Hello! It's Christmas Eve, and I think this calls for my first Christmas Special! Specifically for this story I have given all of Grace's Pokémon nicknames, except for Suicune, and this is about what went on when their trainer left them alone in Suicune's cave on Christmas Eve. I have replaced a couple, but that shouldn't really affect the plot... Here I go, and enjoy!

By the way, no submitted OCs will be appearing as I only had limited time to write this one. Sorry!

'Quilava!' squeaked Ren pleadingly as he nuzzled his trainer's leg. He was trying to convey the message that she had absolutely NO intention of being left in a damp, cold cave with a constantly annoyed-as-hell Legendary while her trainer got to kick her feet up by the fire wrapping last-minute presents on the coffee table. That was NOT okay. Yes, Kite the Flygon would be there, and that would be a bit of fun. But it also meant that the grumpy-chops Lucario Aura would be constantly punching the walls for no apparent reason and yelling at them to shut it. It was going to be a long day.

"Okay, Ren, time to go now!" called Grace. The Quilava blasted his flames once before letting them die down in frustration, curling up at the front door and refusing to budge. 'Hey, Ren! Come on! I'll fly with you!' called Kite in the Pokémon tongue, and he couldn't refuse. Kite was a stage older than him but was practically a kid, whilst Aura spoke in polite, full sentences and got really annoyed when the pair acted up. As for Aeria the Swellow and Robin the Talonflame, well, they practically never touched the floor and when they did it was either to squabble or to sleep. At Grace's feet walked her Sylveon, Sylvia, who was trying to get into her bag without her noticing.

This would be just like last year.

[FLASHBACK]

Ren was thrown up against the wall with Suicune's Hydro Pump whilst Robin and Aeria, back then a Taillow and Fletchinder, were screeching at each other and squabbling between themselves. Ren had packed some biscuits, but Sylvia had long since found them and scoffed the lot. Aura was firing Aura Sphere and chasing Kite, who was laughing hysterically and lashing the Lucario with Dragon Tail as he ran. This was torture. And only 364 days to go until the next one.

[FLASHBACK OVER]

Grace wandered down the path with Kite, Aeria and Robin flying above with Ren atop the Flygon. Meandering around the lake and stopping opposite the clearing, Suicune padded out to greet them.

Hi there! Ready for Christmas?

"Yeah, actually! I've sorted it out with Mum so you can come to our house. She says she won't call Inferno, and that she trusts us all."

The others, too?

"Yep! Mew, Coby and Victini are all gonna be there! This is going to be the best Christmas we've had yet, I'm certain!" Suicune rolled his eyes and padded back. Grace's birds and dragon had finally landed and were making their way into the cavern. Aura and Sylvia reluctantly followed suit, but Grace noticed something hidden in Sylvia's feelers...

"Sylvia! Give those cookies back!"

Too late – the Sylveon had dashed off into the cave, waving the biscuits teasingly behind her. "Oh brother..." Grace sighed and wandered off home.

The Cave

'Who's up for a battle?" asked Aura, running one paw along the spike on the other one. 'Ooh! Ooh! Me!' yelled Kite, leaping up and smacking Suicune and Aeria upside the face with either wing. 'Suicune can judge!' Growling, insulted, Suicune muttered, 'Fine. But don't expect me to just let you win if you lose or whatever, even if you give me that really cute look with the big eyes. That goes for you, Sylvia!' The Sylveon smirked behind a mouthful of chocolate cookie. 'The first match is... Aura and me!' squealed the Flygon, scrambling out into daylight.

'Prepare to be crushed, immature dragon.' Aura flexed his paws and took on a fighting stance, the Lucarionite hanging from his neck a mere symbol in this fight, seeing as there were no trainers around.

'Begin!' Suicune roared, and the battle commenced.

Aura began with an Aura Sphere which Kite just took, barely flinching. He responded with an Earth Power, a Super Effective move on the Aura Pokémon, but afterwards he used the updraft from the fissures to soar upwards. Struggling to fire any more accurate attacks due to the raised evasiveness of the Mystic Pokémon in the clouds, all he could do was stay aware and watch the sky. In a split second, so fast he had no time to dodge, a Hyper Beam descended from the heavens and hit him full in the face, followed closely by one nose-diving dragon. With a flick of his kite-shaped wings, the Flygon landed next to the fainted Lucario and grinned. 'Think about this battle next time you call me immature!' he laughed, and returned to the group.

'Who's next?' asked Ren, curious to see the others' battle strategies.

'I and Robin will duel!' proposed Aeria, straightening up and flapping onto the field followed by the Talonflame. Ren remembered that last year everything had been different – everyone stayed in the cave, for one – and he had a feeling everything would be much more fun this time around.

'This is a single battle between Aeria and Robin, no cheating, blah blah blah... Just get on with it.' Suicune growled; the swallow and the falcon lifted into the air and hovered before each other.

Aeria kicked things off with an Aerial Ace which was met in mid-air by Robin's Flame Charge. Enjoying her raised speed, she decided to go in with a few more until her speed was at a maximum.

'So you're playing that game, then?' Aeria mocked as she used Agility. Diving towards her target with a screech, she unleashed an Acrobatics upon her opponent. Wheeling around and just managing to dodge the sharp swallow claws homing in on her from all directions, Robin launched herself into a Brave Bird. Body glowing with blue aura she sped directly at the swallow, who had barely any time to dodge. Despite her speed, Aeria's base sp. defense was low, and the Swallow Pokémon crash-landed in the dust. The fiery hawk touched down soon after, having taken recoil damage and was slightly hurt. 'The match goes to Robin!' Suicune roared, and the others cheered. Ren was intrigued at the pair's speed-based strategies.

'Lastly... who's left? Ah, Sylvia and Ren. Come on, you two!' Suicune beckoned as the two mammalian Pokémon took centre stage. Sylvia had a few sneaky tactics up her sleeve, and Ren was thinking the exact same thing. 'Begin!' roared the referee, and the Volcano Pokémon instantly leapt into action. Letting loose a Lava Plume whilst using Rollout simultaneously, she crashed into the sneaky Sylvia who reeled back. As he uncurled, Sylvia struck with a Quick Attack – but came away with burnt paws, as Ren's pelt was still coated with lava! The Intertwining Pokémon, however, was quick to react with a special attack, unleashing Moonblast upon the weasel-like Pokémon before her. Gritting his teeth and leaping to his feet, Ren used his strongest move – Eruption. From his tail and head-flames burst forth a barrage of burning rocks which struck Sylvia over and over again. Eventually, reeling back from the multitude of boulders pounding her repeatedly, she collapsed and surrendered with all four feelers in the air. 'This match goes to Ren!' announced Suicune, and the pair shook paws over the win. Knowing there was not much left to do, all six retreated into the cave followed by the Legendary Beast.

Ren sat in the mouth of the cave, watching the last golden remnants of autumn spiral to the ground. The weather was freezing, but he didn't care or feel it. His fire was all he needed to keep warm. As he sat and watched the bare trees sway in the wind, Ren noticed something fascinating.

It was tiny.

And white.

And cold.

A single snowflake drifted down from the angry clouds above, a calming sight yet full of joy and light. As the Quilava ran over to catch it in his paws, the first snow of winter, it melted upon contact with his fur. Laughing and revelling in the white that had begun to blanket the forest, he rolled over to make his own form of snow-angel – melting the snow right through, leaving an imprint of his body. But more flakes, bigger ones, continued to coat the clearing and the others were starting to emerge. 'Whoa!' exclaimed Kite, as he dashed out to greet Ren. Faking excitement, he distracted her while he dragged his tail back... then flicked it forwards rapidly, coating his friend in snow. With a burst of flame from his head and tail the snowman-like figure melted away to reveal an annoyed Quilava, and shortly after Kite was hit full in the face with a snowball.

Aeria was chucking snowballs at Robin in mid-air who caught them and melted them on the underside of her wings, dribbling water down and creating icicles which she amusedly thrust back. Suicune was reinforcing his own ammo with Aurora Beam and throwing extra-hard shots, occasionally using Blizzard when someone got on his nerves. Aura had discovered his inner child and was pelting everyone in range, with Sylvia stealing everyone else's ammo and using her feelers to throw them all. It was just their luck when Grace showed up within the hour to take them all home. 'Quiil! Quilaaav!' Ren squeaked as she rushed headfirst into his trainer's legs, causing her to trip over and fall before getting pelted by Aura.

"Good to see you had a decent stay this time!" Grace joked, getting up and chucking a firm, hard, expertly-formed snowball at her Lucario. "Now, let's go in and get ready for a great Christmas!" With Suicune, Sylvia, Ren and Aura walking beside her and the others flapping above, Grace made it back to the house with Suicune trotting in beside her.

"Mum! I'm home!" Grace's mum, a kindly lady with blonde hair and blue eyes, walked into the hall and stared at Suicune for a while before instinctively reaching for the phone. "Ahem?" Grace coughed deliberately, and she stopped groping for the landline. "Ah, yes. Welcome." she said stiffly. Suicune rolled his eyes and followed Grace to her room.

Upon arriving upstairs, she noticed Cobalion lying in the hallway. "Hey, Coby! You made it!" The deer growled threateningly and stomped his hoof. 'Don't call me that!' he growled, but of course he couldn't be understood. The girl laughed as she stopped by in Maddie's room. Her Pikachu and Piplup both had handmade paper stockings, as did Mew, who was hovering above Maddie's small team. Looking to the right, where Tom and Harvey shared a room, she saw the boys playing with their team, having laid out decorated shoeboxes for their partners and team instead. Reaching the end of the landing, she entered her own room.

Carefully producing seven large felt stockings she'd thrown together with her mum's sewing machine and the materials she'd bought with her own money, Grace hung them all up in a row on the wall. Checking Sylvia's bed for any stuff she'd taken in the past few days (a chocolate wrapper, a Shell Bell from her bag, and her folding bicycle) and tucking it either in the bin or back in her bag, she let the team in. In the corner sat two nests for Robin and Aeria, and next to that lay a blow-up mattress for Aura and a dog bed for Sylvia. A spare duvet sufficed for Kite, and the rest of the large room was taken up by storage space or pinboards littered with drawings. Oh, and Grace's bed, where Ren slept.

Settling down for a good night's sleep, knowing what would come when they awoke. Suicune settled down with Kite, seeing as he had a duvet big enough to share. Leaping into bed and huddling under the covers as the snow whipped against the window, Grace couldn't hide her excitement as she let sleep take hold.

Merry Christmas, everybody! Thank you for reading!

I'm glad you took some time to read this today, and I'm glad if you enjoyed it! If you want to PM or review the story, I'd love that!

Tomorrow or maybe the day after, I hope to upload chapter two – Christmas morning. Look forward to it! And I will also be using the same fic to write chapters three and four in 364 days time! So this will be a yearly thing, hopefully, and look forward to chapter two! Thanks as always!

Lastly, a sort of Glossary.

Mum: This is what we say in England, and it means Mom. I am fully aware that those in America (as a majority of you readers are) spell it differently in the USA and I just wanted to point it out.

The Pokémon's nicknames (if you didn't catch them) are:
Ren: Quilava
Aura: Lucario
Aeria: Swellow
Kite: Flygon
And the new guys:
Robin: Talonflame
Sylvia: Sylveon

-PokeThatPokemon

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, Peoples of Fanfiction!