Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and a very merry Christmas to you all. As it's that joyous time of year again where I have to nearly kill myself to retrieve decorations from my attic and awkwardly bring them down the ladder with me, I thought it would be a good idea to write a festive one-shot combining my three favorite things. Pokémon, Pokéshipping, and Christmas. So, without further ado, enjoy and I'll see you at the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. But you never know, Santa might actually read my Christmas list this year.

On with the story:

Fairytale of Cerulean City

By

Th3nerdy0ne

It was Christmas eve in the city of Cerulean. Usually, even at night, the city was busy and active. Tonight however, it was a truly silent night. Young children had gone to bed early with the excitement of knowing old Saint Nick would be visiting with all sorts of toys and gifts. Parents were sitting with their loved ones in silence while watching the snow fall silently down from the sky to the streets below.

A certain red-headed gym leader however, was not enjoying the beautiful work of nature that was currently happening outside her home at the Cerulean gym. Instead, Misty Waterflower was busy wrapping the last of the Christmas presents for her sisters and friends.

She sat in the living room of the gym, enjoying the warmth coming from the fireplace, a hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of her. In the corner of the room stood a beautiful Christmas tree with all sorts of water related decorations on it from waterfalls, to mermaids, to Pokémon. There was one decoration however, that Misty favored above the rest.

It was a decoration that she herself made. It was an ocean colored frame with small Pokéballs and Pikachus around it, and in the center was a picture. The picture was of her and her best friend Ash Ketchum, when they were thirteen, standing outside his home in Pallet Town at Christmas with one arm around the other's shoulder and their free hands doing a V for victory sign.

Misty took a glance at the photo and a warm smile came across her face. It had been three years since Misty last saw Ash. She still hears from him, of course. He'll call whenever he can and they write to each other every few weeks letting each other know what's been happening in their lives. Looking away from the picture, she directed her attention towards the small pile of gifts she had already wrapped and set her eyes on one in particular.

Reaching over, she picked it up and held the small box shaped gift in her right hand. The card attached to it read: 'To Ash, Merry Christmas. Love, Misty X'. Sighing, Misty put the gift down on the coffee table, stood up, and walked over to one of the windows in the living room. She looked up into the now clear moonlit sky, the stars shining more brightly than they ever had before.

Misty just stood there in silence for a good twenty-five minutes thinking about the raven-haired boy and all the adventures they had together, the arguments, the laughs, the mini-heart attacks when he nearly died so many times.

'Never a dull moment with that boy.' She thought with a smile.

Misty sighed sadly. She really missed him. The time she spent travelling with him were the best three years of her life. And yeah, they didn't really get along with each other at first but that changed over time and eventually, they became the best of friends. But as their time together continued, Misty began to develop a crush on the young Pokémon trainer which eventually turned into love.

With another sigh she stared back at the table of presents and decided she'd take a break. She walked into the hall way of the gym, grabbed her coat from the coat wrack, and left the gym and into the cold December air that waited for her outside. She didn't really know where she was going to walk to. She just went wherever her legs took her.

It was quite a peaceful night. 'what do you expect when it's Christmas eve?' Misty thought. As she continued walking, her thoughts once again went to the raven-haired boy she loved. She couldn't help imagining him surprising her by showing up tomorrow and asking her out on a date where they'd have the most incredible time together and later on, after the best day of her life, he would confess his love for her under the mistletoe.

Misty gave a sad smile at the thought.

'Only in fairytales.' She let out a small sigh and continued walking.

Before she knew it, Misty had wandered into Cerulean Park. The usually lush, green paradise was now blanketed in soft snow that continued to fall from the sky.

"Woah, it's beautiful." She breathed.

She was so caught up in admiring the beauty of the park that she didn't notice the sound of something snapping in the tree above her followed by a scream.

"LOOK OUT!"

'THUD'

Before Misty knew what happened she was on the ground with swirls in her eyes and someone on top of her. Shaking her head, she managed to look up at the person on top of her. Though it wasn't very bright even with the park lights on, she could tell it was a boy. Rage instantly built up inside her, she pushed the boy off of her and he landed on his back with a soft 'thump' from the snow. He quickly got up and walked over to her.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked as he offered his hand to help her up.

"No I'm not! I'm covered in snow and I'm cold thanks to you!" Misty snapped as she slapped his hand away and got up herself.

She proceeded to dust herself off and was about to give the boy another ear full until he said something that made her freeze.

"Misty?!" The boy exclaimed.

Misty's eyes widened at the mention of her name. 'How does he know my name? Unless...' She looked towards the boy that landed on her and was instantly greeted with the now grinning face of,

"Ash?!" Misty said disbelievingly.

"It's great to see you, Mist!" Ash said as he walked up to her, still grinning ear to ear.

Before she knew it, Misty found herself being hugged by the very boy that had been on her mind all night. It took her a second but she eventually reciprocated the hug, a smile of her own appearing on her face. They stood in an embrace for two minutes before finally separating from each other. Misty took a step back to get a better look at him.

He was wearing a zipped up black jacket with long white sleeves and a yellow stripe going across the chest, blue baggy jeans, red and black trainers, black and green gloves, a red and black hat with the top part of a Pokéball on the front of it in blue, and a multicolored striped scarf that stretched to his shins. He also appeared to be taller than the last time Misty had seen him.

'A good two or three inches taller than me.' she thought.

She also noticed that he had a little more muscle around the arms and chest area as well, though she tried her best not to stare.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Me and Brock were coming back to Kanto to see our families for the holidays."

"So why are you in Cerulean?"

"I wanted to surprise you first before heading back to Pallet. I would've dropped by the gym earlier today but I had to try and get this back."

As he said this, Ash raised his right hand revealing a small rectangular box wrapped in blue wrapping paper with a sea green bow tied to it. There was a small card attached to it as well with a picture of a Vaporeon on the front.

"A present?" Misty asked. Ash nodded.

"Yep. I was on my way to the gym when a Rattata came out of nowhere, grabbed the present out of my hands, and ran off with it. I chased after it until I finally caught up with it here in the park. It climbed up this tree, I followed it up, and you know the rest." Ash explained.

"Who's it for?"

Ash thought for a moment then smiled before answering.

"You." He answered.

Misty was very thankful that it was dark out, otherwise Ash would have seen the blush that appeared on her cheeks from his answer.

"Oh." Misty breathed.

"So what brings you to the park this late?" Ash asked.

"Hm? Oh, I was just walking around thinking, really. I hadn't planned on coming to the park I just sorta, ended up here." Misty replied.

"Well, as long as we're both her, wanna join me in a walk around the park?" Ash asked.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Misty said with a smile.

With that, the two trainers walked off. Heading deeper into the snow covered park. As they walked, Misty told Ash about recent events at the gym and with her sisters as well as how much stronger she's become as a trainer. And Ash filled Misty in on all his recent adventures in Sinnoh. As they continued walking, Ash got an Idea and an evil smirk appeared on his face. Making sure Misty wasn't looking, Ash got a hand full of snow from a bench they passed as they were walking and reached for the back of Misty's neck.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Misty's shriek was loud enough to scare away most Pokémon nearby. She began to rub her neck furiously in an attempt to get rid of the ice cold sensation. She then turned and glared at Ash, who was now on the ground in convulsions with laughter.

"O-o-oh m-my g-god! Y-y-you should-d-d-d see your f-f-ace! Hahahahahaha!" Ash said through laughs and gasps.

Misty's glare intensified.

"That was mean Ash!" She snapped.

"Oh come on, Mist. It's just a bit of fun. And you have to admit I got you good." Ash said, finally relaxed after his laughing fit.

"Hmph." Was all the response Misty gave as she crossed her arms and turned away.

"Aw, c'mon, Mist. I was just playing around."

Misty didn't give a response. She just continued to look away with her arms crossed. Ash began to frown slightly and was about to appologise before an idea came to him and another devious grin appeared on his face. He began to slowly sneak towards the angry red-head, his grin growing bigger and bigger the closer he got. Then, without warning, he wrapped his arms around Misty's waist and picked her up.

Misty let out a tiny shriek of surprise as she was picked up and swung around in the air by Ash. She protested at first while he just laughed like a maniac, but soon after, she joined in.

"Ash! Put me down!" Misty said through her laughter.

"What's the password?" Ash said through equal amounts of laughter.

Misty pouted playfully.

"Oh, no fair. How am I supposed to know the password?"

"Guess." Ash replied with a smile.

Misty thought for a moment before making her first guess.

"Is it... Ash is the greatest?"

Ash shook his head. She tried again.

"Hm... Is it, Awesome Pokémon Master?"

Ash shook his head again, another large smile appearing on his face.

"Honestly, there is no password. I'm never letting go." He said.

"Oh, is that so, Mr. Ketchum." Misty said as she playfully poked Ash's arm with a devious look on her face.

"It is, Ms. Waterflower." Ash replied with an equally devious look.

Misty then maneuvered herself in a way so that she was now facing the raven-haired trainer.

"well, I'll just have to try and get out myself, won't I?" She said with a wink.

"Good luck." Was Ash's only response.

Misty thought for a moment as to how she could get out of this. An idea then popped into her head that made her blush slightly. Thankfully, Ash didn't notice the increasing shade of red appearing on her cheeks. Or if he did he probably thought that it was because of the cold. After another few seconds of debating with herself, Misty decided to go for it.

"Hey, Ash?" She asked.

"Hm?" Was his response.

"I figured out a way to get out of this." She told him.

"Okay, how do you plan to do that? I'm not gonna make it easy for ya." Ash said. A victorious grin appearing on his face.

Misty's cheeks grew another shade redder. "Close your eyes." She said, a slight shake in her voice.

Ash gave Misty a quizzical look for a few moments, before finally complying and closing his eyes. The next thing he felt was something soft and warm pressing against his right cheek. Ash slowly opened his eyes and realised that the source of the warmth was none other than Misty herself. She was kissing his cheek. A very deep blush appeared on his face and his grip on the gym leader loosened. Ash began to slowly move Misty back down to the ground, not once taking his eyes off of her or even blink as her lips were still on his cheek.

Once her feet were back on the ground, Misty slowly, and reluctantly, moved her head back a little so that she was face to face with Ash. They both stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. Neither one daring to move or say anything. A blush was clearly visible on both of their faces and they both knew that it wasn't from the cold. Finally, Misty was the one to break the silence.

"Um... We should probably..."

"Yeah..." Ash finished for her. Not once removing his gaze from her.

As Misty started to pull away, both her and Ash realised that he still had his arms wrapped around her. Slowly, Ash removed his arms and placed them at his sides. Misty took a few steps back and began looking anywhere else except for where Ash was standing and eventually found the ground to be the most fascinating thing at the moment. Ash just stood there with his right hand on the cheek that Misty had just kissed.

'That was... Nice.' He thought as a small smile appeared on his face.

Misty looked back up to see Ash smiling while touching the kissed cheek and instantly looked down again as a blush and smile of her own appeared.

'Shoulda gone for the lips.' She thought to herself.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a tug on her left hand. Looking up, she was greeted with the smiling face of Ash, his right hand in her left. He looked at her for a moment just smiling, before finally speaking.

"Follow me." He said simply and began leading her through the park.

As they continued walking through the quiet park, Misty's curiosity couldn't take it any more and she tapped Ash on the shoulder with her free hand.

"Hey, Ash? Where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see." He said with a smile.

This only made Misty more curious but decided to leave it until they reached wherever it was Ash was taking her. After twenty minutes, Ash stopped and turned to face a now bewildered Misty. He moved behind her and placed his hands over her eyes.

"What are you doing?" Misty asked.

"No peeking, Mist." Came Ash's reply.

Misty walked blindly to wherever it was Ash was taking her and her romantic side couldn't help but get completely giddy and make up possible things that Ash could be taking her to.

'Maybe it's a romantic picnic... No it's in the middle of December that makes no sense. Think realistically Waterflower! Come on! Okay, maybe he's set up some fire works for a romantic light show just for us... No that would mean he knew I'd be here and that's highly unlikely unless he was psychic... Or if Sabrina was with him.' The moment the thought of Ash being here with another girl came into her head she couldn't help but feel a little jealous even though she knew she was being silly.

"Alright, Mist. Here we are."

Ash's voice brought Misty back to reality and once he removed his hands her eyes grew wide at what was in front of her. The entire Cerulean Park lake was frozen over with what looked like very thick ice. The lights that had been placed underneath the lake were currently turned on, giving the scene before the two trainers an other worldly look. Misty felt her left hand being tugged again and looked to see Ash leading her onto the frozen lake. Once both her and Ash were on the ice they both began to skate around it, laughing and smiling all the while. Misty nearly fell a few times but Ash managed to grab her and keep her steady before she fell all the way.

After that, they both ended up lying side by side on the ice, looking up at the stars above. As they both continued to look up at the bright lights above them, they had at some point started holding hands, and neither one seemed to have a problem with it. After another few minutes, Misty caught site of a streak of light in the night sky that was there one second and gone in the blink of an eye.

"Hey, Ash. I just saw a shooting star." She said.

"So make a wish." Ash said.

"Don't need to." Came Misty's instant reply.

Ash turned and gave her a confused look. "Why?" He asked.

With a smile, Misty responded. "Why wish for what's already here."

As she said this, Misty gave Ash's hand a light squeeze. Understanding what she meant, Ash couldn't help the blush that appeared on his face or the smile that crept its way onto his mouth. Misty was the same. They both continued to stare at each other for a while before the gap between them began to slowly, but surely, get smaller and smaller. They both knew what was going on and honestly, they didn't have a single problem with it. The gap began to get smaller and smaller until finally, they kissed.

The kiss wasn't anything overly passionate like you might see in the movies. It was a small, slightly awkward kiss, and some people might not call it perfect. But it was perfect for them. And they loved every second of it. After a minute, they both separated, once again looking into the others eyes. Misty then inched herself closer to Ash and rested her head on his shoulder. There was nothing that needed to be said, their actions spoke much louder than words ever could. Giving a content sigh, Misty closed her eyes and snuggled a little closer to Ash, who proceeded to wrap his arms around her and kiss the top of her head.

"Merry Christmas, Ash." Misty breathed with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Mist."

THE END

Well, there you have it. My first one-shot involving one of the holidays. How'd I do? Leave a review and let me know your thoughts. Also how's my romance? I think I'm improving but I really need an outside opinion.

My next story update will be out once I get my remaining assignments for college out of the way so I hope you guys don't mind a short wait for a while.

Until then, live long and prosper, may the force be with you, and merry Christmas guys. Hope you have a good one.