One-Shot A Pokémon Christmas Carol

A Pokémon Christmas Carol

Ghetsis tugged at the door of his castle. It didn't budge. "Ergh," he grunted. It still refused to move. He pulled as hard as he could, then stepped back, panting. "What in the blazes," he muttered, thoroughly confused. This had never happened. As far as he knew, the door wasn't even able to lock. What was going on.
"Ghetsis Harmonia," said a voice. The man looked behind him in response, and he was amazed by what he saw. It was N, surrounded by the Shadow Triad and the Seven Sages.
He began to run out of breath. His face turned to a bright white. "N! T-Triad!" he stuttered. " S-s-Sages! How... erm... unexpected!" He tried to show hospitality and calmness in the situation, but it was next to impossible. How were they here? Ghetsis distinctly remembered gathering the Seven Sages, N, and the Triad at a dinner one night...
"Here," he had said that night, "is to a new beginning!" He had pretended like he was finished with his days of wrong-doing, and it was believable; certainly for the Triad, anyway. They had told Nate that Ghetsis was incapable of criminal acts from that point on. It was a perfect plan. Yet they still owed Ghetsis their lives, so he simply took them, as well as N's and the Sages'...
So how where they here!
"We are brought here only temporarily by the will of Dusknoir," N explained. "He wanted us to bring you a message." The Shadow Triad stepped forward. "You are a no-good man, Ghetsis. Yet you are extremely intelligent," one explained. "Your level of intellect is extremely high in comparison to most others. We have decided to spare you, Ghetsis," added another. "Under one condition!" N added. All at once, the audience of eleven said, "You will be visited by three Ghosts tonight, Ghetsis." Said one of the Sages: "Perhaps they can beat some sense into you sense no one can talk it in." Ghetsis stepped back, and his back slammed against the castle door. "We shall see how you act before the night is over," said N. "A man of your status does not deserve to die. Take it from me... there are things worse than death..."
All eleven of them disappeared simultaneously. Ghetsis fell on his back, for the doors had opened behind him. "What a wonderful Christmas eve," he whispered to himself.


Ghetsis cautiously climbed into bed. It was three forty-nine at night. He had put off going to sleep as long as possible, but he was exhausted now. He had given in to his own natural needs.
Nothing happened. Five minutes passed. Nothing. Ten. Nothing.
The clock struck four. Ghetsis was asleep by now, quite warm under his covers.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped considerably. Ghetsis bolted awake, his feet sticking from the end of the covers. They were cold as ice, and he couldn't move them. It reminded him of when he tried to Glaciate that boy so many years ago...
"Sorry to awake you so crudely," came a bubbly voice. It made Ghetsis jump. He searched the room for the cause of it, but found nothing.
"I may be a candle, but I'm also a Ghost... not exactly the warmest things, you know." The room was suddenly illuminated with a dim, eerie blue light. At the center of it-
"My name is Litwick." Ghetsis was terrified. "A-are you here to kill me?" he asked. Of course, he knew the answer was no- but the initial question was a good one. Had he not been specifically told that he would be spared, he would not have thought otherwise.
"Of course not silly," Litwick replied. "I am not any regular Litwick, however." Ghetsis had noticed that it was indeed different-the flame on its head was actually a neon blue, and its eyes were a bright green. "I am a Litwick that represents Christmas Past. I am here to show you the Christmases in your history." Ghetsis scoffed. "Heh! Christmas! How is that going to make you a better person?" Litwick giggled. "That's for Him to decide," was all it replied. It hopped on Ghetsis' head and its flame flared to a green color. Quickly, they changed location.
They were in a small, shabby office, where a young Ghetsis worked. Both his eyes were still there, and he looked stressed. A knock came on the door.
"Come in," Ghetsis growled. It was a pair of young girls, their hands held by an older man with silver hair.
The real Ghetsis smiled. "Why, it's Cameron!" he exclaimed. Quickly, he realized his mistake and covered his mouth. "It's okay," Litwick said, jumping up and down on Ghetsis' head. "This is just a memory- that is, it's already happened. Nothing you can do can change it!" It blew a powerful Flamethrower at the man, yet it simply blew through him.
"Your daughters had something to tell you," Cameron said grimly. Ghetsis looked up. He looked extremely irritated. "What is it, girls?" he managed. "We found a boy in the woods," one said. "It's like a Christmas surprise!" added the other. Ghetsis sighed, rolling his eyes. "That's wonderful, sweeties," he replied. "But I cannot simply abduct children from the forest like that!" Cameron looked at Ghetsis firmly. "Ghetsis," he said, just as he was returning to his work. Clearly annoyed, he looked up at his elder. "WHAT." "The boy can talk to Pokémon."
The scene changed back to Ghetsis' room. "You spent that Christmas with that boy. You completely shunned your daughters. Don't you see anything wrong with that?" Litwick inquired. Ghetsis thought. "No," he replied after consideration. "Sometimes you need to choose your priorities." Litwick's face looked genuinely disturbed. "Ghetsis, people are not things that you can rank from least to greatest. They have feelings, just like you and I." Ghetsis tried to bat Litwick off his head, but was instead singed by its flame. It was a cold sensation, not a hot one like most fires.
"Need we venture to another year?" it asked. Without waiting for Ghetsis' reply, the scene changed again.
N sat at a window, staring out of it intently. "It's that time of year again," he said to himself. "The time when the Sawsbuck become white and the Delibird come out. This is my favorite time of year."
"Natural!" Ghetsis called. N turned around. It sounded like his father was in another room, but he was standing in the door-frame. "What in the blazes are you doing?" Ghetsis spat. "Just admiring nature's many-"
"No," Ghetsis cut him off. "I told you, watch after your sisters. I have places I need to be!" His eye was beginning to decay at this point.
N grimaced. "As you wish, father." He reluctantly stepped from the room, headed toward the room where his twin sisters resided.
"That Christmas was spent organizing the team that your adopted son would overthrow- twice. You spent that precious day planning something useless. Don't you see?" Litwick asked. "It was all for naught! You could have made memories and laughter, but instead, you taught your son to spite you!" Ghetsis winced. He hated it when people pointed out his flaws. Normally, he would explode. But this had an element of truth to it, that he had never considered before...
"I think this is where I say goodbye," Litwick said. "I hope you have learned something. And just as quickly as it had appeared, it dissipated.
The clock read four fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine...
"Oooo!" Someone nosily clambered up the stairs. "This accursed bag!" The door swung open, and a pile of snow and cold air came with a pink Delibird.
"Hey!" it squawked. "You that Ghetsis guy who needs to be taught a lesson?" "Y-yes," Ghetsis replied. He didn't mean to stammer, but there was something about the Delibird that unnerved him. It seemed unafraid, unpredictable even.
"Look, guy, I don't got a whole lotta time, so listen real good," it spat. "I'm about to take you to other families havin' fun this Christmas and stuff, and it might change your mind about stuff, kay? Let's get goin'."
It opened its bag, and gestured for Ghetsis to get inside. "You're joking," said Ghetsis. "Do I look like a funny guy to you, buster?" Ghetsis slowly climbed out of bed and slowly climbed into the bag. "Hey, pal, hurry it up! I got women I gotta meet- ahem, I meant to say- I got places I gotta be!" He slapped the back of Ghetsis' head, which certainly accelerated the process.
He landed hard in an unfamiliar house. A family sat eating Christmas dinner at the table.
Inside was an attractive looking woman in her late twenties, or early thirties, and...
"It's that boy!" Ghetsis exclaimed. Hilbert turned his head. "Hm?" He shrugged and got back to eating. Delibird slapped Ghetsis on the back of the head again. "Hey hey hey, watch it, buddy!" he scolded. "We're invisible, sure, but this hasn't happened yet! It's subject to change!" They watched for a while, and at last, Hilbert's mother spoke up. "Ahem," she said gruffly. "I'd like to say something." Obviously. "As we know, Hilbert is not the same boy that he was three years ago. And part of the reason for that is a wonderful Trainer named N." It was then that Ghetsis noticed N sat at the table as well. How was he there, anyway? Ghetsis had killed the boy! N grinned. "Please, don't," he pleaded. Hilbert's mother grinned slyly. "And another reason...," she continued. "Is one that is not usually considered by most. Many people see him as evil, heartless, a fool, even- but I am not so short-sighted. Ghetsis Harmonia has good in his heart. I know it. If he were here, I would personally thank him, because I'm sure that he has grown as much as Hilbert and N have." Ghetsis' heart ached. Truly, he hadn't- he was still the crabby old man bent on perfection. He knew it. The child that Ghetsis had raised himself, however poorly, already outranked him in maturity.
"I wasn't planning on sayin' anything," Delibird whispered. "But I can read your mind, ya know. First 'o all, I'm not unpredictable. Second, is that what you want? Ya gotta grow up, Ghetsis. Life is like a battle. You have to move past your failures and see them as lessons. That's the only way ya can become a better person." Ghetsis nodded sadly. "I get it," he muttered. Delibird pulled a present from his bag. "Take this," he said. Ghetsis opened it, and in a flash, he was back in his room.
Five forty-seven. He still had time. Yet it passed too quickly for him to actually reflect on anything- he was simply disturbed by what he had seen. Was that how people saw him? Not as a perfect man who got things done, but as an evil madman? A tear streamed down his wrinkled, leathery skin. "No," he whispered.
The clock struck six in the morning. The candlelight extinguished, and the temperature dropped to what seemed like below freezing. Evil laughter sounded.
Suddenly, two blue eyes appeared in the dark. A scratchy voice that sounded like the embodiment of evil itself said one word, "Ghetsis." All of his terrible memories and worst fears flashed before him as the scene changed.
They were in nice, modern office. A man that looked straight out of mafia sat behind the desk. He read the newspaper. "Shame," he said. His voice was deep. "I never got to meet the man." He pulled his newspaper up over his face. The headline was, "Plasma Lord Dies." Ghetsis froze up. What was this?
He put the paper down. It was none other than Giovanni. The scene changed. A funeral. The seats were all empty. No one had even cared to show up to whoever's epitaph this was. Ghetsis got sick to his stomach- he knew whose it was.
The priest sighed. It wasn't a priest at all- it was a single member of the Shadow Triad, all groomed and formally dressed for the occasion. He lowered himself from the stage and left.
Ghetsis began to cry. "No one!" he screamed. "Tell me this isn't set in stone! I can't stand it!" Darkrai appeared before him. "The only things set in stone are those that are happened. You can change your fate, Ghetsis." Ghetsis stopped crying. "I promise I won't let you down... no one will be able to tell I was ever as bad a man as I am... I never thought about it, but...," he sniffled. "I want people to care about me. I'm getting to the end of my life, and I want to look back on it with no regrets... that's impossible now, but... I have to try to fix the mess I've made..."
Ghetsis bolted awake. Seven o' clock. He winced as he waited for another ghost to appear. None did. Mysteriously, he was perfectly rested.
Ghetsis was a man with a plan, always. Not a living soul could deny that. Now, he had another, only for the first time, it wasn't meant to hurt anyone...


"And another reason...," she continued. "Is one that is not usually considered by most. Many people see him as evil, heartless, a fool, even- but I am not so short-sighted. Ghetsis Harmonia has good in his heart. I know it. Ghetsis, I thank you so much." The man smiled warmly. "Thank you forgiving me," he replied. "A man like me doesn't deserve it." N smiled, and wrapped his arms around his father. For the first time in his life, he actually loved him.


The funeral was not empty this time. In fact, all of the chairs were filled. There were even people standing up.
N walked to the podium. "Ghetsis was an extraordinary person," he said, his voice full of grief. "He did wrong in his past, I cannot deny, but... in the end, he really pulled it together. He is my inspiration. He is the kind of person I am proud to say I have known... And admittedly, I did not love him. At least, not at first. But that day, on that day exactly fifteen years from today, I learned that he is a good man. He will be missed. If only Zekrom were here, so I could tell him all of those things I had said about him were false..."