lWe were walking back to the city. Sonic and I were ready to challenge the Gym. But then someone walked up to us.
It was a woman with long, brown hair. She had a black headband on. She wore a black shirt with a jean jacket. And black sweatpants with white shoes.
"Huh? Tess? Is that you?" She asked. Tess smiled since she knew who she was.
"Aunt Chloe!" She exclaimed, and she ran up to the woman and hugged her.
"Wow! What a surprise reunion!" Sonic said.
"You could say that again." I replied. Chloe looked at us.
"Oh, you two! You are the ones who stopped Team Eclipse from raiding our city!" She exclaimed. Sonic and I were surprised. Jake just stared blankly.
"How did you know?" I asked.
"I was looking across from my house," Chloe responded, "I was about to visit her, but I saw those Team Eclipse people coming to her and threatening her and her Grandpa! I saw you two running up the ramp to save her!"
"Well... we did do a good job. It was a close call." Sonic said with a nervous smile.
"Would you three like to come for dinner? It is the holiday season after all! Plus, it is pretty chilly outside. You should come inside for some warmth." Chloe insisted.
"I would love to!" Jake cheered.
"Sure. We'll come." I said, and Sonic nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful! Just follow me. My house is over there." Chloe instructed. We followed to her to a house. It was small, but... I guess it's decent.
There were a few more people there once we all went inside. I assume they're all Tess's family members.
"Hello everyone!" Tess greeted. And she spent her time talking to her family. Chloe had a big smile on her face.
"So... they're all related to Tess? They're part of her family?" Sonic asked.
"Yes. If only her mom and dad were here. But... they haven't come in a long time." Chloe said.
"Do you know what happened to them? Did they pass away?" I asked.
"All I heard was that they disappeared. That's all I know." Chloe replied. She took a deep breath, and then she decides to change the subject.
"Dinner will not be ready for a while. Why don't you guys let your Pokémon play outside the city?" She insisted.
"You know, that's actually a good idea. They've been inside their Poke Balls for a while." I responded.
"Well then, let's do it!" Sonic cheered.
"I should let mines play as well." Tess said. And we went outside the house. The only people beside be are Jake, Tess and Sonic.
"Everyone, come on out!" We all yelled in unison. My Pokémon were the first to come. Frogadier, Charmeleon, then Nidorino and Tyrunt. Rhyhorn came last.
Then Sonic's came. Lycanroc, then Quilladin, and then Brionne. Togepi jumps out of Sonic's arms and goes to the other Pokémon.
Then Jake's. Vaporeon, Blitzle and Nidorino. I wonder what kind of Pokémon Tess has.
She only had 3 (technically 4 since Frillish was caught). Gabite, Shelgon, and Axew. And of course, Frillish was there as well.
"You have all Dragon types?" I asked.
"Those kinds of Pokémon interested me when I was in summer camp as a little girl." Tess replied.
"Let's head back inside. The family might be waiting." Sonic suggests. And the others went inside the house. I looked at all the Pokémon before meeting up with them.
"Have fun, guys! Don't get in trouble! We'll call you back inside when dinner is ready!" I said, and then I disappeared inside the house until they didn't see me.
But they're good Pokémon. Heck, they might even have a tiny little adventure.
-Nifty's Frogadier's POV-
I looked around with a smile. We were playing around for a bit until our trainers come back. My new pals that have been with me since the start of my journey we're doing fun stuff. Charmeleon and Nidorino were battling. Not too harsh. Just a friendly one.
"Gotcha now!" Nidorino laughed. But Charmeleon got the upper hand and pushed him back.
"Have at thee!" Charmeleon yelled back. And they continued their friendly battle.
"Hey, Frogadier. What do you want to do?" Rhyhorn asked me.
"Not sure. I mean, I know we're free to play. Maybe we should explore around." I replied.
"Suit yourself." Tyrunt said. I looked some more. Quilladin and Brionne were having a small argument.
"Sonic needs my attention! He's so cool!" Brionne yelled.
"We can share it together! Why do you have to be this way?" Quilladin shouted. I just sighed. I saw Lycanroc with Frillish. I peek just to see it.
"I-I'm really sorry for trying to h-hurt you when I was still with Kevin. D-Do you forgive me?" Frillish asked, a little bit teary eyed.
"Pal, it takes some time. I will think about it. But I'll give you a chance since Kevin released me as well." Lycanroc replied.
Nothing else interesting going on. Jake's Pokémon were introducing themselves to Tess's Pokémon. Yeah, she seems like a nice girl.
Nifty is just... this really cool guy. I know how he acts and why he is that way. He gets angry by stuff easily, but he's calm enough to know he cannot hit them, or else something bad will happen. A small slap would be okay. But he knows how to control a punch or a kick very well.
Then... something else got my attention.
I look by the gateway, and I saw a red and white figure.
"Huh? What in the world?" I said confused. Charmeleon walked to me.
"Distracted? What are you seeing?" He asked. I pointed to the figure.
"Maybe it needs help." Charmeleon suggested.
"Help? What kind of help?" Quilladin asked as he runs over to us.
"Brionne still giving you a hard time?" I said with a smirk.
"Unfortunately, yes. I understand Sonic is good, but she wants to much of it and just wants it to herself." Quilladin explained.
"Hey, Frogadier! What's up, pal!" Vaporeon greeted.
"There's a red and white figure there. It's wandering around, and we're thinking of checking it out." I explained the situation to him.
"I'll come along. It's nothing I cannot handle." Vaporeon insisted.
"'Kay. Let's go." I said. The only ones following me were Charmeleon, Vaporeon and Quilladin. The others were playing or talking.
When we got closer, we saw who it was. It had red skin and white fur. It also held a white bag. It's a Delibird.
"Huh? What is a Delibird doing here?" Charmeleon asked. Speaking of which, Delibird notices us.
"Oh! Who are you four? Here to help?" He asked us.
"Is something wrong? You look a bit panicked." Quilladin wondered.
"I am looking for Santa. We were riding in the sleigh to help give presents to the kids, but somehow... we got separated." Delibird explained.
"Do you remember where you last saw him?" Vaporeon asked.
"He said he might be coming here. But I don't know when. If we don't find each other soon, then Christmas will be a disaster!" Delibird cried.
"Don't worry. We will help you find him." I said.
"Yeah! If he got hurt, then we know exactly what to do! We are pretty good battlers!" Charmeleon exclaimed.
"Oh gosh. T-Thank you guys so much! Come, we should start before it's too late!" Delibird insisted. We all nod, and we walk around the city to look for Delibird's partner.
It might be a little bit hard.
*a few minutes later*
We were still looking around. It's true, Santa is a bit hard to find. Quilladin was checking the left side of the city, while Vaporeon was checking the beach. Charmeleon and I were by each other. We're like connected partners.
"He's still not around, Delibird. He's probably late." I said. Delibird lowered his head in sadness. Then... I heard a familiar sound.
Jingle bells. And the sound of Stantler footsteps. I looked up at the sky. There were a group of Stantler, one with a red nose, flying in the sky. A red sleigh attached some leashes to them. And then this sound was heard:
"Ho ho ho!"
"He's here! SANTA IS HERE!" Delibird screamed excitedly.
"Hey! Over here!" Charmeleon shouted while waving his hand up in the air. I also called for his name, doing the same thing Charmeleon is doing. Reason is because we hope Santa will notice us. The sleigh came down near the gateway to the city.
The Stantler land on the ground, and the sleigh does too. Santa climbs down it, his feet on the ground. All of us run up to him. Even the others back there who are still playing.
"Santa! You came!" Delibird yelled happily.
"I was wondering where you were. Let's make sure to never separate during our trips again." Santa said.
I just waved at him. I knew Santa cannot understand me through talking, and that goes for all Pokémon unless the trainer was like... an expert or something like that.
"I think I know where your trainers are at this moment. I have a little something to give to them." Santa replied.
-Nifty's POV-
"Then the Grunt tried to take Togepi when she was still in the egg! I slapped the Grunt across the face and told him to back the hell off!" I explained a small story. While dinner was still cooking, I was telling some stories about different things. Even current stuff right now.
"You didn't cause too much damage... right?" Tess asked.
"No. I don't go too far. That's the farthest I go up to." I replied. And then we heard a knock at the door.
"Eh. I'll get it. Got nothing better to do anyway." I said with a shrug.
"Maybe it's someone important." Sonic suggested. And he follows me to see who it is.
When I open the door, I saw Frogadier and Quilladin.
"Guys? Is this a joke, or... did something terrible happen?" I asked.
"Dier." Frogadier croaked. He moves out of the way, and Quilladin does too. Then someone came to us, leaving both Sonic and I surprised. That red outfit... that white beard... the huge sleigh and sack full of presents...
"SANTA?!" Both of us screamed. I can tell Jake and Tess we're surprised as well, so they ran over to us once they heard our scream.
"Your Pokémon here helped me find my Delibird, and I thank them for that. I realize that these Pokémon here belong to you... Nifty Weaka and Sonic Harknah." Santa explained.
"Wow. Our own Pokémon helped out." Sonic said with a smile.
"You know... I do wait until Christmas Day, but... I'm going to give you two an early gift." Santa said. He pulls out a small present. When he opened it, there were two objects. Both of them were spheres. One was blue with a black diamond inside, and the other was orange with a red diamond inside.
"Choose wisely." Santa warned.
"Which one do you want to pick, Nifty?" Sonic asked me.
"I'm gonna go for the orange one. Orange is my second favorite color." I replied.
"Okay then. I'll pick the blue one." Sonic said. And we take our respective stones of our choice.
"You two be good for the rest of this year, alright? I'll see you two maybe... in the morning of Christmas." Santa said. He walks back to the sleigh, and the Delibird hops on. Once Santa was on, the whips the leash lightly, and the Stantler fly away. I hear these last words from him as Sonic and I look up at the sky.
"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!"
And I smiled. A big memory begins to play in my head.
-Nifty 6 years old POV-
I was visiting someone today. Or rather... mom and dad were. They told me that some of their work connects with these two people. More arch...ae... dang it, I still cannot remember the word. It is too complicated!
Turns out once we went inside... it was a laboratory.
"Hey, Nifty! These friends we have also have a kid around your age. You two could be great friends!" Mom said happily.
"Really? Well... I guess so. I've never been here before." I replied.
"You weren't born by the time we were visiting here from time to time." Dad said with a chuckle.
While waiting, two people came. The first was a girl with long, blue hair. She wore glasses and a white dress, along with gray pants and white shoes. The second person was a man with black hair. He also wore glasses, and a white lab coat. He wore white pants and black shoes.
So I can obviously tell: these two aren't archeapathathathatha or what ever the heck they were called. They are... scientists.
And someone else ran down to see them. They were right, this kid is around my age. He had blue hair, and he wore a red shirt, black pants and orange shoes.
"Okay, now... why don't you kids go play with each other? We have some work to do. It's... very busy." Mom suggested. I nodded, and I look at the kid. He motions me to come with him. I followed him.
He leads me to what I assume is his room. It was small, but has a couple posters of movie characters.
"So, um... you're the archeologists kid. Right?" The new kid asked me.
"Yes I am." I replied.
"I should introduce myself. I'm Sonic Harknah. Very well known since my name is based off a video game character." The kid said.
"Well, it is nice to meet you, Sonic. My name is Nifty." I said, introducing myself.
"Were you born with that hair color?" Sonic asked.
"Yes actually. Pretty rare to see a person with lava styled hair, huh?" I said with a smirk.
"My hair is natural as well. I guess we have something in common." Sonic responded.
"You know? I bet we will become great friends." I said with a huge grin on my face.
-Nifty's POV-
I remember that day like it was yesterday. The greatest day of all, when I met Sonic for the first time ever. Sonic had that same sympathetic look. He must've had the same memory as I did.
"If only our parents came. We would've had a great time with them hanging out with us." Sonic said.
"Same, dude. I wish it as well." I replied. And somehow... I felt something wet in the corner of my eyes. Sonic had a couple tears as well. I knew what was in my eyes as well.
Sonic looked at me.
"Was that a tear in you eyes, Nifty?" He asked. That response made me shake my head frantically to get them away. I looked at Sonic with a scowling look.
"N-No, shut up." I almost didn't notice myself stutter like that. I'm not the kind of person who usually stutters. That came as a surprise to me.
"That's just one thing we know. We'll go after Team Eclipse..." Sonic started.
"Save our parents, and save the world from their evil plans." I finished his sentence. We shake hands like the true pals we are.
"We're a team, and we are in this together." I responded with a smirk. Sonic smiled back.
"Okay, everyone! Dinner is ready! Come help yourselves!" Chloe called from inside.
"That's our cue. We eat, and then we should start battling for the gym." Sonic suggested.
"Our plan is complete." I replied.
What a great time. I'll have to add Tess to our Brick Bronze group when I show everyone my plans as our own little army against Team Eclipse.
For now, friendship and family will always triumph forth.
A/N: Yaaaay, I finally did it! New chapter is here :D! I'll see every single one of you next time, when the action comes back in the Rosecove City Gym. Have a wonderful day, and Merry Christmas! ;)