Last chapter was a fluffy Misty/Aiden one, so I thought it was only fair to follow up with a Ash/Michelle one!

Michelle: 4 years old


Fatherly Bond

"Clip, clop, clip, clop, clip, clop…"

Michelle giggled sweetly, her bright green eyes following her stuffed Ponyta as it moved across the floor. Of course, the toy wasn't moving on its own. That would be silly. Instead, it was her father who was controlling it, holding onto the Ponyta's back and moving it up and down across the length of the table, trying his best to make the movements look as realistic as possible. He knew it wouldn't be nearly as fun if he just slid Ponyta across the table. Even if it didn't bother Michelle, which he was sure it wouldn't, that was just too fake for him. And Ash was all about authenticity in everything he did.

"Jump!" Michelle cried. "Make her jump!"

Ash let out a loud neigh, lifting the stuffed Pokémon over a stack of building blocks he and Michelle had used to create an obstacle. And as soon as she did that, the little girl started to cheer like she had just won some big competition she'd been training her whole, short little life for. It was loud and wild…not really anything like Michelle at all. She was actually a pretty quiet kid who tended to be very shy and, more often than not, kept to herself.

But when she was with her father, it was like she became a different person. He managed to bring out the joy and exuberance in her that was very hard for other people. Her mother and brother were pretty good at it too, but even they would admit that Ash probably did it the best. He just seemed to understand his daughter on such a deep level, even though their personalities were entirely different.

"That sure was fun, huh?" Ash asked her.

"Yeah!" Michelle hailed, still full of energy.

Chuckling, Ash continued, "but we're going to have to take a quick break for now. We have to go pick up someone very special!"

A mischievous twinkle glinted in Michelle's eyes, and she asked, "Miraculous Ledyba?"

Ash gave his daughter a playfully disappointed look, which just made her laugh all over again. "No, you crazy little girl. Your favorite superhero will not be waiting for us at Indigo Plateau!"

"Daddy, I was just kidding!" Michelle exclaimed with the same level of mirth.

Ash smirked. Of course, he already knew that. He was pretty sure Michelle did too, considering that last look he'd given her was exactly what she'd been aiming for. He knew her all too well, but still, he decided to play along. "Oh, you were?"

"Uh huh!" Michelle chirped. "I know we're gonna go get Mommy."

"There we go," Ash sighed rather dramatically, holding his hand over his heart. "I was hoping you'd be able to remind me!"

Michelle, however, didn't seem as eager to keep the charade going. "Daddy, you already knew that too!"

"Says who?" Ash teased.

"Me!" Michelle replied.

Unable to help himself, Ash laughed. She was so very much like her mother. Maybe that's why he was able to connect to her so well. "You have been taking very good care of me and Aiden for the last two days."

"Cause Mommy asked me to," Michelle drawled, now smirking herself.

"She did?" Ash muttered. That he hadn't actually known. Returning to his more buoyant side, he questioned, "you don't think Mommy trusts me?"

"Yeah, she does!" Michelle objected. "I think she just gets worried cause when she's not here, she misses you. And I love you just as much as Mommy!"

Ash beamed. He hadn't thought of it that way, but of course Michelle had. For such a young girl, she seemed to be very intuitive to other people's feelings. And, despite her own coyness, she would do anything she could when she sensed someone was in distress. It was just another thing Ash admired about his daughter.

"Well, I love you that much too!" He declared. "But if you think Mommy really is worried about me, then we should go pick her up right away. Wouldn't want to let her keep on being so nervous!"

Michelle quickly nodded her head, clearly agreeing with her father.

"Alright then, let's get going," Ash sighed. "Do you want to bring Ponyta with you?"

Michelle nodded again. Ash handed her the toy, which she happily took and hugged close to her chest, before picking the little girl up in his arms. Looking over his shoulder, Ash called, "Pikachu, you wanna come for a ride?"

The Pokémon, who had busied himself with play fighting some of Michelle's other toys, looked up and squeaked, "Pika Pikachupi!"

"I know, you missed Misty too," Ash chuckled. "I'm sure she's going to be really happy to see you!"

Ash walked to the door with Pikachu trailing behind him, slipping on his and Michelle's shoes before grabbing his keys off the hook and heading outside. It was a beautiful spring day; perfect for driving up to Indigo Plateau. Aiden had baseball practice that afternoon, and Brock had offered to bring Aiden home with him afterwards to have a playdate with Brandon. He'd made the same offer to Michelle, but she wasn't interested and insisted on staying with her father. Ash had been a little surprised at first. Even though Michelle wasn't the most outgoing kid, she did get along very well with Brandon and loved to play with him and Aiden. Now Ash was wondering if the main reason she hadn't wanted to go was because she felt she had to look after him.

"In you go!" Ash trilled, opening the car's back door and placing Michelle in her car seat. She raised her arms and allowed Ash to strap her in before going right back to cuddling her Ponyta toy. Glancing down at Pikachu, Ash asked, "you want to sit back here with Michelle or up in front with me, buddy?"

Without any hesitation, Pikachu jumped into the car and found his way onto Michelle's lap, squeezing himself beneath her stuffed Ponyta. Michelle giggled at the Pokémon and began to stroke his head, leading Pikachu to let out a string of happy "cha's."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Ash chuckled. "Good choice!"

Michelle spent the beginning of the drive talking to Ash. A lot. But he loved it and would never even dream of complaining. He thought everything Michelle had to say was very interesting and loved to know what kind of things were fascinating for a 4-year-old. So far, it had been trees they passed, different candy flavors (and why orange was the "ickiest" one), and what she liked most about the local playground, among other things.

But then they settled into silence for a while, and Ash just assumed that Michelle had fallen asleep. She tended to do that on longer car rides, and he wasn't about to bother her or wake her up from a nap, especially since he'd pretty much been neglecting those while Misty was away.

"Clip clop! Clip clop!"

Ash raised an eyebrow and took a peek in the rearview mirror, finding he'd been mistaken. Michelle was definitely awake, and she was moving her stuffed Ponyta through the air while making the same sounds he'd been making before while they were playing. That brought a big smile to his face, and he chose to continue to let Michelle go about her business without butting in.

It wasn't long after that they arrived at Indigo Plateau, and as soon as Michelle saw the familiar sights, she gasped in excitement. "Daddy, it's your work!"

"It is!" Ash confirmed with a laugh.

"Can we go play in your room?" Michelle asked hopefully.

"Do you mean my office?" Ash asked amusedly.

"Yeah!"

Ash continued chuckling. "You and Aiden sure think that place is a whole lot more fun than I do!"

"It is fun, Daddy," Michelle giggled.

"I'm glad you think so," Ash replied. "But we're not here to go hang out in my office today! We have to go get Mommy, remember? And she doesn't like to be kept waiting!"

Michelle didn't say anything else right away, but after a short moment, she commented, "Mommy will be happy when she sees us."

"Oh, she'll be more than happy!" Ash assured his daughter. "Mommy misses us very much when she has to go away."

Tilting her head, Michelle asked, "do you miss us a lot when you go away?"

"Of course, I do!" Ash cried, the genuine tone of her question making his heart ache. "It's really fun for me to get to travel to all different places and to see all those different, big Pokémon battles! But it also makes me very sad when I have to leave you and Aiden and your mommy. All I do while I'm gone is think about you guys. Actually, I talk about you guys a lot too, to just about everyone. Pikachu can tell you that!"

Pikachu glanced up at Michelle, nodding his head. "Pi chu."

Giggling, Michelle squeaked, "that makes me happy!"

The smile returned to Ash's face once he heard that. "It makes me happy too, princess!"

Ash still didn't have the best sense of direction, but fortunately for him, he knew the Indigo Plateau like the back of his hand and couldn't have gotten lost if he tried. He knew to meet Misty at the hotel on the property and parked in a spot as close to the entrance as he could get.

"We're here!" Ash announced. "Ready to go see Mommy?"

"Yay, Mommy!" Michelle cheered.

Ash got out of the car, unloaded Michelle while Pikachu jumped out himself, and carried her towards the hotel as his trusted partner walked alongside.

"You wanna wait here for her since it's so nice out?" Ash asked his daughter. "There's a little garden area where you and Pikachu can run around and play."

"Yeah, I wanna play," Michelle chirped.

"Alright!" Ash chuckled. Walking towards the side of the hotel, there was indeed a large area full of shrubs, flowers, and benches. He put Michelle down, who then held her stuffed Ponyta up and asked, "Daddy, will you hold her?"

"Sure thing!" Ash replied, taking the toy.

The little girl started to giggle and, with that taken care of, quickly scurried off with Pikachu. "Don't leave this area, okay?" Ash called out to her.

"Okay!" Michelle promised.

"Chu!" Pikachu added.

Humming amusedly to himself, Ash took a seat on the closest bench and looked up towards the sky, where there wasn't a single cloud in sight. The sun felt so nice, and soon it was accompanied by a gentle breeze. He watched as a flock of Pidgey flew by, chirping melodically. They must've been enjoying the day too. It was funny how he came to Indigo Plateau almost every single day and never really noticed any of these things. It was probably because he was always so busy that he never had time to actually stop and look around.

"Here, Daddy!"

Lowering his head, Ash saw Michelle standing in front of him and smiled. She was holding a single flower out towards him, beaming with pride. Its petals were pure white, fully bloomed and perfectly shaped.

"Aw, you picked this for me?" Ash asked, gently taking the blossom.

"Uh huh!" Michelle confirmed. "Do you like it?"

"Oh, I love it!" Ash stressed, burying his nose in the flower. "It smells so pretty. Thank you, princess!"

"You're welcome!" She twittered. Pulling her other arm out from behind her back, Michelle revealed a nearly identical flower, only this one was purple in color. "And I picked this one for Mommy!"

Gasping, Ash complimented, "that one is beautiful. Just like Mommy! She's going to love hers, too."

"Yeah, I'll see you guys on Monday!"

Michelle perked up, and a huge smile overtook her face. "Mommy!"

The little girl spun around and took off with incredible speed, Pikachu running after her and sending Ash into a panic. "Hey, Michelle!"

She kept on running, however, and it was then that Ash realized his daughter must've noticed something he hadn't.

"Hi, my sweet girl!"

Once Ash saw Misty kneeling down to greet Michelle, he was able to let out a sigh of relief. He watched as Michelle handed the flower off to Misty, who fussed over it before giving the girl a kiss on the cheek and picking her up. She turned around and waved at some of her fellow gym leaders, who must've been bidding her a final farewell, and finally headed over towards Ash, who was grinning at her as he nodded towards both Michelle and Pikachu.

"Looks like everyone is happy to see you!" Ash crowed.

"Well, I am so happy to see you," Misty breathed, walking right into a jubilant Ash's waiting arms.

"It was that bad?" Ash asked with a chuckle.

"No," Misty begrudgingly admitted. "It was actually kind of fun. Mostly because of the little 'afterparties' Forrest kept throwing every night. But even those couldn't stop me from missing you and the twins as badly as I did."

"Aw," Ash bustled, dipping his head down to give her a kiss. "How sweet! We missed you too!"

"Yeah?" Misty cooed, grinning down at Michelle. "You missed me?"

Michelle smiled and nodded her head, her bright red ponytail bobbing behind her. That caught Misty's attention, and she looked back up at Ash. "Have you been working on your hairstyling skills while I was away?"

"I have!" Ash confirmed, proudly puffing his chest out. "I'm glad you noticed!"

"It's hard not to with such an impressive ponytail," Misty giggled, nodding towards Michelle. "It looks really good!"

"And I didn't even pull too hard when I was brushing her hair back," Ash added. "Right, Shelly?"

"Yep!" Michelle chirped.

"Well, that's very exciting to hear!" Misty marveled. "I can't wait to hear what else went on in my absence."

Ash smirked. Even after nearly three days away, Misty's teasing was always on point. "Well, I'm sure you want to get back home. We can tell you all about it in the car! Here, I'll take your bag for you."

"Aw, thank you!" Misty breathed, watching as Ash grabbed the already extended handle of her luggage. "That's so sweet."

She followed Ash back towards the car, listening to Michelle chatter away to her the whole way there. Misty was more than happy to express interest in the little girl's quick stories, and although she couldn't see it, Ash was smiling at the conversation between mother and daughter.

When they finally reached their vehicle, Ash popped the trunk open and hoisted Misty's bag into the back. Misty, meanwhile, busied herself with sitting Michelle back in her car seat, Pikachu hopping off her shoulder and rejoining the little girl.

"Sorry you have to get stuck in here again," Misty kindly apologized to her daughter. "But I bet it was nice to stretch your legs out and run around for at least a little bit, huh?"

"Yeah!" Michelle cheerfully confirmed before her face fell. "Mommy, where's Ponyta?"

"Ponyta?" Misty repeated, inclining her head. "You mean your toy?"

"Right here!"

Ash had squeezed in beside Misty and was holding the plush Ponyta out towards Michelle. "I kept a close eye on her, just like you asked!"

Giggling, Michelle took her toy back and began to snuggle it. "Thanks, Daddy!" Lifting the plush up and staring deeply into its embroidered eyes, Michelle then turned back towards Ash and informed him, "she had fun with you!"

"I'm glad!" Ash chuckled. And with everything finally in place, he closed the back door so he and Misty could climb into the front themselves and begin the drive back home. Of course, that's when she began to ask more questions about what had happened during Ash's time alone with the twins.

"I'm afraid to know what the three of you ate while I was gone," Misty sighed.

"Um, we ate great," Ash calmly retorted. "We had breakfast for cereal, sandwiches for lunch, and we ordered pizza for dinner!"

Misty's eyes widened. "Two days in a row?!"

"No," Ash groaned. "Well…the cereal and the sandwiches, yeah. Not the pizza. Mom came over the second night and made dinner for all of us. She said she refused to have her grandchildren eat takeout two nights in a row."

"And did you feed them cereal and sandwiches again today?" Misty hesitantly asked.

"No!" Michelle piped up from the back. "Aiden and I said no. We didn't want any more."

"Oh, thank goodness," Misty breathed. She grew serious once again, however, when she realized, "so what did you all eat for breakfast and lunch?"

Ash tried to intercept Michelle but wasn't able to cut her off before she excitedly yelled, "ice cream!"

Misty glared at her husband, who had quickly become flushed. "Okay, that's not true! We did not have ice cream for breakfast and lunch."

"Ash…"

"It was only breakfast."

"Ash!"

"Come on, Mist, I thought you'd expect this kind of stuff from me by now!" Ash cried.

Rubbing her temples, Misty muttered, "I don't know what I'm gonna do with you."

Smirking, Ash remarked, "a little too late to get rid of me now."

"Oh, it's never too late," Misty assured him. She quickly returned his smirk, however, and added, "I just like you too much to actually go through with it."

Watching silently from the backseat, Michelle smiled. It made her so happy when her parents were together. She was still very young, but even she could tell how much they loved and cared for each other.

"Well, now that I'm back, there won't be any more of that," Misty continued. Looking over her shoulder, Misty smirked at her daughter and apologized, "sorry, kiddo."

"S'okay!" Michelle assured her. "I wan- mac and cheese!"

"Mac and cheese?" Misty repeated, her smile softening. "That I can do!"

Ash furrowed his brow. "Mist, do you really want to cook? I'm sure you're tired."

"From a lame gym leader conference? Hardly," Misty scoffed. "Besides, I wouldn't really call making mac and cheese out of a box 'cooking.' That's an insult to real chefs like Brock or your mom."

"If you're sure," Ash replied. "I know Aiden will be fine with it, so that works."

"Do you know how his baseball practice went?" Misty asked.

"I haven't had a chance to check my phone," Ash admitted. "You can if you want! I think it just ended a little while ago."

"It did," Misty confirmed, taking Ash's phone from the cupholder and turning it on. "Oh, good! Brock just texted you like five minutes ago. He said Brandon and Aiden's practice went well and now they're having fun at his place."

"Perfect!" Ash chirped. "I told Brock I'd pick Aiden up at 5. Then we can have dinner!"

"But I'm hungry now," Michelle whined with a frown on her face.

"What?!" Ash gasped. "Michelle, I just gave you a snack not long before we left the house! You never get hungry again this fast!"

"Yeah, but I am," Michelle replied simply.

"Man," Ash sighed, slumping in the driver's seat ever so slightly. "You're telling me we now have two kids who are gonna be demanding food every 10 minutes?"

"Nah," Misty refuted, turning to wink at Ash. "I think she just spent too much time with you over the last three days and is picking up on your habits. Don't worry; I'm sure she'll be back to eating like a Pidgey in no time." Looking back at her daughter, Misty asked, "Shelly, were you Daddy's little shadow while I was gone?"

Michelle nodded. "I took care of him and Aiden, like you asked me to!"

"Thank you!" Misty trilled. "I knew I could count on you, my sweet girl."

Beaming at the compliment, Michelle added, "it was fun!"

"Yeah?" Misty giggled.

Michelle nodded again. "I love Daddy. We played games and we played with my Pokémon stuffies and we watched TV. He makes me happy, even when I'm sad that you're away!"

"Aww," Misty cooed, glancing over at a smiling Ash. "You two are just precious together! The best daddy-daughter duo that I know."

"Uh huh!" Michelle crowed. "We are the best! Right, Daddy?"

"Absolutely," Ash agreed. "But it's pretty easy when you're the best little girl a dad could ask for!"