Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
It was Christmas, and the Pokemon League members of every region were celebrating in Snowpoint City, by far the most festive city in Sinnoh. The gym leader, Candice, had decided to take it upon herself to be the matchmaker, and her idea was to just cram mistletoe everywhere there was space. All in all, not such a bad idea, since everyone was bound to be stuck at least once. This didn't always work out in ones favour, though it was amusing for all else present.
This year however, one champion in particular was planning to use the mistletoe crammed hallways to his favour. The champion in question, Steven, had been wondering how to confess his feelings for the Sinnoh champion, and had been drawing a complete blank. Then the Sootopolis City gym leader had given him an idea.
"You've been obsessing over her for months!" Wailed Wallace, pretending to pull out his hair. "Can you just kiss her so we can get this thing in the past and move on with our lives?"
"Shut up Wallace. You're not helping," came the steady reply. This was one of the downsides to having the most flamboyant man in history as your best friend, reflected Steven as he watched Wallace make a huge show about this matter.
"You know, Christmas is coming up," the Water-Type Masters' tone changed to a more mischievous one. "Find some way to corner her under some!"
Steven had just sighed in response and promised that if he didn't think of a better idea by Christmas, which was about a month and a half away at that point, he would use it. Now here he was, on Christmas Eve, standing in front of the mirror and wondering why he had ever promised what he had. They'd been flirting for months, and also spent a lot of time together. Though that could also be because Hoenn and Sinnoh were partner regions and they were forced to work together.
As he walked down the stairs to where the party was already in full swing, with a drunk Drayden lying passed out on the side, he tried to prepare himself for what would happen tonight.
The worst she could do is say no, reasoned the voice in his head. Then the more pessimistic side spoke up. And leave you humiliated and standing alone like an idiot under the mistletoe. Unsurprisingly enough, the second voice sounded a lot like Wallace. Steven cursed his friend under his breath. For now, all he could hope for was a relatively uneventful night. Fortunately, Lady Luck just was on his side that day.
The building being used for the league celebration was incredibly fancy. There was no other word for it. The exact opposite of most of the League, thought Steven with a smirk as he looked around the bottom floor. The walls were painted silver and gold, and floor to ceiling windows were covered with gold curtains that had probably cost a lot. In the corner beside the champagne table, the other champions were seated. He felt a swarm of Butterfree rise up in his stomach as he saw Cynthia there as well, though it quickly changed to jealousy when he saw that she was talking and laughing with Lance. Forcing the feeling away, Steven approached the other champions, only to be death-hugged by Alder.
"Steven, my old friend," slurred the older man. "Come sit with us!" Then he laughed like a five year old and collapsed, promptly falling asleep. He raised an eyebrow at Iris, the joint champion of Unova, who just shrugged and smiled.
The champions made small talk, joked around, and asked about the other regions. They met each other often, sometimes for league meetings, and other times just to have fun. They were shortly joined by Augustine Sycamore, who was complaining about life in general.
"Can you believe this? This is madness!" exclaimed Sycamore.
"Actually, this is Sparta," said Wallace, while everyone else rolled their eyes.
"They have fruits! They have ice cream! Hell, they even have Cake! But they don't have a single chocolate fountain!" Continued a drunkenly frustrated Sycamore.
Steven tuned the rest of Sycamore's rant about chocolate fountains out, instead accepting another drink from Wallace. The rest of the night passed in a blur for everyone. Eventually, the champions were the only ones left. Diantha supported a drunk Lance out, and then Iris left with Alder. Soon even Wallace left with Sycamore, directing a wink in Steven's direction. the remaining two champions sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the snow fall outside. Eventually, Cynthia spoke up.
"You know, this Christmas wasn't exactly the best I've ever had," she said, turning to face him. Steven gave a half hearted mumble of agreement, also turning to face her. He wondered if now was the right time to kiss her. His thoughts disappeared altogether when he saw her smirk.
"You want to know what would make this better?" asked the Sinnoh champion innocently, leaning towards him. He tipped his head, and her smirk grew bigger. Now he was worried, and he realized just how close they were sitting. Then suddenly, she pressed her lips to his. It lasted only a second, and she leaned back as if to take in his reaction.
"Merry Christmas, Steven," she whispered as she stood and made her way up to where she was staying for that night. Steven sat there in silence for the next few minutes, his heart racing. When was finally able to think straight, he looked up. There was no mistletoe in sight.
When he went down for breakfast the next morning, he was in a strangely good mood. He didn't care that people were staring at him as he hummed Christmas Carols to himself, or that he had a terrible hangover and his head was throbbing. Even the fact that Wallace was pestering him with some story about how his Milotics' scales weren't sparkling in the light like they should be didn't put Steven in a bad mood.
The Sinnoh champion had kissed him.
A/N: I know that Christmas was a long time ago, but I came up with this today while sitting in math class, with my teacher going on and on about decimals. This is my first submission, so please be nice! And if there is anything wrong, some constructive criticism would be nice. Thanks for reading!