"Well, I don't know, sweetie," she had replied.  "I'm no Pokémon trainer.  Maybe you should ask Professor Oak."
 "I guess so...  Hey, Mom, what kind of Pokémon did my dad start out with?"

 She froze.

 Long ago, she had told her son that his father was a great Pokémon trainer who had died during a Team Rocket attack when Ash was just a baby.  That was, of course, an outright lie.  But how could he possibly understand that a man named Mr. Ketchum had never really existed?  How could she tell him that she had simply changed her last name to Ketchum years ago in order to separate herself from her past in Team Rocket?*  No, he would never understand.

 He couldn't accept what had really happened.  Not yet.
 
 

10 YEARS EARLIER

 Delia Ketchum was twenty-five years old and had been living in Pallet Town ever since she separated from Team Rocket and Giovanni.  She lived in a small house down the road from the lab of her friend, Professor Samuel Oak.  Most of her time was dedicated to housekeeping and gardening, but when she wasn't occupied with any of those things, she was talking to the professor.  One day, though, things got slightly out of hand.

 "You've got to put your past behind you," he said one day during one of Delia's many lapses into depression.  "Focus more on the present, and on the future."

 "I've tried," she said quietly.  "I've tried so hard...  But every time I think I've beaten it, there it is again!"

 "Delia," he said sternly, putting his hand on her shoulder, "you've got to stop doing this to yourself.  You're such an energetic young woman.  You should be out living your life, not cooped up in here moping and complaining about your past.  You're a different woman now."

 She half-smiled.  "You're right, Samuel.  You're always right."  To his surprise, she leaned over and kissed his cheek.  "Thank you."

 He blushed and cleared his throat.  "Any time, Delia.  But I should be going now."  He stood to leave, and she caught his arm.  He turned back around, puzzled.

 "You don't have to go just yet, do you?"
 "Well, I suppose I could stay a little while longer," the sadly dense professor replied.

 "Good."  She stood up with him and slid her arms around his neck, slowly inching upwards and finally kissing his lips.  He kissed back, but only for a moment.  "Delia, what are you doing?"

 "Living my life," she whispered.
 "I-I meant for you to look for someone... well, younger."
 "I don't care about that.  I think I love you."
 "But we're friends."
 "I know.  That's why we're so perfect for each other."

 He stared at her for a few seconds, then decided she won.

 He threw his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, kissing her.  She tightened her arms around his neck and pressed against him, kissing back with a strength that surprised them both.  "I love you, too, Delia," he murmured when they finally stopped.  She smiled.  "But are you sure about this?"

 "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life," she whispered in reply.  "But this isn't one of them."

 He smiled and kissed her again, more romantically.  She reached up and ran her fingers through his graying hair, then down his chest and around his back under the lab coat he seemed to always be wearing.  In one quick movement, the coat came away and fell back down to his chair.  He blinked quizzically at her, and she smiled at him with adoration, taking both his hands in hers and leading him backwards, towards the couch.  But then he stopped.

 Before she could say a word, he swung her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way.

 He sat down with her in his lap, bent over her and continued to kiss her.  He never even noticed when he slipped off her pink sweater and threw it across the room.  Neither noticed much of anything; it was all a blur, a spontaneous, emotional, fiery blur of deep, true love mixed with the extreme desire of two people who had been on their own for far too long.  It was real and unreal and exciting and wrong, wrong, wrong, their minds kept screaming.  But it felt right, and that was all that mattered.
 
 

 He stared down at her, lying in his arms with her eyes closed, a smile on her face.  A surge of emotion overwhelmed him.  He hadn't felt this way about anyone, not since his wife had left him long ago.  he didn't deserve her, he thought sadly.  He was forty, fifteen years older than she was.  All of this had happened because she was lonely and he just happened to be there.

 But then, her eyes opened, and she gazed up at him with nothing but affection.  "I love you," she whispered, as if reading his thoughts and reassuring him.  "I will always love you."
 
 

 "Well?"  He stared at her nervously, wringing his hands.
 "Well..."
 "What is it?"

 She grinned and took his hands, enjoying every second of his anticipation.  "It happens to be... a boy."

 "A boy?" he echoed.
 "Yes, a boy, Samuel."

 He slowly sat down.  "I... I can't believe this is happening.  I'm not only a grandfather, but now I'm going to be a father all over again?"

 "You're not happy about this?" she sat down beside him.

 "Oh, Delia, I am happy.  It's just that, well, this was really something we didn't expect..."

 "I told you, I don't think we were making a mistake."
 "Then I'm not making a mistake now.  Marry me, Delia."
 "Wh--"
 "I'm serious.  Your son needs his father."

 "Oh... We can't do that.  It would destroy our lives, and you know it would.  People would think that I married you for the money, and you wouldn't be known as a great Pokémon researcher, but a desperate old man."  She shook her head.  "We just can't."

 "I don't care about any of that.  I love you, and I want to take care of you and our son."

 "I don't care what people think either.  I'm thinking of our son.  How will he be treated if people were to know about us?  I don't want Ash to suffer..."

 "Ash?  You've chosen a name already?"
 "Yes...  Our secret.  A tree name, like his father."
 "And what will you tell him once he starts asking who his dad is?"

 "I'll tell him the same Mr. Ketchum story I tell everyone else.  One day, when he's old enough to understand, we can tell him the truth."

 "And I'm going to build a house for you on my property."  She opened her mouth to argue, but he stopped her.  "No, Delia, I insist.  Even if we're not married and no one knows that Ash is really an Oak, I want to take care of you... and I want to see him grow up.  Then, when we can tell him, I want him to take my place when I retire."

 So it continued that way.  Ash, oblivious tot he identity of his real father, grew up with the same enthusiasm for Pokémon that Samuel Oak had.  When he was old enough to begin his journey, Delia knew that Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle didn't matter.  The professor had chosen two special Pokémon for his son and grandson-- an Eevee for Gary Oak, and a Pikachu for Ash "Ketchum".

 Ash left that day with his new Pikachu.  Oak had used the fact that his son overslept as an excuse, saying that Pikachu was all he had left.  Mrs. Delia Ketchum was faced with an empty house.  She sank onto the couch, taking in the silence she was so unaccustomed to, and a tear rolled down her cheek.  For the first time in ten years, she was truly alone.

 There was a knock at the door.  "Delia?  Are you home?"
 "Come in.  It's unlocked."

 Samuel walked in.  Seeing her sitting on the couch, crying, he sat down beside her and put his arms around her.  "I'm very proud of him..." he said quietly and sadly.  Of course, Delia thought, Ash was his son, too, so the professor would miss him just as much.

 "So am I, Samuel.  So am I."

 "He's already set off for Viridian City.  Back when I was a Pokémon trainer, it took me four days to get there.  I wonder how long it'll take him?"  He sighed.  "He looks so much like I used to.  Same personality and everything."

 She leaned her head against his shoulder.  "It'll be only a few more years before he figures out the truth on his own.  And that means..."

 Oak smiled down at her.  "No more secrets," he finished.

*= In Pokémon Live, Delia admitted that she was with Giovanni when he was starting a gang that would become Team Rocket.

Yes, I know, it was pathetic... but it was my first Eldershippy fic!  Questions?  Comments?  Email them to me at rocket_giovanna@yahoo.com.  Flame at your own risk!