Here's the Christmas Bonus Chapter! The gist of this one is that May is having a Christmas Party, and is inviting all of her friends (Minus Iris, Cilan, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie, for obvious reasons), including Drew! However, Drew is late, and May wonders why. Want to see what happens? Read and find out!
May was in the large living room of the house, and then she had her Beautifly and Blaziken help with the decorating. Beautifly used her String Shot to lift a wreath while Blaziken helped hang the streamers.
"Good work, Beautifly, just leave it there," May said. "Blaziken, just hang those streamers up on the ceiling like that."
"Beau!" Beautifly said, with a nod.
"Blaziken." Blaziken said, nodding, as well.
"Well, May, looks like the decor is coming along well," Max said, as he came in. Max had gotten a lot older since his days with May and their friends. He had gone back to pick up the Ralts he befriended, and they have since become the best of friends. "Want us to help?"
"Sure," May said. "We could use the help. Venusaur would be too big to fit in here, anyway, and Skitty is too skittish. You know Munchlax: it has food on the brain, so I fed it some Pink Surprise and then put it back in its Poké Ball. Wartortle is practicing an Appeal out in the yard with Glaceon; they want to do a performance to start the party off."
"Sounds like you and your Pokémon are working hard, aren't they?" Max said.
May nodded.
"Hey, Ralts," Max said, to the Ralts on his shoulder. "How about using Psychic to help out?"
Ralts nodded, and then its eyes glowed baby blue, and a few more of the ornaments for the tree were put on the tree perfectly.
"Thanks, Ralts!" May said, with a smile.
Max looked around and then noticed something about the decoration that was off: no mistletoe.
"Where's the mistletoe?" Max asked.
"Look, I want mistletoe as much as the next girl, but the last thing I want is to create awkward tension amongst the guests; can't have people kissing the wrong people." May said.
"Smart," Max said. "So, who's coming?"
"Ash, Pikachu, and Brock, for starters…" May said, and then started to count the rest of the guests on her fingers. "Tracey, Misty, Dawn and her Piplup, Solidad, Kelly from Lilycove and her Grumpig, Timmy Grimm from Verdanturf and his Dusclops, then there's Harley…"
"Wait, you invited HARLEY?! Why'd you invite HIM?!" Max asked, upset.
"Hey, he might be a nasty rival, but leaving him out of the party wouldn't be very nice. And if I didn't invite him, he'd probably want to bully me even more, so why not rectify that by including him in the first place? He's also great with baking, second only to Brock, so I asked him to make some cookies to bring." May said, and then continued. "Oh, I almost forgot: Drew's coming, too."
"Of course you'd invite your boyfriend," Max teased. "Huh, May?"
May blushed, and nodded, while saying, "Yes, of course I'd invite him. It wouldn't be fair not to."
"No joke," Max said. "I'll help mom with the cooking."
Max and Ralts then went back into the kitchen, while May and her Pokémon got back to decorating the room.
"Blaziken, try not to burn the wreaths, okay? And Beautifly, maybe a small Silver Wind to add sparkles to the decorations would be nice." May said.
Her Pokémon nodded, and Blaziken backed off a bit while Beautifly unleashed a soft and gentle Silver Wind to add shine and sparkle to the decorations in the room.
"Perfect! Drew's going to love it!" May said, but her Pokémon caught her slip-up and then they gave her weird smiles, before laughing. "Blaziken, Beautifly, what are you laughing at?!"
Soon, the doorbell rang, and then in came May's best friend, Dawn, a girl with blue hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a two-piece female Santa suit that showed her navel, complete with the hat, boots, and belt, and she had her Piplup in her arms, wearing a Santa hat, too.
"Dawn! Perfect timing," May said, as she went over to Dawn. "I see you brought Piplup."
"Piplup!" Piplup chirped, happily.
"I brought all of my other Pokémon, too," Dawn said. "Buneary, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Quilava, Togekiss… Why have our Pokémon miss out on the fun?"
"I guess you're right," May said. "Good thing I made tons of Pokéblock."
"My Pokémon have a tendency to prefer my Poffins," Dawn said, smiling sheepishly. "So, I brought my Poffins over, too. I made sure to make plenty for Mamoswine and Munchlax. You know how gluttonous those two tend to be."
"No kidding," May said. "So, where's Misty?"
"She should be here, soon," Dawn said, looking behind her. "Sadly, her sisters are giving her problems."
"Again?" May asked.
Dawn nodded.
As if on cue, Misty came in, all decked out in a beautiful dress, with a water-type Pokémon theme, and she looked like she was a Lumineon. Her hair was down, and was wearing a water flower in her hair.
"Wow, Misty, you look amazing!" May said.
"Thanks, but seriously, dresses aren't my style," Misty said. "My sister insisted that I do this…"
"Did you bring your Pokémon? Or did you leave them at the Gym?" Dawn asked.
"I left the majority of my Pokémon at the Gym, Psyduck included, but I brought Azurill." Misty said, and as it was on cue, Azurill came up on her shoulder.
"That's good," May said. "The more the merrier, right?"
"So, May, who else is coming?" Dawn inquired.
"Ash, Pikachu, Brock, for starters. Then there's Solidad, Harley, a few of my other Coordinator friends, Tracey…" May said.
"And Drew?" Misty asked.
May blushed, and then she said, "Naturally…"
"So, shall we get ready for this party?" Dawn said.
"Yep!" May said.
The girls were pitching in to help with the decorating of the Christmas tree. Piplup was helping Glaceon and Wartortle with the Appeal, while Azurill was playing with Skitty and Munchlax.
After a few hours, the room was completely decorated, the food was done, and everyone was ready for the present exchange that was about to happen.
Soon, guests started to arrive. Ash, Pikachu, Brock, who had a basket of sandwiches with him arrived first, and then Solidad came along. All three of them had presents for everyone, Harley included.
Soon, Harley came along, as flamboyant as ever; he was standing on one foot, with a basket of cookies and lots of presents, and then he said, "Yoo-hoo! I'm here for the party, honey!"
Harley took notice of Dawn, and then, recognizing her from the Wallace Cup, came over to Dawn and Piplup and said, with a sparkle in his eyes, "Oh, you must be Dawn, right?! The girl who defeated May in last year's Wallace Cup?"
"Um, yes, but I just barely defeated her. She has more experience than me, so it was more or less luck on my end…" Dawn confessed.
"Rumor has it your mother was a Top Coordinator, and you took the Runner-Up spot in Sinnoh Grand Festival, too, right?" Harley asked, as he got into Dawn's face.
"Right… And it was my first Grand Festival, too… Guess my skill is genetic…" Dawn said, albeit she tried to be modest.
"Oh, it has to be!" Harley said, before going goofy on everyone.
Everyone sweat dropped at this, and then they all started socializing, eating, etc., and soon, the party was fully under way.
However, thirty minutes into the party, and everyone else had arrived… Everyone but Drew.
May looked out the window, sadly. She then sighed, and thought, 'That's not like Drew… He's never been the kind of guy to be late…'
Dawn noticed May's behavior, and then Dawn said to her Piplup, "Drew's late… Maybe that's what's bothering her..."
May decided to distract herself by getting everyone fired up. She brought everyone outside and then, using some Seals that Dawn had brought with her, threw two Poké Balls into the air, both with Smoke Seals, while shouting, "Glaceon, Wartortle, Take The Stage!"
As the Poké Balls released the two Pokémon, they came out through a cloud of white smoke, starting off the performance.
"Wartortle, Rapid Spin!" May said.
Watortle retracted itself in its shell and started spinning around in mid-air while causing air friction around itself.
"Follow up with Scald!" May called.
Wartortle, still spinning, started shooting boiling water out from its shell, and then Glaceon, down below, was getting a nice, gentle coat of steam over its fur, and the condensation made Glaceon sparkle within the moonlight.
"Glaceon, Blizzard!" May called.
Glaceon then shot a wind with snowballs in it at Wartortle, and then the hot water, combined with the cold snow, caused the water to cool off a little bit, causing some condensed water to gently fall onto Glaceon, and the sparkles that came with it caused Glaceon's fur to glisten.
"Turn up the pressure, Glaceon!" May called.
Glaceon then put more force into the Blizzard, causing the water to freeze around Wartortle.
"Wartortle, descend! Glaceon, Iron Tail!" May called.
Wartortle started "falling" to the ground, and then Glaceon's tail glowed white and then Glaceon used its tail to smash the ice around Wartortle, and then the two landed, letting the ice sparkles fall on them.
Everyone started cheering for May and her Pokémon, but May looked into the crowd… Drew still had not come.
May then sighed sadly; her Pokémon noticed this, but they thought nothing of it at first.
Soon, the party was back in full swing. Everyone was playing games, eating delicious food, and even the Pokémon were getting into it. They were all playing with each other. Even Harley's Cacturne was being friendly with the other Pokémon.
Dawn and Kelly hit it off; they were friends almost instantly, as were Piplup and Grumpig. Dawn taught Kelly how to make Poffins, and Kelly then taught Dawn how to make Pokéblock. Soon, both had a Poffin and a Pokéblock recipe that their Pokémon just loved. Grumpig and Piplup were chowing down on both Pokéblock and Poffins, and after what seemed like hours, both Pokémon were stuffed.
"Wow, Dawn, Grumpig really went nuts over your Poffins!" Kelly said, impressed with Dawn.
"Piplup went bonkers over your Pokéblock, too, Kelly," Dawn said. "I'm impressed."
Timmy and Dusknoir were putting on an Appeal of their own for Harley and Solidad, and they were enjoying it. Brock and Tracey were doing their best taking care of their Pokémon, and as always, Brock's Croagunk was always there to keep Brock in line around older women, i.e., Solidad.
However, May was not really having that good of a time; she was still at the window next to the front door, looking outside, to see if she could get a glimpse of the green hair that belonged to Drew, her boyfriend.
Dawn noticed this, and then went over to May, thinking, "No Drew?"
May shook her head, and then she told Dawn, "What's keeping him…? He's never been one to be late for this sort of thing."
"Maybe he's late trying to find a Christmas gift for you, May." Misty said.
"That could be…" May said.
"But to distract yourself, look at Glaceon and Mamoswine over there out in the yard," Dawn said, pointing out the two Ice-Types. "They're playing ball with one of Mamoswine's Ice Shards."
May's Glaceon and Dawn's Mamoswine were hitting an Ice Shard back and forth to one another; Mamoswine used its tusks, Glaceon used its tail.
"Piplup, Azurill, and Wartortle are really having fun in the pond over there. And look, there's Ash's Buizel, too." Misty said, pointing out the water-types in the lake.
"And look in the air, too," Dawn said, pointing towards the sky. "Beautifly, Togekiss, and Staraptor are having fun playing in the air, too."
May nodded, but she still looked out the window, hoping to see Drew; no sign of him.
Harley's Cacturne was soon giving Piplup grief by eating its Poffins.
"Hey, those are Piplup's Poffins!" Dawn said, seeing Cacturne in the Poffin bowl.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Dawn," May said, putting her hand on Dawn's shoulder. "That just means Cacturne likes them."
Just after saying so, Cacturne came up to Dawn, and handed her the empty bowl, indicating that it wanted more. Pachirisu then popped out of its ball out of nowhere, and then, seeing that the Poffins had run out, started to cry.
"Pachirisu, no need to worry," Dawn said. "I'll just go make some more. Piplup, come on, time to make more Poffins! Holiday style!"
Piplup, Pachirisu, Dawn, and Cacturne then ran into the kitchen. Harley then said, "Wait for me! I wanna learn to make Poffins, too, hon!"
"Well, nice to see Harley and Dawn are getting along…" May said, with a sweat drop. Solidad then came along, and then noticed May's distress.
"Drew's not here, yet?" Solidad asked.
May shook her head, and said, "He's not the kind to be late… What's keeping him?"
Solidad looked out the window, and said, "The weather is getting bad; a blizzard is coming, and we're about to get the brunt of it. I don't see Mamoswine or Glaceon being bothered by it at all, but everyone else is coming inside to escape the cold. Maybe Drew got caught up in the blizzard and is being delayed."
"Possible…" May said, sadly.
"By the way, I see you did not put any mistletoe up," Solidad said. "Any reason?"
"Don't want to cause awkward tension amongst the guests," May said. "To keep people from kissing others they don't have any feelings for, I decided not to have any mistletoe."
"That makes sense," Solidad said. "But are you sure you don't imagine yourself under the mistletoe with Drew?"
"Of course I imagine myself under the mistletoe with Drew. I just don't want to end up kissing the wrong guy and making Drew angry," May said, sadly. "The main reason I don't have it up. I just… Wish I knew what's keeping him."
"Try calling him," Solidad said. "Couldn't hurt."
May nodded; she took out her cell phone, dialed Drew's number, and then after a few rings, it went to his voicemail.
'I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the tone. But if its you, Harley, don't bother.'
After May heard a beep, she said, "Drew, it's May. Is something the matter? You're late for my party. We're already about one hour in, but you're not here yet. Have you been caught up in the weather? Or did you forget? Because… I've been waiting for you the whole time, and you're… somewhere else, not by my side… Please call back…"
May shed a tear, and sniffed a little bit before hanging up, and then she looked over and saw everyone having a good time. May looked away, before lowering her head, and started to silently cry. Dawn noticed this, and then told Misty, "Drew still isn't here…"
"He's very late," Misty said. "Arceus forbid he went out with another girl."
"Don't even joke about that," Dawn hissed, covering Misty's mouth with her hand. "If May hears you, then it will only rub salt on her wounds."
"Good point," Misty said. "I just wonder… What's keeping him?"
Another hour in, and Drew still had not shown up. May tried distracting herself with having tag battles with her friends, putting on dual Appeals, and even doing a Poffin and Pokéblock swap with all of the guests' Pokémon. However, nothing could keep May's mind off of Drew.
Misty noticed, and then tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Don't worry, May; Drew is probably being bombarded and chased by those fans of his."
This did not help. May only felt worse after hearing that statement.
"Not helping, Misty…" Dawn said.
"Oh, May, hon! Maybe Drew isn't coming at all," Harley said, as he fed Cacturne more of Dawn's Poffins. "And personally, I think that it's much nicer without him here, anyway! We wouldn't want to run out of party food, now would we?"
May was seriously hurt after that. She was on the verge of breaking down in tears, and Dawn told Harley, "Stop it! We don't tolerate bullies."
Harley put a false hurt look on his face, and then he went back to his Cacturne.
"Why do I have a feeling that Harley's actually happy that Drew's late…?" Misty asked.
Dawn picked up on what Misty was talking about...
After yet another two hours, the party had ended, and everyone had left to continue their adventures. However, May, while having her Pokémon help her clean up, was so heartbroken that Drew did not show up, that once they were finished, she recalled all of her Pokémon back into their balls, before running up to her bedroom in tears. Max, knowing the situation, decided not to do anything and leave May alone for the time being.
May was bawling into her pillow on the bed. She had questions about Drew's absence running through her head, but she did not want any answers.
However, the doorbell rang. May, still crying, came downstairs, and then she opened the door… To see Drew, with an apologetic look on his face, carrying a few present boxes for May in his arms, and wearing a winter coat. May looked and saw that the car he drove had tons of patches on the tires.
"Flat tires…?" May asked, trying not to cry.
"I understand if you want to slap or deck me, May," Drew said. "I tried my best to come, but somehow, all of my tires were filled with holes, and I kept getting flats every five miles."
May then remembered...
"Oh, May, hon! Maybe Drew isn't coming at all," Harley said, as he fed Cacturne more of Dawn's Poffins. "And personally, I think that it's much nicer without him here, anyway! We wouldn't want to run out of party food, now would we?"
"Harley…" May said, with venom.
"Huh?" Drew asked.
"Harley must have had Cacturne use its Pin Missile to put holes in the tires to make you late and make me cry," May said. "Oh, Drew!"
May then leaped into Drew's arms, and Drew hugged her back, while saying, "I'm so sorry…"
May cried tears of joy, and then Drew pulled something out of his pocket and held it over his head, and May's.
May looked up, and then saw that Drew had mistletoe in his hand. May knew what he wanted: a kiss.
May then kissed Drew, who kissed May back, and then Max, who was watching, snickered silently, happy for his sister, who got her Merrily-Ever-After that night.
"I'm so happy… You didn't forget!" May said, as she broke the kiss.
"How could I forget Christmas?" Drew asked, flipping his hair. "That's not my style. Besides, I'm glad you and I have some alone time."
"Why is that?" May asked.
Drew got down on one knee, and gave May the smallest of the gift boxes.
"Open it." Drew said.
May opened the box, and then saw it was a diamond ring inside. May knew what Drew wanted.
"Yes! Yes, I will!" May said, as she kissed Drew once more and then they were soon in a big hug with each other.
Max smiled widely, happy that his sister was now betrothed to the man that she loved so much. Max then told Ralts, "Let's keep this to ourselves until Mom and Dad get home."
Ralts nodded in agreement.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!
That ended well, didn't it? I'm happy that this did not end without a lump of coal in the stocking. And what can I say about Harley interfering with Drew's arrival? I had to make up some reason that Drew was late! And besides, I don't think it was a bad idea, having Drew pop the question like that.