Chapter 11
At the foot of the snowy mountain, just past the Pokémon Center but with Cherrygrove City within sight, Ash and Gary finally arrived at the deluxe cabin that their families had rented out for the pair to spend Christmas at. It was a beautiful single floor cabin with plenty of space for their Pokémon to play outside and not bother any of the neighboring cabins. It was great, and Ash was very grateful for it, but there was no time to relax just yet for the pair – with Christmas coming, they needed to stock up on presents and party supplies.
"Got the list, Ash?" Gary asked as he opened the door with his satchel slung over his shoulder.
"Sure do!" Ash answered, holding up the paper as physical proof. As the pair stepped out onto the porch, Ash turned and looked in the open door of the cabin. "Hey, Blastoise."
"Blast!" his starter Pokémon replied, stepping up upon hearing its name being called. Some of the other more curious Pokémon that had been allowed outside of their balls stepped forth. "We're going into town to buy a couple of things; you're in charge while we're gone, okay?"
"Blastoise." The Water-type assured its Trainer with a nod.
"Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Arcanine – you behave yourselves," Gary said to them. The three Pokémon nodded, and Hoothoot, who was perched on Arcanine's head, hooted as well.
"See you later!" Ash called, and shut the door behind them. The group all stared at the shut door, and Blastoise wandered over to the window to watch the pair depart. Hoothoot flapped its wings and followed after it, and landed on the wooden table to watch Ash and Gary grow smaller and smaller as with each footstep. Both of them gave a wave at the window as their Trainers turned the corner of the path and bringing them out of sight.
Behind them, Chikorita jumped up on the stool, and was sitting patiently, but just then, the whole flood of Pokémon came running in from the parlor and crowded the windows. As Charmeleon and Bulbasaur jumped up, they unknowingly knocked Chikorita out of the way, and sent the Grass Pokémon bouncing onto the floor and hitting the wall. Its cheeks puffed out angrily as it glared daggers at the group all cheering and yelling through the glass.
Blastoise gave one last cry of goodbye, and its head cocked when it saw its breath fogging up the glass. Charmeleon saw this, and smiled wide before both it and Bulbasaur pulled in a deep breath and let it out onto the glass. The mix of hot and cold caused the window to fog up as well, and Charmeleon pressed its face against the fog before it could disappear. Much to its delight, and imprint of its face all squished showed up. "Char, char!" Seeing this, Hoothoot looked to Blastoise and waved its arms impatiently.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo!" It wanted Blastoise to breathe on the glass so it could make its own face impression. Blastoise agreed, and pulled in a lungful of air before expelling it onto the glass. As soon as it did, Hoothoot pressed its face against the fog, and laughed happily at the face print left behind. Hoothoot tried to once again fog it up to do it again, but its lungs and mouth were simply too small, and it couldn't get as big of a fog as Blastoise. Meanwhile, from the sidelines, Chikorita saw the group of Pokémon having fun with the imprints, and stuck its nose in the air before turning away. As the newest capture of the group, it had yet to bond with any of them, and felt it was too good for them. Blastoise saw this out of the corner of its eyes, and approached the smaller Pokémon.
"Blast, blastoise," it said to the young Grass-type. It was inviting Chikorita to play with them, but Chikorita didn't want any part of it.
"Chi!" the Leaf Pokémon scoffed, only looking at Blastoise for a split second before pulling its head away and sticking out its upper lip. Blastoise frowned and took a step forward, but Chikorita glared at it and swung the leaf on its head in warning. A lone slipper that was sitting on the floor ended up being the victim of Chikorita's rage, and it went flying through the air before hitting Gary's Hoothoot square on the head.
The Owl Pokémon whipped around with its wings flapping angrily, and it shot at Chikorita like a rocket, but the quick arms of Nidoking and Nidoqueen stopped it in place. Though it tried to struggle out of their grip, the Poison and Ground Pokémon didn't let up at all. In an attempt to calm it down, Bulbasaur extended one of its vines and rubbed the brown, feathered top of Hoothoot's head. Slowly, the act seemed to sap Hoothoot of its anger.
With Hoothoot now deflated like a balloon, Blastoise let out a sigh of relief. They had dodged a crisis – and most likely the first of many. A stern look crossed its face and it looked down at Chikorita with its hands on the sides of its shell. "Blas-Blastoise!" it scolded. For a split second, the stuck-up mask it wore broke, and it almost looked... sad. But as quickly as it fell apart, the mask pulled itself back together, and Chikorita's brow furrowed over its eyes. Sticking its nose in the air, Chikorita took off into a run. With one of its vines, it turned the doorknob and hurried outside. Not wanting the Grass Pokémon to get lost in the snow, Blastoise and the rest of the Pokémon hurried out after it.
Running out onto the snow-brushed path, Chikorita made a hard left and curled around the front porch. "Blastoise!" Blastoise called after it, running down the wooden stairs of the porch and tumbling down the stairs. It landed hard on its stomach, but brushed itself off, and with the others close behind it, continued after Chikorita. Chikorita looked behind it with panic glittering in its red eyes as it ran, and looked forward just in time to see a large icicle in its path.
"Chikaaaa!" Chikorita shouted, skidding on all four feet. But it was too late, and the Grass Pokémon skidded headfirst into the icicle. Though a beautiful ringing sang out from the solid block of ice, Chikorita's feet held out in front of it. Blastoise and the others stopped as well, all of them frozen as they watched Chikorita fall slowly onto its back. A silence weighed heavily on the group, but then all at once, they all began to laugh at the comedic scene that occurred. Chikorita didn't find this too funny, however, and pulled itself up while glaring.
"Blastoise Blas," Ash's Blastoise said, and knocked the icicle beside it, and like the one that Chikorita had hit, a beautiful tone sang out as it vibrated. Charmeleon wanted to try it as well, and knocked its horn against another. This tone differed slightly, but sounded similar. "Blas?"
"Char-meleon!" the Fire-type replied. Now they all wanted to try. Nidoking tapped one lightly with its knuckles, and Nidoqueen did as well. Bulbasaur used its vines to tap the icicle closest to it a few times. This made in idea light up in Blastoise's head.
"Blastoise, blas-blastoise," the Water-type directed, pointing at a few of the icicles in front of its fellow team member, Heracross. Heracross understood immediately and nodded.
"Herla-crah!" Using its horn, the Bug and Fighting Pokémon tapped each icicle lightly going down the line, and as it went down, the tone in the icicle lowered slightly.
"Hoo-hoo!" Hoothoot hooted with delight, jumping up and down on its one visible leg. The five Pokémon – aside from Blastoise who acted as the conductor, all tapped their icicles to play a small, rhythmic tune. But while all this was going on, Chikorita looked on with a frown. All of this had stemmed from the fact that it had crashed into the one larger icicle. Sticking out its upper lip, Chikorita swung the top of its head and sent a single leaf out from the larger one on its head. The Razor Leaf easily sliced through one of the icicles and it crashed into the ground inches away from Charmeleon's foot. The Fire-type flinched back in surprise, almost having one of its toes taken off.
"Char!" Charmeleon shouted, and fell onto its back. Now this was amusing to Chikorita, and the Grass-type Pokémon laughed while covering its mouth with one of its front paws. Once again, it swung its head, but three leaves came out instead of just one. This one sliced Heracross's, Nidoking's, Nidoqueen's, and Bulbasaur's. Three icicles stuck into the ground in a similar manner than Charmeleon's, and the other Pokémon flinched back, but Nidoking's fell and crashed on its hard head. Luckily, it didn't seem to have gotten hurt from it badly, and only scratched the point of impact atop its head.
Now that the fun had been ruined for all, Chikorita smiled proudly at its accomplishment, and then took off in a run past Blastoise and the gang, and away from the cabin. Blastoise helped Charmeleon onto its feet, and then hurried after Chikorita. The Grass-type was running up a path that led through a path in the woods, and Blastoise tried its best to keep up while the others stayed in tow. All the while, Blastoise was calling out for Chikorita to slow down, but the Leaf Pokémon seemed determined to lose them, and only picked up speed best it could.
Finally, the path ended at a set of stairs, and after going down them, a large ice skating rink was glittering in the center from the afternoon sun. Not knowing what it was, Chikorita only had one thing on its mind: getting away from Blastoise. It trampled down the stairs and rushed onto the ice, only to slip onto its backside and slide across the polished, cold surface. Chikorita cried out in horror and surprise as it did.
Blastoise finally caught up at the top of the stairs, and looked down at Chikorita sliding across the ice, and it smiled. "Blastoise!" it called, pumping a hand in the air. It seemed to think that Chikorita was playing. Just then, the others caught up as well, and crashed into Blastoise's hard shell. While they all fell to the ground, the shove made Blastoise lose its balance, and the Shellfish Pokémon tumbled forward down the stairs and onto the ice. It slid on its stomach like a penguin, only crying out for a moment. The others, soon realizing what was down in the center, blinked in surprise and looked up just in time to see Blastoise shout out in warning to Chikorita. As the Grass-type was slowing down, it turned back to see Blastoise coming straight for it, and Blastoise tucked into its shell just in time to plow into Chikorita. Now they were both sliding even further.
Thinking fast, Chikorita leaned its head down and dug the tip of its leaf into the ice. The sharp appendage managed to slice through the ice and slow their movement greatly. Before too long, the pair came to a stop. "Blas?" Blastoise questioned, pulling its limbs out of its shell as Chikorita gave a sigh of relief. This was the first time it had also been able to catch its breath, so its heart was beating heavily in its chest. Nevertheless, the Grass-type still stood and moved away from Blastoise, as if touching it disgusted the Leaf Pokémon. But instead of being angry, Blastoise gave a happy-go-lucky grin and chuckled at its teammate. "Blastoise blas." Wasn't that fun?
Now a look of confusion crossed Chikorita's face, and for a moment, Blastoise thought it had finally gotten through to it, but then it raised its nose and walked away, being careful not to fall in the process. After putting some distance between them, Chikorita twisted its head back and stuck its tongue out at Blastoise before continuing to its unknown destination. "Blastoise..." Blastoise sighed, its ears lowering as it let out the breath of air. Oh boy, what a tough cookie...
While Heracross and Nidoking decided to opt out from sliding on the ice and stayed on the sidelines to observe, the others joined in on the fun. The motherly Nidoqueen was sliding with Hoothoot like a mother would play with its child, and Gary's Arcanine rushed around while stopping and sliding on its paws and howling with laughter. Charmeleon and Bulbasaur skated together like the pals that they were, seeming to be in some sort of competitive race between the two of them. They both slid up to Blastoise and gave it a grin before continuing onward.
But before they could continue, Blastoise called for Bulbasaur. "Blast, Blastoise!" the fully-evolved Pokémon told its party member, and pulled its limbs into its shell once again. Using its Vine Whip attack, Bulbasaur gave Blastoise a mighty spin, which sent it scattering across the ice like a giant hockey puck. This quickly went out of control, and Blastoise hit the guard rail before bouncing off it and taking out the unsuspecting Hoothoot and Nidoqueen – and Arcanine soon after – before Nidoking stepped forth onto the ice and made itself as sturdy as it could at the edge of the ice rink where Blastoise was spinning toward. The Water Pokémon bashed into Nidoking, but the Drill Pokémon's defenses managed to stop it in its tracks, and it spun in place before pulling its head out of its shell. Spirals spun in its eyes, and it flopped onto its back while Nidoking gave a small chuckle. Boy, what a bad idea that was...
Meanwhile, Chikorita was watching this from the sidelines, and seeing the friendly laugh from the two teams brought a smile to its face. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all! It watched with amusement as Charmeleon went skating by, and Arcanine slid up beside it, and then brushed its fluffy tail against the ground to polish the ice under Charmeleon. The other Fire-type quickly picked up speed, and a look of anxiety crossed its face.
Much to everyone's surprise, Chikorita quickly joined in on the fun, and used its leaf to help Arcanine polish the ice in front of Charmeleon. The Pokémon picked up speed, and moved faster and faster until the ice stopped, and it kept going off the ice and hit a tree. Upon impact, all the snow that had gathered up above crashed down atop the Fire-type, and everyone stopped and laughed at the antics as the slow melted around the Fire-type due to the flames on its tail.
Now it had turned into a game. All Pokémon with appendages – Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Arcanine, and Chikorita – were now designated as the ice polishers, and they all partnered up with another Pokémon. Their job was to polish the ice in front of them to make the other slide faster. But, of course, not so fast that they would crash into a tree like before.
They all came to a halt to catch their breath, and chuckled amongst each other. Much to Blastoise's surprise, Chikorita came running up to it and leaned against the blue Pokémon's leg, and looked up at it with a smile. "Chikori!" it said, and Blastoise returned the smile with one of its own.
They continued skating until the sun was setting and the sky was orange. Chikorita had finally grown comfortable with the group, and had spent most of the day riding on the back of Blastoise's shell. It seemed to have warmed up to Blastoise the most, and while riding on the Shellfish Pokémon, its smile never faded.
"Heeeeyyy!" a familiar voice called from the top of the stairs, grabbing everyone's attention. Blocked out by the setting sun, they could see the dark figure of Ash and Gary holding plastic bags, and the younger Pallet Town Trainer waving a hand high above his head. "We're done shopping! You guys having fun?"
"Blastoise-Bla!" Blastoise called, giving a wave to its Trainer.
"Chikoriii!" the Leaf Pokémon added with a smile.
"C'mon, guys! Let's get back to the house!" Gary shouted. They all skidded to the staircase where their Trainers were waiting for them, with Blastoise and Chikorita bringing up the tail end of the group.
"Looks like everyone got along just great," Ash mused, and as Blastoise walked up the stairs, Chikorita rushed past it and leapt into Ash's arms.
"Chikorii!" Ash's eyebrows raised as he caught the Grass-type Pokémon with his free arm. When he had sent it out earlier that morning, Chikorita didn't want anything to do with him. But this was quite a warm welcome and a Christmas miracle. Exchanging a smile with Gary, the two Trainers and all of their Pokémon walked back to the cabin to prepare for the night.
o 0 o
After a small celebration with their Pokémon by the fireplace to keep them warm, the pair decided to pull their Pokémon into their Poké Balls and start to turn in for the night. "The sooner we get to bed, the sooner Santa Claus will come!" Ash reasoned with a wide smile.
"Don't tell me you still believe in Santa Claus?" Gary scoffed. Ash opened his mouth to retort, but quickly closed it. In fact, he had met Santa Claus this time last year, but was sworn to secrecy by him. Instead, Ash closed his eyes and stuck his nose in the air.
"Well, I guess we'll find out in the morning, won't we?" he asked rhetorically. Both boys went to bed, but not before placing a single stocking on the edge of their beds. And with all the lights turned out aside from the warming glow of the fire in the other room, it wasn't long before the pair went to sleep.
An hour passed by before a flash of light lit up the parlor. The light had emerged from Ash's backpack, and it came together to form Chikorita. "Chikori!" the Leaf Pokémon cried when it appeared, and looked around the room. Seeing Ash sound asleep in his bed, Chikorita bucked up on its back legs excitedly, and bounded over to the side of it. Ash's face was facing the wall, but that didn't matter to Chikorita. Smiling from ear to ear, the Grass-type Pokémon jumped up on the bed and invited itself under the blankets before curling up right beside its new Trainer.
Before it could get too comfortable, a handful of lights emerged from Ash and Gary's backpacks, and one by one, Pokémon started to appear. First it was Bulbasaur, then Heracross. Arcanine howled lightly as it appeared, and beside it was Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Hoothoot gave a hoot of delight as it appeared perched on Nidoqueen's shoulder. Finally, the last to emerge was Blastoise and Charmeleon. Something was amiss, and they could all feel it.
As Chikorita jumped down to join its companions, Heracross snatched up Bulbasaur by the bulb and sucked at the hole in the plant, but Bulbasaur quickly batted it away with a Vine Whip attack. Heracross blocked the vines and gave Bulbasaur a scared look as it shrunk away from the smaller Pokémon, and Chikorita giggled at the scene before jumping up on the table and looking outside. It was a clear, beautiful night, and stars glittered like diamonds in the sky. It was joined by Hoothoot, who flew up beside it.
One by one, they all joined and peered out the window. They had to wipe away the fog that had built up on the glass due to the contrast in temperatures. Earlier in the evening, Ash and Gary had decorated a pine tree outside with all sorts of Christmas ornaments, and Chikorita cooed with delight as it looked upon the many different-colored bulbs and ornaments. But then, something caught their eye from above.
It almost looked like a shooting star of some kind streak across the sky in a red blaze. All of the Pokémon that had released themselves all muttered in curiosity and fascination upon seeing this. Was that the cause of their uneasy feeling? They all leaned forward in an attempt to try and get a closer look, and the window suddenly gave way, pushing open and causing them all to spill out onto the snow below. Snow went everywhere and covered them all from head to toe, but they all broke free and took off into a run in the direction where the red light had gone. Tailing the group was Blastoise, who was trying to yell reason to them. They shouldn't be going out this far without Ash or Gary knowing! But its protests fell on deaf ears, as the other Pokémon's curiosity was getting the better of them.
Deeper and deeper into the woods they traveled, following the glow of a strange light that seemed to be emanating from the heart of the forest. Finally, they found the source of the light. A man in a red suit was kneeling on the ground. A sleigh was tipped on its side, and attached to it was a dark Pokémon that was hard to see in the shadows. As the gang all started to move closer, they saw that the Pokémon that was lying in the snow was a Stantler, and it was whimpering slightly as if it were hurt. Meanwhile, the man in the red suit looked over it and rubbed his mitten-covered hands through his thick white beard. "Hm, this doesn't look good..." he murmured to himself.
Now the Pokémon were close enough for the Stantler to notice, and though its eyes looked at them, its gaze was unfocused. "Blast, Blastoise," Blastoise spoke up, looking down at the man. Hearing the new voice, the man turned and looked at the group.
"Oh, hello there," he greeted. They looked over at Stantler, who had gone back to having its eyelids flutter open and shut.
"Blast?"
"Chika?" Even Chikorita seemed to be worried about the Stantler.
The man in the red suit rubbed his hand against the Normal-type's forehead. "I'm afraid my Stantler here's a little under the weather." Blastoise put its hand down on Stantler's forehead, and gasped when it felt how extremely warm the Pokémon was. And now that it was touching the Big Horn Pokémon, Blastoise could feel it quivering ever-so slightly. Like a younger sibling, Chikorita also had to feel Stantler, and put its forehead against the sick Pokémon. It too gasped when it felt its high temperature.
"Chika!"
"I'd love to let it rest, but we've got important work to do tonight," the man continued, a frown weighing heavily behind his beard. "I have some Berries that keep down the fever, but these are all I have left." The man reached into his pocket and held out his palm upward to the others. In his hand were four, wilted Berries that looked like they had been in his pocket for a while.
"Chika!" Chikorita perked up immediately, and the leaf on its head spun around and around like a helicopter.
"Blast! Blastoise Blas," Blastoise told the man, giving him a thumbs-up.
"You're going to look for some more?" the man questioned, and his face melted into a smile. "Thank you."
"Blastoise!" the Shellfish Pokémon responded, and the rest of them gave happy cries and ran past the man and deeper into the forest. Chikorita led the way this time, as it had grown up in the area around here, so it would know where to find the Berries. The Grass-type Pokémon took them to a hilly, snow-covered area. This particular blend of Berry only grew in the snow-covered parts of Route 29, so it was important that they search through the snow. They all split up, taking different parts of the area and digging through the snow as fast as they could. Blastoise also tried looking through some of the bushes to see if there were any there, but it was much too dark for them to even see anything. The only light illuminating the area around them at all was Charmeleon's tail flame, but even that could only reach so far.
"Hoo-hoo!" Hoothoot declared. The Owl Pokémon flew to the top of a higher mound of snow, and began to use its Foresight attack. Its eyes glowed a bright red, and a beam of light shot out of them and instantly lit up the dark forest like a flashlight. Now they could see! With renewed confidence, they began to search again.
Heracross dug into the snow using its horn, able to clear away large chunks to see into the earth below. Nidoking and Nidoqueen used their tails to brush away the snow, and Charmeleon was able to melt away snow from rocks with its Flamethrower attack.
As Bulbasaur dug away at the snow with its vines, Chikorita was searching for a new place to start shoveling through the snow and slipped and rolled on a patch of ice hidden beneath some of the snow. Its legs came right out from under it and it flipped around, hitting a nearby tree hard as it landed. The whole tree shook, and caused all of the snow that was held in the branches to come crashing down on Bulbasaur. The snow completely covered the Grass-type, and Chikorita began to chuckle, but soon, Bulbasaur began to roll down the slope.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried. The spinning made the snow around it condense, form into a snow ball, and as it rolled downhill, grew progressively larger as it took in more snow. The others heard Bulbasaur's cry of anguish, and looked just in time to see the Seed Pokémon disappear down the hill. With Hoothoot flying ahead and keeping its glowing eyes locked on Bulbasaur, the group all chased after Bulbasaur so as not to lose it. Bulbasaur, of course, was rolling much faster than they were running, and soon reached the bottom of the hill where the wind made the snow arch up in a dune. Bulbasaur cried out in horror as it flew through the air while still trapped in the snow. Meanwhile, the others now skidded to a stop, and looked up to see the snowball that had eaten Bulbasaur was now coming right toward them. They barely had time to cry out before the snow landed on top of them, completely enveloping them.
A silence fell before the forest, but then two blasts of flames shot out into the sky, and the snow that was around them melted away from Charmeleon and Arcanine's Flamethrower attacks. Now that the snow had evaporated away, they all let out a collective sigh of relief. But the search wasn't over yet; they still had some Berries to find.
They all decided to split up and search in groups of two. One group would have Charmeleon provide light while the other would have Hoothoot continue to use its Foresight. And after looking for what seemed like hours, they came together. They hadn't seen sight or hint of any Berries at all. The night was starting to get chillier, and the cold from the snow was starting to settle into their bones, especially the Grass-types that weren't used to it.
But just when they had all almost given up hope, they heard a howl in the distance. They all perked up and looked over to see Arcanine looking at them from the bottom of a ledge just a few meters where they were standing. "Aroo! Aro!" Arcanine howled excitedly. The group quickly approached, and Blastoise smiled at Arcanine.
"Blast, Blastoise?"
Arcanine nodded and pointed its snout up in the air. Sure enough, jutting out of the rock-side was a small bush, and in it were many Berries that matched those that the bearded man in the red suit had shown them. They had finally found them.
Nidoqueen knew exactly what to do, and walked forward to the cliffside. Pulling in arm back, the Drill Pokémon punched the rock. A crack appeared from its fist and traveled upward, almost in a slight zigzag pattern. The crack forked out as it reached the bottom of the bush and traveled up both sides, and finally the rock holding the bush shattered into pieces, sending Berries flying down around them. Everyone all cried out and rushed to collect as many as they could. Hoothoot flew up and caught some in its beak, and Chikorita and Bulbasaur snatched up some with their Vine Whip attacks. The bigger Pokémon like Blastoise, Nidoqueen, and Nidoqueen were able to cup their hands and catch some, and soon, they had collected a good amount.
They all exchanged a smile, and rushed back to where the man with the sick Stantler had been. It wasn't too difficult to find it, as they just had to follow their footprints in the snow.
When they made it back, the man was rubbing a wet cloth on its forehead in an attempt to break the fever. "Blast!" Blastoise announced when they broke through the trees, and the man stood up and smiled.
"Blastoise," he greeted with relief in his voice. As they arrived, they all held up the Berries they had collected. "Blas, Blastoise!"
"You found some! You found some of the Berries!" he said, and gave a jolly laugh. "Oh, that's wonderful!" Blastoise and Chikorita walked side by side and placed their Berries down in front of the still-fallen Stantler, and the Pokémon moaned weakly before leaning forward and slowly munching on the small fruits. One by one, each of the Pokémon fed the Stantler their Berries, and the Big Horn Pokémon ate them slowly, but with each bite, was slowly regaining its energy back. "That's right... Good Stantler..."
Finally, Stantler had eaten all of the Berries, and now the group all looked at Stantler with bated breath in anticipation to see if they would do their job. Sure enough, Stantler managed to get itself back up onto its hooves, and bucked its front paws wildly in the air with the most energy it had showed all night. It threw its head back and gave a loud, boisterous cry, and the bells on its reigns twinkled magically when it stomped back down. "Sounds like there's gonna be a Christmas after all!" the man said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. The Pokémon all cheered in happiness. They had finally done it!
With the help of the larger Pokémon, they were able to get the man's sleigh upright once again, and the bearded man climbed into the front and turned to look at them. "Thank you, Blastoise. You and all your friends," he thanked with a wide smile. "Now, Stantler and I have some presents to deliver." Sitting down, the man grabbed the reigns and snapped them. "Let's go, Stantler!"
Stantler threw back its head and cried out once again, and took off in a run through the snow. The sleigh attached to it, of course, stayed close behind, and the gang followed it through the snow for as long as they could. But once the man snapped the reigns once again and cried, "Away!" the sleigh picked itself up off the ground, and a glowing powder sprinkled off Stantler and the sleigh as they flew higher and higher into the air while the others looked on with mouths wide open. And as snow started to fall down beautifully all around them, they heard one final phrase uttered from the man as he disappeared past the moon.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
o 0 o
"Wow! Look at all the presents!" Ash cried. The smile on his face was doing a mighty-fine job of getting the sleep out of his eyes. His smile stretched from ear-to-ear as his eyes pulled in the sight of the wrapped presents by the fire place. There was one addressed to him, but though it didn't have a name in the 'FROM' section on the tag, he knew exactly who it had come from.
Meanwhile, Gary looked and studied the presents with a frown on his face. "What's the matter?" Ash asked, starting to tear into his own present.
"There's a present here for Arcanine... And Nidoking... And even Hoothoot," the older boy said with a puzzled look on his face. "But I certainly don't remember getting them anything; let alone wrapping it."
It took Ash all the power in him not to grin too wide, and instead it just came out as a toothy smirk. "Who cares! This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!"
Ash:
Party:
Blastoise (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Skull Bash, Dig, Hydro Pump, BubbleBeam
Bulbasaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Tackle
Charmeleon (Poké Ball)
Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Spin, Skull Bash, Slash
Heracross (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Tackle
Chikorita (Poké Ball)
Moves: Razor Leaf, Tackle, Vine Whip
At Professor Oak's Lab:
Tauros (Safari Ball) x2 (m)
Moves: Fissure, Horn Attack, Take Down
Kingler (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Water Gun, Bubble, Crabhammer, Hyper Beam
Muk (Poké Ball)
Moves: Poison Gas, Sludge Bomb
Primeape (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Thrash, Mega Kick, Scratch, Seismic Toss
Pidgeotto (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Gust, Quick Attack, Whirlwind, Double-Edge
Stantler (Poké Ball)
Moves: Hypnosis
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Thunder Badge
Marsh Badge
Rainbow Badge
Soul Badge
Volcano Badge
Earth Badge
Diamond Badge
Indigo League Rank: Top 4
Johto Badges:
Gary:
Party:
Venusaur (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: SolarBeam, Vine Whip, Razor Leaf, Mega Drain
Arcanine (Poké Ball)
Moves: Take Down, Fire Spin, Fire Blast, Flamethrower
Nidoqueen (Poké Ball) (f)
Moves: Rock Smash, Hyper Beam, Mega Punch, Double Kick
Nidoking (Poké Ball) (m)
Moves: Horn Attack, Earthquake, Tackle
Pinsir (Poké Ball)
Moves: Fury Attack, ViceGrip
Hoothoot (Poké Ball)
Moves: Foresight, Peck
At Professor Oak's Lab:
200+ Pokémon
Kanto Badges:
Boulder Badge
Cascade Badge
Rainbow Badge
Seven unknown Badges
Indigo League Rank: Winner
Johto Badges: