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Temporal War

Blinking his eyes open, Ash sat up, shaking his head before he took in his surroundings. As he'd expected, he was back in the wetlands that had been Goodra's home, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie gathered around him with Pikachu and Dedenne in the middle of the group and Goodra lying at the side. He looked up to see Celebi floating in the air above the pool of water where they'd originally found it, but the legendary Pokemon just smiled and waved at him before it flew up into the sky and vanished all over again.

"Huh," he said, looking around as he got to his feet with a tentative smile. "That was… an experience."

"Pika?" Pikachu said, as his starter practically jumped back to his feet and looked around the wetlands before his gaze settled on Ash. "Pika kapi pipika chuka?"

"I… I don't know," Ash said, sighing solemnly as he looked around. "I guess… Celebi brought us back…"

And then it was like we were never away.

After everything he'd been through… after one of the most incredible experiences of his life… after he'd finally realised how he really felt… nothing had changed.

After May's Eevee had hatched, she'd told Ash about how she, Meowth and Squirtle had gone 'back in time' somehow and managed to stop a relationship falling apart due to a mistake, but at the time Ash hadn't really given it much thought. May herself had admitted that she wasn't sure if it had just been an idle dream or something like that, maybe based on a film she'd watched with her mother before starting her journey. Even after he'd gone back with Brock and Dawn during that close call with Arceus, Ash had never seriously thought about using time travel to change his own life, even if that was mainly because he'd just felt as though his life was fine the way it was, but after having a chance to see Misty again… feeling the warmth of her lips against hers… realising the depths of his feelings for her and knowing they were returned…

For a moment, as he fell back onto the ground, Ash felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. He'd never imagined he'd get sentimental over a girl, but Misty wasn't just 'a girl'; she was… he couldn't even think of the right term for how he felt about her; it was like every term he could think of that might define their relationship just didn't fully express how he felt about her. Misty had been his first travelling companion, his first unofficial coach, the first girl he'd truly cared for…

He'd spent so many years aware that Misty was in some way 'special' compared to his other female travelling companions, even if he couldn't define the term better even to himself, and now… when he had spent a few short hours able to think about the idea that he could have something with her…

I barely even had time to appreciate it before I had to give it all up…

"Ash?"

At first Ash thought he'd imagined it, but when he looked over and saw that Serena and Pikachu seemed just as startled at the sound- Clemont was too busy checking the still-waking-up Bonnie to react himself while Goodra was still disorientated- he realised that wasn't just another memory. Looking up, his eyes widened at the sight of the new figure walking through the wetlands towards their small group, her now-shoulder-length red hair hanging down around her face as she wore a loose yellow blouse over a red top and tight blue jean-shorts.

"M… Misty?" Ash practically whispered, staring in awe at the older version of the girl he'd seen just moments ago and had believed he wouldn't see again.

She… she's beautiful…

For the first time that he could remember, he could actually understand how a beautiful girl could get Brock so tongue-tied he acted like an idiot…

"Ash?" Misty smiled at him in a teasing manner as she walked over to crouch down beside him and hold out her hand. "I get that you want to spend more time with Goodra, but you've still got to get to the Lumiose Conference before the championship-"

"Hold on; you… you're here?" Serena looked at Misty in shock, tears gleaming in the corner of her eyes in a manner that reminded Ash of the way she'd reacted when she found him kissing the younger Misty on the plane.

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Misty grinned as Ash took her hand and accepted the hand up. "I know I only caught up with you in Shalour-"

Instinct took over as Ash wrapped his arms around Misty and pulled her towards him, their heads immediately shifting into position for a deep, passionate kiss that went beyond everything they'd done on the plane-

And this wasn't the first one…

As though the kiss had been a catalyst, Ash suddenly staggered back, Goodra practically leaping to his feet to stop Ash falling down as his mind was left reeling from the sudden influx of memories. For the most part he was relieved to find that his past self had followed his advice and managed to capture all of his original Pokemon just like he had before, and Sinnoh had been just a bit quieter without Team Galactic to deal with, but his life with Misty…

He might have taken an embarrassingly long time to realise what his future self (God, it was weird to think about this event from both perspectives) had been talking about, but when he'd kissed her that first time in celebration of them saving Brock from that creepy Ninetails… when they'd met up with Lance again during the Lake of Rage when he'd captured the red Gyarados… when she'd helped him be a 'parent' to Larvitar based on her own experience with Togepi…

It was all small changes from his original Johto journey, but Ash treasured every moment of those shared kisses, their tentative dates inspired by Brock's surprisingly effective insights, until that dark day in Viridian after Misty had received the fateful phone call only she had been expecting…

"You have to go?" Ash looked sadly at Misty.

"It's not like I want to go, Ash, but if I don't at least take over the gym right now it's going to close, "Misty explained, even as she looked at him regretfully. "I've been talking with Lance about this, and he's going to look into finding a suitable trainer to take over for me, but I still need to be there to approve the substitute…"

"I get that, but it's just…" Ash sighed as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, we've only been dating for a couple of months, and now…"

"It's not the end, you know-"

"I get that, but I can't just… I know we can still talk, but I'll miss having you around…"

"And I'll miss you," Misty replied, reaching over to give him a warm hug. "But it's not the end, remember? As soon as Lance and I can draw up the paperwork to legitimize my substitute, I'll be right there…"

"You can stay?" Ash grinned eagerly at Misty, trying to temper his glee when thinking about how Misty had just had to say goodbye to Togepi.

"Well, I'll need to check back on Cerulean in a couple of months to make sure the substitute is still doing the job, but there's no reason I have to go all the way back to Kanto for that," Misty grinned at him, only the pain in her eyes hinting at her grief at the loss of her 'baby'. "That is, if you still-?"

The warm kiss Ash gave her in response was more than enough confirmation for Misty; not even May's enthusiastic "Aww!" at the reunion kiss or Max's mock-gagging was enough to kill the mood…

"So… your sisters are back, and now you have to leave?" May looked at Misty in confusion as they stood outside Mount Moon. "How does that make sense?"

"It's a whole legal thing," Misty shrugged. "Basically, Fergus was only there to ensure that someone was in control of the gym until someone from my family could take over, and even then he had to be approved by me to ensure he kept up my standards."

"So since your sisters are back, you don't need a 'placeholder'…"

"But they're pretty much useless at the moment, so I need to go back and give them a good crash course in actually doing their jobs if I want to continue travelling with Ash," Misty confirmed, before she looked apologetically at Ash. "Sorry about this, but… well, you know the 'Sensational Sisters'."

"I know that you took all of the 'Sensation' with you when you left Cerulean," Ash grinned at her, before looking at her with a more serious expression. "Seriously, we'll be fine; you take over the gym for a few months to train up your sisters, I'll drop in on you while I'm challenging the Battle Frontier, and we'll work out where to go next once I've beaten it."

"I think we can pull that off," Misty nodded at him, before she sighed in resignation. "Just a pity that you've got the more fun opportunity right now…"

"You made a trade?" Misty looked at Ash in surprise as they sat in the train station.

"I took a while to think about it, but it… well, it fit," Ash shrugged. "I mean, Aipom was always good when I used her in battles, but she seemed to be enjoying herself more in contests, and Dawn's Buizel was more of a fighter than a performer, so we switched."

"I… guess that makes sense…" Misty nodded tentatively. "Just so long as this isn't another St Anne…"

"Hey, then I was giving into peer pressure and Brock's bad advice," Ash observed. "I know what I'm doing now, and I trust that Dawn will take good care of Aipom; they'll be fine."

"That's… good," Misty smiled at him, before she assumed a more probing expression. "And Dawn is-"

"Like a little sister," Ash cut her off with a grin. "She's easier to get along with than May was at the beginning, but she's got her own style that just makes her… well, she's fun."

"Then I'm sure I'll like her," Misty nodded. "She and Brock are at the Pokemon Centre?"

As Darkrai fell to Draco Meteor, Ash smiled in satisfaction at his victory.

He appreciated that his other self hadn't given him a blow-by-blow breakdown of his efforts in every Pokemon League between the Orange Islands and Kalos, but considering that Cyrus was meant to have begun tampering with his mind at this point, he doubted that he would have picked the same team he'd picked this time around, or that he would have spent quite as much time working with Gible. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of wearing down Darkrai with Glalie and Gible rather than just relying on one-on-one battles, but considering Darkrai's reputation, he felt a change of approach was merited.

As Tobias switched out the unconscious Darkrai for Latios, Ash recalled Gible for Pikachu, hoping that his starter could pack enough of a punch to pull this off. He'd taken care to make sure Pikachu got over his early illness after his starter took a bad beating during Team Rocket's first attempt to steal him in Sinnoh, but Team Rocket seemed to have taken his future self's criticism as a provocation.

Latios might be powerful, but it was still a Flying-type; if Pikachu could hit it hard enough and fast enough…

Maybe he couldn't win against a man who had at least two Legendaries on his side, but he still had Sceptile, Snorlax and Charizard as an option; whatever Tobias had to throw at him, those six had to be enough to least take down a few more…

In the end, I placed second in the Sinnoh League, but so many congratulated me on stopping the unstoppable…

"You always make sure we meet up in the interesting places, don't you?" Misty grinned teasingly at Ash as they walked through the streets of Nimbasa City.

"This isn't about how I ended up meeting you in the local bug gym, right?"

"Well… I get that you didn't do that part on purpose, but do you have to make your first catch after I joined you another bug?"

"I'm just going with the list; I'm sorry that it's not always a Pokemon you'd approve of-"

"I get that," Misty waved a reassuring hand at Ash, before she smiled thoughtfully at him. "You know, I never told you this, but… of every bug out there, your ones always manage to not creep me out."

"Really?" Ash smiled. "I mean, I know you were OK with Butterfree and Heracross eventually, but I just-"

"They're not just bugs," Misty smiled back at him. "They're your bugs…"

She shot him a warning glance. "But you'd better help me find a good Water-type after this…"

Her Tympole was a simple catch, but then she managed to catch a Tirtouga during that mess with Ferris… training with her gave everyone else a boost, and Iris couldn't exactly call me a 'little kid' when I had a girlfriend…

When Cameron's Riolu fell, Ash felt a distinct sense of guilt when the younger trainer's anxious search of his pockets made it clear that he didn't have a sixth Pokemon on-hand.

He had grown beyond those days where he liked to brag about his victories, but he felt that even his Indigo League self would have felt guilty about winning a battle like this. He'd brought back Glalie and Sceptile for this round to give himself some extra firepower on the ground that opponents at this stage would be tougher than the last few, but he certainly hadn't expected that Cameron would have a Pokemon who had that kind of weakness to Ice as his first choice. After Glalie had taken out Hydregion, Pignite and Pikachu had done well facing their opponents, and once Riolu had taken down Pikachu, he'd just gone straight for Sceptile rather than risk Palpitoad…

"Are you all right?" Misty asked, walking up to stand beside him.

"Just… was I too hard on him?" Ash indicated Cameron as the younger boy spoke reassuringly to Riolu. "I mean, I know I always try to give my rivals a good shot, but he didn't even have a full team on him…"

"You didn't make him do anything, and you treated him as fairly as any opponent could have in the circumstances," Misty smiled reassuringly at her boyfriend. "You're not a bad person, Ash; it's not your fault that Cameron didn't pay attention to the rules…"

I only placed second in the end of the contest, but everyone in the team was doing so well… and Misty and I spent so much time together on that cruise around the Decolore islands, even with Iris and Cilan tagging along…

"Wow…" Misty said, staring out at the city spread out before her. "It's so beautiful…"

"Yeah, it is," Ash replied, even as his own gaze remained on Misty.

"Stop it!" Misty said, slapping him on the shoulder even as the teasing smile on her face made it clear that she didn't mind.

"What?" Ash replied. "I can't help it if I find this view more appealing."

"Just because you've seen it before-"

"Is no reason for you not to enjoy this as much as you can," Ash smiled warmly at his girlfriend, walking over to give her a brief hug before he stepped back. "I mean, I'm sorry I couldn't just wait here for you like we'd planned, but Serena …"

"I get it," Misty nodded at him understanding. "I have to deal with the Gym stuff, you have to keep up with that list…"

"Well, for what it's worth, it looks like I've just got to find an egg and then I can get back to normal."

"You mean on top of how you ended up keeping Larvitar and everyone else you didn't get from the list?"

"Hey, I'm just being more open; there's no reason not to make new friends while making sure I still find the same team!"

"Fair enough," Misty grinned. "Besides, I can't really complain about the time-travel advantage when it made you do this…"

She leaned over to kiss him-

"Ash?" Misty's voice broke into his thoughts, the young man shaking his head to see his girlfriend (girlfriend!) looking anxiously at him. "Are you OK?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ash grinned at her, eyes damp with tears of joy. "I finally closed the loop, and it's all brilliant."

"Closed the-?" Misty began before her eyes widened in understanding. "Celebi? That was now?"

"Yep," Ash grinned back at her, reaching up to tap the side of his head. "It's still getting all straightened out up here, but… well, for example, I remember our date up Lumiose Tower and the time you caught Tympole in Unova."

"You remember?" Clemont looked at Ash in surprise. "But you told us- oh, hold on…"

"That's… weird," Bonnie shook her head as she looked at Misty. "It's like… one moment I didn't know you, and the next… you've been here since Shalour when you caught Mantyke…"

"And before that," Serena said, looking at Ash and Misty with an expression of what Ash could only consider solemn resignation. "You… you've been dating for years, haven't you?"

"It's… long-distance on occasion, but yeah," Misty nodded at Serena before she looked at Ash. "So… you remember everything, right?"

"If you mean I remember that I placed second in Sinnoh and almost won in Unova thanks to your support, then yes," Ash said, before he placed his hand on Misty's back and pulled her towards him. "But if you mean that I remember that you have made me happier in this new timeline since Johto than I ever imagined I could ever have been in the old timeline…"

Ash didn't bother to finish that question as his and Misty's lips met in another kiss that seemed to last forever, Ash not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry for joy in the face of this new turn of events. For a moment, as he kissed Misty, it felt as though the wave of new memories from the past was being accompanied by a glimpse of the future, as he prepared Charizard, Snorlax and Sceptile for the final battle… he and Misty were travelling a new set of tropical islands to complete new challenges… he was being invited to compete in the first contest in a completely new League competition… they were facing a massive purple creature that made him think of a Dragon…

He didn't know if this flash was truly what was coming for him in the future, but whatever would happen to him when he got to Lumiose Stadium, Ash knew one thing for certain; Misty would be there for him for as long as they both wanted to be there.

He barely even registered as the small green form of Celebi flew away from the marshlands and back into the same strange vortex that had pulled them away in the first place, a small smile of satisfaction on the legendary Pokemon's face before it vanished.

I never knew how I felt about her before, Ash thought as he pulled away from his first travelling companion, the two exchanging warm smiles, and now I never want to let her go.

"So… if you remember what happened to you the first time…?" Misty asked.

"I infinitely prefer this timeline," Ash confirmed. "And you're far and away the best part of that."

Even as a part of him hated to see the sorrow on Serena's face as she looked at him and Misty, Ash couldn't fully restrain the joy he felt at this incredible second chance he'd received. He didn't know if it was some kind of repayment for all the times he'd saved the Legendaries in the past, or if he'd just been in the right place at the right time, but now that he had her back, he was never going to let Misty go.

The journey continues, and this time it's going to be much better than I ever expected…

AN: In advance, I have no plans to take this further; what Ash 'saw' of the future was just a brief gift granted by Celebi of the new timeline he's created, where he may win the Kalos League and will go on to take the Alola Island challenge on his own without attending the Pokemon School in the process, as he'll obviously decide he's too old to go back to school to learn about something he's been doing for years but the island challenge itself will still be of interest to him.

In any case, hope you enjoyed this storyline.