Truce

Hi.  Here's a story I wrote way back when I was in middle school.  In honor of Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl coming out soon, I decided to put this up on my new account here.

A/N: I got the idea for this story after hearing about the Christmas Truce of World War I, an event in which the soldiers on both sides declared a truce on Christmas so that they could gather up their dead in peace. This wasn't all they did, though - the two sides exchanged gifts, sang Christmas carols, and even played a friendly game of soccer. The next day, however, they had to go back to fighting each other. This story was also partially inspired by a scene from the Diamond and Pearl Adventures manga, when Hareta and the Gym Leaders were having a picnic just before invading the Galactic HQ. When Hareta was confronted by a Galactic grunt, he just invited the grunt to have some food, and the two of them ate peacefully together, until Hareta finished eating and said it was time to fight Team Galactic, upon which he and the grunt started fighting like nothing had ever happened. I thought that it would be fun to write about a temporary truce between a protagonist and a member of an evil team.  And yes, I know that there is no Christmas in the Pokemon world, but there is in this story. With all that said, enjoy!

Dawn usually liked to think of herself as intelligent, but today she couldn't help but think of what an idiot she'd been, thinking that she could get all the way to Snowpoint City in one day.

She'd set off from Celestic Town early in the morning yesterday - which happened to be Christmas Eve - confident that she'd make it to Snowpoint City in time to call her mother on the Pokemon Center phone and wish her a merry Christmas. She'd promised her mother that she would call. It wouldn't be the same as being home for Christmas, but at least she would get to hear from her mother. If Dawn had stayed in Celestic Town, she would still have access to a phone, and everything would be going as planned. But no, no, she'd just had to decide to press on and go to Snowpoint City, and now she would be stuck out here on Route 217 for Christmas.

Even worse, the snow was falling faster and faster from the sky, blanketing her hat and her hair and her coat and everything she had with her. The wind was blowing harder too, and Dawn was sure that soon it would turn into a full-on blizzard. She would have to camp out somewhere until it subsided, or else she'd lose sight of the path and get lost.

This really couldn't get any worse, could it? She should be at home, opening presents from under the tree, or singing carols with her mom, or stuffing her face with pecha berry pie. Definitely not trekking through a blizzard, all alone.

Well, not all alone, she thought. At least I have my Pokemon with me. Empoleon, Rotom, Chansey, Porygon, Lucario, and Eevee. The friends that had been with her constantly throughout her journey, battling with her for six gym badges, growing with her, traveling with her all across Sinnoh. As long as she was with them, she wasn't truly alone.

Dawn walked faster, her spirits beginning to rise. Maybe she'd be able to get to Snowpoint City before the end of the day. With her Pokemon with her, how bad could it be?

That was when she heard the voice.

"Guys? Guys? Where did you go? Where are you?"

It was the voice of a girl, probably a teenager, barely audible above the wind.

"Hello? Anyone there? It's me! I'm with you! Just shout so I can tell where you are!"

There was a bit of a plaintive edge to the voice now, as if the speaker had realized that nobody was going to help her. Dawn opened her mouth to shout back, but stopped as she heard the voice's next words.

"Jupiter! Commander Jupiter! Can you hear me? Slow down! I can't keep up! I can't even see you guys anymore! Where are you? Please slow down, please stop, please, please, please..."