Ash took a breath, the air of Pallet alive with spring, as he lay upon green grass. The air was full of the sounds of spring, the chirps of Pidgey's, the rustling of bushes as Bulbasaur passed, the-"Pikachu, use Charge Beam!"
...the sounds of battle. Ash forced himself into a sitting position, from his vantage point atop a hill he could see it, two children, and their Pokémon battling, with a Togetic trying to referee the ongoing conflict. In hindsight, said battle wasn't well-thought-out. Metal tails met in the air, a Pikachu pair returning to earth, a pair of orders, and the two rushed forward once again. Ash shifted himself forward, taking place besides a red-haired woman.
"They're really going at it."
She smiled. "Like father, like son."
He did too. "Like mother, like daughter."
"You trying to one-up me?"
"Nope. No trying needed."
"Keep telling yourself that."
Ash rolled his eyes, pick your battles, Ash. Battles with his wife had to be carefully chosen, victory could sometimes have consequences greater than defeat. Misty leaned her head on his shoulder, the pair watching the battle go on, between a Pikachu and an Alolan-"Meowth, use Night Slash!"
Such a strange sense of nostalgia that feline could bring. Nostalgia for times decades gone, back when a certain other Pikachu would fight another Meowth, after an introduction Ash could still somehow perfectly recall. Decades gone, an era gone. Now threats took on less theatrical forms. They dressed in sickness, 'what-ifs', the unknowns of the world beyond their control, and them potentially failing their children. Yet neither would take the journey to Dialga and request the hands of time be turned back.
Violet met Metal, the air shaking at the point of their clash. Mewoth slashed again, pushing Pikachu back. Pikachu landed on his feet, puling a paw back, shrouding it in lighting, sliding under a slash, punching his foe square in the jaw. Meowth staggered back, her body sparking with the signs of Static. "Meowth, Facade!"
Ash had to suppress the urge to applaud. "She's getting better."
"She's my daughter." He could hear it in her tone… What do you expect?
"Personally, I think she takes after her dad." Which of us is the better trainer again?
"Good skills, good looks, good grades, yeah I'm not seeing her dad all that much." You're overrated, idiot.
"Yeah, yeah, but she's so laid back. Definitely not from her mom." That got Misty to look at him, her eyes flaring. Oh damn, too late he'd realized, this one was the wrong battle. He had to yield, he had to yield! "But she's very reasonable, and fair, and kind, and loving, she really gets a lot from her mom." The fires died, and she turned away.
"And don't you forget it."
Defeat achieved.
(It was that or the couch tonight.)
BOOM!
The battle had been decided. Meowth had hit the ground, her form still sparking. She was swiftly swept into her partner's arms. Across from them was a contrast, trainer and Pokemon cheering loudly over their victory.
Ash frowned, sportsmanship was a virtue he'd yet to properly teach his son, and he wasn't he only one. He turned his head, finding his oldest friend nearly-through a bottle of ketchup. "You might wanna do something about your kid."
A few swift thumps and the bottle was empty. "Rai chuchu chu rai rai chu."
Ash rolled his eyes. "I got him." Kissing his wife's hair softly, Ash rose up. "Come on, Raichu."
"Rai rai."
Ash made way down the hill, his daughter passing by, Mewoth in her arms. "Hey, kiddo, you alright?"
"'hmph'"
Only years of experience advised he not continue approach. His daughter had inherited certain traits from her mother. Raichu ran up besides him, two fathers on route to deal with upstart sons, both of whom were still celebrating, in fashion embarrassingly reminiscent of memories their adult minds would eventually like to bury.
Their fathers would appreciate that opportunity.
A fist hit the sky. "I'm gonna be the greatest!"
"That's a long road you're looking to walk, kid," Ash came to a stop, towering over his miniature near-doppelgänger, "and you're gonna have to go through me."
Undeterred, his grinning son pointed at him. "You're getting weak, old man!"
"Really?" Ash made a show of looking at himself, seeking an invisible flaw in the physique duties kept well-defined, "Well, then you better take me down now."
That got his son to pause. Silence fell, the waiting Houndoom and his pup, the bravado of the younger being tested against the parent. Houndoom would typically nip their pups, but in the Ketchum household other methods could prove more effective. The air grew thicker, heavier, tension growing as the question lay hanging; who would blink first?
The boy crossed his arms, turning up his nose. "Na, wouldn't be fair. Cut back on the burgers and do some training first."
"How considerate of you."
"You told me to always fight fair."
An actual attention span, he didn't get that from his father. The double-dose of confidence, however, well, Ash could only take credit for half of that. Brock had joked that between the pair of them, Ash and Misty had enough brash-headed confidence to make the most dangerous offspring in history.
Ash would say they were still too young to know for sure. Still, for now, his son's bravado had been contained.
"Ka pika!" ...almost. Raichu's own son was sparking, gaze moving between his trainer and would-be foes. "Pi pi pika, pikachu!"
"Y-you wanna fight him?"
"Pika!"
Just like that, Ash's victory was swept out beneath him. "Sorry, Dad, but you're going down!"
"So much for fair play."
"When you slack off you're asking to get beaten."
A comeback for everything, definitely from his mother.
The four turned, forming a respectable distance between them. Ash couldn't help but smile. "In our days I was the idiot."
"Chu rai chu."
Making a note to "forget" buying ketchup again that week, Ash took his position, fathers and sons staring one another down. It was like gazing back in time, at a boy and his Pikachu, ready to take on the entire world, and then some.
Patterns truly did echo through time.
"Toge!"
The four became tense, became ready, future seeing past, past seeing future.
"Tic!"
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Author's Notes: Happy Pokeshipping day, folks.