I'm a day late on the Christmas one shot...and I'm still working on Aiden and Michelle's birthday one. I've been so busy and keep running out of time! But I'm glad I finally got this one finished to share with you all!

Aiden: 12 years old

Elizabeth: 6 years old


Christmas Lights

Elizabeth Ketchum stared up at the sky, watching a flock of Pidgey fly by. They were probably looking to travel someplace warmer, even though the weather hadn't gotten too bad in Cerulean yet. Professor Oak had taught her that bird Pokémon tended to do that in the winter.

She herself didn't mind the cold so much. In particular, Elizabeth really liked when it snowed. It was fun to go sledding and ice skating, and to build snow people and Pokémon! Her mother hated it, that Elizabeth knew for a fact. She wished it could be warm all the time. But Elizabeth couldn't imagine that, especially at this time of the year when they had the best holiday in the whole entire world to look forward to.

Christmas!

Suddenly remembering what she was supposed to be doing, Elizabeth ran over to her father, who was crouched behind a bush.

"Need help, Daddy?" Elizabeth chirped.

Ash poked his head out, and despite the look of frustration on his face, sweetly replied, "not yet, pumpkin."

Elizabeth twisted her mouth and scurried to the other side of the bush, where she saw a tangle of lights sitting in the dirt.

"Ugh, why won't they light up?!"

Ash had been repeatedly plugging the lights in, but they simply wouldn't turn on. He pulled out the plug and shook it before putting it back in its place, grimacing when the lights stayed dim.

Blinking, Elizabeth knelt down by the knot, being careful not to get her knees in the dirt. Grabbing the large mass, she started tugging at the wires, trying to loosen it up. It didn't take her too long to untangle the lights, and as soon as they were freed, the colored bulbs flickered to life.

Ash gasped excitedly as Elizabeth stood back up and scurried towards her father. "You did it, Daddy!"

He chuckled and inclined his head. "Yeah, I guess I did! I don't know how, though…"

"Oh, good! You got those lights working!"

Misty came striding over towards Ash and Elizabeth, Vaporeon following closely at her feet.

"Yep!" Ash confirmed. "Somehow!"

Elizabeth smirked and glanced over at her mother, who missed the look.

"I was starting to worry we were going to have to run out to buy more lights," Misty sighed.

"Not if I can help it!" Ash declared, jumping to his feet. He didn't realize how close he was to the extension cord, however, and wound up tripping over it.

"Ash, be careful!" Misty groaned. "We don't want to be making any trips to the hospital, either."

"I'm good," Ash assured her, pushing himself up and out of the dirt. "Hey, I thought you were going to get Aiden and Michelle."

"I tried, but they're both still asleep," Misty grumbled.

"Man, I know travelling can wear them both out, but I was hoping they'd help us out," Ash fretted. "They used to love working on the lights!"

"That's okay," Elizabeth suddenly piped up, both of her parents turning their attention onto her. "I'm here! I can do better work than both of them put together!"

Misty smirked and crossed her arms. "You certainly are confident, aren't you?"

Elizabeth nodded her head. "I know what I'm doing, Mommy."

Her ears perked as the sound of exasperated squeaks reached them. Pikachu was dragging another large spool of lights towards the group, clearly struggling with the task.

"Pikachu!" Elizabeth cried with a giggle, running over to the electric type. She plucked the lights from the mouse, who sighed in relief.

"Bit off more than you could chew again, huh?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pi-ka…" Pikachu grumbled.

"Pikachu wants to help too," Elizabeth commented.

"I'm sure he's been doing a wonderful job!" Misty replied cheerfully. "How much more is there left to do?"

"Not much," Ash answered, taking a couple of steps back to survey the house. "Most of the bushes are covered at this point. We just have one more over on the left side! Then we have some of those inflatable Pokémon to put up on the lawn."

Elizabeth gasped. "Those are my favorites!"

"Why don't I start with those?" Misty suggested. "They're pretty straightforward."

"Sure!" Ash chirped. "I'll get to work on that last bush in the meantime."

Misty nodded and glanced over at her daughter. "Lizzie, do you want to help with the inflatable Pokémon?"

"Yeah!" Elizabeth cheered.

The centerpiece of the family's inflatable decorations was a big snow Pikachu sporting a Santa hat. It was then surrounded by three smaller ones which each of the children had chosen: a Squirtle holding a string of lights for Aiden, a Pichu sitting on top of a present for Michelle, and a Teddiursa with a bow around its neck for Elizabeth.

"We have to make sure they stay in the ground and don't blow away," Elizabeth directed her mother.

"You really know all about the Christmas decorations!" Misty laughed.

"I pay attention," Elizabeth replied, nodding her head.

"Well, that's good," Misty assured her.

"We need the hammer!" Elizabeth cried, turning to make a run for it.

"Whoa, hold on!" Misty breathed, kneeling down to grab her daughter's shoulders and hold her back. "Let's not start swinging tools around, Lizzie."

"I'm not gonna swing it around!" Elizabeth whined.

"I just don't want you dropping it on your foot or anything like that," Misty sighed. "You'll hurt yourself. I'll go get it."

Elizabeth furrowed her brow as her mother stood up. "What if you drop it on your foot?"

"I won't, I promise."

"But if you did, wouldn't it hurt you too?"

"Well…yes."

That seemed to be enough for Elizabeth, who puffed her chest out proudly. Realizing she just wanted to be told she was right, Misty smirked and shook her head. By the time she had returned with the tool, Elizabeth had pulled all of the inflatables out of their boxes and scattered them on the lawn.

"Okay, you got a head start…" Misty murmured.

Elizabeth jumped up and grinned. "They're in their places! Like on stage!" With that out of the way, Elizabeth held her hand out and requested, "hammer, please!"

"Um, no," Misty calmly replied.

"Why?" Elizabeth grumbled, folding her arms.

"I already told you, you might hurt yourself."

"I won't!" Elizabeth cried. "I'm not Aiden!"

Misty smirked. "That has nothing to do with it. Here, why don't you hold down the stakes for me?"

She offered her daughter one of the small pieces of metal, who continued to pout but accepted them regardless. Without having to be told, Elizabeth knelt down and began sticking them through the nylon straps of each inflatable, further impressing her mother.

"You really do pay attention, don't you?" Misty awed.

Elizabeth looked up and, finally, smiled again as she nodded.

"You're such a good girl!" Misty giggled. "Think the stakes are in the right spots?"

"Uh huh!"

"Then I'll just hammer them in so they're good and tight," Misty replied. "You keep going with the rest of the stakes!"

Elizabeth followed her mother's instructions, and within 10 minutes, all of the inflatable Pokémon were up and running.

"Perfect!" Misty crowed, taking in their work.

Elizabeth laughed delightedly and began running circles around the decorations. "I love it! They're so cute!"

"How're the Pokémon coming along?"

Now it was Misty's turn to adopt a proud look as Ash approached her. "All set!"

"Really?" Ash breathed, turning around. "Oh, yeah! They look awesome, you guys!"

"Elizabeth was a big help," Misty replied. "She wasn't kidding when she said she pays attention! She knew where everything belonged."

The little girl scurried over to her father, grinning. "I'm really good at it, Daddy!"

"I believe it!" Ash chuckled. "We sure do make a great decorating team!"

"We?" Misty teased. "Did you finish that last bush, Mr. Pokémon Master?"

"Sure did!" Ash boasted.

"Alright, fine, then we are a great decorating team," Misty giggled.

Pikachu, who had been helping Ash complete the final bush, ran up to Elizabeth, jumping into the little girl's arms and snuggling against her pink winter jacket.

"I think Pikachu is cold," Elizabeth squeaked, glancing up at her father.

"We have been out here a while," Ash mused. "You ready to go inside, buddy?"

Pikachu picked his head up and nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea," Misty agreed, reaching down to scratch between Pikachu's ears. "I'll make some hot chocolate for us!"

"Ooh, yay!" Elizabeth cheered.

Ash chuckled at his daughter's exuberance. "Lizzie will never turn down sweets!"

Misty smiled and added, "she definitely deserves it after helping us out with all this decorating!"

XXX

Sitting at the kitchen table, Elizabeth happily sipped the hot chocolate her mother had prepared, swinging her legs off the front of her chair. She didn't mind the cold, like her mother did, but it was definitely nice to take a break from it!

As she lowered the mug from her lips, someone came stomping down the stairs, running past Elizabeth so fast she couldn't even see them.

"Mom, you made hot chocolate?!"

Misty scoffed and turned towards her son. "Really? That's what gets you out of bed?"

"Yeah, I could smell it up in my room," Aiden replied.

"No use lying to you then, that nose of yours is basically your superpower," Misty snickered.

"Nuh uh!" Elizabeth suddenly cried, practically flinging herself over the back of her chair. "That's for people who helped decorate outside!"

"Lizzie, there's no rules like that," Misty reminded her daughter.

"Well, there should be," Elizabeth huffed.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "You're saying you helped decorate outside?"

"Yep!" Elizabeth chirped.

"And you're already done?"

"Uh huh!"

Aiden, clearly skeptical, scoffed, "yeah, right."

"She's not kidding," Misty cut in, handing her son his own mug of hot chocolate. "Your little sister is quite talented when it comes to Christmas decorations."

Shifting his eyes, Aiden lowered his voice to a whisper and asked, "you don't think that's weird?"

"Maybe a little," Misty admitted. "But I'm more impressed by it than anything else."

Aiden sighed and raised the mug to his lips as he muttered. "Getting shown up by a six year old. I knew I should've woken up earlier!"