"Mom, dad. I have to tell you something"

Lizzie - 9 yrs. old

"Mom, dad. I have to tell you something." Lizzie said one morning to her parents. This secret was something she'd been hiding ever since she was a little girl. She knew it was time. Misty had already caught her a few times, but thought nothing of it. It was impossible, right?

"What is it pumpkin?" Ash asked, his bangs getting in his eyes. Misty had been nagging him to get a haircut. Lizzie held up her Pokéball, containing Mudkip and threw it up, revealing the small blue Pokémon.

As Mudkip landed on the table, Lizzie sighed. She had been practicing in her room how to tell her parents, and yet she was still nervous. "Um...I don't know how to tell you this. I've been hiding it so long. I'm kinda afraid to get it out in the open." Lizzie said, still nervous.

"You can tell us, honey. We'll understand." Misty said, hoping to comfort her daughter.

Lizzie gave a deep sigh. "Mom, dad. I can talk and translate Pokémon speech. I never thought of it as anything before because dad can understand his Pokémon. I didn't know it was anything unusual until I was about four. So, don't be mad at me." Lizzie said, earning a shocked look from her parents.

Ash looked the most astonished. "We're not mad Lizzie. But, sweetie. We all can talk to Pokémon, and of course you can understand Mudkip, she's your Pokémon. But I doubt you can translate all Pokémon." Ash said, his voice a bit unsteady.

First of all, Lizzie wanted to cry. She just told her parents the biggest secret of her life, and they thought she was lying. Second, she was really angry. She thought her mom might be a little unsure, but her dad, no! He was supposed to understand her feelings. "I'm not lying dad!" She screamed in a tone that even surprised Misty.

"We're not saying your lying, honey." Misty said, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. Lizzie pulled away angrily.

"You're not saying you believe me, either." Lizzie snapped.

"We're just saying you may be mistaken." Misty said.

Lizzie had enough of this. She wasn't lying after all and she surely wasn't mistaken. "If you don't believe me, ask Pikachu or Vaporian. Actually, you can ask any of the Pokémon, they'll all tell you the same thing!" With that said, Lizzie and Mudkip ran out the backyard, slamming the back door.

Ash and Misty were still sitting together, totally puzzled at what had just happened. Misty was the first to speak. "Could she be telling us the truth? Because she seemed really upset we didn't believe her."

"Maybe. But there's only one way to be sure." Ash said, as he stood up, heading to the videophone.

Ash sat there at the desk, explaining his theory to Anabel. "Anyway, is there a test you can give Lizzie or something? I don't think she's lying, but she has a big imagination." Ash asked.

Anabel chuckled a bit at the situation. "Yeah, sure Ash. Go get her, I'll wait." After a minute, Lizzie came up to the videoscreen. "Hi Elizabeth." Anabel said, looking at the girl's sparkling green eyes.

"Hi Anabel. How are you?" Lizzie asked politely.

"I'm doing good. So, your daddy said you can talk and translate Pokémon." Anabel said, before she called Espeon.

"Well, he thinks I'm a big, fat liar." Lizzie said, disgusted.

"No, he doesn't. He just wants to be sure. Now, this is my Espeon." Anabel said. "Now, Espeon, how are you feeling?" Anabel asked the Pokémon.

"Speon Esp Espeon." Espeon mewed to her trainer.

"Now Lizzie, what did she say?"

"She said that she's ok, just a bit hungry." Lizzie said, confident in her translation.

To this, Anabel smiled. "Well, I don't think we need to drag this out." Anabel said. "You indeed can translate Pokémon." At this, Lizzie wasn't surprised, but boasted a huge smile.

"Now you can tell daddy I'm not lying." Lizzie said, skipping away from the video phone as Ash came back into the room, and sat down at the desk. Ash was extremely curious.

"Well?" Ash asked, shoving his bangs out of his face. Anabel simply nodded, confirming what Lizzie had said before. Ash then buried his head in his hands. "She must be furious I didn't believe her, my poor girl." Ash said, ashamed of himself.

Anabel wasn't about to lie to Ash, denying Lizzie's feelings. "She'll be fine. Just apologize. I can tell, she loves you a lot."

"How?" Ash asked.

"she seemed more angry at you than Misty."

"Oh."

"That means she thought you'd understand her better than anyone else." Anabel said as a buzzer rung in the background. "Sorry Ash, I have to go. I have something in the oven." The women said before she hung up.

After several minutes, Ash was still sitting at the computer. Misty came over to him, as she glided her hand across his back. "So, can she?" Misty asked as Ash lifted his head, a tear in his eye. He simply nodded.

"I can't believe I didn't believe her. Ugh, I am so dense." Ash said as he stood up, giving Misty a big hug. "Did you see how nervous she was before telling us, Mist. She was hiding this for years. It must have been really hard for her to tell us. And I instantly just shot her down, she must hate me." Ash said.

"No, she doesn't. She could never hate you. She's just angry." Misty said as Pikachu was running in looking horrified. "What is it Pikachu?" Misty asked in a panic.

"Pika Pika pikachu pikachu. Pikachu cha chupika pika pikachu!" Pikachu explained, talking rapidly.

"What!? Come on Pikachu." Ash yelled as he, Misty and Pikachu ran outside. After running for a short while, Misty was the first one to freak.

"B-bu-BUGS!" Misty said as Ash slapped his hand on her mouth, shushing her. Around Lizzie was twenty Beedrill. Ash could see from where he was, Lizzie already had about five stings on her body.

There were too many for Pikachu to shock in one strong shock. And if Pikachu started shocking them groups by five, the Beedrill would sting them. Ash thought back to when he had met Anabel, and it hit him.

"Lizzie, ask them why they're mad!" Ash shouted to the girl. Lizzie, already in pain, was unsure if that would work, but decided to try anyway.

"Beedrill!" She shouted to the swarm. "What's the matter? Why are you so angry?" The Beedrill stopped buzzing as the swarm's leader started to talk.

"Bzzz zzze ze ze bzzz." The leader's Beedrill said as Lizzie nodded.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you scared. I didn't even know there were any Weedle here." Lizzie said as the leader nodded.

"Zzze Bzzz ze."

"It's ok. May I go now. I think my parents are worried about me." Lizzie said, pointing behind the group of Beedrill. As soon as the Beedrill looked at Misty, Ash could feel the grip on his hand become unbearably tight.

"Zzzee." The Beedrill said as the swarm flew away past Ash and Misty. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, Misty and Ash made their way to Lizzie. Pikachu jumped into Lizzie's arms happily.

"Pika Pika Pikachu cha!" Pikachu said, assessing Lizzie.

"Yeah, but I'll be ok" Lizzie said, hugging Pikachu.

"Lizzie." Ash started. "I'm sorry. I should've believed you. Are you still mad at me?"

"No. I kept it hidden for so long because I knew how crazy it sounded."

"Well, I promise to believe what you tell me from now on. Now, let's go home and get those stings taken care of."

"I love you daddy."

"I love you too." Ash said, happily.

The End