Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon and if I did, Pokeshipping would live.
Tradition
For as long as they could remember, the Ketchum kids would always question the annual Christmas tradition of their father hanging up a miniature version of their mother on the doorway leading to their living room.
Whenever asked about it, their parents would merely laugh lightheartedly and answer "tradition" as if it was self-explanatory, which was then usually followed by coy looks at one another if both were present and a wistful smile if one was absent from the scene.
It was only some time later when the eldest of the bunch, Will Ketchum(1) was about ready to leave on his own Pokemon journey that the children had finally unraveled the mystery of this strange tradition.
The last Christmas that Will was going to spend at home before he ventured forth as a certified Pokemon trainer was no different from the others. Indeed the only noticeable difference was the fact that his younger sister would burst into tears whenever the topic of his journey was breached.
"Why can't I go with him?" The dark haired girl wailed as Ash carried her into his arms to soothe her.
"Honey, you know that children are only allowed to be trainers once they're 10 years old. You've got 4 years before then. Won't you stay home with mommy and daddy for a little bit longer?" Misty frowned. The thought of her eldest about to leave was already starting to sink in and she was not happy about the thought of having to let her second one go as well.
"Yeah, besides, I wouldn't want you there anyways, Aud!" Will crossed his arms petulantly. "I'm leaving to become independent! And if you come, it's not going to be the same."
Audrey wailed even louder at her brother's proclamation before burying her face into her father's shoulder.
Ash rubbed his daughter's back as his wife scolded their son for his lack of consideration for his baby sister.
"Ow! It's true though! I can't become a pokemon master if I have to worry about taking care of her all the time!" Will rubbed the ear that his mother pinched.
"That's not true. Your Aunt May became a capable coordinator even after having to take care of your Uncle Max on our journeys. And your Uncle Clemont and Aunt Bonnie did fine too!" Ash enthused.
Audrey's head shot up from his shoulder.
"So I can go with Will?" She smiled widely, tears suddenly absent from her face.
Misty lightly smacked her husband at the back of his head and forcefully whispered "You're not supposed to be encouraging her!"
Ash chuckled nervously before clearing his throat and amending his statement. "No Audrey, you're not going with your brother and that's final."
His daughter burst out into tears again and Ash sighed as he returned to rubbing her back.
"Audrey, why do you even wanna go so bad? You're not even finished with school yet." Will whined in frustration.
"Because! How am I supposed to protect you from all the mean people and pokemon?" Audrey sniffled.
"Mean people? What mean people?" Misty asked stepping behind Ash so she could look into the blue-green eyes of her daughter.
"The mean people! You'd always talk about mean people trying to steal Pikachu and daddy was always getting into trouble and you'd always talk about having to save him!" Audrey hiccupped. "If I don't go, who's going to save Will?" She exhaled with all the frustration a six-year old could muster.
Ash set her on the floor as he laughed.
"Audrey, Will is leaving to become a pokemon trainer. He'll have his pokemon to help him out of any trouble. And he'll also be making lots of friends that will help him like how I met your mom and all your aunts and uncles."
Misty crouched down to Audrey's eye level and pushed her dark hair behind her ear. "Oh Audrey, even I wasn't with your father all the time. You know that I left him to help run the gym. Then he found other friends to save him when he was in trouble. But let me tell you about a secret of mine. It's a secret that kept him safe even though I wasn't there with him."
"What?" Audrey's eyes widened.
"I gave him a good luck charm to help him on his journey. It was my way of keeping an eye on him even though I wasn't with him. It must have worked because he came back to me in one piece, didn't he?"
"Good luck charm? What good luck charm?" Will asked, his eyes darting back and forth between his mom and dad.
Ash grinned in recognition and put his arm around Misty's shoulder as she stood up again.
"Do you still have the good luck charm, daddy?" Audrey jumped up and down in excitement, her blue-green eyes so similar to that of her mother's were shining brightly.
"Sure do, kiddo. In fact, it's right over there." He pointed out the kitchen doorway to the small Misty hanging in the doorway to their living room.
"You mean the mini-mommy?" Will scowled. "THAT was your good luck charm?"
"Yup! Although I always called it 'Misty's Special Lure'!" Ash grinned as he watched a faint blush make its way to his wife's pale cheeks.
"A lure? You mean like the one we use when we go fishing?" Audrey asked confused.
"Uhuh. I sent it to daddy after I left him to go back home to Cerulean city."
"It was my good luck charm. Whenever I saw it, I'd be reminded of your mommy and it was a way for me to keep her close even though she was far away." Ash kissed his wife on the cheek.
"I can teach you to make one for Will if you want, Audrey. That way, it'll be his good luck charm and you'll always be close to him." Misty asked and Audrey nodded frantically.
"Okay then!" Misty held out her hand and Audrey was about to take it when Will interrupted
"Wait a minute! If it's your good luck charm, then why do you hang it in the doorway every Christmas?" Will frowned. "And please don't answer 'tradition' and make lovey-dovey faces at each other again!" He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah! Why only every Christmas?" Audrey echoed her brother.
Ash looked at Misty and both let out a small laugh.
"Think we should tell them?" Ash asked conspiratorially.
"Yeah, they're old enough to handle one of our romantic tales, I think." Misty smiled and gently nudged Ash with her elbow.
"You guys sure you wanna know?" Ash asked getting his story-voice on.
"Yeah!" Audrey nodded enthusiastically and Will attempted to look less interested but nodded anyways.
"Okay then! Well, it happened like this…"
"Ash! Make sure you hang up the Christmas decorations before you leave!" Delia called from the kitchen as she heard her son's rapid footsteps down the stairs.
"Oh crap! I forgot!" He darted back up the stairs. "Come on, Pikachu!"
"Piiika" Pikachu grumbled as he too turned back and ran up the stairs he had just descended from.
"Crap, crap, I'm gonna be late and Misty's gonna kill me!" Ash frantically searched his room for the bag of Christmas ornaments and decorations that he was assigned to hang.
16 year old Ash had come home from Kalos to spend the holidays with his mother. Since it was beginning to be a rather rare occasion that he'd be back in Kanto, Misty and Brock had decided to pay a visit to the Ketchums as well for a reunion once they'd heard of his visit.
Ash had been home for all but two days when his first travelling partner, Misty, had arrived and had insisted on spending "quality time" together for old times sake. Brock was to arrive two days after leaving Ash and Misty a day to kill.
Misty had come up with the idea of spending a day fishing and Ash, not minding the alone time with Misty along with the idea of making Misty happy, did not resist. So, whether he liked it or not, it seemed as if fishing was on the next day's agenda.
Leave it to Ash to wake up late and throw a wrench into Misty's plans.
Not only that, but he had also promised his mom that the Christmas decorations would be hung by the time he left for his "date" as his mom insisted on calling it.
As Ash found the bag that stored the ornaments he had spotted his Misty lure on his desk and grabbed it along with the rest of the decor scattered on his desk. He shoved them into his pocket and darted out of his room and downstairs to the living room, with Pikachu hot on his tails.
With Pikachu's help (which was really not that much), they had managed to get the Christmas tree lit and decorated in under 5 minutes. Ash began hanging the rest of the decorations around the room, checking his watch every now and then.
"Bzzzzz" The doorbell rang and he cursed as he emptied his pockets to hang the rest of the décor.
"Ash! Misty is at the door! You shouldn't keep her waiting!" Delia called from the kitchen.
"Bzzzz, Bzzzzz" The doorbell rang again, twice in succession this time.
"Mew, she's getting mad now!" Ash singsonged as he imagined Misty waiting at the doorway impatiently buzzing the doorbell with her mallet ready.
He shuddered and worked double time.
"Bzzzzz, Bzzzzz, Bzzzzz, Bzzzzzz"
"Ash! Misty is waiting!" Delia called again.
"I'm coming mom!" Ash looked back and shouted as he shoved his hand into his pocket and hung the last of the decors in the doorway before jumping off the ladder and rushing to the door.
He swung the door open and lo and behold there waiting was his best friend, standing with a scowl on her face.
"I think I entered into menopause just waiting for you to open the door." Misty retorted.
"Pikachupi!" Pikachu jumped into her arms and rubbed his cheek against her.
"Hey Pikachu! I missed you too!" Misty laughed as she rubbed behind his ears and he nuzzled her belting out a "Chaaaa" in contentment.
"What's menopause?" Ash furrowed his eyebrows and asked.
Misty drew her eyes away from the electric mouse in her arms and stared at Ash before shaking her head with an exasperated "nevermind".
"Come on, let's go! I've been waiting for you long enough!" Misty gestured to her fishing pole leaning against the doorframe.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go. I'll even race you to the river!" Ash said running ahead of her, needing to expend some energy from his giddiness at seeing her.
"Hey, wait! That's no fair! You didn't even say go yet!" Misty bellowed as she took off after him.
Although Misty would have won that race back when they were kids, Ash definitely had the height advantage now and had easily outrun her with the added advantage of his advanced start.
Misty gasped for air as she dropped her pole and put her hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath.
"You're such a cheater!" She breathed out.
"Am not!" He retorted.
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too! And you know it!" She shouted, red in the face before grumbling something along the lines of "stupid growth spurt" and "long legs".
They stood before one another for a few moments in silence as they caught their breaths. Ash took the time to look at his best friend now that she was there before him in the flesh. It had been almost two years since they had seen one another in person and not through the screen of a videophone, which was their preferred method of communication these past few years.
Sometimes he would find himself delaying his group's stay at a Pokemon Center just to wait for her calls. Other times he would spend the whole night awake due to the time difference, just talking to her. Though that would be rare given her hectic schedule as a gym leader.
Misty had definitely grown and filled out nicely. Long gone were her tomboy days. She couldn't pull off that look again even if she tried. She was a girl now, through and through and boy did people know it.
Though nowhere near as filled out as her older sisters, Misty Waterflower could hold her own when it came to beauty boasting a few fanboys of her own. Her vibrant orange hair was still the same length but instead of being held by a hair tie, it had been let loose, a look which Ash had always greatly admired on her.
She was also much taller now, though shorter than him, to his complete and utter delight. Her taste in clothes seemed to stay the same as he noted the blues and yellows on her clothing. His caramel brown eyes locked on to her blue-green ones and he found himself thinking that she had grown to be very beautiful indeed. He smiled at her tenderly.
The sound of a spearow call broke the silence and both were shaken out of their trance.
Ash shook his head lightly before his smiled morphed into a cocky grin. He plopped down by the riverside, grabbing on to his pole and preparing it.
"Well are we going to start then, or what? Or do I have to wait to get my menopause first?" Ash said smiling, proud of himself for being able to throw her previous retort back at her.
Misty glared at him as she tried to contain her laughter. "Nothing has changed. You are still a massive idiot. Only girls get menopause, you dolt. And even then only some time in their fifties or something!"
"Oh." Ash scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, his face turning cherry red in the process.
He cleared his throat and made a show of focusing on his fishing pole as he prepared it.
Misty rolled her eyes at him and focused on her own fishing pole.
A few moments of silence passed between them before Misty's head snapped up and she turned to him enthusiastically. "Hey! Lemme see my lure! I wanna see if it's in good condition!"
"And what makes you think I'd still have that stupid thing?" Ash baited to see her reaction.
Misty's eyes widened in surprise and her face twisted in a look of hurt before it morphed into anger.
"S-Stupid thing? Why you little – If there's anything stupid here, it would be you!" Misty turned red and huffed.
"Excuse you. I am an 'anyone', not an 'anything'. Not so stupid after all, eh?" Ash grinned cockily.
A tense moment passed before Misty looked at him darkly and stood up abruptly. She took her fishing pole and began walking away.
"H-Hey, wait a minute Misty! I was just joking with you. I have your lure right here!" Ash shoved his hand into his pocket.
Misty turned around and watched him frantically empty his pockets in search of the lure.
Ash began to feel a cold sweat forming on him as he patted his empty pockets.
"Wait, I swear it was here just a moment ago!" Ash desperately looked around him to see if it had fallen off of him.
"Yeah right. Why would you keep that 'stupid thing', right?" Misty scoffed. "You don't have to lie and pretend you have it to keep me from walking away. I was just going to get MY extra lure to give it to you."
"No, I swear! I had it awhile ago!" Ash pleaded still patting his pockets in an act of desperation just in case he had missed it the first time.
"Yeah, then where is it now?" Misty put her arms on her hips, glaring at him.
"I… I must have lost it." Ash looked down dejectedly.
"You lost it? Gee, you know, I really sense how much you care about the hard work I put into that 'stupid thing'." Misty rolled her eyes. "You don't have to put up this charade about having just lost it now. I get it. It's ok." She shrugged and sat back down to continue her fishing.
Ash looked at her incredulously. "But Mist, I really did have it awhile ago! I must have lost it just now!"
"Whatever, Ash. Just sit down and get back to fishing. Let's not waste this day we have together, ok?" She said but gone was her playful tone from awhile ago and her body was upright and tense.
Ash reluctantly sat down and she threw him a generic lure.
"I really did have it." He mumbled quietly.
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and chose not to respond.
Brock arrived the next day to a tense situation between Ash and Misty.
"You're kidding right? You two have been together for one day and you guys are already fighting? You two aren't 10 anymore." Brock sighed.
"Fighting? Who said anything about fighting? Ash and I are certainly not fighting." Misty stepped forward and hugged Brock.
Brock cocked up an eyebrow, obviously not believing her but felt put off by the strange way she was expressing her anger, as it was a far cry from the anger of the ten year old he remembered.
Misty let him go and Ash took his turn hugging his brother figure.
"It's been too long." Ash said as he clapped his hand against Brock.
"Far too long." Brock laughed. "Now, fill me in guys. What's been happening with you two?"
"Us two? There is no us." Misty said in a cold voice.
Ash glanced at her nervously before turning his gaze back to Brock.
"Oh-kay, I meant it more in the you two 'separately' way but if you want to go on the defensive, that's fine." Brock laughed.
Misty huffed and crossed her arms. Ash looked at her and sighed. This was going to be a long reunion.
"Ok, so spill. What did you do to get Misty so mad?" Brock questioned him once they were alone.
"I didn't do anything! I was just joking around about losing her lure and she got all touchy about it! I actually had her lure with me but when I was about to show it to her, it was gone!" Ash exclaimed defensively.
"Wait… So you joked with her about losing the lure only to have really lost it?" Brock sighed. "And here I thought you'd get less dense as you grew up."
"Hey, that's not fair! I really had it with me but we were racing to the river and it must have fallen out of my pocket!" Ash pouted.
"Ok, but that's not enough to get her so weirdly angry at you." Brock stated.
"I know! I'd rather have her screaming in my ear and pounding me with a mallet but this is different. She just gets huffy a lot and when she thinks I'm not looking she gets this really sad look on her face. I didn't know it would mean THAT much to her if I really lost the lure." Ash looked down at his feet dejectedly.
Brock sighed. "Ok, how exactly did you word your joke about losing the lure?"
"I just asked her why she would think I'd have kept the thing… and… I may have said it was stupid as well."
Brock slapped his own face. "Ash," He groaned in exasperation. "Don't you get it by now? Misty, for the better part of all of our years of being friends has LIKED you. L-I-K-E-D. You know the word?"
"So? I like her too!" Ash protested.
Brock groaned in frustration. "She like likes you. The kind that makes her wanna kiss you and spend her free time slaving over lures to send to you to show that she's thinking about you and wishes you well. And you, in all your dense glory, say that it's stupid and appear to her to have lost it."
"But-" Ash went silent and looked deep in thought.
"But what?"
"But I don't think it's a stupid thing at all. I really treasure that lure cause it's my connection with Misty. It makes me feel like she's always close-by even if she's miles away. And I… that lure means a lot to me. And so does Misty. I'm not stupid. I've known for some time now that she likes me and I mean, kinda like her too but… I dunno. I can't really do anything about it now that she's mad at me. And now I don't even have the lure and I feel really bad about it Brock." Ash scratched the back of his neck and his cheeks were flushed.
Brock raised his eyebrows at his friend's confession. Since when did the boy suddenly grow a brain that processed feelings? "Okay, now all you gotta do to fix this is tell her what you just told me. I promise that you guys'll be back to normal."
"Tell her? Are you kidding me? What do you expect me to say? 'Oh hey Misty. I actually really treasure that lure that I lost and guess what, I like you and you should totally be my girlfriend.' Are you crazy?! She'd kill me!" Ash exclaimed.
"Well don't say it like that! Put a little bit of romance into it! Hey! Why don't you do it after the Christmas dinner at your house tomorrow! I could manoeuvre you under some mistletoe and BAM kiss her and tell her everything you feel. It'll be fantastic. She'll swoon and she'll forget the whole thing. I guarantee it!"
"Are you sure?" Ash asked skeptically.
"100%. I'm not called 'Brock the love doctor' for nothing!"
"You aren't called 'Brock the love doctor'".
"Do you want my help or not?"
"You can do this Ash. You can do this." Ash repeated to himself as a mantra. "It's just Misty. The girl you've been crushing on for more than a year now. Just Misty."
He took a deep breath in the mirror and turn to Pikachu. "Think I can do this, buddy?"
"Pikaaa! Pikapi kachu pipi ka pikachupi!" Pikachu nodded eagerly.
"Thanks bud!" Ash didn't really know what he said but he had caught the words 'Pikapi' and 'Pikachupi' with a really confident looking Pikachu so he surmised it must have been words of encouragement.
"Yeah, if I can face legendary pokemon and do life-threatening things, then I can face Misty. It's practically the same thing!" Ash chuckled nervously.
He took one last look at the mirror and walked out of his room and downstairs into the party.
The party was rather small with just Delia and himself, Brock and Misty, Professor Oak, Tracey, and a few other people from around Pallet town present.
Still, it was a large enough party that Delia had insisted on his wearing smart casual clothes and so he was dressed in his dark blue polo and dark wash jeans. The hat was off for the night, so his unruly dark hair was free to breathe.
Ash had grown significantly in the past 6 years but he still looked the same. Sure he was a lot taller and his chest was a lot broader, his jaw line was a lot more defined and his baby fat had long since disappeared, but he was still the same old Ash. Or well, he'd like to think so at least.
Ash bit his lip as he scanned the small crowd for his best friend. He had spotted Brock but not Misty.
He made his way over to Brock but was interrupted by his mom calling out to announce that dinner was served.
He made eye contact with Brock and silently questioned where Misty was. Brock shrugged and a frown found its way to his face. He was just about to turn around and head to the dining room when the doorbell rang.
"Ash can you get that?" Delia called out.
"Yeah, sure ma." Ash rushed to the door, hoping it would be Misty.
But it was definitely not Misty. At least not the way the Misty he expected.
This Misty was dressed up. She had a light blue strapless dress on and light make-up, but boy did it make a difference. If he thought she was beautiful on a regular day, she was breathtaking tonight.
"M-Misty! You look- You look… nice." He finished lamely.
"Thanks Ash. You look… nice yourself." She smiled awkwardly and entered his house as he sidestepped away from the entrance to make room for her.
"Uhm, dinner is served so you can go straight to the dining room."
"Oh… it's ok. I think I'll eat a bit later if that's ok." Misty said.
"Oh… ok. We can wait with you in the living room then." Ash said and led her there.
"Misty! Fond of being fashionably late then?" Brock asked as they entered the living room where he waited for Ash to get back.
"So you think I'm fashionable then?" Misty shot back good naturedly.
"No, I think you're late." Brock laughed as Misty stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
Ash cleared his throat.
"Soooo, if you don't want to eat yet, then what do you want to do?" Ash twiddled his fingers.
"I… wanted to talk to you first, actually…" Misty trailed off as a blush found its way to her cheeks.
"T-Talk? You mean, right now? Talk?" Ash found himself asking with what he could tell was a stupid look on his face.
"Y-Yeah… If that's alright with you." Misty tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.
"Uhm, yeah sure that's fine. Brock you can go ahead and start without us." Ash said.
"Sure," Brock said and he turned away to walk to the dining room when his eyes widened and he froze in place.
Misty, assuming that Brock had left, began to talk.
"Ash, I… I'm really sorry for how I've been acting these past couple of days. It was wrong of me and I just wanted to say sorry and I hope this doesn't affect our friendship. I just… I want to tell you something. Something important..." Misty said as she looked at anywhere but Ash.
Ash on the other hand was only listening half-heartedly to what she was saying. Instead, his focus was on Brock who stood frozen a few paces behind Misty.
"What's wrong?" He silently mouthed to Brock.
Brock's eyes motioned upwards but Ash didn't get what he was saying.
"What?" He mouthed to Brock again as Misty continued speaking.
"…And I guess this has been coming for a long time but I can't keep this in any longer but I like you Ash. I've liked you for years and I understand that you don't feel the same way but-" Misty looked up and noticed Ash was looking beyond her, obviously not paying attention to what she was saying.
"Wait what?" Ash exclaimed. "Could you repeat that again?" He said as his attention snapped back to the girl standing in front of him.
"I can't believe you, Ash. Here I am, standing in front of you, confessing my feelings for you, and you can't even be bothered to hear me out. I- Please tell your mom I couldn't make it. I have to go. I can't be here right now." Misty's eyes welled up with tears and she turned around about to walk out when Ash's hand reached out and grabbed her arm.
Misty involuntarily shivered at the warmth of his hand enveloping her forearm and looked to him with her watery eyes.
"I was listening! I- I just… Look, I like you too. And I'm sorry that I lost your lure. I probably feel more horrible than you do about losing it cause it was honestly one of the most priceless things I've ever owned. And I really did have it that day. And it's my fault that we got into this stupid not-fight because I was joking around with you about something that meant – means - a lot to you. I'm sorry."
"And I know that this won't make up for anything but I want you to know that I like you too. I've liked you for more than a year now and Mew knows that seeing your face in every videophone call we had would brighten my day and I'd stay up at night just thinking of you and I'd always have that damn lure with me because it would remind me of you and it was my way of having you near me and –"
Ash was interrupted by Misty launching herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck in a tight embrace and her head rested on her shoulder.
Ash's eyes widened and he stood tense for a moment before his arms wrapped around her too. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her hair mixed with her perfume and exhaled softly. They stayed like that for a moment before he opened his eyes to see Brock still standing there smiling like a fool.
"What are you still doing there?!" Ash mouthed silently to Brock, shocked that Brock would invade their privacy like that.
Brock grinned like a purrloin and pointed his hand upwards to the doorframe hanging above Ash and Misty then gave Ash a thumbs-up before silently creeping out of the room.
Ash slowly lifted his head and barked out in laughter at the sight he saw.
"What is it?" Misty asked as she was jolted out of her hug. She eyed her boyfriend (was he even that? – They'd have to talk about that later) and saw him looking up so she followed his gaze.
There hanging by the frame above their heads hung the Misty lure.
Misty slowly joined Ash in laughter and they spent the greater part of a minute just laughing. Tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes from all of her laughing.
By the time their laughter just began to die down, Ash looked down into her eyes solemnly and suddenly the air around them changed; charged by electricity.
He wrapped his arm around her lower waist and pulled her closer to him and his free hand rose to wipe the tears building in the corner of her eyes.
He looked into her eyes for a moment, captivated by the shade of blue-green.
"Any chance a Mistytoe, works as well as Mistletoe?" He asked, his voice low and husky.
She smirked as he moved his head closer to her so that their noses were touching.
"Why don't you find out, Mr. Pokemon Master?"
Ash and Misty had shared their very first kiss that moment; the first of many to come. And that was the start of what would be a very long and happy relationship.
"… and ever since then, we've just always hung it around every Christmas. And whenever your mom and I meet under it, we make sure to share a kiss. It's tradition." Ash finished with a wistful smile on his face.
A beat of silence passed.
"Ewwwww that is so gross! I wish you'd never told us!" Will exclaimed.
"That is so romantic, daddy! I wanna make a lure for Will now so that he'll always remember me!" Audrey clasped her hands together and squealed.
Misty and Ash laughed at their children.
"Aud…" Will turned to face his younger sister. "I hope you know that you don't have to give me a lure for me to remember you. I'll always remember you. You're my baby sister. But if you wanna give me one, I'll keep it forever so that we can always be close in one way or another." Will said with as much seriousness as he could muster.
Audrey tackled him in a hug.
"I'm gonna miss you but I'm gonna make sure you're always safe. It'll be your "Audrey's Special Lure"! She grinned. "Come on mommy! You have to teach me how to make one!" She stomped excitedly and grabbed her mother's hand to the living room, dragging Will with her other hand.
"Ah ah, wait a minute." Ash called out and waved his pointer finger.
Audrey stopped in her tracks and so did Misty.
Ash moved closer to them before standing in front of his wife. He pointed up to the lure above them.
"Now we're both under the Mistytoe." Ash grinned cockily.
"Well, rules are rules and it is tradition after all." Misty shrugged with a smirk before drawing him in for a chaste kiss.
Ash smiled into her lips before suddenly breaking away and grabbing Audrey up.
"And now that you know the secret, I'm going to have to get a kiss from you too when you're under the Mistytoe!" He peppered kisses all over her face as she erupted in giggles.
Misty bent down to place a kiss on her blushing son's cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Will."
"Merry Christmas, mom." He smiled.
Kisses were traded back and forth for a bit with one slightly-more-than-chaste one between Ash and Misty now.
"Ewwww" the two dark haired kids squealed in chorus before running away.
"Mmmm, looks like we're alone now." Ash mumbled into the kiss, deepening it.
Misty giggled.
"Merry Christmas, my love."
"Merry Christmas, Mist."
(1) Ash Ketchum's family name was actually made as a joke because it is reminiscent of the tagline "Gotta CATCH 'EM All". I named their first kid Will as homage to this joke because I thought it would be rather funny for his name to be Will Ketchum for "Will Catch 'Em".
Author's Notes: Well, this idea just would not leave me alone. I braved through my finals week fully intending to write this out the moment I got my hands on some spare time. Hope you all enjoyed it. Drop a review if you can. I'd love to know what you think of it.
Merry Christmas!