Christmas Party

"I will not wear a tie!" Gold shouted indignantly. "This tux is fancy enough already!"

Crystal had, for the past ten minutes, been chasing Gold with a blue tie. Tonight was the night of the Christmas party, and the boys were supposed to dress up (much to Gold's dismay). And Crystal had been appointed by Green to make sure Gold was wearing his Christmas outfit properly.

Crystal was particularly having trouble now. The last of her candy had been used to bribe Gold into wearing his tuxedo, and Gold was determined not to be tricked into wearing the tie, too.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Crystal called.

The door creaked open and Yellow peeked in. "All set?" she asked. "Everything's ready. We're mostly waiting for you."

Crystal glared daggers at Gold, who shrugged and smiled as innocently as he possibly could.

"Just come down as soon as you can," Yellow told them. She closed the door.

Gold finally gave in and put on his tie.

Sapphire Birch was having the time of her life. With no one to pester her about outfits, she spent the afternoon playing with pokémon. The only problem? She had forgotten all about the Christmas party. So she and the pokémon were decorating their own tree.

There weren't many good materials for decorating in the forest, so the tree was mostly plain with a few flowers tied on here and there. Unable to find anything else good for the top, Sapphire bent a few branches into a star shape and let her pokémon hang it up.

"There!" Sapphire stood back and admired her handiwork. The tree didn't look half as bad as she thought it would, and she was proud of her decorating skills. She looked down at the pokémon. "I'll invite the other dexholders, if they ain't doin' anything else. How's that sound?" She sat back against the tree and tried to remember if the other pokédex holders had any plans for the day.

Suddenly, a boy with a large hat skidded to a halt next to Sapphire. "Sapph! Are you coming to the party or not?"

"What party?" Sapphire turned to face Ruby with a confused look.

"The Christmas party, of course. You remember, right?" Ruby said worriedly.

Sapphire leapt to her feet. "Oh, I knew I was forgettin' somethin'!" She frantically looked around. "Ruby, what will I wear?" she asked. There was no way she could show up in leaves, and she didn't really have any nice outfits.

"Well…" Ruby trailed off. He had sewn something nice…well… "Uh, Sapph, maybe you can wear your normal outfit, the one I made you a while ago…"

"Sure then," Sapphire agreed. "If you think that'll be good enough." She hurried back to her house to change.

Crystal's living room, a.k.a. the party room, was small but comfortable. There were lights in all different colors stung along the windowsills and a warm fire blazed in the fireplace. A single star glittered on top of the Christmas tree. This, Gold decided, had to be the best Christmas since he'd first met the other pokédex holders.

Ding-dong!

"I'll get it," Crystal volunteered. As soon as she opened the door, Sapphire and Ruby tumbled it.

"Sorry I'm late!" Sapphire panted. "I forgot all 'bout the party!"

"Don't worry, you only missed the cookies and ice cream," Gold said with a smirk.

"He's just kidding," Crystal assured the shocked newcomers.

Gold made a face. "Why do you always have to ruin my fun, Crystal?"

"Who cares, it's time for the party to start!" Green cheered. She stepped into the room with a big tub of…

"ICE CREAM!" Gold and Sapphire shouted together, practically diving for the container.

Green pulled away. "Whoa, let me at least put it down first!"

The second she set it on the table, Sapphire yanked off the cover. Gold took hold of the second layer of covering and ripped it off, too.

"I get the first scoop!" Sapphire announced.

"Hey, Sappho, I got to the party first, so I should get the first scoop!" Gold argued.

Sapphire stuck her tongue out at him. "You ain't gettin' any ice cream until I have some."

Meanwhile, Green and Ruby had gotten out bowls and spoons. They were happily scooping ice cream into their bowls.

"–Hey!" Gold exclaimed when he noticed them. Sapphire turned and fumed. "That ain't fair!"

Green looked at Ruby with mock regret. "Well, what's done is done," she said with a heavy sigh.

"Aren't you so nice," Gold replied sarcastically. Sapphire began to help herself to ice cream. Gold, not wanting to miss his chance for ice cream, quickly grabbed a bowl and scooped a very large amount of ice cream into it. Only a little spilled. Crystal scrambled over to the table with a napkin.

"Careful, Gold," she scolded. "Remember, you're dressed up." She wiped off his tie as best as she could.

"Please, Christmas parties are supposed to be fun!" Gold pouted.

At that moment Sapphire fell from the ceiling. She realized that it might not have been the best idea to swing on the ceiling lights, but it was a bit too late to change anything.

"Wha–?!" Gold yelped as Sapphire plummeted to the ground next to him. He stumbled to the side, tripped, and fell onto the table. The tub was knocked off the table and it tumbled to the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor.

"Now look what you've done!" Crystal yelled. "Clean that up – right now!"

Gold frowned. "But I didn't try to–"

"Clean it up. Now," Crystal repeated. Gold and Sapphire took one look at her face, decided it wasn't such a good idea to further argue with her, and hurried off to get napkins.

It was time to open presents. The ice cream mess was all cleaned up, the ceiling lights had stopped swinging, and everyone was gathered around the tree.

"Ooh! I know!" Yellow bounced up and down. "How about if we take turns grabbing a present and delivering it to whoever it's for?"

No one had any arguments, so Yellow chose a sparkly purple box, checked the tag, and read aloud the name: "It says 'To Sapphire'." She handed the present to Sapphire, who eagerly tore off the wrapping and lifted the lid. Her eyes widened.

"Show us what it is!" Gold said excitedly.

Sapphire, speechless, held up a beautiful red dress.

"Wow," said Silver. "That'll fit you perfectly." When the others turned and looked at him funny, he quickly added, "Not that I'm saying she'll look good in it or anything…"

"Hey, I sewed it!" Ruby exclaimed, offended.

"Of course she'll look cute in it," Gold added, getting a dreamy look in his eyes. "It's the exact shade the Kimono Girls wear."

"Gold!" Crystal punched him.

Sapphire pulled another present from under the tree. "This one's for Ruby," she said, handing it to the boy.

Ruby carefully untied the bow and unfolded the wrapping paper, making sure not to rip the Skitty designs. When he saw what his gift was, his face lit up. "New running shoes!" He lifted them out of the box for everyone to see. Then, he noticed a slip of paper on the bottom of the box. "From my dad!" he added when he read the note.

Blue, who hadn't said much yet, looked interested. "That's a good brand, too," he observed.

Ruby repacked the box with extra care, and selected a round present next. "To Red."

"Hmm…what could it be?" Red wondered. He shook the cylinder a couple of times, but it made no sound. With a shrug he ripped off the paper and popped open the jar.

"SURPRISE!" Gold yelled as a rubber Seviper shot out of the jar, causing Red to yelp and drop the prank present.

"Classic," Green snickered. Sapphire giggled as she grabbed the fake Seviper and chased Red around the room with it.

When Sapphire calmed down and Red caught his breath, it was time for more presents. The next one was for Pearl.

"This better not be another prank," he said warily.

"Don't worry, it's not," Diamond told him.

Inside the box, there was another box filled with ten different types of chocolate treats. "Wow, thanks, Dia!" Pearl smiled at his friend.

Next up was a gift for Crystal. She, too, looked at Gold warningly before opening it.

"What? It was just a little joke!" he protested. Crystal shook the box hard anyway. A thumping sound could be heard. Yellow and Red exchanged worried glances. When she lifted the lid, Crystal looked pleasantly surprised. "Aww!" she cried. "A pokémon egg!" She turned to face Yellow and Red. "It's another Pichu, isn't it? A joint present! Thank you so much!"

"You guessed spot on," Red confirmed warmly. Yellow smiled. She quickly checked the egg for cracks, and both she and Red breathed sighs of relief when she found the egg was still whole.

"Well, to keep things going…" Crystal dramatically picked up another present. "One for the boy with the famous cue stick! Oh, and it's from me."

"Thanks, Crys!" Gold eagerly ripped open his gift. "Sweet," he commented when he saw a new skateboard inside. With closer examination, he noticed something odd on the back.

"The skateboard is based on the design of running shoes," Crystal explained. "See, it'll shoot blasts of compressed air out, so it'll help you go super fast."

Gold grinned. "Hey, can I try it out right now?"

"But we're not done opening–" Crystal stopped, realizing that opening presents might go a bit smoother if Gold was outside. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Yippee! Can I try too, Gold?" Sapphire asked.

"Well–" Crystal started, but was cut off by Gold.

"Of course you can, Sappho!" he told her. "Wait, have you ever–"

"No."

"Then I'll teach you! It's not hard."

"Gold–" Crystal tried again.

"It's no more dangerous than swinging on ceiling lights, Crystal," Gold assured her. "Besides, it'll be really fun!"

At that moment Crystal thought it might be a good idea for someone to keep an eye on Gold. "Okay, go ahead, but Sapphire can only watch."

"Thanks, Crys, you're the best," Gold said sweetly. He grabbed the new skateboard and bolted for the door before she could change her mind, pulling Sapphire along with him.

Crystal decided it might not have been the best choice when she noticed the identical silly grins on Sapphire and Gold's faces.

This was just a little fun oneshot for the crazy Gold and Sapphire. If anyone's interested, it might be continued.

We changed the cover image, so if anyone liked the old one better, just say so and we can change it back.