A Rivertide Christmas

The house was absolutely crowded, and Iris loved it. All the noise, the joy at seeing each other safe and sound, hale and harty… cinnamon and apple scent clinging to the air - it was nice. Her own brood of Pokemon had grown, adding to the chaos, as did her nieces and nephews. She looked over as Babbu tried to sit on her older brother’s head, and failed spectacularly. He was still getting used to be so big that he couldn’t do that anymore, but he was certainly not going to give up the habit without a fight. The two fell into a jumbled heap of fluff and limbs, with Babbu exclaiming in protest like it was Rowan’s fault they’d fallen. Iris giggled and shook her head, looking around from where she stood at the kitchen counter, helping her mom cook their festive meal.

Shade was tucked in his Pokeball, safe and sound and not a threat to anyone else at that moment. According to an expert, he was scared, confused, and just… off until they could figure out how to get the Nothing extracted from his existence. At least, she thought Shade was a boy. It was hard when one was basically exuding malice and anger all the time. Her youngest niece and nephew were giggling as they rode around on her father’s Arcalotic in the street outside, back and forth to entertain them. Everyone knew they were safe with that unit of a Pokemon guarding them, so the adults only once in a while glanced out to check on them.

The next oldest were also outside, but she wasn’t sure where exactly. Rivertide was safe during the day, so she wasn’t horribly concerned. Her legs nearly buckled when something short and powerful slammed into the back of her knees, and she was so glad she had to counter to lean on! She hurriedly looked back at the scuffling behind her.

“Hey! Watch it!” She shouted down at the Woolodude and the Timchop as they wrestled and raced around the house - she’d just been a ‘casualty’ in their fun and she shook her head. As they ran off, she heard other family members give exclamations as well, before a door opened and the two Pokemon yelped before the door shut again. Banished to play outside. Good.

“Those little scamps.” Her mom chuckled, glancing at her youngest child next to her. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” The woman nodded, chuckling herself as she moved one of the now-filled plates of food to the staging area. It was only then that she realized how tightly Sparkle clung to her side, swaying from where he clung to her sweater, wanting out of the way of the crowds and children who didn’t always look where they were going. In fact, he seemed almost half asleep, his eyes closed part way, but his grip secure. It made her smile, that level of trust he had in her to keep him safe. She made a noise to get her mom’s attention, before jerking her head down toward the Scatterpie. Her mother smiled warmly, chuckling again as she checked the centerpiece for dinner: a large Torchic roasting in the slow cooker, and it smelled delicious.

“Dinner’s ready. Get Rowan to help you round everyone up, please?”

“Sure!” Iris washed her hands in the kitchen sink before she grabbed her brother off the floor - Babbu still hadn’t let him up.

“Thanks, sis. Food ready?” He brushed himself off and the Grumptaria huffed indignantly, fluffing his wings and puffing his cheeks out. Iris rolled her eyes at the display.

“Yeah. And you’re getting too big to be getting on people’s heads!” She narrowed her eyes at her Partner Pokemon. “Mom wants us to round everyone up. Where’s Stella?”

Stella was her mom’s Gardevoir, who had managed to remain unfused thus far, which she was kind of grateful for. She acted like her mom’s service animal for her panic attacks and other issues, and she wasn’t sure how well that would have gone over had the psychic lost her ability to communicate mentally. Rowan jerked his head back towards the stairs. Right. When she was allowed out and there were too many people around, Stella hid in the master bedroom.

“Upstairs, like usual. Want me to go get her and tell her to round up the troops?”

“Please. I need to find my crew. Not seen most of them. Portabella’s with the others in the tub, right?”

“Last I’d seen. Good luck finding them.” He hurried to maneuver his way up the stairs, his Purrloin tail flicking this way and that as he went. If Portabella was in the tub with the other water types, maybe Penny was nearby? The Drifpent was smitten with his portable friend and tended to stay close by him when possible. Yep. He hung just outside the bathroom, floating in the corner, and it almost seemed like he was using his cloud to glue himself to the ceiling, looking passed out. Naptime, huh? She carefully reached up and twirled one of his ribbon ‘hands’ around one of her fingers and the Pokemon woke up, making an inquiring noise. She smiled at her brat.

“Dinner time. Go find the others? I’m getting Portabella.” The Pokemon’s flame flared in excitement before he unstuck himself and floated off to look for the others. She grabbed the Anoroom from his spot, waving to the more water obligate Pokemon before heading back to the dinner table.

After dinner was her favorite part, though. After dinner, the whole family piled up, Pokemon and all, and spent the evening watching Christmas movies. Her father’s Partner was popular with the kids: warm, soft, and plenty of space to cuddle into, and Pokemon of varying sizes stacked on whoever had open space, demanding attention after such a big meal. Of course, Iris didn’t manage to stay awake the whole time through the second movie, falling asleep against Babbu’s fluff. It’d been a good day.