I'm kicking butt with these updates, aren't I? The perks of summer! Even between dance classes and my new job at school starting next week, I've got lots of time to work! That's my mission right now: get as many updates to A New Era done before school starts as possible. Because once that starts up again...bye bye, life!

I've got a cute one here for you. It's a bit more fillerish, but it's got a great set of cameos, and it gives some more hints as to what a certain Pokémon trainer is up to...

LAST TIME: Michelle enters the Scarlet Town Contest. She wins, defeating a disguised Jewel (as "Gemma") in the finals. Fully frustrated, Team Rocket attacks the group after the match and steals Michelle's new ribbon. Even after both Jason and Jewel's Nidoran evolve, however, our heroes are able to fight back and regain the ribbon!

Chapter 42: Family Phone Tag!

"So, according to the information I've got right here, the next Contest is in a place called Tea Rose Town."

Michelle giggled just once and looked over at Brandon, who had just given her that information. "Tea Rose Town? What a cute name!"

"Sounds girly," Aiden scoffed. "Like something Lizzie would make up."

"Maybe when we get there, we can have a tea party," Michelle snickered. "You miss having tea parties with Lizzie, don't you, Aiden?"

"NO!" Aiden cried, immediately becoming defensive. "You know I hate it when Elizabeth forces me to play tea party with her! Me and Dad. We're both highly against it."

"Yet neither of you ever say no," Michelle practically sang.

"Pi!" Pichu squeaked from her shoulder.

At this, Aiden blushed and grumbled. "Because you don't say no to a four year old…that's just mean."

"At least his excuse is legit," Brandon chuckled.

"Yeah, I can't really get on him for that," Michelle agreed.

While his face was still burning red from the blush it was covered in, a drop of water fell onto Aiden's forehead and cooled his skin down ever so slightly. Making a noise of interest, Aiden looked up towards the sky and blinked. He had stopped walking completely, causing Michelle and Brandon to bump into either of his shoulders.

"Aiden, what did you stop for?" Michelle complained. "And why are you staring up at the sky?"

"I think I just felt a raindrop," Aiden replied.

"A raindrop?" Michelle repeated. "It can't be! It's been sunny all morning!"

"So? That doesn't mean it can't rain."

Michelle rolled her eyes and looked over at their friend. "Brandon, did the pokenav say anything about rain in the forecast for today?"

"Not that I can recall," Brandon murmured. "But sudden storms aren't uncommon for this time of year. Either way, I guess we should start heading for the nearest Pokémon Center. No use getting stuck in some torrential downpour."

Almost as soon as the group stepped off again, however, the sky clouded up and rain began to fall at a rapid pace. Shrieking, the young trainers picked up the pace and began to run down the trail, desperate to get out of the rain as soon as possible.

"I told you!" Aiden cried.

"Not exactly the time to brag!" Michelle yelled back. "Brandon, how far is the Pokémon Center?!"

"Right up ahead!" Brandon replied. "We should be able to see it as soon as we get over the next hill!"

The trio managed to pick up the pace just a bit more, enough to propel themselves over the upcoming hill within a matter of seconds. They stopped for just a short moment to indeed confirm that the Pokémon Center was just beyond that point. Once they saw the familiar large "P" on the front of the building, they booked it once again, running right down the hill and to the building that would promise to be a dry haven.

XXX

"Ah…what a good dinner! I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"Yeah, me either!"

"Wish I could say the same. But I'm always hungry."

Michelle looked over at her brother and smirked. He, in turn, chuckled and rolled over onto his front, resting his head on his pillow.

"Now I'm tired," Aiden commented, closing his eyes.

"Aiden's really just a baby stuck in the body of a ten year old boy," Michelle sighed. "All he really does is eat and sleep."

"Not true!" Aiden playfully argued. "I train Pokémon now, too."

"And you probably would have done that as a baby if you could have."

"Of course."

Michelle smirked as she stretched her arms over her head, the long sleeves of her lilac pajama top pulling down ever so slightly just to reveal her wrists. "Now that you mention it…I'm tired too."

"Pi…" Pichu sighed in agreement. She had already curled up into a ball on the top of Michelle's pillow, and was beginning to slip into a deep sleep.

"I guess we should all call it a night," Brandon decided, stepping back into the bedroom from the bathroom. "That rain cut our day short, so we can get started bright and early tomorrow to make up for it!"

"I like the way you think, Brando," Aiden replied sleepily.

"What?!" Michelle gasped. "Aiden, you never think waking up early is a good idea!"

"I do when it involves getting closer to my next gym badge," Aiden hummed. "Besides, don't you want your next Contest ribbon?"

Michelle blushed stubbornly at her brother's point. "Yeah, I do…fine. You're right."

"Thanks," Aiden chuckled, rolling over in his bed so his back was now facing Michelle and Brandon. "Night, guys!"

"Goodnight," Michelle sighed, tucking herself in and closing her eyes.

"Night!" Brandon chimed in, turning off the lights before climbing up into his top bunk and throwing himself down with a heavy thud. In just a matter of seconds, the room was completely silent, and all three trainers were fast asleep in their beds.

XXX

But that serene state didn't last for long. Not for all of the trainers, at least.

Aiden, who had been tossing and turning for a good ten minutes, finally grumbled and sat up, looking around the dark room. Once his eyes adjusted, he was able to see that Michelle was out like a light, no problem at all. And he could tell from the contented mumbling coming from above him that Brandon was as equally passed out.

"How come everyone can sleep but me?" Aiden muttered, slipping out of bed. "I was the one who was most tired, after all!"

He stood still in the middle of the room for a few more minutes, only his head moving as he looked around curiously. Biting his lower lip, Aiden moved towards the bedroom door and opened it up, stepping out into the hallway of the bedroom portion of the center. Normally, he might have felt a bit silly wandering around the Pokémon Center in his pajamas: the dark green t-shirt he wore under his day clothes paired with red and blue striped boxers, but at this time of night, he knew that the center would be mostly empty. And, as luck would have it, he was soon met with a completely empty lobby.

"Good," Aiden chuckled under his breath. As if walking around in his pajamas wasn't bad enough, what he was about to do next he considered even worse.

Heading towards the wall of video phones, Aiden sat down in front of the first one on the left, punching in the numbers he'd had memorized since he was little. While the phone rang, Aiden impatiently tapped his slipper covered foot against the floor, rolling his eyes up to look around at the ceiling, as though there were pieces of priceless artwork stored there.

"Aiden?"

The boy looked back at the video screen and smiled sheepishly, tilting his head to the side. "Heh…hi, Mom."

Misty blinked and moved in closer to the screen, like she was trying to confirm that she was actually staring back at her son. "Is something wrong, dear?"

"No," Aiden replied quickly. "Didn't you tell me before I left that I could call you whenever I wanted?"

"Of course I did," Misty answered softly. "But you don't call me very often. That's why I was afraid something might be wrong."

"Well, I guess nothing is exactly wrong," Aiden admitted. "I just couldn't sleep was all. It was bugging me."

"Aw, it's that light sleeper-ness of yours," Misty crooned, bringing a blush to her son's face.

"Mom, is that even a word?"

"No, I don't think so. But it sounds so cute that I'm just going to pretend it's one!"

"Well, me not being able to sleep isn't very cute," Aiden grumbled. "I'm tired!"

"I'm sorry, dear," Misty sighed. "See, it's times like these where I really wish you were home! I know exactly what to do for you when you're like this."

"Yeah, I miss your warm milk," Aiden sheepishly admitted.

Smirking at this, Misty allowed a mischievous twinkle to show up in her eyes, alarming her son. "Do you miss me, too?"

Aiden made a gargled choking noise, earning a giggle from his mother. "M-Mom! Stop! You're embarrassing me!"

Humming curiously, Misty looked around the boy and commented, "I don't see anyone else in that lobby, sweetheart. How could I possibly be embarrassing you?"

"Because I don't need an audience to be embarrassed!" Aiden cried. "I'm practically an adult, Mom. I don't need to be babied."

Misty scoffed at such an idea. "Ten hardly counts as being an adult. Besides, you'll always be my baby! Believe me, if I could reach through this screen right now and hug you, I would I'd probably never let go, actually."

"Well that doesn't surprise me," Aiden muttered. "And…yeah, I do miss you, Mom. I miss you a lot. You're actually really good at making me feel better and stuff."

"That is my job," Misty teased. "So, how's it going? Have you gotten any new badges since the last time we talked?"

"Yeah!" Aiden chirped. "We went to Cinnabar Island, and met Kenneth! I won the Volcano Badge there."

"Ah, Kenneth!" Misty beamed. "He's such a sweetheart. I bet he gave you a really good battle!"

"Yeah, it was awesome!" Aiden trilled. "Inside of a volcano and everything! I bet you already knew that, though."

"Yes, I remember from back when your father challenged Blaine," Misty replied, her expression suddenly darkening. "It was easier back then…"

"Huh?"

Misty blinked hard and looked back up at Aiden, who looked thoroughly confused. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear. It's nothing. Just…rambling is all."

"Oh, okay," Aiden dismissed with a smile. At this, Misty let out a sigh of relief. It was times like these she was thrilled with the fact that Aiden took so much after Ash. "So, where's Dad?"

Misty's expression quickly became alarmed once again. "Why? I thought you wanted to talk to me!"

Aiden furrowed his brow. "I did. I still do! I was just asking about Dad."

Misty sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm sorry, Aiden. I didn't mean to freak out like that."

"It's okay," Aiden assured his mother. "Are you tired or something?"

"That's probably the best way to describe it," Misty sighed. "Dad is…fine."

"Just fine?" Aiden questioned. He found that answer to be a little bit strange. Normally, his mother could never stop gushing about his father. And as much as Aiden found their potent love for one another to be a little…gross, he also knew he was lucky to have two parents who did love one another so much. It had always made him feel safe, if not a little disturbed as well.

"Yeah, just fine," Misty replied curtly.

"Okay…" Aiden drawled. "And how about Lizzie?"

Misty's face began to glow again once her youngest daughter was mentioned. "Oh, she's so sweet, Aiden! She misses you and Michelle so much. She talks about both of you all the time. It breaks my heart a little bit, but at the same time, it makes me so happy to see just how much she really loves her big brother and sister. All Lizzie ever talks about is how much she wants to be like you two when she gets older."

"Hey, that's kind of cute!" Aiden chuckled. "I like having a fan!"

"Whenever I drop her off for ballet class, she just looks at me and says 'Mommy, I'm going to be as pretty as Shelly on stage!'," Misty giggled. "Or when she's about to get nervous about something, she'll tell me, 'I'm going to be brave and tough like Aiden!' It makes me smile every time."

"I didn't think Elizabeth was afraid of anything," Aiden murmured.

"Not many things," Misty admitted. "She'll have the occasional spurt of 'I'm scared of the dark' or 'there's monsters in my closet,' but those are mostly because she wants attention. You know her biggest fear is thunder and lightning storms. She says she'll act brave for them, but as soon as another strike hits, she gets scared. Poor thing."

"But that's what Dad's good at!" Aiden brimmed. "Calming her down when that happens!"

"Yeah," Misty muttered, pulling her shoulders back. "Yeah, that's what he's good at."

Aiden raised a wry eyebrow. "Mom? Are you sure everything is okay?"

"It's fine," Misty quickly assured him, although Aiden somewhat felt that she was lying. "Listen, sweetheart, there's a few things I have to do around the house. Would it be alright if I left you to go do them?"

At this, Aiden's eyes widened. Normally, his mother would have insisted on talking to him until he was practically asleep on the desk. But now? She actually wanted to end it on her own power? Now that was unusual.

"Yeah, sure," Aiden replied, still sounding thoroughly confused. "No prob."

"Thank you, honey," Misty sighed before managing to smile sadly at the boy. "Please, don't worry about me. I promise that everything is just fine. I would never lie to my baby boy."

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Aiden's entire face turned red. "Thanks, Mom."

"And I'm sure you'll fall asleep before you know it," Misty assured the boy. "If you really have any more problems, you can call me back. Alright?"

"Yeah," Aiden murmured. "Thanks, Mom."

"Don't mention it," Misty trilled. "Sweet dreams, dear!"

"Night," Aiden responded just before the video screen flickered off. "Well, that was probably the weirdest conversation I've ever had with Mom before."

Back in Cerulean, Misty sighed and brushed her bangs away from her forehead, staring miserably at the blank screen. "Oh, Ash, look what you've made me do."

XXX

After talking to his mother, Aiden had returned to the room, but he still wasn't able to fall asleep. And this time, he could only tolerate about ten more minutes of tossing and turning. At that point, he got out of bed and once again headed to the phones.

"Now I just feel like a little kid," Aiden muttered, picking up the phone and redialing his home number. He sat there with his head in his hands, waiting for his mother to pick up the phone again. So, of course, his surprise was palpable when it wasn't his mother who he saw on the screen…

But his little sister.

"Elizabeth?" Aiden breathed, narrowing his eyes as he picked his head up.

"Hi, Aiden!" Elizabeth greeted with a giggle.

Without even having to think about it, Aiden's "big brother" instincts kicked into high gear. "Shouldn't you be in bed, shrimp?"

At this, Elizabeth huffed. "I'm not a shrimp! I can stay up 'til whenever I want!"

Aiden scoffed and shook his head. "Not with Mom and Dad in the house, you can't."

"Daddy's not here," Elizabeth replied.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Daddy's not home," Elizabeth elucidated. "I dunno where he is! Mommy doesn't say."

"That's strange…" Aiden muttered.

"Yeah," Elizabeth sighed. "And she tries to put me to sleep, but I say no! So I get to stay –wake and I get to play!"

Aiden smirked at this. "You really should go to sleep, Lizzie."

"I don't wanna," was Elizabeth's simple response.

"Man, you had to be stubborn, just like me," Aiden groaned.

"Thanks you!" Elizabeth giggled, obviously thrilled that her brother believed she was somewhat like him.

"So, since you're up, what are you going to play?" Aiden asked.

"Uh…everything!" Elizabeth trilled before giggling again.

"Everything?"

"Mmhm."

"And what's that include?"

"Um…dollies, and Magical Ponyta, and…and jump rope!"

"Jump rope?" Aiden repeated. "You have to go outside to play that, Lizzie."

"No, I play inside."

"You're gonna break something."

"Mommy doesn't care! She's like a zombie now."

"Wait…what do you mean she's like a zombie now?" Aiden questioned.

As he asked that question, Elizabeth squeaked and looked over her shoulder before whipping her head back around to face the video screen. "Uh oh!"

"Uh oh what?" Aiden pressed.

"I gots to go now," Elizabeth suddenly informed him.

"WHAT?!" Aiden shrieked. "But…no! No, Elizabeth! You have to tell me what you mean when you say Mom is acting like a zombie!"

"No, Aiden!" Elizabeth cried, waving her arms up and down. "Bye bye!"

"Elizabeth!" Aiden growled.

His angry pleading was doing no good, however. The screen flickered off even as he continued to protest, leaving behind a completely bewildered Aiden.

"What…just happened?"

XXX

"Uh oh…uh oh!"

Elizabeth slid off of the chair that sat in front of the video screen, standing behind it and trying valiantly to push it back underneath the desk. Unfortunately, she was small, and the chair was quite heavy, so she wasn't having much luck. Just as she was about to give up, and run right out of the room, that's when she was faced with a towering, intimidating figure.

"Elizabeth?"

"Uh…heh," Elizabeth giggled nervously, hiding her arms behind her back. "Hi, Daddy!"

Ash groaned and rubbed his eyes. He was so tired…and he loved his daughter, but he really didn't have the patience or the energy to be dealing with this. "Why are you not in bed?"

Elizabeth frowned and lowered her eyes. Her daddy hadn't been acting like himself lately. He was usually so fun and so sweet! He loved to play with her and was never upset. But in the past few weeks, he'd completely changed. He was tired all the time…and fairly grouchy. He never wanted to play anymore…not like he had the time, anyway. Elizabeth missed her fun, happy daddy. This new one was unusual to her.

"I wasn't sleepy, Daddy," Elizabeth muttered, sounding very remorseful. "And Mommy let me out of bed."

"She did?" Ash marveled.

"No," Elizabeth finally admitted. "She just didn't catch me."

Ash sighed and shook his head. Bending down, he scooped Elizabeth up and held the little girl in her arms. With a gentle whine, Elizabeth rested her head on top of his right shoulder and cuddled up against him.

"It's bedtime for you, pumpkin," Ash murmured, kissing the girl's cheek. "Come on. Daddy will help you fall asleep."

"No, Daddy…" Elizabeth whined.

"No?" Ash questioned, carrying her right up the stairs. "Why not?"

"I can't sleep," Elizabeth groaned.

"You can try."

"No," Elizabeth whimpered. "I don't wanna."

"Why not?"

"Cause then I wake up, and you went bye bye," Elizabeth replied through a sniffle. "I miss you, Daddy."

Ash's throat tightened, and he could feel the backs of his eyes beginning to sting as tears collected, clouding up his already obstructed vision thanks to the dark. "I miss you too, baby girl. I miss you so much."

He hugged her even tighter as they approached the little girl's bedroom. Walking in, Ash laid her down in her unkempt bed, pulling the sheets back over her little body.

"No, Daddy…" Elizabeth whimpered, holding her arms up towards him. Her voice was weakening, and Ash could tell she was just on the verge of falling asleep. Perhaps then all she really needed to fall asleep was him. Because before he'd picked her up, she'd been as bouncy as a Buneary on a sugar high. If anything, that only made him feel worse.

"I'm not going anywhere, pumpkin," Ash promised, reaching out and holding the girl's little hand in his own. "I'm right here, sweetie."

"No…" Elizabeth wailed, squeezing her eyes tight as tears began to fall from them. "Daddy, no…"

Biting his lower lip, Ash crawled into Elizabeth's tiny bed to lie beside her. Even then, she continued to cry, lips quavering through her eyes remained shut.

"Please don't cry," Ash whispered. He was saying it not only to Elizabeth, but to himself. His own tears were threatening to fall, and the last thing he needed was to have his little daughter see him cry. "Don't cry. It's okay. Everything will be okay. It will."

He buried his nose in Elizabeth's dark red hair and hugged her close. This action finally caused Elizabeth to open her eyes. Through the tears, she could see her father's head right above hers, his nose pressed against her head, and his arms wrapped around her body.

"Daddy?" Elizabeth whispered.

Ash blinked hard and glanced down at Elizabeth, surprised to see her eyes open. "What is it, pumpkin?"

"I loves you," Elizabeth murmured, closing her eyes again and allowing her head to fall against his chest. "Loves you, Daddy."

Ash frowned and let out a forlorn sigh, kissing the girl's forehead. "I love you too, Lizzie. More than anything in the whole wide world."

When he pulled his head away from Elizabeth's, and looked down at her face once again, he was relieved to see that she had finally fallen asleep. Brushing his fingers through her hair a few more times, Ash left the girl with a kiss on her cheek before getting out of the bed and walking right out of her bedroom.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to come home."

Ash sighed and turned around, finding himself face to face with none other than his clearly agitated wife.

"I know that you're upset, okay?" Ash grumbled, striding past her. "You don't have to make it any worse."

"Ash, it couldn't possibly get any worse," Misty bit, following right after him.

"Oh, it could," Ash crowed, walking into their bedroom with Misty still on his tail. "And that's why I'm doing my best to make sure it doesn't reach that point. A little bit of credit would be nice."

"Yeah?" Misty droned. "Well, no offense, but I'm not exactly ready to give credit to you for putting yourself in harm's way."

"You know that's not what I'm doing," Ash groaned.

"Maybe not intentionally, but you and I both know that's what it's going to lead to eventually," Misty seethed. "No one joins the G-Men for high tea and friendly conversations."

Ash sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're impossible, Misty. I'm trying to do something good…something that I should have done ten years ago. I just want to help people! I want to protect them! And that includes our children."

"If you wanted to protect them so bad, you wouldn't be doing this in the first place!"

"Please stop yelling," Ash hissed, leading Misty to press her lips together. "I just got Elizabeth to sleep. I don't want her waking up."

"What?" Misty gasped. "You got Elizabeth to go to bed? Seriously?"

"It wasn't that hard," Ash muttered. "I mean, other than the crying…that was rough."

"Crying?" Misty repeated. "On who's end? Yours or Elizabeth's?"

"Both," Ash replied, watching as Misty's expression changed to shock.

"Oh, no," Misty blurted. "Oh, Ash, I was just kidding. I…I didn't know you were actually…oh, gods. Ash, I'm so sorry…"

"You don't have to be," Ash muttered. "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay," Misty groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I shouldn't be so angry. I should be happy that you're home, that you're safe for another day. But instead, all I do is yell at you and talk down to you. Why would you want to come home to this? I sure don't make it a pleasant homecoming."

"But you do," Ash refuted with a smile. "Just seeing your face is enough to make my day better. Coming home to Elizabeth's squeaky little giggles and her big smile…that means the world to me, Mist. You two are what keep me going during the day. What I'm doing isn't easy. But knowing that I have a wife and a daughter at home who love me…that really helps."

"Oh, Ash," Misty sighed, striding forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but it must have been something really amazing."

"Nah, you just had to be yourself!" Ash chuckled. "I love you for who you are, Mist."

"I love you," Misty breathed, pushing up on her toes to kiss Ash's lips. "I do."

"I love you, too," Ash murmured, pressing a hard, passionate kiss against Misty's cheek. "Listen, I want to go downstairs and get a little something to eat. I'm pretty hungry."

"You're gonna come right back up?" Misty asked, a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Mmm, I love it when you get like this," Ash hummed, gently brushing his lips against Misty's. "Of course I'll come right back up. I'm thinking you want to cuddle, is that right?"

"Yeah," Misty sighed, resting her head against his chest. "That'd be nice…"

"Okay," Ash laughed, kissing the top of her head. "The sooner you let me go, the sooner I can come back to you."

Reluctantly, Misty let go of Ash and smiled sweetly at him as he walked out of their bedroom, down the hall and then the stairs that took him into the kitchen. Immediately, he hustled over to the fridge, opening up the doors and peeking in, looking for something good to eat. As soon as he located something, however, the video phone began to ring, catching the man's attention.

"A phone call?" He muttered to himself, closing the fridge and walking over to the video phone. "This late at night?"

Turning the screen on to accept the call, Ash was taken back to see his son staring back at him.

"Aiden?" Ash muttered, eyes narrowing out of confusion.

"Dad!" Aiden gasped, a huge smile overtaking his face.

"What are you doing up at this time of night?" Ash questioned. "What are you doing calling the house at this time of night?"

"Mom said I could call whenever I wanted," Aiden snickered. "And that includes late at night!"

"And when have you ever listened to your mother before?" Ash teased.

"Uh…heh…not too often."

"Exactly."

"I just can't sleep is all," Aiden admitted.

"Oh no, not you too," Ash groaned. "I just had to go through this with Elizabeth!"

"Hey, I'm not saying I need a bedtime story here," Aiden argued.

"I didn't read her a bedtime story," Ash chuckled. "I gave her hugs and kisses!"

"Yeah, I definitely don't need that," Aiden grumbled.

"Well, why can't you sleep?" Ash asked. "There has to be a reason."

"I don't know," Aiden sighed. "I don't get it! I mean, I'm really tired, but my eyes just won't stay closed."

"That's just because you're a slight sleeper," Ash easily dismissed.

"No, Dad, that's not why," Aiden groaned. "I think it's because something's wrong."

"What could possibly be wrong?"

"I don't know! That's why I'm having such a hard time sleeping!"

Ash smirked at his flustered son. "Alright, don't get so worked up, buddy. You'll be just fine, okay? Don't think about anything. There's nothing wrong. Everything is okay."

"Dad?"

"What now, champ?"

"How come when I talked to Mom before, she seemed so distracted? And she didn't want to talk about you?"

"Uh, well…"

"And how come Elizabeth told me Mom's been acting like a zombie lately?"

At this, Ash's eyes widened. "Aiden, how many times have you called the house tonight?"

"Only three!" Aiden cried. "I haven't gotten any of the answers I've been looking for!"

"Maybe because there just aren't any answers," Ash nonchalantly replied. "There's nothing wrong, Aiden. I promise you. You know how your mother gets sometimes, and Elizabeth? She's a four year old. Do you really expect to have a constructive phone conversation with her?"

"Nope."

"Exactly," Ash chuckled. "So just go to sleep, okay? You know you can trust me. Everything's fine."

"If you say so," Aiden sighed.

"I do," Ash confirmed. "Now, bed. Or else you'll never be well rested enough to beat me!"

"Please, I could beat you in my sleep," Aiden scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" Ash huffed. "I'd like to see you try! Get started on that, buddy!"

And before Aiden could reply, the screen flickered off.

"Dad!" Aiden hissed, clenching his hand into a fist. "Man…now I see where I get it from."

Getting up from his seat, Aiden shuffled back to the room he was sharing with Brandon and Michelle. Reaching into his backpack, Aiden pulled out one of his poke balls and opened it up, releasing his Wartortle.

"War?" Wartortle grumbled, rubbing at his eyes with a claw.

"Sorry to wake you up, Wartortle," Aiden murmured. "But my family wasn't really helping me out. I'm still convinced that something's going on over there."

"Tortle," Wartortle whispered back, nodding his head.

"They just don't want to tell me because they don't want me to worry," Aiden continued. "One day, when I'm older, they'll tell me everything. I know it. I mean, I just want to take care of them the way Dad does. I don't ever want my family to be in danger or anything like that."

Wartortle nodded and patted Aiden's knee with a single claw. "War, wartortle."

"But Dad's right, it'll be okay," Aiden sighed, looking up towards the ceiling. "In the end, anyway."

Aiden's sensing that things are off, but he can't put his finger on it. And Ash and Misty are just trying to protect all three of the children. So Elizabeth really has no idea why her mommy is acting like a "zombie." But hey, who cares? She gets to stay up late! ;D

We're on our way to Michelle's next Contest, but a few more exciting things are sure to happen before then! What might they be? Stay tuned to find out! The next chapter is already in production!