Weather the Storm

Pairings: Mainly PokéShipping; Ash/Misty, slight ContestShipping; Drew/May, slight RocketShipping; James/Jessie, slight SoulSilverShipping, OC/OC.

Rating: T for language, suggestive themes, and violence.

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affiliated in any way with the Pokémon franchise. This story is merely for entertainment. I, however, do own my OCs. I also don't own Back to the Future or anything else you could relate this storyline to.

A/N: Oh my goodness, this is the last chapter. The real, final last chapter! For that I'm giving an extra special thank you to my beta C'sMelody. You get giant virtual cake for all you've done for me. Thanks!

Epilogue

"Ugh."

Ilse awoke to a feeling not unlike a hangover pounding in her head. She hadn't been drinking last night, had she? She clenched her eyes shut and then groaned again, the additional pressure only enhancing her headache.

"Ugh." She rolled over and suddenly the soreness went from her head to her whole body. As she did so she realized that for the first time in a month she was alone in her bed. No pillows down the middle of it, no warm body to snuggle up against. What had happened…?

Oh.

Oh! Suddenly Ilse shot up out of bed, only to instantly regret it. The achiness hit her full force but she couldn't bring herself to care. She was back home!

"Ilse?"

She carefully turned her head towards the door, which opened with a slight squeak.

"Ilse, baby?"

And there was her mother—her real mother—older with long and flowing red hair falling down her back. She was wearing a blue shawl, a simple cotton shirt and a knee-length skirt. No midriff showing.

"Mom!"

Before she knew it, she hopped out of bed and was bounding over to her mother, capturing her in a hug, not unlike the one that she had given to Misty not too long ago. Except this time she didn't hold anything back. She squeezed this Misty, her Misty, so tight she could have sworn that her eyeballs were popping out.

"Uh…Ilse?" Misty struggled to get the syllables out, as the entirety of her breath was squeezed out of her, "is something wrong?"

Ilse pulled away, letting her mother breathe, and smiled hugely up at her. "Nope. Nothing wrong at all, Mom."

Misty's shawl fell off her shoulder as she shook herself off from Ilse's crippling hug, revealing a light, white scar. It had been there ever since Ilse could remember—it had been a deep scrape from a fishing hook when Ilse was only a baby. But now it made Ilse remember something totally different. "Mom, where'd you get that scar?"

"Hmm?" Misty twisted her body around until she could see the point of her shoulder Ilse was gesturing to. "Oh that? It was just a bullet graze from some boneheaded scheme of your father's and these two other kids we knew."

Ilse's heart leapt into her throat as she watched her mother wave it off as though it were nothing. "Do you not remember them?" she asked tentatively.

She could see the thought on Misty's face, as it was the exact same look Ilse held when she was trying to figure something out.

"Vaguely," she answered finally. "But, baby, you must remember that I've gone on so many missions and met so many people that it's hard to keep track of everyone."

"Oh." She didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

Suddenly, Misty snapped out of the reverie that Ilse had brought her on and furrowed her brows, scrutinizing her daughter. "Did you just wake up?"

"Heh…" Ilse laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Maybe?"

"It's four in the afternoon!" Misty exclaimed. "You've gotta get moving!"

"Alright, alright," Ilse acquiesced as her mom began swatting her up, hiding the pain that getting up was providing her with. She moved towards her closet. "Where's Daddy?"

When Ilse didn't hear a response, her heart nearly stopped. She turned back to her mother, who was giving her a perplexed expression.

No. Not after everything she went through. Not after everything she put Noah through. Not after she had gotten so close.

"Mom, where's Daddy?" she asked, a little more desperately this time.

Misty's brows furrowed. "Ilse, you know he's at Indigo. Waiting for you to battle him."

Ilse blinked. "Battle?"

"Yes, battle. Ilse, are you alright?" Misty asked with concern lacing her voice. "You're challenging your father today for the championship title."

Ilse faked a look of understanding to appease her mother. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. I remember," she lied.

But then it didn't feel like such a lie. Memories slowly began to filter into her mind, not at an intrusive rate, but just relaxing enough for her to notice their sudden appearance. Unlike in her past life, in this one her father was the Champion. He ever lost the title.

Until today, Ilse thought smugly.

Apparently, though, as the memories began appearing in her mind, Ilse was making some quite strange facial expressions. Misty looked at her with wide eyes before turning on her heel and slowly walking out the door.

"Uh, alright sweetie, I'll just take your word for it. Get ready quickly."

And then her mother closed the door behind her, leaving Ilse to her devices. Ilse immediately ran over to the phone. She had to call Noah! She reached for her Pokétch, this one sleek and with a touch screen as opposed to the clunky one she had become accustomed to using in the past month.

She held the device a few inches away from her ear, the high pitched ringing sound bringing back her headache full-force.

"Hello?"

Instantly she felt her heart warm and those familiar tingles snaking through her. Just at the sound of his voice. "Hey, Noah."

"Ugh, stop shouting."

"Hey, I thought you'd be happy to hear from me," Ilse said teasingly.

"I am." She could practically hear him smiling through the phone. "It's just the time travel and all. Gets worse every time. And the broken ribs don't make it any easier."

"Aw, do you need me to kiss it and make it better?"

"That would probably help."

"How about coming to Indigo today to see me battle for the Championship title?"

Silence. "You're challenging the Champion?"

"Apparently." Ilse shrugged. "And apparently the Champion is my father."

"Hmm," Noah hummed pensively. "That rings a bell, actually."

"Well, it took longer than that for me," Ilse deadpanned. "Mom definitely thinks that I'm hungover, because I don't remember anything."

"My dad thinks the same thing."

Ilse felt the wind gush out of her and sat down on the bed, no longer able to stand up. "Your dad?" she asked incredulously.

"You think you're shocked," Noah said dryly. "I was really confused at first, but now I feel memories coming to mind slowly."

"Me too, but that's still just unbelievable."

"Yet believable, thanks to your shenanigans."

Ilse smiled, chuckling lightly. "So, will you come to Indigo with your new daddy?"

"Uh, I don't know," Noah said, a hint of worry in his voice. "My dad isn't the only one that's back. In this world there's the real Ash and now that my dad almost killed him and, even worse, I'm dating his daughter, I'm not sure I want to risk it."

"Come on, he's Ash; he wouldn't hurt anyone," Ilse teased.

"Except his baby's boyfriend," Noah muttered.

Ilse bit her lip, though a smirk still crawled its way on her face. She kept silent, knowing that he wouldn't say no to her.

"Ugh, fine. Just pay extra attention to me—I am injured, remember?"

"I will," Ilse promised. "And I'll protect you from Daddy."

It was coming back to her…

Ilse wasn't home because of a missing person case or a murder investigation. She wasn't spending hours on end in the library and her mother wasn't constantly holding back tears.

She was still avoiding Noah, though…

She had just come back from travelling alone for a few months in the Orange Islands, just like her dad had done. She was taking the opportunity to study how differently the Pokémon battled with their slightly altered biology. She had already gotten eight Kanto badges (for the second time) in preparation for shocking her dad.

He had no idea that this was the year that she was going to beat the stuffing out of him.

There was only a week left until the Pokémon League. Ilse had originally decided to travel on foot all the way to the Indigo Plateau as one last level of training, but suddenly was overcome with a different idea. As much as she wanted to surprise her dad by being in the Indigo League without telling him, she decided that she really wanted to go home, even just for a few days.

This had been her first time travelling alone since she was ten years old. Noah wasn't with her—no one was with her. As much as she hated to admit it, she was lonely. But she had too much pride to tell Noah that. So it seemed like a good time to go home.

Besides, this way, she could tell her father in person and get to see the look on his face.

It was good for her. She only got to see her dad for a few days, but her mother was there, and beyond excited to see her little girl for the first time in months. Even better, Sophie and her parents were staying with them too in preparation for going to the Pokémon League. They saw it every year as an extended family. It was way easier to stay with the Ketchums then travel all the way from Hoenn the day of.

And, more importantly, Sophie would bother her parents night and day if she didn't get to see Ilse for those few weeks out of the year.

Already she was feeling better. Friends, family, what more could you want?

Who needed Noah anyway?

Indigo was bustling.

Ilse had gotten ready in a flash, putting on an outfit that would flatter her for the audience but wouldn't restrict her. She put on a dab of makeup, inhaled her food, and then she and her mother made the familiar route to Indigo.

And it was busier than she had ever seen it.

At this point, she felt a number of memories of her coming to Indigo to see her father's matches. But never before had the capital city been as crowded as it was today. And everywhere she turned, people were wishing her luck, giving her (unwanted) advice, or commenting about the pedestal they kept her dad upon. It was filling her with excited energy and she couldn't wait to just get on with the match.

Before, she might have thought that she wouldn't ever look forward to anything more than a fantastic Battle. But right now, more than that, she couldn't wait to see her dad.

And there he was.

There, in all his glory, was the Champion—her father.

"Daddy!" She couldn't help it, she ran through the masses of people without regard for any of them; her only goal was to get to her father as quickly as possible.

Ash let out a grunt as Ilse tackled him, squeezing him in a stronghold so tight he couldn't breathe. Ilse hit him so hard with her body that Pikachu fell backward onto the street. It started to seem as though Noah wouldn't be the only one with broken ribs today.

"Uh, Ilse, sweetie," he managed to squeeze out as his face turned a berry-red color, "could you let me go?"

Instead of stepping back, Ilse just loosened her hold slightly. "Sorry. I just missed you."

He patted her back, though a confused look still graced his face. "I missed you too. But don't think that all this affection will make me go easy on you in our Battle."

At that, Ilse pulled back, her eyes narrowed at the sound of a challenge. "Oh, I don't need you to. I was trained by the best, you know."

Ash grinned superiorly. "I know."

"Good. Because I was talking about mom."

Just then, said mother appeared next to Ilse, picking up a dejected Pikachu. "Alright, that's enough you two. You'll see plenty of each other in the stadium. Right now you both need to get ready."

Ash huffed. "Fine," he said, taking Pikachu out of Misty's arms. "I'll go. Good luck, kiddo." And then he left with a wink and a wave.

Ilse wanted so badly to follow him, but talking to him at reignited that familiar fire in her belly to battle. She had seen him and hugged him; that was enough for now. Next on the agenda was kicking his butt.

"Ilse!"

Before Ilse knew it, she was caught in a hug not of her own making and found herself practically choking on curly green hair. She didn't mind, though.

"Sophie!" she squealed, once she managed to spit out the hair. "I have so much to tell you!"

When she pulled back, she noticed that behind Sophie's wild curls were Drew and May, Brock, and Delia. She couldn't help the grin that burst out on her face when she made eye contact with her Uncle Brock. Having heard what she had said to Sophie, he sent her a knowing wink.

She turned back to Sophie. "Save a seat for Noah." She paused dramatically, reveling in the look of confusion on her best friend's face. Then she finally squealed, "He's my new boyfriend!"

"Oh my Mew!" Sophie gasped excitedly.

"Wait," Misty interrupted with a raised eyebrow. "This is the first I'm hearing of this."

"It must have slipped my mind this morning," Ilse said with a shrug.

A smirk rose on Misty's face. "Well, if you really wanted to throw off your father's game, you should have just told him that—he wouldn't have been able to battle at all."

Ilse laughed. "I don't need to win like that, Mom."

"Because Ilse's the best," Sophie said candidly, slapping her friend good naturedly on the back.

Ilse smiled. Because she was trained by the very best there ever was.

She was five years old. She was sitting on her father's shoulders, taking in the sights, the smells, and—most of all—the Pokémon.

Since Ilse had displaced Pikachu's usual spot, Pikachu was bound in Ilse's arms and resting on Ash's head, replacing his ever-present hat. But aside from Pikachu, there were other Pokémon all over the place in toe with their Trainers. Ilse pointed each on out to her equally eager father, perfectly identifying each one.

"That's my girl!" Ash said, every time a new one was spotted.

Hearing that always made Ilse giggle. She was her father's favorite.

"Hey, you three!"

(Well, one of his favorites.)

Misty came skipping up to them, food in hand and a huge grin on her face. "The match is about to start! We'd better go get our seats."

Ash took Misty's hand that wasn't holding the food in his and the four of them headed towards the arena where the first Battle of the primaries would take place.

They made their way to their seats, and Ash, Ilse, and Pikachu made quick work of their food as soon as they were settled. They had prime seats in as special booth, reserved for the Champion and his family.

"Now watch carefully, Ilse," Ash said. "We need to study both of their battling techniques in case one of them ends up making it to the final round. That way we'll have a leg up on our opponent."

"And we know Ash needs all the help he can get," Misty quipped.

Ash groaned. "Even when I'm Champion you can't admit that I know what I'm doing, can you?"

Misty smiled. "Nope."

Ilse laughed. She knew her parents weren't really fighting, just from the way that they were smiling at each other. She always felt nothing but love radiating from the two of them and it made her happy all of the time.

But the only thing better than sitting and eating with her parents was watching the Pokémon Battle that was about to start.

Ilse sized up the two trainers as they released their first Pokémon. She identified them and began commentating and predicting the Battle to her parents. She couldn't say that she was particularly impressed, though.

Her daddy could beat them any day.

Ilse sat in the holding room. It was really a locker room, but she was the only one in there as she waited to be called out to make her grand appearance

She had asked her mom to stay with her. This had confused Misty, though, because Ilse had never before asked her for anything like that. So Misty told Ilse that she had complete faith that she would be fine on her own, and with one more hug, she left.

And as much as Ilse really wanted her mom to stay with her, it wasn't like she could tell her the real reason why.

So that left her alone in the room, with her PokéBalls. She was tempted to call all of her Pokémon out, to keep her company and such, but she knew that they needed to stay focused in their own spaces, rather than concerning themselves with her strange state of mind.

But today she just didn't want to be alone. She never had been much of a loner.

Turned out the world was on her side today.

Ilse started when the door squeaked open. Being surrounded by lockers, she couldn't see who had walked in, but their footsteps sounded familiar.

Instantly, she smiled, leaping up from the bench that she had planted herself on and smiled uncontrollably as he rounded the corner.

Noah!

"You came!" she nearly squealed, rushing over to him, despite her body's remaining creakiness.

Fighting all of her impulses, she didn't deliver him the crushing hug that she had given to her parents and that Sophie had given to her. She was gentle, tenderly wrapping her arms around his neck, and planting a chaste kiss on his lips, smiling all the while.

"Of course I came," Noah replied, looking at her as though she were an adorable idiot. She had a feeling that she would be getting that face a lot from him. "It's supposed to be the match of the decade, you know."

"I know," Ilse replied, smugness copious in her voice. "But, uh, is that the only reason you came?"

Noah scoffed. "Of course not. I came to wish my best girl good luck."

Then it was Ilse's turn to scoff. "I don't need luck."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Then I guess I'm just going to have to settle for telling you I love you."

Ilse smiled, content with that conclusion. "I love you too."

Ilse had only met Noah's dad once before. It was an interesting experience.

She was fifteen years old. They happened to be travelling near where he lived and Ilse suggested stopping by. Of course it had been her idea—not Noah's.

Noah didn't seem to be the biggest fan of the idea, but he didn't oppose too much.

Ilse knew it might be painful. Noah didn't talk about his family a lot, but she knew that ever since his mother died, he and his father hadn't been too close. They definitely loved each other, but they just weren't the best of friends. Especially since Noah travelled so far away a lot. And since Noah spent a decent amount of time with Ilse's family, she knew that he was probably feeling a little unsettled about letting Ilse into that dynamic.

It wasn't bad, though. Mostly, it just struck Ilse as funny how similar Noah and his father were. Because of that, they got along pretty well.

There was only one weird moment. Right when she first introduced herself.

Lex—he had told her to call him by his first name—looked between Noah and Ilse, a look of confusion on his face as he did so. "You're the Champion's daughter, right?" he asked.

Ilse nodded her head yes with a friendly grin on her face. She was used to getting asked that.

She wasn't used to the reaction she got, though.

Lex cocked his head, only looking more confused. He stayed like that for a moment, but then shook it off, as though he were shaking a memory out of his head.

"You okay, dad?" Noah asked.

"Sorry," he apologized, a smile gracing his face for the first time as well. "Just had a strange sensation of déjà vu. It's nice to meet you, Ilse."

It's said that a person is only a collection of their past memories. They're what make you do what you do, act how you act, and think what you think. They're what make you who you are.

But even as Ilse felt her whole past changing around her, she still remembered her old life. She felt like the same person.

Except that her father was alive and the Champion.

Her parents seemed even closer than they had been before, if that was possible, and life was good.

No, life was great.

And then there was Noah.

Ilse only had her dad back replacing about a week of her life. Noah now had a father for eighteen years that he hadn't had before. That was just crazy.

She thought about what kind of a different person that could make him.

Maybe with an actual family he wouldn't have so much trouble getting close to people. Maybe he wouldn't be so distant.

But then Ilse thought about it further…He had already become that in the past month that they'd just spent together. She smiled. Was that because of her?

Maybe it's true what they say about fate. Everything happens as it happens for a reason.

She remembered telling Noah weeks ago that this was how the world was supposed to be. Her father was supposed to be alive and they were supposed to be happy together. When she told him that, it was out of denial and pain. But now, looking back, she realized how true her words were.

This was how the world was supposed to be. And she wouldn't trade it for anything.

The Battle platform was intimidating.

She had stood on dozens, if not hundreds of them before, but this time, with her father and Pikachu standing on the other side dwarfed all of those platforms. This was it. The biggest Battle of her life.

Though with what she had gone through in the past month she felt like she could probably face anything.

As the announcer began his speech, Ilse found herself looking up into the stands. There was Sophie, sitting next to her parents and literally bouncing in her seat and waving madly at Ilse. Next to them were Ilse's own mother, grandmother, and Brock. Ilse gave them all a huge smile before her eyes found themselves drawn to her other side.

There was a boy with shocking navy blue hair and brown eyes. But when her eyes met, his she saw a smile crack on his face—a true one that she knew was saved only for her—and a slight tingle ran down her spine.

She knew she could do this. She could do anything.

Finally, the announcer spoke his final words and the referee waved his red and green flags.

The Battle commenced.

FIN

A/N: Well, that's all, folks. Thank you to all of you who have stuck around for the last few months and read every chapter. And a big thank you to all of you who have reviewed. You guys make my day so much and you have no idea how much each one of your reviews means to me. I hope that this last chapter met your satisfaction and that you liked this story. It's been my first continuous multi-chap fic-something that I never really thought that I'd be able to do. Minus all the notes and everything, it's just short of 70K words. I still can't believe that I did that. Basically, I just love you all so much, and can't believe that this is finally over. Thank you.

~Anjumstar