I hate writing battle scenes. OMG. If I don't have to do them, then I'd be looking forward to writing the rest of the My Word series. :P Ah, but last chapter!

Chapter 65

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Dillon Ketchum from Cerulean City wins!" The officiator announces as the smoke completely clears now and Pika is seen barely standing above the fainted Pikachu.

Dillon runs up to Pika before the pokemon falls over. "You did it, Pika! You finished it for us!"

Pika gives a weak "Chaaaa." And smiles up at his trainer.

Ash picks up Pikachu and approaches the boy with an extended hand. "Good job, son. You actually took me down." He laughs while giving Dillon a genuine smile.

Rather than take his hand, Dillon envelopes Ash in a hug. He can't control the tears falling from his eyes since he realizes it's finally happening. Ash finally lost. Dillon got to keep his word to his mom. He finally brought Ash home. "You can come home now, dad." He sobs into Ash's shoulder, and the man finds himself tearing up while holding his son close.

Ash can't believe how much Dillon has changed in this short amount of time. He's so proud of his son, and he knows he owes it to his family and Dillon's friends for this. Ash won't miss another moment with his children because he wants to be there to see them grow. He wants to be there to love them and be their dad. Hugging Dillon tighter, Ash says, "I love you, Dillon."

Misty finds herself tearing up while holding her abdomen. Their family is finally back together again. It may take some more time, but Dillon and Ash are starting to behave like father and son. To think that she filed for divorce months ago against the man she loves and the father of her children. All it took was their delinquent son to bring the family back together.

A couple minutes later, Mr. Goodwin gets ready to award Dillon the trophy. Dillon had wiped his tears away, and Pika and Pikachu now have more energy after some Full Restores. As Dillon gets ready to walk up the steps to accept the trophy, he turns to the stands with his family and friends. He looks at Pika on his shoulder and nods before sprinting to the sidelines, much to Mr. Goodwin's dislike. Dillon stops in front of the area with his mom, Aurora, Granite, and the Lightfield siblings.

"What are you doing, Dillon? The trophy is up there!" Aurora teases.

"Go get your trophy, Dillon!" Granite tells the boy.

"I can't." he pants. Everyone near him gives him concerned looks. "I didn't earn the trophy. We earned it. I couldn't have done it without you two." He smiles at them. "Granite, you taught me to face my fears and to take leaps of faith." He then looks at Aurora. "And you taught me that forming relationships can help on the battlefield too." The boy turns his attention to Pachirisu. "And you helped me with Pika every step of the way, Pachirisu." He returns to looking at them all. "You guys should be up here with me!" Before either one can decline, Dillon grabs Aurora's and Granite's hands. Pachirisu is on her trainer's shoulder as Dillon drags them with him up the stage.

Flustered, Mr. Goodwin asks, "And why did you bring Aurora Lightfield and this man up here with you?"

Dillon takes the mic and suddenly feels nervous but the reassuring smiles from his shy friends give him strength. "Aurora Lightfield and Granite Slate taught me how to be a better trainer and person." He smiles at his friends. "If you would've asked me where I see myself today this time last year, I would have said: in jail." He chuckles. "The person I am today and this win, it isn't mine. It's all of us." He then lifts up both of his friends arms with his, but quickly looks into a camera. "Oh, and I'll see you this summer, Aunt May, Uncle Drew, Jack, Rose, Romeo, Uncle Paul, Aunt Dawn, Connor, and Allie!" he smirks before returning to his friends.

After some more speeches, it is Ash's turn to talk. He claps Dillon on the back before walking to the mic. "Two months ago, I submitted my resignation letter." The crowd gasps. "But Dillon told me that it's a weak way to leave my throne." Ash chuckles at the memory, and Dillon's choice of words at the time. "He told me he would dethrone me, and here we are." He smiles at his son. "I'm proud to have been dethroned by you, son." Ash then hands the trophy to Dillon who beams at his dad. He holds it in the center while Aurora and Granite each grab an arm of the trophy.

1 Month Later

After the ceremony, Dillon declined the title of Kanto Champion in private when it was time to sign the contract of his responsibilities. Mr. Goodwin and the rest of the League members were surprised and tried to convince the stoic teen otherwise, but he stood his ground. Dillon never wanted to be the Kanto Champion. He just wanted to defeat Ash and bring him home.

Since they couldn't get Dillon to be the Champion, the League asked Ash to do it as the previous champion. He also declined it because he wants to go home. He wants to be with his family and newborn child. They then asked Aurora because she was the runner up to Dillon, but with her replacing Lt. Surge, she declined. She also doesn't want to be far from her family, especially after seeing what being the champion had done to the Ketchums.

In a panic, Mr. Goodwin formed a new contract with Ash where Ash only needs to battle at the end of the tournament season if the challenger makes it to him. Ash doesn't need to do the paperwork or attend events or meetings anymore unless he wants to, but he does need to remain the face of the Champion and battle if he has to. He's allowed to be wherever he wants and train his pokemon, so Ash agreed to the deal. As long as he's only gone for that one day of the year to battle the challenger, if they make it through the Elite Four, then he's fine.

Misty is very happy with this arrangement because now she has her husband back as well as someone to help at the gym since both of her children will be going to Johto. She had a son last week who they named Lok Satoshi Ketchum, so now Ash can also help with babysitting.

Also, Misty did have to explain to Dillon about why she cheered for Ash during their battle. She says it's just out of habit since she's been rooting for him for so long. However, she is glad that Dillon defeated him because now Ash can honorably come home. Fortunately, Dillon understands how much his mother loves Ash, so he reassures her that it's okay. A part of him is glad his parents are still so in love after all these years with limited communication.

Moreover, the week after the tournament, Dillon and Granite helped the Lightfields move their stuff from the Cerulean City gym to the Vermillion City gym. Since Granite can drive, he drove the moving van with LayLay and Duke while Dillon, Aurora, and Amy flew with the triplets on Coal, Aero, and Duke's Pidgeot.

They spent the rest of the month cleaning and moving in. Of course, Dillon constantly complained about how he beat Aurora, so he shouldn't have to clean, but he still cleaned and did a lot of the heavy lifting with Granite.

Lt. Surge lives nearby, and he comes around every day to teach Aurora about the gym. He will have her shadow him for the first few months before allowing her to battle. Hopefully, she'll be ready to fully take over the gym after this upcoming tournament season.

Since the Lightfields are basically moved in, Granite has booked a boat ticket to leave the next day for Hoenn. His parents are really worried about him and he also needs to go take over the Rustboro gym. Dillon also decides to go home to Cerulean City too because he hasn't met his baby brother yet. Duke tells Aurora that he'll watch their siblings while she spends her last few hours with her friends.

The evening before Granite's boat the next morning, the three friends and their electric rodents are outside enjoying the summer air and the sunset. Aurora sniffles back a sob. She won't cry. This isn't the end. It's a new beginning. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

Dillon smiles sadly next to her as he watches the sunset. "We'll still be friends." He thinks about everything they've gone through. From meeting Aurora because Pika wouldn't listen to him, Aurora following him, meeting his Pokemon team, meeting Granite, gym battles, rivals, Team Rocket, the lies, the friendships, everything. So much had happened in under a year, and it all started because he hated Ash.

He looks at both of his friends where he puts an arm around each of them. They're the reason he was able to accomplish his goal. They're the reason he never wanted the journey to end. They're the reason he's so happy and sad right now. Blinking back his own tears, Dillon grins.

Granite nods nostalgically while reflecting on their journey too. "And we can visit each other." He tells the quiet teens. This past month of helping the Lightfields move was full of a lot of fun since the trio of friends weren't worried about gym badges or pokemon battles. They were able to freely enjoy each other's company, and now, it has to temporarily end.

"Pika/Pachi!" The electric rodents smile at their trainers before returning their gaze to the beautiful sunset.

Once the sun finally sets beyond the orange horizon, Granite exclaims, "To friendship!" Dillon and Aurora smirk at each other.

"To memories!" the bluenette shouts.

With the widest and saddest grin he can ever have on his face, Dillon faces the sky and yells, "To us!"

All three friends take a deep breath. "'Til the end of the world!"

That's it! I want to write the other My Word series (quick summaries on my bio) but we'll see. This one was a drag, and I was writing for the sake of writing in the middle. I took a long break, came back, and then wrote the stuff after they beat Leaf, which is why Chapters 35-55 are kind of eh. I know the Leaf chapters are short, so I could add battle scenes, but I don't like typing up battle scenes. That's why I was on a short haitus once Dillon got to the Indigo Plateau. I wanted to do the story justice with battle scenes here. Anyway, see you in the sequel!~