Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with the final PokeShipping Month chapter of Pikachu Tales. I'm so glad I actually wrote this because I kept writing other things and putting off this. But I finally got there. It's a little different. It's the introduction of JJ here, I believe. I wrote about him in the final chapter of Dear Darlings but here is his debut here. I hope you enjoy :3

Ages:

Ash: 31

Misty: 31

Jordan: 32

JJ: 6

Disclaimer: I own the story and JJ with AAML-TAML :3

I hung onto my best friend's ear contentedly and breathed in the early September air as the three of us walked together. Summer was not far in the past but Autumn was most definitely approaching. You could smell it in the air. You could feel it on the breeze. You could hear it from the gentle rustling of leaves. Autumn was near. But the previous season wouldn't leave us easily. What a summer it'd been!

After the devastating miscarriage of Jordan and Lynne in the spring, those two had finally tied the knot in August. In between that, on a short visit 'up there' they had been blessed with the discovery of their little boy who they miscarried. Or so they thought. It had turned out to be Ash and Misty's son but because they all would be often away from earth for many months at a time, it made sense for Jordan and Lynne to keep him. It made sense to them. It made sense to everybody else. It was heart-breaking but it made sense to Misty. But it took months for it to make sense to Ash. He suffered badly. He saw JJ as a Ketchum. And he wanted his son.

Thankfully, things had gotten easier in most recent weeks. And I could see this by the way that Ash and Misty smiled at each other as we continued on our walk. I stayed on my best friend's shoulder while their hands were entwined. They didn't speak much, feeling content at the comfortable silence. But every so often, they would give each other a grin and their eyes would light up. Yes, things had indeed gotten much better. Because, at the end of the day, they had each other. And that gave them all of the strength in the world.

The orange haired female nuzzled her husband's hand as she held onto it before moving closer to his side, feeling the nearing autumnal breeze through her light shirt. She smiled at him. She was about to speak to him when she decided to use the other hand to bring the basket of cupcakes they had recently purchased from the bakeries to her mouth. She licked the special icing, getting some cutely on her nose before deciding to speak then. Her words made much more sense after her previous action.

"So what's with buying these then, Ashy?" she asked him, looking up at him curiously and opening her mouth to continue speaking. He interrupted her with another grin. A sheepish one. He broke his hand away from hers and rested his arms behind his head.

"They're good." He replied simply and with a smile, his nose in the air to distract her but in the end it distracted him. He couldn't see where he was going. She shook her head fondly but persisted.

"They are very good." She nodded in agreement, pausing to lick more of the icing but smoothing it down with her tongue at the same time to keep it even. She didn't want to wreck the nautical display. She couldn't help but giggle contentedly. "But you didn't have to buy every last one!"

Upon hearing his wife's giggles, Ash of course chuckled himself. After wiping the icing off her nose with his finger and playfully licking it himself, he shrugged. He answered her but he looked away. Misty didn't notice this but I did. Following his lack of eye contact, he suddenly looked at her again, giving her a smile.

"Anything for my perfect Mist." He hummed airily and (semi) truthfully before continuing walking on his way with me. He did, however, take the cupcakes away from Misty and put them neatly back in the box. I noted which one she'd licked but was distracted by something else. He seemed to want to make sure there were loads of them. Even though there were three people on our walk.

The orange haired female smiled lovingly at her husband's words at first and continued walking at his side. She sighed with love. But then she suddenly stopped, raising her eyebrow suspiciously and giving him the side eye. Ash stopped also. And the way he covered for himself so quickly made it clear he was hiding something.

"What? I know you love those special nautical cupcakes. They're as close that you can buy as the ones that your dad makes with you." He tried to blink at her innocently, his mouth forming into a light pout.

Misty gave me a look. I looked back at her, my own eyebrow raised. I shared my suspicions with her. Yes, Ash was a wonderful husband and knew how much his wife liked those special cakes. He even knew the sentiment behind them. And he was generous. As well as greedy. So it wasn't that uncommon for him to buy the entire batch. But for some reason, we knew he was hiding something.

The female of their couple folded her arms over her chest and she was about to open her mouth to question him more when she stopped. Her eyes took in the road sign that indicated a footpath and a lake not far ahead. She gasped and she gave him a light whack on the chest as her arms unfolded.

"Oh, Ash!" she breathed out in a slight hiss but not raising her voice too much. Both my best friend and I blinked as I held onto his ear. I also waited for him to feed me a bit of icing.

Her realisation started off obvious and loud but everything soon changed. She straightened up while her arms slumped a fraction. Her eyes softened with care.

"Ash…" she mumbled his name again, glancing between the road sign and her husband's face. Judging by him looking down at his shoes and the way he was biting his lip, he had been found out. I was still clueless. She touched his shoulder lightly. "C'mon we can't go down this way. My dad and JJ are fishing together here."

"That's why we should be here." Ash blurted out his truth before groaning at himself, realising he had said it all. I breathed out sadly for him while he stammered and tried to cover himself again.

It was true that he was doing much better after giving up JJ but judging by how he purposely walked his legs to where the boy was made it clear how in pain he was still. Of course he was. That was his blood son and he was being raised by his in laws. It was so confusing to him and heart-breaking too. He thought of JJ often and did what was best for him. But I was sure that some days, Ash wanted what was best for himself. He wanted his son.

Misty tried to gently take hold of his arm and lead him the other way but Ash shook his head. He looked at her vulnerably but firmly. He dug his heel into the ground.

"No." he muttered, holding the cake box in his hands almost protectively. They were a way of visiting the ginger little boy. He looked at Misty truthfully. "I really didn't plan on coming here. Yes, maybe I did when I bought the cakes in the bakery but not when you suggested a walk at home. I just thought it would be nice to bring them something special to eat if they're chilly and just sitting around. No strings attached."

Misty breathed out and bit her lip, studying her husband's face. She was torn. She knew the good in his heart. She knew he probably did just want to do something nice for JJ and Jordan. But she also knew how childish he could sometimes be about that whole situation. She didn't want him kicking off in front of the little boy. And Ash knew this. He reassured her.

"I'll be good." He mumbled in a light whine, trying to persuade her but his childish tone made her worry about him upsetting Jordan and think even more that it was a bad idea. "C'mon, I just want to share my cakes with my father in law and my son."

I knew that Misty was close to giving in. That was, until Ash accidentally referred to Jordan Junior as his son. He flushed and shook his head. His teeth gritted with annoyance at himself.

"My father in law and my brother in law!" he tried to correct himself but it was too late. Misty really didn't want him going through with it and he knew this. He used his other hand to put me on her shoulder before he took off down towards the lake.

"I'll do this with or without you!" he called out behind him at us as we didn't hesitate to follow him.

"Ash!" Misty cried out back to him, shaking her head at him and holding onto me as she ran. I held onto her ear. She gritted her own teeth and though she tried to hide it with her face, her heart felt so sad for the both of them. "Ash…"

The raven haired male began to slow down at her saying his name so worriedly and his feet came to a halt when he saw the yellow haired man and the ginger young boy with his own two eyes not far ahead. He paused before going, looking back at her. Misty came panting to his side. She reached for his hand and didn't let it go. Ash looked at her.

"I know you want to see him too." He mumbled truthfully, causing her to look away. He tried to gently go on ahead but she kept hold of his hand. I kept hold of her ear. "I'm seeing him." He insisted again before managing to tug her along with him. His cheeks were slightly red with determination. "Who knows? If I don't, he might suddenly have to go up."

My best friend didn't mean to use his emotions to make Misty finally on his side, but that's what his words did. She gulped at the thought and decided to half run with him. Like her husband, she was focusing on what she wanted. She wanted to see that little boy. Her little boy. If Jordan got upset, he'd just have to be comforted by Lynne or James. She needed to see JJ.

I jumped down from her shoulder and watched them brisk walk on ahead to the little fishing spot the two males had chosen. I wanted to approach the scene slowly. I needed time to think.

It was so raw for them both. On the one hand, JJ was indeed their son and any parent would naturally do anything to be able to be mother and father to their child. But on the other, how much heartbreak would JJ face being separated by them often when he went 'up there'? It would be painful not seeing Misty as a sister, but even more so as a mother. That's what Jordan said. Ash didn't agree. He believed the pain would be the same amount either way. Family was family. I could see both sides. I was torn.

My nose grew tickly with the sparing grass as I approached the bank. My eyes grew itchy but they saw a flash of yellow. Then they saw a flash of orange. They focused on Jordan and JJ fishing together. And my heart couldn't help but melt, despite it all.

The father had his son on his lap and they were sharing the same rod to fish. Though I could only see the older male's side profile, I knew his eyes were full of concentration and calmness. That's exactly what the water did to him.

I thought that nothing would distract him from his activity. I was wrong. My best friend stepped on a twig, causing the yellow haired male to abruptly turn around. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Ash. He blinked when he saw his daughter. But he soon shrugged.

"Well hey." He hollered half loudly, one hand still on the fishing rod and his other hand still on his son's leg. The little boy's limb was kicking excitedly upon seeing his sister. This made Jordan smile as he went back to focusing on his line. "I would've invited you earlier but you know how it is."

I watched as my best friend's chest puffed up a fraction upon thinking his father in law was talking to him. It promptly deflated when he realised he was talking to the orange haired female. I giggled in the grass and went to sit on the tree stump by the lake.

Misty nodded her head and smiled at her father, despite not really knowing how it was. She began to approach him gently as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hi Daddy." She greeted him airily, almost forgetting the pain and slight argument that she and Ash had had before. But then, like the waterfall crashing in the distance, it all came wallowing back. She swallowed and took a step back. Jordan didn't notice her change in demeanour. "We were just on our way back from the bakeries with those special cupcakes and bought them in case you wanted them. Then we're gonna go."

Ash couldn't help but scowl upon hearing her latter words but she gave her husband a look. He kept quiet while Jordan spoke.

"This area isn't exactly on your path back from the bakeries." He responded truthfully, still not looking away from where his lure was in the water. But he then shrugged, smiling at the side of her. "You didn't have to go out of your way. I bought some home-made versions of those cakes."

Misty breathed out, just nodding in case her father was picking up on them trying to get more time with JJ. At first she was so against going there. Then she wanted to see her son. But then she didn't want to upset her father. It was all so complicated. But she forced a smile.

"Well, now there's loads of cakes." She told her father as she took the box off her husband and bent to put them with the box of Jordan's ones that was on the picnic rug.

She was about to say that they should be going when JJ finished kicking his legs on his father's legs and used them to spring into action. He darted over to his 'sister' and danced around her.

"Cakes! Loads of cakes! Caaaakes!" he twirled and said in a sing song voice, beaming up at her. Misty tried not to allow her eyes to fill with tears – it wasn't a very sisterly thing to do in her eyes – but she couldn't help it. She smiled down at the precious little boy. She wanted to reach down and ruffle his hair but that would surely send bother her and Ash into floods of emotion. She swallowed bravely.

"You make sure you leave some, okay?" she told him, unable to say the full words of what she meant and refer to Jordan as 'daddy'. She stood up to her full height. "We'll leave you alone."

I looked at my best friend. He was about to scowl and object but he didn't have to. Seeing there was no sign of a fish at the end of his lure, Jordan took the time to glance at them both. Mainly Misty, but he did look at them both.

"No, stay." He muttered simply before looking at the water. Even though he was looking at nature, his words were sincere. He shrugged. "You're here. You might as well stay. So stay."

I found myself smiling that my best friend had been giving what he wanted without being childish about it. Ash breathed out with relief and even he felt a lot better about it that way. Misty looked at her husband gladly but still gave him a look. He understood. Her father had given him permission to hang around him so he couldn't upset him.

Ash nodded. He may have been reckless and childish at times, even as an adult, but he had the biggest heart. He didn't want to cause Jordan any amount of upset. He never meant to. And he was around JJ. Although his heart was still aching, it was happy about that.

After Jordan told his daughter about how even he – the fishing guru - was having a bad day and hadn't caught anything – she followed his directions and found where his spare rod was. She used one of the lures they had made together and set up next to him. They were a perfect sight.

Ash came to sit next to me on the tree stump and I found myself clinging to his leg and looking up at him. I just wanted him to be happy. No matter what we went through or they went through, I just simply wanted him to be happy. That was all. And I knew he was partially. Even though he was looking at JJ wistfully.

Despite this, the little boy wasn't picking up on any of that sad emotion at all. He enjoyed fishing with Jordan so much but hours on end of it could get too much for a six year old boy. He twirled around and smiling.

"We're all here and we're all fishing! We're all here and we're all fishing!" he continued saying over and over again in a sing song voice. I watched him.

He was so like Lynne. He wasn't even her real son but, like her, he was innocent and he was tuneful. Then like Jordan, he was energetic and repetitive. Of course, he had traits of his real parents too aside from physical. Like Ash, he was already so very selfless at the age of six. And like Misty, he was definitely smart. He was just amazing. And I knew I loved him no matter whose he was.

I sighed to myself and before I could think of how sad it was for Jordan and Lynne too, the yellow haired male broke my thoughts. He turned around from fishing and spoke to his son in law.

"You not joining in?" he continued looking at Ash as he asked, raising an eyebrow but continuing gently after my best friend looked around, wondering who Jordan was talking to. "Are you joining in?"

I looked at Misty and she looked at me. Even JJ seemed to stop twirling and glanced open mouthed between the yellow haired male and the raven haired one. Was Jordan asking Ash personally to join them? Jordan was asking Ash personally to join them. In his own way of course.

Misty expected her husband to ruin it all. She thought he'd be overly excited and cause Jordan to hastily change his mind. Surprisingly, none of this happened.

"Oh yeah, sure." He used all of his energy inside to say coolly and had obviously been watching his wife earlier. He reached into the bag where the spare lures were and sat himself up on the other side of Jordan. He took his Mini Misty lure out of his pocket. The sight of the little thing made JJ giggle.

"I'm not the smallest one here now!" he exclaimed, not twirling for once and deciding to try jumping instead. Big mistake. As Ash joined Jordan and cast his rod, JJ's suspenders suddenly pinged off. He stopped mid jump.

"Oops." The little boy uttered simply, both his blue eye and his brown one wide at the feeling of it. Ash couldn't help but laugh and was glad it didn't somehow hit him in front of Jordan. The yellow haired male laughed. As Misty giggled, JJ held the ones at the front out to her. "You do it for me?"

I wasn't expecting this. Ash wasn't either. He stopped. Misty stopped. Her hand almost froze in mid-air. Jordan carried on fishing. The orange haired female blurted out as coolly as she could before her dad noticed the gentle tension. She looked at her father.

"Maybe you should do it." She looked at him hopefully while trying to keep her gaze casual as she crossed her legs beneath her body. Jordan shrugged.

"You got this." He told her airily, both his hands on the fishing rod. But then, he suddenly stopped. He pondered. He hated knowing this, but he was often as dense as Ash. He could be especially dense to emotions. And because of this, I assumed he had maybe forgotten all the pain surrounding them with JJ. But clearly he hadn't. He didn't look at his daughter but he spoke to her softly. I knew then that he knew more than anyone gave him credit for. "Right?"

With her father giving her permission to have some subtle bonding with her true son, Misty knew she couldn't let this chance slip. She knew she had to follow JJ's hopeful stare. As Misty moved further away from the bank and bent down to clip all of her 'little brother's' suspender clips back in place, Jordan gave Ash a look.

He didn't say anything at first but his green orbs studied his actions. He finally opened his mouth upon watching Ash's chubby tanned hands holding the rod.

"So are you a beginner?" he asked his son in law, pretending he didn't know the answer, before looking back at his own line. He then looked back at him and was about to open his mouth to speak again when Ash suddenly reeled in a water Pokémon.

Jordan's mouth hung open. Misty's eyes grew wide impressively. JJ clapped joyfully. I smirked when Ash smirked casually for once.

Upon seeing how frightened the little Pokémon at the end looked, he didn't hesitate to let it go with a gentle pat. He then smiled gently at his father in law. His mouth quirk was that in between a proud smirk and a soft smile.

"Me, a beginner?" he asked the yellow haired male before laughing a few times. He recast his rod. "I'm married to your daughter, Jordo; no one can be a beginner around her."

The yellow haired male winced at the nickname from the younger male but even he couldn't hide the slight impressed look in his eyes. He tried to resist smirking himself, his dimple showing because of it.

"That is true." He uttered quietly, his eyes watching where the previously caught water Pokémon had swum away. Misty could tell he was impressed by Ash's kindness, though he didn't show it. But she could see it. Jordan kept hold of his own rod. "I'm father to your wife, Ash. So you'll soon see how it's done."

Ash nodded his head and smirked at his words while the orange haired female found herself beaming as she sat adjusting JJ's little flat cap for him. That was all she'd ever wanted to see since she first took her husband – who was then her boyfriend – to see her father's grave.

She knew that he'd test him. She knew that he'd annoy him. But she knew that he'd respect him. And that he did. And she was delighted to see them be slightly competitive with one and other.

Time passed. It was a Friday night and it was around that time that JJ was normally handed over to the couple for a sister and brother in law sleepover anyway. But nobody noticed. They were having too much fun.

Jordan was inwardly impressed with Ash's fishing. Ash was content at being around JJ even though the boy was naturally clinging to his wife more. Misty was proud at her husband for being so collected. But for some reason, I was the one hurting.

As dusk approached, I pondered. What would I have done in their position? Would I have given JJ up for his own good? Would I have done everything I could to keep him? It was simply an unfathomable thing to me. I just didn't know. For once, I was glad I wasn't Ash. Though we were basically the same person, for once, I was glad I didn't have to make the decision he had to make. JJ was simply awesome. Of course he wanted to keep him.

My aching thoughts were interrupted by a moment of joy. Jordan smirked as he suddenly began reeling in his own catch at last. It took a lot of effort. It took a lot of strength. He even needed Ash's arms to help out his muscly ones.

Together they pulled and Misty's eyes shone at the sight. She beamed even more at the sight when the Pokémon was revealed. Father and daughter cried out at the same time.

"Oh, a Remoraid!" they exclaimed together and Jordan relied on both Ash's hands when one of his arms moved away from the rod to flap excitedly. He grinned.

"That sure is a massive one!" he bellowed happily, his hand flapping stopping to gesture to his backpack. His eyes were as alight as the stars in the sky. "Feed it something. Then if it wants to, catch it with one of the aquariums pokeballs."

After the water Pokémon seemed to so happily attach itself off the hook and dive near Misty for food, Ash smirked and wiped his brow upon seeing the sight. He shook his head.

"Water Pokémon just love Williams'." He announced, impressed himself and for once not smug that he really had been a massive help to the yellow haired male. He was just glad Jordan had caught something. He was just glad his wife was so happy. Water Pokémon sure made them both that way.

It was almost the end to a basically perfect spontaneous group fishing trip. And it was then that JJ said something that could've turned the entire trip upside down. While Misty happily fed the freshly caught Pokémon, Jordan Junior danced around Jordan. He beamed.

"Water Pokémon love Williams'!" he repeated Ash's words to the yellow haired male. He held his arms up to him. "And I'm a Williams'!"

These words caused Misty to drop the Pokémon food. These words caused Ash's arms to fall by his sides. My stomach knotted. Jordan didn't notice. He beamed just as much down at JJ and didn't hesitate to pick him up. He was being naïve but he just didn't notice. He was so happy and so loving.

He held the little ginger boy high in the air and kissed his face, his strong and fatherly arms around him. His whole being lit up.

"Yes you are!" he cried out back to him before planting more kisses all over his face. They fist bumped and when they were done, had another cuddle. Jordan held the boy close to his chest. And he breathed out. Before he could say the words back to him, JJ truthfully announced them.

"I love my daddy." He mumbled, his small hands on the angel male's strong shoulders and moving as close to him as his possibly could. His brown and blue eye met green ones. He smiled. "I love you daddy."

Jordan of course returned these words to his son. My stomach knotted. I almost didn't want to look over at Ash and Misty. Surely, they'd be heartbroken. I winced for them. But I knew I had to be strong for them. I looked at them. And my heart stopped.

They were holding hands. They had tears in their eyes. But they were smiling. My head tilted.

I looked at my best friend.

It had been so hard for him to give JJ up. It caused such confusion for him and such pain and such angst. But he had done it for the benefit of the child. And there in front of him, the child was announcing how much he loved the dad they allowed Jordan to be. That was it. That was enough to close the chapter. That was the reason he did it.

I looked at my best friend's wife.

It had been so hard for her to give JJ up. It caused such heartache for her and such stress and such sleepless nights. She too had done it for the benefit of the child. She had also done it for the benefit of Lynne. But in that moment, she was thinking how she had done it for the benefit of Jordan. He so loved being a dad. He felt in many ways he had done it wrong. But with JJ, he could do it right. And he was clearly doing everything so right. The way JJ declared the love he had for his father. That was it. That was enough to officially move forward. That was the reason she did it.

After I looked at them both, I watched them look at each other.

Their eyes had such wisdom. Such strength. Such unity. Such understanding. That look, more than anything that night, put a lump in my throat. With a look like that, with a love like that, it was apparent. As long as they were together, they could truly get through anything. They were bounded by love, by friendship, by togetherness and now a shared brother and brother in law. It wasn't a son, but it was still good. And in each other's eyes, they saw all the good in the world. They saw the good they had together. They saw the good they would have in the future. In their eyes, they saw it all. And the love that they had together was supported by all. Even Jordan.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 This was pretty different actually, in fact, I think most of the chapters are. I tried to do something unique with each. This chapter is PokeShipping but it's mainly about something they had to go through together. It wasn't meant to be the moment Ash and Misty began to move forward with JJ as their brother/brother in law but that's how it ended up. It was fun to write about Jordan again too. It's the small introduction about how he can be a little loud :P Thanks again for reading and I will be back on the 28th with a PokeShipping Month chapter of The Diary of Baby Rey. I still gotta write it but hopefully I'll see you then!

AmyBieberKetchum signing out :3