A/N: Well that battle took a lot of revisions, and I hope you all will enjoy where this story goes. For those who have a hard time with a parental dying, don't worry its not either of Charlie's or Skye's or Ash's. Just fair warning we are time skipping.

After the match, Victor and Mary insisted on everyone coming with them for a celebratory dinner. Victor actually spent a ton of time asking Skye about her Milotic. Mary merely rolled her eyes at all the questions though she did admit Milotic was utterly stunning. August was teasing Charlie over letting Nidoking get beat by Quilava. Ash was enjoying the company, and happy that at the very least Skye lost to someone who truly cared about Pokemon. Misty was proud of Skye for handling the loss with grace, unlike at Indigo where she acted a lot like her father when he lost. Misty thought back on how Skye locked herself in the room at their cabin on the Plateau. Skye refused to come out, even denying food as she sulked about losing. She decided instead of forcing her out like she tried with Ash, she instead tried talking and when she got similar results. Misty decided to let it go and instead put some of her favorite food on a tray inside the room. Once Skye ate she came out with a better attitude but was still unhappy over losing.

After dinner, Skye was on the network looking up Charlie's next opponent. The trainer appeared to be a primarily water type trainer. There were not any Pokemon in his roster that Charlie hadn't faced, but Charlie then told Skye, "In the morning I will have to double check with Nurse Joy about Tyranitar."

"Is everything ok?" Skye asked.

"Yes, she just said it's possible Tyranitar would need extra time to heal due to how intense we battled." Charlie said, his tone was a bit worried but in looking at the roster he said. "If Tyranitar cannot go, I will have Professor Oak send me my Snorlax." With that they all got to sleep seeing as how there wasn't much they could do about Tyranitar's health. During the battle on a grass field, Charlie was down to Charmeleon as he was taking on a Ferreligator. All of his friends and family were in the stadium cheering for him but Ash looked very concerned because Charmeleon looked exhausted but had pushed itself to the limit. Skye wished she could be behind him in the stadium. Then the last blow of a hydro pump came knocking out Charmeleon. With the referee declaring Charlie's opponent the winner who was advancing to the final 4. Skye when they all walked down to meet Charlie, felt guilty about their battle taking out his best Pokemon in Tyranitar. When she was about to apologize, Charlie put his hand on her shoulder saying, "Skye don't you dare apologize."

"But…" Skye started.

"But nothing, Skye, my Pokemon will only get better by having tougher battles." Charlie stated.

August clapped Charlie on the back saying, "Congrats on making it to the top 8."

"Thanks, August." Charlie said. Victor and Mary were so proud they kept hugging him and congratulating him. Eventually, he got a bit embarrassed. Ash expressed how proud he was to see him getting better as a trainer. Misty even gave him some kudos, which Charlie noted was a far cry from how she initially saw him or treated him. For the rest of the night he noticed August seemed a bit distracted and was checking his phone more often. The rest of the tournament was great, President Goodshow still in his old age seemed to have the enthusiasm of a 20 year old man. Skye and Charlie walked in with the rest of the top 16 trainers to be honored and awarded.

The next morning packing out the room felt like Summer vacation was over. Skye looked somewhat excited because Ash was going to be moving in with her and Misty. Both August and Charlie were very happy for her.

"So where should I meet you two?" Skye asked.

"Hmm?" August responded, looking up just a bit from his packing.

"Oh come on August, where were you two planning on heading?" Skye asked.

Charlie looked down, not meeting Skye's eyes and focused on his packing. Skye, getting a bit annoyed by their confusion, authoritatively asked, "Charlie what's going on?"

Charlie flinched a bit then sighed before saying, "Well I don't know what August's plan is…but, I am going home with my parents for a bit." Charlie just went back to packing.

"When did you decide this?" Skye asked, now a bit insistent.

"Well…when I thought back to how I have been missing my home, and then when I saw how things were going with your mom and dad, I thought you would want some time." Charlie said, meeting her eyes.

Skye had a brief moment of anger and then softened and said, "Charlie, thanks for the consideration." Turning to August she got some heat saying, "What's your excuse August?"

"I was going to tell you both, my siblings have some issues that I have been away from for too long, and I think I need some time to help them being the oldest." August said, "I am sorry I didn't tell you both earlier." All three friends looked at each other not knowing what to say but knew they would soon be splitting up. Skye then without really any warning went up and hugged both boys surprising them as they all embraced. "What am I going to do without you guys?" Skye asked not letting go.

"Hopefully enjoying family time." August said.

"Just make sure, not to interrupt your parents." Charlie said jokingly.

"Gross, Charlie now I can't get that stupid article out of my head." Skye said, causing August to laugh slightly. Then Charlie and August began to just laugh loudly. When they were done getting packed up. Charlie went to his parents who had their bags loaded into a van heading towards the airport. August pointed out that he wanted to walk to pay his respects to a legendary shrine of Ho-oh, before heading home. Skye went to her parents and they all looked at each other and began their journeys to their seperate homes.

Charlie, getting on the flight with his parents, looked out the window waiting to see Akala Island again. Though his father Victor had mainly adventured in Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, he met Mary living on Akala when he wondered about what his next move would be. After meeting Mary he decided to stay and settle, even giving up his Pokemon so that they could journey with other trainers, the only Pokemon he kept was his Charizard. Building houses for the needy brought him joy. Charlie had saved and saved to be able to fly himself to Pallet to start his Pokemon journey when he was 10.

August when he got to the shrine of Ho-oh was being incredibly respectful. He appreciated the legend of how it created Entei, Raikou, and Suicune. August left a wooden totem he had been hand carving of Ho-oh. Calling out Braviary to carry it to the top of the temple. He only wished that his people could be treated more fairly back home, and he wanted his mom's cancer to go into remission. A few tears left his eyes before he got up and began to head back home to Orre.

Ash decided to ask Skye, "Are you doing alright?" Misty who was driving listened intently while pretending not to be very interested.

"Yeah." Skye said, "So are we stopping by Pallet to get your stuff Ash?"

"No, my mom is coming up with Professor Oak to meet us at Cerulean." Ash said. "You know you will see them again."

"Huh?" Skye responded.

"Even if it's not as soon as you would like, you will see August and Charlie again." Ash said, "I really hated when Brock and your mom had to leave me for a bit."

Misty responded, "Really?"

"Yes, when it was time I really almost lost it." Ash said.

Misty sighed then said, "You know I did too, I really missed you when I was starting out as a solo gym leader."

"Huh?" Ash said, now looking at Misty whose face was still focused driving.

"I was worried that without you and Brock by my side I couldn't do it." Misty said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ash asked, "I stayed home for almost 2 weeks, I would've come and helped and…"

"You would've been unable to stay still in Cerulean back then Ash." Misty said, "I appreciate the gesture but you needed your path and I needed mine." Taking one hand off the wheel she grabbed his hand and kissed it Skye gagged at the gesture. Misty chose to ignore it. "If we did anything differently we might have never had Skye and no part of me wants a world without her."

"Aww thanks Mom." Skye said.

Ash looked back at Skye and said back to Misty, "You are right as usual, and you are probably right about me wanting to leave."

Getting a bit of a somber look he thought he would ask, "If I had asked for you to travel with me after Sinoh or Unova would you have come?"

Misty said quickly, "Yes. You are my best friend Ash and…I really did miss traveling with you despite making Cerulean one of the harder gyms to get a badge from."

"Ok," Ash responded, then sitting back in his seat he asked, "Are there certain rules I need to follow in this house?"

Skye said, "No staying up past 9:30, when mom is gone absolutely no parties of any kind Pokemon or human. The seat in the bathroom must stay down, no exceptions."

Misty chuckled slightly as did Ash, "Really the seat needs to stay down?" Pikachu chose to faceplant his face at the question.

"Oh Ash please do not tell me you never knew to do that." Misty said

"No I didn't, I mean I know I spent a bit of time with you in Cerulean but…we technically didn't live together." Ash responded.

"Yeah, and whose fault was that?" Misty asked.

Mouth agape Skye just listened to this little back and forth. "Why was it my fault?" Ash piped back.

"I asked you to move in with me, you said it would draw too much attention." Misty retorted.

"You were the one who wanted us to stay under the radar." Ash said now they were both getting louder.

"I was trying to say I wanted us to be more public." Misty said.

"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted that?" Ash asked.

"I was going to Ash…. but ….you didn't make it home to me that night." Misty said now a tear fell from her eye.

Ash then looked at Misty closer and then took a deep breath. After a moment, he said, "You were going to tell me you were pregnant and you wanted us to…"

Misty noticed his pause and said, "Yes, I was going to tell you I was pregnant." She wiped her eye with the palm of her hand and sniffed. Ash then reached over and took her free hand and kissed it.

"Misty, I was going to propose that night." At that Misty hit the brakes hard and pulled off to the side of the road. She looked at Ash with her mouth dropped

Skye then chose to speak up, "Should I maybe take Charizard and Pikachu and let you two talk this out?" Skye already opened the door and Ash released Charizard not breaking eye contact with Misty. Charizard looked confused at Skye before using her hands they all walked away from the car. Pikachu just rode on Skye's shoulder but looked back at Ash and Misty still sitting in the car.

Misty's mouth hadn't closed as she stared agape at Ash. Ash then said, "Misty, say something I am kind of scared right now."

"You didn't or even…" Misty started shaking her head, she looked out the windshield licking her lips too confused to know what to say.

"I did Misty, it was taken from me that day." Ash said now not looking at Misty but also looking ahead out the windshield. "I planned on just briefly meeting up with Serena then, seeing you and I was wanting us to be out and officially have it be known I was committed to you."

"That day really changed everything for us didn't it?" Misty said.

"Yeah, would you have said yes?" Ash asked.

At that Misty punched his shoulder, "What kind of dumb question is that Ash, I was pregnant with our baby, and was wanting to come out publicly. Of course I would have said yes. What about you, how would you have taken knowing we were going to have a kid?"

Ash rubbed his shoulder and said, "I think I would have been shocked and happy at the same time, I would have probably taken you to your bed." At that Misty blushed slightly.

"Should we continue on to our new home, before our daughter thinks I killed you." Misty said smiling.

Ash nodded then said, "I wish I never got that text from Serena."

"Ash, you had no way of knowing someone spoofed her phone." Misty said.

Skye was flying with Pikachu and Charizard all she kept wondering was. Had Ash not been taken by Team Rocket how different her life would have been. Would they have lived in Pallet Town, would she be making routine visits to Galar and other regions. Ash probably would have been there to see her get her first Pokemon. Landing in Cerulean next to the Gym she saw Delia with Professor Oak and her Uncle Tracey talking outside. They looked surprised then they saw it was Skye riding Charizard with Pikachu. "Skye! Are your parents ok? What happened?" Delia exclaimed as Charizard landed.

"Yeah, grammy they are fine, Ash kind of dropped a bomb on mom during the drive, so I just got out of the car after mom pulled over and I don't know what happened after that." Skye said, hugging Delia.

"A bomb?" Professor Oak asked.

"Well he told mom, it was her fault they weren't a public couple. She said she wanted to move in back then. Then he said he was gonna propose the night he was captured." Skye said then she saw all three adults' jaws drop. Tracey then said, "Well I think that definitely qualifies as a bomb."

"Yeah, I just hope they figure it out because I couldn't read mom's face." Skye said.

Delia then took Skye inside the gym and asked, "He wasn't proposing right now right?"

"Arceus I hope not, I think they would at least live a couple months together and Ash would get my blessing." Skye said.

Delia laughed, "You really have grown up, I am sorry Charlie and August went home."

"Thanks grammy, what should I do now?" Skye asked.

"Maybe you could help Daisy and Tracey with the Gym till you figure out what you want to do." Delia offered, "Plus you would be free to visit me in Pallet whenever you needed."

"That's true." Skye said. When Ash and Misty pulled up they helped Skye, Charizard, Delia and Tracey who were unloading Ash's stuff. Putting his stuff in Misty's room Ash was pretty surprised by how much the room changed. It still was a shade of Pink, but it had a few more visible pictures. One caught his eye. It was an old photo of him, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, his mom, and Professor Oak, in front of Oak's Lab. Picking it up he looked at it remembering it was taken after the Indigo League all those years ago.

"Something wrong Ash?" Misty asked, seeing him holding the photo.

"Just remembering the good ol days." Ash said, "I also wish I had a better chance of ending Team Rocket."

"Lance doesn't have any updates for you?" Misty asked.

"No, it's like Domino has gone back underground, she hasn't shown her face since breaking you and Skye out." Ash said. "But right now I want to focus on us and help you and Skye however I can."

Misty kissed his cheek, "It's nice to see some of your old self still there." Pikachu walked in carrying the little box of its stuff and saw the tender moment and quietly set it down.

Months later, Ash was settled in living with Misty and Skye. Misty had a couple of times a month she would be gone for days at a time for Elite 4 work. Right now they were trying to investigate how exactly Domino was able to track Misty without anyone knowing. Skye had even taken to helping out at the gym quite well. Even doing a handful of gym battles for Daisy. When she felt she needed a break from the day to day, she would head down and visit Delia.

August was taking care of his siblings. When he arrived home, he was met by them with open arms. Helping his younger sister who just turned 10 in which starter Pokemon she should start with. His dad, though being a recovering alcoholic, was still sober though he admitted to drinking during his aunt's funeral. His mom, though a kind woman, was stuck on bed rest due to multiple severe illnesses that ravaged her body. She told August how proud she was of him, and seeing him work along Skye and Charlie at the Silver Conference was amazing. His now 7 and 5 year old brothers were wondering if Ash was as cool as the legends or stories they heard. August admitted he was much more of a man but that the stories for the most part were true. That he had yet to find out the story was over exaggerated. Taking part in his tribe's rituals meant a bit more to him now having come home after some distance. Braviary spent most of its days helping entertain his siblings.

Charlie while working with his father helping shingle the roof realized he could at least do more for one of his friends. In talking with August they decided to start working to build better houses for those less fortunate members of August's tribe. August's family essentially built the model home for them to see what the house would look like. It was during building that August's mom began to take a turn for the worst. Charlie called Skye who came the next day and together the trio held together as August said his goodbye to his mom.

Misty and Ash made sure to fly over to Orre to be there for August. During August's mom's funeral or mourning ceremony they cremated her. August kept an old Pokeball his mother kept when she was able to train her own Pokemon. Ash asked, "Is there a reason for keeping her Pokeball?"

"In a few weeks there will be a final farewell to all our loved ones who passed away." August said, "I will throw it into the fire signifying mourning is over."

Misty clapped August on the shoulder saying, "It's a beautiful way to say goodbye." Ash saw the look on Misty's face and wondered if she had to say goodbye to him, and this was bringing up those past feelings. Skye and Charlie pretty much stayed glued to August's side along with his siblings. August thanked Ash and Misty for coming. They pulled Skye aside and Misty said, "You have shown how mature you are becoming and we couldn't be prouder of how you are helping August through this tough time."

"Thanks, mom." Skye said, "Thanks for being here to help me, I just don't know what else to do for August."

"Sometimes it's not about doing something it's just about being there." Ash said, "I've learned that from the two of you."

"I hope you both have a good journey back tomorrow." Skye said, "Let Aunt Daisy know I should be back in a week at latest."

"Honey, take all the time you need, Daisy and Tracey have run the gym just fine for years without you." Misty said, leaning in she whispered to Skye, "But I am so proud of how seriously you take it when being there."

When Ash and Misty got back to the Gym, it was very uneventful. Ash carried up the bags they traveled with, and Misty looked semi exhausted from the funeral ceremony. "Ash, I want you to know that I love you."

"I love you too Misty." Ash said seeing her go to their private bathroom to brush out her hair.

"I haven't been to a funeral since, well the one we eventually had for you." Misty said a bit somber, "It was far nicer having you there to lean on and I am so thankful you are not actually dead." Coming out from just brushing her teeth, her eyes closed due to how tired she had gotten, Misty opened her eyes and said, "Ash…"

Down on his knee was Ash holding a blue velvet box with a white gold ring inside. It was a brilliant princess shaped diamond that shined at the right angle like it was blue in the clearest ocean water you could find. Ash stammered, "Misty, I uh, had a big romantic gesture in my head but…" Taking a deep breath as he noticed tears coming down Misty's eyes, "Seeing the pain August is going through, I never want to not be there for you." Ash felt a few tears escape his eyes as he tried to gather himself. Misty covered her mouth seeing that and wanted to hold him till he said, "I know I cannot promise that you won't have to go through that pain of losing me again, but I want it to not be as my secret lover, but as my best friend, the mother of my daughter and my wife." Misty laughed while tears kept coming as he said, "Misty will you marry me?"