Lost in their Past

Chapter 5:- The Legacy

For Ash, twenty fifth of April was full of surprises.
The day went completely downhill when Delia gifted  Ash a mansion or in her words, 'a manor'. And then he got to know his fathers 'real' name.

Ash was just going over the catalog he brought which contained a list of real estate properties in the outskirts of Pallet since his apartment in the Saffron (the one he shared with Gary) was now exposed to the public. ("Wasn't a great place either..." Ash though before resuming to flip the pages) Delia then suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

It was early morning in the Ketchum residence. Pikachu was on the couch, showing his unhealthy love for ketchup by drooling over a bottle which was on the kitchen counter. Mr Mime was doing his usual chores with Delia. Since his pokemon were dead exhausted after coming from Sinnoh, he dropped them off at Professor Oak when he paid him a visit. Pikachu and Charizard were the only ones left with him.

"What're you doing honey?" Delia asked as she removed her dirt covered gloves, "you look awfully gloomy."

Ash sighed as he slammed his catalog shut, "Just going over a bunch of real estates near Pallet. Look at a villa numbered forty-seven, it's really good."

He slid the book across the table to where Delia was sitting. Delia tossed her gloves in the laundry basket along and turned back to face her son. Her heart skipped a bet when she glanced towards the catalog, he was looking for a place for both of them. Delia couldn't help but feel overwhelmed and hurt at the same time. She took out a roll of paper from her smock, dusted off some dirt and threw it towards Ash who caught it with one hand.

"Open it." Delia said while getting some stings of both anger and sadness.

Ash opened the piece of parchment. He smirked after reading it for the first time and laughed when he read it again for the second but when he read it again for the third, his eyes were clouded with confusion.

After reading what he though of as a 'potential joke', he raised an eyebrow. Her mother didn't own any mansion, how could she have given him one?

"Do you know what's the meaning of legacy, honey?" Delia said as she got up, she walked towards Ash and stood near him.

"Yeah, a type of traditional birthright," Ash answered, still gawking at the parchment with his name on it. The legal document read;

'I, James Raider, pass on the deed of the Raider Manor to my son.'

Ash didn't know how to express his feelings, the only thought which came to his mind was that from where did she nick it? The name on the deed was of some James, and Ash was sure that his father's name was Red. Seeing the uneasiness on her sons face, Delia understood what was going on in his mind. "Well it's time I pass you your fathers." She continued.

"Y-you're giving me a house?" Ash asked hysterically.

Delia smiled down at her son. No matter how much she missed her husband, she couldn't quite accept the fact that he was gone. After all, a piece of him was sitting in front of her.

"He'll look like me," he had said.

True to his word, Ash did look extraordinary like his father. James wasn't great at literature, forget great he wasn't even good. Delia knew that she would veto any name which he suggested. But, lovesick as she was, she ended up naming him Ash, the last suggestion he gave before he—

Delia shook the though out of her head and focused on what was in front of her, "I meant to give it to you sooner but who's counting? Come on, I'll drive you to it."

"You have a car too?" Ash mumbled under his breath.

Seeing a yellow beetle parked in between the hidden canopy, Delia knew she was late just like she knew that the yellow beetle belonged to Grace. Charlus hated the colour yellow, however, yellow was Grace's favorite color. Just like Grace, Delia had parked her silver sedan in the canopy. The bumpy ride rattled the hinges out of her, Ash and of course Pikachu who looked the worse of all.

"Cha..." he groaned.

After massaging his own forehead, which was hit by the glove box in front of him, Ash comforted the mouse Pokemon. With his touch, Pikachu seemed to be lively again.

Soon they got out of the car and marched forward into the canopy. Delia cut in quite easily, after all she used to live here.

Being out on his travels half the time, cutting through things seemed to be Ash's natural ability. In no time they found themselves face to face with a manor, gently perched upon a hill.

The path to the manor consisted of a walk engraved with yellow stones through the Meadows with street lights on each side. Ash's mouth was open and just like his mouth, his thoughts went dry too.

"So J-James was like rich?" Ash managed to voice his thought.

Delia let out a small chuckle and nodded, "Call him dad, not James."

"But my father was Red! The champion of Kanto." Ash argued while stepping on the yellow stone path.

"And he was, he preferred to be known by his middle name instead of his first, he was James Red Raider." she answered with a smile. "Also this place is impregnable. No more paparazzi's."

"Then how come I'm Ketchum?" Ash further argued.

The smile which was lasted around Delia's face melted down into a smirk, "You'll know soon. Come on, we're expecting some guest."

After Ailsa showed up on her television screen six days ago, Delia made up her mind to clean the abandoned manor. She never set foot in it, she had asked her Pokemon to do her work for her.

To her, the Raider Manor was her personal hell. Even now she got nightmares about the night of first January that had passed decades ago.

But that didn't give her any right to hinder James's legacy. If there was anything that snob was proud off, it was his legacy. As per his wishes, she passed it on to his son... their son.

The walk to the manor was covered with silence. Sensing Delia's vibe of anger, Ash didn't dare ask anything. He quietly trotted beside her.

For Delia, happy memories were too good to be remembered, her bad memories, however, were to sad to be forgotten.

Same was the case for the Raider Manor, she had forgotten all of her happy memories related to that place when James died at its doorstep.

She lost a part of herself back then, a part she never recovered. Her son was born when her husband died, she couldn't bring herself to celebrate his birth for two years. In the end, she celebrated his birthday on the twenty-second of May, her wedding anniversary. She was being selfish, aye, but under no circumstances she could bear hating her son... his son.

Breathing the air surrounding the Manor brought back some horrible memories. Every step she took felt heavy, the guilt of death started to weigh her down. But for his sake she moved forward.

"Youre adorable miss Diane," his voice rang in her ears, "Promise me you'll never stop being adorable."

She failed to keep her promise, the happiness inside her died with him. Her promise and smile now lay beneath the ground with James.

Delia was so lost in her thought that she didn't even noticed the Raider Manor closing forwards. The towering spikes above the black door were just like she had left him, a golden polygonal shape crest with 'RN' engraved in calligraphy hung in between the doors.

"Go on, " Delia said to Ash, "Walk around a little. I'll call you when it's time."

Ash sighed deeply before nodding. He turned back around and started to descend the path he took to ascend in the first place. Delia braced herself as she moved forward.

She gripped the belt of her green sling bag tightly as she faced a woman wearing a white scarf with brown glasses, she was sitting on the ground with her back against the black gate. Once she noticed Delia approaching her, she took off her glasses just to double check, revealing a pair of Blue sapphire dots.

"Diane." breathed Grace as she got up.