It's been a little while since we had an Aiden focused story, so here's a fun one that centers around Aiden's wild side ;)

Aiden and Michelle: 3 years old


Spice of Life

"Mommy, I want dat."

Misty followed her son's finger, which was pointing at a bright green paste on her dinner plate.

"No, baby, that's too spicy for you," Misty calmly refuted.

Aiden, however, was not deterred and continued pointing at the mysterious condiment. "I want dat!"

Ash looked up from his own plate, having just dropped some food for a patiently waiting Pikachu, and raised an eyebrow. "What does Aiden want?"

"Wasabi," Misty sighed, pointing her utensil at it.

Ash's brow lifted back up as he turned towards the boy. "Bud, that stuff is too hot for me most of the time. You aren't gonna like it!"

"Well, in fairness to him, you don't like things to be too spicy anyway," Misty casually murmured, lifting up a piece of sushi and popping it in her mouth.

"Yeah, -cause I don't understand why you'd want to burn your tongue off so bad you can't even taste what you're eating!" Ash exclaimed. "I like to actually enjoy my food."

"Mommy…" Aiden moaned, halfway sliding off his chair and grabbing onto his mother's arm.

"What is it?" Misty asked patiently, although she knew what was coming.

Aiden once again pointed at the wasabi. "I wanna try it."

Misty groaned and glanced down at her son. "You really want to try it?"

The little boy beamed and nodded his head, causing Misty to look down at her plate in contemplation.

"Whoa, Mist, you're not seriously about to let him eat wasabi, are you?" Ash gawked.

"Maybe just a little bit," Misty replied, shrugging her shoulders. "It's basically a vegetable, at least. Besides, if it's too hot for him, then he'll learn his lesson."

"Aiden," Ash sighed, turning his attention back to the boy. "I really don't think you should be trying that, champ. What are you going to do if it's too spicy for you?"

Silently, Aiden pointed at his sippy cup full of water. Misty couldn't help but to giggle at his response, earning a mild glare from Ash. "What? He's right, you know."

"You're usually the one who's super against them doing things like this," Ash muttered.

"No, I like it when they try new foods," Misty contested. "Don't you?"

"Not when it's super spicy!" Ash cried. "Aren't you scared it's gonna hurt him?"

"…no," Misty answered as though it were obvious. "It's not going to hurt him, Ash. It's wasabi. It's natural, and I'm not feeding him the whole thing. One little taste isn't going to get him to use flamethrower."

Aiden laughed in delight at the very idea. Ash sighed but couldn't stop the smile from growing on his face. His son was so cute, and it was impossible to stay in a sore mood around him. "Alright, fine. Aiden, just remember: if that's too spicy, I tried to stop Mommy."

"Yeah, me and my wicked ways," Misty teased, scooping up the tiniest bit of wasabi. "Open up, little guy!"

Aiden opened his mouth and ate the condiment far more quickly than anyone was expecting. Misty held her breath, waiting for Aiden to begin sputtering and crying that it was too hot.

She released it, however, when the little boy showed off a big smile.

"More!" He shrieked.

"More?!" Misty repeated, unable to help herself.

Aiden excitedly nodded his head as he cried, "yummy!"

Ash, meanwhile, looked completely stunned. "His eyes didn't even water!"

"Aiden, was that spicy?" Misty asked her son. "Even just a little bit?"

This time, the boy quickly shook his head.

"No way," Ash breathed.

"I guess he's got a higher spice tolerance?" Misty lamely suggested.

"He's three!" Ash cried.

Without his parents paying attention, Aiden reached out and snatched the rest of the wasabi off of his mother's plate, shoving it in his mouth. His sister, who'd been quietly eating her own dinner, had watched the whole thing, however, and quickly began to panic.

"Mommy!" Michelle cried, frantically waving her arms.

"What is it, sweetie?" Misty sighed, turning her gaze down towards the toddler.

Michelle wordlessly pointed at her mother's plate, right where the wasabi had previously been. Misty gasped and whipped her head towards Aiden, who was smiling cheekily at her.

"Aiden!" She shrieked. "Did you just eat all of that wasabi?!"

"Yep!" Aiden chirped.

Misty's eyes were set wide, unable to blink. "Okay, no, that's way too hot for you!"

Aiden pulled an incredulous look and shook his head. "Nuh uh!"

Ash watched his son take a calm drink from his sippy cup in silent horror. As soon as the little boy put his beverage down, Ash looked up at his wife and breathed, "we created a monster."

"I don't understand how he ate that whole thing without a single issue," Misty gawked.

"I'm -uff!" Aiden declared, puffing his chest out.

"You're tough?" Misty asked with a snicker, her stunned disposition easing up quite quickly. Aiden beamed and nodded his head.

"Tougher than me, apparently," Ash chuckled. "I guess you're going to really like spicy food, huh, buddy?"

"It's yummy," Aiden confirmed.

Misty smiled nervously and glanced over at Michelle, quipping, "I'd offer to let you try some, Shelly, but your brother ate it all!"

"I don't want that, Mommy," Michelle refuted, quickly shaking her head.

Ash couldn't help but to laugh at his daughter's reaction. "Michelle's not taking any chances with that one!"

"I don't like hot," Michelle whined, still shaking her head.

"Are you sure? I still have mine if you want to try some," Ash offered, pushing his plate towards a frustrated Michelle. "I'll only give you the tiniest bit!"

"No, Daddy," Michelle grumbled.

"Shelly won't try it -cause she's a baby," Aiden teased, smirking at his sister.

"Aiden, that isn't nice!" Misty scolded. "Not everyone likes to eat the same things. That doesn't mean we call them names."

"Yeah, I told you champ, I don't really like spicy stuff," Ash reminded his son. "So, it makes sense that Michelle wouldn't either!"

"But Shelly didn't even try," Aiden noted. "That makes her a baby!"

"I already told you, that's not nice," Misty warned him once more. "Don't say it again."

"I'm not a baby!" Michelle bit. Scowling, the little girl whipped around to face her father and cried, "Gimme!"

"What, this?" Ash asked, pointing his utensil at the wasabi. When Michelle nodded, Ash made an unsure noise and murmured, "Michelle, you don't have to try it just because Aiden wants you to."

"I wanna," Michelle huffed.

"You're sure?" Misty asked tentatively, leading Michelle to nod once more.

Biting his lip, Ash scooped up the smallest amount of wasabi he possibly could and held it out towards Michelle. The little girl whined to herself, but soon enough leaned forward and ate the spice off of her father's utensil. Within a second of ingesting it, however, Michelle yelped and shook her head, grabbing wildly for her own sippy cup and taking a long drink out of it.

"Didn't like it?" Misty asked with a kind smirk.

"No!" Michelle cried once she'd managed to pull the sippy cup out of her mouth. "Icky!"

"Shelly, was it hot?" Aiden squeaked, tilting his head.

Michelle grimaced and nodded before chugging more of her water.

"She doesn't like hot!" Aiden exclaimed. "Like Daddy!"

"Yeah, you and I have a lot in common, baby girl!" Ash chuckled, ruffling the distraught toddler's hair. "I have the same reaction when I eat stuff like that; don't worry."

"Icky," Michelle repeated with a groan, slamming her sippy cup down on the table and folding her arms.

"Hey, at least you tried it," Misty assured her daughter. "I'm very proud of you for that, Shelly!"

"Yeah, you're not a baby!" Aiden laughed. "-Cause babies don't try stuff."

"Thank you, Aiden," Misty sighed, running a hand down her face.

"No more," Michelle huffed, pushing her hand out towards Ash's plate.

"Okay, I won't give you anymore!" Ash replied with a chuckle.

"I want it! I want it!" Aiden yelped, throwing his hand up.

Misty smirked at her excited young son. "That wasabi sure put some fire in you, huh?"

"Really, you're gonna pin that on the wasabi?" Ash scoffed. "Aiden's just naturally like that."

"Daddy…" Aiden groaned.

"I know, you want the wasabi," Ash sighed, scooping up the condiment and dropping it on his son's plate. Without missing a beat, Aiden picked up his plate and licked the wasabi right off of it, beaming at his stunned family as soon as it was gone.

"How do you keep on getting crazier…?" Ash muttered, causing Aiden to burst into laughter.

"Don't act so surprised," Misty commented offhandedly, pointing her utensil at a bewildered Ash. "I know not eating spicy food is the only risk avoidance you adhere to, but he's still your son."


I kind of just assume Ash doesn't really like spicy food because every time he's eaten something hot in the anime, he has an over the top reaction to it, lol. Besides, I think it's totally believable that Ash would reason it as he can't even taste the food, so it's not worth it.