Neil was taking it really hard. Giving up Bayleef turned out to be the most heartbreaking thing he had ever gone through. Sure, she was with her real mother, who had DEFINITELY learned her lesson and become a good mother to her daughter, but it still hurt him deeply when he gave her up. He fell into such a depression that he stopped participating in golf tournaments, hanging out with his friends. All he seemed to do was watch TV all day. This change in behavior did not go unnoticed, and Neil's friends wanted to do something about it. However, everyone who knocked on his door got this response: "Go away. I'm not in the mood." However, one day, Grovyle decided to do something about it. He asked Ella, "Mom, could I poop in the yard?" Ella thought, "My son wants to poop in the yard like an animal. Well, he is based on a gecko, so I need to respect his animal-like qualities." So she smiled and said, "Sure you can." So Grovyle went over to the fence, got on all fours, and pooped...a huge poop. As luck would have it, Neil opened his back door just when Grovyle finished. He was thinking about going for a swim when the smell hit him. "Ugh! Something stinks!" It reminded him of how Bayleef's bucket smelled when she used it back in Marion Town, but this smelled worse. Neil noticed that the smell was stronger on the left side of his yard, so he followed his nose to Grovyle's poop. Just what Grovyle wanted him to do. "Oh, Grovyle! Did you do that?" Neil gagged. Grovyle nodded, "Uh huh. Want to come over to my house for lunch?" Neil said, "Leave me alone." Grovyle replied, "No." Neil went ballistic. "DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME 'NO'!!!!" Bayleef would have backed away in fear, but not Grovyle. He bravely said, "This is for your own good. It's not healthy to lay around doing nothing all day. You need to get out and..." "And what?" demanded Neil. "Loosen up," answered Grovyle. But Neil wouldn't budge. "I said go away!" And Grovyle went inside in defeat.

However, Grovyle was not one to give up. He did the same thing for three days. Neil finally gave in, knowing that Grovyle would never give up. He reluctantly got dressed and went over to Ella's house. When he arrived, Grovyle gave him a big hug. "It's so great to see you!" Neil said, "Yeah, yeah, sure." Ella told him, "I made you spaghetti, your favorite!" Neil smiled for the first time since he'd given Bayleef back to her mother. "You knew, didn't you?" Ella and Grovyle both laughed. She said, "Yes, I did." Neil gave Ella a kiss on the cheek; and right then and there, he knew that she was the one for him, even if it meant becoming a father to a rambunctious gecko named Grovyle. He impulsively asked her, "Want to see if there's any movies playing at the theater?" Ella said, "I was thinking more along the lines of watching a movie here at home." Neil reluctantly agreed, and they watched Billy Madison on TV. Neil, Ella, and Grovyle all laughed at Billy's antics, but Ella reminded him that some of them wouldn't be funny if they happened to him. But still, Grovyle couldn't help but laugh. Then he said, "Hey, Neil, wanna play Mario Kart 8 with me?" He meant Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch. "Sure." They had a fun night of racing and battling. Ella couldn't help but smile at the spectacle. It was good for Grovyle to have a male role model, since she had been his only role model ever since he'd been adopted. Grovyle was also happy; his mother had a boyfriend he actually liked; if she married Neil, he would become his father! The next week consisted of Neil and Ella playing golf, going to the movies, hanging out at the mall, swimming in each other's pools, etc. Grovyle wanted to join in as much as possible, but they wouldn't let him do everything with them--they wanted some time as boyfriend and girlfriend. However, they left him with Mario when he couldn't tag along with them. That was fine; Mario was a good babysitter. He was more than happy to care for another Pokémon while his Charizard was training against Team Elder with Meganium and her troops; and when Charizard came home, he could spend time with a Pokémon other than Charizard, Pikachu, Nidoking, or Weavile.

At the end of the week, Neil and Ella were reminiscing about their childhood. "Remember when you fed me that macaroni and cheese when I had gone insane?" "Yeah, then you snapped back into it. Then you looked at me with the sweetest expression." "Like this?" He gave her the same loving face he had at the time she had redeemed his sanity. "Exactly!" At that moment, Neil knew that Ella was not only his best friend; she was also the love of his life. Then they talked about their Pokémon journeys, sharing details about how some of their Pokémon flirted with each other (Ella's Charizard and Neil's Blastoise, and her Garchomp and his Hydreigon). Then they shared their experiences on what happened when they went their separate ways. The Grovyle would have said, "Kiss him!" but Neil pulled out a ring. "Elizabeth Olivia Metals, will you marry me?" Grovyle gasped in excitement. He would finally have a father! But Ella wasn't fully ready to say yes, so she said, "Maybe later. We don't know if the time is right." So they dated for a few more months. Naturally, Grovyle was very upset. He wanted Neil and Ella to marry right then.

Meanwhile, Meganium was training her daughter and her friends against Team Elder, and she kept reminding them that Team Elder could strike at any moment. Just then, Wario and Waluigi showed up with Nidoking and Weavile. "If Team Elder really is up to something, as Charizard and Pikachu insist, we really want to help out," said Nidoking. Weavile said, "I have some ideas on how we can fight against them." So he told them to her, and she really liked them. "We can use them when Team Elder attacks, and that will throw them off big time!" But Charizard said, "If Team Elder catches on, we're toast. We'd better be discerning in how we use them." Meganium said, "I could not have said it better myself." Sylveon and Leafeon got some paper, and Nidoking and Weavile charted their strategy.

One night when Neil and Ella were getting back home from a family night out, Ella noticed a GIGANTIC pile of poop in the driveway. She immediately questioned Grovyle on whether he did that, but he responded, "What are you talking about? I go in the back yard, not the front!" "Then what is that?" Ella demanded, pointing to the poop. Grovyle gave her a weird look and said, "That's not mine. Mine isn't anywhere near that big." Ella then said, "Well then, who did this!?" Then a voice that definitely wasn't Neil's answered, "I did it!" Grovyle gasped when he saw the Pokémon who did it. It was a Sceptile. "No! It can't be!" Sceptile asked, "What can't be?" Grovyle asked, "D...D...Dad!?!?" Sceptile, in similar surprise, asked, "S...Son?!??" Unlike Bayleef and Meganium, Grovyle and Sceptile recognized each other right off the bat. Ella also recognized him as her original Sceptile. "Oh, Sceptile, it's so good to see you again!" she said, and they shared a big hug. Grovyle was curious about that, so Ella told him, "Your father was my original Sceptile! He was very speedy and agile." Neil interjected, "Much like my Blaziken." Ella continued, "He, along with Charizard, Feraligatr, Magnezone, Golem, Slurpuff, and Garchomp, were my Pokémon team on my journey. We made it to the Kinoko League Championship (Amanita Conference), making it all the way to the finals...against Neil. Of course, he won, and he got to face the Elite Four, which were no contest for him. And then he faced the Kinoko League Champion, who was none other than his father--Neil Sr. Neil Jr. took an early lead, but Neil Sr.'s Venusaur took out Jr.'s Meganium, Aggron, and Blaziken before losing a close battle to his Blastoise." And Neil said, "And I became the Kinoko League Champion! And my reign lasted two years, until Ash Ketchum came back and dethroned me. Soon, however, Kid dethroned him, and his reign lasted four years; but then Yoshi dethroned him, and this is his sixth year as the champion." Then Sceptile said, "Mind if my son and I stay with you, Aunt Ell?" Ella asked, "Aunt Ell?" Grovyle responded, "Like Aunt Em." Sceptile corrected him, "No, like Aunt Bee." Ella said, "It will be an honor to have you both," and Neil agreed.

November 18...

It was a bright and sunny day on the beach as Neil and Ella were preparing for their wedding. The previous night was spent making sure everything was perfect for the biggest day of their lives. They had rehearsed the wedding fifteen times previously, with Mario as Neil's best man and Plum as Ella's maid of honor. Grovyle was the flower boy and ring bearer, with Sceptile assisting him as Greg had Manny in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Ugly Truth. Mario got Charizard to be a reader, and he did a superior job. The one who would marry Neil and Ella was none other than Princess Peach! The Toads would cater the wedding, with some help from Peach's Sylveon. Neil's parents, Neil Sr. and Pine (brought back together after Boulder's suicide) cried, proud of their son for marrying such a good woman. Ella's parents, Robert and Liz, felt the same way, as did her older brother, Charlie.

"Elizabeth Olivia Metals, do you take Neilius Edward O'Neil, Jr. to be your lawfully wedded husband?" asked Princess Peach. "I do. Wherever he is, I will be also." answered Ella. "Neilius Edward O'Neil, Jr., do you take Elizabeth Olivia Metals to be your lawfully wedded wife?" "Yes, and that's my final decision." "Then, by the power vested in me as Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom sector of the Kinoko Region, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Neil and Ella kissed with the biggest passion they ever had. "It's all go from here!" said Neil. Ella then said, "I have a terrific idea from our honeymoon!" "For, Ella. For our honeymoon." "Oh, Neil, don't ruin our marriage before it even starts!" "Oh, I know what you meant." So Ella laid out the plans: they would go to Lumiose City in Kalos, their first stop would be sightseeing from the Prism Tower, their second stop would be the Lumiose Museum, their next stops would be sightseeing from other landmarks, and their final stop would be the Kalos League Lumiose Conference. They would stay at the Hotel Richissime during their honeymoon.

After Neil and Ella left for their honeymoon in Kalos, Grovyle and Sceptile joined Bayleef, Charizard, Pikachu, Nidoking, Weavile, Sylveon, and Leafeon in training under Meganium against Team Elder. However, there was no sign of Magmar. Charizard and Meganium figured out that he was a spy for Team Elder. Understandably, they were furious that they had been deceived, but Meganium was remarkably forgiving to Charizard. "Don't feel bad," she said soothingly, "it wasn't your fault. He deceived both of us." Charizard then said, "But I was the one who brought him in!" "Aww, dry those tears." "I need to do something to make it up to you." "I know what you can do." Then, in a fierce voice, she bellowed, "MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!!!!!! We do not sit around and whine when we've made a mistake. WE WORK HARD AND MAKE IT RIGHT!!!" So Charizard doubled his efforts, as did Bayleef, Sylveon, and Leafeon; Nidoking and Weavile tripled theirs. After training, Meganium congratulated the troops on the "superiorly superior superiority of their performance! There's no way Team Elder can defeat us now!"

At last, Neil and Ella have married; Grovyle now has what he's always wanted...a father. But it's not the one he was expecting; it's his real father, Sceptile. In the meantime, Meganium has discovered a spy, and now she has upped her battle training in an effort to defeat Team Elder. Will she succeed, or is she wasting her efforts?

Please review. Have you ever wanted something, but had to wait a long time for it? Was your patience pushed to its limits? How did you conduct yourself while waiting?

By the way, Aunt Em is from the Wizard of Oz, and Aunt Bee is from the Andy Griffith Show.

And I also changed Charizard's age in Chapter 11 so his birthday would be on Christmas Day.