Chapter Text
Harry smiled as he looked down at the baby in his arms. He looked much like his father and the person holding him. Harry was glad he'd inherited his father's hair-colour, since it had a blue tinge Harry could never hope to possess and reminded him of the blue stone in the locket he'd received from the man. Harry sighed sadly as he gazed out through the window, a tear falling down his cheek.
“Oh, Aaron... I wish you were here.”
Harry Potter, also known by the name Harry Ketchum by everyone outside Pallet (the townspeople knew he used the name, but also knew his real name) had lived a hard life. He'd defeated a Dark Lord at the age of 17 and had thought things would look up for him afterwards. In a way, they had. While there was no war anymore, Harry felt incomplete. His crush on Ginny had faded and she had understood. The media had laid off for a week. His godson was healthy and happy.
Everything else was the problem. He no longer felt even slightly connected to anyone living. He didn't feel like he had a place to call home. Worst of all, he'd been attacked by rogue pureblood-ideal supporters. He'd been lying on the ground, bleeding, when everything went dark. When he once again woke up he was in a forest. There, after saving a strange creature from some unfriendly people, he met him. Sir Aaron, the Aura Guardian living in Cameran castle. It took a while, but eventually... they fell in love. Then Aaron took on an apprentice, a Lucario whom Harry grew fond of. For a while they were happy.
Then the war started. In the end, both of Harry's new family members disappeared and Harry was left alone... bearing Sir Aaron's child. He couldn't stay there, and so he left the castle, stumbling upon a being called Celebi. Celebi brought him to Pallet town a year ago, and already Harry had integrated himself into the community. He was quite popular amongst both genders, but he hadn't taken anyone up on their suggestions of going out with them. He was much too busy with just taking care of himself, and now his child.
As Ash grew older, Harry saw much of Aaron in his son. The boy was brave and had a kind heart. He protected those he deemed in need of it and while the townspeople said he was like Harry, Harry knew these traits were purely Aaron. It was times like those that he missed him the most. What surprised Harry was their son's pain-tolerance. Harry had no idea how, but Ash had somehow acquired Harry's pain-tolerance. This was evidenced by him not even flinching when, on the day he got his starter pokémon, said pokémon attacked him. Nor did he collapse from his pikachu's thunderbolt, powerful as it was. Neither had Harry, but he knew why already.
Harry then smiled softly at his son and kissed his forehead “Good luck, call me when you get to a poke-center, ok?”
Ash smiled and hugged him, leaving pikachu in the middle, but for some reason the rodent didn't shock them “Of course, mom.”
Ash had always called Harry mom and Harry was just fine with that. He had carried Ash, he could identify as the boy's mother. Most people looked at Ash strangely when he did this, but neither member of their little family cared. Harry anticipated Ash would have some trouble with the pikachu, but when Ash called home from Viridian City, Harry was pleasantly surprised that they were okay now.
“Oh Ash, you're in Viridian already? Your father would be so proud, honey.” Harry said, tears in his eyes.
“Thanks mom. Are you proud of me?” Ash asked, looking hopeful.
Harry let his tears fall “Of course I am, I just miss you, that's all. Now, make sure you take care and call me when you know more about Pikachu's status.”
“Sure, mom. Bye.”
After that, Ash called home after every new pokémon he caught and every new gym badge he earned. He even talked about Brock and Misty, though they were never present when Ash called. Harry didn't mind, he knew Ash didn't do it on purpose and he might have inherited Harry's paranoia. Which was good.
Ash never brought his friends home, either. He never even thought about it. Somehow he just felt like he shouldn't and Harry never said anything about it. To be truthful, Harry was glad Ash didn't bring his friends home. Their little family was theirs and theirs alone. They didn't want anyone present for their family time.
Every time Ash came home he had a lot to tell Harry, Harry was most impressed and terrified of the times when he'd met a legendary pokémon. It was extraordinary for one person to see so many and Harry knew his little boy had inherited the Potter luck. It was either extremely bad or extremely good. Once Ash had shared his adventures, Harry would speak of his trips to Cameran Castle, of Ash's father and tell the Legend of the Hero of the Aura. Ash had heard it many times and had never got bored of it. But what Ash didn't know, was that this version only Harry knew, because he had been there.
This was why, a few years later, the boy would be surprised at what other people knew and just how much more Ash was aware of than other people. At twelve years, Ash seemed to be an average boy who wasn't that smart. This was not true. Sure, he might not be the most intelligent person, but he understood emotions much better than the average person and when it came to his family, he was the best he could be. And his family consisted of his “mother” and his pokémon. Professor Oak almost counted, but not quite.
His mother was the prime reason he was adamant on coming to the castle. He knew his mom often traveled here and this year they had planned on meeting there. He also wanted to be named hero of the Aura so that he could make Harry proud. Harry had once let it slip that Ash's father had been called that once, so the boy assumed his father had won the pokémon battle here at least once before he died. He also wanted to go to all the places his mom had talked about, the place where his parents met, where his dad had proposed, those kinds of places. He just wanted to know more about his dad. His mom might not have realized it, but Ash knew next to nothing about his dad, even though his mom had told many stories about him. They were always vague and he never even mentioned his dad's name. The only reason Ash never pried was due to the deep sorrow he could see in his mother's eyes when he spoke of his beloved.
Ash tuned in to his friends' conversation just in time for Brock to tell them that the castle had costumes they could use, grinning, Ash said “I wonder if they have a Hero costume.” well, it sounded like a question, but what he really meant was 'I hope they have a Hero costume.'
From what Ash had managed to get from his mother's absent comments about his father, he'd worn a cape once. This probably meant he'd dressed in the Hero of the Aura costume when he'd won the title and his mom had known him by then. So, he'd surprise his mom by wearing the same clothes. He hoped his mom would like it. When they got to the castle they immediately headed for where the costumes were stored. They split up to get the clothes they wanted. After some searching, Ash spotted something blue and fished out the outfit it belonged to. Sure enough, it was the Aura Guardian outfit of that time and more importantly, a replica of the clothes Sir Aaron had worn.
Grinning, Ash changed clothes in record time and leaped out from between the racks of clothing “I'm a hero! Whadda you guys think?”
Pikachu gave a cry of appreciation while the others only nodded, with Brock smiling at him.
Ash looked at their outfits and snorted when he realized Brock was dressed as a monk “I think your celibacy is questionable, Brock.”
“Hey!” Brock yelled, while the others snickered.
As they left the room, Ash handed Brock something “Hey, Brock? Can you film my battles and send them to mom, the number's in the contact-list.”
The thing he'd handed to Brock was a relatively new x-tranciever. His mom had gotten him it when he'd last been home so that he could call more often and let him know that he was safe. Brock nodded “Sure, but, why?”
Ash could understand the question, this was the first time he'd asked anyone to film his battles after all “Well, from what I've been able to fish out of mom, my dad won this tournament at least once before he died, so it's a surprise. Hopefully, mom will like it.”
Brock nodded. Over the years, he'd often heard things about Ash's mom and though he'd never met her, she sounded like a great parent. He'd do this, since Ash wanted to make his mom happy so much. Brock, if anyone, could understand wanting to make your family happy.