[Christmas Gifts From Family]
Christmas had always been a rather special holiday for Damon and his family. It wasn't unusual for him to head to a Pokémon Center as close to the holiday as he could during the days of his training, and now that he was a Grunt things were no different. It had taken weeks of being an obedient errand boy to coax one of his Superiors into letting him have enough free time on Christmas Day to go over to Camphoreon City.
He'd already checked in with the outpost in the city, as he'd been instructed to do. They'd informed him he had a full thirty minutes to call his parents at the Pokémon Center before he had to head back to catch his ride back to the base. It wasn't much, but it was enough to say hello, carefully evade any questions about what he was doing, and wish them all a Merry Christmas. If he was lucky, he might even be able to stay on the phone long enough to say hello to Yugi's parents.
Damon had already changed out of his uniform before heading out, and with his hair tied back he blended in with the crowd rather easily. There were no sideways glances sent his way, no curious looks, and no suspicious stares. No one suspected a thing as he stepped through the automatic doors of the Center and headed straight for the phones. Distantly he heard Nurse Joy greet him as she would for any other customer, and he offered her a quick wave before sitting down in front of the video phones.
Here, he was still for a very long moment. He'd last seen his family a year ago on the exact same day, and he had no idea how he was going to greet them. It was stupid for him to agonize over something so simple with the precious little time he had to talk ticking away. Eventually he realized this fact, and with what he sincerely hoped was an invigorating breath, he picked up the receiver and dialed his parents' home number.
It rang three times before it was picked up, and it was only moments before the eager face of his mother filled the screen. The tension he hadn't even realized had been building in his shoulders eased instantly.
"Hey Mom. Merry Christmas."
It wasn't the eloquent greeting he'd been hoping to give, but it was enough. His mom seemed all-too-happy, and she called over his dad. The conversation they had was short, and went as Damon had expected. There was the question of how he was, which was answered as truthfully as he could. What he was doing was carefully avoided, as was where he currently was. And soon enough he'd eaten up most of his time.
"I should really get going. I only had enough time to duck out for a quick call to you guys. If I don't get going soon, my boss will kill me," Damon said gently, offering his parents a reluctant but apologetic look. Almost instantly his mother, who'd stepped out of view of the camera a minute earlier, popped back into his sight.
"Now you wait just one minute, Khai! We still haven't given you your present!"
Almost instantly, Damon groaned.
"Mom, you didn't!"
The only answer he was met with was an enigmatic smile from his father as a distinctly electrical hum started up next to him, originating from the machine used to transfer Pokéballs. He resisted the almost overwhelming urge to slap himself in the face, shaking his head as the transfer completed. Reluctantly, he reached forward to pluck the Great Ball from the platform it'd appeared on.
"Take good care of her!"
And with those words, his parents hung up, leaving him to stare in silence. He'd secretly suspected they'd pull something like this - it had been five years since he'd been given Badru, and he still hadn't gotten any other Pokémon. But at the same time, he hadn't really expected them to go through with anything so... Extravagant. And to top it off, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what exactly was in the Pokéball in his hand. So it was no surprise to him that, upon releasing the Pokémon, it was none other than a pinkish Espeon with a bright red ribbon around its neck to greet him.
His lip twitched into a barely perceptible smile as he knelt down to gently stroke underneath the Espeon's chin - female, going by what his mother had said. Fairly young too. Probably freshly evolved. The sheen of her coat and the way she stood told him she hadn't seen many battles; she was more than likely raised to be a pampered pet. It was almost a shame she had wound up in his care. He couldn't afford to have a single Pokémon raised to be a pet... Not yet anyway.
"How does Halima sound to you?"
The Espeon cooed at him contently, her eyelids drooping as she purred happily. Damon took that as an affirmation, and silently returned the Espeon to her Pokéball. The two of them could get acquainted later, when he was back on the base and no longer in danger of missing a ride.
