A Heartwarming Christmas

A/N: Here it is, everyone, the final chapter of this story! I had originally planned this to split it in two because of how long this is, but it looks like me and my partner here were a little too eager to finish this. Apparently, in his opinion, it was fine having it all in one part. 

Anyway, let's finally conclude "A Heartwarming Christmas." Roll it!

Epilogue

Present time

Everyone was enraptured with the story as Zoey wrapped it up. "And what a wonderful Christmas it was." She said. "I guess if anyone saved Christmas that year, it was Ash."

Iris rolled her eyes fondly. "Well, he's always the hero." She piped up.

"True." Misty said. "But would we really want that knucklehead any other way?"

"Hmm...I guess not." Iris answered with a shrug, making everyone laugh.

Just then, they heard Salvia's butler make an announcement, his voice booming through the ballroom. "Announcing Prince Ash and Princess Dawn." All of the guests clapped as Ash and Dawn came into the ballroom, arm in arm, followed by Pikachu and Piplup; both of them wearing either a green or red bowtie.

Ash was dressed in a nice blue suit, which was similar to the one that he had worn back in Kalos for the dance party that Serena was invited to, with black shoes, and his wild raven black hair was tamed to the best of its ability. Dawn wore a beautiful navy blue gown with thin long sleeves and gold rose designs on the skirt, and her sapphire blue hair was curled and pulled up into a bun with tendrils framing her face.

"Merry Christmas, one and all!" Dawn cheered, raising her and Ash's joined hands in the air. Everyone else joined in the cheering and began exchanging yuletide greetings as well.

"Ash!" Delia called out to her son as he and his wife came over to them. Ash beamed at the sight of his mother and went over to her, giving her a big hug.

"Merry Christmas, Mom." He said.

"Merry Christmas, honey." His mother returned the greeting.

When they released each other, Ash turned to his group of friends as Dawn linked her arm with his again, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder while Piplup was held in Dawn's spare arm. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" He said to them. "Glad you could all make it."

"Of course." Cilan said. "We wouldn't have missed this for the world."

"How's married life treating you two?" May asked, making everyone giggle while Ash and Dawn slightly blushed.

"Well, let's just say that it's another adventure, all on its own." Ash answered with a smile, looking over at his wife.

Dawn beamed lovingly at her husband. "That's one way to put it. But I wouldn't have it any other way." She said.

Ash then looked over at the youngest members of the group. "You know, we have something for the three of you." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

Dawn let go of her husband and then headed over to the tree. She picked up three presents and then handed them each to Max, Bonnie, and MJ.

"Really?" MJ exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you, Princess!"

As all three of them opened their gifts, immediately there were bright smiles appearing on their faces. "Wow! The latest guidebook on everything there is to know about Pokémon!" Max exclaimed. "Thanks!"

"A hair tie?" Bonnie asked, holding it up.

"Not just any hair tie." Dawn said. "Look closely."

Bonnie examined it and saw that there was a little hole in the middle of it. "Wait." She said, remembering why some accessories would have features like that. "Is this for a Key Stone?!"

Ash and Dawn nodded. "Yep." The latter said. "You're a step closer to being able to use Mega Evolution."

"Just like me!" Max added, holding up his wrist, showing a bracelet with a small circular indentation in the middle of it.

MJ then unwrapped her present. "Hey, a storybook!" She exclaimed. "About Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno!"

Ash smiled as memories from so long ago came into his mind. "One big adventure that I'll never forget." He said with a little smile.

"Me neither." Misty added with a slight shudder as the memories of Lugia came to her mind.

"You had me worried sick on that one." Delia came in, looking at her son.

"I'm gonna go and read it right now!" MJ said, and hurried over to the couch.

"Hey, wait for us!" Max called after her as he and Bonnie followed, making the adults laugh at their excitement.

Dawn linked arms with Ash again, and then saw something over in a different part of the ballroom. It was a woman with flaming red hair, wearing a sunset orange dress. She was talking to two men, both of them wearing tuxedos. One of them had spiky, light brown hair while the other had dark hair in short dreadlocks.

She motioned over to Ash and then subtly pointed over to them. He smiled when he saw them and headed over there with Dawn. When they got closer, his wife called out to them.

"Allegra?" The woman turned around to face the couple. She then curtsied to them. "Your Highnesses."

Ash waved the titles off with a friendly smile. "No need for that, Allegra." He said. "We're all old friends here."

Allegra smirked. "Okay, Ash. I see you two are doing well since last time I saw you two."

Dawn giggled. "And you as well." She said, looking over at the two men that were with Allegra. "How's traveling been for all three of you?"

"It's been fantastic." Allegra answered. "And I can't thank you two enough for finding my friends for me, and letting me travel with them."

"You've done so much for us since that Christmas." Ash said to her. "I think this is the least that we could do for you in return."

Allegra smiled at them just as the little orchestra started to play another Christmas song. "You two enjoy the party." She said, and then grabbed her two companions by the hand and led them over to one of the buffet tables.

Ash and Dawn chuckled at the sight and then headed over to the balcony that was outside the ballroom. The wintery night air wasn't quite that terrible that night, and at least there was a clear, starry sky above them, along with a silver full moon. The couple smiled at the beautiful sight, and then at each other.

Then, Ash's soft smile turned slightly playful as he reached into his pocket. "I got you a little early Christmas present." He said, handing his wife a little flat box. "You can open it now if you want."

Dawn blinked in surprise, and then smiled. She opened the box and saw that there was a little corsage inside it, the decoration having two main flowers: a red rose and a pale pink Gracidea. She looked up at her husband and then hugged him, being careful of the corsage. The rose was obvious, but the Gracidea was basically another symbol of their love.

"Thank you, Ash." She said.

Then, Dawn let go of him and he took the corsage from her and slid it onto her left wrist, his fingers trailing down her wrist to her hand, lingering a couple of seconds longer on her wedding ring.

Then, he noticed that his wife looked a little...nervous about something. "What's up?" He asked her. "You've been looking a little tense all evening."

Dawn lightly gulped. She then reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a paper. "You know how I haven't been feeling...a hundred percent for almost a week now?"

"Yeah." Ash answered hesitantly, taking the paper. "Did you see the doctor?"

"I did, at the beginning of the week, right after we came back home." Dawn replied, lightly biting her lip. "They gave me the results and, um...well, let's just say that this new adventure you've been talking about is about to get...a little bit more...interesting, to put it mildly."

Ash raised a confused brow, and then opened up the paper. There was a border of little Pokémon toys, rattles, colorful blocks, and pink and blue ribbons. In the center of it all, were the words, "Guess who's gonna be a daddy?"

For two long seconds, Ash didn't quite get it. He could already tell from the decorative border that someone was expecting, but then, when he looked back up at Dawn, she looked very on-edge, and she brought up a hand to touch her stomach, her anxious eyes not leaving his. Then, when those two seconds were up, the realization hit him in the head like a Thunderbolt.

"Y-You're... I... We're..." Ash stammered as he tried to regain control of his brain. "You're...pregnant? We're...we're gonna have a baby?"

Dawn slowly nodded. "The doctor says I'm about six or seven weeks along already. I have another appointment scheduled right before New Year's to see if we can see it. Do you remember the night in that luxury hotel we stayed in while we were traveling? That's when it happened."

She then saw the wide-eyed look on Ash's face, and tears slowly started to well up in her own eyes. "I'm sorry. You don't want this, I know." She said, looking away from him.

"Dawn, no!" Ash quickly assured her, taking her hands in his and making her look back at him. "It's not you, and it's definitely not the baby. You know that I love kids, and I always assumed that one day, we might have one of our own. But now that it's happening, it's just..." He trailed off with a sigh.

"You know that I never really knew my own dad." He said, and Dawn nodded mutely, remembering back when they had magically visited Pallet Town and learned the truth of why Ash was raised without a father. "I never had a father around to show me how to raise a family. What if...I mess things up? I never had a dad in my life, so I was never shown how to be a good dad myself. What if later in their life, our child doesn't want anything to do with me because they think I've been a bad parent?"

Dawn gently pulled one of her hands from her husband's grip and placed it on his cheek. "I don't think so, Ash." She said. "You grew up fine without your dad there. You just keep being the caring, brave, and strong man that you are every day. Be yourself, and I can promise that our baby will love you. And I know that if your father were here right now, he'd be so proud of you."

Ash smiled softly at his wife. "How come you always know just what to say to put me at ease?" He asked.

Dawn just shrugged. "Just something that I learned from my husband." She answered, giving him a little peck on his lips.

Ash smiled a little bit wider and briefly rested his fingers gently against his wife's still-flat stomach. "All in all, I think that this is incredible news." He said. "We're gonna have a baby. Our own little one."

Dawn smiled at him, happy tears in her eyes. "Yeah. Our baby."

Ash pulled Dawn into a hug and she joyfully returned it. It looked like their family would get bigger in a few months.

************************

Minutes later, everyone was back inside, enjoying the Christmas party. Most of the adults had champagne glasses while the kids just had white grape juice. Dawn also had a glass of grape juice in her hands, knowing that she couldn't drink while she was pregnant. Ash also had some grape juice, since he never cared much for alcohol, either.

Both of them looked over at each other anxiously. They had decided to announce their pregnancy, but naturally, they were a little nervous. Luckily, they steeled their nerves long enough to try and get everyone's attention.

However, Salvia beat them to it by carefully tapping her glass with a spoon. "May I have your attention, please?" She asked, and everyone went quiet. "I have some important and wonderful news to share."

Ash and Dawn shared a glance. Did she know? Or was it something else?

Ritchie then came over to stand next to Salvia as she continued to speak. "Just tonight, my handsome suitor here..." Salvia paused to look at Ritchie and smiled as she took his hand. "He proposed to me." Everyone gasped in surprise as they took in the news. "And I accepted." Salvia finished, beaming brightly.

The ballroom burst into applause at the happy couple. Delia was practically bursting at the seams as she embraced them. Salvia and Dawn had become like daughters to her in the time that she had gotten to know them. Which, in Dawn's case, was technically true, since she was her daughter-in-law.

"When's the big day?" She asked them.

"We plan to have the wedding in about two or three weeks." Ritchie said, smiling at his fiancée.

It was a little odd to have it so soon, especially since Ash knew that Ritchie would usually plan things through. He had always been that way ever since he had first met him when they were ten years old. Either his old friend had wedding fever, or there was something else going on that Salvia hadn't mentioned.

But then, he gestured to Dawn to go over there, his eyes flicking down towards her stomach. His wife caught on to the implication and nodded. At least everyone's attention was already caught by her sister's wedding announcement.

She took her husband's hand and then they walked over to the front where Salvia, Ritchie, and Delia were. "First off, congrats, you two." Ash said. "And on that note, we have news of our own."

Dawn nodded, and then turned towards their guests. "I'm happy for my sister and her fiancé, but Ash and I have an announcement to make ourselves." She gently wrapped both of her arms around her stomach, taking one of Ash's arms in the process. "We're going to have a baby."

Everyone gasped and started cheering and applauding like crazy, making Ash and Dawn blush at their very positive reactions. Delia grabbed her son's shoulder.

"I'm going to be a grandma?" She asked, and Ash nodded at her, beaming with a light that she had seen only once before; back when she first told her own husband that they were going to be parents themselves almost twenty-one years earlier.

She then hugged her son and only child as tightly as she could, tears streaming down from her eyes. "Oh, Ash! My baby boy is going to be a father!"

"Mo-om!" Ash playfully complained, his cheeks turning red at his mother's endearment.

Salvia hugged her sister, laughing joyously. "I'm going to be an aunt!" She exclaimed, making Dawn laugh with the same joy.

Ritchie patted Ash's shoulder as Delia released him. "Congratulations, Ash." He said, smiling widely. "Looks like I might have a future niece or nephew soon."

Ash chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

Then all of Ash's friends, along with the servants that he had befriended, came over to them to give their congratulations to both of the happy couples. This Christmas Eve Ball really was something to be remembered.

*******************************

Later, when almost all of the guests had left, and the servants were quickly cleaning up to leave the ballroom with only the tree there, the royal family all headed towards their rooms for the night, along with their Pokémon.

But then, Dawn stopped her sister by grabbing her arm before she could enter her chambers. Ash did the same with Ritchie, while Delia joined them.

"So exactly why are you guys planning on getting married quickly?" She asked them. "We all know you two very well, and we had thought that it would be at least a couple of months until the big day. Ash and I even had our wedding almost a year after getting engaged because we were traveling."

"Forgive us if we do see it as a little odd." Delia said. "We just want to know why, since you didn't say so earlier. Is there something that you two need to tell us?"

Salvia did look a little nervous, as did Ritchie, but when they looked at each other, they took each other's hand, silently giving each other some reassurance. The young queen then took a deep breath.

"Well, let's just say that Dawn's not the only one who's expecting a baby." She said simply, lightly biting her bottom lip.

There was silence for a good five seconds. Then, it hit them.

"You, too?!" Ash exclaimed.

Salvia nodded, looking down on her own stomach. "I only found out a couple of days ago." She explained. "And I was afraid that there might be a scandal if people ever found out, and I couldn't bear to hear what horrible things they might say about me, Ritchie, or the baby."

The others slightly tensed up, already having mental images of such worries. Things like an illegitimate heir, and Ritchie being a manipulative jerk by knocking up the young queen so that he could be king. All of those were lies, so if Salvia and Ritchie could get married as soon as they could, then at least a month later, they could announce the pregnancy, which would avoid any scandal.

"I see." Dawn said. "Well, as much as I want to scold you for not being careful, I am happy for you. And I also get to be an aunt!"

Ash narrowed his eyes over at Ritchie. " I'm not sure whether to hug you or punch you." He said to him, before finally sighing. "Oh, what the heck?"

He then pulled his friend into a hug. "Congrats, buddy." He said.

Ritchie let out a sigh of relief. "I was honestly expecting to be punched." He admitted with a nervous chuckle, knowing that Ash was pretty protective of his family. "But thanks, Ash."

"Well, looks like I'm going to have a talk with you two." Delia said, crossing her arms and looking pretty stern, which in turn, made both Salvia and Ritchie tense up and then blush in discomfort. That discussion was something that they were not looking forward to.

Ash and Dawn just laughed at the looks on their faces, and then the former pulled the latter closer to him, his fingertips gently brushing against the fabric coating over her stomach.

This year was definitely a Christmas for them to remember, because of the three pieces of news, all of them having one thing in common: Their family was growing.

*****************************

Eight years later

"Mom! Dad!"

Ash and Dawn both woke up to the feeling of someone bouncing on their bed. They both opened their eyes blearily and saw a little girl jumping up and down on her knees, dressed in a long-sleeved turquoise silk nightgown and having a thin gold chain with a Gracidea pendant around her neck. She was smiling widely when she saw that her parents were starting to get up.

She was the spitting image of Ash himself, from the same raven-colored hair that was draped loose along her back (the same hairstyle as her mom), the same chocolate brown eyes, and tan skin. The only thing that she didn't get from her father when it came to looks was the Z-marks on the cheeks.

"Wake up, it's Christmas!" She cheered, bouncing even more to get her parents out of bed.

Just then, a young boy who was the same age as her came onto the bed and then grabbed her shoulders, making her stop. Just like her, he looked a lot like Ash, with his short but wild black hair spiked outward, tan skin, and having his father's Z-marks on his cheeks. But instead of brown eyes, he had his mother's sapphire blue ones. He wore a simple, long-sleeved, navy blue cotton shirt, along with matching pants.

"Chill, Sis!" He said playfully, making her fall onto her back while laughing. "You wanna wake up the whole castle?"

You can imagine their parents' surprise eight years ago when they first realized that they were expecting not just one baby, but two! Twins. A boy and a girl. Their son, Adam, was born first, and then came his fraternal twin sister, Marianne, or Mari, as she preferred to be called by everyone.

Adam was quite the modest and polite young boy, but he was also brave and had a strong sense of justice and morals. Mari was like a little sprite, with a sense of adventure and a free spirit, but she was also kind to everyone, both people and Pokémon, treating them with an open heart and an open hand.

Ash chuckled as he slowly sat up. "Well, at least I don't need Pikachu's Thunderbolt to wake me up anymore." He said. He then reached over and started tickling the twins, making them laugh and squeal. "Who needs that or an alarm clock when they have you two?"

"Daddy!" Mari laughed. "Stop!"

"Knock it off, Dad!" Adam shouted while laughing.

Ash just chuckled as he soon stopped his little tickle torture, allowing the twins to catch their breath. Then they crawled over to their parents and hugged them.

"Merry Christmas!" They exclaimed at the same time.

"Merry Christmas, you two." Dawn said as she sat up in time to catch her children in a hug. After the hug, she released them. "And now, how about you two go and see if your friends and your cousins are awake?"

"Okay, Mom." Adam said, and he jumped off the bed, running over towards the door.

"Hey!" Mari called after her brother with a smile. "Wait for me!"

Both parents chuckled as they slid out of bed and grabbed their respective robes. Pikachu and Piplup were sleeping in their separate beds next to their Trainers, and they'd woken up when they heard the twins come in. They both stretched out their limbs, yawning.

Ash laughed. "Looks like the twins are still aiming for your job, you two." He teased.

Piplup squawked in indignation at the idea while Pikachu just rolled his eyes in amusement as he took his usual perch on his Trainer's shoulder. Dawn laughed as she picked up an annoyed Piplup, who was squawking at her husband.

"Come on, Piplup." She said to the little Water type. "I can still count on you for other things besides being my own personal alarm clock."

That seemed to perk up the little Penguin Pokémon considerably and he proudly placed his flippers on his sides at his Trainer's words, chest puffed up. Everyone just laughed as they got out of their room and headed over towards the ballroom downstairs.

There, Adam and Mari were already waiting by the large tree, along with two other kids. The girl next to Adam had long, straight violet hair with bangs and lighter purple eyes, wearing a dark red silk nightgown. The boy next to Mari had wild auburn hair with dark blue eyes, wearing a long-sleeved, green nightshirt with matching cotton pants.

The two other kids immediately stood up straight when they saw Ash and Dawn approach them and then either bowed or curtsied to them. "No need for that, Mia and Aiden." Ash said, making them look up at the prince. "Since you two are Adam and Mari's best friends, after all."

Mia and Aiden smiled a little nervously up at them, but then relaxed when they saw that Adam and Mari had come up to them. They had stayed the night at the castle with their two best friends.

Back when the twins, along with their cousin who was born not long after them, were old enough to start school, Ash and Ritchie told their wives that they wanted the kids to have some semblance of a normal life, kind of like what they went through back when they were their age. They didn't want to give them private tutors, they wanted them to go to school like normal children. Dawn and Salvia eventually agreed, but only under the condition that the kids keep their royal status a secret from the other children. Only the teachers would know and keep it very confidential.

During the first few weeks of school, the twins and their cousin kept to themselves, and the twins soon befriended Mia and Aiden. However, there were times that they, and other students, would ask them if they would come over to their place, and what were their parents like. The twins managed to avoid any question about their home, and just said that their parents were the Pokémon Master and a Top Coordinator respectively. Their cousin faced a similar dilemma and handled it the same way, except he said that his parents were a Pokémon Trainer and a politician. They couldn't reveal that they were all royalty.

Eventually, a couple of years ago, the twins, along with the rest of their family, deemed both Mia and Aiden trustworthy enough to reveal their royal status. They were relieved when they saw that even though they were royalty, it didn't really change a thing in their friendships. So Mia and Aiden were now frequent guests at the castle, and they were even invited over for Christmas, since both of their parents were going to be out of town for the holidays.

Then Salvia and Ritchie came into the ballroom, their own kids running ahead. Their eldest was Samuel, or Sam as his family called him, who was the same age as the twins and the heir to the throne. Then, there was his younger sister of two years, Victoria, or Vicki. Both of them had blue eyes, but Sam had his mother's blue hair while Vicki had her father's auburn locks trailing down her back.

"Merry Christmas!" Mari greeted her cousins.

Vicki came over to her older cousin and hugged her tightly. "Merry Christmas, Mari!" She said.

Sam and Adam shared a fist bump and then Mari released Vicki to give Sam a hug. Their parents all sat down near the tree while the kids started opening their presents.

Mari opened hers from Aiden and saw that it was a yellow version of the latest model Pokétch. She smiled widely at her best friend and then hugged him tightly.

"I'll put it to good use when I turn ten and ready to go on my journey." She said to him with a playful wink and a smile, and then she went over to her parents to ask them to help her put it on, not noticing the red blush on his face.

Mia's present to Adam was a batch of Dusk Balls. He gratefully hugged her and kissed her cheek, not noticing her own face starting to turn three shades of red.

"Thanks, Mia." He said. "These look awesome." His delight made her giggle and smile at him.

Then Mari came over to them, her new Pokétch around her wrist. "Keep this up, Bro, and you're going to make her sound like a broken record." She said with a playful smirk.

Adam just rolled her eyes at his sister's teasing. "Don't play innocent, Sis. I've seen Aiden give you a kiss or two before as well."

"It's true." Aiden confirmed to the group.

Mari's face turned a dark red color and then she lightly slugged Adam in the shoulder. "Shut up..." She muttered. Even though they didn't realize it yet due to their young ages, the Ketchum siblings had crushes on their best friends.

Adam snickered at his sister's embarrassment, and then handed Mia his present. She opened the gift and pulled out a little bottle of perfume.

"I kind of thought that a Contest dress would be a little bit much. But you can use this perfume during contests." He explained to her, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

Mia just giggled. "This is perfect." She said, holding the bottle. "Thanks." She then returned Adam's earlier kiss on her cheek with one of her own, making him feel happy.

Once she got rid of the blush on her face, Mari handed Aiden his present. He unwrapped it and saw a new Breeder handbook.

"The latest one out there, written by my dad's old friend." She said. "Don't show it off yet, because it's not in stores for another couple of weeks."

"This is incredible!" Aiden exclaimed. "Thanks, Mari."

"Don't mention it." The little ravenette said with a smile as she lightly bumped his shoulder with her fist.

From where they were watching the kids, Ash and Dawn both had curious and knowing smirks on their faces when they saw the little interactions between the twins and their best friends. Ash then turned over to his wife and quietly started talking.

"They grow up so fast. Right, Dawn? It looks like they've both already set their hearts on someone, even if they don't fully realize it yet. Ah, young love, am I right?"

Dawn giggled. "Well, you are my first and only love. Who's to say that history repeats itself?"

"Oh, come on." Her husband said, a little teasing smirk on his face, leaning in a little closer to her face. "You have to admit it, based on the way that Adam and Mari look at the two of them. It's the same loving gaze that I always give you. And that kind of gaze is something that you only give to the one who you know is 'the one'. They're just still too young to know it yet."

"Yeah, I know." She replied. "I'm just surprised that my then-completely dense friend, now loving husband, could now pick up possible romantic hints."

"Well, you opened my heart and changed how I see things, back when you were a beast...just as much as I changed yours." Ash answered, looking at his wife tenderly.

"Mmm. Yes." Dawn agreed, leaning into his strong embrace, their hands instinctively entwining. "Well, we'll see what the future has in store for them. We certainly didn't know it back when we first met. And now, look at us."

Her husband chuckled. "Yes, but they seem to have unknowingly made up their minds already and I want you to know that I approve of their choices, and I hope that you do too, if Adam and Mari do choose them in the future." Ash said, looking down at her.

"Of course I do." Dawn replied, looking up at him. "They proved to be honest and trustworthy. If they weren't, then they wouldn't be real friends."

Ash beamed at her and then kissed her softly. "Good. That's all that I needed to hear. I love you so much, Dawn."

Dawn settled her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you too, Ash. You and our children mean more to me than anything."

****************************

The day went by in a flash, and soon, it was nighttime. Everyone was getting ready for bed after such a wonderful Christmas Day. Ash and Dawn were with their children in their suite, talking with them before sending them over to their rooms. Aiden was staying in Adam's room, since they were both boys, and Mia was in Mari's room for the same reason.

Just then, they noticed that their son looked a little bit worried about something, like he was lost in thought about it.

"What's going on, Adam?" Dawn asked her son.

Adam lightly bit the corner of his lip before looking up over at his parents. "I was thinking about you and Dad's story. I'm worried... Do you think that Mari and I could end up cursed one day? Like you, Mom? Or what if you get cursed again?"

Mari had a small look of fear in her eyes as her brother shared his worries with their parents. She did love the story of her parents' romance. It was like something out of a fairy tale. But she didn't blame Adam for being worried that she and her brother might suffer the same fate as their mother.

Ash and Dawn shared a concerned glance with each other before the former looked over at his children. "No need to worry, you two." He assured them. "The curse isn't in your blood and your mom's not gonna get cursed again."

Dawn then smiled softly as she took her son's hand while Ash took their daughter's. "I learned my lesson, thanks to your dad." She added. "It's one that I have never forgotten since that day that he lifted the curse."

"Really?" Mari asked them, a hopeful sparkle in her eyes.

Ash smiled as he playfully bopped her nose, making his daughter giggle. "You can bet on that, sweetheart." He promised her.

Mari then hugged her father tightly and Adam and Dawn joined in.

Another wonderful Christmas had gone, and they were confident that many more were sure to come in the future...until the day came that their children would leave to begin their Pokémon journey together, along with Sam, Mia, and Aiden by their sides.

A/N: And that ends our story at last. Sorry that it went all the way past Christmastime and into late February of this year. 

My partner on fanfiction.net and I hope to see you guys next time! Please leave a comment about what you think! They are highly appreciated. And remember to stay healthy!

Got to fly! ;)