December 7th is, of course, Aiden and Michelle's birthday!

After watching the 20th Pokémon movie, and really falling in love with the first 15 minutes of the movie, it made me think how I would start off my own series if it was based on these stories. I'd pretty easily have to say it would be either in a movie or a big episode, and as a parallel to the very first time we saw Ash.

And since I was already on that train of thought, I also realized it would be perfect for the twins' birthday story!

So, please enjoy what I would consider making the first 15 minutes/half of the first episode of the next era of Pokémon!


We Choose You

The battlefield was suddenly illuminated by a powerful burst of electricity.

The sparks almost seemed to be flying out of control, but in reality, the attack was totally precise, and they had one specific target they were aiming for.

"Dodge it, Nidorina!"

The poison type Pokémon tried its best to move out of the way, but the thunderbolt was simply too quick. It struck fast and hard, causing the poison pin Pokémon to cry out in pain.

"What an impressive attack! Of course, none of us here are surprised by the strength of this particular Pokémon. Nidorina and her trainer have been in an uphill battle from the start! Can they find a way to rebound?"

The dust from the attack slowly began to settle, revealing that Nidorina had suffered serious damage, but was still standing and willing to battle. Its opponent stood across the field on all fours, glowering as more sparks emanated from his cheeks. Behind that Pokémon was his trainer, a handsome man with a playful smirk on his face.

"Pikachu, use iron tail!"

The mouse Pokémon jumped into the air and performed a flip as his tail started to glow white.

"Nidorina, protect!"

A blue force field of energy quickly surrounded Nidorina, and Pikachu went bouncing right off it. He landed on all four paws and went skidding backwards, snarling at the poison pin Pokémon across from him.

"Poison sting!"

"Electro ball!"

Nidorina opened her mouth and fired off a round of glowing white spikes, while Pikachu jumped up once again and formed a sphere of electricity at the edge of his tail, flinging it towards Nidorina. Both attacks collided, however, and cancelled one another out.

"Pikachu, use quick attack and run in a circle around Nidorina!"

The electric type followed his trainer's order without hesitation. Nidorina, on the other hand, quickly became frustrated when she wasn't able to locate Pikachu and lost track of the battle.

"Thunderbolt!"

The powerful attack emerged in a literal flash, engulfing Nidorina in a rush of electricity.

In front of the TV, a young boy and girl were intently watching the battle. The boy was sprawled out on his stomach, his elbows propped up on the floor and his head resting in his hands. The girl, meanwhile, was sitting beside him with her knees pulled into her chest.

"Nidorina is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!"

Letting out an excited cry that startled the girl next to him, the boy jumped to his feet and pumped his two fists.

"Man, what an awesome battle!"

The girl smirked and shook her head, standing up herself. "You say that every time."

"Yeah, cause it's true," the boy laughed, turning on a heel and scurrying into the kitchen. Playfully rolling her eyes, the girl followed after him, watching as he dramatically jumped around the next room. "Nidorina didn't stand a chance against Pikachu! Did you see that thunderbolt?!"

"I've seen it a million times," the girl snickered, crossing her arms. "So have you."

"I know, but it's literally like the coolest and best attack ever!" He gushed, throwing his arms above his head. "The way it just explodes everywhere, all over the place like crazy! But you always know it's going to hit! Like bam! Zzzzzt!"

"Aiden, were you watching that battle again?"

The boy spun around and beamed at the woman who had just stepped out of the pantry. "Of course I was!"

His mother laughed tiredly, placing a box of oatmeal on the counter. "You've watched it every day since it happened. Don't you think you've seen it enough times already?"

"No way," Aiden refuted, shaking his head so quickly that his unruly black locks whipped around his face. "It's so good! You even said it was a good battle, right?"

"It was," she confirmed, opening up the cabinet and pulling out a silver pot. "But that doesn't mean you need to keep watching it over and over again."

"Even Michelle watched it with me this time," Aiden informed his mother, nodding towards the girl standing behind him.

"It was a pretty good battle," Michelle admitted, tucking her bright red hair behind an ear. "But not enough to watch it as many times as Aiden has. Actually, I don't really think anything is good enough to watch it every single day."

Aiden let out a short laugh, leading Michelle to raise an eyebrow. "That's hilarious, coming from you. You read the same books over and over again!"

"Books are different than TV," Michelle calmly argued.

"Yeah, they're more boring," Aiden droned.

"Hey!" Michelle cried.

"No fighting in this kitchen!" Their mother warned, whipping around and waving a wooden spoon at the two.

"Can we fight in the living room?" Aiden asked, pointing towards the room he and his sister had just come from.

"Not funny," the woman sighed. "Why don't you sit down at the table and keep yourselves out of trouble?"

Both kids dragged themselves over to the table, taking their seats and silently watching their mother's back until they could no longer keep quiet…which was about a grand total of 10 seconds.

"Hey, I thought of something that we could both hear over and over again and never get sick of it!" Michelle suddenly announced, gaining her brother's interest.

"What's that?" Aiden asked.

"The story about how Mom and Dad met," Michelle replied, batting her eyelashes.

"That old story?" Their mother sighed. "I thought the older you two got, the less you'd like to hear it."

"No way, it's my favorite!" Michelle cried.

"You could probably tell the story yourselves, at this point."

Michelle shrugged her shoulders. "I guess, but that's not as fun!"

"Alright," the woman relented, her lips bending into a sweet smile. "We were both 10 years old. I was fishing in a river. It had been a pretty quiet afternoon, but all of a sudden, something started pulling on my line. I thought it was going to be some kind of really big, maybe even rare, water Pokémon, but it was just a boy who looked like a drowned Rattata."

"And the boy was so grateful to the girl for saving his life that he immediately confessed his love for her and they lived happily ever after!"

Aiden and Michelle both snickered as they glanced over their shoulders towards the doorway. Their mother, on the hand, was not quite as amused.

"That sure is a funny way of saying you stole and trashed my bike," she bit, not bothering to turn around.

"Eh, I think the story is a lot more interesting if we just leave that part out of it and skip right to the love part."

"You always were the master of embellishment, Ash Ketchum."

The famous Pokémon Master grinned almost goofily and ran a hand through his own wild raven mane. "Thanks, Mist."

The yellow mouse who had been riding on the man's shoulder took a flying leap off, landing in Michelle's arms instead so she could scratch him between the ears. "Hey, Pikachu!"

Aiden, meanwhile, whipped around in his chair, gripping the back of it as he faced his father. "Dad, Shelly and I watched your battle again this morning!"

"Ah, the one from last week?" Ash questioned.

"Uh huh!" Aiden confirmed. "I seriously can't get over how you and Pikachu totally blew through that Nidorina like it was nothing!"

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu cheered.

"I don't think the battle was as easy as it looked on TV," Ash calmly argued, earning an incredulous look from his partner Pokémon. "That Nidorina was very well trained!"

He walked over towards Misty in order to get a glass from the cabinet, but she was quick to grab him by his collar and gently pull him down towards her face. "Please, that Nidorina was no match for you and Pikachu."

"Obviously, I just can't let the kids think everything in life is that easy," Ash whispered back.

Misty smirked and gave Ash a quick kiss on the lips. "You're so cute."

"Blegh."

Ash and Misty both raised an eyebrow and looked over their shoulders at Aiden, who was now slouched on the table with a look of disgust on his face.

"So, you guys must be really excited about your birthday tomorrow!" Ash crowed, carrying his newly fetched glass over to the refrigerator.

"Duh!" Aiden laughed. "We're finally turning 10! I feel like we've been waiting-"

"10 years?" Michelle interrupted.

"It's felt like a lot longer than 10," Aiden scoffed, picking his head up.

"Well, I think your father and I can safely say that 10 years has gone by very quickly for us," Misty commented, checking on the oatmeal once again before deeming it ready.

"She's right," Ash confirmed, nodding his head. "It feels like just yesterday you guys were cute little babies!"

"We're still cute," Michelle challenged with a smirk. "Just not little or babies anymore."

"That you are," Ash agreed with a laugh. "Cute, I mean!"

"Yeah, well speaking of little babies, isn't something missing?" Aiden questioned, pointing to the empty chair next to him.

"Hey!"

That squeaky protest was followed up by the appearance of a small girl in the same doorway Ash had just emerged from. She was glaring at her brother, but it wasn't overly scary when paired with her pink pajamas and the stuffed Teddiursa being clutched against her chest.

"Oh, there she is," Aiden chuckled.

"I'm not little and I'm not a baby!" The girl cried, indignantly turning her head away.

"No, you're most certainly not!" Ash decided, pulling his shoulders back as he shook his head. "You're a very big girl, Elizabeth. We all know that!"

The child seemed content with that, and giggled as she skipped over to him. Ash smirked and lifted the girl onto his lap, giving her a hug as she cuddled against him.

"You guys spoil Michelle and Elizabeth way too much," Aiden complained.

"No we don't," Ash refuted, although he had done it in a cutesy, high pitched voice while beaming at Elizabeth. He was too busy trying to entertain her, and it seemed to be working based on her high-pitched laughter.

"See?" Aiden deadpanned, motioning towards the two.

"Don't include me in that," Michelle huffed, annoyed by the very idea that she could be considered spoiled.

"Oh, I am," Aiden retorted. "You both get treated like you're princesses or something."

"Aiden, even if we do sometimes spoil your sisters, you don't get treated any differently," Misty reminded her son, finally placing several bowls of oatmeal on the table. "Dad and I can go overboard on all of you at times."

Ash was not contributing to the conversation because he was still too busy playing with Elizabeth, this time rubbing their noses together. Misty rolled her eyes and gently tugged at his hair, pulling his head back upright. "What're we talking about?"

Misty sighed and shook her head. "Aiden thinks we spoil his sisters too much."

"Nah," Ash refuted. "You guys aren't spoiled! You're all great kids!"

Misty smacked a hand against the side of her face. "That wasn't really the argument here…"

"It's fine, I don't actually care," Aiden assured his parents. "Know why?"

"…no," Misty hesitantly replied.

"Because tomorrow is my birthday, and I'm going to become a Pokémon trainer!" Aiden declared, jumping to his feet and sending his kitchen chair skidding backwards.

"You sure are!" Ash chuckled.

"Just remember, you and Michelle both promised you'd wait to do anything until after your party," Misty reminded her giddy son.

"Right, the party, got it," Aiden muttered, suddenly sounding (and looking) a bit dejected.

"Come on, champ, it'll be fun!" Ash assured the boy. "Your mom has worked really hard on this big party for you and Michelle."

"I know, I just really want my first Pokémon," Aiden groaned.

"You'll get one," Misty promised. "We already made sure with Professor Oak. We won't be having any incidents like your father."

Aiden and Michelle both started to laugh, while Ash narrowed his eyes. "When is that story gonna die?"

"Never," Misty easily replied.

"That's my second favorite story, next to how you and Mom met!" Michelle giggled. "I could hear that one a million times and never get sick of it, too."

Pikachu tittered, apparently agreeing with the girl.

"Shelly, what Pokémon are you gonna get?" Elizabeth asked, sitting up straight on Ash's lap.

Michelle twisted her mouth. "I'm not really sure yet. I haven't always known which Pokémon I wanted to start with like Aiden does."

"Squirtle!" Aiden declared, puffing out his chest.

"I think Charmander and Bulbasaur are both really cute," Michelle continued. "But I'm still not sure which one I'm going to pick."

"Eh, you've still got some time to think about it!" Ash assured his older daughter. "I couldn't decide until the minute I stepped into the lab."

"At which point every single Pokémon was already taken," Misty reminded everyone.

"No, they weren't," Ash calmly retorted. "Pikachu was still there, and he was the best one of them all! Right, buddy?"

"Pi!" Pikachu agreed.

"You're right," Misty relented, smiling at her husband as she reached over to pet the mouse. "He certainly was!"

"I love Pikachu!" Elizabeth giggled.

Pikachu blushed, overwhelmed but also flattered by all of the attention. "Chaaa…"

Once the family had finished their breakfast, the three children scurried off with Pikachu in order to play. Ash and Misty, meanwhile, stayed back in the kitchen to do the dishes. Normally they would've expected the kids to help them out, but they weren't about to deny some alone time…even if it was over chores.

"I know we kind of joked about it before, but it really does freak me out that Aiden and Michelle are turning 10," Misty sighed, handing one of the newly rinsed bowls off to Ash.

"I meant it when I said it feels like just yesterday they were babies," Ash agreed, drying the bowl with a dish towel. "I don't feel old enough to have 10 year olds."

"Me either," Misty agreed, scrunching up her nose. "Does it make us sound old?"

"When I was 10, I thought my mom was old," Ash snickered. "And she was far from it. Actually, she was younger than we are now. So I don't know about anyone else, but the kids probably think we're old."

"No, I know they think that," Misty grumbled. "They make jokes about it all the time."

Ash thought about it for a minute before slowly nodding his head. "Yep, you're right. They do. That's rough."

Misty laughed, washing off another bowl.

"What're we gonna do without them?"

Just as quickly as Ash had made her laugh, he made her stop and grow serious. Misty raised her eyebrows and glanced up at her husband, who was staring at the window. He felt her eyes on him and turned his gaze down, keeping his stoic look.

"Oh, come on, we were being funny five seconds ago," Misty grumbled, giving him the next bowl.

"I know," Ash chuckled sadly. "That's how I cover up when I'm…"

Misty furrowed her brow when he trailed off. "When you're what?"

"Nervous," Ash finally decided before thinking about it some more. "Sad. Scared. Worried. Anything but happy, honestly."

Misty smirked once again. "Don't feel bad. I'm all of those things, too."

"I'm not used to it," Ash admitted, placing the newly dried bowl off to the side with the others. "Can't say I like it, either."

Misty nodded her head understandingly. "Well…we'll still have Lizzie here with us. And our Pokémon. And our jobs. We'll be able to keep plenty busy."

Again, Ash slowly nodded his head. "That's true."

"I'm not worried about staying busy, truthfully," Misty continued, turning off the faucet and pressing her palms against the sides of the sink. "It's worrying about them that I'm…worried about."

Ash looked over his shoulder, towards the doorway where the children and Pikachu had all run through before. "But you worry about them even when they're here."

"No, this is worse," Misty groaned, shaking her head. "I'm still kind of in control here. I'm their mother. But when they're out there, and I'm not…"

Ash frowned and reassuringly placed his hand on Misty's back. "They'll be alright. They're both tough…and smart. I know we're both going to worry, but I think we have to give them more credit."

Misty smirked and stood back up straight, looking over her shoulder just as Ash had before. "All of a sudden we're on the other side of kids becoming Pokémon trainers."

Ash smiled sadly. "It's nowhere near as fun when we became trainers, is it?"

Misty returned Ash's melancholy grin. "Not even close."


Just a fun parallel: the original battle Ash watched (in the anime, not the new movie) was Onix versus Nidorino, so this time it was Nidorina versus Pikachu.

Also, since Ash and Misty are already established as characters, I thought it'd be interesting to take a small peek into the other side of children becoming Pokémon trainers: how it affects their parents.