New Year's Present

by Construct Master

Time for the old year to end, and the new year to begin! Sandgem City is celebrating this tonight, and the guest of honor, the Gym Leader Aaron Truman, is just as excited as everyone else. What he doesn't know is that his Pokemon have a little surprise waiting for him out in the forest. This is a filler story; originally an add-on that I decided would do better as it's own story.

Sitting downstairs, the TV shows me as the ball drops. Welcome to 2015. What should be the first thing for me to do? Write a story of course! I decided to celebrate New Year's again, in Aaron's world. I don't know of any specific year dates in Pokemon, so I'm just going with the current years.

Sitting in the middle Sangdem City, once a town meaning little on the map, Aaron takes a moment to realize just how much the place has developed. Heck, it was only a few months ago there was no gym here. Now, the town had grown large enough to constitute one, and who should the League pick to be the Leader but Aaron Truman, user of Electric and Ice-Type Pokemon.

All around the square are ribbons and lights, bathing the town with enough light to make it seem like day. But all one has to do is look to the sky to see the blackness above, indicating night. Actually in the square are a few hundred people, all here to celebrate. In the middle of the crowd is a platform, and erected on the platform is a post a few feet in diameter and striped up and down with multicolored lights. Resting comfortably at the top is a giant Pokeball, Black with gold stripes on the top. An Ultra Ball, very nearly the best Pokeball around.

Sitting in a VIP Box is Aaron Truman, the Gym Leader of Sangdem. Also in the box are his Pokemon, the ones he calls his friends. Perched on the railing is Emolga, the little squirrel. Curled up in his lap is Glaceon, his back-up to deal with Ground types. Finally, sitting beside him is Luxray, his Electric Lion of a Pokemon. But there's one more occupying the comfortable observatory: Cynthia, Champion of the Sinnoh region. She chose this place to come for the celebration to honor its rapid development in the past year.

And what Celebration is this? New Year's Eve and Day, when the old year ends and the new begins. This time, it is 2014 drawing to a close, 2015 ready to start up. But it'll have to wait – 10 minutes to go.

The past few hours have been spent in Gameshows, food stands, and Pokemon battles and contests. Most everyone has enjoyed the festivities, and even those who have grudgingly ignored the celebration can't bring themselves to ignore these last final acts of the year.

Right now, the last Pokemon contest has just ended, and it's time for a pair of speeches: One from the Gym Leader, and one from the Champion.

Champion goes first. Cynthia smiles at Aaron, before stepping to the front and center of the box to address the crowd. Taking the microphone placed there before, she calls out.

"So – Who's enjoyed 2014?" She begins with. A roar from the multitudes is her answer. "Glad to hear it! I came tonight to see what all the fuss was about, and I wasn't disappointed. The development of this city is amazing. I remember coming here years ago to a place where it was quiet, where there wasn't anything exciting to worry about. Now Sangdem is a city, complete with Gym, and what a Gym it is. I look forward to seeing it grow even more – Happy new year everyone!"

The crowd cheers as she steps back gesturing at Aaron to the Microphone. Aaron gets up, just a little shakily, and walks up. The cheering gets louder as many in the crowd recognize their home's Gym Leader. Emolga decides it would be appropriate to sit on his shoulder for the address. Aaron doesn't even notice.

"Hi everyone. I'm Aaron Truman, the Gym Leader of Sangdem. Though for most of you, I don't have to introduce myself. I'm glad to have the privilege of knowing you personally, and for helping you with the development of this city. I still remember the shock when I picked up the phone call from the Pokemon League. Thanks to everyone for the support you've given me. I hope to see you soon – on the street or in battle as we enter the New Year."

As Aaron steps back, the lights around the Arena dim. There's one last performance before the Pokeball drops. Realizing the desired mood change, part of the crowd quiets down. Those who remained loud silence themselves as a sweet sound reaches their ears.

A song resonates throughout the square, but there is no electronics or recordings at work here. The beautiful melody is coming from a small Pokemon sitting on top of the Ball in the middle. Not all can see it, but those that can see a Meloetta. Aaron's Meloetta, to be exact. As her song echoes through the square, Aaron closes his eyes and smiles, one hand absently stroking Luxray's head as it often does. Nothing can interrupt, for fear of destroying the peacefulness of the song.

As the last notes die away, Meloetta simply disappears from the top of the Pokeball. At the same moment, every television and commercial screen in the square blinks to life with the same readout: 00:00:60. 00:00:59.

As soon as the countdown begins, the excitement – and volume of the crowd triples. Aaron stands up and walks to the edge of the VIP Box, looking out over the crowd. Picking out individual faces, He can't locate one frown among the multitude. As the timer hits 00:00:10, the mood rises to a fevered pitch. Virtually everyone shouts out the last numbers as the Ball in the middle of town begins to fall.

5..

4..

3..

2..

1..

The ball touches down. Fireworks launch. Everyone yells even louder than before. 2014 is over, 2015 has begun. All the televisions retain the countdown, but joining it on the screens are the words "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

As Aaron watches with a grin on his face, many of the couples in the crowd kiss, like a rededication for the year of their love. Suddenly, he feels a quick kiss on his cheek. Whirling around shocked expecting to see the Champion Cynthia, he instead sees a pair of blue eyes looking at him, set in a white face with green hair and a smile capable of warming anyone's heart.

"Melo!" The face states, still beaming.

Aaron just looks for a moment before returning the grin and hugging the Pokemon.

(15 minutes later)

"GaspWait! What's the Gasp rush for?"

As soon as Aaron had left the VIP box, Luxray, Emolga, Glaceon, and Meloetta had basically started pulling him towards the south end of town. Aaron had tried to run at their pace, but he just couldn't keep up. His Pokemon wouldn't give up though, Glaceon, Meloetta and Emolga urging him on. All it took was a look from Luxray to give Aaron a reason to hurry.

A little while later, they were out of the city and approaching the shoreline. Aaron recognized this area, it's where he came to rest. Even becoming Gym Leader hadn't convinced him to break his Regime, in fact he enjoyed coming here even more now to rest from the challenges he faced. The beach a little farther down had been developed a bit, with some cabins and more people coming more often. But the area where the woods almost met the sea was untouched, just like Aaron liked it. And apparently it was this area that Aaron's team wanted him now.

Trudging through the dark forest, Luxray was able to charge his fur coat with electricity to light the way. Aaron made a mental not NOT to pat him on the head when he did this. As they neared the coastline, Aaron noticed an unwelcome sight.

A trench dug in the ground, like the depression left by a circular pipe. Along the trench were a few bushes, oddly lopsided on the side facing the depression, like half of it had been cut off. Aaron frowned; this trench was caused by something that left him with months of sorrow. But what was that in the middle? Some kind of sphere…

This sphere appeared to be where the team wanted Aaron, so he walked over. Picking up the object, he instantly identified it – a Pokeball.

Looking to Meloetta for some kind of explanation, Meloetta just giggled. Glaceon and Emolga had similar reactions. Luxray himself smiled at Aaron, not making a sound.

"Okay, if you're not going to tell me, I guess I'll see what's inside myself," Aaron said. He pressed the button on the ball, and the red mist of a Pokemon flew out. As the mist solidified, what was left was a little orange mouse with red cheeks and diamond-shaped ears. The little Pokemon looked at Aaron with a smile.

"Pi? Pichu!"

Aaron looked at the Pokemon for a second, then at his team. "You got me a shiny Pichu?"

Meloetta nodded, barely containing her happiness.

Aaron was about to ask how they got it, in a Pokeball no less, but stopped himself. Instead, he just picked up the newest member of his team and laughed.

Happy New Year!

-Construct Master