Haha, another update! I swear I'm not rushing through these, by the way. I actually started these chapters a little while back, because I was so excited about them, so they've been finished for awhile. And I just can't wait to put them up :P Also, I'm in a super happy mood because the Giants won the Super Bowl :D They're my favorite football team, so I've been living it up since Sunday.

Soo, last time, Ash decided to present Misty with a baby shower. How will she react to such a surprise? Let's find out.

"Wha…what is this?"

"It's a baby shower!" May squealed, clasping her hands together. "Don't you just love it?"

"I…I…" Misty stammered, feeling unable to formulate a proper response.

"Dawn and I were so upset we couldn't throw you one the first time around," May continued, clearly unaware of Misty's discomfort, "so when we found out you were having another baby, we started planning this party right away!"

Misty was still staring at everyone in her backyard with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She wasn't entirely sure of how to react to this.

"Aren't you surprised, Misty?" Dawn squealed, running up to the gym leader. Aiden and Michelle were racing right behind the bluenette coordinator, their eyes shining with excitement.

Ash glanced over at his wife. He'd known her for 17 years, so he knew what each of her facial expressions meant. Right now, her face appeared tight, with wide, unblinking eyes, and her mouth set into a fine line. Her jaw was also set, further hardening her uneasy expression.

Yes. Misty was not amused.

"I had nothing to do with this," Ash leaned over and whispered into Misty's ear, hoping to save himself some of her uncontrollable fury.

Aiden and Michelle both let out tiny squeals, latching onto their mother's toned legs. Misty's eyebrow arched slightly as she peered down. It was a futile attempt, however, as she couldn't see her feet due to her bulging stomach. Blushing slightly, Misty grunted and folded her arms, looking up with her eyes shifted towards the midsummer clouds. As if sensing her frustration, the baby delivered a kick so hard that Misty could feel it in her spine. Wincing, she grabbed onto her belly, letting out a sharp breath as she did so.

"We helped, Mommy," Michelle's light, airy voice caused Misty to relax her face. She noticed that the twins were now standing in front of her, so she could properly see their little faces.

"Don't you like it?" Aiden frowned slightly. Misty smiled sympathetically and let out a small giggle. She kneeled down as much as she could, causing Ash to gasp and hiss several displeased axioms at her. Misty simply chose to ignore them, however, as she reached out to stroke the twins' hair.

"I love it. You know that everything means more to me when you two help out! You're my little babies, after all."

Misty held out her arms for a hug, which Aiden and Michelle were happy to oblige. The mother and children blissfully and silently embraced for a few moments, until Misty went to give the young ones each a kiss. Michelle was happy to receive the gesture, but Aiden was anything but.

"EW!" Aiden cried after feeling his mother's lips against his temple. He pushed at her shoulders and informed her, "too much love, Mommy."

"I'm sorry little buddy," Misty ruffled his raven locks. Aiden huffed indignantly and marched over to his father, knowing that the man was less likely to fawn over him.

"So, you do like it?" Dawn's bright blue eyes began to glitter once more.

"Well, I wasn't planning on having a big party anytime soon," Misty blushed slightly, "but it's a nice surprise."

"That doesn't necessarily sound like a yes," May murmured to herself as she scratched her head.

"Who cares!" Dawn squealed excitedly. "She said she was surprised, and that's the point! So, we did a good job!"

"Not entirely," May narrowed her eyes at the younger coordinator before giving a shrug, "but whatever makes you happy."

Misty tried to stand up from her kneeling position, but the extra weight was too much to handle and she ended up falling onto her bottom.

"Oof!" Misty huffed as soon as she landed. This was met with several nervous or horrified gasps, and Misty was almost certain she'd heard terrified mutterings along the lines of, "the baby!"

"Mommy?" Michelle asked worriedly as she leaned forward.

"Sweetie," Misty comforted with a tiny grin, "I'm just fi-"

She was cut off by Ash pulling her up to her feet by underneath her arms. Misty whipped around, glaring at the Pokémon Master. She relaxed, however, when she saw the worry in his dark brown eyes.

"Don't scare me like that, Mist," Ash almost pleaded in a quiet voice. Misty smiled sheepishly and nodded at her husband before being abruptly pulled away by her delicate wrist courtesy of Dawn.

"Come on Misty, sit down!" Dawn swung her friend's arm back and forth. "We have so much to do!"

"So much?" Misty groaned. "I just wanted to relax for a little bit. I'm really tired."

"Oh," Dawn twisted her mouth before deciding, "I guess we can do that for a little while."

"Thank you," Misty sighed tiredly. She was still holding onto her belly, the pain in her back not quite gone from before. Dawn led her over to a chair, which Misty happily took. "Oh, I could just sleep sitting up!" Misty smirked, throwing her longer than usual red hair back. Dawn giggled and took a seat next to the gym leader, pressing a hand against the impressive bump.

"Is she a big baby?" Dawn queried.

Misty blushed. Technically, Dawn was calling her huge. Misty knew she was, but hearing other people say it wasn't much of a thrill. Also, tact had never been a strong suit of Dawn's.

"I don't think so," Misty slowly shook her head. "I have tiny babies."

"This one could be big," Delia moved closer to Misty, a little glint appearing in her light russet eyes. "Ash wasn't a little thing when he was born; not at all!"

"Mom!" Ash's face flashed a bright red, the heavy blush burning his skin. Misty laughed at this, and suddenly she seemed to be in a much better mood about this whole party. She was now surrounded by most of the females, all of them discussing girly things that Ash was sure he had no interest in.

Sighing, Ash looked down at his feet and realized that both Aiden and Michelle were no longer standing in front of him. Ash panicked slightly, afraid that the twins had run away from the house. He'd given them the speech about not leaving the backyard a million times, and he assumed it to be impossible with all these people around. But could they have really gotten away?

Looking ahead, Ash's heart began to settle down. Michelle had somehow inserted herself into the group of females, and was now sitting on May's lap, smiling happily as the brunette coordinator played with and braided her hair.

"Whoa there little man!"

That too caught Ash's attention. It was Drew's voice, that he knew for sure. Glancing over to the side, Ash saw that Aiden was up on the food table, although how he'd managed that Ash would never know.

Drew had his hands pressed against the top of the table, and he was carefully observing the young boy who was staring at all the different food.

"I don't know what to eat," Aiden finally announced to the green haired coordinator.

"I think you need to save some for everyone else big guy," Drew narrowed his eyes playfully as he let out a sly chuckle. "They're all hungry too, you know!"

"I'm hungrier," Aiden stated in a matter of fact manner.

"You must be like your Daddy, thinking everything is a competition," Drew snickered.

"I heard that, Drew."

The green haired coordinator shrieked in an almost girlish fashion and whipped around, finding himself face to face with an un amused Ash. Drew chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, throwing in a, "uh…hey Ash. Uh…cool party, huh?"

"Not particularly," Ash shot back before sighing and breaking out of his falsely angry charade. "I thought this would be a lot more fun. You know, me getting to make Misty feel all special. Instead, she's being surrounded by all the girls, and they're talking about things you couldn't pay me to understand, let alone be interested in."

"That's a baby shower for you," Drew shrugged. "You're just learning the hard way."

"Well, there's gotta be something interesting for me to do!" Ash groaned.

"Feed me," Aiden suggested, folding his arms in complete seriousness.

"Alright buddy, I got you," Ash smirked at his young son. He put some food on a plate and handed it to the child, who happily accepted it without a word. Frowning, Ash prompted, "what do you say, Aiden?"

"Fank 'ou," Aiden replied with a full mouth.

"Good enough," Ash shrugged. "At least you said it."

"Well, what sort of activity would you find to be interesting?" Drew huffed slightly.

"Anything but that," Ash tilted his head towards the gaggle of females, who were all fawning over Misty.

"Then I think you're out of luck," Drew winked mischievously.

"Man, so now I'm stuck here all by myself," Ash hung his head. "This is pretty lame, huh?"

"You're not alone, Daddy," Aiden assured after swallowing his latest bite of food. "You have me! I'm not goin' to hang out with some dumb girls."

"Thanks buddy," Ash smiled sheepishly.

"Heh, you want something to do, Ashy boy?"

Ash stopped completely. Not even his eyes moved, not daring to shift or even blink. He knew exactly who was behind him; not only from the voice, but from the obnoxious nickname that only this person called him by.

"Gary," Ash stated simply as he turned around, glaring slightly at the Pokémon researcher. The two were grown men now, so of course the days of their boyhood rivalry were over. They got along much better now, although there were still plenty of times were Gary managed to tick Ash off. Calling him "Ashy boy" was a good way to annoy the Pokémon master, so Ash could only assume Gary had it out for him today. "What do you want?"

"Ouch, doesn't sound like you want to see me," Gary pouted in mock hurt.

"Depends on what you want," Ash replied smartly.

"I heard you complaining to grass head over here that you're bored," Gary poked his thumb towards Drew, who looked fairly insulted by Gary's name for him. "Thought that maybe I could help you out."

"By doing what? Torturing me?"

"Unless you consider a good old fashioned Pokémon battle torture, than no," Gary smirked.

"A Pokémon battle?" Ash repeated quietly.

"That's what I said. Just a friendly little match. Nothing to lose, right Ashy-"

"Call me Ashy boy one more time and you'll lose a finger."

"Alright, Ash," Gary rolled his eyes and smirked, "so what do you say? You up for the challenge?"

"Of course I am," Ash showed his former rival a sneaky little grin before coming to realization. "Oh. But…we can't just have the battle right here. Misty would kill me."

"That's no problem. We can take it out into the back woods! There's a great little clearing where I go to do a lot of my research. We could have a battle right there! It won't disrupt the party, and we'll be uninterrupted as well."

"Sounds fine to me," Ash nodded, "let's do it! Drew, you coming?" He turned to the green haired coordinator, who was still shooting daggers at Gary with his emerald eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," Drew flicked a lock of hair. "Better than standing around here while May ignores me, I suppose."

"Daddy, I want to come too!" Aiden suddenly cried out. Ash looked down at the boy's lap and noticed that his plate was empty.

"You finished all that food?" Ash sounded impressed.

"Yeah, cause I was hungry!" Aden smiled. "Can I come watch the battle?"

"Of course you can champ," Ash walked over to his son and lifted the boy off the table so he could be stood up on the ground. "You can learn a lot of things from watching Gary and I battle!"

"Okay, but I still want you to win," Aiden ran forward to hug one of Ash's legs.

"Well, look at that," Ash smirked at his former rival, who had a curious look on his face. "Looks like I've got a little fan support on my side!"

"I would have some as well if Sam was around," Gary sighed, folding his arms. "But, in this case, I suppose I'll just have to go with grass head over there." Looking up at a still perturbed Drew, Gary asked, "what do you say, buddy?"

"I don't think so," Drew huffed. "As far as this battle is concerned, I'm going to cement myself as a neutral viewer, thank you very much."

"Aw, come on Drew," Ash chuckled, "you're not gonna stand behind me?"

"No," Drew replied plainly. "I want to watch objectively. This isn't one of my wife's contests, you know."

"Fair enough," Gary shrugged his shoulders. "Now, anyone who wants to partake in this little battle exhibition, follow me!"

XXX

It was hot. That fact was undeniable. Being enormously pregnant only made it ten times hotter.

Being enormously pregnant and in pain? Misty wasn't entirely sure of how much that amplified the terribleness of the situation.

"Misty?"

The gym leader blinked and turned towards Dawn, who had her finger pressing into Misty's shoulder. The bluenette coordinator looked puzzled by Misty's reaction, and even more so when Misty said absolutely nothing in response.

"Are you alright?" Dawn finally asked, her sapphire eyes shining with concern.

"Yes, perfectly fine," Misty lied through her teeth.

"You've been awfully quiet," Dawn continued, placing her hands in her lap. "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Dawn, you're starting to sound like Ash," Misty sighed, throwing her head back slightly. "Please relax. I'm fine."

"Alright, if you insist," Dawn murmured, straightening out her shoulders.

Misty nodded and slunk down further into her seat, hands resting on her very swollen stomach which housed her currently restless, unborn daughter. For whatever reason, the child was hell bent on hurting her mother today. Misty felt every movement so clearly, and they weren't gentle either. She had never felt such hard kicks yet. In addition, Misty was almost positive the girl was doing flips in her stomach.

And man was her back killing her! Misty kind of just wanted to scream right now. Sometimes, that just made her feel better. But she couldn't do it in front of all of her friends, and especially not in front of Michelle.

"Come on Misty!" May's sweet voice broke Misty out of her miserable state. She looked towards the brunette, who was beaming. "You have to open your presents now!"

Misty groaned inwardly. That really didn't seem like fun right now. Her face must have shown it off, because Michelle quickly became worried.

"Are you okay, Mommy?" Michelle squeaked.

"Yes baby girl, everything is perfect," Misty breathed, reaching out to touch her daughter's face. "I'm just…I just want to go inside for a few minutes is all."

"Why? Did you leave something in there?" May asked. "I can go in and get it for you if you want. That way you can just sit here and relax!"

"No, I didn't forget anything," Misty pulled herself up with some great difficulty, wincing once she was on her feet. Misty's expression troubled Michelle once again, who began to whimper from her spot on May's lap. Realizing that her daughter was upset again, Misty relaxed herself and continued, "I'm very hot is all. I just want to cool off. You can all wait a few more minutes for presents, right?"

"Of course dear," Delia smiled at her daughter in law. "Take your time."

Misty tried to grin back, but she couldn't manage it. All Misty could think about at the moment was air conditioning. And ice. Oh what Misty wouldn't give to be in a frozen tundra right now! These thoughts caused her to walk faster towards the house, looking forward to being in cool air like nothing else in the world.

As soon as Misty reached the door, she wrapped her hand around the door knob and prepared to pull it open. Just as she yanked at the handle, a strange and almost painful pressure filled her stomach. Misty huffed at the sensation, but shook it off when the feeling disappeared as soon as it had arrived.

"Just the baby jumping on my bladder," Misty mumbled to herself as she stepped into the house. "No big deal."

XXX

"Umbreon, let's go!"

Ash watched with intent eyes as Gary tossed his poke ball, sending out his oldest and most dear Pokémon.

"Umbreon is a cool Pokémon!" Aiden beamed as he studied the moonlight Pokémon. Ash furrowed his brow and looked down at his young son, who appeared ready to cheer for the evolved form of Eevee.

"Hey, I thought you were on my side, buddy!" Ash frowned.

"I am, Daddy!" Aiden chuckled as he raised his head so he could see his father. "I just like Umbreon is all! I bet you can beat him though."

"We'll see about that," Ash smirked. Turning his head towards his shoulder, Ash locked eyes with his own Pokémon partner, who was grinning back at his trainer with pure confidence. "Alright Pikachu. You think you can take on Umbreon?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, leaping off of Ash's shoulder. He stood firmly in front of his trainer, eyes narrowed in determination at the dark Pokémon as he readied himself for battle.

"Pikachu…why am I not surprised?" Gary folded his arms and grinned mischievously at his old rival.

"Because you shouldn't be," Ash replied in the same tone.

"Wow, sending out the big guns first," Drew droned from the sidelines. "Pretty interesting move, if I do say so myself."

"It's good to change it up every now and then," Ash chuckled, Gary agreeing with a simple nod.

"So," Drew flicked a strand of green hair away from his eyes, "what are the rules for this little match?"

"How about a three on three?" Gary looked at Ash for approval. "No substitutions. Best two out of three wins."

"Sounds good to me," Ash grinned. "Do you want the first move?"

"It would be my pleasure," Gary nodded. "Umbreon, use shadow ball!"

"Um!" Umbreon cried as a deep violet ball of energy formed in front of his mouth. He shot it out towards Pikachu, who didn't even twitch at the attack.

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped out of the way, easily avoiding the dark move.

"Great," Ash complimented the electric type. "Now try electroball!"

"Kachu!" Pikachu jumped into the air and spun around, a sphere of energy firing off the end of his lightning bolt shaped tail.

"Umbreon, get out of the way!" Gary barked.

The dark type Pokémon was very fast, but had gotten distracted in this case and was unable to move out of the way in time. The ball of electricity collided with Umbreon, sending the moonlight Pokémon down to the ground.

"Umbreon!" Gary yelled in concern. While his partner seemed to have been hit hard by the attack, he got up quickly and shook out his black fur, setting his eyes back on Pikachu.

"It didn't hurt too much," Aiden murmured.

"Looks like a pretty even match so far," Drew added. "But we've got a lot of battle in front of us."

XXX

"Okay, you gotta relax baby girl…" Misty panted as she opened the refrigerator door and stuck her head in. She was in fact looking for something to drink, but she was also trying to cool off. The air conditioning was certainly better than sitting outside in the blistering heat, but it still didn't seem to be helping much. Misty was sweating up a storm, and still found her current state of being to be highly uncomfortable.

Locating the fresh lemonade she and Michelle had recently made, Misty grabbed the pitcher and reluctantly closed the fridge. Approaching the counter, Misty whined and held onto her stomach, her breathing becoming significantly heavier. There was a lingering tightness in the middle of her midsection, and all Misty wanted to do was ignore it and hope it would go away.

As she retrieved a glass to pour the lemonade into, a kick connected directly with her organs, sending a fairly sharp pain up her stomach.

"Ow!" Misty wailed, once again holding onto her bump. Looking down at her heavy stomach, Misty groaned and hissed, "Why are you hurting me so much?"

The pain subsided, and Misty sighed, pouring her drink while still keeping a hand on her very swollen belly. She was starting to feel sick, and her body was beginning to tremble.

"Stupid heat," Misty complained to herself. "Screwing me up. Doesn't help that the baby is on a torture spree. She's gonna be just like Ash, I know it."

Misty spent the next few minutes drinking her lemonade and pacing the floor, trying to relax herself. She just wanted this sick feeling to go away, and to stop sweating. Before she knew it, her glass was empty. Misty just stared at the vacant cup for a while before deciding she didn't want anymore.

Walking over to the sink, Misty placed the glass inside with the intent to wash it. Just as she was about to turn the water on, another fierce pain traveled up her belly, and this time Misty cried out in pain.

She pushed her palms against the marble counter top, silently begging the pain to go away. But it didn't. Panting and gasping, Misty pried one hand off of the cool surface and pressed it against her stomach. As soon as the two parts of her body made contact, Misty knew she was in trouble.

It felt as though she was touching rock. The muscles in her stomach were tight, every fiber pulling and causing her more and more pain with each passing second.

Oh no, Misty thought, her eyes filling with tears. No, no, no.

XXX

Michelle looked around curiously, her newly braided locks brushing against her fair cheeks as she turned her head from side to side.

"Michelle, what are you doing?"

The young red head tilted her eyes up so she was looking at May, who was still holding the girl on her lap. Michelle let out a sigh, lowering her head as she continued her innocent little search.

"I'm waiting for Mommy to come back. She went inside a long time ago."

"Yeah, that's true," May agreed.

"I want to go see her, May," Michelle looked up at her godmother yet again.

"I don't know, Michelle. Your Mommy seemed like she wanted to be alone for a little while."

"No, she was just hot is all. Mommy loves to see me! She says that I make her really happy, because I'm her little girl. If Mommy is sad, I can make her feel better!"

"Well…if you really want to…" May sighed. Michelle nodded quickly and slid off of the brunette coordinator's legs, sprinting eagerly towards the house. She knew she would be able to make her mother feel better. And once that was done, her mother would come back outside and open presents! Michelle couldn't wait to see all the things everyone had bought for her baby sister.

Reaching the door, Michelle jumped up onto her toes and grabbed the handle, pulling the door back with great effort.

She was going to call out for her mother, but Michelle then decided it would be more fun to surprise Misty with her presence. Giggling quietly behind her little hand, Michelle began to sneak around, wondering where her mother could possibly be in the house. While tip toeing her way through the kitchen, Michelle caught sight of her mother's white sandal from just behind the counter. This made her tilt her head in curiosity. Whatever was her mommy doing back there?

Still not uttering a single word, Michelle scurried towards the counter, right over to where she could see her mother's foot. The huge smile that was set on Michelle's face at the idea of surprising her mother quickly vanished, however, when Michelle saw her mother.

The older red head was sitting on the cool tile floor, one leg stretched out in front of her while the other one was bent at the knee. Her arms were wrapped around her beach ball sized stomach, and she was breathing heavily and panting as though she had just run a long race.

"M…Mommy?" Michelle whimpered.

This caught Misty's attention right away. She raised her head and gasped at the sight of her daughter, standing only feet away from her and trembling in fear.

"Hi Michelle," Misty breathed, trying to remain calm. "What are you doing here?"

"I…was looking for you," Michelle frowned. She began to move closer to Misty, which the gym leader wasn't so sure was a good idea. She didn't tell her daughter to stay away, however. Misty felt the need for her child, and as selfish as it sounded, she wanted the young girl to keep moving towards her. "Are you okay, Mommy?"

Misty let out a short puff of air, which separated some of her bangs from her sweaty forehead. "Yes baby girl. Everything is…perfect."

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Michelle countered almost immediately.

"Because…I'm still very hot," Misty explained in a shaky voice. "And the floor is cool. I feel better down here, sweetie."

Still frowning, Michelle sat down on her knees next to Misty and reached out to place a hand her mother's stomach. Misty noticed too late, and was unable to warn her daughter not to touch the bump. Feeling horrified, Misty watched in terror as Michelle's fingers brushed against her belly.

"Mommy!" Michelle cried, yanking her hand away and clutching it in her other fingers, "something is wrong with your tummy!"

"There's nothing wrong, sweetheart," Misty frantically shook her head. Michelle only began to look more flustered, and the grip on her hand tightened.

"Yes there is! It's hard, like a rock!" Sniveling softly, Michelle asked in a timid voice, "is something wrong with my baby sister?"

"No honey, she's okay," Misty took her young daughter's hands into her own and held them tight. "It's just…well…she's ready to come out now."

Michelle's eyes widened at this. "Baby sister is coming now?"

"Yes, she is," Misty stroked the top of Michelle's hand with her thumb.

"But…you said she wasn't going to be here for another few weeks."

"That's when she was supposed to be born, Shelly. But obviously she doesn't want to be in my belly anymore."

Misty held back a sob. She was scared…terrified actually. Here she was, sitting on the floor of her kitchen, in early labor, and only with her five year old daughter, who seemed even more freaked out than Misty did. Worst of all, Misty has absolutely no idea where Ash was. Her biggest fear was him missing the birth of their child.

Groaning, Misty leaned her head back and rested it against the cabinet doors. She was in trouble, and she knew it.

Sorry. I'm mean. I really, really am. I just love those cliffhangers, teehee.

Yep, so now the baby is on her way. Aaaand Misty has no clue where Ash is. It's gonna be a wild ride! So stay tuned for the fun :P Also, this story is now officially longer than it's predecessor! Double Trouble had 24 chapters, and this is chapter 24. I'm still not sure of how long this one will be, since I'm still in the process of writing. You'll be happy to know that the next chapter is already done, as well! Just needs a checking over ;)

Thanks for all of your reviews and suppourt! We're REALLY close to beating the reviews from Double Trouble, which will officially make this story my most reviewed one! I love you guys, all of your suppourt and reviews are just fantastic! Keep them coming, you all rock!