August 5 is Elizabeth's birthday! That, of course, means the usual birthday one shot. I thought this was a fun idea, so went with this one for this year's!
Aiden and Michelle: 10 and a half years old
Elizabeth: 5 years old
Birthday Runaway
"What kind of cake does my sweet little girl want for her birthday?"
"Hey Lizzie, do you want a fun theme for your birthday party?"
"Is there a special present you'd like for your birthday?"
Elizabeth had to admit it wasn't so bad to be the only kid in the house. Sure, she missed her older brother and sister while they were out on their journeys, but Elizabeth would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy having her mother and father all to herself. Especially now, with her birthday coming up. It was her first birthday without her siblings at home, and everyone seemed to be fussing over her even more than usual. Birthdays were already a pretty big deal in the family, but this one was being particularly hyped up. It was partly due to the fact that Elizabeth's parents worried about her no longer having her big siblings around all the time, and partly because they were used to catering to three children at a time and were suddenly down to just one.
As soon as her father squeezed through the front door with a bunch of balloons, Elizabeth squealed excitedly and flew off the couch, running over to him.
"Wow!" She marveled, jumping up to try and grab one of the light pink latex balloons. "That's a whole lot of balloons!"
Ash chuckled and poked his head through the impressive bouquet. "Daddy might have gone a little crazy."
Pikachu's head popped up just above Ash's, a perturbed look on his fuzzy yellow face. "Ka-chu?"
"It's okay!" Elizabeth assured him, throwing her arms up. "I love them!"
"I'm glad!" Ash laughed, walking further into the living room and finally releasing the collection of balloons. There were more than Elizabeth could count: rubber ones that were white, light pink, bright pink, and clear with pink dots printed on them, shiny pink ones in the shapes of hearts, and three big ones with the likeness of the mythical horned Ponyta with a sparkly pink mane and tail that the young girl was so fond of. "Which one's your favorite?"
"The unicorn!" Elizabeth cried, pointing at the three big balloons.
"Oh, you knew that right away!" Ash crowed. "I thought you'd like those the most."
"Uh huh!" Elizabeth confirmed. "But I really like them all, Daddy! They're so pink!"
"I wouldn't think of getting my little pumpkin any other color," Ash chuckled.
"You think pink is pretty too, right, Daddy?" Elizabeth squeaked.
"If you like it, I like it," Ash chuckled, crossing his arms.
Elizabeth giggled and clapped her hands together. "So can I put pink bows in your hair for my party?"
Ash's face quickly turned red. "Um…we'll see! But I think you should be getting dressed for your party first."
Elizabeth glanced down at the pajamas she was still in; a pink t-shirt and navy blue pants printed with fairy ballerinas. "Oh yeah."
Ash smirked. His daughter's squeaky little voice was just too cute, especially now that she spoke in full sentences and sounded quite grown much of the time, except for that sweet voice of hers.
"I think Mommy left your new dress upstairs in your room for you," Ash continued. "Why don't we go put it on?"
"No!" Elizabeth cried, much to her father's surprise. "I'll do it by myself!"
Ash's smile returned as he chuckled. "Guess I should've seen that coming."
"I wanna surprise you!" Elizabeth giggled, jumping up and down. "So no peeking, Daddy! Stay down here!"
"Okay, okay, I won't peek!" Ash assured his daughter.
Elizabeth bounded up the stairs, running right past her surprised mother who was on her way down. "She's certainly in a rush…"
"She's going to put on her party dress," Ash explained. "I offered to help, but she wanted to surprise me."
"That's so cute," Misty giggled, continuing down the stairs. As soon as she saw the collection of balloons in the living room, she stopped in her tracks and blinked. "Uh…little overboard on the balloons, no?"
"Maybe…" Ash drawled, glancing up at the ceiling himself. "But it was worth it! Elizabeth went nuts over them."
"I'm starting to think this whole birthday has gone off the deep end," Misty admitted, twisting her mouth. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to give Elizabeth an amazing birthday! She's my baby, and she deserves it. But…we have gotten a little crazy."
"Can you blame us?" Ash asked rhetorically. "We went from dealing with three kids to one. That's a pretty big difference."
"I understand that, but does it really make sense that we took it all out on our daughter's birthday party?" Misty sighed. "That bouncy castle we rented is-"
"Awesome," Ash finished her sentence, his eyes sparkling.
Misty smirked at her husband. "You know it's for the children, correct?"
"Just because it's meant for them doesn't mean it's only for them," Ash teased.
"You are another kid, you know that?" Misty asked, though she still had that amused look on her face.
"I've been called worse," Ash conceded.
Misty playfully rolled her eyes and walked deeper into the living room. "You used to freak out when I would call you a kid! I kind of miss it."
"Only when you called me a little kid," Ash corrected. "I'm not about to deny that I have a very endearing, childlike quality to my personality!"
Misty just hummed as she gazed out the window. Ash quickly realized she no longer seemed to be listening to him and tilted his head. "What's up?"
"I know it sounds silly, but I kind of keep hoping Aiden and Michelle will just magically appear," Misty murmured, not bothering to look away from the window.
Ash remained silent for a moment before replying, "It's not silly. I do the same thing."
Misty finally turned her head and smiled sympathetically at her husband. "Well, I can't waste my time wishing away. We've got to start getting ready for Lizzie's birthday party!"
"Tada!"
Elizabeth had suddenly reappeared at the foot of the stairs, now wearing a pale pink dress with rhinestones and a bow at her waist and a tulle skirt covered in glittery stars.
"Well, don't you look beautiful!" Ash gushed, kneeling down to be at eye level with his young daughter.
"Thank you!" Elizabeth chirped. "I love this dress!"
"I do too," Misty agreed with a light giggle. "It looks wonderful on you, Lizzie!"
"I want to wear this too, Mommy, but I can't get it on," Elizabeth continued, holding out a pink bow with a silver glitter star tacked in the middle.
Misty opened her mouth, but was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Letting out a breath, Misty looked over her shoulder towards the door.
"I'll get it," Ash replied, standing up straight. "You take care of Elizabeth's hair."
Misty smiled appreciatively at her husband. "Thank you!"
He returned her grin before approaching the door and pulling it open. As soon as he did, his eyes lit up and he let out a strong chuckle. "Hey, Brock!"
"Brock!" Elizabeth parroted, trying to squirm around her mother. Misty was quick, however, to grab the girl's shoulders and keep her in place.
"Hold still," Misty instructed. "You wanted your bow in. As soon as I'm done, you can go see Brock."
Elizabeth frowned, but squeaked out an understanding, "okay."
"Hope I'm not too early," Brock said, entering the house by Ash's wordless invitation. "I wanted to make sure I was able to give Elizabeth her present before the party started!"
He held up a sparkly pink gift bag for emphasis. The second Misty got Elizabeth's bow in her hair, the little girl charged towards her godfather, jumping up and down for the present.
"I want it! I want it!" Elizabeth chanted.
"Elizabeth, you haven't even said hello yet!" Misty scolded. "Couldn't you at least do that before begging for your gift?"
"Hi, Brock!" Elizabeth greeted almost breathlessly. "Can I have my present?!"
Misty smacked a hand against her face while Brock started to laugh. "Come on, Misty, she did what you asked!"
"Hardly," Misty groaned.
"Of course you can have your present," Brock assured the young girl, bending down to offer her the gift. "It is your birthday after all, right?"
"Uh huh!" Elizabeth confirmed, happily accepting the bag.
"And how old are you now?" Brock asked.
"Five!" Elizabeth replied, fanning her fingers out. "That's a whole hand!"
"You're right, it is!" Brock playfully gasped, watching as Elizabeth rifled through the tissue paper in the gift bag. "This is a very big birthday."
Elizabeth finally managed to pull the actual gift out of the bag, and gasped as soon as she saw it. It was a small, faux leather bag shaped like a unicorn, with a gold zipper going around it and a long gold chain attached to the top of the creature's head and the bottom of the neck.
"It's a little purse shaped like a unicorn," Brock explained. "I know how much you love them, and when your daddy told me that was the theme of your birthday party, I knew this would be the perfect present!"
Elizabeth squealed and hugged the purse against her chest. "I love it!" Spinning around to face her parents, Elizabeth thrust the bag towards them and exclaimed, "Look at her hair! It's all pink glitter!"
"Yeah, that sure is pretty!" Ash chuckled. "What do you say to Brock?"
"Thank you!" Elizabeth cried, jumping at the Pokémon doctor to give him a big hug.
"Oh, you are most welcome!" Brock laughed, grabbing the girl and tossing her up a short distance in the air. "I'm so glad you love it!"
Elizabeth smirked at the man and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's my most favorite present ever!"
"Ever?" Brock gasped. "Whoa, that's some compliment!"
Misty cleared her throat to gain Brock's attention, and then mused, "I feel like that adorable little purse isn't the only thing you brought with you today."
"Who, me?" Brock teased. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Right," Misty drawled. "So if I go out to your car right now, I'm not going to find about ten trays of food?"
Ash's eyes widened. "Brock, you brought food?!"
"Maybe, I-"
Ash started to laugh and rushed past Brock, right out the front door. Elizabeth giggled wildly at this, while Brock and Misty just exchanged looks.
"I didn't even get to finish that sentence," Brock noted.
"Please, we all know you brought food," Misty scoffed.
"If it makes you feel better, I coordinated with Delia," Brock tried.
"No," Misty quickly replied, her smirk widening. "That just makes the whole thing so much sadder."
XXX
It wasn't long before Elizabeth's birthday party was in full swing. The backyard of the Ketchum's Cerulean home had been transformed into a glittery, pink, unicorn wonderland, the mass of balloons Ash had purchased accented with streamers, banners, and other decorations. A large, pastel hued bouncy castle was positioned right in the middle of the yard, and a unicorn shaped piñata hung from a nearby tree. A long table covered in various foods cooked by both Delia and Brock sat by the back door.
Ash and Misty busied themselves with entertaining the adults, which included Brock, Delia, Misty's parents, sisters and their husbands, and the parents of Elizabeth's friends. The little girl was very happy to play and hang out with her friends, but she would occasionally wander off to the adults in order to show or tell them something.
At one point, Elizabeth had decided she wanted to spend time with Delia. Her grandmother certainly wasn't opposed to that, and had sat the little girl down on her lap while talking to her.
"Are you having fun with all of your friends?" Delia asked sweetly, straightening out the little girl's bow which had gone somewhat crooked after a romp in the bouncy castle.
"Uh huh!" Elizabeth squeaked.
"They all seem very nice," Delia giggled, lowering her hands once she was satisfied with the bow's placement. "Do you take dance with them?"
"Some of 'em," Elizabeth replied, shrugging her shoulders. "There are other kids that I play with in the park, or the ones whose mommies and daddies are Mommy's friends so we play together!"
"How wonderful!" Delia breathed, her smile widening. Like her father had been at this age, Elizabeth was very talkative, and it greatly amused Delia. "You're lucky to have so many friends, Lizzie."
"Hey, guys!"
Delia looked up from Elizabeth and gasped. Before Elizabeth could even ask what was going on, her grandmother had picked her up and placed her on the ground, getting to het feet and walking away.
"Hey, Grammy!" Elizabeth cried, trying to follow after her. She was blocked, however, by a sea of adults, who had suddenly gathered and packed tightly together. The little girl jumped up and down, trying to see around them, but that didn't do her any good. Desperate, Elizabeth started to weave between their legs, using her small size to her advantage as she squeezed through the crowd. The little girl finally made it to the front, where she found her grandmother and parents standing in front of…
"Aiden? Michelle?"
The girl's older siblings turned towards her and smiled.
"Hey, shrimp!" Aiden greeted, giving a small wave. "Happy birthday!"
"How come you're home?" Elizabeth asked, blinking her eyes. She wasn't unhappy…just surprised.
"We thought it'd be nice to surprise you for your birthday," Michelle explained, watching as Pichu jumped off her shoulder and into Elizabeth's arms. "We would've been home sooner, but someone got us lost."
She directed a pointed glare towards Aiden, whose face quickly turned red. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! You're just stubborn!"
"That's real funny coming from you," Michelle quipped. "We would've made it here three hours ago if you had just admitted we took a wrong turn!"
"Come on, you two just got home and you're already going to fight in front of everyone?" Misty complained.
"Sorry," they apologized simultaneously.
"You guys have to tell us about everything you've been up to!" Ash piped up.
"Yes, we'd love to hear about all of your adventures!" Delia agreed.
Frowning, Elizabeth walked up to her father and tugged at his pants. "Daddy, can we-"
"Just a sec, Lizzie," Ash interrupted before beaming at his two older children. "Have you two caught any new Pokémon since the last time we saw you?"
"Yeah, sure did!" Aiden replied.
Elizabeth furrowed her brow. "But Daddy, I want to-"
"Awesome! Why don't you show everyone?"
"Okay!"
Growling, Elizabeth instead walked over to her mother and attached herself to the woman's leg. "Mommy?"
Misty glanced down at Elizabeth and smiled, reaching down to toy with the girl's bangs. "You want to see Aiden and Michelle's Pokémon too?"
"I guess so, but-"
"I hope at least one of them is a water type," Misty mused aloud, clasping her hands together.
"Mommy…" Elizabeth whined, taking a step back.
"You'll see them in just a minute, Lizzie," Misty gently reminded her daughter, thinking the child was just growing impatient.
Elizabeth huffed. That wasn't what she meant! Not at all! In fact, she wasn't even trying to ask about her siblings' Pokémon! Anger building up inside of her, Elizabeth squeezed Pichu a bit more tightly, causing the baby mouse to look up at the child in concern. "Pi-chu?"
Relaxing, Elizabeth decided to try with one more person. Scurrying over to Delia, Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a delighted gasp from the older woman.
"Oh, what a beautiful Pokémon!"
"Thanks!" Michelle giggled. "I brush its fur every single day, just like Brock taught me! That's why it's so shiny and neat."
"Ah, so I taught you well!" Brock boasted.
"I'd sure say so!" Michelle agreed.
Scowling, Elizabeth stormed off in the direction of the house, Pichu still in her arms. Reaching the back door, Elizabeth pushed it open to slip inside, violently slamming the sliding door behind her.
"Pi!" Pichu gasped.
"It's not fair!"
Pichu squeaked and looked up at Elizabeth again. This time, the girl looked furious, her eyes narrowed and cheeks burning red.
"Everyone's ignoring me all because Aiden and Michelle came home," Elizabeth grumbled. "Mommy and Daddy and Grammy won't even listen to me!"
"Chu…" Pichu murmured.
"I'm happy they're here, but I don't like it when no one listens to me," Elizabeth continued, the angry look on her face giving way to one of sadness. "-specially on my birthday."
"Pi pi-chu."
Slowly, Elizabeth raised her eyes towards the foyer. Without another word, she marched through the kitchen, into the foyer, and stopped in the living room. Pichu finally jumped out of the little girl's arms and instead situated herself by the child's feet, following after her once Elizabeth started walking again. The child headed straight for the sparkly pink gift bag that Brock had brought her, reaching in and pulling out the mini unicorn purse. Clutching the gold chain, she slipped it over her shoulders so it settled across her body, the bag resting on her hip.
"Pi…" Pichu squeaked warily.
"Don't worry, Pichu," Elizabeth softly informed the baby mouse as she unzipped the bag. "I'll be safe."
Pichu didn't seem convinced. She followed Elizabeth again as the girl shuffled back into the kitchen, grabbing a handful of extra candy that had been left inside and stuffing it into her purse. She then walked back to the foyer and went up on her tippy toes to reach the doorknob, which she quickly unlocked. With that complete, she opened the front door and walked right outside, closing the door behind her and leaving Pichu there.
It took all of about five seconds for the little mouse to start panicking. She ran towards the backdoor, desperately pushing at it with her paws. It began to slide open very slowly, until it was just barely cracked open. Pichu squeezed herself between the door and the wall, finally managing to open it enough that she tumbled back out into the yard. Shaking her head, the baby mouse got back to her paws and ran towards the other humans. Ash was the first one she saw who she recognized, so she ran to him first and began pulling at his pants with all of the strength she had.
"Pi! Pichu!" She cried as she tugged.
It wasn't doing much to catch his attention. He was still busy fawning over the twins' Pokémon. On his shoulder, however, sat Pikachu, whose ears began to twitch. His sensitive hearing enabled him to hear Pichu's flustered squeaks, even over all of the other noise. Looking down, he saw the baby mouse trying valiantly to get Ash's attention. Confused, Pikachu jumped down and stood next to his pre-evolved form, poking the small electric type with his tail.
"Pi, pi-ka?" Pikachu asked.
The baby mouse spun around, startling Pikachu. But Pichu didn't notice, and continued with her shrieking as she waved her front paws around.
"Ka?" Pikachu muttered, raising an eyebrow as he tilted his head.
"Pi-chu!" Pichu hissed. "Pi pichu!"
Finally understanding the flustered mouse, Pikachu's beady black eyes widened. Grasping the severity of the situation, Pikachu climbed back up onto his trainer's shoulder and began swatting at him.
"Pikapi, Pikachu-pi!" He cried.
"Hold on, Pikachu," Ash dismissed his partner, obviously distracted.
"Pi-ka! Pikachu, pika pikapi pikachu!" The electric type continued frantically.
"Just give me a sec, kay buddy?" Ash sighed.
Having had enough, Pikachu built up his electricity and shocked his unsuspecting trainer, who quickly fell to the ground a smoky mess after crying out in a mixture of pain and surprise. That shock, followed by Ash's screaming and the subsequent sizzling of his hair and clothes, managed to catch the attention of Delia, Misty, Aiden, and Michelle as well.
"Dad, are you okay?" Michelle gasped.
Ash groaned and sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine." He turned towards Pikachu and narrowed his eyes. "What was that for?! I told you to give me a second!"
"Pikapichu," Pikachu growled, unfazed by his trainer's annoyance. "Pi pika-chu!"
"What do you mean Elizabeth walked out of the house?" Ash muttered, though his face fell.
"Pichu pika pikapichu pika pi-ka pika-chu," Pikachu continued, pointing towards a nodding Pichu.
"Wh-what?" Misty stammered, watching as Ash got back to his feet. "Why would Elizabeth just leave the house?!"
"I don't know," Ash sighed. "Pichu, can you show us where Elizabeth went?"
Pichu nodded again and started to run around the house, towards the front yard. Ash and Misty followed closely behind, while Aiden and Michelle trailed after them. When they got to the front of the house, Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.
"Pi…" Pichu whined, looking over at the humans who had followed her.
"It's alright, Pichu," Michelle assured her partner, walking over to pick up the baby mouse. "This is a good start!"
Lifting his nose, Pikachu began to sniff the air, and seemed to quickly get a scent. "Pikapichu!"
"You smell her?" Ash asked.
"Pi," Pikachu confirmed, flying off of Ash's shoulder and running straight ahead. He ran all the way down the street, reaching the corner where a large oak tree stood. Stopping by the tree, Pikachu slowly circled the trunk before reaching the back and perking up. "Pikapichu!"
Ash and Misty gasped and rounded the tree just like Pikachu had. Elizabeth was sitting against the trunk, an open chocolate bar in her hands with some of the candy covering her mouth.
"Elizabeth Dilynne Ketchum!" Misty scolded, though there was also obvious relief in her voice. "What do you think you're doing leaving the house without telling anyone?!"
Elizabeth suddenly appeared very sheepish, but she admitted, "cause I was running away."
Aiden glanced over at his twin sister and muttered, "This is as far as she got? That's weak."
"Seriously?" Michelle sighed, narrowing her eyes at him.
Both Ash and Misty's faces softened. Sighing sadly, Ash asked, "why were you trying to run away?"
"Because as soon as Aiden and Michelle came home, everyone ignored me," Elizabeth grumbled. "I tried asking you guys a question, and you wouldn't listen! Everyone only cared about them coming back."
Misty frowned. "Sweetheart, we didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry you felt ignored. We were just so excited to see Aiden and Michelle; none of us were expecting it! But that doesn't make what we did right."
"We know you're used to receiving all of our attention since Aiden and Michelle aren't really home anymore," Ash added. "I guess we just got a little overwhelmed and didn't realize we weren't listening to you."
Frowning, Michelle stepped closer to the tree and said to her younger sister, "Aiden and I didn't mean to mess up your birthday party, Lizzie. We're sorry."
"Yeah, we probably should've said something before we just showed up," Aiden agreed.
"No!" Elizabeth cried, jumping to her feet. "I'm really happy! I wanted you at my party! I was just kinda jealous…everyone was around you and I felt left out." Turning towards her parents, Elizabeth added, "that's what I was trying to ask! I wanted to get closer to Aiden and Michelle."
"Ooh," Ash breathed, his eyes widening. "That explains it!"
Misty smiled sympathetically at her daughter and picked the young girl up in her arms. "We will listen better next time, Elizabeth. We all promise!"
Elizabeth smiled at her mother. "Okay! Can we go back to my party now?"
"Right, your party," Misty sighed, laughing nervously afterwards. It didn't take much for Elizabeth to forgive them. "We all kind of just ran out of there, didn't we?"
"It's okay," Elizabeth squeaked. "I liked being alone with you guys for a bit! I love you."
Ash smirked and ruffled the girl's hair. "We all love you too, Lizzie."
