Vaporeon's New Life *Christmas Special*

People love holidays. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas... They're all extremely popular. Though the true history of the days are lost to the sands of time, the moral and spirit lives on, particularly Christmas. Though religion and merchants pound it into being a season of profit, the most important message it carries shines through; good will to all and love for family and friends. People all over the worlds celebrate something similar, Christmas, Nuh'k Nahehm, Sausage Throw Day... Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get my point, right?


It was a quiet afternoon, and the slightly undersized Vaporeon lazed by a roaring fire. The wintery Christmas season had struck hard, and the house they rested in was almost bogged down, if not for the psychic that had lived there her whole life they would be unable to open the front door. The Vaporeon, whose skeletal structure mapped a life of pain and suffering, was rather happy where he lived and who he lived with. He was Blueberry, and he was rather famous at the local police station for helping to catch his fair share of Team Rocket cronies. He had a young Suicune with him, she was but two, and even though she should have grown to roughly the height of a ten year old human, she had stayed little. Not that this hindered her, she could give many a Pokémon a run for their money in combat, but it was in being a cute little bundle of cuddles and giggling that she specialised. Currently she was levitating a pair of marshmallows above the fire, being partially psychic due to her lineage. She waited for them to go a crispy golden brown and then removed them from the heat, letting one drift lazily into her mouth before putting the other into Blueberry's. She giggled as she nommed on the melting sugary treat.
'Alright, Crystal, that's enough of those for now.' A voice, belonging to the psychic Espeon who resided in the house, rang out. 'Any more and you'll not eat dinner.'
"You heard Alice." Blueberry said, nudging her with his nose. He was poked from behind, and he turned his head to see who it was. "Oh, Dooley, are we in your way?"
Dooley, one of the latest additions to the house, was a Lucario. At the moment he was doing his usual work about the house, heavy lifting, and he was carrying enough firewood to keep the fireplace roaring for a solid week. He shrugged with great difficulty, the black and blue leather jacket he wore about his shoulders moving along with the wood.
"Kinda." He said through gritted teeth. "This stuff is heavy, can you move please?"
Blueberry and Crystal got up and stepped out of his way before stretching, in unison, and turning to face him. He had bent forward, putting the wood near the fireplace, but hadn't righted himself yet. Blueberry tilted his head for a second before Dooley whined.
"Something wrong?" Blueberry asked.
"I can't move." Dooley replied.
"What do you mean?" Blueberry asked.
"I can't move!" Dooley snapped, panic in his voice now. "I'm trying, but my back just won't move!"
Blueberry walked over to him and pushed him, but only succeeded in pushing him onto his face.
"Maybe your spine has gotten too cold?" Blueberry rhetorically asked. "Crystal help me push him in front of the fire."
Dooley shivered wretchedly, even when they had him in front of the fire. Blueberry sighed and Sandy wandered into the room with a set of winter clothes, the fresh new leather outside reflecting the firelight a little, making it look glossy.
"Alice told me you were having troubles." She said. "And I was planning to wait a little while before giving you these, but you need them now more than ever, so..."
She manhandled Dooley out of his leather jacket; for a jacket that he had been given by Sandy's father due to it not fitting him, it was in surprisingly bad shape. Scratches and scores littered the soft leather. After tugging a pair of winter pants onto his legs, she left his new jacket next to him and looked at his leather cover. Something about it made her uneasy.
"Dooley..." She mumbled.
"Yes?"
"Why do you beat up your jacket?"
There was a long, painful silence that followed this question. Dooley wouldn't look at her, or at anyone else, either.
"Dooley?"
"I... Don't deserve..."
"You deserve what the rest of us deserve, Dooley." Sandy said. "Don't damage your property because you don't think you should have it."
He nodded and sighed. It'd been difficult to get used to his new life with Sandy's family, and every so often he'd get scolded for some form of antisocial behaviour that he was barely aware of. It wasn't that he meant to do any of it, it was purely subconsious on his part, and it stemmed from a lack of competition. Usually he'd fill the void by working, his high strength and incredibly resistant skeletal structure making him perfect for the heavy lifting he was required to do, but there were times that being alone and having nothing to do would just creep up on him. He slept on the couch in the family room for now, and he was helping some contractors to build an extra room onto the house, which made the work go quickly, but in the first few weeks of his arrival, he had been crying himself to sleep, and ended up sharing his sleeping place with Sandy or one of the other humans until he'd settle down and fall asleep. Sandy, admittedly, was worried about him. He only showed his inner self around Lady, the family Leafeon, and would bottle up his bitter or depressing moods at all times, but when Lady wasn't about, he'd not talk to people openly and would often lapse into brooding depression. She huffed and wrapped her arms around him from behind, lifting him off the floor.
"W-what're you doing?" He asked.
"Don't resist." She said. "Let yourself relax."
He nodded and just trusted her in her judgement as she lifted him from the floor. She held him up, her arms under his and across his chest, and jolted him, using his body weight to stretch him out. A loud click echoed through the room and his legs jolted.
"Gnaah!" Dooley protested. "What the hell was that?!"
Sandy let him down, his feet uneasily taking his weight back. "Minor readjustment work." She said. "Your spine has compressed from all the heavy work you do, we'll go to the Poké Center in an hour to get Joy to have a look at you and see what she can do."
"I'm fine, Sandy-"
"No you're not." Blueberry interrupted. "You couldn't move at all, that does not make you fine." He gave Dooley a worried expression. "Please go to Joy, we worry about you."
"This isn't a debate, you're going whether you want to or not." Sandy said. "I'll drag you through the snow if I must." She picked up his new snow-weather coat and handed it to him. "You have an hour to be ready to leave, Alice isn't coming with us, but Azure said she'd like to go for a walk. Don't beat up these clothes please? They were kinda expensive, and they'll look better without the damage."
Dooley shuffled his feet. "Could... We go alone?" He asked. "Without Azure?"
Sandy tilted her head in thought before shrugging. "I guess so." She said. "I can get dad to take her for a walk."
Dooley smiled a little and walked out, pulling the bulky jacket on.

An hour and a half later, Dooley and Sandy stood in the quiet Pokémon Center, patiently waiting for Nurse Joy to return from the toilets. A Chansey watched them from the desk, but Sandy had stated that she would preferr for Joy to check on Dooley. That, and, that Dooley was her father's and she was only taking him out for a checkup. Dooley, however, was using the time to calm his nerves, balancing on his tail on one of the many couches, a light blue aura pulsing off of him every few seconds. This, however, was all that could be seen when looking directly at him; every time Sandy saw him in a reflection from one of the many christmas ornaments about the room he appeared pained, or the aura would envelop his form altogether. When Joy eneterd the main hall, Dooley's eyes flicked open and the aura faded. He carefully extracted himself from the couch and walked over with Sandy. from here he went to an examination room, now without Sandy, and allowed Joy to carefully study his spine with gloved hands.

Sandy waited in the main hall, idly shining her Poké Balls on a small rag she had with her. She hadn't given Dooley's condition much thought, but his mental state was another thing altogether, and she had given Joy enough subtle signs for her to know to watch out for severe depression. After fifteen minutes or so, Dooley came walking back out, followed closely by Joy who gave Sandy a discreet shrug, signifying that she hadn't seen any real depression. Sandy walked over and scratched Dooley behind an ear.
"So how is he?" She asked.
"Well," Joy started, "I found slight damage to his tenth and eleventh vertebrae, probably from the extreme heavy lifting he does, and I've given him a local that'll fix the damage and strengthen the bone. I've also seen how he lifts things and given him advice on the matter, bend at the knees and such. He'll be fine in a few hours, just take it easy until then."
"Alright, thanks again, Joy. Sorry to bother you on such an awful day."
"It's no trouble at all." Joy replied, waving a hand. "Anything to break the monotony of a dead quiet day."
Dooley tugged at Sandy's jacket, and she turned her head to acknowledge him.
"Can we talk in private..?" He shyly whispered. "Please?"
"A-alright..." Sandy mumbled. "Thanks for your help, Joy."
"My pleasure." Joy said, before walking away.
Dooley took Sandy's hand and led her upstairs to the dormitories, closing the door when they entered an empty one.

"Alright, Dooley, what'd you want to talk to me about?" She asked.
He didn't turn around, hanging his head and still grasping the doorknob. "I... Need your help with something." He mumbled.
"If you need help controlling yourself with female's scents, I'll happily oblige; however I would have thought that dad could take care of that with you."
"...No, it's not something that Barney can help me with." He said, still hanging his head.
"Then what?"
Dooley quickly turned, grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, pushing his head onto her shoulder. She was caught off guard, but carefully returned the gesture, unsure of where this was going. She heard him sniff and felt a tear soak into the fabric on her shoulder.
"Dooley, what's been bothering you?" She asked. "You're too hard for Alice to read and tell me, making it impossible for me to be forward. I don't know what do do if you don't tell me."
"I don't know what to do." He mumbled, his voice breaking slightly. "I have to keep myself composed in front of Izaac, but I can't keep it up... " He sobbed a little, clearly trying to hold his emotions back. "I don't think I fit in... Your father can do plenty of lifting work, and you've always got Izaac if you need the extra strength... I'm just redundant..!" He heaved, still holding back. "I can't tell your mother or father because she's quick to react, and he's... Well..."
"Male." Sandy finished for him, knowing full well that her father'd simply tell Dooley to buck up and stop being such a cry-baby.
"Exactly!" Dooley said. "Blueberry said that I should come to you with any problems that I can't discuss with the others..."
Sandy sighed and sat Dooley on the bed, sitting next to him. "Dooley, you're a member of my family now that you 'belong' to my father." She said. "I'll help you with anything you ask me to, and you know we love you for who you are."
"I just don't... Think I'm living as much as I should be." He whimpered. "I lift more weight than I should, work harder than the contractors your parents hired, and yet I still fell that it's not enough to make up for my past..."
Sandy sighed. So that was it? He'd been pushing himself that hard because he felt he was making amends? "Dooley..." She mumbled, trying to find the right words. "You don't need to push yourself so far." She gave him a light shake, her arm around his shoulders. "You live well and work hard, but you've been pushing yourself too hard nd have injured yourself as a result. Don't let it trouble you too much, okay?" She carefully kissed his forehead and returned to her seated position. "However I don't think that's the end of the problem, now is it?"
Dooley's eyes flicked open and he gave her a terrified face, his tail ducking between his legs reflexively. "I..!" He started.
"It's okay, Dooley." Sandy said. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."
"N..No." Dooley managed. "I'd not feel comfortable telling anyone else." He let out a breath in an attempt to calm himself. "Some time ago, back before I... Escaped the Rockets; I was in contact with a psychic Pokémon that they had deeper within the building. She was... Unique. She said she had been created by the Rocket's scientists, but she was imprisoned in such a way that made teleporting out impossible."
Sandy nodded along with his story, predicting where this was going. "You knocked out the power grid as you escaped, didn't you?"
Dooley shyly nodded. "I-I did, and she took the oppotrunity to teleport far, far away from the facility." He mumbled. "r-recently she's gotten back into contact with me, but she won't come to me with humans around, at least, one that she doesn't think she can trust anyway."
"If you want me to leave you for a minute or two, that shouldn't be a problem." Sandy said, standing and stepping towards the door. She stopped when he grabbed her arm, tugging her back into the room.
"There's another thing..!" Dooley said.
"Yes?"
"It's about Azure..." Dooley started. "I'm not sure how she would react if I were to have a different mate. Would she be angry at me, or..?"
Sandy sat back down next to him. "I don't think she'd be upset." She mumbled. "Izaac might be, but I can explain things to him. You and his mother aren't mated, you simply helped her in her time of need. If you hadn't, she'd have gone crazy and Izaac would never have been born."
Dooley nodded, and a pop was heard in the bathroom. The door to the room was closed, and a scratching could be heard on the sturdy wood.
"She's here!" Dooley panicked. "Y-you shouldn't be here! She'll run away; please!"
Sandy nodded and turned to leave, but the door wouldn't open, being held closed by an unseen force.
'Please don't leave.' A female voice echoed. 'I... Trust you, for what it's worth.' Sandy nodded and sat on the bed, watching the door. 'Alright... I'm coming out now, please don't be alarmed.'

The air in the room felt full of a static charge as the door opened, slowly revealing the Pokémon within. She was tall, roughly seven foot, and her fur was a gentle shade of pink, going darker on her stomach and down her tail. Sandy gasped when the female stepped out the door and closed it behind her without moving a muscle.
"W-what are you?"
'I'm... A clone of a Pokémon called Mew.' She replied. 'The scientists dubbed me Mewtwo, but I do know that another like me exists already.'
"How do you know?"
'It was in the scientists' minds.' Mewtwo said. 'He escaped after being completed, killing all the scientists who worked on him. The leader of the Rockets had me created when he realised that the first would never return.'
"If you were in the possession of the Rockets, they may have implanted a tracknig device into you." Sandy said grimly. "I'm no surgeon, I'd be unable to remove it if there were one."
Mewtwo nodded. 'I know it is there.' She said. 'I tried to remove it with a mirror, but...' She turned around and showed Sandy te base of her spine, where linear scars crisscrossed.
"Mewtwo, I know the Nurse here personally and she won't ask questions if I ask her to help you with this, would that be alright?" Sandy asked.
'Please... Don't call me that.' Mewtwo asked. 'I hate that name, even if it is what I am.'
"Do you have a name by which I can call you, then?" Mewtwo shook her head. "Well, I can't give you one unless you join my team, and I don't think you-"
'I shall join you.' Mewtwo said.
"But-"
'I will!' She snapped. 'I... Please. I don't want to live as the other does. He's cruel, with no regard for human life and he considers himself to be... Perfect.' She turned her eyes to the floor. 'Please.'
Sandy reluctantly nodded and Dooley handed her a Hyperball from her backpack. "... No, not this one." She said, putting it back. "A Pokémon as radiant as you requires something more special than some common Poké Ball." She pulled her backpack off and swapped the Hyper Ball for a Deluxe. "This should do, yes?" She rhetorically asked. She gently threw it at Mewtwo, who actually moved herself to be struck by the little red and white spere. She vanished in a flash of golden light, and the Poké Ball shook a little before clicking loudly. Sandy picked up the Poké Ball and stepped back before throwing it into the air.
"C'mon out, Elle!"
The Psychic type rematerialised in the middle of the room and staggered a little. 'That's intense.' She said.
"I don't keep my Pokémon in their balls." Sandy said. "It's unfair on them if they don't like it, the only one who does stay in his is Charizard, but that's his personal preference."
'I understand.' Elle said.
"Now, if you'd like we can go to Nurse Joy and have her examine you. She won't ask questions, and she'll remove the tracking device from you before it can become a problem." Elle nodded, and Sandy took her by the hand. "Alright then, let's go."

An hour later, Sandy, Dooley and Elle were walking back home. Elle was unconsious, but Dooley carried her in his arms. He was humming tunelessly under his breath, clearly happier now than he was before. Sandy opened the front gate, allowed Dooley to enter, and closed it behind her. The front door opened before she could reach the doorknob, and she looked down at Alice's amused face.
"You should come see this, Azure and Izaac are setting up the Christmas Tree and Crystal keeps nicking baubles and hiding them about the room." She double-took at Dooley's passenger. "What in the world..?"
"Alice, she's a little heavy." Dooley said. "Is there somewhere I can put her while she sleeps off the sedative?"
"Sure, c'mon." She answered. "Put her on the couch."
Dooley followed Alice into the family room and gently put Elle on the couch. He sat in a nearby chair and Lady leapt up onto his lap, spreading out across his legs. He smiled down at her and ran one of his paws along her back.
"Hello, Lady." He calmly cooed. "How are you today?"
She shivered and nuzzled closer to him. "Cold." She said ."And a little bored."
"I forgot that you were vulnerable to Ice..." Sandy mumbled. "I'll just go get you something warm to wear, okay?" Lady nodded and Sandy scuttled off through the house.
"I don't know what to do about your boredom." Dooley said. "But when they've finished whatever it is they're doing, maybe we could turn on the television."
Despite being as close to each other as mates would be, Dooley and Lady had promised each other that they'd never cross that line. They didn't want to ruin a perfectly good relationship by doing something they may both regret, and as such they kept their relationship purely on a close friendship level. They loved each other, that much was true, but they loved each other as brother and sister do, nothing more.

Sandy pulled an old set of winter clothes from the cupboard in her room. She'd bought Lady some custom clothes, much like she had Dooley, but she wasn't going to give them to her until Christmas day. She heard a ruffling behind her and sighed.
"Hello, Alice." She said. Alice was quiet, as always, and she had a small streak of childish behaviour in her which she'd let out once in every while. Sandy knew it was her, because she was clearly trying to playfully attack her. "I'd not, if I were you Alice; you might hurt yourself." She turned in a flash and caught the leaping Espeon in midair, holding her up.
"Nya?"
"Got you, you little sneak!" Sandy chimed, spreading her across an arm and tickling her stomach. "So, what do you want?"
"Oh, just to annoy you." Alice replied. Her ears twitched and the little gem on her forehead glittered momentarily. "Someone is about to knock on the front door." She said. "And you may want to be downstairs."
Sure enough, she heard a knock on the door and she let Alice down, picking the winter clothes up and returning to the family room where Lady was patiently waiting. Another trainer, one she hadn't seen in almost a year, was also in the room. He turned to face her as she entered.
"Ah, Sandy!" He said. "Hello, I thought I'd stop by for Christmas, your parents said it was alright." His Absol cautiously walked over and sniffed her leg.
"Hello again, Vlad." Sandy said, before kneeling down and petting the Absol. "And hello to you too, Dove." The Absol happily waved her tail, nuzzled Sandy and returned to Vlad's side. "Don't mind me, I've just got to get Lady into some warm clothes before she suffers from the cold."
"It's okay, I don't mind." Vlad replied. "That's... An interesting Pokémon on the couch." He said.
"You tell a soul about her and you'll wish you were never born." Sandy threatened, struggling to get the pants over Lady's legs.
"Alright, alright." Vlad said, holding his hands up. "Tricky and Vesta are in the back yard, so you know. She evolved recently, too."
"Is she still black and white?" Sandy asked, tugging the pants onto Lady's lower half.
"Yeah, but you should see her!" Vlad said, the eagerness in his voice evident.
Sandy finished zipping up Lady's top half and stood back. "There you go, how's that?"
Lady looked over herself and smiled. "Thankyou!"
"No problems." Sandy replied, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, but there was nothing there, which struck her as odd. She heard something shuffle next to Vlad, but neither of his Ninetales were in the room, and Dove was in perfect view. "Vlad, do you have something next to you?" Sandy asked. Vlad looked over the chair and chuckled.
"C'mon out, Sandy won't hurt you." He said.
"Where's your proof?" A quiet female voice asked.
"She's my cousin." Vlad replied. "Don't be shy."
Slowly but surely an adult female Houndoom crawled into view. She looked quite displeased to let Sandy see her.
"She doesn't like people much." Vlad said. "Her parents were... Taken from her before her eyes when she was but a day or two old. We rescued her from some team Magma idiots a few months back, and she's been with us since." He carefully scratched her head. "I've named her Faith."
"Well, hello Faith." Sandy said, kneeling down to be eye level with her. "It's nice to meet you. I've got some high-quality Poffins in the kitchen, would you like one?"
Faith shyly nodded, and sandy stood up, walking into the kitchen.
"See? I told you she was nice." Vlad said, to which Faith merely huffed. They heard a loud explosion of happy barking come from the kitchen, and Sandy came walking back in with a black and white Ninetales hot on her heels, dancing around her and happily fussing.

"Vesta evolved shortly before we came here." Vlad explained. "This kind gentleman threw evolution stones at us, which I happened to collect, and one of them hit her."
"Ah, I see you've met Old Man Finkleton." Sandy said. "Yeah, he does that to most people who near his home. He doesn't mean anything by it, every time he goes underground all he gets are evolution stones. I've traded a few Spheres with him on a couple of occasions for some stones, and he doesn't throw them at me anymore, but he's got quite the collection. His garden shed is literally packed of boxes that're chock full."
"I wonder if he realises he can get a pretty penny for them?" Vlad asked rhetorically.
Sandy shrugged and knelt down in front of Faith, who backed away slightly. "Now, what colour would you like?"
Faith mumbled quietly. "Red, please."
Sandy fished through a little plastic bag before taking out a red Poffin and holding it out for her. Faith sniffed at the cooked treat before gingerly taking it from her hand. Sandy rubbed her head, left a second red Poffin for her, and walked back into the kitchen. Vlad took this opportunity to look about the room.
"How've things been, Dooley?" He asked. "Quiet?"
"Pretty much." Dooley replied.
"And how long has this..." He struggled for words. "Pokémon been with you?"
Dooley looked down between his feet. "I conversed with her when we were at the Rocket base for quite a while before escaping." He said. "I helped her escape too, knocking out the power grid to the building so that she could teleport away." He turned his eyes on the sleeping Mewtwo. "I owe her my sanity... I'd do anything for her."
Vlad nodded gently and Sandy returned to the room carrying a small assortment of novelty Christmas apparel. She slipped a pair of reindeer horns on Dove and some Santa hats on the others. She heard Elle stir and turned around, pulling a fine-fur brush from a pocket.

Slowly Elle woke. She'd had some relatively nice dreams while she was asleep, and she didn't want to wake, but a nagging feeling in the back of her head made her open her eyes. She could hear two human voices, that much she knew, but she couldn't pinpoint what they were saying yet. One seemed to be on the other side of the room, and the other was really, really close. She lifted her head and looked directly into a black face. She recognised a Houndoom when she saw one, and the adrenaline that rushed into her body snapped her wide awake. She frantically scrambled backwards, almost toppling off the couch and onto a small table before Sandy grabbed her to calm her down.
"Elle! It's alright, calm down! Faith is friendly!" Sandy pleaded, however Elle would not be dissuaded. Most Psychic Pokémon develop unbridled fear of Dark types, it was simply something programmed into them. Only when Dooley practically tackled her to the ground did she settle. He carefully let her up before cowering from her when her eyes turned on him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, a small amount of fear notable in his voice.
'I am fine.' Her voice echoed. 'You need not cower so, I am not angry.'
Sandy stood up and brushed herself off before -carefully- putting an arm around Elle. "Elle, this is my cousin, Vlad. He's also a trainer, but he specialises in Dark and Fire types." She said.
Elle gave Vlad a weary glance. 'Hello.' She said, before turning her eyes down to Sandy. 'And what do you specialise in, master?'
"Please, drop the 'master'." Sandy said. "Call me my name, Sandy. I don't specialise in any paticular type, but I do like Water type Pokémon more than most others." Elle nodded and Sandy pointed to various Pokémon about the room. "The Zangoose is Azure, she's in our team, the alternate colour Lucario is Izaac, Azure's son, and there's an undersized Vaporeon that answers to Blueberry around here somewhere..." She trailed off, looking about the room. "He'll show up eventually." She said, continuing to point out Pokémon. "The little suicune is mine, she's called Crystal." The little water type walked up to Elle and sniffed her leg curiously before nuzzling contently. "That's essentially my team, except for Charizard, who deosn't like to leave his Poké Ball. The golden Ninetales is Tricky, the Absol is Dove, this little black and white menace here-" she playfully jostled Vesta's ears, "Is Vesta, she's Tricky and Dove's daughter. The Houndoom is Faith. Together they're under Vlad's care."
'I notice you didn't mention Dooley.' Elle pointed out.
"I know." Sandy replied. "Dooley is under my father's care, he doesn't accompany me when I travel." Elle looked somewhat saddened by this revelation, which made Sandy stammer. "N-not that you need to go with me, mind!" She quickly said. "You're quite welcome to stay here with my parents and Dooley. I've done all the Gym battling I'm going to do for quite a while, so I spend more time here at home. We're a breeding ranch, and we're always happy to see a bright new face about the house."
'A breeding ranch?' Elle asked. 'But I-'
"No, you're not for breeding." Dooley said. "You're my friend, and you're part of this family now, you don't need to do anything you don't want to do, just like the rest of us."
She stood, slightly dumbfounded, before trying to speak again. 'And what of you, Dooley?' She asked. 'I have been watching you push yourself harder than even you know you should be.'
Yet again Dooley cowered from her. "I-I..."
'Come here.' Elle said, grabbing his paw. He protested, but didn't want to forcefully wrestle from her grip as she pulled him into an embrace. She put a paw to his back. 'Right about... Here.' She breathed. Her hand glowed and a faint click could be heard. Dooley jolted and she let him go. 'How do you feel now?'
He moved his back uncomfortably. "Better." He said. "The pain is gone... What'd you do?"
She chuckled cutely, even for a Pokémon of her imposing stature, and leaned down to him. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. 'I used recover on you.' She said. 'Your spine has healed completley now, be gentler on it in future, huh?'
Sandy took Elle by her arm and motioned to lead her out the door. Dooley went to go with them, but Sandy stopped him. "I'd like to speak with her in private." She said. "Stay out here and decorate the house with the others, we'll only be a few minutes." Dooley hesitantly nodded.
"I-I'll be out here if you need me." He said.

Sandy led Elle to her room and closed the door behind her, making the taller Pokémon sit in the reclining chair. Elle leapt up again when a swift and angry claw to her backside startled her painfully. Sandy walked over and pulled Princess, a Delcatty, from the soft seat.
"Princess, how many times have I told you not to come into my room?" Sandy asked angrily. Princess growled angrily, and Sandy jostled her by the scruff of her neck. "I don't want to hurt you, Princess, and I've told you countless times." She warned, opening the door and dropping the cat onto the carpet below. "Stay outta my room, you prissy egomonger." And with that, the door was closed in the cat's face. Sandy walked back to Elle and turned her around, inspecting her rear. "There doesn't seem to be any real damage, just a warning slap." She said, much to the Mewtwo's embarrassment. She let got of the Pokémon's rump and let her sit down. "Now, you want to know why you're here, yes?" Elle nodded.
'And what's with Princess?' She asked.
"Princess is the family Delcatty, she belonged to my grandmother and has been passed down to my mother. We've all had enough of her, she'll be going to my aunt in a day or so, she knows how to deal with stuck-up Pokémon." Sandy informed her, sitting on the bed. "Now, I've several things to talk to you about. First and foremost is Dooley. You know about his life with his previous master, tortured and beaten almost to death on multiple occasions, far more than I, but you might also know about Azure?" Elle shook her head gingerly. "A couple of years ago, back when they were both under the control of their abusive Rocket masters, Azure approached Dooley while she was in heat." Elle's eyes widened a little, but stayed silent. "The result of their brief affair is Izaac. Dooley is his father." She waited for this to sink in. "Elle... I can already see what's happening between you and Dooley; hell, I wouldn't be surprised if one of you has already grown attatched on that level, but can you just... Hold back a little until I can explain things to Azure and Izaac?" Elle shyly nodded. "Azure should take it fine, but Izaac... He'll flip if things aren't explained properly."

'What else was there you wished to converse about?' Elle asked.
"Well, you." Sandy said. "How old are you, what're your powers, any history or personality quirks I should be aware of..?"
Elle sighed. 'I was created March twenty third this year. Though I was told that I was the first, I quickly discovered that I was actually the second Mewtwo to be created by human hands by reading their minds when they thought I was resting. I allowed my mind to roam, and eventually stumbled upon Dooley's mind, such misery and sorrow tainted his heart, yet he showed determination to not be broken by his cruel master. I reached out to him and, with a little help on my part, broke him free. He, in turn, damaged the power systems sufficiently enough to free me from my prison, and I fled by teleporting. I watched him as he fled the Rockets, I even slowed his fall a little when he leapt off the cliff face. After that, I left in search of the original Mewtwo.' She shuddered a little. 'He's... Monstrous.
'He believes himself to be 'perfect' and that humans are the cause of all troubles in the world. The minute I came close enough to talking with him, he attacked me and I had to flee before any real damage could be done.' She turned her head and a single tear ran over her cheek. 'I... Didn't know what to do after that. I've been wandering for the last few months trying to piece together an existance, but it's all been for naught. I had managed to share a cave with a small family of Eevee for a short while before the snows came, at which point I had to leave, my fur not thick enough to keep me warm during such cold times.
'Then I remembered Dooley, and I hid in a small, dark cave a few hundred kilometers from here and searched for him high and low. When I discovered that he was here, safe and sound, I asked if he was alright, apologising for being away for so long. He said he was fine, that he was living with a human family, and that, if I wanted, I might be able to join him.' The lightbulb in the roof suddenly blew out, throwing them into a darkness that only Elle's eyes shone through, a faint purple glow in them that wasn't visible in the darkness. 'And that's when you took him to the center.' She smiled over at Sandy. 'I thank you for giving me a chance to be with him.'

Sandy, carefully, stood up and opened the door so as to let some light into the room.
'As for my quirks...' Elle mumbled. 'I don't like people, so forgive me if I cower behind, or even from you at times, and I tend to be protective.' She shrugged her shoulders a little. 'Very protective.'
"I understand. Blueberry, Azure and Izaac were, and in Izaacs case still is, the same. We can return to the others now if you'd like." Sandy said, to which Elle shook her head.
'You wanted me to show you some of my power.' She said, slowly floating off of the chair. 'I'm not one to dissapoint.'
The room was suddenly whisked away and they appeared in the back yard, right in front of Sandy's father, who stared in stunned disbelief of the Pokémon that floated gently before him. Elle closed her eyes and concentrated, snow from the entire yard swirled up around them, converging above their heads. The snow became denser, becoming forced into a solid shape, and eventually went crystal clear and held a diamond shape. As quickly as it had happened, it reversed, exploding into billions of flakes of snow that gently drifted down and covered the yard in a sheet of brilliant white once more. A small, solid piece of ice floated down in front of Sandy, giving her a better look. A rose, made entirely of ice with thorns and every petal in exquisite detail. She reached out to touch it, but it suddenly dropped to the ground. Sandy hazarded a glance to Elle.

She looked panicked. Her breathing was fast and shallow, terrified sweat beaded on her brow and froze into tiny droplets of ice. Sandy looked past her at her mother, who had drawn much, much nearer.
"That was amazing!" She said, unaware of the Pokémon's reaction to her approaching.
Elle started mumbling below her breath, but Sandy's translator could still pick up what she was saying.
"Get away, get away, get away, get away..."
"Uhh, mum? You should probably back off..." Sandy suggested, just before a psychic blast threw her mother across the yard and into the fence.
"Get away!" Elle shrieked, her voice lined with terrible fear. Sandy lept on her, pulling her into the snow and holding her down.
"Elle! It's me! Calm down, no one here is going to hurt you!"
Elle, lying beneath her new trainer, started to hyperventilate in her panic. She pushed Sandy off of her and scooted into a corner of the yard where she practically buried herself in the corner, hands across the top of her head as if expecting to be struck.
'Oh god!' Elle's voice rang through the yard. 'I'm sorry!' These last words repeated themselves over and over. Her eyes went wide, her sharp, hastened breathing stopped, and the world around her went black as she slumped in the snow.

She awoke later. She wasn't sure how much later, having been in her deep sleep during that time, but the sun had set outside and the only sounds other than her own breathing and the crackling fireplace was the breathing of a Vaporeon just infront of said fire, and the gentle calls of Hoothoots. She tried to sit herself up, but her body felt heavy, and only managed in shifting the heavy blanket that covered her off and onto the floor. The Vaporeon noticed and stood up, his leg joints clicking as he rose and stretched. Carefully he dawdled over to the couch she currently called a bed and grabbed the blanted with his teeth. He leapt up onto the couch and pulled the cloth over her, partially covering her. He neatened up the blanket and leapt back off the couch to return to his previous spot.
'...Thank you.' Elle said gently, finally remembering how to communicate.
"Ah, so you are awake." The Vaporeon said. "You are most welcome." His eyes turned to her and he smiled lightly. "I am happy to finally make your aquantaince, Elle; my name is Blueberry. Grandmother Lulubelle is fine, she is unharmed, but was a little shaken up." A little rattling came from the room beyond the wall behind Elle's current bed. "A representetive from the police is here." Blueberry explained. "Likely, Sandy has told them of your history and exactly what you are. Please don't try to move, your body was in the cold for a little too long while you were blacked out and your muscles need to get their strength back; Darma will be in here soon, now that you're awake, to talk with you."
Elle sighed and rested back in the soft couch. 'What kind of person is Darma?' She asked.
'Why don't you ask her yourself?' Another female voice rang out. A fully grown Suicune dawdled into the room and sat in front of Elle's couch. She moved to get up, but her muscles wouldn't allow it. 'Don't try to shift yet. You are not yet strong enough to use Recover to regenerate yourself, allow Sandy's administrations to work.' The voice called again. 'I am Darma, head of command of the Growlithe and Arcanine patrols that are at the station. My master, Captain Maximillion, is in the kitchen talking with your owner about a 'strange creature' she brought home. I assume that creature is you.'
Elle nodded. 'Y-yes.' She said shakily. 'Please excuse me for asking, but how do you talk as us Psychics can, yet Suicune are Water types..?'
'My father was an Alakazam, and I inherited certain abilities from that. My daughter, Crystal, is also capable of speaking as we are due to those inherited genes.'
'I see...' Elle's voice mumbled.
'Now, there are two ways we can go about this encounter.' Darma said. 'The first is a conversation, which will probably end up being public and quite embarrassing, the other is me tapping directly into your mind and reading your memories, which will probably only head to slight emotional distress. Which do you prefer?'
Elle thought for a minute or two. 'I'll... Allow you to read my mind.' She said. 'But please be gentle, I've some horrible memories that I'd like to forget...'
Darma nodded knowingly, her eyes snapping open and glowing a faint blue as she stared directly at Elle. It was a little unnerving, but the images she saw in her mind's eye were moreso. She saw pictures she hadn't dragged to the front of her mind since she had discovered them hiding in the scientist's brains, images of her growing, what they did to mutate her, the torturous things they did to her body to keep her submissive... She wretched horridly, almost throwing up for real when the images became more and more graphically violent. Darma seemed undisturbed by all of it.
'Like those.' Elle said.
Darma gave her an apologetic face before continuing, reading what she could as quickly as she could until she was up to date with the day. Her eyes stopped glowing and she closed them with a sigh.
'You are indeed a most unfortunate creature.' She said. 'I shall have you added to the 'protected species' list when I return to the sation. Now, however, I believe it is time for the fun I was promised.' Her eyes glowed again, and little Crystal popped into the room. Sandy's cry of irritation rang out from the kitchen, but Crystal simply giggled at the attention.
"Hello, mummy!" She giggled. "What's up?"
Darma tilted her head. 'What, a mother has to find a reason to play with her only next of kin?' She asked toyishly.

Elle had smiled at the spectacle of the two Suicune playing, despite their massive difference in size and age. She'd not had parents of her own, and she found it comforting that at least someone in the world could know what it was like to still act like a child despite being older than her. Slowly she sat up, her muscles and joints still screaming vengeance at her attempts to move, crossed her legs in front of her and closed her eyes. She pulled the blanket across for some small semblance of decency before crossing her arms over her legs and concentrating. Her form glowed a gentle purple colour, and small, light objects started to float into the air. She could faintly hear Crystal giggling, and she could almost feel the cautious gaze of Blueberry on her. She concentrated further and the small objects, paper and pens, small unbreakable keepsakes and coins, started to gently move about the room, teasing Crystal by getting just within her reach and rapidly moving away. She felt a sharp pang of pain from one of her muscles, and she gasped, quickly moving the objects high up to avoid losing control and hitting someone. The objects rose and stopped spinning until she gained her control back.
'It's alright, Elle, I'll watch them for you.' Darma's voice called within her head. 'Don't concentrate too hard on what you're doing, just relax and let your power flow.'
A sudden shake rocked the house, knocking porcelain to the floor where it was caught, barely, by Darma's own psychic prowess.
"That isn't right." She mumbled aloud. "We don't get Earthquakes."
Another quake rocked the building once more and Elle put the floating objects back where they had been before snapping her eyes open.
'This is gentle stuff.' She said, meaning the telekinetic show. 'I'm... Better at offensive manipulation.' She rose gently from the couch, her muscles no longer protesting their pain.
An Espeon, on whom Elle could smell Blueberry's scent, dashed into the room. "Old Mrs. Mcguire up the road has lost control of her Tauros!" She hurriedly said to Darma. "It has used Earthquake to decimate her home, and it's now charging down the road!"
Darma sighed and dawdled to the door, where the Humans of the household were already dashing into the street. Elle and the others followed her out, closing the door behind her. The Tauros was, indeed, charging down the street. Darma went to take a step forth, but Elle stopped her.
'Please, allow me.' She said, floating to the middle of the street.
The Tauros now had a single target, and he barrelled towards her at a startling speed. Elle sighed and held out her paw, and the Tauros slammed into a green barrier that formed before him, dozens of meters from Elle. It stood upright and used Earthquake, shaking Elle about the floor until she simply floated to avoid the attack. She sighed and swung her paw above her head.
'Will you please be quiet!' Her voice angrily yelled, her paw swinging down. An unseen force slammed the Tauros into the gound, snow exploded away from beneath him and he fell unconsious in his own personal crater. Elle shook her head and floated back to the group. 'He shall trouble us no longer.' She said as she entered the door and sat back on the couch.
After a few minutes, Sandy joined her in the room, sitting in a chair opposite the couch and watching the silent Psychic. Small objects floated about the room again, but now Elle was content to levitate only very light objects, pens and small coins. She felt another disturbance enter the room, which promptly sat next to Sandy's seat and yet again Elle could feel a pair of eyes boring into her skull with practiced expertise. She gently opened her own eyes to find Blueberry sitting next to Sandy.
'...What?' She asked. 'Is there something on my face?'
Sandy shook her head. "It's just unusual for Psychic types to do this sort of thing, they tend to be reserved with their powers." Elle giggled for what felt like the first time ever.
'I find it... Relaxing.' She said. 'To allow my powers to freely roam, it's difficult to keep them bottled up, and even this is taking my concentration.' She roamed her mind again. 'After I had been attacked by... The other Mewtwo... I sat myself on a mountain edge and levitated boulders the size of this building as easily as I'm moving these small knicknacks... I was truly freeing my mind then.'
Sandy sighed as Blueberry chuckled a little. "Show me." He said.

Elle nodded and let objects float back to their original positions, selecting a single coin of little value to concentrate on. Her eyes closed and she glowed brighter than ever. The coin seemed to fluctuate between corporeal and ethereal, invisible and visible, and even started to become white hot. The metal didn't drip, but it radiated Elle's power in a way that worried Sandy slightly. Small flicks of electricity sparkled around the molten metal, and Sandy heard Elle sigh comfortably, venting her frustrations and pent-up power into the tiny piece of metal. As quickly as it had begun, however, the metal cooled, lightning faded and the coin became, most certainly, corporeal. It fell to the floor with a soft tap and Elle grabbed her head.
'That... Hurts more than I thought it would.' She mumbled. 'Suddenly drawing back on my power like that stings.' She twitched irritably. 'I have a headache.'
Sandy laughed and walked into the kitchen, soon returning with a glass of water and a pair of little pills. "Put these in your mouth and swallow them down with the water." She instructed, handing them to Elle. "In about ten minutes or so, your headache will fade."
Elle nodded and followed her instructions. Soon after, roughly ten minutes later when everyone was in the kitchen once more, she felt her headache fade.


A week passed slowly but surely, and the outside room was finished with an additional floor above it for Elle, being added on at the last minute. She had asked that it not be tiled, but that there be a small sandpit in the room where she could let herself loose on small pieces of metal without worrying about setting the house alight. Work went amazingly quickly with Elle helping, doing a fair amount of the work on her own without moving a muscle. She even helped Dooley move weight that he couldn't, or shouldn't have tried to lift on his own. The house, when she wasn't looking, became more and more festive. The front was now covered in bright, cheerful lights that blinked patterns -against the best wishes of Sandy's father- and small colourful decorations and long streams of tinsel now occupied portions of the house, especially the family room. She found herself the assailant of a few pecks on her cheeks whenever she passed under certain doors with someone else going the other way until she started to avoid these doors altogether, simply teleporting between rooms to bypass the fuss. Everyone, with the exception of herself, seemed anxious about something, but it wasn't until a few days later she found out what.

She had been awake that whole night, unable to sleep. Her psychic powers had been troubling her, and she had picked up all the anxiousness of the others which kept her awake. Instead she decided to meditate, letting her powers run wild upon a small nail she had found outside. It was literally lighting the room, and snaps of psychic electricity snapped from it to the metal base of the deep, cool sandpit. Luckily she had seen this kind of problem and the box had a very thick rubber base that would avoid the carpet from becoming damaged. She heard someone on the stairs, but she didn't want to harm them so she paid them no real heed until they opened the door.
'Please, wait a moment.' She said. 'This will only take a second.'
The nail, still glowing brightly, slowly stopped filling with her potent mental power and floated down into the sand, where it hissed against the slightly damp granules. Elle slowly stood up, allowing her mind to contain itself again, and picked up a jug of water, pouring it over the nail to cool it. She turned to whoever had entered her room, Sandy's Lucario Izaac, who was sitting on a small chair watching with interest.
'Alright, now that that is over, what is it that you want Izaac?' She asked gently.
He stood up and beckoned her to follow him.
"C'mon, everyone is waiting for you." He said. "Alice said that you were letting yourself go all night, and we throught it prudent to give you some time to come back." Elle smiled.
'Thanks for waiting.' She said, following behind him punctually and closing her door.

They stepped into the hall, just outside Dooely's room. The door was wide open, and he had apparently already left to wherever the others were congregating. Elle took a moment to peer into the room and inhale deeply. Despite the room being almost brand new, Dooley's scent permeated the very walls, rising steadily from a stuffed Zangoose doll over his bed. It had been washed quite thoroughly since the last she had managed to see it with her mind, and the white and red fuzz was bright and cheerful. She smiled a little, even as the cold morning air penetrated her fur and made her shiver.
"C'mon." Izaac said, tugging her arm and managing to pull her away from her train of thoughts. She followed Izaac down to the family room, where the rest of her adoptive family sat in waiting.
"Good morning, Elle." Sandy said. "Come sit."
Elle found herself compelled to sit next to Sandy, and she soon had Blueberry jumping up onto her lap. A tree, which had been decorated the day she arrived, say in the corner amongst a veritable forest of colourfully wrapped boxes that hadn't been there the day before. She felt Alice starng at her, and she returned a questioning gaze.
'I've lived here for almost eleven years and I've never once known how they all get there in one night.' Alice said within the Mewtwo's head. 'I've always thought they abuse my powers while I sleep.'
Elle giggled silently at the comment before her attention was sought, and granted, by Sandy once more.
"Here you go, this one is yours." She said, handing Elle a wrapped box. "I'll just put Blueberry's at your feet. We'll open them when they're all handed out."
For about ten minutes the boxes were handed out, the largest of which went to Elle and Dooley. Sandy's father, who Elle had discovered to be named Barney, said that they could start unwrapping now, and most of them began. Elle, however, sat in confused silence. Something about it translated back to the others.
"Something wrong..?" Azure asked. Elle could only give her a completley dumbfounded glance.
"Alright, I'll explain." Sandy said, putting a partially unwrapped gift aside and putting her hand on Elle's shoulder. "On this day, every year, most families celebrate a holiday known as Christmas. The tradition is that we give each other gifts and tell each other how much we mean to one another. It's your first Christmas ever, so I'm not surprised you don't know. Dooley and Lady were lucky enough to have celebrated a Christmas with their first masters before being captured by the Rockets, but you're... A special case."
Elle nodded and began to carefully unwrap the gifts she'd been given, finding the edges of the paper wrapping and picking away at the sticking tape before Sandy put a hand over hers to stop her.
"Elle, you don't have to be meticulous." She said, pointing to Blueberry who was, literally, ripping paper off of a box with his teeth. The Mewtwo nodded and gripped the paper with her claws, tearing it asunder.

From Sandy's parents she had gotten a long, warm scarf to wrap about her neck and a special Poké Ball, custom made to suit her looks. It was, like the ball Sandy had originally adopted her with, a Deluxe Ball, but the bottom was a darker pink than the top, and the ring around the middle was a bright, shining purple that seemed to pulse gently. From Vlad she had gotten a Twistedspoon made of pure silver with a small golden Poké Ball on the end of the handle. Dooley had been given leeway to buy gifts for the others, and he had gotten her a small plush Mew made of felt and stuffing. This was, according to Sandy, a type of gift he gave out to people that meant a lot to him. Finally, from Sandy, she had gotten a box containing clothes. Winter clothes and some summer clothes to help her keep her dignity during the hotter seasons. She hugged Sandy for this, but she still had one, large gift to unwrap, as did Dooley. There was no name on the label other than hers or his, and she raked a claw down the paper to split it open and pull it off. Inside lay a box, a simple brown parcel which, also, bore no marking as to who had given the gift. The boxes were opened, and inside lay a pair of small rugs, golden etching on each. The words 'Welcome to the Family' were woven into the carpet in large, friendly letters, and Elle caught a whiff of a familiar scent.
'Darma...' She mumbled, before holding the rug close and letting a silent tear run off of her face and onto the torn paper. '...Thank you.'

After putting her new items in safe, honorary places about her room, except for the Twistedspoon that she wore about her neck as a necklace and the warm winter clothing that she donned, she returned to the house to find Sandy standing, waiting for her in the hall.
'How'd you get my measurements so exact..?' Elle asked curously.
"I took photos of you when you were sleeping on the couch the other week." Sandy replied. "After that, all I had to do was show the tailors your Pokédex info and they made it from there." She gave Elle a tap on her nose. "Even they said you're cute when you sleep."
'Thank you...' Elle said in a mumble. 'For everything.'
"It's nothing, Elle." Sandy replied. "Just doing what my heart tells me to do, as I always have done." She gave Elle a tight hug, despite only coming up to her shoulders, which the Mewtwo reluctantly returned. "Merry Christmas, Elle."
Elle stayed silent, hugging Sandy distantly before letting her emotions take control and pulled her up off her feet so that she could get a better hug.
'Merry Christmas, Sandy.' She said happily, tears of joy running down her face.


Happy season, guys.