Chapter 2

I dreamed that Jack and I were being attacked by giant caterpillars who looked like evil, secret agents, and that Jack and I had been turned into ninjas. Luckily, we were able to fight them off. It was AWESOME! But then, outside of my dreams, I heard Jack's voice say, "Where are we?"

I jerked awake. I was still riding on Jack's back, and it was then that I realized we had gone even deeper into the forest. I wiped off the drool from my mouth and propelled down off Jack's back and landed next to Zero. When I looked ahead of us, I saw that we were walking towards what looked like a circle of seven trees.

"It's someplace new," Jack observed.

A sudden unpleasant feeling began forming in my stomach. Something didn't feel right. What was up ahead? Zero barked nervously and backed away a few inches.

"Yeah, I'm not sure about this either, Zero," I said skittishly. But I decided that if Jack was going to see what it was, then I was going in, too. I advanced towards him.

"What is this?" Jack asked as we began to cross into the inner part of the circle.

"Whoa," I breathed, my eyes widening. It was then the trees' secret was revealed.

Each of seven trees had what seemed to be a door on it, and each door was a different shape. There was a door that had a heart on it, one with a four-leafed clover, another with a turkey, one that had a firecracker on it, one that had a jack-o-lantern, and one with an Easter egg on it. When I saw the Easter egg, I suddenly realized that these doors each represented a different holiday: Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, Halloween, and Easter. It was amazing, but I still didn't understand why all these doors were here. I looked up at Jack to see that he was looking at the doors in a curious manner as well. His curiousness eventually turned to puzzlement, and then what I thought looked like indifference. I figured that since Jack was starting to become bored, now would be a good time to coax him into going back to Halloween Town.

"Well, there's nothing else here," I said hastily. "Let's get back to Halloween To-"

Jack suddenly gasped, and I then saw what had caught his attention. It was another holiday door. This one had an evergreen tree on it with little multicolored balls on them. This one must have been for Christmas. Even though it was very pretty, something urged me to convince Jack to start heading home.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that's nothing," I said quickly. I also wanted to make myself sound like I wasn't the slightest interested to find out what the deal was with that door. "C'mon, Jack. Let's get going. C'mon." I whistled and started clapping my hands. "Here boy!" I called.

But Jack didn't come. He just stood there, staring at the door. Then, he started moving towards it as if he were on wheels.

"Uh, Jack?" I said, trying to get in front of him. "Hello, Jack! Anyone in there?" I jumped up and waved my hand in front of Jack's face. I then noticed the expression on his face. It was both happy and mesmerized. I had seen that look before. And then it hit me. I looked over at the Christmas door and back at Jack. A nauseous, panicked feeling exploded in my stomach.

"Oh no," I said, starting to freak out. "I know that look. That's the look you get everytime you come up with something new for Halloween. I don't like this! No, don't do it! DON'T DO IT JACK! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS TO ME, MAN! NOOOOOOO!"

I grabbed onto his left hand, buried my feet into the ground, and began trying to pull Jack away from the door. Unfortunately, Jack wriggled his hand out of mine, and I fell to the ground. When I looked up, I saw that Jack had his hand on the doorknob. I closed my eyes and flinched, preparing myself for whatever was to come cascading out of that door. But after a few minutes, nothing happened. I opened my eyes to see Jack looking into the door. I padded forward on all fours to get a closer look. Inside the door was just a black nothingness. I was as confused as Jack was, but also relieved that there was nothing there. We both turned around to Zero (who had floated over to us). Jack shrugged at him. I began to feel somewhat pitious towards Jack's disappointment, but then remembered that I had to get him back home.

"Come on, Jack," I sighed heavily. "Let's go home."

Suddenly, I felt a cold gust of wind coming out from nowhere. I looked behind me to find that is was coming from within the door. It started pulling me towards the opening. I looked over to see that it was pulling Jack in, too. I tried my best to escape from the wind, but it was too strong. Something hard hit the back of our legs. Both Jack and I yelled, and then - we fell.

I closed my eyes, afraid to look at what we had gotten ourselves into if I opened them. The wind was still blowing, this time, even harder. It felt like I was free falling. After a few moments, I bravely opened my eyes. I was free falling. I took a look around at where we were. It looked like a pale blue vortex with a bunch of tiny, white sparkly things flying all over the place. I looked to my right to find Jack falling alongside me. He looked over at me with an expression that meant that he didn't know what to do. Not knowing what else to do, we both screamed. I wondered how long we would be stuck like this when suddenly, there was a bright flash of light.

I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded by something that looked white and powdery. It also felt cold. I began moving my hands, but all I touched was something that felt like a cold wall. I then realized that I'd gotten my head stuck in some snow. Had the door teleported us to Antarctica? I then pulled my head out, only to discover that I had a large chunk of snow in my mouth. I spat it out and looked around for Jack. Luckily, he had landed right next to me. While he shook off his dizziness, I looked around at where we were. It appeared to be some sort of winter wonderland. I was starting to think that we had landed in Antarctica when something caught mine (and Jack's) eye.

"WHOA!" I exclaimed in amazement.

Right down below us, in a small valley, was a small, colorful village. Lights were attached to every house, and I could see that there were train tracks that went around the outer part of the village. Right in the center was what looked like a huge Christmas tree, just like the one on the door. Then, it hit me, again. This town must be solely dedicated to the holiday of Christmas, just like how Halloween Town was to its holiday. Then, in the distance I saw a red building with a bunch of windows and a tower rising up in the middle. It was one of the most amazing sites I'd ever seen. It even beat my amazement when I had traveled around the world. There was a sudden flump sound. I down to my left to see that Jack's hand had sunk into the snow. When he pulled it out, he had a handful of snow. He then started eating it (which I had seen coming from a mile away). He then went back to observing the town, and I followed suit. We saw a little train with toys in its carts riding along on the train tracks. Then we saw a bunch of kids skating around the Christmas tree (the tree must have been on a pond). I realized that Jack had gotten up on his feet to get a better look at the town. But then, he lost his balance and flipped onto his back. He started sliding down the snow-laden hill.

"Jack!" I yelled as he went sliding down. I got on all fours and started running after him. When we got to the bottom of the hill, Jack slid inside a giant snow pile. I ran on top of it.

"Jack!" I called into the snow, hoping that my uncle could hear me. "Are you OK? Jack!"

I leaned closer to the snow. Then, without warning, Jack's head popped out of the snow, and he, once again, burst into song.

What's this? What's this?

Jack's whole body flew out of the ground while I was thrown backwards and, once again, landed head-first into the snow. If this went on for much longer, I was skiving off. I pulled my head out of the snow, spat out the snow that had gotten in my mouth, and look around for Jack. I spotted him standing next to a snowman and ran over to him like a dog. I also noticed that he was still singing.

I can't believe my eye, I must be dreaming

Wake up Jack

This isn't fair!

What's this?

I heard some singing (besides Jack's) nearing us. I looked over to see three little things that looked like elves riding toward us on a sleigh. Jack took the hat off the snowman and its nose. He took off some of the rocks of its face to make them look like buttons and removed its arms as well. He then stepped inside the body of the snowman, put on the hat, and took hold of the umbrella it was holding. He motioned for me to climb onto his back, which I did. I wrapped my arms and legs around the upper part of the body as the elves rode past. Jack continued to sing.

What's this? What's this?

There's something very wrong.

What's this?

There's people singing songs.

Jack leaned over to get a closer look and I peeked over his shoulder to see, as well. Suddenly, more elves appeared, but these were riding what looked like a wind-up polar bear.

What's this?

Jack quickly went back into position and I hid behind him, once more.

The streets are alive with little creatures laughing

Everybody seems so happy

Have I positively gone daffy?

What is this?

Jack started bouncing after the elves on the polar bear. I had to hold on tight in order to keep from falling off. Jack then shot up into the air. I yelled and quickly grabbed hold of his shoulders.

What's this?

We landed on top of a lamppost and Jack looked over to see some elf kids having a snowball fight. Not wanting to be too much weight on my uncle's back, I propelled myself off and hovered right next to him. I looked over his shoulder at the kids.

There's children throwing snowball instead of throwing heads

They're busy building toys

And absolutely no one's dead

Jack then climbed down from the lamppost, and I landed right next to him. He pulled down a string of multi-colored light and held them up to his eyes.

There's frost in every window

Oh, I can't believe my eyes

And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside

Jack backed up to a wall of a house and slid down it, completely satisfied.

Oh, look! What's this?

Jack turned around to a nearby window. I walked towards it to get a look myself. Inside were two more elves, standing underneath mistletoe.

They're hanging mistletoe.

They kiss?

Why that looks so unique.

Inspired!

Jack moved over to another window nearby, and I followed.

They're gathering around to hear stories

Roasting chestnuts on a fire.

What's this?

The elves were, indeed, gathered around and telling stories. Then, another thing caught our eyes. Jack wiped away the fog on the window to get a better look.

What's this?

In here

They've got a little tree.

How queer!

And who would ever think and why?

They're covering it with tiny little things

They've got electric lights on strings

Jack then started climbing up onto the roofs of the houses, and I had to propel myself to him in order to keep up. This was all starting to become very tiring.

And there's a smile in everyone

So now correct me if I'm wrong.

Jack landed onto a window, and I propelled right next to him.

This looks like fun, this looks like fun.

Oh, could it be I've got my wish?

What's this?

Jack leaned over to look inside the window. He then opened it and crawled inside like a spider monkey. I peeked inside to see what he was digging his nose into this time. Inside, there were a bunch of more elf kids, but they were all fast asleep and tuck snugly into their beds. I prayed that Jack's excitedness wouldn't wake any of them up

Oh my! What now?

The children are asleep

But look-

Jack glanced under the bed.

There's nothing underneath

No ghouls

No witches here to scream and scare them or ensnare

Only little cozy things secure inside their dreamland.

Jack quietly walked over to one of the beds and rested his head dreamily on top of one of the sleeping elf kid's heads. I thought he looked like a complete dork. Then-

What's this?

Jack quickly slipped out of the room and through the window. Once outside, he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me off towards the red brick building with the tower in the middle. He climbed up to one of the ledges and looked inside all of the windows. As I propelled behind him, I was starting to run out of breath. It never occurred to me that Jack could move this fast. But he was excited. So, either way, I was pretty much up a creek having to continuously follow him like crazy all over the dang place.

The monsters are missing and the nightmares can't be found

And in their place there seems to be good feeling all around

Instead of screams, I swear I can hear music in the air.

Jack placed the handle of the umbrella onto a nearby garland and ziplined over to a window with cakes and pies on display.

The smell of cakes and pies are absolutely everywhere.

When I propelled over to Jack, I was completely winded.

"Hey, Jack," I panted. "Do you think you could slow down for a mo-"

Jack let go of the umbrella handle and started falling toward the ground. I wasn't worried; I knew that he would make a graceful landing, but I was annoyed that he was still running around as if he were on a sugar high.

"OH, COME ON!" I yelled. I sighed exasperatedly, shook my head, and then followed him.

He had landed on the side of a carousel.

The sights! The sounds!

They're everywhere and all around

I've never felt so good before.

Jack jumped off the carousel and landed onto the train that was riding nearby. I flew right up next to him.

This empty place inside of me is is filling up

I simply cannot get enough.

I want it, oh! I want it, oh!

I want it for my own.

He jumped off the train and started riding on a snowboard that was sitting nearby, with me following behind.

I've got to know, I've got to know

What is the place that I have found!

What is this!

Jack jumped off the snowboard and began to start running again, but then ran into a pole. He hit is so hard that he fell backwards and into the snow.

"Jack!" I screamed, dashing over to him.

He pulled his head out of the ground.

"Jack, are you OK?" I asked urgently.

He didn't seem to hear me. Instead, his focus was on the sign above us. I looked up to see what it said.

"Christmas Town?" Jack read thoughtfully. "Hmmm."

A sudden whistling sound from behind made us whirl around. Jack quickly grabbed me and pulled me behind the pole. Just as soon as we had finished hiding, a man's shadow appeared, along with the sound of laughter. Jack peeked from behind the pole and looked at the man's shadow curiously.

"Oh no," I said in a hoarse voice. Whatever Jack was thinking, I knew that it couldn't be good.

A few moments later, the man came into view. He was a very fat, very short man who wore a red coat and had a long white beard running down his face. I knew, of course, that this man was Santa Claus, but there was no way that I was going to tell Jack that. Whatever all this was, I knew that we had gotten in too deep, and it was high time that Jack and I went home.

An elf came running up to Santa.

"Everything seems to be going according to schedule, Santa Claus," the elf reported.

"Wonderful," Santa said delightfully. "Thank you, Frank. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

The elf squealed with delight and ran off. Santa then turned around and went back into his workshop.

For a few moments, there was silence between Jack and me.

"Sandy Claws?" Jack said thoughtfully.

I looked at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Had my uncle really just called him that?

"Santa Claus," I corrected him. "And I think it's high time we headed home."

I got up and started walking away, but Jack grabbed me by the arm.

"Wait, Pinocchio," he said. "I want to do something first."

"OK, what?" I asked.

"Jack, are you kidding me?" I hissed. "This is stupid. We're going to get caught."

"No, we won't," Jack said reassuringly. "We'll be fine."

"'Fine'?" I said incredulously. "Jack, you literally just went around to every store and stole at least one item from each. Not to mentioned you picked up this piece of snow which is, undoubtedly, going to melt in a few minutes."

It was true. Jack had gone around to all the shops grabbing ahold of as much as he could. Now we were hiding in front of the big "Christmas Town" sign, getting ready to head back to Halloween Town. I was still surprised that even with us just standing here, we hadn't gotten caught.

"I'm not stealing," Jack said. "I'm just… gathering evidence."

"Oh yeah, sure, like that's gonna make a huge difference," I said in a low, sarcastic tone. "Can you explain to me why we're stealing this snowmobile?"

"If you say one more word about me 'stealing' something, young man, you're grounded," Jack said sternly. Then, a few moments later, he added, "And we're not stealing this snowmobile, either. We're borrowing it."

I rolled my eyes in disbelief.

"I saw that!" Jack called. "And if you're going to be that way, why don't you make yourself useful and load the sack onto the snowmobile."

Sighing grudgingly, I did as I was told. I knew now it would be useless to argue with Jack because now he had gone into alpha wolf mode. Once I had hauled the enormous pack onto the back of the snowmobile, I climbed up and sat on it. There would be no room for me in the front because Jack would be driving; and he and I were both rail thin. Jack clambered into the front seat and started up the engine. Within seconds, we were cruising our way out of Christmas Town and back towards the snowy hills that we had landed in. Despite the fact that this was his first time driving one, Jack was able to control the snowmobile relatively well. But I decided not to dwell on that too much. We soon arrived at the exact spot where we had ended up when we had gone through the door.

"So, now what?" I asked.

"Just wait," Jack told me.

From the moment we began our journey home, I wondered how we would actually get out of this place. Was there some other secret portal that we had to go through to get back to Halloween Town? Would I have to use my teleporter to get us there? My questions were then answered when a blinding light appeared out of nowhere.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that we had arrived at the center of the circle of trees. Zero, who we had apparently left behind, barked happily.

"See," Jack said, as if he had just gotten through a tiring lecture on teaching me that two plus two equals four.

I looked around and shrugged my shoulders, deciding to just go with the flow.

"Now what?" I asked again.

"Now, we return this stuff to Halloween Town," Jack said proudly as he turned on the engine again and began driving us towards the forest path.

The queasy feeling of uneasiness had returned to my stomach again, but this time, it felt even worse. How was everyone in Halloween Town going to react to all the stuff that Jack had brought? I very well remembered how, during my early days of living in Halloween Town, the people were a little confused about how my Pokemon worked. At first, they had thought that my Pokemon would be very good at scaring people, but I had to explain to them that they weren't that type of Pokemon. They eventually understood that and accepted them for what they were, but I was starting to have a sickening feeling about what they were going to say about all the Christmas stuff. With that in mind, I knew that there was nothing I could really do. The only thing I could think of doing was offering a smile, even if it was fake.

We emerged from the forest and into the graveyard. Once we had gotten through the graveyard, we took the path that led back to the town with Zero in the lead. When the town gate came into view, Zero barked, happy to finally be back home. Once the gates opened, we were greeted by excited citizens. They were all running towards the snowmobile, happy to see that their king and I were back. Jack waved at them as we passed. We then stopped in front of the Mayor's hearse.

"Where have you both been?" he asked anxiously.

Apparently, everyone been worried sick about Jack's and my brief disappearance.

"Call a town meeting, and I'll tell everyone all about it," Jack said. He seemed very anxious to show everyone what he had found. I decided that I should say something so that I wouldn't look suspicious.

"Yay, Jack has something new to share with us," I said through my teeth. I was still smiling painfully.

"When," the Mayor asked, his two-sided face turning from happy to worried.

"Immediately," Jack commanded.

Author's Note:

Hey guys. Man, this chapter was hard to do. Glad I got it done. Hope you enjoy, and remember to be nice in your comments.