So this one's for my friends, Adex and Copper. Gold is their fave so yeah. It's mostly Gold-centric and probably some Johto trio but we'll see. ;w;

(Also, if you haven't yet, read The Last Beast written by Adex himself. He goes as Totally Not Adex here on FFN. Do check it out! :)

5. A Gift

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"You stupid little!" The store owner yelled as a vein popped on his forehead. "If you're gonna buy these then you better at least have money to pay for it! Christmas isn't free, ya know!" He removed the stack of books from the counter and placed them underneath it. He then grabbed the young man's wrist and lifted him. "Now get out of my store until you actually have some damn money!"

"No, wait!" Gold exclaimed and tried to remove the angry man's grasp on his wrist. "I have money, I swear!"

The owner didn't believe Gold; he knew this boy was capable of lying and he fell for it many times. The last thing he could do was to kick Gold out of the store before he would lie that his friends or his mother would pay for the items he'd bought. "Yeah, I heard that a lot of times, kid!" He threw Gold outside and dusted off his hand before slamming the door shut. The sign from his store jiggled when it felt the force of the door.

"Ugh!" Gold shook the snow away from his body and stood up. He dug his hands in his pockets and glared at the store in front of him. "Well screw you too! I'll just find another store to buy Christmas presents then!" He pouted and kicked some snow off his feet. His lips later curved into a frown.

He wasn't lying that he had money this time. Sure, he didn't pay for the presents he bought in this store for years, but he changed, somehow, and collected money this time. He sighed and turned around, slowly walking back to his house.

Today is Christmas Eve and a lot of people are still doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Every store and mall around Johto was packed; all kinds of gifts were slowly running out of stock from each store and Gold was lucky enough to find some new Proteam Omega and some science books for his friends, Silver and Crystal. But his friends wouldn't get the books they wanted since that man kicked him out.

He stopped when he reached his house and stopped a few feet away from the door. He had no idea where else he could buy gifts. The rest of the stores were packed and far from his hometown. He was afraid that the store might be closed when he reached it. He clenched his fist and released another breath.

Screw that man! He swore he had money this time and he wasn't lying about paying for it either! His friends must be ashamed now. He couldn't give them the gifts they wanted and it was all his fault. What should he do? Should he lie to them again? But he didn't want to lie; he wanted to tell the truth this time. If he told them the truth, however, they would also be disappointed. He sighed and turned the doorknob, letting himself in his house.

The lights flickered open, blinding him for a moment. He blinked and what he saw brought a warm feeling in his chest.

Silver and Crystal are in his house along with his mother. There were gifts under the Christmas tree and most of the baby Pokemon in the house were playing. All of them, even Silver, had a warm smile on their faces despite the cold weather.

"Whoa, what's the occasion?" Gold asked as he removed his coat. He grabbed his money in it and placed it in his wallet. He kept his gaze on the ground.

"It's Christmas, you silly! I invited your friends here too!" His mom said and approached her son, patting his shoulder. "Now, come on! It's dinner time!"

"Sure, thanks, mom!" Gold replied and grinned. He looked at his friends and waved at them. "Yo, nice to see you guys here!"

"Yeah," Crystal replied while Silver just nodded and smiled.

Gold sighed and approached them. He should tell them truth this time. "Listen, you guys gotta wait for your Christmas present. That old man kicked me out of his store."

"I expected that," Silver replied, receiving a glare from Gold.

Crystal placed her hands on their shoulders, hoping to prevent another argument from the two boys. "Alright, that's enough fighting. You don't have to worry about our gifts, Gold. We came here to celebrate Christmas with you."

"Well that's a cheesy line, Crys," Gold laughed and rubbed his nose. He received a kick on the leg from that as his face twisted in pain. "Ow! Come on! That was a compliment!"

"I admit that was cheesy," Silver replied, shrugging and Crystal just sighed.

"Hey, no fair! How come I get to be kicked and not Silv here!" Gold exclaimed and glared harder at Silver.

"That's because I only state the truth," Silver deadpanned and Gold was speechless. His eyes were wide like saucers as his jaw almost dropped on the floor; Silver won this round, alright.

"It's dinner time! You three better be here while the food is hot!" Gold's mother yelled from the kitchen. Crystal told the two boys to stop glaring at each other but they didn't listen. Left with no choice, she grabbed them by the collars and dragged them to the kitchen. The house was later filled with laughter and arguments from Gold and Silver as they eat their Christmas dinner.

Also, I just started ko-fi (I'm cap_cavern there) and yeah...if you just wanna support my dying wallet. I mean I'm still doubting if I do have the rights to make a ko-fi page so yeah ^^'