I can hardly believe it, but my Pokemon Series Rewatch has now taken me back to the beginning of Sun and Moon! I know it just ended a few months ago in the dub, but I'm so excited to watch it all over again from the beginning!

With that and Father's Day having just occurred, I figured I'd post this one shot I've been working on! I just love Ash's little Alolan family.

Michelle: 6 months old


On the Alert

"Oh my gosh, look at how big she's getting!"

Ash chuckled, watching as Michelle glanced all over the room…everywhere except the video screen they were sitting in front of.

"Say 'thank you,' Shelly!" Ash beckoned to the baby, giving her a little bounce. But still, the infant refused to look straight ahead, finding whatever was over her father's shoulder much more stimulating.

"Hey, you're calling her by the nickname I made up!"

"Of course!" Ash chuckled, grinning at the beaming young girl on the other side of the screen. "Misty and I love it; we call her that all the time!"

Lexi giggled in delight. "Yay!"

"Say, not only has she gotten bigger, but she's gotten much more alert, too!"

Ash smiled at Professor Kukui's comment. "Yeah, she has! She's always looking around, especially when we go outside! She loves seeing wild Pokémon, so she'll look all over for them. But she doesn't try and talk to us quite as much as Aiden does."

"Ah, Aiden's trying to talk?" Professor Kukui chuckled.

"Yeah, all the time," Ash confirmed, nodding his head. "He's started to babble non-stop! It's cute; he really seems to think he's saying something. So, Misty and I just pretend we know what he's saying and we talk right back! We have all of these really nonsensical conversations with him. It's fun!"

Professor Burnet, who had simply been watching the baby girl with an adoring look up until this point, frowned. "But Michelle not so much?"

Ash grunted and shook his head. "She does do it every once in a while, but only to me and Misty. Aiden tries talking to everyone! My mom tries getting Michelle to talk to her all the time, but Michelle just looks at her like she's crazy."

Kukui smirked. He could see the concern on Ash's face, and in his voice as well. The professor knew that Ash could sometimes worry when it came to the twins, and although he felt bad for the Pokémon Master, he also found it very sweet. Fortunately, Kukui was quite good at reassuring Ash. "She's just a girl of few words, I suppose. At least for now!"

"I guess…" Ash murmured. Michelle glanced up at him, blinking her wide eyes. Ash, in turn, looked down at her and smiled. "You only want to talk about important stuff, huh?"

"Mmm…" Michelle hummed, Ash's smirk widening.

"I think that's an affirmative," Kukui chuckled.

"Oh, she's so precious," Burnet sighed. "You can tell just how much she loves Ash!"

"Hey, I know!" Lexi cried, earning her parents' attention. "Maybe Michelle will try and talk to me!"

Burnet didn't seem convinced. "Lexi, I think that Michelle is just a little shy! You heard Ash say that she only tries to talk to him and Misty."

"Yeah, but maybe that's because she knows most adults are kind of boring," Lexi replied. "I'm a kid! I'm way more fun to talk to!"

Kukui frowned and folded his arms. "Wait a minute, does that mean you find us boring?"

"Hi, Michelle!" Lexi cooed, leaning in closer to the screen and ignoring her father's question. "You love Pokémon, huh? Me too! My favorite Pokémon is Rockruff. What's yours?"

Michelle finally took her attention off of her father and, for the first time since the video call had begun, stared directly at the screen. Lexi smiled encouragingly at the baby, hoping that might help her to feel more comfortable.

"Aba," Michelle muttered, much to everyone's surprise.

"Really?" Lexi marveled, pretending what Michelle had said made sense. "That's so cool! I like that Pokémon, too!"

Michelle giggled softly and smiled at the girl.

"Hey, she's smiling at me!" Lexi cheered, jumping up and down. "I got Michelle to talk to me and smile!"

"She's smiling?" Ash gasped, bending down to get a better look at the baby's face. "Wow, look at that! You're amazing, Lexi!"

"Thanks!" Lexi giggled.

"Aw, so you and Lexi are good friends I guess?" Ash asked the baby, gently stroking her bright red hair. Michelle cooed happily, tilting her head down so her father would keep going.

Burnet squealed so loudly that Kukui and Lexi both recoiled. "I'm gonna explode from how cute you two are!"

Michelle began to laugh wildly, waving her arms up and down as she turned back towards the screen.

"She seems to be really into you guys now," Ash noted amusedly.

"I guess because Lexi is so interesting," Burnet teased, smirking at her amused daughter.

"Guess we'll have to come visit soon," Kukui mused. "We'd love for Michelle to get used to all of us! Not just Lexi."

Lexi gasped and whipped around to glare at her father. "Hey! I can't help it that I'm so good with babies!"

Ash chuckled at Lexi's volatile reaction. "It's okay, Lexi! I think it's great that you're so good with 'em, and I'm glad that Michelle seems to like you so much! Your mom and dad just want Michelle to be comfortable with them too." Leaning in a bit, he winked at the girl and playfully added, "they just know they're gonna have to work a little harder than you do."

That was enough to placate Lexi, who beamed at the Pokémon Master. "Yeah, you're right!"

Pleased that he had been able to pacify the young girl, Ash sat back in his chair and beamed at Kukui and Burnet. "It'd be so awesome if you guys came to visit! The babies were so little the last time you were here; you'd be able to have so much fun with them now!"

"Just holding them was perfectly fun for me," Burnet assured Ash. "Though I will admit there's nothing better than a baby who will giggle when you make silly faces at them!"

"That they definitely do!" Ash lightly assured, once again glancing down at the baby in his arms. "Right, Michelle? You like silly faces?"

The baby girl squeaked and looked back up at her father. He closed one eye and stuck his tongue out, causing her to explode in a fit of giggles.

"Oh, her laugh is so sweet!" Burnet sighed dreamily.

Returning his face to normal, Ash smiled at Michelle and asked, "what do you say, princess? Should Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, and Lexi come visit us?"

"Tapa," Michelle murmured, reaching up near her mouth.

"Yes?" Ash cooed, bouncing her again.

Lexi smirked and looked at Ash incredulously. "That's not what she said!"

"Oh yeah?" Ash teased. "What'd she say, then?"

"I don't know," Lexi admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "But it wasn't yes!"

Kukui and Burnet nearly fell on their faces, while Ash laughed nervously. "Okay, fair enough. But still…I'm sure Michelle would love it if you guys came to visit! Even if she can't really say so just yet."

"That'd be wonderful!" Burnet gushed. "But make sure you run it past Misty first! I would hate for us to show up unannounced."

"I will, but even if you did, there's no way she'd ever mind," Ash guaranteed her. "She loves you guys just as much as I do!"

"We can look up flights as soon as we get off the phone," Kukui added. "We'll let you know what dates we're looking at and see what works best for you and Misty."

"Sounds good!" Ash replied. "Me and Michelle are so excited to see you guys! And I know Misty and Aiden will be too!"

"Ap!" Michelle shrieked, reaching up towards Ash.

"Yeah?" Ash snickered, gently grabbing the baby's hand. "You're telling me how excited you are?"

Burnet gasped and grabbed an alarmed Kukui's shoulders, vigorously shaking him. "I can't take it! Kukui, we have to get to Kanto as soon as possible!"

"Let's go tonight!" Lexi cried, throwing her hand up in the air.

"Okay, maybe not that soon…" Burnet conceded, blushing a bit.

Kukui chuckled at the banter. "We'll find just the right time to go visit, I promise!" Turning his attention back onto Michelle, he continued playfully, "in the meantime, you stay nice and alert, little girl!"

Michelle once again looked at the screen, smiling almost slyly before leaning forward and burying her face in Ash's chest, effectively hiding her from the highly entertained Alolan family.

Ash smirked and placed his hand on Michelle's back, promising Kukui, "no worries there; we'll keep working on her people skills, too!"