This story takes place between Love in the Time of Matrimony and The Road to Tomorrow.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or Ancienverse.

Ash couldn't help but smile as he gazed at the familiar town in front of him. While many details weren't visible, with darkness slowly starting to settle in, the lights still gave him enough of a view.

"It's nice to be back, isn't it, Pikachu?" he asked and there were no signs of disagreement, his best friend and partner quickly rubbing his cheek against his. "Well, let's see if we can find Seamus. Shouldn't be too hard though."

He assumed it wouldn't be. Ash expected Seamus to still be in class teaching, even on a day like New Year's Eve, so that was where he would be looking first. Entering Nova Town, he returned the few greetings he was getting, with the majority of people already in their homes as they most likely prepared to celebrate the change of years. Which was why he was here as well, to celebrate New Year's Eve together with Seamus and the others. It had been quite some time since he had seen Seamus, Christopher, Rocky and Bethany, as well as it having been a long time since so many of them had been gathered.

"Ash!" he quickly focused in on the voice calling out to him, spotting Seamus standing outside the school, arms crossed as he smiled at him.

"Seamus!" Ash greeted, waving at his friend, Pikachu waving his paw as well, and increasing his pace as he moved towards him. "Good to see you."

He clasped the hand Seamus held out, shooting a few glances around.

"I heard you and Serena were busy after the wedding," Seamus said, already turning around and heading back into the school. "Anyway, you're the first one to arrive. Chris, Rocky and Bethany are working on setting everything up."

"How's Thea doing?" Ash asked with interest, hands in his pockets as he and Pikachu kept up with their friend's pace.

"With how all of us are adoring her, she's doing great. Thankfully she's still at the age where putting her in bed is working." he answered, obviously relieved at that being the case. "She was very adamant about being up for the fireworks at midnight. We had to promise to wake her up in time."

The conversation died down there, as the two of them walked through the hallways of the school, until they came to a stop outside a classroom.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave them alone?" Ash wondered, as he knew that Seamus' students weren't the kind one couldn't leave alone, but they were still kids.

"I told them to behave, else there would be no battle," the words from Seamus were reassuring enough, considering the confidence with which they were spoken, as Ash hoped that Seamus knew what he was doing with his class. "Everyone!"

The moment they entered the classroom, everything went quiet. "As I mentioned earlier, you will all get to watch a battle today, between me and Ash. You want to do that, right?"

Ash grinned at cheers coming from the class, Pikachu already jumping around the tables the kids were sitting at. Deciding to take some initiative himself, he spoke up.

"I heard the battle will take place outside the school," Ash said, nodding in direction of the door they just came through. "Come on, let's get going."

It didn't take more to get the entire class moving, as he waited and watched all of them practically rush outside. He was starting to feel old, watching them, and he wasn't even in his thirties!

"So, how are we gonna do this?" he asked, Pikachu already running ahead of them, looking back once in awhile. Removing his ever present hat, Ash scratched his head as Seamus was contemplating something.

"The way we do things best," Seamus responded, now grinning at him. "Battling it out to the best of our ability."

That was something Ash could get behind, and definitely was more than capable of doing. Seamus was throwing his pokeball of choice into the air the moment they left the school, moving to join his now present Alakazam. It didn't take long for Ash to make his own choice, when it came to who he wanted to use.

"Pikachu," his partner's ears immediately perked up. "I choose you!"

"Alright, you ready Ash?" Seamus asked excitedly, a nod all he needed in response. "Alakazam, use Energy Ball!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash called out, Pikachu already in the air as he unleashed his signature attack in order to counter Alakazam's Energy Ball. The two attacks collided, covering the area in smoke from the explosion.

"Hi!" about to order another attack, Ash stopped himself because of the interruption presented by the new voice.

"Ooof!" he barely managed to stay standing as the all too familiar blonde hair barrelled into him. "Bonnie?"

Having wrapped her arms around him was Bonnie, who was looking up at him with a big smile, together with Dedenne, who was sitting on her head.

"Hi," she repeated, the sheer joy that came from her being near overwhelming, making no motion of letting him go. "Did you miss me?"

Ash couldn't help but grin, repropricating the hug he was given. "Of course I did.

Like with many of the people that would be present at the party, it had been quite some time since he had seen Bonnie. But, unlike with Seamus and the rest, he still stayed in some form of contact with Serena, Bonnie and Clemont. Be it phone calls, actually meeting whenever time allowed them or spending a lot of his time with Serena.

"Hey, we were having a battle here!" Seamus shouted across the open area that they occupied, the smallest trace of annoyance heard in his voice. "Save whatever you got to say for later!"

Both Ash and Bonnie ignored him. "Did anyone else come with you?"

The younger girl shook her head in response to the question. "Nah. Clemont, Korrina and Serena planned on making the trip here together though."

Ash simply acknowledged the information through a grunt. It had been longer than he liked since he held Serena, his wife, in his arms. "Have you heard anything from the others? Kahili said they would be coming, but that was a week ago."

"Nah," Bonnie responded happily, her smile not faltering. "I'm sure they will make it. I gave Lionel a call this morning, and he said he would make it."

There was no helping the smile growing on his face at the mention of the ARC leader. Bonnie and Lionel were certainly an interesting duo whenever they were together, and all had started through the month they spent together while all of them were in Alola.

"Would you battle me?" the change in topic from Bonnie was sudden, but not something he minded.

"Ask Seamus and the class if they would be okay with it. I'm all game." Ash said, watching as Bonnie ran over to Seamus and started speaking. The moment she was done speaking with him, she ran over to the class, talking to them as well, before letting out a loud cheer together with Dedenne, while Seamus recalled Alakazam and joined the class on the sidelines.

"Dedenne, I choose you!" Ash laughed at her choice of words, though took her no less serious for it. Both of them knew who the stronger trainer was, but it didn't matter. This was just for fun.

"Pikachu, let's start this with a Quick Attack!" Ash called out, together with a big grin and his hand being thrown out. Nothing got his blood pumping more than a battle.

"Dedenne, meet him head on with Aerial Ace!" Bonnie countered, a cheer to her voice as she commanded Dedenne. The two Electric-types dashed at each other, a white glow trailing Pikachu, while Dedenne was covered in a white light.

"Ash!"

"Bonnie!"

Both of them froze the moment their names were called, their Pokemon doing the same. Looking to the side, Ash spotted Serena and Clemont standing next to Seamus. He could see Bonnie already rushing towards them, practically jumping at Clemont, who barely managed to catch her. He himself took a more leisurely pace, even if his was heart was beating faster with each step he took towards Serena. Before he could think too much, Serena was in his arms, their lips clashing. While they always agreed upon the time they spent apart, for varying reasons, getting back together was one of the things he looked forward to the most. As they continued to hold each other, a cough interrupted anything more.

"If you two lovebirds happen to be done, I'm sure Chris, Rocky, Bethany and Korrina are waiting for us," Seamus spoke, a laugh accompanying his words, as Ash took in his surroundings, he noticed that the class was gone. "I think we happen to have a room for you, should you need to use one today."

Serena immediately let go of him, a blush prevalent on her face as she looked anywhere but at him.

"I don't think they need any help on that front," Clemont said, taking the lead as they walked towards Christopher and Bethany's home, where the party would be held. "And no Bonnie, I'm in no need of help when it comes to me and Korrina."

Bonnie pouted, but didn't say anything as they kept walking. Ash held his arm out, letting Pikachu climb it up to his shoulder. "So, how are you doing, Clemont? Things going well with the gym?"

"As well ever. Thankfully the League is far enough away," Clemont noted with a sigh, showing that he was glad about it, adjusting his glasses slightly. "Korrina has been looking forward to this a lot, though I suppose that applies to all of us."

The rest of the walk from the school to their destination was finished in silence, before it was interrupted by their names being shouted. Rocky leaned against the wall of the house and Christopher was waving at them, with Thea sitting on his shoulders while Vanilluxe hovered around her.

"Why did we have wait so long in the cold again?" Rocky asked somewhat annoyed, though it was clear that he went ignored by his friend.

"There you are," Christopher greeted them happily, keeping hold of Thea as he lead them into their house. "Come on, the others are already waiting for you."

Being ushered into the house, they soon all found themselves gathered in the living room, either seated or standing with something to drink in their hands. While Ash never considered himself a big drinker, he could still enjoy something alcoholic that was presented to him. The glass of red wine he was sipping on was enjoyable enough, even if red wine was never his favorite. Avoiding a running Thea, who was splitting up her attention between everyone, he walked over to his friends from Nova Town.

"Hey Ash," Seamus welcomed him with a smile into whatever conversation they had just been having. "Got anything set in stone when it comes to future plans?"

"I'll just keep going like I always have." Ash responded. That was exactly what he had in mind. He would continue to do what had worked for him so far, as he saw no real need to switch things up.

"Seamus, you didn't really need to ask. This is Ash we're talking about. Travelling is in his blood," Bethany said, smiling as Seamus simply shook his head. "Is married life treating you well? Are there any plans for a little Ketchum?"

Ash choked on the wine he was about to swallow, the sudden change of topics not coming over well, receiving a few claps on the back from Christopher to help him recover.

"Ah, well," for Ash the answer was rather obvious. Watching Thea just confirmed what he wanted. "Me and Serena haven't really talked about this yet."

He wanted a kid, though he was fully aware the amount of responsibilities that came with one. He would bring the topic up with Serena, rather sooner than later.

"What about you, Seamus?" Ash asked to avoid any further questions like that, receiving a shrug from Seamus.

"I'll keep teaching until I retire," was the answer he got. "There's still a long way to go until I plan on retiring though."

"Yeah, and since you only plan on travelling anyway, you might as well help me train for my next League." Bonnie chimed in, her words directed at Ash, joining their little group, while Bethany headed over to Serena.

"We'll see." was all Ash bothered to say to that. Before he could say anything else, the bell was ringing.

"That has to be Lionel!" Bonnie declared, already rushing to the front door as fast as she possibly could. "Lionel!"

"Hello there," the voice of Lionel could be heard. "I hope I am not too late or anything. Hey, hey! Stop dragging!"

Everyone turned their attention to Bonnie, who seemingly had an iron grip on Lionel, dragging him into the living room they occupied. Getting away from Bonnie, his eyes moved across them all, before being the first one to speak.

"This was certainly not the kind of welcome I expected," Lionel spoke, arms crossed. "It's good to see you all."

"I know you missed me!" Bonnie declared, hands on her hips as she looked up to the older man. The hand attempting to pat her head was unceremoniously pushed away.

"You look exhausted." Ash noted. While it wasn't all that notable, one could still see it.

"Work is exhausting, let me tell you that," he responded, smiling at Serena as she handed him a glass of red wine. "I consider myself lucky for managing to find the time to get here."

"I can only imagine," Ash said. It wasn't very hard to imagine that being the leader of ARC was a very busy job. "Hey, have you heard anything from Nanu?"

"I haven't, though that doesn't mean a whole lot. I'm sure Kahili and Acerola will ensure Nanu appears here, no matter his opinion on things." Lionel responded, smiling as he spoke. It wasn't very hard to see Acerola forcing Nanu to come, with Kahili having no problems helping out.

"At least things are more peaceful than ever before." Seamus mentioned, earning a nod from Lionel.

"Yes. With Michael's influence finally removed, things have been looking far better than ever before," the older man said. "Good riddance that he's no longer among us and influencing people once more."

If there was ever a person Ash hated, it was Michael. The man had tried to destroy their world many times, with Kalos and Alola having only been his latest attempts. His influence had cost people like Dalton their life. With him dead and ARC ensuring he held no control anymore, Ash felt steadfast in his belief that the world was safe. Before he could continue thinking about the man, Serena appeared next to him, wrapping her arms around him as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Is everything alright?" Serena asked, moving her head so she could kiss his cheek. Before he could say anything, Korrina jumped into the conversation.

"Hey, instead of thinking of bad things, let's talk about the good things!" Korrina declared, a big smile on her face. "Like all of our adventures, even if there were some bad moments."

If one ignored the bad moments, things had been overwhelmingly great in Ash's mind. He had met so many people since he started, caught so many Pokemon, fought so many battles and come to understand so many trainers, win or lose.

"Yeah, like Ash winning the first Alola League!" Bonnie cheered. "That was so awesome!"

No one could disagree with the statement, a range of memories being brought up, including the Kalos Team Tournament and Hope Leilani, together with the League.

"Serena, Clemont, do you wanna help me in the kitchen?" Bethany wondered, coming out of the kitchen. Ash hadn't even noticed that she had left the living room at all.

"Of course." his wife said, giving him another peck on the cheek as she left his side to join Clemont and Bethany in the kitchen.

"You know, we're still using footage from the Alola League in class, both because there's a lot to learn from them and because they enjoy watching the battles so much," Seamus spoke, smiling as he was speaking. "Let's hope there will be some great battles in the future to learn from."

"I'm sure there will be. Considering the amount of strong trainers that are out there, there'll definitely be some awesome battles at some point," Ash responded. "Hey Lionel, what do you say to us battling?

"Assuming work doesn't get in the way? Sure. I may be old, but me and Banette still got it," Lionel answered, though it was followed by a shake of his head. "But, my work doesn't allow for the most time off. I'll see what I can do."

"We all know Clemont and I would beat Lionel any day!" Korrina stated confidently, though it being clear that she wasn't being too serious with her statement

"No way!" Bonnie countered, starting a heated, but mostly fun, discussion between herself and Serena. "Lionel would beat both of you on any day! As would Ash!"

"Her support of us is certainly unwavering," Lionel noted, receiving only a chuckle from Ash is response. "The bonds you share are something else."

Ash simply accepted the words, watching Bonnie and Korrina argue jokingly, while Seamus, Rocky and Christopher were entertaining Thea.

"I feel pretty lucky, having got to meet all of them. Not sure what I would be doing without them." Ash honestly didn't know what he would have done without them. They were such a big part of his life, especially Serena, that it was hard imagining not having them around.

"So, you have any plans for the future?" Lionel asked, grinning and nudging Ash with. "My future is pretty set. Leading ARC until I die. Hopefully you got something better planned."

Ash had to laugh at Lionel's rather bleak outlook for the future, though he didn't say anything about it.

"I mean, me and Serena do plan on settling down at some point. If she would want to, I'd like to start a family with her." Ash responded, gazing questioningly at Lionel as the man chuckled.

"I don't think there's much doubt that she would want to. Anyone who has seen you together would probably say the same," he said happily, rolling his shoulders. "And after all, who wouldn't want to carry a mini Ketchum around?"

"Dinner's nearly done!" Bethany shouted from the kitchen, before Ash could hit Lionel for his remark, a wonderful smell coming from there. "You can get seated!"

All of them started to make their way over to the table that was already set, Ash's stomach growling. Before he could follow the others properly, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he called out quickly, heading to the door and opening it, only to find a familiar face staring at him.

"Huh, looks like you have grown," Nanu said, unceremoniously entering the house. "I heard there's free food."

"Stop being so rude, old man," Ash's attention was captured by Kahili's voice and her appearing in the doorway. "Hey Ash."

"Can it, bird lady." Nanu muttered, glaring at her with annoyance.

"Kahili!" Ash exclaimed, a big grin on his face as he let his former mentor into the house. It was clear that she was older, from the outside, but not much had changed. "Where's Acerola?"

"He," Kahili jabbed her thumb at the Kahuna. "Wanted someone to stay on Ula'ula, so Acerola offered to do it."

"The noise she made in order to get me to leave," Nanu sighed, rolling his eyes before they moved around as he put his hands in his pocket. "So, where's the food?"

"And I had to travel with him all the way from Alola." Kahili muttered, shaking her head. Ash simply decided to lead the way to the table, where everyone except Bethany, Serena and Clemont was already seated, while Pikachu and Dedenne had come from their resting place to get their own share of food. Taking a seat next to Bonnie, with an empty seat on his left and Bonnie's right, he watched Nanu and Kahili head for the other side of the table. Kahili greeted everyone she passed by, before she sat down and Nanu joined her. Not long after that, the others came from the kitchen, food in hand.

"Hi Kahili," Serena greeted, smiling at the older woman. Putting down the pot she had carried, she joined them at the table. "How was the trip from Alola?"

"Pretty good, though I'll never travel with him again, once we're back in Alola." Nanu shrugged his shoulders at Kahili's statement. "Why did you invite him again?"

"Acerola thought it would be good for him to come," Serena answered. "And none of us had any issues with it."

"No one asked me though." Nanu pointed out without any care in his voice, but didn't say more as everyone handed around the pots for people to fill their plates. Eventually, dinner was in full swing. It was a lively event, with laughter being their ever present companion throughout. He ended up talking a lot with Kahili, with Nanu making a few remarks of his own.

"Nanu, we never had a full battle for my Grand Trial, so, what'd you say to having one at some point?" Ash asked him excitedly. The man was staring at his glass of wine, his eyes slowly moving to meet his.

"You're inviting me to wipe the floor with you? How nice of you, boy." Nanu's remark had Ash shake his head, knowing it wasn't meant to be taken all that serious.

"You will the wipe floor with him? Don't make me laugh, Nanu," Kahili said, her voice taking on a challenging tone. He knew where this was going to go. "If anything, we all know I'm the better trainer between the two us."

A short bark of laughter left Nanu. "That's a challenge, if I've ever heard one. I won't say no to beating you into the ground though."

"I have a better idea to determine who's the superior trainer," she spoke, all confidence as always. "We fight together sometime, and whoever does better is the superior trainer. I'd say we're both capable of judging that."

The Kahuna was silent, before he smirked, his eyes lighting up. "Sure. Not like I don't know the result already. After all, you can't be better than me with a toucan as your top Pokemon, bird lady."

"Take that back, old man!" Kahili exclaimed, seemingly trying to kill Nanu with her glare.

Ash decided to tune out the conversation at this point, knowing there wouldn't be a reason for him to listen anymore. It didn't make much longer for dinner to slowly come to an end. Checking a clock hanging on the wall, Ash was surprised to notice that it was nearly midnight. Seeing that Clemont was engrossed in a conversation with Rocky, he called out to him.

"Clemont, you gotta start setting up the fireworks!" Ash said, shooting Clemont a grin. His friend blinked at the words, before looking at his watch.

"Oh! I'm on it!" Clemont didn't waste any time, heading to the door. "Korrina, wanna help?"

Korrina's face lit up at the prospect, no verbal agreement needed as she followed him. Ash wrapped an arm around Serena as she approached him, smiling at her, followed by a quick kiss. Everyone started getting their jackets in preparation for heading outside, with no rush to head out into the cold earlier than necessary. One after another they headed out to watch the fireworks signal the end of the year, and the beginning of the new one. He waited until everyone had gone outside, but stopped when he noticed Nanu was speaking with someone on his phone. Nanu ended the phone call, noticing Ash watching him.

"Everything alright?" Ash wondered, holding the door open for him, before closing it behind him. It took a few seconds for an answer to come.

"Nothing you need to worry about." was all Ash got as an answer from Nanu. Not bothering to pry, both of them joined the others as Clemont and Korrina were still working on the fireworks. A few moments later, Korrina happily skipped over to them.

"You know, I wonder if everything we have fought for will be remembered." Seamus suddenly said, everyone turning towards him. No one said anything, his words making everyone think. Ash thought about it, holding Serena's hand, who was once again standing at his side, just a little bit tighter.

"I got no plans from my side to let myself be a footnote in our shared history. Because I've been missing a lot of pay raises if that's the case." Lionel joked, everyone laughing alongside him.

"Think I can join in on your plans?" Nanu asked, smirking as he spoke. "I'll make sure to have a memorable death. If I go out with anything less than a bang, I might just stick around."

"And here I'd have hoped you just planned on kicking the bucket, like a good old man." Kahili noted with a grin, hands behind her head.

"I'm not seeing a good old man around here," Nanu countered, returning the grin with his hands in his pockets. He turned to Ash. "Got anything to say about this, boy?"

"We'll have to make sure that we don't forget. We know what has happened, so we can try and teach those we want to know about it," Ash declared, all of the attention on him now. There was no doubt in his words. "We'll make sure that there will no repeat. Not tomorrow, not ever."

In that moment, Clemont and Korrina came running towards them and the firework went off, lighting up the sky in brilliant colors.

"Happy New Year!" Bonnie cheered happily, as all of them watched the firework in the sky, the years shifting. Ash didn't know what would come, but he knew he would handle it like he had always done. Together with his friends and family at his side, he knew he couldn't fail at any task that lied ahead. As Ash pulled Serena close, there was one thing he was fully certain of. Tomorrow would be no different.

Well, happy new year, people. Thought I'd end the year with this little oneshot, alongside Epicocity's Chapter 2 of Love in the Time of Tomorrow. Nothing serious, though if one is creative enough, you might some hints for Tomorrow, alongside a minor spoiler. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed reading it or just got thoughts, a review would be appreciated.