Hello :P It is not Wednesday but I am back with what is the story I was meant to upload last Wednesday. I didn't upload last week because it was my birthday and I was going to do it that night but I was too tired from the day. Then after my birthday I got sick and it's taken me until now to get mostly back to my normal head-space. So I'm back! I wrote this one when I was kind of missing my Dad and wanted to write some father and daughter sweetness between Ash and Rey. I think it covers some important stuff though. I hope you enjoy :3
Ages:
Rey: 10
Ash: 40
Disclaimer: I own the story and Rey :3
Rey breathed out as she sat in front of her desk but for once, her eyes were not closed. Her ocean blue orbs that she inherited from her grandmother were not closed and she was not frowning in concentration. She didn't have a blank piece of paper in front of her and she wasn't writing. She wasn't imagining a piece of paper somewhere else either and imagining writing that way. She was sat in front of her desk but she was not focused. She was determined. But she had quite the blank and unreadable expression on her face.
Her eyebrows knotted together blankly as she continued to reach for random objects on her desk and throw them into three separate and labelled cardboard boxes behind her. Charity. Throw. Attic. She didn't look behind her as she continued to sort her personal possessions out, getting into almost a little frenzy. That was most unlike her. She was being most unlike herself. I studied her. She was always so very calm. She didn't seem very calm. She was normally so very gentle. Her throws certainly weren't very gentle! She was usually so very happy. I sighed sadly to myself. She didn't seem very happy.
After clearing the desk of things that she didn't need anymore, she moved away from her desk chair and stood up and made her way over to her shelves by the window instead. She didn't look at me. She didn't look at anything. She didn't look at anything at all. She seemed miles away. She seemed miles away and on another planet. She was on another planet entirely but she seemed to know what she was doing.
She reached for more things to throw away into the three cardboard boxes, barely hesitating at all. Even though she was acting blank and distant, her mind was clearly as sharp as it normally was. She didn't even need to think twice. She didn't let her emotions or nostalgia get in the way. She threw things away. She threw lots of things away. She didn't need any of them anyway. She was growing up. She was getting older. She was about to head out on her first Pokémon Journey. And she was so ready to embrace that new start.
I continued watching her from the cushions on her bed while she continued organising her room. I breathed out a mild sigh of relief. At least she was being organised. That was a trait that she had had all of her life and it made me feel certain that the Rey I knew was still in there, despite the new side of herself and emotions that she was showing that day. I definitely didn't want any of her to fade away with the recent stress that she had been either. I couldn't help but look at her worriedly and somewhat sadly, though I tried my best not to show it. I didn't want the ten year old child to catch on.
It had been a blessing to know her for the ten years of her life, it really had been. She was so sweet. She was so gentle. She was so calm. She was so organised. She was so friendly. She was so hard-working. She was so funny. She had changed so many lives and she had certainly touched my life long before the day she was actually born. She was a funny child. She was such a child. She possessed a rare innocence that I knew (or at least whole-heartedly hoped) she would carry with her for the rest of her life. I would carry her with me for the rest of my life. She had a deep effect on me, and like how I felt for all of the Ketchum children, I loved her with all of my heart.
And speaking of Ketchum's, after I had a little ponder to myself and Rey remained sorting out some of her possessions before her big Pokémon Journey; there would soon not be only one of them in the room. My best friend Ash came padding along the hall after hearing his daughter throwing out her things and making little grunting noises as she did so. He knocked before he entered out of curtesy and habit but the dark chestnut little girl barely heard her father. So for the first few minutes after opening her door, he just stood lolling in her doorway, watching her get on with her actions. And like I often found myself doing when I was in the presence of that Ketchum child, he couldn't stop himself from studying her. His eyes softened as soon as he focused on her.
Like I felt too, he adored Rey with every inch of his being. She was his. She was his and she came straight from him, with a lot of help from Misty of course! And he saw so much of himself in her. Her people pleasing nature. Her loyalty. Her enthusiasm for everything and anything. He loved that. And he loved her for that. But he potentially loved how much of Misty he saw in her too. Her intelligence. Her attentiveness. Her selflessness. She was a perfect mix of both of her parents and laced with other members of their family too.
And sometimes, that left a pang in Ash's stomach. He couldn't believe that he had run out on her briefly the day that she was born. But he knew that he would try and make it up to her and everyone and he would spend the rest of his life doing that if he had to. So that's why he was incredibly loving towards her. That's why he was incredibly patient. On top of him being glad to do so and her being worthy of it, of course.
My best friend and I shared a smile while he continued loitering in the doorway and I remained padding about on Rey's cushions. He waited a few more minutes for his daughter to look up, thinking about nothing in particular. He waited a couple more seconds after that but nothing happened. She continued doing exactly what she was doing; throwing a good deal of her things out and separating them into the correct boxes while not looking at anyone. Still, she didn't look at anything.
This caused the raven haired male to frown. It had gone so differently in his head. Even though it was no big deal, he had expected to come padding down the hall and enter his daughter's bedroom and her to look up right away and for them to share a smile. That hadn't happened. None of that had happened. But my best friend being my best friend, he didn't take long to recover. He didn't take long to improvise.
He entered his ten year old daughter's bedroom and started talking to her, already offering her a smile. His eyes were warm and brown. His smile was fond and genuine. He clapped his hands together lightly. Surprisingly, it was that and then his words that eventually made her look up.
"There's my little Rey-sin." He called her his little nickname for her and even though Rey's expression didn't change, I could almost imagine her nose wrinkling. I had to stop myself from holding my hand over her heart. I really hoped that she wasn't going to reach that age of being embarrassed by her parents and their affections then that she was about to embark on her journey. Needless to say, Ash remained unfazed and he continued smiling. "You look busy. Are you having a clear out before the big adventure?"
Rey simply nodded her head at her father before going back to what she was doing but somehow, I sensed her inward eyebrow raise. I couldn't stop myself from holding my hand over my heart at that point. I had only just thought to myself how innocent and child-like the child was and then, all of a sudden, she had started to act like a distant teenager. That made my head hurt. Nothing much had gone on in the Ketchum household that day. I really didn't understand it.
But luckily for the raven haired adult male, he wasn't sensing or imagining Rey's inward eye rolls and eyebrow raises. He didn't stop smiling at her. He invited himself to sit down on the edge of her bed and reached out to give me a special head pat and chin rub. Upon receiving that, I quickly forgot about my worries of the dark chestnut haired young lady. I decided that I was most likely imagining her teenager-y attitude and smiled to myself. I sure enjoyed the affection from those Ketchum's! And because Ash enjoyed giving me attention just as much as I enjoyed receiving it, he continued stroking me while his other hand began wandering towards one of Rey's organised boxes.
My Pokémon Master best friend started edging off the bed to be nearer to the boxes and inched his fingers into one of them before pulling something out. It was just a free old toy in a meal from a fast food place a long time ago but Ash pretended to make it bow its head in sadness before making a sad face himself. Perhaps he sensed Rey's distance after all. He seemed to be trying to get her attention at whatever cost. He scrunched his nose up a fraction.
"Aw, are you getting rid of this? Are you sure you want to see it go?" he asked her airily even though he was remaining pulling a comical sad face at her. Rey was seemingly back in her cleaning frenzy but she surprised us both when she looked in her father's direction when she heard her voice. Ash held his breath casually but I noticed it. I knew that he was holding his breath with hope and he was already holding it with relief that he was about to get some interactions with his daughter. He was. But not ones that he hoped for.
Rey concluded my feelings that she was raising her eyebrow on the inside by raising it on the outside for all to see. Though she had an arm full of toys ready to remove from her room by putting them in separate boxes, she moved towards her Dad and took the one away from him. She didn't snatch it but her expression looked as though she might as well have. She couldn't stop her eyebrows from knotting together more. She tilted her head on one side.
"Do you mind? I've got a system here." She told Ash and with that, he threw the free fast food meal toy back into the 'throw' box and reorganised the rest of the ones that were tucked under her arm into the right boxes. Following that, she didn't say another word. Her expression stopped being mildly annoyed and went back to being blank.
Needless to say, Ash gulped at his daughter's actions and immediately took it to heart. His eyes softened even more and not in a good way. His orbs were filled with hurt. I could have sworn that I saw Rey inwardly cringe at herself but I didn't study it too much. Instead, I casually moved off her cushions and onto Ash's lap instead. At that moment, I wanted to be there for my best friend rather than the dark chestnut haired girl and her cushions.
I nuzzled my best friend's stomach as he swallowed a second time before he shook his head lightly at himself, trying to shake his hurt feelings away. He tried to get over the slightly rude interaction. He tried his best. He was still wounded and he was still worried but he moved forward. He forced yet another smile and tried to keep his eyes soft and patient. But deep inside, his mind was whirring. He had witnessed lots of knew emotions and actions from his youngest daughter in recent months but never shortness of words. He couldn't help but ask outright but gently.
"Are you mad at me? What did I do?" the raven haired adult male asked his ten year old daughter and because he sounded so wounded, I found myself nuzzling his stomach a second time and that time, even more lovingly. I didn't feel pity towards him, just sympathy. I had witnessed him go through that having-a-teenage-girl stage twice before but I hadn't expected it to start happening with Rey quite so early.
After nuzzling my best friend's stomach, I found myself frowning slightly and for a very rare occasion, it was at Rey. I tried to remain unbiased and unfazed but I couldn't help it. It was just so alien of her to act like the way she was acting. But I knew that I should have reminded myself of the fact I believed I saw her inwardly cringing. She seemed to do it a second time after her father's question before she answered him, furrowing her brow to keep her emotions hidden.
"I'm not mad at you." She informed her father while she continued to organise her toys and belongings into the three boxes to distract herself from the harshness she knew that she had directed at him. Rey hadn't expected her father to respond so quickly to her and I didn't either. I nuzzled him even further. Good on you, Ash.
"Are you mad at everyone?" the raven haired male asked his daughter, for once, with almost the same distance as her. He kept his voice level and nonchalant. It was a way of hiding the fact that she had mildly upset him and also to not encourage her to get too het up. His words proved once again that he had been used to having teenage daughter's at some stage and had some experience dealing with them. Some. Not a lot. I knew he wouldn't mind me saying so.
Rey responded back to her raven haired father just as quickly as he had to her. Her eyebrows knotted together once again but that time, it wasn't annoyance. It wasn't stubbornness. It wasn't frustration. Well, maybe it was. But if it was, it was directed at herself. She looked over at Ash and finally stopped using her hands to organise her toys. Her hands went to her sides. She sighed. She shook her head. Her distance started to fade away. She began to show vulnerability instead.
"I'm mad at everything." She informed him but that was all that she could tell him about the matter. After saying her words, she shook her head once again and she went over to the window sill to sit on it. Her hands remained balled at her sides. She stayed frowning. And I knew that that time, it was definitely not out of annoyance or stubbornness or frustration. It was out of weakness. And my best friend caught onto this rather quickly. He was a really good father.
"You don't need to be mad at anything, Rey." He told her with words to reassure her but he met her ocean blue orbs briefly with his chocolate ones as if to reassure her that she was entitled to feel however she felt too. Rey swallowed while her father continued. He didn't move to sit next to her at that moment, though he very much would have liked to. "Are you feeling overwhelmed? Is everything getting to you?"
"Of course it's getting to me." The chestnut haired ten year old girl answered her dad, but not rudely. She was just being truthful. She swallowed roughly, trying to distract herself from getting too wound up by her own emotions by pressing her forehead against the glass of her window. She looked at the garden below while she continued shakily. "I'm going on my journey in less than a few weeks and my powers are still not what they used to be. What am I going to do? It feels like I'm having such a huge loss right before a massive life event. Of course I feel overwhelmed!"
Rey's last part of her words could have been seen as rude but Ash knew that they weren't intended to be that way and I knew it as well. Like the child had clearly expressed, she was overwhelmed. She was visibly stressed. And that made me feel very concerned all over again. I knew about her little problem with her powers, I knew about it all. I had tried my best to help her – we all had – but it was such a tricky thing. There didn't seem to be any right answers. There didn't seem to be any wrong answers. We could offer her advice. But at the end of the day, it was all up to her. And that was probably why she was so overwhelmed. I would've taken that stress off from upon her shoulders in a heartbeat. Any one of us in our group would have done that for her.
Like I did too, Ash breathed out as soon as he heard his daughter's words. That time, he wasn't hurt. Well, he was, but he was just hurt because his daughter was looking so confused. He wanted to take it all away for her. He wanted to make it all better for her. His daughter was such an intelligent young girl. Rey was such a clever young girl. And she was usually so brilliant at knowing things about people and reading expressions but in that instance, that went a bit wrong. She saw her father's big eyes and she found herself getting oddly defensive after she looked at him briefly since looking out of the window.
She folded her arms over her chest and shut her eyes, her nose going slightly up in the air. She swallowed and because her eyelids shut, neither of us could see the tears pricking in her eyes. Neither of us could sense it either. So we both blinked at the reaction that she was having.
"You wouldn't understand." She mumbled to Ash and she sniffed silently to herself before opening her eyes and when she did so, she had inhaled her tears back. She didn't look at her father but her words were definitely directed at him. And they were rather harsh. "It's not like you've bothered to enhance your powers. You don't know what it's like."
My eyes widened upon hearing this and Ash's did too. I did perhaps the wrong thing by looking right at him with shock but he did the right thing by not looking at me back. He just remained looking at his daughter, his head tilted. Rey gulped right away and went back to shutting her eyes but other than that, she didn't retract her words. She had said some words that day that were most unlike herself but those ones were easily the most unnecessary.
I couldn't stop my eyes from getting bigger as each second passed. But my best friend was doing the right thing. He was doing an amazing thing. He stayed looking chilled. He stayed looking unbothered. He just looked at his daughter. He just continued tilting his head on one side. He simply questioned her.
"Do you resent me for not choosing the same path as you?" the raven haired male asked Rey calmly and even though I wasn't sure if it was my best friend's intended intention or not, his actions and level tones had a massive effect on the ten year old girl. Her eyes snapped open right away and she shook her head. The Rey I had known for a long time started to come back. She started to be apologetic and regretful and emotional. Her caring side was very much on the surface.
"N-No, of course I don't. I didn't mean the words that I said." She told Ash and she proved to him how much she truly didn't mean the words by doing a brave thing and coming to sit next to us both. It was my turn to do the right thing and even though I was horrified by her decision of words, I moved off my best friend's lap so she could have it instead if it was offered to her. She shakily looked up at her father. She shook her head once more. "You should do whatever is right for you. I know that you don't pursue them too much because you feel it starting to consume you instead. I never resent you. Daddy, please don't ever think that."
I tilted my head on one side. Looking back, I feel ashamed about it now but I needed a second before I could feel my heart clenching at the genuineness of Rey's words. Of course, Ash felt them right away. She was his daughter, after all, and they shared the same spark of magic within them. Ash felt her words right away. And they moved him right away too. He found himself breathing out and he found his eyes pricking with slight tears, like hers had done before.
He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms lightly around his child and press a kiss to her forehead. He didn't say any words. He didn't reassure her. He just kissed her forehead. And that was enough. Deep inside, he knew that she hadn't meant her words. But on the surface, he was glad that she had reassured him that she didn't by apologising to him. He pressed another kiss to her forehead while Rey's arms held onto both of his shoulders regretfully.
I was left to think. And I was left to study something that was left unsaid. I couldn't help but wonder. My best friend was most definitely a people-pleaser like Rey. And also like her, he was emotional. He was the type of person to feel deeply and get teary-eyed when someone else did or someone else spoke from the heart. So it wasn't surprising that he teared up when Rey apologised to him. But on the other hand, it also was. And that made me know that he was feeling something far bigger than just the emotions of that day.
Rey telling Ash that he shouldn't ever feel like she resented him did something for him that day. It helped him move forward. For good. Truthfully, my raven haired best friend always worried that the little girl did or at least one day in the future would resent him from the way that he was consumed with darkness and had to run away the day that she was born. He was always convinced that one day, it would bite him on the bottom. And he would pay for it.
But the day that the dark chestnut haired girl told him that she would never resented him, made those thoughts in his mind fade away. She did more for him that day than she would ever know. So that's why Ash made sure to do more for her that day than he'd ever know.
After their little hug and shoulder hold and forehead kiss, both of them pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. And as soon as the youngest Ketchum daughter met her kind and patient father's dark chocolate orbs and knew that they were saying "talk to me" she didn't hesitate to do so. She started off with a sniff but she ended with a whole lot of truth. She really needed someone real to talk to and not just a piece of paper in her mind.
"Sometimes I think that it's not the actual powers going away thing that's actually making me feel so confused. Well, it is. It is and it isn't. I think I feel like without them, I'm not myself. In some ways, I feel like my powers are me completely and I'm about to leave home and embark on a journey without them. And it makes me feel like about to leave the house a nobody."
After all my scepticism that day and shock at some of the words that Rey had said, it was those words that put a lump in my throat. Before even Ash could, I shook my head. I shook my head so fiercely. That would never be true. That could never be true. Rey was so wrong. She couldn't be more wrong. I waited for my best friend to express our shared feeling with words. But he didn't have time. The dark chestnut haired girl continued talking. She got everything off her chest.
"I don't know. I suppose you don't really know how I feel. Even though nobody's really ever treated me as anything other than normal and nobody has put pressure on me, I've kind of put pressure on myself. To help people. To assist people with my powers. And now that they're gone or going, I don't know who I am. I feel useless. I feel ordinary. I feel unique. All in one. I don't know who I am. I don't know how to be anyone other than Rey with powers."
I swallowed a lump in my throat for a second time when Rey finished her words by looking quite forlorn indeed. She sniffed back her emotions. She furrowed her brow. Her head dropped so she was looking down at her lap. But I knew that her father would save the day. I knew that Ash would save the day. And he did. Because he and his daughter were more similar than anybody could think. Ash and Rey were more similar than Rey could thank.
Understandingly and gently, Ash nodded his head but because the ten year old was still looking at her lap, she didn't see. So my best friend made her see his reassuring expression. His hand reached out to lift up her chin so she was looking at him and right away, her ocean blue orbs dried up and widened. Right away. She knew that he had something very important to say. And he did.
"I understand more than you realise, Rey." Ash told his daughter and he pressed another kiss to her forehead for good measure before he continued with his words. He looked at the ceiling as he spoke but he spoke with the same heart as if he was looking deep into his child's eyes. He told her the truth. And he almost took her on a journey. "When I was around your age and travelling with your Mother, one day I ended up on this island that needed my help. Badly. Someone stole some Pokémon and it made the weather conditions go all wrong. Only one person could save them all apparently. Me. It was almost in a prophecy. I was the chosen one. And I saved the island. It was all down to me."
After her father looked back at her, Rey's eyes were filled with wonder and mine were too. We both shared the same smile. We both shook our heads, both for different reasons. Rey couldn't stop her shoulders from rising up a fraction. She was so inspired. She was so impressed. Her Dad – her Father that she admired so much – was a chosen person? He saved the world? She knew that he had many times before but she had never heard that story.
But the thing was Ash being a hero wasn't the reason that he told Rey that little story. And she would soon find out. We would both find out. My raven best friend continued, his fingers reaching out to stroke Rey's cheek to trace the zig-zags on her skin that they both shared.
"The thing is, Rey, I don't think people realised how challenging that was for a ten year old kid. I used to say it was all in a day's work and I would act like it was too. And I think people believed that I felt like that. And maybe I did. When I was younger. But when I was older, it rested so heavy on my shoulders. I was the chosen one. Then I was a father. Then I was a Pokémon Master. Then I was a husband. And all of these things happened pretty young in my life. I wouldn't change them for the world. But all of that and taking it in my stride led to me being so consumed, you see."
Ash took a break to let us think. We both needed it. My raven haired best friend needed it too. Rey absorbed her father's words as best as she could and she tried to remember them all. I just tried to remember the heart of them all. Little Rey nodded her head to herself. While I looked over at my very best friend and brother and swallowed when he looked back at the ceiling. I soon found myself shaking my head.
I had figured that out about him years ago but it almost put a shiver down my spine when he acknowledged them himself and in his own words. It was funny how something so humbling and joyous and tremendous could lead to some very overwhelming feelings and emotions. But that was life. And I knew that, like Ash said, he wouldn't have changed any of them for the world. And I believed them. All of that was his path. And Rey going through some of her own difficulties was her own path too. She would figure it all out in the end.
"The point of me telling you this, Rey, is…" Ash began and he paused to give himself time and also to wait for us to look back at him. We didn't hesitate to do so. Both Rey and I were ready to hear the rest of it. Both Rey and I were ready to lap up every word of wisdom and every truth that our best friend and father respectively was about to tell us. And the raven haired male could feel this. So he didn't hesitate to continue. "It doesn't matter what you are. It doesn't matter what people try to call you. None of these labels matter. None of those achievements matter. They are amazing, of course, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. What matters is the people you share those achievements with. And what matters is that you go through life knowing who you are rather than what you can do. You are Rey, my love. At the end of the day, you are Rey. With or without your powers, you are Rey."
The dark chestnut haired girl was such an intelligent girl and she could often absorb so much information so very quickly. But that day and that instance and because it all came from the heart, she needed a minute to take it all in. It was so wise. It was so special. It was so wonderful. She was so glad to hear it. I was too. She was so happy to hear it. And after she took a couple of seconds to keep all of her father's words locked in her heart for good, she wrapped her arms around him and looked up at him in wonder. She held onto him tightly.
"H-How…?" she only managed to ask him at first and because of this, Ash tilted his head down at her after pressing a loving kiss to her nose. But soon enough, she clarified. She continued looking up at him with those ocean blue wondrous eyes at her and she showed off a smile that was most definitely for her father. Rey had come back. "How do you know so much?"
And somehow more than anything else that day, it was this that made my raven haired male best friend blush and duck his head before scratching his nose shyly. He shook his head. He shrugged. He had never been told that before. It made him feel good. His daughter made him feel good. She always made everybody feel good. But that day and since they had gotten to know each other properly, she had made him feel amazing. After giving her another loving but clumsy hug, Ash finally had an answer for her. It was almost solemn and it was almost sad but it was brave too. It was bittersweet.
"My Dad left me, Rey. My Dad left me." The raven haired Pokémon Master began and automatically, Rey wrapped her arms around her father. But it was not a sad tale. It was not a sad time. Not that time. While he hugged his daughter back, Ash continued. He continued with a smile on his face. And he looked braver and surer of himself than I ever had seen. "My Dad left and the truth is, while he was gone, it didn't bother me too much. I had other things to keep me busy. But it bothered me a lot when he came back into my life. I couldn't help but wonder - did he finally want something to do with me because I made something of myself without him? Was he coming back for that reason?"
My very best friend spoke from the heart and he was about to continue with his words but his daughter had already caught on. They were sharing the same thoughts. They were sharing the same feeling. They were sharing the same truth. Rey nodded her head. She understood what exactly her father was going to say before he said it. So she said it for him. And Ash liked them even better coming from her.
"He wasn't coming back because of what you achieved and what you could do, Daddy." Rey told her Father and went back to hugging onto his shoulders, giving him a shy smile as she looked at him. She slid on his lap and then I slid on hers. We all hugged. We all stayed together. We were all one. We were all one while Rey said the raven haired male's words for him. "He came back because of who you were. He came back because of who you are. And he saw someone that was worthy of coming back for."
I breathed out and nodded my head. Rey did too. But for once, Ash did not. In that moment, we were not one. We were one because our hearts were connected but we were also separate beings. Rey and I breathed out and nodded our heads. Ash remained unusually modest but eventually, he too breathed out. He breathed out hopefully. He smiled down at his daughter. He smiled down at me. He smiled down at us both. He smiled down at his family.
"I hope so." He told his dark chestnut haired daughter with a soft and genuine smile, his eyes showing the same depth and warmth that they did when he was just ten years old. He had come so far. Really, he had come so far. And he showed this by not wanting it to be about him any longer. He wanted it to be about Rey. And he proved this.
"So, my little girl, you are Rey. You are Rey with your powers or without them. You are Rey. You always have been. You always will be. You will always be one of the brightest lights of my life. Maybe I couldn't be there for you at the beginning, but I am here for you now. Maybe I wasn't ready for the blessing of you in my life at the beginning, but believe me; I am ready for it now. You are Rey. With or without your powers. Your powers don't make you powerful; it is your heart that makes you that. It is your mind that makes you that. It is all you. You are Rey. You are powerful. You make me feel powerful. And as long as I am around, you will never forget who you are. You will always know exactly who you are. Because you showed me exactly who I am and what I'm capable of. You are a sunshine in everybody's lives. And you were exactly that long before you got your name. Our Rey. Our special little Rey."
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 I've written a lot about Rey and her relationship with Ash but never really them actually together. It's more been from her POV in my "The Diary of Baby Rey" story. I've written a lot about her dilemma of losing her powers a little bit before her journey in that story too and in another chapter of Pikachu Tales. This was a lot of fun to write. I enjoyed the relationship between Ash and Rey and the similarities and differences between them. I also think the subject of Ash struggling with all of his responsibilities when he's older an important one. Imagine knowing you've saved the world as a ten year old. It definitely weighs on Ash as he goes through life and that's one of the reasons his dark aura grows. But like he mentions in this chapter, following the birth of Rey, he starts to really know how to look after himself and his brewing powers :3 Thanks again and I will be back on Wednesday with another update of this story so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P