"And three, two, one…we are live!"

The spotlight shined down on me, illuminating the living room and the snow roaring behind me outside the window. I turned and bowed to the audience.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Fifth Annual Christmas Special! I hope you all have been having a fantastic 2020! A wonderful year where nothing bad ever happened! Nothing at all! Hahahahahaha!"

I held a large, forced smile on my face as my right eye twitched. Ryder stepped into frame, sipping his hot cocoa. "Keep telling yourself that, Brad."

I sighed and collapsed into my chair. "Okay, I think we can all collectively agree 2020 has been one of the worst years in…well, a long time. Aside from…certain events taking place in November I have no interest in discussing, the whole of the year has been pretty chaotic with the coronavirus going around. I've thankfully managed to avoid catching it, though that's mostly because I live like a hermit."

I sat up and smiled. "But hey, not a total waste. I've officially graduated from college, and I'm using this time to acquire my masters. Plus, heh, maybe 2021 will turn out better?"

Ryder sat down on the couch. "Keep staying optimistic, I'm sure it'll work out for you."

"I can't tell if you're being genuine or sarcastic."

"Didn't you say you were going to make some edits to that short story of mine?"

"I'll get to that when I get to that! Sheesh!" I sighed, then smiled. "Actually, that'll be a fun topic to discuss once we start rolling in with the questions. I have some short stories still in the works, along with one other little pet project of mine that has been brought up before. I think you'll understand what I mean when we bring in our lovely guests later. Wait, is it even a good idea to have so many people here?"

Ryder rolled his eyes. "Bud, we're a completely separate plane of reality. No need for social distancing here."

"Good point. Speaking of, how's about we tune in to our favorite android, Laura? I'm sure she'll want to be here when we talk about her short story." I pulled out a remote and lowered the ceiling screen.

An image pulled through, showing the android Pikachu hanging out in a festive tavern with a few patrons hanging in the background. She wore a thick jacket and a mask around her face. She waved at the screen. "Yo, I was waiting for you to call."

"Happy Holidays, my robotic friend!" I exclaimed.

"Not. A robot," she hissed.

"Haha! Missed you, too."

Ryder raised his brow. "Laura, where are you?"

"You know how Brad is able to bring his characters to where you are? I hopped through one of the portals and ended up in this sweet tavern in the Algus Kingdom. I figured I could chill here for my vacation."

"That's all fine and dandy, but…you are aware there's no virus in Virdis, right? And…you're an android. You can't get sick."

Laura blinked, then pulled her mask down. "Huh. Kind of slipped my mind there. Oh well!" She leaned forward and grinned. "So, what's on this year's agenda? What philosophical topic do you have for us?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't get philosophical during these things. Maybe nostalgic, but regardless." I smiled. "If you must know, I have some things I want to share this time around. I figured since I have all this free time to work with, I could spend some days working on my short stories. Plus, I want to finally unveil that special project I brought up last year since we're finally making progress on TSOTI and BOTF."

"Ah, so discussions regarding those little stories?"

"I figured they're worth going in-depth over. Heart and Soul of the Machine, Darkmon Region Road Trip, Bandit of the Outlands, Team Shatter Star's Beginning, Phoenix Knight's Path for a bit, and finally resuming progress on Ryder's Fear. I figure I might as well talk about them to get people psyched for when I get going. However, that's not the only story I want to talk about."

Laura grinned. "Ooh, you mean your little Death Battle parody?"

"I wouldn't call it a parody, but yeah: Ultimate Arena."

"Fun, fun. When should I expect my matchup? I want to crush whatever loser you set me up against."

"When I finished your side story, that's when you'll get to compete. You still have a lot of progress to get through since Forest of No Light has a couple continuations left. Not sure I'll EVER get to those…"

"Is that all for this year?" Ryder asked.

"Not quite. At the end of our final session, I figured I should talk a little more about, well, me. For those of you that read my bio, you'll know the basics of how I got onto this site. I figured…why not expand more on that?"

"How so?"

"Well, looking back, I would've never found this site if it weren't for a random bit of luck. I only managed to find this site because I was really into this one show back then. Still am, even now. And that fanfiction that I found because of it…may have been my first bit of inspiration getting into writing in the first place." I chuckled. "It's…actually kind of funny.

"I remember getting PMs from people saying how much they were inspired by my writing. Back then, I never considered this to be my intended path in life. I look back at my early stuff and recoil at the mistakes and stupid contrivances I've made. Either people are too nice to say anything, or maybe getting writing advice from people on a fanfiction site isn't the way to go. Seriously, there are some terrible stories on this site. I recommend looking up Matthais Unidostres. His "Keldeo the Critic" series not only covers these types of stories, but also shows why the average viewer on this site isn't the best judge of character.

"Though, I do appreciate the people who do offer me criticism constructively and without acting like arrogant, higher-than-thou pricks about it." I sighed. "Back on track, I also found inspiration in something and I wish to not only share one of my favorite shows with you all, but also the fanfiction that got me interested in writing in the first place."

Ryder smiled. "I suppose we all could use some feel good cheer this time of year. Sounds like a plan to me."

Laura nodded. "Agreed. Are we still doing questions?"

"Absolutely! Although, because I don't want this to get too bogged down with questions like last year, I'm limiting everyone to only two questions. If I get three or more, I'm picking the two that interest me the most. I figure we might as well talk about what's to come soon, kind of like what I did talking about future BOTF characters."

Ryder nodded. "So, Session 2 will be discussing stories, and Session 3 will talk about what got you into fanfiction in the first place. Gotcha."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

I grinned. "Well, I have some guests to invite over who are…kind of important to our first topic." We heard a knock at the door. "What perfect timing." I got up and walked to the door. "The first of our guests have arrived!"

I swung the door open and let our first two guests in. Pandora Day, green-eyed Growlithe and lead inventor of the Foresters, and Lenny, bartender Emboar of the beloved Enchanted Bar of Quartz Plain Village.

"Welcome, you two!"

Pandora smirked. "A pleasure to be here, Brad! I look forward to taking part in your human holiday again. I have words for that mall Santa who said I was on the naughty list, too!" she growled.

I laughed. "Riiiiight. And Lenny, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to be with us."

Lenny nodded. "Happy to be here."

Laura raised her brow. "Wait, of all the people you invited, you chose some extra?"

"That's what I said!" Pandora exclaimed with an annoyed huff.

"Heh," I mumbled as I stepped aside from Lenny. "Yeah, I'll explain that later." I started closing the door, but it was kicked back open, knocking me over. "WAH!"

"What up, losers?!" a loud-mouthed Buneary wearing a black duster and a wide, bandage-stripped scarf announced, guzzling down her scotch. "Where's the eggnog at?"

A pale blue Weavile with yellow feathers and a gray scarf/hood combo stepped in after her. He smirked and saluted to me as I was sprawled out on the floor. "Thanks for the invite."

I wheezed. "Ebony…Asher…welcome. Give me a minute…"

Another Buneary poked her head through the door and looked down at me. "Uh, hi. I brought crème puffs." She presented a covered platter to me.

"Melissa!" Pandora slid over and grappled the princess. "Get in here! The party's just starting!" She dragged Melissa over to the couch.

I sat up and sighed. "Phew…"

"That everyone?" Ryder asked.

"No. We got one more guest coming soon."

"You mean me?" I looked up and smiled at the Charmeleon entering the house, dressed in a white jacket, black shirt, and gray jeans. He smiled back at me. "Hey. It's been a while."

Laura's eyes widened. "Wait, is that…Jango Phoenix?!"

Jango saluted to her. "Hey Laura." He helped me back to my feet and walked over to the couch. "Since Brad wants to talk about Phoenix Knight's Path, he figured bringing me onboard was a good idea."

"Huh. Makes sense."

I rotated my shoulder, then plopped down into my chair with a sigh. "Not a big get-together, but no less lively." I smiled and leaned back in my seat. "Well, let's not waste anymore time. Time to get this party started…and say good freakin' bye to 2020! Welcome, one and all, to—" The Pokémon sprung up and exclaimed together:

"PM64's Fifth Annual Christmas Special!"