I should be working on, well, stories that need to be finished. Guess what? It's almost Christmas, and I just came up with a Christmas special last night. So, instead of working on things that need to get done, I'm going to do something for Christmas.
And, big surprise! It's A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, only I can't find any fanfics like THIS on the site, and only one was even close, since it had one character in a different part.
Our main character, Mr. Scrooge, ladies and gentlemen, is Silver from Generation Two. And if you don't know which one Silver is, Silver is the main rival from the video games.
Once upon a time, in a land known to many as Johto, there was a boy named Silver. With a combination of his awesome red hair, his lack of caring for pretty much any living thing, and the slight detail of who his father is*, Silver seemed to be born without a sense of good or evil. All his life he seemed to pretty much do whatever he wanted, stealing and overworking his Pokemon and getting rid of those in his way with force, without noticing those he stepped on along the way.
One Christmas Eve, that all changed. Three Christmases after that incident, in fact.
That incident, as someone is no doubt wondering, happens to be the death of his old rival, Gold. Three years before, on the Eve of Christmas itself, Gold had been training on Cinnabar Island when a volcano erupted, taking the whole island and nearly everyone occupying the island with it. One lone survivor, the Island's gym leader (Blaine), managed to somehow escape to the Seafoam Islands. The police are still trying to figure out just how he made it off the Island, due to the fact that he has no water Pokemon. There are rumors for this, but none are confirmed to be true, and besides, that's a different story unto itself. The point is, there was a natural catastrophe and Gold died.
As for Silver, it seemed the opposite happened. He'd never went to Cinnabar Island, and not only had he survived, but he began to thrive. Despite his lack of compassion, Silver was a fairly talented Trainer that had won many a Pokemon battle. As a result, he had quite a bit of money on his hands, but he didn't use it all that much. He didn't really need to buy anything other than the occasional Poke Ball, but he didn't exactly give it away freely either.
Three Christmas Eves after the death of Gold took place, our story begins on, obviously, a Christmas Eve.
Three Christmas Eves after previously stated incident, Silver was staying at a Pokemon Center in Cianwood City. He had heard that they were building a new Safari Zone there, and he was waiting for its completion so he could try it out. The Safari Zone was about halfway built, but the construction workers were having some...difficulties. Or so they said.
The day itself was just ending. Silver was trying to figure out some new battling strategies when two men came up to him. The first one, shorter and fatter, seemed to be an elderly man. He wore old, slightly dented glasses and some kind of brown robe. He had no hair on his head, nor any mustache, but he had a short brown beard. In his hand he carried some kind of box. The other man, taller and younger, looked about the age of Professor Elm, only less nerdy looking. He was dressed in ordinary clothes like most people (including Silver) and the only hair on his head was a mess of black hair on the top. This second man spoke first.
"Excuse me, sir. Whom do I have the honor of speaking to?" he asked.
"What do you want?" Silver demanded, ignoring his question.
The second man pretended not to notice. "We were wondering if you would make a donation for the new Safari Zone."
"So far, the Safari Zone is looking great," the first man spoke. "The glory of all the other Safari Zones will pale in comparison to this one. Not only will there be more rare Pokemon, but new concepts are being introduced that have never been seen or experienced before. The problem is, we're running low on funds. We don't have enough money now to complete the project, and no one wants to abandon the project now that it's halfway built."
"So, how much do you want to donate?" the second man asked.
"Nothing," Silver replied.
"I beg your pardon, but I believe I heard you incorrectly," the first man apologized.
"I'm sure you heard me correctly. I'm not donating anything. I have better things to do with my money than invest it on your dinky little Safari Zone," Silver repeated.
The second man seemed taken aback, but he managed to choke out a response. "A-alright then. Well, Merry Christmas to you, sir."
Silver said nothing until the two men were out of earshot.
"'Merry Christmas', they say. Why should Christmas be merrier than any other day? Christmas has done no more good to me than any other day. I'd let it rot in the darkest, most haunting alley if I could," Silver muttered.
Silver began to walk away, only to be interrupted by a ''Merry Christmas, cousin!'' from Roark.
"What do you want?" Silver said as he turned to face his cousin.
"Silver, you really should have a better attitude," Roark reprimanded him. "After all, Christmas is tomorrow."
"Christmas?" Silver asked. "Christmas is just a time where you find yourself a year older and no farther in life. What reason could you have to possibly be merry?"
"Christmas is supposed to be a time where people open their cold hearts and think of all people, not just themselves. They treat other human beings like human beings and not like some sort of beast in another world. Perhaps I haven't accomplished any good in life, but it's a time to be joyful, and I say, God bless it!"
"It's hardly a day to be joyful when it's so hard to pay one's bills," Silver pointed out.
"Why do you always act so cold, Silver?" Roark asked.
"Good afternoon."
"All I've ever done to you was try to be your friend. Why can't you return the favor?"
"I said good afternoon!"
Roark sighed. "Merry Christmas, then, Silver, and a Happy New Year." He then walked away, leaving Silver to walk into the Pokemon Center by himself...
* This is canon(in the video games, at least)! I don't feel like telling the ignorant who Silver's father is, so look it up I guess.
What's with the sudden obsession with A Christmas Carol? Well, it's possible that has to do with watching two movie versions of the book in school at the same time. One is called Christmas Carol: The Movie or something like that, the other is the new Disney movie.
As for Wally being Silver's cousin...I made that up. I wasn't going to make tribute to Cratchit OR Fred, but I need someone for at least one of the roles, and the chapter was a little short, so Wally is sort of both. Now that I think about it, Wally might actually have a third role, due to his...yes...
Update: You should now see Roark is Silver's cousin instead of Wally. Roark is now taking over Wally's previous roles, and Wally is getting Tiny Tim, instead of Wally being Bob Cratchit, Fred, AND Tiny Tim. Thanks to Meta-Akira for the suggestion. Hope you don't mind that I stole it, but it's a great idea.
Well, next chapter we'll get into 'Jacob Marley'. So be excited for that.