Well, um, there's not much to say except IM SO FRICKIN SORRY! There's no excuse for letting this go for more then a year but I got a new laptop and I figured now is the perfect time to finish this story. I never did forget about you guys I was just being a lazy bum but here it is. The last chapter in probably one of my favorite stories I've ever written.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to anyone who is still awesome enough to still be reading this story after so long.

Disclaimer: I didn't own it last year and I still don't own Pokemon this year.

Ash's POV

"DAD WAKE UP!"

I woke up to see two chestnut eyes staring back into my own identical ones. I screamed and almost toppled out of bed but managed to catch myself in time. You'd think that by now I'd be used to waking up this way.

"Mom told me to wake you up. She didn't want you to oversleep and miss most of my tenth birthday like you did yours." she laughed.

"I did not oversleep!" I said indignantly "My alarm just broke."

"If you saaaaaaaay so. Now get up." she wapped me with a pillow "Mom made pancakes."

"And she didn't burn down the house? I'm impressed." I laughed then paused "Don't tell her I said that Rosie."

"Said what?" she smiled innocently

"That's my girl." I ruffled her bright orange hair and she pouted, fixing it. While she may not be a beauty queen like her aunts, Rose was a bit more Girly then her mother.

The two of us ran downstairs...or more so we both slid down the banister but the hem of my shirt got caught and I ended up toppling over. Unable to stop herself in time Rose tripped over me and we fell into a laughing heap at the bottom of the stairs.

"Honestly you two? I feel like I have three children sometimes!" Misty looked out from the kitchen.

"Sorry" I stood up and kissed my wife good morning "Where is Michael?" I asked, our four year old son was normally running around the house causing chaos by now.

"Mom dropped him off at professor Oak's house earlier so he could play with Sammy." Rose answered for her mother.

"We should be getting over there soon ourselves." Misty smirked "So eat, both of you."

While Rose had her mother's fiery red hair she had my appetite. We both ended up eating four tall stacks of syrup drenched pancakes within fifteen minutes, Misty just shaking her head amused and muttering about how she's shocked we're not as heavy as a snorlax yet. After breakfast we made our way over to Professor Oak's and knocked on the door.

"Hey guys! Wow you're actually on time" Dawn answered the door.

"Of corse! Im not going to be late for today." Rose grinned, marching in as if it was her own house. "Hi Professor Oak! Im ready to pick out my first Pokemon now." she said and ran over to Gary. It was still weird to think of him as THE Professor Oak, he was still just same old annoying Gary to me.

Gary laughed and got up from where he had been playing with my son Michael and his son Sammy, named after his late grandfather. Unlike Rosie who was a miniature of her mother except for the eyes, Michael looked a lot like I did at that age, same black hair and brown eyes. Sammy though looked nothing like Gary, he looked just like a boy version of his mother, Dawn but what they didn't share in looks, the father and son definitely shared in attitude.

"Alright lets go then." Gary said and led us into his lab where three Pokeballs sat "Well, you know what the three starter pokemon are and you can pick any one you want but-" Gary smirked at me and I smiled "-you could also pick this Pokemon." he said and went to the back room, coming back with a Pokeball that had a little thunderbolt on it just like mine had years ago.

Rose let out a squeal of delight and looked at me "Dad, is that?"

"Yeah, it hatched yesterday." I nodded amused and a bit relieved. For a while there Gary and I weren't sure if the egg would hatch in time for Rose's birthday. A couple of years ago after a really bad storm Misty and I woke up the next morning to find an injured Pikachu in our yard. We of corse took it in and while at first my Pikachu was bit jealous about the other electric pokemon they eventually became friends. And just recently became mates, I found that out the hard way when I opened my closet door one day to try and find a pair of shoes...

"Yes, Ill take this one!" She said happily, taking the pokeball from Gary and releasing it from it's ball. And out came a Pichu, sparking from the cheeks slightly.

"Lets give them a bit of time to get acquainted before we send her off on her journey." Gary said and nudged us out of the room. Well, he nudged Dawn and Misty, me he just shoved, playfully of corse.

We let Michael and Sammy go back to playing with their Pokemon action figures while Misty, Dawn, Gary and I went into the kitchen to chat. At times like this it struck me how much things had changed. Dawn and Gary's wedding had shocked me when they announced it only two years after I married Misty. Honestly, I thought they were insane or kidding but after a while I started to see that they really were good for each other.

"I can't believe Rose is leaving on her journey today…" Misty sighed. When we had Rose I had no idea what I was doing at all but Misty was an incredible mother. I should have expected it from how well she took care of Togepi when we were younger but I know I wouldn't have gotten through the first years of raising a child without her.

"I know, in just a few more years Mike and Sammy will go off on their journey too." Dawn smiled

"Hopefully they'll go together. It makes me nervous to let Rose go alone." Misty said.

"Don't worry, Im sure Ash is having some of his Grunts trailing her." Gary chuckled.

"I am not!" I protested but they all just looked at me. "Fine, I had Jessie and James ask Bonnie and Clyde to follow her." I admitted.

"Bonnie and Clyde? They're bigger idiots then their parents are!" Dawn laughed. Bonnie and Clyde were Jessie and James' thirteen year old twins.

"Yeah but I think Ash is hoping that they'll be such embarrassing bafoons it'll keep the boys away from Rosie." Misty smiled and I crossed my arms and pouted. So what if that was just a little bit true?

"Im pretty sure most guys are scared to go after the daughter of Team Rocket's boss anyways." Gary smirked and I laughed.

I did end up taking over Team Rocket and instead of a criminal organization that stole Pokemon we now worked with Officer Jenny to help protect the Pokemon world from other more nefarious groups. But the legacy my father left still made a lot of people nervous and when it came to protecting my daughter from the slimy hands of boys I was not ashamed to use that reputation to my advantage.

"Well Wilder isn't afraid of you." Misty smiled "And we all know Rosie is going to meet up with him in Pewter City."

"What? Did she tell you that?" I asked surprised.

"No but she didn't have to. Brock called last night and gave us a heads up that Wilder had shown up in Pewter yesterday to 'surprise' his parents. He's pretty sure that Wild's there to meet up with Rosie so at least she won't be traveling on her own for long I guess."

I let out a long sigh. Brock's son Wilder was twelve and had been on his journey for two years already, I loved the kid but sometimes I remembered how girl crazy Brock was when we were his age and get a little worried at how close he and Rosie were.

"I'll make sure to have Bonnie and Clyde watch them extra closely then." I said and Misty laughed.

Rose ran into the room with Pichu on her shoulder. "Alright, I'm gonna go. Bye guys." Rose hugged Misty and then me. I didn't want to let go either but knew I had to.

"Go say goodbye to your brother and Sammy." I instructed she smiled, going into the living room and giving both boys a hug before leaving the house and heading out. When she got to the edge of town she turned around and waved at us.

"Tell Wilder we say hi!" Misty called to her daughter cheekily "And have fun."

"But not to much fun!" I added quickly.

Rose blushed brightly and ran down the path towards Viridian.

Misty took my hand and smiled at me. "She'll be just fine, stop worrying."

I laughed "I know, I just hate seeing her grow up."

"Well if she's anything like you were Im sure we have a few years left." Misty kissed me and started to walk back to our house.

"Hey!" I said once her words sunk in and she laughed, starting to run. I chased after her, both of us heading back to the house. And with Mike still playing with Sammy at Gary and Dawn's we had the place all to ourselves. Hm, hopefully our next child will have Misty's blue eyes…

Well, there's the end of As I Grow Older. I hope you guys liked it! And even though I know that after so long I don't really have a right to ask anymore but Im going to always, PLEASE REVIEW! :3

And here's a little family tree too if you got confused.

Ash and Misty: Rose (10) and Michael (4)

Dawn and Gary: Sammy (4)

Brock and his Wife: Wilder (12)

Jessie and James: Bonnie and Clyde (13)

Pikachu and Girl Pikachu: Pichu (1 day)