This is one of my favorites that I've written lately. I always love writing Ash and Elizabeth, and slightly older Elizabeth actually makes it even more fun because you can see even more of the Ash/Misty in her :P
Elizabeth: 6 years old
Tooth and Scare
Ash stood on his hands and knees on the living room floor, staring deeply into the ever-so slightly narrowed eyes of his 6 year old daughter. She was sitting with her back against the couch, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.
"You sure look confident," Ash teased, leading Elizabeth to cock an eyebrow. "You really think you can stand up to the world's most powerful Venusaur?"
"I know I can!" Elizabeth cheered, leaning forward as she pressed her little palms against the floor. "Because I'm the world's strongest Charizard! And I'm even better than you cause I'm a fire type!"
Pikachu and Vaporeon were lazily watching the two from on top of the couch. They couldn't help but to be fascinated by the fact that the humans they lived with tended to like pretending to battle each other like they were actually Pokémon. It seemed silly to them, but it sure made the littlest humans happy, so who were they to judge?
Well…judge too much, at least.
With one last laugh, Ash roared and jumped at Elizabeth, who squealed laughingly. She managed to crawl out of the way, Ash nearly colliding headfirst with the couch. Pikachu and Vaporeon both snickered, causing Ash to look up with a sheepish sideways smile.
"Gotcha!"
Ash whipped his head around as soon as he felt the small weight land on his back. Elizabeth was grinning widely at him, obviously proud of herself for having managed to sneak up on her father.
"Oh yeah?" Ash teased. "What're you gonna do now?"
Elizabeth started to think about it, and that's when Ash tilted his body to the side, sending Elizabeth tumbling off of him towards the floor. "Oops! Took you too long!"
Elizabeth shook her head out and popped back up, scowling at her father. "Hey! That's no fair!"
"Of course it is," Ash refuted. "You've got to think fast when you're in a battle!"
Elizabeth growled and jumped at her father. Ash saw her coming right towards his face and, in a moment of panic, blocked it with his arm. Elizabeth collided face-first with the limb, bouncing right off and landing squarely on her behind. Pikachu and Vaporeon both got to their paws, worriedly staring at the little girl. Ash, on the other hand, gasped and threw his arm down, staring at his daughter in concern.
"Lizzie, are you okay?!" Ash cried.
The little girl slowly looked up at him and nodded her head.
"Thank goodness," Ash sighed, holding a hand over his heart. "I thought I really hurt you for a second! And I'd never want to hurt my baby girl."
"I'm okay, Daddy!" Elizabeth assured him, flashing another big smile. "See?"
And Ash would have believed it if Elizabeth hadn't smiled. Because as soon as she did, he saw that there was a big gap on the bottom left side of her mouth, where one of her central incisors was supposed to be. Ash tried hard to keep a stoic face, but his internal alarm was threatening to break his static expression.
"Uh…nothing hurts?" Ash questioned.
Elizabeth shook her head before stopping to think for a moment. "No…but my mouth tastes kinda funny."
"Funny?" Ash repeated, his voice nearly coming out as a squeak.
"Yeah," Elizabeth replied, sounding far more confused than frightened. "Like metal!"
Ash sucked in a sharp breath. He knew exactly what that taste was: blood. Elizabeth was tasting blood in her mouth.
As he silently freaked out, Elizabeth looked down and furrowed her brow once something caught her attention. "Hey, what's this?"
She reached down and picked up the object of interest: a small white square coated with a thin layer of red at the very bottom. Ash pulled his shoulders back, while Elizabeth moved it closer to her face and tilted her head.
"It looks like a tooth," Elizabeth commented aloud.
"Um…heh…yeah…it does…a little…" Ash stammered, nervously turning his gaze.
Elizabeth studied the square for another moment before opening her mouth and poking at the exact spot where the gap was present. As soon as her little finger slipped between the two teeth that were still there, Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"My tooth fell out!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
"I'm so sorry, Lizzie!" Ash began profusely apologizing, worried that his daughter was about to get very upset. "I didn't mean for that to happen! I feel so awful!"
Elizabeth didn't respond. She was still busy poking the now empty spot in her mouth.
"The good news is it's only a baby tooth!" Ash continued, trying desperately to redeem himself. "A new tooth will grow back! You don't even have to do anything!"
"Daddy…" Elizabeth began, but was quickly cut off by her father.
"I still feel really awful about it," Ash carried on, grabbing onto his head with his hands. "This is all my fault. I'm going to make it up to you, pumpkin, I promise! I'll take you out to your favorite restaurant for dinner, and I'll buy you a new toy…whatever you want. You just tell me and I'll make it happen!"
"Daddy!" Elizabeth practically shouted, anxious to get him to stop prattling on. "You didn't do anything!"
Ash stared at her in disbelief for a short second before crying, "Yes I did! I knocked out your tooth! Your first baby tooth!"
"I guess," Elizabeth replied, scrunching up her nose. "But it was already coming out."
Ash lowered his hands, blinking his eyes. "Wait…what?"
"It was loose," Elizabeth calmly continued, holding up the tooth for further emphasis as Ash felt his entire mental psyche fall apart.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a loose tooth?!" Ash practically wailed.
"I forgot," Elizabeth chirped, shrugging her shoulders.
Ash groaned and sunk down to the floor. "I can't believe this."
"You were really scared!" Elizabeth noted with a little laugh. "You really thought you knocked out my tooth, Daddy!"
Ash just continued lying there, not saying a word. Pikachu and Vaporeon leaned forward a bit to get a better look at the broken man. They found it pretty impressive that the world's most powerful Pokémon trainer could be totally brought to his knees by a 6 year old girl. Their respect for Elizabeth was understandably high.
In the midst of it all, Misty walked through the front door, grocery bags in hand. She took one look at the scene in front of her and let out a tired sigh, catching the attention of Elizabeth and the two Pokémon. Ash didn't bother to move.
"Do I want to know?" Misty questioned, her eyes shifting between her husband and daughter.
"I lost my first tooth, Mommy!" Elizabeth announced, getting to her feet and running over to a stunned Misty. The little girl proudly held out the aforementioned tooth, which Misty bent down to examine.
"Oh, you did!" Misty breathed, her whole face lighting up. "This is so exciting!"
"That means the tooth fairy is gonna come, right?" Elizabeth asked.
"That's right!" Misty confirmed cheerfully. Her eyes drifted back towards Ash, who she was surprised hadn't jumped into the exchange yet. As it would turn out, he was still lying face down on the floor. "Ash, what's up with you? Are you that overcome with emotion?"
When Ash just groaned in response, Elizabeth helpfully informed her mother, "Daddy thought he knocked my tooth out cause I forgot to tell him it was loose."
A look of surprise crossed Misty's face. "Why would Daddy think he knocked your tooth out?"
"Cause we were playing and he hit me in the face," Elizabeth casually responded, as though that were a completely normal answer.
Misty's eyes widened, and Ash's head finally snapped up. "It wasn't on purpose! It was an accident!"
"What were you two playing that Elizabeth ended up getting hit in the face?!" Misty demanded.
"Pokémon battle," Elizabeth giggled slyly.
Misty sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "That's exactly why I hate that stupid game! Someone always ends up getting hurt!"
"Nuh uh," Elizabeth refuted, furrowing her brow. "It's fun and I never get hurt!"
"Daddy accidentally hit you in the face, Elizabeth."
"Yeah, but it didn't hurt."
Misty rolled her eyes as she threw her head back. "Whatever. It's over and done with. That tooth was coming out anyway, so I suppose it's no big deal. Let's try and cut back on that little game, shall we?"
Elizabeth grimaced and looked over at her father, who finally offered up a wry smile. "Sure thing, Mist."
Misty seemed satisfied with the response and went turned to walk into the kitchen. Once her back was turned, Ash glanced down at Elizabeth and mouthed the words "just kidding," causing the little girl to giggle.
"Lizzie, what are you laughing at?" Misty asked from the next room.
"Nothing, Mommy!" Elizabeth effortlessly fibbed. Dancing towards the doorway on her tippy toes, Elizabeth leaned in and continued, "Daddy said we could go out for special dinner cause I lost my tooth."
Ash's smile disappeared just as quickly as it had come on, and he leapt to his feet. "No, I only said that when I thought I knocked a perfectly good tooth out! I didn't want you to be upset!"
"He said he'd buy me a new toy too," Elizabeth added, not even bothering to look back at her father.
Misty reappeared in the doorway, once again looking unimpressed. "Really? After I just went out to buy all this stuff for dinner tonight?"
"I just said I only promised it because I thought I hurt her," Ash sheepishly parroted, realizing the second time around just how bad that sounded.
"But it's a big deal!" Elizabeth cried. "I only get to lose my first tooth just one time! So I think we should have fun."
Misty thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright, fine. I guess I can save this stuff for tomorrow."
"Yay!" Elizabeth cheered. "Thank you, Mommy!"
"You should thank Daddy," Misty replied, nodding towards her stunned husband. "He's the one who offered you a nice dinner!"
Elizabeth spun around and jumped at her father, attaching herself to his legs. "Thank you, Daddy! I love you!"
Ash chuckled softly and lifted the girl up in his arms. "Don't mention it, pumpkin. I love you too!"
He gave her a kiss on the forehead before placing the excited child back on the floor.
"I'm gonna put on a pretty dress!" Elizabeth declared, charging towards the staircase.
"Elizabeth, make sure you put that tooth somewhere safe!" Misty yelled. "Don't lose it!"
"I will!" Elizabeth promised, her voice sounding faint as she scurried up the stairs.
Once she was gone, Ash sighed and shot his wife a sympathetic look. "Sorry for messing up your dinner plans."
"It's fine," Misty assured him, sounding completely genuine. "I'm just glad you didn't mess up our daughter's mouth."
"I told you it was an accident!" Ash groaned.
"I know you did, and I know it was," Misty replied. "But I'm still glad."
Ash grumbled incoherently and ran a hand through his wild raven locks. "Between dinner, a new toy, and the tooth fairy money…knocking a loose tooth out shouldn't cost me so much money."
Misty slowly nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. Maybe next time don't play that stupid game and your wallet will escape unscathed."
This is the same game Aiden and Michelle always play together. Ash was never a fan of it, until he started playing along...Misty is frustrated by the whole thing, obviously.
