I think Bayleef is one of my favorite of Ash's Pokémon. I love their interactions and I think it's just as much fun to write them! Which is why I also tend to assume Bayleef's relationship with Ash's children would be relatively similar.
Especially with Aiden.
Aiden: 5 years old
A Buddy for Bayleef
Aiden sat with his back against the wooden fence that surrounded Professor Oak's ranch, a pout on his face as his brown eyes scanned the spacious field in front of him.
When his father had told him they were going to Professor Oak's, Aiden had assumed it was to train with the Pokémon. Well…he was still "too young" to battle, but he at least thought he'd be able to watch his father command his Pokémon!
Instead, they had gone to the ranch in order for Ash to take care of the Pokémon.
Aiden wasn't one for grooming or feeding. Maybe when he was younger, but now he found all that stuff to be really boring. Battling was so much more exciting and fun! His father, however, seemed to constantly remind him that there was much more to raising Pokémon than just battling with them.
The young boy set his eyes on his father, who was brushing one of his Tauros several feet away. He seemed very concentrated on the task…just as much as he did during a battle. Standing up, Aiden dragged himself over to the pair, making sure to emphasize his pout.
"Are you done yet?" Aiden whined.
"Nope," Ash replied, looking away to smirk at his son. "Let me guess. You're bored."
Aiden frowned and nodded his head, causing Ash to chuckle.
"Now how can you be bored here?" Ash questioned. "This place is full of Pokémon! You can go play with any of them you want!"
"I don't wanna play," Aiden groaned. "I wanna watch you battle!"
"I already told you, buddy, today isn't a training day," Ash sighed. "My friends here need a little bit of maintenance! Right, Tauros?"
The wild bull Pokémon mooed a loud affirmative, earning another laugh from Ash. Aiden was not as jovial as them, however, and instead crossed his arms and looked away.
"Come on, champ," Ash prodded. "What did I teach you about being a good Pokémon trainer? You've got to do a lot more than just train with your Pokémon to make them strong. You have to build a bond with them, take care of them, and understand them."
Aiden grimaced at the speech. He had heard it a hundred times already, and although he knew his dad had to be right (he was the Pokémon Master, after all), it still sounded so boring to him.
"Bay! Bay!"
Aiden turned around at the cry, while Ash just smirked.
"Word must've gotten out," he chuckled.
A medium sized, dinosaur-like Pokémon was charging right towards Aiden and Ash, her brown eyes glimmering with excitement.
"Bayleef!" Aiden cried. When the leaf Pokémon failed to slow down, however, Aiden became considerably less exited and took a step back towards his father. "Daddy, Bayleef's goin' really fast…"
"Yeah, that's Bayleef for ya!" Ash crowed. He took a large step away from Tauros, holding his arms out to the sides. "Come 'ere, girl!"
Bayleef took an impressive leap, soaring over Aiden's head and colliding with Ash's chest, knocking the man to the ground. Aiden spun around once again, watching with wide eyes as Bayleef nuzzled a heartily laughing Ash.
"I missed you too!" Ash wheezed, moving his head from side-to-side to try and catch his breath. "Aha…come on, Bayleef, I can't breathe!"
"Bay! Bay!" Bayleef trilled, giving Ash's cheek a big lick.
Aiden blinked and shuffled closer to the two. He knelt down by his father's head, watching as Bayleef tried to lap at Ash's twitchy face.
"She does this a lot, Daddy," Aiden commented.
Bayleef finally picked her head up and instead turned her focus onto Aiden. Before the boy knew it, the back of his shirt was in Bayleef's mouth, and he was dangling in midair.
"Huh?!" Aiden gasped. "Bayleef, lemme go!"
The leaf Pokémon finally picked herself off of Ash's chest and carried Aiden several inches away. Ash sat up and watched as Bayleef released Aiden on the ground, releasing her twin vines to pat the flustered young boy on the head. Ash snickered and got back to his feet, dusting off his shirt and pants.
"Bayleef likes you too, Aiden," Ash stated.
"Not like you," Aiden calmly retorted. "She doesn't tackle me!"
"That's because if she did that to you, you'd get hurt," Ash replied. "And Bayleef knows better than that!"
"Bay!" Bayleef confirmed.
Aiden glanced up at the grass type and smiled. "Well…I like you too!"
"Bay-lee!" Bayleef crooned, obviously happy to hear that.
As Ash watched the two, an idea popped into his head. With a smile on his face, Ash slunk back over towards Tauros and grabbed a brush, holding it between his hands.
"Hey Aiden, I have an idea!" Ash called, regaining his son's attention. "Why don't you try looking after Bayleef for a bit?"
"Why?" Aiden asked.
"It'll give you something to do instead of just sitting there and watching me," Ash responded. "Besides, you and Bayleef already have a pretty nice bond. That makes her a great Pokémon to practice being a good trainer with!"
Aiden's eyes widened at the mention of the title. "You mean having her use attacks and stuff?!"
"No," Ash groaned. "The other parts of being a good trainer."
"You mean the boring parts," Aiden scoffed.
"Just give it a shot," Ash requested, tossing the brush in Aiden's direction. "You might learn something!"
Aiden picked the brush up and examined it. It had soft, tan bristles on the front, and a wooden back with a black strap for a handle. The young boy looked up to argue with his father once again, but Ash had already resumed grooming Tauros. Aiden grumbled to himself before getting back to his feet, clutching the brush in both hands and staring deeply into Bayleef's eyes.
"Daddy thinks it's important to do more than be good at battling to be a good trainer," Aiden stated. "Do you think he's right, Bayleef?"
"Bay," Bayleef drawled, nodding her head.
Aiden grimaced and glanced down at the brush. "Well…okay. I guess I can try. Can I brush you?"
Bayleef happily nodded her head and settled down in the grass. Aiden moved closer to the grass type and began to stroke her pale yellow coat with the brush his father had given him. As Aiden brushed Bayleef, he was surprised to see what Bayleef's hide was like. It wasn't a full fur coat, like Pikachu had, but rather a very thin layer of fine hair over an otherwise smooth skin. It was so fine, in fact, that Aiden had never remembered even feeling it whenever he pet Bayleef.
"That's cool!" Aiden breathed, Bayleef turning to look at the boy. "I didn't know you had hair!"
"Lee," Bayleef chirped, smiling at the child.
Aiden continued brushing Bayleef, and as he did, the leaf Pokémon started to purr happily…almost like a Meowth. The noise initially caught Aiden off guard, and he stilled his hand, which earned him a dissatisfied whimper from Bayleef.
"You make noises like that when you're happy?" Aiden asked. Once again, Bayleef nodded her head. "Oh, okay! I didn't know that either!"
Bayleef laughed a bit before licking Aiden's bangs up. The boy whined and quickly reached up to try and flatten down his now damp raven locks. As soon as he'd fixed it, however, Bayleef went right ahead and messed them up all over again, causing Aiden to scowl.
"Hey, I'm not the one getting groomed!" Aiden cried.
Bayleef snickered and once again licked Aiden's now exposed forehead. The boy groaned and rolled his eyes, which only made Bayleef laugh more.
"Let me finish brushing you," Aiden pleaded. Bayleef huffed in resignation, turning her head away from the child so he could continue his work. She obviously didn't mind being brushed…it felt nice, and Aiden was surprisingly good at it. Bayleef had known the boy since he was a baby, and had been expecting him to be pretty heavy handed and rough with the brush. But he wasn't. In fact, he brushed just as nicely as Ash did. It was just too much fun to mess with the kid, especially considering how easily he got worked up.
Once Aiden had brushed every last inch of Bayleef, he jumped in front of her, showing off a big grin. "All done! How'd I do?"
"Bay!" Bayleef complimented.
"Great!" Aiden cheered. "What should we do now?"
"Bay bay," Bayleef replied.
Aiden, however, didn't understand what the grass type wanted, and tilted his head in response. "Huh?"
Standing up, Bayleef trotted over to the fence, Aiden following quickly behind. He stopped when she did, and blinked as the leaf Pokémon turned around. She was holding an empty metal bowl in her mouth, and was batting her eyelashes at the still bewildered boy.
"You're hungry?" Aiden asked.
Bayleef shook her head.
"Oh…are you thirsty?" Aiden tried. This time, Bayleef nodded her head, and Aiden beamed. "Got it! I'll just bring you some water!" He skirted forward and gently took the bowl from Bayleef's mouth. "You can stay here in the sun. Daddy says that's good for your leaves."
"Bayleef!" The creature confirmed.
Grinning to himself, Aiden darted off with the bowl, running right past his father. Ash watched as his son scurried off, chuckling as he turned his attention back onto Tauros.
"Sometimes I know what I'm doing," Ash remarked, earning a huff of approval from the wild bull Pokémon.
Aiden had made his way over to the nearby pond. His father had taught him that the water in the pond was always fresh. Professor Oak or his Uncle Tracey changed it out pretty regularly, so it was always a good spot for the Pokémon to get a drink from. Aiden knelt down and dipped the bowl into the water, pulling it back up and smiling once he saw it was full pretty much to the brim.
"Perfect!" Aiden commented. "Bayleef will love this!"
Aiden stood up and began to run back in the direction of Bayleef. He held the bowl out at arm's length, and barely noticed as a large portion of the water splashed out of the bowl…and all over his father.
Ash groaned as he peered through his dripping black hair, plucking the soaked material of his shirt off of his torso. Tauros whinnied laughingly at his trainer's plight, earning an eye roll from Ash.
"At least my intentions are good," Ash grumbled, reaching for the bottom of his drenched shirt and pulling it over his head.
Aiden, meanwhile, had returned to Bayleef, beaming as he placed the bowl down in front of the grass type. "Here ya go! Fresh water from the pond!"
"Bay!" Bayleef crooned. She peered into the bowl, and just as quickly, her smile faded. "Bay…"
"What's wrong?" Aiden asked. He too looked into the bowl, and his eyes widened when he saw there was just a thin layer of water inside. "What?! No way! I totally filled up that bowl! Where did all the water go?"
Bayleef looked around the boy and let out a squeak. Moving her head forward, she nudged Aiden's arm, alerting the boy. "Bay! Bay!"
Aiden raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. He saw his father, still tending to Tauros, only now he was shirtless and had a head full of dripping hair.
"Oops," Aiden murmured, glancing at Bayleef with a frown on his face. "Maybe I shoulda been more careful when I was bringing it back over."
Bayleef snickered and licked Aiden's cheek, earning a tepid smile from the boy.
"Thanks, Bayleef," Aiden breathed. "I guess Daddy was right. There is a lot more to being a good trainer than just being good at battling!"
"Bay?" Bayleef prodded, narrowing her eyes.
"Oh, yeah," Aiden relented. "You were right too!"
Bayleef puffed her chest out proudly, getting another laugh out of the young boy.
"You two having fun?"
Aiden spun around and beamed at his father. "Yeah! Except…I'm sorry I got water all over you, Daddy."
Ash smirked and shrugged his bare shoulders. "It happens. Felt kind of good, actually! It's pretty hot out here."
Aiden nodded in agreement. "That's why I told Bayleef to stay here while I got her water! So she could get lots of sun for her leaves!"
"Right, that's very good for her," Ash replied, winking at his son. "I'm glad you listen to me sometimes!"
"I listen to you all the time, Daddy," Aiden refuted.
"Agree to disagree," Ash teased.
Aiden, however, responded with a deadpan face. "I don't know what that means."
Ash chuckled and reached down to ruffle the boy's hair. "Don't worry about it, champ. You want to go inside and take a little break?"
"Yeah, I'm thirsty," Aiden complained.
"You took care of that one for me," Ash teased, sticking his tongue out as a drop of water fell from his dark bangs. Aiden laughed wildly, while Bayleef grunted and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, that was funny!"
Bayleef shifted her eyes away as she unleashed one of her vines, quickly whipping it against Ash's leg.
"Hey, my boy liked it," Ash challenged, to which Aiden nodded. "We've gotta work on your sense of humor, Bayleef!"
The leaf Pokémon snorted and shook her head. She may have loved her trainer, but that didn't mean she loved his lame jokes.
Bayleef loves Ash but not his cheesy lines. Sound like anyone else we know? ;)
