Rating: PG
Summary: The four times Professor Oak gives gifts to close friends and relatives.
Author's Notes: Written for Poetry in the 2014 Serebii Yuletide Exchange (over at Serebii Forums)! The prompt I chose from my assignment was "Professor Oak discovers the joy of gift wrapping" and then I ran with this story, haha. Thanks to bobandbill for the beta!
Four Gifts From Professor Oak
It had been a while since Blue returned to Pallet Town, but he felt the winter holidays was the perfect time to come back to his hometown. Once he made it to his house in the evening, he opened the door and set his bags aside.
"Sis, I'm home!" Blue announced loudly.
Immediately, Daisy got out of the kitchen with a grin stretching across her face. She then went to embrace him, which he accepted with open arms.
"Great to see you, Blue!" she said once they let go.
"Is Gramps here or in the lab?" Blue asked.
"He's here! And I think you'll be amused by what he's doing."
Blue raised an eyebrow. He didn't say anything and instead let his sister take him into the kitchen; what he saw had him even more baffled than amused.
Gramps hummed happily while wrapping a gift. There were several more presents spread out on the kitchen table, each one in different shapes, sizes, and colored wrapping paper. Blue already figured these were gifts to be sent for Christmas, but this was the first time he saw his grandfather gift wrapping and he wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Grandpa, Blue's home!" Daisy said. That brought their grandfather's attention.
"Ah, hello Blue!" Gramps said, waving at him.
Narrowing his eyes, Blue said, "Hi, Gramps. Um, can I ask what's going on here?"
"I decided this year to gift wrap the presents I'll be sending! Daisy taught me how and it's actually quite fun."
Blue threw Daisy a suspicious glare and she responded with a laugh.
"I take it you guys went shopping while I was away?" he asked.
His sister nodded. "We visited Celadon City for some holiday shopping and came back recently."
"So Blue, how was your trip to Kalos?" Gramps asked just as he put a bow on the present and finished with the last gift.
"It was great! I actually got to learn a lot about mega evolution!"
"I know of that concept, yes. You still remember how Red and his Charizard achieved that when they went against Mewtwo, right?"
"Yes." Blue's lips curled and he crossed his arms. When Red had told him that story, he grew jealous of how his rival was able to achieve that. That got him interested in mega evolution, though, so months later he decided to travel to Kalos. A smirk now touched his lips. "But Red's not the only one with a stone," he said, raising his chin.
Both Gramps and Daisy gave him curious looks. Blue unzipped his jacket halfway to show off his pendant that had a stone with a helix sigil showing.
"Is that a key stone?" his grandfather asked in awe.
"The real deal! I met with Professor Sycamore and when I told him I have a Blastoise he gave the keystone and blasostinite to me. He also handed me some of his research on mega evolution, which I can show you later."
"Well, I'm impressed you managed to get one for yourself," Gramps said, flashing him a proud smile. He then yawned and stretched his arms before rising off from the chair. "I think I'll head to bed early tonight. We can catch up tomorrow. Good night the both of you!"
He and Daisy said goodnight to their grandfather as he was leaving the kitchen. Once they were alone, Blue stared at the wrapped presents. The recipients most likely would enjoy their gifts. He allowed himself a small smile, now thinking it was actually nice to see Gramps in a holiday mood.
"Grandpa has a special gift for you," Daisy said after a long silence between them.
"Oh? You gonna tell me what it is, Sis?" Blue said in a smug voice. He stole a glance at the presents, wondering if one of those were his.
"You'll have to wait until Christmas morning to find out," she replied and winked. Blue couldn't help but groan and let his shoulders slump.
xxx
On Christmas Eve, DJ Mary wasn't able to leave work until late night. Outside many buildings, including Goldenrod Radio Tower, were covered in bright lights and other decorations. As she headed back home, she noticed several people coming in and out from various shops to finish last minute shopping; that made her glad she had finished her holiday shopping early. She also passed by a group of carolers singing Christmas songs happily despite the cold breeze surrounding Goldenrod City.
It wasn't long until Mary made it to her apartment. Her Meowth greeted her the instant she stepped inside, purring and rubbing her leg.
"Hi there, girl!" Mary lowered herself to pet her pokemon's fur. She then straightened herself. "Are you hungry?"
Meowth purred contently, which Mary assumed was a yes. She quickly went to retrieve a bowl of food from the kitchen and set it down for her. While Meowth ate, Mary gazed at the Christmas tree in front of her and the presents underneath it. Tomorrow she would be visiting several places for Christmas, so she thought about opening her presents tonight. She tilted her head and scratched her chin.
"You think it's okay if I opened the presents now?" she asked Meowth. Her pokemon responded with a growl and licked her lips, which made Mary laugh. "Oh, why not." Having made her decision, she went ahead and checked the presents.
All of her gifts were from close friends and relatives, which she appreciated very much. After she opened a present she would show it to Meowth. Eventually she got to the last gift, Professor Oak's.
"Hm, I wonder what he gave me this year," Mary said as she held out the present. It was a square shaped item wrapped in shiny red paper with snowflake decorations. Attached also was a card. She opened her gift first and gasped in shock when in her hands was a CD of her favorite artist. Immediately she read Professor Oak's card.
Happy holidays, Mary! I found this over at Celadon City while going holiday shopping with my granddaughter. I remember you telling me you like Jenna Mellow's music a lot, so I bought her latest CD for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy it very much!
"Professor Oak knows my musical tastes well." Grinning, she turned to Meowth and said, "Let's give this a listen, shall we?"
The rest of the evening she and Meowth listened to the CD together, as Mary read and drunk hot chocolate while her Pokemon slept on her lap. Tonight was the most relaxing Christmas Eve for her.
xxx
Winter had always been a busy time for Rowan as that was when he was most overwhelmed with different research projects. Fortunately his assistants had been very helpful, so it wasn't all that bad.
One morning Rowan was in the lab early, reading some important articles on his computer. He was interrupted when a familiar young girl's voice called out to him.
"Hey, Professor Rowan!"
Turning around, Rowan checked to see in front of him Dawn and her father beside her. He smiled at them.
"Good morning Dawn, Thomas! I guess we should finish up on that research today."
"Of course," Thomas said. "Before we get to that, though, there's a package from Professor Oak."
"Is that so?" Rowan said in a curious manner. Sometimes he would ask Professor Oak to mail him something important and he often did in a timely fashion. In that moment, Thomas handed him a package wrapped in blue paper covered in small Snover shapes. Rowan's lips tightened when he realized the purpose of this particular mail. "It seems he had sent in his Christmas gift early."
"Sounds fun!" Dawn said, beaming. "Wonder what could it be."
Rowan shrugged. "This can wait until Christmas," he said while shoving the package in his leather bag. This was a nice gesture from his good friend, but there was a lot of work to be done now. "We should focus on our work now."
A week later it was Christmas Day and Rowan visited Dawn's family to celebrate with them. Everyone ate lunch and conversed in various subjects. He enjoyed the company of Dawn's other relatives, her younger sister and grandfather, as they were often cheerful and fun to talk with. Overall it was an enjoyable afternoon.
"And after that, Oak needed to put the Ivysaur away!" Rowan said, telling them one of his stories the time he visited Professor Oak. Everyone laughed.
"I can't believe that happened," Dawn's grandfather said.
"Me neither," Dawn said, wiping her eye. Her face suddenly changed, as if something urgent, and she faced Rowan. "Oh, that reminds me. Did you open the gift the professor gave you?"
Rowan's eyes grew wide. "Oh, you mean this." Having brought his leather bag with him, Rowan pulled the package out and showed it to the family.
"Open it, open it!" Dawn's little sister said, shaking her fists. That made Rowan chuckle.
"I might as well."
Rowan ripped the wrapping paper and fixed his gaze at his gift, which was a book titled The History of Evolution Research. There was also a card attached to the present, so he read it.
I hope you're having a good holiday so far, Professor Rowan! I came across this book when I visited Johto a few weeks back and decided to keep it for you. I think you'll find this very interesting. Looking forward to visit Sinnoh again in a few weeks!
"Isn't that the newest book from Professor Belrose?" Thomas asked.
"It is," Rowan said and grinned. He couldn't wait to get started on reading the book. "I planned to get it myself, but looks like I don't need to!"
xxx
The week before Christmas, Agatha had received a package from Oak. She thought it was strange as he usually just send holiday cards to the Kanto Elite Four. This year he had sent her a package hidden in yellow paper bearing bell decorations. It was rectangular shaped and light; probably just a box of chocolate. That made her wonder if he was sending gifts to the other elite members also; very silly of him to do that. Agatha set the gift aside until it was time to open it.
Christmas morning then came and Agatha was opening the presents she had gotten. She eventually got to Oak's gift, but had to stop after she tore the wrapping paper. In Agatha's hands was a framed picture of her and Oak smiling, back when they were trainers. It shocked her that he kept that photo a very long time. Agatha then noticed a card came along with the gift, which she read immediately.
Surprised to see this old picture of us, Agatha? Even though I took a different career path, I still keep all of my photos of when I was a trainer! I was looking through my album a few weeks ago and found several pictures of us. Perhaps you'll cherish this one more than me. My best wishes to you this holiday season!
An amused chuckle escaped from Agatha. As she expected, he had gotten too soft.
xxx
Ever since Daisy mentioned Gramps having something for him on Christmas, Blue kept wondering what kind of gift it was. A Pokemon? An evolutionary stone? A TM? Whatever it was, Daisy made it sound as if it was something exciting.
When it was finally Christmas morning, Blue couldn't wait to find out what his present was. Everyone exchanged gifts to one another, and eventually it was his turn to give his gift to his grandfather. Gramps opened it and a curious expression crossed his features when he got a small replica of the Lumiose City light tower.
"Does it light up?"
"Ah huh. There's a little switch on the bottom."
Blue watched as Gramps fixed his gaze on the bottom of the souvenir and found the switch, making the tower lit up. His grandfather laughed and Daisy clapped her hands.
"This is a very neat souvenir. Thank you." He set his gift down. "All right, now it's my turn to give my gifts to you two."
Blue's heart raced as Gramps handed his gifts to him and Daisy. Instead he received a simple blue envelope while his sister received a box covered in pretty wrapping paper. Daisy didn't hesitate to open it and it was revealed she had gotten a Swablu doll.
"Aw, this is very cute. Thank you!"
"You're welcome!" Noticing Blue hadn't opened his gift yet, Gramps smiled at him. "Go on, Blue, open it."
Blue frowned, staring down at the envelope. He was afraid his present was probably nothing more than a lousy gift card. Then again, he shouldn't be expecting too much from Gramps considering he usually favored his sister and Red more. Blue stole a glance from Daisy, who nodded at him; she wanted him to open the present, too. Not wanting anyone to wait any longer, Blue opened the envelope and pulled out a cruise ticket to—
"Hoenn?"
"You heard of Hoenn's champion Steven Stone, right?"
"I have, sure. You want me to go challenge him?"
Gramps chuckled, shaking his head. "No. Actually, I was informed Mr. Stone knows a few things about mega evolution and Hoenn has some sights relating to that subject."
"Do you think I deserved this, though? I haven't been the best grandson," Blue said as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I had been disappointed in you as a trainer for a while, yes. However, this is the first time I saw you got serious over something and I think the trip to Hoenn would be beneficial for your interests."
Letting everything sink in, Blue actually thought this was the best gift he had ever gotten. He toyed with the idea of visiting Hoenn, and this was his chance to do so. Learning more about mega evolution was the extra icing on the cake. To show his gratitude, he held Gramps tightly for a warm embrace.
"See, told you it's a good gift!" Daisy said, waving her finger in a teasing manner.
After Blue let go, he said to Daisy, "You didn't! You just said Gramps has a gift for me." He faced back to his grandfather, smiling at him. "Anyways, thanks."
"My pleasure."