Author's note: Hey, everyone!

This time, we're dealing with a one-shot that actually fits quite snugly into the Pokémon universe. This won't matter if you're not up to speed with the Sinnoh episodes, but hey. All the same, it's nice that it does.

Also, yeah, this one would come before Girl Troubles if there was a timeline going on here. There could be, if you like, but that's not necessarily the case.

Lastly, I wrote the first half of this one-shot ages ago, but wasn't entirely happy with it. After leaving it alone for a long time and coming back to it, though, I realised I liked it again, so I finished it off. Please enjoy!

Frosted Fruitcake

Just like any other day in Snowpoint City, the weather was freezing. Snow constantly decorated the roofs and floor and, even when it melted, more would fall from the sky. Fortunately, Ash, Dawn and Brock were all wearing their winter jackets made by Dawn's mother, Johanna, and Pikachu had his fur coat to keep him warm.

"Alright!" Ash cried, clenching a fist in fierce determination. "Time to head to Lake Acuity!"

"I know of a train station nearby that'll take us straight there," Brock said, reading through a guide book.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ash pumped his fist into the air. "Let's go!"

"(Yeah, let's!)" Pikachu called out enthusiastically from atop his shoulder.

"But, Ash!" Dawn said with a smile. "It's Christmas Eve!"

Ash lowered his arm. "... So?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

"I wanted to spend Christmas the way I always do! With a hot chocolate, a warm blanket, and all my favourite Christmas shows on TV!"

"But, Dawn...! I have a battle with Paul coming up real soon. I need to start heading over to Lake Acuity!"

Dan waved him off. "Oh, that battle's ages away! We've got plenty of time to sit around Snowpoint City and enjoy Christmas!"

"She has a point, you know..." Brock said, closing his guide book and pocketing it.

"Plus, you've done a ton of training lately, so you'll be fine!" She clasped her hands together. "I really wanna stay at the pokémon centre and, hopefully, get to see some of the classics! The Three Smoochum... Rudolph The Blue-Nosed Stantler… or maybe The Pokemon Express!"

Ash sighed. "Alright..." he said begrudgingly, "we'll stay for Christmas..."

Dawn giggled. "Yay! Aww, thanks, Ash!"

Another snowball hit Pikachu in the face. He laughed, noticing that Piplup was the one pointing and laughing at him, so he was clearly the one who'd thrown it. Scooping up some more snow, he rolled it into a ball and threw it back. When it smacked Piplup in the face, Pikachu laughed and ducked behind a mound of snow.

Also behind this mound of snow were his team for the snowball fight, which consisted of Buizel, Buneary and Pachirisu. Buneary instantly shuffled over and nuzzled him. He tensed in embarrassment.

"(That was a great shot, Pikachu,)" she said.

He could see Buizel smirking and him and Pachirisu smiling rather widely. Why, oh why, couldn't she flirt with him when no one was watching?

He laughed nervously. "(Thanks, Buneary...)" he replied.

"(Okay...)" Buizel said, "(new strategy. Buneary, you go after Chimchar.)"

"(Okay!)" Buneary replied.

"(Pachirisu, you go after Grotle.)"

"(Okie dokie!)" Pachirisu replied.

"(Pikachu, you go after Piplup.)"

"(Sure,)" Pikachu replied, still feeling awkward about Buneary rubbing up against him.

"(And I'll go after Sudowoodo.)"

Pikachu glanced sideways at the remaining pokémon, who had decided to sit out of the game. Mamoswine was fast asleep with Croagunk sitting beside him, who was staring off into space. Staraptor and Gliscor were resting in the nearby tree, and Happiny was inside the pokémon centre with Brock. It was a shame that Ambipom had left the group recently, but Pikachu was sure that she was happy, wherever she was right now.

"(Let's go!)" Pachirisu cried, dashing off.

Buizel immediately ran in another direction, and Buneary finally moved away from Pikachu to hop in another. Pikachu sighed. Sure, the rabbit was cute, but did she really have to shower him with affection constantly? Oh well. Time for more snowball fun!

He took one step, but felt his foot get caught on a stone. Yelping, he fell forward and landed face-first in the pile of snow.

Pushing himself up again, he spluttered and shook it off, only to pause when he noticed an unconscious azumarill underneath him. His eyes widened and he scrambled to shake the poor thing awake.

"(Hey!)" he cried, shaking her. "(Wake up! Are you okay?)"

"(Urgh...)" she replied, her eyes slowly opening. "(Huh?)"

"(What happened? Are you alright?)"

She blinked a couple of times. "(Hi... Did... you save me?)"

"(Huh? Well, yeah, I guess so.)"

The azumarill's dark blue eyes shone in admiration, her face lighting up with a slight blush. Then she suddenly leapt to her feet and tackled Pikachu in a hug. He yelped in surprise and fell over, landing on his back in the snow.

"(Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! That's so kind of you!)"

"(Ack! Uh, you're welcome.)"

"(It's a sign of true love that you're the one you saved me!)"

"(Yeah, I...)" His eyes widened. "(Wait, what?)"

"(Just like a prince, awakening his sleeping princess with a kiss!)"

He heard footsteps as his friends approached, and panic set in. "(Hold on a minute!)"

She stood up, grabbed his paw and pulled him to his feet. "(What do you think about living together outside of the city? We'll make a nice burrow out in the snowy wonderland, and live happily ever after! But we'll be sure to stay away from the really blizzardy area, because then it won't be romantic!)"

Pikachu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "(Wha-?)" He looked to the side of him to see all his friends staring at him with wide eyes.

"(Pikachu...?)" Buneary asked.

The azumarill turned to the group. "(Oh, hi there!)" she said with a beaming smile. "(Are you friends of my mate?)"

Everyone's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "(Mate?!)" they all asked.

Pikachu blushed bright red. Mate?! As in, the animalistic term humans often used to describe pokémon lovers?! Why... was she calling him that?!

"(D-Don't you think you're being a little hasty, Azumarill?)" he asked.

The azumarill giggled and hugged him, nuzzling into his fur. "(Of course not! Destiny has declared that we are meant to be!)"

"(B-But-!)"

"(Come on!)" She pulled him by the paws in the other direction. "(Let's head over there right now, so we can get started on our burrow!)"

He started flailing in her grasp. "(Wait! Argh!)"

"(... Wow,)" Buizel remarked, "(looks like you've got some competition, Buneary.)"

"(He has a ma- I mean, girlfriend?!)" Piplup asked, astounded. "(Really? Since when?)"

"(Well, I think she's cute,)" Pachirisu said, smiling. "(Whoever she is!)"

Buneary continued to stare wordlessly at the retreating duo. Pikachu had a lover? For how long? And, if so, why had he never told her about her?

She could feel her heart breaking just a little more with each passing second. Was that why he always shied away from her affection? Was that why he always rejected her advances? She'd always assumed that he was just shy, but... maybe that hadn't been true at all.

Quietly, she retreated to sit down near the 'enemy base' and collect her thoughts. She only vaguely registered Buizel and Piplup look at each other before following after Pikachu. Pachirisu happily trotted after them.

Pikachu had finally broken free and was running back to the group. When he saw three of them round the corner, he had to skid to a stop to avoid crashing into them.

Buizel folded his arms. "(Just what's going on, Pikachu?)" he asked.

"(Since when do you have a girlfriend- mate- whatever?)" Piplup asked.

"(Well...)" Pikachu replied, standing up on his hind legs.

Azumarill suddenly appeared and grabbed him from behind. "(Gotcha!)" she said. She giggled. "(That was fun, my little snuggle bunny!)

He felt his desperation to break free again rising. "(Uh, I'm not a bunny...)"

"(Oh, I know that, silly!)"

"(So, how did you two meet, anyway?)" Buizel asked sceptically.

"(My wonderful knight in shining armour here saved me! Earlier today, I was playing in the snow, but I slipped and crashed into a tree. My head was hurting and I was soooo dizzy that I just stumbled around for a bit... and then, suddenly, whoomph, I got hit by a massive pile of snow! It must've come from the tree I crashed into... and I was only awake for a short time before everything went dark...)" She shuddered, clinging to Pikachu tighter.

"(Aww!)" Pachirisu cried emotionally. "(You poor thing!)"

"(... So, what does this have to do with knowing Pikachu?)" Buizel asked.

"(My amazing Prince Charming here freed me from the snow! I knew, right then, that we were destined to be together, forever and ever!)"

Pikachu blushed awkwardly as he watched his friends stare incredulously at him. There was a long stretch of silence.

Suddenly, Piplup sniggered. This caused a chain reaction, where Buizel started sniggering, then Pachirisu started sniggering, then the three of them burst into gales of laughter.

Pikachu just wanted to crawl into a hole. "(Guys...)" he said.

"(Aww, man!)" Piplup cried. "(So, you've only just met today?)"

"(I know!)" Azumarill replied giddily. "(It's amazing, isn't it?)"

"(Oh, it's amazing, alright!)" Buizel said.

Azumarill let go of Pikachu's torso to grab his cheeks and make him face her. "(I knew, the moment our eyes connected, that we shared a bond that would last for all eternity.)"

"(Um...)" Pikachu replied awkwardly.

"(I have never been so in love with a pokémon as I am with you, my darling. The two of us shall spend the rest of our lives together.)"

"(Uh...!)" His fear continued to climb higher and higher.

"(And the moment we make our burrow, we'll start building a family, just you and me.)" His eyes widened considerably. "(All the little baby pichu and azurill that we'll create... raising them together... and growing old together...)"

He couldn't take anymore. "(Gah!)" Breaking loose, he ran away.

Azumarill giggled. "(Come back, my love!)" She ran after him.

Buneary sighed sadly. Sure, she was glad that Pikachu had decided not to start building a burrow outside of town, but he was still with her, that blue rabbit that she'd never so much as heard of before. Why wouldn't Pikachu tell her about her? She didn't understand.

She watched as the two of them played a game of tag, with Pikachu running and Azumarill chasing after him. They looked so in love. It was really painful to watch, but what could she do? If he had a... 'mate', then she had no right trying to win his heart anymore.

Nearby, Buizel, Piplup and Pachirisu were watching the mouse and rabbit's game of tag.

"(Lucky cad,)" Piplup said. "(It's not enough having one rabbit fawn over him, so he gets two, instead!)" Buneary winced at this.

Pachirisu giggled. "(You'd almost think he was a rabbit at this point!)" he said. "(Well, he does kinda look like one, what with the ears and all.)"

"(Yeah...)" Buizel agreed, "(and someone sounds a little jealous, eh, Piplup?)"

"(I am not!)" Piplup replied. There was a pause. "(Alright, fine. I did like a marill once, remember? It kinda stings that her evolved form is chasing after Pikachu when he's already got a girl fawning over him!)" He bounced around in annoyance. "(Why does he get all the giiiirls? It's not fair!)"

"(So, then... are you saying that you'd want Azumarill fawning over you?)"

Piplup stopped his bouncing and paused for thought. He sniggered. "(Guess not.)" He burst out laughing, and the other two laughed along with him.

Buneary frowned a little. What was wrong with Azumarill? She seemed like a nice enough girl. Why wouldn't they want the kind of attention that she gave Pikachu?

Azumarill hugged Pikachu tightly, snuggling into his fur. "(Come on,)" she said, "(enough fooling around, Pikachu! It's time to go and make our burrow.)"

"(But...)" he replied desperately, "(I-I have a trainer! He's on a quest to become a pokémon master, and I can't just leave him!)"

"(Oh, I'm sure he won't miss you! He can just replace you with another electric-type! No big deal!)"

"(But I was his starter!)"

"(He'll understand. He'll know that your happiness comes before his own. Come on, it's time to go.)"

He cast his mind around, trying to think of an excuse. "(Um... h-how about you wait until tomorrow?)" He pushed her off him. "(I'm tired and I wanna sleep in the pokémon centre tonight!)"

She pouted. "(Aww... okay then.)" She smiled. "(I'll be right here, waiting for you, tomorrow!)"

Pikachu lay awake in bed that night, next to Ash – who was fast asleep – and looked out the window. He was severely creeped out when he saw Azumarill sleeping outside the pokémon centre, and quickly turned away.

He sighed. What had he done to deserve this? At least when Buneary flirted with him, it was flattering. This was just downright creepy. A burrow and kids on their first day meeting each other? Saying it was ridiculous would be putting it lightly.

Buneary. He'd always thought that she was over the top, but, compared to Azumarill... Well, he'd much rather have Buneary's flirting than Azumarill's, that was for sure. Honestly, the brown rabbit wasn't all that bad. She complimented him, hugged him and, occasionally, rubbed against him, but she knew to give him his space and to not be too forward.

He smiled fondly at the memories. Yeah, if he had to have either her or Azumarill for a... 'mate', he'd definitely go for Buneary. She was just so cute and sweet.

He blinked to himself and shook the thought away. No, he couldn't let himself get caught up in ideas like that. He wasn't ready for that sort of thing, and still had tons of battling to do and a life to live. Plus, it would be downright embarrassing to face his friends afterwards.

Anyway, none of that was important right now. What was important was his new main priority: get rid of Azumarill at all costs.

"Merry Christmas, guys!" Ash said, once they'd all woken up.

"Merry Christmas!" Dawn replied happily.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas!" Brock said with a smile.

"Oh, I should call my mom!" Ash said, scrambling out of bed.

"Me, too!" Dawn replied.

"We should all call our moms," Brock said.

"Last one to the telephone's a rotten egg!" Ash called, running out of the room.

"Ash!" Dawn called out. "You forgot to brush your teeth! And you're still in your PJs!"

Pikachu laughed quietly to himself, then jumped off the bed to follow his trainer downstairs.

After greeting all three humans' mothers other the telephone, the pokémon were allowed outside again. The moment Pikachu stepped outside, he was tackled in a hug by Azumarill.

"(Morning, sweetie!)" she said, nuzzling him.

He could feel his skin crawling from her touch, especially since the other pokémon were watching. "(M-Morning, Azumarill...)" he replied.

"(Now, how's about we go and make that burrow, hmm? Now that you've had your beauty sleep?)"

"(Uh...)" He needed an excuse and fast.

Pachirisu giggled. "(You could always play some games with us!)" he said.

"(Yes! Games!)" He was in the squirrel's debt for that save. "(Wanna play some games, Azumarill?)"

Azumarill looked thoughtful. "(Hmm...)" she replied, "(well, I guess it sounds like fun...)"

"(Great, let's go!)" He pried himself away from her and ran into the distance.

She giggled. "(Come back, my love!)"

Strangely, the group had discovered two abandoned wooden sleds, so they'd decided to drag them up the nearby hill and slide back down again on them. Buizel had pointed out that the two sleds weren't very big - and could probably only carry four small pokémon each - so Mamoswine, Staraptor, Gliscor and Grotle had elected to stay at the bottom and watch everyone else slide down. Buizel and Sudowoodo would go up the hill, too, but would take the role of pushing the loaded sleds down.

Once the group were at the top, Azumarill immediately dragged Pikachu onto one of the sleds. "(This'll be fun!)" she said happily.

"(Yay!)" Happiny cried, jumping down to sit behind Azumarill. "(Sledding!)"

Piplup, Chimchar and Pachirisu sat down on the other sled. Croagunk watched Buneary, who looked between the two sleds uncertainly. After a moment, she sat down behind Pachirisu. Croagunk said nothing and sat down behind Happiny.

Pikachu was surprised at this. Buneary wasn't sitting with him? Why was that? Every opportunity the rabbit got, she would sit next to him. Something was very wrong here.

Looking ahead of him at the slope, he suddenly got an idea. If he couldn't talk his way out of Azumarill leaving him alone, maybe he could convince her to leave him alone. He'd be the worst 'mate' imaginable and put her off him! Not that he was bad at talking to girls or anything... Okay, so maybe he was.

It was the whole reason he hadn't flat out told her to buzz off yet. Because he just... couldn't.

"(Ready, Pikachu?)" Buizel asked.

"(Ready,)" Pikachu replied.

"(You ready, Piplup?)" Sudowoodo asked.

"(Ready!)" Piplup replied.

"(Then three...)" Buizel said. Pikachu felt the sled move. "(Two...)" It moved a bit further. Azumarill's grip on his waist tightened. "(One!)" They slid down the hill.

Everyone cried out in joy. Pikachu, however, saw this as his chance. Grabbing the front of the sled, he used all of his strength to move it sideways. It slid across the snow and crashed into the other sled.

Piplup yelped in surprise. "(Pikachu!)" he cried. "(What do you think you're doing?!)"

Ignoring him, Pikachu pulled the sled the other way, causing it to lose control and spin out, while still sliding down the hill. Two of the pokémon behind him screamed. Croagunk said nothing.

When they finally reached the bottom, their spinning sled tipped over and crashed into the ground sideways, causing all four of them to fall off it.

"(Whee!)" Happiny cried happily. "(Do it again! Do it again!)"

Piplup's indignant face appeared above the mouse. "(Pikachu! Just what the heck was that all about?!)"

Sitting up, Pikachu massaged his aching head. "(Oh, dear...)" he said, "(it seems I'm a homicidal maniac who wants to kill everybody with a sled. I'm clearly too dangerous to have as a... uh, mate. Right, Azumarill?)"

Azumarill sat up, staring at him. She giggled. "(Don't be silly!)" she said. "(That was really fun! We should do that again!)"

Pikachu stared incredulously at her. "(But... I tried to kill you! Don't you get it? I'm a terrible, terrible pokémon!)"

"(Naw, it was all in good fun! Besides, you'd never really kill me, 'cause I'm your mate!)"

Pikachu slapped a paw to his forehead and fell over.

A while later – after some of the other pokémon had taken a turn on the sleds – the gang were making snowmen. Again, Pikachu got an idea, so he got to work on building.

Partway through, he looked over at Buneary, half expecting her to build a pikachu snowman, but was surprised when he saw her building a snover snowman. Just what was wrong with her today? She wasn't behaving her usual self.

... Unless it had something to do with Azumarill. The blue rabbit was being very clingy lately, so maybe that was why. Buneary couldn't very well flirt with him with her around. That must be it.

He looked over at Azumarill, and felt quite disturbed when he saw that she was building a pikachu snowman. She was also hugging it each time a new body part was added. He cringed.

Eventually, he finished building his azumarill snowman, which he immediately showed off to Azumarill.

She came running over. "(Oh, wow!)" she said, her eyes sparkling. "(It's beautiful!)"

"(It is!)" he replied, beaming. "(But you know what's even more beautiful?)"

Azumarill giggled. "(What?)" She was expecting him to say her, wasn't she? Ha!

"(This!)"

He jumped up, sending steel-type energy to his tail. Swinging his body around, he lopped off the snow bunny's head. It crashed into the floor, breaking apart and sending snow everywhere.

As he landed proudly back on the ground, there was silence for a minute. This was it. He'd really done it this time. She'd be so angry about him desecrating her likeness that she'd leave him!

"(You know Iron Tail? That really is beautiful!)"

He almost fell over in shock. "(Wha-?)"

She held her paws up to her chin in joy. "(You're even more worthy of being my mate! I can't believe how lucky I am!)"

"(But... I...)" He shook himself out of his stupor. "(No!)" He got on all fours and dashed towards her pikachu snowman, electricity crackling around him. Using Volt Tackle, he smashed straight through it. Then he skidded to a stop in a semi-circle, so that he was facing Azumarill. He grinned, the electricity dissipating. "(See? Not so worthy now, am I?)"

Her beaming smile never faded. "(What are you talking about?! You know Volt Tackle, too! You're amazing!)"

He blinked. "(But... I...)" He sighed in aggravation and fell over. "(I give up!)"

"(Hmm?)" Azumarill plodded over, and her perplexed face suddenly loomed above him. "(Give up on what?)"

"(I can't do this anymore! I've tried and tried, but it's just no good!)"

"(Tried what?)"

Buneary's face also suddenly loomed above him. "(Pikachu?)" she asked, looking concerned. "(Are you okay?)"

"(No...)" he replied despondently. "(No, I'm not okay...)"

"(Here, lemmie help you up.)" She held out a paw.

"(Thanks.)" He took it and let her pull him to his feet.

"(... I see...)" Azumarill mumbled.

He looked at her, confused. "(Hmm? What do you see?)"

All of a sudden, Azumarill looked very sad. "(You should have said something earlier...)"

"(... Huh?)"

Her ears drooped. "(You don't love me at all, do you?)"

His eyes widened at this. "(Wha-?)"

"(You love her.)" She nodded towards Buneary.

He looked at Buneary, who blushed, then back at Azumarill in disbelief. "(Well-)" He stopped himself, realising that this was his golden opportunity. He was starting to feel bad for Azumarill, but he'd still made a vow to himself to get rid of her. "(... Actually, yes.)" He put an arm around Buneary and pulled her close. "(You've caught me out. The two of us have been... mates for a while now. I didn't say anything, because I knew it would upset you.)"

There was dead silence behind him. He could feel the looks that his friends were giving him, and it was causing blood to rise quite rapidly to his face.

Tears appeared in Azumarill's sparkling eyes, as her bottom lip trembled. "(You're so noble!)"

He nodded solemnly. "(I know, I know...)"

"(I'm so sorry! If I'd known you already had a mate, I would have never...)" She put her paws to her mouth. "(Oh, I'm so sorry!)"

"(It's alright. Don't worry about it.)"

"(Thank you...)" She sniffled. "(Well, I guess I'll go back to my trainer, then... She's probably wondering where I am.)"

He stared at her. "(... You have a trainer?)"

She smiled. "(Oh, yes.)"

"(... And you were still planning on making a burrow out of town with me?)"

She shrugged. "(I was a girl crazy in love, what can I say?)" She lowered her arms. "(Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.)" She began walking away, waving as she went. "(Goodbye, my love! Enjoy your life with your mate!)"

He waved back. "(Thanks!)"

"(I will always love you for what you did for me! Farewell!)"

After what seemed like an eternity, she eventually fell out of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, Pikachu finally let go of Buneary.

"(Man, I'm glad that's over...)" He looked at his friends, most of which were biting their lips. Some of them had watering eyes. Now he felt awkward again. "(Um...)"

Piplup was the first to burst out laughing, then the rest of them joined in. Croagunk merely stared at him.

"(Dawww!)" Pachirisu said. "(Pikachu's in loooove!)"

Pikachu's ears drooped in embarrassment. "(Guys...)"

"(So, Buneary's your mate now, huh?)" Buizel asked.

"(It's about time!)" Piplup added.

"(Yeah, no kidding!)" Chimchar said.

"(Guys...)" Pikachu repeated weakly, "(you know that was just...)" He looked at Buneary, halting when he saw just how bright red her face was.

She stared at him for a moment, fiddling with the fluff around her waist. "(E-Eep!)" she squeaked, pulling it over her face.

"(Man,)" Piplup said, "(if only our trainers could understand us! I'd have a story and a half to tell Dawn!)"

"(It's too bad we don't have any mistletoe for the occasion!)" Sudowoodo said with a salute. Everyone burst out laughing again.

"(A very merry Christmas, indeed...)" Croagunk added.

At this point, Pikachu couldn't wait to get back on the road. It'd certainly keep his friends quiet, and get rid of his immense desire to be swallowed up by the nearest black hole...

Good lord...

The End