Professor Oak was heading upstairs to bed when his videophone rang.

"I'll get it, Tracey," the scientist called out to his assistant, who had just gone upstairs to bed.

Who in the world would be calling so late, Professor Oak wondered as he picked up the receiver to the videophone in the living room.

"Hi, Professor Oak," smiled a dark-haired boy in a baseball cap.

"Hello, Ash," Professor Oak smiled back. "This is certainly a surprise."

"I was just calling to say that I made it to Hoenn okay. I'm at the Pokémon Center in Petalburg. I tried calling my mom, but she was asleep already – I did wake her up pretty early this morning. Can you give her the message when you two go out on your next date?"

Professor Oak's face turned bright red.

"It's okay, Professor. Mom told me about you two before I left Pallet," Ash grinned, amused by his mentor's reaction.

"Now I understand why Tracey told me that you wanted me to look out for your mom," Professor Oak said.

"Yeah. And I think it's pretty cool that the two of you are together. That way, I won't worry about her so much. And will you tell her not to worry about me?"

"I think she's always going to worry about you, Ash. After all, you're always going to be her little boy now matter how old you are. Which reminds me – I promised your mother that I'd have a little talk with you about…uh, growing up."

Now Ash's face was the one turning bright red. He didn't know which was worse – hearing "The Talk" from his mother or from Professor Oak.

"Uh…I'm kind of tired, Professor," Ash gulped hastily. "Maybe I oughta take a rain check and…"

A green, lizard-like Pokémon appeared next to Ash. "Treecko."

"You caught a new Pokémon already, Ash?" said Professor Oak, who was just as delighted as Ash to abandon the previous subject.

"Actually, Professor Birch gave him to me. This is Treecko," Ash explained, stroking his new Pokémon's head. "He used to belong to Professor Birch's niece, but she got killed in a car crash."

"Yes. Professor Birch told me about Lindsey. It was a terrible loss for him. And I imagine it's a terrible loss for Treecko too."

"Yeah. But that's why Professor Birch let me have Treecko. He said that I'd understand how Treecko's feeling. He said that Treecko and I need each other."

"I agree with Professor Birch. I think that's very wise."

"Yeah, but at first I wasn't so sure that I wanted to have another Pokémon."

"Because of Pikachu?" Professor Oak asked sympathetically.

"No…I…" Ash's face began going red with shame.

"Is something wrong, Ash?" He then noticed the boy's injury. "Ash, what happened to your nose? Are you all right?"

"Oh, Professor…I've gotta talk about this with somebody," Ash gulped. "But Brock and Misty aren't around, and I don't know who else I can talk to."

"Ash, you know you can confide in me," Professor Oak said gently. "Why don't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Professor Oak, have you ever…did you ever hit a Pokémon?"

"Hit a Pokémon?"

"Yeah. And I don't mean just a little tap. I mean, really beat up a Pokémon. Really bad. So bad that you nearly killed it."

Shaken, Professor Oak sank down in his chair. "I think you'd better start from the beginning, Ash. Tell me what's going on."

"Oh, Professor…Meowth…all he wanted to do was make up for what he did to Pikachu." Ash stifled a sob. "But I was so furious with him for what he and Team Rocket had done that I made Bulbasaur beat him up. And when Bulbasaur stopped, I started hitting Meowth. And I nearly hit Bulbasaur too. I was so angry. All I wanted to do was make him pay for killing Pikachu."

"Ash, is Meowth…?"

"He's gonna be okay, Professor. No thanks to me. But now I'm not so sure that I can trust myself around a Pokémon again." Ash lowered his head in shame. "The only reason I took Treecko was because there was no way I was going to turn Professor Birch down after he told me about his niece. He said he was counting on me to continue Lindsey's dream."

"Ash, I don't think Professor Birch would've given you Treecko if he thought you were going to hurt it."

"That's just it, Professor Oak. I didn't tell him about what I did to Meowth. I wasn't going to tell anyone about it, but…but I feel so bad about what I did. Ever since we left Professor Birch's place with Treecko, that's all I've been thinking about."

"That you should've told Professor Birch about what happened with you and Meowth?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. At first, I was really excited about participating in the Hoenn League, but now I'm not so sure." The boy gulped anxiously. "Professor, do they take away people's Pokémon trainer's licenses for doing what I did? Because if they do, then I deserve to lose mine. And since you're the one who gave me my license in the first place…" Ash reached inside his pocket for his Pokédex. "You should be the one to take this back."

"Is this why you're telling me this, Ash?"

The boy bit his lip and nodded.

"Ash, do you remember a couple of days ago when I told you about how my first Pokémon died?"

"Yeah. The Beedrill attacked your Pidgey."

"Ash, I didn't tell you the rest of the story."

"The rest of…? I don't understand, Professor."

"Ash, when I saw my Pidgey fall dead at my feet, the only thing I felt then was rage – the same rage you felt for the Pokémon that killed your Pikachu. I was so furious at the Beedrill for killing Pidgey that I told my Charmeleon to attack them with everything it had. And you know as well as I do that insect-type Pokémon are weak against fire types. I ended up killing several of the Beedrill."

Ash was shocked by his mentor's admission of guilt. Ash had known Professor Oak all his life and had never known him to be a violent person.

"You…you actually killed the Beedrill?' Ash said, eyes wide with surprise.

"Yes, Ash. And I'm not proud of what I did. Self-defense is one thing, revenge is another. When I saw the charred bodies of the Beedrill lying at my feet, I couldn't believe what I had done. And I'm still ashamed of that today."

"You…so you know how…"

"Yes, Ash. I do. And it takes a lot of courage for a man to admit his wrongdoing."

Ash stared at Professor Oak in disbelief. "A…a man?"

"Learning from your mistakes is part of growing up, Ash. And knowing what you've done wrong and facing up to it takes a lot of guts. Put away your Pokédex, son."

"But…but I…"

"Ash, I've known you all your life. And after what you've told me today, you've proven to me that I can trust you. Because I know that you won't let what happened with Meowth ever happen again."

"Professor Oak, I promise that I'll never hit another Pokémon as long as I live," Ash declared firmly. "Revenge is totally wrong. It makes things worse, not better."

"I know, Ash. I know. And I'm glad you told me, Ash. Have you talked to Misty or Brock about this yet?"

Ash shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you about it first. I figured that since you…well, you're older and all, that you might…"

"Understand?"

"Yeah," Ash smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Professor Oak. I feel a lot better now."

"Anytime, Ash. Now you get some sleep so you'll be fully rested for your gym battle tomorrow."

"I will, Professor. Because Treecko and Bulbasaur and I are gonna win that gym badge tomorrow. Right, guys?"

"Bulbasaur!"

"Treecko!"

As Ash put his Pokédex back inside his pocket, he touched the plastic bag with Pikachu's fur inside it. Ash pulled it out and looked at it once more.

"And thanks for this, Professor," Ash said, holding up the bag to the videoscreen. "This really means a lot to me."

"Your mother was the one who thought you should have that, Ash."

Ash opened the bag and lightly touched the soft, shining, golden-yellow fur.

"And I promise you, Pikachu, that from now on I'll always make you proud of me. Because someday I am going to be a Pokémon Master."

"I think Pikachu would be very proud of you now, Ash," smiled Professor Oak.

"Bulba," agreed Bulbasaur, who gently nudged Ash's leg.

"I'll tell your mother that you called, Ash."

"Good night, Professor Oak. And thanks."

"You're welcome, Ash. Good night."

And as Ash put down the phone receiver and glanced out the window at the golden moon shining overhead, he could've sworn for an instant that he saw Pikachu's smiling face beaming down at him.

THE END