Ash slowly stood up, only to fall flat on his face and break down.

“Dawn, go tell whoever it is that Ash can’t come to the phone and take a message.” Brock ordered, picking up Ash.

But Ash forced him to put him down. Ash just wanted to wallow in his sorrow. He had been so stupid that someone like Misty would love him like he loved her.

Brock stared at his friend. Thankfully, Pikachu wasn’t there. Pikachu would’ve gone and attacked Misty for hurting Ash. Not that he’d blame him. He didn’t think that anyone would let Misty rejoin the group after this. Not after breaking Ash this bad.

“Brock, I think Ash needs to come here.” Dawn said, returning.

“Alright, help me get him up.” Brock said.

“Right,” Dawn said.

Together they managed to drag Ash to the front. Then Brock saw something that would defiantly make the problem worse. He saw Tracy, Professor Oak, his mother, and some other man that he didn’t recognized.

“SURPRISE!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!” they yelled.

But then they saw Ash crying hysterically on the ground and Brock clutching his stomach. Ash had elbowed him hard in the stomach so that he’d be released.

“My baby! What happened?!” Delia asked Brock while pulling her son in for a hug.

Ash excepted it willfully and cried into his mother like he did when he was little. He still felt save in her arms. But the pain never left.

Brock took a deep breath and then blurted out, “Misty just tore out his heart this morning!!!!!”

Delia, Tracy, and Professor Oak stared wide-eyed at him.

“Misty did?!” Professor Oak questioned in shock.

“But I thought that she loved him!” Tracy argued.

“I thought so too, but she told him that she didn’t and was sleeping with a stranger last night!” Brock pointed out.

“She what?!” Delia snapped, then tightening her hug on Ash, “MY POOR BABY!!!!!”

“PIKAPI!!!!” They heard Pikachu yell.

The next thing they saw was the yellow blur run up to it’s trainer. Ash released his mother and hugged Pikachu, still crying.

“Pikapi! Chu pika chuka?”

“Misty….” Ash whispered.

“PIKACHUPI?!!?!?!?!”

“Don’t hurt her, Pikachu. I was just stupid enough to think that she could ever love a guy like me.” Ash whispered.

“Well, Ashy boy, just get over it. There are plenty of other girls out there!” the mysterious man said.

“Richard!” Delia snapped.

“I can’t, dad. There isn’t another girl…woman in the world like Misty. No one can ever hold my heart again. My heart chose her for it’s love and I can’t change that.” Ash stated.

“Dad?!” Brock snapped.

He looked at the man. He had snow white hair with a streak of black in it. He was extremely tall. His eyes were ice blue. He looked the complete opposite of Ash.

“Well, at least let me give the kid a taste of what you can get when you turn 21.” Richard sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

Ok. So maybe he was a little like Ash.

“Normally, I’d be against it. But it might make Ash feel a little better. Just don’t give him too much, alright Richard?” Delia sighed.

“I promise. You guys figure something that will make him feel happy for when I get back with him. And leave that Misty girl alone. If she doesn’t want my boy then I don’t want to see her.” Richard said, hauling his son up.

“Pikachu!” Ash cried as he was dragged at.

The yellow pokemon followed. They saw the man put a helmet onto Ash’s head and on Pikachu. Then he got on a flame motorcycle. Ash followed suit, placing Pikachu in-between the two of them. Then they took off. Brock swore that if an officer Jenny was there then his dad would have gotten a ticket.

“Him and that metal death trap,” Delia sighed.

“If memory holds, you loved that motorcycle,” Professor Oak stated.

“Yeah, before I had Ash. Then I did everything I could to ensure that he was safe. I didn’t want him to go through any pain. But here he is, torturing himself.” Delia sighed in defeat.

“Hey, where is he taking Ash?” Dawn asked.

Delia smiled a sneaky smile at the three friends.

“You’ll see in a few hours.” She said, “Now to arrange me cooking a good meal for my boy!”

“Oh dear…” Tracy and Brock sighed.

+A few hours later+

“They’re back!” Professor Oak yelled out.

All of Ash’s pokemon, Brock, Dawn, Bunneary, and Tracy ran up front to see their friend come back. They saw Pikachu run in, happy. That was a good sign. It was even better when they heard Ash’s laughter.

“See? What I tell you? I told you he’d be fine,” Misty stated, coming down with her new guy.

They just glared at her.

“Delia! Come here, sweetie! Ash kind of needs some help!” they heard Richard yell.

That wasn’t a good sign. Even Misty was worried. From the doorway appeared Ash and his father. Ash was laughing hard and had a hand wrapped around his waist. He was battered and bruised, much like his father was. Only difference was that he had a gash on his stomach.

“What did I say!?” Delia yelled at the older man.

“Not my fault! He’s the one that went after two!” Richard complained.

“How did he get that one!?” she said, pointing at the gash.

“He was running and slid on some grass and cut himself on some sharp rocks…He had fun, though,” Richard explained.

“I can see that,” Delia scowled.

“Hey! Not my fault! He was the one running!” Richard snapped.

“Yeah, but this was your idea!” Delia accused.

She led her son to a place he could lay down while she treated his wounds. All the while, Ash never stopped laughing. They looked at Pikachu who they know figured out to have been surprised when it came in, not happy, and saw it shrug. Misty stepped closer, earning a scowl from Delia, and noticed the one thing, besides his parents and the professor, that no one else did.

“He’s drunk!” she exclaimed.

Brock’s jaw dropped. His dad took him to a bar. He took his only son to a bar to get drunk. Weird family.

Finally, Ash’s laughter stopped. His eyes had settled on Misty. His dad quickly stepped in.

“Young miss, please leave. I don’t know yet if my son is a violent drunk and I do not plan to. All I know is that he does not like seeing you here.” Richard said.

“You’re right. Brock tell Ash goodbye for me. Knowing him, as soon as he can, he’ll be back on the move.” Misty said waving bye.

“I still can’t believe it was Misty who hurt him,” Professor Oak stated.

“Yeah, she seemed so worried a moment ago.” Tracy agreed.

“Something’s up. I think that she may have been acting,” Delia stated, lifting up her son to take him to bed.

“Maybe, but why lie about her feelings?” Brock asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. For my sweetie,” Delia stated angrily.

Brock opened the door and then left Delia alone with her son. She silently put him to bed just as she had done so many times. She had sang him a silent lullaby to Ash while his father got Misty to leave. It always put him to sleep. She wondered how much longer she could hide her secret from him and the rest of his friends. Delia brushed away a lock of her son’s hair out of his eyes. At the moment, she was only afraid of what he might do to make the pain go away. He may have not said it, but every time he called her, she knew that he was thinking about suicide. She figured that he was upset about Misty having several boyfriends since that time. She feared that she’d either find him having cut himself or that she’d get a call that he’d killed himself. Her entire life she had tried to protect him just as his father did. But not by not showing him the outside world. No. They protected him BY showing him what the world was capable of. By giving him the knowledge to survive. And that knowledge made him a better person. But there was one subject that they forgot to cover. Love. He knew that everything deserved love. The amount varied, but everything deserved love. But they never taught him how to handle the pain of love. She could see it in his body language and eyes. He thought that he was the exception to the rule. That was the one thing that she told him. That people who take love for granted are the only ones who don’t deserve it. He thought that he must have done that. That he took advantage of Misty’s love and now he didn’t deserve any love. How wrong he was. It was Misty who took advantage of his love for her. And yet he still gave it to her. Delia kissed her son’s forehead just as she had done every night when he was younger. She then sat down on the chair by his bed.

“Do you remember? When you called me to ask me what love felt like? I do. I felt so happy. You had your first crush. But I must admit, I was jealous. There was another woman taking a spot in my precious son’s heart. But I still find it funny. You called me in the middle of the night on your cell phone that was for emergencies and I was scared to death something had happened. But all you wanted was your dad’s cell so you could call him. I remember that I was both relieved and annoyed. I asked if you remembered what the phone was for and you said yes and that you really needed to talk with dad. I believed you and gave it to you. I remember asking why you were up so late and you were embarrassed to tell me. I pretty much guessed it then. Then you asked me what love felt like. I asked you why. You said that you thought that you were starting to fall in love but you didn’t know how it felt to love another the way I loved your father. I remember smiling and explaining that it was the most wonderful thing in the world and yet the most dangerous thing in the world. It could make someone feel so happy and that they can do anything. But it can also break the most powerful person. When I saw your face I couldn’t help but laugh. I said that it’s a risk that we all take. And it normally pays off. That it will always be wonderful. But it also depends on how much you want out of it. You pretended to look confuse and I thought that you either were faking it or that your brain was trying to sort it out into a form where you understood. I laughed at your face and told you to call your father. You smiled and said bye. I managed to fall back to sleep for another hour and a half before your dad called me. I fell out of bed and muttered a few words that I wish you would never hear from my mouth. When your dad’s picture appeared, I remember feeling so annoyed. I remember telling him that he was as bad as his son about calling in the middle of the night. He just laughed and told me that he just heard from you. And that you were starting to become his little man for real. I laughed. I was right. You had started to go through puberty and needed to ask your father something about it. Something that happens to most boys at that time. I told him soon we won’t recognize your voice because of voice change. And he said that Pikachu probably had stunted your growth from shocking a lot. I just laughed and told him that I was going to go back to bed. He told me that he loved me and that he wished that he was with me. I remembered what you had said about love and told your father that I thought that you had your first crush. He just laughed and said that was probably why what happened did happen. I laughed and agreed. Then I tried to get off the phone but your father wouldn’t let me. He told me that he wanted to talk so more now that he was wide awake. I had to yell at him to let me off the phone to go to sleep. The next morning, I remember waking to persistent knocking on the door. I fell out of the bed again and stumbled to the door. There stood Professor Oak and Tracy to say good morning and bring me breakfast. I must have looked funny because they couldn’t stop laughing. So after breakfast I told them about your call that night and they still couldn’t stop laughing. I think that if it was possible, they would have died of laughter. The news spend like wild fire through the town and everyone couldn’t wait to hear the next story about you. Had I known then that you’d fall completely head over heels for the girl I’d have warned you better. Had I known that she would hurt you this bad, I’d tell you not to pursue her. I’d tell you to wait till you were older. I’d tell you not to take the risk. But I didn’t know. I didn’t know that she would hurt you. That was the one thing that I always tried to do. To protect you. And this time…This time I couldn’t protect you from the pain. I couldn’t protect you from her. I’m sorry, sweetie. I don’t know how you could ever forgive me. And now, you’re doubting that you deserve love. That you don’t deserve anything that you have. And that isn’t true. You’re a good person, sweetie. You have such a good heart. One that most people would kill to have. And you still have all your friends and family. You still have all your pokemon. We all love you very much, sweetie. And nothing can change that,” Delia told Ash, crying a little at the end.