I honestly can't believe it's Elizabeth's birthday already! I feel like I just wrote the story for Misty's...this year really is flying by!

I had a lot of fun with this one. It's a bit different than some of the other birthday stories I've written, but I really wanted to focus on some characterization and thought this plot would be a fun way to do it!


Eight is Great?

Elizabeth wasn't sure what was better: being a kid or being a grown up.

She did like being a kid, but she had to admit she was a bit of jealous her older siblings. They were already teenagers, and to Elizabeth, that was probably the coolest thing you could be. It was like being a grown up, but not really; not the kind of old grown ups who tended to be super boring (her parents, for reasons Elizabeth couldn't figure out, took offense to that description). They were off on their Pokémon journeys, following their dreams and, even more importantly, doing whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Her cousins were teenagers too, and even though they could be a bit of a pain, Elizabeth had to admit that they were definitely cool. They had the cutest clothes, prettiest makeup, awesome boyfriends, and they could drive cars!

Elizabeth glanced down at her cotton candy pink bike and frowned. She liked it, but it wasn't nearly as cool as a car.

The young girl wouldn't normally think about something like age so intently, but her birthday was a week away, and the wheels in her mind had started to turn. She wasn't anywhere close to being a teenager; she was only turning eight. And with her birthday so close, Elizabeth couldn't help but to wonder if she was ready to do some more grown up things.

She supposed being allowed to ride her bike around the residence area of Cerulean City was a start. Her parents were pretty protective of her, and the very idea of allowing her to go to downtown Cerulean on her own, bicycle or not, was still out of the question. More recently, however, and upon her (very persistent) insistence, they had granted her permission to ride her bike around the quieter side of town, so long as she didn't stray too far from home or find herself in any other kinds of trouble.

Right now, the girl was on a very particular mission, and she was determined. She pushed down on her bike's pedals, lifting up off the seat in an effort to make it go faster. Not even having to look at the street signs to know where she was going, Elizabeth took a sharp right and flew down the side of the street, staying as close to the curb as she could. In a matter of minutes, she had reached her destination: a white house with a dark blue door and shutters. Apparently, she'd arrived just in time, as the person she'd been hoping to see was just getting out of a car in the driveway.

"Hey, David!" Elizabeth called.

The boy turned and, as soon as he saw her, beamed. "Hey, Lizzie!"

Elizabeth used her foot to lower the kickstand of her bike before hopping off. "How was baseball camp?"

"So awesome!" David crowed. "There were so many really good kids there. I learned a whole lot! Plus, it was super fun."

"That's great!" Elizabeth cheered.

Suddenly, as if he'd just gained bearing on his surroundings, David realized that Elizabeth was standing in front of him with her bike and not one of her parents or their Pokémon around. "Wait, your parents let you come here by yourself?!"

"Uh huh!" Elizabeth confirmed. "I think they're starting to get a little less crazy."

"Your parents are crazy?" David asked, genuinely curious. He had never thought of Ash or Misty as crazy; he actually thought they were both really cool.

"Well…no," Elizabeth admitted, feeling a bit guilty she had used that definition. "Just protective. But what I meant was that can get pretty crazy! I think they worry about things like Team Rocket because of when they were younger…and then when Aiden and Michelle had to deal with them."

"That stuff was definitely crazy," David agreed, nodding his head.

"But I'm not here to talk about my parents!" Elizabeth cried. "I'm here to give you something!"

David appeared surprised. "Like a present?"

"Yeah!" Elizabeth agreed. She reached into the white basket of her bike and pulled out a small, gift wrapped box.

"How come?" David asked as Elizabeth approached him with the gift. "It's not my birthday!"

"No, but I thought I'd give it to you for doing a good job at baseball camp," Elizabeth replied.

"How'd you know I was gonna do a good job?" David continued, scratching his cheek.

Elizabeth groaned dramatically. "You're like my daddy; you ask too many questions! You should just say thank you and take the present."

David shrugged and accepted the gift from Elizabeth. "Thank you!"

Elizabeth smiled, pleased that David had taken her advice. "You're welcome!"

"Guess I'm gonna have to get you a really nice present for your birthday now!" David chuckled.

Elizabeth feigned offence at this. "What, where you not going to before?! I am your girlfriend, you know!"

David continued to laugh. "Yeah, I know! I'm just teasing!"

"Well, you should be getting the invitation to my party pretty soon," Elizabeth noted, brushing her sneaker against the concrete. "My mommy and I sent them out a few days ago."

David smirked at her. "Are they all girly and pink and junk?"

Elizabeth huffed and turned her back to David. "Hey, I like that kind of stuff! Besides, it's better than being all covered in dirt and filled with bite marks like yours were."

"That was an accident!" David cried. "I can't help it that they fell out of my backpack and then Bolt chewed 'em up."

"Jolt! Jolt!"

Having heard his name, a highly energetic Jolteon came running from the backyard, playfully tackling a surprised David and knocking him to the ground.

"Ugh, Bolt!" David groaned before laughing as the electric type licked his cheek. "Guess you missed me, huh?"

Elizabeth giggled and knelt down by the Pokémon. "Hiya, Bolt!"

The Jolteon jumped off of David and into Elizabeth's arms instead, licking her face as she laughed. David sat up, eyeing the Pokémon.

"You must've been outside with dad," David mused.

"Your dad trains in the backyard with his Pokémon too?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, sometimes!" David replied. "I'm kind of surprised your dad does. Don't they have all kinds of fancy stuff for him and his Pokémon to use up at the Indigo Plateau?"

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders. "They do, but my dad says it's actually a lot more fun to just go outside and train. He says it reminds him of when he was a trainer traveling around! He never had any of that fancy stuff back then; it was just him and his Pokémon out in the woods or at a Pokémon Center or wherever they were!"

That gave her pause too. Her dad was a real grown up now, but he talked all the time about when he was younger and seemed to miss it quite a bit. But even then, he was still older than eight. Maybe being a kid was overrated.

Not noticing that Elizabeth was now detached from their conversation, David's eyes started to sparkle. "That's so cool! Your dad is awesome, Lizzie!"

His sudden exclamation finally brought Elizabeth out of her reverie, causing her to shake her head and regain her bearings.

"He's pretty cool," Elizabeth admitted, showing off a sly smile. "Anyway, I'd better get going. He's not gonna be very cool if I don't get home soon."

David furrowed his brow as Elizabeth got back to her feet. "I thought you said your mom and dad were getting less crazy."

"They are…'til I'm gone for too long," Elizabeth relented. "Then they just think I've gotten myself into trouble! And they get crazy all over again."

"I guess that makes sense," David murmured, standing back up himself and patting Bolt on the head. "Well then, I'll see you later!"

"Yeah, at my birthday party!" Elizabeth giggled. "And I'm really looking forward to that really nice present you promised me!"

XXX

"Don't panic! I'm back!"

Misty raised an eyebrow as Elizabeth burst through the front door, her face red and her hair disheveled.

"No one is panicking," Misty snickered, pausing the show she'd been watching. "Do you really think Daddy and I are that crazy, Lizzie?"

"Maybe more Daddy than you," Elizabeth admitted, sheepishly clutching her right arm.

Misty smirked and playfully pointed at her daughter. "Good answer."

"I gave David his present!" Elizabeth announced, suddenly gaining all of her confidence back. She released her arm and skirted over to her mother, plopping herself down on the couch beside her. "He was really surprised!"

"I'm sure," Misty replied. "Did he have a nice time at baseball camp?"

"Uh huh," Elizabeth confirmed. "I think he had almost as much fun as I've been having at dance camp!"

"I'm sure!" Misty giggled. "You two are a bit more similar than you'd like to admit."

Elizabeth pulled a look that Misty couldn't quite place…until the younger girl quipped, "like you and Daddy?"

Misty nearly choked on her own breath. "No! We're not similar at all!"

Now it was Elizabeth's turn to smirk. "Yeah, I say the same thing about me and David. Not so funny, huh?"

"You are too smart for your own good," Misty sighed. "Where'd you get all those brains from, anyway?"

"Grammy," Elizabeth quickly responded.

Misty pursed her lips and slowly nodded her head. "I deserved that one."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Elizabeth gasped. "I got to see Bolt at David's house!"

"His dad's Jolteon?" Misty asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "He's so sweet! I still think that he and Vaporeon should have a playdate one day. I bet they'd have a lot of fun together!"

"They might," Misty mused. "She's always enjoyed spending time with Gary's Umbreon!"

"I'll ask David," Elizabeth decided, grinning at her mother.

"Sounds good," Misty giggled. "Speaking of, we have to decide what we want to eat for dinner! Any ideas?"

"Pasta!" Elizabeth cried without taking a second to think.

"Not sure why I even asked," Misty laughed nervously.

"Daddy likes pasta just as much as I do," Elizabeth commented.

"Yes, but I don't think Daddy really plays favorites with food," Misty countered with a smirk as she got up from the couch.

Not wanting to be left behind, Elizabeth jumped up and followed after her mother, straight into the kitchen. Vaporeon was already in there, lapping at a bowl full of water. She lifted her head when she heard Misty and Elizabeth walk in, but then resumed her drinking.

"Did Daddy come home from work?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not yet," Misty replied as she opened up a cabinet to retrieve a pot. "Why do you ask, sweetheart?"

"I want to ask him something," Elizabeth explained, lingering around Misty as she began to prepare dinner. "But…I guess I could ask you, too!"

"Gee, thanks," Misty teased, looking over her shoulder.

"I want to ask you both!" Elizabeth cried. "You guys give different answers!"

"I thought we were very similar?" Misty quipped.

Elizabeth groaned and clutched her head. "You're not funny!"

"Come on, that was pretty funny," Misty playfully challenged.

"No," Elizabeth grumbled, lowering her hands.

"Alright, fine," Misty sighed, although she was still smirking. "What is your question?"

Elizabeth glanced back up at her mother, green eyes set wide, and asked, "what do you think is better: being younger or being older?"

Misty looked like she was about to answer, but quickly reeled it back in, thinking for a moment before prodding, "in what sense?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking before how cool it is to be like Aiden or Michelle, because they can kind of do whatever they want, but they're not super old. Or like Dakota, Vanessa, and Lola, because they can all drive cars and they have boyfriends…oh, and they can wear makeup!"

"You know, makeup isn't all it's cracked up to be," Misty forewarned.

"Yeah it is!" Elizabeth cried. "It's so pretty!"

"That's true, but it's a huge pain to put on," Misty sighed. "And a huge pain to take off, too!"

"But it's probably worth it, because it makes you look so pretty," Elizabeth calmly argued with a pout.

"You're pretty just the way you are, Lizzie," Misty reminded her daughter. "You don't need to wear any makeup!"

"I guess, but I want to," Elizabeth murmured. "But I'm too young for it! That's what you say, anyway."

"Right, because it's true," Misty confirmed.

"So if I was a teenager, I could wear makeup," Elizabeth concluded.

"Yes, but I don't think that's worth rushing to grow up for," Misty replied.

"Maybe," Elizabeth hummed. "I mean, I think being a kid is fun too! I get to go to school and hang out with all of my friends. But I'm not even old enough to be a Pokémon trainer yet! I'd love to have my very own Pokémon, just like you have Vaporeon or Daddy has Pikachu!"

Before Misty could answer, she was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up and she ran towards the doorway of the kitchen, quickly grabbing the wall to stop herself from slipping.

"Daddy!" She cried.

Ash nearly stumbled backwards, Pikachu letting out an alarmed squeak and gripping his trainer's shoulder more tightly. "Whoa! You scared me, pumpkin!"

"Sorry," Elizabeth apologized quickly. "But I have a really important question I want to ask you!"

"Sounds like it," Ash breathed, closing the door behind him and walking into the kitchen, watching as Pikachu hopped onto the floor to approach Misty. "What's up?"

Elizabeth motioned for her father to sit down at the table. He shot Misty a bewildered look, but she just sighed and nodded her head towards the table as well. Knowing he wasn't going to get any further explanation from her, Ash sat down, carefully eyeing his daughter.

Once Ash was seated, Elizabeth did the same directly across from him, cleared her throat and repeated her same question from before: "what do you think is better: being younger or being older?"

Ash blinked, obviously not processing the question. "Uh…for what?"

"Living," Elizabeth deadpanned.

Instantly, Ash started to laugh, much to Elizabeth's chagrin. "Sorry, but that was funny!"

"Come on, Daddy, I wanna know what you think!" Elizabeth whined.

"Why is it so important to you?" Ash asked, genuinely curious.

"I dunno, but I've been thinking about it all day," Elizabeth replied. "I already asked Mommy, but she didn't really tell me what she thought."

"Well…it depends," Ash mused. "Sure, there are things you can do as an adult that you can't do as a kid, but you can get away with a lot more when you're a kid, I think. And you don't have as many responsibilities, so you can goof off and play more. So I guess if I had to pick, I'd say that being younger is better!"

"Yeah?" Elizabeth prodded.

"Your daddy will choose any answer that allows him to act like a total goof ball," Misty replied, smirking at her husband.

"That's not true," Ash calmly refuted. "Just because I'm an adult doesn't mean I can't goof off!"

"Believe me, I know," Misty sighed.

"I'm just curious why that was such an important question for you, Lizzie," Ash murmured, turning back towards his daughter. "What made you think of it?"

"Oh, well, because my birthday is so close, and I kind of think I want to be more like a teenager," Elizabeth admitted, poking her fingers together. "Aiden and Michelle get to do all kinds of fun stuff because they're older. And Dakota, Vanessa, and Lola have lots of cool things because they're older!"

"What kind of 'cool things' do they have that you're so interested in?" Ash questioned.

"Cars and makeup," Elizabeth replied without hesitation.

Ash let out a strangled sound, causing his daughter to raise an eyebrow. Misty, on the other hand, snickered and returned to her cooking.

"Michelle let you off too easy," she quipped. "Welcome to having a daughter."

"Neither of those things are worth growing up too quickly for," Ash promised.

Elizabeth furrowed her brow. "You wear makeup too?!"

"No!" Ash cried, burying his face in his hands. "I don't wear makeup!"

"You made it sound like you did," Misty absentmindedly commented.

Ash groaned and lowered his hands, glaring over at his wife. "You're not helping."

"I'm sorry," Misty giggled, indicating that she wasn't actually.

Sighing, Ash turned his attention back onto Elizabeth and continued, "you shouldn't rush growing up, Lizzie. There are so many fun things you get to do when you're a kid! And you're not nearly a kid for as long as you are a grown up. Things like cars and makeup are going to get boring eventually, trust me."

"But Pokémon won't," Elizabeth countered. "I want to be a Pokémon trainer!"

"I know you do," Ash chuckled. "I wanted to be one very badly at your age, too! I thought it was going to be forever until I finally turned 10 and could get my own Pokémon. But it went by much faster than I thought! Besides, you're lucky. You're surrounded by all different kinds of Pokémon every single day! Plus, you get to go to a really awesome school where they teach you all different things about Pokémon and what it's like to be a trainer. So you're already getting like a sneak peak of being a trainer, with much less responsibility!"

Elizabeth seemed to think about this for a long moment. "That's really smart, Daddy."

Ash was a little surprised by her compliment. "Yeah?"

Elizabeth grinned and nodded her head. "I still think all that stuff is cool, but I do really like being a kid, and I don't wanna be a grown up just to have them! I think it's still better to have fun and do kid stuff."

A big smile popped up on Ash's face. "I'm really glad to hear that! I don't want you to grow up too quickly. You're my baby, and I kind of want to keep it that way."

Elizabeth giggled and jumped out of her chair, scurrying up to her father and throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you, Daddy!" Pulling away, she shot him a serious look and added, "but I'm not a baby."

"Hey, I didn't say you were a baby, I said you're my baby," Ash corrected, smiling at her.

Just like that, Elizabeth's stern expression melted away as she exploded into a fit of giggles. "Okay, I am!"

Before Ash could say anything else, Elizabeth flitted straight out of the room. Pikachu's ears twitched and he immediately followed after the girl, with Vaporeon not far behind.

"Guess she's satisfied with our answers," Ash concluded, shrugging his shoulders.

"I think more so yours than mine," Misty mused. "Although we were on the same wavelength."

"I'm not going to lie; the thought of Elizabeth as a teenager terrifies me," Ash admitted, knitting his brows together. "Way more than Michelle. I mean, the kid's not even eight yet and she's already talking about cars and makeup!"

"And she already has a boyfriend," Misty added.

"Okay, he's not a real boyfriend!" Ash snapped, his cheeks turning red. "They're going to be third graders; they don't even know what that means."

"I hate to break it to you, but that boy has a better idea of what it means than you did when you were far older than him," Misty remarked.

Ash tightly pressed his lips together. "Again, you're not helping."

"Sorry," Misty laughed, sounding a tinge more genuine than last time.

"I just didn't realize she'd been thinking so much about getting older," Ash sighed, leaning back in his chair. "She's so sweet and carefree, I didn't even think it would cross her mind."

"She is a bit more mature than she might come across," Misty murmured. "I think because she's so girly and so sweet and so innocent, people underestimate her. But she's got a mind far beyond her years. It's actually pretty fascinating when you think about it."

"Yeah," Ash breathed. "As long as she doesn't try and grow up too quickly…"

Misty thought about it for a moment before determining, "I don't think she will. You said your piece, and to her, that basically makes it law."

"We'll see," Ash trilled, getting up from his seat. "That didn't put a stop to the whole 'boyfriend' thing."

Misty threw her head back and laughed, causing Ash to raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"That's because that was a test by our surprisingly mature daughter," Misty explained. "One that you failed miserably."