After his indiscretion with Misty was made public, Ash was suspended from the Pokémon League for a whole year. On the plus side this gave him time to prepare for the inevitable rematch with his father, but he also knew he couldn't lose track of what was really important. Misty had a beautiful baby boy, which she had named Kai. Even before his son was born, Ash knew he had no intention of following in his father's footsteps. After a year had passed, he was welcomed back into the Pokémon League with open arms. Now he needed to train not only to defeat his father, but to reclaim his title as regional champion, which had been claimed by his rival Kamilla, the Wonder Woman of Kanto as they called her. Soon Misty had another baby. This time it was a girl, their little Adena.

When Ash wasn't busy being a husband and a father of two, he was training his Pokémon in the mountains outside New Cerulean. He missed traveling and having adventures, but looking back, he had probably had enough for one lifetime. As long as he was able to train his Pokémon, it didn't really matter where he did it.

"Alright buddy, let's see what you can do."

The first time Ash fought his father, five of his Pokémon were defeated effortlessly by a single one of his augmented specimens. Omegamoah alone had been powerful enough to stand up to the monstrosities, but he couldn't win the fight all by himself. Sometime after Adena was born, Ash discovered that Omegamoah could temporarily transfer a portion of his power into his teammates; this same power now caused Pikachu to radiate with a bright red light.

"Rain Dance!"

A little blue hue began to mix into Pikachu's aura, and he wagged his tail back and forth. Soon some dark storm clouds blotted out the area. Ash pointed toward a nearby boulder that was about twice his height, and nearly as thick as a car.

"Thunder!"

"PI…KA…CHU!"

Pikachu's attack not only destroyed the boulder, but it shook the whole mountain. Ash was knocked off his feet and rolled into a nearby tree.

"I think that's enough for today…"

"Pika-chu."

As Ash and Pikachu began making their way back down the mountain, he ran into a young boy.

"You're Ash Ketchum! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

The boy didn't look like he was a day over eleven.

"And what makes you think you're a match for me?"

The boy took a Cascade Badge out of his coat.

"I just beat your wife fair and square. So are we gonna fight, or are you a coward?"

Ash couldn't help but chuckle.

"Very well, I accept." he said reaching for a Poké Ball "Since you beat my wife, let's see how you deal with one of my water Pokémon. Go Kingler!"

"Ko-ki!"

"You think I'm afraid of that overgrown crab?! Go Beedrill!"

The Beedrill showed some signs of fatigue. Ash wondered if this kid had even bothered to check his Pokémon in at the Pokémon Center after his battle with Misty.

"Tell me I wasn't this arrogant when I started out…" he whispered to Pikachu.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing, just try your best."

"Beedrill, Poison Sting!"

"Kinger, Bubble Beam."

Beedrill's attack didn't even come close to finding its mark. Kingler's attack forced it to the ground, and it didn't get back up.

"Beedrill, return. Let's see how you like this one! Go Nidorino!"

The Nidorino didn't show any signs that it had recently been in a battle, but that shouldn't have been a surprise. This Pokémon walked on all fours, and it would have been impractical to use him in the Cerulean Gym's arena.

"Nidorino, Horn Attack!"

"Kingler, Crabhammer."

Before Nidorino got too close, Kingler effortlessly smacked him away with his pincer. The boy tried four more Pokémon, but it the result was always the same. When it was over, Kingler hadn't even broken a sweat.

"You better take these potions. Your Pokémon could use them before you get back to town."

"How did you do that?"

"That was me playing my usual game. I'm afraid you just bit off more than you could chew."

"But I beat your wife."

"She's a Gym Leader; her job is to test you, not crush you. You should see what it's like when she pulls out all the stops."

"And here I thought you just married her because she's cute."

Ash expected the kid to accuse him of marrying Misty only because he got her pregnant. He had more than his fair share of that over the past few years.

"Did you tell her that?"

"I'm not good at talking to girls… I was barely able to challenge her."

"And yet you're brave enough to challenge the Regional Pokémon League Champion."

Ash escorted the boy back to town and then to the Pokémon Center. Then he made his way back home, where he was greeted by a familiar ball of red hair.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Kai was only a toddler, but by the way he tackled his father, you'd think he could lift a Golem.

"Hey little guy, where's the fire?"

"Daddy, I saw a rare Pokémon!"

"Oh really, what was it?"

"I don't know, I saw it flying above Adena's crib while mommy was fighting!"

"What?"

Ash had assumed that Kai was referring to a Pokémon used by a challenging trainer, but it didn't sound like that was the case.

"Mommy and Aunts Lily, Violet, and Daisy won't believe me!"

"Okay calm down… What did this Pokémon look like?"

Kai described a small pink fairy-like Pokémon. Ash knew there weren't too many Pokémon native to Kanto that fit this category. He scrolled through his Pokédex until his son pointed to one of the pictures.

"That one, only it was pink!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"It was a Celebi, a legendary Pokémon."

"Really?!"

"It's not often you see one of those, let alone one that's a different color. I guess this is your lucky day Kai."

"Wow! I saw a legendary Pokémon!"

Kai jumped around happily, but the noise disturbed Adena and made her cry.

"It's okay, Daddy's here."

Ash took Adena in his arms and slowly rocked her back and forth. Adena may have inherited Ash's hair color, but she had her mother's eyes.

"I still can't believe how lucky I am… to have two beautiful kids like these."

"That's enough out of you little man. Go play with your toys or something."

"Yes mommy…"

"Pikachu, you go play with Kai."

"Pika."

Sometimes Ash found it really hard to believe that this was the same girl he met on the first day of his Pokémon journey. Her fiery red hair hung all the way down to her waist. She also wore very loose clothing with a swimsuit underneath, just in case she suddenly felt the urge to go swimming. Even after having two kids, she still made Ash's heart beat faster.

"Why do you always take his side?"

"Someone has to."

"A Celebi? We haven't seen one of those since Johto."

"Stranger things have happened."

"Why would a Celebi come here?"

"I don't know, but it's said that as long as Celebi appears, a bright future lies ahead. Maybe our kids are more special than we thought."

"And you're sure Kai isn't just looking for some attention?"

"It's your sisters' fault for paying so much attention to Adena. You'd think they were a bunch of schoolgirls oozing over the hottest new doll."

After Kai and Adena finally fell asleep that night, Ash and Misty went to their own room and collapsed onto the bed exhausted.

"Do we need to take them to Jeneshisu Island with us?"

"You know we couldn't leave them here if we tried." said Misty "I'd miss them too much."

"I know… but I was hoping… maybe we could have some time to ourselves?"

"Oh… so you do think about something besides Pokémon."

"You do too…"

"We'll work something out." she said smiling and pressing her legs against him.

(To be continued)