I already watched all of the dubbed Aim to be a Pokémon Master episodes months ago, when they first aired in Canada. Now that they're (finally...sigh) on Netflix, I've just been rewatching them and having so much fun. I hate the way Netflix handled Pokémon, but I do appreciate that they uploaded those episodes as their own season because it is going to become those are my new comfort episodes so I will be watching them over and over again. I'm still grateful I'll no longer have to deal with their dumb, unpredictable upload schedule for the anime, though.
Anyway, rewatching those episodes makes me feel so nostalgic and cozy, and I think that really helped inspire this one!
Homecoming
"Here you go, Pikachu! Eat up!"
The electric type chattered excitedly as Misty placed a bowl of Pokémon food in front of him. Without any hesitation, he dove into his meal, scarfing it down like he hadn't eaten in days. Misty giggled at the mouse's exuberance before looking over her shoulder and frowning. When Ash had come home from work a little over half an hour ago, he'd been moaning about how hungry he was. Misty had offered to warm him up some leftovers from dinner, which Ash was fine with, but he'd gone upstairs and yet to return. Pikachu, in fact, had come back down without his trainer, too hungry to wait any longer for whatever he was doing.
"I'm starting to think that maybe I should go check on Ash…" Misty mused aloud. "What do you think, Pikachu?"
The mouse glanced back at Misty, his cheeks full of food. "Pi!"
Smirking, Misty playfully shook her head. "Alright, I'll go see. You can stay here and keep enjoying your dinner!"
Pikachu didn't have to be told twice and went right back to eating. Misty strode past the Pokémon and made her way up the stairs, expecting to find Ash in their bedroom. When she walked past the twins' room, however, she caught something out of the corner of her eye that caused her to stop. Backtracking, Misty peered through the door and realized that Ash was sitting in the rocking chair, holding both babies against him.
They were already in their pajamas, Misty having put them down for sleep two hours ago. She could see clearly that Michelle was now awake, however, and gazing up adoringly at her father. Aiden's back was to her, so Misty wasn't sure if he was awake as well, but she wouldn't be surprised if he was.
"Hey, I thought you were hungry!" Misty teased, smirking at her flustered husband.
"I am!" Ash calmly replied. "But I wanted to check on the twins, and they were both awake, so I figured I could get some snuggles in. Guess I lost track of time!" Michelle cooed softly and reached up towards her father's face, resting her little hand on his neck. Chuckling, Ash added, "it's pretty easy when they're so cute!"
"Well, I see that Michelle's still awake, but what about Aiden?" Misty asked, peering over at the boy. As soon as she knelt down, she saw that he was fast asleep, his mouth hanging open with his cheek pressed against Ash's chest. "Nope, fully passed out."
"Yeah, he went back to sleep pretty quick," Ash replied. "But not Michelle! She's a regular little Noctowl."
Michelle gurgled again, as though she were agreeing with her father.
"I'm sure she was wide awake as soon as she saw you," Misty giggled. "Not only because she adores you, but because she knows you'll let her stay up!"
Ash frowned. "Come on, you know how fussy she gets at bedtime! Personally, I love sleeping so I don't really get why she doesn't, but I can respect that."
"She doesn't like it because it means she's by herself," Misty explained.
"But she's not by herself. Aiden's on the other side of the room."
"You know what I mean," Misty sighed. "She's not around us, which is what she really wants."
"Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense," Ash mused, glancing down at his daughter. She still had the biggest smile on her face, staring up at him with sparkling eyes. "You just want to hang out with Mama and Dada, huh?"
"Well, Dada, at least," Misty clarified, sheepishly looking over her shoulder.
Frowning, Ash finally tore his attention away from Michelle, who didn't really seem to mind since she just kept staring at him. "Don't say that, Mist. Aiden and Michelle both love you!"
"I know they do," Misty assured him, turning her head back with an impish smile. "It's not that. Michelle just…it's the way she looks at you. Like you rode in on Lunala and hung the moon yourself. She adores you, and it's really, really sweet."
Ash blinked. "So…you're not jealous?"
"No," Misty chuckled. "I told you; I know the twins love us both! I just spend most of the day with them, so it's very exciting for them when you come home. Especially Michelle. You're her best buddy!"
"Yeah?" Ash asked, looking down at Michelle. "I'm your best buddy?"
The girl mumbled softly and slumped against her father, raising her little fist near her face.
"Looks like she might finally be ready to go back to sleep," Misty noted, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Here, let me take Aiden. You can put Michelle down. I'm afraid if I take her from you right now, she'll go ballistic."
The young mother gently pried her infant son away from Ash, giggling softly as the boy instinctually cuddled up against her. Ash watched Aiden tuck his head in against Misty's chest with a smile, which did not go unnoticed by Misty.
"See?" She insisted with her own grin. "I know they love me."
Both twins were placed into their respective cribs by their parents, followed by Misty turning on the room's white noise machine to try and eliminate any possibility her and Ash's voices might carry upstairs and awake the babies. As soon as they snuck out of the room and closed the door behind them, Ash's stomach growled quite loudly, causing Misty to snicker.
"So, those leftovers?" She asked.
"Ugh, yeah, I'm starving," Ash groaned as he slumped over. "Guess I forgot just how hungry I was while I was hanging out with the twins."
Misty nodded understandingly. "They do have that effect on you! Come on, let's get you fed."
Ash's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Mist! You're always looking out for me."
"Of course!" Misty chirped, gently poking Ash on the nose before striding down the hall. "I love you, after all."
The couple made their way down the stairs and back into the kitchen, where Pikachu had collapsed beside his now empty food bowl.
"Well, I'm glad one of us isn't hungry anymore!" Ash chuckled. "How was your dinner, Pikachu? Was it good?"
"Pi…" the electric mouse groggily responded.
"I guess it was so good he put himself into a food coma," Misty giggled.
"That's the best kind of good," Ash chirped, bending down to pat Pikachu on the head. "You rest up, buddy!"
Pikachu sighed his compliance and somehow managed to sink lower to the floor. While Misty reheated Ash's dinner, he got himself a drink and sat down at the table, his eyes following Misty as she skirted around the kitchen. He knew he probably should've left it alone, but as was common for Ash, he just couldn't help himself.
"Hey, Mist?"
"Hmm?"
Leaning his arms against the table, Ash asked, "why do you think Michelle likes me so much?"
Misty looked over her shoulder and smirked. "Because you're her dad?"
"That can't be the only reason," Ash groaned, shaking his head. "I don't think it can, anyway. Not like I ever even had a dad to love like that, but still. It doesn't really make sense to me."
Misty hummed again, more thoughtfully this time, and turned around to press her back against the counter. "To be honest, it's crossed my mind before…but I wonder if the part of the reason she's so attached to you is because you bonded with her first."
Ash blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Remember after the twins were born and I came back from the dead, I begged you to go see Michelle?"
"Yeah, but I wish you wouldn't say it like that…" Ash grumbled, shooting his wife a glare as he sat back in his seat.
"Right, you're not a fan of the dark humor," Misty recalled with a nervous giggle. "Either way, you were the first person to interact with her who wasn't a doctor or a nurse. You got to touch her and talk to her before even I did. Even though she was really little, and not feeling her best, I think it made an impact on her. She probably remembers feeling safe with you, so she still does."
Glancing down at his hands, Ash murmured, "I never thought about that. Guess I thought she wouldn't actually remember it."
Misty smiled at him. "That's why I made you go. I might have been out of it, but I had enough sense to know that if our daughter wasn't going to bond with me first, it had to be you."
The microwave beeped to signal it had finished reheating Ash's dinner. Misty turned to retrieve it, but Ash was still frozen in place. He was surprised Misty had actually thought of that before. As much as he'd loved having that moment with Michelle, he often felt guilty about it. Misty was her mother, after all. She had carried her for nearly nine months and given birth to her, so it hardly seemed fair that she didn't get to bond with the girl first.
"You'd better start eating or else I'll have to reheat your food again."
Ash looked up and blinked, realizing Misty had been staring at him with her arms folded and a smirk on her face. Glancing down, he saw that his dinner had been placed in front of him while he was spaced out.
"Oh…right," Ash chuckled, picking up his fork. "Thanks!"
His voice was weak, however, and when he began to eat quietly and without any fervor, Misty knew something was still bothering him.
Pulling out the chair across from him, Misty sat down and asked, "does that upset you?"
Ash slowly looked up from his food. "What?"
"That Michelle bonded with you before me."
Ash shrugged. "I mean…yeah."
"How come?"
"It just makes me feel bad. You did all the work to have her and Aiden. Sometimes I wonder if I should've just waited until you felt better so you could've seen her first."
Misty leaned forward in her chair. "Ash, I asked you to go see her. You were respecting my wishes! I would've been a lot more upset with you if you had ignored me. Besides, there was no reason for you to wait. I was a mess. We had no idea how long it was going to take for me to be able to get out of that bed, and Michelle couldn't exactly come to me. All these months later, and I'm still grateful every single day that you went to go see her. I just look at her sweet little face, and it makes me so happy to know that someone was there for her."
Ash smiled sheepishly. "Okay…as long it doesn't make you upset."
"It doesn't," Misty assured him. "The opposite, actually. It makes me super happy!"
That got a wider, much more genuine smile out of Ash. "Thanks for making me feel better, Mist. You sure are good at that!" Beginning to eat with much more enthusiasm, he added, "and you're really good at reheating food, too!"
Misty playfully rolled her eyes. "I think most people are, but I'll take the compliment."
There are a few different dynamics I really enjoy writing, but Ash and Misty spending alone time together after their kids have gone to sleep is one of my favorites.
