Hello, my faithful readers and/or Sunsetshipping supporters! I hope you're having a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, or any other holidays you're celebrating! So, due to the continuing requests of Natalie, one of my guest readers, I decided it would be appropriate to give you guys a nice Christmas/Hanukkah gift and post the next two chapters of the story. You guys have waited long enough and deserve this.

Changing the topic, all of you who reviewed vote Ricard to flirt with Alice. I totally support that and will include it later in the story, but I won't go overboard with it.

Since it's Christmas break for me, I'll be getting a lot of writing done. Hopefully I'll get through writing the next few chapters of Best Wishes, but that doesn't mean I'll be posting them. But I will say this: expect a chapter or two on New Year's Day. As I've said before, you guys deserve it.

Also, as a bonus, look under my profile to see a special gift from me: the first chapter of Black: Victini and Reshiram. Don't forget to review on that story and tell me what you think!

Chapter 25

Emolga and the New Volt Switch!

As I reach behind my neck and press on my bandage, I feel a tingle of excitement rise up in my chest. The memory of the bandage Cilan put on me yesterday makes my heart race with zeal.

Iris walks ahead in front of me, Bianca and Cilan, humming happily to herself. I give her a soft smile.

"Good job on catching Emolga like you did, Iris."

She gives me a soft smile. "Thanks! I'm so happy Axew has a new friend."

"Axew!" the Dragon-type cheers.

Bianca runs ahead and up to Iris's side. "I know! Let's have a Pokémon battle between Emolga and Pignite right now!"

She blinks. "You want a Pokémon battle?"

Jealousy surging forward inside of me, I run up to Iris's other side. "And how about battling me and Pikachu?"

My buddy certainly looks determined. "Pika!"

Cilan smiles. "Wow, a battle between Electric-types! A spicy pairing like that could turn out to be electrifying!"

I blush at his words, but Bianca's voice causes it to fade away. "But I asked first! And don't you forget, I was planning to catch Emolga first!"

I reach down and tip my hat over my eyes, smirking. "That didn't quite work out, now did it, Bianca?" I let a small smirk escape my lips as I speak.

Bianca turns away, matching my smug nature. "Now look, remember, our first battle was kind of short, so I say let's have a complete battle with Pignite and Emolga this time!"

Iris is quiet for a moment, and then she smiles. "'Kay, Bianca, I accept your battle challenge!"

As Bianca and Iris position themselves across from each other in the clearing, I sit near Cilan (who's refereeing the battle), Axew and Pikachu clinging onto me.

Iris throws a Poké Ball. "Emolga, let's go!" In a flash of blue light, the sky squirrel appears, winking at her opponent.

Bianca squeals in admiration. "You're so cute!"

I let a nervous chuckle reveal itself. "Maybe you should remember you're about to battle Emolga."

Bianca nods and throws a Poké Ball. "You're right! Time to get serious! Pignite, you're up!" Pignite appears in the same blue light as Emolga. "I'll let that cutie Emolga have the first move!"

Cilan holds up his arm. "Emolga gets the first move! Begin!"

Iris gets right down to business. "Emolga, use Hidden Power!"

Emolga gathers bright green balls of light in between her hands and throws them at Pignite, hitting him square in the face.

Bianca smiles. "You're not holding back! Pignite, use Heat Crash!" Pignite coats himself in a ball of fire and lunges for Emolga.

"Emolga, Attract!"

Emolga winks at Pignite, sending hearts in his path. The hearts cause Pignite to stop, the fire ball fading away, and his eyes become pink hearts. He's infatuated with Emolga now.

Bianca looks a little defeated. "Pignite, return now." In red light, he does.

I hug Pikachu tighter. "I guess she had no choice."

"Excellent! Good battle strategy, Iris!" Cilan compliments her.

She smiles a little smugly. "Of course!"

"Whatever! My next Pokémon is Minccino!" She throws another Poké Ball, and Minccino appears. "Alright, counter Emolga's Attract with your Attract!" Minccino winks and small pink hearts float towards Emolga.

Iris smirks. "Right back at you! Emolga, use Attract as well!"

Emolga winks like Minccino, and hearts surround her, too. Both groups of pink hearts smash into each other, equal in power.

My eyes widen, and I feel Axew tighten his grip on my left shoulder. "Both Attracts are colliding in midair and canceling each other out!"

"Tickle, let's go!" Bianca yells. Minccino runs to Emolga's side and brushes his tail across her body. She giggles uncontrollably as the furry gray Pokémon tickles her.

Iris gasps. "Quick, use Hidden Power!"

Emolga continues to laugh at the tickling, and suddenly raises her hand, where a small yet powerful-looking ball of electric power gathers. She slams it into Minccino, who's sent back into the field. The bright light causes all four of us to shield our eyes, and through the space my arms provide, I see Emolga dart out of the battlefield. A flash of blue light is seen, and the still, sleeping form of Excadrill is revealed.

The four of us quit shielding our vision. "That was Volt Switch," Cilan murmurs.

Iris looks a little confused and nervous. "But I don't remember saying to use that..."

From across the field, Bianca looks around. "Iris, where's Emolga?"

"Emo, emol." Iris looks down to see Emolga behind her, giggling uncontrollably.

Cilan places his hands on his hips. "Huh. In a normal situation, Volt Switch is a move that will send the user back to its Poké Ball and then switch another Pokémon out into the battle, but not this time."

I sigh, a bit worried for Iris. "It looks like Emolga's Volt Switch is a little different." Which means, this could be a problem for Iris.

Bianca giggles, her hand over her mouth. "It is kinda funny."

Iris laughs along with her. "It's hilarious!" Her expression changes as she holds up Excadrill's Poké Ball and returns him in red light. "Although, I shouldn't be laughing." She turns and kneels down to Emolga, who's still giggling. "Emolga, what's the use of battling if you're just gonna use Volt Switch? Since we're doing this for practice, I hope you'll listen to what I ask you to do."

Emolga looks away from Iris for a second and then looks back, tears in her huge eyes.

I bite my lip. "Oh great, now she made Emolga cry."

Cilan sighs, "We might have to call this off."

"Pika," Pikachu mutters.

"Emolga, please stop crying." At Iris's words, Emolga turns away, but Iris picks her up and holds her up. "Yeah, that's right! Turn that frown upside down!" She places the sky squirrel down and says, "Now that you've cheered up, let's try this once again."

"Emo?" Emolga doesn't look thrilled.

Iris smiles at her. "Don't worry, you've got me on your side!" Emolga sighs in defeat.

"It's my turn for the first move," Bianca announces, not wasting any more time. "Minccino, use Hyper Voice!"

As Minccino rolls up his ears, Iris shouts, "Emolga, dodge it!"

Emolga, looking bored, looks up to see Minccino preparing for the attack, and in a panic, raises her hand and creates another ball of electricity, smashing it into Minccino. She jumps back away from the battlefield.

But instead of sending Excadrill out again, a jet of blue light bursts from Cilan's belt, which takes him by surprise. "Oh my!"

Appearing on the battlefield in front of us is Pansage, who seems to be just waking up from a nap. He looks around sleepily and is hit with Minccino's Hyper Voice. Now fully awake and furious, he glares at Minccino and raises his paws, creating a ball of sunlight on the tuft of his head. He shoots the Solar Beam attack straight at Minccino, who faints from the attack.

Bianca gasps. "Minccino!"

"Minccino is unable to battle, and that means Pansage is the winner!" Cilan announces. "...Though, the recipe wasn't followed as expected."

Bianca starts freaking out. "That is so totally unfair! But still, wonderful job, Minccino." The gray creature returns to his Poké Ball. "You deserve a good test."

Emolga suddenly comes up behind Pansage, enthusiastic he won and that she didn't have to battle. But her happiness is cut short when Iris appears behind her.

"Emolga, I told you not to use Volt Switch, now didn't I?"

Emolga tears up once again, which makes Iris sigh.

"Oh, here we go with the water works."

Bianca, Cilan and I walk over to Iris, Pikachu and Axew still clinging to my shoulders. "You know, I'm starting to think Emolga doesn't like to battle," I tell her.

"Maybe so," Bianca agrees. "It's not really listening to what Iris says. Emolga's just doing whatever it wants to do."

Iris's face lightens up. "But wait, raising a Pokémon the right way is part of the Pokémon Trainer's training, right, Alice?"

I blink, not really knowing what to say. "Raising the right way?"

"It means building a trusting relationship between Trainer and Pokémon," Cilan explains to me. "The Pokémon will then be able to reach its full potential."

Iris kneels down to Emolga once more. "A Pokémon battle can actually be a whole lot of fun if you just put your heart into it, Emolga. What do you say, we give it one more try?"

"We'll pick up right where we left off," Cilan announces to Bianca and Iris. "And begin!"

"Then here we go! Pignite, come on out!" Pignite appears when Bianca throws a Poké Ball. "Now, use Heat Crash!" Pignite coats itself in a ball of fire and surges towards Emolga.

"Emolga, use Hidden Power!"

Once again, Emolga looks bored, and raises her hand, creating another Volt Switch attack. She throws it at Pignite and darts back from the field.

But this time, a blue light erupts from my own belt, and Snivy appears before me on the battlefield.

I sigh, rubbing my head. "Now Snivy's switched into the battle!"

Suddenly, Iris is at my side. "Hey, Alice, since Snivy's out, can I borrow it?"

Bianca appears at my other side. "Please? That sounds fun!"

I feel a little overwhelmed by the other two girls. "Now hold on, remember that Snivy's my Pokémon!" Besides, Snivy's so used to the way I battle with her that she won't take to a new Trainer telling her what to do so easily.

"But Alice, I want to show Emolga how much fun battling can be!" Iris hisses.

Turning away, I place my hands on my hips and stubbornly reply, "N-O."

Iris sends me a deathly glare. "Selfish!"

"Say that again!" So, I must be selfish for not lending my Pokémon to anyone who comes and asks?

Cilan steps in next to me. "I'd hold that thought. Looks like Emolga's missing!"

Iris's eyes widen as she looks around wildly for Emolga. "Huh?! Come on! Emolga, where did you go? Come back here at once!"

Bianca turns to me. "Alice, I know. Why don't we have a battle with Snivy against Pignite while we wait for Emolga?"

I smile at her. Although she looked disappointed, at least she didn't chew me out for not lending Snivy to Iris. "You bet, so bring it on! Snivy, what do you think?"

From the battlefield, Snivy shrugs casually, as if she's saying, "Sure, why not?"

Now all set up on the battlefield, Bianca has the first move. "Go, Pignite, Flamethrower!" Pignite inhales and blows out a bright red stream of fire towards Snivy.

"Okay Snivy, use Leaf Blade!"

At my command, Snivy's tail glows and she jumps, blocking the Flamethrower attack with her tail and sending it in all different directions. She jumps back and lands in front of me.

I give her a nod. "Keep it up, Snivy!"

"Pignite, Flame Charge!" Pignite slams his back hooves into the ground and coats himself in fire. He surges forward, ready to collide with Snivy.

"Snivy, Leaf Storm!" Snivy jumps up and surrounds herself with leaves, which fly towards Pignite and hit him, sending him back. He lands on his feet, looking determined.

"Pignite, you can do it!" Bianca yells.

Suddenly, Iris's voice from the nearby tree brings our attention away from the battle. I turn my head to see her arguing with Emolga, who's perched up in the tree.

"Man, Alice and Snivy are battling instead of us because you used Volt Switch, and now you're not getting any practice!"

Snivy sighs, and two long vines erupt from the sides of her neck. The vines move over to Emolga and wrap around her waist, lifting her off the tree branch and carrying her over to us. Snivy places her down in front of me, and her vines creep back into the sides of her neck.

Cilan smiles at Snivy. "Instead of a Volt Switch, we've witnessed a Vine Whip-Switch. It's a new recipe!"

Iris runs up to us and glares at Emolga. "Emolga, you're going to battle this time, got it?"

Emolga flashes another one of her "cute" faces and smiles at Iris, trying to win her over.

But Iris looks like she won't have any of it. "And acting cute won't work!"

Flinching in shock, Emolga sighs, and suddenly, Snivy jumps out of the way as Emolga uses Discharge on all of us in anger.

Pain vibrates through my body, numbing it. I fall down onto te ground, whimpering in pain.

Iris whines, "Come on, why me?" as she sits up.

I sit up as well, and realize Iris's hair is frizzy, due to the electric power. So are Cilan's and Bianca's. Reaching up, I feel my already-messy hair is also frizzy, sticking out in various places. I groan, embarrassed.

Bianca admires herself in a little mirror. "Wow, I'm all over this hairstyle!"

"You're optimism is infectious!" Cilan chuckles.

I hear and feel a low grumbling noise in the pit of my stomach, and everyone looks at me. I blush in embarrassment once more. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just hungry."

Cilan gives me a smile. "Alright, then it's time for a food break!"

"Lunch, come and get it!"

At Cilan's announcement, I reach behind me and grab the rest of my Poké Balls, throwing them up in the air.

"Alright, gang, everybody come on out!"

Oshawott, Scraggy, Tepig and Swadloon all come out, looking hungry.

Cilan sets down a bowl with three apples in for Pikachu, Axew and Emolga, one for each. "Here you go." They cheer and start to eat. "And here's yours." He sets down another bowl with five apples, for Snivy, Oshawott, Scraggy, Swadloon and Tepig.

Soon enough, our stomachs are full, and we're sitting back in our chairs, relaxed. My stomach feels satisfied, and I let my eyes close halfway, feeling a little sleepy.

"The combination of herbs gave it such a great flavor!" Bianca compliments while sipping her tea. "Once again, I give Cilan's cooking five stars!"

He chuckles, "Why, thank you!"

I open my eyes again and look at Pikachu, Axew and Emolga. "So guys, was it good?"

"Pika pika!"

"Ax ax."

"Emol."

I close my eyes again, but they're reopened when I hear a scuffle break out. I turn and see Swadloon, Oshawott, Tepig, Scraggy and Pikachu fighting amongst each other. My eyes widen and I shoot up from my seat, running over to them.

I hold up my hands. "Come on! What are you guys doing?"

"What's wrong with you?" Iris asks.

"Stop your fighting, please!" Bianca adds.

Pikachu, tied up in Swadloon's String Shot string and getting tired of Scraggy using Headbutt on him, shocks us all, and sends us to the ground just like Emolga.

"This is ridiculous!" Iris groans as she sits up.

"Tell me about it," I mutter, sitting up and feeling my frizzy hair again.

"I must admit, this hairstyle's starting to grow on me, too," Cilan admits, smiling.

"Isn't it great?" Bianca asks him.

Once our hair is straightened out and our Pokémon have calmed down, the four of us stand in front of them. I place my hands on my hips.

"Okay then, what's the matter?" At once, every single one of the Pokémon start chattering. "Uh...now I'm even more confused!"

Cilan turns to me. "It's a hunch, but maybe they're saying someone stole their food!"

Iris frowns. "Who would do that?"

"Alright, I say we're ripe for some thinking time!" Cilan says.

We're all silent for a moment, but Snivy's vines come out of her neck again and wrap around Emolga's waist, lifting her up to my face.

I blink. "Emolga?"

"Hey, what's wrong with your tummy?" Iris asks her. Now that she mentions it, Emolga's tummy looks a little more swollen than usual.

Cilan gasps. "Aha! I've got it!"

I turn to him, my eyebrow raised, although I don't doubt him or anything he might say. "What is it, Cilan?"

"Point A—the Pokémon whose food were stolen are all male, correct?" The three of us nod. "Point B—Emolga's the only Pokémon who's full, and that means Emolga has to be the food thief!"

Bianca stares at him in confusion. "How'd Emolga pull that off?"

"By discreetly using Attract," the connoisseur explains, "and while Emolga's Attract was doing its work, voilà! It was the perfect time for Emolga to eat everyone's food. As the Attract wore off, the fighting broke out once they began to realize they had no idea who the thief was."

"That makes sense," Bianca says, nodding.

"Now that you mention it, Emolga does look guilty," I agree.

Iris suddenly jumps in between us and Emolga. "Just a minute! Emolga wouldn't do an awful thing like that!" She takes Emolga in her hands and hugs her. "Isn't that right, Emolga?" Emolga makes a light cooing noise, and tears form in her eyes. "You see? How dare you doubt the poor thing!"

Immediately, I feel guilty. "Um...well, I guess you're right. Sorry."

"I should know better than to be jumping into conclusions," Cilan adds softly.

"And I'm sorry, too," Bianca apologizes.

Iris turns to Emolga. "Hear that? They said they're sorry, so you can stop crying." Emolga, now happy, nuzzles up to Iris's cheek. "Hey, come on! That tickles!"

"Okay, lunch is over, and we're all packed up and ready to go," Cilan says.

A yawn escapes my mouth, and I feel my eyes droop. "Actually, I'm feeling kinda sleepy..."

Iris yawns, too. "Yeah, me, too."

"Well, I say we all need a nap!" Bianca suggests.

"And I say we should leave..." Cilan smiles at the sleepy look I give him. "...after we do just that."

As the four of us settle down on the ground with our Pokémon, I reply, "Now you're talking..."

Iris and Bianca lean against the tree and close their eyes, Axew and Emolga curled up near Iris, and Swadloon, Scraggy, Tepig and Oshawott curl up next to each other. Snivy settles down beside Cilan, who lays down on his back near the tree. I settle myself near Cilan's side, feeling the warmth radiate off of him. I smile as he places his hand on my shoulder, and I feel a sense of comfort wrap around me like a blanket. Pikachu settles himself on my stomach, making soft noises as he falls asleep.

With Pikachu on my stomach and Cilan's hand on my shoulder, I find myself drifting off to sleep.

"Pika pi! Pika pi!"

A small force shakes my shoulder, waking me up. My eyes open to see Pikachu's little face near mine.

"Pikachu..." I sit up and stretch, another yawn escaping me. "I was out like a light..." The others start to stir awake.

"Pika pikachu!" This time, he sounds more frantic.

"Axew's gone, and so is Emolga!" Iris gasps from her sleeping spot.

My eyes widen as I realize two of my Pokémon are missing as well. "Oshawott and Snivy are gone, too!"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu shouts.

I look at him. "Where'd they go, buddy?"

In a flash, Iris climbs the tree and looks out into the nearby forest through the top of the leaves. She eventually pokes her head down below to us.

"There's something going on over by those trees!"

I turn my head towards the forest. "Then let's check it out."

The four of us run into the forest and eventually come to a fallen tree, where we're able to see Axew crouching below an unconscious Oshawott, and a determined Snivy and scared Emolga.

"There they are!" My eyes widen. "Wait a minute! What's that?" I realize there's another Pokémon with them. It's quite large and the color of fire, looking like it has small flames on its body.

Simisear, the Ember Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pansear. Simisear loves to eat sweets, which sustain the fire that burns inside its body.

Simisear suddenly blows a hot stream of fire at Oshawott and Axew. It all happens so quick none of us can jump in to protect them.

"Oshawott!"

"Axew!"

Fortunately, Snivy jumps in and uses her glowing tail with a Leaf Blade attack to block the Flamethrower. Simisear, enraged, punches Snivy right in her stomach, which sends her flying into the ground. She glares at Simisear as it laughs evilly.

"Snivy's at quite a disadvantage against a Fire-type," Cilan murmurs from beside me.

"Quick, Emolga, help everyone out!" Iris yells to her.

Emolga looks from Iris to Simisear, to Axew and Oshawott, then to Snivy. Finally, she raises her hands and creates a few balls of green energy, firing them at Simisear. They hit it right in the face, and seeing this works, she keeps using the attack.

"Let's get Oshawott and Axew," I tell them. Now, while Emolga's distracting Simisear. The four of us jump over the fallen tree and run to the Pokémon. "Oshawott!" My poor sea otter's knocked out cold.

"Axew!" Iris gasps.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Simisear becoming furious at Emolga, who keeps dodging its attacks with ease.

"Simisear's anger is so thick you could slice it!" Cilan comments.

"It's scary!" Bianca adds.

Simisear suddenly uses Flamethrower on Emolga, burning the poor sky squirrel's backside. Iris cries out, "Emolga!"

Snivy's Vine Whip attack wraps around Simisear's ankle in a flash, bringing it down with ease. I smile at the Grass-type. "Nice move, Snivy!" She simply smirks in reply.

The fire from the Flamethrower is still streaming from Simisear, and it breaks off a piece of rock from the nearby mountain. The rock starts to tumble down towards Simisear, who's frozen in fear. Emolga and Snivy both launch their attacks—Emolga throws the energy balls from Hidden Power, which smash the rock into tiny pieces, and Snivy creates the storm of leaves from her Leaf Storm attack, blowing the pieces of the smashed up rock away from Simisear.

Standing up, Simisear looks at Snivy and Emolga, grunts, and walks off.

"It appears Simisear's mood is now a bit milder than it was before," Cilan says.

I smile at my grass snake. "Snivy, you were great!"

"You, too, Emolga!" Iris adds in. "The way you battled was so—" She freezes once she sees Emolga pick up an apple from the ground.

Still holding the apple, Emolga walks over to Snivy and glares at her. Snivy calmly returns the glare, not one of them moving.

"Now what are they doing?" I mutter.

Emolga grumpily hands the apple over to Snivy, who looks a bit shocked. Axew goes over to them, smiling. One of Snivy's vines comes out as she smiles, and it slices the apple into three pieces, one for Emolga, Axew, and Snivy herself.

"It appears those three are now friends," Cilan observes. "We've got a brand new recipe!"

Back at the campsite, Bianca turns to Iris. "Emolga, Axew and Excadrill. All three of your Pokémon have such unique personalities."

Iris smiles warmly. "It makes them all that much more fun to raise." She sighs happily. "Yes! I love a challenge."

"And I love the challenge of winning mg fourth Gym badge, too!" I tell them.

Bianca's eyes widen. "Huh?! Where did you get your third badge?!"

"The Castelia Gym." I take out the case from my back pocket and open it up, showing her the three badges. "See?"

Bianca gasps in shock. "I better get in gear. I'm going to the Castelia Gym this instant and battling it!" She starts to run off in the other direction, but stops and turns back to us. "Of course, I'll be seeing you all really soon! In the meantime, you take good care of yourselves!"

"We will!" I tell her. "See ya soon!"

"And next time, let's have another battle!" Iris shouts.

"And I'll make you a meal to remember!" Cilan adds.

Bianca's smile grows even wider. "Sounds great! Bye-bye!"

With that, she runs off, leaving te rest of us to continue our journey to Nimbasa City.

And there you have it! Chapter 25 has come to an end. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think, and be sure to check out the next chapter!