"Oh, baby," Delia said, crouching down. "Ash, it's…"

"Mom, I'm not a baby," Ash defended himself. "I've got to the top eight in the Silver Conference. Not many people do that!"

"Only eight a year, I think," Pikachu said.

Delia shook her head. "Ash, you'll always be my baby."

She reached out, giving him a hug with sudden strength and conviction, and Ash sort of shifted forwards a bit on his hind legs, rearing up on his forelegs so he could hug his mom back.

"It's difficult," she admitted. "Getting used to the fact this is how you look now. But you're still my baby, Ash."

Ash blinked a few times, mostly not sure what to say, then felt one of his mom's hands stroking against his fur.

"Mom, that tickles," he complained.

"It's so soft," she said. "Ash, I… well, I don't know what to say about any of this. I'm sorry if I'm not saying things I should say, or doing things I shouldn't do. This is newer for me than it is for you, even, because you've had some time to get used to all the details."

"I've only known I'm probably a Legendary Pokémon since… yesterday?" Ash replied, then squirmed a bit and his mother let him down from their hug. "So that's kind of new, but I guess I was suspicious anyway… and I still don't know what it means for Dad."

"Except that he may have looked like you do now." Pikachu twitched his ears. "Got any family photos?"

"I think if Dad looked like I do now it would have been much less of a surprise," Ash replied.

"Well…" Delia began, then shook her head. "There's a few things about hair colour, but otherwise I can't see anything that would have made me suspicious even if I'd know the kind of Pokémon you are existed."

Later that evening, Ash was out in the paddock with his Pokémon when his mother approached him.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is," Ash agreed, looking up at the sky.

They were silent for a long moment, then Ash sighed slightly.

"I hope I find Dad," he said. "Out there somewhere, I mean. It'd be nice to know what I am, to go with who I am."

"There is a difference," Delia nodded. "What you are has changed, but who you are is just the same."

"I knew that, but it's good to hear you say it too," Ash admitted. "It makes it more real, I think."

Delia smiled.

After a few more minutes of silence, broken mostly by the thunder of thirty Tauros stampeding past, she frowned.

"So… how do you plan to find your father, Ash?" she asked. "You said you were going to try, but I don't think you mentioned how."

"Oh, I just thought I'd go to Hoenn and see if I bump into someone who knows something!" Ash replied. "I've already met, um… hang on… one, two… at least eleven Legendary Pokémon, not counting myself, so I should meet a few more down there!"

"Eleven?" Delia repeated. "That… is a lot."

She smiled. "And, Ash – good luck."

"Thanks!" Ash beamed.

AN:

This is a much shorter Book than the others so far, but it's not like Books have to all be the same size.