Rose's mouthful of porridge paused halfway on its way to her mouth. She frowned slightly at the image of the man on the morning news, and strained her ears to hear the report more clearly.

"No!" Morty laughed, covering his face with his hands and admitting defeat. He and Jasper were having a competition; Morty bet his son that he wouldn't be able to open the jam jar that he had screwed as tightly shut as he could. Jasper had bet his father that he could.

"Will you two be quiet?!" Rose said, rounding on them, "I'm trying to listen!"

But the man and the teenager continued to laugh and joke. Because Jasper had won, it meant that Morty had to undergo a forfeit. Today that meant that Jasper had one chance to fling a spoonful of jam into his father's face.

"Just get it over with!" Morty insisted, his violet eyes screwed shut as he waited for the unpleasant sensation that he knew was to come.

"You two are ridiculous!" Rose snapped, but she couldn't prevent the corners of her lips twitching as she turned back towards the television.

But then Morty, too, seemed to recognise the man on the news, and he barely noticed when the spoonful of strawberry jam squelched against his cheek. Raising his hand to his face, he grabbed the worst of the blob and wiped it in his napkin, his eyes never once leaving the television screen.

Jasper's upper lip curled in disappointment – this was the best forfeit yet, and his dad barely seemed to take any notice! Reluctantly, the fifteen year old also turned his attention to the news report. But he had no idea who the greying man was, and so he too began to listen.

"…come to light that the leading Consultant in Pokémon Medicine, Horatio Wood, has been discredited, and is no longer permitted to practise. Wood has been found guilty of conducting illegal experiments on Pokémon, and will be sentenced to at least five years imprisonment, will be stripped of his consultancy, and…"

"Oh my God," Rose breathed, her porridge forgotten.

"I wonder what he did," Morty frowned, "they haven't gone into much detail…"

But the newsreader continued: "Wood is refusing to clarify whether a monetary exchange was involved with his 'client', fuelling the speculations that he undertook this highly risky endeavour in order to continue to afford his own drug habit."

"Who is this guy?" Jasper asked; Morty and Rose were both stunned into silence – for they knew that the rumours of the former doctor's drug addiction were very likely to be true.

"He trained me," Rose said hollowly.

"No way!"

"Yes…" she said as though in a daze, "I wonder what on earth experiment he was playing around with…he's a brilliant doctor…"

"Whatever it was it must have been pretty sick to have him struck off the register," Morty said grimly. He couldn't even bear thinking about what the man might have done to who knows how many helpless Pokémon…

"Right…well then," Rose said, shaking her head as she tried to come to terms with the news, "this wasn't exactly the opening I'd been looking for Jasper, but I think it's time we had a conversation about what you want to do."

Jasper looked up to see both his parents watching him with interest.

"…Do?"

"Yes," Morty said, "what you want to do in life - as a career."

Jasper was stumped. He had never really had any great desire to do any one thing in particular, and now with his parents smiling encouragingly at him, he found that he had no idea what to say.

"You're well connected for both medicine and Pokémon training," Rose said, "this is why I bring this up now…if you were interested I was going to ask Dr Wood if you could intern with him in Sesame…but I suppose that's now out of the window…"

"Medicine? Me?"

"I know you're plenty clever enough," Rose said with a wry grin, "but I would advise you not to embark on it unless you have a real desire to do so – the training can be gruelling," she said lightly.

"I-I don't think I want to –"

"And then if you're interested in taking your Pokémon training further, I'd be only too happy to help you, as you know," Morty smiled, "I know Ecruteak Gym currently has a Leader, but if we intensify your training now, I see no reason why you couldn't be next in line."

"Dad –"

"But of course these aren't your only options!" Rose laughed, "It's just we're both connected in these fields, so should you decide on either one we can easily help you."

Jasper was silent. He could see the excitement shining in his parents' eyes, and he didn't want to disappoint them, but he truly had no idea.

"I haven't really thought about it," he mumbled, feeling his ears turn red.

"Well you're only fifteen," Rose chuckled, "but if you don't have any idea now, I'd say it's a good time to start considering your options."

She smiled into his eyes, the exact same colour and shape as hers, before she ruffled his dark blond hair playfully.

-o-

Father and son made their way to Ecruteak Gym, as they did every afternoon on the weekends. Having been the previous Leader, Morty had permission to use the Gym for personal training whenever it was officially closed.

As they walked through the ancient, familiar city, Morty could see that Jasper had something on his mind, and decided to try a little fatherly probing.

"What's up Jas?"

"Hm?" Jasper looked across at his father, to see him scrutinising him through violet eyes, "Nothing's up."

"So you definitely don't think you want to do medicine?"

Jasper shook his head, and gave a half smile.

"Definitely not – that's one thing I am certain of," he laughed.

Morty laughed too, "Your Ma's right with that one – don't even think about it unless you're committed – the training alone is enough to drive anyone mad."

Jasper nodded, but again fell into a pensive silence, his brown eyes brooding.

"Come on Jas, you can tell me," Morty said quietly. They had reached the Gym now, and Morty unlocked the side door with his spare set of keys. Jasper remained silent as they made their way through to the battlefield, and still Morty did not press him. He knew his son, and he knew that when Jasper felt ready to talk he would.

But Jasper did not have the faintest clue how to put into words the thoughts that were whirling around his mind; at least not without upsetting his father or angering him – or both. It had been ten years now since he had had the conversation with his grandmother, on the night of the Festival of Firelight - the conversation that he had never forgotten. Despite the number of books Jasper had pursued, the amount documentaries he had watched or newspaper clippings he found, he could never get the story he wanted, and he ached for it.

"Dad?" he said quietly, wondering where on earth he was finding the composure to do this.

"Yes?"

"I-I want to do something like you did."

Morty frowned at Jasper's tone. Somehow, he knew that his son wasn't talking about becoming a Gym Leader, or even a member of the Elite Four. A chill ran down Morty's back as he remembered what Jasper had been told many years ago by Isadora, his own mother. He had just about forgotten until now, but it would appear that his son hadn't.

"What do you mean?" Morty asked; his mouth had become so dry that his voice creaked slightly. He still hoped against hope that his suspicions were wrong.

Jasper's wet his lips nervously with his tongue, and he ran his hand through his dark blond hair anxiously.

"I wish…I wish I could do something that would make me a 'hero'," he mumbled to his feet.

His lightly tanned face began to flush – he aware of how stupid he must sound. But his father's expression was the last thing he could have expected. Morty's violet eyes were glassy with tears and he gazed into Jasper's young face, his clear anguish making him seem so much older than his thirty-seven years.

"Jasper…come and sit with me a moment."

Feeling leaden with shock, Jasper followed Morty to the side of the Gym's battlefield, where they sat together on the spectator bench. It took a while for Morty to gather his thoughts, but Jasper remained silent, allowing his father the time to adjust to his shocking statement.

"I…I assume you're referring to the conversation you had with your grandmother many years ago?" Morty finally asked.

Jasper nodded; he was scared – he had never known his father to act this way. It was as though Morty himself was frightened, but he composed himself and turned to his son, accepting that perhaps now was the time.

"I don't suppose you remember, for you were only, what?…Five years old?"

Jasper nodded once more.

"Five years old," Morty continued, his violet eyes far away, "terrified at the thought of Chaos, which is perfectly understandable, and then…then my mother informed you that your mother and I had, in fact, largely contributed to the downfall of that hideous monster. I was… furious with her. I don't think I spoke to her for weeks – we never wanted you to feel frightened by it, you see."

Jasper did not know what to say. His heart was pounding in his chest as he continued to stare at his father. Morty could sense his son's fear, and the beginnings of his horror, but what scared him the most was Jasper's awe. But it was understandable that his son feel this way for, objectively, the tale was astonishing. However Morty was desperate for him to understand how horrific it had been; how he sometimes relived it in the night when he was lying awake; how still sometimes Rose came to him wide-eyed, needing to talk about it, to share her experience with the one person who knew exactly how she felt, just so that she could stop herself going mad. The last thing Morty wanted was his son, their son, to think that it had been anything close to glorious.

"I know that it's the details you crave, Jasper, but I don't think you need to hear them."

Morty blanched in reaction to Jasper's face, for his disappointment was visible, but that only convinced Morty that he was doing the right thing.

"And I know you won't want to hear this, but you're young…so young, and I can't be responsible for filling your head with false glory."

Jasper sighed deeply. It wasn't only morbid curiosity that drove him to wanting to hear the whole story; he wanted to understand his father better too, but he didn't like to be the cause of his father's looking so drawn and anguished.

"I…I just feel that the trouble with the concept of 'heroism', is that it's all well and good to dream of it, and to think that you can't be fulfilled without it…but Jasper – those who are labelled 'heroes' are the only ones who truly realise that the situation they're in is anything but fulfilling."

Jasper looked up from his hands, to see that Morty's eyes were tight with pain as he desperately tried to make him understand his train of thought.

"Situations that make people 'heroes' tend to be horrific, really – and that's why people are considered heroes I suppose – because they get through it, risking their lives, their sanity…everything. When you're the one it's happening to, I can tell you, that all you want, more than anything else in the world at that moment, is for that burden to be anybody's rather than yours. W-What I'm trying to say is – is…I just don't want you to get it in your head that you want an experience such as mine…because if there's one thing I pray for, it's that you can have an easier time of it than I had."

There was silence for a moment, before Jasper spoke, staring straight ahead at the opposite side of the Gym.

"I remember, ever since I was a kid, that I've wanted to be like you," he mumbled, turning red again, "and when Grandma told me that you defeated the Chaos Pokémon…well…I don't know. That's pretty amazing Dad – nobody but you has ever done anything like it, and I guess…I guess I just feel like, maybe I can never truly be like you, unless I have the chance to prove myself in the same way…"

"Jasper," Morty croaked, "I didn't prove myself in any way – I was chosen for that role from birth – I never had a choice! At the time my only choices were to die myself in order to give the rest of the world a chance to live, or to just allow them all to die with me – I'm not a hero Jasper – anyone would have done the same."

"I don't understand," Jasper said quietly.

"Which part don't you understand?"

"You just implied that either way you had to die…but you're not dead."

The brown eyes met the violet, and Morty felt his face drain of blood.

"Dad?" Jasper whispered, his brow furrowing.

Morty rubbed his hands over his face in frustration and defeat; he couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to let that slip.

"I never wanted you to have these details," he began quietly; his teeth were gritted and his eyes tightly closed, "but I can't very well expect you to walk away with half-information such as that…Jasper, I'm sorry."

Morty finally opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry for what I am about to tell you; neither myself nor your mother ever wished for you to need to know this…"

Morty chewed on his lower lip as he considered the mess he was now in. Jasper felt his breathing become shallow; he was absolutely terrified of what he was about to hear, but he had yearned for this information for as long as he could remember.

"I did die, all those years ago, and it is only because of your mother that I am still alive at all…"

-o-

"Please father!" Ebony begged.

The conversation had been going on for so long that her voice was growing hoarse and, in her desperation, her dark indigo eyes were filling with tears. Lance was equally as frustrated as his daughter, but her antics were not moving him.

"I don't know why I'm bothering to argue with you," he said sternly, "my answer, for the thousandth time, is no!"

"But -"

"No, Ebony! Why can't you understand that these rules aren't mine alone?! By the League rules, you are not allowed to challenge either your mother, Morty, or myself – you know this!"

"But you would all battle me honestly! I know you would! And that's what the umpires are for anyway –"

"This conversation is over as far as I'm concerned," Lance growled, his dark eyes flashing, "you can either stay here in Blackthorn City and train for the Gym Leadership, or you can travel to Hoenn to challenge their League with Scarlett and Jasper."

"But why can't I go with just Scarlett? Why does he have to come?!"

Lance's nostrils flared in fury.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" he spat, although he thought he knew.

Ebony rolled her eyes.

"Come on father – he's barely even a Dragon Tamer! I don't want to waste my time with –"

"I don't want to ever hear you speak of him in that way again," Lance said coldly, "you will stay here in Blackthorn City, or you will travel to Hoenn with your sister and cousin. That's final."

"We don't need a boy to protect us," Ebony said sullenly, shocked by her father's reprimand.

"That's not your decision to make."

Lance stormed from the room, his gloved hands shaking slightly. Ebony frustrated him. He was still mightily embarrassed by the scene over ten years ago, in which his and Rose's grandfather, the Elder, had slighted Morty and his Ecruteak heritage to his face. Understandably, Rose and Morty had not since been back to visit, and Lance was incredibly grateful that they were willing to allow their son to travel with his daughters – should all teenagers be willing. But Ebony's attitude, and Scarlett's to an extent, infuriated him. They had spent too long in Dragon's Den and in Blackthorn City, and their ingrained 'superiority' was grating on him. He was sure that he and Clair had never been so pig-headed. Lance continued to brood. The twins just did not know Morty as he and Clair did; to them it was unfathomable that any trainer other than a Dragon Tamer should be respected. But Morty was brilliant, he always had been, and it made Lance burn with humiliation to think that Morty and Rose's son should ever be made to feel unworthy by his own daughters. The Elder, Lance's grandfather, had died five years ago, but Lance was well aware of what he, and now Rodolfo and Cornelio, wanted. They wanted Jasper as another heir, to wed him to either Scarlett or Ebony – whichever match seemed the most likely to work. Granted, Lance's own marriage to Clair had been arranged, and they had never been anything less than happy with the arrangement, but Ebony and Scarlett's blatant elitism, and Jasper's own thorough grounding in Ecruteak tradition, caused Lance to feel that such a match would be doomed to failure.

-o-

Dearest Jasper,

I can hardly believe you're 16 today! I remember the first time I ever saw you – you were absolutely tiny, with huge brown eyes and tufty blond hair and a red, scrawny little face! Haha! I'm sorry – I'm sure your 16 year old self is far too cool to be imagining what you looked like when you were only a few days old - but you'll always be an ugly, wrinkly little bugger to me I'm afraid.

I'm sorry I can't be there today, but don't go thinking I haven't remembered your birthday! Your mum and dad told me that you've recently decided to go travelling to Hoenn, so I didn't want to get you anything big or bulky that you couldn't take with you on your travels, and I'm certain your mum and dad will make sure you have everything you need. And so I thought – 'what can I get him that only I could get him?' And so I made the decision. I've included the three obvious choices (I know what you Ecrutetians are like with your 'sacred' types!), but as you know you can have any of them should you want - it might just require you paying your stuffy old godfather a visit in Sesame!

Choose wisely Jasper, because, as you know, once it's done it can't be undone! And let me know what you choose – I've been excited for this moment since you were five years old!

All my love,

Jay

Jasper looked up from the letter in confusion, to see Rose and Morty beaming at him across the kitchen table.

"I don't understand," he said with a half smile, "what the hell has he got me?"

Eevee jumped up into Jasper's lap and began nibbling at the corner of his toast. Jasper absentmindedly stroked his Pokémon's head, still watching his parents with bright, curious eyes. From under the table, Morty handed Jasper a handsome, leather case. Still frowning in confusion, Jasper took the case from his father, and unhooked the brass clasp.

Inside, on a bed of crinkled purple velvet, sat three stones. One was a gleaming orange, the one in the centre was a glassy turquoise-blue, and the one on the right was a translucent green, a small thunderbolt shape indented into the smooth surface.

Jasper's brown eyes widened in surprise. He knew what these were – they were evolutionary stones. And it made sense now, his godfather was a professor of evolution – of course he would be interested in Jasper's Eevee, and what ultimate form she would take.

"What do you reckon?" Morty grinned.

Jasper frowned slightly as he gently stroked the Water Stone. He didn't know what he felt really.

"Remember what Jay said in the letter," Rose reminded him, "if you wanted one of the other four types, he would only be too happy to help you. Or I could, of course."

Rose herself had an Espeon, and was very familiar with how to manipulate Eevee's evolution due to her research work in her youth.

"I think Jay just thought you might prefer a Flareon, a Vaporeon, or a Jolteon because of their connection with Ecruteak," Morty suggested.

Still Jasper did not speak, or even look up from the case, and Morty and Rose exchanged confused glances. Eevee attempted to sniff the Fire Stone from where she was sat on Jasper's lap, and he snapped the small leather case shut hurriedly.

"I-I've never really thought about it," Jasper said honestly. He glanced down into Eevee's large eyes and gave a small smile. Eevee had been his best friend since he was five years old. He couldn't deny that the prospect of evolving her excited him, but what would happen if he regretted his choice? Like Jay had said in his letter, once done it couldn't be undone…

"You don't have to decide right this minute," Morty smiled, "have a good think; each of the 'eeveelutions' has its own advantages and disadvantages…you can always talk to your Ma and I if you need help making a decision."

Jasper smiled back at his father, but Rose and Morty could see the uncertainty in his face.

"We can think about it later," Rose said, tactfully changing the subject, "have our presents now! They're a little boring and practical I'm afraid – but you'll find them very useful come August!"

August - when Ebony and Scarlett turned sixteen themselves. Jasper didn't know whether to feel nervous or excited about his impending Pokémon journey. He didn't remember very much about his cousins, but he knew that they hadn't hit it off too well. Nevertheless, the idea of a journey came with the possibility of danger and adventure. Despite Morty's words, Jasper had not given up his dream of hoping to prove himself one day – to live up to his father's largely unknown feat - and how better to find a way to prove himself than on a Pokémon journey?

Jasper grinned as he accepted the pile of parcels from his parents.