I cannot believe it's been two months since my last update! Life has been super crazy, but I've been getting so much inspiration from Aim to be a Pokemon Master! It's so amazing to see Ash, Brock, and Misty traveling together again (I've watched a few of the episodes multiple times now, particularly the Ash and Misty one!)
So, time to get back to posting some stories!
Aiden and Michelle: 4 years old
Little Hatchlings
"Look! Look!"
"Hey, Aiden! Wait up!"
"Pipika!"
The young boy giggled as he skidded to a halt in front of a table in the middle of the room. Ash, who was toting Pikachu on his shoulder, was still climbing up the stairs, an unimpressed look on his face.
"You really hate listening, don't you?" Ash deadpanned once he finally reached the top of the steps.
"Daddy, look!" Aiden cried again, pointing at the table before him.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ash sighed. Still, he glanced up at the table, and soon his own face lit up. "Whoa, yeah! Look at those!"
On the table were a couple of Pokémon eggs, each one featuring distinctive patterns and colors.
"Pika…" Pikachu marveled.
"Oh, you like the Pokémon eggs, I see!"
Aiden beamed as Professor Oak popped into the lab from a nearby room. "Ya! They're awesome!"
"Do you know all about Pokémon eggs?" Professor Oak asked. Aiden hummed in thought before shaking his head, surprising the older man. "Really?" Needing confirmation, the researcher glanced up at Ash, who was sporting a rather amused smirk.
"Hi, Professor Oak," Ash greeted with a chuckle before clarifying, "He knows a little. When it comes to Pokémon, he's more interested in learning about their attacks at the moment than anything else."
"Pikachu's most strongest move is thunderbolt!" Aiden excitedly announced. Pikachu grinned from his spot on Ash's shoulder and nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, it is!" Professor Oak chuckled. "You certainly do know your attacks!"
"Daddy! We found you!"
Another young child came hopping up the stairs, running up to Ash and lunging at his legs.
"Well, I'm glad you did, since you were following us here!" Ash crowed amusedly. "Where's Mommy?"
"Right here."
Looking up, Ash saw Misty just making her way up the stairs, Vaporeon following by her feet. "Michelle was perfectly content to walk alongside me until the lab came into view. After that, she left me in the dust."
The little girl looked back up at her father and beamed as she nodded her head.
"That wasn't very nice," Ash informed his daughter, although the still present smirk on his face was rather misleading.
"I was e-cited!" Michelle cried. "I sawed the lab and I wanted to get here really fast!"
"Look, Shelly!"
The little girl turned her attention towards her brother, and when she saw him pointing at the Pokémon eggs on the table, she squealed in delight and instantly let go of Ash. "Pokémon eggs!"
Misty, who had failed to notice them herself in all of the chaos, perked up at the sight. "Oh, wow! They're so beautiful!"
"What kinda Pokémon are they?" Michelle asked an amused Professor Oak.
"No one knows until they hatch," Professor Oak replied. "It's like a fun little mystery!"
"When are they gonna hatch?" Aiden inquired.
"Not for a little while," Professor Oak mused. "I just got them recently! And Pokémon eggs needs to be very well cared for quite a bit before they can hatch."
"How do you take care of -em?" Michelle chirped.
"Keeping them warm is very important," Misty stepped in for the professor, shooting him a sympathetic smile. The twins were at an age where they could ask a million questions a minute, and Misty knew how exhausting it could get. "That's what helps the Pokémon inside to grow!"
Michelle's eyes sparkled. "Oh! How'd you know that Mommy?"
"I've taken care of a few eggs before," Misty explained. "Azumarill and Vaporeon both hatched from eggs that your Uncle Tracey and Professor Oak gave me. And my Togetic hatched from an egg too, even though Brock did most of the work with that one."
"That's so cool!" Aiden exclaimed.
"It is!" Misty agreed with a giggle.
"Was it e-citing when me and Shelly hatched from our eggs?" Aiden innocently asked his parents.
Ash whipped his head towards Misty, whose lips were pressed into a tight line. He knew exactly what she was thinking: she wished those two had hatched from a couple of eggs instead of the horror she'd had to go through to have them. Turning his head back around, Ash buried his face into his own shoulder, desperately trying to hide the laugh that was threatening to come out.
"Yes, very exciting," Misty drawled, the line of her lips transforming into a wry smile. "So exciting that Mommy couldn't even stand it."
"Yay!" Aiden cheered. That finally caused Ash to break, his obvious mirth leading Misty to roll her eyes.
"At least you can laugh about it now," she quipped, shifting her gaze onto her husband. "Couldn't have said that four years ago."
"Sorry," Ash apologized, barely succeeding in choking back another snicker. "It was kind of funny, though."
Professor Oak, for what it was worth, couldn't help but chuckle himself. "Children are so innocent, but the things that tend to come out of their mouths? Not so much."
Michelle scrunched up her nose, confused by the adults' banter. "What's so funny?"
"Your brother's just silly, that's all," Misty replied with a little giggle.
That answer led Michelle to laugh herself. "Ya, he's silly!"
Looking over his shoulder, Aiden grinned at the two before turning his attention to his father. "Daddy, can we take one home?"
"An egg?!" Ash cried, his amusement evaporating into thin air. Now it was Misty's turn to snicker; watching Ash get flustered was always so fun.
"Ya!" Aiden cheered.
"Ooh, ya!" Michelle chimed in. "Can we?!"
"No, no!" Ash refuted, waving his hands in front of himself. "You guys are a little too young to take care of an egg just yet."
"But you could help us!" Aiden chirped.
"No," Ash refused again. "I've got my hands full with the two of you!"
"Hands full?" Aiden repeated.
"Yeah," Ash snickered. "You know what that means?"
The little boy hummed before quickly shaking his head.
"It means you guys cause trouble," Ash replied amusedly.
Michelle appeared displeased by her father's accusation. "Daddy, I'm not trouble!"
"You know, Michelle, sometimes trouble can be a good thing," Misty remarked, winking at her bewildered daughter. "Mommy knows that better than anyone!"
Furrowing her brow, Michelle protested, "you're not trouble neither!"
Sighing playfully, Ash commented, "oh, Shelly. You've still got a whole lot to learn about your mommy!"
"Why's Mommy trouble?" Aiden blurted out, his eyes quickly shifting between his parents.
"I'm good trouble," Misty reiterated to her son. "And all that means is I'm willing to stand up for myself and speak up when I see something I don't like."
"So how come when I say we shouldn't hafta eat vegetables, that's not good?" Aiden questioned, inclining his head.
Professor Oak chuckled yet again. "You two certainly do have your hands full!"
"Yeah, which is exactly why we don't need to be bringing any Pokémon eggs home," Ash restated.
"Aw, Daddy, please?" Aiden pleaded.
Ash shot Misty a desperate look, to which she scoffed. "Don't look at me, I'm tired of being the bad guy."
"I'll tell you two what," Professor Oak spoke up, addressing the desperate twins. "You can come to the lab and visit the Pokémon eggs whenever you'd like!"
"Even after they hatch?" Michelle asked hopefully.
"Yes, of course!" Professor Oak trilled. "I'm sure they'll love to play with you!"
"Okay!" Michelle giggled as her face brightened up, clearly pleased with that compromise.
Her brother, on the other hand, wasn't as convinced. "But what if Mommy and Daddy don't wanna bring us here to play with -em?"
"We'll bring you here to play with the Pokémon," Misty promised. "We always do!"
"Yeah, and I'd rather bring you guys here every day than bring an egg home," Ash added absentmindedly.
"Every day?!"
"We can come here every day?!"
Ash's face paled instantly as he realized his mistake, while Misty just giggled to herself. "Oh honey, you walked right into that one."
"Well, maybe not every day," Ash groaned, averting his gaze as the twins frowned. "That's not really fair to Professor Oak. He's got to work, after all, and having you two over and running around everywhere is super distracting."
"I wouldn't mind it," Professor Oak mused aloud, much to Ash's disgruntlement. "I can't spend all day working, after all! And Aiden and Michelle are two of the most fun distractions I could possibly think of."
Misty smirked and leaned against her husband. "You walked right into that one, too."
"Pi," Pikachu mumbled in agreement, while Vaporeon simply shifted her tail back and forth.
Sighing, Ash continued, "come on, professor. You don't need these kids in your hair every day!"
"He is right about that," Misty conceded. "It might just start falling out!"
"But -fessor Oak's old, isn't his hair gonna fall out anyway?" Aiden innocently asked.
Ash and Misty's faces both turned bright red as they sputtered nonsense, much to their son's confusion. Professor Oak, on the other hand, just started laughing as he reached down to pat Aiden's head.
"My boy, you are quite something!" The older man remarked, still chuckling. "You could be a wonderful little comedian."
"No, I wanna be the Pokémon Master!" Aiden refuted.
"You could always be both!" Professor Oak persuaded with a grin.
"Aw, professor, don't encourage him," Ash groaned.
"Maybe it's not the worst idea," Misty mused. "At least Aiden could make a living off of all his unfiltered commentary!"
"Aiden's funny," Michelle commented with a giggle. "He's silly and he's funny!"
Misty smirked at her daughter. "You are your brother's biggest fan, aren't you?"
Michelle grinned and nodded her head. That seemed to delight Aiden, who beamed as he puffed his chest out.
"Still want to spend every day with them?" Ash teasingly asked Professor Oak.
"Of course!" Professor Oak chuckled. "Believe me, my boy, I don't mind being kept on my toes!"
"Okay, Shelly and I are gonna stay here with -fessor Oak and the eggs!" Aiden declared, waving emphatically at his parents. "Bye guys!"
"That's all?" Misty scoffed. "Just a bye?"
Aiden giggled and nodded, amused by his mother's offense.
"No, I want Mommy and Daddy to stay!" Michelle cried. "Don't go!"
"It's okay, Shelly," Ash hushed, kneeling before the upset girl. "Mommy and I aren't going anywhere."
"Pi, Pipikachu," his partner added comfortingly.
Smiling sympathetically, Misty added, "but if you want to come here every day, Daddy and I can't always be with you and Aiden! We have to work, you know."
Frowning, Michelle bargained, "but you know how to take care of a Pokémon egg, so you should stay with us!"
Ash pouted. "Hey, I know how to take care of an egg too!"
"Kay, so you both stay," Michelle murmured before smiling victoriously at her father.
Ash smirked and tweaked his daughter's nose, getting another giggle out of her. "You're so sneaky! You know exactly how to get what you want, just like your mommy."
At this, Michelle's eyes lit up. "So, we can come here every day with you and Mommy to see the eggs?"
Ash sighed and hung his head. "Clearly I'm not winning today…"
"Just today?" Misty asked with an amused smirk. "Come on, don't lie to yourself."
"But it makes me feel better," Ash playfully whined.
Turning her attention back to her daughter, Misty replied, "you and Aiden cannot come here every day to see the eggs. Professor Oak has work to do! We will visit them plenty of times, don't worry."
"You promise?" Michelle pleaded, eyes shining with hope.
"Yes, I promise," Misty giggled.
"And your mother's word is as good as gold!" Professor Oak assured the twins. "Isn't that right, Ash?"
The Pokémon Master chuckled at the researcher's question. "You bet! Mommy always keeps her promises."
"Yeah, is true," Aiden agreed with a nod. "She always tells me she's gonna make me eat my vegetables, and she does!"
Misty smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You keep bringing up vegetables, Aiden. Which reminds me…we need to go to the farmer's market to pick some up for dinner!"
"No! No!" Aiden quickly protested, scurrying over to Professor Oak. "Shelly and I are gonna watch the eggs! Bye!"
"Tell you what, bud," Ash offered. "How about we all hang out here for a bit, and then we'll go to the farmer's market. Sound good?"
Aiden hummed thoughtfully, but quickly stopped and grinned at his father. "Ya, I like that!"
"You too, Shelly?" Ash asked, turning his attention to his daughter.
"Yep!" The little girl chirped.
The Pokémon Master grinned at his wife, who smirked in response. "Heh, I finally won!"
"Yeah, you sure did," Misty teased, a twinkle sparkling in her eye as she crossed her arms. "Let's see how long that lasts!"
