Thick, dark clouds lazily drifted through a Pallet sky, covering the ground with tiny sparkles of snow as they passed. The air was brisk and a light wind whirled about; the temperature was well below freezing. Yet, the people of Pallet, with faces flushed and noses stuffed, rustled and bustled throughout the small town, and even with the unfavorable cold, their excitement seemed to protect them from the harsh weather. For it was the twenty-second of December, Christmas was just a couple of days away! Some were making their final purchases, whether it be presents or food for family dinners; others were out with loved ones enjoying the Christmas cheer.
With the streets and shops full of busy shoppers, some had taken a break in a nearby park. A young man sat on one of the benches, slouched over with his hat in his hands. A mouse like Pokémon was next to him on the ground, trying his best to make a snow angel despite having such short limbs. The yellow mouse was only managing to dig a hole into the snow, causing two piles of the white powder to form around him. The young man could only stifle his laughter as the two piles collapsed around his Pokémon, completely enveloping the electric Pokémon in the cold flakes,
"C'mon Pikachu," said the young man. "You'll catch a cold if you stay under there."
Pikachu's ears popped out of the snow, and with a shake of his head, Pikachu's face was clear of the pile. Sticking his tail out of the other end of the pile, Pikachu shook the rest of his body out from under the pile, and immediately jumped into the lap of his trainer. Seeing his Pokemon was cold, the young man placed his hat onto of his spikey, raven colored hair, and wrapped the folds of his jacket around Pikachu.
'Thanks Ash,' Pikachu told Ash as he snuggled deep into the warmth of the jacket.
With a smile, and with a hint of humor, Ash replied with "You're welcome, buddy."
Ash caught the look of a man that was walking past the bench, confusion evident across his face. The man quickly looked down and kept on his way, clearly heading towards one of the stores.
"Sometimes I forgot that not all trainers can understand their Pokémon enough to actually talk with them like I can talk with Pikachu," Ash thought aloud to himself.
As the snow continued to fall and Pikachu still warmed himself, Ash thought about the reason for venturing out there. He had wanted to buy a gift for his friend May, but he was afraid of the potential consequences of doing so. With the internal conflict brewing inside of him, he decided to ask Pikachu.
"Pikachu, are you sure that I should do this?" asked Ash. "I mean, I obviously like her, but I don't think that she feels the same way about me, and that could be fatal to our friendship. I don't want my selfishness to ruin what we already have…"
But before Ash could continue, a light, but sharp shock coursed throughout his body, effectively silencing the trainer.
"Seriously Ash, are you really that dense," Pikachu practically yelled. "May obviously must like you at least a little bit, she put up with you for all that time through Hoenn, and then after that she even followed you through Kanto! The girl either has some serious mental issues, or she likes you."
Ash was about to flick Pikachu across the nose for the backhanded "compliment", but he realized that what Pikachu had said was true. But the only thing Ash had confirmed was that he was going to buy a gift for May; he still had no idea what he was going to get her. Sensing his confusion, Pikachu spoke up again.
'Ash, forget the present for now, you still have a couple days to pick one out. What you should be doing is calling May and asking her if she would like to spend Christmas with you. It won't hurt anybody if you do, and what would be the point if you buy her a present and she isn't around you to receive it? And if she asks why you're inviting her, you could just fall back on the fact that you just want to spend time with her as friends. But I honestly think that she will be excited enough to see you again to even care for a reason.'
Ash thought it over for a second, and with a smile, he gently pated Pikachu on his head, saying, "You're right, buddy, I think that I'll call her when we get back to the house. In fact, let's go right now!" but just as Ash finished speaking, his stomach growled rather loudly. With a light blush creeping on his face, Ash sheepishly said, "Well maybe after I get something to eat first, we can go home." Pikachu just sighed and shook his head, and they both got up from the bench and started the journey back to the Ketchum residence.
"Max!" a shrill voice screeched as it pierced the air. "Give me back my bandana this instant!"
"But if I did that, you wouldn't tell me what has been bothering you," replied the younger black-haired teen. Max was trying to figure out why she had been so quiet recently. Ever sense she saw Ash on the T.V., he had been in the coverage of the recent Kanto tournament, she was not quite all there mentally. Max had caught her day dreaming for long periods of time on more than one occasion, only to come out of it with a sad expression on her face. 'If this is all over Ash, then she needs to do something about it,'thought Max.
"Max, please just give it back, that bandana means a lot to me," May pleaded with Max. "It was a special gift from someone special…"
A faint blush spread across May's cheeks, something that did not go unnoticed by her younger brother. 'This outta be interesting' Max smirked to himself.
"Alright May, I'll give it back, but only after you answer my questions," said Max.
May was quickly being frustrated with the teen, but she really wanted her bandana back. With an agitated sigh, she replied, "Fine I'll play your little game, but you have to promise that you'll give me my bandana back afterwards."
"I promise." 'Man,'Max thought. 'This is going to be way easier than I thought it was going to be.'
"So what do you want to ask me?"
"Well, first I would like to know why you have been so distant lately. It seems like you're off in dream land like every other second!" Max stated.
"Well," May began hesitantly. "I've just been thinking about…. Someone," she said faintly as the faint blush on her cheeks changed to a darker shade of red.
"And who would this someone be?" asked Max.
May was blushing furiously now, her throat was starting to dry out as she said, "Erm… well you know him."
"And I know a lot of guys, but only one that would make you this distant," Max retorted.
Realizing that Max knew who it was, May could not control herself any longer, blurting out, "YES MAX, I LOVE ASH KETCHUM!" She felt an immediate sense of relief wash through her, this was the first time she had openly admitted to anyone else that she had strong feelings for the trainer from Pallet. May released a sign that had been building up inside her, as Max then proceeded to jump around the room in mock victory.
"I knew it!" exclaimed Max. "I knew from the moment you saw him on t.v., that you liked him! Just wait until I tell every…"
"Max, no!" May interrupted. "I don't want there to be any chance of Ash finding out about my feelings until I can tell him myself, so you cannot tell anyone about how I feel, understand?"
"I understand, I promise I won't tell anyone," Max replied while throwing May's bandana back at her.
Snatching the bandana from the air, May proceeded to place it back on top of her head. Content with how she looked, and seeing that nothing was out of place, May started to ask Max a question.
"So what are we going to do for Christma….," May was suddenly cut off as the telephone started to ring.
Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1, which has been updated to fix some errors and hopefully strengthen the story. I will also be fixing up chapters 2-4, and will have Chapter 8 out soon. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!
