As Time Passes
Epilogue 2

Karen: What's an Epilogue 2?
Tsukasa: Just as it sounds, it's another Epilogue.
Karen: You can have two?
Tsukasa: What? I couldn't think of another name to mark our 2,000 view in two weeks!
Karen: Well, once again, I'm impressed.
Tsukasa: Sadly, this is more of a short fic than a oneshot, due to it just being a final wrap up.
Karen: And who knows, maybe at 5,000 views you'll make that marriage oneshot.
Tsukasa: Before we get started guys I'd like to make a few announcements. Number 1 is that I'd like it if you guys would check out my profile every once in a while. I update weekly (now that I've been active here on ff net for a while) and I also have polls involving future works of mine, so it's always a good idea to pop in every now and then.
Karen: UPDATE!!! As it turns out ff net won't let us post stories on their forums, so we're going to have to do this the fun way...
Tsukasa: in other words, Gaia may be our way to hold our poll, or a C2... I'll keep you guys updated. again, check into my profile for news on it weekly.
Karen: Besides that, we hope you all enjoy this small oneshot, though it isn't really shippy, not having much romance other than in some minor moments.
Tsukasa: We don't own Pokémon, but we own this fanfiction… SQUEE 2,000 hits in TWO WEEKS! Banzai!

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Looking back, my life has been great. My wife, my son and daughter, my friends both Pokémon and human alike, and my adventures… All wonderful, and I doubt anything could replace the joys those all have brought me.

Though looking back is so short, seeing as to how I'm only twenty nine, though that will change in the next few days. My son Isaac has been a trainer for two years, and, just like me at his age, has already moved from the Kanto region to the Sinnoh region with is own group.

The kid was a genius in battle. That's as simply as I can put it. He almost never lost, short of having new Pokémon that weren't used to his battle strategy. Similarly to me again, he utilized contest strategies inside of gym battles to ridiculously positive effect. Yep, my son performs in contests too. Guess both sides of the blood got into him, huh?

Speaking of blood, our other young blood, Alexandra, is currently in training with my wife just outside, preparing the little devil for her first real Pokémon contest. She already has a starter; I managed to talk Professor Oak into letting her get her very first Pokémon earlier than usual. Her starter? Same one I originally wanted, a Squirtle. And similarly to my beloved wife's Piplup-the little guy still remained one after all this time- she used Squirtle's Bubble attack just like Piplup's Bubblebeam contest move, Spin.

Simply put, Squirtle spins around while using Bubble, creating a dazzling spiral of bubbles around him. Dawn and her were just finishing up their training as I finished the top of Alexandra's birthday cake. Ironically enough, my daughter was born just before my birthday, kind of an early birthday present in a way. In a week she was going to head out on her own journey, accompanied by an old friend;

Good old Misty ended up marrying a rich man and had a kind, well raised son. Who the man is I can't quite say, as he's never actually accompanied Misty when she came to visit, making me believe he's a stuck up bastard… but I digress on that topic. Misty's son, Carol, wasn't interested in contests much, more interested in gym battles, making the two the perfect duo.

And who knows… maybe Misty's kid will get along with mine well enough that… "Pfft- Hahaa!" I burst out laughing, "Yeah, that'll only happen when Grumpig fly…"

"And just what are you laughing at?" My beautiful wife Dawn asked as she slid the glass back door closed behind her, my adorable daughter walking next to her.

"Oh, nothing" I smiled as I spun with the cake in hand, my smile widening as Alexandra's eyes lit up, "Happy birthday, Alex!"

"Thanks Daddy!" she cooed happily as she leapt into her seat on the table, waiting for the special moment; blowing out the candles.

"Looks like you did an excellent job again, Ash" Dawn giggled as she walked to her seat.

"Of course. All that practice definitely paid off." I chuckled as I set the cake down, "I'm better than Brock now!"

"I wouldn't go that far" Dawn said slyly. I wasn't going to let her get to me, though. She took a sick pleasure in messing with me lately, though it was never offensive. She just loved playing with me. Not like that was a crime, right?

"Can I blow out the candles now, Daddy?" Alexandra was hopping up and down in her seat. For a ten year old, she was certainly energetic, if not childish. But that was how she was, and Dawn and I had accepted that.

"I haven't even put them on," I laughed as I placed ten candles on the cake, "And we can't start without our special guest, either."

"Special guest?" Both Dawn and Alexandra asked. I couldn't help but laugh again at the look on their faces.

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Just on time, the video phone began to ring. I quickly picked it up and brought it to the table, letting it ring a little longer so I could light the candles before I finally answered it, a big beaming face illuminating the screen.

"Happy birthday, Alexandra!" Isaac shouted into the video phone.

"Isaac!" Dawn squealed in gleeful delight, "I had no idea you were going to call us!"

"Good thing Dad can keep a secret" His eyes looked to me, "Thanks for following through, Dad."

"What, you thought I wouldn't?" I growled, though I had a friendly grin on my face.

"So… now can I…" Alexandra asked, looking at each face at the table.

"Not yet… We still don't have the whole family here." I then whistled, chuckling at the sound of the rest of our group running down the stairs and into the room. Pikachu, Lucario and Piplup skidded to a halt in front of the table, all of them chirping a cry then looked at Alexandra, who I too looked at, "Don't forget Squirtle."

"And Zappy!" Isaac's Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder as Alexandra released her tiny turtle Pokémon from his pokéball.

"All together now!" Dawn shouted.

"Happy Birthday, Alexandra!" the group cheered a loud cacophony of both human and Pokémon cries as the girl marked her first day as a qualified trainer, blowing out her ten birthday candles.

Time seemed to fly through the next week as, again against timed traditions, Alexandra was to depart on her journey. Dawn and I saw her to Professor Oak's lab to meet her traveling partner, Carol.

"You'd better keep an eye on Alexandra, Carol" Misty giggled, "If she's anything like her father, she'll just make trouble."

"I resent that comment" I laughed as my family crested the hill that the laboratory overlooked, "Take a look at Isaac, for instance."

Dawn took my arm, "You don't have to take it so seriously. You really were quite the trouble when you started out" she growled.

"Big talk" I shot back at her before looking at my daughter, "Alex…"

She leapt onto me, embracing me tightly, "Don't worry, Daddy! I'll be fine, especially with Carol watching me."

This was actually my first time seeing Carol in person. He looked dependable, looking like Misty and… "So I take it you're Misty's husband?" I approached the tall man dressed in a red suit.

"That's correct." The black haired man smiled, "The name's Morgan" he held out his hand, "A pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Ketchum."

"Feeling's mutual, mystery man" I laughed, though I felt a bit nervous… He looks like a taller, fancier me! I turned to Dawn, who wore a similarly poorly hidden look of shock to mine. My eyes weren't deceiving me; the man really did look like me…

My eyes then looked at the young trainer that would be accompanying my daughter, And the kid looks like a younger me, yet with orange hair…

"Something the matter, Ash?" Misty asked. I could tell that she knew exactly what was bothering me.

"Nothing." I turned to Alex again, "I guess this is it, kiddo. You're finally heading out into the world of Pokémon." I knelt down and hugged her one last time, "Make your mark! Show your mom and I just what you can do, Alexandra!"

She returned the hug, then ran over to Dawn, hugging her as well, tears poking at her eyes, "I will!" She slowly broke her embrace, then turned and ran to Carol's side. The two took one final look at their respective parents, then took off running north.

"There they go…" I sighed, "Off on their own adventure…"

I turned when I heard Dawn sniffle, immediately embracing her in a hug, "I just… can't believe that she's gone too…" she tried to fight her tears.

"Yeah… when Isaac left, it wasn't as hard because we still had another kid around, but…" I had to admit, I was getting pretty worked up myself. The feeling of Dawn hugging me back helped calm me down, though, "Now, we've got nothing."

"Quite the heart wrenching moment, huh?" Misty chirped, "We don't know the feeling as well since we only have one kid…"

"Are you saying we're being wimpy?" Both Dawn and I glared at her.

"Not at all, just that the feeling parents share aren't always the same." Misty then looked out at the road where she could still see the faint silhouettes of the kids, "But letting your child go shouldn't be a sad time. It should be a time of happiness, knowing that they are going out to find their happiness."

I just stared at Misty, bringing a few stares to myself in the process of a few moment, "That has to be the smartest thing you've ever said…" this quickly warranted a fist to the head from Misty.

"Ash Ketchum, I swear you can be the biggest jerk!"

Despite my pain, both Dawn and I began laughing. Laughing not just at this comical moment, but also because we knew Misty was right. Screw crying. We're going to laugh, as we watch our kids fade into the distance.

And we'll laugh as we turn and say our farewells to our friends, the two of us, Dawn and I, walking hand in hand. "Gotta love 'em all, right?" Dawn said happily.

"Huh?" That was the first time she had ever said that, and it took me a moment to realize what she was referencing, "Oh yeah… That's for us, but for our kids it's different… theirs is…"

Yep, that's us. The perfect family, though now that the kids are gone, things are a lot quieter. Can't say that's for better or worse. Dawn and I can have our fun a lot more often, but we're also rather lonely without the happiness our kids brought us. Still, life goes on, and they still check in from time to time.

Speaking of time, I think we're out of it. I don't think I could explain our life any better than my wife could, so I think it's time we wrapped this up with and old saying of mine that works for my kids too.

Pokémon! Gotta catch 'em all!

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Tsukasa: And that's all folks.
Karen: We'd like to remind that the Wedding Night fanfiction is open to anyone of any writing skills. we just again ask that you send us a message saying you want to do it BEFORE you do it.
Tsukasa: Also, we wanted to ask another favor of you all. Some readers have skills in drawing, right? Well...
Karen: We were just wondering if anyone would be interested in drawing our "Improvised" characters...
Tsukasa: Again, it's up to you guys. We just think it would be fun to see...
Karen: Well, I guess this is it.
Tsukasa: Until the next time we meet....
Karen: But before we part...
Both: Thank you once again for reading this fanfiction!