Sorry for the delay, but hope you enjoy this and the rest of the story

Chapter Four: Snow

A few hours later, things had changed dramatically in the Complex.

Snow had begun to fall, meaning that clouds obscured both the moon and the clouds, but the soft, slowly falling flakes were more beautiful than a bother, and no one minded walking through the light amount that had settled on the concrete tiles.

Fairy lights shone brightly from all around, reflecting off shiny tinsel and ice sculptures of legendary Pokemon and Red's team that were placed all around. All of the stalls had been set up, and smells and smoke were rising from many of them as those braving the slight cold lining up to get hot drinks and meals to enjoy over the course of the evening.

Around two thousand people were crammed into the area, making it a bit claustrophobic, but there were a lot of places to go and not a lot of congestion holding people up. Many couples, both young and old, were enjoying romantic strolls through the glittering, snow frosted streets, or were enjoying each others company, some closer than others, on the many benches placed out around. It was a truly romantic setting in a truly romantic time of year, and those watching couldn't help but be swept away by all the affection.

Red and Leaf were some of the only males and females walking alone together that weren't holding hands. They were heading towards the main stadium after getting a hot chocolate and a small cardboard carton of fries, the tournament already underway. It seemed quite awkward walking together with all the couples surrounding them on either side, but after their respective conversations earlier in the day, they were both feeling much more confident around each other.

"It must be a really lovely place to be," Leaf said, staring up at the snow as it fell by the sparkling lights.

"It is quite nice: it is a fantastic view," Red replied with a nod. "This is the first proper winter I've enjoyed here though: it was being repaired the first year, and than last year…," but Red trailed off at this point, and Leaf realised what he meant: the death of Blue the previous year had driven Red out of the flash house around Christmas, meaning that he wouldn't have been here the previous winter. Things became tense and awkward between them for a moment, but both were eager to move on.

"Nice chips," Leaf said, saying the first thing that came into her head, and Red simply raised an eyebrow as he began to laugh. Leaf began to laugh as well, and the two walked down the path laughing amongst themselves for the next few moments, earning them several strange looks. They continued to laugh as they walked towards the Champion's Stadium, spilling half their chips across the snow frosted ground as they laughed.

"Lovely stab at conversation," Red said, hoping to continue making a joke about things, but found it only pointed out the awkwardness that lingered between them in a way that wasn't quite as funny. Red noticed this as Leaf stopped laughing, and he quickly decided to recover. "The snow really is beautiful, isn't it?" He said, and Leaf smiled as she stared up at the sky. "The view from the balconies is wonderful: did you notice before?"

"I did," Leaf said, her smile widening. "It looks like one of those post cards my auntie Deidre sent us of Snowpoint City when me, Blue and Daisy were kids: you wouldn't even think hideous brown and grey rocks were underneath all that snow it is just so radiant and beautiful."

"Remember when we use to have snowball fights back in Pallet Town?" Red said with a grin and Leaf began to laugh. "I remember that just after Daisy got her Ditto, it got hit with a pile of snow and you thought it was a snowball and threw her!"

"What was funnier was when she turned into an Aerodactyl after hitting Blue on his arse," Leaf laughed. "He couldn't sit down for a week after it nearly tore a chunk out of him!" The two began to laugh again as they reflected back on their memories, only reflecting on how close the two were and all the time they had spent together. Red could think of a million more stories to say, but didn't want to interrupt the closeness rising up between them, nor the face Leaf pulled when she laughed: the way her eyes lit up, her gorgeous lips curling up…

"Ah… those were the days," Leaf sighed in a happy way, not noticing the look of desire Red was giving her. She was more focused on how to build on this movement: laughing and sharing food was one thing, but they couldn't keep doing that for the rest of their lives. They were beginning to merge with people as they entered the stadium, and Leaf saw a perfect opportunity to pull a move.

"AH!" She cried, faking falling sideways, her head landing on Red's shoulder. "Gosh, people are so pushy, aren't they?" She tutted, but secretly wrapped an arm around his waist, and felt relief as Red placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry: they wouldn't dare push the champion," he teased and Leaf laughed, staring up at the snow as it began to settle on them. Both of them couldn't believe this moment and didn't want to break it, pulling each other closer and feeling each other's warmth wafting from their places where their bodies met. Leaf didn't want to break apart, but as they walked into one of the entrances, people surrounding them on all sides, she suddenly jolted and leapt up.

"What is it?" Red asked, concerned he had done something wrong, but saw Leaf was staring upwards, and Red glanced up as well: they had walked directly under low hanging mistletoe hanging from the entrance, which Leaf had seen as her vision of the snow was replaced with concrete. Red felt nervous as well, and could see two sides of Leaf's view: whilst he was glad that she wasn't expecting him to make out with her in the middle of a crowd, Red also wondered if her sudden leaping meant she didn't want to ever kiss. Leaf realised that this is how it might come across, and she didn't want to make Red think she wasn't interested. Instead, she leapt up and grabbed onto the mistletoe, tearing it off and stuffing it into her pockets.

"Problem solved," she said awkwardly, before turning and rushing into the crowd. Red was just as confused as Leaf was, but he quickly followed after, ignoring the thoughts of his head. The rest of their chips had fallen out and Leaf had spilt half of her hot chocolate but the two ignored these facts as they walked briskly up the stairs and to the first row of stairs, ignoring what had just happened as they entered the battle arena.

Every New Year's, the Champions were expected to organise something. They all asked for Christmas off in order to spend time with friends and families, but their respective leagues wanted them to do something to try and entice people to sign up on New Year's Day, which was one of the big days people began their journeys. While the stalls and foods were mandatory, each Champion had to be unique: Cynthia in Sinnoh usually had an epic battle with another strong trainer in her region, while Wallace in Hoenn was famous for throwing exhibition battles between the winner of the Hoenn Grand Festival and Hoenn Pokemon League. However, Casimer, Red's predecessor, had wanted people to get involved themselves, so he liked to throw a battle tournament, and Red decided to keep his tradition going.

All the tournament was people signing up until an appropriate number of people were taking place, and they would battle in an elimination style tournament of one-on-one battles until there was a winner, who would then do a one on one with Red. It was pretty simple, and it showed perspective trainers and their friends and families what battles were like and a taste of what the Champion could do. Battles were fought on a large black field that slid out from the stands and covered the actual battlefield that Red normally fought on. Circles composed of electronic dots appeared, and referees went around minding the battles. They last ten minutes maximum or until a Pokemon had won, and the battles were usually rather entertaining. It was all a bit of fun and the winner got some prize money, a trophy and a large box of chocolates

As Red and Leaf arrived into the stadium, they saw a huge crowd of people watching the semi final battles, most of them trainers who were eliminated earlier on. Leaf clapped with excitement as she saw Janine was battling against a trainer in one court, using her Nidoqueen against their Hitmonchan, while the other trainers were a young boy and teenage girl battling with a Pidgeotto and Poliwrath respectively.

"I can't believe she has made it this far!" Leaf told Red. "I am so happy for her! GO JANINE!" Janine turned around briefly and waved a hand, before turning back and ordering a powerful Earthquake that shook the entire field. Red nodded, but the moment with the mistletoe had shaken his confidence and the progress they had made, and he felt awkward again standing next to her. As the Poliwhirl defeated the Pidgeotto with an Ice Beam, earning a yell from the girl's supporters, Leaf looked up at Red and could see the hurt in his eyes. She was shocked at how much he had been shaken, and knew she had to do something.

"I do enjoy spending time with you, you know," she said, pulling the mistletoe out. "Even if Janine makes it to the finals, I'll be cheering for you." The ornament was soon in her hands, and Leaf held it above his cheek and planted a sweet, short kiss on his face. Both of their faces lit up as Nidoqueen slammed Hitmonchan to the ground, and Red managed a nervous smile as Leaf pulled back from the kiss.

"I enjoy spending time with you as well," he replied, and wrapped an arm around her and passed over his hot chocolate to replace her spilt one. As Leaf smiled and thanked him, clapping as the head referee announced that Janine and the girl would be in the finals, Red found the peck on the cheek heart and mind racing. He couldn't believe it had happened, even if they had kissed before, but knew that the ball was now in his court, his turn to make the next move. Red knew exactly what he would do, and continued to beam as he fantasized about what would soon be happening, not caring about the battle happening in front of him in the slightest. The only thing he cared about was Leaf.