Once everyone finished breakfast, Ash turned to Aiden.

"Go upstairs and get dressed. Then we'll go out training."

"And get dressed nicely." Misty added as Aiden walked past her. "We're having the party this afternoon."

"Yes Mom." Aiden responded as he walked up the stairs.

"Michelle, go upstairs to my room." Misty looked at her daughter.

"Yes Mom." Michelle followed her brother.

"What about me?" Elizabeth squeaked, obviously feeling left out.

"Aw, pumpkin." Ash smiled and picked her up; calling the girl by the nickname he had given her because of her red hair. "Why don't you go upstairs to your room, and you can pick out a pretty dress to wear to the party this afternoon?"

"I can pick out my dress all by myself?" Elizabeth asked excitedly.

"Yep." Ash grinned as he put her down.

"Yay!" Elizabeth squealed with delight as she ran towards the stairs.

Ash continued smiling as he turned to look at Misty, but he stopped when he saw her. Her head was down, hands pressed hard against the counter.

"Misty, are you okay?" Ash walked over to her, placing his head on her shoulder.

"This is the day I've feared for the past ten years." She replied through gritted teeth.

"I know." He lowered his eyes.

"How can you not be more upset by this?" Misty cried.

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but Aiden appeared at the bottom of the stairs, running through the kitchen, and oblivious to the situation.

"Ready Dad, come on!" He yelled as he ran by.

"We'll talk later." Ash kissed her on the cheek before walking outside.

In the backyard of the house, the sun beat down on everything, causing an unusually warm winter day. It was also blatantly clear how handsome Aiden was when he cleaned himself up. His hair had been brushed and neatened up, but there was still a boyish tousle to it. Aiden's dark brown eyes were now wide open and shining in the light. He was out of his pajamas and in a nice blue dress shirt and pants. Everyone always seemed amazed by how much Aiden looked like his father, down to almost every detail except for the lack of markings below his eyes. Otherwise, they both had the same coloring, handsome face, and determination.

"Alright son, come here." Ash called over to the boy. Aiden smiled, nodded, and ran over to his father.

"What kind of training are we going to do today, Dad?" Aiden asked with beaming eyes.

This wasn't the first time Ash had taken the boy out training. They had been doing it for quite some time. Not because Ash had forced him, but because Aiden had so heavily insisted on it. His father was a Pokemon master after all, and Aiden wanted to be one as well.

"Not anything specific." Ash scratched his head. "I've taught you pretty much everything I could."

"Than what are we doing?" Aiden was confused now.

Ash tried to hide his smile but he couldn't. "We're going to have a battle." Now Aiden lit up again.

"A battle? Like…a real, legitimate battle?"

"Yep."

Aiden's eyes were glowing a warm brown now, but they then stopped, once again with confusion.

"Dad, I don't have any Pokemon yet."

"I know that. You'll just have to borrow one of mine."

Now Aiden was excited indefinitely. "So I can use Pikachu?"

Ash laughed. "No way buddy."

"Pipi Pika." Pikachu nodded next to Ash. Silly Aiden is what it sounded like.

"Aw man." Aiden squinted his eyes. "But it's my birthday!"

"I know it is." Ash was still stifling a laugh. "Believe me, I know."

"Then why can't I use Pikachu?"

"You know he won't fight against me."

"Oh, right." Aiden moved some of his hair out of his eyes. He had forgotten that small fact.

"Don't worry. You know I have plenty more that will listen to you." Ash moved over to the table that was set up for the party, and showed Aiden three poke balls. "Pick one."

"Out of just three?" Aiden asked in a deflated tone.

"Well, tomorrow you only have a choice of three Pokemon. But then again, you'll know which one you're taking." Ash snickered a bit.

"What? What do you mean I'll know tomorrow?" Aiden was frustrated now.

Ash straightened himself up. "You know that tomorrow, you'll have a choice between three starter Pokemon; Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. You get to choose which of the three you want. For this battle, however, you're going to pick one poke ball, at random."

"And not know what's in it until it comes out?" Aiden raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly."

Aiden growled a little. "Fine." Examining each of the three poke balls carefully, Aiden finally chose the ball in the middle. "Got nothing to lose, I guess."

The two walked back out into the grassy area, standing far away from each other to leave a battle field in the middle of them.

"Alright Pikachu, let's go." Ash turned to the electric mouse Pokemon.

"Pika." Pikachu ran to the middle of the field.

"Oh that's so unfair!" Aiden yelled. "I can't use Pikachu, but you can?"

Ash shrugged. "My Pokemon, isn't it?"

"Ugh!" Aiden roared. "Go!" He threw the poke ball out into the field, and watched as it burst in mid air, releasing a flash of white light that eventually formed into a large, predator like beast. Its gray body had black and white accents, the beady eyes caught in a permanent glare, and a long piece of black hair with a red tip hanging between the eyes.

"Staraptor!" The Pokemon cawed while fanning out its wings.

"Staraptor? Awesome!" Aiden pumped his fist. "I can totally win."

"Don't be so sure of yourself." Ash's face broke into a sly look. Aiden's went back into determination mode.

"You make the first move." Ash continued to smile.

"I will." Aiden grinned deviously. "Staraptor, use quick attack!" Staraptor flew up off the ground and swooped down, moving vigorously from one side to the next.

"Dodge it Pikachu!" Ash ordered. Pikachu jumped up above the low flying predator Pokemon and landed flawlessly behind it.

"Staraptor, Pikachu is behind you! Try whirlwind!"

Staraptor flew back up and began to flap its wings back and forth quickly. The grass moved backwards and Pikachu began to slide back as well.

"Jump and use iron tail!" Ash called out. Squinting, Pikachu was able to jump up against the heavy wind, and hit Staraptor with its glowing tail.

"Star!" Staraptor cried as it spiraled down.

"Staraptor, quick, get up!" Aiden urged. Staraptor was able to get itself up, but just barely. "Awesome." Aiden broke into a smile. "Come on now, let's try brave bird!"

At this order, both Ash and Pikachu gaped.

"Aiden…" Ash tried to reason, but it was too late.

Staraptor was already backing up in the air, glowing a sparkling blue and speeding down towards Pikachu. The attack hit, and Pikachu went sailing through the air.

"Pika!" It cried out as it hit the ground.

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled out in a worried tone. The yellow Pokemon struggled to get up.

"Yes! Let's finish this up Staraptor!" Aiden called out. But there was no response. Aiden looked down at the large bird and saw it twitching.

"Staraptor?" He asked.

"Star…raptor." And with one final twitch, it collapsed to the ground.

"Ah, Staraptor!" Aiden ran over to the Pokemon.

"Guess we win." Ash smiled at Pikachu.

"Pika pikapi!" Pikachu came back to its full energy very quickly as it leaped onto Ash's shoulder.

"Good job buddy." Ash scratched Pikachu's neck and walked out towards Aiden.

"What did I do wrong?" He looked up, raven hair uncovering his dark eyes.

Ash smiled. "You were doing fine, until you told Staraptor to use brave bird."

Aiden took out Staraptor's pokeball and returned the Pokemon to its sanctuary before handing the ball back to his father.

"Why would that finish me off though? That should've given you a significant amount of damage."

"And it did. You saw that it was effective on Pikachu. The only problem with brave bird is that it's so powerful, it not only causes damage to the Pokemon your battling, but it causes damage to the Pokemon using the attack."

"Ugh, how could I forget about that?" Aiden hung his head. "Now I feel stupid."

"You aren't stupid." Ash tousled Aiden's hair. "You just need to think things out. You get excited and act too quickly. It's the same thing I used to do."

"Yeah, used to." Aiden grumbled. "Now you're a Pokemon master. You don't make any mistakes. Ever."

"That's not true at all." Ash shook his head. "I still make mistakes sometimes. And I don't win every battle. You just can't. Not even when you're a Pokemon master."

Aiden stood up, but kept his eyes lowered. "I guess so. But…I want to be like you."

"You can be better than me." Ash nudged him. "I know it." Something came up then in Aiden's head.

"Are you mad at Michelle?" He asked, feeling a bit odd for changing the subject so quickly.

"No." Ash gave Aiden a puzzled look. "Why would I be mad at her?"

"She's going to be a coordinator. No one in this family is a coordinator. You were a regular trainer, battling in the gyms, and now you're a Pokemon master. And Mom is a gym leader. Now I'm going to be a regular trainer, like you were, but she's going to be a coordinator."

"I'm absolutely fine with that." Ash nodded. "I love you and your sisters, no matter what you do. Even if the two of you hadn't decided to go on this journey, I'd love you all the same."

Aiden now nodded and smiled. "You're a really good Dad."

Ash found himself smiling at that. "I try."