I've had this story waiting around for a while so I'm excited to finally share it! It focuses on Misty, but we get appearances from the rest of the family as well (including the Pokémon!), much to Misty's chagrin as you will see.

Aiden and Michelle: 8 years old

Elizabeth: 2 years old


TV Trouble

Misty cautiously poked her head into the doorway between the foyer and the living room, surveying the next room.

The coast was clear, which was unusual. Typically, at least one of the kids was in there, making some kind of mess. But there wasn't even a stray toy left on the floor, which again, was unusual. The room was clean and empty and quiet.

Misty wanted to celebrate, but choose to do it internally for fear of someone hearing her and rushing in to ruin the moment. Now, don't get it twisted: she adored her family. But alone time was very hard to come by in her world. Someone always seemed to want her, or need her. She really couldn't do anything by herself…anything.

So she wasn't going to ask or wonder why the living room was vacant. She was just going to enjoy it until her luck inevitably ran out.

Sitting down on the couch, Misty retrieved the remote and turned on the TV. She had the newest episode of one of her favorite shows recorded (because watching it live was basically impossible) and she was planning on fully enjoying it.

"Mommy!"

Or not.

Misty sighed and paused the TV, glancing at the time bar that appeared on the bottom of the screen. She hadn't even gotten five seconds in. Her luck truly was short lived.

"What is it, sweetie?" Misty asked tiredly.

Elizabeth came shuffling into the room, holding onto one of her baby dolls. "I wanna pway."

Misty furrowed her brow as she glanced at the digital clock on the cable box. "Sweetheart, it's almost time for you to go to bed. Maybe we should save playtime for tomorrow."

Elizabeth shook her head and sat on the floor, tilting her head as she gazed up at her mother. "Pway, Mommy!"

Misty groaned inwardly. "Where are Aiden and Michelle? Did you ask them to play with you?"

"Ya," Elizabeth softly mumbled.

"Well, what did they say?"

"No," Elizabeth stated, shaking her head.

"They said no to playing with you?"

Now Elizabeth nodded her head.

"Maybe they just want to play something other than baby dolls," Misty suggested, motioning towards the toy in her daughter's grasp. "Why don't you ask them what they want to play?"

"Cause I wanna pway dolly," Elizabeth whined, glancing down at her toy.

Misty grimaced before an idea popped into her head, causing her face to soften. "How about you ask Daddy? He always plays baby dolls with you, right?"

Elizabeth nodded her head again.

"So I bet he'd love to play with you now," Misty continued. "Do you know where he is?"

Elizabeth pointed in the direction of the kitchen. Selfishly, Misty was relieved, because it wasn't up or down the stairs. That meant she didn't have to supervise her daughter for fear of a catastrophic trip.

"Go ask him!" Misty encouraged, pitching her voice to reflect a sense of excitement. This seemed to resonate with Elizabeth, who almost immediately hopped to her feet and scurried into the next room. Misty, on the other hand, sighed contently and restarted her show.

"Mom!"

Misty's eye twitched as she paused the TV yet again. This time, it was both Aiden and Michelle scampering into the room. Misty knew that when they were together, it generally meant trouble. Especially since neither one looked happy at the moment.

"What's going on?" Misty asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Michelle won't share her colored pencils with me," Aiden complained.

Misty blinked and shook her head just once. "Why do you want her colored pencils? You're not really an arts and crafts kind of kid."

"That's what I said!" Michelle whined.

"Not usually, but there's something I want to do!" Aiden cried.

"And what is that?" Misty questioned.

"I'm drawing a picture to give to Grammy," Aiden replied. "The other day, we were talking about our favorite Pokémon, so now I know all her favorite Pokémon and I wanted to make her a picture!"

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Misty giggled. "Michelle, let your brother borrow the pencils."

"No way!" Michelle yelped. "He's gonna mess them up!"

"I don't think he's going to mess them up," Misty reasoned with her daughter.

"He's probably gonna snap them in half or something," Michelle grumbled.

"No I'm not!" Aiden argued. "I just want to make Grammy a picture!"

"Michelle, come on, just let Aiden borrow them for a bit," Misty sighed. "Are you even using them right now?"

"No," Michelle begrudgingly admitted.

"So let him use them," Misty concluded. "I'm sure he's going to be careful with them."

"I will!" Aiden cried.

Michelle looked annoyed, but knew there was no way around it. "Fine. But what if he messes them up?"

Misty resisted the urge to smack her own face. "Why are you so worried about it, Michelle? Is it really worth it to get so worked up over when there's no guarantee?"

"Yeah, because I really like my colored pencils and I don't want Aiden to break them or something!" Michelle cried.

"I'll tell you what," Misty sighed. "If something happens to your pencils, I'll buy you new ones. But I think you should just trust your brother. Okay?"

Michelle grimaced. "Fine."

"Good," Misty half-groaned. "Go back upstairs and make some pretty art."

Aiden and Michelle both retreated from the living room, heading back up the stairs. Misty waited for a long moment, anticipating being interrupted again. When everything remained quiet, she smiled to herself and pressed the play button the remote.

This time, she got five minutes deeper in before the next intrusion.

It wasn't thanks to a human this time, but rather Pikachu and Vaporeon. The two Pokémon came in running, each squealing in their own language as they jumped at, over, and around each other, in all different directions. This time, when Misty paused the TV, she was more confused than annoyed.

Although she was definitely still annoyed.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Misty called, hoping to get the two to settle down. It did the trick…far faster than it did on her own children, in fact. "What's gotten into you two? You're both so riled up!"

"Pikachupi," Pikachu whined, leaping into the gym leader's lap to get away from the evidently aggravated water type on the floor.

"Vaporeon, are you causing trouble for Pikachu?" Misty sighed.

The water type mewled softly, shaking her head as she sat down.

"Pi…" Pikachu hummed, narrowing his beady eyes.

"I think maybe you've got a bit too much energy," Misty mused, keeping her thoughtful eyes on her partner. "Torturing Pikachu isn't the way to expend it. Would you like to go in the backyard for a bit?"

"Vay," the bubble jet Pokémon purred. She enjoyed spending alone time back there, particularly when she had a lot of excess energy or simply didn't want to be bothered by her trainer's young children.

"Alright," Misty sighed, getting to her feet. She was still aggravated, but she hoped that once she let Vaporeon out, she would finally be left to her own devices. After all, there weren't many people or Pokémon left in the house to demand her attention.

She walked towards the kitchen, first poking her head in to see if Ash and Elizabeth were still playing in there. Much to her surprise, neither one was inside and the kitchen was empty. Shrugging her shoulders, Misty made her way towards the back door, opening it up to grant Vaporeon access to the outdoors.

"Just scratch when you want back in," Misty reminded the water type.

"Pore!" Vaporeon mewled, running outside. Misty closed the door behind her and walked back into the living room, her eyebrows raising yet again when she realized Pikachu was now missing as well.

"Lucky break for me, I guess," Misty muttered, sitting back down on the couch. "Let's hope it actually lasts this time."

And she did, for another 10 minutes.

That was when Ash came stomping down the stairs like a Hariyama. He wasn't mad or anything…that was just how he moved; as loudly and as clumsily as possible. Misty narrowed her eyes and paused the TV, tossing the remote off to the side.

"I'll never win," she muttered to herself.

"Getting Elizabeth into bed was a nightmare," Ash whined, obviously having not heard Misty's complaint. "She's so hyper tonight! I played dolls with her for a little bit hoping it would tire her out, but it didn't do much good."

"That's not unusual," Misty sighed, tilting her head.

"Pikachu just came upstairs to settle in her bed and keep an eye on her," Ash continued. "Something tells me he sensed she was being difficult from all the way down here."

"Ah, so that's where he went," Misty breathed. "Did you check on Aiden and Michelle?"

"Yeah, they're coloring or something like that," Ash replied. "I told them to start getting ready for bed soon."

"Did they actually agree to that?" Misty asked.

"They said yes but I don't know if I actually believe them," Ash chuckled, taking a seat next to Misty on the couch. She whipped her head around to give him a wide-eyed stare, throwing her hands up. "What?"

"Seriously?!" Misty cried.

"What did I do?!" Ash bit, obviously confused.

"I've been trying to watch a show the whole night, and I keep getting interrupted!" Misty complained.

"So why's it matter if I sit here with you?" Ash asked. "You can watch it, I won't bother you."

"Yeah, right," Misty droned.

"I won't!" Ash challenged.

"You're just as bad as the kids!" Misty cried.

"I am not!" Ash argued.

"I haven't gone to the bathroom alone in over eight years," Misty deadpanned.

"Okay, but I have nothing to do with that," Ash scoffed.

"You just waltz in whenever you want!" Misty yelped. "I kind of understand it when you have to take a shower. But half the time you just come in there because you want to talk to me!"

"Only when it's important," Ash sighed.

"Asking me who I think would win in a battle between two members of the Elite Four isn't an important question, Ash."

"It is to me!"

Misty rolled her eyes and threw herself against the back of the couch. "Listen, I'm begging you. Please just let me watch the end of this show in peace. I don't think that's asking for a lot."

Ash thought about it for a moment, which caused a fire to build up in Misty. She was about to snap at him, when he declared, "okay. I can do that."

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Sure," Ash replied, shrugging his shoulders. "If you give me something in exchange."

Misty groaned and let her head fall back. "Why is my own husband extorting me?"

"Uh…what's that mean?"

"It's not important. What do you want?"

Ash smirked and sat down next to Misty on the couch, earning another displeased noise from the woman. "I want you to give me a massage tonight."

Misty furrowed her brow as she turned her head towards him. "That's it?"

"Yeah! I've been really sore lately cause of all the training I've been doing for the league. What did you think I was gonna ask for?"

"Something that would probably make you a lot sorer," Misty bluntly replied.

"Normally that's what I would ask for, but I don't think I have the strength for it," Ash admitted.

Misty shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not complaining."

"I know you're not," Ash chuckled. "So…deal?"

He held his hand out for her. Misty stared at it for a short moment before clasping it with her own and giving it a small shake. "Deal."

"Great!" Ash cheered once Misty pulled her hand away. "I'll make sure to keep the kids out of your hair, too."

"Elizabeth will be a challenge," Misty informed him.

"Please, I can handle her," Ash assured with a smirk. "No person better to contain a mini me than, well, me."

Misty giggled at the comment. Ash's smirk widened as he leaned forward to give Misty a quick kiss. "I'll be upstairs if you need me. But I'm assuming you won't."

The gym leader winked at him. "Now you've got it."

Ash got off the couch and headed back up the stairs. Misty watched him go before retrieving the remote, smiling at the frozen TV screen in front of her.

"I really am one lucky woman, aren't I?"