gently took hold of his hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would mean this much to you. Thank you for telling me this, Ash, I'll go and find a wheelchair."
"Thank you!"
"However, I'm only going to allow you to call one friend per day. And you can tell your friends that I told you to do that if they complain, okay?"
"Okay."
While it did seem like Ash would willingly jump through a hoop on fire over this and would pretty much agree to anything, this deal was a small victory for the therapist. He hadn't just gotten the teen to open up about his emotions, he had shown that there was a positive effect, a prize for doing so afterwards. So dr. Knight went to fetch a wheelchair and wheeled him all the way to the main lobby. They did pass dr. Martin, who had given the therapist a strange look, but their main goal was the videophone and Ash's mind was solely focused on it.
However, today wouldn't be today if it deviated from the dull uselessness stated before, as the boy quickly dialled in Misty's number, the one living the closest to Celadon and thus, could pop in for a quick visit if she wanted to… only for the girl's voicemail to tell him that, due to Gym hours, she wouldn't be able to receive any calls and that they could leave a message and that she would call them back as soon as possible. Ash didn't bother and ended the call right then and there.
"Why didn't you leave a message?" the therapist asked.
"And let her call back the hospital?"
"… At least you could've told her that it was you and that you were in the hospital."
"Gym hours close an hour after visitor hours, doctor. That still gives her half a day to be worried sick over this, no matter how much explanation I would've given." The boy answered, looking dejected. "It wouldn't have been a problem if I had my transceiver, I could've… ah, it's no good."
"Maybe tomorrow will be better, hm?"
"Not sure. Most of my friends are gonna be pretty busy around this time. I ought to be real lucky to get a hold of them at this hour too."
"You don't know that."
"I wouldn't have answered the phone either, though. Not at this time a day."
The teen's enthusiasm over the subject seemed to have shrivelled away completely, leaving the child looking a bit tired and bored. It bothered the therapist, who felt like his reward for the kid's honesty had gotten negated by the bad luck. Ash probably didn't feel like this had been a good thing now, speaking up at all and curses, the kid's mother hadn't reacted properly to her son's opinion either, she had just left, clearly showing she didn't care at all unless his opinion agreed with hers. How was Ash supposed to learn to speak up when it counted, huh?
That is emotional neglect to its finest and he wouldn't stand by and watch this shit show go down and drag this child down along with it. He hadn't been lying, Ash was a good kid and it would be a downright shame to see how adults ruined a boy like that. Nevertheless, as a therapist, he had limits and there was only so much he could do, especially when everyone else around Ash was incompetent when it came to dealing with children.
The boy sat listlessly in the hospital bed. Waiting for visitors. Or anything that would make this day stand out from all the others, for that matter. Every day looked the same and he was finding it hard to keep smiling. There was little to motivate him to do anything, not even the pokémon at the window and in the tree. He watched them, yes, but Ash no longer moved out of the bed. He couldn't get to them, he wasn't strong enough to open any of the windows with just one arm. He couldn't use both, he had to mind the crutches and well… It got old, seeing the hopeful looking pokémon in the window. The teen didn't even know why they were here, following him so adamantly.
Not just that, their behaviour was keeping the nurses from allowing him a trip through the garden. Some of them apparently had troubles getting to their cars, taking brooms with them to shoo the pokémon from around and underneath their vehicles. They didn't blame him, bless their kind hearts, but Ash was bothered nonetheless. He knew something special happened to him, but he didn't have the chance to figure out what exactly had changed about him… if anything changed at all. His typical kind of luck had left him, though, finding himself stopped at every turn to reconnect with any of his friends.
Dr. Knight had been reluctant to lead him back to the videophone, having spotted his disappointment the first time he had endeavoured to contact one of his friends, which ended up in the man deciding to do other 'fun' activities. Ash had completely failed to describe himself in a positive manner, though, mostly because he was distraught, trying to recall another number from a friend that might pick up the phone and not leave him hanging on voicemail. The therapist had looked miserable, mimicking how Ash felt inside, after learning he could only tell the man who he was by parroting the things others had said about him and well… they weren't positive. He was dense, hard-headed, overly enthusiastic, hard to handle, hard to understand- Dr. Knight had stopped him, telling him to think about his answers a little longer.
Today marked the fourth day he failed to say something nice about himself, other than stating he was 'kind'. Dr Knight had nodded solemnly, writing it down and moving on to another subject. Another sensitive one, namely his father. The therapist seemed determined to get to the tax of brass on the matter but Ash was in no mood to talk about the thing that had driven a wedge between him and his mother. Today was also the third day his mother had failed to visit him, apparently too busy to come by and attempt a reconciliation. Or was she waiting for dr. Knight's confirmation he was 'alright'?
"How about giving my father a chance to make his own impression on me?!" Ash had snapped, losing his patience with the man.
"Of course, but I want to make sure you're ready-"
"To explode?!"
The man had looked taken aback.
"I can already tell you're not ready by that kind of attitude. What's gotten into you?"
"Leave me alone! Just like everyone else is doing! Seems to be the best for everyone, yeah?"
"I'm not allowed to do that."
"Then go suck an egg, for all I care," the teen had huffed and yeah, he regretted saying that to dr. Knight, knowing the man only meant well.
But yeah, he was alone now, just like he had wished he was. Ash was in no mood to be left alone, though, feeling like doing something stupid, just to get some attention. He stopped himself by clutching his Mankey plush close to his chest and let the disappointment in himself wash over him. Why was everyone forgetting about him? Like, it was normal for his mother to be obsessed with Red, he was her husband, she still loved him dearly, Ash knew about that but it made little sense why everyone else was going on and on about the man. Yes, he was also aware that his lack of enthusiasm about the matter hurt his mother's feelings if only she knew he wasn't enthusiastic about anything right now. Especially not since what little loving care he was receiving from his mother, had been pulled away from him due to his father's reappearance.
Perhaps it was childish, but Ash didn't think it was fair that the man who had cast them away like trash, could twirl his finger and have everything back on track, as if nothing had happened. Perhaps Red had never meant for this to happen, perhaps the man was as innocent as Ash was… but the situation gave him a bad taste in his mouth and now the teen wasn't looking forward to meeting the man, but burning with curiosity nonetheless. You could say he was thorn about the matter, which possibly made the situation worse for him.
He was still curled up in his bed when the door of his room opened and with his days all looking the same, with pretty much the same things happening throughout, Ash had expected it to be a nurse and get away with ignoring them. They usually left him at it when he had his back turned to the door, whilst laying down in the bed, probably figuring he was asleep or something… but this seemed a persistent one.
"Ash?"
'Oh, hell, this isn't a nurse at all,' the teen thought, cringing when he heard Lance's voice.
Was he here to berate him about not 'accepting' Red either? Despite Ash not having seen the man?
"… Ash? Are you asleep?"
Part of him wanted to keep the Champion out of this, he didn't need another person leaving him. And he also didn't want to spoil the image he had in mind, that the man was always so just and oh, what would he do with himself when it was proven there was no one who… cared enough? The idea brought tears to his eyes and caused him to curl up against the plush. Ash didn't know why he did it, but it apparently gave Lance some feelings.
"O-oh, Ash, what are you…? Are you crying?"
"I'm sorry," the teen hiccupped, his voice sounding muffled due to the Mankey plush pressed against his face.
"Come on now, come here," the man said and Ash got a strange sensation right then.
He never had a father's care before, he didn't know what it felt like… yet why did it feel like that was exactly what he was feeling right now? It didn't help that Lance picked him up and held him close. Ash must've given him a strange look, before settling down, because he wasn't used to being handled this way. He quickly decided it didn't feel bad, though and calmed down when he figured Lance could hardly leave the hospital with him still in his arms.
"You okay now?"
"I'm sorry," Ash sighed. "I don't know what happened… I…"
"Oh, I can guess what's happening, Ash," Lance said, pulling him a little closer into the hug -the boy was pretty much just sitting on his lap. "You're coped up inside, while you've spend most of your time outside."
"I was fine the first few weeks I was here. Seeing the pokémon through the window was enough."
"Then, what do you think changed?"
The teen bit his lip, he didn't want this conversation to be about Red again. Yet, the man was being so kind to him, he felt like he owed Lance the truth.
"I'm causing troubles by not being so happy about things. Like my euhm… dad."
"Like I said to Delia, she needs to stop overthinking the situation and leave Red and you at it. And as far as I know, no one but me and your mom can hear what you say in here, and I know I've not repeated any of it outside. So, basically, the one causing the troubles is your mom, nothing would've happened if she kept her mouth shut. But no, she loves drama as much as professor Oak does and if there's nothing happening around her, she will damn well cause some if she wants to."
Ash looked at the man in wonder.
"… I might have gotten into a little fight with your mom, Ash," Lance admitted.
"Thanks for telling me."
"You're not mad at me? I might have made things worse."
"She's not coming by anyhow, don't see how much worse it could get."
"Goddammit," the man hissed. "Right, well… She's even dumber than I thought, then. Good to know."
"Mom's not that bad."
"I didn't say that, you don't have to be bad to just be dumb. And she's being dumb about a lot of things, if she's not careful, Red won't be coming to Pallet at all, you know?"
"Oh."
"He might come to get you, though."
"Why?" Ash asked. "He doesn't know me."
"I didn't know you either. I probably still don't, but look at us now, huh?"
The teen nodded, yet made no move to shift from his comfortable position. Who would've known Lance would go to such lengths to calm him down, like, if the paparazzi found out about this one...
"Anyway, let's not talk about her. I've had enough for a good while already and besides, I came here to see you and make sure you're fine."
Ash didn't think he was fine, not really. He just nodded because he appreciated the man's effort to come and see him and that he could look beyond his mother's obsession induced stubbornness.
"Thank you, Lance."
"You're welcome. Anything I can do to make your time a bit better?"
"I don't suppose you can break into the house to get my transceiver?" he asked, wincing at the mere idea of asking an officer to break the law for him.
"I like how you straight up assumed I would go to the lengths of breaking into your house to avoid your mother, but no, I'm sorry, I'm not risking that," Lance chuckled. "Why?"
"I don't think anyone but you is thinking about me right now and I kind of wanted to see my friends, despite them not… Well, giving a damn?"
"The news did come out late and the article was vague enough for someone to just skim over it," the man said.
"Don't I know that?"
"I'll see what I can do for you, though, you just need the transceiver, yes?"
"I-I tried the videophones, but only dr. Knight wanted to take me downstairs and now he doesn't want to any longer, and I can't reach my friends at four in the afternoon, they're busy, they won't answer the phone and I can't remember the numbers of the people who might pick up the phone at that hour-"
"Woah, hold up, buddy, don't stress like that, I get it."
"You do?" Ash asked and felt bad when the man nodded.
"I do. I'll do my best for you."
"Thank you, Lance. Even if it turns out to be impossible, thank you for at least trying."
The man nodded but wasn't that pleased by what he had just heard. Knowing that an adult was doing something to a kid was bad enough, but hearing that the kid realised what was happening and allowed it because they knew nobody cared was ten times worse. He was ready to start a war over this, but consider him befuddled to get stopped by Ash's doctor, as well as his therapist.
"Excuse me, sir, could I possibly ask you some questions?"
"… Sure," Lance answered. "It's about Ash, isn't it?"
"Have you noticed something in particular?" the doctor asked, glancing towards the other man, who looked a bit sad.
"I don't know the kid that well, but I know that the business surrounding his father is getting to him. I suggest leaving the subject well enough alone."
"His mother did ask for me to clear it out with him," the therapist said.
"Wouldn't have been the first stupid thing Delia asked anyone to do and it certainly won't be the last either. Ash isn't that young to have people making decisions in his stead and god, he's about to get adopted by the pokémon league worth of people if Delia's not careful so honestly, the last thing I'm worried about is whether the kid can get along with Red," Lance sighed.
"You've not gotten an outburst?"
"I don't egg on teenagers. I share a house with my niece who's basically an eternal teenager, so I know what turns to take and which to avoid."
"That is what you consider a typical teenager?" the therapist squeaked, pointing towards Ash's room.
"I never said typical. But yes, he's got needs and you're basically depriving him of everything he lives for. Don't expect him to grow any happier the longer you're keeping him in for. I mean," the man couldn't stop the chuckle escaping him. "For someone filled with so much life, sitting here, incapacitated like that, it's got to be much more than just a struggle."
"… Life?" dr. Martin repeated, sounding dubious about the subject. "… as in a measurement?"
"Ah, but what's life without a bit of mystery, hm? Why not figure it out by yourself?
The two men were left in the hallway, the Champion quickly making his get-away. They did watch him until he disappeared out of view, dr. Knight none the wiser about the subject. However, as the man turned to dr. Martin, he saw the massive frown on his face.
"You understood what he meant?"
"If I'm correct in assuming he was talking about Aura, we're pretty much torturing a child, Oscar," the doctor answered.
"Surely not?"
"Why else would he start acting out, after such a long while of being here? There's got to be some sort of explanation, I mean… What else could it be?"
"Boredom?"
"But he's not looking for anything to do, though? He sits there, looking out the window," dr. Martin said, sounding more and more upset. "Bored kids are horrible, they cause all kinds of things and drive the nurses crazy. But Ash doesn't do anything and he isn't bored! He's border lining depression, that's what."
"… Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I would like you to hear me out on a plan of mine, Oscar. But first, I have some calls to make."
Dr. Knight nodded, understanding the dismissal and went on his way to his own office. He would never be able to shake the feeling that something was still terribly wrong about how Ash expressed himself, in fact, the man was completely ready to diagnose him with ADD, the statement of how little contact he kept with his friends almost convincing him to make the diagnosis public. Only, Ash proved to be perfectly capable of solving problems and he wasn't one to pull within himself, needing time to digest the situation at hand. He most certainly didn't need any more time to come up with answers to questions, that much was sure. Perhaps it was a mild form of ADD… But in all honesty, dr. Knight knew that the coming weeks would be hard on the boy and the last thing he needed was the announcement of yet another issue. Chances were Ash would ignore it, many did it when it was a mild disorder, but still, he would keep a close eye on the kid, as other issues might pop up.
The following morning made the teen aware that something was up. He didn't know what, but the nurse who had dressed him in outdoor clothes had made so little sense, that he knew something was about to happen. Perhaps they had been able to shoo some pokémon away from the garden, making room for him to have a small tour around it. Being outdoors sounded just fine to him, his hands were itchy and so was his foot, but it also looked kind of red and somewhat swollen. That dr. Martin came in with a smile on his face, that was something the boy wouldn't have expected, seeing how thunderous he had looked yesterday evening.
"… Is everything alright, doctor?" he asked, fearing the man might've lost it due to stress or a burn-out.
"Quite alright. I thought you would like an update of what is about to happen today."
"I would, yeah. It smells as if something's about to happen."
"… Smell?" the doctor repeated.
"Yeah, it's like… change. Change smells. It's possibly the clothes, I mean, I haven't worn this for a pretty long time."
"Yes, you've been inside for a little over two months now."
"Wasn't keeping track of it," the boy remarked, shrugging.
"But perhaps you would care about when it was about to end, though?" dr. Martin suggested, his smile becoming a bit cheeky.
"Eh?"
"After some careful consideration of the situation, we thought it was a good idea to release you out of the hospital's care."
"Really?!" Ash exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Under certain conditions, though."
"Oh."
"It's a trial period. We know you're unhappy here, so I'm willing to place a bet on an 'outdoor' kind of treatment. But you'll still be meeting up with dr. Knight and Brandon."
"… Okay?"
"Dr. Knight lives in Viridian and will be coming to your house at around seven in the evening, every two days. And Brandon has recently moved into Pallet with his family and owns a little Gym there, so I've arranged for someone to take you there in the mornings. You just got to decide at what time would be best, because if I leave it up to Brandon, he would be pulling you out of bed at six in the morning."
"He can, if he's okay with getting attacked by pokémon."
"… I'm sure he'll come by to discuss the specifics, don't worry," dr. Martin stated, knowing no one would come to appreciate getting attacked by pokémon upon entry. "Now, are you ready to go downstairs?"
"Crutches?" the teen asked hopefully.
"As you wish."
The doctor had to give it to the teen, to stand so properly in an elevator was something he hadn't seen most people with such a handicap like his two, or at least, not after such a short while. Perhaps his incentive to learn had been driven by his yearning to escape from this place, that he had been readying himself for today ever since waking up. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, Ash might've subconsciously done so. Young trainers could never be underestimated, especially not the kind of underdogs like the teen usually was classified as. Oh yes, in his free time, the doctor had gone ahead and did some research as to whom Ash Ketchum exactly was and he was pleased. Also mystified, but mostly pleased.
"Now, would you like a heads up about something, or do you want a surprise?" he asked, as they got out of the elevator.
"… Is he here? Red, I mean?"
"Why don't you move ahead towards the lobby and found out for yourself?"
Ash would've hurried if the crutches allowed him to. But no, he focussed on his steps, yet did it with plenty of gusto. And well, he did force his steps to be a bit larger than before, his tongue sticking out at the effort he was putting into his actions. The irony of it all was laughable, though, Red had apparently been just as much in a hurry to see him as Ash had been and it had caused the two to bump into each other. The man had been waiting at the exit of the hallway, after all, and well, the teen wasn't that sturdy on those crutches, he could stand a bit of shaking, but he had gained some speed in his momentum.
Ash had gone down the moment he had impacted with the man, though out of instinct, he had grabbed Red's jacket, so that he wouldn't fall. In turn, Red had grabbed his arm, also not wanting him to fall. The teen looked up a few seconds after they had collided, smiling a lopsided grin as his eyes met with his father's. He studied the man for a bit, realising his mother had been right by saying he looked a lot like his dad, before speaking up.
"Fancy bumping into you, then."
Red smiled widely and promptly picked him up in a hug. Or rather, he just held him up as if he was a little kid. But honestly, his father was tall and so he still kind of fitted into the man's arms. Ash was pleased realising that and was well on his way to heaven after coming to the conclusion his father did like him and that he was here to stay. Today was going to be an awesome day at this rate and he did try his best not to look at his mother accepting some boxes from dr. Martin. They were medicine, of course, but Ash didn't want to think about that right now. No, he was happy in his father's arms.
He must've fallen asleep during the time they had left the hospital and getting back to Pallet, all boy remembered was the unfamiliar but pretty nice scent of perfume. Or was it cologne? Red had been wearing it, so Ash figured it was the latter, but oh, he had imprinted on it alright. The smell of it was enough to make him calm the moment he woke up in an unfamiliar car. Red gently shushed him and the teen quickly settled down again, surrendering to the drowsiness once more.
"Dr Martin said he might be tired after all this. He's not had any kind of sensation like this in a good while now," Ash heard his mother say.
"That's alright, isn't it?" Lance answered. "Hope he's ready when the Pikachu comes in."
The teen perked up at just hearing the word, causing Delia to chuckle.
"I don't think that'll be a problem."
Red hummed and the boy melted back into the hug. Oh, perhaps he was a sucker for hugs too, but he had just heard his father's voice for the first time and it was a bit deeper than Lance's and oh, he was so happy. But then, the next thing he saw, was a Raichu's face. His feelings went ballistic, surely this wasn't Pikachu, right?
"Ray, down."
Ash turned to look at Red and sighed in relief when he found that this Raichu belonged to his father. The pokémon didn't move however, nose twitching curiously at him. Now that the teen was calm again, he was quick to reach out his hand towards the pokémon. The Raichu was quick to sniff it and let out a small, delighted noise, eagerly pressing its head in the boy's hand.
"O-oh… Oh, she's lovely," Ash uttered, coming to the realisation that this was only the second Raichu he ever met who wasn't a jerk or worse.
This one didn't compare to the super shy one that had learned dig in their attempt to hide away from the world, either and the teen didn't need long to figure out why this particular creature liked him so much, seeing it was his dad's and all that. Red smiled at him and nodded.
"She, yes," he said softly.
Don't ask Ash how he figured that one out, he just… despite everything, the Raichu in front of him was just so different from Lt. Surge's and no, he didn't mean just the expression on the creature's face, it appeared sleeker to him than any Raichu he had seen. But her sudden purring drew his attention away from the subject, causing the teen to stare at the creature rubbing her head against his hand.
"Oh?"
Ash looked at his father, who looked at him as well, looking a bit bewildered as he turned to watch his pokémon.
"I don't know why she does that. I… It's a first," he uttered, pulling back his hand.
Red went to rub Raichu's head but didn't get the same result. The pokémon did seem eager to get some affection from her trainer and jumped in the befuddled man's arms, in an attempt to high-jack all his attention. She succeeded, because she was a big pokémon and the man had his arms full of her. Ash was amused to see Red fumble to keep his balance but as he sat there, he could feel a pull from somewhere.
It felt familiar and it made his sleepiness dissipate, his mind now solely focused on finding out what was trying to get his attention. Last time it had happened, it had been a legendary pokémon, but surely they wouldn't be in the back yard? And as he reached for his crutches, which had conveniently been placed right next to him, leaning against the armrest, Ash noticed a door that wasn't supposed to be there. Or at least, he didn't remember it being there.
"What's over there?" he asked, but his father was too busy with his Raichu.
'Alright, then I'll just find out by myself,' the teen thought and straightened himself, heavily depending on the crutches for support.
He hoped that getting up from a couch would be getting easier over time, because it took serious effort right now. His arms burned from pulling himself up from the low seat, it had been way easier to do it when coming out of the hospital bed. The teen sniffed as he finally stood up, being mindful of the long-haired rug he was on. He didn't know how prone to slipping these kinds of rugs were, but he was determined not to fail. Heaven knew what he would knock over on his way down and he didn't see his mother anywhere but he sure as heck didn't want to spoil her good mood. Not when it had been a while since he had seen her.
The teen decided to carefully but steadily advance, after he figured that the pull he had been feeling could be someone he was missing very much. He didn't know how it was possible for Pikachu to have picked up the ability to pull his attention to him this way, but somehow Ash was quicker to assume that he had become more susceptible to this kind of powers and abilities. Nothing could stand in his way, rug or no rug, not even the clearly polished and shiny looking wooden floorboards. He was going towards that door and no one could stop him from advancing.
When he got to the door and opened it, Ash found himself so shocked by the fact his fluffy looking starter pokémon was so innocently sitting on the bed, so easily accessible, that he let go of his crutches. Naturally, he fell to the ground, but that didn't matter, he was more on Pikachu's level now. The pokémon seemed equally elated to see him, quickly darting over to him… yet came to a stop about a metre away from him.
"… Buddy?" the boy asked, tears coming to his eyes.
"Pikapi? Pichu pi?"
"Y-yeah. Yeah, it's me. It's really me."
The pokémon flew into his arms, little paws gripping the boy's shirt. By the tears running down his face, Ash knew he hadn't been ready for this, yet knew he would've regretted being separated from Pikachu for an even longer period. He held the small creature in his arms as if afraid he would fly off.
"Sweetie…" he heard his mother sigh and felt her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I can't believe it, even if he's in my arms, I-I'm not dreaming, am I?"
"No, sweetie, you're not."
He used one of his hands to attempt wiping the tears off his cheeks, but he wasn't successful as he was still crying pretty hard. Ash couldn't stop himself, he wasn't sad at all, he was just so happy! He was home, he could smell his mother's flowers in the breeze coming in through the open window.
"Red, can you… Yes, like that."
Ash felt himself get pulled up by Red's large hands, hooked under his armpits but nothing could break his stubborn hold on Pikachu.
"Perhaps it's better if you took a little nap, sweetie," his mother said and Ash was inclined to agree.
He was upset by many things right now, not all bad, it was just… Why had it all had to happen so quickly? Couldn't they have warned him that he was going home? He was happy, yeah… but since when did his mother enjoy long-haired rugs? And the flooring had never been this kind of dark, hardwood flooring either, it had been a grey linoleum. Also, where had the small table in front of the TV gone? Had the living room walls also had that kind of wallpaper? Yeah, he remembered there had been small, pink and red flowers on it, but the green striped background was new. Not bad, but just… different.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"The living room…?"
"Mm, it was patched up as nicely as possible. But some things couldn't be saved," she answered, a sad smile on her face as she gently rubbed his arm.
The boy watched her warily, before nodding. It was better to have something nicely updated than… well, live in something ruined. He probably wouldn't have been able to stomach the destruction those… those things had caused. If it hadn't been for Pikachu and Mimey protecting him-
"And Mimey?" he asked, in a bout of panic, because he hadn't seen the pokémon anywhere!
"He's okay, sweetie. Try and calm down, you'll see him later."
"What is this room anyway?" Ash asked, voice shaky as he noticed the wallpaper with all the legendary pokémon depicted on it.
Strangely fitting, but at the moment, it all made little sense to him.
"Your bedroom. Or at least, for now. I had been preparing a room for you to stay at, knowing it would take a while until you could use the stairs," Delia answered calmly. "Luckily for me, I started it the day I knew you would be getting a prosthetic limb. That doctor is a piece of work, springing this kind of news on all of us on such short notice."
"We… We're okay now, right?"
"Yes? Why?"
"No hard feelings?" he asked, cringing when his mother raised an eyebrow. "I… I've not felt like myself, I don't feel in control, I said things I didn't mean, I… I'm sorry."
"… Oh, but of course, darling, we're totally okay. No hard feelings at all," she answered, resuming her gentle ministrations on his arm. "Is that what got you all upset, sweetie?"
"You weren't there for three days," he squeaked. "I missed you so much."
Delia looked like she had gotten slapped but as soon as the expression appeared on her face, it was gone, leaving room for the shame that came in a second later.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, I am, I… I'll make it up to you, some way or another, okay?"
"N-no, I just… Stay? Please?"
"Okay, sweetheart, I'm here."
Ash took a hold of her hand while holding Pikachu close with his other arm. He sniffled a couple of times, before calming down and drifting off to sleep. Leaving his mother with a lot of doubts and misgivings, mostly about herself.
"What was that?" Red asked softly, after Delia had come out of the room, having quietly closed the door behind her.
"… The therapist I'm seeing told me I was better off not facing Ash. She said that he had become upset to catch attention and that I couldn't teach him a habit like… Well, she basically told me not to comfort him while upset."
"… Seek a better therapist," the man huffed and pointed to the closed door. "No good, that."
"I know. I don't think I've ever seen him that upset, god, what a mess.," she sighed. "We'll have to do better."
"I'm here."
Delia smiled warmly at him but felt sad nonetheless. Something inside her had told her she had been doing it all wrong, why had she gone ahead and made her son so upset? She knew that being forgotten and ignored were the two worst things she could ever put Ash through and yet she had let a stranger dictate her life in her stead. Next time, she would bring Red along, or better, go see her husband's therapist, as she probably would curse hers out for all what she was worth.
Red must've seen her become even sadder, the longer she thought about how unfair she had treated her son, as he hugged her close. Despite his warm embrace being something she had waited, no, longed for, Delia did wish it to have been in better circumstances. The medication dr. Martin had given her looked familiar, she too had suffered from depression when Red failed to come home. To hear that her beautiful little boy was sent home because two smart doctors thought he would suffer and possibly sleep for longer and longer periods -Ash's perception of time and day was skewed because of it, the longest he had slept being fifteen hours at once- if he were to remain inside the hospital, hurt her.
He hadn't appeared happy to be in Pallet Town either, the people here were mean and just… a bit too different for him to adapt to. To think Ash was so relieved to be back, came as a shock to her. But it didn't matter, they couldn't afford to think about something else than his well-being. In fact, doing worse by him wasn't an option, they needed to do right or they would lose Ash. Or at least a part of him, depression was nothing to joke about, especially not with young kids… especially not with her little ray of sunshine. Delia could only hope Red's presence would make Ash happier than before. Pallet had no more reason to judge any of them now, anyhow, all that mattered now was that her son was happy and well-cared for.
Professor Oak moved the curtain out of the way, sighing deeply when he noticed Lance's car parked in front of Delia's house. Or rather, Delia and Red's house.
It was still beyond him how the man could have ever thought his wife to be unfaithful to him, his arrival back in Pallet had stirred the busybody mill into overdrive… but there was no one who had anything to say about the Ketchum family, did they? And if they did, Lance would be on their asses the second their unwanted opinion came out of their mouths.
He sighed again as he moved away from the window, realising he had lost the right to worry over the family. Lance had made it perfectly clear, he wasn't supposed to be any more involved with Ash than he would be with any other trainer. Ash's personal matters weren't his responsibility and as a pokémon professor, he was only allowed to talk to the teen about issues that would affect his training or bond with his pokémon. Literally, the only two things the professor knew the boy didn't have any issues with.
But, in other words, Lance had persisted that Ash was just another trainer and not some sort of easily accessible way of getting fame… nor an output for frustration. The worst thing was, despite the Champion's harsh choice of words, the man was absolutely correct. The professor had accepted it all, knowing he had made mistakes, probably not just with Ash, but in general. But yes, he hadn't denied a thing, don't ask him why he had done those things. Well, he couldn't deny it, the evidence was all there. Perhaps there were a lot of unfortunate coincidences, but he wouldn't discuss any of it. Lance was trained to find issues, the man would find offending material in a Saint's sock drawer, he was attracted to everything hidden.
He had allowed the champion to roam, make a file about negligence and corruption. It was probably the perfect blackmailing material, but Lance's sense of justice never deviated from the North and the pokémon league consisted of decent people. For all Agatha had been casting shade over him and his reputation, she had never laid a hand on him and he respected her for that. As a professor, he had occasionally clipped a rowdy kid 'round the ears, it never was a problem in the old days…
Still, even if he was told to back off, professor Oak wanted to do something for Ash, to make up for all the hurt he had caused him. He knew the teen was forgiving but he also realised that dropping all his support would damage the boy's trust in people. Ash was quick to recoil from humans to begin with, his childhood in Pallet Town had caused him to be wary of adults as a whole. In the days, the professor had thought to never see the boy again, once he had set off on his journey. Not that he thought Ash would fail as a trainer, oh no, he totally envisioned the teen to completely withdraw from society and go live in the woods as a wild child. Heck, the man was convinced the kid would be successful making a living there too, chances of him being much happier with creatures that didn't criticise him at every turn he made were high. And he would probably befriend every little, living creature he encountered along the way too.
Going to the corral at the back, the man fetched what he thought was the only good thing he could do for Ash right now, which was giving him access to a few pokémon. Not much, he didn't want complaints but the ball was in Red's field right now. If the man didn't allow his son to have pokémon, so be it, but no one could blame him for not having attempted a reunion. It hadn't taken long until he found a couple, thought the professor was sure the teen would love to see any of his pokémon again. Only, they were going to have to stay in the hospital too, right? So they needed to behave and not cause a ruckus in the hospital.
Perhaps, by now, Red had already given the 'okay' for Ash to receive pokémon, so surely there wouldn't be any harm in introducing a couple more, right? If anything, you could trust Ash's pokémon to be human friendly, the worst they could do was force a hug out of you -even that darned Muk. The biggest issue, however, was that he was scared of going up to the Ketchum's house, knowing Delia could cause a wicked argument about him being there. Something about him caring at all the bad times or something.
"Tracey?"
He could hear the teen running up towards the doorway of the corral.
"Yes, professor?"
"Could you do me a favour and bring these two pokéballs to Delia's house, please?"
Tracey slowly looked down at the spheres, the professor belatedly realising that Ash's case was a touchy subject to everyone here. Gary had been telling all kinds of tales and despite the brunette not having done a thing, he was now also feeling terribly guilty for not having done anything. Also, the teen had definitely heard the kerfuffle with Lance, the man being loud enough for some birds to fly up from the nearby field. Everyone here had been reminded of their rights and wrongs and well, Tracey wasn't an idiot. He must've come to the same conclusion about this as the professor had come to just now. Namely that Delia would most likely slam the door in his face if he showed up.
'I wouldn't even blame her if she did, she's got every right to do so,' the man thought.
"… Okay," the boy eventually answered. "Right now?"
"Yes, it's still a good hour before twelve, so Delia would still be at home."
Tracey cringed at hearing the woman's name, causing the professor to sigh.
"You've got no reason to be scared of anything, you haven't done anything wrong to Delia. Or Ash for that matter."
The man instantly regretting saying the teen's name out loud too now, Tracey looked ready to cry the moment he had mentioned it.
"God, he's fine, Tracey, you heard Lance call me an asshole the day Delia came in to tell me Ash had woken up."
"But Gary's seen him-"
"That was two months ago, don't let my grandson get to you. And if you hadn't outright refused to go see Ash, you wouldn't have needed to rely on Gary's outdated opinion on the matter."
"And if you hadn't been the asshole that day, you wouldn't need me to bring these pokéballs to Delia either," the boy retorted, looking upset and yes, crying.
And again, it was the god honest truth, but did he want to hear this from someone like Tracey? No, he didn't and the teen must've realised his mistake early on, his expression turned fearful now too. God, the kid looked absolutely miserable.
"I-I'm sorry-"
"If you're going to be so upset about this, I'll ask someone else, because your histrionics are the last thing Delia needs in your life."
"No! No, I'll do it. I might be upset, but I'm not a coward!"
"You don't have to yell at me, Tracey," Professor Oak said, though realised the teen was only acting out because of the suffering he had gone through.
All thanks to his grandson, who was still beating himself up at how he had treated Ash over the years. Gary, however, had quite the amount of sins to confess, contrary to how innocent Tracey actually was.
"Okay. Here," he said, handing the teen the two pokéballs. "But you and I are going to have a long talk about this situation when you return, yes?"
"… Yes, professor."
"Good. Now, off you go. Before Delia leaves."
The boy nodded stiffly and held the pokéballs as if they were the most precious things in the world, so reverently. The professor had sighed loudly once Tracey had walked out of hearing distance. A part of him wondered what had become of his life as he walked back to his office, to be disrespected by one of his assistants, a young one at that. Nevertheless, Tracey did as asked, the man could see him cross the street. He was quick to drop his curtain back in place and carry on with his work, figuring that this was all he could do for Ash until the day he came knocking himself.
It had all been a bit of a mess, dr. Martin had put his foot into a well-oiled machine and things were bound to go wrong. Fortunately, the Ketchum family had gained a few members, so when it proved that both Delia and Red had business to attend to at the same time, the very same morning Ash had come home, Lance voluntarily stepped up to keep an eye on the teen. While the kid was peacefully asleep -for now-, the man had become a victim of an identity crisis.
He, the king of take-out, had prepared lunch for the kid. It felt so jarring, so domesticated, it wasn't like him at all! But he had done it voluntarily, not wanting to create a mess in his brother and sister-in-law's house and there was no way he would take Ash to as fast food place. Lance didn't even know whether there was one in Pallet Town, he hadn't bothered walking through the entire boring town, but even so, he wouldn't subject the kid to the scrutiny he had suffered from already. Boy, did this place have some creepy people living in it? The number of times he had seen curtains move without anyone visible, it was eerie, to say the least.
Lance belatedly realised, as he placed the plastic container filled with sandwiches in the fridge, that people in Kanto didn't eat bread. It wasn't even common in Johto, but he had been raised in a more modern way and his first instinct had been to pack sandwiches.
'He's a traveller, stupid,' he thought. 'Stop worrying over nothing.'
So the man went and sat in the couch, staring at meadow visible from the window. He was mesmerized by the long grass waving back and forth and suddenly had the bright idea to call out one of his pokémon. The only he could trust to behave was Flygon, who would probably just go around and have a bit of an exploration tour around the room, whilst vigorously sniffing everything on his route and bobbing his head up and down. Yeah, the creature had an awful lot of gimmicks, but he was still one of Lance's favourite pokémon, mostly due to the pokémon's delightful character. He could already imagine Ash and Flygon becoming the best of friends, but from what he had heard from Delia, he figured he could even let his old, grouchy Salamence into the teen's capable hands.
"Keep silent, will you, buddy?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper, not willing to wake the boy who was in the room next to this one, with the door partially opened.
"Fly?"
"Go and have a sniff around. Just be quiet."
Seeing the creature go around the room in a way Lance had predicted, did wonders for the man's mood. It was always funny to see how pretty tame pokémon behaved in different, unknown area's and well… Flygon was tame. He'd come and lay his head on your lap and if your lap was warm and/or comfortable, the drooling would commence. Same with shoes actually, but Flygon preferred laps. That was probably the only reason why the pokémon wasn't allowed inside meetings, there were plenty laps there, of all sizes and he would test all of them out, seeing he had already explored every single meeting room there was to be explored inside the pokémon league.
Lance was pleased and in a pretty good mood now, remembering the last time Flygon had sneaked inside the room. Wallace had looked scandalised to find drool all over his 'suit' -the thing had consisted of three, large flaps of fabric- and as of that day, Mr. Goodshow had told him to recall the pokémon. A sound outside of Ash's room caught his attention, though and the man shot outside of his seat, knowing that the open door would've tempted Flygon to enter the room. And yes… there the creature was, acting even more curiously than before.
"What are you doing?" the man asked, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.
"Fly. Gon, gon," the creature answered and pushed his head against the boy's hand.
Who woke up at the feeling of the dragon's rough skin.
"Wha?"
"Morning, Ash."
"… What day is it?"
"Still the same day you were released from the hospital."
"… Really?" the teen asked, frowning. "I feel like that's been ages. But I'm actually home, right? It wasn't a dream? Coming home?"
"Sounds like you've had a good rest, then, if you're so confused about it. But no, you're home, Ash."
"Yeah, alright. Just checking."
"That's alright," the man chuckled.
Just when he came up empty on what to say to Ash, the doorbell rang. Flygon didn't like the noise, grabbing the boy's hand with his claws and hiding behind it. As endearing as it was, Lance wondered who the heck was at the door and was in no mood to deal with many people today.
"Yes?"
"M-M-Mr. Lance?" the brown-haired kid stammered, taking a few steps backwards.
"You're Tracey, right?"
"Y-yes, sir," the teen answered, nervously bobbing his head. "I came to deliver some pokéballs, s-so that Mrs. Ketchum could take 'em to Ash."
"Come in, then," he said, figuring the kid could give them to Ash himself.
"S-sir?"
"Yes?"
"Do I have to… come in?"
Lance raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"… What are you doing here anyway?"
"Birdwatching," the man answered, getting annoyed. "Get in the damn house, kid."
Tracey shot inside without another word but he was standing in the hallway.
"Don't stand on ceremony, then. Come on, follow me."
The boy was annoying him so badly, reacting so skittish for no other reasons that being afraid of him. What had he done to the kid, anyway? Was it his reputation preceding him again? Or was he just plain rude without realising it?
"Go in," he all but commanded, seeing the teen would never go in by himself.
And while Tracey did go inside the room, his face had shown how badly he hadn't wanted to go in. Lance rolled his eyes at the behaviour.
"Tracey?" Ash's voice asked.
"A… Ash? I-is it you?"
That was enough, the man left before he found himself commenting on the conversation. Tracey must've been upset, he realised that, but he did wonder if all of Ash's friends would react like this. Did the kid think Ash had… died? To ask if it was him sitting there? As if the teen was some kind of spectre?
'Teens,' he thought, casting a dark look at the door. 'I'll never understand any of 'em. Well, except Ash, that is.'
Lance did make a mental note of how accepting his nephew was, though, it was clear the teen could look beyond a bit of intimidation. But it had to be something more than that, Ash hadn't even questioned him appearing by his bedside, just his reason to be there. That most of the Champions and trainers knew the kid was even stranger, there wasn't much everyone had in common inside of the pokémon league except for pokémon... and his nephew. All that he knew now, though, was that the skittish kid from professor Oak's laboratory was lucky to have Ash in front of him, as Lance would have likely ripped him a new one. But then again, the champion was in no hurry to befriend a couple of teenagers any time soon, so he let the two kids at it, figuring Ash was the best person to leave in charge of histrionics. Didn't mean he didn't roll his eyes as he heard Tracey blubber about Gary Oak's stupid theories of what happened, though.
End of chapter five