This is a straight Pokemon story, in which Ash delays his journey by several years to take care of his sick mother. As a result he's more mature and less directional challenged than his canon self. He's closer to Red than the anime version of Ash.


It was a week before he was about to set off on his Pokémon journey when his mom got the news about why she had been feeling so bad lately.

Cancer. It was such a simple word that had major implications.

His mom put on a brave face, listening as the doctor told her that they were lucky as they had caught it early enough that she had a good fighting chance.

Any thoughts of his Pokémon journey went out the window, realizing his mother needed him more. She had done so much for him growing up, that the idea of leaving her to suffer alone was unthinkable to him.

Gary couldn't resist taunting Ash for the fact he'd have to wait an unknown amount of time before he could become a proper trainer. Ash could care less...his mother was more important. Besides, there were no actual age limits to challenge the gyms.

Ash went to Professor Oak's lab to explain the situation.

"I see. That is disheartening news, but there's no shame in waiting to become a trainer," said Oak.

In fact he applauded Ash's sudden maturity over the matter. Most trainers wouldn't think twice about going on their adventure, thinking everything would be alright.

Ash couldn't help but think of the brave face his mother had put on. So what if Gary made fun of him for his late start? He'd rather make things easier for her than risk losing her.

Oak saw the look on Ash's face, and waited a bit before making his offer. Most of the extra income Dalia had was now being put into her treatments, so things were getting a little tight. And to be honest he was getting a bit old to be running around looking after the Pokémon in his ranch.

Ash took his offer without hesitation, as it meant a bit of extra pocket money for him and his mom. He didn't mind putting in some hard work to help with the household expenses, and it was one of the few things a ten year old could do for work and he got to skip the more boring aspects of schoolwork.

Besides, it would likely give him a leg up as a trainer later.

As the months passed by, the full ramifications began to hit home for Ash. Hearing about Gary, even peripherally was almost painful, but he stood by his decision to stay with his mom.

He began to do more chores around the house to make it easier for her, and learning basic recipes. Professor Oak assured him it would come in handy later, as most trainers eventually learned how to cook during their journey sooner or later. Not all towns or Pokémon centers were so conveniently placed that someone else could do the cooking for them.


Ash looked at the Pokéball in his hands. Five months ago, he would have been ecstatic over having this. It was a symbol of his journey as a trainer.

Now, he just felt empty inside. His mom had been putting on a brave face, but Ash could see very well how hard these treatments were on her. The money he brought in helping around the ranch and with the research was only barely keeping them afloat at the moment, as Oak couldn't exactly allow him to do actual work for too long otherwise he'd get in trouble.

So Ash had put on a brave face of his own, and poured himself into studying with a retired Ranger who was teaching him how to survive in the wilds. He was doing it as a favor for Professor Oak, mostly to help distract Ash from his mother's condition.

Ash opened up the Pokéball to reveal...a Pikachu?

"I'm not ready to leave mom alone," said Ash.

"I know. But Pikachu isn't for your journey. Not yet," said Oak. "However your mother and I have agreed that allowing you to have a Pokémon now to bond with would only benefit you in the long term."

Ash looked confused, while the Pikachu looked stubborn.

"Pokémon can provide great emotional support during tough times. While this one is a bit stubborn, I'm sure you can earn his trust," said Oak. "You can work on your battling skills in between school work to prepare for when you challenge gyms."

Ash looked at the Pikachu. The mouse gave him a huff and ignored him.

Pikachu made it clear he did not like his Pokéball, and Ash honestly could care less about this since he was more worried about his mom. So instead he picked the Pokémon up...and was promptly shocked by it.

Needless to say he dropped the mouse immediately.

"Oh dear," said Oak, concerned. That was not exactly a good start.

For the next week, Ash did his best to bond with Pikachu. The mouse was incredibly stubborn, and the stress of the situation was already bad enough that he was having trouble coping with it all.

Finally he had enough, after about a month of dealing with the Pokémon and his mother's condition. She had a bad night and was so tired she went straight to bed rather than cook. Ash didn't mind the cold sandwiches...he was used to that by this point and it made it easier on his mom.

But seeing her that pale after dealing with Pikachu being more stubborn than normal and refusing to listen to even basic requests...it was all too much.

He didn't even care if the Pokémon saw him break down while attempting to watch a league match. Ash just cried, as the adults around him had assured him it was okay to let his emotions out every once in a while.

He cuddled with a pillow as he let himself cry silently in front of the TV. He didn't want to worry his mom, and it felt like he was so alone in the world. He kept the TV on quiet, as he didn't want to wake her.

Ash didn't know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up later he found a stubborn electric mouse in his arms in place of the pillow which had fallen from his arms at some point. The TV was off, though he didn't remember turning it off.

He was just so exhausted from all of this that he took the chance to cuddle with Pikachu. It was the first time he had been able to be this close to him without being shocked nastily for it.

The next morning, his mom was up making breakfast. She seemed happy about something.

"I'm glad you two are finally getting along!" she said cheerfully. She had some of her energy back at least.

Ash looked at Pikachu, who merely huffed. But there was a bit less anger in it now.

Things seemed to be a bit better between them now.


A few weeks after Ash finally had a breakthrough with Pikachu, Professor Oak got a new Pokémon at the ranch.

Ash looked at the small Charmander. It looked so weak and frail that a good wind could blow it over.

"What happened to him?" asked Ash.

Professor Oak was glad that he and Pikachu were finally getting along.

"I'm afraid some people don't deserve to be trainers," he said sadly. "This poor Charmander was given to a horrible person who thought it was a brilliant idea to have it stay outside in the middle of a nasty rainstorm on top of a rock with no protection. Nurse Joy almost didn't reach the poor thing in time, and it still refused to budge. It almost didn't make it a second time when it found out that his trainer had hoped it stayed away regardless of the consequences."

Charmander was clearly scared of Ash and Professor Oak. It's faith in humans had been heavily damaged, and would need a lot of work to make it trust anyone again.

Ash was appalled. As much as Pikachu had irritated him, he had never once considered doing something so cruel.

Charmander did his best to avoid interacting with the humans, and tried to avoid other Pokémon in general. This was normal, according to Oak, and was rather disheartening.

Oak hoped to repair the poor thing's trust in humans so that he could be given to another trainer. One with a much better track record. If not, then he fully planned to send the poor thing to the Charicific Valley where a number of Charmander and their evolutionary lines trained to become stronger.

His old Charizard was there as well.

Ash felt bad for Charmander. It wasn't his fault he got a crappy trainer. And the idea of leaving a Pokémon out to die like that, for such stupid reasons was appalling.

He needed something to distract him from his mom's condition. And honestly, he was beginning to feel a bit frustrated hearing about how Gary was basically beating gyms left and right these days and would soon qualify for the League.

The one time Gary saw Ash on the video call doing basic chores around the lab (cleaning up), he was particularly snide about the matter and made a few cruel comments about how 'pathetic' Ash was and that he'd never make it as a trainer now.

Ash had stormed out of the lab and gone into the pastures to do the dirtiest job he could find to blow off some steam. Oak said nothing about the somewhat messy way he had thrown the food to the Pokémon, since it would be eaten anyway.

What Ash didn't know was that the second he left the room, Oak had torn into his grandson. He honestly didn't know how Gary had become so spoiled and heartless.

Gary's attitude changed real quick when he found his allowance halved and he had to start learning how to budget for the car his sister's friends were driving around. Gary had gotten used to the higher end items like Ultra balls and Full Restores, and was now forced to make do with basic potions and regular Pokéballs.

Ash, when he learned about this felt zero sympathy for him as most of his money was going into household expenses and paying for food bearing seeds to make it easier on the budget.

His mother was happy that he was learning how to do a proper household budget on his own on top of cooking for himself, even if it was the most basic of recipes at the moment.

He wasn't very good at it, but he was getting better every week.


Charmander looked at Ash with a little less fear than he had before. He didn't know why, but the small human had been visiting his little hidey-hole every day with some new treat or another. Ash didn't try to get close to Charmander, as he knew the fire type was still rightfully scared of humans.

Instead he would sit with the treats a good distance away and just read, or even talk to Pikachu. He allowed Charmander the option of coming close to him, and made very sure to stay still if Charmander poked his head out briefly to grab the food.

Ash rather liked the area Charmander had picked for his hiding spot. It was quiet, and he was allowed to read the adventure books Ranger Aaron recommended to him. Most of them were old books Aaron had read when he was Ash's age, but Ash didn't mind. Reading was a hobby all the adults encouraged him to keep up, even if books could get expensive.

It was a nice, quiet way for him to destress over what was going on in his life and just get lost in an adventure.

Sometimes he even read to Pikachu and to a lesser extent Charmander. Pikachu seemed to like listening to the stories too, which made it even better.

It had been two months since Charmander came to the ranch. While it was still fearful of humans, he did allow Ash to come somewhat close to him.

Ash felt sorry for the little guy, and focusing on Charmander's treatment was allowing him to forget the pain his mom was going through with her own.

He settled in to a small tree and cracked open his book. As he quietly began to read to the two Pokémon, Ash let his mind wander.

He didn't really notice when Charmander slowly made his way towards him, but when he did he made no motions. He just continued to read aloud for their benefit.

This was the closest that Charmander had ever gotten to any of them. Ash made no sudden moves...he wanted Charmander to make that choice.

Charmander got close enough to touch, before it suddenly chickened out and took the berries Ash had brought with him back into his hiding spot.

Ash still considered it a win, and went back when it was time to feed the other Pokémon.

Professor Oak and Ranger Aaron were thrilled at the way he handled himself during the interaction. His relationship with Pikachu might have started off rocky, but they were now good friends. Enough that Ash could reasonably use Pikachu's lightning to scare off the local Spearow population from harassing him while he made deliveries to Viridian and back on the used bike Aaron had given him.

If he could catch a flying type, he could apply for a specialized license to let him fly to and from different cities to make deliveries.

Oak had been teaching him how to handle flying from the rare few Pokémon on his ranch strong enough to carry him. All the money he would have paid the regular courier services would go to Ash once he had a Pokémon to use.

Until then he would have to live with using the bike to ferry around the smaller packages.