Five new chapters today. There are five more, bringing it to a total of 17 (I didn't mean for that to happen, it just did :P). I took the liberty of writing the entire thing and its sequel out so that I could update in time for the end of the month. Enjoy reading.

"Maybe if I tried to guess your name," Matt continued. "I might know who you are."

"Um…okay. Give it a shot."

We walked up to the front of the boat. There were some tables set up with large umbrellas over them. Me and Matt grabbed a table closest to the railing and sat down. His Bayleef, Cora, never stopped looking at me, making me nervous. Matt was clueless as to who I was, but she already knew me from scent.

"Melanie!" He finally pronounced, his face turning red from guessing. I broke into a laugh.

"Close. Melinda," I said. "You can just call me Molly."

"Okay," He replied. "I'm not sure why, but it was just a strong feeling that I saw you somewhere before."

Kind of weird that he brought it up.

We talked about each other for the remainder of the trip. Matt, although he looked otherwise, was really calm and sweet. He told me that his father died when he was six, about the same time mom died too. Raised by one parent, but unlike me he loved exploring. His father left him a Chikorita he named Cora, now the Bayleef dozing by my leg.

"She's really cute," I said.

"Thanks." He looked down at her. "I've never seen her take to someone this fast, not even me."

"That makes two of us," I said under my breath.

Alto Mare was a couple of minutes away. Matt woke Cora up, and asked me to join him. I couldn't pass up the offer, and I followed. We ran into an older woman along the way who seemed to scold Matt and started calling him by his full name. I could tell that this was his mother.

"Mom I was in the front of the boat!" He said. She turned to me.

"Who's this?"

"This is Molly. I bumped into her earlier and we were just talking," She smirked. "What?"

"Just 'talking'," She said. "That's how they all start, relationships."

Matt looked at me and started to blush insanely. This was one hell of an awkward moment for the two of us.

"So Matt," I started, trying to change the subject. "You're moving to Alto Mare?"

We finally docked, and passengers started leaving the ship. Matt, his mother, Cora and I all walked off of the ship and waited on the dock. The moving truck had to be unloaded. It was safe to say that a moving truck in a city built on water was a bad Idea, but I left it alone. "I'd love to stay, but I have to go to my dad's restaurant."

"Wait. You live here too?" Matt's mother asked. Then she looked at him. "Fancy that."

"Okay Molly," He said through gritted teeth. "It was nice meeting you."

"Same here," I replied, and waved him and his mother goodbye.

"I'm back," I chanted, pushing the door of the restaurant open. In terms of the season, the restaurant was covered from ceiling to color with Christmas decorations. Well there was something I wouldn't have to explain to my school until next semester. Millie immediately wrapped herself around me, in an 'I was worried about you!' way. It would've been nice if my ribs didn't start hurting again. "Thanks for the hug Millie, but I'm a bit sore!"

She put me down. Dani walked up. 'You're short one Winthrop. Where's your father?'

I quickly remembered his disappearance. "I…"

"I think I can make up for that."

I recognized that voice. I spun around to the reopening restaurant door. "Grandma?" I ran into her arms. It was better if I hugged her first before she got a chance to do the same. She chuckled.

"Wow, you nearly blew me down with that one," She said. "I know it's a little late, but…happy birthday."

"Thank you."

"Look at this," She took my necklace in her hand. "Calvin sure has a taste for gifts, I must say that…unless you have a boyfriend?"

"Of course…of course not!" For a second my mind started to revolve around Matt. Grandma smirked, and looked around.

"You know, I could never find your father when I need him," She mumbled. "For some strange reason he's always running off, busy with some errand. Where is he this time?"

I couldn't have lied even if I really wanted to. "Honestly…I don't know."

Both Dani and Millie eyed me with concern. Grandma sighed. "Knowing Calvin, he's probably running another 'errand'. Don't worry too much though. He'll come running back home once he smells what I'm cooking up for Christmas dinner," I don't know why, but no matter what the situation, no matter how tense the moment was, grandma always brought a smile to each and every one of our faces. Hopefully what she said was true.

Later that afternoon I accompanied grandma back to the house to help clean up. No one bothered decorating the house, so that was our job today. I got some decorations out of the attic and walked back downstairs. I was in need of a Christmas tree.

"Looking for something, Molly?" Grandma asked.

"I need a tree," I said. "Dad says that fake trees are nice, but real ones have more life and make the house smell good."

"Well I think I can help you out with that," She said, picking up the phone. "I have a friend in Johto who can surely find the best Christmas tree for this time of year. I just hope he isn't too busy…"

While grandma called her friend, I went out to look for Staraptor and Typhlosion. He for one, loved cutting down trees for this time of year. I talked him into the idea, and happily, he agreed, taking a deep breath and blew out a fireball. I found his pokeball and returned him, then waited for grandma to give me the location before climbing onto Staraptor's back.

"You look just like your father, at your age," She said. "Now I'll be here cooking. My friend's name is Drew, and he said that you can come by at any time."

"Thanks," I said. ""Come on, Star!"

He took off, in the direction of Johto. I should've gotten my jacket, because it was cold up there.

Johto was a lot colder than I expected when we arrived a few hours later. Where we were going was high in the mountains, where pine trees grew plentiful. For the first time in my life I spotted some snow; I never saw this before, and I couldn't help myself when we landed.

"Snow angel!" I fell back into the snow. It was freezing, but it just had to be done. I got up. "Look Star! The perfect snow angel!"

He flapped his wings in appreciation. I shivered, since the snow on my back was starting to liquefy. "Time for some warmth," I released Typhlosion from his pokeball, and immediately hugged him. "So warm…that's much better."

He smiled back. Since we reached our destination all we had to do now was look for grandma's friend. Typhlosion cleared a walking path while Staraptor took to the sky again. The snow was falling very lightly, so it wasn't too bad for flight. Grandma's friend was in the mountains chopping down pine trees for the same reason we wanted one: Christmas. I stayed as close as I could to Typhlosion; his flames were a great source of warmth. We walked for some time through the forest until we could hear some people shouting, and some axes cutting at trees. We were drawing near.

"TIMBER!" All of a sudden the tree next to us started to fall over. Typhlosion cut off the tip, the rest falling to the ground and leaving me unharmed, but covering me in a pile of snow. "What was that?"

"Hug me again!" He came close enough for me to hug him just as a few workers walked out into our path.

"Is everyone okay?" One asked. "We couldn't see you through the snowdrift."

"We're alright," I said. "Does anyone know…Drew?"

The workers looked at each other before responding. "This way," We followed them through the trees. Star was still flying overhead, but was having trouble finding us.

"How do you know Drew?" One worker asked.

"Well, I don't, my grandmother does," I said. "I came up here to pick out a Christmas tree."

"I see."

We came to an opening in the forest—or what used to be occupied by pine trees before they were cut down. There was a relatively large cabin built entirely out of log, and there was smoke coming from its chimney, suggesting that there was someone inside.

"He's inside. But I'd better get back to work before he scolds me," He walked off into the forest again. I knocked on the cabin door.

"Hello?" The door opened. A man, in his late fifties, maybe, stepped out to look at me. He started rubbing his hands together in an attempt to keep warm. He looked at me in awe. "My god, you must be cold! Come in!"

Typhlosion and I walked inside, Staraptor eventually following, and he closed the door. A wave of warmth rushed over me as we approached the fireplace, and we sat down in front of it, hands in front of the fire. It was a nice comfortable place, with a long chair on one side, a rocking chair in front of the fireplace, and a bed on the other side. Blankets were packed in a corner of the room.

"Let me guess," He said, sitting in the rocking chair. "Molly, right?"

"Drew?" He nodded. "Oh, okay…are those your workers?"

"You can say that," He said. "I've just finished my shift, as you can see," He was still wearing his work boots, and his coat, hanging on the edge of the rocking chair, was slightly covered in snow. "You're Calvin's daughter, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, you remind me of him," He said. "I haven't seen him since he was your age…?"

"17."

"Around that time. So, you've come here in search of a Christmas tree?"

"Yeah."

"…I think I can help you with that."

We walked into the forest again. There were some other workers walking around, axes over their shoulder, either indulged in conversations or getting ready to start on a new tree. I spotted the perfect tree in a clearing, and pointed Drew towards it. He was getting ready to cut it down for us when Typhlosion insisted, cutting the tree down in no time at all. Wow, he must've been really excited!

"Here you go, Star," In no time, he had picked up the tree and was ready to go. I was afraid that this, including carrying me, would be an incredible amount of weight but he urged me to get on. I thanked Typhlosion and returned him to his pokéball. "Thanks for the tree, Drew."

"It's no problem at all," He said. "Your grandmother would do the same."

I nodded and climbed onto Staraptor's back. I waved goodbye and he flew in the direction of home.

"I can't wait to decorate this thing!"