Ch 1: Life now

It was late in the afternoon in the Indigo plateau and the sun was shining bright across the plateau.

The streets of the village were mostly empty with only a few people moving around.

Most of the people were inside the Indigo stadium watching a pokemon battle.

On the battlefield below, stood Pyramid King Brandon with his massive Regirock

Standing on the other side of the battlefield was a young man with relatively long raven black hair. He also had brown eyes and slightly tanned skin with a muscular physique.

He wore navy blue jeans with a pair of black bracers around his wrists and forearms with a small white spade on top of each.

He also wore a silver and black colored sort sleeved jacket and a blue undershirt.

He also wore a black hat with a blue center and a grey pokeball symbol in the center.

Sitting on his shoulder was a Pikachu, and standing in front of him , was a massive Charizard with large muscles all over his body and a massive flame on the end of his tail.

Sitting in a private box above the battlefield was a young woman with light and smooth skin with long honey blond hair that was mostly free except a tiny tail at the back end put in by a single band. She also wore a sleeveless black and red top that stopped an inch or two above her belly button.

She also wore a short red skirt that's top went high enough for a few inches of her stomach to be showing.

On the lower parts of her legs were black leggings with black shoes on.

Sitting beside her were a few others.

"Well folks the battle between Pyramid king Brandon and Ash Ketchum of the elite 4 is going well. They have both sent out their most powerful pokemon for this match folks. You'll certainly be getting your money's worth for this battle" The ref said.

"Regirock use Stone edge." Brandon said.

Regirock's face lit up as he raised his massive arms and unleashed a furry of razor sharp rocks at Charizard.

"Charizard use Air slash!" Ash shouted.

Charizard flew down spinning himself and slashed through any stones that would have hit him.

"Shoot him down, Zap cannon!" Brandon shouted.

Regirock raised his arms and sparked electricity between them.

He made another mechanical like sound as he unleashed a massive pulse of electricity.

"Dragon pulse." Ash said.

"Grauu!" Charizard roared as he opened his mouth and unleashed a pulse of violet dragon energy that tore through the zap cannon.

When the electricity faded, Regirock saw Charizard fly directly in front of him and then up.

"Grauu!" He roared as he blasted Regirock with Dragon pulse at extremely close range.

Regirock grunted as he was pushed back.

"Great job Charizard." Ash said as Charizard flew up higher.

"We won't let him escape. Regirock use Lock on."

Regirock's eyes locked onto Charizard as he flew up.

"No escape now. Hyper beam!" Brandon shouted.

Regirock formed a sphere of energy in front of his face before blasting a massive beam of orange energy right at Charizard.

The Hyper beam was guided right to Charizard from the lock on.

"Charizard blast burn!" Ash shouted.

Charizard turned towards the Hyperbeam as his tail flame exploded around him, covering himself in fire.

After doing so he opened his mouth as an explosive force formed there before he unleashed the blast burn into the Hyper beam.

When it made contact, the blast burn exploded and tore the Hyper beam apart as Charizard flew through the explosion aftermath.

When the fire and energy began to clear, Charizard flew out of the other side and crashed into Regirock with Air slash, pushing him back across the battlefield.

"Seismic toss!" Ash shouted.

Charizard wrapped his arms around Regirock and lifted him up into the air.

Once he was high enough, Charizard did 3 circles in the air before flying back towards the ground and hurled Regirock into the ground.

After hitting the ground, Regirock saw Charizard flying over him. He tried to get back up, but fell back onto the ground.

"Regirock is unable to battle." The ref said.

"Alright we beat him Charizard!" Ash shouted.

Back in the private box, Serena smiled as the crowd around the entire stadium lit up in applause.

"Geez two years in the elite 4 and he's already such a celebrity."

"At least he's still humble." Serena said.

"My boy has always been humble" Delia said.

"Ashamed dad couldn't be here." Red said.

"Well his new position as well as his student take up a lot of his time." Korrina said.

"We can still see him now that the match is over." Delia said.

Brandon sighed as he returned his Regirock.

He then approached Ash and his Charizard.

"You're every bit as good as Lucy described you as Ash. I can see how you got into the elite 4 at such a young age."

"Thanks Brandon. It wasn't easy."

Up in another private box Lance and Koga sat watching the match.

"He's doing well, very well." Koga said.

"He's everything Daniel promised and more. At 23 years old he's better than a 46 year old Frontier boss."

"Well Daniel was 16 when he was." Koga started.

"Don't finish that sentence."

"Just giving you a hard time Lance."

"In any case, he's been a good replacement for Agatha." Lance said as he stared at Ash.

"Well we should go and congratulate him." Koga said as he and Lance got up.

Back in the other box, Serena and the others were getting ready to leave.

"Well the match is over, we better get moving if we want to beat the crowd." Red said.

Serena got up but then nearly went to her knees as she bent over and held her stomach with a painful expression on her face.

"Woah Serena , are you ok?" Korrina said as she tried to help her up.

"Ohh, yeah. I've just got some bad stomach cramps I've had them all morning." Serena said.

"Are you sick?" Delia asked.

"No, I just had some bad organic eggs for breakfast at a dinner this morning."Serena

"How do you know they were bad?" Delia asked.

"Well after they were served to us I heard someone from he kitchen ask if it was the 10th already and then come over to a trash bin and throw out a box of organic eggs."

"Yeah that'll do it." Red said before they left.

Twenty minutes later Ash was inside a well furnished room with Koga and Lance. Also with them was President Goodshow.

"An excellent match today Ash my boy. We sold out." Goodshow said.

"We had a great time President Goodshow." Ash said.

"Well here's your cut." Goodshow said as he handed Ash a small bar of solid gold.

"Why do you insist on always being payed in gold, why not take a check like the rest of us?" Koga asked.

Ash put the gold in his bag.

"I have my reasons." Ash said.

"Well your contribution to the pokemon league has been outstanding since you joined the elite 4. I'm quite proud of you." Goodshow said.

"It's been a great honor being in the elite 4 these last 2 years. I always dreamed of making it here." Ash said as he looked around at the walls of the room. The walls were filled with photos of old elite 4 members as well as champions with their pokemon.

At the very end was Ash with the 6 pokemon he used to defeat Agatha 2 years prior.

"Now that you've got up, I'll be taking the next match." Koga said.

Each elite 4 member took turns when it came to professional matches. Ash thought the NPC had difficult challengers, now that he was in the elite 4, he faced trainers with skill levels he couldn't believe. Champions of smaller leagues, like the orange islands, frontier bosses, and sometimes elite 4 members from other regions. The best trainers in the world.

Ash loved being in the elite 4, especially knowing that his pokemon and his hard work had gotten them there.

"How is your wife Serena doing?" Koga asked.

"She's doing great." Ash said.

"Isn't she a performer?" Lance asked.

"She just performed at the Silph corporation's annual anniversary of their founding ball." Ash said.

"Right I think Will was there too." Koga said.

"He was, they got to trainers from the KPTL to have a battle. My old friend Gary was one of them." Ash said.

"So are you heading home now?" Goodshow asked.

"My dad lives nearby, I'm going to visit him first." Ash said.

"Well we'll contact you when you're needed next." Lance said.

Ash and Pikachu left the room and made their way out of the building.

When he got outside, he saw the others got out there waiting for them.

"There you are." Serena said.

"Hey guys, I'm ready to go if you are." Ash said.

"You're father's waiting. " Delia said.

The group walked across the Indigo plateau, trying not to attract too much attention.

"I saw the new copies of the Kanto press. It looked great." Serena said.

"Thank you Serena, I've put a lot of work into it since they put me in charge."

Two years prior, Delia decided to move back to Kanto to stay close to her sons and got her job jack at the Kanto press. A year later she was made the chief editor.

When they finally reached the hidden enclave they were let in by a guardian.

"Red, Korrina, welcome." He said as they walked in.

The group walked past a few guardians and guardian students.

Eventually they reached an open training area where they saw Felix and Lucario with a boy who looked about 8 years old and a Totodile beside him.

The boy was trying to use aura guardian combat techniques as best he could, as Felix blocked them all easily with his left hand and forearm.

"Good, good, keep up the intensity Tyler." Felix said.

At the same time the Totodile and Lucario were also sparring.

When Felix felt the others in the room he put his hand up, telling Tyler to stop.

Tyler was sweating profusely and tried to catch his breath.

Felix turned to the group.

"I was wondering when you'd get here." Felix said.

Ash smiled and approached him.

"Well I had a match to win Mentor."

Ash said before he hugged him.

"Come on Ash, you don't need to call me that." Felix said.

A year after retiring from the elite 4, Agatha also retired from the position as mentor. She asked Felix to take her place, and he accepted. Much to Arthur's rejoice."

"It's good to see you both again. Now that you two are famous and I'm in charge here, we don't get to see you enough."

"That's what happens when we kids grow up." Red said.

" Did you win Ash?" Tyler asked.

"I did Tyler, how is your training going?" Ash asked.

"It's going great, I'm going to be the best fighter in the brotherhood some day!" Tyler said confidently.

"That is the right attitude" Red said.

"Alright well why don't you clean yourself up. We're done sparring for today."

"Aww." Tyler said.

"We've still got aura training too Tyler. It will involve concentrations and deep breaths, you don't want to smell your own sweat."

"Ok , come on Chomper, you stink too." Tyler said before his Totodile squirted him with water gun.

"Ok now you've done it!" Tyler said as he chased after him.

Felix watched Tyler as he ran off and sighed.

"He's so much like Kal, hell Shelly even use to do that to him after sparring lessons." Felix said.

Moments later Serena felt the pain in her stomach come back and held her arms over it as she bend over and gave a painful expression.

"Serena." Ash said as he tried to help her up.

"Is everything alright?" Felix asked.

"Those stupid eggs, I feel like i'm going to see them again." She said.

"If you're feeling sick, you could always see one of the healers here. They're better than any ordinary doctors." Felix said.

"Well I suppose it couldn't hurt." Serena said as Felix turned to another guardian who was doing some training.

"Sebastian."

"Mentor." He said as he respectfully bow.

"Could you show my daughter in law to the healing chambers?"

"No problem Mentor." The guardian said as he walked over to them.

"Right this way." He said as he lead Serena out of the room.

"Let's head to my chambers." Felix said.

When they got there they all sat down at the table.

"Tyler looks like he's doing well." Ash said.

"He's doing even better than kal did at his training. I'm proud of him."

"Dad, I know this may not be the most comfortable question. But did you finally tell him about you and Kal, and well, Sier?" Red asked.

Felix took a deep breath.

"When he turned 8, I told him everything about Kal. Even how he became Sier. I ended it with how Kal ended."

"How did he take it?" Ash asked.

"About as well as you'd imagine. He wouldn't talk to me for 3 days, I think it was Chomper who finally got him to speak to me again."

"You had to tell him eventually." Delia said putting her hand on his shoulder.

"It didn't make it any easier. But he eventually got past it. Still , I had to have Paul train him for a while before he felt comfortable around me again. Paul still trains him from time to time when I get too busy with mentor work."

"Paul is one of the best in the brotherhood." Korrina said.

"He also likes watching out for Tyler too. Kal and Paul were close too before we thought Kal died. The three of us were like brothers. But I've been talking too much about myself. How about you, elite 4 member. How are things going with my top trainer son."

"Well things have been going well. The other elite 4 members and I have been getting along well enough. I've gotten to battle trainers better than any I ever faced before since I joined."

"That first trainer you battled was probably the best." Red said.

"I've faced some better ones since then." Ash said.

"What about Serena? I don't get to hear from her enough." Korrina said.

"Well things have been going well for her performing career, not just in Kanto but she's been asked to do shows back in Kalos, and has done 3 in Johto. Now that she has the title Kanto queen, she can get a gig just about anywhere, and she loves it."

"I'm glad to hear you two are doing so well." Delia said.

"What about you two? How is life as married guardians?" Ash asked.

"It's great." Korrina said as she wrapped her arms around Red's shoulders and rubbed her face against his.

"Well despite fact that we're married, we've still had plenty of time to run missions." Red said.

"I hope that will change soon." Korrina said in a somewhat stern tone. Ash, Red, and the others all sweat dropped.

Elsewhere in the healing area, Serena laid back on a cot as the guardian healer looked over her with a Audino beside him.

His eyes were glowing blue as well as his hand as he used his aura healing as well as his practical medical skills to look over Serena.

Audino also looked at Serena.

Serena noticed the healing room was a combination of a normal hospital like setting with a more ancient roman like healing center with hot springs, herbs areas, and other older things guardians tended to have. Most enclaves were like this, a mix of modern and ancient.

The guardian healer stopped as he moved his hand onto her stomach.

He then pulled away and looked at his Audino as she also stopped.

"Aud" The Audino said nodding.

"Alright Ms. Ketchum, I think Audino and I have figured out what's wrong with you."

"So is food poisoning? Stomach sickness? I told you about the bad eggs right?"

"Yes you did, but I'm afraid that's not what's causing your stomach pains. I" He said smiling.

"Then what is it, something worse?" She asked.

"My dear Serena, it's nothing bad. You have life growing inside you."

"What?!" Serena almost shouted.

"You are with child."

Serena almost felt surreal, she had a baby growing inside her. She thought this might happen some day, but so soon, she was only 23 years old.

Still she was overcome with a feeling of joy. She held her hands over her stomach as she smiled.

Growing inside her was the child of Ash and herself. In 9 months she would have her own baby, her and Ash would be a real family.

That's when it hit her.

"Ash. How is he going to take this?" She said nervously.

She knew they had talked about it , once back in the Indigo league. But that was 2 years ago and it hadn't really come up since then. How would he take it?

Back in Felix's room Ash and the others were still talking.

"And so we left him and his his men dangling over the police station from rope darts with a photo of their actions taped to the ringleader's shirt." Korrina said.

"I guess that'll teach him to illegally dump waste in the ponds to force the pokemon out so they could poach them." Ash said.

Moments later Serena walked in with a slightly nervous expression on her face.

"Serena, there you are. Did the healer find out what's wrong with you?" Delia asked.

"Uh yeah, It wasn't food poisoning after all." She said.

"Then what was it?" Ash asked.

She nervously sweat dropped.

"Well Ash, I was actually thinking we could head home. It's a long ride there and we don't want to get back too late." Serena said.

"It is getting pretty late in the day. Maybe we should start heading back. It was good seeing you guys again." Ash said.

"Let us know when you'll be back." Delia said.

"We will." Ash said.

As they left the enclave Pikachu also noticed the uneasiness in Serena's expression.

"Pika pika." He said.

They both climbed onto Charizard's back before Serena wrapped her arms around Ash's waist.

"Alright hang hon, we've got a long flight home." Ash said.

"Grauu!" Charizard roared before he kicked off the ground and soared away from the Indigo plateau.

It took them several hours, but they finally reached their destination. A jungle island surrounded by a large lagoon.

"We're home." Ash said as Charizard headed down for a secluded area near a beach where a house was located.

He landed on the sand and let his passengers off.

Ash and Serena walked towards the house with Charizard beside them.

"I'll put the stuff away, you can go check on the pokemon." Ash said.

"Sounds good." Serena said as Ash took her bag and walked into the house. Just before he reached it, Pikachu turned to him.

"Pika." He said.

"Alright , we'll see you later tonight." Ash said as Pikachu leapt down from his shoulder and ran towards the jungle.

Meanwhile Serena and Charizard walked behind the house.

Inside the house, Ash walked into their bedroom and placed their bags on the the bed before he walked over to the closet.

He opened a hidden compartment and revealed a chest below.

He reached down into the compartment and placed his hand on the chest's lock.

He then took a deep breath before his hand glowed blue and the lock was opened.

When it was opened it revealed dozens of gold, silver, and a few platinum bars. He placed his new one inside and then closed, locking it.

Outside behind the house, was an enclosure area similar to the one at Oak's lab. Ash and Serena had all their pokemon moved there after they moved to their old honeymoon spot.

Serena looked around at all their pokemon.

That is when Charizard saw Charla laying down near a small water hole.

He went over to her and growled, saying he was back.

Charla turned her head with a very happy expression on her face.

"Grauu." She growled back as she lifted up her wings which had been covering her arms.

Charizard looked down and saw a very small baby Charmander in her arms, their first born son.

"Char." The little Charmander said softly.

"Grauu." He growled smiling as he lowered his head in and began nuzzling his son at the same time Charla did.

Several months prior, Charla had laid her first Charmander egg, and a week ago he hatched. Seeing his son come out of the egg was the happiest day of Charizard's life, even happier than his and Ash's rematch with Red and his redemption.

Serena smiled as she watched baby Charmander laughing and squirming around as his parents licked him across his stomach.

She could feel the love between the three.

Watching them made look down at her own stomach and place her hands over it while sighing.

"I have to tell him tonight." She said.

"How are the pokemon doing?" She heard behind her.

Serena almost jumped as she turned around and saw Ash.

"Huh?!" She almost shouted.

"The pokemon? How are they doing?" Ash said sweat dropping.

"Oh uh fine." Serena said nervously sweat dropping.

"Are you alright Serena?"

"Me oh I'm fine. I was just lost watching Charla, Charizard and Charmander." Serena said.

Ash looked over at them as well.

"I don't think I've ever seen those two happier. I'm so glad they were able to have a child together and be a family." Ash said.

"Yeah." Serena said still with her hands over her stomach.

Elsewhere in the islands jungle, Pikachu made his way through the thick foliage until he found a water hole where a large pack of Pikachu were drinking from and resting.

"Pika." He said as he walked through them until he saw her. A female Pikachu with a flower behind her ear, drinking from the water.

"Pika!" He shouted.

Upon hearing him, the female Pikachu turned and saw him.

"Pika!" She shouted with excitement before running over to him.

"Chu!" She said as she nuzzled his face.

"Pika." Pikachu said as he rubbed his face back against hers, saying he was back and wouldn't be leaving again for a long time.

Back in the house, Ash and Serena were now in front of their phone as the screen lit up.

On the other side of the screen was none other than Lucy and Brock with a baby girl in his arms.

"Hey Brock, Lucy." Ash said.

"Ash, Serena good to see you both. Jasmine say hello to uncle Ash and aunt Serena." Brock said

The baby girl waved her hand.

"Aww Brock that so precious." Serena said.

Brock and Lucy had gotten married 3 months after Brock proposed and Lucy got pregnant just over a year ago.

Their baby had Brock's eyes and skin tone.

"How is Jasmine doing?" Ash asked.

"Well she's been making us make quite a few trips to the store for diapers, but other than that she's been a very good girl lately. She's even starting to crawl."

"We're really happy for you Brock." Serena said.

"We saw your match on TV today Ash. I'm impressed that you beat Brandon and his Regirock. Then again we shouldn't expect any less from that Charizard of yours." Lucy said.

"How about your life as a pokemon doctor Brock, how is that going?" Ash asked.

"Well I just started my residency, so it's going very well. I hope I can work my way to high medicine."

"You know I may have you to thank for some good news Ash." Lucy said.

"How?" Serena asked.

"Well after you beat him, Brandon called me today and decided he wanted to focus more on archeology rather than the battle frontier. He says he wants to groom me to replace him as the head of the battle frontier." Lucy said.

"Congratulations, you'd be perfect for the position." Ash said.

"I am a bit sad that my old mentor is stepping down. But it would be great to fill his shoes." Lucy said.

The 2 couples kept chatting for another 30 minutes before Ash and Serena started dinner after feeding all their pokemon.

Later that night after Pikachu returned from the jungle, Ash and Serena were in their bedroom.

"It's been a long day. Now we can finally get some rest." Ash said as he took off his shirt and pants.

Serena also took off her shirt and undid her skirt.

They climbed into their bed as Serena rested her head against Ash's chest.

"Just do it. Don't be afraid." Serena said to herself.

Ash noticed from his connection to Serena, that something was bothering her.

"Serena, something is bothering you. I can feel it. If something is wrong, you can always tell me." Ash said.

Serena took a deep breath.

"There is something that I've wanted to tell you all day. But it's pretty big, and I was just afraid how you'd take it." Serena said.

"Serena, whatever it is I can handle it. After everything we've been through how bad could it be?"

Serena's face turned red.

"Well it's just. When I went to see the healer, he found out I wasn't sick. But that I'm…Pregnant."

Ash almost felt his mind snap.

He gave a slightly terrified expression with a sweat drop.

"Pregnant, as in you have a baby inside you?" Ash said.

"Yes, I know this is big and we weren't expecting it. I'm just " Serena started before Ash put his hands on her shoulders.

"Serena, everything's alright. I'm sorry if I seemed a little freaked out. It was just a lot to take in at once."

"So you're not upset." Serena said.

"Far from it. I know this is a big change for us, but I want us to have this child and we're going to love it like no parents have ever loved a child." Ash said.

Serena felt her eyes grow wet as she grabbed Ash by the shoulders and kissed him passionately.

"Oh Ash, you don't know how happy I am to hear that. We're going to be a family together. Our own little baby. Half me , half you." Serena said still hugging him.

Ash held her in his arms for another few minutes before her expression changed and she gave him a more sly look.

"Now that we're both up to date, I say we celebrate properly." She said before forcing him under the covers. After some movements , her hand came out of the sheets with a pair of boxers in them before she dropped them onto the ground.

A minute later her own bra and panties came out of the side of the covers and landed beside the boxers. Under the sheets, Serena was over Ash with her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him. At the same time Ash put his hands on her rear end and pulled her closer.

Author's note

It's good to be back guys, I hope you liked the first chapter of the in between story. It will be about maybe 10 chapters long.

I do have exams coming up next week so I will have to spend more time studying , but will get some work done here when I can.

So yes Serena is pregnant, she will give birth in this story, just putting that out there.

Also I left a subtle hint regarding a certain unanswered question from book 2, if you didn't see it, read again more carefully.

I'm sure at this point you all have lots of questions, so send them to me PM .

So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via pm)