Happy Halloween! I got really into this year's one shot, and I'm hoping you'll all enjoy it as well!

Aiden and Michelle: 9 years old

Elizabeth: 4 years old


Happy Haunts

"Once upon a time there was a big, huge, super scary old castle. It was black and gray, and it had Spinarak webs all over it. And a spiky black fence around the whole thing! Sometimes, storm clouds would show up in the sky, and it'd rain bright red blood! All sticky and gross…and it'd fill up the whole entire castle!"

Ash winced at the (far too detailed) description of this fictional castle. "Man, Lizzie, that's a bit dark."

Pikachu and Vaporeon, who had been listening as well and were now halfway hidden behind Ash, both nodded in agreement.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, just burst out into laughter. "It's a scary story, Daddy! It's -ppoused to be!"

"Yeah, scary, not…horror movie scary," Ash murmured. "Has Aiden been letting you watch any creepy movies like that?"

The little girl quickly shook her head. "Nuh uh!"

Ash didn't seem convinced, but chose not to ask any further questions. "Okay…well, why don't we take a break from telling scary stories, huh?"

Elizabeth titled her head. "For what?"

"Uncle Tracey called before to ask if we'd like to help him decorate the lab for Halloween," Ash explained. "I thought you guys would have lots of fun with that, so I told him yes!"

The young girl contemplated this for a moment. "Are your Pokémon gonna be there?"

"Of course!" Ash chuckled.

That seemed to be enough for Elizabeth, who grinned and jumped to her feet. "Let's go!"

"Hang on, crazy girl," Ash snickered, standing up from the couch. "We've got to round up everyone else first!"

Elizabeth frowned. "Who else?"

Ash smirked at his daughter. "Your brother, sister, and Mommy."

Sighing impatiently, Elizabeth replied, "okay. But make them come fast! Don't let them take forever!"

"I'll try my best," Ash assured her, trying not to laugh. He found it cute, but he knew Elizabeth was dead serious and would likely not appreciate his own amusement.

The young girl suddenly brightened up, much to her father's surprise. "I know you do! I'll play with Pikachu and Vaporeon 'til you come back!"

At this, the Pokémon perked up themselves and jumped off the couch, clamoring for playtime. Elizabeth giggled in response and began chasing after the two, the three of them running right past Ash like a small herd.

"Lizzie, be careful!" Ash warned. "You're not supposed to be running in the house!"

In reality, Misty was more concerned about such things than he was, but the last thing Ash needed was for Misty to come downstairs and see their daughter and two Pokémon treating the house like a playground. Deciding he should intercept any potential encounter before it had a chance to happen, Ash hurried up the stairs, looking around for his wife and two older children. Fortunately, it didn't take him long, as Aiden was in near plain sight, leaning against the closed linen closet.

"What're you doing, champ?" Ash conversationally called out to the boy.

Aiden sighed heavily and turned his head towards his father. "Being bored to death."

"No, he's not."

Misty poked her head out of the nearby laundry room. "I'm trying to teach him and Michelle how to do their laundry. I'd like for them to be prepared before they leave home on their journey."

"What Mom's forgetting though is that there are no washing machines out in the wild," Aiden snickered.

"You know there are in Pokémon Centers, right?" Michelle prodded. "And that we're not going to be spending every single night out in the woods?"

"I wasn't planning on doing laundry period," Aiden scoffed.

"Which is why I'm trying to prevent that," Misty sighed, eyeing her husband.

Michelle made a sound of disgust. "I'm not travelling around with him if he plans on smelling like a threatened Gloom every single day."

Ash simply blinked in response. "Wow…a lot going on up here. Well, why don't you all take a break for a bit!"

"To do what?" Misty asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"I told Tracey we'd go over to Professor Oak's lab and help decorate for Halloween," Ash replied.

Michelle's eyes lit up. "Oh, that sounds like so much fun! We could visit all the Pokémon while we're there, too!"

"Yeah, I'd much rather do that than laundry!" Aiden agreed. "Especially if we can make some fake blood for the windows."

Ash's brain suddenly jolted, and he glanced over at his son. "Aiden, you haven't been letting your little sister watch scary movies, have you?"

The boy's eyes widened a bit, and Misty immediately went on the alert. "What makes you think that?"

"Lizzie wanted to tell me a 'scary story' before but it got a little…intense," Ash chose his final word carefully. "I just thought it was kind of strange for a four-year-old."

Aiden opened his mouth in order to defend himself but was cut off by his mother before he could do so. "I don't think Aiden's been showing her anything like that. Lizzie's just got a very vivid imagination, even if it takes some…interesting turns sometimes."

His name having been cleared, Aiden grinned confidently at his father. "Yep, Mom's right! I would never show Lizzie any of those movies! I wouldn't want to give her any more of those crazy ideas."

Michelle rolled her eyes, but Ash, who hadn't seen it, just smiled at his son. "That makes sense! Sorry for assuming, champ."

"No problem!" Aiden cheerfully assured him. "In fact, I think I'll head downstairs and start getting her ready to go for you guys!"

Ash and Misty both appeared impressed as Aiden rushed past them down the hallway and towards the stairs.

"That boy can be so sweet and so helpful when he wants to be!" Misty giggled.

"Yeah, too bad it's so rare," Michelle quipped.

Downstairs, Aiden had just reached the bottom of the steps as Elizabeth was racing by them.

"Hey, squirt!" Aiden called. Elizabeth skidded to a halt, glancing up at her brother. "Quit telling Dad super creepy stories! He's onto us!"

Elizabeth giggled wildly at his warning. "But it's funny!"

"Well it won't be so funny when I get in trouble," Aiden sighed. "Also, if Mom and Dad find out, they won't let you watch that kind of stuff anymore."

That got Elizabeth to stop laughing. "Nooo, I like those!"

"Then stop blabbing so much," Aiden replied. "Now, I told them I'd get you ready to head over to the lab. Is your jacket down here?"

Elizabeth nodded her head and ran to fetch it. Pikachu and Vaporeon, who had apparently tired of chasing after the girl, trudged over to the spot where she'd just been standing and, with two heavy sighs, fell over in a heap.

Aiden chuckled at the pair. "Yeah, I know, she's exhausting. Even for me!"

The little girl returned with a light pink puffer vest lined with a soft faux fur. Aiden slipped it on over her long-sleeved shirt and pulled the zipper up before pulling back to admire his work. "Perfect! And your shoes?"

"I do that myself!" Elizabeth declared, running back in the same direction.

Ash, Misty, and Michelle came down the stairs then, gathering right behind Aiden.

"Is Lizzie almost ready?" Misty asked.

"Yep!" Aiden confirmed. "I put her vest on, but she wouldn't let me do her shoes. She said she could do those herself."

"Yeah, she's become pretty territorial about those," Misty giggled. "Thank you, sweetheart!"

"Of course!" Aiden chirped, hopping off the step. "Guess I'll go put my stuff on too."

Michelle said nothing, but followed after her brother, presumably to do the same thing. Misty smiled at both of them, but when she caught sight of Pikachu and Vaporeon, her face changed. "What happened here?"

Ash looked in the same direction and snickered. "I think Elizabeth happened."

"That girl and her boundless energy," Misty sighed, her smile returning but with far more sympathy. "Would you two like to stay here and rest?"

Vaporeon let out a huff to confirm, but Pikachu was quick to jump to his paws and scurry over to Ash, his ears twitching.

"Pi-ka! Pikachu, pikapi!"

"Ah, you got a second wind, huh?" Ash teased, picking up the mouse. "Of course you can come with us!"

"And don't worry," Misty assured the electric type, scratching him under the chin. "You won't have to keep Elizabeth entertained again!"

XXX

Tracey could not have appeared any more relieved when he opened the front door of Professor Oak's lab and saw the Ketchum family standing in front of him.

"Thanks for coming, guys!" Tracey breathed, a huge smile appearing on his face and emphasizing his flushed cheeks.

"You look like you just ran a marathon, not like you were putting up Halloween decorations," Misty remarked. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah, just fine!" Tracey assured her. "There's just a lot of decorating to do."

"I'm kinda surprised Professor Oak goes all out decorating this place," Aiden mused, peering into the building.

"Well, we do get a decent number of trick-or-treaters here," Tracey replied. "But it's mainly for Gary's big Halloween party."

Aiden's jaw dropped. "Hold on, a Halloween party?!"

"Yeah, Gary has that thing every year," Ash commented.

That didn't seem to placate Aiden. Pointing between himself and his sisters, he appealed, "how come we never get to go?!"

"Because it's an adult party," Misty stressed, shaking her head. "A very adult party."

"It's too adult for me," Ash commented frankly.

"You and me both," Tracey chuckled. "But please, come inside! I didn't mean to leave you all standing out there."

Elizabeth pushed past everyone else so she could grab at her uncle's legs. Tracey chuckled and bent over, lifting Elizabeth into his arms. The rest of the family followed inside, with Misty looking less than pleased.

"It's not really fair of Gary to leave all of the decorating to you," she complained. "Where is he, anyway?"

"On a research trip," Tracey answered. "He'll be gone most of the week."

"So, you get the short end of the stick, figures," Misty grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Well, we'll be happy to help you out!"

"Yeah!" Ash agreed. "I think decorating is lots of fun. So do the kids! Right guys?"

"Right!" Michelle giggled.

"It's sure better than doing laundry," Aiden sighed.

Tracey raised an eyebrow at this, to which Misty laughed lowly, "don't ask."

"I want to visit the Pokémon too, Uncle Tracey!" Elizabeth cried, breaking up the confusion as she tugged at his shirt.

"Sure, that's no problem," Tracey chuckled. "They'll be thrilled to see you!"

Elizabeth giggled at the compliment. Michelle, meanwhile, skirted up to her uncle with an excited smile. "So, where are all of the decorations?"

"They're in boxes upstairs," Tracey replied, nodding towards the staircases. "You'll find them right in the sitting area!"

"Great!" Michelle chirped. "Come on, guys!"

Ash and Misty looked at one another and laughed. Aiden, refusing to be left behind, started off in a run, quickly catching up to Michelle and trying to race her up the stairs. Pikachu, who was half curious and half concerned, flew off Ash's shoulder and followed in the kids' path. Elizabeth stared after them, which Tracey quickly noticed and smirked at.

"You want to go too?" He asked knowingly.

Elizabeth beamed and nodded her head. Tracey placed the little girl back on the floor and watched as she scurried after her older siblings and Pikachu, handling the relatively large stairs with surprising ease.

"You two have some very spritely kids!" Tracey remarked with a hearty laugh.

"Tell me about it," Misty quipped, smirking at him. "We're happy to try and help you out, but don't come crying to me if the lab is in shambles when all is said and done."

Ash chuckled at his wife's comment. "Come on, Mist! Our kids aren't that destructive!"

Misty looked over her shoulder and threw him an incredulous look. His laugh becoming more nervous, Ash tilted his head and added, "but maybe we should go upstairs and check on them."

XXX

Fortunately for their parents, the kids hadn't destroyed anything. Instead, they'd been too focused on the big boxes of Halloween decorations and rifling through those. The floor was, however, already covered in things they'd pulled out and then cast aside, Pikachu quickly darting between each one to curiously examine it.

Having reached the top of the stairs, Ash chuckled and stepped towards the kids. "See, Trace? You only got hit by a category one 'Hurricane Ketchumlings'! That's what Gary calls it, at least."

Tracey smirked at the comment. "Well, that's not so bad!"

"You should see the category five," Misty teased.

"Whoa! Lizzie, look at this!"

Ash pulled a fake Ariados out of one of the boxes, causing Michelle to shriek and stumble backwards. Elizabeth, on the other hand, didn't seem very impressed.

"What, Daddy?" She squeaked.

"It's a gigantic, scary Ariados!" Ash playfully growled.

Elizabeth just stared at him before bursting into laughter. "Silly! That's not real!"

"Still creepy though…" Michelle grumbled, inching away from her father and the prop.

Aiden scoffed and side eyed his twin. "Seriously? Even a fake bug freaks you out?"

"Yes, it does," Michelle growled matter-of-factly.

"I'm not scared!" Elizabeth announced, running up to her father and smacking the fake Ariados.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Ash teasingly scolded her.

"I used an attack!" Elizabeth laughed wildly.

Misty smirked at the two before looking around the room. "Wow, there really are a lot of decorations. It's honestly kind of overkill."

"Professor Oak and I tell Gary every single year not to buy anymore," Tracey sighed. "But he never listens."

"Well, yeah, he's Gary," Misty snickered. "Anyway, if we've got to put all of this up, then we're gonna have to get started! Otherwise we'll be here until next Halloween."

"I call dibs on hanging this thing up!" Ash cried, holding up the Ariados.

"I wanna help!" Elizabeth squealed, attaching herself to her father's leg.

Ash chuckled and lifted his leg up so Elizabeth was hovering above the floor. "Alright, then you come help me out!"

He walked off with the wildly giggling girl, although the extra weight on his leg made that a bit harder than usual. Aiden, meanwhile, was pulling a clump of fake web out of the box, smirking at his twin as he did so.

"This gonna freak you out too?" He asked mockingly, shoving it in her face.

"No," Michelle stated plainly, pushing the decoration away.

"Could've fooled me with that fake Ariados," Aiden snickered, standing up with the web still in his hands. "Mom, want to help us decorate in here? We're gonna make it look extra creepy!"

"I guess so," Misty sighed, smirking at her son. "You know I'm not that big on Halloween, but I'll do my best in the 'creepy' department."

Aiden's jaw fell open. "What?! How could you not like Halloween? It's literally the best holiday ever!"

"I'm not really a big fan of scary stuff," Misty admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Pikachu frowned and hopped into the woman's arms, bringing a smile to her face.

"Is that because Daddy scares you all the time?" Michelle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I didn't like scary stuff before him," Misty muttered, narrowing her eyes as she thought back to Ash's many (successful) attempts to startle her as she scratched a content Pikachu between the ears. "If anything, though, that definitely made it worse."

Michelle hummed and tapped her chin. "I don't really like scary stuff either, but Daddy never really tries to scare me!"

Misty giggled at her daughter's thought. "That's because Daddy would never scare his little princess! He'd feel too bad about it."

"But how come he doesn't feel bad about scaring you?" Michelle chirped.

"I guess he just thinks it's funny," Misty mused. "Even though it's really not."

"Pi-ka," Pikachu agreed.

Michelle frowned. "I don't like that! I'm going to tell Daddy to stop scaring you! He'll listen to me; I know it!"

Misty smiled and freed one of her arms to playfully grab Michelle's chin. "You're so sweet, Shelly! Thank you."

"Ugh, gross, quit being all mushy!" Aiden whined, turning around from where he'd been draping the fake web from a lamp. "You guys are seriously running the Halloween mood."

"Aiden, no!" Misty gasped, sitting Pikachu on her shoulder and rushing over to the boy so she could pull the web down. "You can't put that there!"

"Why not?" Aiden whined.

"Because it's a fire hazard," Misty replied. "And the last thing we need to do is burn Professor Oak's lab down."

"Would that be considered a category five?" Michelle asked curiously, tilting her head.

"No," Misty refuted. "More like a category 11. Which I'm well aware doesn't exist. You two and your sister could probably create it, though."

XXX

"Oh no, I am not letting you two do any decorating together."

Elizabeth groaned as her father stepped in between her and Corphish. "Why not?! We're friends!"

"Corphish cor!" The crustacean concurred.

"Yeah, until you start butting heads," Ash sighed.

"We won't, we promise!" Elizabeth pleaded. "Right, Phishy?"

"Cor!" Corphish crowed.

Ash looked between the two before letting out a puff of air. "Yeah, I'm not gonna fall for that again."

Elizabeth frowned as her father handed her a cutout of a Shuppet. "Isn't this gonna confuse the Pokémon?"

Ash blinked. "What do you mean, Lizzie?"

"This is fake! Like the Ariados!" Elizabeth cried, holding up the decoration. "What if the Pokémon think they're real and try to play with 'em?"

"I think they'll know they're just decorations," Ash mused, picking up a cutout of Gengar. He held it out towards his water type, asking, "do you think this is real, Corphish?"

Corphish gave the decoration a look over before turning away with a huff.

"See?" Ash chuckled. "Corphish can't be fooled!"

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Whoa! Phishy, you're so smart!"

"Cor…" Corphish mumbled, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head with his claw.

Ash guffawed at his Pokémon's reaction. "Hey, I've never seen you so bashful before! Lizzie really flattered you, huh, Corphish?"

The Pokémon mumbled nervously before snatching the Gengar decoration from his trainer and scuttling away with it.

"Hey, Corphish!" Ash cried. "Where are you going?! I need that!"

Elizabeth giggled wildly as her father ran after the water type. "Wait for me, Daddy!"

As Corphish, Ash, and Elizabeth ran off into the distance, Misty, Pikachu, and the twins approached where the newly abandoned spot, finding a wide array of decorations abandoned in the grass.

"It looks like they didn't get very far," Michelle commented, bending down to pick up a faux carved pumpkin. When she looked up and saw them running, she added, "in decorating, at least."

"I knew Dad and Lizzie wouldn't get any work done," Aiden scoffed. "Those two can never stay on track!"

"Neither can you," Michelle deadpanned, shooting her brother a less-than-amused look.

"I can with Halloween decorations," Aiden corrected.

"I'm pretty sure I saw them both chasing after Corphish, which usually means trouble," Misty sighed. "Maybe we should go see what's up."

Aiden's eyes lit up. "You mean a chance to see Elizabeth and Corphish go at it? Sounds great!"

"I'm glad you think so," Misty quipped.

She led Aiden and Michelle in the same direction that the others had gone. It didn't take them long to stumble upon Ash and Elizabeth, who were watching Corphish shove the Gengar decoration into the ground.

"Uh…what's going on here?" Misty asked curiously.

Ash looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Hey, Mist! Corphish is just helping us decorate is all."

Michelle twisted her mouth and started to look around. "In the middle of the field?"

Ash smirked and shrugged. "A little unusual, but Gary's party does kind of take over the whole lab!"

Aiden seemed perturbed by this comment. "So, you mean the Pokémon get to go to the party, but we don't?!"

Corphish glanced up at Aiden and grumbled an annoyed, "cor, Corphish phish."

"Yeah, but they don't really want to," Ash chuckled, roughly translating Corphish's gripe.

"I know!" Elizabeth suddenly cried, beaming at her father. "Daddy, the Pokémon can help us decorate!"

Misty beamed at her daughter. "That's a great idea, Lizzie! I bet they'll have just as much fun as Corphish!"

The ruffian Pokémon, who had been busy hammering the Gengar decoration all the way into the ground with his claw, looked up at Misty with a bewildered expression. The gym leader smiled encouragingly at the water type, who blushed a bit before continuing with his work.

"Yeah, we could try that!" Ash decided. "Let's go see which Pokémon are around who want to help out."

Elizabeth giggled and ran off in search of them. Before Ash or Misty could react, Aiden and Michelle followed her, Aiden quickly turning around to flash a toothy smile at his parents.

"Don't worry; we'll keep an eye on her!" He assured them before spinning back around.

Misty smiled and looked over at her husband. "That boy has been so sweet today!"

"Yeah," Ash murmured, allowing his eyes to wander towards Pikachu as his partner Pokémon mounted his shoulder. "You think he wants something? Or…he's trying to cover up for something?"

"No way," Misty replied quickly. "He's just in one of his nice moods! Those are my favorites."

Dropping his suspicion, Ash grinned at Misty and agreed, "yeah, you're right! I think it's awesome!"

"Guess we ought to try and catch up to them, though," Misty concluded. "They might be acting sweet now, but who knows what they might get themselves into, especially once they get the Pokémon involved."

XXX

"Higher, Leefy!"

Bayleef winced a bit as she unleashed more of her vines, lifting Elizabeth up higher towards the sky. The little girl had begged the grass type to use her vine whip in order to help her hang some decorations in a nearby tree. The leaf Pokémon was not a fan of using her attacks in this way, especially since she knew her trainer wasn't either. When the kids broke out those baby doll eyes, however, Bayleef had a very difficult time saying no, even though the guilt wound up eating her alive.

Michelle, meanwhile, was busy stringing up some orange lights with the help of Krookodile and Hawlucha. They had both been eager to help, and their size and ability to reach greater heights, respectively, were proving to come in handy when it came to reaching those higher up spots. They'd both also seemed entranced by the little bulbs when they lit up, much to Michelle's amusement.

On the other side of the field, Aiden was working with Incineroar, Kingler, and Heracross to stretch fake webs across as many shrubs as they could find. Leavanny had seemed to want to help initially as well, but then proceeded to keep trying to turn the material into clothes. This had led to a compromise of Aiden giving the nurturing Pokémon a wad of the stuff solely for clothes making purposes while he and the others continued to work on decorating.

Once Ash and Misty finally made their way over and saw all the activity, they both couldn't help but to chuckle.

"I don't think we could wrestle that fake web stuff away from Aiden if we tried," Ash mused.

As soon as Bayleef heard Ash's voice, she let out a terrified squeak and quickly lowered Elizabeth to the ground. The girl had just finished hanging up her latest decoration but was still disappointed to no longer be up in the air.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth whined, stomping over to her father. "You made Leefy put me down!"

"I did?" Ash playfully gasped, lifting Elizabeth into his arms and tickling her. "Well, it's a good thing I did! You know you're not supposed to ask Bayleef to do that!"

"Bay bay," Bayleef whimpered, charging up to her trainer for his forgiveness.

"Bayleef, I'm not mad!" Ash chuckled. "I know how convincing Lizzie can be."

"At least Aiden and Michelle haven't manipulated any of the other Pokémon," Misty commented, nodding towards the twins.

"I hope not," Ash snickered. "I think they're both old enough to know better!"

"Sure, unless there's something they really, really want," Misty reminded her husband with a smirk.

Ash opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it, instead responding with, "you've got me there."

Scowling, Elizabeth began to tug at her father's collar as she whined, "Daddy, I'm hungry! I want lunch!"

"Hey, no whining here!" Ash teasingly scolded her. "Could you try asking nicely instead?"

The little girl sighed before batting her eyelashes and asking, "lunch, please?"

Ash beamed at his daughter. "Can't say no to that! What do you say, Mist? Should we all take a lunch break?"

"That sounds good to me," Misty giggled. "But good luck getting Aiden and Michelle out of decorating mode!"

Looking less than concerned, Ash puffed, "please, you think that's a challenge? I know exactly how to get them."

Misty appeared confused, but didn't have to wait much longer to find out. Turning towards the twins and their Pokémon helpers, Ash loudly announced, "if you guys don't come with us now, you're not going to get any lunch! Then you'll have to wait to eat anything 'til dinner!"

Within seconds, Aiden, Michelle, and the Pokémon were storming past, not even realizing that they had left Ash, Misty, Elizabeth, and Pikachu behind.

"Pi…" Pikachu marveled.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, started to giggle wildly. "That was funny!"

Misty hummed and tilted her head. "Guess the only thing scarier to them than all of these creepy Halloween decorations is going hungry!"

"Ah, come on, Mist, these decorations aren't creepy!" Ash laughed. "Right, Lizzie?"

"Nuh uh!" Elizabeth refuted. "The movies I watch with Aiden are way more scary!"

Ash and Misty's eyes both widened, while Elizabeth, suddenly realizing she had just slipped up, squeaked and covered her mouth.

"I knew that boy was hiding something!" Ash crowed.

Misty groaned and whipped around. "If he thought missing lunch was scary, he's got another thing coming!"