"I'm sure you've heard this from almost everyone that went through something like this, but it doesn't feel like a day has passed."
By the time Peri reached the end of her story, she'd used up two handkerchiefs, three tissues, and sent her son as far away as possible. "I...I still feel like I'm adjusting to life without him," she sniffled, "Like there's an empty hole where 'dad' used to be, and I can't fill it."
"You alright, dearie?"
"Oh, I'm fine, fiiii...no, no..."
Leaning on the armchair she sat on was her mother, Rachel, petting her hair like she always did when her little Peri got upset.
"Well...Is Maxie doing better now?" she asked emphatically, "See, you might think you're not doing so well, but if he's developing fine, you're doing fine...that's how I see it, at least."
"Haven't really seen him much," her sister, Scarlett, commented with a glass of wine in her hand, "I had something I wanted to give to them. ...Actually, I haven't seen them in forever."
"Ahh, I think you're a little late..."
"Peri!"
"The presents got unwrapped 2 hours ago." Peri explained, "It'd be unexpected for him."
"Alright, well…" Scarlet sighed, "Tell me how he's coping at least."
"You won't judge, will you?"
"...no?"
"Oho, don't worry. He can't hear us!" Rachel laughed, getting her two daughters to laugh along, "Say what you want."
"Ohh, haha! It might sound a little pretentious, but…"
Maxie could, in fact, hear them.
"He's doing fantastically, fantastically! I'll tell you all about it after dinner!"
It was almost an act of defiance; taking a few moments out of his time to tune into whatever the adults babbled about behind his back. Had they kicked him out because they thought he'd drink the Pinot Noir, whatever that was? After all, Rachel wasn't too happy when Peri tried to give him a small sip.
Probably because it tasted terrible.
Then again, why would they mention Dad if it were just about that?
"He's started learning - "
He was meant to be concentrating.
"Kalosian last month, pétanque this month - as I said, pretentious...oh, and piano - "
"Ahh. The piano."
Either way, it helped him forget there was a ten-year-old standing on his shoulders.
"Have you got them? My arms are getting really, reaaaaaally tired," he groaned, adjusting a little bit.
He'd been perched on a desk for at least ten minutes now, while his mother's friend's child, Barnaby, Barney - whatever, tried to reach an inconspicuous little tin on the shelf of a dusty old bookcase.
"Hold on, hold on!" ordered Barnaby, teetering on his left arm, "I've nearly got the biscuits!"
No-one would blame him if he dropped this kid on the...kind of soft, carpeted floor.
The crowd behind him might cheer, they were kids.
"Are you done NOW?"
"I promise, I'll give you the tea biscuits when I come down. It's only fair, you spotted them!"
"I hate tea biscuits..." Maxie growled, while every other boy and girl in the room screamed their favourite kind of biscuit right into his ear.
"Naaah, you'll love them! Alright, I've got it!" Barnaby cried at last, knocking the tin off the shelf and bringing down a book or two with it, "Shall I throw them?"
"Uh - "
"That's a yes."
"THROW THEM! THROW THEM!" chanted all of Maxie's cousins while Barnaby cracked open the tin, his face lit up by the silver inside. Bouncing a little, Maxie joined in with the mob.
Come to think of it, what even was his favourite kind of biscuit?
"Aight, I'll just stick my hand in and pull out whatever…"
"Oh, wonderful! Open it up then!" Maxie trilled while Barnaby popped the lid off and closed his eyes.
Silence, apart from the clunk of his hand on the metal.
He certainly knew how to build suspense.
That is, until Maxie's jaw got kicked by a stray leg.
"OW!" Barnaby screeched, "What the - WHY THE BLOODY 'ELL ARE THERE NEEDLES IN 'ERE?!"
He was right. How could he not? - they were stuck in his palm, tangled 'round his fingers. While he flailed in surprise, needles, string, pins, buttons, scissors rained down on the watching crowd. The young ones ducked, the older ones weren't surprised in the least. And of course, the small kids screamed, and screamed with laughter once they saw what Maxie just did.
Predictable as ever, scaredy-cat as ever, he'd scuttled off like a spooked deer.
And let go.
Barnaby hit the floor with a thud and a collective 'ooohh' from everyone watching. Valiantly, he still held that false prophet of a biscuit box in his hand, directly upright, raining pins onto his face which turned to face the culprit. His sisters, all four of them, and the oldest brother turned to glare at the small child tucked into the desk's small nook.
"Did you know?" Barnaby groaned painfully, sitting up with a crick in his back.
"...No, I don't know - what?"
"Did you know...that that was full of needles?"
"So is that your idea of a joke?" asked the first sister, "Because - "
"Cause it's, like...not even slightly funny." hissed the second.
"I'm pretty sure we could've died!" suggested the tiny third one.
"...Actually, I think both of you are stupid." muttered the oldest fourth one, leaving the room and never returning.
"They - they looked like biscuits! I swear!" Maxie protested, stammering heavily as ever, "Actually, YOU'RE the one that tricked US, Barnaby, you dropped the tin! You dropped it! -"
"Huh?"
"But - of course I…"
"You really need new glasses, don't you?" Barnaby snorted.
"Alright, tell you what," he said, "I saw your mother bringing in this really nice looking cake, but she said there's brandy in it, so we ain't allowed to eat it...Would you help a poor starving kid on Christmas?...One with bloody PINS stuck in their hand?" Sharply, he pulled Maxie to his feet.
"No," he snapped.
"Too bad. How's this sound? You help us or we - "
"Tell on you!" chimed the third sister.
"Or we do the thing they did on TV - "
"Yes! - "
"The one about Team Rocket!"
"Why don't we just shut this brat - "
"Out the house!"
"Up for good!"
"I'll do it myself." laughed the second sister, brushing needles off her dress and trying to sound threatening.
And with that, Barnaby dragged Maxie off to the living room by the back of his Christmas sweater.
The cavernous great hall smelt of oak and wine, paper and pines - full of everyone that was comfortable leaving their children in the office to eat, drink, and be merry, while "Domitian's 'Silent Museum' Nocturne No. 1" played in the background. Taillows flew from left to right, struggling to carry the streamers in their talons, the cage of Kricketots Scarlett had brought chirped like windchimes. The sun set outside, but inside, the candles kept burning.
They'd enough to last them until midnight and beyond.
Peri herself was at the centre of the party, laughing heartily and pouring herself more Pinot Noir. Her friends crowded around her, shielding her from the rest of the room - and the cake, in fact - pouring themselves a glass a minute. She boasted about how she could notice the fruity notes inside it, but didn't notice her son ducking behind the couch.
"...Where's the cake again?" Barnaby whispered, poking his head up, "My mum didn't bring nothing, remember."
"I don't know, I don't know!" Maxie hissed back as he got pushed under the huge banquet table, bumping his head on the top with a clatter of knives and forks. Scarlett's Shinx, snoozing in the corner awoke with a start. The centerpiece trifle almost fell to pieces.
Why did Maxie agree to this, exactly?
One word. One word and then Peri could and would angrily drag Barnaby and his brethren out of his sight, hopefully banned from any future Christmas parties.
He'd be branded as a tattle-tale, yes, but it'd still achieve what he wanted.
Meanwhile, Peri leant back against the table, still babbling about all of the jobs she'd applied for. A Poke-Mart clerk, an actress, an Officer Jenny (as if), a Pokémon Breeder...Scarlett just had to nod and sip her sparkling water. She'd put down her wine glass, hoping not to be seen as a drunkard again.
"So as I was saying, I THEN applied to be a teacher at the Rustboro School," she continued, "but of course they rejected me as soon as I mentioned I might have to take care of my son now and then…"
"Mmhm."
"So...now I'm basically jobless."
"What?"
All the while, Peri didn't see the two ten-year olds sneaking below the table underneath her. The tablecloth hid them relatively well.
She was too busy watching her sister spit her drink out
"Oh?" she murmured into her wine glass, "Wow. That's, like...the second Christmas in a row, huh? That must...suck…"
"They always - they always lay you off at Christmas," Peri pointed out, "It's because I'm a single mum. That's what I think."
"You should try being a Nurse Joy in the meantime!"
"And dye my hair bright pink?"
"If you want to be the one at the front desk, all you have to pay for is the hair dye, no - no qualifications needed. Kept me going, at least…"
"Ahh, have some self-respect! Don't talk about yourself like that! That stuff doesn't, you know...get you anywhere," Peri explained, slapping her hand on Scarlett's shoulder, "my advice is get a nice job, get a nice house, then you start worrying…"
Scarlett struggled to remember whether she'd bothered to tell Peri about the house.
"Oh," Peri added with a smirk, "and a nice guy, mind. Eventually, you get lucky."
"I'll...I'll be fine."
As her sister slowly moved off, she even left the wine behind.
"Oh, don't give me that look..." Peri mumbled, before downing the whole glass in one gulp.
How did she do such a feat, Maxie pondered, as he watched his mother closely - she ripped the tin foil off a nearby plate to reveal -
The cake?
Peri looked on it like a trophy; after all, even though it looked like it was falling apart, the cake was just as...viscous as Peri had intended, and the crisp on the edges was perfectly planned. The burnt...the burnt fruity notes of the toppings was something everyone could pick up on.
Especially Rachel, bakery snob that she was.
Barnaby and Maxie, though, only stared up at the chocolate-black cherry on top. Just a few feet above him on the table - so close he might be able to knock it off if he wanted.
"Cor, look at that!"
"Where do we go?'" Maxie murmured, "Also, we should wait…"
"Are you kidding? This is the best chance we're gonna get. Your aunt and your mum just buggered off!"
"And?...If they caught me, I wouldn't get in any trouble!"
"Well, you wanna share your 'mummy's boy' energy with me when we, uh...inevitably get found, that'd be great - "
"I'll...try."
"Alright, everybody!" Peri suddenly cried, perched on the highest chair she could find - "Dinner's ready!"
"Wait, what?" Rachel gasped, throwing out her newspaper in a panic and rushing to the oven for her roast chicken - "Peri, I'm supposed to do that!" The guests started chuckling, giving funny looks to Rachel as they pulled out their seats.
By the time Scarlett came rushing back with an empty wine glass, her place next to Peri was already taken.
"Can't I - "
"Oh, no, dear, that seat's for my dear Ducklett," Peri told Scarlett, pulling out the chair on her left, "Go take a seat wherever, I'm sure we can still talk."
"Your mummy calls you Ducklett?" Barnaby chuckled, motioning towards Peri's seat, "Aww." The pair shuffled under the table in a makeshift conga, making a beeline for the free spot.
"Alright, here's the deal," he elaborated, "You slip up there, and you tap your foot to lemme know when your mum's not looking. Then, I take the cake right off the plate and give it to all the kids."
"But you don't have - "
"I've already got the knife," Barney explained, turning a butter knife he'd retrieved from seemingly nowhere around in his hand - "Now go! Go-go-Go!"
Quietly, just as Peri's feet left their chair Maxie slipped up through the tablecloth and onto his seat, acting as nonchalantly as possible and not like he'd just committed the first act of mischief in his life.
It felt a little bit satisfying.
He thought that when he finally found friends by himself, maybe he'd try 'mischievous' again.
With a swish, swish of her red Christmas dress, Peri waltzed into her seat next to Maxie. A ruffle of his hair, peck on the cheek - and all her friends cooed in unison.
There was Hilda, leaning over and commenting how well he'd been dressed up 'unlike Barnaby'. Kirsten, Alphonse, whispering under their breath how lucky he was he turned out alright. Lara only laughed about how long it'd been since they'd last met up. Theo - well, he was already too drunk to listen to Peri's ramblings.
"Peri! Did y' hear about how one of the Sevii Islands got burned down?" Lara questioned, looking down at her huge PokeNav.
"Oh, my!"
"Yes, really…"
"The whole thing?"
"It seems like it!"
"Was it arson or just a wildfire?"
"Well, the Kantonian Government isn't saying anything on the issue, or at least that's what I'm reading…"
"How depressing."
"Yes, quite." Lara finished, putting it away again in disgust, "Anyway, how's your life been?"
"Oh, I'm livin' the dream," Peri exclaimed, "as they say!"
"I heard your sister's still off training in Sinnoh." Hushed whispers from across the table. "You ever think about goin' to join her?"
"Arceus, no." she continued, tucking into her Christmas ham, "I'd never come back."
"Didn't you say something about - "
"Mum? Yeah, mum only let her come if she weren't with her partner. Even then, for some reason, she kept making all these dumb excuses!..."
"Harsh."
"Don't say that," Peri commented, "or she'll throw you out too."
"Least you've still got your kid!" Kirsten called out before Hilda could say tell her it wasn't helpful in the slightest.
"Yes, it's a lot less lonely with Maxie around…" Peri acknowledged. "...Maxie?"
Tap, tap. Tap, tap.
The rug shifted a tiny bit as Barney shuffled off as quietly as he could. The faraway cake suddenly lost a slice without a sound, without anyone noticing.
"Hello? Earth to Maxiiiiie?"
Sweet, sweet victory.
"I was just talking about how you, ah...make me less lonely!"
"...Hm?"
Peri's entire friend group broke into fits of laughter. Even more when Maxie turned around. And even more when they saw the look on his face.
"Oh my god, he's like a spooked deer!"
"What was he doing?"
"Anyway - " Peri tried to say, but the words died in her mouth.
"I guess you stand corrected!"
"What's up with him?"
"Nothing's up with him!" she reassured again, pulling him closer and ruffling his hair for the second time. The guests watched closely. Just in case he flinched, which - luckily, he didn't.
What had he even done?
"It's alright. Don't worry about it."
Someone had gently snuck up behind him, just as he was wanting to get up and leave too. Their voice, he couldn't recognise at first.
"I haven't seen you in a while, have I?" Scarlett was asking him gently, "It's me, your aunt!"
It took...many seconds for him to remember who she was.
Aunt Nosey, The-One-Who-Ran-Off -
"Sorry for not giving you the present with everyone else," she commented quickly, turning his attention away from the tittering crowd, "Here."
Quickly, she pressed a small gift-wrapped box into his hands.
"I got it from Sunyshore City, all the way over in Sinnoh," she explained, "Thought you might like a little something practical. A late tenth birthday present."
"What is it?"
Scarlett seemed a little lost for words. Maybe the gift was so good, it wasn't describable.
Meanwhile Peri, on-and-off, shaking, had started watching them. To an outside source, it looked like the pair were sharing a secret.
"Something special," she continued, hurriedly, quietly, "Don't - don't open it until you're home, though! Tell me what you do with it!" she whispered - she tried to continue, but Maxie had gotten the message.
"Hey...ah...Aunt?"
"Yeah."
"What's it like in Sinnoh?"
"Really, really...cold, mostly," Scarlett replied, taking a seat in an old rocking chair further off - "Did you ever want to come? Maybe we could try next Christmas…"
"Ooh! Yes! Yes!"
It took one second for Peri to mouth 'no,' despite her face looking as hopeful as Maxie's.
"So...what've you been doing while I've been gone?" she asked, motioning for him to put the little present away inside his coat as fast as he could. Hastily, he shoved it into his pocket. Watching as Scarlett did for any movement Peri made.
Tap, tap. Tap, tap.
Barney would understand if he couldn't do this right. Not now. He would. Wouldn't he?
"Well, me and the other boys, we found a tin of - OW!"
Maxie screeched as Barney kicked his shin, "We found a tin of...of bouncy balls!" Clenching his teeth, he frantically kicked his leg back, but Barney was already gone.
"Maxie!" Peri gasped, immediately hugging her son like a pillow, "What on earth was that?" By now, half the table was turning towards them - with Rachel among them giving a salty glare.
"Peri, please." she hissed to zero effect.
Scarlett was completely silent, trying to quell the worry she had.
"A…" Maxie blurted, the first thing that came to mind - "A Shinx! I think a Shinx bit me!"
"A Shinx?"
"At this party? Arceus almighty."
"The poor thing!"
"What if it has PokeRus?"
"Agatha!"
"What on Earth?"
"Good gracious Groudon!"
Peri's blood grew ten times colder.
"A Shinx, you say?"
Too late now, Maxie thought - nodding.
"Scarlett?" she inquired, kicking back her chair and commanding the table to silence.
"What?" Scarlett replied, her muffled mouth full of turkey - and her Shinx in her lap.
"You're the only person at this party with a Shinx." Peri deduced, motioning towards the sleeping Pokémon in her lap.
"Wait, so, are electric types not allowed this year?" asked her sister, swallowing hard, "I'm telling you, Starlet's been here this entire time, having a nice...a nice snooze!" Starlet stretched its legs, bounding to Scarlett's side with an innocent grin.
It didn't even look at Maxie.
"Ahh, no." Peri denied, "Clearly it wasn't. Maxie, tell them what the Shinx did to you."
"It…"
Was it really too late to go back?
If they caught me, I wouldn't get in any trouble, he said, but -
Not this time. This was the exception.
"Speak up! It's okay!"
"It scratched…?"
"It bit him!" Peri screeched, causing the whole room to turn around. "It...it bit him." she repeated, trying to regain her composure and look respectable, "Scarlett, can I have a quick word with you?"
Her sister's mouth went completely dry. A quick look towards Rachel told her she wasn't going to get any help.
"Ahh...sure, sure…" she whispered, "Not here, though, right?"
"Yes, here. It's not like we're going to have a catfight in front of my darling, now."
"No, I'm pretty sure we are."
"A fight over a cat doesn't count as a catfight!"
"All I'm asking you - " Peri snapped, scooping up the Shinx by the scruff of its neck and holding it aloft like a piece of rubbish, " - is to control your animal! It's Christmas, I shouldn't have to be saying this…We've got rules here. If Alphonse here - not that he would - brought in a Tyrantrum - again, not that he would, we'd kick him out. If it can't be kept under control - it goes, simple as that. Mum makes the rules, not me."
"Rachel? You wanna say anything about that?"
"No, not really." Rachel told them, drinking her third glass of wine.
"See?" Peri confirmed, "She agrees with me. You should take the thing outside," she ordered, throwing the Shinx into Scarlett's arms, "and if Maxie gets an infection from that bite, you're paying for it." Her friends nodded in agreement. Tutting, scolding.
"Oh, come on." Scarlett groaned.
"What? It's possible." Peri noted, pulling her son beside her. "I mean, obviously I'm going to...patch him up properly...later…get a shot for PokeRus or something…"
Her sister tittered audibly.
"You still don't believe me?"
"No, I just...know your stance on shots, that's all."
A couple of people laughed under their breaths. The crowd suddenly became ten times more interested, as they remembered the rants Peri had 'graciously given' them in the past.
"Scarlett, for god's sake! ...I'd take care of him properly!"
"I'm just saying…"
But there was no point in just saying.
"Why's it that every time one of us confronts you about something, you start getting all passive aggressive?" she finished, "I don't get it - we let you come back, we let you be around us, I admit Mum made a mistake, what more do you want?"
"Maybe no snarky comments about how I need to find a guy, and...not - not accusing me of something I didn't do?"
"Look, it - it wasn't going to be perfect first time…"
"This is why I wanted to wait until...Maxie had a birthday or something. There's just too much pressure here, and I - "
"So it's our mum that's the problem."
Rachel, surrounded by people who wanted to know why she'd do such a thing, put down her glass of wine and took note of where she'd dumped Scarlett's coat.
She was going to need it.
"I...suppose…"
The voice was barely audible, but her mother knew exactly what she said.
"Can - can you not ruin it now?" Peri stammered and groaned, "It's Christmas."
"Well, let's talk about this later, then! ...Just as long as we...actually do, this time."
Peri was completely mute.
They were muttering her name.
"Is this cause I gave - " Scarlett began, before feeling a hand on her shoulder - pulling both the sisters away and into a corner. Maxie only got pushed out of the way and into a wall, harder than he thought the person doing it was capable of.
Rachel, the diminutive old woman who'd been sitting in her seat a couple of seconds before, had her two daughters in her grip.
"You two. Quiet." she mumbled, taking them aside - she thought she was speaking quietly, but the whole room was listening - "Scarlett? Do you know where you left your bags?"
Scarlett's face faded paler than wax, instantly.
"You're not...kicking me out again, are you?"
"Yeah, I am," Rachel replied, "Sorry. I should've known a catfight was going to happen. You talked about it with me, but I didn't, uh...think you'd start one yourself? God."
Scarlett gulped, looking up at Peri and wondering whether 'sorry' would work this time. Her sister handed her back the bottle of wine she'd brought, and waited for her to start making her way outside with her beloved Shinx. She gave a knowing look to Maxie, motioning towards her jacket pocket - until Rachel told her what she already knew.
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave."
Quietly, inconspicuously, with none of the other guests noticing her leaving, she walked straight out the door. Of course, this was going to happen; part of her didn't even mind. Part of her expected to go back to Sinnoh with another story for dear Azzie about how awful her mum was.
But of course - the thing she expected least happened.
Before she could even blink -
Peri got shoved right out the door as well.
"What - no - "
"You're going too, Peri," Rachel snapped, "You're both responsible."
"Mum, she's the one that - "
"No excuses. Out."
"And the guests haven't even had - "
"Your cake? The one you didn't even bring?"
"WHAT?"
Sure enough, the cake was completely gone, with just crumbs in its place. Maxie had just enough time to curse under his breath before he was dragged away with Peri - of course Barney never showed himself.
"Christmas is supposed to be about family, Peri," Rachel explained, like she was still talking to a small child - "I don't think you get that, do you?" she finished, looking towards Maxie's face - he looked exactly like a deer in headlights.
"I ...he's fine." Peri whispered, reflexively. Quickly, she hid her son.
"You should leave."
And with that, Rachel shuffled back to the dining hall, leaving her daughters to exit out two separate doors. Peri could hear her sniffling a little - already muttering about her, no doubt.
The pair didn't speak to each other as they stood outside the estate in the pouring rain, nor did they bid each other farewell as Scarlett left for a bus and Peri released her Altaria. For a second, Peri thought about offering her a ride on the luxurious bird.
For a second.
There was only room for two, she thought, as she bundled Maxie onto its wings, strapped herself and him into the leather harness and told him to hold on as tight as he could. The Altaria took off down the driveway, swooping into the curtain of water and leaving the house far, far below her.
Her son wasn't saying a word. Unusual - especially after Christmas.
"Maxie?"
"Yeah?" he replied, trying to react as fast as he could this time.
"We'll have the rest of Christmas Day at home," Peri offered with a smile, "I'll order some roast chicken, baked Slowpoke tail, some lava cookies…And we'll send a nice picture to your grandma to show her that we're having fun anyway!"
"Mmhm."
And at that moment, Maxie realised what 'the rest of Christmas Day' meant. Presents, the only part he could honestly say he looked forward to.
The little package in his coat was burning a hole in it, and carefully, quietly, gingerly, hoping that the wind would drown out the noise, that Peri was too focused on not crashing to notice the wrapping paper falling away in the wind, that whatever was inside wouldn't fall the hundred feet to the hard, cold ground -
He cracked it open.
Inside was something he'd seen a thousand times - and hoped a thousand times he'd hold one day himself.
A Great Ball.
Shining blue like the sea and with a sticker - no, a seal - on its top that looked like a gigantic blue, spirit flame. It was polished to a sheen, glinting in the evening light.
Of course - he'd gushed to Scarlett about the ghost stories when he'd last had a call from her. He'd begged her to find something Spiritomb-related for Christmas, but looking back, this was better than a book.
What else would she possibly get him on Christmas Day?
No time for amazement. The ball was easy to hide. Into the pocket it went, and Maxie put on his best poker face.
"I'm...I'm sorry about that, ducklett," Peri sighed, "I'll make sure this doesn't happen again, alright? And I'll bake a cake that isn't filled with something you can't even drink," she snapped quietly, "Altaria? Take us home, and make it snappy."
And with that, the Altaria fell, and fell, and fell.