So, a pot of coffee and almost five hours later, here is the next chapter of my "Shit, school starts back Friday, so let's get a new chapter out for all of my stories" Update Marathon. Yeah, so, what I'm doing is I'm trying to challenge myself to write a new chapter for all seven of my stories, and put them up, all in twenty-four hours. I've currently done The Reclamation of Aeon City, Ashes to Ashes, and, now, this. So, let's go.

He's an Umbreon That Shoots Fire. How in the Hell do you Intend on Taking him Down?

"So, do you have all of them?" I asked Rell.

"Yep." He replied, handing me the papers. "This is all of them."

I quickly flipped through the lists, counting them. When I was done, I noticed something wrong.

"Rell, we appear to be short one." I said. I checked the names, and said, "And it'd be yours."

He just shrugged, and said, "Well, I don't want anything."

I sighed, and said, "C'mon, Rell. Give me the fucking list."

I held my hand out, waiting.

"I promise, I don't want anything." He persisted. I just smirked at him, and he sighed, and said, "Fucking fine."

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to me, and I put all of the lists in my pocket.

"So," He asked me, as we left the kitchen, "what are you going to do about Sylva?"

I sighed, shrugging, and replied, "Honestly, I don't really know. I mean, I feel so bad for him. He's still a kid, more so than the others, but he'll never be able to experience what a normal kid or teen could, and I hate that."

"Yeah, it does royally suck." Rell agreed as we entered the foyer.

"Wait here. I'll tell the others that we're leaving." I said.

Rell nodded, and I went to the door of the living room. I looked in, to see that Azura, Midnight, Markus, and Alice were all in there, watching a movie.

"Hey, Rell and I are leaving." I announced. "We'll be back before dinner."

"Have fun." Azura replied.

"Don't die." Midnight said.

"Or do, it's your choice." Markus added.

I sighed. Well, what a fun response. I retreated back into the foyer, to see that Sylva had joined Rell in there, Eve around his neck like always.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked the Umbreon-Espeon cross.

"Well, I was just thinking about Christmas." He replied. "And, honestly, you don't have to get me anything. I'll be fine without receiving any gifts."

I sighed, and said, "No."

"No?" Sylva asked. "What do you mean no?"

"I mean, that you'll get gifts whether you like it or not." I replied.

"Izaak, I don't want anything." He insisted. "I don't want you to take so much time thinking of something to get me. Just don't worry about it."

I sighed again, and said, "Listen, Sylv. I'm getting you something for Christmas. No matter what you say, it's happening. I'm getting something for you, and I'm giving it to you when I give the others their gifts. Got it?"

Sylva opened his mouth to argue, but Rell put a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Dude, just leave it. We all know how stubborn Izaak can be."

Sylva sighed, and said, "Fine. Just, please, don't spend too much time or money on me. I don't want you to."

He turned and started heading upstairs, and I yelled after him, "Well, now that you said that, I'm spending the most time and money on you out of everyone."

He just shook his head, before disappearing to his make shift room.

"So, we ready?" Rell asked me.

I nodded, and said, "Lead away. After all, I don't know where the fuck your bike is at."

"Good point." He replied, as we left the house, stepping out into the afternoon snow. As we started out into the woods, Rell asked, "So, what does everyone want?"

I began flipping through the lists, saying, "It appears to be standard teenager things, really. Y'know, laptops, game systems, a personal T.V." I let out a sigh when I saw Azura's and said, "Except for hers."

"Who's?" He asked me.

"Azura's." I replied. "She appears to not want me to spend a lot of money on her. The most expensive thing that she asked for is no more than twenty bucks."

Rell sighed, and said, "I'm not surprised. I mean, she really doesn't seem to want to trouble you with things."

"Yeah, I know." I replied. "But, it's a good thing that I already know what to get her."

"Really?" Rell inquired. "What?"

"That's a secret." I responded. "I may tell you when we head home, but don't count on it."

The Arcanine chuckled, and said, "Alright, I won't pry. Just wanted to make sure that you know what she'll like."

"Trust me, she'll love this." I said, a smile spreading across my face.

"Yeah, I guess that you or Midnight would be the best people to ask." He said.

"So, when are you and Alice getting together?" I asked nonchalantly.

"W-what?" Rell replied, shocked. "What are you talking about?"

I laughed, and said, "C'mon man, it's obvious that you two like each other. Hell, literally all of us in the house can see it."

He sighed, before stopping and leaning up against a tree.

"Is it really that obvious that I like her?" He asked. I nodded, and he said, "Well, I would love to get into a relationship with her, but I doubt that she'd want to date me. I mean, I'm me, and she hasn't really had the best of luck in the past with romance."

"C'mon man, why wouldn't she want you?" I said. "I mean, you've cared for her, you've helped her adjust to living pretty normally again, you always try to protect her."

"Well, even if that was true, her past still exists." He pointed out.

"Yeah, and her history with romance won't get any better if you don't take an initiative." I countered.

He just sighed, and said, "I don't know, man. I'll think about it. Now, c'mon, we need to keep going."

I nodded, and we started walking again. After a few more minutes of walking, we came up to a small shack.

"Well, here it is." Rell said. "Just inside of there."

"How have we never noticed this before?" I asked.

"I don't know." He answered, pulling a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door, saying, "Granted, if you did, you probably wouldn't pay much attention to it. I mean, it is just a random abandoned shed."

"Yeah, you're probably right." I agreed. "So, shall you present the bike?"

"I shall." He replied, stepping into the shed.

He returned a few seconds later, his bike in tow. I gawked at it in awe. The bike was in perfect condition, not even a layer of dust on it, despite its location.

"How the hell is it so clean?" I asked.

"I come out here and clean it every week." He replied. "Now, shall we go?"

I nodded, and he got on the bike. I got on behind him, before stuttering slightly.

"C'mon, hold on to something." He urged. "We need to get going."

"What do you want me to hold on to?" I asked.

"I don't know. My waist?" He replied. "That'll work."

I just shrugged, before wrapping my arms around his waist.

Vocalizing a sudden thought, I asked, "Wait, you can drive well in snowy conditions, right?"

"Don't know." He said, starting the bike. "Never tried."

Before I could protest, he took off through the trees, weaving through them expertly. We suddenly burst from the trees, hitting a dirt road. He did a quick turn to the left, before speeding down the road. As we flew to the town, which was not too far away at this point, I felt my face grow numb from the wind whipping my face. We pulled off of the road, slowing down, about half a mile from the city limits.

"Well, this is where we get off." Rell said, bringing the bike to a stop. "From here, we put on our disguises and head out on foot."

"Alright." I replied, as we got off of the bike.

We both put on our "disguises" before starting to walk. Yeah, all Rell's "disguise" was, was putting our hoods up, putting a bandana over our mouths, and tucking our tails into the back of our pants. Granted, that was fairly difficult to do with Rell, seeing as Arcanine tails are bushy as fuck. Yeah, it took both of us about five minutes to get his "disguise" on, with a majority of the time spent dealing with his tail.

"So, now we can go." Rell said, leading the way to the town.

"I hope that the town hasn't changed much." I commented, as we made our way through the trees.

"No, not really." Rell reassured me. "I mean, despite this place being pretty much a clone of Goldenrod, it really doesn't change."

"Yeah, I was hoping that it was that way." I replied. "So, does Town Square still exist?"

"Absolutely dude." Rell answered, chuckling. "You think a place like that would ever be taken out? It's get both the church and the city hall in it. They'd never harm that thing."

"Yeah, I didn't think that they would have." I replied. "I meant that I was curious as to whether or not that lightning rod of a monument had caused something to catch fire yet."

"Oh, that one of Klaus the Fourth on his Rapidash?" Rell asked me.

"Yeah, that one." I answered. "Didn't he, like, save the town from a family of Dragonite, or some shit."

Rell laughed, and said, "Yeah, something like that. I don't know. No matter how many times they tried to drill it into our heads in school, I don't fucking remember. Anyway, yeah, the giant waste of metal is still there."

I laughed, and said, "Arceus, the thing's horrid. That, and it's always funny to think that they guy who saved the town will probably end up getting it burnt to the ground during a storm at some point."

"The sad part is, you're probably right." Rell replied. As we reached the town, he asked, "So, you know where April lives, right?"

"Of course." I replied, before starting for the suburbs of the city.

We tried to stay on the outskirts of the city, only heading in deeper when required, and even then we kept to the alleys as much as possible. We eventually reached April's house, and I went up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, Ash answered, before bursting out laughing.

"Holy shit." He said, between gasps. "That's your guys' fucking disguises? That's atrocious."

I glared back at Rell, saying, "I told you so."

"Shut up." The Arcanine countered. "It's never failed me before, so I doubt that it will now."

"That doesn't mean that it should work." Ash pointed out, beginning to laugh again.

I sighed, before saying, "Will you just tell April that we're here."

"Alright, fine." The Blaziken answered. He leaned away from the door, before yelling, "Hey, April! Izaak's here!"

"I'm coming!" She replied.

After a few seconds, April appeared at the door, with Dante at her heels.

"Hey April." I greeted. "Hey Dante."

The Umbreon nodded, and said, "Izaak. Rell."

"So, you here to pick up the cash?" April asked me.

"Yep." I replied. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we have a deadline."

"Of course." She said, nodding. "Dante, could you go to the living room and grab the small bag, please."

"Of course." The Umbreon replied, before walking away.

"Thanks for this again, by the way." I told April.

"Don't mention it." She said. "I mean, it is your money, as well. The only issue that I had was actually getting it. Apparently, if you withdraw more than a couple hundred at once, the people at the bank think that you're about to go and buy drugs."

"They do know that you're the police chief, right?" I asked. "So, y'know, you wouldn't be buying anything like that."

She chuckled, before saying, "Well, the police chief before me actually was buying drugs, except he was using money that had been donated to the force to pay for more gear. That's actually how I got promoted."

"You're the one who caught him?" I asked.

"Yep." She replied. "There was a little ceremony in thanks for me and everything."

I chuckled, and said, "So, I assume that you hated that, right?"

"Oh, hell yeah." She answered. "Arceus, I fucking hate attention, especially from the media."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be too crazy about it, either." I replied.

At this point, Dante returned, a small cloth bag in his mouth. He handed it to me, and I bent down to grab it.

"Thank you." I replied.

"No problem." He said, smiling up at me. "Need anything else? I could come and help carry things, if you want."

I chuckled, and said, "You're still trying to get me to allow you to mate with Eve, aren't you?"

"W-what?" He asked, seemingly insulted. "No. What kind of Umbreon do you think I am?" I smirked down at him, and he said, "Well, maybe a little."

I chuckled, and said, "Honestly, I'm fine with it as long as she is. But, you may have to take it up with Sylva. Those two have grown really close recently."

"What?" Dante asked, outraged. "They better not have done anything, or else I'll-"

I laughed before saying, "Calm down, kid. Sylva's not into Pokemon. Or, at least, I don't think so. Besides, he's an Umbreon that can shoot fire. How in the hell do you intend on taking him down?"

"F-fire?" Dante asked. "As in, like, Flamethrower?" I nodded, and he said, "Yep, never pissing him off."

"Don't worry, he doesn't like fighting much, anyway." I reassured the Umbreon. "He's only ever done it once, and he freaked out afterwards."

"Oh." Dante said. "Well, that's good, I guess."

"By the way," April began, "did you ever think of what to get him?"

I sighed, and said, "Unfortunately, no. I mean, he's just so hard to shop for. I know that it isn't his fault, and I know that he doesn't want me to him anything, but I honestly feel like, out of all of us, he deserves something more than anyone else. I mean, he spent all of his life that he can remember in a stasis tank or laboratory, and he can't remember the rest."

"Yeah, that is pretty sad." April agreed. "But, I have faith in you. I mean, you've always been good at gift ideas."

I sighed, and said, "Yeah, well, I think that he may have beaten me. Anyway, we better get going. Thanks for the cash."

"Once again, it's still yours." April replied. "See you guys next week."

I nodded, and Rell and I left. As we went down the street, I started thinking again. What could I give him? As I was lost in my thoughts, I blindly followed Rell's lead, as he took us to the shopping district. It took us about ten minutes to reach it, taking back alleys most of the way there. Looking up, I could see the giant bell tower of the church rising up above the skyline.

"C'mon, let's go." Rell said.

"On it." I replied.

I stepped into the jewelry store alone, having previously told Rell go ahead and take the rest of the gifts back to the bike. I still don't know how we'll get them back. Fuck, I'll probably carry them and walk. I stepped over to the counter, and tapped on it to get the employee's attention. He turned around, before leaping back in shock.

"Please, take whatever you want, just don't hurt me." The shorter man begged.

"What?" I asked, confused. "Dude, I'm not here to rob you, I just want to buy a gift."

"Oh." The man said, calming down. "Really?" I nodded, and he said, "You really should think about a change of clothes before you go out Christmas shopping."

I shrugged, and said, "Meh, I like it."

"If you say so." He replied. "So, what are you interested in today?"

"A ring." I answered. "The most beautiful diamond that you have."

"Very well." He said, leading me over to a case. "If you follow me, I will show you some within a reasonable price range."

I rolled my eyes as he led me over to a glass case. Looking in, I saw that all of them were fine diamonds, absolutely, but none of them struck me as the right one. Suddenly, I saw the perfect one, two cases over.

"So, I believe that these will work perfectly for you." The man said, but I had stopped paying attention.

I went over to the case, just staring at the ring. It's perfect. It was a silver band, made into a tightly woven double helix, with three diamonds on it. The left one was a small white diamond, and the right one a small black. Right in the center of the two, though, was a large beautiful blue diamond. This is it.

"I would like this one." I said, pointing at it.

The man came over to look at the one that I indicated, and he scoffed.

"I doubt that you could afford that." He said.

Well, that's rude. So, why is this fucker still working here?

"Oh?" I asked. "And what makes you think that?"

"Well, your getup, for one." He answered.

I chuckled, and asked, "How much?"

"I beg your pardon?" The man replied.

"How much?" I repeated. "How much for me to walk out of here with the ring in the next ten minutes?"

The man seemed to think for a second, before saying, "Ten thousand. But, I doubt that you could ever afford that."

I held up a finger, silencing him. I pulled the bag from under my hoodie, and opened it up. Thank Arceus I had her pull out so much. I honestly thought that I would have to spend much more on the right one. I reached into the bag and pulled out a few bundles of cash. I handed them to the man, who stood there, awestruck.

"That's about twelve thousand." I said. "Don't worry, you can keep the change. Now, can I get the ring?"

The man looked down at the money, before looking back at me and saying, "Of course, sir. My apologies."

Within three minutes, I had the ring secured in a small box in my pocket, and I left the store, a smile on my face. As I was leaving, I noticed something else. That's perfect for Sylva.

I arrived back at Rell and the bike just as the sun began going down.

"There you are." He said, plucking the cigarette from his mouth, before tossing it on the ground and stomping it out. "I was wondering what the hell was keeping you. You got everything?"

"Yep." I replied. "Even Sylva's gift."

"Really?" He asked me. "What is it?"

"That's a secret." I replied. "As is what I just got for Azura."

"Is that so?" Rell asked. I nodded, and he said, "Well, suit yourself. C'mon, let's get going. I'm getting hungry."

Yay, chapters! Yeah, don't even know anymore. So, anyway, yeah, this was a chapter. So, what do you guys think that Izaak is going to use the ring for? What could he have gotten Sylva? Who knows? Well, I do, but I don't count. Anyway, if you guys need me, I'm going to take a nap, before doing either A New School Means A New Start, Right? or I'm Free, but Now What? So, see-yah.