The rest of the morning went by relatively quickly for the group after leaving the Oak Lab. While Delia, Seth, and Brock returned straight home, Ash went and got some lunch for himself. It wasn't long until he had found a suitable meal in a badger.

All it took was one, swift bite to the badger's neck to end it. With a sense of pride at his easy kill, one which would have taken considerably more effort if he were younger, he began making his way home while tearing away at his meal's flesh hungrily. This feeling was strangely normal to him. While others might see a child ripping away the flesh of a fresh kill, Ash viewed this as no more different from eating a sandwich. A very messy and bloody sandwich, but a sandwich nonetheless.

Walking up the stairs with his prey hanging from his mouth, Ash opened the back door to the Kitchen and stepped inside. "This is big… I'll finish it later…" Ash mumbled to himself while he held the corpse in his hand.

"You uh… hunt often?" A bewildered voice asked from behind Ash, causing him to let out a yelp as he turned to see-

"Brock!" Ash gulped as he put the corpse of the badger behind his back once he saw Brock standing in the doorway to the kitchen. While Ash knew that Brock knew about his hunting, his mom did tell him to not wander around the house with his kill while Brock and Serena/Seth were staying with them to not freak them out.

"I- Uh…" Ash mumbled, trying to change the subject. "What are Mom and Seth up to? And Pichu?" Where did he run off to?"

Brock, clearly trying his best to avoid seeming freaked out, though sadly failing, merely pointed behind him. "The two are upstairs. Your mom said that she was going to give them a bath. And Pichu is downstairs playing with Happini, Bonsly, and Mawile. Mimey is watching them."

"Oh! Okak, good." Ash nodded as he shuffled backward towards the back door while still holding the badger behind his back. "I'm going to go ba-"

"You don't need to, you know." Brock interrupted the younger boy, causing Ash to look at him with confusion. "I mean, if I'm going to be staying here for a while and we are going to be friends, I might as well try and get used to… this." Brock finished as he gestured to Ash and the blood on his cheek.

At the words of Brock noting that he wanted to be friends with Ash, the boy stopped in his tracks. He didn't have that many friends apart from Gary or Serena, so the concept of new friends excited him. "I… yeah. So you don't mind?" Ash asked as he held up his kill so that Brock could see it.

"I… admit that it is kinda weird…" Brock paused for a moment as Ash gulped nervously. "Okay, really weird, but so was learning how taxes work or how to change diapers so…" Brock just shrugged nonchalantly before gesturing to the dining table. "Y'know, you never answered my question; Do you hunt often?"

"Well, yeah, I guess." Ash nodded as he sat at the kitchen table. "I mostly just do it if mom doesn't have any food plans or if I get 'The Itch'," Ash said his last two words with quotation marks from the hand which currently wasn't holding the badger.

"Oh yeah, I think your mom said something about that. So can you only eat meat? What are the rules?" Brock asked as he sat at the table opposite Ash. A clear interest developed from Brock as he smiled casually, even if he occasionally glazed at the corpse that Ash was holding.

Ash shook his head at that. "No. I can eat whatever I want, like most people. I just can eat raw stuff super easily. And as for the rules… uh…" Ash mumbled as he took another bite of his badger while thinking. Sinking his teeth into the red flesh of the corpse, only to then pull his head back and allow the meat to tear off of the main body.

"Okay!" Ash yelled before gulping his latest bite. "So, I guess I'll explain it the best I can. So, 'The Itch', it doesn't happen that much. I get jumpy and shaky during it. Like I have to move or something. When I was younger, I would sometimes even not remember much when I felt it."

"You blacked out?" Brock asked with his eyes wide, causing Ash to see that the flower bud which was located in his eye socket was slowly getting bigger. "You couldn't control yourself?"

"No!, I mean, yes!" Ash blurted out, causing Brock to look at Ash like he was crazy. Ash just took a breath before answering properly. "Kinda. I knew that I wanted to hunt and where I was, but once I caught what I was hunting, poof. The next thing that I remember would be getting washed off by Mom or Mimey."

"That is… worrying." Brock gulped a little as he stared at Ash, who was currently taking another bite of his lunch. "I mean, what if the blackouts come back? You could hurt your mom or Pichu."

"Oh! Don't worry about that." Ash shook his head. "I don't like eating Pokemon. I tried to eat some when I was really young and they all taste horrible. Kinda like shoveling sand in my mouth."

"Well, sand doesn't taste that bad." Brock commented with a mutter.

"What?" Ash asked.

"What?" Brock asked back at him, causing the duo to stare at each other silently for a moment. "Anyway, what about people?"

"I haven't tried a human before so I don't know…" Ash mumbled slightly as he thought. "Well, there was this time when I licked my friend. It tasted really funny but she seemed to like it."

"I… w-what?' Brock stared at Ash as his face went pale. "You did what?!" His voice cracked as he yelled at the younger boy.

"What do you mean?!" Ash asked with a shocked expression. "All I did was taste her blood! It isn't that weird! But still, please don't tell mom! That would suck."

Brock, after taking a deep breath and curing himself of the misunderstanding, let out a light sigh as he rubbed his eyes. "Just… never mind. This is all just too weird."

"Heh." Ash chuckled as he grew a wide smile. "That's the nickname she gave me. 'Weirdo.' I like it!"

The boys unbridled cheeriness caused Brock to chuckle. Returning Ash's smile as he shook his head. "I see. I guess it kinda fits." The boy took a small sigh before deciding to get back on track from their conversation. "So do you just like raw meat or do you like it cooked?"

"I can eat it either way, usually. Like I don't like raw fish that much, but I like cooked fish." Ash explained with a smile.

"I see." Brock nodded while rubbing his chin. "Well would you like me to cook… that–" Brock pointed at the bloodied corpse Ash was munching on "For you?"

"Hm? Oh! No thanks. This is fine." Ash shook his head. "But right! You did mention that you can cook. Are you good at it?"

"Yeah. At least, all my siblings say that I am." Brock admitted with a sheepishly proud smile on his face while rubbing the back of his head. "I'm not that good, I've just had a lot of practice."

"Heh. That's exactly what Mom says!" Ash chuckled at the similarity. "Y'know… I can kinda see it."

Brock blushed a bright red at that. "S-see what? I'm not some mom or anything!" Brock stammered out, causing Ash to let out a hearty laugh. "I swear, the number of times that my siblings accidentally called me 'mom' or 'dad', you could swear that I… that I…" Brock trailed off as his gaze met the floor in what seemed to be reflection. A deep frown on the boy's face as his emotions seemed to be getting the better of him.

Ash frowned at the sight of Brock getting so troubled out of the blue. He didn't know if it would be better to change the subject or to push Brock to open up so… Ash went with his gut. "That you what, Brock? You can talk."

"That I… well, that I was their mom and dad, I guess." Brock finally answered after a short pause, likely to collect his thoughts. "I don't know. I guess I just kind of realized that I never got to be my siblings' big brother. At least, not the way I thought I was going to be back when Mom and Dad were home."

Ash nodded while listening closely. "Well, what's stopping you from starting now? I've always wanted to have a big brother. And you seem like an awesome one!" Ash cheered excitedly before suddenly stopping himself as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry. I kinda forgot that you were only staying here for a little bit."

Brock seemed to be taken aback slightly by Ash's words for a moment. He merely shook his head with a soft smile as his friend's kindness seemed to be just exactly what Brock needed. "You're fine. Don't worry. Thank you for that… really." Brock said with a smile as he wiped his ruby eye to stop any tears from falling.

"No problem!" Ash grinned wide before he took another bite from his hunt. "So… what do you wanna do now? We could head down to the basement with the baby Pokemon if you want."

"Yeah, sure! That sounds good. Just… please finish your food. That might scare Bonsly and Happini." Brock asked Ash with a small glance at the mangled corpse that the younger boy was nearly done with.

"Oh, sure!" Ash nodded with a smile. "But, you know, they might be more alright with it than you think. I mean, you're not as creeped out about it as you were before!" Ash pointed out before taking a large bite out of the thigh and grunted as he pulled back, tearing the flesh and tendons off the corpse which caused small splatters of blood to drip onto Ash's jeans as he gnawed at the tough meat.

"Yes," Brock exclaimed dryly while staring at the gory scene. "Not sure what that says about me, though."

Delia couldn't help but smile as she watched Seth play with the rubber ducklett that Ash used to always play with during bath time. Running her fingers through his thick hair with a small hum. Though the voice in Delia's head told her that the boy was far too old to get bathed by her, she continually reminded herself what age this child truly was. However, the voice telling her that bathing a child while they were fully clothed was wrong just wouldn't go away.

"So… You just always make clothes not because it's decent," Delia rephrased in hopes of better understanding this child. "But because you don't know what people look like under them?"

"Mhm!" The boy replied cheerfully. "I mean, I know what people look like without hats and stuff… but not much else. It isn't a problem though."

"I guess…" Delia agreed with a nod. "But bathing someone in their clothes does just feel a tad silly." Delia remarked with a soft smile on her face as she poured the cup of water over Seth's head.

"Well… I'm sorry, Miss Delia." Seth admitted with a frown. "I just don't know."

"Well, why not go into your regular form then? The one that you sleep in?" Delia offered gently with a smile on her face. She wouldn't force the child to show her, but she did have to admit that her curiosity was killing her!

"Nope! Nuh-uh!" Seth stated clearly while shaking his head, causing water to fly everywhere due to his wet hair. Some of which landed on Delia, which caused a small 'Eep!' to escape her lips. "I really like you so no way!"

Making a small sigh to herself as she wiped the water off her shirt, Delia admitted defeat. "Well, alright. But know that I will still lo- care for you and your well-being no matter what." Delia coughed lightly as she nearly misspoke.

"I… I know. But no way!" Seth continued to shake his head, causing water to fly everywhere exactly like Herdier did when she bathed him. "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Alright, sweetie." Delia nodded as she scrubbed at the boy's fingers with a loofah. Deciding to go back to a previous topic as something had been bothering her for the longest time. "So… why didn't 'Mister Steve' teach you what people look like under their clothes? Most would think that teaching you how to copy people and look as good as you can would be important for your safety."

That question caused Seth to pause for a moment. Though just a bit as he mumbled his response. "He's not really… that kind of teacher, I guess. He's really good at teaching me things like numbers and left and right, but not stuff like what people look like without clothes."

"Hmmm…" Delia nodded slowly as she carefully thought about her next words. "You seem to trust him. What does he teach you that helps keep you safe?"

Seth nodded and put his finger on his chin as he looked to the ceiling in thought. "Well… he tells me to go to people like Jenny's or Joy's if I'm ever hurt or feel unsafe… And tells me stuff like-" The boy cleared his throat before putting his fists onto his hips as his posture straightened, talking in a deeper voice. "-Just because you know them, it isn't okay if a friendly adult touches you or does something that makes you feel unsafe or bad.' Or stuff like that… I don't know. I haven't watched that episode in a long time."

And there it was. Delia had to hide her frown as her suspicions were sadly true. "You haven't watched the episode? Sweetie… is Mister Steve someone you watch on TV at night?"

The boy's gasp and his sudden movement to cover his mouth with his hands was the final nail in the coffin for Delia. "I-I mean… Um… He… show's me TV…" The boy stammered out with all the confidence and tone of a Whimsmurr. The look Delia was giving him caused him to frown and look back down at the water. "Don't… don't be mad. Please?"

"I'm not, dear," Delia reassured the boy as she reached out to gently caress his head with a concerned frown. "I just want to know why you lied to me and Brock. You know that Brock would have helped you if you just asked him…"

"B-but that's it!" Seth yelled up at Delia with his voice raised as his head snapped in her direction. "He had all his siblings and their stuff… and the gym to take care of. I didn't want to make him take care of me as well!"

Delia's heart dropped as she was, once again, reminded of the horrible situation that Brock was forced to live with for so long, as well as this child's selflessness to rather stay alone than be one more mouth to feed in an already struggling home. "Oh, sweetie… that-"

"I know. I know." Seth interrupted Delia with a frown as he shook his head once more. "I know that he would've told me to stay if I told him that I didn't have anywhere so I just… told him the first thing that came to mind. And I always watch Goldies Oddities when I can. It makes me feel… good. Like I'm normal."

Delia frowned in recognition. Goldies Oddities. It was a children's show about a shiny Lilipup and his trainer getting mail and using clues to solve things. She used to watch it with Ash back when he was a toddler. Though, of course, Ash was only interested in the Pokemon. "So if you didn't go to someone's house to sleep, where did you go?" Delia asked the boy as she remained gently rubbing her fingers through his hair in a soothing motion.

"There's a TV seller place that has a TV that's always on near the glass and I can hear it a little. It usually has the channel that Mister Steve is on and I watch it until I feel tired. I don't like to move until I feel super tired because watching it makes me feel safe. Then I usually just go into the alley behind the store and crawl under the dumpster. The Rattatas there are nice. I share my food with them sometimes and they cuddle me when it's cold."

The pit inside Delia's chest was growing with every word. This child was homeless. They were sleeping in filth. They had nobody… and that made Delia furious. Though she made sure not to show it to this poor victim of life. "I'm… so sorry to hear that, sweetie. The dark is really scary. Do you want to talk about it anymore?"

Seth shook his head at that. "The dark isn't that scary. It makes me feel safe kinda. I just get scared that people are watching me and being near Mister Steve makes me feel better until it's time to sleep. Then the dark watches me while I sleep."

That was certainly a way to cope with loneliness, Delia thought to herself. She had expected that the child would be afraid of the dark, especially after what happened to them at Mount Moon, but apparently, it was the opposite. "Well… I guess that I'll just have to thank 'Mister Darkness' for watching over you while you sleep."

The cheery giggle that escaped the child's mouth caused Delia to smile. "No, Miss Delia! You mean 'Miss Darkness'. The dark is a girl!"

"Oh really?" Delia questioned with a soft smile as she went back to scrubbing the child. "And what makes you so sure?"

"I dunno…" Seth muttered a little as his voice trailed off. "I just know that she's a girl." The boy sounded so sure of himself on the topic that Delia couldn't help but chuckle. "And that she's here with us, watching over everyone!"

The boy's tone was bright and cheery but there was something about his words that caused Delia's skin to crawl. 'She's here', he said. "She… she is, huh? Well then, where is she hiding? I want to thank her in person!"

"Hiding?" Seth questioned with a tilted head before pointing past Delia. "She's right over there!"

Delia's head instantly whipped in the direction that he was pointing as a harsh chill enveloped her entire body. Though all that she could see was just her toilet in the corner of the room, she could almost swear that she saw something dive back into the shadows behind the toilet, where the light of the overhead light didn't reach.

"Are… you okay, Miss Delia?" Seth's worried tone caused Delia to break from her trance and remind herself that she needed to breathe. "Are you scared of the dark, Miss Delia?"

"N-no…" Delia answered as she slowly turned to look back at Seth before clearing her throat to regain some composure. "No, sweetie. I was just thinking about teaching you what we look like under clothes." Delia answered as she gently booped Seth's nose with a smile.

That caused a big gasp to escape the boy's mouth. "Really?! You'd do that!? How?" A wide smile on his face as he wiggled around so much that some water spilled out of the tub and onto the floor.

"I should have some pictures of Ash during bath time when he was younger. And an old textbook that I had when I was pregnant with him that should have a diagram of what we look like. Just hold on, okay, sweetie?"

"Okay!" Seth declared cheerfully while smiling from ear to ear. "But be fast, okay? I'm super DUPER excited!"

"Alright." Delia smiled as she booped Seth's nose again, causing him to giggle. "No putting your head underwater while I'm gone!" Delia stated while pointing at him with the same finger she used to boop him as she got up to leave the room.

"Okay! Go go!" Seth excitedly demanded Delia to hurry from the tub as Delia stepped out of the bathroom, taking one last glance at the toilet before exiting.

"Must be my imagination…" Delia mumbled to herself as she walked out the door of the bathroom, now walking with a quick pace towards her bedroom. "It's probably nothing… I'm just stressed and worried." Delia spoke to herself with a sigh.

"Mime?" The puzzled sound of the friendly Pokemon could be heard as Delia opened the door to her bedroom to find Mimey changing the sheets. Though he merely gave her a wave once he realized who it was. "Mister Mime!" The Pokemon greeted cheerfully.

Upon seeing her friendly and faithful Pokemon doing chores in her room, Delia gave a scoff as she placed her hands on her hips. "Mimey! I've told you that you don't need to do housework in my room. We've gone over this before."

The friendly Pokemon, in response, merely smiled wide with a light chuckle. "Mime mime…" The Pokemon waved her off with a friendly smile, signifying that he didn't mind.

"Well… we'll discuss this later, young man!" Delia glared at her Pokemon before going to her bookshelf. "I'm trying to find the books I had when I was pregnant with Ash. Do you know if they're here or in the attic?"

The Mime Pokemon hummed as he rubbed his chin before pointing at the bookcase. "Mister!"

"Yeah… I thought so too." Delia agreed with her Pokemon while trying to focus, yet her mind was… elsewhere. Particularly on Seth's words about the darkness and that shadowy something that she could swear that she saw… "Say, Mimey, dear? Have you been able to sense something here in the house with us? Maybe a ghost Pokemon?"

"Mime…" Mimey hummed as he closed his eyes, causing Delia to get the tingling sensation on her skin that she had when Mimey or other psychic Pokemon expanded their senses. The duo waited in silence for a few seconds until Mimey opened his eyes again and smiled with a shake of his head.

"Mime Mime!" The Pokemon announced while standing at attention in a salute. The house was all clear, it seemed, and Delia didn't know if that put her at ease or made this feeling in her chest get worse.

"Thank you, Mimey. Sorry if it was a strange question." Delia apologized with a sigh. "I could swear that I… Never mind. I need to find that boo- oop?"

Delia was interrupted by Mimey placing the back of his hand against Delia's forehead with a worried expression, causing Delia to smile and gently take the Pokemon's hand in her own. "Mimey… I'm fine. It's probably me just overthinking everything."

Mimey didn't look too satisfied with that answer. Crossing his arms and tapping his foot as he looked up at Delia with an intense expression. "Mime…"

"Really!" Delia pleaded while putting her hands on her hips and staring at Mimey with the same, intense expression that he held at her. "Well then, what do you think it is?"

At that, Mimey turned around and walked to Delia's bedside table, lifted the picture that was resting on it, and walked back to show it to Delia. It was a picture of Delia and Ash when Ash was 5 years old and she had taken him to see a Pokemon contest that was being held in Viridian City. Delia was holding Ash up with both of them smiling wide.

"Yes, I remember this. What about it?" Delia asked as she held the picture, only for Mimey to point at it and then use his index finger and thumb to form a 'U', or probably he was saying 'tiny'.

"Mime." Mimey practically whispered while getting his fingers closer. The Pokemon then pointed to the bathroom where Seth currently was, then down below him to where Ash and Brock were. Afterward, the Pokemon then extended his arms apart like he was expecting a hug, or rather, was signaling 'bigger', is what Delia was guessing.

"You…" Delia trailed off while glancing back at her picture of her and Ash. "Want to add these two to the family?"

Mimey just smiled and shook his head. Only to step forward and poke his finger against Delia's chest with a grin. "Mister Mime!"

"W-wha-?" Delia stammered as she stepped back, feeling her face get warmer with a blush. "Y-you think that I want to add them to the family?!"

"Mime! Mime!" Mimey nodded quickly with the confident smirk that he always had when he knew he was right.

"I- Well-" Delia stammered with a gulp. "I guess Lance did mention something like that before… But it's such a big change. And poor Seth doesn't even have things like a birth certificate. So… so…" Delia trailed off as she was quickly running out of excuses. The woman silently admitted defeat as she turned back to the bookshelf so that she could stop staring at Mimey's smug face.

"Mimemimemime~" Mimey teased at her with a chuckle before taking the picture from Delia and placing it back in its proper place on the nightstand.

"Oh look!" Delia smiled as she reached to the bottom shelf. "Here it is! Thanks for the talk, Mimey! Byeee!~" Delia spat out quickly as she exited the room, not allowing Mimey any time to try and stop her as she slammed the door.

The next few minutes seemed to pass by relatively quickly. As they usually do when Delia is homeschooling. Today's lesson: anatomy. Or at least that's probably what this lesson could be the closest with. Teaching a child how to properly shape their body to that of a human certainly was never on the list of things that Delia thought that she would need to teach but… here they are.

"You've almost got it! You can do it!" Delia cheered the boy on while she sat on a stool outside the tub with the boy's feet in her lap. "You're almost there. Remember that there's one big toe on each foot."

"Hgnnn…" Seth strained as he glared at his body while squinting his eyes. "I know, I know!" The lump of the feet that were lying in her lap started to form into a more defined shape.

"You're almost there!" Delia smiled softly at him, trying to be encouraging. How this child managed to form clothes so perfectly but struggles to make things like shoulderblades and toes will probably always puzzle her, but practice makes perfect so maybe Seth only struggles with things at first.

"There!" Seth called out with a grunt as he formed it, causing Delia to smile wide and clap her hands happily as Seth wiggled his toes in what seemed to be awe. "Haha! I did it!" Seth cheered as he jumped out of the tub, examining himself fully in the mirror as Delia stood behind him with her hands on his shoulders and a warm smile on her face.

"Such a handsome, young man." Delia praised the naked boy with a smile. "Nice and clean, too! I knew that you could do it! I'm proud of you, sweetie."

Delia's praise seemed to elate the child even more as he swiftly turned to wrap Delia in a hug by her waist. "This is super cool! Thanks, Mommy!" The child laughed in excitement and broke the hug while Delia was frozen in shock by what had left the boy's mouth.

"I'm gonna go show Ash and Brock! Bye!" The boy cheered before rushing out of the bathroom while still dripping wet with water.

Delia didn't chase after him. Her feet were rooted in the same spot as she stared wide-eyed into the mirror. "Y-you're… welcome." Delia staggered out long after the child had left the room. Her words seemingly broke the paralysis that she was put under.

"Mime…" A certain, smug voice called from the doorframe. Delia turned her head to see, who else, but Mimey. It seems that he was walking back to Delia's room with the mail and had seen all of what had just transpired.

Delia simply stared into her Pokemon's smug face for a few seconds as the child's words repeated over and over in her ears.

Mommy.

He called her Mommy.

"Did we…" Delia paused to clear her throat and shake her head. Standing up straight, Delia took a deep breath. "Did we get any mail from the Lance or the Pokemon League?"

Mimey, in response, just shrugged as he didn't know how to read before reaching into the pile underneath his arms and pulling out an envelope with a wax seal. A wax seal of a red dragon!

"That's probably it." Delia smiled as she took the envelope from Mimey while walking out of the bathroom. "Thank you, Mimey." She added in a hurried tone as she practically ran down the hall towards the office, where the Communication Station in the house was.

"Mime!" Was all that Mimey responded with as he gave a salute to his friend, to which Delia responded with a wave as she closed the door to the office.

"Okay… number… number…" Delia muttered to herself as she opened the letter and began scanning through it quickly. "There we go!" Delia exclaimed in excitement as she found it. She was about to put it into the machine when-

"Ahhhhh!" She heard two voices yell out from below her, probably from the basement. "Why are you NAKED?!"

Delia couldn't help but chuckle at that as she dialed the number to Lance's personal phone. "Things are certainly going to get more hectic around here…" Delia smiled wide as she waited for the call to go through, unaware of the fact that the shadows behind her were warping to form a mass with six tendrils and a pair of blood red eyes that simply stared.

END NOTES

Hello! I'm SO sorry for this taking so long to come out! A month, huh? I went to visit family for a week and then seasonal depression hit me like a chokeslam onto concrete. I really can't stand springtime as I live on a farm and have horrible allergies so being in the right mood to write really sucks. But if you'd like to talk to me, personally, and complain about spring together, or just discuss the story, please feel free to join a fellow-authors discord where I usually hang out!

/QUa2deeYNk