Chapter 16/Final: Icirrus Going Home

The morning rose at Sunset's home. Ash, Sunset and Fluttershy slept soundly together for the first time since the girls united their love and support for their new boyfriend. Sunset woke to see the crystal clear day, not a cloud in sight. She turned to Ash to stir him out of sleep, knowing that today was his and the Pokémon's last day. "That adorable sleeping face," she cooed quietly. Fluttershy woke to see Ash's still sleeping face. That's when Sunset leaned in and gave Ash a deep and passionate kiss, a more admiring kiss than the one on first night she slept with him, her tongue twisting around his. Almost immediately, Ash's body reacted. His arms reached up and wrapped Sunset's head to further embrace. He didn't want to let go. Kiss complete, Ash had come around. "Morning, Sunshine." Ash laughed, understanding her tease.

"Morning, Gorgeous," Ash returned. Sunset's beamed a smile before spotting Fluttershy. She waived the pink-haired to join. Ash also spotted Fluttershy which Sunset called over.

"Um…" the pink-haired struggled to speak. "Goo- Good morning, dear."

"Morning, Fluttershy," Ash welcomed. Sunset nodded to Fluttershy before she gave Ash a heartfelt smooch of her own. A few seconds of Fluttershy smiling, she suddenly frowned. Pikachu, awakened by the kissing noises, saw Fluttershy's face and became worried. He squeaked to the animal lover about it.

"You're wondering why I'm sad, Pikachu?" she asked. Pikachu nodded as all three crawled out of bed and Fluttershy hoisted Pikachu. "You, Ash and the Pokémon are going home today. I'm missing you already." Sunset and Ash blinked to Fluttershy's concern.

"We haven't left yet," Ash pointed out.

"I know, but still…" she cried. Understanding her concern, Ash and Sunset wrapped their arms around Fluttershy to console in a hug. They had breakfast before going to Canterlot High. In Celestia's office, Ash met with the principal and the Vice Principal for the last time.

"So, this is it?" guessed Luna. "You're heading back to the Pokémon World?"

"It is, you two," Ash concluded. "I had fun with everyone here, and it was nice to be around you as well like when you had me over at your home after coming here." Luna reached Ash and hugged him with a few tears falling from her eyes.

"I'd argue that you paid us back in droves, Ash," Celestia giggled. "But that wouldn't be fair to you. After all, you saved our play and our students, especially when we all know you should've been elsewhere with your Pokémon. You've even made peace among the students about one's troubled past and taught us an all new class, albeit one day. If I was your mother right now, the amount of love I'd be giving you wouldn't do justice, not at all." Ash let Celestia's word sink in.

"Just knowing that the school's in great spirit is all I wanted to see. Besides, you two, the students, the teachers… I've been learning a lot as well. I could argue that I was as much of a student as the rest of the school is." Celestia shed a few tears to the remark.

"I know you understand as much as I do… of how important this school's to us." Ash extended a hand and Celestia took it, only she reeled Ash in for a hug and a kiss to the side of his head. "We're gonna miss you so much!" Ash hugged Celestia back as Luna joined with a kiss to the cheek. Ash and Pikachu came outside of Canterlot High where he met with the students.

"So, this is it?" believed Sandalwood. "You're leaving us?"

"I am, everyone," Ash admitted. "I had fun with everyone here." Diamond, Silver Spoon and the Crusaders came to Ash and piled on him.

"Don't go away, Ash!" cried Apple Bloom.

"We want you to stay!" added Diamond.

"We still wanna play with your Pokémon!" whined Sweetie Belle.

"I know, but I have to," Ash explained.

"Maybe we can come visit your world?" asked Silver Spoon.

"You're all welcomed to," Ash answered. The girls squealed in glee before bombarding Ash in kisses. Then, there was a bark. Looking up, Winona lunged in and gave Ash's face a tongue bath. "STOP! HEY!" Applejack lifted Winona from Ash and everyone got off Ash as Watermelody came forward with her berets.

"It's great that I'm finally meeting you," she awed. Ash got up, his face covered by saliva from the lips. Out of nowhere, Oshawott emerged from his Pokéball. Seeing his Sea Otter Pokémon, Ash sighed. "Just the otter I was looking for!" She brought out a turquoise beret. She knelt to Oshawott. "Here you go!" Watermelody fitted the beret on Oshawott's head. The Sea Otter Pokémon bounced around happily as DJ reached Ash.

"Yo!" she greeted. "I heard you're getting the Indy series. Thought I could hook you up with some awesome tunes while back over in your land." She handed Ash a tiny MP3 player with earbuds.

"Sweet!" he praised. After getting more gifts from students, the time came where the students dread since meeting him for the first time: saying goodbye. Every girl watched, tears flooding their faces in heartbreak that they may never see him again. The Mane 8 had gear on hand for when they crossed to Ash's world. They headed to the hill that Ash fell from when he first arrived. "Funny enough, I was heading in this direction when the ground gave way."

"And where Sunset spotted you falling," Rarity added. Ash smiled as he donned his initial gear.

"By the way, Rarity, the upgrades to my Unova gear is unreal! It feels lighter and comfortable!" Rarity giggled to Ash's compliment.

"'Tis nothing a future fashion entrepreneur can't create." They found the spot where Ash and the Pokémon fell from, a large cavity of the cliff. Pinkie came to the side and viewed down the missing piece of the cliff.

"That's a bigger fall than I imagined," she gulped. "I wonder why the ground gave way? You don't weigh as much as Bulk." Ash and the rest of the Mane 8 sighed.

"It just may have been a weak spot that he stepped on," Applejack assumed.

"Maybe, but this is the way he came from," Spike barked. Noting the collar, Applejack determined it's Sci-Twi's Spike.

"Hey, Twi?" she asked. "Where's your Spike?" Twilight looked to Applejack with a smile.

"Spike's back home and in dragon form," she explained. "He had duties to fulfill in Ponyville."

"Gotcha…" The group entered a wooded area where they found a large tree with a cavernous entrance.

"This is the tree I emerged from," Ash identified.

"So that means once we go through here, we're in the Pokémon World?" guessed Fluttershy. Rainbow patted Ash on the shoulder.

"Only one way to know," she prepared. "Lead the way." The group entered and traveled through the cavernous tunnel. About five minutes later, they emerged on the other side where they were in a forest.

"We're here!" he announced. The Mane 8 quickly emerged where they saw gray doves with pink heart marks on their beaks, pink deer calves with a yellow flower on their heads, reddish-brown prairie dogs, floating spores of cotton with eyes… the sight of the creatures began to overwhelm the girls.

"Wow!" awed Sunset. "This… is… incredible!"

"Unbelievable!" gasped Sci-Twi. "Imagine all the research we can do on these creatures. I almost want to stay here and understand this word from its roots!" One deer calf trotted to Pinkie who adored it right away.

"You are so cute!" she cooed while petting the flower-like mane. "Oh, yes you are!" The deer calf neighed happily to the petting. Applejack got a little spook from a bark.

"Spike, what was that-" she started to scold before finding a light brown puppy with cream color fur over its face and dark blue patch of fur on its back. It reached up on Applejack's leg which made her change her tune. "Who might you be, little fella?" She picked the puppy up before it attacked her face with puppy licks. Applejack nudged her head back from the licking. "Lovable, that's for sure!" Ash came over to see Applejack's finding.

"Looks like Lillipup likes you already," he noted. Applejack awed the name of the little puppy Pokémon.

"Lillipup, huh?" Lillipup barked before Applejack embraced it in a hug. "I think you and Winona will get along just fine." The Pokémon enjoyed being around the Mane 8, as did the girls themselves. Suddenly, a squeak echoed for Pikachu to hear. He turned to find a black flying squirrel with white face and belly and yellow circular cheeks to match the inside of its cape-like flaps. Pikachu squeaked back, causing Ash to look up.

"Emolga!?" he named. Emolga heard Ash and landed on his outstretched arm which Emolga landed on and Fluttershy studied.

"I've never seen a flying squirrel before," she admitted. "But this one is rather adorable." She tickled Emolga on the abdomen as Ash figured out why she showed up.

"It also means Iris and Cilan are coming," he believed. Pinkie came forward with the deer calf, interested with the names.

"How would you know?" she asked. Before Ash could answer…

"ASH!" a young woman shouted. All turned to find two young people running to the group. One was a green-haired teen wearing a waiter's uniform, including a bow tie. The other was a tanned violet-haired girl, her enormous hair reaching her calves. She wore an ivory shirt with baggy sleeves and skinny white tights under a pink sash wrapped around her waist. Ash and the Mane 8 watched on.

"Iris!" he named the girl. "Cilan!" The two reached Ash as Sci-Twi and Pinkie reached Ash's side.

"Where in the world have you been?!" snapped Iris. "We've been looking for you for the past month!" Ash gulped to the angered Iris as Emolga leaped back to her.

"Come on, Iris. It's not my fault I stayed away for so long."

"Of course it is!"

"No it's not!" sang Pinkie. Iris and Cilan turned to the pink-haired girl as Rarity spotted the green-haired.

"We had him over at our school recovering from injuries," Sci-Twi explained. "Besides, if you're gonna place blame, you might wanna plant it on Oshawott." To Cilan, the claim had truth.

"It makes sense," he pondered. "Oshawott did lead Ash away." Pinkie nodded to Cilan's point.

"That's what Ash said happened," she backed up. Rarity decided to confront Cilan.

"So, who must you be?" she asked. Cilan faced the girl who seemed to be enjoying his look.

"It's Cilan," he introduced himself before bowing. "Pokémon Connoisseur." Rarity took his charming appearance.

"This may be a rarity for me, and that's not just what my name is." She gave Cilan a sweet kiss to his lips. Fluttershy laughed to Rarity's sudden affection to Cilan.

"Apparently, we're not the only one's who've found love!" she giggled. Iris blinked before turning to Fluttershy with a gawk. One of Ash's girlfriends, Fluttershy had her hands on his shoulders.

"What do you mean by that!?" she wondered. Sunset reached the three to clarify.

"You see, Fluttershy and I happen to be Ash's new girlfriends," she identified. Iris became irate.

"Girlfriends!?" she gasped. "Ash doesn't need a girl in his life!" Fluttershy and Sunset gasped to Iris' audacity. Rainbow came forward to give Iris a piece of her mind.

"And what makes you come up with that rule?" she argued. "HUH!?" She had backup to challenge Iris.

"Do you know what he's done over the past month!?" snapped Pinkie. "He took care of our school and the student body!"

"He volunteered to help out with the school play when one of our actors was hurt!" added Applejack.

"He saved us from Team Rocket and an evil spirit by himself!" pointed Twilight. Cilan gasped to Team Rocket's mentioning.

"Now that they brought it up, I've been missing that flavor of anxiety and dread from those three," he mentioned. "Of course, they'll go where Pikachu goes." Rarity snorted a laugh.

"Those three will not be a bother to all the Pokémon and their trainers now," Rarity assured. "Let alone Pikachu." Ash nodded to confirm Rarity's statement. Iris wasn't going to stand quietly about the issue.

"Well, maybe if Ash stayed put with us, none of your problems would've happened!" she complained. Quickly, Sunset had a retort ready.

"Well, maybe if you did care about Ash like we do, you would've found him and been able to take him home before anything bad happened," she sneered. Iris irked to the point.

"Boy, I could testify that I was still looking for Ash," Cilan sighed. "My Detective Connoisseur moment failed, though Iris remained reluctant and still refuses to explain why she's even traveling with us." Rarity blinked to Cilan's case.

"She's just journeying with him for randomness?" she guessed.

"Pretty much," Ash sighed. "She wants to be a Dragon-Type Master but so far, she's just been dragging her feet." The argument about Ash fumed Iris.

"I don't mind Cilan getting himself a girl, but Ash is another story!" she growled. "Little kids shouldn't be loved!" That made the girls angry while Fluttershy and Rarity watched.

"WHICH MAKES YOU THE REAL LITTLE KID!" they bellowed. Iris backed away from the angry teens.

"Ash, you seem to have brought over some lively young women from wherever they came from," Cilan sighed.

"If they're lively, you should see the rest of the student body," Ash warned.

"Especially when Pokémon are around," Rarity added. Iris retreated while a grayish-green baby dinosaur-like creature with a head fin and protruding tusks emerged to comfort her. Fluttershy came to see Ash once more now that Iris had been scared straight.

"This place is wonderful," she awed. "We all wish we could stay and enjoy this place…" Ash knew what Fluttershy wanted to say.

"I understand," he quickly replied. Fluttershy smiled before giving Ash a loving lip-to-lip kiss. Sunset also reached Ash to say her farewell.

"Ash, I promise to keep in touch with you when I get chances," she wished.

"Sunset…" Ash whispered before Sunset gave him her loving kiss.

"Don't forget me!" yelled Pinkie. She pounced on Ash before showering him with kisses to his face. Cilan, Sunset and Fluttershy laughed to the sight. Once Rarity gave Cilan a farewell kiss of her own, the Mane 8 departed back to Canterlot. Cilan saw Ash hoist the huge back of gifts from the student body.

"What's all in there?" he asked.

"Parting gifts," Ash briefed. "Movies, music, clothes… You'll definitely enjoy some archaeology." Cilan laughed to the title. They saw Iris crying about being called "a little kid."

"WHY!?" she whined. "I'M NOT A LITTLE KID! I'M NOT!" Cilan came to Iris to cheer her up.

"They're gone now," he assured. "It's best not to worry about it, okay?" Iris nodded with tears dripping from her eyes. After making sure Iris could move along, Ash seemed ready to go on with being a Pokémon Trainer.

"Icirrus City?" he guessed.

"Indeed," Cilan confirmed. "That way, we can ship all that back home."

"Nice… Hopefully, Mom likes the Indy set."

"Indy who?" questioned Iris. Ash started to explain as he and the reunited friends moved on with their adventure.

(Vertress City/One month later…)

Ash, Cilan, Iris and their Pokémon friends reached a gathering of young people and other Pokémon. "We're finally here!" announced Cilan. "Vertress City, home of Unova's main Pokémon Tournament: The Vertess Conference!"

"It's been a longtime coming for all of us!" huffed Iris. Ash, now sporting a slick ponytail, saw the huge crowd and saw a stage being set up with instruments like a keyboard and drums, guitars and cymbals.

"Looks like we're getting a concert today," Ash believed. They began to approach the stage in their setup when Pikachu turned to squeak someone over. The three heard the squeaking.

"Do you see someone, Pikachu?" asked Cilan. Arriving was Trixie and she hugged Ash to start.

"I finally found you," she greeted before her lips pressed his cheek to kiss. This astonished Ash.

"Trixie, what's up?" he wondered. "How's that soul searching going?"

"It's a long road but I'm making incredible progress. I returned to Canterlot High and helped make amends to Sunset and the Mane 8."

"Well, that's awesome to hear. I wanted to thank you for protecting Pikachu when I dealt with Midnight."

"Hey, you protecting and saving us from Midnight and Team Rocket, or Ricket in Rainbow's words. Ironically, I would've wanted to thank Jessie for getting me on the right path." Iris, hearing Trixie's story, scoffed to her tale.

"If it takes someone like her to change you," she snorted. "Talk about a little kid." Trixie huffed to Emolga's trainer.

"I suppose that's what I was back then," she accepted. Ash placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder while Pikachu jumped on the other.

"If the school's accepting you now more than then," he started. "Ride with it!" Trixie nodded to Ash's words before Fluttershy found Ash and tackled him.

"You made it!" she cheered. Ash recovered and sat up.

"Hey, Fluttershy!" he greeted. Fluttershy sat him up before giving him a passionate kiss, tongues in a tango. Her tank-top had Ash's face on it.

"If not for my actions, I would've claimed him," Trixie sighed. Sunset spotted the group as Fluttershy ended the kiss and stood him upward.

"There's my guy!" she cheered before hugging him tightly. She also had her shirt printed with Ash's face.

"Sunset, hi!" he returned before they smooched, irritating Iris.

"Do you three have to be doing that?" she complained.

"Why is it a problem?" asked Cilan. "Besides, I think Ash needs the sweet and spicy taste of love." Rarity came from behind Cilan.

"You're the dressing in my salad of love, Cilan," she teased before giving him a kiss. The rest of the Mane 8, all wearing Ash's head on their clothes.

"We heard the news that you're going to be in the tournament," Applejack reported.

"It's why Canterlot High's come by to cheer you on," Sci-Twi added. "Even Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna."

"We couldn't miss it if it meant extra homework for all of us," Rainbow sneered.

"And we had time to make a list of songs for the concert," Pinkie briefed. Iris awed what the Mane 8 had in store.

"So that's who's playing tonight?" she guessed.

"It is," Twilight acknowledged. Ash and Pikachu became excited.

"You guys are awesome!" he praised. The teens cheered in acceptance.

"Are you almost set?" questioned Cilan. "Do you need help?"

"We do," Fluttershy wished. "Our Pokémon could use a bit of aid." All turned to see a brown fox pup with a collar of white fur by Twilight, a Leavanny by Rarity, a brown dog with a cream-colored mustache and blue fur on its back by Applejack, an orange flying lightning rod covered in a veil by Sci-Twi, a tiny white eel-fish with a yellow wavy line on its side by Rainbow, a black butterfly with a long nose by Fluttershy, a pink-and-cream bipedal creature with big ears and a fluffy tail by Pinkie, and a tiny mouse that looked like Pikachu, but with a brighter coat color and a heart-shaped tail held by Sunset. Ash recognized the Pokémon.

"Sunset has a Pichu," he named. "Applejack's got a Stoutland, Sci-Twi has a Rotom, Twilight has an Eevee, Rainbow's got a Tynamo…"

"Have you seen the speed on this tiny thing?" she gloated. "I swear I have to use my geode to keep up!" Tynamo laughed to Rainbow's compliment. Ash continued.

"Rarity's got her own Leavanny," he named. "Pinkie's got an Audino and Fluttershy's got a Beautifly." Fluttershy giggled to Ash's smarts as Twilight came over and tucked her head to Ash's ear.

"Just a head's up, but Discord's hanging around here," she informed. Ash gawked to the news.

"For real?" he whispered back.

"He found enjoyment and wants to be a permanent resident. Equestria won't be the same but you never know with him." Ash nodded to Twilight's warning. He decided to get himself registered.

"I'm gonna check myself in before I forget." Fluttershy reached Ash with a request.

"Can I come along?" she asked. Ash nodded before they and Pikachu headed for the registration booth.

"Fluttershy and I may fight over him from time to time," Sunset grinned. "But it just means that much love for him to bear." The night fell and all the trainers, Pokémon and fans were given a concert in lieu of their conference. They wanted to make sure everyone had a great time. For Ash, one wayward trip gave him a lifetime of discovery. Now, he has two girlfriends, a school of fun and a place where he'll feel welcomed at anytime. He was Canterlot's stallion.

END

(Whew, I'm finally done with this. I'm gonna close the polls since you've decided. While there are some details I'm working out, I'll be starting that story real soon.)