Another chapter!
Gah… waiting for the bus in pouring rain is no fun at all. *Sniff* I think I might have caught a cold

Shoyko: *brings Phantomness cup of hot chocolate*

Phantomness: *sniff* “Thank you.”

Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me. This fic does.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 4

 

            “Ash! Where have you been?” Delia asked as she ushered him inside. The seven-year old sniffled, and she quickly gave him a hot bath, before wrapping him in a warm bathrobe and bringing him a cup of hot chocolate and some peanut butter crackers.

            “I got lost.”

            “Oh Ash…” Delia nodded. For some reason, members of the family on her husband’s side all seemed to have zero direction sense. It was amazing where they would wind up sometimes. From Ash’s state, it must have been far…

            “Someone took you home, right dear?”

            Ash smiled. “Yep! He was really nice!”

            Something in Delia’s mind snapped up in alarm. Maybe all males weren’t perverted pedophiles, but… “Ash, did he touch you?”

            “No.” The boy said in surprise. “He didn’t look old. He had a really pretty Dragonite though!”

            After some more talking, Delia managed to get it ought that a beginning trainer of some variant had taken Ash home on a Dragonite, and he hadn’t done anything. Good. Well, as the other boy was still a kid too, he luckily wasn’t… twisted in that way.

            She put Ash to bed early, since he was tired, and then settled down for a cup of mint tea herself.

            Maybe she should get Ash a pokemon so he could protect himself…

 

            With that in mind, Delia made a phone call.

            “Hello, you have reached Charlotte’s Petshop of Horrors. How may I help you?” The eerily cheerful voice on the other end inquired.

            “I was wondering what pokemon you had available as pets.”

            “Ah… well, we have the standard Rattata and Pidgey, a couple of Meowth and Skitty, a tank of Goldeen… were you looking for something specific?”

            “I was wondering if you had…” Delia paused, trying to remember which type of pokemon Ash liked, “Any Pikachu?”

            “Mmm… no, no pikachu. We do have a Raichu here that knows Surf, but I’m not sure it’s a suitable pet.”

            Delia sighed. “Do you have a website I can check?”

            “Certainly. It’s updated every night from 8 P.M. to 9 P.M., though, so it’s down now. Still, if you want to check later, our address is www.CPSOH.com.”

            “Thank you.” Delia said politely and hung up. She turned on the set and watched a few soap opera fragments, channel surfing. At nine-ten, she turned on her laptop and went scanning.

 

            Sure enough, they had plenty of the aforementioned pokemon. Delia was about to give up, though, when she spotted another pokemon that looked promising.

            Chimecho? It was certainly cute enough… Delia nodded. The price was quite reasonable, and the description indicated that the pokemon had been giving all the necessary vaccinations and been spayed as well. In a few minutes, Delia had filled out the mail order and the pokemon would be delivered within three days.

            There, now she felt better. With a smile, Delia drank off the rest of her now-cooled beverage and then went to sleep.

           

            Ash woke up the next morning and yawned. Time to go to school again! He put on his yellow raincoat and rubbers, took up his backpack, and left. While he was gone, Delia cleaned out the bathroom and made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. When Ash got home, he took the sandwiches and ate quickly. Delia watched in concern. Normally, Ash was bubbly and cheerful… had something happened?

            “Did the bullies pick on you again?” She inquired with concern.

            A mute nod came as testimony.

            “Oh Ash… they’re just jealous.” She gathered up her son in her arms and tried to soothe him as Ash began to cry a little.

            “It’s not fair! I didn’t do anything!”

            “I know you didn’t, baby.” Yes, Ash definitely needed that Chimecho for protection! She couldn’t keep an eye on him always.

            That was not a soothing thought. However, by the time Ash went back to school for afternoon classes, she had calmed him down sufficiently.

            Delia sighed. There were so many unjust things in the world. She didn’t understand why people picked on Ash, but suspected it was because of his small size.

            Nothing could be done about that.

            She could only try and boost his self-confidence, and maybe teach him to fight back… no. Fighting was wrong. It was much better to avoid bullies at all costs.

            Still, she’d feel much better knowing someone else was keeping an eye on him.

 

Whirl Islands

 

            < I’m home, Father. > Lance said, slipping inside as he wrung out his sopping wet robes. Just his luck that a rainstorm had brewed up!
            His light screen defense had only held for half an hour, and it was 1.5 hours flight back home. Lance vowed to learn Teleport – and fast.

            Lugia nodded as he continued monitoring the flow of the ocean currents. Lance headed off into his ‘room’, which was probably more like a cavern, where he had a nice, warm soak before changing into clean robes and heading to bed.

            Odd though…

 

            < So how do you think Ash wound up here? >

            < Oh, the child? That’s easy. He is cursed with the curse of ‘Wandering’. >

            < What does that mean? > It didn’t sound too unpleasant.

            < Well, they have varying intensities of no direction sense. They get lost all the time. Luckily, he has a mild form, but even so… >

            < To get out here? That’s incredible. >

            < I know. >

 

            Despite that, it was none of his business, so Lance put the incident out of his mind. After all, what was the chance he would meet the boy again?

            It didn’t seem very likely.

 

            Ash was delighted when he received his new Chimecho. Delia was proud, she was a very well behaved pet and she accompanied Ash to school every day, invisible or hiding in his backpack.

            What an excellent deal she had found!

            True, the law stated that one could not battle with pokemon until the pokemon journey started, but pets were allowed, and it was no secret that many pet owners secretly trained them. So what? The government had more pressing matters to busy their heads with, such as the rapid decline of marshland and the subsequent pokemon extinction occurring there.

            So Ash trained his Chimecho against the Rattata and Pidgey around Pallet after school, and no one cared either way, and so time passed.

 

End Chapter

Completed 10/19/04

Lance: Oh! It’s starting to flow!
Phantomness: Yay!