Summary: Christmas Eve – the last day to shop. One Gym Leader finds herself doing this at the worst possible moment, and of course, if one thing goes wrong, so does everything else... Egoshipping.
Disclaimer: As soon as I get my certificate of ownership saying I own Pokémon then I'll tell you, but as of now it's not mine!
"…": Characters talking
'…': Characters thinking to themselves
(…): Extra facts about the story/inner thoughts
A/N Notes: Hello! This year's holiday fic. (and what was supposed to be uploaded all the way back in 2014 but for reasons I don't want to talk about here is being uploaded 4 years late) was inspired by a prompt from www. writermag writing-prompts (remove the spaces) titled "A Shopping Dilemma." I'd been looking for some kind of inspiration for a holiday fic. as I wasn't having much luck on my own for some reason and this prompt just hit me as something perfect. Here's the prompt: "You're next in line after waiting 15 minutes. Holiday music is blaring, the parking lot is a mess, it's starting to snow, and the cashier at one of the two open registers has just gone on break. The person behind you, arms full of items, a wailing child at his/her side, taps you on the shoulder. Let the scene play out, driven by dialogue both spoken and internal."
Shopping and Snowflakes
8th Floor, Celadon City Department Store, Celadon City, Kanto Region - 24 November 2014, 8:00 PM
"Attention shoppers, the Celadon City Department Store will be closing its doors in one hour! Repeat: the store will be closing one hour early in recognition of Christmas Eve and our employees' need to return home to spend the holidays with their families. Please start thinking about making your way to the checkout stations located up, down and across the various floors of our lovely store. Thank you, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"
"Seriously? That was a really long announcement for, basically, telling shoppers to get their butts to the checkout counters and out of the store.
"I mean, seriously, come on!. You'd think that the store'd stay open much later to bring in as much money as possible during the holiday season. I mean, I heard that the major department stores in Saffron and up on the Indigo Plateau are staying open until, like, 11 o'clock tonight. Why doesn't this store do the same thing?"
"Because, loyal customer, we here at the Celadon City Department Store believe in letting our employees and staff have a nice, long holiday to spend with their families."
"Who asked you, mister, er, Harley."
"Why, you did of course, Miss Gym Leader."
"…How'd you know that I am a Gym Leader?"
"Please darling, do not think me blind to your natural charms. Dark auburn hair, teal-green eyes, a bright smile and tomboyish yet beautiful attire – no doubt in my mind that you're the current Cerulean Gym Leader Misty Waterflower. Though, I do have to wonder why you're here, on Christmas Eve, no less, like so many of the other drivel doing last-minute shopping."
"Oh, I don't know, because, perhaps, I am doing my Christmas shopping last minute due to an influx of challengers in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Arceus-damned Christmas. What's your excuse?"
"…I work here. Remember?"
"Oh, er, right. …Do you suppose that you can point me to the nearest checkout counter?"
"Eager to get out of here, are we? Well I'm sorry to tell you, Miss Waterflower, but there's only one checkout on this floor and if you follow my finger it's in that corner over there. Yes, by the widening of your eyes I see that you've spotted it; unfortunately for you, there's only the one counter, the sole cashier and the long line that is getting longer with each second you waste talking to me."
"But, but can't you go over and help speed it up?"
"Ah but I wish it were so, but I am leaving for the night. I have been here for-"
"I don't care how long you've been here! I have two things to pay for – two – and would really like it if I can get out here ASAP! I have to fly back to Cerulean tonight for my sisters' Arceus-damned holiday party in, oh, 15 minutes and you're telling me that there's only the one register? Come on!"
"Well, excusez-moi, mademoiselle Waterflower, but I cannot help it that you left all of your Christmas shopping to the night before. That is most certainly your fault and not mine. In addition, I will not grant you or anyone else any favors for I have been here since 7 o'clock this morning. Yes, you heard me right, I have worked a 13-hour shift and would very much like to go home. So, excuse me if I am less than sympathetic to your self-made plight."
"But-"
"No buts! I'd suggest getting into line before another ten people get in your way."
"Fine. Screw you! I'll take my purchases to another floor and-"
"Tsk tsk my dear Gym Leader. Don't you remember the rules that the Department Store put into place for the holidays? There is no taking your purchases to another floor; our security measures have seen to that. Before you say anything else, my dear Waterflower, let me remind you of the case last year where a group of teenagers attempted to slip out of the store with a bag full of unpaid items that they'd taken from the fifth floor to the first in the interests of 'beating the rush and getting out of here faster.'
"Now don't snarl at me, young lady! It's your own fault that you waited this long to shop and to get in line. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just be off…"
"…Well shit. Damn. This sucks. Man, oh man this totally sucks."
"Attention shoppers! There are now thirty minutes left until the Department Store closes. Repeat: thirty minutes are left. Please begin wrapping up your shopping and making your way over to the checkout counters on each floor."
"Shit! Gotta get in line. Excuse me 'scuse me – no I was here first back off lady! – let me through, please! I have to check out, now!
"Finally! Made it in line. Now, how far back am I… rats. Mew-be-damned. I'm the fortieth in line. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it, I guess, except just wait…"
"…If I have to hear "Jeremiah the Red-Nosed Stantler" one more time I will scream…"
"Hey watch it lady! I'm standing in line here!"
"Sorry madam, but I'm in a hurry. Can't you see that the snowstorm is getting worse outside?"
"…Snowstorm? What snowstorm? The weatherman on the PNN didn't say anything about there being a snowstorm today! If I'd known about this, I wouldn't have come out here to do my Christmas shopping! I'd have stayed in Cerulean!"
"Well can't say I told you so on account of my not knowing you well Madam, but pardon me for my rudeness. I do hope you get out of here in good time though."
"Thanks. …Wait a minute you cut in front of me! Move it!"
"…Alright yelling at someone whom I didn't recognize held a lot of power in the, oh, two villages nearest to Cerulean was obviously a stupid thing to do. When Daisy hears about this, I'm not going to get a thank-you for having gotten the cost of our shipments of specially-made Pokémon food for the town's aquariums to increase by 10%... and why has it only been 5 minutes since I got in this stupid line? Why doesn't it move any faster… and seriously, is there only one cashier at that counter? What. the. Hell?"
"Geez, Red, keep it down will ya? Some of us would rather not listen to your whining."
"Who the he- oh, uh, hello."
"Yeah good thing you stopped your word vomiting there, Red, or I'd have to release Umbreon on ya."
"…Oak?"
"Yes, that's me. Surprised to see me?"
"Well, kind of, I suppose. Last I heard you were in the Sevii Islands studying something about the connections between fossil-type Pokémon and the caverns south of Fortune Island that are rumored to contain Unown?"
"…Seriously, Red? That was, like, four years ago. You can't be that out of date with my greatness and latest discoveries."
"Well, apparently I am, Oak. Maybe you forgot, but I am the Cerulean City Gym Leader and the soon-to-be apprentice to Lorelai Prima of the Kanto Elite Four. In addition, I hold the record for the hardest gym to beat here in the Indigo League for three years straight, outshining even the revamped Viridian City Gym."
"Impressive, I suppose…"
"You suppose? Bah! It's infinitely superior to what you've done, I'm sure."
"Really? Do you call publishing at least four papers, each based on an entirely new concept that most researchers cannot even fathom each year unachievable? Impractical? Perhaps, even unattainable? No? Throw in studying to become a full-fledged regional professor for the Sevii Islands which just lost their own professor to natural causes two years ago on top of continuing my research and working on a book in combination with not only my grandfather but also Dominik Elm out of the Johto Region and tell me if you think me idle these last few years? Or, even, less impressive than you?"
"…Well I am impressed. That is quite a résumé for someone who has only been in the research field for less than ten years. Yet, I noticed that in all of that you've yet to mention why you're here."
"Does that matter so much to you Red? And, honestly, would it kill you to call me Gary? Ashy-boy's not here to sow chaos between us, and it has been several years since we've seen each other so, logically speaking, all past animosity should've been put behind us."
"I don't know if I can, considering that the last time you and I were in the same room together I seem to remember having a gallon bucket of tapioca pudding dumped on my head and ruining my brand-new outfit. Ring any bells?"
"…Oh yeah. Um, sorry about that a few years late. That was really immature of me and I was a jerk in doing that to you."
"Are you seriously apologizing now? After more than 4 years? Way to take forever."
"Hate to tell you, Red, but I did more in those 4 years than sit around and figure out how to apologize to you."
"The name's Misty. Misty."
"Would you please stop yelling?"
"Why should I? I'd rather hear my own voice than another Christmas song for the fiftieth time."
"Are you blind or something? Haven't you seen that I'm holding my daughter in one arm and about fifteen things in various bags and containers in the other this entire time?"
"…"
"Seriously? Man, oh man, Red you really are as blind as a Zubat out of a cave."
"…Shut up."
"No, no I can't. This is beyond hilarious. I would laugh my butt off but then I'd wake Catrin here, and we've been out nearly all day."
"Why? Why not leave her with your grandfather or sister? Or, better yet, her mother?"
"Well, considering that the first is busy with Elm in Johto doing research for the book we're co-authoring, the second is at our place in Pallet Town decorating for the party we're having the day after Christmas and my ex is off somewhere in the world doing who-knows-what I really had no choice but to bring her.
"Besides, if I'd left her alone with my sis, I'm pretty sure that I'd have gotten at least ten phone calls within three hours begging for me to come back and save her from 'crazy Auntie May and her dresses!' Cat's not a dress fan."
"Someone after my own heart."
"That's right, I remember now. Barely saw you in anything but those short-shorts, suspenders and shirt when you and Ashy traveled, right?"
"No! Well, sorta. I mean, they were the most comfortable thing I owned and money was tight at that time and-"
"Dad?"
"Cat. You take a nice nap?"
"Hmm yeah, yeah I did. Uh where are we?"
"We are currently the fifteenth in line to check out. Mind if I put you down for a moment to stretch my arms? You're starting to weigh as much as a Snorlax!"
"Daddy stop! No, I'm not; Auntie May says I'm as light as a Cleffa!"
"I don't know…"
"Daddy who's she?"
"Hmm? Oh. Uh, she's an old… acquaintance of mine."
"Acqu- acqain –"
"Friend. I'm an old friend of your dad's. My name's Misty. Misty Waterflower."
"Misty? Like with water?"
"Yep. I train water-type Pokémon and run my family's gym in Cerulean City."
"Really? You train Pokémon like my Daddy used to do?! That's so cool! What kinds? I mean, you said water but what others? Are they cute? Strong? Oh! Do you have a Blastoise like my Daddy does? He says it's his strongest and oldest Pokémon and even Grandpa says so, and Grandpa's really, really smart!"
"Cat…"
"No Gary, it's fine. I don't mind."
"So, you don't mind being interrogated by my four-year old daughter about the intricacies of how Blastoise could MegaEvolve without a MegaStone, or why so few Squirtle are native to other regions besides Kanto?"
"…I mean MegaEvolution is just so cool! It gives Daddy's Blastoise super-awesome and powerful cannons and even gives him some on his wrists, and why aren't there any Squirtle in the wild? I want to catch one! Daddy says I could get one when I start as a Pokémon trainer but what if I want Bulbasaur? Oh, or even Charmander? Maybe Pikachu like Uncle Ash? Or maybe…"
"…I have to say, Gary, she's your kid alright. Though 'Uncle Ash?' I thought you two still were working things out."
"Geez, way to make it sound like something not true. Honestly, though, we're better. Not back to where we were just before we began our journeys but close. We hang out some when he's not busy at the Plateau or chasing criminals with the G-Men, and Cat here's rather close with her 'uncle'."
"That is a surprise, and yes, Cat, I was listening. As to MegaEvolution, I don't know for sure if my Blastoise can do it. I suppose if I got a MegaStone and KeyStone it might happen, but it'd take a while for me to do so. I think they're only in Kalos…"
"You mean you want to go to Kalos? Awesome! Daddy and I are going just after Christmas, and you can come too 'cause you want a MegaStone for your Blastoise, right? Right Daddy?"
"Um, Cat, honey, sweetheart… you can't just ask someone you just met to come halfway across the globe on a research trip with someone whom she hasn't seen in four, almost five years. Also, uh, I thought you wanted to invite your aunt?"
"Well yeah, I did, but I changed my mind! 'Cause I want someone who has a Blastoise like you to come with us, 'kay?"
"Catrin…"
"Um, excuse me? You guys going to pay or what? We all have to be out of here before the store closes!"
"Yeah, move it! Pay for your stuff already! I've been waitin' in line for almost an hour already; speed it up!"
"Next? Who's next in line here?"
"Crap, um, sorry! Moving now."
"Daddy? Answer me!"
"Not now, Cat. Let me pay for this stuff and then I'll answer your questions. 'Kay?"
"…Kay."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Attention customers: the store is now closed. Repeat: the store is now closed. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy the holidays with your families!"
"So…"
"So."
"Um I think we need to move somewhere else if we want to finish our conversation; we're kind of getting angry looks from the remaining employees… probably because we singlehandedly forced them to stay late on Christmas Eve, and ended up having a bunch of strangers try to kill us with their eyes…"
"Hey now, not in front of Cat."
"Oh right, sorry. Um, so, was she serious?"
"Serious about- oh, oh yes, yes she was."
"Really?"
"Really. When Catrin gets something in her head there's no stopping her."
"Daddy? Why did'ya say my name?"
"Hey hon, it's nothing. Just telling Misty here that you were serious about her coming with us to Kalos."
"Duh 'course I am. Oh, Misty, do ya wanna come to our place for Christmas? I'm sure Aunt May won't mind."
"Catrin, I'm sure that Misty here has her own family to go home with for the holidays, and it's getting late. Say goodbye and we'll call her later to ask about the trip."
"But Daddy…"
"No buts. We'll call you after the holidays okay Misty?"
"Uh sure, Gary. You can call my personal number… which I probably need to give you, right? Right. Do you have a PokéNav or PokéGear on you? Great. Let me type it in… okay, done. It was really nice seeing you again, Gary, and Catrin it was really nice to meet you. Merry Christmas!"
"Daddy?"
"Hmm?"
"Can we go home now? I wanna make sure that Santa comes tonight!"
"Sure Cat. Sure."
"…Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"I really like Misty! She seems really, really nice."
"Me too Cat; me too."