A/N: To answer your queries, first of all, yes, I understand that it's odd that I went ahead and ended it a bit abruptly- and that most of you were expecting another massive battle.

But, I'll tell you guys why I did that.

First of all- a talk on power levels at the moment- which I'll be doing in the form of Pokemon levels for lack of a better word.

Wade and Linnea can both be assumed to have Pokemon with levels in the high 30s or low 40s.

The Elite Four have Pokemon comparable to those of the other Elite Four in other regions, namely levels of low to mid 50s.

Ash's roster would look like this:

1. Pikachu, Level 60

2. Charizard, Level 66

3. Greninja, Level 57

4. Roserade, Level 51

5. Arcanine, Level 38

6. Drapion, Level 42

7. Muk, Level 39

8. Fearow, Level 47

I'm not counting Hoopa and Gregor's Gengar.

Compared to this, Selena has Pokemon at levels comparable to any Champion- like Gary, Steven, or Cynthia when you battle them for the very first time, namely in the high 50s and low 60s, but Selena's strongest is her Dragonite, which is at level 77 and is a bit of an outlier.

Phineas is about as powerful as Red would be when you fight him on Mt. Silver, or Steven in Pokemon Emerald, namely in the mid to high 70s and low 80s, but the outlier is his Charizard which is at level 91.

Basically any fight between Phineas and Ash will result in Ash losing- if you were hoping for a big fight between the it would have just ended disappointingly. And those power levels make sense when you consider the fact that Phineas completely floored Selena against whom Ash had a tough time.

Basically here was no way for Ash to win without completely ignoring the internal logic of whatever I've built up to this point. It would take him a few years of training someplace the equivalent of Mt. Silver for the battle to have any meaning.

He could've fought the Elite Four, but then again there was no reason for them to fight once they'd woken up Arceus. I could've made the chapters a bit longer, but it would've just been more endless foot dragging rather than something actually moving the plot forward.

I kind of didn't know I was going to end it last chapter until I finally began writing it and realized that there was no more left to write.

Also, as for the epilogue having two parts- well, one part would be enough. It actually depends more on the length of a chapter really.

And if Ash never visited N's castle- sorry, still haven't seen those episodes, but I'm assuming he saw it. (Correct me if I'm wrong- it's possible.)

"Pika pi pii," Pikachu said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Ash said, panting as he walked up the slope. "I'm tired too."

"Pi pii pika pi?" Pikachu asked.

Ash reached into his pocket and took out the letter and scanned it. "Yeah, if I'm reading this map correctly, it should be just over this hill."

The flowers were in full bloom all throughout the hill. Some Pokemon were frolicking in the grass some distance away as the gentle breeze carried a sweet scent towards them. There was an expansive grove of trees at the top of the hill. It reminded Ash of the fields near Pallet Town.

As the two of them crested the hill, they saw that near the shore there was a gathering of around two hundred people.

"Quite a crowd isn't it?" Phineas asked as he stepped out of the shade of the trees.

"Yeah," Ash said. "I got your letter and everything- I wasn't expecting for more people to be here. What happened?"

Phineas scratched his chin. "Hard to explain- but do you know what day it is today?"

"Saturday?" Ash asked.

"Well, yes," Phineas said as he began descending down the hill and motioned for Ash to follow. "But more importantly, it is what is called 'Teacher's Day' here in Galea."

"Oh," Ash said. "And you couldn't mention this in your letter… because? All you put were directions, a time to meet, and then said it was 'urgent' that I come as quickly as possible."

Phineas shrugged. "Flair for the dramatic? That said, I do want to talk to you about something important. And Teacher's Day is definitely part of it- but anyway, I have been fully crowned as Galea's Elite Four Champion as of today."

"Okay," Ash said. "And all of these people are here for your coronation ceremony?"

"No," Phineas said. "They are all students of the same teacher- my teacher, here to honor her one last time."

"Your teacher?" Ash asked, not sure who was being talked about.

"Selena," Phineas said. "She always seemed to have a mind for education- those are all other students of her's. We-I, really, made a sort of memorial- I do not know if you can see it from here."

The people parted to give way to Ash and Phineas as they approached. Most of them bowed. Ash noticed that all of them were wearing fancy coats and boots- all of them were certainly not peasants. They were however dressed mostly in black as if they were attending a funeral- and Ash realized then than this probably was one based on Phineas' description of the place and given that there was no real body for them to bury.

He sort of felt out of place in his bright clothes that his mother had recently gifted him.

The monument was a statue with Arceus standing tall with Selena on her knees before him- her arms outstretched as if pleading for mercy. Beneath it were thousands of letters.

"All from admirers and former students," Phineas explained. "I still have mixed feelings towards her- but I do suppose she saved us all…"

"So what now?" Ash asked. "You're going to take charge then?"

"Well, I should," Phineas mused. "Technically our authority supersedes those of all Gym Leaders. The only one of us to actually do anything though was her when she ordered the two invasions of Kalos- after that it was mostly just meditating on Arceus for the rest of the Elite Four. But no matter- his threat is gone forever now, and I for one do not intend to live on the mountaintop like some celibate old monk who has renounced the world. I will govern Galea as a real emperor should."

"So what does that mean- that I work for you now?" Ash asked.

Phineas shrugged. "That is what was so important that I wanted to ask you- what are your intentions now? Do you intend to stay or leave?"

Ash shrugged. "I don't know- part of me just wants to go run around the rest of the world with my Pikachu as I used to do. The other part of me wants to stay here. It's been about two months but I can't really decide." He then started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Phineas asked.

"It's just that- I just realized that when I came here I was really sad that I hadn't won a championship yet- I had just managed to lose the finals in Kalos," Ash said. "I haven't won a real one- not counting the Orange League. And now all of this has happened and I still haven't won a championship yet."

"But you did save the world- or at least Galea at the very least."

"Yeah, I've saved countries before, no sweat," Ash said.

"Well, if you are that concerned, the Eighth Gym Badge has been returned to Sir Fredrick now that I have fully taken office," Phineas said. "You control seven-eights of Galea, and if you defeat him you will directly control over all of it. Challenge the Elite Four, and if you beat them all in a row including me, you will be made Champion." He smiled. "Or, given that that is not very likely at the moment, you could be one of the Elite Four. We would give the weakest one the axe- I am confident that you could best one of them at the very least."

"Not interested," Ash said. "So is that all? Because I sort of have a meeting later on in the afternoon."

"Well, I was hoping for an answer," Phineas said. "But I doubt pressing you is going to help. And I for one have little advice to give you on that matter- while I believe it would be good for Galea if you stayed, at the same time you do not quite look like the leader one would want for administrative tasks. Choose what you will- merely inform me when the time comes."

"Yeah, well, thanks for the invitation to the…. Funeral I guess?" Ash said.

Pikachu face-palmed. Ash still had no tact.

"I planned it out since I felt indebted in a way, and a few others joined in. I felt that you should be here too to be given a chance to pay your respects to her. Well, you always know where to find me," Phineas said and jerked his head towards where the Elite Four Headquarters were. "It is actually only about twelve minutes from here by flight."

As Ash turned to leave, Phineas added, "I forgot to mention this- I am now issuing a pardon for all the former Gym Leaders. I may not have agreed with some of their later, well, antics, but they were still my allies. Release them if you have imprisoned them."

"Oh, right, okay," Ash said. He sort of didn't care about that, but as he walked away, something struck him. "Hey- there's been this question that's bothering me for a while- we, I mean, Badge users live forever, right- if we still have them? What about our Pokemon? I mean Selena had a really ancient Dragonite, but that was it."

"You can make them live as long as you want- they share in the longevity granted by the Badges. But it appears to be limited to those you have on hand. As far as I know… I think that Selena realized that some of her Pokemon were too old and let them pass away peacefully. Dragonite usually live very long anyway, and I think she couldn't bring herself to let her first one die." Phineas sighed. "Immortality is a strange curse in many ways."

Ash and Pikachu took another glance around the place. People were mostly just murmuring among themselves or looking mournfully at the statue.

Ash stared at Pikachu… he imagined being together forever. That sounded like a dream come true- but was that what Pikachu would want? What about his other Pokemon? And his friends? It made him think of Celera and Emily.

Well, that would be a question for another time, he thought, as he bounded off.

A/N: Don't worry, there's a second (final) part coming up to the epilogue.