Not entirely sure what inspired this one...I think I just love writing mischievous Aiden and his little schemes!

Lose the Tooth

Aiden growled to himself as he bared his teeth, glaring at his reflection in the mirror. Every last one of his tiny little baby teeth were perfectly in place, pearly white and straight as could be.

It drove him nuts.

Michelle had already lost two teeth, and she didn't even appreciate it! Well, she was excited when the tooth fairy came and replaced the lost tooth with money, but not when the tooth was actually loose. She tended to get really nervous and complained quite a bit about the tooth feeling funny. But Aiden already knew he'd never complain about having a loose tooth! He thought it was the coolest thing ever. It looked so fun to wiggle it around and try and pull it out. Not to mention, once you started losing teeth, you were a real big kid. He did already consider himself a big kid, but it was kind of embarrassing to be one and still have all baby teeth.

"Aiden, what in the world are you doing?"

In response to his mother's giggly question, the boy sighed. "I still don't have any loose teeth!"

"You just have to be patient," Misty reminded her son. They'd had this conversation a few times already, but patience was still a foreign concept to Aiden. "You'll have a loose one eventually!"

"But Michelle's already had two," Aiden whined. "And I'm older than her!"

"Only by a few minutes," Misty noted. "Besides, not everyone loses their teeth at the same time. It's just whenever your teeth feel like falling out."

"Well…when're mine gonna feel like falling out?" Aiden asked.

"I couldn't tell you," Misty replied with a smile, lifting her son off the counter and placing him on the floor. "I might know a lot, but not that much!"

With another, much longer sigh, Aiden trudged out of the bathroom and down the hall. Misty curiously poked her head out of the doorway, watching as Aiden rounded the stairs and began to descend the steps. She had a pretty good idea of where he was going, and figured it was best to just let him go about his business.

"Vay, Vaporeon?"

Misty glanced down at her partner Pokémon, who as usual had been dutifully following her around the house. With a smirk, she assured Vaporeon, "he'll be just fine. He's going to talk to an expert!"

And just as Misty had assumed, Aiden was making a beeline for his father, who was lying on the floor lifting a giggly baby Elizabeth up and down above his head. Pikachu was in the same position, the top of his head pressed against Ash's. Aiden raised an eyebrow and kneeled beside his father, pointedly asking, "what're you doing?"

"I'm getting some exercise," Ash replied, lowering Elizabeth close to his face so he could rub their noses together. "Your little sister makes a great weight!"

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu chimed in.

"And Pikachu is just here to make silly faces at her," Ash chuckled.

Aiden went from one raised eyebrow to furrowing both. "Nuh uh, Lizzie isn't heavy! I can pick her up really easy!"

"Maybe you're just super strong," Ash challenged with a smirk. "Ever thought of that, buddy?"

The boy's eyes widened. "No! I like that!"

Ash chuckled. "I know what I'm talking about!"

Lowering himself onto his stomach, Aiden inched closer to his father's face. "So, since you know a lot, can I ask you something-?"

"Sure!"

"When am I gonna lose a tooth?"

Ash hummed to himself. "That's a good question. I don't know! There's not really any way to know when that'll happen."

Aiden whined and buried his face into the rug. "That's what Mom said!"

"Yeah, and Mom's right," Ash laughed. "Were you hoping I'd give you a different answer?"

Aiden grumbled in the affirmative.

"Neither of us can promise when that'll happen," Ash patiently explained to his son. "I know it's a little frustrating since your sister has already lost a couple, but you'll catch up! You're only six, after all."

Picking his head up, Aiden bemoaned, "I'm six and a half!"

"Oh, you're going to start including the half now too?" Ash snickered. "I thought that was just a Michelle thing."

"I hafta, -cause six and a half is different from six when I still haven't lost any teeth!" Aiden cried.

Sitting up straight, Ash sat an amused Elizabeth in his lap, while Pikachu climbed up onto his shoulder. "It'll be fine, Aiden. You just have to be patient!"

Pouting, Aiden crossed his arms. "That's what Mom said, too."

"Because you've got to learn to have some," Ash teased, ruffling the frustrated boy's hair. "Trust me, I know it's not easy! I definitely wasn't patient when I was your age, and honestly, sometimes I'm still not. But it's just a part of life! Your teeth will start getting loose when they feel like it."

Staring at her brother, Elizabeth let out a shrill laugh before shoving her fist in her mouth and smiling around it. Ash glanced down at the baby and chuckled, adding, "besides, it could be worse! You could be like your little sister and basically have no teeth."

"But that's what I want!" Aiden whined, throwing his arms up in defeat while Ash looked on in bewilderment.

XXX

Much to Aiden's delight, it didn't take him much longer to get his wish.

Within the next month, the first of Aiden's teeth went loose. He realized it while he was at baseball practice, standing in the outfield bored out of his mind. The boy loved baseball, but outfield was definitely his least favorite position to play. It was just so slow and boring! Not like the infield, where you could chase down a ball a lot more easily. And definitely not like being on offense. There was nothing Aiden loved more than having a bat in his hands, staring down the pitcher and trying to get that perfect hit.

He thought about all of this, absentmindedly pushing the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth. When he hit one of the lower front teeth, however, it gave way to his tongue. Eyes widening, Aiden poked at the tooth again, wondering if that had been a figment of his imagination. But when it wiggled once again, he beamed with excitement.

"Finally!"

Aiden could hardly wait for practice to end so he could go home and tell his parents that he at long last had a loose tooth. In fact, he was so excited that he forgot to remove his cleats before entering the house and running through the kitchen, tracking mud behind him.

"Mom!" He cried excitedly, catching his mother's attention. Her eyes nearly shot out of her head when she saw the mess he'd made, however, and she almost missed when he added, "I've got a loose tooth!"

Misty shook her head, quickly forgetting about the trail of footprints on her floor. "You do?"

"Yea!" Aiden giggled, pointing at the tooth in question. "This one!"

"Ooh, how exciting!" Misty practically squealed. "I told you they'd start getting loose once they felt like it; looks like that one finally felt like it!"

"I have to show Shelly!" Aiden gasped. "Can I, Mom?"

"Of course, you can!" Misty laughed. "Oh…just…could you take your cleats off before you go upstairs?"

Aiden looked down at his feet and mumbled, "oops," before quickly slipping out of his shoes. "Sorry!"

"It's alright," Misty assured him. "I know you were just excited to tell me your news!"

The boy nodded excitedly before spinning around and bounding up the stairs to go see his sister. Misty giggled as she watched him go, but then glanced down at the muddy footprints once again and sighed.

"Whoa, what happened in here?"

"Aiden," Misty replied, not even having to shift her gaze to know her husband was smirking at the answer. She did look up, however, to add, "he had a pretty good reason today, though."

"Really?" Ash chuckled. "Never thought I'd hear you say that; I know how crazy messy floors make you! That reason must've been great!"

Misty nodded to confirm. "He's finally got a loose tooth."

"Really?!" Ash marveled, leading Misty to nod again. "No wonder he's so excited! He's been asking about that for months. I was starting to worry he might try to knock one of them out himself if they didn't start getting loose."

"I know," Misty giggled softly. "And it's strange…I know Michelle's already lost a couple of teeth, but now that Aiden's starting to also…I just feel a little sad. They're both growing up so quickly!"

"Yeah, Professor Kukui wasn't kidding when he said it goes by really fast," Ash agreed. "I mean, I kind of thought he was at first since he compared it to flash attack…but he wasn't!"

Misty snickered at her husband's exasperation. "You should be used to that by now! Professor Kukui is always comparing things to Pokémon attacks, isn't he?"

"Sure, but when I was younger, I always thought it was funny," Ash explained with a groan. "Our kids growing up fast isn't nearly as funny."

"No, it's not," Misty sighed. "But it was inevitable. And even though I'm a little sad, I'm excited, too! It's fun to watch them grow up and become their own people. Plus, Aiden being so excited about it makes things easier."

"It is pretty adorable," Ash concurred. "And if he's this thrilled about his tooth being loose, I can only imagine how happy he'll be once it actually falls out!"

XXX

Upstairs, Michelle was just as enthusiastic to hear about her twin's big news.

"That's great!" The girl cheered once her brother told her he had his first loose tooth. "Now you'll start losing a whole bunch of them!"

"I know, right?" Aiden marveled. "Just like you!"

"Well, I've only lost two," Michelle sheepishly replied. She didn't want her brother to think she was some kind of tooth losing expert. "But I think another one might get loose soon!"

"Really?" Aiden asked, inclining his head. "How come?"

"Mmm, I don't know, I just do," Michelle replied with a shrug.

Aiden beamed. "That makes sense!" Climbing up onto the foot of his sister's bed, Aiden leaned forward on his hands and continued, "so, when's it gonna fall out?"

"What, your tooth?"

"Yea!"

Michelle made an unsure noise and shrugged her shoulders once again. "No idea."

Her nonchalant answer nearly caused Aiden to fall flat on his face. "What?! What do you mean you have no idea?!"

Michelle shook her head. "Teeth are weird. My first one took forever to fall out! But maybe it's because I was super careful with it. The second one didn't take as long! And it came out in an apple, which was kind of gross but also kind of funny."

Sitting back on his heels, Aiden rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling, grumbling, "I don't wanna wait forever." An idea suddenly popped into his head, however, and the boy was quick to look back down at his sister. "Couldn't I just pull the tooth out myself?"

Michelle squirmed uncomfortably. "I don't know. Daddy made jokes about that with mine, but I think he was just trying to be funny." After a short pause, Michelle added, "I didn't laugh at any of them."

"It's just gonna fall out eventually anyway, so what's the big deal if I take it out myself?" Aiden wondered aloud. Before Michelle could say anything, the boy reached into his mouth, grabbing hold of his loose tooth.

She, in turn, shrieked and pounced to grab her brother's arm. "Aiden! Don't do that!"

"-y?" Aiden asked, the question barely understandable with his fingers still in his mouth.

"Because I told you, I don't think it's a good idea!" Michelle cried. "And even if you did do it, which I still don't think you should, you'll start bleeding, and I don't want your blood on my bed!"

Finally taking his hand out of his mouth, Aiden scowled at his sister. "You never let me have any fun."

"No, I never let you do crazy stuff," Michelle corrected him. "We always have fun!"

"Y'know what'd be fun?" Aiden theoretically asked. "Pulling out my tooth!"

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Then maybe you should go ask Daddy. I still think he was just kidding! But who knows with him."

"I think I will!" Aiden declared, sliding off of his twin's bed. "If he does let me pull it, wanna watch?"

"Ew, no!" Michelle protested with a shudder. "I don't ever wanna see that!"

Now it was Aiden's turn to shrug. "Fine, miss out then!"

XXX

Ash, as it would turn out, was perfectly fine with pulling Aiden's tooth, although he preferred to be the one to do it instead of Aiden just for peace of mind.

When Misty overheard this plan, however, she was quick to step in and stop it in its tracks.

"Ash Ketchum, you are not going to pull our son's tooth!"

"Why? It's the easiest way to get it out."

"It's his first loose tooth!"

"So?"

"It should come out naturally, on its own, when it's ready!"

"How's it not ready? It's already loose!"

Aiden furrowed his brow as he switched his gaze back and forth between his parents. It was like watching a ping pong match, only way more entertaining.

"I'll be careful," Ash promised his exasperated wife. "You know I'd never hurt Aiden!"

"That's not the point, Ash," Misty sighed, allowing her folded arms to fall to her sides. "I know you'd never hurt Aiden. And I'm not against pulling teeth; I yanked quite a few of my own! But I don't think we should do it with the very first loose tooth he has. We don't know what his teeth are like yet when they're loose. Two of my sisters had to have almost all of theirs pulled out by the dentist because they wouldn't come out naturally on their own. They had really strong roots, so trying to pull them on their own not only would've hurt really badly, but probably would've been impossible. And we didn't know that until after their first couple of loose teeth."

"Yeah, I guess that's fair," Ash sighed before glancing over at their son. "Sorry buddy, guess we're just gonna have to wait!"

That seemed to please Misty, who calmly walked out of the living room. Aiden, on the other hand, was not impressed and made quick work glaring at his father.

"Dad, we were so close!" The boy whined.

"I know," Ash murmured. "But you heard your mom! She doesn't want us pulling your tooth."

"Can't you just ignore her?"

Ash stared at Aiden in disbelief before bursting out laughing, confusing the boy. "Sorry, champ. You'll understand when you're older why that's so funny."

Groaning, Aiden slumped over. "Great. So now I'm just gonna have a loose tooth forever?"

"Not forever," Ash refuted. "Besides, you wanted a loose tooth so badly! Maybe you should try and enjoy it for a while."

"I guess," Aiden grumbled. "Maybe I can try wiggling it to freak Shelly out!"

"Or you could try not bugging your sister?" Ash suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Aiden seemed to think about it for a second, but quickly grinned and shook his head. "Nah, that's not fun!"

He jumped up and ran for the stairs, leaving behind his quietly bemused father. "Ignore Misty…no, I enjoy living, thank you very much!"

XXX

After a week, however, Aiden's tooth still hadn't fallen out. And while he'd enjoyed wiggling it and performing all kinds of tricks that made other people uncomfortable (especially Michelle) Aiden was a bit over the whole thing and just wanted the tooth to come out already.

And so, he decided he would just take matters into his own hands.

He knew his mother didn't want him or anyone else pulling his tooth out, and that's why Aiden had decided he would pull it without his mother knowing. After all, if he just ran up to her with the lost tooth, it would be easy enough to convince her it had just fallen out on its own!

That weekend, the family had stopped by Lily and Dorian's house so Ash could do some training with Dorian. While that had sounded very intriguing to Aiden, the two were spending too much time talking and not enough time actually battling, so he chose to ditch them in favor of someone he was guaranteed to have fun with: Lola.

Of the three cousins he had, Lola was definitely Aiden's favorite. She was the least girly of them all, for starters, but also had the same mischievous streak that he had. Lola was always up for starting some kind of trouble, or at least tagging along for some. He figured that if he presented the idea of pulling out his tooth to Lola, she'd be willing to help out.

And fortunately for him, he was absolutely correct.

"You want me to help yank a tooth out of your head?!" Lola gasped, her eyes sparkling as she leaned in closer to a bewildered Aiden.

"Yeah!" The boy chuckled nervously. "Have you ever done something like that?"

"Duh!" Lola laughed. "I pull out my loose teeth all the time! I've even helped my friends with some of theirs. It's a total piece of cake!"

"Cool!" Aiden marveled. "So…do you just reach in there and pull it out?"

"Ew, no, I'm not putting my hand in your mouth," Lola refuted, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Aiden furrowed his brow. "Then how are you supposed to get my tooth out?"

"There's a trick to it," Lola replied. "Come on, I'll show you!"

XXX

"Oh, look at this little sweetie baby!"

Elizabeth giggled as Lily bounced her up and down, Misty watching with a smirk on her face. "She's sure having a good time with you, huh?"

"That's because I tell her how cute and precious and perfect she is," Lily babbled. "Just like I did to Michelle when she was a baby!"

The aforementioned girl, who was coloring nearby, looked up and raised an eyebrow. "What about Aiden?"

"Oh, I said the same stuff to him too!" Lily giggled. "But I don't think he cared about being called all that. He always used to give me the weirdest looks when he was a baby! Actually, he still does…"

Misty sighed as Lily trailed off, a contemplative look on her face. "Don't hurt yourself, Lil. I know what thinking too hard does to you."

Lily shot her sister an unamused look, to which Elizabeth started giggling again. Before the pink haired woman could say something snarky back, however, she was interrupted by the slamming of a door, the sound of which was enough to startle everyone in the room.

Well, everyone except for Elizabeth, who only began laughing even harder for some reason.

"What was that…?" Misty nervously pondered.

"Probably just Lola," Lily sighed, trying to shake off the little scare. "She's always being too rough without realizing it. But I should probably go remind her to be more careful; Dorian's really freaked out that she's gonna rip her bedroom door off on accident one day."

Handing Elizabeth back over to her mother, Lily got to her feet and strode out of the living room. Michelle watched her aunt go with a curious expression, eventually turning her attention to her mother instead.

"Aunt Lily's being really responsible!"

Misty snickered at her daughter's comment. "She is! Uncle Dorian must be really worried about those doors."

"WHAT DID YOU TWO DO?!"

As soon as Lily screamed that sentence, Misty's face paled, while Michelle's expression remained static. "That didn't sound good."

Groaning, Misty jumped up and hustled as fast as she could with Elizabeth in her arms. Not wanting to miss out on all the fuss, Michelle followed closely behind, nearly colliding with her mother's legs when she stopped short. She wondered why her mother wasn't saying anything, or having any other kind of reaction, but when Michelle looked ahead, her eyes snapped open, and she realized exactly why.

She, Lily, and Misty were standing directly in front of Lola and Aiden, both of whom looked petrified. Upon closer inspection, Michelle realized that her brother had some blood on his chin, and when she looked over at the nearby door, saw a string tied to the knob.

"Oh…" Michelle breathed, glancing back up at her mother. The woman looked like she was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, and although she was young, Michelle suddenly understood why.

"Umm…hey, Mom!" Aiden nervously greeted her before pointing at the end of the string on the floor. "Check it out, I lost my tooth!"

Misty didn't seem able to formulate a response, so Lily jumped in instead. "Uh, no, it looks like you yanked it out." Narrowing her eyes in her daughter's direction, Lily amended, "or should I say, Lola did?"

Groaning, Lola complained, "come on, Mom, I've done this lots of times before! I'm practically a dentist!"

"Arceus, how many people have you done this to?!" Lily cried.

Lola raised an eyebrow. "I'm not gonna get that specific. I'm no snitch!"

At that, Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, I think I need to stop letting you and Dad spend so much time together. You're starting to sound just like him; it's freaky."

During his aunt and cousin's entire exchange, Aiden hadn't taken his eyes off his mother. She was still speechless, but Aiden could see her anger bubbling under the surface. It wasn't exactly surprising; he had disobeyed her. But, in Aiden's defense, he hadn't thought that he would get caught. Desperate to try and smooth things over with her, Aiden grabbed the tooth and held it up towards his mother, smiling confidently.

"Look, I'm fine! And it didn't even hurt!"

Misty still said nothing of substance, but she did let out a quiet, clearly irritated, huff before holding her hand out. Aiden's smile faltered a bit, but he managed to hold onto it as he carefully dropped the tooth into his mother's palm.

Clearing her throat, Lily added, "you know, just for future reference, you might want to try not slamming the door so loud. Then maybe you won't get caught doing insane things."

Lola hummed and tapped her cheek. "Yeah, I figured that was the problem…"

XXX

"Mist, can you stop staring at our son's tooth? It's freaking me out."

Ash didn't even flinch when Misty looked up and glared at him. He'd been expecting it, but he also knew the comment had to be made. She'd barely spoken since they'd left Lily and Dorian's house and had spent the better part of their time back home looking at the tiny tooth in her hand.

"I know you're mad that Aiden ignored you," Ash continued, pushing ahead to show Misty her angry face wasn't going to deter him. "But to be fair, that's not anything new. So how come this time around it's bothering you so much?"

"Because I'm not a fan of our son doing things that could potentially endanger his health," Misty blurted, the fire in her eyes managing to kick up. "I told you both exactly why I didn't want his first tooth getting pulled out! There was a very valid reason, and Aiden totally ignored it! What if it had been rooted in there? Could you imagine what would have happened when Lola slammed that door and tried to drag the tooth out?"

"I'd rather not," Ash admitted with a shudder. Just the thought of that was deeply unpleasant and made his own jaw ache. "But as bad as that would've been…it didn't happen. It seems like that tooth came out pretty easily. Which tells me you're upset about more than just Aiden not listening to you."

And just as quickly as they had been fanned, the flames burning in Misty's sea green eyes died out. She pulled her shoulders back, retreating in a way that she only did when Ash managed to predict her just right.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ash nearly fell flat on his face. And of course, accompanying those tell-tale physical signs, was Misty's typical denial. Like Ash hadn't just watched her shrink before his very eyes.

"You know, sometimes I think it's easier to get direct answers from the kids," Ash sighed. "And, in case you're wondering, I'm including the baby! And yes, I know she can't talk yet. Point still stands!"

Misty smirked and playfully rolled her eyes. Closing her hand around her son's baby tooth, Misty raised her fist and held it against her chest, letting out a long sigh. "I missed him losing his first tooth. If I knew he really wasn't going to listen to me, I would've just pulled it myself. At least I would've been there. But now it's just going to be something I regret."

Ash frowned. "Aw, Mist, don't beat yourself up over that. There was no guarantee you'd be there for that anyway! I lost my first tooth while I was at school, so my mom wasn't there either. Also, I hated school. At least Aiden was having fun with his cousin when he lost his!"

"I guess," Misty muttered. "Either way, I'm much more upset with myself than I am with Aiden. I guess it's just the fact that I didn't see this coming…I feel stupid."

Ash was about to assure Misty that she was anything but stupid, but he stopped himself when he caught a glance at the doorway. "Oh, hey, champ!"

Misty looked in the same direction and realized the same thing as Ash: Aiden was just peering around the doorframe. With both of his parents looking at him, Aiden hopped into the room, looking much more forlorn than usual.

"What's up, sweetie?" Misty asked as the boy climbed onto her and Ash's bed and crawled towards her.

"Mom, I'm sorry I asked Lola to pull my tooth out," Aiden squeaked. "I know it was bad, but my tooth was taking forever to fall out by itself! It was getting uncomfy. But I didn't lie that it didn't hurt; it didn't!"

Misty smiled softly at her son. "I believe you. I'm glad it didn't hurt! And I'm sorry your tooth was bothering you enough that you felt like you had to pull it out. I wish you had told me that, but I know I probably scared you off after I told Daddy not to pull the tooth out himself. I'm sorry about that, too."

Aiden beamed at his mother before launching himself at her for a hug. "S'okay! I know you were worried."

Giggling, Misty hugged her son back. "You're right, I was worried. I'm always worried about my little boy, and even though I know you're growing up, I don't think that'll ever change."

"I am growing up!" Aiden crowed, tilting his head back and grinning so his mother could see the empty space in his mouth. "-ee?"

Misty laughed again, more strongly than before. "Yeah, I see! You've got a nice gap there." Moving her hand from her son's back, Misty opened it up and showed him the tooth. "I think you should take this and put it under your pillow. The tooth fairy will be very confused if she shows up and doesn't find a tooth!"

"Oh, yeah!" Aiden gasped, taking the tooth from her palm. "Thanks, Mom!"

Smiling sweetly, Misty gently tapped her son's nose, causing him to giggle before running out of the room.

"Nice job, Mist!"

The gym leader smirked and glanced over at her husband. "Thanks. Guess I just have to learn to let go a little bit! But I am grateful that Aiden doesn't think I'm completely lame for it."

Ash chuckled. "Nah, I think we have a little more time for that! As long as you give him a good payout for that tooth, at least."

Misty arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean if I give him a good payout?"

"Come on, I know a beautiful tooth fairy when I see one!" Ash teased, gently tickling Misty's cheek. Pikachu, who was watching from his trainer's pillow, rolled his eyes.

"How come I have to be the tooth fairy?" Misty questioned, pointing at herself. "Why don't you take a turn at being the tooth fairy?"

"Because you're always complaining that my footsteps are too heavy so I can't get into the kids' rooms quietly enough to not wake them up," Ash deadpanned.

Misty paused and slowly lowered her hand. "Actually…yeah. That's fair." Furrowing her brow, Misty asked, "but does that mean the money has to come from me, too?"

Twisting his mouth, Ash shrugged his shoulders. "Just the curse of being light on your feet!"

Misty groaned and rolled her eyes. "These kids still have way too many teeth left to lose for this to become a thing..."

I'm more like Misty's sisters; my teeth never wanted to come out and I had to get most of them yanked. The thought of getting it done via door is something that has always completely horrified me, so it seemed right up Aiden's alley!