Surprise, surprise! I know it's been a very long time, and for that I apologize. I had a very rough summer, and a very challenging fall semester. Fortunately, all of that is now behind me, and I am more determined than ever to finish this story! Especially now that we're up to one part of the story that I've been waiting forever to present to all of you: the battle between Aiden and Misty!

LAST TIME: A visit to Professor Oak leads Aiden, Michelle, and Brandon to visit Ash's old Pokemon. Professor Oak discuses each trainer's goals with them, and gives Brandon an egg. Afterwards, a visit to Delia reveals her own concern over Ash, while Aiden and Misty cement their intention to battle.

Chapter 52: The Mother of All Battles! Aiden VS Misty!

Aiden groaned as his eyes cracked open, the harsh morning light serving as an unwelcoming wake up call.

Five more minutes, he thought begrudgingly to himself, pulling the covers over his head to block out the sunlight.

But then…it hit him. It was morning. And that meant…

My battle! My battle with Mom!

Aiden threw the covers off and jumped out of bed, his chocolate brown eyes glimmering with excitement. He couldn't believe it was finally here! He had been waiting so long for this gym battle…since the day he had started his journey, in fact. The battles for his last seven badges had been exhilarating, challenging, and nerve-wracking. But this battle was…completely different. He was battling for his very last badge. Against his mother.

It was going to be like nothing Aiden had ever experienced before.

But he was excited. Ecstatic, in fact! He had trained hard, worked hard, and totally focused for this day. And he was going to make sure that he won.

"I love you, Mom," Aiden sighed as he rifled through his pile of clothes, pulling out the old Pokémon League hat that his father had given to him on the first day of his journey. "But I'm going to win."

XXX

Down the hall, Misty had also woken up to face the day.

Unlike her son, however, she was not exactly feeling excited.

If anything, she was a bundle of nerves. And that was rather unusual for Misty. She was a bustling, confident woman who rarely, if ever, let anything bother her. She was sure of herself, and her skills, and never found herself stressing out over something as simple as a gym battle.

This one, however, was different.

Misty stared unblinking at her reflection in the vanity mirror as she slipped on a pair of hanging earrings. Once they were in, she sighed and glided over to her dresser, looking down the row of picture frames that sat atop its wooden surface. They were all pictures of her family…ranging from her and Ash's pre-marriage days to the present. Picking up one of the silver edged frames, Misty smiled sadly to herself and gently ran her thumb over the picture of a beaming, grinning, and glowing baby Aiden.

"How am I supposed to do this?" Misty whispered, her eyes clouding over. "He's not just a trainer. He's my baby."

Staring at the photo for a little while longer, Misty sighed to herself and placed the frame back on her dresser, turning away and tightening her hands into fists at her sides.

"I love you, Aiden," she breathed, slowly shaking her head. "But I'm not going to let you win."

XXX

Standing in his challenger's box in the gym, Aiden let out a shuttered breath and looked over at the bleachers that were typically used for the water ballets. They were fairly packed. Not as much as for one of the shows, of course, but far more crowded than usual for a gym battle.

The audience, in addition to Michelle and Brandon, included Elizabeth, Brock, Professor Oak, Delia, Misty's parents, Misty's sisters, Tracey, Dorian, and Aiden's three cousins: Dakota, Vanessa, and Lola. He was disappointed to not see his father in the stands, but also not overly surprised. Aiden knew he was busy with his G-Men mission. Deep in his heart, however, he had been hoping that his father would make a surprise appearance. Aiden had never imagined his battle against his mother without Ash.

"Where's Mommy?"

Brock and Delia watched as Elizabeth got to her feet and began jumping up and down, clearly sick of waiting for her mother to appear.

"I'm sure she's coming, darling," Brock sighed, pulling Elizabeth onto his lap. "Come here."

"Broooock, I'm boreeed," Elizabeth whined, pouting once she was done.

"Really?" Brock asked sarcastically. "I couldn't tell!"

"You're not funny," Elizabeth muttered.

"Oh, don't be fussy, sweetheart," Delia crooned to her youngest granddaughter. "I'm sure Mommy will show up soon! She's not going to leave Aiden waiting, after all."

Elizabeth whined and hung her body over the edge of the bleachers. She stayed like that for only a few seconds, however, before hopping back up with a big smile on her face.

"Mommy!" She cheered.

Misty came striding into the room from the doorway just below the bleachers. Her ruffled yellow top printed with flowers ended at her midriff and left a decent strip of skin visible between the top and her shorts. Aiden whipped his head around, eyebrows raising at the sight of his mother. She had her brow furrowed, and looked quite fierce and determined.

"Mom…" Aiden murmured.

Misty let out a gentle breath and lowered her head, closing her eyes for a short moment before picking her head back up and walking towards the other side of the pool. Aiden watched her go, the expression on his face unchanging. Once she got to her platform, Misty planted her feet into the ground and turned around, looking right ahead into her son's eyes.

"Well?" Misty began, her cool voice complimenting the sly smirk on her face. "Are you ready?"

"Of course I am!" Aiden replied cheerfully. "I've been ready forever!"

"Perfect," Misty murmured, nodding just once.

Justin, Misty's trusted apprentice, stood in the referee's box, glancing between Misty and Aiden.

"This will be a full six-on-six battle," Justin announced, earning some gasps and interested murmurs from the small crowd. "Only the challenger may change Pokémon. Whoever knocks out the other's six Pokémon first shall be declared the winner. Are we clear on the rules?"

"Yes," Aiden and Misty answered at the same time.

"Excellent," Justin breathed. "Reveal your first Pokémon!"

"I'll go first!" Misty announced, retrieving one of her poke balls and enlarging it. Aiden was still scowling at her, and this just led Misty to giggle. Winking at the boy, she threw her arm forward and yelled, "Starmie, let's go!"

Aiden hummed interestedly as the purple starfish Pokémon appeared before him. Right now, he wasn't thinking too strategically. He knew that all of his mother's Pokémon were water types, and on top of that, he was very familiar with most of them. He'd played with her Pokémon since he was just a baby, after all.

Smiling to himself, Aiden took out his own poke ball and tossed it up in the air. "Shinx, I choose you!"

The blue and black electric type appeared, narrowing its bright yellow eyes at Starmie.

"Let the battle begin!" Justin called.

"I sent out my Pokémon first, so I'll let you make the first move, Aiden," Misty decided, smirking at her son.

"You already made your first mistake," Aiden snickered. "Shinx, spark!"

Blue electricity started jumping off of the Pokémon's body, heading straight towards Starmie. Misty scoffed quietly at her son's move and shook her head.

"Starmie, dodge it," Misty ordered calmly.

The water type jumped in the air and cleanly avoided Shinx's spark, much to Aiden's obvious frustration.

"Rapid spin!" Misty called.

Still in the air, Starmie began to spin in a circle, heading straight towards Shinx.

"Spinny!" Elizabeth cheered, giggling excitedly.

"Shinx, get out of the way!" Aiden cried.

The little electric type tried to dodge Starmie's body, but there wasn't much room to move on the platform. Starmie struck Shinx in the abdomen and sent the electric type skidding across the platform, nearly into the water. Misty grinned excitedly as Starmie returned to its own platform, but gasped in horror as soon as she realized that the mysterious Pokémon was doubling over in pain.

"Hey, what in the…oh no, static!"

Aiden beamed as he watched Starmie struggle to move. "Of course! Shinx's special ability! Now that Starmie made direct contact with Shinx's body, it can't move!"

"How could I forget about static?" Misty groaned, smacking her forehead. "How stupid can I be…"

"Spark again!" Aiden commanded.

Shinx tried its attack once again, but with Starmie unable to move due to the static, it struck this time. Misty growled and clenched her fists at her sides.

"Starmie, try water gun!" Misty pleaded.

Starmie pulled back to try and attempt the move, but was too overcome by the static. Misty clenched her teeth, while Aiden just continued to laugh.

"We've got this one all wrapped up, Shinx!" He cheered. "Thunder fang!"

Shinx darted across the platforms that floated between his and Starmie's, electricity beginning to form in its mouth. Starmie was still rendered motionless, making it easy for Shinx to dig its fangs into Starmie's arm. The star shaped Pokémon cried out in pain and tried to shake Shinx off, but was soon overcome by the static. Wailing, Starmie tilted backwards before collapsing, Shinx hovering over its unconscious body.

"Starmie is unable to battle," Justin called. "Shinx is the winner!"

Murmurs once again rose from the crowd as Misty recalled Starmie and held the poke ball up by her face.

"I'm sorry, Starmie," she murmured. "You did your very best. It was my fault."

"Oh dear," Delia sighed. "This isn't like Misty at all."

"It's like all of her confidence just disappeared," Brock agreed sadly.

Shinx skipped back over to Aiden, excitedly wagging her tail back and forth.

"Great job, Shinx," Aiden complimented, kneeling down to pet the electric type. He couldn't get much more excited than that, however. It was obvious that his mother wasn't battling to her full potential. She was mailing it in, and Aiden couldn't help but to be disappointed. This wasn't the battle he'd been envisioning.

"Okay," Misty sighed to herself, retrieving her next poke ball. "Corsola, I choose you!"

The ball popped open, releasing the pink and white coral Pokémon. Aiden stood back up and studied Corsola, furrowing his brow in thought.

"I'm going to stick with Shinx," Aiden announced, glancing over at Justin.

"Sounds good," Justin replied. "Continue the battle!"

"Shinx, use spark!" Aiden ordered.

"Corsola, counter it with spike canon!" Misty cried.

Shinx unleashed her electric attack, while Corsola fired off bright white spikes. The two attacks met in the middle, cancelling each other out.

"Well that was better!" Brock chuckled.

"Yay Mommy!" Elizabeth cheered.

Misty looked up at her younger daughter and smiled. Turning her attention back to the battlefield, Misty nodded just once and called, "Corsola, shadow ball!"

Corsola opened her mouth and unleashed a large, dark purple ball of energy.

"Dodge it!" Aiden cried.

Shinx moved from side to side on her platform, but was unable to avoid getting hit by Corsola's shadow ball.

"Shinx!" Aiden gasped.

"It looks like Mom is back on track," Michelle noted.

"Yeah, Aiden better stay on top of his game," Brandon agreed.

"You'll be fine," Aiden assured his Pokémon as she got back to her paws. "Tackle!"

Shinx ran across the platforms, bowing her head as she got closer to Corsola.

"Corsola, surf!" Misty commanded.

The coral Pokémon raised its stubby front arms, causing the water in the middle of the pool to rise. The platform Shinx was currently standing on was swept up by the wave, causing the electric type to whimper in confusion.

"Oh no!" Aiden gasped.

"Shinx is going to go right overboard!" Michelle cried.

"Unless, of course, Aiden comes up with a way to get around it," Brock mused.

"I don't know if he's smart enough to do that," Michelle muttered.

Elizabeth giggled, while Delia smiled and looked over at her older granddaughter. "Michelle, have a bit of faith in your brother! I think he can figure something out. He does take after your father, after all!"

Aiden stood there with his teeth clenched until an idea hit him. Smirking, Aiden balled up a fist and called "Shinx, jump and use thunder fang!"

Without thinking twice, Shinx leapt off of the platform just before it toppled over and went crashing into the pool. Flying towards Corsola, Shinx opened up her mouth, electricity sparking out of it.

"Corsola, get out of the way!" Misty yelled.

Corsola tried, but Shinx landed right on top of her, biting down on the water type and badly shocking her. Misty watched on in horror as Corsola shrieked in pain, unable to fend off Shinx. As soon as the electric type let go, Corsola fell backwards, unable to move.

"Corsola is unable to battle," Justin announced. "Shinx is the winner!"

Aiden growled to himself as Shinx once again came flitting back to him. On the other side of the pool, Misty returned Corsola to her poke ball, lowering her arm as she ran her other hand through her hair.

"Mommy?" Elizabeth murmured, frowning.

"Just when we thought she was back," Brock sighed.

"This must be what Sam was saying," Michelle commented. "Mom isn't battling like herself."

"And Aiden doesn't look too excited about his last two wins," Brandon added.

"He knows Misty isn't herself," Delia breathed. "That poor boy doesn't want to see his mother like this. This isn't winning to him. It's just taking advantage."

Though she was still frustrated, Misty knew she couldn't just stop the battle now. She'd agreed to it, and she wasn't about to let her son down by stopping it. Putting Corsola's poke ball away, Misty pulled out her third one and sucked in a deep breath, nervously looking up.

"Wait!"

Misty looked right at her son, who had turned towards Justin. The gym assistant was giving the young trainer a look of confusion, but Aiden looked determined.

"Aiden?" Misty questioned.

"Is something wrong?" Justin asked.

"Yes," Aiden replied. "I think we need to take a timeout."

"A timeout?" Justin repeated.

"Just five minutes," Aiden implored. "Please?"

Justin looked over at Misty, waiting for her approval. Her mouth was hanging open, and after a quick moment of deliberation, Misty closed her mouth and gave a small nod.

"The gym leader has approved the timeout," Justin announced warily. "We will resume the battle in five minutes."

Misty stepped off of her platform and marched out the door behind her, much to the concern of everyone in the audience. Aiden followed his mother's approach, instead heading towards the stands on the side of the pool. He looked up at the group seated in the front row: his grandmother, Brock, Elizabeth, Brandon, and Michelle.

"Oh, sweetie," Delia breathed.

"This isn't how I thought my battle with Mom was going to go," Aiden sighed.

"I think she expected Dad to be here watching you both battle," Michelle guessed.

"I wanted to be the one who could get her mind off of it, and to get her that fighting spirit back," Aiden continued. "Now I know why Sam said what he did about Mom not giving him a good battle. I didn't want to believe it. But…he was right."

"Brock, I want Mommy," Elizabeth whined, tugging at her godfather's shirt.

"I think Mommy needs to be alone for a little bit, sweetheart," Brock sighed.

"But…I want Mommy," Elizabeth whimpered, lowering her arms. "I don't want Mommy to be sad…"

Brock frowned and gave the young girl a tight hug. "She would appreciate that, Lizzie. But sometimes, when people are sad, it's better to leave them alone. You'll see Mommy soon enough, I promise."

XXX

"I have to get out of my own head…I have to."

Misty was standing in the hallway, fingers pressed against her temples as she kept her head bowed and her eyes sealed shut.

"Vay?" Vaporeon purred, rubbing against her trainer's leg. She had sensed Misty's distress and released herself from her poke ball; a habit she had formed as a young Eevee.

"I'm okay, Vaporeon," Misty lied, lowering her arms.

"Por," Vaporeon scoffed, gently smacking the back of Misty's calf with her tail.

"Alright, fine, you know me too well," Misty muttered. "I know I haven't been battling very well lately. I thought battling Aiden would change that! I've been excited for this battle. I was dying to see what my son could do. I wanted to see how much he battled like his father…"

Vaporeon purred softly and licked the same spot on Misty's leg she'd just hit with her tail.

"Thanks," Misty laughed just once. "That's nice. I'm sorry for being such a downer, Vaporeon."

"Vay vay," Vaporeon mewled.

Misty sighed and turned back towards the door that led to the pool. "I'd better get back in there. I know this isn't the battle Aiden wanted. I need to try and find some way to pull myself together."

Vaporeon stepped ahead of Misty, intending on leading the way. Misty took one step forward, ready to follow her loyal partner back into battle.

"Wait! I'm here!"

Misty whipped around, her eyes widening. She could hear the sliding doors close up, followed by the sound of fast and heavy footsteps coming right towards her. She looked at the door opposite of the one she'd intended to go through, and gasped when none other than her husband stepped right through it.

"Ash?!" Misty breathed.

He looked right into her emerald eyes and smiled, running up to her and wrapping his arms so tightly around her body that she could barely breathe.

"I'm so happy to see you," Ash sighed, kissing his wife's forehead. "You and Aiden didn't start your battle already, did you?"

"We did," Misty confirmed, watching as Ash's face fall. "But we're not done yet. You haven't missed much. Just me embarrassing myself. Aiden called a timeout."

"Wait, what?" Ash questioned.

"We've only gone through two rounds so far, but Aiden destroyed me in both," Misty groaned. "He's a good trainer, Ash, but that's not all him. I'm not doing my best."

"Why not?!" Ash gasped. "Aiden would be furious if he knew you were going easy on him!"

"I'm not going easy on him!" Misty bit. "I'm battling completely lousy! And it's not on purpose!"

"You? A lousy battle?" Ash asked incredulously.

"That seems to be all I can do lately," Misty muttered. "If you knew my record lately, you'd be ashamed."

"I could never be ashamed of you," Ash refuted.

"Really?" Misty snapped. "How does three wins in the last 25 battles sound to you?"

Ash remained quiet for a few moments before replying, "You've lost 22 battles?"

"I told you, I haven't been able to do anything right," Misty whispered, shaking her head. "I'm so embarrassed."

Without another word, Ash crashed his lips against Misty's, kissing her deeply and passionately. Misty allowed her shoulders to fall as she felt Ash's hands hold tightly onto her back, sliding easily beneath her short, flowy shirt. Misty pulled away slowly, her eyes slowly opening to lock with Ash's. His were full of fire and determination, and his lips were now bent into a small smile.

"One minute warning!" Justin called from the pool.

Misty looked over her shoulder, causing Ash to take advantage of her exposed neck. He kissed that spot very roughly, causing Misty to go weak at her knees and nearly fall over. Once Ash was done, Misty knew there was a mark there. She glanced up at him, gently touching the spot. Ash smirked and took his hands out from beneath Misty's shirt, instead choosing to give her a gentle smack on her behind, causing Misty to blush furiously.

"Hey!" She gasped.

"Come on, get back in there!" He laughed. "They're not going to wait all day for you, Miss Gym Leader."

Misty was now smirking herself, giving Ash an incredulous look. "You're coming with me?"

He grinned and gave her a very quick kiss on the lips before lacing their fingers together. "I finally made it here. I wouldn't go anywhere but with you."

Beaming, Misty turned around and released Ash's hand, marching back into the pool area. Behind her, Ash smiled and followed, watching as she confidently walked ahead. As she took her spot back on her platform, Ash walked around the pool, making himself visible to everyone in the stands. They all gasped, while Aiden, who was still standing before them, took a big step back.

"Dad?!" He gasped.

"Hey there, buddy!" Ash greeted with a chuckle. "Heard you won the first two rounds!"

"Yeah…" Aiden grumbled.

"Don't be so upset about it," Ash chuckled. "It's a good thing! Besides, the rest of the battle isn't going to be so easy for you."

Aiden furrowed his brow. "What?"

"Don't worry about it, champ," Ash assured, patting the boy's shoulder. "I've got your back. Always."

Although he was still confused, Aiden smiled and gave his father a confident nod before heading back to his platform. He looked across at his mother, and was shocked by what he saw. This wasn't the same Mom he'd been battling against before. Now, she looked exactly as he'd always known her: tough, determined, and confident.

Ash climbed up into the stands, lifting the overly giddy Elizabeth out of Brock's lap and smothering her with hugs and kisses. He sat down between Brock and Michelle, giving his stunned older daughter a kiss atop her head.

"Did you plan this?" Brock asked, still stunned by Ash's sudden appearance.

"Not at all," Ash promised. "But I think that everything happens for a reason, and clearly, my timing was just right."

"Daddy, you're gonna watch Mommy and Aiden?" Elizabeth asked, hugging her father's chest.

"Of course I am!" Ash laughed, running a hand down the back of her head. "The rest of this battle is going to be amazing. Just you watch."

Justin looked between Misty and Aiden before smirking and throwing his arms up in the air. "Resume the battle!"

Ash is here! And it looks like he's just what both Misty and Aiden needed to really get this battle going! So, get geared up for the second half of the battle, because it's going to be a good one!