Tooth-Fairy Troubles


"Daddy! Daddy! Hurry! It's an emergency!"

Instantly Ash was up and off the couch, not even bothering to pause the television. He raced upstairs to find his seven-year-old twins in the bathroom, standing on the stepstool, staring at the mirror. Rather, the boy was; the girl was looking into his mouth.

"What's going on?" Ash asked. The girl whipped her head around to face him, braid flying. Her dark green eyes were wide in fear, as were the boy's blue ones.

"Alec's tooth is wiggly!" she shouted. "What do we do, Daddy?"

For a moment, Ash just stood in the doorway, processing the situation. Then he began to laugh, getting a glare from his daughter.

"This is serious! Why are you laughing? We gotta go to the hospital!" she spat. Alec continued to stare at his reflection.

Finally Ash managed to calm down, and gave the upset girl a smile. "You're right, Mady, it is serious. But we don't have to go to the hospital."

Her emerald eyes narrowed in doubt. "We don't?"

The raven-haired man shook his head. "No," he stated. "Not at all. You see, Alec's tooth is wiggling because it's going to fall out."

As soon as he said it, the man grimaced. Bad choice of words. Both children stared up at him with frightened eyes.

"You see, um, all of his teeth will fall out, because..." Ash was flustered, unsure of how to better the situation. "Because, uh..." Damn, he thought, it's always Misty explaining these things. And neither of the older girls had taken it like this. Both of them had learned beforehand, too.

"Because all your baby teeth fall out to make room for grown-up teeth." Ash turned around to find the very person he'd been thinking about looking him in the face with an amused smirk. "It's nothing to worry about. It'll happen to you too, Mady."

"They're all going to fall out?" the girl cried. "At the same time?"

"No, no, no." Misty explained calmly. "They'll fall out one at a time. Each one will wiggle for a while and then it will come out. Do you remember when it happened to Faith?" The twins shook their heads, confused. They'd been too young to remember. "Uh, oh well." she shrugged.

"What do we do when it falls out?" Alec asked. "Do we throw it away?" His face was concerned, and he held a protective hand in front of his bottom jaw.

"Why, no!" Ash, now more sure of what he was saying, declared. "There's a special someone who comes to pick them up." he said with a wink.

"Who?" Alec asked, now less concerned.

"The Tooth-Fairychu!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. "The Tooth-Fairychu is a special Pikachu that echanges teeth for money. When you lose a tooth, you put it under your pillow that night. Then, the Tooth-Fairychu comes in, takes the tooth, and leaves a quarter!"

For a second, the twins bore expressions of glee. Then, Mady's face twisted into a horrified look.

"But what happens when they all fall out?"

Misty picked up the girl, who was small for her age, and hugged her. "Once a tooth falls out, a grown-up tooth grows in its place!" she chimed. Ash followed suit and picked up the Alec with a grunt. Misty turned to her son. "And soon you'll have all grown-up teeth." the redhead finished.

"Will I get to see the Tooth-Fairychu?" questioned Alec curiously.

"No, bud. You'll already be asleep." Ash said.

Satisfied that there was no immediate emergency, the twins begged to be let down. When they were, they rushed off to show their older sisters Alec's tooth.

"Gee," Ash muttered, turning to his wife. "You're good at this."

She smirked again, emerald eyes twinkling. "I try."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"I put my tooth under my pillow, right Mommy?" Alec asked excitedly as he prepared for bed a few days later.

"That's right!" Misty confirmed. "And the tooth-fairychu will come and take it. And she'll leave a quarter. Remember what Daddy said?"

"Yeah!" the boy exclaimed, rushing to place the small object in position. "Mommy," he addressed her, "Can I see the tooth-fairychu?"

"Nope." Misty shook her head. "She comes when you're asleep."

"But I wanna see her!" he cried.

"Alec, she doesn't come until the middle of the night."

"Then I'm going to stay up all night until I see her!" the seven-year-old declared, crossing his little arms in a fashion that reminded Misty greatly of the boy's father.

"Stupid Ash," the redhead muttered under her breath. "Alec, sweetie, you can't do that."

"I'm going to! I'm going to see the tooth-fairychu!" he said with a final nod of his head. Misty sighed.

"All right then." she shrugged. "Good night." She gave her son a kiss and left the room, turning off the light.

Seconds later, she was downstairs in the office, boiling mad. And Ash was her unfortunate victim.

"Why on earth did you tell them that stupid story?" she spat, glaring with narrowed emerald eyes. "Now Alec's going to stay up all night waiting. And what are you going to do about it, Mister Pokémon Master?" she growled.

After a few minutes of silent thinking, Ash grinned and stood. "I know just what to do." he stated. "Pikachu!"

The little creature ran joyfully into the room, chirping.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, buddy, but we have to."

Pikachu stared at him quizzically, and suddenly it dawned on Misty just what her husband's absurd plan was.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A half hour later, the three of them were crouched on the roof above Alec's window, armed with a fishing pole and a rope. Luckily, it wasn't a windy night, and they were able to balance. Sort of.

"This is really steep." Misty squeaked.

"Can we just focus?" Ash whispered loudly. "All right, Pikachu. You ready?"

The Pokémon shook his head. Of course he wasn't; the outfit he'd been forced into was embarrassing! An old pink leotard of Faith's, plus a fluffy just-as-pink tutu, and a pair of tiny bows forced into his short hair - mortifying. Not to mention the large eyelashes, drawn with eyeliner because the fake eyelashes wouldn't stick.

"You're really proud of this plan, aren't you?" Misty inquired.

"I sure am!" Her raven-haired husband admitted as he tied one end of the rope around Pikachu's waist and the other to the fishing pole.

Slowly Pikachu climbed down to the edge of the roof, making the jump from it to the windowsill. Struggling, he opened the window, and, panting, climbed in.

"You gave him the quarter, right?"

"Of course I did."

Once inside, Pikachu looked curiously at the inhabited bed. The figure was awake, but facing the other way. Pikachu leapt up onto the bed, beside the pillow, and the child turned around and gasped.

"Wow!" he cried. "The tooth-fairychu!"

"Pika!" the creature chirped in a forced high voice. He held out a paw.

"You want my tooth." the boy stated, reaching under his pillow and pulling out the small object. "Here you go." he said, placing it in Pikachu's outstretched palm. The creature tucked it into the leotard and, from another hidden pocket, produced a quarter that he handed the boy. "Thank you." Alec said, taking it with a grin.

"Pika." the Pokémon called as he leapt now back to the window. With a wave, he tugged on the rope and was pulled upwards, leaving the raven-haired boy in a state of fascination.

"How did it go?" Misty asked as Pikachu emerged on the rooftop. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up. Misty grinned.

"Looks like our work is done!" Ash proclaimed proudly.

Suddenly there was a loud clank from the other side of the house. The three rushed over to find its source.

"Pika!"

"The ladder!" Misty cried.

"Oh great." Ash sighed. "What are we gonna do now?"

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

And fin!

So how did you like it? My little sister's going through this whole tooth thing right now, and it was a lot of inspiration.

Review if you liked!

PIKA.

Hm? What was that?

PIKA PI PIKA.

Oh...dear... It looks like Pikachu's angry with the minor torture he received. If you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of this...