Type: Fire
Shipping: ArcanineShipping

One-Shot 12: 'Twas the Arcanine Before Christmas

An emergency! A fleet of Arcanine raced with riders in tow. The lead Arcanine spotted Ash, Misty, Brock and the Pokémon enjoying the winter setting down the path. He barked. "Arcanine, what is it!?" shouted a young woman.

"Ramona, it's our friends!" shouted a boy. Ramona saw Ash and his crew bundled up for the snowy and frigid weather. The Arcanine group slowed down when Brock performed his shtick.

"I knew you'd come back to my life, Ramona!" he cooed. "Your Arcanine probably heard that I needed to apologize for my actions before!" Before Brock could grasp Ramona's hands, Misty grabbed his ear and pulled him away.

"Apparently, you didn't learn your lesson!" she scowled. While Misty and Brock had their… fun, Ash and Pikachu came over to the other rider.

"Keegan, is something wrong?" the trainer asked.

"We're responding to a crash nearby and thought we could come and help," Keegan explained. To Ash, this was pretty serious.

"We'll join you!" he offered. "You don't know how big the crash is until we get there."

"Good point!" agreed Ramona. "Hop on!" Misty and Brock hopped on the riderless Arcanine while Ash and Pikachu got on with Keegan. Togepi was stored in Misty's bag. They raced on the snowy path when they found a red sleigh and some Stantler around.

"Oh yeah…" gulped Brock. "That's not good!" Everyone hopped off and the Arcanine helped lift some of the Big Horn Pokémon. That's when Misty realized the connection.

"Hold on," she gawked. "Sleigh… Stantler… December 24th?" All turned to Misty, realizing the significance.

"No, really!?" gasped Keegan. Pikachu found someone and turned to the rest.

("Over here!") he called out. Everyone raced to Pikachu and found a familiar figure.

"SANTA!?" they gawked. Santa tried to rise onto his boots.

"Ho ho ho-" he tried to laugh, but a sudden jolt nearly caused him to fall over. "Ouch!" He clutched his head, having Brock come over to stabilize the jolly one. "Where did that machine come from?" Everyone looked up, seeing nothing but clouds. Brock removed Santa's red hat and nodded.

"Sorry, Santa," he studied. "Looks like a concussion." Santa became adamant.

"But… the gifts! To all boys and girls!" Remembering the date, everyone knew the significance of the presents in Santa's multiple sacks.

"We can't let Christmas be ruined," Misty pointed out. "Those kids and Pokémon need those gifts!"

"Yeah, but Santa's hurt!" countered Ash. "If Santa was attacked, we need to be on full alert!" Ramona returned to the group with a few Stantler walking.

"The Stantler weren't hurt too much!" she reported. "They can keep going!"

"Thank goodness for that," Santa winced. "Now, the gifts- OW!" Again, he clasped his head.

"We need to get Santa medical attention!" warned Misty. That's when Ramona had an idea.

"Let Ash and I deliver the presents!" she offered. "You can make sure that Santa's comfortable and healed up." Keegan nodded, knowing that Santa's treatment was needed. Brock came to Ramona again.

"Please, Ramona!" he pleaded. "Let me come with and bring the presents to the kids and check Santa's list twice to be sure-" Misty clocked Brock with a hammer. He fell from the bash.

"I already know who's naughty and who's nice," she groaned as she dragged Brock away. Ramona's Arcanine hopped into the sleigh and found a large sled. It presented the sled to Ramona who checked for a tag. There wasn't one.

"Here, guys!" she gave. "Use the sled to bring him back for treatment!" Keegan nodded as Ash handed the sled to him.

"Be careful, sis!" he warned. Santa boarded the sled and Keegan and Brock tied the sled to the other two Arcanine.

"Be careful, Ash!" advised Misty. With that, everyone broke for their missions. Ramona held the reins, ready to make the deliveries… but not before Keegan gave Ash Santa's list which also listed locations.

"Here's his list," he briefed. Ash looked at the list and nodded.

"All right," Ash nodded. He boarded the sleigh and Ramona snapped the reins.

"Okay, Stantler!" she alerted. "We gotta help your trainer in delivering these gifts! Help us!" The Stantler nodded before they began to pull. Arcanine and Pikachu waited in the basket of the sleigh before they began to fly.

"Hang on!" yelled Ash. Clearing the trees, they began their deliveries that Santa couldn't. Ash looked over the list and Ramona peered down to find locations. Once they stopped, Arcanine and/or Pikachu would get the gift for the two to drop the present off. One and/or the other entered the home and dropped off all the presents for that place. After about an hour, Ash checked Santa's list, marking off each place.

("How are we doing?") the Mouse Pokémon asked.

"I think we're making good time," Ramona assured. Arcanine barked to the compliment. However, something did bother Ash.

"I'm wondering if Santa and the Stantler were attacked," he recalled. "Who would do that and why?" Suddenly, the Stantler turned to something coming up.

"I think we're about to get an answer!" That's when Meowth's balloon flew up to meet those in the sleigh, surprising Ash.

"Them!?" Seeing the sleigh, James threw a walkie-talkie which Ash caught.

"Twerp, we're not the ones who attacked Santa's sleigh!" he pleaded through the walkie-talkie. Ash wasn't sold on Team Rocket's innocence.

"Yeah… right!" he denied.

"It's true!" claimed Meowth. "It wasn't us! It was another squad!" Ramona took the walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"I don't know, since you're the ones who stole all of our Fire Stones last time," she reminded.

"And we would've gotten away with it as we-" Jessie proclaimed before the boys wretched the walkie-talkie from her hand.

"Dis is why we can't have you talk to dem!" argued Meowth. Then, a jet engine could be heard. Looking to the other side, a jet emerged with another team inside.

"Prepare for trouble, Christmas won't come!" proclaimed Cassidy.

"And make it double, your holidays are done!" sneered Butch. Hearing their start of the motto, Jessie wretched the walkie-talkie back.

"Hey, Team Rocket should have that rhyming down to an art form!" she yelled. "You shouldn't be allowed to say the motto until then, Crassidy!" Cassidy steamed at Jessie's taunt.

"That's Cassidy, Wussy!" she yelled back. "Besides, you need to butt out of this! Our job's getting the Stantler for Ranma!" That's when her phone rang and she answered. "What do you-"

"IT'S NAMBA!" yelled Namba. To Ash and Pikachu, their problems were on full display.

"And how long have those guys been together?" he sighed. "Even Jessie and James have better naming than Cassidy and Butch."

("Why not call him something else?") questioned Pikachu. To Jessie, Cassidy's name-calling was the final straw.

"Now, you're asking for it!" she stammered. "Arbok, go!" From Jessie's Pokéball, Arbok came out and coiled around the basket. Ramona saw this and had to take action.

"Stantler, down!" she commanded. Jessie chose to attack.

"Let's save Christmas from devastation!" she scowled. "Arbok, use Poison Sting!" Arbok fired volleys of Poison Sting as Santa's sleigh and the Stantler reduced altitude. The stingers drilled into the jet's hull.

"Not good!" gawked Cassidy and Butch in a panic. Ash decided to end the chaos before it got out of hand.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he ordered. Pikachu leaped up and used Thunderbolt on a cloud ahead, electrifying it. Ash and Ramona gawked to the sudden targeting Pikachu displayed.

"Not the clouds, Pikachu!" snapped Ramona. Pikachu's finger wagged.

("Wait for it…") he squeaked. Cassidy and Butch managed to finally remove the stingers without noticing the electrified cloud they ran into. Without warning, the cloud blasted electricity which destroyed the jet. The explosion dispersed the cloud, the remains of the jet and Cassidy and Butch.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" they cried as they fell. "We're falling down AGAINNNNNNNNNNN!" Those two fell out of sight.

"And 'Bah Humbug!' to you!" sneered James. Ash and Ramona shook their heads at Jessie and James helping instead of hindering.

"I guess this is one of the few times they actually help us," Ash giggled.

"Well, it's possibly because they're on the 'Naughty' list," Ramona read. "Besides, the entire Team Rocket roster's on here, including names of those I doubt you've heard of." She handed Ash the list to which he read those named.

"Annie and Oakley, Pikachu and I encountered at Alto Mare."

("Isn't Oakley serving jail time for Murder of Pokémon?") wondered Pikachu. The deliveries continued for the good boys, girls and Pokémon. Several hours later, the sleigh returned to Ramona and Keegan's home with Santa standing firm.

"Welcome back!" he cheered as the sleigh landed. "Thank you for delivering the gifts for me after the attack."Ash and Ramona smiled as Pikachu and Arcanine ran up to greet Santa.

"No problem!" giggled Ash.

"And we took care of those who tried to Scrooge Christmas for everyone," Ramona assured. Keegan, Misty and Brock came out and saw Ash and Ramona together.

"At least Ash doesn't go crazy over women like someone I know," Misty teased.

"Come on, Misty," Brock mulled. "I'm not that bad." Togepi happily chirped to the teasing. Santa explained to a doctor visiting him and how he's okay to steer the sleigh.

"So, it wasn't a concussion?" guessed Ramona.

"No, just had a small jingle bell ringing," Santa corrected. "Ho ho ho! But regardless, I cannot thank you enough for saving Christmas."

"Anything for you, Santa," Ash praised. Keegan came to Ramona and hugged his big sister.

"I'm glad you're okay, Ramona," he sighed with a smile. Ramona hugged her little brother.

"Someone's gotta watch over you," she joked. They broke as Misty and Brock came to the sleigh with Santa boarding. This gave Ramona an opportunity. "Besides, I think you're not the only one I need to watch from now on." Ash blinked at Ramona's addition.

"What do you mean?" Rather than tell Keegan, Ramona came to Ash.

"I believe I want to travel to you on occasion," she chuckled before leaning down to kiss Ash on the lips. Keegan gawked at Ramona's newfound love for the trainer. After a minute of locking lips and twisting tongues, they brake to Ash's stunned face and Ramona's loved look. Pikachu squealed at the scene while Ramona's Arcanine pawed Ash's free shoulder. Misty and Brock didn't see the kiss and watched Santa leave on his sleigh. It was a shame for the two as the day had been exhausting for Ash, Ramona and the Pokémon. Everyone went inside where Brock cooked up a Christmas dinner for everyone. Ramona sat by Ash as they ate and Santa watched after returning to the household.

"Merry Christmas!" they cheered and clapped glasses to each other. Under the table, Ramona's leg hooked around Ash's playfully. They weren't gonna let Misty and Brock know about the newfound romance. As the day started to end, Santa smiled before leaving by the bend. A Christmas nearly made a mess, made by a pair of Scrooging jests. Kids and Pokémon rescued the day, for the rest of the kids to laugh and play. And with Ash and Ramona love found in sight, they celebrate Christmas and to all, they'll enjoy each other day… and night

END of FIRE, END of VOLUME IX

(Thank you all for a great 2019 of fanfictions and some of these stories you gave me a chance to write and read. Stay tuned next week as a new list for new stories will be listed to vote upon. Some stories that were listed last year are not canned but new tales will come up, as well as two new stories, one starting at the start of 2020 and another at the end of Pokérabian Nights. Again, Merci Beaucoup to you all. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)