Water Spirit
~*Animus Aquae*~
I've written this fic as a Christmas special and I hope you enjoy it. It's a one shot that I have written especially for the holdiay and I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This fic has been dedicated to my wonderful twin, Peach, who has always been there for me and I appreicate her friendship dearly. Thank you so much.
Reunited For Christmas
“Misty! I’m so glad you could make it!” A young boy exclaimed warmly as he moved to allow his redheaded friend to pass through the door.
The Cerulean City Gym Leader had immediately answered to her best friends call of spending the Christmas with them up in the mountains of Houen as her sisters had decided to leave her with the gym to visit their friends in a neighbouring region. Seizing her chance to once again be reunited with her friends, she had left the keys to the gym with Nurse Joy and had ventured out on the first blimp to Houen to see her friends. She had trekked for a while up the snowy hillside where she spotted the log cabin halfway up the hill that Ash had described to her on the phone.
When she saw him, she noted that he had grown several inches taller – now taller than her – and his physical features had developed a more masculine rather than boyish approach over the time they had been away from each other.
She beamed at him as he closed the door behind her and, no longer able to contain her excitement, hugged Ash and wished him a Merry Christmas as she disappeared into the main room to greet her other friends. Ash remained speechless as he stood by the door and attempted to recall what had just happened between Misty and him, but discouraged the thought as he smiled when he saw how happy she was to finally be with them again. Pikachu recognised its master’s best friend and gleefully jumped into her arms and gave her a welcoming hug and cooed out its name to signify how much it had missed her.
“Oh, hi, Pikachu! How are you? Hi, Brock! And May! How are your contests going? Hiya Max!” Misty said in a bubbly tone.
Not saying it to her face, Ash had secretly missed her company and how much warmth and character she brought to the group. He’d missed their fights and talks that they used to have, with the topic stretching from what they were having for dinner to what would happen if they were the masters of their chosen fields.
“Misty, it’s so great to see you again!” May said with tears streaming down her face.
Bewildered by her unusual behaviour, Misty smiled at her and assured her that she had missed her a lot too. Brock disappeared out of the room for a while and came back with two large boxes, stacked on top of one another, and placed them in the middle of the room and suggested that if they were going to spend Christmas here, they could at least decorate the place with a few festive decorations that he had found stored away in one of the cupboards. Misty hung up her matching rose coat, scarf and gloves and insisted that she would help along with her Pokemon.
“Great idea!” Ash exclaimed at Misty’s proposal. “It wouldn’t be fair if our Pokemon didn’t help out as well!”
He released all of the Pokemon that were attached to his belt along with Misty and a number of bright white lights turned to the silhouettes of Pokemon before fading and producing the creatures that had be captivated inside the pokeballs. Ash looked along the line of Misty’s Pokemon, all of whom he was now familiar with, until he saw a heart-shaped Pokemon bouncing up and down happily and began to dance around in circles.
“Is that…”
“A LuvDisc?” Brock interrupted Ash in awe.
Misty nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I caught it a little while ago and it’s so friendly and adorable! Aren’t you cutie pie?” She cooed to her newest Pokemon and it attempted to jump even higher into the air to show its agreement.
“That’s really great, Misty.” Ash said happily for his friend. “So your friendly, huh?” he asked the little Pokemon as he bent down to examine it.
It hopped on to his knee and kissed him on the cheek. He seemed stunned by its gesture but smiled anyway and laughed with the little creature as Misty began to instruct her Pokemon to start work on the decorations.
“Hey, Misty, did you bring Gyarados with you this time?” Ash teased as he recalled his last meeting with Misty and her attempt to take the chance to show off her other new Pokemon.
“Of course.” She replied and winked at him.
Ash grinned at her as he and Brock began to give their Pokemon instructions as for what to do to help with the decorations. May called upon her Combusken, Skitty and Bulbasaur to help her with her chores and lent Beautifly to Max to help with his work. May began to put the decorations up on the windows and doors as her Bulbasaur wrapped its vines around her waist and lifted her up to the places that she was unable to reach. Brock and Max began work on the outside of the lodge as Misty and Ash began to put up the tree.
“Let’s see..” Ash began as he read the instructions on how to put the tree together. “It says that the ends with little pink tags need to go in first.” He read a loud as Misty began to gather all the loose branches that had pink tags on into a pile.
They began to place them into the slots on the stand of the tree until Misty noticed that Ash was placing his branches in the wrong slots.
“You’re doing it all wrong, Ash!” Misty exclaimed when she realised the problem. “You’ve put the branches in the wrong holes on the tree! They’re too high up!”
“”I’m trying my best!” he retaliated apologetically. “I didn’t realise.”
Misty looked at him sympathetically and began to remove the branches that he had wrongly placed.
“So, have you done any Christmas shopping yet?” She asked him to try and avoid a fight so soon into their reunion.
“Woah! Shopping?!” He yelled in surprise. “I haven’t even thought about it! Hey, Brock, May! Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?”
May looked at him calmly as she held a number of ribbons in her hand and a few were resting on her head in the form of bows.
“Yeah, I got it all done before we came here. Why? Didn’t you do any when we were in Noel Town?”
“No! I thought you were just having one of your girly shops!” Ash cried out in a panic. “Brock?” He asked his older friend as he walked in from his detour outside.
“Hm? Shopping? Well, I’ve done most of it, though I still need to get a few more gifts for May and Misty – girls are so hard to shop for.” He replied casually yet whispered the last part to hopefully avoid being overheard.
Unfortunately for him, both May and Misty had heard what he said. They both looked at him with narrow eyes while replying ‘And boys aren’t?”
Max flew in as he was carried by Beautifly as he began to focus hanging up trimmings in the room while he waited for Brock to help him put up the lights outside. Ash asked Max the same question, though wished he hadn’t as Max began a lecture on how Ash should have planned what he would get everyone for Christmas a long time ago and how he was irresponsibly leaving everything to the last minute as usual.
“Hey! I don’t leave everything to the last minute!” Ash retaliated angrily.
“Oh yeah? Name one thing?” Max fired back with a grin.
“Urrr… Oh yeah! I sent Misty’s birthday card and present on time this year!” Ash replied smugly as he awaited Max’s reaction.
“Ash, my birthday present turned up four months late.” Misty corrected him with a sarcastic look.
“Oh.” Ash said, a little crestfallen and let out an exasperated sigh as he was made aware of one of his weaknesses. “Woah! But I’d better go shopping then!”
He stood up quickly but Misty stepped in front of him and announced that she was coming with him.
“Why?” He asked clueless as he watched her cheeks turn a soft pink.
”Well, I haven’t done all of my shopping either so I need to get some presents for people too.” She replied nervously and awaited him reaction.
“Oh, OK.” Ash said, a little taken back but nevertheless glad that he would have some company with him.
“Ash, we’ll come shopping too once we’ve got most of the decorations up.” May called down to him as she was still suspended in mid-air. “Meet us outside that little café in a hour or so, OK?”
“Alright.” Ash replied happily as he put on his coat along with Misty and Pikachu jumped on to his shoulder.
They walked out of the door and back down the snowy hill, both slipping and sliding occasionally as they went. Ash slid down a steeper bit and called down to Misty to do the same as it was the easiest way to get down that part without falling over. Tentatively, she began to slowly make her way down until she was sliding down uncontrollably and wailed as Ash caught her and they both fell backwards.
“Are you OK?” Ash laughed as he saw Misty on top of him.
Misty blushed furiously when she realised how she was positioned on top of him and quickly got off of him and sat in the snow saying that she was fine. Pikachu popped its head out of a lump of snow and happily called its name at the sight of the two friends. They both smiled at it as Ash helped Misty to her feet and they continued to trek down to the bustlingly town as the foot of the hill.
***
As part of the Christmas tradition of this town, no vehicles were permitted to go through the town at this period of time unless it was in the form of a horse and carriage. There were many Ponytas, Stantlers and Rapidashes pulling open or closed carriages around the town as part of the Christmas spirit and both Ash and Misty were amazed to see such a sight before them. It brought the festivity of the season with it as numerous carriages were hauled along the cobbled streets before them, as people, wrapped up tightly in their winter clothing, were carried a good number of bags or parcels stacked up so that they could barely see where they were going. As the darkness began to settle in, old fashioned street lamps were lit so that joyful shoppers could continue their deeds even as the coldness became harsher and with the dark weather settling in. Distracted by what they saw, Misty and Ash hurried over to the shops that were beginning to turn on their nightlights and peered through the windows to see if anything caught their eye on what they would like to buy for their friends.
Misty looked down the street and caught sight of a jeweller’s sign sticking out from the wall so that it could be observed from above as passers-by walked past.
“Ash, come on!” She cried out as she linked her arm in his and dragged him quickly down the street so that she could look into the jeweller’s window.
So many different types of glittering jewellery lit up Misty’s eyes as she marvelled at the delicate designs and precious jewels displayed in the window. In the middle of the display was a gold necklace with a dazzling blue stone in the shape of a teardrop and her heart fluttered as she admired its beauty.
“Isn’t that one gorgeous?” Misty said dreamily as she pointed at the necklace.
“Urr… yeah.” Ash replied falsely, for he hadn’t even looked at the fine piece of jewellery that had captured Misty’s heart.
He watched her reaction carefully and wondered what could be causing her to act so strangely until he looked into the window and understood how she had be captivated by such craftsmanship. After an attempt to take his eyes away from it, he looked along the street and saw a sign entitled ‘Breeder’s Secret’ and instantly thought of Brock and a chance to buy him a worthy Christmas present.
“Do you think I should get it, Pikachu?” Misty consulted the Pokemon breathlessly.
“Pikachu.” It whispered and nodded its head while still having its face pressed up to the pane of glass in awe.
“Misty, I’ve found a great shop for Brock!” Ash exclaimed as he grabbed Misty’s wrist and hauled her away from the shop in surprise.
“But, Ash…”
“I don’t know what time the shops close here so we’ll have to be quick!” he said in a hurried as he dragged Misty away who was holding Pikachu in her arms.
He ran into the ‘Breeder’s Secret’ as a little bell chimed above the door to signal a customer and a young lady with fair hair greeted them warmly and asked if they were looking for anything in particular. She examined them more closely before smiling widely and asking Ash whether he was here to buy his girlfriend a special something for Christmas.
“But…I’m not…” Misty began in a panicky voice after the woman’s polite accusation.
“Oh no, no, no, no.” Ash said and waved his hands in front of him. “No, I’m looking for my male friend who’s a breeder.”
The woman eyed Ash suspiciously at what he had said about buying for a male friend and then decided, ‘to each their own’ and asked if there was anything his ‘friend’ would like in particular. She looked over a number of gifts suitable that were displayed on the counter and picked out a ‘Breeder’s Grooming Kit’ that she thought might be appropriate for his friend. Ash brightened at her proposal and agreed to purchase it – handing the woman the money as she gift wrapped it for him and he and Misty made their way down the streets looking for more presents.
After visiting a number more shops, Ash was able to buy Max a Pokemon textbook that featured all of the known specimens of Pokemon and their current known data and May he had bought a set of pokeblocks and a co-ordinator’s essential kit to help her with her contests.
“Now that just leaves Pikachu.” Ash whispered to Misty and she grinned at him.
The clock tower chimed to signal the hour and Ash looked at it in a panic as he was supposed to meet his friends outside the café. Misty asked if she could take Pikachu with her to meet the others while he disappeared for a couple of minutes and assured her that he would meet them outside the café as soon as possible. Catching on to what his intention was, she agreed and allowed Pikachu to happily hop onto her shoulder. She bid her friend farewell and began to walk towards the café that Ash had given her instructions to.
“Brr…It’s a bit cold, huh, Pikachu?” She asked the Pokemon briskly as it nodded its head in agreement.
She breathed into her pink gloves as her hands were beginning to freeze as she caught sight of her friends and ran up to them.
“Hey, Misty.” May greeted her kindly. “Where’s Ash?”
“Oh, he’ll be here in a minute.” Misty replied happily. “So, have any of you guys had a look around yet?”
“Nope, we came straight here to wait for you guys.” Brock chipped in.
“And Ash still isn’t here.” May said in a mysterious tone as she folded her arms.
Misty blushed slightly but didn’t say anything. May was about to suggest that they send a search party out for him when the group spotted Ash running towards them and waving with a happy smile on his face.
“I’ve done it!” He shouted gleefully. “I’ve finally finished all my shopping.”
“Well don’t sound too please about it – it should have been done ages ago.” Max retaliated in a know-it-all voice.
Ash glared at him for spoiling his happy moment but ignored him all the same.
“So do any of you guys need to do any more shopping?” Ash asked them.
They all shook their heads apart from Misty, who piped up and said:
“Actually, I saw this necklace that I really liked in one of the stores over there and I thought that I might get it for myself as a Christmas treat. I mean, I’ve been working really hard at the gym and I haven’t done a proper shop for myself in a long time, so I thought that I might go and get it.”
“Sure, Misty, if you really want it then go ahead and we’ll wait right here for you.” Brock said cheerfully.
The others nodded and Misty smiled at them. She ran at full speed towards the shop with Pikachu still on her shoulder and her heart skipped a beat as she reached the window. Her face fell. The necklace had gone. She sighed and looked down at her feet in disappointment.
“If only Ash hadn’t dragged me off.” She said sadly and Pikachu’s ears drooped when it realised how unhappy she was.
She slowly walked back to her friends, thinking about the necklace most of the time but knowing that she couldn’t blame Ash for this – even if he did drag her off when she was tempted to buy it.
“I guess it wasn’t meant to be, was it Pikachu?” She said a little more brightly and the Pokemon hugged her neck comfortingly.
“Did you buy it?” Brock asked her when she approached him.
“No, it wasn’t there when I got there – someone must have already bought it.” She replied.
“That’s too bad.” Brock said sympathetically to her.
“Come on, we need to get everything ready for tomorrow won’t we guys?” May said cheerfully as she rushed out of the town and began to run at the hill that she knew she was to tackle in order to reach a flatter part to walk on.
The others followed her and Ash pulled Misty up the hill, which she had fallen down earlier to avoid her falling down again. They reached the lodge a while later and all of them hung their damp coats on the pegs and hurried to sit in front of the fire, while Ash disappeared in his room to wrap his presents.
“So, Misty, how’s life at the gym been?” Brock asked her to make general conversation.
“Oh, busy as usual. Tracey comes up now and again to say hi and help out and Daisy’s really taken a liking to him. He’s gone with her to her friends for the holidays and if you hadn’t invited me to stay with you, I would probably be spending Christmas on my own. But Mrs. Ketchum said that if I wasn’t doing anything for the holidays, she told me to go to her house to spend Christmas there, which was really nice of her.”
“Yeah, Mrs Ketchum is really nice but do you really think that we would celebrate Christmas without you?” Brock asked her seriously.
“Well I dunno, I guess because I wasn’t prepared for Christmas and wasn’t sure what I was going to do. But thank you so much for inviting me.” She finished happily and smiled at her friends.
Ash emerged from his room a while later and placed his wrapped gifts under the tree with everyone else’s who had set theirs out earlier. He sat down by the fire and yawned. Looking at the clock, May noted that it was getting very late as she watched her brother look out of the window at the freshly falling snow.
“Come on, you!” She said to her brother. “It’s about time that you went to bed.”
She grabbed him by the arm and led him out of the room with Max protesting in vain at being put to bed. Misty had an idea and ran into her room quickly and came back with a number of stockings.
“Remember these?” She asked Brock and Ash happily. “They’re the stockings that I made one year for all of us. I was even able to make some for May and Max.” She said as she hung them above the fireplace.
The boys smiled at the attempt she was making to bring the Christmas spirit together and they knew that it wouldn’t have been possible without her.
***
Christmas morning was festive than ever. Max came running out in his pjamas, shouted that Saint Nick had visited them in the night and had left a load of presents in their stockings and under the tree. The group thought that he had only been fooling around until the sleepyheads came into the room and gasped at the number of presents that littered the floor. Max dove straight in and began to open his presents as the rest settled down to open theirs and share the festivities.
“Oh, Ash, here’s one for you.” Misty said while blushing slightly.
Ash looked at the tag and saw that it had come from Misty, who when he looked up busied herself with tending to everyone’s presents. He opened it happily to reveal a large Pikachu plush toy that he was extremely chuffed by. Pikachu also approved of the gift. Misty beamed at their reactions and was happy that she could give Ash something that he would appreciate.
Once the group had opened all of their presents, Brock disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the Christmas dinner. He laid the table with Misty and began a light conversation with her, until he could smell the turkey burning and had to leave her to finish the table. Misty giggled to herself as she knew that Brock hadn’t changed and Max came out to help her, where he thanked her for the book she had given him by Professor Oak. She smiled at him and said it wasn’t a problem to give it to such a gifted young child who showed so much interest in Pokemon and their abilities. What Max had been even more excited about was the fact that Misty had had the book signed by the Professor himself and this caused him to bow down at her feet several times when he had opened it.
“Dinner’s ready, guys!” Brock shouted as he walked into the room carrying a large plate with a plump turkey placed in the centre of it and was steaming viciously and splattering over his pink apron.
He came out with several more dishes, full of roast potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, chipolatas, and gravy and insisted that the group dig in. Without hesitation, everyone did so and thanked Brock continuously throughout the meal to give them such a heavenly tasting meal.
“I don’t think…I could eat…another bite.” Ash moaned as he patted his now round stomach and stared at the single chipolata left on his plate maliciously.
“Brock, that was delicious. Thank you so much!” Misty said gratefully as she dabbed her mouth neatly with her napkin.
“Oh, Misty!” Ash said subconsciously as he sat up and ran into the other room.
Misty blinked repetitively in shock at his reaction to her comment, until he came running back into the room and grabbed her by the wrist and led her out of the room with him. He let out an exasperated sigh when they were out of sight and earshot and smiled at Misty.
“Well, since it’s Christmas and you’re my best friend, I wanted to get you something special and so I just wanted to give you this.” He said and produced a small blue box from behind him.
Misty’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as he handed her the small box and she opened it carefully with shaking hands. What she saw touched her heart deeply and she could barely breath. Inside the box was a gold necklace with a sparkling blue gem attached to the end in the shape of a teardrop – the same necklace she had seen in the window and had disappeared when she went back to the shop. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she felt a lump rising in her throat at how much Ash must care for her to buy her such a beautiful gift. Ash noted that she was on the verge of tears.
“Err… you don’t like it?” He asked her sadly.
“Oh, Ash!” She cried out and flung her arms around him, taking Ash by surprise.
She hugged him tightly as Ash wasn’t sure how to react as his eyes widened in and the colour in his face rose to a deeper shade of pink.
“It’s lovely.” She muffled against his shoulder and broke away from him with a wide and grateful smile. “Would you help me put it on?”
“Oh, sure.” Ash replied and smiled as he took the necklace from Misty and placed it gently around her neck and fastened it up at the back.
A Pokemon released itself from one of Misty’s pokeballs from inside her pocket and both Ash and Misty looked down at it in surprise as LuvDisc appeared and began to dance around happily. Misty looked up above her and smiled.
“Ash, we’re under the mistletoe.” Misty teased.
“Huh?” Ash asked, confused and slightly alarmed by what this meant.
“Kiss LuvDisc under the mistletoe.” She said brightly and held up the Pokemon for Ash.
“WHAT?”
“Please, for me? You said that it was a little cutie pie.”
“Oh, all right.” He replied unhappily and closed his eyes as he waited for the tiny Pokemon to kiss him on the cheek.
Someone kissed Ash gently on the cheek but he was sure that it was LuvDisc – it was too gentle and more of a caring kiss than a peck on the cheek from a Pokemon. He opened his eyes immediately and saw LuvDisc in front of his face and Misty smiling at him.
“Thanks, Ash. And Merry Christmas.” She said cheerfully as she disappeared into the other room.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, Misty.” He repeated unsurely then dismissed the strange thought in his mind and followed her in.
He walked past May who looked like she had just walked in on two people up to things that should not be displayed in public. When Ash asked her what was the matter, she replied that nothing was wrong in a high voice and disappeared after Misty. He saw her sit next to her at the table and watched Misty’s face turn a deep red as May began to talk to her.
“I’m afraid that I’ll have to leave in the morning guys.” Misty said unhappily. “My sisters have been caught out in a snowstorm and there is no one to take care of the gym – so I’ll have to go back.”
“That’s a real shame, Misty.” Brock said unhappily. “It would have been really nice if you could keep on travelling with us.”
“Don’t worry, as soon as I think my sisters are capable of looking after the gym without me, I’ll give you a call.” She replied happily and winked at him.
“A toast. To Misty – wishing her all the luck with the gym and hoping that she’ll be able to join us again soon.” Max said and held up his glass.
The others followed suit and toasted to her and sat in front of the fire while playing games and enjoying the last remaining time they had of each other’s company.
***
“Bye, guys! See you soon!” Misty shouted and waved to her friends as she made her way back down the hill to the village, which would give her a train ride to the nearest blimp station.
The group were sad to see her go but knew that she didn’t have much of a choice and were happy that she had spend the Christmas holiday with them. They tearfully waved goodbye to her, Ash with both hands and Misty returning the wave until Ash put his hands in his pockets and pulled out the handkerchief that Misty had given him when they had first departed from one another.
“Hey, May, why were you so jittery yesterday?” He asked her when Misty’s gift reminded him. “LuvDisc was only giving me a peck on the cheek coz we were under the mistletoe, if you thought that was weird.”
May looked down at her feet and shook her head.
“From my angle, Ash, it wasn’t LuvDisc who kissed you and I can guarantee you it wasn’t a Pokemon you were receiving a kiss from.”
Ash looked at her in shock and then back to Misty, who was just disappearing down the hill. Inside, he felt fluttery and his heart was held high as he watched Misty’s figure disappear into the sunrise.
“Next time, Misty,” He said quietly to himself. “It will be my Pokemon kissing you under the mistletoe.”
The End
Well, please let me know what you think of it!
Take care
Luv
Water Spirit
XxX
This fic has been dedicated to my wonderful twin, Peach, who has always been there for me and I appreicate her friendship dearly. Thank you so much.
Reunited For Christmas
“Misty! I’m so glad you could make it!” A young boy exclaimed warmly as he moved to allow his redheaded friend to pass through the door.
The Cerulean City Gym Leader had immediately answered to her best friends call of spending the Christmas with them up in the mountains of Houen as her sisters had decided to leave her with the gym to visit their friends in a neighbouring region. Seizing her chance to once again be reunited with her friends, she had left the keys to the gym with Nurse Joy and had ventured out on the first blimp to Houen to see her friends. She had trekked for a while up the snowy hillside where she spotted the log cabin halfway up the hill that Ash had described to her on the phone.
When she saw him, she noted that he had grown several inches taller – now taller than her – and his physical features had developed a more masculine rather than boyish approach over the time they had been away from each other.
She beamed at him as he closed the door behind her and, no longer able to contain her excitement, hugged Ash and wished him a Merry Christmas as she disappeared into the main room to greet her other friends. Ash remained speechless as he stood by the door and attempted to recall what had just happened between Misty and him, but discouraged the thought as he smiled when he saw how happy she was to finally be with them again. Pikachu recognised its master’s best friend and gleefully jumped into her arms and gave her a welcoming hug and cooed out its name to signify how much it had missed her.
“Oh, hi, Pikachu! How are you? Hi, Brock! And May! How are your contests going? Hiya Max!” Misty said in a bubbly tone.
Not saying it to her face, Ash had secretly missed her company and how much warmth and character she brought to the group. He’d missed their fights and talks that they used to have, with the topic stretching from what they were having for dinner to what would happen if they were the masters of their chosen fields.
“Misty, it’s so great to see you again!” May said with tears streaming down her face.
Bewildered by her unusual behaviour, Misty smiled at her and assured her that she had missed her a lot too. Brock disappeared out of the room for a while and came back with two large boxes, stacked on top of one another, and placed them in the middle of the room and suggested that if they were going to spend Christmas here, they could at least decorate the place with a few festive decorations that he had found stored away in one of the cupboards. Misty hung up her matching rose coat, scarf and gloves and insisted that she would help along with her Pokemon.
“Great idea!” Ash exclaimed at Misty’s proposal. “It wouldn’t be fair if our Pokemon didn’t help out as well!”
He released all of the Pokemon that were attached to his belt along with Misty and a number of bright white lights turned to the silhouettes of Pokemon before fading and producing the creatures that had be captivated inside the pokeballs. Ash looked along the line of Misty’s Pokemon, all of whom he was now familiar with, until he saw a heart-shaped Pokemon bouncing up and down happily and began to dance around in circles.
“Is that…”
“A LuvDisc?” Brock interrupted Ash in awe.
Misty nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah, I caught it a little while ago and it’s so friendly and adorable! Aren’t you cutie pie?” She cooed to her newest Pokemon and it attempted to jump even higher into the air to show its agreement.
“That’s really great, Misty.” Ash said happily for his friend. “So your friendly, huh?” he asked the little Pokemon as he bent down to examine it.
It hopped on to his knee and kissed him on the cheek. He seemed stunned by its gesture but smiled anyway and laughed with the little creature as Misty began to instruct her Pokemon to start work on the decorations.
“Hey, Misty, did you bring Gyarados with you this time?” Ash teased as he recalled his last meeting with Misty and her attempt to take the chance to show off her other new Pokemon.
“Of course.” She replied and winked at him.
Ash grinned at her as he and Brock began to give their Pokemon instructions as for what to do to help with the decorations. May called upon her Combusken, Skitty and Bulbasaur to help her with her chores and lent Beautifly to Max to help with his work. May began to put the decorations up on the windows and doors as her Bulbasaur wrapped its vines around her waist and lifted her up to the places that she was unable to reach. Brock and Max began work on the outside of the lodge as Misty and Ash began to put up the tree.
“Let’s see..” Ash began as he read the instructions on how to put the tree together. “It says that the ends with little pink tags need to go in first.” He read a loud as Misty began to gather all the loose branches that had pink tags on into a pile.
They began to place them into the slots on the stand of the tree until Misty noticed that Ash was placing his branches in the wrong slots.
“You’re doing it all wrong, Ash!” Misty exclaimed when she realised the problem. “You’ve put the branches in the wrong holes on the tree! They’re too high up!”
“”I’m trying my best!” he retaliated apologetically. “I didn’t realise.”
Misty looked at him sympathetically and began to remove the branches that he had wrongly placed.
“So, have you done any Christmas shopping yet?” She asked him to try and avoid a fight so soon into their reunion.
“Woah! Shopping?!” He yelled in surprise. “I haven’t even thought about it! Hey, Brock, May! Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?”
May looked at him calmly as she held a number of ribbons in her hand and a few were resting on her head in the form of bows.
“Yeah, I got it all done before we came here. Why? Didn’t you do any when we were in Noel Town?”
“No! I thought you were just having one of your girly shops!” Ash cried out in a panic. “Brock?” He asked his older friend as he walked in from his detour outside.
“Hm? Shopping? Well, I’ve done most of it, though I still need to get a few more gifts for May and Misty – girls are so hard to shop for.” He replied casually yet whispered the last part to hopefully avoid being overheard.
Unfortunately for him, both May and Misty had heard what he said. They both looked at him with narrow eyes while replying ‘And boys aren’t?”
Max flew in as he was carried by Beautifly as he began to focus hanging up trimmings in the room while he waited for Brock to help him put up the lights outside. Ash asked Max the same question, though wished he hadn’t as Max began a lecture on how Ash should have planned what he would get everyone for Christmas a long time ago and how he was irresponsibly leaving everything to the last minute as usual.
“Hey! I don’t leave everything to the last minute!” Ash retaliated angrily.
“Oh yeah? Name one thing?” Max fired back with a grin.
“Urrr… Oh yeah! I sent Misty’s birthday card and present on time this year!” Ash replied smugly as he awaited Max’s reaction.
“Ash, my birthday present turned up four months late.” Misty corrected him with a sarcastic look.
“Oh.” Ash said, a little crestfallen and let out an exasperated sigh as he was made aware of one of his weaknesses. “Woah! But I’d better go shopping then!”
He stood up quickly but Misty stepped in front of him and announced that she was coming with him.
“Why?” He asked clueless as he watched her cheeks turn a soft pink.
”Well, I haven’t done all of my shopping either so I need to get some presents for people too.” She replied nervously and awaited him reaction.
“Oh, OK.” Ash said, a little taken back but nevertheless glad that he would have some company with him.
“Ash, we’ll come shopping too once we’ve got most of the decorations up.” May called down to him as she was still suspended in mid-air. “Meet us outside that little café in a hour or so, OK?”
“Alright.” Ash replied happily as he put on his coat along with Misty and Pikachu jumped on to his shoulder.
They walked out of the door and back down the snowy hill, both slipping and sliding occasionally as they went. Ash slid down a steeper bit and called down to Misty to do the same as it was the easiest way to get down that part without falling over. Tentatively, she began to slowly make her way down until she was sliding down uncontrollably and wailed as Ash caught her and they both fell backwards.
“Are you OK?” Ash laughed as he saw Misty on top of him.
Misty blushed furiously when she realised how she was positioned on top of him and quickly got off of him and sat in the snow saying that she was fine. Pikachu popped its head out of a lump of snow and happily called its name at the sight of the two friends. They both smiled at it as Ash helped Misty to her feet and they continued to trek down to the bustlingly town as the foot of the hill.
***
As part of the Christmas tradition of this town, no vehicles were permitted to go through the town at this period of time unless it was in the form of a horse and carriage. There were many Ponytas, Stantlers and Rapidashes pulling open or closed carriages around the town as part of the Christmas spirit and both Ash and Misty were amazed to see such a sight before them. It brought the festivity of the season with it as numerous carriages were hauled along the cobbled streets before them, as people, wrapped up tightly in their winter clothing, were carried a good number of bags or parcels stacked up so that they could barely see where they were going. As the darkness began to settle in, old fashioned street lamps were lit so that joyful shoppers could continue their deeds even as the coldness became harsher and with the dark weather settling in. Distracted by what they saw, Misty and Ash hurried over to the shops that were beginning to turn on their nightlights and peered through the windows to see if anything caught their eye on what they would like to buy for their friends.
Misty looked down the street and caught sight of a jeweller’s sign sticking out from the wall so that it could be observed from above as passers-by walked past.
“Ash, come on!” She cried out as she linked her arm in his and dragged him quickly down the street so that she could look into the jeweller’s window.
So many different types of glittering jewellery lit up Misty’s eyes as she marvelled at the delicate designs and precious jewels displayed in the window. In the middle of the display was a gold necklace with a dazzling blue stone in the shape of a teardrop and her heart fluttered as she admired its beauty.
“Isn’t that one gorgeous?” Misty said dreamily as she pointed at the necklace.
“Urr… yeah.” Ash replied falsely, for he hadn’t even looked at the fine piece of jewellery that had captured Misty’s heart.
He watched her reaction carefully and wondered what could be causing her to act so strangely until he looked into the window and understood how she had be captivated by such craftsmanship. After an attempt to take his eyes away from it, he looked along the street and saw a sign entitled ‘Breeder’s Secret’ and instantly thought of Brock and a chance to buy him a worthy Christmas present.
“Do you think I should get it, Pikachu?” Misty consulted the Pokemon breathlessly.
“Pikachu.” It whispered and nodded its head while still having its face pressed up to the pane of glass in awe.
“Misty, I’ve found a great shop for Brock!” Ash exclaimed as he grabbed Misty’s wrist and hauled her away from the shop in surprise.
“But, Ash…”
“I don’t know what time the shops close here so we’ll have to be quick!” he said in a hurried as he dragged Misty away who was holding Pikachu in her arms.
He ran into the ‘Breeder’s Secret’ as a little bell chimed above the door to signal a customer and a young lady with fair hair greeted them warmly and asked if they were looking for anything in particular. She examined them more closely before smiling widely and asking Ash whether he was here to buy his girlfriend a special something for Christmas.
“But…I’m not…” Misty began in a panicky voice after the woman’s polite accusation.
“Oh no, no, no, no.” Ash said and waved his hands in front of him. “No, I’m looking for my male friend who’s a breeder.”
The woman eyed Ash suspiciously at what he had said about buying for a male friend and then decided, ‘to each their own’ and asked if there was anything his ‘friend’ would like in particular. She looked over a number of gifts suitable that were displayed on the counter and picked out a ‘Breeder’s Grooming Kit’ that she thought might be appropriate for his friend. Ash brightened at her proposal and agreed to purchase it – handing the woman the money as she gift wrapped it for him and he and Misty made their way down the streets looking for more presents.
After visiting a number more shops, Ash was able to buy Max a Pokemon textbook that featured all of the known specimens of Pokemon and their current known data and May he had bought a set of pokeblocks and a co-ordinator’s essential kit to help her with her contests.
“Now that just leaves Pikachu.” Ash whispered to Misty and she grinned at him.
The clock tower chimed to signal the hour and Ash looked at it in a panic as he was supposed to meet his friends outside the café. Misty asked if she could take Pikachu with her to meet the others while he disappeared for a couple of minutes and assured her that he would meet them outside the café as soon as possible. Catching on to what his intention was, she agreed and allowed Pikachu to happily hop onto her shoulder. She bid her friend farewell and began to walk towards the café that Ash had given her instructions to.
“Brr…It’s a bit cold, huh, Pikachu?” She asked the Pokemon briskly as it nodded its head in agreement.
She breathed into her pink gloves as her hands were beginning to freeze as she caught sight of her friends and ran up to them.
“Hey, Misty.” May greeted her kindly. “Where’s Ash?”
“Oh, he’ll be here in a minute.” Misty replied happily. “So, have any of you guys had a look around yet?”
“Nope, we came straight here to wait for you guys.” Brock chipped in.
“And Ash still isn’t here.” May said in a mysterious tone as she folded her arms.
Misty blushed slightly but didn’t say anything. May was about to suggest that they send a search party out for him when the group spotted Ash running towards them and waving with a happy smile on his face.
“I’ve done it!” He shouted gleefully. “I’ve finally finished all my shopping.”
“Well don’t sound too please about it – it should have been done ages ago.” Max retaliated in a know-it-all voice.
Ash glared at him for spoiling his happy moment but ignored him all the same.
“So do any of you guys need to do any more shopping?” Ash asked them.
They all shook their heads apart from Misty, who piped up and said:
“Actually, I saw this necklace that I really liked in one of the stores over there and I thought that I might get it for myself as a Christmas treat. I mean, I’ve been working really hard at the gym and I haven’t done a proper shop for myself in a long time, so I thought that I might go and get it.”
“Sure, Misty, if you really want it then go ahead and we’ll wait right here for you.” Brock said cheerfully.
The others nodded and Misty smiled at them. She ran at full speed towards the shop with Pikachu still on her shoulder and her heart skipped a beat as she reached the window. Her face fell. The necklace had gone. She sighed and looked down at her feet in disappointment.
“If only Ash hadn’t dragged me off.” She said sadly and Pikachu’s ears drooped when it realised how unhappy she was.
She slowly walked back to her friends, thinking about the necklace most of the time but knowing that she couldn’t blame Ash for this – even if he did drag her off when she was tempted to buy it.
“I guess it wasn’t meant to be, was it Pikachu?” She said a little more brightly and the Pokemon hugged her neck comfortingly.
“Did you buy it?” Brock asked her when she approached him.
“No, it wasn’t there when I got there – someone must have already bought it.” She replied.
“That’s too bad.” Brock said sympathetically to her.
“Come on, we need to get everything ready for tomorrow won’t we guys?” May said cheerfully as she rushed out of the town and began to run at the hill that she knew she was to tackle in order to reach a flatter part to walk on.
The others followed her and Ash pulled Misty up the hill, which she had fallen down earlier to avoid her falling down again. They reached the lodge a while later and all of them hung their damp coats on the pegs and hurried to sit in front of the fire, while Ash disappeared in his room to wrap his presents.
“So, Misty, how’s life at the gym been?” Brock asked her to make general conversation.
“Oh, busy as usual. Tracey comes up now and again to say hi and help out and Daisy’s really taken a liking to him. He’s gone with her to her friends for the holidays and if you hadn’t invited me to stay with you, I would probably be spending Christmas on my own. But Mrs. Ketchum said that if I wasn’t doing anything for the holidays, she told me to go to her house to spend Christmas there, which was really nice of her.”
“Yeah, Mrs Ketchum is really nice but do you really think that we would celebrate Christmas without you?” Brock asked her seriously.
“Well I dunno, I guess because I wasn’t prepared for Christmas and wasn’t sure what I was going to do. But thank you so much for inviting me.” She finished happily and smiled at her friends.
Ash emerged from his room a while later and placed his wrapped gifts under the tree with everyone else’s who had set theirs out earlier. He sat down by the fire and yawned. Looking at the clock, May noted that it was getting very late as she watched her brother look out of the window at the freshly falling snow.
“Come on, you!” She said to her brother. “It’s about time that you went to bed.”
She grabbed him by the arm and led him out of the room with Max protesting in vain at being put to bed. Misty had an idea and ran into her room quickly and came back with a number of stockings.
“Remember these?” She asked Brock and Ash happily. “They’re the stockings that I made one year for all of us. I was even able to make some for May and Max.” She said as she hung them above the fireplace.
The boys smiled at the attempt she was making to bring the Christmas spirit together and they knew that it wouldn’t have been possible without her.
***
Christmas morning was festive than ever. Max came running out in his pjamas, shouted that Saint Nick had visited them in the night and had left a load of presents in their stockings and under the tree. The group thought that he had only been fooling around until the sleepyheads came into the room and gasped at the number of presents that littered the floor. Max dove straight in and began to open his presents as the rest settled down to open theirs and share the festivities.
“Oh, Ash, here’s one for you.” Misty said while blushing slightly.
Ash looked at the tag and saw that it had come from Misty, who when he looked up busied herself with tending to everyone’s presents. He opened it happily to reveal a large Pikachu plush toy that he was extremely chuffed by. Pikachu also approved of the gift. Misty beamed at their reactions and was happy that she could give Ash something that he would appreciate.
Once the group had opened all of their presents, Brock disappeared into the kitchen to prepare the Christmas dinner. He laid the table with Misty and began a light conversation with her, until he could smell the turkey burning and had to leave her to finish the table. Misty giggled to herself as she knew that Brock hadn’t changed and Max came out to help her, where he thanked her for the book she had given him by Professor Oak. She smiled at him and said it wasn’t a problem to give it to such a gifted young child who showed so much interest in Pokemon and their abilities. What Max had been even more excited about was the fact that Misty had had the book signed by the Professor himself and this caused him to bow down at her feet several times when he had opened it.
“Dinner’s ready, guys!” Brock shouted as he walked into the room carrying a large plate with a plump turkey placed in the centre of it and was steaming viciously and splattering over his pink apron.
He came out with several more dishes, full of roast potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, chipolatas, and gravy and insisted that the group dig in. Without hesitation, everyone did so and thanked Brock continuously throughout the meal to give them such a heavenly tasting meal.
“I don’t think…I could eat…another bite.” Ash moaned as he patted his now round stomach and stared at the single chipolata left on his plate maliciously.
“Brock, that was delicious. Thank you so much!” Misty said gratefully as she dabbed her mouth neatly with her napkin.
“Oh, Misty!” Ash said subconsciously as he sat up and ran into the other room.
Misty blinked repetitively in shock at his reaction to her comment, until he came running back into the room and grabbed her by the wrist and led her out of the room with him. He let out an exasperated sigh when they were out of sight and earshot and smiled at Misty.
“Well, since it’s Christmas and you’re my best friend, I wanted to get you something special and so I just wanted to give you this.” He said and produced a small blue box from behind him.
Misty’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped as he handed her the small box and she opened it carefully with shaking hands. What she saw touched her heart deeply and she could barely breath. Inside the box was a gold necklace with a sparkling blue gem attached to the end in the shape of a teardrop – the same necklace she had seen in the window and had disappeared when she went back to the shop. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she felt a lump rising in her throat at how much Ash must care for her to buy her such a beautiful gift. Ash noted that she was on the verge of tears.
“Err… you don’t like it?” He asked her sadly.
“Oh, Ash!” She cried out and flung her arms around him, taking Ash by surprise.
She hugged him tightly as Ash wasn’t sure how to react as his eyes widened in and the colour in his face rose to a deeper shade of pink.
“It’s lovely.” She muffled against his shoulder and broke away from him with a wide and grateful smile. “Would you help me put it on?”
“Oh, sure.” Ash replied and smiled as he took the necklace from Misty and placed it gently around her neck and fastened it up at the back.
A Pokemon released itself from one of Misty’s pokeballs from inside her pocket and both Ash and Misty looked down at it in surprise as LuvDisc appeared and began to dance around happily. Misty looked up above her and smiled.
“Ash, we’re under the mistletoe.” Misty teased.
“Huh?” Ash asked, confused and slightly alarmed by what this meant.
“Kiss LuvDisc under the mistletoe.” She said brightly and held up the Pokemon for Ash.
“WHAT?”
“Please, for me? You said that it was a little cutie pie.”
“Oh, all right.” He replied unhappily and closed his eyes as he waited for the tiny Pokemon to kiss him on the cheek.
Someone kissed Ash gently on the cheek but he was sure that it was LuvDisc – it was too gentle and more of a caring kiss than a peck on the cheek from a Pokemon. He opened his eyes immediately and saw LuvDisc in front of his face and Misty smiling at him.
“Thanks, Ash. And Merry Christmas.” She said cheerfully as she disappeared into the other room.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, Misty.” He repeated unsurely then dismissed the strange thought in his mind and followed her in.
He walked past May who looked like she had just walked in on two people up to things that should not be displayed in public. When Ash asked her what was the matter, she replied that nothing was wrong in a high voice and disappeared after Misty. He saw her sit next to her at the table and watched Misty’s face turn a deep red as May began to talk to her.
“I’m afraid that I’ll have to leave in the morning guys.” Misty said unhappily. “My sisters have been caught out in a snowstorm and there is no one to take care of the gym – so I’ll have to go back.”
“That’s a real shame, Misty.” Brock said unhappily. “It would have been really nice if you could keep on travelling with us.”
“Don’t worry, as soon as I think my sisters are capable of looking after the gym without me, I’ll give you a call.” She replied happily and winked at him.
“A toast. To Misty – wishing her all the luck with the gym and hoping that she’ll be able to join us again soon.” Max said and held up his glass.
The others followed suit and toasted to her and sat in front of the fire while playing games and enjoying the last remaining time they had of each other’s company.
***
“Bye, guys! See you soon!” Misty shouted and waved to her friends as she made her way back down the hill to the village, which would give her a train ride to the nearest blimp station.
The group were sad to see her go but knew that she didn’t have much of a choice and were happy that she had spend the Christmas holiday with them. They tearfully waved goodbye to her, Ash with both hands and Misty returning the wave until Ash put his hands in his pockets and pulled out the handkerchief that Misty had given him when they had first departed from one another.
“Hey, May, why were you so jittery yesterday?” He asked her when Misty’s gift reminded him. “LuvDisc was only giving me a peck on the cheek coz we were under the mistletoe, if you thought that was weird.”
May looked down at her feet and shook her head.
“From my angle, Ash, it wasn’t LuvDisc who kissed you and I can guarantee you it wasn’t a Pokemon you were receiving a kiss from.”
Ash looked at her in shock and then back to Misty, who was just disappearing down the hill. Inside, he felt fluttery and his heart was held high as he watched Misty’s figure disappear into the sunrise.
“Next time, Misty,” He said quietly to himself. “It will be my Pokemon kissing you under the mistletoe.”
The End
Well, please let me know what you think of it!
Take care
Luv
Water Spirit
XxX
)