Note: If you're wondering why Volcanion's ring is broken in the flashback, this is explained in Earth's Protectors II.

It had been five months since the Hero Olympics ended, and things had been surprisingly peaceful during this time. Of course, the heroes of Edmonton along with their human friends took full advantage of this. Drizzile and Allie went out on plenty of dates while Scorbunny and Rillaboom did all they could to make up for the week they had spent out of commission.

Although since it was currently December, the main thing on everyone's mind was that Christmas was right around the corner. Everyone had already bought their presents, Drizzile getting a cool bracelet for Allie. All of them had agreed to get it done in November before the stores were jam-packed.

Tonight, however, was a pretty big deal as all six heroes had been invited to join Allie and her family for a big dinner. As if that was not exciting enough, they would get to meet the girl's grandparents tonight. While they all headed to her place dressed in winter coats, Drizzile tensed up and bit his lower lip with sweat running down his face.

"Hey, relax," Vaporeon said with a hand on his shoulder, "You'll be fine," the chameleon uttering, "But what if I embarrass myself? What if they don't approve of their granddaughter dating a reptile?"

"Oh, come on," Scorbunny giggled, "Humans and heroes have been a thing for ages. This sort of thing is normal. After all, your dad was human, right?" the chameleon blinking and replying, "Okay, you have a point there."

Morgrem chuckled, "Just be your awesome self. Seriously, you saved the world from a very dangerous threat not too long ago. Allie's grandparents would have to be insane not to support your relationship after all that."

Rolycoly nodded and said, "I still can't believe it. I'm being invited to a fancy dinner. Granted, I've eaten out with you guys a lot, but never at someone else's house."

"Yeah, and you get to have dinner with Geneva tomorrow, you lucky dog," Morgrem replied with a smirk, "I have to admit, I'm actually a little jealous of how close you two are."

"Yeah, it's strange," Rolycoly chuckled, "I'm surprised she only invited me. It makes me feel special," before turning to the goblin and uttering, "Not that I don't love hanging out with you, Morgrem."

Morgrem chuckled while the others smiled. They could not believe just how supportive Morgrem was. After all, Rolycoly was her best friend, but ever since he met Geneva, he had spent far more time with her than the goblin.

The group soon arrived at Allie's house, Vaporeon nodding at Drizzile and directing her hands toward the doorbell. After all, she felt that if anyone should ring it, it should be him. Thus he smiled and approached it before placing his hand up against it briefly.

It was not long before Wendy answered while dressed in her nicest green sweater. A big smile formed on her face as she said, "Well, well, well, now our little get together is complete. Come on inside right now. Mom and dad have been dying to meet you."

And so all six entered. But while it was easy for most of them to wipe their feet on the carpet before hanging up their coats, Rolycoly tensed up and thought, 'Okay, come on, man. You can do this without making a mess this time.'

As such, he slowly shifted his wheel against the carpet, breathing a sigh of relief when none of it flew onto the hardwood floor in front of it. And with that, everyone was soon gathered in a fairly big living room with a tree set up in the corner closest to the dividing line between the room and the entrance.

Two elderly people noticed the guests and smiled. The man introduced himself as Jasper and the woman Janette. Sure enough, it seemed Drizzile's fears were unfounded when both felt more than happy to meet him. After all, the only thing they needed to know about him was that he once helped save their granddaughter's life.

However, after giving Vaporeon, Rillaboom and Scorbunny a nice greeting as well, Janette glared at Morgrem and grunted, "Oh yes, I know you. You're the one who kidnapped our granddaughter," glaring into the goblin's eyes while she shuddered and held up her hands defensively.

Jasper let out a sigh and patted the elderly woman on the shoulder, saying, "There, there, Janette, you remember what Allie told us. All of these heroes are former villains. You remember how common that was back in the day, right?"

Janette bit her lip firmly and tensed up only for Allie to walk over to her, rub her shoulders and sigh, "Grandma, it's Christmas," the elderly woman sighing, "Well, if you've been spending time with her this whole time and you're still safe, I guess it's alright."

Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "Um, what about me?" both grandparents staring blankly at him while he thought, 'Oh, thank god. They have no idea who I am.'

Either way, everyone took a seat while an electric fireplace was lit. Wendy offered everyone rum and eggnog, Drizzile chuckling nervously and uttering, "I'll just have the eggnog."

"Oh, come on," Allie replied with a devious grin, "It's really good with rum. You gotta try it," only for the chameleon to bite his lower lip. Scorbunny noticed this and shook her head while making a neck slitting motion with her finger, Rillaboom giving Allie a serious look.

"Oh, never mind," the girl uttered with a light nervous chuckle, "It's not really all that good, anyway," a look of embarrassment on her face. She could not believe that in the five months she had dated Drizzile, she did not even know about his aversion to alcohol.

Thankfully, the next hour or so went by fine. Although Janette seemed to go a bit overboard with the rum herself. When she requested a third glass, Jasper rested a hand on her shoulder and shook his head with a sigh. Thus she folded her arms and pouted, glaring daggers at Morgrem again.

Wendy saw this and smiled, asking, "What say we all sing Christmas carols?" Brian nodding and replying, "What a great idea! What could be more festive?" a nervous look on his face.

Morgrem had a wide grin on her face as she squealed, "That sounds like fun! Earlier today, I heard the catchiest song on the radio!" before singing, "Grandma got run over by a-"

She then noticed Janette narrow her eyelids as she chuckled, "Oh, uh, I mean Frosty the Snowman, yeah," chuckling nervously while Rolycoly looked at her and uttered, "Grandma got run over by a what? Is she okay?"

Allie snuggled up next to Drizzile after everyone was given sheet music to work with. Brian then brought out a guitar and set up a music stand in front of himself for his own sheets. And when he found the first song, he smiled and asked, "Everyone ready?"

And so, he started to play before everyone joined in. At first, Janette seemed to calm down a lot while she and Jasper sang together, Drizzile and Allie both in surprisingly good harmony. But after a while, many noticed that Morgrem was singing louder than everyone else, so much so that it threw Janette off and made her lose her place halfway through.

As such, she frowned and grunted, "Brian, stop," the man doing just that before staring at her and enquiring, "Is something wrong?"

"No," Janette grumbled before rising to her feet, "I just need to go to the bathroom for a few minutes, maybe an hour. You can continue without me once I'm gone."

Everyone watched her exit the room with concern before Allie bit her lower lip. She understood entirely what the elderly woman felt. After all, it had taken her a while to trust Morgrem and Rolycoly as well. But even so, a part of her wanted to go and have a word with her.

Brian, however, grinned nervously and said, "Well, let's get back to carols," only for Wendy to sigh, "Actually, honey, I don't really feel like singing anymore. I'm gonna go comfort my mother."

But just as she was about to get up, Morgrem held out her hand and said, "No, you don't have to trouble yourself," the others turning to face her in confusion, "Allow me."

And so, once the goblin got up and exited the area, Scorbunny beamed bright and said, "I know something fun we can do until they get back," the others staring awkwardly at her.

Of course Janette had not really gone to the bathroom. Instead, she entered Wendy and Brian's bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed with her arms folded. She then looked over at a picture of her family and sighed, thinking, 'What is wrong with me? Jasper's right. This sort of thing happened all the time.'

At that moment, she remembered a time in her teen years when she was attacked by a red dinosaur with a sharp hunch on his back and two broken tubes that used to connect to form a ring named Volcanion. He stood before her and breathed heavily, eyeing a shopping bag she had in her hands and went for it, assuming there might be food in there.

However, at that exact moment, a dark-green cat named Sneasel raced into the area and scratched his cheek. Shortly after that, a large golem named Gigalith raced toward Volcanion, turned a horn made of gemstone on his forehead into a blade and rammed it into the dinosaur's forehead.

Unfortunately, despite having been weakened a long time ago, it seemed as if Volcanion still had fight left him him. As such, he was able to overpower both and slam them hard into the canvas with a move he called Steam Drop. And while this no longer had the same power is used to, it was still enough to leave them too weak to fight back.

But just as he headed toward Janette, she could see a look of desperation in his eyes. Thus she bit her lower lip and spat, "Wait!"

The dinosaur stared at her as she sighed, "You just want what's in my bag, right? Well, go on and take it if it'll make you happy."

Volcanion smirked and replied, "Thank you. If only all of my victims were this cooperative," only for the girl to reveal that all she had were a few books. His eyes went wide and his eye twitched, thus he gritted his teeth and growled, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT!? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME OR SOMETHING!?"

He then snatched the bag and looked through it, grunting, "Where are your groceries!?" the girl uttering, "Um, why did you think I had groceries in here? That's not even a grocery bag," Volcanion unable to find the correct response.

"Dammit!" he cursed, tossing the bag in front of her feet, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" ramming his fists into the pavement, "It didn't have to be this way! I was a goddamn general before that bitch, Machop, ruined my life!"

Janette stared in shock as she uttered, "Wait, did you once work for Xerneas and Yveltal?" the dinosaur nodding and grunting, "That's right. The others were arrested, but I had enough strength to escape. Even after my water blasters were destroyed, I'm still amazing. I mean, just look at how I totally wasted your city's heroes!" pointing at Sneasel and Gigalith, the cat hissing, "You know we can still hear you, right?"

Janette stared at the dinosaur and noticed tears in his eyes. Thus she sighed, "If you're so awesome, then why do you have to steal food from strangers?" Volcanion grunting, "Hey, can it! I could bust your head in right now!"

"Well, why don't you!?" the girl retorted with her arms folded, "I'm standing right here with no one to protect me!" Sneasel grunting, "We can still fight! We just need a few seconds to regain our strength!" Gigalith already trying his hardest to push himself back up.

Volcanion frowned and grunted, "I'll get you, but first, I'll knock these two out for good," but when he rose his fists, Janette sighed, "Who are you trying to fool?"

The dinosaur turned to face her as she sighed, "I think I know what's going on. You've lost your position of power and now you feel like you have nothing left. But it doesn't have to be this way. It's like you said. Even though you're not as strong as you were when you fought Machop, you're still strong enough to defeat two powerful heroes at once."

"So what's your point?" Volcanion retorted only for Sneasel to gasp, "You know, she has a point," a grin on her face, "We could use a guy like you on our team."

The dinosaur was about to chew her out for even thinking this, but something about the way she and Gigalith were willing to give him such a chance moved him. Granted, a part of that was because they themselves used to be in the same boat, but even so, this seemed like a good idea. As such, he frowned and grunted, "Damn straight you guys could use my help! Seriously, that was pathetic! I'll make sure you two are the ultimate fighting machines!"

Sneasel grinned at Gigalith who implied a smile with his eyes. Janette nodded as Volcanion turned to her and laughed lightly, rubbing the back of his head.

Back in present time, the elderly woman took a deep breath when Morgrem entered the area and said, "Um, hi," Janette turning to face her while she continued, "Look, I don't blame you for hating me. My life at the time wasn't very good and I was just following orders, but that's no excuse for what I did. I'm not gonna leave because then the others will be upset, but I'll make sure to avoid making any sort of contact with you for the rest of the evening."

"Wait," Janette replied as she held out her hand, "You have nothing to apologize for. Look, I'm sure you had your reasons for using my granddaughter as a hostage, but at least you did learn your lesson. I really shouldn't judge you off of how you used to be. That's not fair to you."

Morgrem stared silently, but before she could question any of this, the elderly woman stood up and gave her a hug, saying, "Thank you for being friends with Allie. She's been alone for so long because of her height, yet you and the others have helped so much with that."

Morgrem smiled softly and patted Janette on the back. She felt no need to say anything at this point. Needless to say, it seemed like the evening had been saved.

When the two returned, they were surprised to see the others balancing paper plates on their heads while drawing on them with felt markers. Jasper, meanwhile, described what they were to draw when they all noticed Janette and Morgrem right there. Thus they held their plates in place before the goblin uttered, "The hell are you all doing?"

Soon enough, both joined in with the game Scorbunny had suggested. As it so happened, this was something she and her family used to do all the time. And while it seemed strange at first, everyone had fun.

After that, they resumed singing Christmas carols and ultimately had a great time. Needless to say, Janette was beyond grateful to have met Allie's friends tonight. Things may have started off rocky, but they turned out great in the end.

Soon, it was time for everyone to head home, Vaporeon and the others bowing their heads. The fox shook Brian and Wendy's hands, saying, "Thanks so much for having us," Rillaboom adding, "Yeah. This was really nice. Maybe once I move back home, I could spend the holidays like this."

She then sighed before Scorbunny patted her on the shoulder and gave her a sweet smile. After all, she was fully aware of the fact that up until now, Rillaboom had never been able to celebrate the holidays, what with her family having been poor for so long.

Drizzile and Allie embraced one-another and shared a quick kiss before they wished each other a goodnight and headed off. While they walked along, they all smiled and hoped for something similar next year. After all, this had been one of the nicest nights they had ever experienced.

While they were headed home, Vaporeon looked up and noticed a flash of light streak across the sky. She blinked and said, "Oh, wow, a falling star," Morgrem and Rolycoly grinning at each other and exclaiming, "Time to make a wish!"

As such, both closed their eyes and cupped their hands together, Scorbunny doing the same while Drizzile and Rillaboom chuckled at them. They then decided to do the same as well since there was no harm in it. And once they were finished making their own mental wishes, they all resumed their trip home in high spirits.

Unfortunately for them, that was not a shooting star that they saw. As it so happened, there were three figures, two wolves and a dragon, headed for Earth, and somehow, neither of them needed to ride in a space shuttle to get there.

Both wolves had blue fur but different features to distinguish them from one-another. One of them, a female to be exact, had a golden mask over her eyes that resembled a crown with a pink vein-like mark down the middle along with matching armour over her ears. She had long pink braids that looked more like large ribbons and a matching tail that looked like a big rake. The fur coming from her shoulders arched backward and resembled a pair of blue and golden wings while two fin-like formations could be seen on her rear end. Finally, attached to her right braid was what appeared to be a long yellow sword with a blue gem on the bottom of the handle and pink marks that also looked like veins.

The other's blue fur served more as a cape and a ponytail as most of the fur on his torso was red. His mask covered most of his face with a saw-shaped formation over his snout. Attached to his chin and reaching all the way down to his midsection was red and golden fur that resembled a shield, two wing-like portions on his shoulders. His hands had blue fur that resembled gauntlets while his arms and legs were white.

The dragon, meanwhile, looked more like the skeleton of one as he was made entirely out of blue and black bones with a strawberry red energy keeping them together. He had four spikes sticking out the back of his head, toes and fingers that looked more like blades and two long wings that looked like locks of hair. If one were to look at his face, they would just barely be able to see an actual dragon skull underneath the energy that held his spikes in place.

Currently, all three were flying through the stratosphere. A red energy surrounded the wolves to keep them from suffocating while the female enquired, "Sir, where are we landing? You still haven't told us."

The dragon nodded and replied, "Worry not. We're almost there. If what I have sensed is correct, this place will have the best candidates for our little test."

The male wolf took a deep breath and replied, "I hope they are worthy. This is a rather nice looking planet and it would be a real shame if they failed."

Just who were these creatures and what exactly did they want? Whatever it was, it did not seem good, not in the slightest.