December 24th, 2016...
It was a cold Christmas eve in Full Court, and Kyurem was enjoying it as he usually did; sitting down on his throne with a cup of iced coffee, watching reruns of old 60s sitcoms.
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailor man, the Skipper brave and sure, five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour..."
"Ah, those were the days," Kyurem mumbled nostalgically as he took a sip from his mug. Cryogonal the Critic took the chance to float up behind him.
"Hey Kyurem, check out my defense buff!" Cryogonal eagerly cried. "Now I can almost take a physical hit!"
"They just don't make 'em like they used to," Kyurem continued talking to himself, ignoring the snowflake.
"Speaking of making stuff, you haven't done anything since you got shot into space! Not even for Halloween! At this rate everyone will think you've quit!" Kyurem shrugged indifferently.
"Maybe I have. There's only so many ways you can mock the same crap," came the Ice Dragon's reply as he took another sip from his mug. Cryogonal crossed his chain over his snowflake-like body and turned back to the corner that he had been lurking in.
"At this point it'll take a Christmas Miracle to get Kyurem to do something..." the Snowflake Pokémon spun around when Kyurem disappeared in a burst of light.
"Thank you..." Cryogonal said to the ceiling, chain clasped together.
"No, you haven't clicked on the wrong story," Arceus, sitting on his throne, commented to the supposedly non-existent camera. "In a moment I will be appearing in the review."
Arceus then vanished into thin air.
"Thank you."
When Kyurem opened his eyes, he found himself and - unsurprisingly - Arceus were outside a large movie theater, with a whimsical number playing in the background. The giant Ice Dragon, shooting an angry glare at the panicking crowd around them, then glanced up at the at the sign to see what was playing.
At The Reviews
With Kyurem the (Retired) Critic and Arceus the Critic
Arceus' eyes narrowed at the sign, and while Kyurem was too busy scaring away the last of the line at the box office, used his reality warping powers to 'correct' the sign.
At The Reviews
With Arceus the Critic and Kyurem the (out of retirement) Critic
While Kyurem frowned at the sudden change, Arceus floated up to the box office and present a sheet of paper to the awed teller inside. The man quickly produced an orange ticket with his name on it, and Arceus mentally grabbed it before heading inside the building, resulting in the entire structure immediately becoming quiet. Kyurem walked up to the box office as well, his steps coming off more as stomps, and snarled at the teller while banging his stubby claw on the counter. The man promptly fainted, a similar orange ticket ejecting from the machine with the Legend's name on it, though it was spelled 'Cuerim'. Kyurem went inside the theater as well, rolling his eyes. Everyone in the lobby promptly screamed and ran out.
Arceus floated up to the now vacant concessions counter, materializing a briefcase from nowhere, and opened it up to reveal a bucket of half-eaten popcorn, a soda and a box of Junior Mints inside, as well as a copy of a newspaper on the bottom. Arceus refilled the bucket of popcorn while Kyurem went up to a vending machine that conveniently sold notepads, and reached through the frozen, shattered glass to get one of them.
Arceus then galloped up the stairs of the theater to the showing room, levitated briefcase in tow, while Kyurem slowly marched up them. He tossed an icy glare over his shoulder before the trainer even had a chance to throw a Pokéball, and then headed up the second flight. The two critics found themselves on a balcony facing a large projection screen, and Arceus floated over to their thrones, which were still covered in debris from the last time.
Kyurem just crossed his arms and shot a glare at Arceus as he sat down.
"All right Arceus, I think I deserve an explanation after going through that again," the Alpha in question coughed uncomfortably.
"Yes, well, Mew suggested we and Cryogonal dress up as the three Ghosts of Christmas and haunt you until you write something new, but I figured that this would be less painless for all of us," Kyurem's yellow orbs narrowed into slits, but the Boundary Pokémon acquiesced with an icy breath.
"Fine. But let's make this quick; I'm missing my shows," it was at that moment the projector screen, somehow still intact, flickered to life and the Star Wars theme started to play again in conjunction with the opening crawl.
A not-so long time ago, in a fandom far, far away...
At the Reviews:
Episode II (of I): The Critics Strike Out
"Say, Arceus," Kyurem coughed. "What exactly are we reviewing."
"It's a surprise," came the reply. Kyurem shivered at that; the last time Arceus had said something was a surprise, Mew happened. Maybe it was Jerry Springer? No, not even he would be that cruel...
The screen finally got past the opening to reveal Arceus and Kyurem standing in the Hall of Origin.
"What!?" Kyurem nearly jumped out of his seat at the sight. Arceus furrowed his non-existent brow at the sight.
"Isn't this where..."
"We came in?" Arceus asked to no one in particular as the camera zoomed out. Kyurem raised an icy eyebrow and just shrugged.
"Sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about," the Alpha looked down sheepishly and cleared his throat.
"Understandably," Arceus looked back up, turned towards the wall and blinked. "Greetings, and today I have managed to convince a good friend to come out of retirement to help present you with this editorial."
"Yeah, about that," Kyurem mumbled sheepishly, tapping his claws together. "I may have forgotten to tell my viewers that I actually went into retirement. As it turns out, a certain author realized that when you've read one crappy Pokemon Creepypasta, you've read them all. It was about time, too."
"Yes," the Normal Type coughed uncomfortably. "Well, that lack of originality has quite a bit to do with our topic today; Anime rewrite fics."
"I suppose there's a bit of irony, what with us talking about unoriginality on a website that was created so that people can steal ideas from books, movies and video games," Kyurem said dryly. "However, Anime rewrite fanfictions definitely push the boundaries on just how much an author can take from the source material."
Arceus nodded.
"Indeed - at this point they've even eclipsed your average high school fic in terms of redundancy. But, of course, what is it that makes them so awful?" The Boundary Pokemon opened his mouth to reply, but Arceus carried on blissfully. "Well, before we look into the stories themselves, we should probably take a quick glance at the primary writers; the majority of the writers for this genre are, more or less, younger and often inexperienced; they often first write because they compare Pokémon to other shows, find it lacking, and might even read some other stories of the same opinion that help inspire them. Either way - and rather paradoxically - they view rewriting an entire show as an easy way to start off their writing careers, and for reasons we'll tackle later, it more or less is. A large pool of inexperienced writers, often younger ones too, trying to either fill in the shoes of giants or rewrite an entire series in their own image naturally does not reflect well on the quality of the genre."
"Strangely enough, the only reason that making anime rewrites is such a popular practice is from the guaranteed popularity of writing one. While there are many easy ways for aspiring writers to start their career, anime rewrites tend to garner more views thanks to the simplistic nature of them and the general disappointment in the Pokemon anime," Kyurem then gave a smirk. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the popularity in anime rewrites jumped around the time of Ash's most recent loss at the league."
"Alola's going to skyrocket their popularity..." Arceus muttered bitterly. "I mean, they've even started making Generations at this point as an apology letter. If this keeps up-"
Kyurem finally tapped Arceus on his back, causing the Legendary to blink self-consciously and clear his throat. "But yes, as Pokémon continues to make more and more mistakes, more and more people decide that they can do better."
The Alpha shrugged. "And while this isn't unique to Pokémon by any stretch, they have an exemplary record of being able to shoot themselves in the foot. This is in part what makes such stories not only so popular, but so attractive to aspiring writers; they more or less already know what they shouldn't do to make a 'good' story, and generally the only thing that their readers will hold rewrites against is other rewrites and the Anime itself, which sets a very low bar. Inversely, people care about the Anime a little too much; it's not about whether or not the rewrite provided is good, just if it avoids the Anime's mistakes."
"Well, after thoroughly complaining about people enjoying these stories, I think it's time we put our money were our mouth..." Kyurem trailed off, looked at Arceus' lack of a mouth, coughed uncomfortably and continued. "And explain why these stories are so bad. Now, while it is true that many of the more inexperienced writers are making the problems with the rewrites more prominent, it doesn't change the fact that Anime rewrites are flawed on a fundamental level, so that even an experienced writer have trouble making one. The fact is, when making an Anime rewrite, you are forced to pick your poison: making your story follow the Anime too closely or stray so far away from the Anime that you've lost all sense of direction."
"Indeed," Arceus began with a nod. "To touch on the former first, many of the simpler, less ambitious rewrites stem from someone merely trying to correct only a handful or even a single problem they see with the anime; namely Ash losing so and so battle, releasing so and so Pokémon or leaving behind so and so love interest. And while besting the Pokémon anime is a noble pursuit indeed, ultimately most writers - and readers, for that matter - fail to comprehend that you simply cannot base a story off a few minor alterations and expect it to be interesting or original. At the end of the day you're still telling the same story, often in the same format and timeline, and with the same characters."
The Normal Type's eyes narrowed. "Some authors realize this and try to make up for it by making the tone or characters 'darker' or more 'serious' or by giving Ash some form of superpowers while still maintaining the basic plot - ultimately, most fail at the former and even if they succeeded it still wouldn't really change anything, while the latter just ends up turning Ash into a total Gary Stu in an attempt to sell their story as being something different. And then there are the longer, more ambitious stories that try to completely rewrite the anime while still maintaining its format."
"Finally," the Alpha began. "Some outright eschew the anime's formula altogether. They may be people who simply want to try a new setting to avoid being cliché, or find the Pokémon world too 'kiddie' for their tastes and end up making their stories as realistic or dark as possible or otherwise modelling it off a better show. The result, however, is just the mirror of trying to make Ash too serious; not only does he either get turned into a generic anime Gary Stu or a generic angsty anti-hero, but the entire setting becomes so dark, detached or satirized it outright ceases to be Pokémon - you could call it Warhammer 40k or Days of Our Lives for all we care and more or less it wouldn't change anything because the spirit of the source material has not only been discarded but outright scorned."
"Now, let's touch upon some mistakes that are found in all three types of anime rewrites," Kyurem said. "The first one is to give Ash special powers, usually relating to the Aura powers that he had in 'Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'. These superpowers are usually completely unrelated to the plot of the rewrite and serve no purpose besides being clickbait that the author usually puts in the summary of the fanfiction. It also gives many potential readers a bad first impression of the story, making them believe that Ash is a Mary Sue before they even click on the fanfiction to read. The Original Anime series is so good because Ash comes off as a normal trainer that has to learn the ropes, and giving Ash something that makes him a cut above the rest removes that relatable feeling."
"And, unfortunately, this is one of the biggest things people will eat up; as relatable as normality is, it doesn't sit well with your average viewer; they need something to distinguish Ash as a protagonist, and Pokémon undoing more than a decade's worth of growth with Unova has only made the desire for this worse as a reaction," Arceus let out a sigh. "A specific variation of the superpower-Aura/Psychic Ash is one who, instead, turns out to be a Legendary Pokémon all along or can transform into one. It usually doesn't have much of an effect on the plot, or if it does it detaches the plot from the point of Ash's journey."
"Well, in all fairness, legendaries are used just as jarringly in the anime," Kyurem admitted. "Another popular thing to do in rewrites is to, of course, add in, 'insert X shipping here.' This cliche is another guaranteed way to get readers, as the average shipping fan tends to eat up anything that supports their ship, regardless of the quality. Writers that are only making an anime rewrite for their preferred shipping tend to be the ones that make their rewrite too similar to the actual anime, with the only thing changed being one of Ash's traveling companions."
"The above is actually the main reason why the currently most reviewed story in Pokémon Fanfiction is so popular..." Arceus grumbled. "Either way, Serena isn't the only one who hopelessly pines after Ash; the fandom's obsession with either twisting him beyond recognition or pairing him up with someone can more or less be attributed as the primary reasons why Anime Rewrites are both so popular and horrible at the same time."
"I have a bad feeling that we're about to see an influx of these shipping rewrites after Serena's stunt during the last episode of XYZ," Kyurem shuddered before continuing.
"Well, now that we've thoroughly bashed aspiring writer's hopes and dreams, I suppose we should give advice on how to create a good Anime Rewrite, shouldn't we?" Arceus nodded and spoke calmly.
"The first step to making an anime rewrite is quite simple," the legendary began. "You simply-"
"DON'T DO IT!" Kyurem interrupted Arceus as he blasted out an Ice Beam, Arceus ducking to avoid being hit. The ice type took a few deep breaths to calm down and then continued. "The sad fact is, anime rewrites are almost doomed to failure, simply for the fact that writing one is a lose-lose situation. Making your rewrite follow the source material too closely causes it to be unoriginal and borderline plagiarism, while making it stray too far from the source material makes it cease to be a rewrite at all. With this problem, along with all of the other potential pitfalls, an aspiring author would be much better off thinking up an original idea for a story."
"Indeed," Arceus replied as he mentally broke the ice that had formed on one of his ears. "We also have to remember that anime rewrites are different from novelizations of the games; whereas the games have plenty of leeway since they're interactive and often skimpy on the details, one can rewrite a game's storyline without it being boring or have it shift in tone without it detaching itself from the source material, precisely because the games don't operate under the same rules as the anime. The anime is much more linear, and being exceptionally consistent in its inconsistency, doesn't offer much leeway in terms of plot divergence either."
The Alpha glanced to the side. "This, of course, doesn't mean that novelizations of the games can't fall into the same pit-traps as anime rewrites, but it's still a mistake to try to project one onto another."
"However, that doesn't mean one can't try to retell Ash's story, either," Kyurem raised a frozen eyebrow as Arceus continued to drone on. "To do it properly, one has to be original about it while still respecting the spirit of the anime. Say you want May to stick around with Ash after the Wallace Cup - a perfectly fine premise, but it would require changing the rest of the Sinnoh plot drastically to actually be interesting, as well as actually changing the development of the characters to suit the new dynamics, but you would still have to maintain both them within the parameters established by the source material."
Kyurem pondered Arceus' statement, then slowly nodded. "You're right, that does sound like a good start to writing a successful rewrite. Another thing to know is to take out irrelevant information. Some rewrites have the bad habit of including every episode of the Anime in their story, only to barely change most of the episodes themselves. For example, if you're using the previous example of May traveling with Ash, and there are three filler anime episodes that May will have no impact on, it'd be best to just leave them out."
"Indeed; stories can't suffer the same amount of filler as an anime, and that is one of the biggest pitfalls rewrites fall into," Arceus looked to the side. "Well, I think we've covered every-"
"OBJECTION!" Both Legendaries blinked in surprise when the doors to the room burst open and a shadow fell over them. Unfortunately, when the shadow came from a one-foot-four tall pink cat with a voice squeakier than Korrina's, it didn't nearly have the effect Mew would have hoped. But she didn't let that or the glare from Arceus deter her and floated deeper into the room. "Both of you have forgotten one very important point."
"Which is?" Kyurem growled.
"Moderation," Mew said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Both Legendaries raised an eyebrow while she looked up at them inquisitively. "Either of you seen Yugioh GX or even 5Ds?"
Kyurem was about to say 'what', but cut himself off when Arceus looked down sheepishly. Mew sighed. "All right, how about the 2008 Clone Wars?"
"You mean the movie that was critically panned?" The ice type asked.
"I still say the 2003 Genndy Tartakovsky version was better..." the Alpha muttered.
"Genwunners," the Psychic Type muttered under her breath before continuing. "Anyways, what made all of those shows so good was that they knew when to be dark and when to be light, and how to properly transition into one another. They got progressively darker and more serious, but they didn't shy away from having lighter moments and didn't deviate from the established world or the plot for the sake of atmosphere. Actions never really felt out of place because they were natural progressions."
Mew turned to look at the two taller Legendaries. "Basically, taking stories in darker or lighter directions than the established canon isn't bad, provided it stays true to the spirit of the canon. Sinnoh's anime the best example of this; you wouldn't fight Team Galactic with a tank or tommy guns, but Cynthia still sicked Garchomp on them and Looker fought them with quarterstaffs when both wouldn't have flown in normal episodes. That was the natural progression of the show, and because the show reverted to it's lighter tone once Galactic was done with, the impact of the more serious tone was larger because it didn't drag on indefinitely. Everything has its time and place."
Kyurem and Arceus both took a very long blink at her logic, while Mew turned to the camera and smiled. "I'm Mew the Critic, and I steal the show so you don't have too."
Credits
Alec Guinness as Arceus
Wilford Brimley as Kyurem
Christopher Guest as Mew
Cryogonal the Critic as-
"MEW!" the credit sequence was promptly shattered as Arceus launched a Hyper Beam through it. Mew laughed uneasily as the Alpha glared down at her before relenting with a quiet sigh.
"Well, yes, now I suppose we have covered everything, so thank you. Both of you," the alabaster Legendary floated over to one of the many stain-glass windows adorning the main hall's walls. "Myself, it's awfully late."
Arceus' ruby orbs turned back to the Boundary Pokémon still present in the room. "Perhaps you should stay for the night? We have a few spare rooms and I'm certain Mew would enjoy the company."
Kyurem waved off the Alpha Pokémon. "Maybe some other time. It's Christmas eve and I don't feel like being away from the Cryogonal for a night."
"I insist," came Arceus' docile reply that told him there was no room for argument. "Besides, I'm certain they can handle themselves for a single night - and perhaps it would do you good to spend Christmas with some of the other Legendaries."
"It's not the Cryogonal I'm worried about..." the Ice Dragon muttered before his head jerked up in an epiphany. "Wait, was this just a ruse to get me to spend Christmas with the two of you?"
Somehow Kyurem got the feeling that, were he capable of it, Arceus would be trying to hide a sly smile right now. Perhaps it was him floating around and slowly returning to the recesses of the Hall. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far. Mew, could you please show him to his room? I'll get started on dinner. We'll be having pasta."
"That and rice are the only things he can make well, but never ask him for sauce," Mew whispered into Kyurem's ear. He just rolled his yellow orbs as he followed the Psychic Type down the maze of hallways.
"You know if he were here he'd tell you to stop referencing Nine in the Afternoon," the Ice Dragon deadpanned. Mew spun around as they came to a stop outside one of the many doors decorating the hallway.
"That's only because it's secretly one of his favorites," she then crossed her arms. "'sides, it's true. It's not like he can taste or smell anything he cooks..."
"Anyways," she quickly began, a little louder than usual he noted. "This'll be your room for the night, I'll go check up on Arcy. See you at dinner!"
With that, Mew floated off, leaving Kyurem to push open the door. Despite having no luggage, he still felt compelled to drop something on the floor as he stomped over to the bed at the other side of the room, so he settled for a nearby vase.
"Maybe this won't be so bad..." the Boundary Pokémon muttered as he sat down on the bed, only to have the frame crack and break under his weight.
December 25th, 2016...
"With Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionare and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle! So this is a tale about castaways, they're here for a long, long time..." Arceus and Kyurem were currently sitting on a ridiculously oversized couch the former had conjured up, watching the television while Mew and the Creation Trio opened their gifts behind them.
"…Wait a minute, aren't I technically younger than your kids? Why am I on the couch?" Kyurem pondered, but was silenced by a sharp "shush" from Arceus.
"Wow Dad, a Daisy Red Ryder repeating action rifle..." Palkia mumbled as he tore off the wrapping of one of his gifts.
"I recall you mentioning you wanted one," Arceus shot back without taking his eyes off the screen.
"When I was eight thousand..." the Spatial Pokémon muttered low enough that he let himself believe not even Arceus could hear it.
"Oh, Arcy, you shouldn't have," all three Dragons blinked at Mew's comment and found themselves staring at the leather-bound book in her stubby paws, the New Species Pokémon eagerly flipping through the pages. Dialga was the first to respond.
"Dad scrapbooks?" Mew remained blissfully ignorant of the comment.
"Oh, you even got one of the flaming Oreo incident! This is one of the best gifts ever, Arcy!" the Creation Trio each took a good step away from her at that. Arceus just let out a gruff acknowledgement, while Kyurem looked down at the parcel in his claws labeled 'Kyurem: For Retirement' and silently wondered what horror was underneath.
It was then everyone's attention was diverted when the doors to the main hall opened and Genesect entered, wearing a Santa cap.
"I brought jelly doughnuts for dessert!" Genesect cried happily, holding out a white box. Arceus proceeded to lift the lid on the box to find a dozen rice balls.
The air in the hall fell into a tense bog - Genesect blithely keeping up his grin while the Creation Trio started making bets about how long it would take for Arceus to launch a Hyper Beam. The Alpha's features softened and he lifted the box out of the Legendary's claw.
"It's good to have you with us."
"Excuse me for a second," Kyurem bowed out from the festivities and picked up Arceus' rotary telephone tucked away in one of the hallways.
Meanwhile, at Full Court…
"Who would've thought that Kyurem was dumb enough to leave us alone for a second Christmas?" one Cryogonal laughed to another as he danced to the rave in the Full Court plaza. Suddenly a sharp knocking on the door out of Full Court was heard over the music.
"This is the Swords of Justice Police Department! This party's over!" came Cobalion's voice from behind the door.
"It's the fuzz!" one Cryogonal screamed. "Someone hide the Energy Powder!" Soon the entire plaza had fallen into complete chaos as the SJPD burst through the door.
"Sorry about that," Kyurem muttered as he stepped back into the hall, only to realize no one had noticed him leave; Mew had snatched up the rice balls and was currently being chased around by everyone else.
For the first time in a while, the Ice Dragon felt a warm smile cross his face.
"Well, this has been..." Kyurem hesitated for a moment as he stepped out of the hall and felt the brisk night air, being the last of Arceus' guests to leave, but dropped his perpetual scowl for a split-second. "Enjoyable."
"I'm glad," came the Alpha's reply. "Perhaps I could coax you out of retirement in the future if the need arose?"
The Ice Dragon huffed, but kept up his pleasanter demeanor. "Don't count on it."
Mew developed that grin she usually had when plotting something asinine. "Well, there's always my plan, Arcy."
"It'll be a warm day in Full Court before I fall for that," Kyurem replied, eyes narrowed.
"Regardless," Arceus floated forward a hair, and both instantly went quiet. "Thank you for humoring us again."
"Sure," Kyurem said, a little too sheepishly for his own tastes. The Boundary Pokémon coughed and took another step back for good measure. "All right; beam me up, Arcy."
The Alpha's eyes narrowed - as if silently saying 'never call me that again or I'll force-feed you Adam Sandler movies until your brain turns to mush' - but obliged with a mild nod. And then with a burst of light, the Boundary Pokémon was gone.
The light died away, but Arceus still stayed there, iridescent eyes gazing down absently on the tile where Kyurem had been standing. The gentle moonlight gave him an almost ethereal glow; Mew felt like if the wind around them picked a little more it would take a tear with it.
"Arcy..." Mew began, shaking the Alpha out of his minute-long doldrums. "You okay?"
Arceus blinked, and his eyes looked up at the orb of silver above. Sometimes she wondered what he saw.
"I am..." his voice trailed off, like the cold December winds and the peaks of Spear Pillar had dashed his thoughts. "Fine, Mew."
His face seemed to lengthen - in a more humanoid than equine fashion - and the air in front of it materialized for a brief second. "It's just rather sobering."
"But..." Mew blinked. "You can't drink."
The Normal Type's head titled in her direction, slowly, like it was about to crack and fall off. "Not physically, no."
The wind was the loudest thing between them for a few seconds as Arceus returned his gaze to the empty, bright expanse.
"You still have me," Mew said quietly, tapping her fingers together like the words had crossed the line from simplicity into arrogance.
That time, the New Species Pokémon swore she heard a crack from the Alpha - whether it had been in his neck as he turned to gaze down at her, his eyes as they widened by an immutable fraction, or even his face as the lines seemed to roll across his face, she didn't know - but the wind settled in between them again as his gaze finally settled down on her. Mew looked back into Arceus' eyes; from the way the green so perfectly framed the red, it was like she was trying to peer through a stained-glass window.
The Original One finally lifted up a hoof, moonlight flashing off the faint gold to present her with her own image, and brought it down to her head.
"Yes," he began as the gold touched her head, and Mew could feel the warmth radiating off of the cold metal wash over her. "Thank you."
Arceus lifted away his hoof - and Mew immediately shuddered as the cold winds of Mt. Coronet assailed and bit into her - and turned towards the Hall with its dying lights and immaculate marble.
"Come; I still remember the song," the Alpha's voice took an almost melodious strain to it as he floated in. Mew followed. "The show must go on."
The next day, as Arceus opened the one and only gift left in the hall and found himself facing the complete Glory For Sleep collection, part of him silently wished he had a mouth.
A Note From the Author:
Another year's come and gone. Too soon for my tastes; I can still vividly remember last year. I wasn't anywhere near as productive as I wanted to be, either; hopefully I can rectify that next year. Am I too young to regret having lost so much time already?
But this chapter goes out to you Grool (again). You've been one of the best friends I could have asked for - especially in dealing with my constant peppering about this chapter - and I always enjoy making these crossovers with you. Hopefully we can at least keep up this Christmas tradition we've developed next year.
Speaking of which, I'll see all of you again in the new year; I have something very special planned for Arceus to kick it off.