Poképhilia Story

Love had No Bound

A Poképhile’s Merry Christmas

Christmas Special 2020

By J.C. Solis

Saria woke up and stirred from bed, the air in the bedroom being especially frosty and cold. The night had been chilly, though she didn't know why so much air seemed to enter the room without a cause. She then remembered having opened the bedroom window before she fell asleep, meaning that the air came in from the outside unimpeded except for the screen that kept any sort of small bug Pokémon from buzzing in. The cold certainly made sex with Razor an especially cold endeavor, but at least the two warmed each other up with their combined body heat and through making love. Saria was especially happy about today as she hoped to have fun out in Lakeshire Town with her friends and their Pokémon.

Lakeshire Town was undergoing the transformation of festivities this holiday season, and all through early December the hopes of celebrating Christmas was in everyone's minds. Not even the arrival of the first snows could dampen the spirits of everyone in town, and nothing would ruin the moment now that today, Saturday the 24th, was currently Christmas Eve. The snow began to pile up in the streets and in front of the houses of everyone in town, and people had to shovel away the large mounds of powder as road workers used snow plows and salt to deice the roads. Though the children got to enjoy Winter Vacation, that didn't mean that they wouldn't have to shovel away snow from driveways along with older siblings and parents. But the prospect of earning a great gift from Santa Claus made any rowdy rascals stay in line, lest they receive a lump of coal in their stocking instead for being naughty.

Saria got out of bed, the air within the room still chilly from last night and still to remain cold even after she went forwards to shut the window closed. She closed said window and returned to bed; she was yet to be in the mood to face her day, and the chill made her shiver quite a bit. Interestingly enough, Razor had yet to stir from his sleep, the Greninja still sound asleep and breathing quietly in his slumber. Saria could only sigh as she saw her Pokémon still remaining in bed. He seemed to be out like a burnt-out light bulb, and he showed no signs of stirring from his sleep.

But after another half an hour of time spent in bed, Saria felt that she could not prolong her stay in bed any longer. It was close to eight o' clock right now, and normally she'd would be up and about by this time. She figured that right now would be as good as any time to wake up Razor. She'd be needing his help with preparing for the guests to arrive later today.

Saria coyly went up to Razor and planted her lips where his upper tongue scarf and lip met so that it felt more like a lip. She kissed him gingerly and with a sweet tenderness that only a lover could give. She hoped that this would be enough to wake him up, but she also wanted to simply kiss her lover. Slowly, Razor began to stir from sleep, and so he began to open his sky-blue eyes to meet the emerald-green irises that were waiting to meet the gaze of her lover.

"Good morning, Saria," said Razor rather groggily. "Boy, last night was cold. You left the window open and I forgot to tell you to close it shut."

"Yeah, sorry about that, Froggy," said Saria rather sheepishly. "Last night was kinda bitter because of that. Just know that I suffered along with you for my mistake."

"Nah, I didn't suffer too much. You're pretty warm, and made going through the cold more tolerable," said Razor with a smile. "The gang are gonna be here by midday, Saria. We gotta get ready to prepare to cook, otherwise we won't be having a nice Christmas Dinner.”

"Kiara said that she'd be dropping by early to help with the cooking, actually," said Saria. "It'd sure be nice to have the Sous Chef of the Shire Lake Bordeaux Eatery help make the food. And she's gonna be staying the night over here for tomorrow, when she'd be meeting her family and spend time with them at Mama Luann's home."

"Jason and Justin are also staying the night, no?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot about those two lugs," joked Saria. "Thank goodness I got some air mattresses and plenty of blankets. Though I wonder who will be the one to take the bed in the guest bedroom."

"They could have a Pokémon battle," suggested Razor. "Winner will get a creaky bed that is soon to fall apart upon hopping on top of it."

"Ha-ha-ha, well at least the mattress is new, if nothing else." And so Saria got out of bed and began to get dressed. "Come on, Razor. We got a busy day today, and I wanna have breakfast before Kiara comes over here."

And so, Saria and Razor tended the bed before going downstairs to the kitchen to have a bowl of piping hot soup. Saria was wearing her thick pink sweater and black, thick sweat pants which were perfect to stave the cold indoors. It wasn't yet time to light the chimney, and the space heater was too small to heat an area the size of the whole house, so she and Razor would have to bear the cold for until later. At least Razor was wearing a thick grey sweater made for Pokémon like him, though he didn't like how the garment restricted his mobility a little.

The doorbell rang once Saria was washing hers and Razor's soup bowl. She went to the door to see who it was, and when it opened she was greeted to the sight of her cheery BFF. Kiara was dressed in a black leather coat with fur lining the ends and her head having a grey beanie while her Lucario, Lance, was wearing nothing but a green scarf.

"Sup, Saria," said Kiara with a peppy voice. "Ready to deck the halls with boughs of holly?"

"Tis the season to be jolly, Kiara," replied Saria with her own wit. "Come on in, you two, it's cold out here. I'm making the hot cocoa as we speak. You two want some?"

"Certainly," said Lance. "The weather's been a little frosty."

"That surprises me that you suddenly feel cold, Lance," retorted Kiara. "Normally you don't even so much as wear a scarf, let alone drink hot cocoa for the cold."

"Meh, it's been bitter cold, is all."

"Tell me about it, Lance buddy," said Razor. "At least, I hope you slept with the window closed, otherwise you'd have a real good reason to feel cold." He then poked at Saria with his elbow, seeming to make clear who was responsible for him waking up frosty this morning.

The two friends and their Pokémon walked inside. Already, the Christmas tree in the living room was adorned with all sorts of yuletide decorations, and the scent of spruce and gingerbread wafted from the tree as Christmas presents lay in the bottom of the tree. The friends had all brought their gifts for when they'd be opening them later this day, and the air was filling with the cheer of the holiday and wonderful smell of home cooking. When midday at last came, the doorbell rang once more with the arrival of a few more guests.

Saria went up to the door to be greeted by Jason and Justin, along with their respective partners: Camilla the Blaziken and Lillia the Gardevoir. Jason was wearing, as usual, a flashy red outfit that was covered up by a red burgundy trench coat. Justin was wearing a black trenchcoat of a similar design, though underneath his clothes were more of formal style of clothes which consisted of a white button shirt, black slacks, and a black sports jacket—his Amulet of Arceus evidently worn and visible on his chest. The difference in size was evident, for Jason was taller yet lankier than his best friend and co-worker while Justin was broader, chunkier yet more powerful looking in terms of strength. At 6 ft 2 in, Jason was the taller one. But though a respectable 5 ft 11 tall, Justin obviously looked like a powerhouse.

"Hey there, you two," said Saria. "What, did you to decide to dress alike today or something?"

"Nope," said Justin.

"Just goes to show that buddy here and I think alike," said Jason. "We both got some pretty awesome tastes in clothes."

It was then that Camilla came forwards and did something that might catch other by surprise.

"As if," chided Camilla – speaking in perfect English, her sassy voice coming out strong. She wore a white cap and grey parka, with her arms folded together as she gave a cross look. "Justin pulled it off much better than you ever could, Dumb-dumb."

"Hey, I resent that, Camilla," said the Unova native with the New Yorker accent. "What does youse know about style when I see you wearing those drab clothes yah got on."

"Don't make me hurt you, yah dummy," warned Camilla.

At seeing this, Lillia did her best to sway the fighting.

"Please, you two," the Gardevoir tried to defuse as she stepped in to stop the argument. "Let's not fight on this wonderful day. Let's just enjoy the hot cocoa and festivities in peace."

"Relax, Lillia," said Justin. "I doubt these two were gonna actually come to blows. Besides, even if they did, these two idiots love each other. It'd just be very entertaining to watch."

At saying that, Jason and Camilla gave Justin the stink eye.

Saria could only laugh at how kooky her friends were. Jason and Camilla were always a good comic relief, and Justin and Lillia were usually not far away to prevent things from escalating too quickly to violence. She welcomed the four inside, and so they did. The friends sat down in the living room, but not before getting themselves a cup of piping hot chocolate to sip from. The friends, now all reunited, joined together in the living room and began to chat; Kiara joined about a half hour later when the Sous chef left the pot of Cream and Shrimp soup that she'd been working with Saria to simmer on the stove.

The four friends struck up a conversation, noting how chilly the air was. The snow had at last arrived to Lakeshire Town, and Winter's grip was in full effect as the change in the season meant shoveling mounds of snow, hot chocolate, and a bitter cold at night. Razor complained to his friends on how he being an amphibian left him more susceptible to the cold. They then began talking about battles, both on techniques and different advantages that each Pokémon had, though the Greninja still found something to gripe over—something that all three of the other Pokémon had that he didn't.

"You know, all three of you are so lucky," said Razor. "You all have the ability to Mega evolve."

"Not me," said Camilla. "We haven't found a Blaziken Mega stone yet."

"But once you do, then you'll have the ability to mega evolve," Razor went on. "I can't change my form at all to get stronger."

At this, Lillia put a finger to her mouth to think of something she had heard. "Have you ever heard of Ash-Greninja, Razor?" she noted once she remembered that little tidbit.

"You mean the power that one Greninja that Pokémon Master Ash Ketchum had? Yeah right, like I'll ever have the chance to have that one in a million ability."

"Don't worry, Razor buddy," began Camilla. "If it turns out that you can transform with that hidden ability, then maybe you can become 'Saria-Greninja.'"

Camilla and Lillia both laughed at the joke while Lance only chuckled, all leaving the ninja frog Pokémon to steam and mutter under his breath over his shortcomings.

"Cheer up, Razor," Lance tried to cheer up. "Mega-evolving isn't everything. Even if I were to mega evolve, a powerful enough Fighting or Fire type move could still easily take me out. It isn't about having any tricks up one's sleave or a trump card. Discipline, skill and fitness still have much more to do with winning a battle than simply getting stronger with a cheap trick like Mega-evolving."

"I guess," Razor finally accepted.

After hearing the Pokémon talk about mega evolving, Jason wanted to ask Justin and Kiara, who did have Mega stones, where he could go search for his.

"Hey, you two," said Jason, "where did you get your mega stones from? I want some hints to find one for Camilla."

"I found mine the old-fashioned way, buddy," said Justin. "It took me two months of digging within a crystal mine to try and dig out one for Lillia. If you want to find one for free like me, then hard work is the only way of getting your hands on one."

"Aw, friggin hell, I don't just wanna chump it out in some cave for that long... No offense for calling you a chump, bro." Jason then turned to Kiara. "Hey Kiara, you said that you found yours from some dealer, right? Mind giving me that's bub's number?"

"Sorry, Jason, but the dude disappeared," Kiara broke the bad news. "It was kind of a shady affair and all, since he said he was offering it at a steep discount in comparison to the 1,000,000 Pokémon Dollar (about 17,000 USD) price they sell for at the jewelry store. I got mine for around 250,000 Pokémon Dollars (about 4,400 USD)."

All of the friends whistled at the steep price.

"Two hundred and fifty grand still isn’t nothing to scoff at," said Saria.

"So for real, you can't find the dude anywhere?" Jason was getting close to begging.

"Sorry. Can't help you there," said Kiara.

Jason let out a loud groan, seeing that he would have to work within the crystal mines to dig out a stone for his Pokémon. He didn't look forward to sweating for his prize.

"Relax, Dumb-dumb," yelled Camilla from her group. "We'll find a stone eventually."

"I know we will eventually," replied Jason. "But I don't want to wait around for an 'eventually.'"

Jason seemed to understand Camilla clear as day, and he had understood what the other Pokémon in her group were saying to each other.

Jason turned out to be the third friend to commit Poképhilia. He and Camilla had their special moment around the beginning of December, unlocking the “Gift of Speech” as he could understand the voices of Pokémon. He came clean to his friends not long after the event, and just like with Saria and Kiara, his friends accepted him for what he did and who he was. Jason was especially grateful, since he almost got found out by Father Matthew Grint one day, and so ever since that close call with the priest he's been trying to not draw as much attention to himself when out in public.

Besides, oddly enough, Jason hasn’t had sex with Camilla yet, and the Gift unlock was due to the two having a gentle talk where Jason opened his heart out to Camilla. Camilla, on hearing the heartfelt words of her “Dumb-dumb”, spoke back to him in perfect English, happy as could be to accept him. The two did kiss, however, with Jason planting his lips on her beak as their tongues danced, but even more oddly enough, Jason wanted to take things slow with their new romantic relationship.

Obviously, the hot button topic out in the world still remained being Poképhilia. Even with the peace and calm that came with the holidays, the people in town, and all over the Daegar region, still had a hard time accepting Poképhilia as the norm. Poképhilia was still a taboo, but it seemed that the season of festivities and cheer brought down some of rancor that certain people held. However, as time came to pass more and more people at least began to feel a growing acceptance for this so-called taboo. One such consideration for lenience came from how peaceful Poképhiles were. Since knowing what they did was taboo, the good majority of Poképhiles tried their best to not draw attention to themselves. They behaved like just about anyone else, liked to have fun in parties and took civil responsibilities. Sometimes, the Poképhiles caused even less trouble than regular folk who liked causing mayhem at night.

One person who had yet to take the full plunge into this new territory was the ever-shy Justin.

Justin was not yet a Poképhile, though he did offer plenty of sympathies to the cause. He didn't mind that his friends were Poképhiles, and he even began to feel jealous now that his three best friends had all conceded to the practice. It wasn't that he didn't want to at least try, and he certainly did harbor some feelings of love for his partner Lillia. It's just that he was actually quite a reserved man who didn't feel like pushing sexual and romantic boundaries all that much. Simply put, he was nervous, and it was the main thing that was holding him back.

Ironically, he could understand the speech of Pokémon clearly as though he was a Poképhile, but that mainly had to do with his work with the Church and the ability being passed on from his father, Pastor Cristian Solis. However, Lillia could not yet speak human, meaning that the understanding of speech was One Way. Justin could understand her, but not other people.

But the fear of being found out by Father Grint or by anyone else wouldn't ruin the fun that the friends wanted to have this day. Kiara suggested that they do something while the soup simmered down, and so Saria suggested that they all have a Pokémon battle at the PokéPark.

"Out there, in all the snow and ice?" said Razor, who heard what his trainer said.

"I don't mind," said Camilla. "I'm always warm and ready for a battle."

"If I let a little bit of snow bother me, then I must not be training hard enough," said Lance.

"Snow sounds fine to me," added in Lillia. "We could make snow forts and have snow ball fights and all sort of entertaining fun out there."

Razor could only groan, though honestly what Lillia suggested did sound like a lot of fun to do.

The four friends listened to their Pokémon and decided that it would be nice to have fun in the snow outside. They left Saria's house and walked for the PokéPark, hoping that there was still plenty of the powdery ice for them to enjoy and spend time in. But first of all, the four would enjoy battling. Saria grabbed a thermos filled it to the brim with hot cocoa and some tiny disposable cups so that the gang could drink some hot chocolate once they finished, and for sure there would be a lit to go around since the thermos container held up to two liters of the piping hot sweet beverage.

The gang walked out of the house and went for the park. The snow lined the length of the sidewalk, and sometimes the feet of the gang would sink into the snow. It was definitely a chilly afternoon, though the gang still wanted to have as much fun as possible despite the arrival of Jack Frost and the banks of snow that lined the streets. Sometimes a snow plow would come barreling down the street and push the snow to the side, blanketing the group with the stuff as they laughed it off and got to enjoy getting rained on. Even the Pokémon took the plow's belligerence light heartedly—except for Razor, that is, as he yelled at the snow plow for shoving snow his way.

The Poke Park was still open, and even with the snow and cold there were still people playing around and having fun. There were vendors who were selling cup of hot chocolate, which would be nice to have once Saria's thermos ran dry. The clock on the Church of Arceus was going to bong in a few more minutes and so mark the arrival of two o' clock. The gang was going to have fun, and so Saria and Justin decided to go fight each other in a Pokémon battle.

Lillia had a type advantage over Razor, but he was also immune to her psychic moves. What made even more interesting was that the only Fairy Type move that Lillia knew was Dazzling Gleam, which could cause great amounts of damage if it were to connect but even then it was a move that Razor could easily dodge. She also knew Shadow Ball and was incredible accurate with it, but due to the type disadvantage of that move it wasn't one which she could rely. Razor also knew the move Shadow Sneak, meaning that he could cause Super Effective damage to Lillia in return, though he'd have to get in close in order to land the move, and doing so could cause him to get hit by her single Fairy type move.

Saria and Justin got in their respective sides of the battle court while Jason and Kiara would watch from the sidelines. The two friends rarely battled each other, but whenever they did the matches would end up being incredible. But Saria also knew that Justin was not mentally built for a battle. He suffered heavily from Anxiety, and he didn't like seeing Pokémon getting hurt. She hoped that he wouldn't get too excited, and that they could just have a nice battle.

"You ready, Justin?" said Saria. "Whenever you wanna stop because of your nerves, we can. I just don't want you to get too nervous from all of this."

"It'll be fine, Saria," said Justin. "I don't think I'll get too anxious. I'm actually looking forward to this. I hope to have fun, is all."

"Are you okay with Justin going through with this, Lillia?" Razor asked the Gardevoir.

"He'll be just fine, Razor," responded Lillia. "I can sense his mental state with my powers. I'm certain he can handle us going through a battle."

The clock over at the church of Arceus at last began to bong, marking the arrival of Two o' clock. The two sides remained motionless as they prepared to plan out their strategy. But once they figured out what to do could, the two Pokémon got into the fight.

Razor began to grow a Water Shuriken in his webbed hands, and in turn Lillia launched a wave of Dazzling Gleam. The light of the wave already reached the Greninja, causing discomfort, but until the wave itself came too close he still had time to dodge. But the Greninja lobbed his Water Shuriken at the wave, and a large explosion occurred as both moves connected. But before the dust could settle, Razor charged in with his webbed hand harboring a sinister aura, the Shadow Sneak move ready to connect onto the Gardevoir. And connect it did, dealing Lillia immense amounts of damage. But in return she threw another wave of Dazzling Gleam, hit him head on. Razor recoiled from the hit, the pain hitting him hard as he felt every bit of that Super Effective move.

"That was a good one, Saria," said Justin. "Razor is pretty fast, but don't think we're giving up."

"Thanks," replied Saria. "But Lillia still managed to connect with her move."

The battle commenced, and Lillia launched another move, this time launching a few orbs of Mystical Fire. Razor tried throwing small Water Shurikens at the orbs that came at him, hoping to douse them in water before they managed to hit him. But the orbs were too many and they managed to connect. Despite the move being not very effective on the Water type, they still caused some pretty intense pain and even singed him a little bit. But he doused himself in some of the water he shot out, hoping to suppress the pain from his burns with a bit of water. Razor was now glad that it was cold since the cold made the water on his skin chilled and so healed both his burns and soothed his muscles.

Razor decided that enough was enough. He used Double Team and produced many copies of himself to try and fool Lillia. He then rushed forwards as every copy then tried to use Shadow Sneak. He rushed Lillia, who was forming a Shadow Ball in front of her, which would then go for the real Razor. She threw the Shadow Ball, and it clearly went for the Greninja--but it was in vain since he jumped out of the way and continued charging for her. He made another hit with the Ghost type move, once more hitting the psychic type with a sinister aura.

At this point, Lillia was on her last legs. She had been successfully hit with two hits of Shadow Sneak, and she didn't know how many more she could take. She tried to form a Dazzling Gleam wave now that he was close to her, but she simply had little energy left.

"Lillia! Hang in there!" shouted Justin, but deep down he knew there was little hope left. It was at that moment that Lillia collapsed to the floor, no longer able to hold herself up.

"LILLIA!!!" and so Justin ran towards his partner with the hope that she wasn't in too bad a shape. The large man picked up his Pokémon from the floor, her eyes semi open as she looked at her trainer with a smile. "Oh Lillia, I'm so sorry," said the bulky man with a tear coming down his eye.

"It's okay, Master," replied the Gardevoir. "I just hope I did my best to please you."

"You did, Lillia. You certainly did." He then looked at Razor and Saria as they walked towards the two. "You two did a great job. Razor is just so fast. He could beat anyone with that speed of his."

"It was nothing, Justin. It was all just practice. Here, give Lillia this Revive Capsule and this Potion," said Saria as she pulled out the two medicines and handed them to Justin.

She may have won, but she didn't like rubbing it into people's faces, especially to her friends. Razor was like that as well, for he went up to Lillia to check up on her.

"Are you hurt badly, Lillia?" he asked. "I'm afraid I may have over done it."

"No, Razor. You did well," replied Lillia. "I bet Saria is proud to have such a strong battler like you around. You must put in a lot of effort to please her."

"Heh-heh, that I do," admitted Razor. "I just like seeing her smile whenever I win a match. I just feel like I did her proud."

"And you did make me proud Razor," joined in his trainer. "You did a wonderful job. I hope to reward you with something when we get back home." She said this with a wink, and the implications made Razor's cheeks turn red—though in honesty, he'd be fine with a special meal of Yanmega stir-fry.

With this, Kiara and Jason stepped forward with their Pokémon, hoping to have a good battle between them as well.

"Our turn now, buds," said Jason, "so why not just skedaddle so I can show Kiara who's boss."

"As if you dork," replied Kiara. "I'm the boss around here. I may just be a second in command at work, but in a battle I'll friggin own you!"

Camilla and Lance could only look and sigh as their respective trainers bickered. It seemed that Jason struck a nerve in Kiara, and the two argued on and on. The Pokémon knew how much of an idiot each of their trainers could become.

"Sorry about Dumb-dumb making a ruckus, Lance," Camilla apologized to the Lucario.

"It's alright, Camilla," he replied. "Kiara can be a pain in the ass at times, too."

After the argument, Kiara and Jason went to their respective side of the court. It would prove to be an interesting battle Camilla had the type advantage, with her being a fire type. But Lance was the stronger of the two and the one with the most battle experience and discipline. In the end, the battle ended with Lance the victor, though only by a slim margin. Both Pokémon used Close Combat on each other at the same time, and it was a War of Attrition to see who could last the longest. Though Lance was the one who took punishing amounts of damage, his dogged determination made him outlast his rival.

The gang all decided to celebrate their fun with the hot chocolate from Saria's thermos, and the friends and their Pokémon al enjoyed the warmth that came from each sip. Saria poured each one of her friends and their Pokémon the chocolate into their own cups, and everyone was having a good time taking small sips at a time.

Saria turned to look around her. She saw children playing in the snow, making snow angels, and having snow ball fights. She hoped to play along with her friends like this, almost like they were little kids again. There was so much chaos that happens when one is an adult, and she wanted to forget all the pain of adulthood and just simply-

It was at this moment that Saria heard the sound of arguing. Two voice could be heard yelling at each other as loudly as possible. And the voice sounded way too familiar. She turned to face the Church of Arceus and see Priest Matthew Grint and Pastor Cristian Solis yelling at the top of their lungs. It was so loud, in fact, that she could clearly hear what they were saying:

"Damn it, Solis, won't you for once bear credence to doctrine?" shouted Father Grint.

"I bear as much credence as any dedicated Holy man, Father Grint!" yelled Pastor Solis. "And I doubt talking about Poképhilia right now is the best idea."

"It is the best idea, Pastor! Right now the people could hear these warnings and adhere to the even more. Why do you resist with your banter?"

"Because, for one, It's Christmas time, Father! I doubt that children want to hear about the sins of Poképhiles. Christmas is supposed to be fun and carefree, not to listen to mad man ravings!"

"'Mad Man ravings?!' Is it mad to try and uphold Arceus' values?! Is it mad to-?!"

Saria didn't know what to think about the argument that the priest and pastor were having. For sure poor Pastor Solis was getting an earful from Father Grint about the Doctrine of the Church of Arceus and the church's stance. She turned towards Justin to ask about how Pastor Solis has been dealing with the Priest, and the son was not too thrilled to have seen his old man argue.

"Dad really doesn't want to focus all his efforts on Poképhilia like Father Grint does," said Justin. "He doesn't outright support them, but he is also not against them."

"I'd certainly hate to be in your old man right now," added Kiara. "I heard he's been taking a lot of heat these past few days."

"My Pop's been taking full-on blowtorches of heat, and then some. I just hope that he doesn't arrive at a point where he has to make a choice, and if he does I hope he vouches for the Poképhiles."

"Now this is some fine grade holy bull shit," said Jason. "That priest's got nothing better to do than hassling your Pops and trying to bring people like us down."

"In his eyes, he'd doing Arceus' work," responded Saria. "I just wonder what Arceus truly thinks of all this. He's been awfully quite while the Church takes its stance."

And so the gang went on to heal their Pokémon with store-bought medicine, hoping that a good potion will heal the wounds that the Pokémon had acquired. Saria sprayed a bit of potion onto Razor's injuries, and though it stung for a little bit he certainly gained back his strength. He looked at his trainer with a ginger face, a look of sincerity in his eyes. He was glad to have won the match against Lillia. He hoped that the win would make his trainer happy.

With the Pokémon now all healed up, the gang decided to have some fun in the snow. The trainer divided themselves into two teams, with Saria, Kiara and their Pokémon going against Jason, Justin, and their own buddies. The two sides piled up the snow into two separate banks of snow, which would act as their forts for the game. They threw snow balls at each other whenever one would pop up from the snow, though the Pokémon did throw harmless moves at the other.

But Jason thought up of a coy way to defeat the girls. He turned to Camilla and commanded her to use a controlled Flamethrower to melt the snow fort protecting the girls. The Blaziken, though a bit against the idea of cheating – changed her mind when a ball of snow hit her square in the face, changing her tune immediately. She turned around spouted a column of flame, melting the snow in front of the girls as they were left exposed and scrambling for cover as the boys pelted them.

"Hey! That's cheating!" complained Saria.

"Yeah Jason, you bozo!" joined in Kiara.

"All's fair in love and war, girls," snickered Jason.

But Lance, seeing the injustice, felt like evening the odds.

"In that case, let's go to war," said Lance as he formed an Aura Sphere in his hand.

He launched the ball of Aura at the fort of the boys, where it exploded and sent snow going everywhere. Now the boys were the ones left out in the open as the girls pelted them with snow balls in retaliation. The players now played something akin to dodgeball as they threw snow at each other – fully exposed for the other to lob balls of snow at each other. Eventually, the boy's side called for a truce, seeing that no one was going anywhere with how the game was going. But before they ended the girls decided to pelt Jason in the face one last time before agreeing.

"Come on, yah ingrates. I'm throwing the white flag now!" cried Jason.

"Oh, we're the ingrates, Jason?" challenged Kiara. "Wasn't it you who ordered Camilla to melt our snow fort with Flamethrower? We could have been burned, you know."

Always the peacekeeper, Justin tried to calm his friends down.

"Let's just head back to Saria's pad, guys," said Justin as he tried to placate his friends. "I want some more hot cocoa, and soon the TV is gonna air a Christmas special, and I don't want to miss it."

The gang agreed, and so they left the park back for home. The days was getting late, and at around Six o' clock, after watching an old Christmas themed movie—"Kris Kringle’s Pokémon Christmas” as it was called—the gang had a taste of the meal that Kiara and Saria cooked. The gang loved the delicious food, the cream fitting well with the seafood and vegetables served. Even the Pokémon loved the taste of the soup, and not surprisingly many of them ordered seconds. Kiara was just glad that everyone liked her food, as this was a new recipe that she wanted to try out for a festive day like today.

Once the gang ate the food, they crowded the living room area and began to drink some alcoholic beverages. Justin brought two bottles of spiced brandy, which was a brand that he was quite fond of, and he wanted to share his favorite the this bottle with his friends—though he was going to spare one of the bottle for later on. An hour and one empty bottle of brandy later, the gang decided to at last open up some Christmas presents. The presents came from everyone in the room, and some were even for the Pokémon. The gifts were mostly clothes and Knick knacks, though Jason did receive a brand new and nice watch from Saria and Justin received a small bottle of a good brand of cologne. Saria got a new winter coat from Justin, and Kiara got gift cards for her favorite coffee shop in downtown Lakeshire—she loved drinking coffee from there, and she'd make good use of this gift. These weren't the only gifts, but they were the most noteworthy.

The Pokémon also got gifts, but they consisted mainly of clothes such as sweaters and coats. Razor got a thick jacket from Saria, and he loved it a lot. He promised to cherish this wonderful gift, and for sure the easy-to-freeze Ninja Frog would put the gift to good use. And after the Pokémon received their gifts the friends went for the second bottle of brandy. The night was now getting cold, and for sure they all wanted to warm themselves up with cups of hot cocoa and shots of invigorating brandy. The friends shared festive tales and watched one more TV Christmas special before it started to get super late, and when it at last reached Eleven o' Clock the friends decided to turn in.

Saria and Razor got out the blankets for the air mattresses for her two males friends; the extra bedroom was where Kiara would spend the night, since the friends decided that she deserved it for making the delicious food. The friends all tucked into their respective bed, hoping that pleasant dreams were what awaited them.

Saria dressed in her Pajamas, and she and Razor went under the covers. It was going to be a cold night, and this time Saria made sure to shut the windows closed so that no air could get in.

"You know, despite the cold, I had a lot of fun today," said Razor as he got under the covers.

"I had a blast," added Saria. "Tomorrow we'll be heading for mass over at the Church of Arceus, and Justin has been talking non-stop about what his Dad has in store for us."

"I can't wait either, Saria," replied Razor. "Though I know we've been on edge due to the hate on Poképhiles like us, I know that people are slowly starting to accept us for who we are."

"I hope so. There's just been so much violence going on, and I'm afraid that one day we will be caught right in the middle of it."

At this, Razor lead out a sigh as he looked sincerely at his partner.

"But I don't care who I have to fight in order to love you, my sweet trainer, so long as I am still able to love you."

Saria smiled at Razor as she cuddle up next to him and the two spooned as both a sign of love and to keep each other warm. This night was going to be a pleasant one, and for once there was no nightmare awaiting them as their lowered their heads on their pillows and closed their eyes...

#

Next Day – Sunday – Christmas Day

The church bell was already ringing, which marked the beginning of the sermon over at the Church of Arceus at Lakeshire Town. The congregation hall was completely full of people and Pokémon who could fit on the benches as all of them were waiting for the arrival of Pastor Solis and for him to take the stage. The music was playing a musical song, and the choir was singing a wonderful yuletide song about the wonders of Christmas.

Saria and Razor were sitting in the front row with her friends. The front few rows were usually reserved for members of the church and for the handicap, but Justin managed to get them situated. The church was just abuzz with activity as they listened to the choir sing, and when they sung the last verse, the announcer announced the arrival of Pastor Cristian Solis to the stage. The hall filled with cheers as the Pastor walked on stage, waving and smiling at everyone within his vicinity.

"Thank you so much everyone!" said the large, silver, and brown haired and bearded man in a white suit outfit, thanking everyone for coming over. "I'm so glad everyone is here for this wonderful Christmas congregation. I just hope that we can carry on this day with peace of mind and with our loved ones in our hearts. Today is such a special day, and the festivities are simply divine. And what a festive day today indeed is, for-"

The Pastor immediately got to work giving his sermon to the congregation. Pastor Solis talked about the miracle that occurred on Christmas, and more importantly, tell the Story of Christmas. He also began to recount the tale of how the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus, created the world. In the beginning, Arceus created all the Pokémon of the world, from the mighty legendaries to the littlest of Bug Types. However, there was one profound things that Arceus did so that he could always be a kind and caring God.

Arceus, back then, had a darker side – a side of anger and furious justice. He realized that, in order to be the benevolent god that he was now, he needed to separate his soul from his darker side. So the Alpha underwent an enormously painful process of ripping the dark side of his heart out of him – a process that could almost destroy the very world that he created. But Arceus stood firm, making sure that he could achieve by remembering his promise to protect the lives of those he created and wanting to love them. In the end, it was Love that allowed Arceus to rip out his darker half and sealing it away – where it may never bother him or anyone else again.

"So remember, Lakeshire Town, that the world as we know it would not be the same if our Alpha hadn’t sealed his dark side away. And on this Christmas day, we celebrate the day that Arceus both created the world and paid a heavy price for remaining good to us all. Because in his mind, Love Has No Bounds, and his love for us all was what allowed him to rip the ‘Dark Arceus’ side of him from his heart and become the benevolent Alpha that we all know and love.

"So let Saint Nicholas bring the kids their presents, share some eggnog and some festive treats, and be sure to kiss your lover under the mistletoe hanging from a door. For today is a happy day, and a wonderful day to rejoice. Because Love Has No Bounds, we are all blessed to celebrate today with the hopes that all our lives may be in peace, and our love for each remain untainted! Thank you!"

The Pastor concluded his sermon, and the crowds cheered in roars of applause, deafening everyone around the room from the sheer volume they produced. The choir once more began to sing the outro carol, and the people began to leave their seats to return home and continue the celebrations.

Saria looked at Razor, and he in return to her. The sermon lifted their spirits up high, and their hearts began to beat. The two hugged each other in a sign of love, theirs minds at ease and their beings having been healed. It was such a wonderful time, and they hoped that this happiness would carry on in the days to come. Pastor Solis was right to not admonish Poképhiles at this moment, for it would only create further division and incite further prejudice. The people were already divided, and now was a time to celebrate and love, not revile and hate. And the pastor made it clear that he was on the side of unity, allowing his congregation to remember the true ethos of Arceus and the world.

Saria and Razor got up and went with Justin and Lillia to meet the Pastor. He was already talking with some of the people from the congregation, but he made sure to make time for his son and his friend.

"Ah, Justin," called Pastor Solis. "How are you, my boy? And how are you doing, Saria?"

"I'm doing fine, Pastor," began Saria. "It was just such a lovely sermon you gave here."

"It was a rather fine and interesting lecture, Pastor," said Razor.

"Well, I'm glad the two of you liked it," thanked the Pastor. "I just wish that Father Grint was here to help with the lecture, but after the argument we had yesterday, we went our separate ways."

"You were right to not admonish the Poképhiles now that it was Christmas, Dad," replied Justin. "That would've only incited more people to hate on them and ruin today's happiness."

"That's what I told the man, but he is set to following his pointless crusade. But either way, I am just glad that the sermon went off without a hitch." The Pastor then smiled as he looked at Saria. "I just want you to know to follow your heart, no matter what anyone says. There are those who wish to control others and force them to do what they believe in, but that is not right. Arceus himself would never want to force people to serve him, and he doesn't want people to be forced to do things that don't want to. I just hope that those who are crusading out there will learn this lesson and let their hearts live in peace."

Saria and Razor nodded after hearing the wise words from the Pastor. Nobody should be forced to believe or do things they don't want to, and everyone has a right to their own beliefs and actions. Saria and Razor remembered these words well after they said goodbye to the Pastor and his son before turning around to leave the church.

The spirit of Christmas dictated that the people remain united, no matter what they did or believe in. Arceus would have wanted this, and he would have been happy to see his believer rejoice.

So the World of Pokémon could hope...