I'm just finishing up my spring break (booo) but I did have a nice week spent in the sun! This is actually a story I started a while ago but I think my week off inspired me to finish it.

Aiden and Michelle: 6 years old

Elizabeth: 10 months old


Fun in the Sun

"I can see the water!"

"Yeah? Are there lots of waves?"

"Uh huh!"

"Do they look scary?"

"No, Daddy. Waves aren't scary!"

"What about big waves?"

"No! Those are the most fun!"

Ash chuckled at his older daughter's exuberance. Michelle had finally started to come out of her shell over the last couple of years, but the sight of water had always managed to get her excited, even when she was still quite shy and subdued.

"Yeah, big waves are the best ones to ride!" Aiden chimed in, trying to lift the large inflatable Lapras float the family had brought with them over his head. It proved to be too cumbersome for him, however, and the young boy went tumbling down with it.

"Pipika!" Pikachu cried, scurrying over to Aiden in order to check on him.

"I told you to stop messing around with that float," Ash sighed, kneeling down to pick his son up off the ground. "Are you okay, champ?"

"Yeah!" Aiden chirped, not to Ash's surprise. It took a lot to upset or even hurt the boy; he was extremely resilient both physically and emotionally, which would've been a good thing if his parents didn't get nervous every time he fell. And the way Aiden was, he fell a lot. "I can still carry the float, Dad! Really!"

"I think we're better off if I carry it the rest of the way," Ash sighed, standing back up and grabbing the inflatable Lapras. "Don't need you taking any more spills before we even get down to the beach!"

"Did that float knock him over again?"

Ash looked over his shoulder and grinned. "Yeah, but he's fine!"

"That I know," Misty laughed weakly. She had been lagging behind the entire walk, having to carry baby Elizabeth in her arms. "It takes an awful lot to keep Aiden down!"

"Mommy, Daddy, hurry! We hafta get to the beach!"

"Michelle, it's not going anywhere," Misty sighed, having finally caught up to her children. "There's no need to rush!"

Michelle spun around and frowned at her mother. "But it looks so nice!"

Misty, unable to help herself, smiled at her daughter's response. "It sure does! But that still doesn't mean we have to race there."

"Fine," Michelle sighed, crossing her arms as she lifted an eyebrow in aggravation. She was obviously not pleased with that decision, and she made sure that, even without words, her feelings were known.

"There goes Mini Misty," Ash chuckled, smirking at his wife.

"Sometimes it's so cute," Misty sighed. "Other times…it's this."

"What about you, baby?" Ash asked as he bent down to get closer to Elizabeth. "You gonna be just like Mommy too?"

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at him, giggling immediately afterwards.

"Huh, that might've been a yes!" Ash chuckled, standing back up straight.

"Real funny," Misty quipped sarcastically. "Why don't you focus on getting us down to the beach? You know, before Aiden and Michelle's heads both explode."

"Come on, Mist, nobody's head is going to explode!" Ash laughed nervously.

"Dad, I want to carry Lapras!"

Aiden had made his way back over to Ash and was trying to pry the inflatable Lapras float from the Pokémon Master's grasp.

"Guys, come onnn!" Michelle whined, pouting as she shuffled in place. "You're going too slow!"

"You were saying?" Misty teased.

"Alright, fine," Ash sighed, holding the toy further up so his son couldn't reach it before walking forward to satisfy his daughter. "Let's get a move on!"

XXX

"Mom, Dad, can you let your Pokémon out so we can all play?"

Ash looked up from the umbrella he'd been shoving into the sand. "Bud, you have to give us a minute, okay? We need to set up all of our stuff first!"

Aiden groaned and threw his head back. He was a sweet thing, but also very impatient. Knowing this, Misty glanced over at her son and smirked. "You know, little guy, this would go a whole lot faster if you'd help us out!"

That seemed to resonate with Aiden, who immediately jumped to his knees and began stretching out the family's beach towels across the sand. Elizabeth, who was watching from her mother's arms, started to laugh and wave her own arms up and down in delight.

"You like watching Aiden?" Misty asked the baby amusedly. "He's being a super helpful big brother, isn't he?"

Michelle looked up from the beach toys she'd been scattering around and frowned. "Am I helpful too?"

"Of course, you are!" Misty assured her older daughter. "In fact, would you like to help out even more?"

Michelle beamed and nodded her head.

"I want to help Daddy set up the stuff that's too big for you and Aiden to help with, but I can't do it if I'm holding Elizabeth," Misty explained, giving the happy baby a single bounce on her hip. "If I put her down by you, could you keep an eye on her while I give Daddy a hand?"

"Yeah!" Michelle cheered. Misty smiled and placed Elizabeth down on the towel beside Michelle, who hopped on as well and knelt beside her baby sister. "Want to see some of the beach toys, Lizzie?"

She picked up a dark blue shovel and showed it off to the infant, who reached out and grabbed the toy in order to more closely examine it.

While Michelle kept Elizabeth entertained, Misty assisted Ash in putting up their two large umbrellas, while Aiden finished laying out the beach towels. Once the umbrellas were in place, the adults moved onto setting up their chairs: two for them, and two for the twins, and finally, the sunshade meant for Elizabeth.

"I swear we lugged less stuff around while we were traveling," Ash groaned, throwing himself down on one of the towels.

"Well, yeah, children come with a lot of baggage," Misty snickered. "At least we're finally finished!"

"Can the Pokémon come out and play now?"

The couple looked over at their son, who had draped himself over the back of the Lapras float with a pleading look on his face. Ash sat up, smiling brightly at the boy.

"Yeah, of course they can!" Ash replied. He reached into one of the beach bags, pulling out his poke balls and tossing them above his head. "Come out and play, everyone!"

Squirtle, Totodile, Corphish, Oshawott, and Greninja appeared before their trainer, each one cheering excitedly.

"They're all water types!" Michelle giggled.

"Yeah, you're right!" Ash chuckled. "I figured they'd all enjoy a day at the beach. It's been a while since they got to run around in the ocean!"

"Good thinking!" Misty complimented, retrieving her own poke balls. "They'll all have a blast together!"

She retrieved her own poke balls from a different bag and released her own Pokémon alongside Ash's: Vaporeon, Staryu, Corsola, Gyarados, and Psyduck.

"You brought Psyduck?" Ash asked nervously.

"Of course, I couldn't leave him behind!" Misty exclaimed.

"But he doesn't know how to swim," Ash reminded her.

"Don't worry," Misty assured him. "I thought ahead!"

From among the rest of the family's beach equipment, she whipped out a bright blue inner tube and forced it over Psyduck's head until it was snug around the water type's waist. He took one look at the floatation device before picking his head back up and holding it in his wings, quacking a bewildered, "psy?"

"Hey, not bad!" Ash laughed.

"It'll keep him out of any serious trouble, at least," Misty sighed.

"Alright; let's go!" Aiden cheered, grabbing the inflatable Lapras by its neck so he could begin to drag it down towards the water while the Pokémon led the way.

"Hey, wait for me!" Michelle cried, jumping up and running after the rest of them.

Elizabeth, who Michelle had quickly left behind, watched her older sister go with longing eyes. Without wasting much time, the baby positioned herself on her hands and knees, starting to crawl off of the blanket and into the sand in an attempt to follow after her older siblings.

"Where do you think you're going, little lady?"

Misty scooped up the infant, who whined in displeasure.

"She wants to run with the big kids, same as always!" Ash chuckled.

"I'll take you down to the water in a little while," Misty promised the baby, taking a seat in one of the beach chairs with the girl on her lap. "Promise!"

That meant little to Elizabeth, who without any other warning, began to wail loudly. Misty groaned and started to bounce the baby up and down, making nonsensical babbling noises to try and cheer her up but to no avail.

Pikachu, who had heard the cry from down the beach, quickly turned around and separated himself from the other Pokémon, running back towards the family's set up. He positioned himself in front of Misty, crying out an enthusiastic, "Pikapichu!"

Elizabeth turned to look at the mouse, who started to do some of his famous Pokémon impersonations. After a few caricatures, she stopped crying and started giggling instead, much to Misty's relief.

"Thanks so much, Pikachu!" Misty breathed. "You're a serious life saver."

"Pi…" Pikachu murmured sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"She sure is getting a lot more vocal when we won't let her do things she wants to do," Ash noted, sitting in the chair beside Misty and reaching over so he could tickle Elizabeth's stomach, hoping it would make her giggle the way Pikachu had. It did not, and Ash frowned.

"She's very strong willed," Misty giggled, looking down at her pouting daughter. "And probably a bit stubborn, too."

"Pika! Pika!"

Elizabeth's squeaky cries caused Misty to raise an eyebrow, watching as the baby pointed towards Pikachu.

"You want to play?" Misty cooed.

"Pika," Elizabeth repeated, clapping her hands together.

"Alright, I'll put you down," Misty sighed, placing Elizabeth by her feet. "Only because I know Pikachu won't let you get anywhere fast!"

Elizabeth giggled delightedly as Pikachu ambled up to her, rubbing his cheek against her arm.

"They're so cute together," Ash chuckled before looking out towards the ocean. "All of the kids and Pokémon together are!"

"They're like the best of friends," Misty agreed with a giggle. "It's so sweet! And it's nice to know the Pokémon will help keep them out of trouble, too."

"Well…most of the Pokémon," Ash conceded. "Corphish and Psyduck usually tend to cause more trouble. And Oshawott and Totodile can sometimes get a little crazy themselves…"

As he trailed off, Misty raised an eyebrow and asked, "that answer didn't end up the way you thought it was going to, did it?"

"No," Ash murmured sheepishly.

At this, Misty couldn't help but to laugh. "They've all got their own personalities, that's for sure! But they all tend to even each other out. It's a good balance."

Ash glanced back down and smirked. Elizabeth was busy petting Pikachu, babbling happily to herself while Pikachu squeaked in delight. It really did his heart good to see his kids get along so well with Pokémon! They had been such an important part of his life that he'd always hoped it'd be the same way for his children.

Clearly, he never should've worried about it.

At the same time, down by the water, Aiden and Michelle were keeping busy with the rest of the Pokémon. Michelle, a very strong and agile swimmer, was enjoying swimming with Squirtle, Totodile, and Vaporeon. Every once in a while, Gyarados, who was largely swimming on his own, would pop up to surprise the others, causing them all to laugh. Aiden, meanwhile, was building a sandcastle at the shoreline and getting help from Corphish, Oshawott, and Psyduck. As for the other Pokémon, Greninja was lounging on a sunny rock while Staryu and Corsola took turns diving off of its edge and into the ocean. That activity soon caught Aiden's attention, however, and the naturally adventurous boy couldn't help but want to join in. Quickly abandoning his sandcastle project, Aiden charged towards the rock and left behind the group of (now visibly confused) Pokémon who'd been assisting him. Without any hesitation, Aiden flew right off the edge of the stone and landed in the water with an impressive splash, dousing his twin sister and her own Pokémon companions in the process.

"Hey!" Michelle cried, moving her soaked red hair away from her eyes just as Aiden reemerged from beneath the water. "You splashed me!"

"Yeah, but you're already in the water," Aiden reasoned, brushing his own hair back. "So, you were already wet!"

Scowling, Michelle flipped her arms up and splashed her brother right back. He was taken aback at first, and recoiled when the water first hit, but he quickly straightened back up and began laughing instead. Michelle blinked, bewildered by Aiden's sudden change in reaction, but understood as soon as he splashed her right back. She shrieked, and Aiden's laughter only strengthened.

Of course, all of the noise garnered the attention of their parents, both of whom sighed as soon as they saw what was going on.

"There's no way this ends well," Misty remarked, shaking her head.

"Want me to go break it up?" Ash asked.

Misty was about to ask if he would but paused once she heard a barrage of giggles. Looking back over at the twins, she saw that they were still splashing each other back and forth, but that Michelle seemed much more amenable to the situation and was now laughing just as much as Aiden. Even the Pokémon had started to get involved, using their tails, fins, arms, and legs to join in the watery fray.

Turning towards Ash once again, Misty shrugged. "Guess you don't have to!"

"That's good…" Ash murmured. "But now I kinda wanna go over there and join in myself!"

Misty hummed quietly. "Well then…maybe we should."

Ash's face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Misty giggled. "What, you think I'm too mature to go splash around in the ocean?"

"No, I know you're not," Ash chuckled. "And I love that about you!"

"Then let's go crash their little game!" Misty declared, lifting Elizabeth back into her arms. "Lizzie, you want to go play with your big brother and sister?"

"Ya!" Elizabeth squealed.

"Okay!" Misty cheered, getting to her feet and holding the baby against her hip. As Ash stood up himself, Misty turned towards him and instructed through giggles, "let's sneak up on them, nice and quiet!"

Ash grinned, his wife's exuberance over her plan delighting him. "Sounds good to me!"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

The couple, along with Ash's partner Pokémon, began to creep over towards their older children and the rest of the Pokémon, grateful that they were too busy splashing one another to look away. Even Elizabeth remained silent, like she actually understood what her parents' mission was. They soon split up and were able to sneak into the water, Ash behind Aiden and Misty behind Michelle. Holding up three fingers on her free hand, Misty lowered each digit as a countdown, and as soon as the last one went down, she and Ash splashed their designated twin at the exact same time.

"WHOA!"

"AH!"

Aiden and Michelle both shrieked and whipped around as soon as the water hit them. The Pokémon who has been playing with the twins were equally as surprised that the rest of the family had managed to sneak up on them, which only served to entertain Pikachu even further. Ash and Misty couldn't help but to laugh, and even Elizabeth was thoroughly enjoying her older siblings' shock. Fortunately, neither Aiden nor Michelle was too upset about the surprise attack, and were quick to join in on the giggles.

"You guys are sneaky!" Michelle remarked with bright eyes.

"Yeah, we never saw you coming!" Aiden chimed in.

"Hey, we've got to be able to keep up with the two of you!" Ash chuckled. "You're like a couple of little ninjas!"

"Of course, you had to get that trait from somebody," Misty teased, winking at the children.

"You?" Michelle surmised with a smirk.

"Hmm…yes," Misty hummed. "But I think from Daddy, too! We're both pretty agile."

"I don't know what that means, but it sounds fun!" Aiden chirped. "Do you guys wanna be a-jelly and play with us?"

Ash smirked at his son's mispronunciation. "You bet we do!"

"Mommy will be on my team," Michelle proclaimed, trotting over to her mother and leaning against her leg. "Well, her and Lizzie!"

Elizabeth mumbled happily and kicked her foot out towards Michelle, who giggled and tickled the baby's sole, causing her to shriek happily.

"That's fine, I've got Dad and Pikachu!" Aiden countered, charging towards his father and the electric type. "No one's gonna beat us!"

"You've got that right!" Ash crowed, holding out a fist for his son to bump.

Pikachu jumped up with his paw outstretched to join in on the moment. "Pika, Pikachu!"

While the three were still having their little hype session, a rather aggressive wave crashed over them, leaving the trio soaked and bewildered.

"Hey!" Aiden cried, whipping around with fire in his eyes. Misty and Michelle both looked quite pleased with themselves, although it quickly became clear that neither one of them had created the wave; no human was capable of that.

Instead, Vaporeon was standing right in front of them, her mermaid-like tail hovering just above the water with droplets falling off her fins. She was looking over her shoulder, a mischievous look plastered on her face.

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu protested.

"You all need to learn to pay attention!" Misty teased with a giggle.

"Yeah, you shouldn't celebrate winning before you even start playing!" Michelle agreed in a tone that was scarily similar to her mother's.

Aiden scowled. "That's not fair! You're cheating!"

"Nuh uh," Michelle refuted. "You never said any rules! So, we're not cheating!"

Ash raised an eyebrow and looked up at Misty. "Do you ever think they're a little too much like us?"

Misty could only respond with an amused smirk. "Only every day!"


I love writing those petty little arguments between Aiden and Michelle because it's so Ash and Misty, lol.