Hello everyone! Long time no see! I've still been working on stories, but it's been a while since I finished any and was able to upload them.

The recent and unfortunate passing of Rachael Lillis really pushed me to get something up. Misty being such an important character to me, especially as I was growing up, made that news so much harder to hear, and writing these characters I love so much was a very helpful form of therapy. So, I'd like to dedicate this story to her memory.


Pokémon Café

When it came to her beloved noodles, there was only one thing Elizabeth Ketchum loved more than eating them herself: feeding them to the Pokémon.

In the middle of attempting to cram a fistful into her mouth, the baby noticed a pair of large black eyes peering up at her. She giggled with delight and gave up on trying to eat the noodles in her hand herself, instead choosing to dump them on the floor.

The Pokémon who had been silently begging for just that quickly sprung to her feet and began to gobble up the gifted food. Elizabeth's giggles grew louder and wilder, drawing the attention of her mother. Groaning, Misty walked over to the baby and gently scolded, "hey, Vaporeon has her own food. You don't need to be sharing your lunch with her!"

Elizabeth glanced up at her mother with a wide-open mouth before bursting into laughter again. Misty sighed, although her mouth had also bent into a wry smirk.

"You know, you're a little too much like your dad…"

"Ooh, is Lizzie feeding the Pokémon again?"

Misty looked up and found her older daughter standing in the doorway. "Good guess."

Michelle giggled and flitted over to the highchair. "She loves to do that! It's so silly."

"It is," Misty agreed with a tired smirk. "It's also very messy."

"I think maybe Lizzie wants to have her own restaurant for Pokémon," Michelle mused. "That's why she shares her food with them all the time!"

Before Misty could say anything, a gleam appeared in Michelle's eyes; a look that Misty was very familiar with. And why was that you may wonder? Well, it was the exact same glint the young girl's father got in his eyes when he had an idea.

"Oh no," Misty breathed, too quiet for Michelle to hear.

"Yeah!" Michelle giggled, hopping up and down. "Let's play Pokémon Café!"

"I don't know, Michelle," Misty sighed heavily. "It's already hard enough to get your baby sister to eat without getting distracted; playing a game might not be the best idea."

"I think she'll wanna eat more," Michelle countered. "Because it makes it fun!"

Fully confident in her idea, Michelle skipped over to the coat hooks by the front door and pulled down an apron that her grandmother had left behind and one of the baseball caps her father often wore while he was training outside in the sun. Misty didn't understand why at first, but quickly did once Michelle put the baseball cap on her head backwards and tied the apron around her waist.

"Are you dressing up as a waitress?" Misty asked with a charming smile.

"Yep!" Michelle chirped, scurrying back over to her baby sister's highchair. "I think Lizzie should be one too, but I don't have another hat or apron for her!"

"They'd be too big anyway," Misty sympathetically assured. "They're already too big on you! Maybe we can find something else for Lizzie to wear that will make her look like a waitress."

For just a brief moment, Misty remembered her concern that this game could be a deterrent to Elizabeth wanting to eat her lunch. The thought went as quickly as it came, however, as soon as Misty saw the bright smile on her older daughter's face.

"Good idea!" Michelle crowed. "Like what?"

Misty twisted her mouth as she shuffled through ideas, though she still struggled to fight the lingering thought that after trying to convince Michelle this game wasn't the wisest choice, she was now actively participating in it.

Despite that, she allowed her sideways smirk to melt into one that was far more relaxed. If anything, the thought was more amusing to her than distressing. She definitely worried about her children, maybe more than she should've, but it was ultimately a lot more fun to join in on their games than trying to stop them.

"I think I have an idea," Misty mused. Now it was her turn to walk over to the coat hooks, where she reached into the small backpack she used as her bag and pulled out a cerulean blue headband with a big bow attached to it. "Your Aunt Violet gave this to me for Lizzie, and I think it's a bit much. But it could work perfectly for a waitress costume!"

Michelle seemed confused as to how such a goofy looking thing could make her baby sister look like a waitress. When her mother slipped the headband onto Elizabeth's head and kept the bow to the back, however, it became clear to Michelle.

"Oh! Like a sweaty band!" Michelle giggled.

"Right, just like that," Misty agreed. "As long as we ignore that big, silly bow!"

Elizabeth, for what it was worth, seemed unsure about the wide band of cotton that she had been outfitted with. The baby grumbled and shook her head a bit, but otherwise didn't protest or reach for the headband to tear it off.

"I can do that," Michelle assured her mother. "Now, do you and Vaporeon wanna be our customers?"

"Of course!" Misty replied before glancing down at her partner Pokémon. The water type was still sitting by Elizabeth's highchair, patiently waiting for some additional scraps to fall. "Come on, Vaporeon. We're going to be customers at Michelle and Elizabeth's Pokémon Café!"

Vaporeon hesitated for the briefest of seconds, but otherwise quickly got to her feet and trotted over to Misty. The water type was extremely loyal to her trainer, and Misty giving an order meant Vaporeon was sure to follow it…even if she was hoping for some extra bits to eat.

Michelle turned her back to her mother and Vaporeon for just a second before spinning back around with the biggest smile on her face. "Hi! Welcome to our Pokémon Café! Would you like a table?"

Misty nodded. "Yes, please. Vaporeon and I are quite hungry!"

"Vay!" Vaporeon eagerly chimed in.

Michelle laughed. She knew Vaporeon wasn't totally pretending; she was actually hungry! Or, at the very least, excited about the prospect of some more snacks. "Okay! Follow me!"

The girl ran a half circle around her mother and Vaporeon, Elizabeth watching on in interest. She pulled one chair out from the table, and then the one next to it. "Here you go! You both get a chair!"

"Well, thank you very much!" Misty replied. "Vaporeon, let's take a seat."

Misty sat down in the further chair, while Vaporeon leapt into the closer one. The Pokémon's swift jump caused Elizabeth to burst out laughing, finding it to be the most amusing thing in the world. Michelle looked over her shoulder with a smirk, and then turned back towards their "guests."

"Sorry, she's new," Michelle effortlessly apologized. "Do you want to see our menu?"

Snickering at her daughter's quip, Misty affirmed, "yes, that would be great!"

Michelle's smile slowly faded, and before her mother could ask why, the girl yelped, "we don't have any menus!"

"That's alright," Misty assured her. "We can just pretend there are menus!"

"No, we need real ones," Michelle groaned. Shifting her eyes around, the girl rushed out, "I'll just make two really super quick! Stay here!"

Misty didn't even have time to respond before her daughter darted away to gather her menu making supplies. Turning towards Vaporeon, Misty laughed, "I'm not sure where Michelle thought we would go, but sure!"

"Poreon," Vaporeon purred, flicking her tail to the side.

Just as Michelle came running back in with two hastily folded pieces of paper, the back door slid open, and the girl's eyes lit up.

"You're just in time!"

One of the new arrivals inclined his head. "In time for what? And how come you're wearing my hat?"

Michelle giggled and pulled the cap down on her head, so it was a little snugger. "We're playing Pokémon Café, Daddy! Lizzie was feeding Vaporeon her lunch, so I decided to make a game out of it. You and Aiden should play, too!"

"Oh, I get it!" Ash chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, that sounds like fun! What do you think, Aiden?"

The boy grinned. "Kay!" Pausing for a moment, he added, "but I don't wanna be eating at the café. I wanna be working!"

Ash and Misty exchanged identical surprised glances. "Never thought we'd hear anything like that," Ash remarked.

"And we might never hear it again," Misty added with a smirk.

"Well, me and Lizzie are waitresses, and I don't think we need any more of those," Michelle mused. "But…maybe…you could be the chef!"

Aiden grinned. "Yeah!"

"Yay!" Michelle cheered. "So, you can go to the kitchen. And Daddy – "

"But we're already in the kitchen!"

Michelle scowled at her brother. She never liked it when he interrupted her. "I know we're in the kitchen. I meant go to your kitchen! Where the chef cooks!"

"Oh, got it," Aiden breathed, looking around the room. "Uh…where's that?"

After a tense moment, Michelle pointed towards the stove and simply stated, "there."

As the oblivious Aiden hopped over to his station, Ash took a seat across from Misty with a chuckle. "She's so cute, but she's got the world's shortest fuse. Just like someone else I know!"

Misty narrowed her eyes. "I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear what you said after 'cute'."

Pikachu, who had slid into the chair beside Ash, grinned at Vaporeon across the table. The water type tittered, gleefully swishing her tail back and forth. Pikachu always knew just how to entertain her! It was nearly enough to distract her from just how hungry she was.

"Here are your menus!" Michelle loudly announced, regaining everyone's attention. She dropped the two folded pieces of paper in the middle of the table that she had scribbled on, wincing once she did. "I don't have enough for everyone."

"It's fine," Ash assured his daughter, taking one of the menus. "Pikachu and I can share!"

"And so can me and Vaporeon," Misty agreed, picking up the other menu. "We're excellent at sharing!"

The menu items were written in Michelle's tiny handwriting and made up of a fair amount of spelling errors. That was to be expected; Michelle was a pretty smart kid, but she was still only six-years-old. Ash and Misty were able to decipher their daughter's writing pretty easily, however, and didn't take long to make their decisions.

"Vaporeon and I will have the fruit salad," Misty declared, placing her menu back on the table.

"Vay!" Vaporeon agreed.

"And me and Pikachu would like the spaghetti," Ash said.

"Pika, pikapi!" Pikachu cried.

"Oh, right," Ash chuckled. "Extra ketchup for Pikachu, please!"

It wasn't until that moment that Ash and Misty realized Michelle had stashed a third piece of paper away in the pocket of her apron, along with a fine, light blue marker. She was scribbling down the orders, poking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.

Smirking, Ash held a hand against his cheek and muttered to Misty, "leave it to Michelle to take playing pretend so seriously!"

"Thank you for your orders!" Michelle loudly announced, leading Ash to drop his hand and shift his eyes towards her. "I will get those to the kitchen right away."

Marching over to Elizabeth's highchair, Michelle dropped her piece of paper on the plastic tray. "Please bring this to the chef, fellow waitress!"

Elizabeth giggled at her sister's request, cocking her head to the side.

Michelle furrowed her brow. "Okay, actually, that wasn't a good idea."

Picking the paper back up, Michelle hurried it over to Aiden herself. "Please make these for our customers!"

"Okay!" Aiden agreed, taking the paper from his twin and examining it. "Hmm…Mom, can I turn on the stove?"

"No, you cannot," Misty immediately refuted.

The boy frowned. "How am I supposed to make all this stuff?"

"We're just playing pretend, champ," Ash reassured his son. "You don't really have to make all that food."

"Oh, good," Aiden breathed. "Cause without the stove, that'd be impossible!"

Amidst his parents' amused snickers, Aiden grabbed two recently washed plastic plates that were sitting by the sink and handed them off to his sister. "Here you go!"

Michelle, however, didn't appear pleased and refused to take the plates. "They have to have something on them!"

"No, they don't," Misty calmly argued. "Daddy and I are both very imaginative, Michelle. We'll do just fine pretending there's food on our plates!"

"But it doesn't look real!" Michelle whined. "I want it to look real!"

Misty groaned and covered her face with her hands. Aiden, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow as he examined the plates in his hands. "These look real to me!"

Michelle seemed ready to pounce on her brother in a fit of rage, so Ash quickly interrupted, "Aiden is right, Michelle. Those plates are perfect. The most fun part of the game is playing together! We don't need anything to look 'real' to have fun playing."

Although she didn't seem fully convinced, Michelle always took her father's words to heart. With a discouraged huff, she finally took the plates from Aiden and walked them over to the kitchen table, placing one each in front of her mother and father.

"Here you go," she presented the drop off with a weak smile. "Your…uh…orders."

As soon as she saw the empty plate, Vaporeon's brow flattened. This was not what she had signed up for! She looked up at her trainer to protest but halted when she saw the grin on the woman's face.

"Oh, this looks delicious!" Misty crowed, clasping her hands beside her cheek. "Vaporeon and I can't wait to dig in!"

The water type flattened her brow, obviously unimpressed, but played along with a tepid, "pore."

"Yeah, mine and Pikachu's looks so good too!" Ash agreed while Pikachu nodded.

Michelle grimaced. This felt so silly. And not a fun silly either! A goofy silly. One that other kids would probably make fun of her for if they saw it. Fortunately, it was just Aiden and Elizabeth there, and both were pretty oblivious; Elizabeth because she was a baby, and Aiden because, well, he was Aiden.

A sudden shriek from Elizabeth distracted Michelle and led the older girl to look over her shoulder at her baby sister. The baby was waving her plastic bowl around, now empty.

"Elizabeth, where in the world did your lunch go?!" Misty shrieked.

Humming, Ash cast his gaze downward. "Looks like down there."

Aiden, Misty, and Michelle all followed Ash's gaze, but Aiden was the first to react with a boisterous laugh. "She threw it all on the floor!"

"Oh, boy," Misty sighed, dragging her hand down her cheek. "So, this little game didn't want to make her eat."

"Guess not," Michelle forlornly replied. "But…we still had fun, right?"

Misty smiled sweetly at her daughter. "Yes, we did!"

"I thought it was a really nice break from training out in the sun!" Ash agreed.

"Pi-ka!" Pikachu chimed in.

Misty looked over her shoulder to ask Vaporeon if she'd had fun as well but was surprised when she found that her loyal partner was no longer sitting next to her. Groaning, she rolled her eyes and quickly turned her head back towards Elizabeth. "I should've known…"

The water type had managed to sneak off in that short amount of time and was now stationed beneath the baby's highchair, hastily gobbling up the tossed noodles. Elizabeth was just leaning over the tray, watching the Pokémon with a massive grin on her face.

"Wow, Vaporeon was really hungry!" Aiden marveled.

"I'm not sure if she was really hungry or just super excited that Lizzie dropped her noodles," Ash chuckled.

Michelle blinked at Vaporeon before bursting into a fit of giggles. "She just wanted to play her own version of Pokémon Café! With real food, too!"


I don't play the Pokémon Cafe mobile game (I'm big into Pokémon Sleep, personally!) but the artwork is so darn cute. That's genuinely the whole inspiration behind this story, lol.