Santa's Writer's Workshop: 2012 Christmas Competition

[AceTrainer14]

Greetings Writer’s Workshop/Bulbagarden, and a Merry Christmas to you all!

You may have noticed that there was not a Christmas competition mentioned for the writer’s on the forum when everything else was released. But your wait is over - The Writer’s Workshop has decided to organise our own little event to celebrate the festive season, and it is time for everyone to get to work!

Santa’s Writer’s Workshop is a chance for everyone on the forum to put all of their Christmas spirit and joy to words by writing a Pokemon based Christmas fiction. This could be in any format, whether it be a short story, diary entry, letter, poem, anything you want to really, but the only condition is that is must be directly about Pokemon and Christmas (this means you can’t just vaguely write something that briefly mentions a character playing a Pokemon game). There is no minimum length, but we ask that you aim to not go above 5,000, with anything that greatly exceeds this limit being ignored due to time pressure.

Submit your entries in this thread with a word count. All entries must be in by the 20th of December, and our little judging elves will work quickly so that the winners will be announced by the 24th of December New Zealand time to ensure that all members of the forum will be able to see who wins before Christmas Day. Prize for the top entry includes a banner commemorating your achievement and a special mention in the Hall of Fame with a brand new Santa Badge. Depending on how many entries we receive, there will also be commemorative banners for the second and third place entries. You are only allowed one entry, and please post that entry in one of the two threads available, not in both.

So get to work and start uploading your work! We can’t wait to see what you all come up with, and look forward to celebrating the Christmas season with you all!

 

[AceTrainer14]

Just a reminder to everyone that today is the last day for everyone to enter! There is 24 hours left for entries to be accepted. The prize may not be as glamorous as some of the other competitions, but it is a chance for you to showcase your talents to the wider Bulbagarden community and put your creativity to the test. So make sure you get your entries in as soon as possible!

Remember that it has to be a maximum of 5,000 words and it must involve Pokemon AND Christmas, but those are your only limitations!

 

[Instrutilus]

Flames in the Winter
(or Instrutilus needs to get better at writing and romance plots...)
2647 words

Wednesday, December 25th 4943 – 2008 years After Establishment
Holiday detected: May you have an excellent one.​

She fumed quietly in the cold winter snow, her loose hair windswept, the striped scarf that covered her face joining their dance, as she wandered Floe Island aimlessly. She had no real goal other then to let her anger cool: her missing boyfriend was going to have Hell to pay once she located him after this evening. He had been expected to join them that evening to celebrate Rushmae, with a dinner she herself had prepared under the strict tutelage of her mother. Then he never turned up, leaving all her effort to waste.

Her logical side attempted to provide reason, explain that he probably had good reason for his absence, but the rest of her mind wasn't paying much attention to it: he had promised to be there two weeks ago, so if anything had come up a simple call on the Pokégear would've set everything straight and allowed the alteration to her plans. But no call, no boyfriend, and a whole load of embarrassment in front of her own mother at his absence. She fumed some more, grabbing a random rock and tossing it into the ocean that surrounded her and contained her anger to this small island.

By her feet, a creature of blue observed her, keeping a distance that remained close enough to let her know she was not alone. Ears mistakable as wings twitched as the cold air irritated the scales its species had evolved over the years upon this world, yet it did not protest to this. The serpentine creature instead kept its calm, aware the girl needed to vent her emotions and thus allowed her to do so. Of course, that didn't mean there wouldn't be retribution later on: dragging a Dragon-type into situations with extreme cold always gave negative results.

The girl of focus let out an irate sigh, before pacing. It was a habit she had picked up from a trainer a couple of years ago, a blonde with silver eyes if her memory was correct. She glanced around, looking for someone nearby: a battle would do her good, even with just the one 'mon, and if she was lucky enough to spy another Trainer, she'd easily get her desired vent. Trainers had an unwritten rule: if you make eye contact, you engaged in a battle. It was almost unheard of for a Trainer to reject a battle, regardless of the creatures under their controls' health.

It appeared luck was willing to give her a little break. Near the recently installed light for Fourth Island Town, one of two, a figure was stood, bathed in the light. She didn't care about this oddity, a person stood nowhere near an actual destination upon the island during a small snowstorm: she wanted a battle to vent her frustrations, and she was going to get it. Then perhaps she would head home and sleep the rest of the night off before calling that idiot to deal with this properly.

___________________________​

He was an idiot.

Quite frankly, he'd be lucky to recover his relationship from his tardiness. Of course, had he not been so stupid, he'd probably be warm and cosy with her at this point. But that's besides the point, right now, he needed to work out how to get free of his predicament.

He re-secured the present under his arm and moved to pat his belt: no luck. He had left his 'mon at home with his friend's sister Daisy, to ensure this night she would get all his attention. He mentally cursed at this bit of bad luck, before trying to think up another method of escape.

He patted his pockets and found a possible solution: his Pokégear. He gave a small smirk, happy at this small change of pace, but his face quickly fell when he saw the battery was dead. Damn it, he was always forgetting to charge this thing, though this was the first time it had cause any hassle for him.

Placing it back in his pocket, he attempted to force himself free for the fourth time since he got stuck by pushing against the pole directly. For the fourth time since he got stuck, he failed to free himself and merely sighed in irritation. Arceus, how horrifying this situation would've been had he been on the mainland.

During his attempt to use his own glare to escape, he heard distinct footsteps. Oh crap.

He attempted to turn and face the oncoming figure, but alas his situation held him in place, mostly through a painful reminder. He sighed and waited: at least they could provide some help in getting him out of this situation. Then he could go kiss up to his girlfriend...metaphorically, of course...no...no ulterior motive under that at all...

The footsteps stopped suddenly. He tried moving his head to get a better look at the arrival, but could barely see the figure in the edge of his vision. Instead, he saw a small, blue and white serpent he knew all too well as a Dragonair...Oh crap. He shifted his head back to a more comfortable position and, hoping to Arceus his assumption to the identity of the person was wrong, simply made a waving motion with his free arm in the hope to signal his distress.

A chuckle came, followed rather quickly by an all too familiar laugh. Oh crap. His face dropped into a mix irritation, misery and some slight joy. At least he'd be getting help...once she stopped laughing, of course...

___________________________​

Her frustration almost immediately subsided as she approached the figure and recognised him, bringing her to an abrupt halt. Free strands of black hair waved as her own did, the prominent red jacket she herself had purchased for him ensuring some warmth from the snow storm and the present wrapped delicately into his person easily familiar: she had spotted it while visiting him in Pallet when his mother had fallen particularly ill ~4 weeks ago. Even without seeing his lovely crimson eyes, she knew him.

And she laughed.

She laughed from the ridiculousness of the situation, she laughed at his silliness in getting caught up in it as such. She laughed at her earlier frustrations at being embarrassed and, finally, she laughed at the joy at knowing he hadn't simply up and cancelled their plans for the evening and had gotten himself into something particularly bad. She felt his glare despite it facing away from her person, aware at his annoyance at her for her laughter, but frankly she couldn't care and relished this for every second, a once in a lifetime opportunity that she knew she would never encounter again.

Her boyfriend, Kanto Champion Red, had licked a metal pole in 10°F conditions.

It took a couple of minutes before she finally calmed herself down in order to help. It was well below freezing, and did he look cold: she knew he had been here for at least half an hour, when he said he would've arrived on the island. His mother would be arriving soon, no doubt: she was coming over from Knot Island after visiting Professor Oak there, but she wouldn't be much assistance: she never trained 'Mon and she was weak from illness, according to one of his chats with her earlier in the weak. Her own mother could, but she'd rather not leave him there for another to stumble across.

She sighed to herself, small tears still in her green eyes, and turned to the creature loyally following her. Dragonair wouldn't be much assistance here: she knew no Fire-type moves and, beyond Ice Beam from a Technical Machine, only knew Dragon and Electric-type moves. Both would cause some damage to both the street light and the person attached to it, and she'd rather both he remain in good health, if only to deal with him herself for his momentary lapse of focus, and to keep the light intact to save another earful from her own mother. She recalled the species were known to control the weather, but dismissed it as they were still working on that.

Then she recalled a source of heat readily accessible near him...

___________________________​

Red glanced toward Green as she moved around and leaned in closer. Now he could easily see her beautiful green eyes, glittering in joy at the whole tongue-frozen-to-metal thing. She pulled her scarf down from her lower face, permitting him to see the rest of her features: a small smirk twitched at his lips from seeing the familiar lips, which opened to let her draw in a breath, making him raise an eyebrow in curiousity.

Suddenly, warmth adorned the lower half of his face. He shuddered in elation, his face numb from the cold and the warmth his girlfriend provided easily bringing feeling back to it. He heard her low whistling go up slightly in pitch as she evidentially smiled at his reaction, but he couldn't care. Warmth was sooo good.

Then he felt his tongue slowly coming free. He immediately realised her plan, to warm the frozen saliva holding him to the pole to make it melt, and slowly began pulling away, not so much it would hurt too much but enough to make sure it wouldn't restick to the metal. It took a couple of breathes from her, but he regained his freedom from the metal quickly.

A smile was on his lips as he began rubbing his numb face, desperately trying to get more warmth into it. It left, however, when he turned his attention back to Green, whom had a look of irritation upon her face. Oh, he was in trouble about the whole missing-Rushmae-dinner thing, wasn't he?

___________________________​

A frown was adorn across her features, lips pursed as she watched him rub his own features in a bid to get friction to heat his face. The goofy smile across his lips quickly dropped when he finally refocused his attention back to her, like a kid who had thought he was making the greatest Lava Cookie Heist realising his mother had just seen him take one. His eyebrows quickly raised in worry of the earful he would get, but she merely kept quiet and let him figure out what to do, eyes never leaving his.

He shuffled uncomfortably under he look, well aware he was in trouble, but never looked away. His crimson eyes flitted across her features, probably looking for some indication, some weakness to exploit. But this wasn't a battle being fought in the League. This was a much more difficult one, and he had made a major mistake in one of his actions. Now he was facing something he couldn't simply sic his Charizard upon.

He finally seemed to come to a conclusion after a couple of seconds staring intently back into her eyes. She mentally thanked Arceus, for she was becoming rather uncomfortable under that gaze, like he was looking right through her and was studying the very thought processes that made her tick. She hated it when he did that to her.

He shifted to full height before moving to close the empty space between them, forcing her to tilt her head. He had been going through a growth spurt recently, putting him at least 3 inches over her. Her left eyebrow raised in an expression of curiosity, but ensured every other part of her face retained the expression fixed on them since she freed him. Of course, no amount of preparation would've let her retain them for his next move.

In one swift motion, he bet down and met his lips with hers. Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened in shock at the sudden move, but she never moved back. She wouldn't let him get the upper hand in the silent argument. She was moving her arms around his shoulders to ensure she had support in case they fell, just as he had wrapped his arm around her back, not because she accepted this as an apology for...something...

...what were they talking about again?

It didn't matter any more to the couple beneath the light, whom stood in the cold winter snow, their loose hair windswept and dancing together. The world melted away quietly between them, ignoring the sudden blast of cold as what might have been another blast of wind brushed by them. If it did anything, all it did was make them come closer together. For all she cared, they could've remained like that all night...

Ahem.

Both sets of eyes shot open and turned to the source of the noise. Stood nearby, evidentially having followed the path leading up from the docks, was Red's mother, Scarlet Cornell. The expression on her face made clear she was not amused by this in the slightest at the scenario involving her son playing out in front of her. Speaking of scenarios like this, they should probably back away from each other...

It quickly became apparent, however, that neither could move away from each other, in the literal sense. When they pulled back, they quickly discovered their lips attached, small chunks of ice crystals on the side of their joined mouths facing away from Scarlet. Green followed the direction with her own eyes and spotted Dragonair, seeming oblivious to the ongoing events and instead content to focus upon the dancing snow passing the light above them. Green immediately fixed a glare onto the dragon, whom paid no mind to her master. Green swore if the dragon could smirk, a large one would be pasted across her face now.

Green quickly turned her attentions back to Scarlet, who was staring at Red as intently as he had done toward her before while assessing what he should do. Red merely fixed a sheepish expression onto his face, the grin mostly obscured by herself. Green flinched slightly when the stare was directed toward her, making it clear that she was definitely where he got it from. Green really had no response to the stare, so did as her partner-in-crime did and transfixed the same sheepish expression on her own face.

...oh crap?

___________________________​

They sat side by side on Greens' mother's sofa. Both weren't wearing their jackets and instead sat wrapped in a warm blanket each, holding mugs of hot chocolate to let them warm up. Her present now sat on her lap, a necessity since he needed to carry her here. He sniffled slightly, the time spent in the cold finally deciding to take it's toll.

In the kitchen, both mothers stood discussing the recent events with each other, his mother profusely apologizing to hers for his absence. Her mother had accepted the explanation, especially after he turned up carrying her daughter with their lips stuck together and followed by his. But alas, that was his mother for you.

He felt something warm slip into his hand. He looked to his own and saw it intertwined with hers, to which he glanced up to her eyes and saw the small, comfortable smile on her face. He responded with his own, albeit it slightly sheepish smile. Perhaps it wasn't so bad today...

...Oh, he knew he had Hell to pay, though...

___________________________​

Rushmae

A long standing traditional holiday amongst the Human Colonies, Rushmae is a time of spending the evening with those you love, exchanging gifts between each other. The holiday is the long descendant of '(o.e.)Christmas', essentially the same. The famous '(o.e.)Santa Claus' concept does still exist, but rather then bringing a person presents, Éndé Kaz takes the presents to those whom love that person and gives them a gift catered specifically toward the current relationship between them. As such, old move footage tend to confuse the young raised with Endé Kaz over '(o.e.)Santa Claus', since the latter brings presents directly to good boys and girls instead.

___________________________​

 

[99unownoak]

Two Tragedies (a crack/dark poem). 559 words


Within his inactive workplace
Santa sat in leisure content,
He knew that it would be the case:
Children will wakeup and lament.
For though tomorrow’s Christmas Day
He lay comfortably reclined,
And here he only plans to stay
There’s been a shift in Santa’s mind.

It started not so long ago
When he was told there’d be a change,
Then prone to hatred he did grow
For these went far beyond his range.
He was asked to be inclusive
Of all cultures and religion,
And the verdict was “conclusive”
Stated the sadistic pigeon.

But you may ask who could it be?
Definitely you must have heard,
Of the foul corrupt entity
Known commonly as Delibird.
This beast held Santa’s mind in thrall
Threatening him with violence,
Thus he followed its every call
Accepting complete compliance.

Now this vile feathered creature
Was adamant to grant its will,
And old Santa played the feature
Which would see that request fulfil.
Well one day this cunning poultry
Made a decision not too wise,
And was blackmailed on adultery
Which then would lead to his demise.

The unsightly extortionist
Gave an offer to this vulture;
Shroud all his knowledge to the mist
Exchanged for Christmas to all cultures.
Unfazed in matters of the soul
The dodo sought to fast comply,
Thinking not of the increased toll
To Santa’s workload it’d imply.

In fact Santa found no concern
With the sharp increase in his due,
Religion was what caused the burn:
Gifts going to Muslim and Jew.
And any other kind of creed
That he did deem inferior,
To none of this could Santa cede:
Christians must rule superior!

Santa found himself confounded
Not knowing quite what which to do,
In his ear Delibird hounded
The bird’s presence gave him a clue.
Santa accepted the demand
But in his mind he’d rightly schemed,
Soon he would be at no command
The fowl’s end was nearing it seemed.

The old man couldn’t sleep that night
His hate was still ever welling,
Finally he crept to the site
Where Delibird had its dwelling.
The gruesome rooster lay asleep
Its plumed breast rising and falling,
Then Santa thrust his hatchet deep
Blood spouted something appalling.

Though the task was not trouble-free
The feathered beast refused to die,
So Santa struck again with glee
Yet this penguin wouldn’t comply.
Santa was in joyous galore
And grasped his hands about its neck,
The bird’s eyes bulged, its gizzards tore
Finally it was put in check.

With the ordeal at last ended
And the Delibird now no more,
Santa felt his freedom mended
Though somewhat empty at the core.
For now that his arch foe was dead
There’s nothing urging him to work,
He placed rest in productions stead
As it had given him no perk.

Mounting his campaign for leisure
There were some changes to be made,
Jynx was enslaved for his pleasure
While the Stantler were aptly slayed.
No more toys were ever composed
Children’s joy gave no conviction,
Christianity he deposed:
He had no time for that fiction!

Thus was the current state of things
In place of troubled Delibird,
A sin it was to cut its strings
None of this would have hence occurred.
Such was the Festive Season’s doom,
Santa had gotten all his way,
This hypocrite had crafted gloom
And he’s ruined Christmas Day.

 

[AetherX]

Home for Christmas
2,075 words
(Apologies for the minimal revision. I need to stop writing everything at 3am, hope I'm not too late)
​

Alex kicked hard at a lump of snow that turned out to be a boulder. He swore loudly, his toe protesting in agony.

It was the night before Christmas. A night that had always inspired such magic and wonder for him. Here, though, Christmas was just another note in the agenda, another event to attend, another reason for people he had no interest in to try to get all friendly with him.

The Champion of the Indigo Pokémon League gave a snort of frustration. The pain in his big toe was the least of his worries as he stood staring out at the frosted landscape surrounding the Pokémon League headquarters on the Indigo Plateau. When he had first arrived there nearly two months before with eight badges in hand, the mountains surrounding the plateau had seemed majestic, symbols of grandiosity. Now they seemed more like a cage, a grim reminder of how small his world had become so soon after he had discovered how big it really was.

Alex adjusted his scarf in a vain attempt to stay warm in the still yet frigid air of the Indigo Mountains. With another snort of frustration, he turned and began making his way through the snow back towards the brightly lit buildings of the Pokémon League HQ. As he approached, silver moonlight gave way to the golden incandescence of artificial light.

A fire crackled merrily in the lobby’s hearth, a warm greeting that did little to improve his mood. Alex pulled off his gloves and approached the flames, attempting to get some feeling back in his fingers.

“Another evening stroll, dear?”

He gave a start, and looked at the desk to his right. He hadn’t seen that it was occupied. Stacy Hartsell, a kindly old lady who worked as the secretary, gave him a warm smile.

“Just got a lot on my mind,” Alex replied, looking back into the fireplace.

“Mr. Jackson was looking for you.”

“I’m sure he was,” mumbled Alex.

“What was that?”

“Never mind. Shouldn’t you be home? It’s Christmas Eve!”

She shrugged. “My only family is back in Sinnoh, I couldn’t afford to make the trip this year.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Stacy smiled in resignation. “Still have some work to do for the Christmas party tomorrow, anyway. You looking forward to meeting all of the Gym Leaders again?”

“Hardly,” Alex replied. “Chuck and Pryce are always so critical and condescending, and Whitney just doesn’t know when to shut up. I doubt the Kanto gang will be any different.”

“It is Christmas. That’s something to look forward to.”

“Bah fucking humbug,” Alex grumbled. He paused for a moment, staring into the flames before adding quietly, “I’d rather spend Christmas back home.”

Stacy nodded knowingly. “With your family.”

“I haven’t even seen them at all since… since…”

“Since you ran away?”

“Yeah…” There was a minute of silence before Alex continued. “I just wanted to get away from it all. Cherrygrove City just felt so boring; it didn’t have any future. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life working part time at a PokéMart. When Professor Oak came through town and offered me a Charmander, I knew I was finally getting the chance I had dreamed of since I had turned ten. I wanted to see the world, and my parents wanted me to stay. I just had to get away; I never meant to distance them.”

Stacy just smiled at him.

“Sorry, I know I’ve told you this a hundred times before.”

“No need to apologize, dear. You know I’m here to listen. Have you talked to them recently? Your parents, that is.”

Alex shook his head. “I called them a few times while on my journey, but it always ended up with me arguing with Dad while Mom cried in the background. After I became Champion, they stopped picking up entirely. I talked to my little brother briefly on his birthday last month, but that’s it.”

“Chris, right? How old is he now?”

“Ten.” Alex smiled at her. “And all too eager to follow in my footsteps, but Mom and Dad can’t afford a Pokémon.”

Suddenly, loud, stomping, footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. The atmosphere seemed to get colder as into the room entered the very man that Alex had been trying to avoid by going out for a walk.

“Alex! Where the hell have you been all evening?” shouted the man, dressed in a suit. This was Mr. Jackson, Executive something or other of the Indigo League. As far as Alex could tell, his job was to harass the Champion.

Trying hard not to give another snort of frustration, Alex just glared into the fire, avoiding the man’s eyes. “Around…”

“The Christmas party is tomorrow, and you still haven’t…”

Alex snapped, interrupting him. “There are a lot of things I haven’t done, and whatever meaningless task you have for me is pretty damn low on my list of priorities.”

Jackson’s face turned a very festive red, and not from the heat of the fire. “You are the Champion! That means you have responsibilities, even if you’re just a kid.”

“I’m sixteen! I know what my responsibilities are, and memorizing the names of delegates from the Hoenn Pokémon League is among the least important.”

Jackson crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows to an almost comical angle. “What could possibly be more important than representing the Indigo League in a dignified matter to our foreign colleagues?” He liked to use what he considered big words when asserting what he thought was his authority.

“You have yet to give me one good reason why I should skip spending Christmas with my family.”

They had had this argument before. Jackson rolled his eyes. “There are some sacrifices that you have to make as Champion,” he said.

Alex turned to look at him, standing up straight in an attempt to look bigger than his five foot eight inch frame. “What if I don’t want to make those sacrifices?”

That made him turn from red to nearly purple. His face screwed up in fury and a drop of sweat glinting off of his bald head, he took a step forward and glared at me nose to nose. “Then you can leave!” he spat.

Alex matched his glare for seconds that felt like minutes before finally releasing the angry snort that he had been holding in and turning on his heel for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going? Your Pokémon are in the infirmary, remember?” Jackson shouted at his back.

Alex paused, his ungloved hand gripping the door handle tightly. Jackson was right, Alex wasn’t going anywhere without his Pokémon. But with one final snort of defiance, he tore open the door and stalked out into the night.

Stacy watched him go, a frown creasing her wrinkled face.

“Stupid, insolent brat,” Mr. Jackson hissed as he stomped back down the hallway he had come from.

* * * * *
​

Alex sat on a bench outside in the snow, shivering, but unwilling to go back inside and face Mr. Jackson. He had never meant for it to go this far. For the first time, he was regretting leaving home that fateful January morning. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there sitting on his hands to keep them warm and feeling sorry for himself. Some time later, the lights in the building behind him suddenly switched off. Alex barely noticed, but looked up when he heard the crunching of boots in the snow.

Stacy the secretary, all bundled up, sat next to him on the bench.

“I brought you something,” she said, and pulled her hand out from inside her jacket. In it, she held a brown leather belt with six Poké Balls attached.

“The nurse said they’re plenty healthy,” Stacy said with a smile. “Something tells me that Mr. Jackson just had you turn them in so that you couldn’t run away back home. What a ridiculous idea!” She gave Alex a wink and set the belt in his lap before standing up. “Now this old lady needs to go home and get some rest. I imagine there will be quite a fuss to deal with tomorrow. Good thing they can’t fire the Champion.”

Alex stared in disbelief as she gave him another wink and stood up. “Merry Christmas, dear,” she said before turning to walk down the shoveled path.

When Stacy had disappeared into the darkness, Alex looked down at the belt in his lap. A smile slowly spreading across his face, he reached for the first ball from the buckle. It was warm to the touch.

He had a promise to keep.

* * * * *
​

Chris wrapped his arms around his chest and leaned back in the porch swing. The silvery glow of the moon illuminated thousands of fluffy flakes bouncing slowly down from the heavens in every direction from the little house on the outskirts of Cherrygrove City. Tomorrow was Christmas, but he wasn’t at all in a festive mood. Mom and Dad had been at it again even tonight. It was the same argument as always, and not really an argument at all. Mom was scared for Alex out there alone in the world, and Dad was angry at him for leaving us. Chris knew better, though. They missed Alex. He missed his big brother too.

Chris had been so excited when Alex was proclaimed the new Champion, he thought that it would surely all get better from there. But it just made Dad even angrier. He was a stubborn man. When Alex had left, announcing that he was going to be something great, Dad told him he was making a mistake. Dad said nothing good could come of going out into the bigger world. Alex had been right in the end, which meant Dad was wrong. If only they hadn’t been so rude to each other things would have turned out differently. Chris heaved a sigh and pulled a blanket over himself, rocking slowly back and forth and taking in the cold winter night.

He was ten years old now, and even if his parents could have afforded it, he doubted they ever would get him a Pokémon, but Alex had promised. As the night wore on, though, Chris began to have his doubts. Mom and Dad thought he was in bed and in truth he was quite tired. The longer he waited, the more the disappointing silence of the night pressed in on him, unbroken by the crunch of approaching boots, but Alex had promised.

Chris’s eyelids grew heavy, and however much he fought to keep them open, they eventually dragged over his eyes and put him to sleep.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep when he was awoken by a warm orange glow and the clopping of boots on the wooden porch. Chris rubbed the sleep from his eyes as a hiss-click made the orange glow disappear in a flash of scarlet. There was a rapping noise as someone knocked on the door.

Chris’s eyes slowly adjusted to see the familiar figure standing in front of him, oblivious to his presence.

“Alex?”

His brother’s head snapped around, and his face broke out in a huge smile. “Hey little bro, I brought you something.” He fumbled in his pocket for a second before pulling out a red and white metal ball. Neither brother noticed the door open behind them.

Alex tossed the Poké Ball on the porch in front of where his brother was sitting and with a clink, a pop, and a flash of red light a small blue Pokémon appeared. It had no arms, a flat tail, and a big oval head with grey gills and a pair of beady black eyes.

“Woopah!” it cried, and jumped into Chris’s lap. The ten year old boy burst into joyous laughter and hugged the little Pokémon as it licked his face.

“Alex?”

Alex spun to see his mother and father standing in the doorway, staring wide-eyed.

“Mom, Dad!” Alex stammered. “Look… I’m really sorry about… well…” He scratched the back of his head. “Merry Christmas?”

They looked at him. They looked at Chris and his new Wooper, giggling happily. The sight brought a long awaited smile to their faces. Without a word, they came forward and crushed Alex in a hug.

“Welcome home.”

 

[Tophat Dragoneye]

I hope I'm not too late (crosses fingers)

Number or words: 910

A Mother's Wish for Christmas​

Snow covered the town of Pallet like a white glazing made of icing sugar, with children of all ages playing outside in it. Even Pokémon and adults were playing in the snow along with the children. But one mother didn’t have that possibility of enjoyment. Her son, a young boy named Red, was currently travelling the Kanto region in order to win gym badges and eventually conquer Indigo Plateau’s Pokémon League.

She watched through the window of her house and watched everyone enjoying themselves in the snow. It was Christmas that day and she was going to celebrate it along with Daisy Oak, Blue’s sister and granddaughter to Professor Oak. Yet she was still sad because it would be the first Christmas since her husband died without Red.

It’s been three month since she first said goodbye to her son and has since then only heard from him through the phone. Yet talking in the phone wasn’t the same as talking to her son in person. By now, Red would be on the other side of Kanto after what she’s heard from him. There was no way he was able to reach Pallet in less than a day. Nevertheless, she still bought a present to Red, a grooming set to his Pokémon, as well a scarf, a pair of mittens and a thick winter jacket to keep him warm, and sent it to the Pokémon Center he mentioned that was near where he currently was.

Soon enough, she saw Daisy walking from her own house towards hers, carrying what she presumed to be a presents. She walked to the front door and opened it for her guest.

“Good evening Daisy. And Merry Christmas”, she greeted.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Anna”, she greeted back with a smile.

Anna had always known Daisy as a kind person with a lot of responsibilities since she runs her and her brother’s home while their parents were away on business travels. And while she didn’t show it, Anna was certain that she was missing her younger brother.

After taking off her boots and jacket, Daisy walked inside to the living room and placed the presents underneath the Christmas tree.

“So how is Red doing?”, she asked.

“He’s doing well after what I’ve heard from him. He’s currently in Lavender Town before moving on to Fuchsia City in order to earn his fifth badge”, Anna explained to Daisy.

“That’s funny, because Blue said the other day he was heading for Fuchsia City as well”, said Daisy, “Maybe they will run into each other.”

“Most likely”, Anna giggled.

However, Anna almost stopped immediately giggling when thinking about how far away Red was from home, something which Daisy noticed.

“You still miss him, don’t you?”

Anna simply nodded in response, “It’s just… just that Red is everything I have left after my husband died. And I guess I’m a little uneasy not having him here.”

“He’ll be fine, don’t you worry”, Daisy assured Anna, “I mean, Blue told me over the phone that Red is a tough opponent in Pokémon battles. So he’s more than capable of taking care of himself.”

“Yes… yes you’re right, Daisy” said Anna in a better mood.

After that, the two women started helping each other with cooking the Christmas dinner and discussed various gossips in the meantime. In the meantime, it had become completely dark outside, with only the streetlights illuminating the snow, both those falling from the sky and what was on the ground.

“Say, I can’t help but feel that there’s still a wish for Christmas you haven’t told me yet”, stated Daisy, which took Anna by surprise.

“I do have one I haven’t told you yet, but that one is rather difficult to fulfill in my opinion”, said Anna.

“Well, what is it?”, asked Daisy.

But before Anna could answer, a loud roar could be heard from outside, surprising the two women. It was followed by a heavy “THUMP” briefly shaking the ground in the nearby vicinity. Both Anna and Daisy quickly opened the front door and to their surprise, especially Anna, Red stood outside alongside his Charizard. Anna instantly recognized him from his red cap and his father’s face. He was also wearing the clothing she had sent to him and he seemed very happy to wear them.

“Merry Christmas, mom”, Red smiled at his mother, who couldn’t help but run outside and give her son a big hug.

“Merry Christmas, my dear”, she nearly cried happily before letting go.

“Thanks for the gifts by the way, mom”, said Red with a smile, “As you can see, I’m very happy wearing them, but the grooming set was the best. I also have a gift for you, mom.”

Red handed over to his mother a small box with a ribbon, which she opened as soon everyone was inside the house. It contained, to her surprise, a Pokéball. She opened the orb, releasing a Growlithe with a red ribbon around its neck. It happily ran over to Anna and licked her face when she knelt down to it and petted it.

“I’ve… uhh… always thought you might be lonely here at home without me, so I went through the trouble of finding a-“

That was all Red managed to say before being hugged once more by his mother.

“Thank you for the Growlithe, Red, and thank you for coming home for Christmas”, said Anna while crying tears of joy, her wish fulfilled.

 

[AceTrainer14]

As it is now December 21st everywhere, the competition has officially closed. Thank you to everyone that has entered, results will be posted hopefully by the 24th, though we will let you know if that is delayed.

 

[AceTrainer14]

Merry Christmas everyone! We have nearly finished the judging, but due to the nature of the holiday season and the busyness that comes with it, I will delay the announcement of the winner so all judging can be finished. Hopefully it will be revealed tomorrow (Boxing Day NZ), though time is uncertain. Hope you all enjoy your day!

 

[AceTrainer14]

Hello everyone! I hope we all had a Merry Christmas and that Santa was generous to us all this year! The holiday season has delayed the results from being posted as early as I would have liked, largely due to my own schedule, but we can finally reveal the winner of the banner and honourable mention within the Writer’s Workshop Hall of Fame!

So, the winner of the Santa’s Writer’s Workshop for 2012 is….

Fallen Angel by @Silverwynde!

Congratulations, it was an excellent story and a well deserved win! Your artwork prizes are not ready yet, but we will let you know as soon as they are

Honourable mentions are in order as well for some of the other great stories we read:
Flames in the Winter by @Instrutilus
Of Hearth and Home by @PokePal15
Great work to everyone that submitted a story, they were all a pleasure, and thank you to @Gama and @LightningTopaz for assisting with the judging. I would like to declare this a success, and in a year’s time, there may be another one of these, so watch this space!

Merry Christmas!

 

[Gama]

I'll add since a couple of users don't seem to have realised this that this was not the only thread in which entries were accepted. That means that the winner and two honourable mentions were out of more than just the three entries on this thread and were certainly an achievement.

Well done to them all and thanks to AceTrainer14 for organising an ace Christmas competition (har har) as well as LightningTopaz for being a great fellow judge, and all of the participants for entering: it was a pleasure to read all the works I did!

 

[LightningTopaz]

You're welcome, Gama, and thanks to all the participants for giving me some great material to read