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Delia has always thrived in mundanity.
She loved the quiet days, the days that were exactly like the ones before it, and will be exactly like the ones who came after it.
She never really understood those who were thrill seekers. Those who liked the adrenaline rush.
She was always a simple girl in life. She liked learning, but didn't really want to do much in life. Her dream was to always settle down somewhere quiet, maybe become a stay at home mother.
She never understood why people in her school stuck their nose up at it. Sure, she was being very traditional. But she wanted to be traditional, and she encouraged those who didn't want that life, to not have it.
Delia always loved taking care of others. Her parents always told her she was older than her years. She always loved nurturing her friends and their pokemon, despite not having any herself. In another life, perhaps if Delia was more risk taking and more adventurous, she would become a nurse or a doctor. But not in this world.
Delia made plenty of friends as a kid. She was always a nice girl, and people liked that about her. She was plain, got good grades. The standard perfectly good girl.
She kept to her routine, made friends easily but never quite got too close to anyone, she reveled in the mundane.
Then, tragedy shook Delia. Her parents passed. Her father was quite old, she expected him to pass soon. And he was sick for a while. This meant Delia made a new routine of going to school, learning and maintaining her grades, then heading to the hospital to keep her father company while her mother left for her night shift. Trying her best to pay off the growing hospital bills.
Despite the graveness of the hospital atmosphere, Delia enjoyed these moments with her father. She may have only been sixteen, taking care of her father while her mother worked herself ragged trying to pay off bills. But her father was always a lively presence. He was much like her in a way, always taking care of people. He was a doctor, he loved pokemon, he loved cheering up people's worlds with a smile.
Delia tried to take that bit of her father with her in her everyday life. Always offering people a smile.
He contrasted her mother quite well. She was extremely adventurous, in a way Delia has never been. Her mother always tried to get Delia to push her limits, try new things and go find adventure. But Delia just isn't that type of person. But kanto tends to run on those types of people. So her mother tries to push her to do more with her life.
But Delia is perfectly content having a quiet little life.
Her father had always encouraged her to live the type of life she wanted, even if he didn't quite understand why Delia would want to settle down before even trying to see the world. He used to be a pokemon trainer, but he realized he really didn't like being one.
Over the years her mother has stopped trying to get Delia to reach out of her comfort zone. But she's been too busy working to really be around much.
Delia doesn't blame her mother, bills need to be paid and she tries to stay by her father's side whenever her mother can't. And Delia is more than content taking on a majority of the household chores and taking care of her father's Espeon. She likes psychic types, she never feels like she might have to explain herself to them. They just know.
It helps that Espeon is a nice pokemon, and helps Delia around the house. (When it's not trying to dunk her mother's rattata in the toilet using psychic.)
Delia spends her time taking care of the house while her mother is too exhausted to, doing her schoolwork and keeping up her grades because her parents always wish her too, and taking care of her father as he's in and out of the hospital.
It may not be exciting, or even that happy. But Delia likes the safety of routine.
It's when that routine breaks does Delia start getting anxious.
When her father passes, after years of Delia living her routine between housework, school, and the hospital. Delia feels distraught.
She misses her father dearly, without his smiles the world seems a little duller. A little quieter without his boisterous laughter. A little more sad without her father's cheerful words and never ending upbeat attitude.
But Delia quickly creates a nest routine, just so she could keep herself together. She doesn't want to fall apart. Not when she still has her mother, and her mother is quickly falling apart without the soft comfort of her father.
Her new routine is a little busy. She's got finals for her school, failing these may mean she won't get into a higher education later In life, should she choose it. And her mother is falling apart, meaning money is needed, so Delia picks up two new jobs. One as a server in a restaurant, the other as a grooming assistant at a pokemon care center. The rest of her time she spends taking care of the house and her mother. While she's not home, rattata stays with her mother.
Espeon is her faithful assistant throughout it all. Now that her father is gone Espeon has taken to taking care of Delia. The two were very similar in striving to take care of others. With Espeon no longer having her father to dote on. She's taken to doting on Delia Instead.
Delia doesn't mind the attention. Delia takes care of Espeon. And, in the quiet moments where Delia has no choice but to break from her routine and breakdown, Espeon takes care of her.
It's a struggle keeping up the routine, keeping her grades up while she maintains two jobs and the house. But she settles into it. She enjoys the constants in her life while she still has them.
Her life continues to crumble a bit everyday, but she keeps up the constants. She sticks with what she knows. She actually quite enjoys her server job, she talks with a lot of people who have grand stories. From the mundane life to the grand life. She hears stories from traveling trainers just starting their journeys. She hears stories from people struggling to keep their life in check as they try to earn money in their dwindling job. She hears stories from a little old lady who visits the restaurant every Saturday. She loves the stories she hears. She loves hearing about their lives.
So many different people going through so many different things. And Delia loves hearing about it.
The love Delia has about these stories make her a server favorite for many people and she starts to succeed in this job. Much more than she was as a groomer. Not that she didn't also like that job. The pokemon were cute, but she's not as much of a pokemon fanatic as some other people she knows.
Slowly Delia helps to pay off the debt her mother had built up in medical bills.
Slowly her life turns and continues its routine.
When Delia turns seventeen though, her life turned completely upside down.
Her mother's death was a complete accident. A footnote as she was hit by a drunk driver while walking to her night job.
Delia didn't even know until two days after she died.
Delia was left on her own for the first time in her life. She had no other living family members, but she was already an adult in kanto, and has been for seven years now.
This means she's treated as an adult. She was just about to graduate from school, able to head to a higher university should she choose to. She has two jobs, one of which she loves and would probably pursue through the rest of her life. She has two pokemon. A rattata and an Espeon that were originally her parents.
Rattata is given away, her mother's will having it go to her sneering best friend.
Delia never liked her, and she didn't reach out to her once.
The house goes to Delia, although the costs of it are quickly piling on her. She thinks she might have to sell it soon. She should stay afloat another six months or so, but not very long after that.
Her mother's life insurance goes to the medical debt she racked up. Just when Delia was about to pay it off herself.
There's a lot of legal stuff for Delia to work out. But she has no clue how to.
She may be an adult by legal standing, but she feels anything but.
When Delia graduates she doesn't go to the ceremony, she is busy working. Trying to pay off bills she was left with and keeping her and Espeon fed.
She picks up a third job after she graduates, and applies to dozens of jobs, even those outside her city. Just to find something that may pay enough for her to live.
She loves being a server, but she can't sustain herself off of that salary. Maybe if she moved to a smaller town and downsized her house. Maybe.
But that's not her reality.
For now Delia rushes around frantically, her routine completely forgotten as she sleeps when she has time and works when she's ordered.
Espeon grows worried for her day after day, but Delia keeps going. With her routine gone Delia starts to crumble. She starts to decay and break down and spiral.
She misses her routine and she can't handle not having her mundane little life. She feels like her world is falling down around her as her head is underneath the water. Drowning.
Espeon tries to help when it can, but she doesn't think anything can help her.
Then she gets a job offer from Professor Oak.
The job is simple, she would be an assistant. Grooming the pokemon, feeding and watering them. Organizing files and cleaning the laboratory.
He apparently liked that Delia had experience grooming pokemon and had great reviews, and her grades in schooling.
It pays well. And Pallet town is the exact little town that Delia has always dreamed about living in.
But that would mean moving out of her city that she's always known. Moving away from everything she's always known. Moving away from the routine she always had.
But it might be the only choice she has. She can't afford to live here. She can't keep living her life like this. This is her chance to move away from all her troubles.
She accepts the job, and she quickly starts trying to tie up the loose ends in the city. The first thing she does is clean up the house, and starts trying to sell it. With the limited money she has she manages to hire someone to help her with that. It is a pretty nice house, and sells very quickly at a higher price than what she was asking.
She's grateful for the money as she can afford to move to Pallet town. She rents a small house, wouldn't fit a family but fits her and Espeon perfectly.
She finishes tying up legal things in her home city, and finishes opening up legal things in Pallet town. And soon she's working in Professor Oak's laboratory.
She has no idea why Professor Oak would choose her, she knows he's got plenty of other candidates. She has no clue how she managed to catch his attention for him to offer her a job. But she's grateful for the opportunity and she tells him whenever she gets the chance.
Her life falls back into the routine she loves.
Pallet town is quiet, and she loves it like that. While she works with Professor Oak she grooms pokemon, keeps track of where they are and what they are doing. She cares for them and feeds them. She takes care of the pokemon while Professor Oak is too busy. Delia loves it.
She may not be much of a pokemon person, but she does love taking care of people and pokemon.
She's met quite a few pokemon at this job, and she loves each and every one of them.
Espeon helps her with the filing and sorting of files (when she's not trying to dump some poor pokemon that's gotten on her nerves that day in the toilet. (One time she tried to dunk a Tyranitar in the toilet (she managed to clog the entire town's plumbing with that one Grimer she dunked and then proceeded to flush down the toilet. She was sure she was going to be fired. But Professor Oak found it hilarious and laughed for days about it.)))
Delia has to say, however, that her favorite part of the job was talking with the pokemon trainers, and the people in town.
She adored hearing the stories. Of people and their farms. Of people and their families. Of people and their grand adventures.
Delia quickly realizes she has a dream for herself. She wants to save money to create a restaurant in Pallet town. A place where wandering travelers can stop and rest a while and tell Delia stories of where they come from. What they do. A place where farmers can wake with the sun and come there to eat breakfast, telling Delia all about their life. A place where townsfolk can come in and talk with Delia about their troubles and problems.
Delia wants it deeply.
Professor Oak seemed surprised when she mentioned it to him, but no less encouraging. Professor Oak was quite nice, he's become like a mentor to Delia as she figures out life and how to be an adult.
He's nice, and is willing to look past Delias many, many mistakes. He's a great conversationalist if you can get past all the poems (that Delia has to smile and nod to.) And pokemon science (that confuses Delia.) She likes learning about his younger life. Delia likes it as he tells her about his own pokemon journey. Of his son and family.
It's interesting just how much you can learn about someone by listening and talking to them. By simply opening an ear and keeping an open mind. Delia always makes sure to keep an open mind and always tries to find something she can learn from every conversation. She likes learning about people. She likes talking with them and taking care of people.
It may not be a life many people understand. But she enjoys the quiet life, where the most adventurous part of her day was talking with those who have the more exciting life.
She saves up money dutifully, Professor Oak pays generously, especially after she showed interest in her new dream. He says he likes to encourage the youth to chase their dreams. Whether it be to become the best pokemon trainer in the world, or to live a simple life and open a simple diner.
He reminds her much of her father in a way.
Her days contain the same routine now. She feeds the pokemon as soon as she gets to work. Then she starts to organize the files the forgetful pokemon Professor has no doubt managed to mess up in an afternoon. She eats her lunch and grooms the pokemon on the schedule. (Water pokemon get washed every day. poison types on a need to be washed basis. Grass types on Thursdays. Fire types every Friday (mainly with her chasing them around trying to coax the many fire types that a little water won't hurt it.) Bug types and flying types get washed on Saturdays as Delia has a longer shift and those were the most common types. Rock and ground are washed every other Tuesday, as they thrive in the mud but do need to get washed. Electric, fighting, and ghost Pokémon all get washed on Mondays. Normal types and psychic types get washed on wednesdays. And ice types on the opposite Tuesdays as the rock and ground types. (The ice types take the longest, constantly freezing the water before it can touch them.) Of course depending on the specific type or the individual pokemon different schedules will be used. After all, Arcanine would need more brushing of its fur then a geodude would.) Then she cleans the laboratory, this wasn't something she was hired for, but Delia enjoys it after a long day of caring for pokemon. It relaxes her, and Espeon helps tidy up. Professor Oak appreciates her effort.
All in all, Delia finds the predictable chaos of the pokemon endearing. And she makes sure to take great care and love with each and everyone of them.
She finds a few pokemon that she particularly enjoys. She makes quick friends with the friendly Arcanine that likes to lick her entire face and makes her bangs stick straight up with its slobber. After grooming it usually Delia needs a wash too. (Actually after washing most of the pokemon does Delia need a wash herself, who knew washing pokemon could get so messy.)
She adores the little Abra that has a tendency to fall asleep on her. She's gotten used to doing plenty of Ranch tasks while the Abra is held to her chest like a baby while it sleeps.
There's a tricky Hypno that keeps hypnotizing Delia into giving it more food after she's already fed it. She may have to act stern but she can't help but have a smile at its antics.
She also finds a small Seel that does tricks in front of Delia whenever she sees it. She claps whenever she sees it doing a trick, praising it. It does tend to make wash time very splashy though.
All in all, Delia loves taking care of the pokemon. Maybe in another life Delia would be a ranch leader, or a pokemon nurse, like nurse joy. But instead Delia continues to save for her diner. Each day watching with shining eyes as her jar grows in size everyday, saving up to buy the down payment on a property by the lab. Everyday Delia passes by her maybe restaurant as she walks to work. Espeon dutifully by her side.
Another part of her job that Delia enjoys is the raising of pokemon. Professor Oak raises all of the starter pokemon he gives to new trainers from the egg. So Delia learns how to take care of eggs, and how to raise baby pokemon.
Professor Oak tends to be quite forgetful and gets distracted quite easily. So Delia keeps the baby pokemon company, plays with them, feeds them. She watches them grow and smiles as a group of ten year Olds stampede into the laboratory as they scramble to get their starter first. She folds her hands and tells the kids to take great care of them. One of the kids rolls their eyes at her while the other two cheer. Soon the three are stampeding out the door to leave Pallet town. Delia giggles at their excitement.
She wonders what kind of stories those kids will grow to have.
She misses the pokemon that she raised. But she knows they'll live a good life as they are partnered with children who would be their age in pokemon years.
She pats Espeon on the head, who sits vigil on the desk next to her. Espeon leans into her hand.
Though Delia has to say, the best part about her job is talking with the trainers who come back to visit the ranch.
Either to visit their family back in Pallet, to visit their pokemon as they take a small break from traveling, or to talk with Professor Oak and quit traveling all together.
They all have so much personality, so many stories to tell. Of loss to wins to new beginnings. So many things they have to tell. So many things they want to say.
Delia loves hearing all of it, she enjoys the conversations and always tries to have at least one with every trainer who comes by. Even if they brush her off as a stupid farm hand.
But she loves the ones who open up, who indulge her with stories of what they've been through. From the mundane to the exciting Delia soaks it up like a sponge.
She hears stories from ten year Olds, excited for the chance to leave on their adventure. She hears stories from people her age and older about their past love life's and their troubles. She hears stories with people getting to Professor Oak's age and older about their regrets and what ifs they could've done in life.
Delia treasures them dearly.
Then she meets him.
He was a very charming young man. He was a little older then Delia, nineteen soon to be twenty as she's still eighteen close to nineteen.
He spun amazing stories, he could make even a trip to the grocery store interesting. He weaves his words craftily and entices Delia with every word. He creates beautiful scenery with just his vocabulary. Delia listens to his words like a dehydrated man drinks his glass of water.
He's clever, charming, and very flirty. He charms Delia quickly and soon she realizes she has a crush on him. He's staying in Pallet for a few weeks as he takes a break from traveling, having gotten quite a poor score in the league he participated in recently. But he declares he's not giving up, he'll get it eventually.
Delia believes him. She believes one day she'll see his face on the screen, waving a trophy around with a stupid grin.
His determination endears her further, she has him promise that he'll come back to Pallet town. Tell her everything he sees.
He never does but Delia didn't know that at the time.
Delia loved him. The two had quite the romance when he stayed those few weeks. She quickly realized she was pregnant. She told him overjoyed. He seemed happy, but the day after he declared it was time for him to go on the road. It was time for him to leave. Delia waits for him.
She never sees him again. The few times she manages to wrangle him for a phone call, he manages to hang up after just a few minutes. Delia gives up after a while, absent parents are pretty expected in kanto.
She raises her son on her own.
It's a new routine, but it's a routine nonetheless. Delia upgrades her house, using a portion of her savings and the money from selling her house to get a bigger house. One big enough for her, Espeon and a kid.
She spends her days trying to pad her savings as much as possible. She resigns herself to not being able to open her diner for a while.
Professor Oak thankfully doesn't seem to mind her now pregnant status. He does make sure she's not overworking herself and gives her tips when she asks. Delia is thankful that Professor Oak has already raised a kid, and helps Delia when she doesn't quite understand anything.
Professor Oak has taken Delia under his wing, as such Delia is treated like one of his own.
It's a total coincidence Professor Oak's son happens to have a grandson just as Delia is about to. He's ecstatic and Delia feels the small veins of hope thrumming in anticipation every day she comes further along.
She builds a small nursery herself, with no one but Espeon for help. It's pokemon themed, Delia thought it was fitting.
She spends her time going about her earlier routine, sometimes Professor Oak has her head home early when he sees her working too hard. Or like she was sick. (morning sickness is the worst.)
She continues to try and groom the pokemon. A majority seem to have noticed the little being in her stomach and a large majority grow protective and docile. Professor Oak finds it fascinating how pokemon act around a pregnant person, how docile and protective they grow. He's writing a newspaper on it now.
Arcanine has taken to running after many of the pokemon who need to be washed instead of Delia doing it. Sitting vigil next to her like Espeon, watching and keeping her safe. She finds it adorable.
She goes about her normal routine, struggling a bit when she gets to her last trimester. But she tries her best, she can still do a lot of the filing and organizing and cleaning. If with a lot of breaks. Espeon helps a lot. It's taken to dunking less pokemon into toilets now. Professor Oak gives her a raise, Delia knows it's for the baby, but when pestered about it Professor Oak simply says he needs to reward his assistant with her dutiful work.
Delia gives up after a while of trying to pester him about it, knowing he won't take it back. She doesn't like being given more money, simply because she's pregnant. But it's probably best to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
It's just enough for her to save up for the restaurant again.
During her second trimester Professor Oak finds a pikachu in the wiring of the abandoned lot Delia hopes will become her new diner. The pikachu has a pokeball, having been abandoned.
And it was not happy with humans. The pikachu refuses to get into its pokeball, so Delia and Professor Oak decide it's best to not keep it in it. One day she tries to get close to the pikachu.
It shocks her thoroughly. Professor Oak was extremely worried when that happened, even as Delia swore up and down that she was fine, the pikachu didn't shock too hard. Professor Oak refuses to let her help with the pikachu after that. Delia resigns herself to not helping ir, but she's busy enough with everything else to worry about the poor pokemon.
One day, while Delia is trying to organize files, the time comes. Espeon seems to realize before her, as it immediately tries to get her away from the files and out of the laboratory. She doesn't understand. But she understands very quickly. She has no clue what to do, the plans she had fleeing from her mind in an instant. She ends up heading to Professor Oak, feeling like a scared little girl.
Professor Oak immediately drives her to the nearest hospital. She's freaking out the entire time, but Professor Oak comforts her, with steady and calming words. He ends up telling Delia of when his son was being born, telling her a story that calms her down enough that when she gets to the hospital she's less of a mess. He hands her off to the nice nurses and she doesn't see him until a full day later, he stayed at the hospital the whole time. Taking care of her like he would a daughter.
Delia somehow remembers nothing and everything. She remembers the pain, the fear, the adrenaline. She remembers the kind nurses, offering praise and calming hands on her biceps. She remembers one stroking a hand through her hair as she calmly walks Delia through the process.
In the end, Delia is exhausted and worn out. She wants nothing more than to lie down and fall asleep. She barely keeps her arms from shaking as she holds the baby in her arms, skin to skin contact being important. She barely understands the fact that the thing in her arms was her son at all. She doesn't remember when it was taken from her arms, but it wasn't for long.
As soon she's handled a bundle of blankets, her son swaddled tightly within them. Delia looks down at the little baby in her arms. So fragile, so vulnerable. Someone who looks up at her and knows nothing but her. Someone Delia wants to take care of.
She's crying, but it's not one of sadness, or fear. It's of hope, of happiness and anticipation for what happens next.
The small baby opens his eyes, and Delia nearly cries harder. Beautiful brown eyes, a few shades darker than Delia's. Round, full of life, and so wide. She cries, pressing her forehead to the little baby's head.
She promises then, that she would do anything for him.
Delia realizes love. She's felt love at many points in her life. From the love she gives to her parents, to the love she gives to Espeon and pokemon, to the love she once gave to a fleeting pokemon trainer.
But the love she feels right now is so overwhelming. It courses through every part of her. She sits there holding her son, who she may love more than anything else in this world.
She swears she'll do anything for him. She swears she'll be the best mother she could be. She swears she'll be there for him.
When the nurses ask what she'll name him, she doesn't know why the first thing that came to her mind was the old stories she used to read as a kid. Seeking out adventure in a way she never wanted herself. The stories of hero's facing great threats. The stories of princes and knights as they try to save the world. She thinks of one's chosen by the gods to complete a great deed.
She doesn't know why the first thing that came to her mind was Ash. But she thinks it was a good choice.
Ash ketchum. A name that Delia is sure will take the world by storm.
She adores the little child. He somehow fits right into Delia's little life. Professor Oak gave her ample paid time off for maternity leave, which means it was her, Espeon, and the baby for a long while. In this time, Delia has somehow learned to love her child even more.
Every day he grows up just a little bit. And Delia loves him more and more.
She loves when he opens his eyes gazing around the room with curious little eyes. The way he rests his head on Delia, giving so much trust only a child could give to their caretaker. The way he scrunches up his nose when he's about to cry.
Delia feels like he's growing so quickly, but somehow so slowly. When he reaches out to hold Delia's finger she nearly cries. He's just so small, and adorable. And Delia has no clue what she's doing. But she swears she'll try to give the small being the best life she could give it.
He has a great set of lungs on him, but Delia doesn't think she minds. It means the once silent house she used to live in is now full of life and noise. She may like a quiet life but she thinks she likes this life even more.
When she was still pregnant she threw a small baby shower. She wasn't expecting many to show up, besides Professor Oak. But the whole town showed up. She apparently endeared them to her simply by being someone they could talk with. Someone everyone could listen to. She never knew her habit of seeking out stories would cause her to have a community, but Delia is glad for it. She got countless tips from the moms in the town and she got so many gifts that her baby adores.
She watches as Ash stares up at the little pikachu mobile, reaching out his little hands towards it. He starts babbling and smiling so quickly.
His smile should remind Delia of the fleeting pokemon trainer she once knew. As day by day the little baby shows less and less resemblance to Delia and more to him. But instead Delia sees her father in him. The bright eyes and the beautiful smile. Delia doesn't see her old flame in him, instead she sees someone Delia has spent her entire life trying to embody.
She couldn't be happier.
Of course the little baby does grow to have a few of Delia's features. Big round eyes and his face shape mostly. And soon as his eye color lightens it looks a closer shade to Delias. Still slightly dark but in the light her eyes can be seen on the small baby. Those eyes that hold so much love and hope. She never wants to see those eyes change.
Every day he grows Delia finds something new. She used to be scared of things breaking her routine. But she's found she doesn't mind this little creature breaking her routine. Being a mother is chaotic, and changes daily. But Delia adores this life still.
Especially when she looks at Espeon's sour look whenever the little Ash's hands reach out and grab at its ear fluffs whenever it gets too curious and tries to sniff at the baby.
Espeon likes the little baby too, even if it acts annoyed when Ash accidentally messes with it.
And she's only had to stop Espeon from dunking Ash in the toilet twice!
Delia has become quite a chatterbox around the house, talking through even the most simple tasks. She loves hearing stories, she wonders if her son will too. So she talks, she's not used to being the one crafting stories. But she does anyway. His wide eyes seem to take in every word, watching her flit around the house as she cleans. It doesn't really need to be cleaned, she hasn't been one to really make a mess. But she still enjoys doing the action.
When she eventually goes back to work with Ash by her side, the pokemon all try their best to take care of him when Delia has to look away for a second. Some, like Espeon and a baby Bulbasaur are better at it. While Arcanine, who is having trouble realizing it was too big for the little baby to play with, is worse at it. But the baby is the most active when with the pokemon, reaching out to grab any pokemon he could. Espeon hates it when he grabs onto its little ear tufts, but has grown to begrudgingly tolerate the baby. But it seems all pokemon attract his attention equally, every passing pokemon has a tendency to fall victim to his grabby hands. Delia tries to stop it when she can, she doesn't want to know what would happen if he became victim to a startled and hurt pokemon attack due to his grip.
Ash grows to be quite the handful. But a handful Delia loves. He constantly escapes his crib once he grows mobile enough to run around. He constantly manages to get himself into trouble when Delia looks the other way. And seems to never understand the trouble he's actually gotten himself into.
It worries Delia. But she realizes pretty quickly that Ash is durable. She's watched him face plant into the floor, come up with a bloody nose, not even address it before continuing to play, enough times to give her a heart attack.
But what he doesn't have in self preservation instinct, he has in enthusiasm.
He reminds Delia of her father every day. The smile he gives to everything he can see, always cheering up Delias day simply by twitching his mouth upward. His never ending kindness Delia sees grow more and more each day.
One day Ash had brought her a pidgey he found in the woods. The poor creature having broken its wing. Delia taught Ash how to bandage the wing, and Delia watched as Ash slowed down for once in his life to take care of it. Ash had always been an excitable kid, moving around faster than most could blink. But for the first time since he could Walk, Delia watched Ash care for the pidgey with a gentleness she's never seen him have. He cared for it slowly, often slowing down his running around the house to adjust for the pidgey on his shoulder. As the pidgey got better it developed a habit of nesting in the hood of Ash's sweatshirt he would wear outside the house during spring and fall seasons. He may have been young, but Ash shows great promise at being a caretaker.
Delia supposes it's not just her father who he got that from, but her as well.
As he's grown Ash has developed more and more of an interest in pokemon. His world revolves around the creatures.
He will often join Delia in heading to the ranch so he could play with the pokemon. And his best friend, Gary oak.
Tragedy had struck when Gary was just two years old, and left Professor Oak with his grandson. Gary seems to be nice.
He's growing quite an ego, but Ash takes to it like a fish does water. The two balance eachother out well. When together Delia knows the two will be fine facing whatever.
Gary curbs Ash's reckless abandon quite well, while Ash pushes Gary to get better. To try harder and grow past what he thought was necessary. Ash forces Gary to grow past his satisfaction that he's the best and to keep growing. While Gary forces Ash to slow down, think for a second before jumping in face first. Gary makes Ash actually think about himself for once, and make the rational decision.
Delia knows the two will be great friends in the future.
When Ash is nearly six, Delia finally saves up enough money to open her restaurant. It's a very happy day for her. The entire town came to the grand opening. Delia cried thoroughly as she opened the doors to her completed restaurant. She doesn't think she'll forget that moment, or watch as Ash flits around the place excitedly. Not quite understanding why Delia was so happy, but being happy his mother is happy.
That's another similarity to her father she supposes. His encouragement to everything, no matter if he understood it or not.
Delia quits her job at the ranch, Professor Oak takes her resignation with pride. Happy she was able to achieve her dream. No matter how small it may seem to people.
She and Professor Oak still talk frequently, it helps that their wards are best friends. In fact the two have resolved to have tea together every Sunday.
With her restaurant open, and her son running around being him. Delia finds her life to be perfect. Exactly how she wants it to be. She wouldn't make any changes to it. It's quiet in Pallet town, but with Ash's enthusiastic talking that often veers towards shouting when he's excited about something, the town fills up with noise. The entire town is pleasant, she's made many friends she sits around having tea with. Many farmers come to rest at her restaurant and she eagerly listens to them talk about their life and experiences. Many trainers who come to Pallet town for a night before setting off again who sit in Delia's restaurant to eat something before leaving.
Delia knew that eventually, her son was going to be one of those trainers. He's always loved pokemon, and has always been vocal about that fact. He's always loved adventures, much unlike Delia. He'd spend hours away from home exploring the forests by Pallet town and trying out every nook and cranny of the town. Gary faithfully by his side to make sure he didn't get into trouble larger than he could handle. Delia knew he would eventually want to go somewhere other than Pallet town.
Ever since he understood what a pokemon trainer was, what a battle was. He had wanted to partake in it.
Delia always knew that once Ash turned ten he would be leaving home as soon as that clock ticked down to midnight. She's had years to prepare for it. And Delia has come to terms with it. She knows her son would visit home whenever his journey allowed it, and she knows he'll call whenever he could.
It's a bit of a surprise when she sees her son with the same pikachu she met nearly ten years ago. But she knows the two will become good friends in time. Ash is stubborn, and if he gets something into his mind, like wanting to befriend something, he'll do it if it's the last thing he does.
She knows it's the same for his dream to become a pokemon master.
So in front of half the town who's come to join her in waving her son off (they were they're since Delia held him, and it helps that Ash has that kind of blinding smile that makes you just want to open your heart.) She hugs her son, smiling as she feels him hug back.
She tells him to stay safe, and to call whenever he can. That she loves him.
She smiles, forcing the tears back as she waves her son off as he runs out of the town to catch up with the rest of his rivals.
Ash is reckless, is a bit obnoxious, and tends to either be someone's best friend or worst enemy.
But he also has enough enthusiasm to make even the worst cynic to lighten up. He has a tendency to make people want to trust him and open the deepest parts of their heart to him. He has the determination to bulldoze past impossible obstacles and break down barriers those before him have struggled to overcome for decades.
Delia has no doubt, that by the end of his journey, he'll become the very best like no one ever was. He may not become a pokemon master, but she's sure he'll go down in history, one way or another.
The next months in Pallet town are quiet. But Delia enjoys the quiet. She may not enjoy it as much anymore without her son's excited rambling. But she loves it when he calls and talks excitedly about all he's done. He eventually makes it to the league and finishes in sixteenth place. It's not the first place she knows her son was aiming for, but she's proud of him anyway. The biggest challenge is usually making it to the league itself, from what she's heard from Professor Oak.
When he comes back to Pallet the town throws a celebration. It's not often one of their own makes it to the league. A lot of the people in Pallet also just like the chance to party.
He comes with two new friends, Misty and Brock. The two were quite nice, and lively. Brock seems to mother hen Ash a bit, and Delias glad someone's there to make sure he keeps himself safe as Gary and Ash hadn't traveled together as they declared they would as children.
Misty seems like a fiery young girl. A take no crap kind of person while also being kind and vulnerable when you get to know her. Delia is glad there's someone to keep Ash in check.
The two seem to be good friends with Ash, and Delia enjoys hearing their interactions as Misty and Ash banter back and forth as Brock tries to break it up when it gets too heated.
Delia is sure that the three will continue to be good friends. No matter how much Misty and Ash claim that they aren't friends.
Soon enough Ash is running off again to the orange islands to run an errand for Professor Oak with Misty and Brock close behind. Delia feels a little lighter as she watches him go this time, seeing how happy traveling makes him.
Gary comes back to Pallet town in that time taking a break from traveling to rest. Which means Delia has time to prod him about his own journey. He spoke with Professor Oak much less than Ash spoke with her. Professor Oak struggled to wrangle Gary for a call, as he apparently often sent some girl to call for him for the check ups Professor Oak does for every trainer.
Despite how Gary proudly brags about his badges and his success, Delia can tell there lingering insecurity underneath it all. She doesn't realize what it was until she was talking with Professor Oak about how Brock has left the group to help Professor Ivy at her lab. While a new boy, Tracey has joined the group. Tracey has seemed to taken Brock's position as referee in Misty and Ash's fights, even as both Misty and Ash have cooled off quite a bit. And begrudgingly call each other friends.
She notices Gary's sour look when she speaks of Ash's friends and she realizes what's been bothering him so much. She doesn't know what's made Ash and Gary hate eachother so much. But she knows that Ash would still like to be friends with Gary, if he'll lower his guard and pride a bit to allow Ash back in. And she's pretty sure Gary still wants to be friends, but refuses to lower his pride enough to apologize for whatever happened, or to give Ash a few sappy words about how much he's missed him. And Delia also knows Gary has been envious of the way Ash is able to open people's hearts and touch them in a way only he could.
Gary has always been good at gaining attention, but he's never really been able to make actual friends besides Ash. Oh he's gained admirers, but most only cared because he was Professor Oak's grandson. He's good at batting his eyelashes and flirting with girls in a much older way then he should at ten, but never quite able to gain a deeper relationship beyond simple flirting.
Gary knows Ash makes friends, loyal, deep friends, much easier then he could ever. Gary has been on his journey for nearly a year, but he hasn't made a single actual friend. He's jealous of the way Ash can make someone his friend, be so easily friendly in a way Gary never has been.
And perhaps he's a little jealous watching Ash's friends, knowing that could've been him if he could let his pride down. Perhaps he's a little guilty, not wanting to lose his only real friend over some petty fight.
But Gary covers it up with bragging. Doesn't let anyone see the insecurity festering inside him.
Delia doesn't mention it, she knows she needs to let him make his own mistakes. Professor Oak does as well, but he seems amused by the childish bragging Gary gives.
A few months pass as Ash travels through the orange islands while Delia continues her routine life in Pallet.
Her world nearly crashes to a stop as she hears about the disaster that happened in the orange islands while Ash was there. Of the prophecy, of the legendary birds, of lugia. Of Ash nearly dying.
It's not in a parent's nature to outlive their child, and Delia was almost forced to do just that. When Delia made it to the orange islands she hugs her son, feeling the warmth he gives off and reminding her that he wasn't dead. She then proceeds to scold him. She's given him a scolding many times in his life, many times for being reckless.
Misty tries to tell her that Ash saved the world.
Delia isn't sure she likes that, sure the world may be saved. But her world nearly had to die to do it.
Delia has never claimed to be a selfless person. And she supposes she's quite selfish to say she would prefer her world over everyone else's. But she does.
But she knows she can't stop Ash. She named Ash after heroes she used to read about, heroes and chosen ones that adventured wherever they could. She knew that stopping Ash from this would be stripping away his birthright.
So she simply asks Ash to save the world a little closer to home next time. Ash agrees, but he doesn't uphold his promise.
While Ash tells Delia about the upbeat part of his journey, Brock tells Delia about the darker parts. Delia and Brock talk a lot, unfortunately not usually with good news.
The fear Delia feels festers through the years as Brock tells her more and more about what happens, with Ash refusing to tell her. He'll sometimes tell her some of the scarier parts, but he usually brushes past them when he sees how scared she gets. Delia doesn't want him to protect her, she's his mother, she's the one who's supposed to protect him. Not the other way around.
But she knows she can't protect him, not when he constantly puts himself in danger for someone else. She gets to see it first hand when she gets kidnapped by a little girl named Molly and Entei. Ash of course has to be the hero, and saves her. But not without diving off the edge of a cliff to sharp jagged rocks to be saved by a pokemon he all but released earlier. For a few, terrified second Delia thought her son was going to die. That she was going to hear the terrifying crunch or perhaps the squelch as he lands on the jagged rocks.
For a few, brief seconds, Delia saw her world collapse.
It didn't, Ash was saved. But that crushing fear still gripped her long after he saved the day.
And yet, Delia watched as her son gave endless kindness to the little girl that had kidnapped her. Promising they'll get her to a family and that she'll be okay. He helps the little girl talk with the police, and hugs her goodbye as they separate. He scribbled his pokedex number onto a small piece of paper. Telling her to call whenever she wanted or needed to talk with someone.
It was the right call, Molly obviously needed someone in her corner. But it still ached as Delia watched her son treat someone who might have hurt him with such kindness. Molly didn't mean to hurt anyone, but anyone in Ash's position would feel upset, or angry. Instead he's the best big brother someone could find.
They got into an argument after that. With raised voices and splintering tempers.
Delia felt so scared, so fearful. She just wanted her son to be safe. She just wanted her son to be happy. Those two wishes counteract each other.
Her son won't be safe as long as he's on his journey. Her son won't be happy trapped in Pallet town.
Her son tells her she can't stop him from traveling. She knows she can't. She doesn't want to.
She just wants him to be safe.
She accuses him of being selfish, of not caring about her feelings.
If anything, Delia is the selfish one. And she knows it and Ash knows it.
After that argument the two have never truly been the same. Ash hides the scary and dangerous parts of his journey even more with her. At least she used to know what would go on with him, now she doesn't.
Brock would still tell her, and she knows Ash knows Brock is telling her. The two don't talk about it.
It's easier to pretend everything is perfectly fine, that Ash's journey is perfectly safe. Then for Delia to feel that crushing fear of her son almost dying. For Delia to want to stop her son from traveling.
This way, the two stay civil. This way the two feel pleasant.
Delia knows this isn't healthy. That talking about your feelings is important, and it's important for a child to feel like they could confide in their parents.
But Delia can't, she just can't be that confide. She knows she should, but she can't.
She wonders if Ash feels resentment at the way Delia holds back that comfort. As much as Delia resents herself for it.
She knows she's selfish. She knows.
But she can't stop herself.
When Ash goes to unova, suddenly she's cut off from the truth of what's going on. With Brock having gone to medical school, Ash was on his own. This meant Delia had no clue what scary things were happening there. She just knew it was happening. That Ash was dealing with it. And he was dealing with the trauma that came with it.
Without her.
For the first time since Delia came to stay in Pallet town, it sounds frighteningly silent. Even for her.
Delia knows she should be helping her son through it, but she can't. She would prefer to keep out of the mess, pretend like everything is fine.
She doesn't want to accuse Ash of being selfish again.
When Ash heads to kalos, he almost completely cuts contact with everyone. Delia misses him viciously. She loves her son, no one could ever deny that. And she feels terrible when he stops talking with her completely. It's only helped with the fact he stopped talking with everyone. Professor Oak, Brock, Misty, everyone.
It's only slightly easier knowing that it wasn't completely Delia that pushed Ash away so much.
It still hurt quite a bit. When she hears about the kalos crisis, she was resigned. She knew Ash was going to come home, act like everything was going completely fine before leaving on another grand adventure. She was guessing Galar next.
That doesn't happen. Ash tries to act fine with her. His haunted and tired eyes tell her the truth. The way he lies in his bed, completely motionless for hours at a time, like he had no energy to move. The way his eyes grow lifeless when he thinks she's not looking.
Somehow this terrifies Delia more than nearly watching Ash die.
This is much worse than death.
Watching Ash be sucked dry of the energy, the kindness, the life, that made him Ash, crushes Delia. She has no clue what to do, or what happened to make him this way. She burned the bridge for Ash to talk to her about what's hurting him long ago. Now all she can do is see if he'll talk with someone he can't trust enough to talk with. Ash stays in Pallet town for frighteningly long. Over a month with Ash staying, way too long for Ash to be okay. She knows Pallet town isn't a place Ash should stay long term. It would never fulfill him like it does her. She knows that for Ash to regain the life to his eyes, he needed to get away from Pallet town.
So she immediately accepts Professor Oak's invention to head to alola. He needed an egg to be delivered to his cousin, but Delia knows Professor Oak can send anyone to alola, it didn't have to be Ash.
Delia is thankful anyway.
Delia feels a bit of her fear loosen when Ash decides to stay in alola to go to school. It's still not great, he's still staying in one spot, but Ash is somewhere new. And as Delia leaves alola with Ash behind her, she feels a little hope that here he can find someone who Ash can trust to be the support Delia can't give.
She goes back to her quiet life, her routine. And she feels a little less content then what she used to.
And maybe, just maybe, she starts to dislike the mundane.