Chapter Text
Pallet Town Party Time
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I'm starting a multi-chaptered fic, which is going to be considerably light-hearted and filled with fun and romance. There will be Pokéshipping, and Eldershipping too.
Pokémon is copyrighted to Game Freak and Nintendo. I own nothing.
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"Ash, wake up!" A shrill voice broke through the silence that permeated the bedroom. A redhaired girl stood next to the bunk bed with her hands on her hips, her brow creased in annoyance as she attempted to awaken the lone occupant of the bed.
Ash remained fast asleep, curled up underneath the duvet with a peaceful expression on his face. He did however mumble quietly under his breath as he continued to dream. "I am Ash Ketchum, the world's greatest Pokémon Master."
"Ash Ketchum, get your lazy butt out of bed THIS INSTANT!" Misty's voice rose several octaves, her green eyes flashing. Sometimes Ash didn't have a problem getting up in the morning, but then there were the times when he slept like a log. During those times, she had no doubt that a bomb could go off right outside his house and he would continue to sleep.
This time however, Misty's loud voice started to get to Ash and he was roused from his sleep, letting out a whimper of protest as he did so. "Five more minutes, Mom," he moaned, one hand clutching at the bedsheet.
Misty drew in a long breath and exhaled loudly. She really didn't want to have to resort to something like this, but it was getting late and the way she saw it, she had no choice. "Alright, Ash. You want to sleep for a little bit longer, fine."
Ash didn't even hear her as he was already starting to drift off back to sleep, a contented smile spreading over his face. He was blissfully unaware of Misty returning to the room a minute later, a Poké Ball in hand.
"Staryu, Water Gun!" Misty's loud voice commanded.
The starfish Pokémon spurted out a jet of cold water that blasted Ash head on. The dark-haired boy positively screamed as the water hit him, sitting up in bed with wide eyes. His mouth hung open in shock as he tried to comprehend what was happening. What was that cold water and why was he suddenly soaked?
Unfortunately, the water had also managed to hit Pikachu, who had been curled up on the duvet next to Ash. The mouse Pokémon was quite unimpressed by being hit with a cold blast of water while sleeping and decided to let his feelings be known by retaliating with a massive shock of electricity, blasting Ash in the process.
Ash let out a moan and fell back onto the bed, his body twitching as the currents ran through him. Getting shocked by Pikachu after being splashed with water was a very unpleasant experience indeed.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu exclaimed, putting his paws over his mouth with a horrified expression. He hadn't meant to electrocute his trainer. That water had just been very cold and very unexpected and he had merely been acting in self defence. "Pikachu?" he asked anxiously, approaching Ash and looking down at the stunned expression on his trainer's face.
"Ugh." Ash grimaced and shifted into a sitting position, shaking his head in bewilderment. His gaze moved toward Misty, who was still standing there with a big smirk plastered across her face. "Hey, Misty, what's the big idea?" he asked in annoyance.
"Pika!" Pikachu joined in, looking disgruntled as he shook small droplets of water out of his wet fur.
"Sorry, Pikachu." Misty waved a hand at Pikachu, smiling. This only got Ash even more annoyed. So she would apologise to Pikachu, but not to him? Misty looked at Ash. "It is eleven o'clock in the morning," she stated flatly. "Have you forgotten what today is?"
"What's going on? I thought I could hear someone screaming." A brunette appeared in the doorway, blinking her wide blue eyes. Then she saw Ash sitting up in bed, looking soaked while his messy dark hair was even messier than usual. May couldn't help smiling at the sight. "It looks like you've had a bit of a shock," she commented.
"Yeah, well, blame Misty!" Ash pointed accusingly at the redhead. "She thought that it would be funny to give me and Pikachu a shower. By the way, Pikachu did not appreciate that one bit."
"Well, maybe if you had got out of bed when you were supposed to, I wouldn't have had to do it!" Misty folded her arms, looking defiant. She tilted her head. "So, you do know what is happening today, don't you?"
"Uh..." Ash's mind was still a little fuzzy seeing as he had just woken up and that shock hadn't helped matters much. His head was still ringing a bit. "Oh yeah, we're having some party today, aren't we?" he mumbled. "What was it for?"
"It's for your Mom and Professor Oak's first wedding anniversary," May replied helpfully as Misty put a hand to her forehead and groaned in frustration.
"Oh yeah, I remember now!" Ash's eyes lit up. He slowly shook his head. "Man, it's already been a year and it still seems so strange to have Professor Oak for a stepfather." His mouth twitched in a wry smile.
"Whatever. Just get ready then come down and help us out." Misty spread her arms helplessly. "You can't just sleep all day." She turned around sharply and marched out of the room.
Ash waited until Misty was out of earshot. "Jeez, what is her problem anyway?" he muttered. It wasn't unlike Misty to have a bad temper at times, but this morning it seemed to be really bad.
"Your baby sister threw up on her," May replied.
Ash blanched. "Oh, I see." Wow. Poor Misty, no wonder she's in such an awful mood.
"Yeah. Little siblings are a pain, aren't they?" May raised her voice, winking at Ash and smiling.
"I heard that!" Max yelled from the nearby bathroom.
May just grinned to herself and left, leaving Ash alone in the bedroom.
"Why do I get the feeling that today is going to be crazy?" Ash sighed and put his head in his hands. He didn't mind having his friends around in the least, though he really could do without Misty's bad temper. His mother and Professor Oak had told him he could invite as many friends as he liked to the party, but he had been sensible and only invited Misty, May and Max.
Ash had a horrible feeling though that there might be some uninvited guests turning up today and all he could do was pray that wasn't going to be the case. The party was surely going to be hectic enough without a certain trio causing trouble.
Right now, he really would have liked nothing more than to curl up underneath the covers and try to go back to sleep, but Ash was afraid of incurring Misty's wrath a second time. He most certainly did not have a death wish.
After he had gotten dressed in the smartest clothes he could find, that weren't in the growing heap at the bottom of his closet, Ash went downstairs and headed into the kitchen where he found Brock slaving over the stove, frying bacon and eggs. The delicious smell of breakfast caused his stomach to rumble loudly, announcing his presence before he even had a chance to speak.
"My, somebody's hungry," Brock commented, not even bothering to turn around. "Just sit down and I'll give you your breakfast shortly, Ash."
"Eh, how did you know it was me?" Ash exclaimed, pulling back a chair and seating himself at the table. Brock did not bother to answer his question.
"Here you go," Brock said a few minutes later, placing down a plate laden with eggs, bacon and toast before Ash. Ash eagerly devoured his food, smiling contentedly once the plate was clean.
"Okay then, I'm off to do some training," Ash announced, getting up. He was sure he had some time to train his Pokémon before the party started and it wasn't like anyone actually needed him to do anything, was it?
"Oh, good morning, sweetie. You're up already?" Delia suddenly hurried into the room, clutching a swaddled baby within her arms.
"Uh, what do you mean already?" Ash blinked in consternation, his gaze dropping from his mother's beaming face to the baby. "How is Demi today?"
"She was a little sick this morning, but I think she's feeling much better now," Delia responded. "I've got to go to the market and get some things for the party, so you take care of Demi, alright?" Instead of waiting for a response, she plopped Demi straight into Ash's arms and he stared at his baby sister in bewilderment, while she whizzed around the house and got her things together. "I'll be back soon!" she called out, closing the front door behind her.
Brock had suddenly become aware of an uncomfortable silence that filled the kitchen with its presence and turned around to see Ash staring intently at him with tearful, pleading eyes. "Sorry, Ash, but not everybody has had their breakfast yet, believe it or not, and I have to cook for them. There are a lot of people here, you know. Anyway, I'm sure you will be fine."
"Mime. Mime, mime." Mimey walked past Ash, sweeping eagerly at the floor with a broom. Ash glanced at the Mr. Mime with a suspicious expression. He could swear that it was actually laughing at him.
Ash let out a long, weary sigh. So much for getting in some last minute Pokémon training then. "I guess it's just going to be you, me and the baby, Pikachu." He looked down at the empty spot on the floor where he could have sworn Pikachu was only a minute ago. "Pikachu?"
Demi chose that very moment to let out a loud wail of complaint and wave her tiny arms. Ash ran out of the kitchen, rocking her frantically in his arms and trying to calm her down. "It's okay, don't cry. Misty! May! Somebody help me!"
Misty and May were upstairs, their faces glued to the television set as they watched it in earnest. They were both fawning over Wallace, the Pokémon co-ordinator and trainer of water Pokémon, who was on television and showing off his Pokémon's moves. Neither of them heard Ash crying for help.
Ten minutes had passed and Demi was still screaming. Nobody had come to lend Ash a hand, despite the fact there were supposed to be a lot of people here and Ash was still having trouble. He had tried giving her a bottle and checked her nappy, which was still dry, but she continued to cry despite his best efforts to get her to sleep. Clearly, it was time for a last resort.
Tracey heard the baby crying long before he saw Ash walking through the Pokémon reserve, where he was hard at work giving out food to the Pokémon. "Hey, Ash," he called out, waving. "Be careful, alright? A screaming baby might upset the Pokémon."
"No, really? You think?" Ash's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He was feeling just a little irritated after having had his poor eardrums ravaged for ten minutes.
Tracey was about to ask why Ash would even take the baby out here if he knew it would upset the Pokémon, but then he thought better of it. It seemed that Ash was in a bad mood right now and he was sure the baby was the cause. As he watched Ash walk off, he wondered why the younger boy was even here. Was he up to something?
"Bulbasaur, where are you?" Ash called out, looking around the reserve. "Bulbasaur!" Eventually, the small Pokémon with a bulb on its back came lumbering toward him out of a patch of vegetation. "Hey there, Bulbasaur," Ash said fondly, kneeling before it. "Look, I really need your help."
"Bulba?" Bulbasaur's red eyes slid toward the baby. It took a step back nervously, feeling slightly bothered by the loud noise.
"Please, use your Vine Whip and try and rock her to sleep," Ash pleaded. "Nothing I do works."
Bulbasaur blinked slowly. Was he serious? The look in his trainer's eyes indicated that he was. "Bulbasaur..." The bewildered Pokémon shot out its vines and gently wrapped them around the baby, then rocking her in the air.
Five minutes later, Demi was still crying loudly. Ash sighed and dropped his head. "Okay, it's not working. I'll take her." He reached out and extricated her from the vines. "This is the only thing that's going to work. Use Sleep Powder on her."
Bulbasaur stared at Ash again, looking even more surprised. Then it looked up sharply, at something or someone behind Ash. Ash suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling that someone was standing behind him.
Please don't let it be Misty, or Mom, or Professor Oak, Ash prayed, slowly turning his head to see Tracey standing behind him with a disapproving expression on his face.
"Sleep Powder, Ash?" Tracey raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Uh... er..." Ash couldn't think of a good enough excuse. Nothing would work. I'm so busted.
"I'll take her," Tracey said wearily. Ash handed her over, biting his bottom lip in a guilty manner. "Have you tried everything possible to get her to sleep?"
"I fed her and I checked her nappy," Ash said, hanging his head. "I don't know why she won't stop crying. Nothing is working at all, so I thought I'd ask for Bulbasaur's help."
Only Ash would think of something like that. Tracey thought for a few seconds. "Did you burp her after you gave her the bottle?"
Ash's head jerked up and he stared at Tracey with wide eyes. "No, I didn't," he said slowly. Great. I'm the world's worst babysitter, aren't I? Mom will never let me take care of the baby again. Why did she saddle me with her in the first place?
"Hmm, maybe that's why." Tracey put Demi over his shoulder and started to pat her back. A minute later, she let out a loud burp. As he continued to pat her, she quietened down.
"You got her to stop crying!" Ash exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "It's a miracle!" He now had new found admiration for Tracey, who had finally managed to shut his baby sister up. "Um... are you going to tell the others about me using Bulbasaur?"
"No. Just don't do it again," Tracey told him, handing Demi over. "She should be able to sleep now. You should take her back inside."
"Thanks, Tracey." Ash beamed at his friend, then turned around and hurried back toward the building. He looked down at Demi, who was starting to drift off to sleep, and sighed in relief, glad that the trouble was over. For now, anyway.