I woke up to a throbbing headache.
A phantom scent of ozone and charred flesh filled my nostrils, and the image of Electabuzz, wreathed in unnatural pink fire, flashed behind my eyes.
I squeezed them shut.
Was I safe now? Professor Oak saved us, but what happened after? Where was he? And Dr. Fuji... what happened to him? Did Professor Oak defeat him?
A sharp pang of fear shot through me as I considered the worst case scenario. Dr. Fuji won, killed Professor Oak, messed up the entire Pokemon World... and then what would he do to me, who revealed I wasn't his daughter?
And Ditto. The one that I could consider my first friend in this twisted Pokemon world. Where was it? Was it okay? Did Dr. Fuji do something to it?
The kitchen landline shrilled, yanking me from my thoughts.
Delia was already awake with a whirlwind of frantic energy, the phone pressed to her ear, her voice a strained litany of hope and desperation. She was calling everyone: Oak's lab assistants, Stephen's coworkers.
While she navigated the big yellow phone book for another number, scribbling frantically on a notepad, the landline shrilled again.
Delia snatched it up.
"Hello?" She listened, her breath catching. "Yes, this is his residence... This is Delia Ketchum speaking. Oh, school's cancelled for today? Yes, I'll let him and Gary and Ash know. He's... missing right now... Yes, the Professor Oak... No, I don't know where he is... My house... the fire was at my house. Have you maybe heard anything about Stephen Ketchum?"
She listened, her face falling. "Yes... Yes... I understand. Thank you." She hung up, her knuckles white. "School's cancelled," she muttered, before her eyes immediately scanned the phonebook again.
Across the living room, Gary Oak pumped his fist. "Yes! No school!" He sat opposite Ash, who was staring blankly at the Pokemon cards between them.
"Whatever," Ash muttered, his voice flat. "Your turn."
Gary drew a card, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "Perfect. I use Boss's Orders. Bring your Elekid to the front."
Ash's hands trembled. He stared at the small, yellow Pokemon on the card, his face pale.
"What's wrong, Ashy-boy?" Gary taunted, his voice sharp. "Too scared to fight? My Arcanine will knock it out. Easy prize."
Ash slammed his fist on the floor, scattering the cards. "I quit! This is stupid!" He turned away, his shoulders shaking.
"Hey! Those are my cards!" Gary scrambled to pick them up, shoving Ash in his anger. Ash retaliated instantly, launching himself at Gary with a wordless cry of frustration. They tumbled to the floor in a mess of flailing limbs.
My gaze darted to Delia, but she was lost in her own world, her finger tracing a line in the phonebook.
A sigh escaped my small chest. I guess I had to be the adult of the room. I stepped forward. "Stop it! Break it up, you two!"
I reached for Ash's arm, but a flailing fist connected squarely with my cheek. The sting was sharp, but the sudden, dead silence from the boys was sharper.
They froze, their childish rage evaporating, replaced by wide-eyed shock and guilt.
"Wow, Ash," Gary breathed, scrambling back as he cautiously glanced toward Delia. "You hit a girl. You're in so much T-R-O-U-B-L-E!"
Ash just stared at me, his lip quivering, before he jumped onto the couch and buried his face in a cushion.
The landline shrilled again. Delia instantly grabbed it.
"Hello?" She listened, her whole body going rigid. "Yes, this is his residence... This is Delia Ketchum... What? Professor Oak's in the hospital?"
A breath I didn't know I was holding escaped me in a rush. He's alive.
Gary and Ash snapped their heads toward Delia, their fight completely forgotten.
"...He just woke up? Oh, thank Arceus... Yes, we'll be right there... Yes, I'll bring Gary too."
Delia hung up the phone, her movements firm and decisive for the first time all morning. "Come on, children," she said, her voice steady. "Get your shoes on. We're going to see the Professor."
/[^_^]\
The walk to the Pallet Town hospital was suffocatingly quiet. The adrenaline from the morning's fight seemed to have drained away, leaving Ash and Gary subdued, trailing behind Delia like small, unhappy ghosts. Delia herself walked with a rigid purpose, her eyes fixed on the modest, two-story building ahead.
We were just approaching the automatic glass doors when a shadow fell over us. A rush of displaced air swept past, rustling the leaves on the manicured small hospital bushes. I flinched, my heart hammering against my ribs, but the others just looked up.
Dragonite descended with an almost impossible grace for a creature its size, landing softly on the lawn a few yards away. Its large, dark eyes were filled with a deep, weary concern. It let out a low, cooing sound, a rumbling in its massive chest.
"Hey! Where were you all night?" Gary yelled, his voice cracking with a childish bravado. "Why'd you let gramps get injured?"
Before Dragonite could react, its head tilting in confusion at the boy's accusation, a tired voice cut in. "He was patrolling the sky all night, Gary."
Officer Jenny walked over from the hospital entrance, her uniform crisp but her face etched with an exhaustion so deep it looked carved into her features. Dark bags hung like bruises under her eyes.
"Making sure there were no other threats," she finished, her voice flat with fatigue. She gave Gary a look that was not unkind, but left no room for argument, and he shuffled back, his anger deflating.
Jenny then turned her attention to Delia. "I'm so sorry we didn't notify his house sooner," she said, her professionalism warring with her weariness. "The professor's files listed only Gary as the only other resident. We didn't want to wake a child in the middle of the night with this kind of news. We had no idea there were other people there."
Delia just nodded, a numb acceptance on her face. "It's alright. I was... I was out looking for my husband, Stephen. We saw the fire... Professor Oak went to help..." Her voice trailed off, the narrative thread lost. Then, a spark of desperate hope reignited in her eyes as she looked at the officer. "Have you... have you seen my husband? Stephen Ketchum?"
Officer Jenny's expression, already weary, tightens with a flicker of professional sympathy. She shakes her head slowly. "I'm sorry, I haven't."
Delia's face crumpled slightly. "He went missing, before the fire, I think..." she trailed off.
Jenny gave a tired, compassionate nod. "You should come down to the station to formally report the missing person when you're ready, Delia. We'll do everything we can."
Delia silently nodded as she followed.
Gary, Ash and I jogged after the two adults as well.
After checking in, a nurse with a kind but weary face met us just inside and led us through the quiet hospital corridors to Professor Oak's room.
Her pink hair was neatly pinned into its signature twin loops, but a few stray strands had escaped, and the shoulders of her crisp white uniform seemed to carry the weight of the entire night. It was unmistakably a Nurse Joy, though it looked like she hadn't slept last night.
Gary, his earlier bravado returning with proximity to his grandfather, burst through the door first with a happy, "Gramps!" but froze mid-stride.
The room was sterile and white, filled with the soft, rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor. Professor Oak lay in the bed, propped up by several pillows. He was covered from the neck down in a shocking amount of white bandages, with more wrapped around his head, leaving only his face, a few tufts of gray hair, and his kind eyes visible.
Seeing our stunned faces, Professor Oak let out a hearty, if slightly pained, laugh that ended in a wince. "Don't worry!" he boomed, his voice raspy. "It looks much worse than it actually is!"
Gary rushed to his bedside, and even Ash managed a small, watery smile. After a few moments of relieved chatter, Officer Jenny, who had followed us in, cleared her throat.
"Professor," she said, her pen poised over a small notebook. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to get your official statement so we can process the suspect."
Professor Oak nodded, his expression turning serious. He looked past the children, his gaze settling on Delia. "Delia, I think you should stay for the questioning as well."
Delia nodded, and Officer Jenny gestured to Nurse Joy, who then ushered Ash, Gary, and me out of the room.
The door clicked shut, leaving the three of us in the sterile quiet of the hallway under Nurse Joy's watch.
Minutes stretched into an eternity. Gary, his nervous energy having no other outlet, began to poke at Ash, who was sulking against the opposite wall.
"What's wrong, Ashy-boy?" Gary taunted, his voice a low whisper. "Usually you can't shut up."
Ash's face crumpled. With a raw cry of frustration, he launched himself off the wall. "I'll show you!"
Gary, surprised by the ferocity, yelped and darted away.
Ash, blinded by tears and rage, swung his fists wildly as he careened down the corridor. Gary, quicker on his feet, weaved and dodged, his taunting laughter echoing off the sterile walls. "Can't catch me! Gonna cry, Ashy-boy?"
"Boys, please!" the poor Nurse Joy pleaded, scurrying after them, her sensible shoes squeaking on the polished floor. "Stop this instant! This is a hospital!"
They rounded a corner at the end of the hall, their shouts and the nurse's frantic pleas disappearing from view. I heard a muffled thud, a final, sharp yelp from Gary, and then Nurse Joy's stern voice, "That is quite enough!"
A moment later, the three returned.
Nurse Joy, her signature pink hair slightly askew, marched back into view, dragging a red-faced, sniffling Ash firmly by the arm.
Trailing behind them, beaming with the smug satisfaction of a victor, was Gary. A faint, reddish mark was already beginning to blossom on his cheek, but he wore it like a trophy.
"You finally landed one," Gary gloated, puffing out his chest and pointing to the mark. "Too bad it felt like a Caterpie. What's the matter, Ashy-boy? Gonna cry some more?"
"That is enough out of you, young man," Nurse Joy cut in, her voice sharp with professional disapproval. She gave Gary a stern look. "Your friend is clearly upset. The least you could do is try to be a little kinder."
Gary had the decency to look away, muttering something under his breath.
Ash, his face still blotchy and tear-streaked, buried his head in his arms and refused to look at anyone.
Gary, on the other end, tried to look nonchalant, examining his fingernails, but he kept rubbing his bruised cheek when he thought no one was looking.
I found myself counting the sterile white tiles on the floor, then the acoustic panels in the ceiling. My mind drifted from the childish drama beside me to the other one possibly unfolding behind the closed door.
To Dr. Fuji, who, from the brief conversation, had been apprehended. And to Ditto, who stood next to Dr. Fuji that night. I wondered if I'd ever get to see it again.
The rhythmic beep of a distant monitor and the occasional squeak of a cart's wheels were the only sounds that marked the slow, agonizing crawl of time.
What felt like an eternity later, but was probably closer to half an hour, the door to Oak's room finally opened.
Officer Jenny stepped out, her expression grave as she glanced down at her notebook. Her eyes swept over the tense tableau of the waiting children, then landed on me. She stopped, her gaze softening.
"Are you Amber?" she asked gently.
"...Yes?" I hesitantly responded.
"Did you know the man, Tenma Fuji?" Officer Jenny asked.
"I... I think so?"
Officer Jenny paused, scribbling a quick note before letting out a long, weary sigh, her shoulders slumping.
She knelt, bringing herself to my eye level, and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Everything is going to be alright now," she said, her voice full of a tired certainty. "That man is..."
She stopped mid-sentence. I felt the warmth from her hand vanish as she slowly pulled it back. The gentle, reassuring look in her eyes was replaced by something more guarded.
"Anyway," she finished, her tone now clipped and professional, "please stay here for a while. Stay with Professor Oak for me, please? Make sure to take good care of him."
I could only nod, confused as to why her tone suddenly shifted.
Officer Jenny stood, her brief moment of gentleness vanished completely as she turned to the boys, who had begun to argue with each other again.
"Boys!" she barked, her voice cutting through their antics. "Quiet down!"
They froze, startled into obedience. Just then, Delia exited the room, her face a grim, hollow mask. She looked at Ash, and for a second, I saw a flicker of a mother's instinct to scold, but it was instantly swallowed by the vast emptiness in her eyes.
We shuffled back into the room, the boys' brief flare of anger extinguished by the sheer weight of the adults' sorrow.
Delia drifted to a chair in the far corner and sank into it, her gaze vacant, her body looking as if all the bones had been removed. She never once met my eyes, keeping her gaze fixed on either the boys, or the sterile white wall opposite us.
The quiet lasted for all of thirty seconds.
Gary snatched the TV remote from the bedside table. "Well, this is boring," he declared, aiming it at the small television mounted on the wall.
"Hey! I wanna watch!" Ash immediately protested. He lunged for the remote.
"Too bad, Ashy-boy! I saw it first!" Gary crowed, holding it just out of Ash's reach.
They devolved into a clumsy, grunting tug-of-war, their sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. From his bed, Professor Oak watched them with a tired but fond smile.
With a final, desperate heave, Ash wrenched the remote free. "Hah!" he shouted, pointing it triumphantly at the screen. He started flicking through the channels with angry jabs of his thumb. A cooking show, a soap opera, a news report showing grainy footage of a burning house that made my stomach clench. Ash didn't even seem to register it, his thumb jabbing the button again before the image could fully resolve.
Then, he stopped.
The screen exploded with color and sound. A Hitmonchan, its fists a blur of piston-like punches, was locked in a furious exchange with a Scyther, whose silver blades carved shimmering green arcs through the air.
"And Scyther somehow dodges the Mach Punch, countering with a beautiful Aerial Ace! Hitmonchan is on the ropes, folks!" the announcer's voice boomed from the speakers.
Instantly, the conflict between the two boys evaporated.
"Whoa, look at Scyther go!" Ash breathed, his eyes wide and glued to the screen.
"Hitmonchan probably has Ice Punch too," Gary argued, leaning forward, his own annoyance forgotten. "He's just waiting for an opening."
They were completely, utterly enraptured.
I watched them for a moment. A part of me, the part that spent countless hours strategizing on a tiny screen, was captivated.
However...
I glanced at Professor Oak, who occasionally glanced at me with a mix of seriousness and curiosity.
While the TV blared and the boys shouted advice at the screen, I quietly pulled a visitor's chair to Professor Oak's bedside. The explosive sounds of the battle provided a strange sort of privacy.
He turned his head, his eyes shifting from his grandson to me.
"Professor?" I began, my voice low, barely audible over the commentator's excited shouts.
He turned his head fully, his kind eyes meeting mine. The fond smile he'd had for the boys softened into something more serious, more attentive. In his gaze, I felt a strange sense of calm settle over me, a feeling of safety I hadn't realized I'd been missing. "Yes?"
I took a deep breath, the question tasting like ash in my mouth. "What happened to... Dr. Fuji?"
A wry, pained smile touched his lips. "He put up quite a fight," he admitted, his voice raspy. "Gave me a rather nasty burn with that Overheat of his. Good thing these old bones are sturdy."
Overheat, I thought, my mind instinctively supplying the data. A 130 base power special attack. He took that head-on and is just... bandaged? Maybe people are just more durable in this world.
He sighed, a heavy, weary sound. "To be honest, I don't remember the very end. The last thing I saw was the blast. When I came to, Officer Jenny was there, and Fuji was... subdued. My Pokemon..." He paused, a flicker of immense pride in his eyes. "They don't take kindly to their trainer being attacked. I suspect they finished the fight for me."
My heart hammered against my ribs. "And... my Ditto?" I asked, before catching myself. "His Ditto?"
Professor Oak didn't answer immediately. His gaze held mine for a long moment.
Then, with a slight wince, he reached toward the bedside table where his personal effects were laid out---his Pokédex, his wallet, and a cluster of pokeballs. His fingers closed around one in particular.
When he turned back to me, the curiosity in his eyes had been replaced by a gentle reassurance.
"Safe," he said, his voice softening. He held out the pokeball. "It's unharmed."
I stared at the red-and-white sphere in his bandaged hand, my breath catching.
"A remarkable Ditto," he continued, his tone taking on that familiar professorial quality. "It transformed into my Dragonite with seemingly equal strength---something I thought impossible for Ditto transformations." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "But when the battle ended, it refused to fight further. Wouldn't even respond to Fuji's commands." His expression softened. "A rather gentle Pokémon at heart."
Slowly, almost reverently, I reached out and took the pokeball from his hand. The smooth surface felt cool against my palm, but somehow reassuring. The weight of it---the knowledge that Ditto was inside, safe---made something tight in my chest finally loosen.
"Thank you," I whispered.
Oak watched me for a moment, an unreadable expression crossing his features. There was something in his eyes---recognition? Certainty? I couldn't quite place it. Then he simply nodded.
A wave of relief washed over me before I slowly continued, "So... what happens to me then?"
Professor Oak was quiet for a long moment, choosing his words with care. "Legally---" he began, "I'm not sure. Do you have parents or other relatives?"
I shook my head, "I... don't think I would have living relatives besides... Dr. Fuji?"
Professor Oak nodded, then, with an odd expression he continued, "If not, then you might be placed in an orphanage."
"I see..." I said, not liking the way he said 'orphanage', before continuing, "Is that bad?"
Professor Oak let out a strange, dry chuckle, "It was overburdened in the War. They are stretched extremely thin and I don't think they have too much support. I suppose they might be doing better after so many years after the War but... I still haven't heard good things about it, to be honest."
"Oh..." I sighed, feigning disappointment. Internally, however, a part of my mind seized on his words. The War. That single phrase confirmed a crucial piece of lore, a dark background detail that only fanfictions covered.
"How old are you, Amber?" he asked.
A bead of sweat dripped from my forehead as I hesitantly answered, "I don't know... Why do you ask, Professor?"
A jolt of pure panic shot through me as I started to glance around the room for anything else to change the conversation to.
Professor Oak's brow furrowed slightly at that---just for a moment. "I was wondering how long you have until your journey," he said.
The word snagged. Journey.
"Wait---when can I go?" I asked, leaning forward before I could stop myself. "On my journey, I mean. Is there an age requirement, or---"
"Fourteen, typically," Oak said, his professorial tone returning. "Usually after middle school and only if you pass the liscence test."
"Right," I said. "Right, of course."
He was quiet for a moment. His gaze drifted somewhere past me, unfocusing.
"That's when I left, too," he said, almost to himself. "Barely knew what I was doing. The world felt..." He paused, searching for the word. "Very large."
"Any cool adventures?" I asked.
Something shifted in his expression. The professorial tone dropped away entirely.
"There was one," he said. "I'd heard a rumor---a lost village, deep in the mountains, that nobody had ever found. Nobody even knew if it was real." A faint smile crossed his face. "I was seventeen and very confident."
From across the room, the TV had gone quiet. Ash had turned around on the couch, chin resting on his folded arms, watching Oak with wide eyes. Even Gary had swiveled in his chair.
"I've heard this story a hundred times, Gramps," Gary said flatly. "Blah blah blah, dragon den, blah blah blah, Charizard evolves."
"But Amber hasn't heard it," Oak said, unbothered. He turned to me, warm. "I'll start from the beginning."