NOTE: This is a continuation of Ash: The Last Stand (Beginnings) and it is highly recommended that you read that story before continuing with this one as it introduces many of the major plot themes and details that will be continued in this one. If you choose not to read the first arc, that's ok too because I'm totally going to summarise it in like five seconds, but I thought I'd just let you know first so you don't get confused.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon! This stands for the whole fic in case I forgot in some of the later chapters.

Ash: The Last Stand (History)

The small seaside town of Pallet, located just south of Viridian City, was a remarkable place. It was the location of the remarkable plantation and lab premises owned by the remarkable Professor Samuel Oak, it was a habitat for various remarkable Pokémon, and it was the hometown of a certain remarkable trainer.

Sixteen year old Ash Ketchum had lived in this sleepy town right up until the day of his tenth birthday when he began his Pokémon journey – a journey he will finally complete almost seven years later. The latest chapter of that journey began with a test. A test brought upon him by his nearest and dearest friend, the rather remarkable Cerulean City gym leader, Misty Waterflower.

And so thanks to Misty Waterflower, Ash left Pallet once again to begin a new journey across Kanto in the hopes of proving himself in the Pokémon league. Unlike journeys of old, this was not a new beginning. He left accompanied by his two friends – Brock and Dawn – and five of his Pokémon – Pikachu, Buizel, Grotle, Cyndaquill, and the latest addition, Scooby Doo (gastly). He was later joined in the Viridian forest by a very old friend whom he had parted with many years ago before entering the league of the Orange Archipelago, thus rounding out his team with Pidgeot.

With his team of six reconstituted, Ash made his way to Viridian City where he met up with an old rival, whom he feared now posed both a professional and romantic threat. Little did he know, this fear was unfounded for this old rival had certain (shifts gaze) . . . tendencies that would better suit him to rival our dear hero's lady love rather than himself.

But the path to his love's side was not a smooth one. From Viridian to Pewter, Pewter to Mt. Moon, Mt. Moon to Cerulean, various obstacles lay in his path. Notably was that of two Rocket villains bent on some devious scheme, and an encounter with the legendary Ho-oh who forewarned of dangers to come from 'the dark forces of man'.

And he got an egg of unknown origin and species.

Eventually the obstacles were passed, and there they stood face to face. And Ash, being Ash, just had to stick his foot in his mouth. And Misty, being Misty, just had to take pleasure in punishing him for doing so. Five labours and numerous kisses later, our hero was left with a choice – his love or the badge. The Pokémon League was his first love, and Misty . . . Misty was something else entirely.

In a long awaited battle, a decision was made, and three words spoken with absolute candour: Kiss me again . . .

_Recap_

Episode Title: All is Fair in Love and War
Closest town/landmark: Cerulean City Gym
Distance traveled: 0km
Pokémon mentioned: Seven
Badges received: Zero
Girlfriends acquired: One
Coming for a gym badge and leaving with a girlfriend: Oh HELL yeah! I mean, Priceless.
There are some things that cannot be quantified . . . but why would you ever want to try?

Ash: The Last Stand - History Repeats Itself

Misty smiled at him as she carefully groomed her fiery tempered water dragon, and he couldn't help but smile back. She blushed in spite of the fact that the two had technically been an item for the past four days, and Ash felt his own cheeks heat up all the same.

He was still getting used to that fact, and it made him grin widely every time he reminded himself that Misty was officially his girlfriend. It was a strange thing now not to find himself spluttering meaningless denials whenever anyone accused them of being a couple, and instead replying with a proud 'yes'.

A giggle sounded over the intercom system before Daisy's voice rang out over the gym. "Would Misty Waterflower please come to the reception? There's someone here to see you," she giggled cheerfully.

Misty scowled at the announcement. "You really don't like early challengers, do you?" Ash asked laughingly, recalling her reaction when he had arrived before ten o'clock about a week ago. It was not pretty.

"I like my beauty sleep," she answered simply.

Ash grinned at her, the timbre of his voice becoming low and sweet. "Be nice to them, Myst," he told her with a wink, "it's not like you it need it."

She tried to keep scowling at him, but couldn't resist the smile that spread to her lips. "Fine, Ash," she conceded, "but if it's another ten year old trying to beat me with a caterpie you're refereeing." Ash shuddered at the memory.

"Look after Gyarados while I'm gone," she added as she left. Ash shuddered again.

As much as Misty hated early gym visitors, she was happy to see the familiar figure standing in the reception. "Mr. Takeru," she greeted cheerfully. "Does this mean you brought my tea?" she added hopefully.

The man in his late-thirties nodded at the redheaded girl as he held up a small paper bag. He was a tall man – around six foot – with dark black hair and sparkling blue eyes, and hardly looked his age. He was darkly tanned, probably from years of travel, but smartly dressed according to his official post in the League. Daisy, Lily and Violet were all decidedly in love with the handsome older man.

"I heard you had an interesting battle, Miss. Misty," the currently reigning Pokémon Master known only as Takeru, replied with a cocky grin, putting on a formal tone that told her this was an official visit, rather than a friendly one. "Many of the trainers just can't seem to understand why the challenger would turn down a badge in favour of a kiss from the gym leader."

Misty blushed at the words, smiling guiltily even though they hadn't done anything wrong.

"I think I'd like to meet the young man that buys you inappropriate presents, Miss. Misty," Takeru continued, alluding to her tea set once again. "I'll be in my usual spot for most of the day, so when you can bear to tear yourselves away from each other feel free to send him my way."

Misty nodded, her heart swelling with pride. Takeru wanted to battle Ash, and she knew that boded well for his chances in the Pokémon league. She couldn't wait to pass on the news, knowing full well that after four days of nothing but making out, Ash was probably itching for a Pokémon battle, especially one with the prospect of such an elusive badge.

But first . . .

"Misty, I'm not sure I like tea," Ash complained as he sipped the hot liquid from his cup. That was a lie, as he was almost certain that he hated tea.

Misty just smiled at him over the rim of her teacup, continuing to sip her drink. In spite of Takeru's insistence, the jasmine did nothing to change her opinions about tea. Like Ash, she had decided that tea just wasn't for her, but she would rather suck it up and consume the vile substance than let her wonderful gift go to waste.

"Is this some kind of punishment?" he asked her warily. "If you don't like the tea set, you can just tell me you know."

"Ash, I love the tea set," she told him seriously. "And we are drinking tea because that's what you do when you have a tea set."

"Maybe it's the type of tea?" he suggested after a moment to contemplate her words. The both wanted desperately to enjoy tea, and so Ash tried his best to make an honest attempt. "Ma drinks this 'chai' stuff that smells like Christmas. Maybe we'd like that?"

Misty just nodded cordially and continued to sip from her cup. She was doing a very good job at looking demure while doing it, and you'd have to be watching very carefully to notice the grimace that formed on her lips every time the substance touched her tongue.

"Misty, I'm really glad you're my girlfriend," Ash said suddenly, his voice incredibly sincere. "And not just 'cause I'm like 'yay I have a girlfriend', but . . . I mean, I'm glad it's you."

Another demure smile was sent his way. "I'm glad it's me too," she said simply, sounding completely genuine.

"Yeah, I . . . no wait, you're not supposed to say that," he complained, his face darkening. "You're supposed to tell me that you're glad that I'm your boyfriend. Not the other way around."

"Well, I think I'd rather keep my options open," Misty replied with a smirk. "After all, I'm so much prettier, and wiser, and more accomplished than you are. I could have anyone."

Ash groaned. "I can't believe Brock told you that."

"You know what else he told me?" she asked with a widening smirk. Ash felt completely torn between smiling at the way her teal eyes lit with joy, and going to hide in a corner somewhere away from her humiliation.

"He told me that every night you spend a whole twenty minutes washing the handkerchief I gave you before I left," she said smugly.

"Nuh-uh," Ash replied, accepting the challenge in her eyes and falling right into her trap. "I only spend the ordinary amount of time, and only when I'm washing my other stuff so it's not like I make a special effort or nuthin'."

"Hah!" Misty cried triumphantly, jumping from her seat so she could perform a triumphant little dance. "I knew you still had it. You said you lost, but I knew you were lying."

"Well, you know what Brock told me?" Ash asked, getting out of his seat and into a defensive stance. "He told me that when a girl gives you her handkerchief it means she loves you, so that means you loved me way back then. I bet you liked me even before that!"

Oh yes, they were now having a fight over who had liked whom first. And not in the cutesy 'I love you more' 'no, I love you more' kind of way, but in a 'shame, you liked me first even though I was a loser' kind of way. It wasn't an argument that was particularly flattering to either party, especially Misty who was older and was – for the first time in her life – probably going to lose an argument to Ash Ketchum. Although she wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Oh please," she argued flippantly. "Maybe I gave it to you because I knew you were such a snotty nosed little brat and I felt sorry for you seeing as you were so completely in love with me back then. How considerate am I, giving you the very thing you needed to sop up all the tears you cried longing for my return? Hmmm?"

"Like I'd be caught dead crying over some scrawny redhead!" He turned red with embarrassment, knowing full well that he had been caught crying such tears on the day she left, and – though nobody would know it – had shed tears for the redhead on other occasions. "Especially not one who used her bike as an excuse to follow me just because she was too embarrassed to admit her feelings to the one she loved."

"That being you?" she asked sceptically. "You, the boy who has repaid every debt he has ever acquired bar one measly little bike? It does make me wonder why my bike is the only one never to be returned. And I mean, with interest," she added determinedly, narrowing her eyes at the boy she loved for no reason that made any sense in this moment.

"For crying out loud, Misty!" he cried, throwing his hands in the air in distress. "Are you ever going to let me live that down? I mean, please, Misty, why don't you tell me exactly what it would take for you to forget about that stupid bike for even a couple of minutes?"

"Well?" he asked, after she was completely silently for a good minute and a half. This was a very unusual occurrence in one of their arguments, or their friendship generally. Misty was very rarely silent.

"I'm thinking about it," she replied. "This is so stupid," she said with a sigh. "All I've been able to think about since we started this argument is how I'd much rather be kissing you. Not that I don't enjoy our little fights, but I'm sure we could find a much better use of our time."

A grin spread broadly onto Ash's face. "I think I'd have to agree with you," he smiled. "And, I think- ouch!" he cried, cut off as Misty whacked him upside the head. "What was that for?" he asked rubbing the sore spot at the back of his head.

"That was a hint, you idiot," she muttered, rolling her eyes at his denseness. "Please don't tell me I have to spell it out to you every time."

"No, I think I get it." He moved closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and feeling her body mould comfortably into his own. "But you've got to let me say one thing first?"

Misty nodded impatiently as he lowered his face towards hers. He lightly brushed his lips against her jaw, following the path to her ear. "I just thought you should know," he said softly, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine, "that I'd much rather be fighting with you, than making up with anyone else."

Her breath caught at the sentiment in her words, and she barely responded with a shaky "ditto" before he did as she commanded, and captured her lips with his own.

"So, how did you end up getting rid of that challenger?" Ash asked sometime later after Misty had been quite thoroughly kissed.

"Huh?" Misty asked, a bit dazily at first. "Oh, him. No, it wasn't a challenger. At least not for me."

Ash raised a curious eyebrow at this. "You see, there's this really powerful trainer that's been hanging out in the park since the league began, and if you beat him you get the mercury badge," she explained nonchalantly, watching Ash's eyes light up with excitement as she spoke. "He'll only accept challenges from the best trainers, and so you have to present him with a cascade badge before he'll battle you."

"Oh," Ash said sadly, his face falling at the last piece of information. He had no cascade badge to offer in exchange for a battle, and even though he didn't regret his decision, he couldn't help but feel a little saddened at this.

"Although he is willing to make an exception in your case," she added slyly, watching him carefully to see his mood transform form pits of depression, to unbridled joy.

"C'mon, Myst," he said happily, jumping to his feet and dragging her up with him. He pulled her out the doors of the gym before she even knew what was happening. "We've got to go see him right now."

Misty shook her head at his antics, digging her feet in to stay put. "Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked patiently.

"Oh right." He stepped closer and lightly pressed his lips against hers. "Thanks, Myst," he told her with a sheepish smile.

"That's nice," she said blandly, "but I was actually thinking of something a little more essential to actual battle itself. Like maybe a certain electric mouse?"

For a moment the young teenager actually looked confused as to what she was referring to. "Shit, Pikachu!" he said, slapping his had to his forehead at his own stupidity. "Stay right here. I'll go get Pikachu and the others."

"What on earth did I get myself into?" she asked herself with slight sigh. "Of all the boys in the world, it just had to be him?" she demanded, turning her head to the heavens as though to question some higher beings decision in bringing the two of them together. He was stupid, immature, and impulsive, and yet she knew that no one else would ever come close. This stupid, immature, impulsive boy was the only one for her.

Ash returned moments later with Pikachu happily perched on his shoulder, as he herded two very confused looking humans through the doors. Brock sent her a questioning look, which she could only respond with a weak smile and a shrug as she mouthed the words 'Pokémon Battle'. Brock immediately understood.

And then they were running full speed – trying their best to keep up with Ash and Pikachu – towards the city park where a trainer waited for them in a small clearing surrounded by trees.

Takeru seated himself firmly on a tree stump, his legs evenly spread and hands upon his thighs, looking almost regal in his position. For a moment he debated whether or not to announce his status to the challenger at the start of the battle, but decided he liked it much better when they found out after they had been defeated that they never really had a chance. It was especially fun when it came to the cocky ones – he had taken exceptional pleasure in wiping the smirk off the young Oak boy's face.

He had to admit that he was curious about the boy that Misty was bringing with her, not just because of what he had heard about the battle itself. He felt a sense of obligation towards his dearly departed old friend to test if the boy was truly worthy of William's youngest daughter. The redhead was so like her father – the same fiery spirit and determination – and he would hate to see her with anyone that would try to dull that fire.

Hearing clumsy footsteps making their way through the trees, Takeru straightened his posture so as to look even more daunting. He considered letting out one of his Pokémon to have sit regally at his feet, but he hated the thought of emulating Giovanni of all people and decided against such a look.

'Shadows or no shadows?' he thought quickly to himself. He certainly enjoyed the pomp and pageantry that went with his position, and he had knack for unsettling his opponents. In a snap decision, he threw his long black bangs forward, shadowing half his face and giving him the overall impression of some dark lord. He just wished it didn't mean having to put up with young Misty's sniggers when she saw him.

"Miss. Misty," he said coolly, not even looking up as he heard at least four people enter the small clearing. "I see you've brought me a challenger."

He stood slowly, taking a few steps forward to examine the group of people. There were two males in the group, but he assumed that it was the younger of the two that Misty had brought to him based on the presence of a Pikachu on his shoulder and the way her eyes darted in his direction.

"One-on-one. No time limits," he said simply, addressing the younger male directly.

His chocolate brown eyes narrowed with determination, and he gave a brief nod as he stepped away from the group. Although not before – as Takeru duly noted – glancing quickly in Misty's direction and sharing a heart felt smile.

'Oh young love,' Takeru thought almost bitterly to himself. He tried to ignore the dull pain that lodge itself in his heart; one that he had felt on almost a daily basis for the past eight years. Try as he might, something inside him couldn't help but resent the two of them. He had given his own love up for the sake of his dream, and he was envious of the boy who had been given the choice that he had taken for granted.

"Pikachu, go!" the boy called, drawing the Pokémon Master from his sad thoughts.

Takeru scoffed. He was almost disappointed in the boy's choice of Pokémon, and it seemed that the battle would not be as challenging as he hoped. He tossed his own Pokéball into the air with a soft smirk.

"Go, Nidoking!"

The large poison/ground Pokémon roared loudly as it came into being in a flash of red light. The little yellow Pokémon didn't even flinch at the sight of it, and Takeru noted that the determination in its masters brown eyes was unwavering. The two clearly were one hell of a team.

'Maybe this will be more interesting than I first presumed.'

He let his young challenger make the first move. He was interested to see what the young boy would come up with given that most of pikachu's arsenal would be useless against the drill Pokémon.

"Volt tackle!"

Takeru nodded impressed as the pikachu charged up his attack. He called defence curl, curious for now just to see how strong this Pokémon was. It was enough that the Pokémon knew such a high level move, even more so given it was unevolved, but it would be interesting see how much damage the little mouse was able to inflict.

Electricity charged around pikachu as he propelled himself towards the massive violet beast. In spite of his defensive position, Nidoking was thrown back by the attack. The attack did more damage than he had expected, and he was incredibly surprised to find that Nidoking appeared to have been affected by the electrical charge, albeit to a minor degree.

Not allowing for such surprise to register on his face, Takeru immediately called for a ground attack; mud slap. The muddy projectiles were immediately sent at their opponent, but Pikachu dodged each and every one of them with a rather impressive agility. The boy responded with thunder punch and Takeru began to understand the boy's strategy – he knew that electric attacks were ineffective on Nidoking, but electricity seemed to add physical power to attacks and protect his own Pokémon from any damage that may be inflicted on the attacker. It was a good strategy, because when that thunder punch hit, it hit hard in spite of the massive size discrepancy between the two Pokémon.

Takeru tried for an iron tail, but pikachu was fast and once again dodged the attack with agility. If he was going to beat pikachu, he was going to need to act while pikachu was close. The opportunity arose only a couple of attacks later when the boy called for his pikachu to use volt tackle once again.

"Hold your ground," he commanded Nidoking as the plan of attack formed in his head. "Wait for it," he said slowly as pikachu came closer. "Now, Nidoking! Seismic toss!"

On command, Nidoking caught the small mouse like Pokémon charging towards him, holding tightly in spite of the damage pikachu's attack was doing. Grasping Pikachu's tiny paws, Nidoking began to swing swiftly in circle gaining speed before releasing Pikachu and tossing him aside.

"Now earthquake," Takeru called, seeing the mouse getting himself up. That toss would have been enough to defeat most Pokémon, but pikachu was still standing and ready to fight.

Nidoking pounded a heavy fist into the ground, sending shock wave after shock wave in Pikachu's direction before pikachu or his trainer could call for their move. And with that the battle was over. Pikachu was defeated.

"Nidoking, return," Takeru called, resealing his Pokémon in its 'ball. "You did well," he told the boy, watching him cradle the yellow electric mouse in his arms. "It was one of the fiercest battles I've had in a long time. I think you at least deserve to know by whom you were defeated, for it will keep you in high spirits."

The boy looked up, his brown eyes still filled with the same strength and determination with which he had began the battle. He almost felt the urge to look away – those eyes were like something from a distant memory. He felt his heart breaking as he tried to forget.

Shaking off the feeling of despair, he continued proudly, his bright blue eyes examining his opponent. He announced himself fully, something he had never felt the urge to do before in all his years as the champion.

"My name is Jason Takeru Ketchum," he told them proudly, surprised to hear a gasp instilled by his name alone, which had never been known to the public, "and I am the current Indigo Champion and Pokémon Master. May I know the name of the first trainer to come close to beating me in nine years?"

The boy gaped at him, his eyes widening in horror and despair. "No," he said quietly, his voice barely carrying over the space of the clearing. "You can't be. You can't be him," the boy muttered.

The Pokémon Master's eyebrow twitched at the words, taking it as a sign of disrespect and pure insolence. "Why not?" he asked with a hardened jaw. "You don't believe that you were just defeated by most advanced trainer in Kanto. I'm exactly who I say I am, boy."

"You can't be!" the young man cried, tears slipping from his eyes as he began to back away. "You're dead," he whispered desperately. He turned quickly on his heal and was gone before he could question him directly.

Jay raised an eyebrow at the redheaded gym leader as the boy disappeared. She was about to follow after him, but he quickly reached for her arm, holding her back. He frowned as she met him with frightened eyes.

"Who is he?" he asked her, wondering how she could look at him with such horror when they had been acquainted for the past month. "Why did he say that?"

For a few moments, it looked as though Misty was unable to speak. She gaped at him before finally finding the words. Her eyes were wet with tears; tears for the boy who had ran from his defeat. Her mouth formed three words – three words he hadn't expected to ever hear, not after her.

"He's your son."

~ to be continued ~

How was that for the first chapter? Ash's parentage is one of the things that I've always felt would need to be properly resolved at some point, and so here's my take on it.

I also wanted to give a bit of insight into Ash and Misty's burgeoning relationship – hasn't really changed that much, only they've finally found a way to resolve their disagreements without resorting to violence. Otherwise, exactly the same Ash and Misty, but with happier endings.

It'll probably take most of the arc to fully resolve the 'daddy' issue, so it might get a bit angstier in places than the first one, but I've tried to throw in some light moments as well. Let me know what you think.