Amanda And Pikachu Save Christmas (Second Holiday Special)
(Author's note: This special takes place during the events of the previous episode)
It was Christmas Eve, and all was quiet in the house of the new friends that Amanda, Mark and Michelle had met that day. Those friends, of course, were Gina and Cassie. The five of them had already had their dinner and were sitting in the living room watching Christmas programming on television. Outside, a cold wind was blowing, which made everyone glad they were inside. Suddenly, without warning, the television turned off.
"Hey! Why did you do that, Amanda?" Gina asked.
"Yeah! The special was just getting to the good part!" Cassie exclaimed.
"What are you talking about? The remote's been on the table the whole time." Amanda countered.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, which meant 'That's right!'
"It was probably the wind that caused the outage." Said Michelle.
"At least the power didn't go out." Said Mark. Right at that moment, the lights in the house shut off.
"I think you spoke a little too soon." Michelle whispered.
"Eevee!" Eevee squealed, which meant 'I don't like the dark!'
"I know, Eevee." Said Michelle.
"I have an idea." Said Amanda. "Since we can't watch anything until the power comes back, how about I tell you all a story."
"Can it be a Christmas story?" Cassie asked.
"Sure thing." Said Amanda.
"Eevee?" Eevee squealed, which meant "Am I in the story?"
"No, Eevee. This takes place before I met you." Said Amanda. Eevee frowned a little bit.
"Pika?" asked Pikachu, which meant 'How about me?'
"You're most definitely in the story, Pikachu," Amanda answered.
'Pika!" Pikachu cheered.
"Now then, this story takes place two Christmases ago." Said Amanda. "Believe it or not, Christmas almost didn't happen that year."
"Pika?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'Was it because of you being bad?'
"Oh no, I wasn't bad at all." Said Amanda. "I've always been a good girl. But if I say the actual reason now, I'll spoil the story, and I don't want to do that. We start things off two days before Christmas Day."
Flashback
"I just love this time of the year, Pikachu." Said an eight year old Amanda. She and her best friend were building snowmen in the front yard of their Safari Zone home. They enjoyed the activity very much, and they were almost done when Pikachu pointed to the snowmen's necks.
"I guess they could use a little something there to keep themselves warm." Said Amanda. She took off her own scarf and placed it around her snowman's neck.
"There. That looks much better." Said Amanda.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu wondered, which meant 'But what about you?'
"I'll be just fine, buddy." Said Amanda. Her mother, Kangaskhan, came outside.
"Kanga." She said, which meant 'Time for lunch, dear.' For lunch, Amanda and Pikachu both enjoyed some peanut butter sandwiches. They smiled and shared pieces with each other. After lunch, Arcanine came over and joined in on their fun. They happily played together all afternoon, but by dinnertime, both Amanda and Pikachu were feeling tired. Kangaskhan made Amanda some soup for dinner, and although she did eat it, she let out a yawn afterwards and decided to go to bed early. Pikachu went with her, of course.
"Good night, buddy." Said Amanda. About an hour after they had both fallen asleep, two grunts wearing Team Rocket uniforms carefully peered through her bedroom window and saw the smile on her face.
"She may be happy now, but she won't be feeling that way when we kidnap Santa." Said one of the grunts.
"There won't be any Christmas for anybody this year." Said the other grunt. They both laughed as they went off, but their noise alerted Pikachu, who had been sleeping right by the window. He ran over to Amanda's bed and nudged her arm.
"Pika!" he cried, which meant 'Come over to the window!' Amanda groggily got out of bed and followed him over. However, the grunts that had been there were gone.
"There's nobody there, Pikachu." Said Amanda. "I think you're just seeing things." She yawned and went back to bed. Pikachu shrugged his shoulders and went back to sleep in his own spot. The next morning, after breakfast had been eaten, both Pikachu and Amanda were back in the yard playing in the snow. This time, they were running a small race with each other, and Pikachu was about to win when he suddenly bumped into two small people with pointy ears.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'Look at this!' Amanda ran over quickly and quickly gasped at the sight of seeing the creatures, who had never been to the Safari Zone before.
"Whoever you are, you had better keep your hands off of Pikachu!" she exclaimed.
"Do you know what she's talking about?" asked one of the creatures.
"Not at all." answered the other one.
"Don't be funny with me!" Amanda snapped. "I know Pokemon thieves when I see them. Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt!"
"Wait, stop!" cried the creatures cried, but it was too late. Pikachu's attack shocked them and sent them falling onto the ground in the snow.
"That was definitely a new experience." Said one of the creatures. They both shook themselves off and got back up.
"Listen, kid, I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but we're not here to steal anything." He said.
"If you're not thieves, then who are you?" Amanda asked.
"We're elves." Said the other creature.
"You mean like Santa's elves?" Amanda asked.
"Exactly." Said the first creature. "I'm Bob, and my partner here is Linda. Your name's Amanda, right?"
"That's right." Amanda answered. "But, how do you know that?"
"Santa knows everything, dear." Said Linda. "And by extension, that means his elves know everything too."
"Speaking of Santa, I'm looking forward to getting some goodies when he comes by later tonight." Said Amanda.
"Well, actually, we have a little bit of a problem." Said Bob. "That's why we came here."
"Oh no. Did something happen to Santa?" Amanda asked. Both elves sadly nodded their heads.
"There was an invasion at the North Pole last night." Said Linda. "We were getting everything for Santa's big flight later this evening when two people in black clothing showed up and threatened to take all of the toys if we didn't hand Santa over."
"We tried to stop them, but you know how criminals are." Said Bob. "We had no choice but to give in to their demands."
"You mean to tell me that Santa's been kidnapped?" Amanda asked.
"That's precisely it." Said Linda. Amanda gasped.
"But if there's no Santa, then there won't be any Christmas." She said. "Children everywhere will be disappointed. We can't allow that to happen. Where is Santa right now, anyway?"
"He's being held in a dark cave somewhere near his house." Said Linda. "The problem, though, is that we don't know exactly where because of how big the North Pole is."
"Then we'll just have to try and find him ourselves." Said Amanda. "If we don't, nobody will get any presents, and all the kids will be upset. Pikachu, it's up to us to save Christmas! Where's the sleigh?"
"It's at the North Pole." Said Bob.
"Wait, if the sleigh's there, then how did you get here?" Amanda wondered.
"With magic." Said Lina. "That's also how we're getting to the North Pole so we can try and rescue Santa." Pikachu hopped onto Amanda's shoulder, and the two elves put their fingers to their noses to make the four of them teleport to where they needed to go.
Present
"Hold on a moment." Said Cassie. "From what I'm getting at here, the big guy himself was actually kidnapped once?"
"It's hard to believe that, but it's true." Said Amanda.
"It wasn't Team Rocket, was it?" asked Cassie.
"Keep listening to the story, and you'll find out." Said Amanda. "Now, where was I? Oh yes. Pikachu and I had just been teleported to the North Pole by two of Santa's elves so that we could look for him."
Flashback Resumes
"Here we are." Said Linda. Amanda couldn't believe how big the place was.
"This is much bigger than my own house." She said. "Look at how big these Christmas trees are!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'This is no time to observe the scenery. We have work to do!'
"You're absolutely right, Pikachu." Said Amanda. "Let's go find Santa!"
"Wait! There's something you need to see first." Said Bob. They led Amanda into the main toy making area and saw that nothing was moving.
"They cut all the wires and turned off all the machinery." Said Linda.
"That's not good." Said Amanda. She then noticed that something else was off.
"Where are the rest of the elves?" Amanda asked.
"They're being held prisoner with Santa." Bob answered. "We have to save them too."
"Come on, Pikachu!" Amanda cried. She was about to take off when Pikachu stopped her.
"Pikachu." He said, which meant 'We don't even know where to start looking.'
"You're right." Said Amanda. "We have to try and find some clues."
"Here's an important one." Said Bob. He pointed to a large piece of paper and Amanda went to check it out. Upon seeing all the writing on it, she knew right away what the paper was.
"Santa's list!" she cried. "He must've dropped it when he got taken away. What's so important about it, though?"
"This happens to be his naughty and nice list." Said Linda. "Santa uses this list to determine who gets presents and who doesn't." Amanda looked at the list carefully so she could try and spot her name.
"There's me!" she cried excitedly. "I'm on the nice list!"
"Well, Santa did tell us that you've been a very good girl all year." Said Bob. "However, if you're a bad kid, you end up on the naughty side of the list. Anybody who's on that list gets coal."
"Pika?" Pikachu asked, which meant 'What's coal?'
"I think it's just a dark colored rock." Said Amanda.
"Exactly right." Said Linda. "And coal is exactly what the Santa kidnappers are going to get once we find him." They left the toy making area and went down a long hallway to continue their search. Meanwhile, the two team Rocket grunts were standing guard outside of the makeshift prison cell that was holding Santa.
"What do you think are the chances that girl and her pesky Pikachu ever find Santa?" asked one of the grunts.
"I say no chance." Said the other grunt. "And, if she can't find Santa by tonight, there won't be any Christmas ever again!" They both laughed, but Santa wasn't laughing. He had heard everything.
"No Christmas?!" he cried. "Oh, dear. This can't be happening."
"Do you think Amanda and her partner will be able to save Christmas?" asked one of his elves.
"I really hope so." Said Santa. He let out a sad sigh. "Come on, Amanda, I'm counting on you." Amanda, Pikachu, Bob and Linda were still on their search when they came across something that was red.
"Santa's hat." Said Amanda. "I think whoever grabbed Santa took him this way. We're definitely on the right track." They made sure to be careful as they continued looking around, in case the Santa kidnappers had brought in some reinforcements. The next couple of rooms they checked didn't yield anything, but once they got near the end of the hall, they found a pair of boots that looked almost like the ones Amanda was currently wearing. The only difference was that these boots were black, and that meant one thing.
"Santa's boots!" Amanda cried. "I think we're getting close now, Pikachu." Unknown to them, one of the grunts had slipped away from his duty of guarding Santa and was right near the arrow sign at the end of the hall.
"That's what you think, kid." He whispered as he changed the arrow's direction from the way Amanda was meant to go to the opposite direction. He then darted off so that he wouldn't be seen. And then, a short moment later, Amanda, Pikachu and the two elves reached the end of the hall. Amanda stopped so she could read what was printed on the arrow.
"This way to Santa's house." She said. "That's funny, this arrow is supposed to be pointing to the right side. But if it's pointing to the left side instead, then maybe we'll find Santa quicker. Come on!" Amanda and Pikachu began running down the left side in the direction the arrow was pointing.
"Wait, that's the wrong way!" Linda cried, but Amanda was out of hearing range.
"Come on, we have to follow them." Said Bob, and they ran after Amanda.
Present
"I have to admit, this story is getting pretty good." Said Gina.
"Eevee?" Eevee squealed, which meant 'Were you and Pikachu able to find Santa?'
"Yeah, were you?" asked Cassie. She was bouncing up and down with anticipation on the couch. Amanda let out a soft chuckle.
"Both of you settle down and I'll tell you." She said. Cassie stopped bouncing and gave Amanda her full attention.
"Bob, Linda, Pikachu and I were hot on Santa's trail." Said Amanda. "However, we didn't realize that we had been thrown off course."
Flashback Resumes
Amanda and Pikachu were frantically running down the next path in the hopes of finding their Christmas hero. Unfortunately, everywhere they went led to a dead end.
"What's going on?" Amanda asked. "I thought Santa's house was supposed to be this way." Bob and Linda finally caught up to her, although they were out of breath from all the running.
"You, young lady, have been tricked." Said Bob.
"What do you mean?" Amanda asked.
"This entire room is a decoy." Said Linda.
"What does decoy mean?" Amanda asked.
"It means that you've been thrown off track." Said Bob.
"So, you're telling me that Pikachu and I have been running up and down through here for the last hour and a half for nothing?!" Amanda cried out.
"Pretty much." Said Linda. Amanda was fuming.
"I can't believe I got tricked!" she exclaimed. "All that time that could've been spent trying to rescue Santa is wasted! And, if we don't find him, Christmas will stop existing forever!"
"Now just calm down there, Amanda." Said Bob. "All hope isn't lost just yet. We still have time to save him."
"According to the Santa rescue countdown timer on my watch, we have two hours left." Said Linda.
"That does work in our favor, but we have to keep in mind how big this entire area is." Said Bob. "We may very well need those two hours." Amanda's stomach started to growl.
"I wouldn't mind having some more food before we keep looking." She said.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'We didn't bring any food with us, though.'
"That's okay, we can scrounge some up using a little magic." Said Linda.
"I thought that magic only worked for Santa." Said Amanda.
"That's not entirely true." Said Bob. "The elves also have the power to use it." They spread their hands and arms out and used their magic to make a meal of hamburgers, fries and soda appear.
"Some of my favorites!" Amanda cried, and she quickly helped herself to one of the burgers.
"Don't eat them so fast." Said Linda.
"Sorry, but we're in a bit of a hurry." Said Amanda.
"She does have a point." Said Bob. They also helped themselves to some of the food. They took their time with the sodas, however, although Amanda did let out a loud belch when she was done.
"My goodness." Said Linda.
"Remember to say excuse me next time." Said Bob.
"How much time remains now?" asked Amanda. Linda quickly checked her watch.
"Only an hour left." She said.
"We have to get moving!" Amanda cried.
"Hang on, we don't want you getting lost again." Said Bob. "Follow us this time. We know the actual way." Amanda and Pikachu followed Bob and Linda down the hallway, but they went a bit faster than usual to try and make up for the time they had lost.
Present
"I can't believe you let yourself get tricked like that." Said Cassie.
"Hey, you have to remember that I was eight then." Said Amanda. "I was much more gullible then."
"She's still a little gullible even now." Michelle pointed out with a small smirk.
"She's not entirely wrong." Said Mark. "All three of us have fallen victim to Conrad and Sally's tricks on multiple occasions during the time we've been on our journey together."
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, which meant 'They've even tried to steal me and Eevee a few times because of their tricks.'
"Gina, I hope Amanda was able to save Christmas." Said Cassie.
"Let's listen to the rest of the story so that we can find out for sure." Said Gina.
Flashback Continues
Amanda, Pikachu, Bob and Linda were speeding down the hall as fast as they could in the hopes of still being able to rescue Santa before they ran out of time. Santa's kidnappers were still keeping watch.
"You're close to running out of time, kid." One of them said. He was keeping track on his own watch.
"Please, you have to let me out!" Santa cried. "All the children are relying on me."
"Well then, they're all going to be very disappointed children this year." The kidnappers just laughed and left Santa there.
"Please hurry, Amanda." He whispered. Amanda, Pikachu, Bob and Linda finally reached Santa's house after running nonstop for ten minutes. They stopped so that they could catch their breath.
"Looks like this is the front door." Said Amanda. She knocked on it, but there was no answer.
"Are you in there, Santa?" she asked. When she still got no answer, she tried to open the door.
"That won't do any good." Said Linda.
"Why not?" asked Amanda.
"The door's locked." Said Bob.
"The good news, though, is that we're getting close." Said Linda. "The cave is right in this area." The four of them hurried outside, only to be stopped by the same two men that had been glaring through Amanda's window the previous night.
"Pika!" cried Pikachu. He angrily pointed to the grunts.
"What is it, Pikachu?" asked Amanda. She then noticed the uniforms they had on and that made her gasp.
"Pikachu, were these the guys you were trying to alert me about last night?" she asked. Pikachu nodded his head. Amanda stared angrily at the two grunts.
"So, it was the two of you who kidnapped Santa!" she exclaimed. "You better let him go right now!"
"Not a chance!" cried the first grunt.
"Just try to get past us." Said the second grunt.
"That's just what I'm going to do." Said Amanda. She tried to slide underneath their legs, but she didn't get very fat at all before being stopped again.
"That's not what we meant." Said the second grunt. "To make it to Santa, you have to engage in a Pokemon battle with us."
"You've got to be kidding." Said Amanda. "I'm only eight. Pikachu's the only Pokemon that I have with me."
"Don't worry, we'll help you." Said Bob.
"You're on then!" cried Amanda. "Let's go, Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped down from Amanda's shoulder and sprang into action.
"I choose you, Koffing!" said the first grunt. He threw his Poke Ball, and the pink poison type appeared.
"Fire types can handle the cold environment that we're in." said Bob. "Charmeleon, I choose you!" A strong looking fire lizard appeared in a blaze of white light.
"Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt attack now!" Amanda called. Pikachu unleashed his strong attack, which scored a direct hit on Koffing.
"Looks like this Pikachu is stronger than I thought." Said the grunt. "Koffing, use your Sludge attack!" Koffing shot black ink at Pikachu, but the electric mouse avoided it.
"Charmeleon, use your Flamethrower!" cried Bob. Charmeleon aimed his powerful fire attack at Koffing, but it floated out of the way.
"Tackle that Charmeleon!" the grunt ordered. Koffing barged in for the attack and knocked the fire type over before he could react.
"Charmeleon!" Bob cried. Fortunately, Charmeleon was able to get up.
"Smokescreen attack!" cried the grunt. Koffing unleashed a cloud of smoke, which made everyone start to cough.
"I can't see anything!" Amanda cried.
"Leave it to me." Said Linda. She threw a Poke Ball and a Pidgeot came out.
"Pidgeot, use your Whirlwind to blow all of this smoke away!" she cried. Pidgeot obeyed and blew away all the smoke with the attack. The coughing then stopped.
"That's much better." Said Bob. "Okay, Charmeleon, trap Koffing with your Fire Spin attack!" Charmeleon sent a wall of fire around the poison type, preventing him from moving.
"No!" the grunt cried.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt time again!" Amanda cried. Pikachu unleashed a more powerful bolt, which sent Koffing and the grunts flying into the air.
"We're blasting off!" they cried. DING!
"Great work, guys." Said Bob. He and Linda recalled their Pokemon back to their balls.
"You were awesome too, Pikachu." Said Amanda. "Come on, let's get to Santa!" They rushed off toward the cave and found Santa and his other elves locked up behind a set of steel bars.
"Santa!" Amanda cried.
"Thank goodness." Said Santa. Amanda hit the red button that was beside the cell door so that the big guy could be released.
"I didn't think anybody would be able to come to our rescue, but you and that Pikachu of yours are special." Said Santa. He then looked at the time. "Oh my goodness, we have to get everything ready, and fast!" Bob and Linda teleported them to the workshop where the elves worked at super speed to get everything loaded up into Santa's present sack. The last of the items got loaded in just as the timer hit zero.
"I don't know how we managed to pull it off, but I do know that you saved Christmas, young lady." Said Santa. "When you rescued me from that prison cell, you not only saved me, but you also saved Christmas for all the children across the globe. Because of that, I think you deserve something really special." He used his magic to place the gift in Amanda's hands.
"I wonder what this is." Said Amanda. She was about to open it when Santa held his hand up.
"Just a moment, young lady. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to open it." He said. "You can load it onto the sleigh, though." Amanda placed it into the sack, and right as Santa was about to get in and start his flight, he let out a loud sneeze.
"Santa, you don't look so good." Said Amanda.
"Well, it was pretty cold in that cell, but aside from that, I'm just fine." Said Santa. He immediately let out another sneeze.
"You don't sound fine to me." Said Amanda. Bob and Linda teleported them into Santa's house where Mrs. Claus was waiting for him.
"Where in the world have you been?" she asked.
"It's a long story, dear, but right now, I have work to do." He said. He then let out yet another sneeze.
'I don't think you should be going anywhere." Said Mrs. Claus.
"Come on, Pikachu, let's wait outside." Said Amanda.
"Hold on a second, Amanda." Said Linda. Mrs. Claus tucked her husband into his bed and took his temperature. Upon seeing the result on the thermometer, she shook her head.
"Well, he not only has a fever, he's also caught a cold." She said. "I'm afraid Santa won't be able to make any deliveries tonight."
"No! He can't be sick!" Amanda cried. "That'll mean no Christmas!"
"Don't you, worry, Amanda, Christmas will still go on." Said Santa, albeit with a slightly weakened voice.
"How are we going to do that?" asked Amanda.
"Why, with a substitute." Said Santa. "And, since you went to all the trouble of saving me from Team Rocket, I think you should be the one to fill in for me tonight."
"Me?" Amanda wondered. "Fill in for Santa? Are you sure I can do it?"
"I wouldn't trust you if I wasn't." said Santa. He had just enough strength to use his magic to change Amanda's clothing. In place of her sweater, skirt and boots, she was now sporting a red jacket, black belt, red pants and black boots.
"There we go." Said Santa. "The naughty and nice lists as well as the list of presents is in the sleigh. Make sure you follow it carefully."
"I will." Said Amanda.
"Well, let's be on our way." Said Linda. She teleported the four of them into the sleigh where the Ponyta reindeer was waiting.
"I've never been Santa before." Said Amanda. "I hope I can do this."
"You'll do just fine." Said Bob. Amanda grabbed hold of the reigns and started to fly away into the sky. It was Amanda's good fortune that Ponyta knew the route, which made things much easier. As they stopped at each house, she used the powers that she temporarily had to drop the gifts down the chimneys.
"How many houses do we have to do?" asked Amanda.
"I don't know the exact number, but I know it's every single house in the world." Said Linda.
"That's quite a lot." Said Amanda. Nonetheless, she managed to complete the task in a timely manner. Of course, she left her own house in the Safari Zone for last since it was more convenient for her that way. Once she had delivered her own gift that she had been given, the sack was completely empty.
"I have to give you credit, Amanda, you did a fine job as a substitute Santa." Said Bob.
"The big guy will be very proud of you when we tell him." Said Linda.
"Now that you're done, we can get you out of that Santa outfit." Said Bob. With some more magic use, Amanda was back in her regular clothes.
"Tell Santa that I hope he gets over his cold." Said Amanda.
"We will." Said Bob. "Thanks again!" They flew away back to the North Pole, and Amanda let out a yawn.
"Come on, Pikachu, time for bed." She said. They went into her room and fell asleep feeling very happy about the good deed they had performed.
Flashback End
"And that is the complete story of how Pikachu and I saved Christmas." Said Amanda. "What did you think?"
"It was good, but it would've been better without Team Rocket." Said Cassie.
"But if Amanda hadn't included that, they story wouldn't have been as exciting." Said Michelle. Just then, the lights and television came back on.
"Looks like the power came back." Said Cassie.
"And just in time for us to go to bed." Said Gina.
"Aw, sis, can't I stay up a little longer?" Cassie asked.
"No, because Santa won't come otherwise." Said Gina. She grabbed the remote and turned the television off.
"Let's all go to bed." Said Michelle.
"Good idea." Said Amanda. They turned off the lights and all made their way upstairs into the bedrooms. Amanda then quickly turned to the "camera".
"Merry Christmas, everyone." She whispered.