" Hey, Ash?"

" Yeah?"

" Uh...... How are we supposed to bake a cake?"

Ash shrugged as he took the dishes out. " Dunno. You're the girl."

Misty stared at Ash. " I don't know how to make a cake."

Ash froze mid step and turned.

" You're serious?"

Misty didn't do anything.

" None of us know how to bake a cake."

Misty, with her hand on her mouth, looked up and shook her head slightly.

Ash's eyes widened. " Uh it's fine we'll figure something out."

" WE'RE SO DEAD!" Ash yelled.

" HOW CAN WE MAKE A CAKE??" Misty hollered.

" SIRI YOU HAD ONE JOB!"

" Reminder - never bake a cake."

" Uh, uh uh..... How about we.... Uh... Say we ran out of ingredients?" Misty suggested.

" MOM ALREADY BOUGHT THE STUUUUFF!" Ash moped as he lay on the couch.

" And how does that make you feel?" Gary wearing glasses asked.

Misty snapped her fingers. " Let's ask Pikachu and Togepi!"

" To do what bake a cake?!" Ash sobbed.

" What even is that?!" Misty cried.

Delia came in holding the phone.." I just wanted to-"

She looked up and saw her son and daughter in law a mess.

Misty laughed. " We got you, mom! We'll come up with a cake in no time!"

When Delia left, Ash turned to Misty. How about we hire a chef!"

" What about the money??" Misty exclaimed.

" Uh,uh, uh... How about.... We buy a cake... And take all the credit?"

Misty crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "How exactly are we going to buy a cake and make it look like we made it ourselves? Your mom's not stupid, Ash."

Ash paused, rubbing his chin as Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder, looking equally confused. "We... we'll just get a plain cake and, uh, decorate it ourselves?"

Misty groaned, flopping onto the couch next to Ash. "You know that'll only make it worse. Have you seen your handwriting? It'll be obvious it wasn't homemade!"

"Hey, my handwriting isn't that bad!" Ash protested.

"It looks like you let Pikachu write with a thunderbolt," Misty shot back.

"Pika-pi," Pikachu said defensively, crossing its tiny arms.

"Fine," Ash grumbled. "Then what do you suggest, genius?"

Misty thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Okay, new plan. We start making a cake, burn it or something, and then say we had to buy one last minute to save the day!"

Ash stared at her, wide-eyed. "That's... actually kind of smart. If it's a disaster, we still get credit for trying."

"Exactly!" Misty said, smirking. "And Delia will think we're the sweetest couple ever for going through all the trouble."

"Great!" Ash said, jumping up. "Let's do this! Pikachu, Togepi, you're helping too!"

"Pika!" Pikachu saluted, while Togepi giggled in Misty's arms.

Half an hour later, the kitchen looked like a battlefield. Flour coated every surface, eggshells were scattered on the counter, and somehow, there was frosting on the ceiling.

"This... this is worse than I thought," Misty said, wiping her face. "How did you manage to burn water, Ash?!"

"I didn't know you had to boil it first!" Ash cried, frantically fanning the smoking pan.

Pikachu held up a whisk triumphantly, but it was tangled in Togepi's spikes. "Pikaaa..."

Misty groaned, tugging at her hair. "Okay, Plan B: we have to buy a cake now. This is a total disaster!"

As Ash grabbed his wallet and keys, Delia peeked into the chaos. Her eyes widened as she took in the scene, but she smiled warmly. "Oh, you two are working so hard! I can't wait to see the cake!"

Ash and Misty froze, plastering identical, guilty grins on their faces. "Oh, uh, you'll love it, Mom!" Ash said, his voice cracking.

Delia chuckled and left.

Ash turned to Misty, panic written all over his face. "We're doomed."

"No," Misty said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "We're buying that cake, and we're going to make it look homemade, even if it kills us!"

Ash nodded solemnly. "Right. Let's go."

The two bolted out the door, leaving Pikachu and Togepi behind to survey the wreckage of the kitchen.

"Pika..." Pikachu sighed, shaking its head.

When they got outside they had a slight problem.

" Uh... Do you know how to drive?" Ash asked.

"Ash Ketchum, explain to me right now why you thought this was a good idea!"

Ash, struggling to keep up, gasped, "I didn't think about it, okay?! I panicked!"

" Seriously??"

" You know, we could have taken the car-"

"We are TEN YEARS OLD! We can't even reach the pedals, Ash!" Misty hollered.

" That's why we're running!"

" But why are we RUNNING?!"

"Well, how else were we supposed to get the cake?!" Ash shot back.

"How about telling your mom the truth?" Misty snapped, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ash skidded to a stop, turning to her with wide eyes. "Are you crazy? If my mom finds out we can't bake, she'll never trust us again! She'll think we're irresponsible kids!"

Misty, hands on her hips, glared at him. "Ash, we are irresponsible kids!"

Pikachu, who had been running alongside them, gave an exasperated "Pika-pi," while Togepi giggled in Misty's backpack, clearly enjoying the chaos.

"Look," Ash panted, "we're already halfway there. Let's just get the cake, okay?"

Misty groaned but kept running. "You owe me a new pair of shoes after this!"

After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the store, sweaty and out of breath. Misty doubled over, gasping for air. "Ten miles, Ash. Ten miles! You're lucky I didn't leave you on the side of the road!"

Ash ignored her and rushed inside, dragging her along. "Come on, we don't have time to argue!"

Inside the bakery section, the two of them stared at the rows of beautiful cakes, their mouths hanging open.

"Wow," Ash said, pointing to a triple-layer chocolate cake. "That one looks perfect!"

Misty slapped his hand away. "That's way too fancy! Your mom will know we didn't make it."

They settled on a small, plain vanilla cake with white frosting. "This one's perfect," Misty said. "We can say we made it but kept it simple because we're 'humble.'"

Ash nodded. "Yeah! Humble. That sounds like us."

After paying for the cake with the little pocket money they had, they realized they had a new problem: they had to carry it back.

Misty looked at Ash, holding the cake box carefully. "If you drop that, I will end you."

Ash gulped. "No pressure."

And so, the ten-mile journey back began, with Misty constantly barking orders to Ash to be careful, Pikachu keeping a close eye on the cake, and Togepi happily humming in the background.

By the time they got home, they were exhausted, sweaty, and covered in dirt, but the cake was miraculously intact.

Delia greeted them with a bright smile. "Oh, you're back! Let me see the cake!"

Ash and Misty exchanged nervous glances.

"Uh, we worked really hard on it!" Misty said, stepping aside to reveal the cake.

Delia's eyes sparkled as she examined it. "Oh, it's beautiful! You two did such a wonderful job!"

Ash sighed in relief. "Yeah, we, uh, really poured our hearts into it."

Pikachu and Togepi gave each other knowing looks.

As Delia went to get plates, Misty leaned over to Ash and whispered, "We actually pulled it off."

Ash grinned. "Told you we could do it."

But just as they started to relax, Delia called out from the kitchen.

"By the way, the bakery sent me the footage of today's visit and who visited! Isn't that sweet? I'll watch it later!"

Ash and Misty froze in horror.

"WE'RE SO DEAD!" Ash wailed.

"PIKACHU, DELETE THE FOOTAGE!" Misty yelled.

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu facepalmed.