Author's Note: As promised, the epilogue chapter. It took me a while because I am currently in my finals week. I hope you understand.

Forever And After

Brendan and his Pokemon were battling a giant Salamence in a dark void. Everywhere around them was filled with deep blackness and their surrounding atmosphere reeked of death and anger. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. Even though everyone gave their all, they were all thinking the same thing; that they were fighting a losing battle. Salamence was gaining the upper hand when it managed to heavily injure all of Brendan's Pokemon. Then, it turned slowly towards Brendan, raised its huge paw and slashed at his head, tearing it open.

May woke up from her terrible nightmare, and could have sworn she could feel the pain on her head, just as Brendan did in the dream. Her breathing was quick, and tears were forming in her eyes for some reason. She buried her face in her hands and let out a sob. She was extremely worried of Brendan. She has not heard from him for months now and feared the worst had befallen upon him. Her Blaziken came to sit beside her, offering a shoulder to cry on. May accepted without hesitation and cried even harder. Blaziken crooned slowly to its Trainer. Eventually, May simply fell asleep again, her head resting against Blaziken's soft red feathers.

-12th April 2010-

The next morning, May woke up as usual and checked her PokéNav for messages. She was disappointed to see that there was none from Brendan. She forced herself out of bed anyway and went to bathe. As she put on fresh clothes, she noticed that the morning seemed awfully quiet. Then she thought of Blaziken, who was not with her.

"Didn't I fall asleep on Blaziken last night?" she thought. "Maybe she tucked me in and left earlier in the morning to practice in the greenhouse…"

May thought nothing more of it and proceeded to brush her hair. Once she was done, she went downstairs for breakfast. Again, she felt the eerie quietness of the house. She looked at the wall clock to confirm the current time. It was fifteen past eight in the morning, and her parents should already be awake and in the kitchen just like normal, except they were nowhere to be found this time. May found it very odd that they were not in their room either. She looked for her brother in his room, and he too was missing. No one was in the house, not even a single Pokémon.

She returned to her room and checked her belt for her Pokémon, but all she saw was empty PokéBalls. Now she was really beginning to panic. She went to the greenhouse where she would find the family's Pokémon, and hopefully, at least, her Blaziken there. Again, the whole area was empty. May took a moment to assess the situation and guess what could have happened. If there had been a kidnap, it definitely was a strange one, as there were no signs of breaking in or struggle anywhere inside the house. The house looked exactly as it should be, minus the inhabitants. She decided to go out to the city and ask people around. She was confused and really did not know what to think.

Just then, she heard her Blaziken crowing just outside the house. She looked out a window to confirm it, and there it was; her trusty Fire starter Pokemon.

"Blaziken! What are you doing out there? Where is everybody?" she asked her Pokémon.

Blaziken only crowed louder at her, its wrists blazing with strong fire. It continued to do this until May had to go outside and check out what was wrong with it. She opened the door just in time to see her Blaziken take off straight in the direction of the city.

"What the… Blaziken, wait!" she shouted after it.

Even more confused, but left with no choice, May had to chase it down. She quickly grabbed her keys, locked the door and ran. Instinctively, her hand reached for her belt to call out Arcanine, but then stupidly remembered that all her Pokemon were missing. She felt even more stupid running through Petalburg City chasing after her own Blaziken, who was attracting massive attention with its shrilling cry. Naturally, everyone's heads turned to see what the ruckus was all about.

Out of nowhere, May's fan boys appeared by her side, running along with her.

"Good morning, May! Are you training with your Blaziken?" one of the boys asked cheerfully.

Panting, May replied, "Um, no… It's a long story… Listen, boys. Could you do me a favour and try to catch up to my Blaziken? I have no idea what's wrong with her."

The boy saluted at her and gave command to the others, "Alright, guys, you heard May! Let's catch that Blaziken!"

The boys roared as if they were entering battle and sped off ahead. Blaziken turned back its head to see a group of teenaged male humans charging at it. With ease, it used its strong legs to jump forwards, covering a great deal of distance with only one jump. The guys sent out each of their Pokémon to try to hinder Blaziken down, but they were no match for May's strong Pokemon. In the end, May's fan boys were too tired to go on, and slumped right in the middle of the street, along with their tired Pokémon. A while later, May caught up to them and saw them lying on the ground. She then saw her Blaziken nearby, cackling with victory.

"Blaziken! What in the world are you doing?" May scolded it.

With another jump, her Blaziken escaped out of sight, but May knew where it was headed, so she went to the direction of the lake.

When she reached the area, she expected to see her Blaziken, but she saw Brendan instead, standing calmly as if waiting for her. She started to shake her head slowly, wondering if this was a dream again.

"Brendan…? Is that… really you…?" her voice came out as a squeak.

He only nodded at her without saying anything. Then, her family and Brendan's own revealed themselves from hiding. Even all the Pokémon that was missing from the house appeared from everywhere around the area.

"What is the meaning of this?" May asked them. "All of you weren't home, I thought something had happened! Then, Blaziken… Just what are you all doing here anyway?"

"Allow me to answer that," Brendan spoke up. "They're all here to watch."

"Watch what?" she asked again.

"This," Brendan said and took a small box out of his pocket. He got down on one knee and showed her the content of the little box. It was a beautiful sapphire ring.

May drew a sharp gasp and clasped her hands to her mouth. Unable to control herself, her eyes began to water.

"Brendan," she began to stutter. "What… what is going on?"

"Sorry I took so long to come back. I've been hunting for this rare sapphire gem just so I could customise it into your engagement ring," Brendan explained. He was smiling at her softly, and said the words, "So, May, will you marry me?"

Laughing and crying at the same time, May gave her answer, "Yes!"

She could hardly keep her hand from trembling as Brendan held it and inserted the ring through her finger. Their families clapped and cheered for them, their mothers sobbing uncontrollably. All the Pokémon also cried out in joy for their Trainers. May immediately hugged Brendan so fiercely he almost fell down.

"You know, I'm glad you were still waiting for me even though you had no news from me. You're really just that in love with me, are you?" Brendan said to her.

"I don't know why I still believed my knight in shining armour would return even as each day passed," May admitted. "I knew chances were slim, but then again, here you are, holding me in your arms. Oh, Brendan, I love you so much!"

"I love you too, May. No one could ever replace you in my life, my lovely lady," he said, wiping away the tears on her face. Then, he kissed her.

-25th November 2013-

It was a fair day in Lilycove City, a fact both locals and travellers alike were glad of. A hired chauffeur was driving his black car towards a big two-storey house that was built on a flat piece of land on one lone cliff facing the sea. There was also a small lighthouse situated right next to the house and a water pond, as well. Fences lined the compound to prevent accidental falls down the steep cliffs.

The car stopped right in front of where the residents' mailbox was. Brendan, the Aura Guardian and Champion of Hoenn stepped out of the car with a couple of bags and held the door open for his wife, May. She was carrying a small bundle in her arms. They both thanked the chauffeur and bid him off. Together they walked to their front door and were greeted by Lucifer and Lucifer, their Luxray and Houndoom, who guard their house.

"Good boys! Thanks for taking care of the house while I was the hospital," May talked to them. "And look, we have a new member of the family. Meet our little Michaelangelo," she said, showing them the sleeping baby she was holding in her arms.

The two Pokémon sniffed the baby in curiosity. May giggled and went inside the house, Brendan opening the door for her. The husband and wife went upstairs to their bedroom to set their son down in his new cot. May and Brendan looked at him adoringly, arm in arm. Then, they both lied down on their four-poster bed to talk.

May sighed in relief. "It feels good to be back home after staying in the hospital for a week, really."

Brendan wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and said, "And I love having you back. It's been different here without you." He kissed her forehead.

"It's still going to be different with Michael around," she stated.

"I almost can't believe it; marriage and first baby in the same year," Brendan said softly. "Ha! Now I can't wait until he grows up!" he laughed.

May laughed along with him. "I think you're so much cuter when you're a father."

"Oh, I am, am I? Do you want to know what I think now that you're a mother?" he said teasingly.

May placed one hand on his chest and stroked it down to the base of his belly. "Hmm, I wonder what is it that you're thinking?" she replied just as playfully, angling her face towards his even more.

Brendan closed in the distance between their lips and stopped when they were just half an inch away. He whispered amorously, "I think you're so much sexier…"

May made the move of kissing him first, not being able to stand it with him being so close. Brendan teased her a bit more, luring her into craving for more each time, until she finally became fiercer with her kisses. Brendan enjoyed it while she took over and dominated him, but their little session was cut short when Michael started bawling. Both their heads turned to their baby boy and they got out of bed together, rushing to his side.

May lifted him up and cradled him in her arms, but he would not stop crying.

"Oh dear, Brendan, get his pacifier in the green bag, will you please?" she asked him.

"Pacifier! Right!" Brendan said, flustered. He fished out a lot of baby things in the green bag; all, but the pacifier. "I can't find it!" he shouted over his son's loud crying.

"Why are you so panicked? Look for it properly!" May shouted back at him.

Author's note: Haha, not such a peaceful life when you have a baby now, is it? Anyway, I therefore end this story right here. If you're interested, a sequel to this story will be available soon… no, later… no, eventually… Umm… Kthxbai.