Midsummer Madness By Trish. Disclaimer: Pokémon I own not, nor anything by William Shakespeare either. Calliope and this story are mine. A/N: You must read the other parts in order to understand this. Everyone is still majorly OOC. Let the madness continue…. Chapter 3 A little touch of Ashy in the night… Delia hummed a little tune as she came downstairs. Life was treating her very well at the moment. She had a nice lunch with her only son and her boyfriend of two years, Steven Taylor. Things were getting very serious with Steve, in the last few months they had been discussing the subject of marriage. Delia had suggested going out to lunch with Ash in order to find out how her only son would feel about her re-marriage. She need not have worried, not long after she had started dating Steven, she had introduced him to Ash - and the two hit it off right from the start, getting along like a house on fire. Since then, Ash had come to regard Steve as a father figure, often discussing any problems he might have with him. Both he and Pikachu were delighted when they told them - he had no problems with it. The most important thing was that his mother was happy, which made him happy. The only condition being that when they finally do decide to tie the knot, that he would be the one to walk his mother down the aisle. Delia smiled to herself, she always knew that she had the most wonderful son in the world. The only thing which rather spoilt a perfect day, was that Steve had to leave this afternoon on a two week business trip. "Would you like a cup of tea?" She looked up to see Brock standing before her. "Oh, yes please, Brock." She followed him out to the kitchen to see Misty already sitting at the table. She was pleasantly surprised when Brock pulled the chair out for her, before handing her the cup of tea. Misty blinked. "How come you didn't do that for me?" Brock just ignored her to sit opposite Delia, who smiled at him. The two women chatted away until Mrs. Ketchum noticed that Brock was staring at her with a goofy look on his face. "Brock, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face, or in my hair?" she asked, rather uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny. The young man shook his head. "Oh no, there's nothing wrong with you. I was just losing myself in gazing at your perfection," he gushed. Misty's mouth dropped while Delia blushed. "Why..thank you, Brock," she stammered, then rose from the table rather flustered. "Excuse me, I …just remembered something I have to do," and sped out of the room. The two young people stared at her retreating figure, then Misty spoke up. "Brock, what was that all about?" Brock shrugged, "I just gave her a compliment, that's all. Maybe she's feeling a little faint." Inside his heart was celebrating, Yup, she's faint from the realisation that she loves me, and only me. Time to make my move.. "I think I should go check on her, just to see if she's okay." His friend nodded and he went off in search of his lady love. But first I need to get something… Delia sank gratefully onto the garden bench in the backyard. She had rushed out here to get some fresh air and to escape from Brock. He was really making her nervous with his strange behaviour today. The way he stared, it was like he was head over heels in love with her. He had never acted that way towards her before, she always thought he just saw her as a second mother. Delia hoped that Ash wouldn't be too long at the Professor's, perhaps her son could talk some sense into his best friend. Otherwise…. "I brought these for you, Delia." She looked up to see Brock standing there with a bouquet of red roses. "Uh…Thank you. They're very beautiful, " she took the flowers reluctantly. Brock was next to her in a flash and grasped her free hand. "Nothing could be as beautiful as you are," he said in a goofy voice. Delia tried to free her hand, but his grip was too firm. "Brock, I think we need to talk, I….," she started. Brock interrupted her, "I know what you're going to say - You love me! I just knew it! Well, I love you with all my heart, Delia!" His voice was filled with joy. "Will you marry me?" Eeep, she thought. Why did this have to happen to her? (The Oak Laboratories) Ash and Pikachu stared at Sammy Oak - this was the Professor? How on earth did this happen? They were interrupted by Tracey bursting into the room. "Hey, Ash! Have you found…", he stopped when he saw the little boy with him. "Who's the kid?" Ash rose to his feet. "That kid is the Professor," he said dryly. "You've got to be kidding!" Ash shook his head. "Nope, wish I was." He turned to the boy, "Could you please tell my friend your name?" The child trotted up to Tracey's feet and stuck out his hand. "My name's Sammy Oak, and I'm gonna be a 'Fessor," he greeted the older man. Tracey's eyes nearly popped out. "Oh no…" he said in disbelief. "My sentiments exactly." Ash knelt down again next to Sammy. "Sammy, how old are you?" "Four." The two men sat down on the lounge and watched as the "Professor" played with Pikachu. Tracey broke the silence, "So what happened here?" His best friend shrugged, "Beats me. But the most important thing right now is, what are we gonna do with him?" The Watcher looked at the playing child. "Well, I can look after the lab - but I have no idea how to look after a little kid." "Gary's still away - and he won't be back for another two days, " Ash informed him. "So I guess I'll have to take him home with me. Mom can help look after him." "Think she'll mind?" "She won't. Besides, she knows how to look after a four year old better than you and me." A few minutes later, the four were headed for Ash's home, Tracey having been asked for dinner. Along the way Ash filled his friend in on the situation with his mother and her boyfriend. Tracey was pleased. "So, are you gonna change your surname when they get married?" The Pokémon Master shook his head, "No, I won't. I'll stay as I am - though Steve's surname will come in handy if I want to go around incognito. Besides it just doesn't feel right for me to change it. After all, it is my dad's surname and the one I was born with. I'm Dad's only child - and I can best keep his memory alive by carrying on the family name." He paused for a moment, "What was it that Shakespeare wrote? 'This above all: to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man." Tracey and Pikachu stopped dead in their tracks and stared at Ash. "Where did that come from?" Tracey inquired "Yeah, since when did you start quoting Shakespeare?" Pikachu agreed from her perch on his shoulder. Ash glared at them. "Oh, are you two saying that Ash Ketchum and Shakespeare don't mix? Or are you implying that I'm too dumb to read or memorise it?" Tracey waved his hands in a non threatening manner. "Oh, no, it's not that! You can quote whoever you like," he said hastily. "It's just that you've never done this before," Pikachu added. "Even though I know you've always been interested in Shakespeare 'coz your dad was." They resumed walking, but they had not gone too far when someone called Ash's name. They turned around to see a pretty young woman with long purple hair covered by a baseball cap, coming towards him. When she released a Chikorita, Ash realised that the girl was none other than Kasey, his friend who was an avid Electabuzz baseball fan. The Plant Pokémon charged up to him and rubbed against his leg. He bent down and gave the friendly creature a pat on the head, before rising to greet the girl. "Hi Kasey. What are you doing in Pallet?" Kasey smiled. "I'm here to see you, Ash." She eyed him up and down. "Oh boy, you look so hot!" Ash turned an interesting shade of red, while Pikachu just giggled. "Are you still single? If you are, I'm free…", Kasey winked at him. "I promise you won't strike out with me!" "Er…nice to see you too, Kasey," Ash murmured rather hurriedly. "But I really have to go now," and he started off once more for home. "I'll be around if you need me!" she hollered as she waved goodbye. By the time they reached home, Tracey and Pikachu had a fit of the giggles. After they had left Kasey, they had run into another of Ash's old friends, Duplica. She was in town for the same reason - to see Ashy boy, and by the way was he still single? Ash sagged against his fence. "Oh boy, what an afternoon this has been," he moaned. Tracey grinned. "It sure has, the Professor is a kid again and…" "Ashy Boy here is now hot stuff. My, what a harem you have! What will Misty say about this?" Pikachu butted in with a smirk. ''PIKACHU! What on earth does Misty have to do with this?" "Everything. She is the woman of your dreams, right? So since you are now a real stud, why don't you use this new found charm on her?" Ash was beet red. "Oh, shut up!" His tiny electric mouse smirked and little sparks came from her cheeks. "Make me." Her trainer raised his hands in mock surrender. "Good point. You win." As soon as they entered the house, Delia Ketchum rushed to embrace her son. "Ash, sweetie! Thank goodness you're home!". His mother then noticed the little boy who was wearing a lab coat and holding onto her son's hand. "Who's this little boy, honey?" "I'm 'Fessor Sammy Oak," the child piped up. Delia stared, then turned to the two young men. "Did he….say his name was…Sam Oak?," she whispered. "Yeah, he did, Mrs. K," Tracey replied. "That's the Professor." Ash caught his mother just as she fainted. "Oh great," he groaned, "Trace, could you keep an eye on Sammy while I get Mom to her room?" When he came downstairs, Tracey was in the living room with Sammy, Misty and Brock. "Hi guys," he greeted as he collapsed onto the sofa. He waved a hand towards Sammy; "Mist, Brock, I'd like to introduce you to Professor Samuel Oak, age 4. Don't ask me what happened or why, Tracey and I found him like this. So until we can work out what has happened, he is staying here. Mom fainted when she found out who he was." An hour later they were all (with the exception of Mrs. Ketchum) eating the dinner that was whipped up by Brock. Ash had just put another fork full of food in his mouth when his breeder friend spoke up. "Ash, I've got some news for you. I want to marry your mother." There was a deafening clatter as the others just dropped their cutlery in shock; Ash's eyes went wide as he nearly choked to death on his mouthful. Misty rubbed his back to ease the pain while Tracey and Pikachu just sat there, too shocked to do or say anything. Sammy just giggled and continued eating - he was only four and couldn't care less. When he had recovered, the dark haired Pokémon master looked at his oldest male friend with a weak smile and gasped, "Please tell me you're joking, Brock. You almost gave me a heart attack!" His smile faded as he saw the solemn expression on his friend's face. Brock shook his head. "I'm totally serious. I'm gonna marry Delia." Ash's jaw dropped. Yikes! What on earth was going on here? First, Misty's mallet turns into a harmless toy, then I find that the Professor is literally enjoying his second childhood, then it seems I'm being stalked by two of my female friends, and now Brock wants to marry MOM! I really don't need this to happen….Oh boy, let's try to fix this up. "Listen Brock-o, I know that I consider you to be like family to me; but don't you think that this is going a bit too far?" he spluttered. "This is my mother you're drooling over here. You can't marry her!" Brock folded his arms, "And why not? If you're gonna bring up the age difference, it's not gonna work. Remember I once dated Professor Ivy who is the same age as Delia." "Yeah, but this is different - you are talking about marriage here! How do you know this is right? You do fall in love with nearly every single pretty girl we meet, not to mention all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennies. How do I know that you're going to be faithful? Nobody, and I mean nobody is going to marry Mom and then just dump her. Because they will have to answer to me first!" "I know this is right, Ash. I've never felt this way about anyone else before! All those other girls, all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys - they never really meant anything to me. I've been in love with your mother the whole time - and I've only just realised it! Ahhh….Delia…what a wonderful wife she'll be…." Brock trailed off with a goofy smile. "Sorry to burst your bubble, buddy. But she's not going to be your wife - she's already got a boyfriend, and I happen to know that they are thinking about getting married! No offence - but I really don't want to introduce you to people as my step-father." The former Pewter City Gym Leader just smiled. "Oh, but you're wrong. She does love me - before you came home we had a romantic tęte-á-tęte in the garden. When we do get married, I promise I'll keep her safe from harm, to love her in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer, 'til death do us part. I do and I will!" His friends just sighed in frustration. "They say 'Love is Blind' - and with you I believe it," Ash muttered. "What do you know about true love, Ash!" Brock retorted. Ash rose from the table and paused when he reached the back door. "Maybe not a lot, but I do know that it doesn't apply to you and Mom. I believe that true love is what Shakespeare wrote in Sonnet 116 - look that up if you like." With that he went into the garden, leaving his friends stunned. Ash referring to Shakespeare? The world was coming to an end. An hour later, Misty looked up from a book to see Ash enter the living room. "Are you okay?" He smiled, "Yeah, I just needed to calm down from what Brock said." Misty grinned, "That was a shock." "Sure was. Well, guess I'll head off to sleep now. 'To sleep; perchance to dream…", Ash frowned, "Hopefully tomorrow this will all be just that - a dream." He leant over and gave Misty a quick kiss on the cheek, dropping something in her lap and left the room. Misty lifted her hand to her cheek. He had kissed her. Ash had kissed her - only on the cheek, but it was still a kiss. Was she dreaming again? She pinched herself just to make sure. Owww. Okay, so she wasn't. She glanced down at her lap - there lay a single red rose. How romantic….maybe he does care for me after all. (The next evening…..) Ash leaned back against the garden bench with a sigh. What a day…….Things had gone from bad to worse. Last night the household had been woken up by a scream coming from his mother's room. Ash had rushed in prepared for the worst, only to find his Mom backed up on the far side of the bed - with Brock sitting there drooling on the other side. After ejecting Brock and calming his mother down, Ash had assigned Blastoise and Ampharos to act as her bodyguards until further notice. Deciding that drastic action was called for, he had dragged his breeder friend along to the local Pokémon Centre and Police Station - hoping that the sight of Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny would snap him out of his infatuation with his mother. It didn't work - Brock only babbled about Delia the whole time. Ash had even called up some of his female cousins - and told them to come over so that Brock could gawk at them. That didn't work either. If the situation with Brock wasn't bad enough - Ash found himself regularly quoting Shakespeare, which he had never done before, and this sent the crowds of girls around his house wild. For some reason, almost every girl he had ever met had come to Pallet for the sole purpose of being with him. There was Sabrina, Florinda, Aya, Kay, Katrina, Cassandra, Melanie, Lara, Suzie, as well as Kasey and Duplica. They would all gather round his house during the day, going elsewhere in the town to sleep at night. This made any venture outside the house fraught with danger - Katrina had already grabbed him for a big kiss on the lips, and Duplica had tried to trick him by disguising herself as Misty. That was not all, he had noticed that there also seemed to be many Pokémon among the crowd around the house - there were too many to belong to all the girls. So Pikachu had gone out to investigate - she came back with a grin to report that many of the Pokémon were wild females. They were not here to see any of his male Pokémon. They were here to see him. Ash had nearly collapsed - it was bad enough that his Chikorita had a crush on him. The Professor was creating havoc around the house as only a four year old can, making a mess and driving Mimey round the bend. Poor Mom was holed up in her room, Blastoise and Ampharos standing guard at the door as Brock was lurking around….His world had gone crazy and Ash had no idea how to fix it. Pikachu rested her little head on his lap, her big brown eyes brimming with sympathy over her trainer's predicament; "Life stinks at the moment, doesn't it?" Ash moaned, "You got that right. Somebody stop the world, I wanna get off…" "Get off where?" They looked up to see Misty standing there whereupon Pikachu scampered into the house to keep an eye on the errant Togetic. "Anywhere but here will do," he replied as she sat down beside him. The gentle breeze carried the scent of her perfume to him, nearly making his head spin. Ash sneaked a peak at the girl beside him - she looked so beautiful in the moonlight, so beautiful and utterly kissable, he thought as they sat in companionable silence. Misty was the first to break it. "You know how you mentioned Sonnet 116 last night; could you say it for me please?" Ash was taken aback. "Uh…sure. Just give me a minute," he closed his eyes for a minute to recall the words. He then looked her straight in the eyes and began to recite; "Let me not to the marriage of true minds, Admit impediments. Love is not love, Which alters when it alteration finds. Or bends with the remover to remove: Oh no; it is an ever-fixed mark. That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark. Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks, Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me prov'd, I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd." Misty found herself lost in the beauty of the words and in the delivery, his soft voice sending delightful shivers down her spine. "That's so beautiful," she breathed but then hesitated, uncertain as to whether or not she should say what was on her mind and in her heart. Go for it, her heart urged, You've always wanted him, and if you don't move fast - one of those girls out there will! She gazed at his warm dark brown eyes as she spoke; "Ash, I want you to tell me the truth. How do you really feel about me?" He gave a nervous gulp. Don't blow it, Ketchum, his mind warned. "I love you," he admitted "Now how about I show you?" he said with a smile, cupping her chin in his hand. His lips met hers in a firm but gentle kiss to which Misty responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck to draw him closer. They drew apart to catch their breath before kissing again. The couple stayed that way while for a while, then walked into the house together their arms around each other. No more words were needed, the look on each other's face was enough for them to know how they felt. Sniffle. Hidden in the tree branches above the bench, Puck wiped away the tears. He loved to witness such emotional moments - he had always been a softie at heart. This household was such fun to stay around - he had never had so much entertainment from the spells he had conjured up before. He thought the antics of Brock were the funniest - chasing everywhere after a frazzled and frantic Delia Ketchum. He admitted he had made a mistake with that one - he really should have looked closer at the photo before casting that spell. But that mistake had ensured he got his money's worth in entertainment - those two humans were so funny! He was glad he had come to this world, even if by accident - and he was in no hurry to go home. Unbeknownst to Puck, something was happening in the woods outside Pallet. A brilliant white light shone for a moment then blinked out. A tiny figure with wings gracefully landed on a tree stump. Calliope stretched her arms out as she gazed around her. She was one of Queen Titania's best friends and most trusted assistants in the fairy kingdom, she was on a mission - to bring back Puck. His cousin had helped with the spell that Puck had chanted before disappearing, now all she had to do was find him. She brushed back her chestnut tresses - the first place to look would be where any humans lived. It was common knowledge among the fairies and elves that Puck loved to toy with the mortals. Gaining the directions from an Eevee, she flew off towards the town and landed on a flower in someone's garden. What Calliope didn't know was that Puck had left this very garden a few minutes ago to head to his temporary home in the woods for the night. Callie made sure she was invisible to the human eye before flying through an open window to investigate. She found herself in someone's bedroom when the adjoining door to the room opened. The fairy turned to look - and got an eyeful. Ash had just come out of the shower, his bare muscled chest glistening. Callie blushed, she thought her heart would burst right then and there. He was the handsomest human she had ever seen! She perched herself on his dresser, content to watch him for a while. When she was sure he was asleep, she flew over to near his face, placing a dainty kiss on his cheek. What a pity that fairies and mortals can't have relationships, she thought with great regret. If we could - I'd never let this one go! She sighed - then flew off. The sun rose the next morning over the rooftops of Pallet, as a Pidgeotto cooed good morning from the nearby tree. Ash slowly opened his eyes to see…… "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" To be continued… Author's Note: Told you there would be fun and games. This is a slightly insane fic - that shouldn't be taken too seriously. I think this chapter had the works - fluff, mush, magic, mayhem, romantic triangles, AAMRN. So just what will happen? I'm not telling you…. Silver Dragon Phoenix - if you are out there - please e-mail me 'coz I can't contact you otherwise (your e-mail bounced)