Lost
is a Pokémon: The Series fanfic from 2002 by Ilex the Elder exploring the idea of how Delia felt upon learning of the St. Anne incident from "Battle Abroad The St. Anne". Like many of Ilex the Elder's fics, there is an Oak/Delia angle to the story, but romance is not the main driving point of the narrative.
The story starts with Delia getting a call from Officer Jenny that there's been an accident on the ship her son was sailing on. There were no survivors.
Lost: Samuel's POV is a Perspective Flip of the story from Professor Oak's POV.
Lost provides examples of:
- Broad Strokes: The actual anime implies that Delia never learned of the accident, as she never brings it up. Lost goes with the interpretation that she did.
- Children Are Innocent: Upon learning Brock is alive, one of his siblings asks "Daddy said you were in Heaven with Mommy – how'd you get back so fast?"
- Dark Fic: The anime itself glosses over the St. Anne incident, but Lost explores what it could have been Delia's reaction to it.
- Death by Adaptation: The fic predates Brock's mother being introduced in the anime, and the English dub originally stated she was deceased, so she's deceased in this fic.
- Disappeared Dad: Ash's father doesn't realize he has a son. Delia wants to keep it that way since he's the leader of Team Rocket. So, Delia ran to Pallet Town and made up a story about how she had a husband and that he's away on a journey.
- Driven to Suicide:
- After Ash's supposed death, Delia contemplates drinking an entire bottle of the tranquilizers she was prescribed. Oak notices this and takes the bottle away.
- Professor Oak has a scar on his wrist from when he tried to kill himself after his son died.
- Mid-Suicide Regret: In the past, Professor Oak tried to kill himself after his son and daughter-in-law died in a car crash. While bleeding out, he regretted it after realizing he'd be leaving his two grandkids to fend for themselves. Luckily, Spencer found Oak and helped him get to a hospital.
- Missing Mom: Brock's mother is deceased.
- Named by the Adaptation: Lost uses the normal fanon surnames for the characters: Misty Waterflower, Brock Slate, James Morgan, and Jessie Rochester.
- Outliving One's Offspring: The story handles this topic. Delia has seemingly lost her only child and must deal with the grief. Professor Oak did lose a child, his son specifically, and was left to raise his two grandkids as a result.
- Parental Abandonment:
- Gary's parents died in a car crash when he was younger.
- Implied with Misty. Her sisters are the only family members to go to her memorial.
- Raised by Grandparents: Gary and his sister May were raised by their paternal grandfather after their parents died.
- Related in the Adaptation: Ash's dad is Giovanni. He doesn't realize Ash is his son until Delia tells him when he appears at the memorial.
- Suicide Watch: Oak keeps a careful eye on Delia after she begins displaying suicidal behavior.
- Wham Line: In chapter 3, Delia reveals who Ash's dad, Giovanni, actually is:Delia: "When I was younger, I got into quite a bit of trouble. I feel in love with an older man who I later learned wasn't all he said he was. When I discovered that he was doing some things – some pretty bad things – I decided to leave him."
