"Don't eat large meals, actually forget set meals all together. Just graze throughout the day. And just because you're pregnant that's not an excuse to eat whatever you want," Verity said, giving Aria pregnancy tips that she wished someone told her. "Don't just eat a whole cake or a bunch of greasy food and just brush it off saying "I'm allowed since I'm pregnant." You still need to think about your health and body both now and after the baby comes."

"I always thought a woman could eat whatever they wanted while pregnant," Brendan commented.

"Same," Red chimed in.

"It's not like the baby gets all the extra nutrients. If you eat garbage food you'll still get fat," Delia added.

"I never thought about any of this," Aria replied as she took notes on her phone.

"Back when I was pregnant we didn't have the luxury of the internet. If the doctor or someone else didn't tell you you tended to learn the hard way. And all those books were trash treating pregnancy as something strictly by the book," Delia ranted as she remembered the frustrations she went through. "My mother-in-law was a blessed woman, she tried to help as much as she could, but apparently her pregnancy with Red was a breeze for her."

"I remember meeting her, apparently Red was the perfect child for her in every way," William added.

Red just shrugged. "I didn't feel like I was doing anything special."

"Hey everyone," Ash greeted as he and Serena returned.

"What did we miss?" Serena asked.

"Delia and Verity were going over the joys of pregnancy with Aria," Miette replied.

"You should start taking notes. The way you two go you'll probably need this information too," Calem teased.

Delia and Red looked over at Serena and Ash, whose faces were bright red with embarrassment.

"Calem, I will kill you for that," Serena threatened, as her and Ash's sex life was pretty much just exposed to Ash's parents.

"Serena, you have been using protection right?" Delia asked with her eyes wide in concern.

"Yes...usually," Serena replied looking away, saying the last part under her breath.

"Am I going to be a grandfather soon?" Red asked.

"No!" Ash and Serena said in unison, though this made Serena question the sincerity of her answer.

"Anyway," Paul said, trying to help change the topic. "Ash, how did the call go?"

All attention stayed on Ash and Serena, but now for a different reason.

"Palermo is setting me up with an agent, and will be helping me out until he or she arrives," Ash replied.

"Some of us were talking earlier, we're thinking of hiking back to Madrid. Care to join us?" Alain asked.

"Can Aria even walk that much?" Serena asked.

"Yup!" She replied proudly as she held up her phone with the notes app open. "I just need plenty of water so I don't become overheated, and I can't work myself harder than I usually do. In fact, exercise is good for me as long as I don't overdo it."

"I wish we could, that sounds fun," Ash replied sadly. "But Palermo is sending a car to pick us up tomorrow morning. She wants us back in Madrid as soon as possible."

"Yeah, you can't leave the media alone for too long, otherwise they start making shit up, and I got issues of my own to handle such as setting up the torrent league and defending the league from Team Toxic as they've been a poison to the region." Azazel commented then took the last sip of his beer. "Well, I'm going to call it a night. I need to get to work early tomorrow morning."

"Team Toxic?" Ash questioned, having not heard of them.

"You don't need to worry about them, I've got this handled," Azazel replied dismissively.

"We should be getting some sleep too," Silver said as he stood up. "Kris and I have a flight back to Johto tomorrow."

"You're not staying to see Ash in the Torrent League?" Delia asked.

"I'm afraid not. I made a few calls, and it looks like my father is gone for good, but unless he has a plan to escape the distortion world, there's gonna be a power struggle for control over Team Rocket. The executives and anyone with enough power is trying to take over."

"I have a bad feeling about this," William mused.

"So far there's been nothing more than posturing, but it won't last long. It's only a matter of time before alliances start forming and they start killing each other for more power."

"This won't end well. In fighting with a group this large, it's only a matter of time before innocent civilians get dragged in," Riley commented.

"That's why I'll be working with the global police. We're going to take advantage of their distracted state to launch a mass global raid all at once. I doubt it'll catch all of them, but we should be able to deliver a significant blow to the organization."

Delia stood up, walked over to him, and gave him a warm hug. "Please be careful, and don't forget that you have family you can lean on."

"Just say the word and I'll come help however I can," Ash announced.

Silver smiled as he returned the hug to Delia. "Thank you, and I won't forget about either of you."

——————————————————————-

Meanwhile as Silver was talking, another conversation was taking place.

"Hello Serena, let's have a quick talk while everyone else is distracted," Azazel said within her head.

"Is it ok for you to be talking with me like this? I thought you wanted to keep your powers a secret from William?"

"I do, but he's not on a level where he could tell either of us are using our powers. Anyway, I wanted to talk about your plans for after the league. I know Eligor said leaving your teaching to the Gardevoir he gave you was an ok compromise, but I do have to somewhat agree with his grandfather on this. You need a proper teacher."

"I'm not just going to abandon my life like that! They need to understand that my future is my own!"

"I didn't think you would, so how about a more capable tutor instead?"

"Are you offering to teach me or something?"

"Haha, no. I don't want to deal with the scandles that will surface if you and I are seen together. Last thing I need is for people to think I'm fooling around with an eighteen year old."

"Nineteen," Serena corrected.

"Sorry and noted."

"Being a psychic isn't a crime, why not we just admit we're both psychics and that you're teaching me?"

"Considering my level of power I'll take a hard pass on that. I do have a friend who is working towards making psychics and aura guardians as well as the other power types more known and accepted, and when that happens I'll applaud. But I am literally what someone would call over powered, and one day you will be too. Thankfully as you are now, if people found out it wouldn't be too bad, you're not that far below Olympia or Sabrina, so I think you should be fine."

"Ok, well if I decide to announce my powers I'll be sure to keep you out of it."

"Thank you, anyway back to the topic at hand. Since you're competing for Kalos Queen, I was going to suggest talking with Olympia and asking her to tutor you. Or if you and Ash decide to settle down in Kanto Sabrina would be a good choice too. Both actually run smaller versions of Eligor's school so they would be able to teach you properly."

"Would they really just take me if I ask them?"

"Both are well aware of your abilities, and if you were to tell them I recommend you to either of them they would no doubt accept you."

"Ok. Right now beyond competing for Kalos Queen and dating Ash I really have no idea what the future will hold for me. I know I'll have to do performances to promote the showcases if I win, and who knows how things will go with Ash being labeled a hero."

"You two will support each other, have lots of hot sex, get married, have some kids, grow old, you know the usual stuff."

"Wow, deciding to look into my future without my permission?" Serena asked with an annoyed tone.

"No, that was just supposed to be my future. I just didn't make it to the whole getting married and growing old with my first true love, Elena. That future ended due to Team Toxic's attack on me and Elena, the very moment I saw them kill Elena, I retaliated with rage, the mass level of bloodshed I've committed against Team Toxic was unbelievable, I nearly lost sight of myself and became a monster. So heed my advice, never get revenge while angry. Psychics tend to use their powers to get revenge and end things way too quickly."

"But why are you telling me this?"

"Because it can determine if you are still fit to be a psychic and such. You probably didn't know this, but we were forced to strip Eligor's grandfather of his powers, and sadly a lot of other psychics who supported him. That being said I wasn't you two to be careful, even without their powers they are dangerous. That much hate just doesn't go away, and with you and Ash being a major point in the decision when they were punished, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to retaliate against you both. Anyway, you know how to reach me. Just let me know if you ever need any help and I'll do what I can."

——————————————————————-

"Well, I guess we should get some sleep too," Ash stated after Silver and Kris left. "I have a feeling everything's going to be so crazy for a while that I won't have time to sleep."

"I'm amazed you two get enough sleep as is, considering how active you two are in the bedroom that is," Miette teased.

"Ash, I really feel like I need to have a very important discussion with you," Delia said nervously.

"Mom, I know where babies come from and how to use protection so please don't," Ash replied with his cheeks burning red with embarrassment. "Come on Serena."

"Goodnight everyone," Serena said as she stood up, her face also bright red with embarrassment. As she followed Ash away, another feeling crept up, one she only experienced with Ash.

——————————————————————-

"Well, I hate to be that old woman who wants to go to bed early, but I think it's about time I get some sleep. It's been years since I had a workout like that and I'm exhausted," Delia announced as she stood up.

"Umm, I think I'm going to stay up a little longer, Red said, looking a little uneasy, then looked up at the sky and looked more relaxed. "It's been a long time since I've seen the stars."

Delia sat back down beside him, placing a hand on top of his. "In that case, I guess I can stay up a little longer."

"You don't have to wait on me. If you're tired then you should just sleep."

Delia could tell from his tone and expression, but it seemed as though he was trying to hide something.

"I'm not waiting, I'm enjoying more time with you."
Delia said as she kissed Red.

——————————————————————-

Ash and Serena left his parents outside as they others left for their rooms as well. They walked in silence, with Serena leaning her head on his shoulder as she was deep in thought. This was a thought that had come up from time to time for her, but with recent events she was thinking about it more seriously than ever.

Ash opened the door to their room and allowed Serena to enter first as he followed. He tossed his hat onto the desk and then removed his jacket, and sighed as one of his momentos from this journey was completely ruined before he could even make it to the league. He had changed his pants and shirt from the battle with Arceus, since they had large holes in them and were covered in blood. His jacket however had multiple tears and a fairly large hole in it.

Yes he could still keep it as a momento from his journey, but there was no way he could wear this to the league. It wasn't like the league had a dress code for participants, and a couple years ago he probably wouldn't have cared how he looked. Now however he found himself feeling slightly self conscious. He didn't want to look like he was just wearing rags on television.

"If only it could have made it out intact, I could have finished this journey with it," he thought out loud, before gently laying in on the desk as if it were a precious object.

Serena however didn't even acknowledge his comment. She walked straight for her bag and pulled two things out and stared at them.

"I guess we'll need to do some..." Ash shuddered. "Shopping for a new jacket before the league."

Serena didn't reply.

"Serena?" Ash called out as he turned towards her. He could only see her back, and again she didn't reply. He walked over and tickled her left side.

"Ahh!" Serena cried out startled as she dropped the items and fell to her side.

"Sorry," Ash replied with a chuckle. "But you weren't answering."

"Sorry, I've just got something on my mind," she replied as she rolled to her back.

"I can see that?" Ash replied with a little smirk as he took notice of a box of condoms spilling out onto the floor. He got down on his knees straddling her, then leaning down with one hand on her hip and the other beside her head to support himself, as he lowered his face closer to hers. "I had no idea you were in that kind of mood, I thought you were tired."

Serena placed one hand over his mouth and pushed him back. "I'm not in that mood... well I am, I was just trying to make a decision."

Ash nodded and stood back up, then reached down and pulled Serena back to her feet.

"What kind of decision?" Ash asked.

Serena held up a small pink plastic packet. "These are my birth control pills. I was thinking I want to stop taking them."

"Are you saying you want to try and get pregnant now?"

"I just thought about how your mom had you after she lost your dad, and maybe seeing Aria and Varity being pregnant. Just thinking about how I almost lost you today. What if one day I actually do lose you? What if you die on a journey battling against some other group? I don't want to think about what we lost if we put this off."

Ash sat there for a moment in silence thinking. The idea of having a child with Serena was something he saw in his future, but was now the right time? Serena was going to become Kalos Queen in a few months, and he was going to take on the Torrent league and then go back to compete in the Alola League. But what was after that? Would he pack his bags and go on another adventure? Become a league champion? Ash wasn't sure. His dream was to become a Pokémon master, but not even he fully understood what becoming one entailed. He allowed his love of traveling and Pokémon battles to become the driving force behind his journeys, but did he have to keep traveling to become a Pokémon master?

"Ash," Serena said, taking his hands in hers. "I'm not saying we need to have a baby now, it's just... if we just say we'll have one when the time is right, we may never have one. But look at your mom, Alain and Aria. They didn't plan to get pregnant, they just didn't take any precautions and then it happened. For your Mom it happened when she needed it the most, and for Aria just look how happy and excited she and Alain are. Maybe it'll happen today, maybe a few years from now. Whenever it happens I know that it will be one of the most wonderful times of our lives."

"But what about our dreams? If we have a kid before we achieve them, they may never happen. What if we resent our child because we stopped because of them?"

"I left my home in Kalos with the dream of not becoming Kalos Queen, but to find you again and be with you. Becoming the Kalos queen became a goal, one that I will reach. And if I become Kalos queen then become pregnant, I'll find a way to do both if that's what I want. As for you, I'll do everything I can to support you."

Ash's head was spinning, this was too much for his mind to handle. In the beginning he thought Serena left home wanting to find her own dream, but now he was her dream all along?

"Then agreeing to this would help her achieve her dream right?" He asked himself.

No, that was wrong. Even if it did help her achieve her dream, just going along with this would be wrong and unfair.

Ash locked his eyes on her, staring deep into her sapphire eyes. "Serena, I do want to have kids with you one day, but not on those terms. Our child will be both of ours, not just yours or mine. If we have a child it won't be just you supporting me, I will support you as well. You said before you wanted to make people happy with your performances, and it would break my heart if you gave up on that just so I could chase my dreams. So we will support one another equally in everything we do, whether it be performances or battles."

Serena smiled dreamily as she gazed into his chocolate brown eyes and she nodded in agreement. He was right, what she was saying wasn't a real relationship, but this was.

"It seems I forgot what a real relationship was," Serena commented as she leaned up and kissed him.

"So," Ash started as they broke the kiss, and he looked at her pills. "What do we do with those?"

Serena smirked as she tossed them across the room, then suddenly spun him around as she pushed him onto their bed. Ash looked up a bit surprised, then his eyes widened and a small smile formed on his face as he saw a hungry look in Serena's eyes as she slowly and seductively began to remove her clothes.