Extra 12: I choose you! (5)

"How is he?" - Delia asked as she looked at the doctor who had escorted her home.

She, along with the doctor, had managed to move the white-haired man to the guest room so that the doctor could work more at ease.

"I have never seen a body as tough as this patient's before" - the doctor answered seriously - "If what you said is true, then this man's body should have been mangled, but he has only suffered some broken bones and a bruised skull."

"Then there is no danger to his life?" - Delia asked with concern.

"I'll be honest, he may suffer from amnesia" - replied the doctor as he looked closely at the albino - "Does he possess any kind of identification?"

"No" - replied Delia while shaking her head - "Only his Pokeballs."

". . ." - the Doctor shook his head when he heard this - "From his clothes, we can deduce that he is from a wealthy family, but there are so many wealthy families in the different regions, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Maybe Professor Oak knows something?" - Delia asked as she looked at the handsome white-haired man who now had much of his body bandaged.

"Possibly, but to our misfortune, Oak said he was leaving for one of his colleagues' labs for an urgent investigation" - replied the doctor as he shook his head - "I think I heard something about an accident in Alola"

"I see" - murmured Delia as she sighed - "I guess we'll just have to wait"

"The good thing is that this man is out of danger" - said the doctor as he looked at the albino - "Luckily, you found him, or possibly his condition would be much worse"

Delia looked at the handsome, unconscious man before shaking her head - "I guess all that's left is to wait for him to wake up."

"You're a kind woman, Delia, but your life is already difficult being a single mother" - the doctor said as he looked at the poor auburn-haired woman.

"I'm sure I can handle it" - Delia replied as she looked at the white-haired man with concern while caressing his cheek - "He needs me."

"I've said all I have to say" - replied the doctor as he withdrew from the woman's dwelling.

Delia gave the man one last look before going to the kitchen to prepare dinner, after all, her son would be coming home any minute.

* * *

"Mom, I'm back!" - Cried a boy of about 4 years old with spiky black hair. He had all his clothes dirty from playing with his friends so late.

"Ash, go take a bath!" - Delia exclaimed from the kitchen.

"Okay, Mom!" - Ash shouted as he ran towards the bathroom, but unconsciously stopped in the guest room because something inside him told him that there was someone important inside there.

Slowly, Ash opened the door and looked in, only to see a strange bandaged man lying on the bed.

The boy cautiously walked towards the bed, only to let out a scream of terror when he noticed how the strange man opened his eyes and watched him closely.

"Ash!" - Delia shouted as she ran as she heard her son scream, only to be surprised to see the man - "Are you awake?"

The white-haired man watched the woman carefully before focusing again on the boy who was hiding behind his mother.

"My name is Delia, and this is my son Ash" - Delia said as she introduced herself - "What's your name?"

"What's my name?" - asked the white-haired man before grabbing his head in pain - "Me, I don't know."

"Relax, the doctor said you would possibly have amnesia" - Delia replied with a smile as she tried to calm the man down.

"Amnesia?" - asked the white-haired man as he grabbed his head - "What is that?"

"Memory loss" - replied Delia as she walked over to the man and placed her hand on his head and began stroking his hair - "Relax, I'm sure you'll know who you are soon enough."

". . ." - the white-haired man was silent before nodding weakly - "Thank you."

Delia smiled as she watched the man again close his eyes and begin to sleep.

Delia let out a sigh of relief before looking at her son and telling him to accompany her out of the room. As the two left the bedroom, she looked at her son with a frown and asked him why he had entered the room.

"Something inside the room called me, Mom," Ash replied as he lowered his head.

Delia raised an eyebrow in surprise as she thought about her son's words because it was obvious that he wasn't lying, after all, he didn't know there was someone inside - "Really?"

"Yes" - Ash nodded as he drew a cross over his heart with his finger - "Promise!"

"I see" - murmured Delia as she frowned because she didn't understand why this was happening.

"He feels similar to me" - Ash replied in confusion - "Like we're family."

". . ." - Delia was even more puzzled because that shouldn't be possible. Ash's father was the only son and he was the last of his family because his parents had an accident during his teenage years.

"I promise, that's what it feels like" - Ash replied as he looked at his mother - "He's my dad?"

Delia froze when she heard this as she bit her lip when she saw her son's sad expression. She was struggling to lie to her son and tell him that he was indeed his father, after all, he didn't have the memories to know she was lying, but her good side told her that wasn't right for any of the 3 of them.

"Yes, he is your dad" - Delia said with a forced smile as she watched her son jump with happiness. She inwardly was cursing how weak-minded she was for telling such a lie, but she couldn't resist seeing her son cry for not having a father.

"Why is he hurt?" - Ash asked with concern after learning that this strange man was his father.

"Because he was training with his Pokémon when he encountered an extremely strong wild Pokémon" - Delia answered as she continued to lie to her son.

"Dad is strong?" - Ash asked excitedly.

"Sure, he's one of the strongest trainers in the world" - replied Delia as she smiled at her son - "And you'll be just as strong as him when you grow up!"

"Great!" - Ash exclaimed as he ran to his room so he could watch the Pokémon battles on TV.

Delia sighed regretfully as she watched her son walk away, only to look at the white-haired man with an apologetic expression - "I'm sorry I got you into all of this."

Delia quickly shook her head and walked into the living room, only to stop at a piece of furniture. She picked up the picture, one where she was standing next to a man with spiky black hair, a middle-aged man, and an adult next to a little girl - "I know I'm not supposed to do this, honey, but I can't keep hurting our baby."

The poor woman caressed the black-haired man's image before shaking her head - "I wish I still had you by my side, but fate is cruel and uncertain."

Delia was a single mother not because her husband had abandoned her, but because he had died during one of his trips, leaving her in a somewhat difficult situation because she was pregnant at the time.

Professor Oak had been a blessing to the family, after all, he was a close friend of Ash's father. Thanks to his help, Delia had made it through Ash's first few years of life without any problems, but the situation was getting worse because they couldn't depend on the old professor forever.

Delia left her husband's picture where it was, then went back to the kitchen.

She was mentally exhausted with everything that had happened during the last few minutes, but she couldn't leave her baby without eating.

* * * * *

A new day had arrived for the Ketchum family and Delia was getting up to prepare breakfast. She was still a little tired, but when she went down to the dining room, she was surprised to see how the man she had rescued, was sitting in one of the chairs - "What are you doing up when you're still hurt!"

"I'm fine" - replied the white-haired man as he shook his head - "When I woke up this morning, I noticed that my body didn't hurt anymore."

"Still, you shouldn't be up because you might end up hurt again" - replied Delia as she folded her arms - "You should be more concerned about yourself"

"Kurama" - replied the white-haired man - "My name is Kurama, though that's all I managed to remember."

"At least you know your name, that will help us find your family" - Delia replied with a smile.

Kurama nodded calmly, though inside he wasn't sure if he had a family for him to return to, or not.