Hi

Hi! Shadow here J with part 2!

Disclaimer: Pokemon isn’t mine, Destiny is, and so are all the new pokemon, i.e., Blossomeon, Phantasmeon…

Results of the vote show that Delilah, with some OOCness, will raise Ash. I was hoping for Lance & Lorelei, but oh well…

I changed my mind. This is actually the prequel to ‘Card Captor Ashura.’ If you didn’t read my author’s notes, then you’re in trouble!

Note: Ash is 4-5 years old in this part. ** Indicates thoughts, Italics indicates translated poke speech, and <> indicates telepathy.

Part 2: In which Ash meets his new family.

< Where are we going? > Destiny asked.

Storm admitted. < Mew probably knows, though. >

Mew said. < We’re going to Pallet Town. >

< Where is that? > Destiny asked.

< Near the ocean. > Mew said. < We should arrive soon. >

< Can’t you teleport? > Storm questioned.

Mew said. Soon, they landed on the beach. Mew scanned for the woman she had chosen as Destiny’s new parent.

< There! > Mew pointed. There was a ginger-haired woman lying on a beach towel.

< Okay. > Destiny said. The there pokemon descended into the water. Destiny clung on to Dratini as his protective bubble disappeared. In a few seconds, he was washed onto the shore.

Delilah was sunbathing when she heard a child crying. She headed for the source and saw a little boy with black hair, hanging on to a tired-looking Dratini and crying.

“Hi.” Delilah said, as she produced a candy. The child stuck it in his mouth and stopped crying.

“H-hello.” Destiny said.

“Where are your parents, little boy?” Delilah asked.

“I don’t know. We were on a boat, but then the sky turned black, and our boat tipped. I remember grabbing Storm and then I was swept away by a big wave.”

Delilah remembered several stories about people drowning. She sighed, as she realized that the child’s parents were probably dead. The sudden storms this summer had been especially severe. Rumors spread that it was caused by a legendary pokémon, but Delilah didn’t believe in them.

“Well, I’ll have to take you to the police first, but if they can’t find your parents, I’ll take care of you.” Delilah said. * He seems like a nice child… and I’ve always wanted one… maybe God has sent him here to ease my loneliness. *

Destiny accepted the handkerchief and wiped his eyes. Then, he followed Delilah. Storm followed, since Destiny had her wound around his neck like a scarf.

< It worked. > Mew said. She sounded tired, but secretly relieved. * I’m so happy… if it had failed we would have needed to do some time triggering, and Serebii wouldn’t have liked that. *

Mewtwo shrugged. < So? We had it all planned. How could it not work? >

Two days later, Destiny had been registered as Delilah’s child. He smiled at his adopted mother happily.

“I’ll call you Ash. That’s a happy name.” Delilah said.

Ash giggled. “Yep!” He hugged his new mother happily. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all.

Delilah was happy as well. She had always wanted a son… and now she had one!

Mew came to Ash in a dream that night. She used her psychic powers to seal his memories of his early life, replacing them with faint whispers of a blonde man and a blue-haired woman. She also dosed him with some basic knowledge of human appliances, so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Delilah simply assumed Ash had lost his memory because of shock, so now she was his only family. Her husband had died before she found Ash, and he seemed to accept the fact that his father was already dead.

However, soon after, Team Rocket kidnapped, or shall we say poke-napped Dratini, since it was a rare pokemon. Ash was inconsolable. But somehow he knew that someday, they would find each other again… his abilities might be sealed, but someday they would resurface. When the time came, that is.

< Do you think it is really better this way? > Mew asked one day. She was sitting invisibly in a tree, watching Ash arguing with a little boy about his age, while they were hurling mud at each other.

< Mew, you know that he needs to find the book! You know that it is in that house. This is the best chance he has! Besides, before he regains his powers, and maybe afterwards, he will still have to interact with humans. > Mewtwo replied patiently.

Mew said indignantly as Jason finally pushed Ash into the mud. Ash came up spluttering and glaring angrily. Jason was such a bully!

“Hey, you look like a mud monster!” Jason said.

Ash replied with a handful of the gooey substance. Jason blinked as he was creamed by a well-aimed handful of gunk. Ash was too busy retaliating to think about where he had heard that line before.

“Now you do too!” Ash said.

“Ash, lunchtime!” Delilah called. Then, she caught sight of him. “You two are filthy! I’ll have to hose you off before you get any lunch!” She reprimanded.

Ash looked delighted as Delilah sprayed them both. He giggled. When Delilah was done, she returned with an armful of fluffy towels and dried them off, even though they tried to escape.

“Now that you’re clean, you can have lunch!” Delilah said cheerfully. “Now, I’ve got hamburgers if you want, or hot dogs.”

“Hamburger!” Ash said. Delilah handed him a plate piled high with a bun, some salad, and some crispy French fries. Jason opted for the hot dogs instead. Ash wondered why Jason had to eat at his house, since Jason lived in Pallet too. But why did he have to bug Ash?

The two kids ate quietly, until Jason accidentally spilled some ketchup on Ash’s arm.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Ash said. He picked up some pickle slices and threw them at Jason, who ducked.

“Sure it is!” Jason retaliated with some flying carrot sticks.

Soon, the air was full of flying food. When Delilah returned, she groaned. The kitchen was a mess, but at least they had finished their lunches.

“Why don’t you two run out and play?” She said. “I’ll clean up.”

“Yay!” Ash said happily, as he and Jason ran out. Ash tried to lose Jason, but the bully tailed him without end. Ash silently hoped that Jason would move away soon. He had overheard Delilah talking on the phone, and it seemed that Jason’s mom was going to move away to Saffron City.

Delilah hummed as she swept the floor. She really loved Ash a lot, even though she wasn’t his real mother. However, since the authorities had found no trace of his family, she had been allowed to adopt him. She firmly believed that he was a gift from heaven. She had no idea how right she was…

< What do you think? > Mew asked. < Should we send his ‘friend’ to Saffron? >

< Why not? He has already served his purpose. After all, Ash knows how to deal with opposition better now. >

< But there aren’t any other kids his age. > Mew said. < Doesn’t he need some real friends? >

< Of course! I’ll arrange for two or three people to move here. After all, maybe he’ll find his soul mate. >

Mew said, batting her long eyelashes at him. * I never knew he could be so… nice. *

Mewtwo sighed and sweatdropped. < Er… > * Is Mew flirting with me? No way! That’s not possible! *

Two weeks later, Jason moved away.

“Good-bye!” Ash said. * And good riddance! * He added in his mind. * Find some other kid to bother in Saffron! *

“Now you won’t have any friends, Ash.” Delilah said. Even if Jason hadn’t been very nice to Ash, at least Ash had had someone to play with. No there was no one.

“It’s okay. I’m sure that I’ll find someone to play with.” Ash reassured her. “Say, did you bake any cookies?”

Delilah smiled and handed her son a plate piled high with sugar cookies, fresh from the oven. Ash’s eyes lit up happily as he grabbed a handful.

“Of course I did, dear. After you finish your snack, why don’t you look for someone to play with?”

“Okay!” Ash said.

Meanwhile…

Sunny silently crept towards Pallet town. It had been hard to convince Mew to let her to visit her friend. Mew had told her that Destiny might not remember her, but Sunny couldn’t believe it. Her spiky fur bristled as she spotted a brown-haired boy picking on her ‘little brother’.

Ash burst into tears as Gary teased him. Why was Gary so mean? He only wanted to be friends…

“Loser!” Gary taunted, before walking back towards Professor Oak’s lab. “Why would I want to friends with a weakling like you?”

Ash sniffled, as he tried to stand up, but he tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face again.

Gary laughed. “See? You trip over your own feet! You’ll never amount to anything!”

Sunny growled and leapt out of the bushes. She stood in front of Ash protectively, sparks flying from her fur as she glared at Gary.

Gary froze. “Wow! A wild Jolteon! I gotta tell Gramps!” He started running towards the lab.

Coward. Sunny said, annoyed. You only pick on those who are weaker. What kind of trainer are you, anyways?

Ash was still crying, so Sunny licked his face to cheer him up. Ash smiled at her through his tears.

“You’re pretty!” He said, petting her on the head.

Sunny shrugged her shoulders and licked his face, to cheer him up. Do you remember me?

“Sorry.” Ash said. “I can’t remember anything after that shipwreck.”

Sunny sighed softly. Oh well. I’ll be your friend, okay? You don’t need any human friends, if they’re all like that one.

“All right.” Ash said. He hugged Sunny tightly. Sunny giggled. They spent the afternoon playing in the stream. Sunny laughed when she saw Ash trying to catch fish with his bare hands. * He still can’t catch fish, even as a human. * She thought. * That’s funny! *

When Ash’s mom called him in for dinner, Sunny ran back to the forest. I’ll see you again! She called. Count on it!

“Bye!” Ash said, waving.

“Did you make any new friends, Ash?” Delilah asked hopefully.

“Yeah!” Ash said, omitting the fact that his new friend was a pokemon. “She’s really nice, and we played together all afternoon.”

“That’s nice, dear. Maybe you can invite her over for dinner sometime.” Delilah said. “We’re having meatloaf tonight, with mashed potatoes and green beans.”

Ash blanched at the green beans, but he really like meatloaf and mashed potatoes. So he grudgingly ate the vegetables along with the rest of his meal. Delilah smiled proudly. Her son wasn’t a picky eater, and that was excellent.

“Are we having dessert tonight?” Ash asked hopefully.

“After you finish the orange wedges.” Delilah said, indicating the plate of fruit. “Then, you can have some cake.”

“We’re having cake tonight? Yippee!” Ash said happily.

“Yes we are, dear.” Delilah reassured him. Ash quickly finished off all the wedges his mom had put on the plate. Then, he happily munched on a slice of creamy, vanilla cake frosted with strawberry frosting.

“Yum!” Ash said happily as he ate.

Delilah smiled again. He was such a happy, healthy little boy. She was sure that he would grow up to be a great person.

After he finished dinner, Ash went to bed. He didn’t notice Sunny until he finished his tub bath. When he went to make his bed, he saw her curled up there.

“Sunny?” Ash asked, shocked. “How did you get here?”

I snuck in. You left your window open. Sunny said. The eevelution council had appointed her to watch over Ash for a whole year!

“Oh! That’s so cool!” Ash said. “So are you going to stay here with me?”

Yep! Sunny said.

“Well, good night then.” Ash said. He put his arms around her (she was almost as big as he was!) and fell asleep.

End Chapter 2! Please tell me what you think!

Completed 3/6/02