Xannytoes: Merry Christmas! Wait, what do you mean it's been and gone? In that case, Happy New Year! What do you mean it's the 2nd of January? Darn it, I'm late. Oh well. How are you guys doing? Hope you're enjoying the holidays. With my derpy partner Death still in Malaysia, I decided to write a little prequel to The Return to Hoenn. This story takes place during the Christmas Ash and May spend together. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Twas the night before Christmas eve, when all through the house.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a Pikachu.

Young Ash Ketchum lay resting in his bed, the weary trainer having returned home for Christmas. His raven locks covered his closed brown eyes, as he lightly snored. His travelling partner and closest friend Pikachu was laid out on his stomach, snoozing away.

Tap, tap, tap...

"Five more minutes mom, I don't want to go to school" Ash moaned, pulling the covers over his head.

Tap, tap, tap...

"Ugh, we don't want any life insurance" Ash groaned, praying to Arceus for the tapping to stop.

Thump, thump, thump...

"Alright, I'm coming..." Ash mumbled groggily, still coming to grips with the fact that someone was knocking on his door.

Rising from his bed, Ash gently placed Pikachu on the covers, before donning his dressing gown and lurching down the stairs.

"Ugh, probably some book salesman" Ash thought to himself.

That's when he noticed the heavy snowfall outside his window. Perhaps the worst bout of snow Pallet Town had ever seen...

And someone was knocking on his door...

"Ohmigoshimcoming" Ash yelled incoherently, racing to the door and throwing it open.

A young girl stood before him. Dressed in layers of red and white clothing, she currently resembled a half-finished snowman. She shook the snow from her body and pulled down her hood, revealing her brown-haired face.

"T-t-took you long e-e-enough " joked May Maple, one of Ash's closest and dearest friends.

"May!" Ash wrapped the Pokémon coordinator in a hug, a gesture May was more than happy to return.

"Nice to see you Ash" May smiled, "Now can you let me in before I f-f-freeze?"

"Sorry I took so long, I was kind of asleep" the two laughed, "Mom said you were coming but why are you so late?"

"My flight was delayed" May moaned, letting going of Ash and stepping into the reliving and welcome heat of the Ketchum household. She placed her many coats on the coat rack and left her boots by the door, her chattering echoing through the house.

"Come here, I'll get the fire warned up" Ash guided the practically frozen May to the sofa, finding a few logs to resurrect the dying fire.

"T-t-thank you" May muttered, stifling a yawn.

"Long day?" Ash asked, sitting next to the coordinator.

"Mmmmm" came her response.

"Have a rest, we'll talk tomorrow" Ash promised, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. May subsequently placed her head on Ash's shoulder, her tired eyes struggling to stay open.

"It's great to see you again..." May whispered, before falling to the Sandman's spell.

Ash stole one last glance at her exhausted features, a wide smile visible on her face. Ash shared a grin of his own, before joining his friend in the land of dreams, a final thought passing through his head...

"This is gonna be the best Christmas ever..."

"Good morning!"

Ash and May woke with a start, groggily rubbing sleep from their eyes. The smiling face of Delia Ketchum greeted the pair. Pikachu had made his way down in the night, using May's lap as a bed.

"Time to get up sleepyheads" Delia giggled, as the two friends practically fell off the sofa.

"I'll be up in a minute" Ash moaned.

"Me too" whined May.

"Well, if you don't want breakfast..."

In a typical anime fashion, Ash and May rushed to the kitchen, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. Delia could only laugh.

"Those two sure love their food..."

Pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, toast with butter and jam, nothing was spared as the great devourers (AKA Ash and May) destroyed the massive helpings of food prepared by Delia.

"Good grief, I should have cooked more" Delia laughed.

"I think we're full enough" Ash groaned, his waistband feeling uncomfortably tight. May sat beside him, struggling to speak.

"Ugh" May moaned, unable to speak. She pressed her hands on her stomach, resulting in a loud belch.

"May Maple!" Ash feigned mock-offense and tried to supress a giggle, "What kind of behaviour is this? I thought you were an upstanding Pokémon coordinator!"

"You're one to talk Ash Ketchum! With that chocolate spread on the side of your mouth!" May retorted.

The two couldn't hold it any longer and burst into fits of laughter. It had been less than a day and already Ash was having a fantastic Christmas. May had already brought a much happier atmosphere to the Ketchum household.

This really was going to be the best Christmas ever.

"Cookies you say?"

"Why not? It'll be fun?"

Having recovered from their food coma, May had come up with the ingenious idea of baking a few tasty treats. Ash had heartily agreed.

"So…" May started, "How does one bake cookies?"

Silence.

"Maybe we should have invited Brock?" Ash sighed, thinking about his old friend, who was currently studying to become a Pokémon doctor.

"So I'm not fun to hang out with?" May joked, sticking her tongue out at Ash.

"Of course you are!" Ash attempted to rectify things, "Brock's just a good cook, that's all!"

"So I'm not a good cook?"

"What? Of course you are. I mean…"

May giggled, having completely confused the poor boy. Whilst Ash attempted to untangle the web of puzzlement his female friend had left him in, May's quest for cookies led her to using her state of the art PokeNav to find a recipe.

"Brock's understanding of cuisine is better than anyone else's, not that I mean you're stupid or anything, just…"

Ash was totally bamboozled. Deciding to leave him in this state a moment longer, May saved the recipe to her PokeNav.

"Chocolate-chip cookies, here I come" May thought.

"And it's not that I think that you're not pretty, I think you're beau-"

Ash stopped dead in his tracks.

"You were saying Ash?" May grinned mischievously.

"That err… you look like a Beautifly" Ash praised himself mentally for that incredible save. "I better get the ingredients from the pantry."

As Ash left the room, May allowed her mind to wander. She'd been crushing on the raven-haired trainer for quite some time now. She wasn't sure if it was his kind, gentle nature, iron determination or that messy hair of his. Whatever it was, she was completely smitten with him and hearing him compliment her appearance left her with dark red cheeks.

"OK, I think this is everything" Ash emerged from the pantry, carrying several boxes and a large sack of flour.

"Whoa, that's a lot of flour"

"My mom was expecting you"

"Jerk" May playfully smacked Ash's hat off of his head. Ash took revenge by pulling May's bandanna down in front of her face.

"I'll get you for this Ketchum!"

This was becoming the best Christmas ever.

"Flour, eggs, sugar, butter… looks like we have everything"

"Pikapika!"

Pikachu interrupted Ash by dropping a bottle of ketchup next to the ingredients.

"Pikachu, ketchup doesn't really go with cookies" Ash sweat-dropped.

"Pikapi chu ka pi Chuchupi kachu!" Pikachu argued.

"I know I let May add her own ingredients, because she knows how to cook" Ash joked, though Pikachu didn't find it all that funny.

"YEEEEEOW!" Pikachu left the room grumbling, having toasted Ash with a lightning bolt.

"Oooh, something smells nice" May laughed at Ash's state.

"Very funny Maple" Ash grumbled, wiping his face clean with a kitchen towel. "Can we get started?"

"Hold that thought" May discreetly took a picture of the crispified Ash, the perfect image for some friendly blackmail.

"Alright, let's get baking!"

As dictated by the Law of Ketchum, disaster is bound to spring up wherever Ash and May happen to be.

"You got egg shells in the mixture!"

"Too much flour!"

"It wasn't my fault, it was the author's!"

Breaking the fourth wall? Oh I'm getting you back for that…

"Did you hear something?" Ash asked, glancing around the room.

"I'm not sure…" May shuddered.

"Well, this is a complete mess."

The mixture resembled a thick, cream-coloured sludge, with clumps of flour and remains of egg-shells as a topping.

"How are we going to fix this?" Ash asked.

"I have an idea… Glaceon, take the stage!" May yelled, throwing one of her Pokéballs.

The beautiful evolved form of Eevee emerged from its home. The blue fox happily danced about after seeing Ash, nuzzling against his leg.

"Looks like she missed me" Ash laughed.

"She talks about you two a lot" May admitted, "When I can understand her that is."

"Looks like you two are getting closer."

"Alright Glaceon, use Helping Hand!"

"Glaceon!" the Fresh Snow Pokémon was engulfed in a white glow for several seconds, before the light dispersed in a shockwave. Ash and May felt much more adapted to the strange surroundings of the kitchen than they had prior.

"Do you feel different, or is it me?" May wondered out-loud. "Like I could cook an entire feast with no difficulty…"

"Use the force Luke" Ash attempted to season his voice with a dash of roughness.

May facepalmed.

"Alright, now can we bake some cookies?"

CLANG!

Glaceon's curious attempts at exploring the kitchen had resulted in one of the many pots and pans tumbling off the shelf and planting itself firmly on the fox's head.

"Glace! Glace! Glaceon!" Glaceon tumbled around the room, crashing into several objects before collapsing into the sack of flour. As much as Ash and May wanted to help, they couldn't help but laugh at the poor creature's misfortune.

It was here that Pikachu returned to the kitchen in search of his ketchup. One glance at Glaceon, emerging from the bag, covered head to toe in flour, and Pikachu fled the room, screaming that the house was haunted in his native tongue.

This was definitely the best Christmas ever.

"Hey, these aren't half-bad."

"Must be my amazing cookie skills."

"Oh sure Ash, Glaceon had nothing to do with it."

The two friends were sat by the fire, dipping freshly-baked cookies into mugs of hot chocolate. Delia had already gone to bed, wishing the teens goodnight and asking they didn't stay up too late, with Santa making his rounds.

"Nope, all me. Ash Ketchum, World's Greatest Pokémon trainer!"

"And I'm the Top Coordinator."

"Congratulations!"

"That was sarcasm Ash."

"Hey, you deserve it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Out of all the coordinators, your skills never fail to impress me."

May tried and failed to hide a light blush. Did Ash really think that highly of her?

"You're not so bad yourself, Mr World's Greatest Pokémon trainer"

"I guess I'm OK" Ash laughed, though his female friend sensed something off. A hollow sounding ring left the atmosphere slightly stale.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I don't feel that I'm that great a Pokémon trainer" Ash admitted, "I win badges, raise my Pokémon, only to get beaten at the final hurdle. I've never won a Pokémon league. No matter how hard I try, there's always someone better…"

"Ash…"

When Ash was miserable, May was miserable. She couldn't sit by and condemn her friend to the abyss of sadness. The question was, how did she bring him back to the light?

"I don't know anymore… What's the point of continuing my training if I get beaten every single time? I mean… May?"

May was gone.

"Great, my misery pushed her away" Ash covered his face with his hand, trying to stop tears forming.

"I'm still here, silly" May giggled.

Ash looked up. May was standing in the doorway, now wearing her warm, pink coat. She was carrying Ash's own coat in her hands.

"What are you…"

"Put this on, I want to show you something" May told him.

"It's freezing out here May!" Ash moaned.

"Oh shush you big baby, I had to walk for hours in this" May retorted.

"Sorry."

"I should hope so."

After a couple of minutes trekking through the snow, the two arrived outside Professor Oak's laboratory. May attempted to open the doors, but found them to be locked.

"Of course" May sighed. Her plan was quickly falling apart.

"Hang on, I've got his spare set of keys here" Ash remembered, handing May a snow covered keychain.

"Great!" After unlocking the door, May took Ash by the hand and led him to a window at the back of the laboratory.

"Why did you bring me here May?" Ash asked, his teeth chattering.

"Wait a second…"

And so they did. Several seconds in fact. Ash was still confused as to why May brought him here, though he had faith in his coordinator friend. So they waited, hand in hand.

Then, he saw it.

A faint, familiar shape. Tall, though certainly not human. Two blades extended from its green arms. Ash quickly recognized it as one of his most loyal and most powerful Pokémon. Sceptile. He prowled through the darkness, as if looking for something. He was startled by a snowball hitting in the back of the head, thrown by a small, turtle-like creature. Squritle. Sceptile chased after the water-type, in a mischievous but friendly manner.

A short distance away, a pair of Bulbasaur were busy building a snowman. Several flying Pokémon danced through the sky, dropping snowballs on unsuspecting targets. A large herd of Tauros collected piles of snow to use as ammunition. Through the frosted glass, Ash could spot every one of his Pokémon (and some of May's) enjoying the winter season.

"No other Pokémon trainer I've ever met has ever raised their Pokémon with such love and care" May told him, "You win some, you lose some. What's important is the journey and the friendships you form, with both your Pokémon and the ones you meet along the way. You taught me that Ash Ketchum, you taught me better than any teacher, better than my parents. Your lessons have stayed with me through my travels and they remain to this day."

"I never realized you thought so highly of me…" Ash admitted.

"Are you kidding?" May laughed, squeezing his hand, "If it weren't for you, I'd still be figuring out how to open a Pokéball!"

The two shared a laugh.

"Thank you May, I'm lucky to have a friend like you."

"Darn right!"

By far the best Christmas ever.

"Presents, here I come!"

"What happened to ladies first, Mr Ketchum?"

"You snooze, you lose, Miss Maple!"

"Oh I'm so getting you in a snowball fight!"

"You wish Princess!"

Laughter and merriment filled the house like helium fills a balloon. Christmas was certainly a time to spend with family and friends, and who better to spend it with May?

"Oh wow, Great Balls! Thanks mom!"

"Hah! Ultra Balls! Looks like she likes me more, Ashy!"

"Hey!"

Wrapping paper decorated the floor, walls and… ceiling? How'd that happen? The room looked as if a bomb had gone off in a toy store. Delia had promised Ash and May an unforgettable Christmas, a promise she was holding true to.

"The Coordinator's Annual – 2014! Thanks Delia!"

"Risk – Pokémon Edition? Aww yeah!"

"Wow, what a beautiful necklace… Thank you so much!"

"Nine-hundred and ninety-nine pickup lines…"

Silence.

"That looks like something Brock would need" May giggled.

"Yeah, why would I need a book of pickup lines?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe there's a certain someone you want to impress" May hinted, fluttering her eyelashes.

It took Ash a few seconds to catch on. When he did, he grinned, flicking to a random page of the book.

"Are you a doctor? Because I think my heart just skipped a beat…" Ash read nervously.

May could only snort with laughter at Ash's horrible flirting attempt.

"Hey!"

"Aww, come on Ashy" May smiled, wrapping her arm round his shoulder.

"Alright, I forgive you…"

"Yay!" May surprised Ash by pulling him into a hug.

"So which one was your present?" Ash asked. The two had agreed to keep their gifts a secret, so the other would have to fathom who gave them what.

"I'll never tell" May winked, "How about yours?"

"I'll take it to the grave" Ash grinned.

The two remained still for several seconds, before May spotted something hanging from the ceiling.

"Mistletoe."

"What?"

May gently titled Ash's head up, indicating the festive plant.

"Oh…"

The world literally froze around the two.

"Well… it is tradition" May noted.

"I suppose we have to" Ash sighed.

"Shame Drew isn't here; I suppose you'll have to do…"

"Hey!"

"Oh come off it Ash, you know I don't like Drew. He flirts with anything that has a pulse."

"Good point."

"Now shush and close your eyes."

Ash complied. The two began leaning forward. Hearts pounding. Barely breathing…

"May, come and see Ash's baby pictures!"

Well, that killed the moment.

Ash sighed. He wasn't sure if it was out of the embarrassment that was about to follow or the fact his moment with May was ruined. As he walked off, a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. A brown blur planted the briefest of kisses on his lips before retreating to another room.

Numb, Ash raised his hand to his lips, touching the spot where May had kissed him. His lips were tingling. He smiled.

Best. Christmas. Ever.

Xannytoes: Sniff. Oh it's so beautiful! I hope you guys enjoyed :) If you did, please be sure to follow us, leave a review and check out The Return to Hoenn if you haven't already. Even if you aren't an Advanceshipper, I bet you'll like it! Anyways, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!