Hello, it's me again. I've decided to rewrite 'Time Would Heal All', simply because I found too much... things I didn't enjoy either.

I hope this will be a better read for you all.

Miserable.

That's how the young trainer felt as he dragged himself through the exit of the airport. He tried to find some comfort in the faint smell of the sea, the scent of his hometown, but the restaurants in Celadon had managed to overpower the salty air with their abundant usage spices. Ash was left with all kinds of impressions as he walked passed the carts selling street food, ones selling non-Kanto native foods… It used to bring him joy, seeing that all the regions he had visited before had slowly started to spread all their goodness all over, for everyone to enjoy -even though some of the bad things had moved in all the same. But a dull worry had settled into him, ever since he had started to experience issues he couldn't explain or find help for, because he would forget what he had wanted to say about it by the time he found someone willing to listen. And now Ash couldn't help but think he might've overdone it this time. That he had brought something along from Unova that would stick to him for a while.

It didn't help that he was still in his usual funk of having been beaten again, his loss having been broadcasted all over the world, for the entire population of people and pokémon to see. The only perk he figured in having lost the tournament, was that he had been on the first airplane back home, but apart from that, there wasn't much to smile about and Pikachu was being uncharacteristically silent. In fact, the usual 'Don't think so badly of yourself or I'm going to electrocute you and it'll hurt us both' kind of look had become the 'You're not okay and I'm not happy about not being able to do anything about it'. It didn't help ease the teen's worries, because his pokémon had always been there for him. Of course, he would have told his partner all about it, his pokémon needed to know the truth, he had told all of his team about it too, which usually ended up in a snuggle pile… But Ash was worried, for them and himself.

God yes, he had massive fun at Unova and he had met so many awesome people and pokémon he would never forget about and while that was exactly what a journey was all about, he just wished he had some kind of proof that he hadn't been to the region for a holiday. Proof that would show his pokémon he wasn't full of hot air when going in to renew his promise to them, that they would be aiming for the top next time. Instead, all he had now was proof he had bad aim and that wasn't anything a pokémon valued.

"Pikapi." The pokémon on his lap stated dully.

Ash shot up and belatedly realised he had nearly missed his stop. If Pikachu hadn't called out to him, they would have been stuck on this bus until it went to Lavender Town and the teen didn't need any more ghosts next to the ones he already had in his head. He grinned sheepishly at the driver who had needed to open the door a second time, as he hadn't been fast enough to slip through it the first time and just when he thought he was done making a fool out of himself, a dizzy spell came over him. He ended up landing face-first into Viridian native soil, groaning because the dizziness once more reminded him something was wrong.

"It's just not my day, is it?" he sighed and just as he had gotten up, he saw the group of teenagers laughing and pointing at him.

Completely out of character, the teen snarled and flipped the bird at them, not caring that one of them had their phone out and aimed towards him. He quickly turned his back to them and marched off in a not entirely straight line. It didn't matter to him that he was swaying a bit right now, Ash just wanted to get away from that bloody bus and forget about the incident as quickly as possible.

"Pichu, pi…"

"I don't care." He sniffed, wiping at his eyes, pissed and sad at the same time. "They were rude to me first."

Pikachu somehow made no move to jump on his shoulder and that all made it a bit worse for the young trainer, who often found solace in his pokémon comforting him. As a result, the teen closed himself off, knowing that he wasn't going to get any empathy from Pikachu and that he was on his own for now. He didn't know that this was the complete opposite of what his partner pokémon had meant to do, but Ash was still angry and would remain that way for a while longer.

He had no one to pull him out of his mood this time around because his mother wasn't even at home when he came back. Ash did wonder where she had gone off to, as he had called her earlier to tell her he would be coming back home... but quickly figured she probably had left to do some grocery shopping or something. He ended up calming down a bit after having gone through the rather tedious ritual of cleaning out his backpack -there was something about sand and the way it could end up getting lodged into the strangest of places- and had just put his clothes into the laundry machine, when he heard a noise in the living room.

"Oh, Pikachu, sweetie, you're already here? Where's Ash at, then?"

The pokémon must have shown her the way, because she met him hallway, in the kitchen.

"Hello, sweetheart." His mother said, grocery bag in one arm and Pikachu in the other. "You're back early."

"Yeah, euhm… I put everything in the washer already."

"Good, now it's just yourself that could use a good clean, hm? Go on, I'll take care of Pikachu."

Ash simply nodded, not caring much about the fact she tended to receive his partner pokémon with a more loving approach than her only son. He did try his best not to be jealous when he noticed it the first time, but by now, all that was left was a dull feeling of disappointment whenever his mom wouldn't even bother hugging him when he came home. No matter what, he was already glad she didn't care much about his results… even though the teen could have done with someone who genuinely seemed to care about what he said. Far too often, his darling, selfless mother would just laugh away his issues, like that time where she had said 'boys will be boys' when Gary and his bullies had pushed him into a Kakuna nest space, included with Beedrill guardians.

Professor Oak, in turn, had lashed out at him, instead of chiding the bullies for their behaviour, which made for a less than ideal situation to grow up in. It was hardly a wonder that he ended up having issues, after all this, but Ash was pretty sure that none of this behaviour had resulted in what he was suffering from. He had, in fact, at first believed that Pikachu's shocks could be to blame for the dizzy spells and temporary memory-loss, too, until he saw a video of someone getting hit by lighting and noticing the terrible burns resulting afterwards. The teen figured that, while his pokémon was stronger than another Pikachu, it was nearly impossible that the pokémon could have anything to do with it, when Ash had never been burned by the electricity before.

Sighing, he started drawing himself a bath, not having missed the not-so-subtle hidden message of his mother's comment on his current body odour. He figured he was better off not overthinking the matter and just being plain honest with someone if they asked what was wrong with him, in case they caught him stumbling about or something. There were just things he couldn't help and people not giving a damn about him was definitely one of them. At least he could still relax a little and with Pikachu downstairs with his mom, there was no chance of any yellow hairs eventually sticking to him. Downsides of having a partner pokémon who wasn't afraid of water or bubbles and was small enough to fit in the bath with him.

After a nice soak, the teen stood and started drying himself… but another dizzy spell caught him unaware and the event that followed would teach him to pull the plug and get out of the bath before starting to dry himself off. Despite his best efforts to keep upright, Ash slipped and fell back into the bath, pulling along the towel inside the water and in true cannonball fashion, launched water and foam everywhere. His head had gotten submerged too, but not for long, as the boy's panic took hold of him. Spluttering and rubbing furiously at his eyes, to get the soap out of them, a heartfelt 'shit' eventually erupted from him. Cue his mother finally showing up at the door, thankfully not pulling it open.

"Ash, are you okay in there?"

"I'm doing great." He answered, now pissed at himself.

"… If you're sure. Did you drop something?"

"Yeah, myself."

"Sweetheart-"

"I'm fine, mom, I just have a butt load of cleaning to do."

"… There's a rag in the bottom drawer, in case you need it."

From the look of things, he would need more than one rag to get this place dry again, but he sighed and thanked her for the info. It wasn't her fault he had fallen, either, so he stopped himself from acting out against her… even though he was frustrated with himself. How was he supposed to trust himself from doing anything if he couldn't even keep upright? What if his mom asked him to do the dishes and he would go down with one of her favourite plates?

'I need help.' He thought.

And then, after the massive cleaning job, did the worst thing someone with a problem on their mind could do… and that was to Google it.

"… I'm gonna die." The teen uttered, eyes wide and with even wider eyes, clicked on the link that stated issues similar to the ones he was suffering from, could be caused by asphyxiation.

Ash blinked when he suddenly got a series of pictures of people in precarious-looking conditions and got confused as there usually was a small warning on the bags you got from shops, to not pull them over your head… and these idiots still did it. It wasn't until he scrolled down a little further that he came across something that nearly caused him a whiplash, that fast he pulled his head away from the screen. That… was definitely something that would give his computer a series of viruses if he decided to click on that particular link underneath the picture and he quickly closed the tab, figuring he was best off finding professional help.

As luck would have it, his mother told him she had invited professor Oak over for tea, so Ash quickly figured that he could ask the man about it when he came 'round. But his typical Ketchum karma streak kicked in, because the professor had taken his grandson with him and now the chances of having a serious conversation with either the man or the teenager had wilted. Or so he had assumed, yet Gary seemed oddly amicable with him, giving him the first hug he had received since coming back to Kanto and even congratulated him on his results in the Vertress Conference. Even though it sounded kind of hollow to Ash, as there wasn't much to be congratulated for, he appreciated the gesture.

"I was wondering if I could talk a bit, professor." He said, attempting to breach the subject once his mom moved into the kitchen, to go and get the kettle for their tea.

"Of course, my boy. But first I would like to settle something with you, before your mother returns." The professor answered and hastily pulled a folded sheet of paper and a pen out of inner pocket. "I didn't want to say it in front of your mother but you forgot to sign a form and right now, you're still legally present in Unova."

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that needed to happen." The teen uttered, confused as he hadn't known such a thing existed.

He frowned as he saw that this form came from a pokémon centre… belatedly realising he had forgotten to tell the nurse Joy from said pokémon centre that he was leaving. He had left the key in the right basket, for her to retrieve, but the line to talk to her had been insanely long and he had been in a hurry to catch his flight, much due to wanting to be home, as he hadn't been feeling well.

"Kind of common you need to sign something when you leave a Pokémon Centre," Gary chuckled. "But we all know you're a dim bulb, hence why we wanted to spare your mom from the embarrassment."

"… Thanks." Ash said stoically, not willing to go into detail with that but having taken the insult to heart nonetheless. "Here, I signed it." He added, sliding the form and pen back towards the professor, who quickly folded the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Good. Now, my boy, what did you want to talk about?"

Even if professor Oak had nothing but good intentions, the teen wasn't comfortable to talk about it in front of someone who could insult him so easily. So he muttered a silent 'never mind' and let his mother draw away the man's attention with the tea and cookies she had brought with her. Ash let them talk over his head and eventually left, leaving the 'adults' at it. This time, Pikachu did follow him into his room and silently curled up against his side when the boy went to lay in bed. And even if his partner pokémon was so close to him, so close he could feel the soft fur brush against his fingers, the young trainer felt as if he were all alone in the room. He furiously vowed to himself he would make another attempt to talk to professor Oak, when Gary wasn't there to eat away at his determination. But not right now, because all Ash wanted to do right now, was to curl up and make himself as small as possible. If only he could do that with the issue that was tormenting him right now.

Professor Oak wasn't suspicious when Delia came in for a visit, as he enjoyed her company. It was odd she was alone, but Ash had only been home for three days and was probably resting. However, from the moment she accepted his polite offer to make her some coffee, he knew something was wrong. On his way to the kitchen, the man could help but look out of the window for a moment, as he couldn't help but worry over the world finally coming to an end. Why so dramatic, you ask? Why, Delia was well-known for making the best coffee and tea in Pallet Town and its neighbouring towns and cities. That she would come down to drink his instant coffee was suspicious enough to believe something was up. And whether or not Delia would be happy to answer his questions, professor Oak was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Here you go, my dear."

"Thank you, Samuel." She said, gently smiling at the man before taking a small sip from the cup.

To her credit, she didn't pull a face, but that fact worried the man even more.

"Alright… What's wrong, Delia?"

"Nothing, really."

He stared at her for a while, causing her to sigh.

"I just needed a change of scenery, that's all."

"… Well, you're quite welcome here, Delia, you know that. I'm sorry if my curiosity is bothering you, but I care about you."

"I know. It's… Ash just became a bit much, that's all."

"But… he hasn't been home for a week yet?" he asked in bewilderment, unable to imagine that the young trainer would suddenly become such a handful.

Ash had plenty of energy, yes, but to drive his mother to the point where she just up and left her house? No, there was something more to this story than the woman was letting up on.

"Has he… made any kind of effort to talk to you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I've not seen or spoken to him since the day I came by for coffee, my dear, so no, he hasn't."

"Oh…"

"Delia, what's the matter?"

"I just can't seem to have a normal conversation with him, Samuel. He's so unhappy, I don't know what to do. Nothing I say or do can bring a smile to his face and then I drop the lunch he made for me, like the idiot I am and he… he crumbled to pieces, Samuel. I needed to go, he was sobbing so hard, I couldn't stand it."

The professor couldn't help but watch her with his mouth open, because this didn't sound like Ash at all. Cry? In front of his mother, no less? Last time the kid got hurt, he just laughed it away, so what on earth had changed the poor boy so drastically? And just when he tried to remember the last time he had a serious conversation with Ash, he remembered the fact the teen had indeed tried to attempt to talk to him.

"Ah, I just remembered, Ash did want to talk to me about something."

"When?"

"The day he returned, though I don't remember him elaborating on the subject. I think he left the room shortly after as well… At the time, I thought it was because of Gary being a loud smartass again, but I'm starting to doubt that now."

"Oh, Samuel, it's like Red all over again." Delia sighed.

"No, it's not," he huffed, instantly annoyed. "Your husband got tormented for five years, by terrorists and criminals, day in, day out. Whatever is bothering Ash, is highly likely something harmless. Perhaps even puberty, but it's not-"

"How can you say that? We don't even know what happened to my son these past years! Yes, the things that we saw on TV, but he rarely talks about his journey. About his friends, yes, but never about the adventure itself. He must have met other people, who he didn't become friends with and of course, things will have happened that he doesn't want to talk about… But it's become a habit to let him carry all that load by himself and that's exactly what became Red's doom, Samuel. I don't want that to happen to Ash."

"I would like to talk to him first, Delia, see if I can help him in any way. If not… I fear a therapist or worse will need to become involved, if it's not something harmless as hormones," the professor answered. "For now, I want you to go to Ash and give him a big hug. Even if you can't talk to him, you can bring him comfort and that might ease him into opening up for you. What's not going to help, is sit here and give me sceptical looks and excuses."

"Ash is going to hate having a therapist."

"He will have to learn to live with that, if he needs one. Now, get going, Delia, you left a crying fourteen-year-old boy all alone at home. No matter how much independent he is, Ash needs you right now."

Chances were that the two of them would end up sobbing in each other's arms, judging by the look on Delia's face as she left, but it would be better than just Ash being on his own. Goodness, the man couldn't understand anything that had happened, from the boy's uncharacteristic behaviour to Delia's hesitance to go and hug her child. He would be checking up on them too, but due to him expecting an important e-mail from the Pokémon League, he couldn't leave straight away, no matter how badly he wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Professor Oak sighed deeply before deciding to throw away the cup of coffee Delia hadn't touched after that one sip. One look into his kitchen told him it was time to do the dishes, thanks to his assistants just putting their used cups on the sink and pray that one of the pokémon would suddenly become able to do it. As he got his soapy water ready and started putting the glasses in, the man wondered where Gary was, because he didn't want his grandson anywhere near Ash at the moment. Not because he didn't trust him, but there was no telling what could happen if Delia's son had gotten a sudden epiphany and got better at taking insults, but even better at insulting someone. Gary's pride wouldn't survive and frankly, neither would his patience, as his grandson would keep complaining about it. 'No' wasn't something Gary understood, so most disputes were settled with a 'maybe' and a small prayer that the teen would forget about it.

With the dishes done, the man settled back behind his computer and saw that the person he had expected the e-mail from, hadn't sent it yet. So he sighed once more, deactivated his device and decided to have a look around, possibly easing Gary into the idea of staying away from Ash for the time being, until whatever issues were plaguing either the teen or his mother were solved. He couldn't find his grandson anywhere, though and none of the assistants knew where Gary was either, until he found Tracey, feeding one of the baby pokémon.

"Tracey, do you know where Gary is?" the man asked, out of breath as he had been walking all over the pokémon Coral.

"Yeah, he told me he was taking a walk, to clear his mind. He had called that one lady to say her pokémon's illness couldn't be cured and I think her reaction left an impression on him."

"Oh."

This sounded normal enough, but there was something in the back of his head that made him feel as if something wasn't quite right.

"Is everything okay, professor?"

"I'm not sure, have you spoken to Ash recently?"

"I've been meaning to, but then the newest batch of eggs came in and somehow, the heat lamps triggered the entire set of twelve eggs to hatch and they imprinted on me. I've been kind of busy ever since." The boy chuckled.

The Meowth on his lap was vigorously sucking the bottle the teen had prepared for it, but all in all, looked like a good, healthy pokémon already.

"I understand. Good job, Tracey."

"Thank you, professor. Euhm… Is everything alright with Ash?"

"I'm not sure. I'll get back to you later, I need to speak with him first."

"Oh, alright."

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then."

"Ah, wait, professor," the teen said, just as the man had been meaning to leave. "If I could have a moment of your time, I would like to ask you for a few vacation days, if that's alright with you?"

"Of course, my boy."

"Cool, let me just…"

The Meowth gave a soft 'meow' at being moved back into the heated zone, but none of the pokémon seemed to be following Tracey out of the room, which often was the case when they had imprinted on a person.

"Thank Arceus they grow up so fast." The teen sighed, a blissful smile on his face as he closed the door. "I've had to sleep with twelve Meowth in my bed for three days."

"Risks of the business." The professor chuckled. "Come along now, let's see whether we can organize your future holiday, hm?"

"Oh, it's not going to be a holiday, actually and it's not any time soon either, it's just… There's this drawing competition upcoming and I really wanted to take some time off to focus on it."

"That's perfectly alright. Let me just get my-"

The phone rang and at the same time, someone started knocking at the door, causing professor Oak some distress, as he didn't know which one to answer first.

"I'll get the door, professor." Tracey offered.

"Thank you, my boy."

Moving into his office, the man sat as his desk and answered the call.

"Professor Oak speaking?"

"Hello, professor, this is the Celadon Central Hospital. I wanted to inform you that Gary Oak was admitted-

Professor Oak wasn't sure how he had gotten to the hospital or what had happened in the meantime. All he knew was he needed to see Gary as soon as possible.

"Mr. Oak?" a kind voice spoke up, though the man was left confused.

"O-oh, sorry, miss, I was… It's been a while since someone called me mister, I'm euhm…"

"It's alright, sir. Can I ask how you are related to the patient?"

"Oh, I'm his grandfather. I've been caring for him ever since his parents passed away."

"Ah, I see."

"What's wrong with him, miss?"

"He was brought in with severe shock, sir."

'Shock?' the professor thought, confused as there was little that could startle Gary so badly.

They had all been there when the Ariados nest had popped and dozens of small Spinarak had come crawling out. His grandson had been the only one not to scream like a banshee. And with all the assistants being pretty young and playful, you could always expect someone around the corner, waiting to scare the living daylights out of you -yes, professionalism was often forgotten about, much due to his lax guidelines and soft handling of assistants.

"You can see him now, sir, though I must tell you that there a police officer interested to take your grandson's statement. He seemed annoyed he needed to wait for your approval, so be aware he may come on strong. However, you are entitled to make him wait for an a certain period or even deny the request."

"I wouldn't want to be in the way of an official investigation, miss, and I'm thoroughly confused why the police would want Gary's statement for. What on earth happened for them to even be involved?"

"I wasn't told what caused the shock reaction, sir. Perhaps you could allow the police officer to take his statement under the condition that you need to be present, sir, that would give you all the information you need, next to still being near your grandson, in case he has a negative reaction to the questioning."

"Alright, I will." The man nodded, trusting the nurse to tell him what was best. "Is he stable?"

"He was never truly in any danger, sir, but he reacted positively to the medication plan set up to calm him down. You should have no issues reasoning with him."

"Thank you, miss."

"No problem, sir. I will take you to see him."

Professor Oak followed swiftly, desperately wanting to believe the nurse that his grandson was alright, but needed to see him with his own two eyes before his consciousness would be sated. Thankfully, Celadon Central Hospital had been designed to look as comfortable as possible and not like the one he had seen in Hearthome, which had been a complete maze. He sighed in relief when the door of the room opened and saw his grandson look at him, unharmed.

"Good heavens, Gary, you scared the living daylights out of me," he said, zooming over towards the bed.

"G… gramps?" the teen slurred. "What are you doing here?"

"They called me you were here, my boy. What happened?"

"T-there was a leg."

"… Come again?"

"A leg!" Gary cried out, clearly in distress… and while the cry had plenty of effect on the professor's mood, it also drew in the police officer.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"I'm his grandfather, sir!" professor Oak all but exclaimed. "I was trying to talk to my grandson, so no need to get so defensive."

"… Right back at you, sir, I was just trying to help," The young man said, holding his hands up. "The boy is correct, though, there was a severed leg found at the entrance of Viridian forest."

"Just that? A leg? Where was the rest of it?"

"I wasn't there on the scene itself, sir, so I couldn't possibly tell you. I was only sent here to find out what the one who found the leg had to say for himself."

"I-I recognise the socks," Gary whined. "I bought 'em, f-for Ash. For Christmas, last year."

A cold chill went through the professor's back and a heavy feeling settled in his stomach. He remembered his grandson having ordered them for Ash, through a company who specialised in printing the heads of your favourite pokémon on socks. The teen had sent a picture of Ash's Pikachu in the order, with a specific but funny expression on its face… So yes, they were special and one of a kind. The chance of Gary not recognising them correctly was non-existent but… If the boy's leg had been found at the entrance of Viridian forest, where was the rest?

'Oh, good lord, did I really send Delia back home, to see her son missing or severely wounded?' the professor though, panicking as he knew the woman wouldn't have reacted well to that.

But the man didn't even remember if he had left through the front door or that he had taken the garage in his panic, despite him not owning a car. Chances were that the person who had been knocking on the door had been Delia, if she had found the house empty, but then, where the hell was Pikachu? And, oh God, Tracey!

"You know the victim's identity?" the police officer asked, looking up from his notebook, startling the man from his panicked train of thoughts.

"Yes, Ash Ketchum," professor Oak answered in Gary's stead. "One of the certified trainers who live in Pallet Town as well… and a very close friend of ours."

"Oh, I've heard that name before. Alright, is there anything else you noticed?"

"T-the cut… It was straight," The teen in the bed answered. "No Pokémon there could've… would've done that. T-they… their arms or talons cut at an angle, o-or leave multiple wounds, at strange angles. B-besides, they know us. Ash and I, w-we've fooled around so much in that area, none of the pokémon would've…"

Professor Oak laid a hand on his grandson's shoulder, attempting to comfort him. It seemed to work but the teen looked so pitiful, he couldn't help the surge of sympathy for the young boy. It was just strange to hear that Ash, someone who they all knew to be able to deal with his troubles, had gotten into trouble anyway. The feeling of such worry for the rowdy teenager was alien to the man, but he knew that he needed to get to Delia. There was no telling what would happen if the poor woman was left on her own in this situation.

"That's very interesting." The police officer remarked. "So you're saying that a specific pokémon, not from this region, seemed to have attacked the boy?"

Garry nodded, though turned away from the well-meaning man who was only trying to do his job.

"I'm sorry if this upsets you, Mr. Oak, but this is vital information you have just given us. It will help us to determine whether or not this was an accident or that someone is out to hurt Ash."

"Impossible." The professor muttered. "Ash doesn't make enemies." He added, with a huff.

"T-Team Rocket followed him, though. All over, anywhere."

The man eyed his grandson wearily and wondered if Gary and Ash had been talking to each other way more than either he or Delia had suspected. Then again, the two had mobile phones and had exchanged numbers ages ago, so who knew what Ash had told his grandson.

"Is that so?" the officer said, turning to professor Oak.

"I'm rarely aware of what the boy does with his time, sir. If he comes to me with any issue at all, it's mostly got to do with his pokémon." The man answered. "Because I am a pokémon professor, after all." He added for good measure.

"I see. Anything else, Mr. Oak?"

Gary shook his head vehemently, probably wanting the policeman to go away.

"In that case, I would like to thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Oak. And of course, professor Oak."

The professor let out a sigh of relief when the man had left and his grandson visibly relaxed as well. He wondered why, but remembered that the teen had never been questioned by police before. Just as he wanted to ask Gary if he was okay, the sound of a helicopter coming closer drew his attention. The man went to look at the window, to see what was up, only to see that it was actually one belonging to the hospital and was possibly carrying an emergency patient aboard. Nevertheless, the sound was very annoying and it seemed to stress his grandson out.

"Do you think they found him?"

Gary looked so hopeful that the professor nodded, though shrugged at the same time because he didn't know, yet also didn't want to make his only remaining family member feeling even worse than he was already feeling.

"C-can you go check? Please?"

"Yes, alright," professor Oak sighed. "But know it might take a while before I can come back to you if I do get to know something."

"That's fine, I-I need to know. Please, gramps. I-if he's lost so much blood, he's going to need donors."

That… sounded strangely reasonable for someone in shock, but then again, his grandson had never been idiot -he just had acted idiotic from time to time.

"They have a blood bank here, though, but alright, I'll go and see if there's anything I can do to help."

"Thank you."

'Curse children and their ability to make their relief feel like you can move mountains.' The man thought, as he marched out of the room, determined to find out what on earth was going on.

If he was allowed to meddle at all, as this case was sounding a tad bit too serious for him to try and snoop around in. He was one of the boy's emergency contacts, but Delia as the boy's mother had top priority. Heavens, it was around about time the entire Ketchum family got a break, though. First, Red's unfortunate career and Delia's teen pregnancy, then, when everyone was finally convinced they were okay, Ash started showing signs of having similar mental issues as his father -or so Delia claimed- and now this? He could only pray that Delia wasn't going to lose her son, doing so all the way to the ground floor.

It hadn't taken long before the professor got to know that Ash had indeed been found, but first, he had needed to struggle to get it through Tracey's father he had not left his son in charge of the entire laboratory on a whim. The man really seemed to think he had intended to cause the sweet teen harm, but professor Oak was in no mood to put up with that.

"Mr. Sketchit, I left the laboratory because I was informed that my grandson had been admitted to hospital. That your son took initiative to help Mrs. Ketchum is not my responsibility but speaks for his character, nonetheless. And yes, despite everything, if Tracey had remembered to go to the senior assistant who was still present in the laboratory, he would not have been the one to accompany Mrs. Ketchum to the pokémon centre."

"It would have killed the pokémon!"

"And you getting heated about this is helping your son in any way? Because if so, please tell me, sir, I have a highly upset family member as well, who found his friend's cut off leg!"

"Break it up."

The two were startled to see the Chief Superior of the G-Men stand in front of them, eyes full of fury.

"How dare the two of you argue over who's got it the worst, right in front of a group of people who all have to carry their own issues. Or did you all forget you are arguing in the lobby of a hospital?"

"I-"

"Sit down and shut up," Lance commanded and Mr. Sketchit went down like a brick, buttocks probably bruised due to the hard landing on the chair. "I came here to donate blood to a kid who desperately needs it, not to teach two adults how to be decent human beings."

"Does he need a lot?" professor Oak asked, not about letting himself get chided because someone decided to try and get him into trouble. "I know I have a compatible blood type he could-."

"I'm not a nurse, go find one." The man snapped and walked off.

'… Somebody's in a sour mood.' He thought, but felt a bit too hyperactive to be considered normal as well.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, as he too had gotten a good shock due to hearing about Gary and his hospitalisation. Hearing that Ash, the practically invincible kid who had never gotten into harmful trouble, suddenly had gotten terribly hurt, certainly hadn't helped. And Tracey's father screaming nonsense into his face had just been the cherry on the cake but right now, he only had one target in mind and that was to go and see if he could help the hurt teen.

The nurse he had spoken to seemed enthusiastic -or was it relief?- that another person was offering to help, but she didn't say much about Ash's condition, other than confirming that it was indeed him who had been admitted to this hospital. He wasn't anywhere near the teen or Lance when he donated his blood either, but the professor figured it was for the best. The Champion didn't seem happy to be here at all and there was nothing else the man could help Ash with, to make sure he would at least survive today. For as little the soft-spoken nurse told him, professor Oak's gut told him that the boy was in grave danger. He wasn't looking forward going to tell Gary that either, while the teen had already needed to deal with his parents suddenly disappearing on him…

'What a rotten situation.' The man thought and walked off, back to his grandson's room.

The worried mother sat in a chair in a waiting room, not far from the space where she knew her son was in. She would have loved to have seen him, to have been able to just… Delia shook her head, she had seen the state of her house, there was no way Ash would be awake now. She knew better than anyone what had possibly happened to her sweet baby and all she could do now was pray that the doctors could help him and that no one would come out of that room, shoulders low and head down, stating they had something to tell her. She wouldn't live it down, she was probably in shock as well, but no medicine or treatment would help her now. No, Delia needed to know where her son was going to live or not.

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

She slowly turned, scared to see a doctor there, who had come in to tell her they couldn't save him, that he was-

"Mrs. Ketchum! Please, it's just me, I'm not a doctor."

The woman blinked several times, seeing the man's face so close to her own. She felt his hands on her shoulder, but honestly, grabbing someone there was a very odd way to calm them down. Granted, Lance was possibly used to dealing with dragons, but heaven help her if these people here couldn't save her son, they would definitely be needing his experience in dealing with those kinds of pokémon!

"Mrs. Ketchum, please calm down, I just want to talk to you."

"Take my statement, you mean." She huffed.

"… Yes, though if I find it upsets you, I can delay this… Though know it is important that we know your side of the story too."

"Why, so it can make the news in time?"

"No, Mrs. Ketchum, I promise you there is no breach of confidence in the G-Men. Everything you tell us will be kept safe in our files behind the tightest security over all the regions." Lance calmly explained. "We are trying to understand as to what and why this happened, so we can learn to avoid it in the future."

She let out a little laugh, though wasn't amused as she shook her head.

"Something evil entered my house this afternoon, sir. Something that cut down everything it got into its path-"

Everything had been ruined, her couch, her single soft, the TV, everything… Pikachu laying in a puddle of blood by the side, poor Mimie trying to hold pressure on the wounds on his own body.

"We know. You left the door open, a neighbour went in to check everything was in order and called for help when they found that wasn't the case. The… damage is on its way on being repaired, a TV was given to you by a local company, your carpet is being cleaned as we speak and new furniture similar to your original, damaged ones have been ordered."

A small sob escaped her, causing the man to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm truly very sorry, Mrs. Ketchum."

"I never intended this to happen." She whispered. "I just didn't know what else to do, seeing the house in such a state, my son nowhere to be found, his and my pokémon so injured, I-I ran to the laboratory with the two of them. I… I thought perhaps professor Oak could help, but Tracey helped me instead."

"I know, his father made that a well-known fact all over the lobby."

"Oh, bless the poor child, I never meant to pull him into this trouble."

"Tracey is okay, Mrs. Ketchum, don't worry about him."

She nodded but by doing so, got a good look of all the blood still on her clothes. A shiver went through her, though Lance, ever the gentleman -even if he was a little rough around the edges- took off his cape and laid it over her. Delia was much smaller and shorter than him, so it covered her from the neck down. The cape still had a remnant of the man's body heat in it and that alone brought her a lot of comfort.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your well-being is one of my main concerns, Mrs. Ketchum." He said, because next to being a gentleman, he was also rather correct and strict.

No one has ever caught the man fraternizing with any of the elite trainers either, safe from official meetings, so it was often said he was terribly asocial and avoided large amounts of people like the plague. Unless it was while he was in function, of course.

"Is it?"

"Yes. This also takes me to the question as to why you weren't…"

"Sliced into pieces?" she asked dryly.

"I was honestly going to say there to get hurt, but whatever works for you."

"Because I wasn't there. I… left him alone."

"Fall out?"

"I dropped something, yes, but no words. Nevertheless, Ash was highly upset. I thought it was best for the both of us to leave him on his own for a bit, so he could get a grip on himself but… the idea didn't age well. Even professor Oak told me to go back home, but then, when I did…"

"You saw he wasn't there, just the carnage left in the wake of the accident." Lance finished in her stead.

Delia nodded and sighed deeply.

"Next thing I know, I'm being ushered into an ambulance and meeting someone of the G-Men, who hands me over to a nurse and now I'm still in this seat."

"I see."

"Is there anything you know, sir? About Ash?"

"I should have expected that question," the man sighed. "All I can tell you is that I saw Arcanine in the area with blood on their fur. Which is a good thing, because these Arcanine are trained to lay down next to the victim, to keep their body heat up. And those pokémon wouldn't have laid down next to someone who passed away."

"And the people who found him? Are they okay?"

"It were the Arcanine who found Ash first, but it was the medical team who provided first care and technically the first to have seen him. They're sent home and will receive therapy, as per usual."

"Usual…" Delia repeated. "Does this type of accidents happen often?"

"Not too often, thankfully. Enough to keep us on our toes, I would say."

"And the survival rate…?"

"I couldn't possibly tell you, the severity in injuries of cases like this varies too much for me to give you a good answer," Lance answered.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Allow me to put some pressure on some people in here, because I find it to be beastly that they are leaving you in the dark like this."

"Yes, thank you… I… I know I'll have to go home sometime today, but I don't know when or where to go."

"Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me, I nearly forgot to mention a room was reserved for you, in the hotel across the street." The man said, putting his hand into one of the pockets of his coat and pulling out a set of keys. "You can stay there until your house's repairs are completed. It should be finished near the end of this week, but we figured you would enjoy not sleeping there tonight."

"O-oh, sir, thank you. That's very generous, thank you." She gushed, unable to fully express her gratitude as she accepted the key. "I hadn't thought about that."

"As I said, your well-being is important to us as well. Without you, Ash's chances of survival would be even less."

"Yes," Delia answered, all the motherly feelings she felt she had lacked this past week surging up into her once more.

Lance merely nodded once more and left, probably knowing better than to wish her a good day because it really wasn't. But things always needed to get worse before they could get better, right? Her dad seemed to have much faith in it and he was still alive, so it must work, right? Too bad her relationship with them had gone awry when she had gotten pregnant because she could have done with the support…

"Mrs. Ketchum?"

Before she could even help herself, fear gripped her, because this time, it was a nurse. Or was it a doctor? Who could even recognise the one from the other with those blue scrubs?!

"Y-yes?"

"The doctor can see you now."

'Oh no.' she thought, following the woman as if on auto-pilot.

She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to hear it, didn't even want to be near the man who looked at her with these tired eyes, having seen too many people like her-

"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm dr. Martin, the doctor in charge of overseeing your son." He said, a clear introduction but Delia couldn't help looking at him as if he had grown a second head. "I… apologise for the lack of information, it was not our intention to cause you such stress. There was just a lot going on and I…"

The doctor paused, looking at her for a reaction but the woman wasn't having any of it. She wouldn't say a damn thing until she heard what she had been waiting for these past three hours.

"I can tell you your son's surgery was successful, Mrs. Ketchum."

Delia felt herself getting caught by someone, but didn't realise what it was until she felt herself getting put on a chair. She was just in time to see that it was the nurse from earlier who had caught her as she seemed to have fainted.

"T-thank you." She said, as the woman retreated.

"No problem, Mrs." The nurse answered.

"I'm truly sorry for having kept you in the dark, this could have been avoided, if it wasn't for certain things to… not make sense."

"Please, sir, no excuses."

"… Yes. Well, as it is still unknown as to what exactly happened to your son, we can only give you the download of the injuries we have spotted so far, some… more obvious than others." The man started and pulled out a file. "Our biggest concerns were the deep lacerations found on his face, torso and arms. They caused us to need to wait for surgery until we found blood donors, though thankfully, two gentlemen stepped up to the plate only minutes after our request. They have now been stitched up and after some rest, should close up… though scar tissue will be unavoidable."

Her son probably wouldn't mind, or at least, the one who had left for Unova wouldn't have. Delia had no idea how her son would react to having this huge scar run over his face until he woke up and told her how he felt about it. Which was unfortunate because she could count the number of times Ash had talked about his feelings on the fingers of her hand and still have a few left to spare.

"I hope you are aware of your son's biggest issue?" the doctor asked carefully.

"I… No. I just know there was a lot of blood."

"Ah, well, yes, euhm… It seems that the other lacerations were just… harmless or rather accidental, because we have noticed that all cuts are from the same 'blade', yet weren't successful in slicing through him. The cut aimed his torso, for example, seemed to have rebounded from the thorax, which is strange, as the ribs are equally as strong as the tibia and fibula," He explained but seemed embarrassed when he caught the woman's blank look. "I mean, the bones of the ribcage is as strong as the lower bones in the leg, Mrs. Ketchum."

"Which means that whatever tried to slice him successfully did so in his legs." She concluded.

"Only one, thankfully."

"Thankfully," She repeated. "Thankfully!? What am I supposed to be thankful for? That I only last a small part of my son compared to him as a whole?"

"Yes, exactly." The doctor answered, causing Delia to deflated.

"I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'm not feeling quite myself today."

"I understand, Mrs. Ketchum, I really do. Which is why I'm not at all happy to tell you that, next to the unfortunate loss of his leg, there are still other issues, possibly ones we can't identify until he wakes."

"… Permanent ones?"

"I cannot say for sure. I mean, forgive me if it seems insensitive but it really seems like your son was involved in a very aggressive game of Tug of War. Both his shoulders were dislocated and the swelling in his neck and face alert that he was shaken about forcefully."

"O-oh… Do… Do you think someone tried to save him from whatever kidnapped him?"

"Kidnapped, was it?" the man replied tiredly. "Good heavens, I never really thought… Well, it would make sense, he wasn't wearing any shoes, but to go as far as to say he was saved, Mrs. Ketchum… I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was the case, but whoever attempted it, did it with little regard to the boy's health or safety."

"Ah."

'A Pokémon then,' she decided, knowing her son already was a pokémon master when it came to dealing with them.

From a young age, Ash had done miracles with the creatures, rivalling Red's own, calming ability, despite the boy not being anywhere near calm. Much to professor Oak's annoyance, because that meant there was always some kind of big and usually angry pokémon near the kid. Yes, she was convinced that Ash had been pulled out of the grip of this… creepy monster that had tried to cut him up and to do heaven knows what with the remains.

"Ah, did they ever… find the leg?" she asked.

"Oh, yes, I heard that it was found prior to..., let's see… Yes, indeed, approximately a good two hours and a half before your son was brought in. By an Oak, nonetheless."

"Gary?" she uttered in disbelief.

An easy guess, as Samuel had been right there with her and there was only one other Oak left in Kanto.

"A friend?"

"O-oh…" Delia sighed putting her hands on her face in defeat. "Yes, poor Gary. Oh, all of Ash's Pallet Town friends admitted in this hospital, all at once. Good thing Green wasn't around, the girl would've probably seen it happen, with how she snoops around. Oh, heavens."

"He is merely suffering from shock, Mrs... even if it's rather severe to the point where he will have to stay the night. But still..."

"That's what they said about Tracey too and I've never seen the poor boy so shaken."

"Ah, is Tracey Sketchit a friend of Ash and Gary? Would it possibly help if we moved the two in together in one room?"

"I couldn't possibly tell you, you would have to ask Gary's grandfather if that's a good idea. I only know the two work together in the laboratory. Also, are you their doctor as well?"

"No, but I work together with the one who is. Partially a therapist, who will possibly also help your son, when he wakes."

"Not if he wakes?"

"Try to be positive about it, Mrs. Ketchum, we're doing the best we can."

She tried. She really did, but how could someone just forget about a stressful situation? Her body was still buzzing with adrenaline and heaven knows what else but Delia refused to leave the hospital until she got a look at her son. When she had, though, the woman nearly wished she hadn't, as he looked terrible. Ash never laid down so nicely, he sprawled, usually with one of more pokémon on top or around him. For him to be laying here, in this bed, as still as this and without any kind of life around him… it was almost blasphemy, really.

Delia could hardly believe it was Ash, but she knew it had to be. When she saw the blue sock with Pikachu's face on it peek from under the blanket, she got the only confirmation she needed, remembering the sheer glee on her son's face upon receiving the gift. It was hard to just stand here next to him with that happy memory in her head. His poor, little face was all bandaged up, the spot where this monster had cut him visible as some blood had seeped through the gauze. It ran scarily close to his eyes, just underneath them and now she realised why the doctor had been so confused. Cartilage and just one bone compared to a leg? It was nothing short of a miracle the thing hadn't cut off his whole face, but perhaps this was the result of all her prayers.

As bad as her son looked, he was alive, though, even if the beep from the machine was the only confirmation that he was. It was frightening to see how small he was, despite being so independent and having travelled so far from home. He had been intubated and heavens, the ventilator head was huge compared to his face. Whatever else wasn't mechanical or wrapped in gauze was coloured an unpleasant mixture between purple and red, possibly the swelling the doctor had been talking about. Her heart sank when she saw the space his other leg should have occupied, though it seemed like it was straight underneath his knee, a small upside in a world full of steep descends. They could make prosthetic limbs alright but a knee? Unlikely and as such, a small flicker of hope for her son's mobility ignited inside of her, until…

"Oh, doctor, I'm been meaning to tell you, I euhm… found my son to behave rather bizarrely before the accident."

"In what way, Mrs. Ketchum?"

"Clumsy, in a way he seemed to stumble all over. Fell over in the bath once too. He was never that way, not before he returned from Unova."

"On different kinds of flooring?"

"Everywhere, doctor, soil, floorboards, tiles, carpet. And that's from what I saw. Also, highly emotional."

"Hmm, that is worrisome. Did he have someone to talk to?"

"I believe he tried to talk to professor Oak, but I fear that he's only told his pokémon about it."

"Ah, yes, translating that would be quite the challenge, I'm sure. Nevertheless, perhaps you could check his computer? I've often heard from parents with teenagers around Ash's ages that they often seek help somewhere you wouldn't expect it. There's a chance he might have realised something there was something, which might explain the overly emotional reactions you just reported. I don't have the right means to explain the clumsiness, other that perhaps dizzy spells. And those could have a large variety of reasons to appear."

"Ah, alright. I don't have access to his computer right now, I'll euhm… be staying close by."

"That's quite alright, Mrs. Ketchum, there is no reason to hurry. Even if he wakes and heals very quickly, I don't see him walk around without support this year."

Delia nodded, a bit taken aback by the statement that seemed practical enough, but it still caused a lump in her throat. She could only hope that with some luck, her little boy would still have the gusto to continue, and while she was convinced the pokémon League was going to support him, there was only so much you could do for someone who wasn't the slightest bit motivated.

"Thank you for everything, doctor. Can I come back tomorrow?"

"Of course, Mrs. Ketchum. Visiting hours start at one in the afternoon and end at eight in the evening."

"Oh, dear, I'll try and remember that. What will I even be doing with myself?" she asked, foreseeing a whole lot of free time to worry about everything.

"Would you perhaps like to talk to my colleague, Mrs. Ketchum? I feel like it would do you some good, to talk to someone who won't judge you."

"… If he has some time for me, I would like that, yes."

"Good, allow me a moment to call and see if he's free." The doctor said. "Please follow me."

She did and funnily enough, they met the man outside in the hallway. He seemed to have figured out Gary and Tracey's connection to each other, as both teens had kept referring to Ash, the one worried because he had no information, the other because he knew his friend was hurt and wanted to know if he was okay. Dr. Martin settled to go and talk to the two boys and the other doctor took Delia to his office, to talk over what had happened today. She might have refused any help earlier, but the still worried mother found solace in the soft-spoken man, who seemed to have an explanation for everything.

He told her flat out she shouldn't compare her son with anyone, not even his past self. People change, he said and she couldn't agree more yet felt ashamed someone had needed to tell her that. The chances of Ash instantly being okay were small enough to add the expectation of him coming out unchanged out of this event to it, which would make it unrealistic. Hearing the man talk had helped calm her down, even if she wouldn't remember everything he had just told her. Still, Delia felt a lot better as she roamed through the hallway, on her way out of this hospital.

"Delia! Oh, my dear girl, are you alright?"

She would recognise the professor's voice from anywhere now, so the woman wasn't startled when he spoke up out of nowhere.

"… Is that… Lance's cape?" he added, looking at her in confusion.

"Oh… Yes, it is. He gave it to me earlier, I forgot."

"I suppose it's alright, he would have asked for it if he really wanted it back."

"I'll have it washed and returned to him, when all this is over," Delia said.

"Never mind all that, how are you doing, my girl?"

"Much better. I just had a talk with Ash's future therapist. I… It'll be hard, but no one said life was going to be easy anyway."

"No, and Ash is rather known to never do things halfway. Honestly, I've never seen such a large amount of people at large in my life. It's almost unbelievable this was just today, I feel as if I've been staying in Gary's room for at least a week now." The professor sighed. "I feel better now that he's not on his own in that room, even if Tracey's fallen silent."

"The poor dear."

"Yes quite. Now of only his father would be as silent."

"Lance told me about it. It's not very classy, to cause trouble in a hospital lobby."

"You seem to have a better connection with the man than anyone else, Delia. I suppose it's your natural charm at work."

"I doubt that," she answered. "I wasn't charming at all, in fact, I will have lost weight over this and lose a whole lot more in the future, but I can have faith in the fact that Lance seemed to care about Ash. Genuinely, I mean, not the 'I hope he's okay for your sake' but he went through the trouble of cheering me up, to make sure my son would have me at my best when he… you know."

"How is he, then?"

"A wreck. Whatever did that to him really pulled him apart from the seams. I'll settle for it, though, he's all I've got left."

"Of course, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, my dear, but I felt the same way when I heard Gary was here. I mean, they didn't tell me what he was hospitalised for, I don't even remember leaving!"

"It's alright, Samuel, we're okay." She said, feeling better now she could smile without feeling guilty about it. "We're just going to have to keep going."

"God, you're such a strong person, Delia," professor Oak uttered, thoroughly impressed by her.

"Am I? I could definitely use a nice, strong cup of coffee and a hug."

"Come, my dear, let's get that settled, then."

The woman didn't expect all her issues to magically disappear, like all those princesses in fairy tales had when they were in the arms of their prince. Mostly because she wasn't a princess and the professor certainly wasn't a prince, but it felt nice and warm. A certain coldness had settled ever since she had heard about Ash's accident and she knew it didn't bode much good, but ah, perhaps hugs and warm coffees would help. She, after all, was better off than her poor son.

End of chapter one.