As the hot July sun beat down, the young woman stood staring at the open grave. In her arms was a small, gurgling, dark-haired baby. Just a few days before, her husband had been alive and full of confidence. He had told her that was going to Rock Mountain to capture "the biggest Onix anyone had ever seen". What he hadn't anticipated was the rockslide that had taken his life.

…and now she was alone.

One of the mourners came up behind her. He was a middle-aged man with graying hair.

"I'm so sorry about your husband, Mrs. Ketchum. Will was one of the most promising young Pokémon Masters that Pallet Town had ever seen."

"Thank you, Professor Oak," she said quietly with a trembling voice.

The baby in her arms started to fuss and whimper.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get Ash home. It's time for his nap."

As she slowly walked away, she held Ash tightly against her. Her son was all she had left now.

THREE MONTHS LATER

As the October leaves slowly fell, the man stood staring at the fresh grave. The headstone had been delivered that morning and he wanted to see how it looked. He read the inscription over and over:

Rose Oak, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother…

His wife had been batting cancer for nearly two years, but it wasn't until the last two months that it had been obvious that she was going to lose her fight. Despite all of the pain she suffered, she had died peacefully in her sleep a little over a week ago.

…and now he was alone.

A young auburn-haired woman pushing a baby in a stroller came up beside him.

"Hello, Professor Oak."

"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum. How are you?"

"I have good days and bad days," she said with a sigh. "If it weren't for Ash, things would be much worse. I keep telling myself that I have to keep going for him." She bent down and tousled her son's dark hair.

She looked down at the grave next to Rose Oak's.

"Today would've been Will's birthday," she said quietly. She picked up the bouquet of flowers that she had placed on top of Ash's stroller and held them in her arms. She then took a pink tulip out of the bouquet and placed it on Rose's grave.

"I remember Mrs. Oak once telling me that pink was her favorite color."

He smiled. "Yes, it was her favorite color. Thank you."

She placed the rest of the flowers in the vase in front of her husband's headstone. After kneeling down and saying a silent prayer, she quickly stood up and grabbed Ash just as he was about to wiggle out of his stroller. Headstrong just like his father, she thought as she re-adjusted his seat belt. As she turned to go, she gently laid a hand on Professor Oak's shoulder.

"Mrs. Oak was such a sweet woman. I'll miss her, too." She smiled sadly at him, then slowly walked away with her young son gurgling excitedly as the leaves fell on his stroller.

He watched her until she disappeared over the hill. It was a shame she was widowed so young, but she was still young and pretty. She would have no problem finding another husband. As for him, he and Rose had thirty happy years of marriage (he was glad that she had survived long enough to celebrate their anniversary earlier that year). No, he would devote the rest of his life to his work. At fifty, it was much too late for him to start over.

---

As the years passed, the two neighbors saw each other occasionally. He would wave to her as he passed by on his bike, she would say "hi" at the store, and they would see each other at various Pokémon festivals, but they didn't really talk to each other that much. Delia Ketchum was devoted to her fast-growing son who bore a strong resemblance to his father in both physical appearance and personality. Ash was every bit as headstrong and overconfident as his father had been. When he was five years old, he announced that he was going to be a Pokémon Master like his dad. He and his best friend, Gary Oak, would play in the backyard with old Poké balls, pretending that they were capturing Charizards, Venusaurs, Aerodactyls, and whatever wild Pokémon they could think of. Sometimes Professor Oak would stop by to pick up Gary from his play dates and would stop to talk to her for a few minutes. One thing that had always surprised him was that she had never remarried. She didn't seem interested in anything else other than raising her son.

As for him, he spent nearly every waking hour with his Pokémon. He had been studying them nearly all his life and had to admit that the years since Rose's death allowed him new opportunities that he hadn't been able to take advantage of before. He had spent nearly four months touring the Orange Islands with several of his researchers to study the effects of the tropical environment on the growth and evolution of certain types of Pokémon. He had also gone on a six-week journey to Mount Moon to study the elusive Clefairy. Some of his best research papers had been published in the last few years, mainly because he now had unlimited time to devote to them. Sometimes he would even stay up until three or four in the morning working on a problem or new theory. The only time he really missed having someone to talk to was on those really bad days like the one he had three weeks ago. He awakened that morning to discover that his favorite Rattata had died during the night, then one of his best researchers announced that he was leaving to start his own research facility. After burning dinner, he was so upset that he accidentally exposed himself to Vileplume's sleep powder. When he awoke, he discovered that he had hit his head when he had fallen and ended up with six stitches in his forehead. It was on days like that that he wished that he had someone to hold him and tell him that everything would be all right. Fortunately, those bad days were few and far between.