Part 6
Mother
Location and Setting: Misty
was sort of sore that Ash hadn’t woken them up when May left. In the last couple years, Misty and May
became good girlfriends. They would
share things about Ash and how funny it was that he did this and he did
that. Ash, Satoshi, Marene
and Misty begin their trek from
“Still, Ash, you could have
still woken me up so I’d be able to wish her luck,” complained Misty. It was alright for her to complain; that was
the reason why they stayed at the airport.
“Sorry, Misty, but May had
to go, her flight was about to take off without her.” Ash lied.
Ash and May must have spent at least fifteen minutes just going through
the motions before May actually got into the plane. Maybe it was better had Ash not tell Misty
what happened. In all honesty, Ash
himself had no idea what happened when things had happened. Anyways, that wouldn’t present it self for
sometimes now and he had plenty of time to think over what he really wanted.
*****
Location and Setting: Misty
knew that if she had visited her sisters, they’d find a way to have her
stay. She couldn’t risk leaving Satoshi
the way he was at the moment; still pondering whether he was happy being Satoshi.
So, they never visited her sisters.
There was a change of plan
once they realized that Pallet was more than a few days from Cerulean. Instead, it was decided that they go South
towards Vermillion and from there take the bullet train towards the nearest station
near Pallet. That way they’d still be
able to see the scenery Satoshi could only remember while having room to walk
around in.
It would be an overnight
trip and in the day time, about noon, they’d be in Pallet, in Ash’s home.
There were a lot of things
that Satoshi had wanted to visit just to see what he had been dreaming of since
he was born. But, first he wanted to
visit his mother. That is if his mother
was really his mother.
Of course it was different
from what Ash had expected it to be like when Satoshi finally gets to see
Delia. Ash believed it was going to be
such a happy occasion with a hearty lunch afterwards. No, Satoshi saw it a different way. How would someone react to a person that
claim that they were their son when hey had never met. A normal person would deny the person of
that. Satoshi would only be imposing on
Delia’s kindness to ask her to be his mother.
It was different.
Inside the train heading
towards Pallet, the four companions were set with their on box in the train. Satoshi and Marene
sat on side that would face the tail of the train with Satoshi next to the
window. As for Ash and Misty, they sat
right in front of Satoshi and Marene facing the head
of the train with Misty next to the window.
It was a treat to see the landscape that Satoshi remembered for some
reason.
Satoshi was sort of happy
that Misty was finally awake. Marene was awake as well, but she wasn’t the type to be
impressed by the imagery of the land.
“It seems so strange to be
looking at something and think it so familiar when really you’ve never seen it
before,” said Satoshi as he reminisced about something he had never had.
“Satoshi,” began Marene, “everything you see from 70mph looks the same. We’re in a train.”
“Marene,
I know that, but… never mind you don’t get it.”
“I think I know what you
mean, Satoshi,” said Misty who looked outside and saw the serene blue
lake. “Just looking outside and seeing
that lake out there makes me feel like I’ve been there so many times. Like it was part of my past
as a child playing in other lakes like that. I guess we pine for things
in the past as well as look forward to things that we can connect with.”
“Yes,” said Satoshi happy
that she understood what he was talking about.
“Huh,” snickered Marene quite disenfranchised and isolated not really caring
about what the two were talking about.
“It’s always the same, you know.
From one lake to another it has water and dirt on the bottom.”
“You miss the point, Marene,” stated Satoshi.
“It’s the prospect that it’s there and we can enjoy it. There may be a thousand lakes in the world,
but I’m looking at this one right now and it looks great.”
“All lakes aren’t the
same. Yes, they’re similar, but each
lake has its own story,” said Misty matter-of-factly. “Just look at your Psyduck
and look at my Psyduck. At first sight they make look alike, but in
reality they are very different.”
“Yeah, Marene. I guess, it’s like me and Ash. Despite my frame, whatever is inside of me is
different.”
Hearing that from Satoshi,
Misty believed he was wrong. There were
so many things that were similar between Ash and Satoshi it made Misty feel bad
that she called Satoshi Satoshi. She had spoken with Satoshi once about that
name and she was told that the name came at some sort of fluke. What if he didn’t want to be called that
name? Yes, he is different, but he’s
still Ash.
The time turned 8 in the
evening. Marene
who was keeping quiet to herself finally fell asleep. Ash, who was awake
all the time waiting for May to get into her plane, was out cold. It was only Satoshi and Misty that were
awake. The train had kept Misty awake
and Satoshi was just too anxious to go to sleep.
The sun finally waned and
Satoshi began to feel his eyelids becoming heavier. Heavier, until Misty said
something.
“Did you say something?”
asked Satoshi.
“I said are you really fine
with people calling you Satoshi for the rest of your life?” repeated Misty.
Satoshi thought about it;
no. “What choice do I have? I can’t
really ask Ash to give up his name.
Also, I know that you wouldn’t want Ash to.”
He was right. No one can ask another person to give up
their name.
“Are you really going to
have it this way, forever?” It seemed
desperate the way Misty put it. Was it
desperate for her to care so much about Satoshi’s situation? What is the matter in the matter for her to
get involved so deep into the Ketchum brothers?
It seemed as if Satoshi was
too deep in thought that he even heard Misty.
She had wanted to push the topic to get an answer, but decided not
to. It was her better judgment to leave
Satoshi with his thoughts. Misty knew
she couldn’t do anything if Satoshi had answered he wasn’t happy being someone
he really wasn’t.
The outside turned darker
till it was night. Misty heard the
tracks and the wheels roll along. It
sounded peaceful. Misty fell asleep.
*****
Location and Setting: The train stopped two hours again somewhere
just a bigger town off of
Misty watched quietly as
she walked along side Marene at Satoshi. Up in front, Ash and Satoshi spoke of their
supposed childhood. It somewhat made
sense to the both of them as they knew the fields close to being
blindfolded. Even though Satoshi had
never been there, he talked about it with Ash as if he were walking the route
to his past.
“What are you looking at,”
said Marene suspiciously.
Misty snapped out of her
haze and smiled at Marene as if nothing
happened. “Oh, I was just wondering what
Mrs. Ketchum will say when she sees the two of them together. I mean, it’s still strange for me to look at
Satoshi.”
That wasn’t all Misty was
thinking of Satoshi.
“Oh. Well, not me,” stated Marene
thinking of Satoshi. “To me, this is all
just normal. Well, not that seeing
Satoshi beside himself is normal. What I
mean to say is; I know that Satoshi isn’t normal, but he is to me. From the first time I met him, I knew he
wasn’t the same as everyone else. And
it’s not just the ears that made him that way.
It was something inside of him that made him seem different; at
first. Then, I began to see the real
Satoshi. He wasn’t just a type of mentor;
he was more like a brother.”
“Be careful of the word,
‘Brother’, Marene.
It’ll come back to bite you,” offered Misty as a little advice.
“What do you mean by that?”
“If I know Ash and if
Satoshi is in the slightest like him, then you’ll find that you’re missing
something more that what you think.”
Marene thought about what Misty said and dismissed it as
something other than important. Marene continued with her thought earlier. “When I look at Satoshi, I think of him as
the original. It’s because I met him
first, but I’m trying to see Ash as the first, but I just can’t. To you, Satoshi might just be the younger
brother, but to me Satoshi is just Satoshi; the kind boy who decided to help a
bumbling trainer that I was. Did you
know Satoshi saved me when I first met him?”
“Marene,
I see that you really care about Satoshi.”
Up in front, Ash and
Satoshi also had a conversation about whatever.
“From what I remember, I
remember she would always cook a welcome home feast for you,” said
Satoshi. He still wasn’t able to
acknowledge who Ash’s mother was. It
just didn’t feel right with him claiming something without approval of the
person.
Ash thought about it and he
realized that Satoshi hadn’t seen a current picture of his mother. If it’s been three years since Satoshi was
born to the world, he probably has the old mother in his memory. It wasn’t that she had gotten really old; it
was only three years that has passed. In
all actuality, Delia had stayed the same as if she were forever young in her
current form. Also, Delia wasn’t as old
as one might think. During the time she
gave birth to Ash, she was only passed her teenage years.
“Hey, Satoshi, do you want
to see a picture of mother?” asked Ash quite happy to brag about the mother he
believed they both shared.
Satoshi thought about it
for a bit. From the memories Satoshi
inherited by Ash, Satoshi remembered his mother to be the most beautiful woman
that he’d ever known. She was beautiful
not only in appearance, but as a whole person.
She was that kind of mother and Satoshi had that in his head. She taught Ash to be a respectable person and
knowing Ash and to a further extent without being conceded, he knew himself to
be a caring person in his own right.
“Ash, that’s okay. I think I know what she looks like. I’ve been imagining her ever since I was
created… I think… I think that if she really is that wonderful of a person, I
already know what she looks like.”
Ash thought about it and
knew Satoshi was right. He, as well,
didn’t need to see a picture of his mother.
In Ash’s mind, the figure of his mother have been branded into him
forever. Ash knew what kind of mother
she is and also what kind of person she is.
Ash acknowledged it a long time ago that he was a representative of what
his mother is. By the time Ash stopped
thinking about it, he was stricken by how important this day would be when he
brings his brother home to his
mother.
The four walked through all
the old familiar sites getting closer to the dirt road that led to the white
picket-fence that Ash called home. Closer to the childhood memories. Closer to the most
important person in Ash’s life. Closer to their
mother.
As they got closer, Ash
began to heave heavily psyching himself up as if he were about to enter another
pokemon tournament.
As they got closer, Ash began to walk faster and he started to smile and
laugh from time to time.
Misty noticed this and
couldn’t help feel excited herself.
Misty wanted cry for Satoshi and Ash, but knew if she did that would
have just slowed Ash down and she knew that Ash didn’t like being slowed
down—though Ash would never admit it.
Marene was excited for Satoshi as well, but not to the
point anywhere close to Ash and Misty. I
guess it was because Marene had never met Mrs.
Ketchum. It was strange for Marene. If she ever
thought about it, Marene’s mother had never met
Satoshi. She would sometimes imagine
what her mother would say if she told her that she was running around the world
with a boy, not to mention a boy who was older with her. Sometimes, when Marene
is just thinking about her mother, she’d imagine her yelling for not telling
her for such a long time. There have
been times when Marene and Satoshi visited Marene’s home town, but Satoshi would always go to the
forest with Ursaring, Bellossom
and Aipom.
Satoshi could tell Marene wasn’t comfortable
with her mom about his being with her—even if it’s all platonic—but nonetheless
it was still uncommon or risqué for a girl her age traveling alone with a
boy.
Satoshi once considered
their relationship different from the one that Ash had with Misty. That was why he let Marene
be every time she would visit home.
Misty and Ash were still boy and girl, but Brock was there as a
factor. Brock was thought as the bigger,
older brother of the two and would have been expected to look out for his
distant adopted siblings; this was the only difference. For some reason, with Brock there, Ash’s
mother probably thought that the two, Ash and Misty, wouldn’t dare do anything
with Brock looking out.
As for Satoshi, who didn’t
really believe that Marene was his type of girl in
the first place, never considered any romantic connection between himself and her. Satoshi always
looked at himself as the brother figure that Brock had played with Misty and
him. In fact, Satoshi saw too much of
Ash in Marene to ever consider her anything more than
a type of pupil.
The relation between Marene and Satoshi started as a sort of master and
disciple, but it grew to friendship love.
In actuality, Satoshi had an idea of leaving her after she got on her
feet and was able to take care of herself.
He was going to go on his own journey, alone, but he began to think of
her as family. Satoshi began to think of Marene as
the younger sister he had never had. It
wasn’t the same with Misty. Misty was a
kind of family member as well, but never as a younger sister or in this case an
older sister. It just didn’t click that
way.
“Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!” yelled Ash as he saw the picketed
fence he’d see all the time when he’d come home from school or from hang out
with his other friends in Pallet Town.
“Satoshi, we’re here. We’re home,
Satoshi.” Ash did that as he grasped
Satoshi’s shirt. “Do you know what this
means?”
Satoshi was very much
excited as Ash was, but to as expedited as Ash’s excite had been exploded,
Satoshi’s doubt was also at a high pressure.
Ash didn’t let go of
Satoshi’s arm as he began to run.
Satoshi, seeing that he was being pulled by Ash, began to speed up his
pace to Ash.
“Hey, Ash, wait for us!”
said Misty as she began to run after Ash knowing that there is no way she would
be able to slow Ash down.
Ash finally reached the
door. Ash wasn’t going to knock on his
own door as he turned the knob. It was
lock. Ash always had a key with him that
his mother gave him the very first time Ash set out on his journey. Delia had told Ash that she loved him and
that she’d be waiting for him to come back from his long journey. She told Ash, “…the key is for you. Remember
that you’re mother is here waiting for you and that key means that you will
always be welcome here.”
Ash took out his key from
somewhere in his backpack. It was the
safest place for the key to be. Ash
would have never left with his backpack and knew that if he kept it with his person, he’d eventually lose it running or climbing or
whatever.
Ash opened the door to an
empty house. Everything was kept clean
and dust free—must have been Mr. Mime.
Satoshi looked around and
wanted to cry seeing something he only dreamed of seeing again. Everything was the same as he had
remembered. A few renovations, but
everything was the same as he imagined things would be. Being there meant something special to
him. There has always been desperation
for home ever since he was born and began crying that day. That day, he had wanted his mother to comfort
him, to hug him, to show that she loved him.
She wasn’t there.
Satoshi was so close to
something that was missing in his life. Satoshi had a empty
whole in his life for so long. Something
he reached for, but was never so close to ever touching. Satoshi began to feel as if the puzzle were
being put together forming the picture he wanted to see forever.
Satoshi looked around and
saw the pictures of Ash and his… ”Mother!”
On the
wall hanged a picture of his mother smiling her beautiful smile. Along with
her was a baby Ash crying as his magnificent mother held him with her
protective love.
Ash’s mother.
Ash’s mother, thought Satoshi.
“I wonder where mom is?”
said Ash as he scratched his head.
Satoshi knew where to find
it. He walked to the kitchen and looked
at the refrigerator—more pictures of Ash and his mother. Satoshi looked around and there it was; a
note.
Went
to go grocery shopping.
Delia/Mommy
There was her hand
writing. Whether or not she knew Ash was
coming home today; it might have been just her way of saying Ash never left
home.
Every bit of the house
reminded Satoshi of his mother. He
looked inside the refrigerator to find leftovers and knew that his mom had
cooked it.
It was only 10:30 in the
morning. If Ash was right and he knew
his mother, she would have left around at 10.
In this case, grocery shopping would take about an hour and thirty
minutes, plus the extra fifteen minutes for her to arrive. In this case, she wouldn’t be back for
another hour.
Seeing that they had
another hour before his mother would come back from grocery shopping, Ash
decided to eat. It was last night when
Ash had eaten. He remembered that it
wasn’t much of a meal as well. It was
train food. At times, train food is
good, that is if you actually pay for it, but in Ash’s case, the tickets there
wasn’t inexpensive.
At first, Misty had decided
she was too anxious to eat anything, but when she saw Ash eating and smelled
the aroma, she couldn’t help asking for a little bite. Afterwards, Misty decided, again, that she
was hungry after all. It was the same
for her on the train. The only thing she
ate was two tomatoes cut in have with salt.
It wasn’t because she was watching her weight—she traveled around too
much to ever worry about her weight—but because the others only had little
snacks and she couldn’t afford a meal for everyone.
Marene, too ate with Ash and Misty. She had missed home cooking. The last time she ate was when she went home
to get the letter for the
Satoshi made himself a
plate, but it wasn’t much. There were
enough for two more people to have seconds, but Satoshi was either too anxious
or too nervous or even both to eat. If
anything, he ate to make up for the lack of a meal he had last night.
The four of them sat at the
table as they ate. If the table were
alive, it’d have told them that it was lonely from only having two people to
serve: Mrs. Ketchum and Mr. Mime. It
had been a long time since the table had more than three people.
Misty noticed that Satoshi
had less to eat than all of them. His
plate was only half full when he started and it wasn’t close to being half
eaten when Ash had gotten up for seconds.
She wondered if it was the Pokemon side of
Satoshi that didn’t require him to eat as much as a human, but then remembered
that he didn’t eat much as well as everyone else last night. Then, Misty realized that he was nervous
about this ever since yesterday. She
remembered what they discussed. Satoshi
wasn’t sure he had wanted to be Satoshi when his heart told him he was Ash—also
Ash.
“Are you okay?” asked Misty
as she was beginning to go after his hand to try to comfort him, but decided
not to do so after all.
“Huh?” asked Satoshi
startled. “Oh, yeah, why wouldn’t I.”
“Satoshi, you’re always off
in your world,” said Marene in agitation.
“Marene, thank you, for coming along with me. I know that
there could be something else you’d be doing.”
Marene looked at Satoshi’s eyes and they were very sincere
when he said it. “Sa… Satoshi… don’t
look at me like that. Besides, I don’t
have anything to do at home anyways. In
speaking of doing something, Ash, what’s there to do in
“Hmm? Well,
“Did you just say Prof.
Oak’s laboratory?” Marene
had read about Prof. Oak somewhere in a pokemon
magazine. She didn’t quite remember what
it said about him, but he was mentioned as one of top the Pokemon
experts in the world. It also read in
the magazine where he lived, but Marene wasn’t able
to remember that much about his actual home.
“Satoshi, you didn’t mention that he lived in the same town you
did?” Marene
made a face that could have scolded a Charizard. Satoshi could tell she was upset.
“Come on, Marene, there was no way for me to tell you,” said Satoshi
knowing there were no way to appease her from keeping that information away
from her.
“Hey, Marene,
I know Prof. Oak very well and I can take you to him later if you want,” asked
Ash. “I even have a close friend there
working as an assistant.”
Marene was excited hear that. It wasn’t because of Prof. Oak’s status as a pokemon expert, but to meet someone famous in that field
was just cool.
“Oh, really, would you?”
“Sure, we can go after mom
and Satoshi are acquainted.”
It sort of bothered Satoshi
that Ash was so casual about having his mother meet him. It was different for Satoshi. It wasn’t meeting another person,
it was meeting his mother for the first time.
It was as if he were born three years later to meeting his mother.
“Satoshi, I’m really
starting to like this side of you,” said Marene
trying to get Satoshi angry, though it had little to no effect at all.
When they were done, Ash
went over to the sink and offered to clean the dishes. Why he offered was because it was his home
and he couldn’t just leave it out like that for his mother. He was just taught that.
When he as done, he was
soaked from the waist up. He wasn’t very
careful.
Ash took off his shirt and
decided to take a shower before his mother was to get home. The time was only 10:50 so he knew he had
plenty of time to get that out of the way.
As he walked by Marene, Satoshi saw a blush in her face and he frowned at
her. Marene
noticed the frown on Satoshi, but she was too embarrassed to acknowledge that
she was embarrassed by Ash with his shirt off.
Satoshi wondered why Marene blushed just at the site. There have been many times he took his shirt
off in front of Marene and it didn’t bother her at
all. Well, to be honest, the first few
times when he did that before her she did blush, but after a while she got over
it. Not only that, but she never blushed
with any other guy taking their shirt off.
Satoshi noticed this the last few times they
went to the beach and a guy just took of his shirt.
*****
Location and Setting: Just
outside of the Ketchum resident Mrs. Ketchum walked through the fence opening
with Mr. Mime.
“I can’t believe that I
forgot my purse,” said Mrs. Ketchum to Mr. Mime.
“Mime,” said Mr. Mime.
Mrs. Ketchum walked to the
door and tested the knob to see if it was locked or not. She remembered it being locked and was sure
it was locked. Yet, there was never
anything to be afraid of since Mr. Mime was always with her.
On the other side of the
door, Satoshi sat there by himself. Marene had to use the girl’s room and Misty led the way to
the rest room in Mrs. Ketchum’s room.
Misty had used that instead of the guest rest room. This information is not necessary at all.
Satoshi was on the couch
when the door opened and she walked in surprised to see her son there.
Satoshi stood up quickly as
if he were doing something he shouldn’t have done. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he starred at
the woman as he sun behind her head reflected her shadow that reached him. It was the closest he had ever stood next to
the woman, but Satoshi knew he had known her forever. There was a thump in his heart beating like the
drums in a tempered medley. Satoshi was
frozen; not of fear or any insecurity, but of surprise, warmth, happiness,
delight, closeness, love and of fulfillment of something he never knew he
desired.
Delia looked at the boy and
was very much happy to see this person.
“Ash!,”
Delia screamed in delight as the one she’s been waiting for finally
arrive. Delia though it was great to
have this person back to her. Her lonely
nights alone with Mr. Mime would be filled with talks with this person about
anything conversation would steer towards.
It would mean it the days before he went away were back for as brief as
when he’ll be packing up and setting off again.
That didn’t matter; what mattered was that he was here now and she
couldn’t enjoy the only man; second only man to make her week in the knees to
see again—maybe third only man.
Satoshi didn’t say
anything. It was as if he were in
shock. As if he had seen something
magnificent and was content into just watching the woman before him. He didn’t need words. For as long as he could remember, all he
wanted was to see this person in front of him and now that has come true. To be associated with her, to be in the same
room was enough.
The woman ran to the boy
and hugged him; embraced him.
Satoshi felt the woman’s
body wrapping around him and the thought it was so warm. It was warmth you only get after being in
front of a fire after being outside for so long. Satoshi was hesitant, but then he began to
feel his arms move as if they had a mind of their own. His arms crawled up and wrapped around the
woman that embraced him. In no time, he
found himself embracing her as hard as she had embraced him. Satoshi didn’t want to return the embrace the
woman was giving him, but his body did otherwise what his insecurities told him
not to do.
Satoshi embraced hard as if
he had never wanted to let go ever again.
Delia heard him cry and she hugged him harder as when she had done to
Ash when he was younger.
Delia was wondering why he
was crying, but that didn’t matter now.
This person was of need of her and she did what came natural to
her. Delia gave the boy motherly love
like Satoshi had only dreamed of remembering.
Satoshi couldn’t control
himself anymore as he whimper and heave as he cried. Delia embraces and patted him in return,
calming him as if he was still only 4 years old.
From up the stairs, Misty
walked down and turned to where the two shared a bond that both had not known
they shared. Misty saw the two and knew
she had almost missed something almost like magic or a miracle.
Delia saw Misty standing
there and noticed that she was crying as well.
Delia knew Misty wasn’t crying out of pain, but her expression was of
joy and happiness. She wondered what had
happened to cause this burst of emotional energy she felt from both of them.
“Dear,” Mrs. Ketchum began
to say, “I don’t know what happened, but I’m here for you and I’ll always be
here. I’m your mother and whatever
troubles you have, I’m always here.”
“Pika,”
said Satoshi unable to express or control whatever he did at the moment.
“Ash, tell me what
happened,” Delia said concerned now as to why that last whimper had meant. “If it’s about your hair being blond, I don’t
care about that. I’m not mad at all.”
Satoshi still had his hat
and so Delia had still not noticed anything that might be out of the realm of
normality. All she knew at the moment
was that this person needed her.
Done from the girls room, Marene stepped out into view to see Ash’s mom with Satoshi
clinging on for dear life. She saw that
Satoshi was very happy. She had never
seen him like that before. Most of the
time, Marene would only get a hint of Satoshi’s
past. Here, it came full circle and she
saw Satoshi in a different light.
Delia saw Marene and wondered who this girl was. She just thought it was another girl Ash
brought home. In recent years, Ash had
brought more and more new girls home. It
bothered her sometimes that one of these girls might be taking her son away
from her, but she always began to like them.
And she did like them when she got to know who they were. Somehow, Delia always learned that they cared
for Ash and she knew that she would be leaving her son in good hands. That was why she never really mind when he brought another girl.
“Misty,” Delia said
addressing Misty, “do you know what’s going on?”
“It’s a very long story,
Mrs. Ketchum,” answered Misty as she wiped the tear from her eyes.
Suddenly, Delia heard
footsteps from just the corner of the next room. She never thought it was suspicious to hear
another person coming from up the stairs.
It might have just been Brock that was up there; she never thought as
Ash made the corner to show himself, that it was Ash.
Delia’s eyes widened to see
her son from over there and also to be embracing the person she as embracing.
“Mom…,” began Ash as she
walked over to her and grasp her shoulder, “meet your other son.
*****
Here we are. Hope you like. Review? Submitted 12/05/06