We all watched as the last gift was handed out to Rena. She quickly opened it up, in which she pulled out a Castelia Cones baseball cap from it. She shot Rudi a look, but her brother just laughed at her, urging her to keep looking in the box. It took Rena a bit, but after a while, she found a tool box, one that must've been special as her eyes widened in pure joy.

Seeing that her brother really did care, the blue haired girl turned towards her brother, pulling him in a hug. I smiled at the two siblings as they seemed to be getting along for a moment.

It didn't happen often. Most of the times, the Rhea siblings would be at each other's throats.

It was so weird to think that this was the first Christmas we'd spent together in a long time, so long. It had been so long that I didn't even remember the first time we did. I'd always made a point in calling Landon and Wendy after the whole Swanna Girl thing was over, seeing how they were the closest people I've had to parents. Well, that wasn't not entirely true, I had Nurse Joy, so I guess I practically had two moms and a dad.

Okay, that sounded really weird, but that was what happened when someone's parents died at a young age. Other people start filling in the roles.

I was only a one year old when our families spent Christmas together. Being so young, I didn't remember a thing about it, and neither did Rena or Rudi. These past two Christmases, I'd come over and celebrated it with them. But seeing that Rudi was living off the grid for a reason he refused to tell us, well, it was just the four of us.

It was nice having Rudi back.

"Yelp, that's the last of it," Landon said.

I looked over at the man as he started to pick up the wrapping paper, while his wife had gotten up to leave the room for some reason. I still sat on the couch with the Rhea siblings sitting to my right. Of course, Rudi sat in the middle.

While the two siblings were catching up, I turned to look at Landon, I realized he had stopped cleaning and was looking at something underneath the tree.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

Landon knelt down and reached for something from behind the tree. I tried to catch a closer look at it, but whatever it was, the man could easily hide it in his hand.

"Sylvia," Landon looked back at me, "looks like you've got another gift."

I glanced over at Rudi and Rena who both grew silent and shrugged. Neither of them knew what was going on by the looks of it. I exhaled, trying to think what could have been behind it.

Landon turned around, showing an orb of some sort wrapped in wrapping paper unlike the red and green we'd all seen previously. This wrapping paper was blue and had a note with it. Landon walked up to me and handed me the two items.

To make sure I wasn't the only clueless one here, I looked around, starting with Rudi. He seemed just as confused as me, so I turned to look at his blue-haired sister. Instead of looking confused, she seemed a bit more curious as she stared at the wrapped present that was now in my hands. I turned my head, watching as Landon sat across from me, leaving the chair his wife was sitting in earlier completely empty.

Neither of them seemed to have a clue as to what was going on. If they had any sort of clue, Wendy would've stayed back.

I took at the note, figuring there would be a clue as to who it was from.

Sylvia Gray,

I know you've been having nightmares. Hopefully this Pokémon will help. She belonged to your father, but I think it's better suited in your hands.

Merry Christmas,

The signature was there, but it was written so sloppily I couldn't make it out. It was as if the person writing the note didn't want to be found at all.

Great, another unanswered mystery I may never know the answer to.

"What does it say?" Rudi asked, trying to look at the note.

I quickly folded it up, looking up at Landon. He looked just as curious as Rudi. For a moment, I thought that it might be from him, his seeing his look of confusion, I realized it couldn't have been.

"Just says that the Pokémon inside belonged to my dad," I told them.

Landon gave me a weird look. He didn't have to say a word. I could just tell whatever he was going to say wasn't going to be good.

"That's impossible," Landon said. "True, your dad did have two Pokémon when we were trainers..."

"Do you think that person could've meant her mom?" Rena asked.

Landon shook his head. "No. I mean, it couldn't be. Your mom hid all of her Pokémon for some reason. We were able to find half of them, but I mean, the other two, Sawsbuck and Minccino, they could never be found. See what's in the Poké Ball first."

I kept my eyes on Landon as I unwrapped the gift. As I did, I noticed Landon release his Unfeazant while Rudi did the same with his Braviary. My fingers ripped the last piece of wrapping paper, revealing an ordinary Poké Ball. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with it.

To make sure, I grabbed my two Poké Balls from my belt and released them as well. Audino seemed happy to finally be outside his Poké Ball while Swanna seemed a bit annoyed. I was not exactly sure how Poké Balls worked—which I thought they would've taught that to us at nursing school, but they didn't—but if I had to guess, Swanna must've woken up from his nap.

As for Braviary and Unfeazant, the two Pokémon looked at each other as if silently telling each other to be prepared.

I lowered the Poké Ball, showing it to Audino. He took it from me and showed it to his feathered friends. If I had hoped any sign would've been shown that they had a clue as to what was going on, I was wrong. They all just looked as confused as I did.

"Well," Rudi said, "what are you waiting for?"

My head turned to look at him, just in time to see his older sister slap him in the arm. "It could be a trap, Rudi."

The young man smirked. "It's a trap!"

I rolled my eyes as his imitation of a particular sci-fi movie. It wasn't my favorite genre of movies to watch, but when dating Rudi, I'd watched my fair share to know a few of the important quotes.

"Rena, I think your brother's right," Landon said. "Go on, see what's inside."

I took a deep breath and released the Pokémon from inside. Landon told me stories about my dad, but it wasn't until now I realized how little he talked about his Pokémon. If he had another Pokémon, I expected it to be something similar to Unfeazant maybe even a starter evolution seeing that he had a Pokémon Trainer, so a starter Pokémon would be expected.

What came out was a bit disappointing. A sleeping Musharna dropped to the floor, curled up into a ball.

Okay, I wasn't expecting a sleepy little, purple and pink Pokémon, but looking at the note, it did say this Pokémon would help me with my nightmares. Musharna was the only Unovan Pokémon to help with that problem. I guess I just didn't expect both my parents to like cute Pokémon so much, especially considering that my dad had an Unfeazant.

Even Rudi sighed in disappointment, though, I don't think he meant it on purpose.

Audino carefully poked the Psychic Pokémon, waking her up. Upon seeing the other pink Pokémon, Musharna leapt to her feet and tackled Audino into a hug. Well, the closest thing to a hug this Pokémon could do.

My dad had an Unfeazant, who had a serious nature, and a cuddly Musharna.

Why was I shocked?

"How is that possible?" Landon asked.

I looked up at him. "So Musharna really was my Dad's other Pokémon?"

Landon nodded his head.

"It doesn't make sense," Rudi argued. "I mean, why would The Unfeazant have a Musharna? Wasn't he the mastermind of the group or something?"

I glanced over towards Rudi. "You're making my dad seem like a supervillain."

Rudi raised his hands in defense. "Sorry, I'm just calling it as I see it. I mean, Dad did tell me stories how he—owe! Rena! What was that for?"

He turned around, as I saw Rena slipping her heel back onto her foot. Somehow, I must've missed what had happened, but if I had to guess she must've hit him behind the head with that shoe.

Maybe that was why she was dressed like a businesswoman, so she could wack her brother with a heel.

Luckily, Rudi didn't need to explain. My dad seemed to know how to handle every situation, saving both Landon and my mom on numerous occasions. I liked to think of him kind of being like Rena in the sense that he always went into a mission with a plan of attack. This was similar to Rena as her inventions seemed to have saved our lives more than once.

"He did have other Pokémon," Landon explained, "but, those Pokémon were never caught. He liked befriending them rather than catching them. Musharna was the exception. She was injured, and wasn't going to make it to the Pokémon Center unless your dad caught her."

Landon didn't say anything else, but I couldn't help but to look down at the Poké Ball. It reminded me too much of what I did when I met Swanna. Not the Swanna that was sitting in front of me, talking to Musharna as the new Pokémon seemed to catching up with her old friends. No, it reminded me of my very own partner who had passed away due to my careless action.

I hadn't been quick enough, but my dad had been. Why didn't I think about returning Swanna into her Poké Ball and giving her to Nurse Joy? Poké Balls could slow down the pain, not by much, but if I would've returned my Pokémon into the Poké Ball, there would have still been a chance that Swanna could be...

"Sylvia," I felt Rudi's arm wrapped around me, "do you want to go outside for a little bit?"

I didn't say a word as I nodded my head. Rudi and I both stood up as he walked me out of the room. His family members seemed to have understand as they didn't say a word. My Pokémon, they didn't take notice; however, I noticed Unfeazant's eyes watching me as I walked out.

While I felt like I should've said something, I walked out with my head hanging low. Three years. That was enough time for anyone to be done with the grieving process. I mean, I guess there was exceptions to every case, but I should have been able to move on by now.

I'd moved on from my parents' deaths so quickly. Why did Swanna have to be different? I hated the little things, such as Landon mentioning that little fact about Musharna. It just brought back those memories.

Usually, I could hide it. For the past couple of months, there wasn't anything that triggered this reaction. It wasn't like I was crying, but I could tell that Rudi could sensed it was bothering me.

Rudi lead me to the kitchen area, which surprised me that he took me here of all places. I watched as he pulled a chair next to the table. Like everything in this place, the kitchen was fairly big. There was a table in the middle of the room that Wendy used to prepare meals, while one of the walls was just full of built in cupboards. On the adjacent wall, there was a stove, an oven, and a microwave that hung above it.

Honestly, I didn't know how this could all fit in one place seeing that there was room for a large table in the middle of the room. Guess the Pokémon Center had a surprisingly small kitchen though. Even trainers who asked to see it would comment on how small it was.

Guess that's why Pokémon Center food was disgusting.

I took a seat on the chair as Rudi reached for one of the cupboards and grabbed a box from inside. I shook my head as he opened the box and handed it over towards me.

"Lava Cookie?" he asked as he took one from inside.

How was I not surprised that the first thing he had to think about was food? I shook my head, but as he offered the box to me, I grabbed a cookie from inside. The day people started mass producing these things made it easier for any Trainers to get their hands on them.

As I took a bite out of one, Rudi leaned against the wall, holding the box. "What was your nightmare about last night?"

His question took me off guard that I snapped my head up to look at him. I couldn't read whatever expression he wore on his face, but I could tell he was concerned.

"Nothing," I told him, "I don't want to talk about it."

Rudi raised an eyebrow. "Whatever it is, you've been acting kind of strange."

"How so?" I asked before taking the last bite of my cookie and leaning back on the chair.

"For starters," Rudi said jerking his thumb behind him to point at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's nine-thirty in the morning, and you're eating sweets."

He got me on that one, but I didn't want to worry him.

"It's Christmas," I countered. "It's a special occasion."

My comment didn't go past Rudi though as he took another cookie from the box. "Well, that note you got...it was like you saw a ghost when you read it."

I crossed my arms. "Because my parents are dead, Rudi. How would you like it if someone gave you a Pokémon that belonged to someone who isn't here anymore?"

Rudi opened his mouth to say something, but I stood up and quickly stopped him. "I'm acting completely normal. Nightmares are normal for people to have. I've had them before. In fact, I've had them nearly every night after we stopped Team Miasma. I just didn't want to worry you because you wouldn't understand."

His face looked as if I had just destroyed the last Castelia Cone in the universe. "Sylvia, I didn't know. I just want to help."

"Yeah, well, you can help by staying out of it," I snapped. "I just want to deal with it on my own."

Before he could say anything, I turned around and marched out of the kitchen, leaving him with the box of Lava Cookies. I felt guilty. Maybe I should explain to him what was really bothering me, tell him what was weighing me down this whole time.

There was just one secret I'd been keeping from him since the whole thing was over. I let them all think that Taipan got away, that Officer Jenny or someone else arrested him. No one knew he was dead.

Just like Swanna, I couldn't do anything to prevent that.

A part of me wanted to scream. Taipan was the leader of an evil organization. It was because of him I feared being in the dark or being in tight spaces. There wasn't one good thing that man did after he started the organization to try an wipe out the entire region.

Of course that didn't matter. He was still a person. Taipan had a daughter, though, seeing that she never made it to jail, it was safe to say the Legendary Pokémon probably ended her. Not to mention, this man didn't seem to understand what it was like to have a loving family before. I understood why he did what he did. I didn't like it, and yes, he should've gone to jail for the rest of his life for it, but death?

I could've stopped it.

I was about ready to turn down the hallway when I heard Rena screaming on the top of her lungs. Without hesitating, I sprinted towards the source, finding myself back in the room we had opened presents. The blue haired girl held her hands in fists as she looked at the television screen that hung on the wall.

She didn't have to say one word as I sort of figured it out myself. Every year, Unova hosted a huge invention contest thingy that Rena had been entering in for the past three years. The first year she entered with an improved Heal Ball, which earned her first place and gave her a good start on Rena's Widgets.

The following year, she lost to a man in his late twenties. He taunted Rena throughout the competition, getting inside her head.

They'd been rivals ever since.

"Isaac Nox," Rena hissed. "How is it that he won first place this year with that device?"

I looked up at the screen as a man with dark black hair and green eyes held up some sort of weird box. For a moment, I couldn't quite tell what it was as I was distracted by the beard he was attempting to grow. It didn't suit him. Then again, he was a scrawny man who wore a tux that looked three sizes too big.

To be honest, I thought he was trying to one up Rena in everything since I don't remember him wearing business-like clothing in previous years.

"This device," Nox explained to the reporter beside him, "is what I like to call the Intangible Box, or IB. With an IB, you can go move through any walls, perfect for when you need to get out of a messy situation."

"Or if you want to rob a bank." I overheard Rena mutter.

She had a point on that, but I didn't think Nox would've created it for that reason. Sure, the man was a crook as he taunted Rena and stole a few of her blueprints, but the man wasn't a true criminal. Well, besides the thievery part.

The reporter smiled as she held the microphone in front of her face. "What inspired you to invent something like this?"

Nox smiled straight into the camera. "Because I believe—"

He didn't have time to finish as Rena took the remote and turned the T.V. off. Being that both of her parents seemed to be out of the room, she took the liberty to chuck the remote to the ground.

"That deceitful, lying, two-faced," she growled as she started to turn around, "son of of bit—"

Before she could finish, Rena looked up at me. Her face faded from a raging red to pale white as she noticed she wasn't alone. It was an unsaid rule in the Rhea household that you didn't curse when others were around because you never know when Wendy Rhea could be around.

Trust me, it was best not to say any sort of profanity in her presence, even if you were using Pokémon to cover it up.

That was when an idea came into my mind. I'm not sure where my Pokémon could have gone, but I had a feeling that they wouldn't be far.

"How about a Pokémon battle," I offered. "It's a good way to blow off some steam."

Instead of answering me, Rena quickly nodded her head and moved passed me.

Author's Note:

The picture above is how I've always pictured Sylvia. I wanted to post pictures of my OC's in the last book, but they are always so hard to find.

Hope you enjoyed, and take care!