Hello hello hello, and welcome back to 'All I Want For Christmas is a Pokémon'! I know it's probably taken me a while to update this, but I ...admittedly haven't been feeling the best lately (I largely chalk that up to the burnout that comes from babysitting my nephew (his crawling speed ...it's pretty fast)). ...But, worry not! I plan to do my best to get this finished. ...Like with lots of good stuff, it's just going to take some time.

Now, I know last chapter, we saw Stephanie join AJ and Alex as a member of Team No Pokémon (outside of when Vince loans her his Persian...how nice) in their search for the ever elusive stowaway while Paige and Emma had a close encounter with the stowaway (poor Quackie after that way too close call...). But, this chapter, I thought 'How has the search been going for other members of the roster?' Well, let's just take a look and see, shall we? I hope you all enjoy this, my dolls. =)

Randy Orton and The Miz

"Of all the search parties I could be on, it had to be yours," Miz scoffed as he sent a look of irritation over to his search partner.

"Hey, I'm not too thrilled about this, either," Randy defended himself. "You think I want to be on your team to look for this stowaway? I could find it myself. Maybe even add it to my team."

"Please," Miz snorted. "Like whatever this stowaway is would want to team up with a bunch of stupid snakes."

"Se?" "Kans?" Randy's Seviper and Ekans could be heard saying as they turned around and slithered toward their Trainer.

"I could say the same about your team of walking sparkplugs," Randy fired back with a scoff.

"Nec?" "Mi?" Miz's Manectric and Minun could be heard as they joined their Trainer.

"Don't listen to him, boys," Miz said as he reached down and petted the Manectric's spiky yellow fur before he picked up his Minun and gave it similar treatment. "He's probably just still upset about when we nearly beat him last time."

"Yeah. 'Nearly beat'. But, me and my team got you last time," Randy smirked as he rubbed his Seviper and Ekans's heads, the serpent closing its eyes as a pleased "Viper" and "Ekans'' could be heard coming from the serpents.

Scoffing as he rolled his eyes and set Minun back on the ground, Miz said "Whatever. Let's just try to find this thing before the show. ...Although, I'll say this now. Me and you. Rubber battle. Next time, the A-lister will be the one to come out as the winner."

"You name the time and place and it'll be on," Randy said with a smirk as he and Miz went back to their search.

...

Jeff Hardy and Maryse

"I have to say, Jeffrey. You've been quite helpful with this search," Maryse said to her rainbow-haired partner as her Delcatty walked ahead of the pair with her partner's Smeargle, the pair of Pokémon checking under tables.

"I'm glad you think so, Maryse. I could say the same about you," Jeff said before adding with a grin "Madame."

"Merci (thank you)," Maryse smiled a bit as she could feel her cheeks start to warm. Her smile dropping, the platinum blonde said "And ...I want to apologize for being mean to your sister in the past. I guess you could say I was a bit jalouse (jealous) of her and how it seems like she hasn't had any real troubles here. Even after most of us have come into Pokémon of our own, she hasn't let it bother her that she doesn't have any of her own."

"Oh, that's nothing to apologize about, Maryse. I mean, yeah, you did make Lexi upset back then when it seemed like you'd always go after her, but she never dwelled on any of that that much. She just let that help toughen her up. Same with her not having a Pokémon yet. Me, Matt, our dad, and the rest of our family have always told her that in time, she'll have one of her own. So, it's nothing that you have to apologize for," Jeff assured the platinum blonde. "Although, I think this is stuff you should probably tell Lexi when we see her."

"Yes, I suppose I should when I see her again," Maryse nodded. "I just hope she'll hear me out."

"Don't worry about that, Maryse. I'm sure Lexi'll be more than open to hearing you out," the rainbow-haired man said with a reassuring smile.

...

Evan Bourne and Curt Hawkins

"So. How've things been?" Evan awkwardly asked his search partner as he watched his Monferno climb and look around the equipment crates.

"Good, good. Can't complain really. My Aipom learned Mach Punch, so hopefully, that'll give me an edge in my battles," Curt responded, keeping his eye on his Aipom as it mirrored Blaze's actions.

"Mach Punch, eh? That's one strong move it learned," Evan said.

"Thanks. Gotta make sure my Aipom's ready for anyone that tries to challenge him," Curt said, a satisfied smirk crossing his face.

"Well, if you do have any battles soon, try to keep that move saved for a surprise attack. Wouldn't want your future opponents to get too easy of a win over you both, would you?" Evan suggested as a bit of strategy.

"Huh. I wasn't even thinking that far ahead with battles," Curt said. "Thanks for that tip, Evan. Got any other advice on what to do during a battle?"

"I might," Evan began to think. "Well, for starters, if I was in your shoes…."

...

Natalya and Beth Phoenix

"Come on, Nat. You need to let it go. Like me and some of the others have told you many times before, I'm sure they'll make more shirts for you," Beth tried to calm her tag partner down as they looked around for the elusive stowaway.

"I know, Beth, I know. It's just ...it still just makes me mad, you know?" Natalya huffed as she and the other blonde followed behind their Pokémon, her Skitty and Beth's Teddiursa. "Why anyone would want to go through the trouble of destroying someone else's things ...it's just beyond me."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Nat," Beth assured the Canadian. "Besides, when you find the ass that wrecked your shirt, I'm sure you'll teach them a lesson they won't easily forget."

"You're damn right I will," Natalya proudly grinned, getting a laugh out of her tag partner.

...

Naomi and Zack Ryder

"I'm still surprised you wanted to partner up with me, Zack," Naomi said, walking along with the spiky-haired brunette as they looked for the stowaway with their own Pokémon, her Buneary and his Cyndaquil looking around under tables. "I thought for sure you would've tried to join Paige and Emma on their team."

"I was thinking about doing that, but I changed my mind. Wouldn't want to be nearby if someone's Pokémon uses Sing and people start falling asleep. I still can't believe I got caught in that last time," the Long Island native responded with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, well," Naomi began with a snicker. "Maybe next time, that'll teach you to not egg people on to battle when Stephanie's trying to have a meeting."

"Yeah, I think I learned that lesson after I woke up and saw what our favorite graffiti artists did to mine and most everyone else's faces," Zack laughed.

"That was pretty funny how they got you guys," Naomi joined Zack in his laughter.

"Buneary?" "Cynda?" both Pokémon could be heard saying as they both looked at their Trainers, feeling a bit confused by their laughter.

"It's okay, Buneary," Naomi laughed a bit as she knelt down and petted the tuft of yellow fur on top of one of the bunny Pokemon's ears. "Me and Zack were just having a laugh about something."

"Woo woo woo! You know it!" Zack smiled, doing his signature fist pump with each "Woo".

"Cyn da quil! Cyndaquil!" the fiery Pokémon responded as it mimicked its Trainer's fist pumping by punching at the air with one of its paws, getting laughter out of Buneary and their Trainers before they went back to their search.

...

Kaitlyn and Layla

"You find anything over there, Lay?" Kaitlyn asked after bending up from where she was looking around in an equipment crate.

"No. No strays over here, love," Layla said, making her way over to the two-toned woman. "Marill, you and Bulby have any luck?"

"Mare…." "Sa…." Both Pokémon answered, notes of sadness coloring their voices over not having found any signs of the stowaway.

"Aww. It's okay, Bulby. I'm sure we'll find it in time. You've been doing your best to help out. And that's all we're asking for," Kaitlyn smiled as she petted Bulby's bulb.

"Sa," Bulby smiled in thanks.

"Kaitlyn's right, Marill. As long as you two do your best to help us look, that's all we want," Layla smiled as she knelt down and scooped her Pokémon in a hug.

"Marill, Mare," Marill smiled at her Trainer.

Watching as Layla set Marill back on the ground before both Pokémon went off to begin their search again, Kaitlyn asked "So, what do you think Steph wanted to see AJ and Alex about?"

"Not sure, Kait. Maybe it could be something about the search," Layla wondered. "Maybe she told them that they didn't have to take part if they didn't want to. You know, what with them being Pokémonless and all."

"Could be. I just wish there was some way we could help AJ out with that," Kaitlyn sighed. "Maybe one of us could help her with finally catching a Pokémon of her own. It'd definitely help her not be so down about not having any yet."

"I think that's a lovely idea, Kait," Layla smiled. "We should bring that up to her when we see her again. After all, what's the worst that could happen with that idea?"

"Well, worst thing could be that she says No. But, hey. It's a suggestion, at least. Can't hurt to try asking her about that," Kaitlyn shrugged.

Well, across the teams shown here, it seems like they all had similar results, said results being ...they couldn't find the stowaway. ...But, it's not all that bad. Randy and Miz set up a rubber match in their little series, Jeff and Maryse (quite cutely) had a nice chat, Beth helped calm Natalya down over her shirt getting shredded (...still think it sounds cute...jussayin'), Naomi and Zack had a pretty funny talk of their own (xXLadyRachelXx, I hope you liked Cyndaquil in this chapter), and Kaitlyn and Layla had some talks of their own to both reassure their Pokémon after their search came up empty and with how to help AJ with her Pokémon-based dilemma. Sure seems like a lot happened here, so it'll be interesting to see how things have been going for AJ, Alex, and Stephanie. So, just how will their search go? We shall find out ...next time. Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)

(Stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and good vibes out to you all*)