#nevermind just asked my mum and it seems they WERE doing nativities like that in the 60s. huzzah!

[steelycunt]

thinking about little baby r. shame he never got to go to a normal primary school he would've done bits as a little shepherd in the christmas nativity with a tea towel on his head.

[stellarconstellationwrites]

Ghost of the Past

Chapter 1

Wedgeherst was a quaint town; almost as quaint as the neighboring town, Postwick. The two routes that separated the two towns were also tame enough for a few people to live peacefully without being bothered by Pokemon, the regional professor was a prime example of that fact. A five year old Leon was too far gone in his own excitement to listen to his mother's exasperated demands. Sonia had told him that someone was moving into the empty house next door to her and her grandmother, the professor. It was a new person to get to know! A new kid to play with! Hopefully. The purple haired child found himself wondering if the new kid liked Pokemon; if they wanted to be a trainer as badly as he and Sonia did; if they had the same drive of learning about Pokemon that they did.

"Leon," his mother says with a sigh, pulling the five year old out of his childlike reverie of thoughts. The child looked up at his mother expectedly, his large, innocent eyes still brimmed with obvious excitement as his mother held his attention for the moment. "Please be on your best behavior for the Professor."

"Okay, Mum!" said Leon excitedly, an innocent grin on his face. His excitement was followed by a happy cry from the Charmander Leon had got a week prior for his birthday. "I'll see you later, Mum!" 

"Be safe dear!" She called after her son as he ran out of the front door of the house, the small fire-lizard following his trainer. He had so much energy for a five-year-old, Amaya couldn't be any prouder. However, being pregnant with her second child; dealing with her first born's ever existing excitement and endless energy was exhausting for Amaya. Amaya could hear the faint 'I will!' from Leon as she began preparing lunch for Leon, Sonia, and the new child in the neighborhood. 

Leon had met up with Sonia halfway to her house at the end of Route 2, she was just as excited as Leon was. To say the least, being the only two kids in the neighborhood was boring, so their excitement was justified. Sonia's Yamper was walking behind them with Charmander; excited, but nervous cries from the Pokemon could be heard as they made their way through the route. 

"Grandma said that the neighbors are from a region called Kanto," said Sonia, her turquoise eyes shining with a certain curiosity about her new neighbor. "It's far, far away from here."

"Nevermind that, Sonia!" exclaimed Leon, who caused the ginger female and the Pokemon to jump slightly at the sudden loudness of his voice, as he was quiet up to that point. A quiet Leon was oftentimes a dangerous Leon. "Was there a kid there?"

"Yes, Leon," Sonia sighed with a shake of her head, clearly exasperated with her friend. She didn't understand her friend's thought process sometimes. "A kid around our age."

"Boy or girl?"

"Should it matter?"

"Not really," Leon answered as they approached the two houses at the end of Route 2.

Leon was familiar with the Magnolia household as he frequently visited it; the home always gave him a warm feeling, much like his own. The neighboring house, not so much. Despite the house being on the same path that led from Wedgehurst, it always gave the two children a sense of uneasiness as they passed by it each day; and it was to remain unknown to the children as to what caused that sense of dread and uneasiness. With the overgrown weeds, the trees that never seemed to have leaves, no matter the season; the two often speculated that the house was haunted and that it was filled to the brim with super rare ghost Pokemon. Another wild speculation that the two had come up with was that a homeless person lived in the house and eventually died in the house, causing the spirit to be bound to the house. However, the children’s imagination always ran rampant when they found themselves wondering about things they shouldn’t be thinking about. With their Pokemon by their sides, the two hopeful, but scared five year olds steeled their nerves and headed towards the now lived in house.

The Pokemon Moving Company Machoke dutifully did their job as they moved boxes from the moving truck and to the house. The two five year olds looked around for someone human, but not a soul was in sight, despite the door of the house being open. 

"Hello?" Sonia called into the eerily silent house, her voice wavering slightly due to nervousness.

"Marionette, dear, can you see who's at the door?" came a tired female voice from further into the home. It obviously belonged to someone much older than Sonia and Leon, most likely Marionette's mother; whoever she was. Following the voice was the soft pitter pattering of sock covered feet against the wooden floor. Not a moment later, a girl with dark brown hair and matching eyes entered the living room, seemingly from the kitchen. She just looked at Sonia and Leon with a blank expression as a strange puppet-like Pokemon floated over her head. It wouldn't be until much later that week that the duo learned the curious puppet Pokemon was called Shuppet, a Pokemon native to the Hoenn region. "Marionette?"

A second round of soft pitter pattering of feet ensued as an older woman emerged from the staircase on the left of the three children. The woman looked just like the girl, Marionette. Dark brown hair; albeit with graying streaks, dark brown eyes that almost looked black and a fair complexion. "Oh, you must be the neighbor's granddaughter, she did mention she had a granddaughter."

"A-Ah, yes, that's me," Sonia said with a nervous chuckle as she avoided eye contact with the strange girl, her equally strange Pokemon and her mother. It wasn't like Sonia to be this nervous with strangers, Leon noted. "M-My name is Sonia, this is Leon. He lives a couple of towns over."

"I can introduce myself," Leon grumbled, but he still had a smile on his face as the strange girl named Marionette let a small smile peak through her blank expression.

"Go play with the neighbors, Marionette," the woman said as she smiled down at the girl, who nodded. Leon and Sonia took this as a sign to leave the mysterious house with its strange homeowner.

"So your name's Marionette?" Sonia asked as soon as the trio left the formerly abandoned home and began walking along the route. Marionette nodded at this as she looked at the scenery that surrounded her house. The surrounding scenery was certainly brighter compared to the gloominess of the house, that much was obvious. Upon closer inspection, Marionette was far paler than she let on when the duo first met her inside the house; it was like she didn't get an ounce of sunshine. "Is there a nickname you'd like us to call you?"

"What's a nickname?" asked Marionette, who looked confused and curious at the question.

"You don't know what a nickname is?" retorts Leon, who looked bewildered at the statement. Marionette shook her head at this.

"The kids in my hometown were named after colors," Marionette explains softly. It dawned on the two Galar born children that (in their childlike innocence, of course) they wanted to make this sad girl happy. "And my mother always called me by my full name."

"A nickname is a shortened version of your name!" Leon explained in a surprising burst of excitement. The burst caused a surprised squeak to escape Marionette and Sonia to yell at Leon for scaring the poor girl. He ignored Sonia's burst of anger and continued his explanation. "Like you can call me Lee!"

"But your name is already short as is?" Marionette countered questioningly with a tilt of her head. "Why shorten it by a letter?"

"It's a symbol of our friendship," Leon explained as they reached Wedgehurst. The town itself supplied all the traveling trainers needs; a Pokemon Center that held the item shop, the man that taught your Pokemon any forgotten moves, and of course, the ever loving Nurse Joy that looked the exact same in every location. There was also a boutique, of course; for those who enjoyed the change of pace of shopping for clothes.

"You want to be friends with me?" questioned Marionette as the trio made their way to the Pokemon Research Lab.

"Of course we do, silly," says Sonia with a bright smile on her round, childish face. "It'd be lonely to not have any friends, right Leon?"

"Right," says the male in question, who had begun thinking about something. He was quickly pulled out of his thoughts as an imaginary lightbulb went off above his head. "I know! How about we call you Mari? It'd be short for your really long name!"

"Mari, huh?" questioned the ginger female, twisting a short lock of hair in thought. She couldn't help but nod in agreement. "It's short and cute, I like it. I didn't think you could pull off something like a cute nickname, Leon."

"O-Oi, leave me alone, Sonia," Leon whined as a pout began to form on his five year old face. Though he knew Sonia was only poking fun at him, Leon would do the same thing to her in a heartbeat.

"I like it," Marionette softly says, blushing slightly as the two turned to face her, stopping in mid-conversation to smile at her. While the pale girl with the dancing ghost Pokemon didn't talk much, it was obvious that they would become quick friends.

-

The champion of Galar was deep in thought as a certain Dark-type Gym Leader aimlessly followed him in the streets of Hammerlocke. While Piers was glad to see his friend again, the rockstar hates getting lost, especially on one of his rare days off from gym work and recording.

"What's on your mind, mate?" Piers asks, adjusting his leather jacket. Piers might've looked stupid to a lot of people, but the rockstar slash gym leader (an extremely exhausted one at that) was far more perceptive than he let on. "And don't say it's nothing either, your lying abilities are just as shitty as your sense of direction."

"Just thinking about an old friend, is all," answers the champion honestly. Leon could barely remember his childhood after Hop was born, yet the memory he suddenly remembered was in such vivid detail; it was almost like he experienced it yesterday. "Speaking of an old friend, you'll be meeting her today, in fact. Don't worry about it, she's just as weird and creepy as you are."

"I'm not creepy nor am I weird," Piers snaps, a glare forming on his already intimidating face. However, he couldn't keep the glare with the honest grin crossing Leon's face; almost like Piers wasn’t the first person to tell him that. Not the shit eating one Leon usually donned when he was in trouble, but one that actually meant well. "This better not be a waste of my time. I've got better things to be doing."

"Yeah, yeah," Leon says sarcastically with a wave of his hand as he made a sudden stop, which almost causes Piers to bump into the purple haired man at full force if he didn't stop beforehand. "I think this is the right place."

"You think?" questions Piers as he looks at the front of the establishment. They spent the last ten minutes looking for a cafe that some strange girl works at or frequents often. The outside of the cafe itself was quaint enough, it had a few tables and chairs for outdoor lounging and Piers could only imagine what the inside looked like.

"You coming?" Leon asks, pulling the rockstar out his thoughts. The champion was holding the door for the pale male, which causes him to blush and enter the establishment. The inside was rustic with its warm browns, taupes, and creams filling the place. The place honestly reminded Piers of the buildings in Turffield.

"Lee!" came an excited female voice, which pulls the Dark type trainer out of his thoughts. Man, what was up with him and his thoughts today? The female voice seems to cause a strange Pokemon to jump into Leon's arms, causing the said male to laugh in amusement. Why does the Pokemon look like a creepy doll?

"Come on Banette, back to your mother," Leon says with a smile as the Pokemon let out an excited cry before returning to its trainer.

"Geez, I know you're excited to see him, but not in front of so many people, it's embarrassing," the same female voice said, scolding her Pokemon like an actual child. The talking female had long blond hair that was tucked into a black beanie, dark brown, almost black eyes, and extremely fair skin that put Piers' to shame. Almost immediately, Piers could tell that her hair wasn't naturally blond, due to the darker roots peeking out from under her beanie. "Anyways, I'm glad you got here at a decent time. You and your sense of direction is absolutely shit, Leon."

"Only ten minutes late. I think that's a new record," Sonia teases as she looks down at the time on her phone.

"Definitely a new record, I'll say," laughs Nessa as she sipped on her drink.

"I do not get lost," Leon counters with a grin as he leads Piers to sit with them. Not like the rockstar had a choice in the matter, anyways. Raihan, Nessa, and Sonia were all familiar to him, Leon included; so why was the faux blond female the only stranger to him? Piers would certainly remember someone with blond hair and such a unique Pokemon.

"Oh, Piers, this is Marionette," Raihan said as the said girl shyly waved at the rockstar before returning to her conversation with Nessa and Sonia.

"Not going to bother introducing me, eh?" Piers grumbles as he rests his chin on the palm of his hand, seemingly bored. He was ready to go home and be productive, not. Piers would have wasted his day away, sleeping, if Leon hadn't barged into his home in Spikemuth at 8:30 that morning.

"She already knows who you are, dumbass," Raihan sighs with a shake of his head.

"Not only is she a big fan of your music, but she also used to be a gym leader," Leon was the one to speak this time, causing Piers to look at him curiously, indicating for the champion to continue. "Stow-on-Side Gym to be exact. She retired a few months ago, though."

"Quit acting like I'm not here," Marionette retorts sarcastically as she turns in her chair to face the three men, who looked like deer caught in headlights. The three women giggled after sharing a knowing look. "I retired from being a gym leader because I wanted to pursue other things. Allister is doing a fine job running the gym, don't you think?"

"I didn't say anything, though," says Piers, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"You didn't have to," the faux blond female states with a small smile on her face. "Your face said it all. Ness, Sonia, would you like to join me for some shopping?" A string of 'hell yeah' and 'obviously,' choruses throughout the small group of females as they got up and waved at the men when they finally left the cafe after getting new drinks for the road.

"Is she always that cryptic?" Piers mutters as he watched the retreating figures of the three females through the window of the cafe, his head now laying on the table. They were a strange group of friends, Piers had to admit. Hell, if Leon and Raihan could befriend Piers, they could befriend someone as strange as Marionette.

"She's been like that since we were kids," Leon says, a frown on his usually bright face. "Marionette predicted the gender of Mum's baby when she was 3 months pregnant with Hop."

"Maybe she said it to fuck with your Mum?" Raihan counters with a nervous chuckle.

"We were five."

"Really?"

"Really," says Leon, sipping on the cup of overly sweet coffee that he had gotten when the two arrived. "There was no way she could've known that my mother was pregnant with Hop. She had just moved here from Kanto."

"She isn't from here?" Piers asks, as he had been quietly listening to the conversation between the two colored males. "But her accent."

"It's fake for the most part, yeah?" Raihan hums to himself, causing Leon to nod. "I wouldn't know, though. I only met her a couple of months ago."

"Where at?" Piers asks, humming slightly in interest. He didn't bother picking up his head, as he found himself comfortable.

"We met through Nessa, though," Raihan says with a matching hum. He has a distant look on his face, which looks odd on Raihan's usually cocky features. "Marionette said she participated in the Gym Challenge ten years ago. Which is strange, because I would remember seeing someone as unique as her."