Hmmm…" The elder professor grumbled as he looked into his stethoscope. The man had been doing nothing but making noises and staring at the blood sample that he had drawn from the transforming child for quite a while now.

Said child, who was currently in the form of Seth as the needle that Professor Oak used to extract their blood scared them, thus making them switch to Seth because 'boys aren't scared of needles', rubbed his arm uncomfortably where the bandage rested. "Does he… usually do this?" The boy asked up at Delia with a worried whisper.

"Only when he's really focused, dear…" Delia answered with an embarrassed chuckle. Sadly, seeing Oak like this was quite rare, but not always a good thing. The last time that he got like this was when Ash was three years old and his unique 'features' were starting to form. Delia couldn't remember if the good professor got any sleep for even a whole week during that time. "Just give him a moment, please. Are you okay? Did that shot hurt?"

"Yeah, that needle looked really big!" Ash piped up with a smile, causing Pichu to facepalm at seeing Seth's nervous expression. The duo were standing on the other side of the examination table from Delia, right next to Brock. "I would've been super freaked out if I were you!"

Brock chuckled at that. Reaching over and gently resting a hand on Ash's shoulder. "I think what Ash is trying to say is that you are really brave, which you are! You did good." The elder boy's words of praise along with Ash's and Pichu's excited nods caused Seth to smile again while looking at the trio.

"Thanks! And nope! It didn't hurt at all!" Seth smiled wide and gave a little flex. The boy suddenly winced afterward as he dropped his arm to rub the bandage again with a light hiss, causing the boys to smile awkwardly with a sweat drop as Delia worriedly rubbed his arm.

"Did you have to use such a big needle, Samuel?" Delia turned back to the professor with her hands on her hips as she leaned forward to glare at the man's back. "The poor boy is in pain!"

"Miss Delia-" Seth tried to call out but was quickly stopped by Ash and Pichu shaking their heads quickly.

"W-well, I'm sorry, my dear!" Oak turned to the now peeved Delia with his hands up like he was surrendering. "But their blood was too thick for my regular, human need-"

"Oh, so your regular needles aren't good enough? Hmmm??" Delia questioned further, cutting the man off as she now glared at him in the eyes.

"Erm… Delia?" Brock slowly stepped forward, trying to get the woman's attention. "What I think that Professor Oak means is that he couldn't take their blood."

"Yes!" Oak piped up before clearing his throat. "Precisely, my boy. Their blood was too thick to go into my regular needle, so I used the one we have in order to take blood samples from things such as Ditto, Muk, and other thick-blooded Pokemon."

"Hmmm…" Delia crossed her arms as she stared at the man for just a few more seconds. "Well, alright. I just don't like seeing them hurt. I apologize." Delia then turned and went back to sitting beside Seth. Said boy was currently staring at Delia with a mixture of awe and wonder.

"Wow…" The boy exhaled slowly. "I've never had someone stand up for me like that before. You really didn't need to but… well, that was kinda cool!" The child's wide smile at Delia nearly caused her heart to skip a beat as she smiled back happily. All her frustration at seeing the boy in pain evaporated away as if it never existed before. "So thank you!"

"Yeah." Ash nodded with a small smile. "Mom can be scary sometimes…" Ash trailed off with a light chuckle as he scratched his chin. "Oh! Thanks for the help, Brock."

"It's what I do." Brock smiled confidently while rolling his shoulders as if he just lifted something and was proud of it. "But anyway, do you know anything, Professor?" Brock asked as he turned back to the man who was back at his stethoscope.

"Hmmmm…" Oak grumbled to himself while fidgeting with some knobs on the side of the device. "Fascinating…" The man spoke to nobody in particular.

"Is he broken?" Seth whispered to Ash worriedly. "Did I break him?"

"I don't think so…" Ash answered while rubbing his head. "He's just focused."

"Pichu pi pi pichu." Pichu chuckled, causing Ash to snort loudly as his smile widened.

"Yeah, yeah. Like me with battles." Ash admitted as he sighed. "But please don't shock him… that might actually break him, Pichu," Ash told the Pichuon his shoulder. Said Pichu looking down with a pouting face and a halfhearted 'Piii…'

Seth laughed at this display. "You two are funny!" Delia smiled alongside him.

"Yes, Pichu, no hurting the professor," Delia teased as she reached over to rub Pichu's head. "Even if he is getting more deaf by the day."

"Hey!" The professor shouted. "I take offense to that!"

"So you do hear us!" Ash yelled while pointing at Oak with a shocked face. "Well!? How is Seth?"

Professor Oak just gave Ash a look as his eyes squinted. "I don't know yet, my boy. I can't say anything for certain until Gary gets back with the analysis of the rest of the blood. Anything before that is just conjecture." The exasperated professor admitted to the group.

"Okay then… tell us about what you see inside the stethoscope?" Delia offered with a smile. "Theorize."

Professor Oak sighed in defeat as his shoulders drooped slightly. However, he quickly recovered and adjusted his lab coat before beginning to speak again. "I think that these aren't human blood cells. I am by no means an expert on the topic but, to me, these seem more like strange stem cells than anything else…"

The professor then gestures to Ash and Brock. "For example, you two have normal red blood cells, just like a regular human." The old man gulped as Delia glared at him for implying that the children were anything other than 'regular.' "Meanwhile Seth's, here, seems to be something different."

"Oh, they're different, alright." A new voice chimed in. The voice belonged to Gary as he turned the corner to see the group while holding a blood vial. "This stuff is wild. I ran it against some stuff we have here in the lab and, yep. They share a lot with Ditto cells."

"So… I'm just a Ditto?" Seth asked Gary with a frown. Delia noticed the boy's expression and gently reached out to hold his hand. "I'm not even hu-"

"Now, hold on." Gary interrupts the boy. "Don't be like Ash and jump to every conclusion. I wasn't done talking. You share a lot with Ditto DNA, yeah, but you are also definitely a human. Like, you have all the important things like the uh… the…" Gary scoffed and just handed the paper to his grandfather when he couldn't find the words. "Gramps will explain it."

The kindly professor smiled at his grandson requesting his help before looking down at the paper. "Oh… fascinating!! This is quite the read, my boy! I'm quite proud-"

"Um… Professor?" Ash tilted his head. "What does it say?"

At the sight of practically the entire group staring at the old man with annoyance, the professor gulped nervously. "R-Right, anyway… Gary is right. You are most certainly a human and not a Pokemon. For one, you are missing the element in your cells that allows you to be caught by a Pokeball. Another is white blood cells. Pokemon and humans have different white blood cells with Pokemon's being much more powerful. Yours are most definitely human."

"Oh… okay, good." Seth let out a sigh of relief as he smiled at Delia, and then at Ash. "I didn't want to… you know…"

"I understand, sweetie." Delia smiled as she reached out and rubbed his back. "You just wanted to be sure that you are who you say you are."

"And we would like you no matter what," Brock smiled at Seth. "You understand that, right?"

"Right!" Seth nodded with a smile that reminded Delia so much of Ash from when he was younger.

"But um… what else do you see, professor?" Brock asked, his attention turned back to the elder Oak.

"Hm…" The man murmured over the paper while stroking his chin. "Well, according to this… Seth also has the same property in their cells, allowing ghost types to be immune to normal-type attacks…"

"Yeah," Gary raised his hand slightly. "I think that that's a glitch. At first, it flashed up with Dragon-immune, then Ghost-immune, and then finally landed on Normal-immune. If anything, I would say that the machine got confused with their ditto cells. That or we need to recalibrate it. The tech is brand new, after all."

"Hm… maybe…" Oak mumbled to himself while he continued to look over the paper.

"Could we maybe have types?" Brock wondered aloud as Ash looked down at himself. "I mean, it isn't that far out there, is it?"

"It's certainly a theory…" The elder professor nodded at Brock before looking back to Seth. "Anyway, back to the here and now instead of theorizing. Seth, tell me, are either of the forms you've shown us your actual form?"

Seth suddenly got very tense. The boy squeezed Delia's hand tightly as he gulped. "Um… why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that Dittos usually have much more simple forms that they take when they are at rest. I was just wondering if you had one as well." Professor Oak explained himself with a smile.

"And if you do," Gary added. "What differences it has from regular ditto would be useful information."

"I… um…" Seth trails off and looks to the ground.

Ash noticed the boy's hesitation and tilted his head. "Hey, what's wrong? You know that you don't have to be embarrassed, right?"

"I know… It's just… I look scary." Seth admitted while looking down at his hands with a gulp. "You know how I said some people and their Pokemon attacked me. It was because they saw what I really look like. So… I don't want you guys to hate me. I'm sorry." The boy then shook his head quickly.

"Is this why you slept in the basement last night, sweetie?" Delia asked with a frown. "You were afraid of us seeing you– the real you?"

The boy's silence and look of shame as his eyes trailed to the ground told Delia all that she needed to know. She turned to Brock and Ash to see their reactions and while Ash seemed to be mostly confused, Brock had a hurt expression.

"Alright…" Oak sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Delia had forgotten that he was even there in those few seconds. "So, if we aren't going to see what your true form is…" The main trailed off as he looked down at the paper again. "Then I guess that I will keep testing both of your blood. Ash?"

"Yeah, professor?" Ash turned to the man, clearly puzzled that he was brought to attention.

"Would you mind giving us some blood? Sorry, but the concept of you kids having typings like traditional Pokemon has certainly piqued my interest." Professor Oak asked with a half-apologetic look. Delia doubted if the man or poor Gary was going to get any sleep tonight.

"Pi!!" Pichu, who was currently standing on Ash's shoulder, suddenly cried out with his arm raised. "Pichu pichu!!"

Ash let out a soft giggle, his hands over his stomach as he leaned back. "Yeah! But only if Pichu can give blood too." Ash chuckled as he reached up to scratch Pichu's head. "Oh! And if Gary doesn't take it."

"Oh, come on!" Gary yelled out, his face a bright red. "That was one time, Ketchum!! One!"

"And once was enough!" Ash challenged back, yelling at his friend. "You remember what happened last time!"

"What happened last time?" Brock leaned over to whisper to Delia while watching the two nine-year-olds yell at each other for the next while.

"Blood…" Delia whispered, her eyes glazed as she relived the last time Gary was allied to take blood. "There was so much blood. Everywhere. And panic, but mostly blood…"

"Doesn't… doesn't Ash eat things raw sometimes? Like, blood included raw?" Brock asked, with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh yes." Delia nodded as she watched the two argue. "It was a big problem when he was little. If he got too messy and I didn't want his trailing blood around the house, I made him go downstairs and sit on the blood couch until I could run him a bath."

"Oh, a bath sounds nice…" Seth chimed in as he stared off into space.

"I'll run one for you when we get home, sweetie." Delia smiled as she caressed the boy's head.

"I- Um…" Brock stammered for a moment. "Excuse me but… what's the 'blood couch' that you just said?

"Hm?" Delia tilted her head but then chuckled. "Oh! Sorry, dear. I forget that not everyone has been dealing with this. So, when Ash was younger, his hunting drive– or 'The Itch' that we call it, was higher. I would be busy on the farm or cooking and Ash would come up to me with blood all over him from some raccoon or baby deer he got. Usually, I would wash him. But if I was busy or anything, I would tell him to go home and hang out downstairs on the blood couch because I didn't want him to track blood all through the house."

"That sounds…" Brock trailed off as his expression held a mixture of bafflement and amusement.

"Kinda cool?" Seth smiled up at Delia. "Having a place where you don't have to care about being dirty for a while sounds really awesome."

Brock chuckled at Seth's response. "I was going to say that it sounded like a pain to clean, but you are right, Seth. It is cool."

"Well, it's certainly less of a pain than having to scrub dried blood off the upstairs floors." Delia giggled. She was happy the two seemed to not be disgusted by the concept and seemed more intrigued than anything.

"Ugh. Tell me about it. Anytime my siblings got hurt, I would spend like an hour trying to get blood off the carpet." Brock smiled at Delia, the duo remained smiling at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to the bickering boys.

"And I'm telling you that it wasn't on purpose!" Gary groaned as he explained himself once again.

"Oh yeah, totally!' Scoffed Ash as he glared at the boy. "I'm sure it was an accident and not because I wouldn't let you trade your shrimp with my lunch!"

"You are so Insuf-"

"Shrimp Boy!" Ash yelled out with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "You won't eat shrimp!"

"Shrimp is gross!!" Gary defended himself. "Like you, Ash!"

"At least I can eat my shrimp! Unlike you, Shrimp Boy!" Ash jabbed again with Gary's new nickname as Pichu looked to be growing more and more tired of this topic by the second.

"I am not a Shrimp Boy!" Gary screeched out before nearly lunging at Ash, only to be stopped by a-

"Piiii-CHU!!" The little, electric mouse Pokemon yelled out with a bright flash, causing everyone to look away. When the others turned back, they saw Gary and Ash on the ground with smoke rising from their bodies as they groaned.

"Thank you, Pichu." Professor Oak nodded to the Pokemon. "That was going nowhere fast."

The Pokemon nodded with his hands on his sides. "Pi!!"

"Anyway," The Professor then turned to the group of three who were sitting there by the examination table still. "I will take some of Ash's blood and send you on your way. Thank you so much for your patience. I'll give Dracovish and Mawile a full examination as well. Brock, would you like me to look after your Pokemon as well?"

"Oh!" Brock seemed surprised by the offer, his eyes wide. Though he eventually shook his head. "No thank you. I'll hold onto them, at least for tonight because you're probably going to be really busy."

"While that may be true, I assure you that it is no issue." Professor Oak offered once again with a smile, only for Brock to shake his head.

"I mostly have baby Pokemon and they are stressed with being in a new place," Brock explained to the man with a smile. "I don't want to stress them more by me being away from them."

"I understand completely." The professor nodded. "Not to worry, my boy. Now come along, Ash. Up up. Let's get that blood sample and send you on your way." The professor lifted the groaning boy by the arm and carried him off to sit in a chair where the man had access to his arm.

"So are things usually this…' Brock trailed off as if he were trying to find the correct word. "Interesting around here, Miss Ketchum?"

"Oh, you have no idea." Delia answered with a giggle as she watched her son cough out more smoke.

"Well, I like it here!!" Seth declared with a bright smile. "It's fun!"

"I'm sure you do, sweetie." Delia smiled as she rubbed the boy's back gently. "How about, when we get home, I run you a nice bath and we talk? I wanna know more about you!"

"Really?" The young boy gasped, stars in his eyes. "You wanna know about me?"

The reaction caused Delia to giggle. He was just too precious. "Of course I do, sweetie! I want to know all about you! Both of you…" Delia smiled as she reached over and took one of Brock's hands into her own. "You're both so special and wonderful. I want to give you both the attention and care that you've been missing…" Delia forced herself to remain smiling. Having reminded herself just how these two came to be with her currently tugged at her heart.

"Y-Yeah…" Brock nodded slowly. "We, uh… we'll talk." The boy was almost certainly caught off guard by Delia's sudden affectionate gesture, but not pulling away from it either. He merely seemed conflicted or wary. Delia couldn't tell which.

"Totally!" Seth smiled wide as he squeezed Delia's hand. "But… I get my bath first, right?"

"Of course, sweetie! We'll do it as soon as we get home." Delia nodded and then looked back to the charred figure of Ash. "But… Ash may need to be washed off with the hose first…"

"My… everything feels tingly…" Gary whimpered from his spot on the floor as Pichu stood atop his head.

Writers Notes

Im so sorry this took me so long to get out. Burnout has been hitting me hard as well as some irl stuff making me less enthusiastic to write than I would like.

I'm still loving this story and hope that you all are as well. I hope that 'Serena'/Seth is an enjoyable character, even if they are an OC.

Please leave a comment with feedback, questions, concerns, and just generally anything that you'd like me to know! Or if you'd like to talk to me or any other fantastic creators in the fanfic community, consider joining the discord!

https/discord.gg/N9zusBnA8c