Two stories in five days? That's right; your eyes don't deceive you!

Bottom line: I don't always write a story for Pokémon Day, but when I do, I always forget just how close it is to Girls' Day, which is one of my absolute favorite subjects to write about. So I figured we'd just have a short break between stories this year. It is a big anniversary for Pokémon, after all ;)

Aiden and Michelle: 9 years old

Elizabeth: 3 and a half years old

Dolls and Despair

The second Michelle woke up, she wished she could just go back to sleep or, even better, fast forward through the whole day.

Groaning, the girl flopped over in her bed, glaring at the window on the other side of her room. Of course, it had to be sunny today. Couldn't have poured rain, or even snowed…no, it was perfect.

That just made everything so much worse.

In her head, Michelle decided she would stay like this for as long as she possibly could. After all, no one could force her out of her own bed. If this was how she wanted to stay, then who was anyone to tell her no?

And she managed to get away with it for a little while. It was blissful, and quiet, and no one had so much as walked by her room to check in on her. But after about 10 minutes, her door opened up, and it was none other than Aiden who strolled right on in.

Great.

"Knock much?" Michelle grumbled, annoyed that he of all people had been the one to break her sanctuary.

"Why are you still in bed?" Aiden asked, ignoring her exasperated question. "Isn't today like…your super special day?"

His own voice was laced with obvious aggravation. He'd hated this day long before Michelle had. She actually used to love it, and Aiden despising it only made it all the more fun for her. But this year, she was in no mood for the whole thing, even if it was still serving as a massive irritant to her twin.

"I don't care," Michelle sighed.

Raising an eyebrow, Aiden prodded, "what do you mean you don't care? You rub today in my face every single year."

"Yeah, well…this year is different," Michelle huffed before rolling over so she was facing the other way, her back towards Aiden. "So, congratulations. You don't have to deal with it today."

"Are you forgetting about the little terror downstairs who you've specially trained to follow in your footsteps?" Aiden deadpanned. "I always have to deal with it, even if you're being weird. Why don't you just get out of bed and come downstairs?"

"No," Michelle refuted.

Aiden scowled. This wasn't like Michelle at all. And, as much as he would've liked to enjoy only being antagonized by one sister instead of both of them on this forsaken day, he had to admit that Michelle's sudden apathy was very bizarre. Enough, in fact, that it downright concerned him.

Deciding it wasn't worth it to continue conversing with her, and definitely not wanting her to know he was experiencing a degree of alarm, Aiden turned around and left. After all, if she was having some kind of personal crisis, Aiden didn't really want to be the one to deal with it. Even though he had two sisters, he really didn't understand girls, and he didn't necessarily want to, either.

Downstairs, that "little terror" he'd so lovingly referred to before was already sitting at the kitchen table, gnawing on a colorful rice cake. She was not fazed by her brother's reappearance, but Ash and Misty, who were seated with her, had significantly more interest.

"Where's Michelle, bud?" Ash asked. "I thought you were gonna go see what's up."

"I did," Aiden replied. "She was being weird. So, I left."

"Weird?" Misty repeated, furrowing her brow. "What do you mean?"

Aiden shrugged. "She said she doesn't care about today, but I don't know if I buy it."

Ash and Misty exchanged bewildered looks. Just like their son, they knew how much Michelle normally loved this day. So, for her to all of a sudden denounce it didn't make sense to either of them.

"You don't think she's sick, do you?" Ash murmured.

"No, I think something else is going on, but I'm not totally sure what," Misty sighed. "Maybe you should go check on her. She seems to open up to you the most out of all of us."

Ash grimaced. "Not sure how true that is anymore, but I'll give it a shot, if you really want."

Misty nodded. "I do. Thank you."

Smirking, Ash tapped Misty's nose. "Of course! Anything for my special girl on her special day!"

Aiden made a face of disgust as his father walked past him. Misty, who had watched him go and noticed the look on her son's face, shook her head in amusement. "Don't be like that! Your dad is very sweet."

"You think it's sweet, I think it's gross," Aiden scoffed.

"That's because you're still too young to appreciate romance," Misty commented. "You'll understand when you're older!"

Aiden narrowed his eyes. "You always say that. What if I don't want to understand it?"

"Then you don't have to," Misty countered without hesitation. "But trust me, I thought your dad would never understand it. Not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't have a clue about it to begin with."

Thinking for a short moment, Aiden mused, "I bet Dad would've been an even more amazing Pokémon trainer if he didn't get involved with all that mushy stuff. Don't you think so?"

"Well, I love your father, and I love you and your sisters, so I don't quite agree," Misty laughed.

Finally pulling the rice cake out of her mouth, Elizabeth cried, "I love everyone, too!"

"Oh, I know you do, sprinkle," Misty cooed, causing Elizabeth to beam. "You're a little sweetheart!"

Looking over at her older brother, Elizabeth shouted, "Denny, say you love everyone!"

The boy frowned and shook his head. "No."

"Say it!"

"No!"

"You hafta say it," Elizabeth ordered with a pout. "Is my holiday!"

"It's not just your holiday," Aiden argued. "Besides, I already get tortured enough today! I don't need to be bossed around even more than I already am."

"Say it!"

"No!"

Misty sighed and rested her head in her hand. "I'm starting to think I'd rather be up in Michelle's room dealing with whatever her issue is…"

Instead, it was Ash who was just poking his head into their eldest daughter's room. He saw Michelle, still in bed and facing the wall, and frowned at the sight. He quickly regathered himself, however, and stood up straight with a big smile on his face, stepping fully into the girl's room.

"Come on, I know you're not still sleeping!" Ash teased. In response, Michelle let out a loud, fake snore, causing Ash to roll his eyes. "Nice try, princess. I also knowyou don't snore."

Reluctantly, Michelle flipped around so she was facing her father. Still, she made no move to get out of bed. But Ash was not deterred and was fully ready to keep on pressing.

"Don't you know what day it is?" He asked hopefully.

Another beat of silence fell in between the two, until Michelle quipped, "Saturday."

"No," Ash countered before twisting his mouth. "Well, actually, you're not wrong. It is Saturday. But that's not what I was talking about!"

"What are you talking about?" Michelle constrained. Clearly, she had no plans on making this easy for her father. But in her current mood, she had obviously forgotten about how persistent he was, and let out a startled shriek the second he jumped and landed harshly on the foot of her bed.

"Girls' Day, of course!" Ash crowed. "Your favorite holiday in the world, aside from Christmas."

The girl showed off a weak smile. "Used to be."

Ash sat back up but remained on her bed. "What do you mean?"

Michelle clammed up again, this time trying to avoid looking at Ash altogether. When it became evident she wasn't going to respond, he crawled up and caught her in a playful headlock, finally earning some giggles from his reluctant daughter. "Hey, quit it!"

"Not until you tell me what's bothering you!" Ash replied in a sing-song voice. "And don't think you can get away with not saying a word! Trust me, I could do this all day. Just ask your mother how annoying I am."

"I already know how annoying you are!" Michelle laughed.

Ash couldn't help but to laugh himself. "Good! So, you'll just have to talk to me, then!"

"I can't!" Michelle whined, reaching up to tug at her father's arm. "Let go!"

"Alright, alright," Ash sighed, releasing the girl. "But only because I always do what you tell me."

Pulling away from Ash, Michelle returned to her bashful expression and slowly rubbed her upper arm. Just like that, all of the progress Ash had seemingly made with her was gone.

"But you also always do what I ask you to," Ash continued. "Well…almost always. Your track record has gotten a little spotty if we're being honest."

He had said it jokingly, but Michelle didn't laugh. Instead, her face clouded over, and she quickly turned her face further away so Ash couldn't see it.

"Could you please tell me why you're so upset?" Ash implored, having finally become more serious. "I don't like to see my princess so sad."

Michelle didn't budge, but she repeated, "I can't."

"Why not?"

Whipping around, Michelle bit, "it's girl stuff! You wouldn't understand!"

And with that, she threw herself back down into bed and covered herself with her sheets. Ash opened his mouth, fully prepared to keep trying, but managed to stop himself. After all, he didn't want to say anything that would make things even worse than they already were.

With that decided, Ash stood up from her bed and walked gingerly out of the room before picking up the pace in the hall and trampling down the stairs like he was running from a pack of wild Pokémon. Misty, Aiden, and Elizabeth all gave him befuddled stares, none of them sure what could've caused a reaction such as that.

"Okay, so, that didn't work," Ash breathed, locking eyes with a concerned Misty. "You've got to handle this."

Unable to believe what she was hearing, Misty demanded, "are you telling me that Michelle wouldn't talk to you at all?"

"Oh, no, she talked to me," Ash huffed. "And she said I wouldn't understand what was making her so upset because it's 'girl stuff.' So…this is a job for you."

His jaw dropping, Aiden whipped around to look at his mother. "You said Dad understood this kind of stuff!"

"No, I said he understands romantic stuff, not girl stuff," Misty corrected.

"What's the difference?" Aiden questioned.

She shot her son a warning look before getting up from her seat. "Alright. Whatever this is, I'll handle it."

"Good luck," Ash wished her, reclaiming his own seat and slumping down in it. Misty sighed at the reaction, knowing how frustrating it was for Ash when he couldn't get through to their firstborn daughter. They had been so close, ever since Michelle was a baby. But now that she was getting older, she didn't always want to tell Ash what was bothering her, and it really seemed to weigh on him.

But she couldn't worry about that right now; it'd just have to be a problem she would deal with later. Michelle was her concern at the moment, and Misty was determined to get to the bottom of whatever this was.

So, like Aiden and Ash before her, Misty walked up the stairs and into Michelle's room. Unlike them, however, she wasted no time in approaching her daughter's bed without hesitation and grabbing the sheets, pulling them off of the girl in one swift motion.

"Hey!" Michelle cried, springing up with fire in her eyes.

That didn't do much to intimidate Misty either. After all, she was basically looking into her own eyes, and she'd seen them full of fury enough times in her life that she knew exactly how to approach it. "Don't 'hey' me. You and I are going to have a conversation about why you're in such a mood." When Michelle groaned, Misty added, "And don't try to feed me the same 'it's girl stuff' excuse you gave your dad. Not only do I not buy it, but I've got several more years of experience than you do, so I can handle any 'girl stuff' you could possibly throw at me. Believe me, I've been through it all and then some."

"Fine, I lied," Michelle admitted with a grouse.

"I figured as much," Misty exhaled, taking a seat on the bed right beside her daughter. "Why would you lie to your dad like that?"

Frowning, Michelle softly answered, "because I didn't want to tell him the truth. I didn't want to make him upset."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Well, clearly you're upset about it. So, what is the truth?"

Taking in a deep breath, Michelle confessed, "I don't want to celebrate Girls' Day this year."

That Misty hadn't been expecting. "Why not? You've always loved Girls' Day!"

"Yeah, I did, but I'm not a little kid anymore," Michelle explained. "This would basically be my last Girls' Day. Next year, I'll be away on my journey. And I won't be here to celebrate with you guys. It makes me sad, and I don't want my last memory of Girls' Day to be a sad one."

Suddenly, things started to make sense. Misty slowly nodded her head in understanding but stopped once a particular thought struck her. "So, that's why you lied to Dad? You think he'll be upset like you are?"

"No, not about that really," Michelle murmured. "Maybe he would be. I don't know. I was mostly worried about my dolls." Sheepishly looking up at her mother, Michelle sustained, "you guys have always told me how special those dolls are, and how Dad went out of his way to make sure I had the most perfect doll set when I was just a baby. I've always loved them because of that, and I get so excited when we take them out every year because I just love looking at them! But after today, I'll never see them again. They're going to get buried in the basement or the attic or something. And all of the hard work and the love Dad put into them will be for nothing."

Placing a hand on her daughter's cheek, Misty calmly argued, "that will never be for nothing. Dad and I have watched you fawn over those dolls for all these years. We know how much they mean to you, and we've all made special memories because of them! That's worth more than anything. Besides, who ever said we had to stop putting your dolls out?"

"Tradition," Michelle mournfully recited. "Once a girl turns 10, you're not supposed to put her dolls out anymore. Everyone knows that."

"Then we'll make our own tradition," Misty avowed, strong resolve behind it. "I'm not really one for all those stuffy old rules, anyway. If we want to keep putting your dolls out, then we will! Even if you're not home."

"Really?" Michelle queried hopefully.

"Totally!" Misty assured her. "I mean, I might not put my dolls out anymore, but you see how your dad treats me every year on Girls' Day: just like a princess! And I already told you, I'm old."

Michelle smirked at her mother's self-depreciative jab. "That would definitely make me feel better."

"And just because you're going to be a Pokémon trainer doesn't mean you can never come home ever again," Misty reminded her daughter. "In fact, I expect you to! I don't know what I would do without my little mini me."

With a small sniffle, Michelle leaned forward and gave Misty a tight hug. Misty cooed and embraced the girl herself, resting her chin atop her head.

"So, you don't think Dad will be upset?" Michelle practically whispered, sinking deeper into her mother's hold.

Misty shook her head. "No. He'll only be upset if he knows you're upset. In fact, he's down there beating himself up right now because he couldn't get you to talk to him. If he thinks he can't help you, he gets very discouraged."

Michelle frowned. "Which means I already made him upset, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

"It's messed up, right?" Misty mused with a sad smile. "Sometimes, when we think we're protecting the people we love, we're actually hurting them. Realizing that is definitely not one of the fun parts of growing up. But what is good about it is you can learn from your mistakes and make up for them! Plus, luckily for you, your dad is probably the most forgiving person in the whole entire world."

Grinning, Michelle pulled away from her mother and jumped out of bed, running out of her room without another word. Smiling herself, Misty got up and followed after her daughter, reaching the bottom of the stairs just in time to watch her attach herself to Ash with the biggest hug she could possibly give. Ash was clearly surprised by the sudden change in her disposition, but that quickly melted away into a wonderful mixture of relief and joy.

"There's the Shelly I was expecting to see on Girls' Day!" Ash cheered, reaching up to stroke his daughter's cheek. "I'm guessing Mom was able to help you out with your, uh, girl stuff?"

Michelle looked up at her mother, and the two traded silent understanding. "Yeah, she was."

"Well, I'm glad!" Ash chuckled. "Not surprised, of course. She's very good at that kind of stuff."

Misty hummed in agreement before striding over to Aiden and Elizabeth, patting their heads and smiling down at them. Ash watched on in adoration, his eyes shining with pride.

"Dad?" Michelle asked, regaining his attention. "Now that I'm finally out of bed, I was wondering if maybe we could go in the living room and look at my dolls together?"

"Yeah, sure!" Ash laughed. "I'd love to!"

"Can I come?!" Elizabeth cried.

"Of course!" Michelle giggled. "Dad can tell us all about your dolls, too. I bet he worked just as hard picking yours out as he did mine, right?"

"Absolutely!" Ash confirmed, grinning at his excited younger daughter. "Yours are just as special as Michelle's!"

Squealing, Elizabeth urged, "let's go!" and jumped right out of her seat, running into the living room without waiting for anyone else.

"You might want to get in there before she starts trying to play with the dolls again," Misty suggested, smirking at an amazed Ash and Michelle.

"Yeah, she's right," Ash agreed, standing up and making his own leave.

"Be right there!" Michelle called after him before turning towards Aiden. "Don't eat all those rice cakes before I can even have one!"

The boy lowered the tri color treat from his mouth and scowled at his sister. "I'm allowed to eat, you know!"

"I never said you weren't," Michelle retorted. "All I said was don't eat all of them. It is Girls' Day, after all!" And with that, she turned on a heel and strode out of the kitchen.

Misty let out a small giggle and looked over at an irritated Aiden. "You have to admit it's nice to see her acting like herself again!"

"I don't know," Aiden grumbled, taking another bite of his rice cake. "I'm starting to think I liked it better when she wouldn't get out of bed."

He doesn't actually mean it, no matter what he says!

Usually when I write the Girls' Day stories, I focus them on when Michelle and Elizabeth are younger. But I actually learned in doing my research for this year's story that dolls usually don't get put up once a girl turns 10, which coincides pretty interestingly with the big "leaving home at 10" thing they've got going on in the Pokémon world. Michelle is pretty sensitive, so I wanted to explore how she'd react to her last "real" Girls' Day before leaving home.

And yes, I also purposely included the acknowledgement that Elizabeth cannot be trusted alone with her dolls in reference to last year's story. Aiden wasn't totally wrong calling her a little terror (but she's cute so it all evens out!)