010: The Discarded Pokémon Egg!!
"Mom, you don't have to apologize to me. Besides, don't cry. I feel really sad when I see you like this."
Held tightly in Delia's trembling arms, Ash offered his mother a gentle, reassuring voice.
Even after hearing that Delia hadn't paid the annual Earl Dervish Pokémon tax a requirement to receive a starter Pokémon from the League Ash didn't harbor the slightest trace of resentment or anger.
After merging the memories of his past life with those of the six-year-old original Ash, he came to understand that he had never seen his father since birth. Raised in a single-parent household, Ash had only Delia to rely on.
The man who was technically his father whether alive or dead, handsome or not meant little to Ash, especially now that he was a time traveler occupying a new life. That absent father had been nothing more than a background name to both his original and current self.
To Ash, his entire world was Delia the woman who had singlehandedly raised him with love and determination despite the hardships she must have faced. Her sacrifices, her worries, and even her mistakes stemmed from a place of love.
As for the unpaid Pokémon tax, Ash could easily grasp the motivation behind that decision. In Delia's eyes, the risk of losing Ash as she had lost her husband was too unbearable to contemplate.
The original Ash had never known the man. But for Delia, he had been her husband her pillar of support, her one great love. When that man vanished on his journey, never to return, the emotional devastation had shattered her.
It explained everything her aversion to Pokémon, her rigid refusal to let Ash become a Trainer, her overwhelming protectiveness. These were not mere overreactions; they were symptoms of trauma and fear.
Ash reflected on his early childhood memories. He remembered how Delia's gentle smile would harden the moment he mentioned wanting to be a Pokémon Trainer. Her disapproval would be sharp and sudden, scolding him for daring to dream of leaving the safety of Pallet Town.
Whenever he went out to play with Gary and the other kids, especially when they edged too close to the tall grass and wild Pokémon habitats, Delia would somehow always find out. She would rush to him, panic in her eyes, and drag him home with trembling hands.
Delia didn't just oppose him becoming a Trainer. She was actively afraid of Pokémon, treating them as if they could explode at any moment and take away the only person she had left her son.
In the Pokémon world, where human lives are deeply interwoven with those of Pokémon, it was extremely rare for someone not to own even a single partner. Not everyone aspired to be a professional Trainer, but nearly every person had at least one Pokémon companion. And yet, in Ash's household, there were none.
Years ago, Ash had once asked Aunt Mieko Gary's mother and Delia's close friend why Delia didn't have a Pokémon. Her answer left a lasting impression:
"Actually, your mother once had a Pokémon egg. It was a Mr. Mime egg, a gift from your father while he was on his travels. She cherished it dearly. But after he… left for a faraway place and never returned, your mother was heartbroken. The very next day, she took the egg and threw it into the wild."
That memory aligned closely with events in the original Pokémon anime, where Delia later adopted a wild Mr. Mime nicknamed Mimey that began helping with chores around the house. Eventually, Delia accepted it into her life, and the two formed a quiet, domestic companionship.
Thinking back now, Ash realized: that Mr. Mime in the anime may very well have been the same egg Delia had discarded. It could have survived, hatched, and returned to the place it once considered home.
By the time Ash left for his official journey in the anime, Delia had accepted his Trainer path. When she met Mimey again, she might've seen not just a helpful Pokémon, but a living memory of her late husband, of a discarded past, and perhaps even of a future she could come to terms with.
"In the original timeline, could that Mr. Mime be the same one hatched from that egg? The one my father sent her?" Ash wondered silently.
Whether or not that was true, it didn't matter. What mattered now was helping his mother heal.
Ash had to be the one to guide her away from the shadow his so-called father had left behind.
He gently wiped away her tears.
If he could, he would slowly help her shed the fear and resistance she had developed toward Pokémon not to make her love them, but to help her stop seeing them only as reminders of loss.
Because in this world, Ash's fate as a Pokémon Trainer was inevitable. Just as it had been for his original counterpart, the day would come when he would leave Pallet Town and embark on his own journey.
His original body had rebelled many times because of Delia's opposition. She had refused to register him for any Pokémon-related activities. She never paid the tax, refused to let him attend Oak's seasonal programs, and prohibited him from exploring past the edge of town.
This weekend, Professor Oak was organizing a summer camp a well-known program for children under ten to interact with Pokémon and learn wilderness safety. Ash remembered from the original body's memories how he had desperately wanted to join.
But Delia had refused.
Heartbroken and frustrated, the original Ash had followed Gary and a few others to the river just outside Pallet Town, hoping to catch a Water-type Pokémon on their own. That was when the drowning incident occurred—the event that led to Ash's soul merging into this body.
"Delia's fears were never unfounded," Ash admitted to himself. "But she can't hold on to that fear forever."
She had lost her husband to the dangers of the journey—but she still had a son. A son who would walk the same path, but who would return home with strength and love—not disappear like a ghost.
Ash would show her that this story could have a different ending.
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