Episode Thirty-Eight: Christmas Special
Every year at Christmas time, little boys and girls all around the world are preparing for the holiday season. They hang their stockings up by the fireplace or their bed and try their best to be good so that they can get presents from the big guy himself, Santa Claus. We start off on one cold night in a forest cottage where one teenage girl has already finished her prep work and is anxious for Santa, even though Christmas isn't for another few days or so. The girl is Sally of Team Rocket. She was fast asleep in her bed with her stocking hung beside her. Everything was very peaceful when she heard someone enter the room. She thought nothing of it at first, but then she heard a scream, which caused her to wake up with glee.
"Yes! It worked!" She cried. "All right, Santa, hand over the goods!" However, the person that had been caught in the net wasn't Santa. It was her partner, Conrad.
"Do I look like Santa Claus to you?" he asked. Sally chuckled.
"Oopsie." She said. She got Conrad out of the net and started to explain why she wanted to catch Santa.
"Every year when I was small, I was always a good little girl. I always did my chores like my mom asked, plus a little extra. I also never got into any fights. Because of that, I always got a little bonus from Santa in addition to my regular gifts. But then one year, I don't exactly remember what happened, something inside of me changed. I ended up becoming more rebellious and did a lot of things that I shouldn't have, resulting in me going on the naughty list." She said.
"Honestly, that's no reason to try and capture Santa." Said Conrad.
"I think it's a very good reason." Said Sally. Just then, she thought of something else. "Actually, forget about catching Santa. We'll just steal Christmas instead."
"I thought the Grinch already tried that." Said Conrad.
"Well it didn't exactly work when he tried it." Said Sally. "Thanks to my plan, though, our attempt will be much more successful. If I can't have Christmas, then nobody can." She then let out a yawn. "Come on, let's get some sleep. We'll discuss this more in the morning." The two team Rocket members quickly closed their eyes and fell asleep. The next day, our three heroes were sailing along the water on Mark's Lapras. Amanda was determined to get to Cinnabar and earn a Volcano badge. Pikachu looked out at the ocean through a pair of binoculars, and the moment he saw an island come into view, he pointed excitedly.
"Pikachu pika!" he yelled.
"What is it, Pikachu?" Amanda asked.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'I see something that we should check out!'
"What do you think, guys?" Amanda asked.
"I suppose another detour wouldn't hurt." Said Michelle. "At least this time, there's no whirlpools to throw us off."
"Lapras, full speed ahead to that island!" Mark cried. Lapras nodded and started picking up speed. Up in the air, Team Rocket was also making their way toward the island.
"If those people think that they're going to have a merry Christmas this year, they have another thing coming." Said Sally.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Conrad asked.
"Yes!" Sally cried. "I haven't gotten a darn thing the last six years, so I deserve a break once in a while."
"If you say so." Said Conrad. Meanwhile, our heroes were quickly approaching the island, which was pretty big. They were almost there when Amanda's egg started to glow a bit.
"What's happening? Why did my egg do that?" Amanda asked.
"I honestly have no clue." Said Michelle.
"Maybe Nurse Joy will have the answer." Said Mark. They finally reached the island, and Mark praised Lapras for a job well done.
"Lapras, return!" Mark cried. The water type got sucked into the ball in a beam of red light.
"You deserve a rest." Said Mark. He placed the ball in his bag and they started to walk down the pathway. They soon reached the Pokemon Center, and they all made a beeline for the entrance.
"Nurse Joy! You need to have a look at my egg!" Amanda cried as they burst through the door.
"Woah, slow down there kids." Said Joy. "You don't want to hurt yourselves."
"This is important!" Amanda cried. "My egg was glowing on the way here and I have no idea what it could mean."
"That's why I'm here." Said Joy. "Let's have a look here." Amanda handed the egg over and Joy watched it carefully. Nothing happened at first, but twenty minutes later, it glowed again, making Joy gasp.
"It's getting close!" she cried. She handed the egg back to Amanda and gave a smile.
"Well, what's up with my egg?" Amanda asked.
"There's nothing to worry about at all." Said Joy. "That glow it gave before means it's very close to hatching." That news got Amanda very excited.
"How close exactly?" she wondered.
"I would estimate that it should hatch by Christmas Day." Said Joy.
"Wow, that's so awesome!" cried Amanda. They went back outside feeling more excited by the minute.
"My egg's going to hatch soon!" she cried.
"You don't have to be so loud about it, though." Said Mark.
"Sorry, but I can't help myself." Said Amanda. "I'm about to be the mother of a baby Pokemon! I haven't been this excited in a long time!" She started to skip around in a circle, and in the process, she grabbed Michelle's hand.
"Woah there, Amanda, settle down." Said Michelle. "Stop spinning me around so much, you're making me dizzy!" Pikachu and Eevee couldn't help but smile.
"Eevee." Squealed Eevee, which meant 'She's certainly excited about that egg.'
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu in agreement, which meant 'She does need to calm down, though.' Amanda finally let go of Michelle and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Are you all right?" Mark asked.
"Yeah, just a little dizzy from being spun around so much." Michelle answered.
"Sorry about that." Said Amanda.
"It's all right." Said Michelle. Once she had recovered from the dizziness, they continued on along the island.
"This place certainly is very nice." Said Amanda.
"It's also very warm." Said Michelle. "I don't see a single bit of snow anywhere."
"Not every place has to have a white Christmas." Said Mark.
"I guess you're right." Said Michelle. As they continued walking, a girl that was older than the trio ran up to them. She looked to be no older than sixteen.
"Can the three of you help me out, please?" she asked.
"What's wrong?" Amanda replied.
"It's my little sister." Said the girl. "She's eight years old and right now, she's very sad."
"What? But it's Christmas. People are supposed to be happy." Said Mark.
"Try telling that to my sister." Said the girl. "Her name is Cassie, by the way. I'm her sister Gina."
"Well, Gina, we'll do whatever we can to get that frown off of your sister's face." Said Michelle.
"Thanks." Said Gina. She pointed in the exact direction the trio was headed.
"My house is this way. Follow me." She said. She led the three friends, plus Pikachu and Eevee, down the street. Meanwhile, in the house that Gina had mentioned, Cassie was in her room staring glumly out her window. She let out a bit of a sigh.
"It's just not fair." She said. "It's been three whole weeks now since Mommy and Daddy died. I still miss them so much. Why did that accident have to happen?" She let out some small tears, as she was obviously upset. Although she had tried to get the death out of her mind, she was still having a difficult time letting it go. Even Gina had tried multiple times to convince Cassie to stop thinking about it, but those attempts were unsuccessful. She sighed again and continued to look out her window. Thirty minutes later, she heard the door to her room open.
"Cassie, we have visitors." Said Gina. Cassie turned around in her chair and saw her sister, as well as Michelle, Amanda and Mark.
"Are you three here to give me even more bad news?" she asked.
"Not at all." Said Amanda. "We're Pokemon trainers, and we want to try and help you out.
"Pokemon trainers?" Cassie repeated. She was a little bit confused.
"I don't think this kid's ever seen a Pokemon before." Michelle whispered. Pikachu ran up to Cassie and gave her a playful nudge.
"It looks like my Pikachu is already taking a liking to you, Cassie." Said Amanda.
"Wait a minute. How do you know my name?" Cassie wondered. "You're only just meeting me for the first time."
"Your sister filled us in on everything on our way here." Said Mark. Cassie got out of her chair and went over to where the trio was standing, with Pikachu following behind.
"You know, Amanda, your Pikachu is the very first Pokemon that I've ever met." Said Cassie. "I've always wanted my own Pokemon ever since I was four years old. Every Christmas since then I kept asking my parents for one, but they kept saying no. Something about having to wait until I was a little older. This is the year that I was finally supposed to get a Pokemon of my own. I know this because they made that promise to me last year. Then the accident happened, and now, I'll never have my own Pokemon." She burst into tears again. Gina got a tissue out so she could wipe them away.
"There now, Cassie." She said gently. "Everything will be all right."
"No it won't!" Cassie cried. "Nothing will ever be all right again!" The two of them embraced in a hug, and then Gina began to speak.
"Look, I know you miss Mom and Dad." She said. "I'll be honest, I miss them too. Crying isn't going to bring them back, though. It's unfortunate that the accident happened but you have to let that go."
"They promised me that I would finally get my own Pokemon this year!" Cassie cried. "But now, that's not going to happen!"
"Oh yes it will." Said Gina. "I'm going to make sure that Mom and Dad's promise to you gets fulfilled." She turned to Michelle, Amanda and Mark. "I'll need the three of you to come with me again."
"See you in a little while, Cassie." Said Amanda. The four of them left the room and stepped back outside the house.
"There has to be something we can do to make Cassie feel better." Said Michelle.
"Didn't she say something about how her parents had promised to get her a Pokemon of her own?" asked Mark.
"I specifically heard something about that." Said Amanda.
"And we're going to make sure that she gets one." Said Gina.
"What kind of Pokemon would she want, though?" Michelle wondered.
"Good question." Said Amanda.
"Maybe she'd like a water type." Said Mark.
"Water types are usually pretty neat." Said Gina.
"But maybe she'd like an electric type like my Pikachu." Said Amanda.
"That's always possible." Said Gina. "We definitely have some options to consider."
"Gina, did Cassie write a letter to Santa this year?" Michelle asked.
"You know, that's the strange thing about all of this." Said Gina. "With all that's happened and all the stuff that we've had to deal with the last few weeks, she never did get around to writing her letter this year."
"I guess she must've been so upset that she didn't feel like doing it." Said Mark.
"Probably, but don't worry, we'll make sure she gets something." Said Gina. She smiled at the threesome and led them down the bank of the ocean. There weren't very many waves, which was a good thing, but one of the waves sent a Vaporeon onto the pathway that they were walking on.
"I bet Cassie would love that." Said Amanda.
"I hope so." Said Gina. "And since it's my sister, I think it's only fair that I catch it." She grabbed a Poke Ball off the waist of the skirt she was wearing and threw it.
"Venusaur, you're up for battle!" she cried. A quadrupedal amphibian Pokemon with blue and green skin appeared. On its back was a large pink, white-spotted flower bulb. Amanda decided to get more info with her Pokedex.
"Venusaur, the seed Pokemon. Venusaur uses its flower to catch the sun's rays to convert them into energy, which causes the flower to become more vibrant. The flower releases a soothing scent that attracts Pokémon and calms emotions."
"Venusaur, use your Vine Whip!" Gina commanded. Venusaur shot out its vines at Vaporeon, but the water type countered with a Reflect to reduce the damage. Vaporeon then used Swift and shot yellow stars at the grass type. Venusaur cried out in a bit of pain.
"Venusaur!" Gina cried. "Are you okay?" Venusaur nodded and shot Vaporeon an angry stare.
"Razor Leaf!" Gina called. Venusaur shot green leaves at Vaporeon, which did some damage, but not as much as it should've done due to the Reflect. Vaporeon then used a Bubblebeam attack, which did some more damage to Venusaur.
"That Vaporeon's tough, but Venusaur here is even tougher." Said Gina. "Use your Sleep Powder!" Venusaur sprinkled blue dust all over Vaporeon, causing the water type to fall asleep.
"Solar Beam!" called Gina. Venusaur absorbed some of the light from the sun that was shining in the sky and launched a powerful yellow beam at Vaporeon, hitting it and knocking it out. Gina nodded and grabbed an empty Poke Ball to launch at Vaporeon.
"Poke Ball, go!" she cried. The ball hit Vaporeon's tail and sucked the water type inside via red light. The ball wiggled and shook four times before clicking shut.
"Looks like I got a Vaporeon." Said Gina. She picked up the Poke Ball and put it away. She then gave another nod. "Yes. This will be a great gift for my sister."
"Cassie will be so surprised when she gets that." Said Amanda.
"She certainly will." Said Gina. "There's a few other things that I want to get her too, though." There was a shopping center s short distance away, so they made their way there.
"I wonder what else Cassie would like." Said Michelle.
"I know Cassie had asked our parents for some new clothes for Christmas right before they passed away, but that's all I remember her wanting." Said Gina. "Because our parents are no longer around, the responsibility of buying Cassie's gift falls to me." She checked the map to see where the stores were. "Luckily for us, there's a store on this floor that sells clothes for children. Come on, let's go." The four of them headed off towards the store together, but Pikachu was feeling a little worried about Cassie.
"Pika." He said in a bit of a sad tone, which meant 'I really hope we can make Cassie feel better.'
"I hope the same thing, Pikachu." Said Amanda. Once they arrived at the store, Gina immediately ran over to wear the sweaters were. There was one that especially stood out because the top part of it was green, the middle part was red and the bottom part was blue.
"Notice the significance of this pattern?" Gina asked.
"I think I know." Said Michelle. "It has to do with the three starters. Green for Bulbasaur, red for Charmander, and blue for Squirtle."
"That's right." Said Gina. "I think Cassie would like this." She was about to pay for the sweater when she remembered something else.
"I don't remember Cassie ever wearing a dress before, except for when we had the funeral for our parents." She said. "Other than that, she's always been a bit of a tomboy." She spotted a bright yellow dress with red and pink dots and scooped it up, along with a pair of white tights. She went to the counter and paid for the items, and then they left.
"There's one more store we have to go into." Said Gina. "If I'm to give her that dress as a gift, she'll need some good shoes to go with it." They went into the shoe store that was right next door to where they had just been and Gina picked out a pair of shiny black Mary Jane dress shoes.
"I think she'll definitely like those." Said Michelle.
"Let's hope so, Michelle." Said Gina. Once the shoes had been paid for, they left the mall.
"Well, our shopping trip is finished." Said Gina. "Now to wrap these and put them under our tree."
"But what if Cassie sees those before she's supposed to?" Amanda asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she's a bit of a snoop sometimes." Said Gina. "Thankfully, Christmas isn't until the day after tomorrow, so we'll just have to hope that she can be patient a little bit." They soon arrived back at the house, and when they got in, Gina made sure to check around.
"Good, it looks like the coast is clear." She said. She led the group up to her room and put Vaporeon's Poke Ball in her drawer. She quickly closed it and locked it with a small key.
"It should be safe in there for now." Said Gina. "Now, I want the three of you to help me wrap these." The four of them got some rolls of wrapping paper and got to work. With the four of them working together, the gifts got wrapped fairly quickly. Gina went to put them underneath the tree, but right as she finished, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Gina turned around and saw her sister standing there.
"Cassie. Don't you ever scare me like that again." Said Gina.
"Sorry." Said Cassie. She glanced past Gina and looked at the freshly wrapped boxes.
"What's in there?" Cassie asked.
"Well, if you must know, miss Curious George, those are your presents that our new friends and I just got you."
"Oh, I love presents!" Cassie cried. She tried to open them, but Gina stopped her.
"Not so fast there, sis." Said Gina. "You're not supposed to see those until after tomorrow."
"I want to see them now!" Cassie demanded.
"You can't right now." Said Gina. "And if you so much as continue that type of behavior, these are going to go back to the store and you'll get nothing. Is that what you want?"
"No." Cassie answered.
"Then I expect you to behave perfectly." Said Gina. "Especially now with Santa scheduled to come tomorrow night. Can you do that for me?" Cassie nodded.
"I think so." She said.
"That's a good girl." Said Gina. "Now, run along and play in your room for a while." Cassie ran upstairs and Gina turned her attention to the group.
"Sorry about that." She said. "I love Cassie a lot, but she can be a bit of a brat sometimes."
"Typical child behavior. Not really a surprise there." Said Michelle. That night, Gina cooked a delicious meal for all of them. The meal consisted of smoked ham, fried potatoes and some salad.
"Won't Christmas dinner be kind of boring if we have the same thing tonight?" Cassie asked.
"I was thinking of trying a more healthy approach for tomorrow night." Said Gina. "You'll find out what I mean when I make it."
"This ham is really good, Gina." Said Amanda. Both Pikachu and Eevee tried a small piece and smiled.
"I guess the Pokemon agree with you." Said Michelle. "How did you get to be such a good cook, Gina?"
"There's a cooking show that plays on television every week where they teach you how to make all kinds of dishes." Said Gina. "I've been watching that show regularly for a while so I could learn to cook in case something unforeseen should happen. I guess it's a good thing I did that because a lot of the things Mom had to do are now things that I have to do, including the cooking."
"You've definitely been doing a good job." Said Mark.
"Amanda, what's that oval shaped thing sitting on the table?" Cassie asked.
"Oh, that's my Pokemon egg." Amanda answered. "I found it not too long ago and Nurse Joy says that it's supposed to hatch very soon."
"That's so exciting." Said Gina. "Do you know which Pokemon is going to hatch out of it?"
"No." Amanda answered. "It could be something my friends and I don't have yet, or it could very well be a brand new undiscovered Pokemon."
"Either way, it's certainly quite exciting." Said Cassie. After dinner was over, the five of them watched a Christmas film on the television. Although it was a good film, it was kind of long. When it was over, all of them went to bed to get some much needed rest. Not long after they had fallen asleep, Sally and Conrad started going up to the roof of the house via ladder. Both of them had ditched their Team Rocket uniforms in favor of Santa suits.
"I don't understand why we have to get on the roof this way." Said Conrad. "Why can't we just fly onto the roof like Santa does?"
"Because we don't have the budget for a sleigh." Sally answered. Upon reaching the roof, the two of them looked around for the chimney.
"It's so hard to see out here at night." Said Sally. Conrad was having trouble too and kept walking around on the roof until he ran into something.
"Found it!" Conrad called out. Sally ran over to him.
"Will you keep your voice down? There's probably people sleeping in there and you don't want to wake them up." Said Sally.
"Sorry." Conrad whispered. They got out some empty sacks and started going down the chimney. They were almost at the bottom when Conrad got stuck. He tried everything to get unstuck, but nothing worked.
"A little help here." He said. Sally sighed and gave him a gentle nudge. However, that didn't do anything.
"Try again." Said Conrad. Sally nudge a little harder, but once again, nothing happened. Sally tried one more time, and Conrad finally got freed. However, Sally was right behind him and she landed on Conrad's back.
"Watch it there, will you?" Conrad said. Sally apologized and they scanned the room.
"Ah, there's a nice pile of gifts." Said Conrad. He started to grab the boxes when Sally held up her hand.
"Leave those alone." She said. "We'll come back for those tomorrow night."
"But isn't that when Santa is supposed to come?" Conrad asked.
"Exactly my point." Said Sally. "Since we'll be dressed like this again, they'll think Santa's the culprit and not us. Next thing you know, Santa ends up in the slammer and we end up successfully stealing Christmas."
"Good thinking." Said Conrad. They grabbed the stockings that were hanging by the fireplace, as well as the lights that were on the tree and stuffed them into their bags. They then climbed back up the chimney and took off. The next morning was Christmas Eve, which got Cassie excited because Santa was due to come that night. In fact, she was so excited that she was the first one in the house to wake up. She went downstairs toward the kitchen for breakfast but decided to go into the living room first. When she went in there, however, she noticed that something was off. She screamed in horror, which caused Gina, Amanda, Mark, Michelle, Pikachu and Eevee to wake up.
"That can't be good." Said Michelle. All of them quickly ran down the stairs and into the living room.
"Cassie, what's wrong?" Gina asked.
"Somebody stole Christmas!" she cried.
"Don't be silly. How can someone take a whole holiday?" Mark asked.
"I haven't the slightest idea." Said Amanda.
"Cassie, are you sure you didn't take things from here and hide them yourself as part of a game?" Gina asked.
"I'm very sure." Said Cassie. "They took the tree lights, they took the stockings, they took everything!"
"Not quite." Said Michelle. "The presents are still there." Gina breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness." She Said.
"I bet I know who took them too." Said Cassie. "I think it was Santa!"
"Hold on, let's not jump to conclusions just yet." Said Mark.
"Mark's right." Said Michelle. "I know Santa delivers gifts but I don't think he steals them."
"Besides, Santa's a good guy." Said Amanda. "Why would he even think of stealing?"
"He wouldn't because he's never done it." Said Gina.
"If it wasn't Santa, then who did it?" asked Cassie.
"That's what we're going to find out right now." Said Gina. She grabbed a tape that had been recorded by the house's security system and popped it into the videocassette player.
"Let's see, the date on the bottom right corner says December twenty-three, so this was definitely last night." Said Gina. At first, only the fully decorated living room was shown on the tape. Shortly afterwards, however, two familiar figures came into view. The tapes showed them stuffing decorations into a sack and then taking off.
"I knew it!" Cassie cried. "I knew Santa was responsible!"
"But Santa's only one person, and the tape shows two people." Said Gina.
"Both of them were wearing Santa suits, though." Said Michelle.
"That only leaves just one other possibility." Said Amanda. The trio put their heads together and shouted out the solution at the same time.
"Team Rocket!" they cried.
"Of course it would be them pulling this kind of stunt." Said Michelle.
"Who or what is Team Rocket?" Cassie asked.
"They're crooks that like to steal Pokemon, but sometimes they steal other things too." Said Amanda.
"Like our Christmas lights and stockings?" asked Gina.
"Yes, exactly like that." Said Michelle.
"We've got to find them and get your things back." Said Mark. The five of them quickly got dressed and headed outside.
"They could be anywhere." Said Cassie. "We're never going to find them."
"Let me tell you something, Cassie." Said Amanda. "I have a Pokemon with me that has the ability to use radar. If we do that, finding Team Rocket will be much easier."
"Can I see the Pokemon, pretty please?" Cassie asked. Amanda nodded and threw a Poke Ball.
"Venonat, I choose you!" she cried. The dual bug and poison type appeared in a blaze of white light.
"Venonat!" it cried.
"It's so cool." Said Cassie.
"Venonat, use your radar function to locate Team Rocket!" Amanda ordered. Venonat nodded and concentrated hard. A couple of moments later, an image showing Team Rocket's bags appeared. The duo was shown to be fast asleep on a pile of grass a short distance away.
"Awesome work, Venonat." Said Amanda. "Come on, guys, we have some Christmas decorations to recover." The five of them ran off, with Venonat hopping right behind them. Meanwhile, Conrad and Sally were just starting to wake up.
"That was definitely a good night's sleep." Said Sally.
"So, we're going back to that house tonight, right?" asked Conrad.
"That's the plan." Said Sally. "The only difference this time is that we're also hitting the rest of the island. Which means we're taking absolutely everything." Some sweat started dripping from Conrad's head.
"Maybe we should change first." He said. "It's kind of hot in these suits."
"Good point." Said Sally. They threw off their Santa outfits and were now back in their regular uniforms.
"We won't need those again until tonight anyway." Said Sally. "Come on, let's get out of here." The moment they started to leave, however, they found themselves surrounded by five angry faces as well as an angry Venonat.
"All right, Team Rocket, give us back our stuff right now!" cried Cassie.
"What stuff? What are you talking about?" Conrad asked, pretending to deny any involvement.
"You know very well what we're talking about!" Amanda yelled. "The lights and stockings that you stole from our two new friends!"
"You must have the wrong people." Said Sally.
"Yeah, we don't recall stealing anything like that." Said Conrad. "Maybe it was Santa or something."
"We know it was you!" shouted Gina. "The security tape showed me everything!"
"So you may as well give up and return our lights and stockings." Said Cassie.
"If you want them back that badly, you'll need to beat us first." Said Conrad. "Let's do this, Golbat!" The dual poison and flying type appeared in a blaze of light.
"Ekans, you're up!" cried Sally. Her poison snake also appeared in a blaze of light; however, it immediately glowed white again before an attack could be called out.
"It's already evolving before the battle even starts?" Michelle wondered curiously.
"That's something you don't see very often." Said Mark. Once the glow had stopped, a larger snake resembling a cobra with narrow eyes and several sharp teeth was standing in its place. Amanda got her Pokedex out.
"Arbok, the cobra Pokemon. Arbok is capable of crushing opponents by coiling its body around them and squeezing them tightly. If it encounters an enemy, it raises its head, mimics, and stuns the opponent using the frightening pattern on its body."
"Guys, time to show Team Rocket that you don't mess with Christmas." Said Michelle. "Electabuzz, go!" The orange and black striped electric type instantly appeared and started down angrily at Golbat.
"Fearow, I choose you!" Amanda called. The powerful flying type appeared in a blaze of white.
"Wow, I've never seen a Fearow up close before!" Cassie cried.
"Just be lucky you don't know about the problems I've had with it." Said Amanda. "Fearow, use your Wing Attack on Arbok!" Unfortunately, Fearow flew onto the branch of a nearby tree and turned away from the action.
"Come on, Fearow!" Amanda cried. "It's Christmas Eve, and what I want more than ever is for you to listen to me again, starting right now. Please battle Arbok." She was practically down on her knees and begging, but Fearow stood firm. Amanda growled in anger and recalled Fearow.
"I guess I can help out." Said Cassie. She started to make a throwing motion before remembering something. "Oh wait, I don't have a single Pokemon yet." Amanda, Michelle, Mark and Gina just facepalmed.
"Venonat, get in there!" Amanda cried. Venonat nodded and hopped in front her. Venonat looked at Arbok carefully and readied itself for battle.
"Electabuzz, use Thunderbolt on Golbat!" Michelle ordered.
"Venonat, use Psybeam on Arbok!" Amanda called out. Both Pokemon obeyed and unleashed their attacks. Golbat winced in pain, while Arbok started floating up and down.
"Arbok, what in the world are you doing?" Sally demanded. "You have a battle to do!" Arbok shook off the Psybeam.
"Good. Poison Sting." Sally called. Arbok shot out purple poison needles at both Pokemon, but the attack was easily dodged.
"I can help you guys out too." Said Gina. She grabbed another Poke Ball and tossed it. "Go, Rhydon!" A large, grey ground type appeared.
"Rhydon, use your Take Down!" Gina ordered. Rhydon charged at the Team Rocket duo and landed a powerful attack on them, sending both of them and their Pokemon flying into the air.
"We're blasting off again!" they cried. DING!
"Way to go, everyone!" cried Amanda. "You were great, Venonat.
"You too, Electabuzz." Said Michelle.
"Same goes for Rhydon." Said Gina. All three of them returned their Pokemon, collected the items that had been stolen, and headed back to Gina and Cassie's house. They put the lights back on the tree and hung the stockings back up. As they finished, there was a knock on their door.
"Who do you think that is?" asked Cassie.
"I'm not sure." Said Gina. "Let's find out." Cassie was the one to open the door, but all they found was a note. Gina grabbed the note off the door and had a look.
"What does it say?" Cassie asked.
"It says 'Dear Cassie and Gina. You may not have seen me, but I was secretly observing the battle you had with Team Rocket. Those two are on the naughty list permanently, but as for you two, you both deserve a very special gift. I will be delivering the gifts to your house later tonight, but you must be asleep as per my rules. Signed, Kris. PS, don't forget to leave out a plate of milk and some chocolate chip cookies. Those are my favorites.' Now I wonder who this Kris person is."
"It has to be Santa!" Cassie cried. "He's the only person in the world who goes by multiple names."
"He's also the only person in the world who knows the name of every kid even though he never sees them." Said Gina. Amanda came over to see what was going on.
"Santa's coming tonight with special gifts for us!" Cassie cried.
"That's really nice, Cassie." Said Amanda. She then realized something important. "I just remembered, I never wrote a list to Santa this year telling him what I want."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll bring you something good." Said Gina.
"Let's hope so." Said Amanda. Later that night, well after all of them had gone to sleep, Santa arrived on the roof. A Ponyta was helping to steer the sleigh.
"I did promise those two girls that I had special gifts for them, and Santa never breaks a promise." He said. He then took out his list and checked it.
"It looks like three other trainers named Amanda, Michelle and Mark are currently staying here." He said. "I never got any lists from them, but I know that they're good kids, and they're lucky I have extra presents in my bag. That means they'll get something too." He tapped his nose and he was teleported into the living room. He carefully placed gifts for all five of them under the tree and placed some small things in the stockings. He was about to leave when he sniffed something. He went into the kitchen and found a plate of cookies waiting for him, along with some milk.
"Looks like those girls followed my instructions from the note I left earlier." He said. He ate up all three of the cookies and drank the milk
"I wonder what else I could do as a thank you." Said Santa. "I know." He wrote a few quick notes and used his magic to send them flying into everyone's rooms. He then teleported out of the house and back onto the roof and flew away. Meanwhile, Gina was happily asleep when she saw the note that had landed beside her pillow.
"What's this?" she asked in a groggy voice. Upon reading the note, her eyes lit up.
"Everyone in here right now!" she cried. Pikachu was the first to hear Gina's cry.
"Pika." He said, which meant 'This must be important if we're getting woken up in the middle of the night like this.' Cassie, Amanda, Michelle, Mark, Pikachu and Eevee immediately came running into Gina's room.
"Is something wrong, sis?" asked Cassie.
"Actually, this is a good thing." Answered Gina. "Did all of you get the same note that I did?"
"I think so." Amanda answered.
"What did it say?" Michelle asked.
"Something about Santa wanting to give us a special tour of the North Pole." Said Gina.
"Isn't that where they make all the toys for Christmas?" asked Cassie.
"That's right." Said Gina.
"How are we going to get there?" asked Mark. "The North Pole is pretty far. It's not like we can just get into a car and drive there."
"Luckily, we don't have to worry about any of that." Said Gina. "The note says that an Alakazam is supposed to take us there by teleportation."
"What's an Alazkazam?" Cassie asked.
"It's one of the psychic types." Gina answered. Once everyone had gotten dressed, the Alakazam that Santa had mentioned in his note arrived. It looked at the group and used Teleport to bring the gang to the lobby of Santa's workshop.
"Wow, so this is the North Pole." Said Cassie.
"Look at all these lights." Said Mark.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'It's so beautiful.' Eevee nodded in agreement.
"Eevee." She squealed, which meant 'This is one of the prettiest places I've ever been to.'
"Will we get to see Santa?" asked Cassie.
"I don't think so." Said Gina. "Remember, he's currently out on his rounds. Plus, under normal circumstances, we're normally supposed to be asleep right now."
"This should still be fun, though." Said Amanda. A short time later, a woman dressed similar to Santa came into the lobby to greet them.
"I must say, it's not very often that we get visitors up here." She said.
"Are you Santa?" Cassie asked.
"Cassie!" Gina cried. The woman just chuckled a bit.
"It's quite all right, dear." She said. "Even though I do look similar to my husband, I'm actually Mrs. Claus. And you five must be the children that he talked about in the note that he left when dropping off your presents."
"Wait, how do you know about that?" asked Michelle.
"I know everything, just like my husband." Said Mrs. Claus. "I guess you could say that we both have psychic powers."
"You mean like the powers that Mewtwo would have?" Amanda asked.
"My heavens, no. Mewtwo's powers are far too strong." Said Mrs. Claus. "The powers my husband and I have are the ability to see what every kid is doing in the world at any given moment and determine who's naughty or nice based on their actions. Now, enough chit chat. Let's start the tour." The first room she took them into was the toy factory room. There were lots of machines and conveyor belts that were usually busy making toys. Now, however, all of them were turned off.
"This is the busiest room in the entire workshop." Said Mrs. Claus. "All the toys that children ask Santa for are made right in here."
"What kinds of toys get made?" asked Cassie.
"We make a whole variety of different toys." Mrs. Claus answered. "Dolls, train sets, you name it and we do it. Of course, the type of toy we make for a certain child depends on their interests. If it's a boy, then they'll likely want things like baseball gloves. For a girl, they'll probably want some nice dresses or even some stuffed toys. And that's basically how we operate."
"It must get pretty busy up here at this time of year." Said Mark.
"It does, but thanks to the advanced technology and machinery that's available, the elves don't have to do as much work themselves." Said Mrs. Claus. "Years ago, we had to do everything by hand, and that took a long time. But now, everything runs smoothly just like clockwork."
"Do you think I could try making a toy myself?" Michelle asked.
"That shouldn't be a problem." Said Mrs. Claus. "In fact, all of you can do it. Each of you go to a workstation and I'll tell you what to do." The five of them went over to different spots and got ready to work. Pikachu and Eevee stayed by the door so that they could see what was going on.
"At each of your stations is a red button." Said Mrs. Claus. "Once I say the word go, you'll press the button see how fast you can make a toy. Is everyone ready?" The fivesome nodded their heads.
"All right, go." Said Mrs. Claus. All of them pressed the button and some dolls started appearing in front of them. Using the provided materials, they did their best to put everything where it belonged. However, the group didn't have any experience in toy making, so it took a little bit of time to get them put together. Once they did finish, however, Mrs. Claus inspected their work.
"Looks like all of you did quite well." She said. "Oh, Cassie, you forgot to stick a ribbon in your doll's hair.
"Oops. Sorry." Said Cassie.
"That's okay." Said Mrs. Claus. "Not everybody gets it right the first time." They put the dolls away and continued on with the tour. Mrs. Claus led them down a long hallway before stopping in front of a stable that had a large gate.
"This is where we keep the Ponyta that guides Santa's sleigh during his rounds." Said Mrs. Claus.
"Ponyta looks like such a cool Pokemon." Said Cassie. "Can I see it, pretty please?"
"I'm afraid Ponyta is out with Santa right now." Said Mrs. Claus. "By the time they come back, you'll likely all be back at home." Cassie was a bit disappointed, but Gina calmly reassured her.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get to see a Ponyta another time." Said Gina.
"I really hope so." Said Cassie. The next part of the workshop that Mrs. Claus showed them was a game room.
"This is where the elves go to during a break from their work." She said. There were pool tables, bowling alleys, even some video game consoles hooked up to a few of the televisions.
"I think this is exactly the type of room where I'd want to hang out if I worked here." Said Mark.
"You know, I probably wouldn't mind this type of room either." Said Michelle.
"Gina, do you think we could get all of this stuff for our own house?" Cassie asked.
"Probably not." Said Gina. "To get all of these would be very expensive."
"There's one more part of the workshop that I'm allowed to show you." Said Mrs. Claus. She led them down the hall again towards a door. Upon opening it, they all had to take a bit of a walk through the snow before the trek ended inside a small little cottage.
"This is where Santa and I live." Said Mrs. Claus. "As you can see, it's very traditional."
"There's no television anywhere?" Cassie wondered.
"This house was built hundreds of years ago, way before all of the modern luxuries that you children have now were even thought of." Said Mrs. Claus. "We like to keep this a bit classic, which is why we don't have a television or phone. There's not even a computer in here. We have talked about making small upgrades the last few years, but Nicholas doesn't want to do that until he's ready. Now, how would all of you like a snack? I have some milk and cookies in here."
"Yes, please!" everyone cried. Even Pikachu and Eevee wanted some cookies. Mrs. Claus smiled and got out a few plates and some cookies for them. She even fed a couple of cookies to the two Pokemon.
"Well, what did you all think of the tour?" Mrs. Claus asked.
"It was certainly very interesting." Said Amanda.
"My favorite part was getting to make my own toy." Said Cassie.
"I kind of liked that too." Said Gina.
"By the way, Amanda, I couldn't help but notice that you brought an egg with you." Said Mrs. Claus. "It looks very beautiful."
"Thanks." Said Amanda. "I have a feeling that it might hatch at any time." Once the cookies had been eaten, Mrs. Claus gathered the group in her living room.
"As fun as it was having all of you up here, I think it's time for Alakazam to send you all back to where it found you." Right on cue, Alakazam appeared and teleported the fivesome back to Cassie and Gina's house.
"Well, we're back." Said Gina.
"That tour was fun." Said Michelle.
"It sure was." Said Mark. Amanda gave a yawn.
"Come on, guys, let's get back to bed." She said.
"Good idea." Said Gina. Everyone fell fast asleep again, and a few hours later, Christmas morning finally arrived. Cassie was the first to wake up, and she was very excited. She ran into Gina's room first and started jumping on her bed.
"Gina, wake up!" she cried. Gina rubbed her eyes and just smiled.
"Merry Christmas, sis." She said. "Please stop jumping on my bed, though."
"I'm just excited!" Cassie cried. Next, she ran into the room that Amanda, mark and Michelle were sharing and jumped on that bed too.
"It's Christmas morning, guys!" she cried. The trio yawned and woke up.
"I can tell that you're excited, but all of that jumping isn't really necessary." Said Michelle.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Thank goodness she's not jumping on me.'
"Eevee." Squealed Eevee, which meant 'Same here'. Everyone excitedly hurried down the stairs and into the living room to open their presents. They started with the stockings where they found some small chocolate candies for themselves. There were a couple of rubber balls in there too.
"Here, Eevee, you and Pikachu can play with these." Said Michelle. Eevee squealed with delight and started rolling the ball back and fourth between herself and Pikachu. Next, they opened the main presents. Cassie got a Pokemon artwork book as well as some coloring markers, while Gina got some new clothes, including a couple of skirts that she had been wanting for a while. Amanda, Mark and Michelle got some cool things too.
"Well, I guess that's it." Said Cassie.
"Not quite." Said Gina. She quickly hurried upstairs and unlocked a drawer. She then came back into the living room holding a Poke Ball.
"I know you've been wanting a Pokemon of your own for the longest time." Said Gina. "I caught this one a couple of days ago, and I think it would be perfect for you." She opened the ball and Vaporeon popped out. Cassie's eyes lit up when she saw it.
"This is so beautiful!" she cried. "Thanks a lot, Gina."
"You're welcome, Cassie." Said Gina. The two sisters then embraced in a hug.
"Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'That is so sweet.'
"Eevee." Squealed Eevee, which meant 'It's the most adorable thing that I've ever seen.' Just then, everyone started to hear a cracking sound.
"Nothing's breaking, is it?" wondered Cassie.
"I don't think so." Said Michelle. Amanda knew exactly what was making the cracking noise.
"My egg! It's hatching!" she cried. Everyone gathered around so that they could witness everything unfold. Amanda's eyes were glowing brightly like the lights of a Christmas tree.
"I wonder what Pokemon is in there." She said.
"We're about to find out." Said Mark. Once the egg was done cracking, a small yellow round bodied Pokemon with black stripes appeared and looked around. It smiled at Amanda but was still a bit confused.
"It's so cute!" cried Michelle. The Pokemon stuck its arms out and gave a small punch.
"It's got a lot of spunk, that's for sure." Said Mark.
"What kind of Pokemon is it, though?" asked Cassie.
"That's what I'm about to find out." Said Amanda. She grabbed her Pokedex and aimed it at the new Pokemon.
"Elekid, and electric Pokemon. No further data available."
"So, Elekid's your name." said Gina.
"That's definitely a cool Pokemon that you got from your egg." Said Cassie. Amanda's Pokedex then beeped again.
"Once a Pokemon hatches from it's egg, it imprints on the first person it sees, thinking that it is their mother or father." It said.
"Well, that certainly makes a lot of sense." Said Michelle. "The moment it hatched, Amanda was the first person that it saw, which makes her Elekid's mother."
"I'll love you just as much as an actual mother would." Amanda said to Elekid. "You guys will help me take care of it, won't you?"
"We sure will." Said Amanda.
"And Pikachu, I expect you and Eevee to help take care of Elekid too." Said Amanda.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'You can count on it!' Amanda held up her new Pokemon proudly, with everyone else just smiling.
"Welcome to the family, little guy." Said Amanda. Well, it's certainly a very Merry Christmas indeed for our heroes, and Amanda now has a brand new baby Pokemon. Talk about the definition of a Christmas miracle. Of course, there's still plenty of adventures to come, so don't miss the next exciting episode!
TO BE CONTINUED
Amanda's Party: Pikachu, Fearow, Wartortle, Weepinbell, Arcanine, Venonat
Egg: Elekid
Michelle's Party: Eevee, Electabuzz, Doduo, Psyduck, Ponyta, Charmander
Mark's Party: Bulbasaur, Charmander, Jolteon, Gastly, Lapras, Nidorino
Amanda's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Rattata, Gengar, Magikarp, Butterfree, Zubat, Abra, Tentacruel, Pidgeotto, Dratini, Clefairy, Scyther, Flareon, Nidoran Male, Rhyhorn, Goldeen, Dragonair, Snorlax, Machamp, Horsea, Seadra
Michelle's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Gengar, Sandshrew, Nidoran Female, Poliwhirl, Tangela, Chansey, Shellder
(Quick author's note: This will not be the only appearance of Gina and Cassie, as we will see them again in a future chapter. Exactly which chapter that is, I haven't decided as of yet. Also, I'm getting PMs from some people asking if they can draw artwork on my characters. To put it simply, and to hopefully stop these people from asking, the answer is no. I do not give permission for others to use my characters for their own artwork. While I do still plan to continue with this regardless, I do request for those people who are asking for my permission about their artwork to stop because I'm not granting it. Any further requests regarding this matter will be ignored and deleted from my inbox)