My Little Pumpkin
by Aiselne Phoenix-Nocturnus is a Pokémon: The Series fanfic about a six-year old Ash and Gary going trick-or-treating. The real crux of the story, however, is that Ash's absentee father had promised to go trick-or-treating with him this year.
The story is based around Ash's mother Delia and her relationship with her family. Her husband, Victor, went off on a Pokémon journey, leaving her to raise Ash on her own. Ash's father had promised to go Trick-or-Treating with him this year, but trouble arises when he doesn't turn up on time.
My Little Pumpkin features no Pokémon or battling and is just a down-to-earth story about family.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Ash isn't fond of Lamar and his twin brother. He can't even remember if the latter's name is Remi, Reggie, or something else.
- Adaptational Name Change: Gary's older sister is named "May", which is the name Viz gave her in The Electric Tale of Pikachu. The games have her name as "Daisy".
- Age Lift: Oak is 50 when Ash is 6, making him 54 when Ash begins his journey. The games imply he's in his 40s during the Kanto games.
- Ambiguously Christian: Delia goes to church. It could be a Christian church or it could be something else, especially considering how religion might work differently in the Pokémon universe.
- Creator's Culture Carryover: Intentionally done. My Little Pumpkin rolls with the Thinly-Veiled Dub Country Change of the anime by depicting Pallet Town similarly to a small American town.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance:
- Pallet Town is a small rural town where most kids make their own Halloween costumes. Only spoiled, affluent children wear store brought costumes.
- Pokémon journeys are associated with children. It's a coming-of-age ritual that you're supposed to be done with by adulthood.
- Disappeared Dad: Ash's father Victor is out on a belated Pokémon journey. He quit his first journey as a teen, but over the years he became displeased with his mundane life. He wanted to be a trainer again so, after much arguing with his wife, he began his journey again.
- Halloween Episode: The story takes place on Halloween night when Ash is six.
- Married Too Young: Delia worries that she and Victor are having marital issues due to the fact they married young. They were High-School Sweethearts who got married right away. They both love their son and love each other to a degree too, but Victor clearly wasn't ready to be tied down by a family yet.
- Oh, My Gods!: "What in Ho-Oh's name (...)" is used by Delia.
- Patchwork Fic: The story takes influence from Pocket Monsters: The Animation, with Delia working at a restaurant, having had Ash as a teenager, and her husband being on a journey. It also features Gary's sister from The Electric Tale of Pikachu.
- Parental Abandonment: Gary's parents died when he was four.
- Parents as People: The main theme of the story is delving into Delia and her husband's lives and relationship.
- Raised by Grandparents: Gary and May have been in the custody of their grandfather ever since their parents died two years ago.
- Struggling Single Mother: Delia works at a restaurant but that only pays so much. Her estranged husband left money from his well-paying desk job, but it'll only last so long. Delia has enough to get by for now but she worries about the future. She also lacks emotional support when it comes to raising Ash.
- Teen Pregnancy: Delia married young. She put her education on hold after getting pregnant in her late teens.
