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Drew looked anxiously first at the rapidly graying sky and then back at the map he had purchased at the Pokémon Center. It marked the relatively new emergency shelters that the mountain rangers had begun establishing a year ago. A very useful thing, especially when you lose track of time while chasing Pokémon or get caught in a storm in the mountains.
Mt. Silver was beautiful and full of amazing Pokémon, but it was also treacherous and dangerous. Fortunately, the cabin was nearby. It occurred to Drew to wonder if the Absol, pacing curiously around him, hadn't led him in this direction on purpose. The senses and instincts of the Disaster Pokémon never ceased to fascinate him, and for a moment, he wondered if he would ever fully understand Absol and how those gifts could be used for Contests. Showcasing Absol’s clairvoyance would certainly be worth it. Perhaps in a battle? That would be the easiest way to prove it, but Drew never much cared for the easy way.
He reached the cabin moments before the snow began to fall. As he entered, the first flakes were drifting to the ground—large and fluffy, like feathers from an Altaria. The cabin itself didn't make much of an impression on Drew. A simple wooden structure, large enough for two people and their teams (provided they weren't Onix or other giants), without electricity, insulated but without a stove or wood, and without supplies. A shelter meant for overcoming an acute problem, not for a long stay. But still better than staying outside in a blizzard. Austere, practical, organized. Perfect.
Thanks to the good insulation, the space soon began to warm up, so Drew decided to let out the rest of his team to enjoy some time together, keep each other warm, and watch the falling snow through the small window. He also planned how to divide their dinner. He had special food for them today.
As he reached for the first of the bags, he reflexively squeezed it in his palm, warding off the longing that threatened to overwhelm him. Pellets mixed with gingerbread spices for Roselia. A Christmas dinner. Another holiday spent only with his Pokémon. Not because he had to… they were waiting for him at home. They had invited him. But he couldn't. He simply couldn't go back. Usually, he didn't mind solitude; he welcomed it. But whenever he reminded himself how nice it was to have those who cared about him around, the loneliness became a terrible weight.
He grimaced sourly. During his travels through Johto, he felt this loneliness ever more poignantly. He had a hunch why. His talented and utterly chaotic rival. The girl with her heart on her sleeve, who seemed as if she were never alone. Even though she traveled Johto without her brother and the rest of the group, she always had new friends around her. And whenever they crossed paths, she somehow always managed to pull him into the moment, reminding him what it was like to live for something other than training and working on performances.
He was jolted from his thoughts of May by a rattling of the handle followed by a pounding on the door. He and his Pokémon immediately became alert. Who could it be in such weather? The pounding didn't stop. The uninvited visitor was now regularly kicking at the door, and muffled curses reached inside through the insulation. Only Absol remained perfectly calm, attending to its bowl of Christmas-cookie-flavored pellets.
Drew signaled his Pokémon to be ready and tried to peek out to see who had come to visit. From the window, it looked like a living snowman or some poor soul who had hellishly angered a wild Jynx. Finally, he decided to open the door, and the snowy wretch tumbled directly onto him. He caught her just in time.
"Thank you so much, the blizzard... I'm freezing..." chattered a girl with a dangerously familiar voice that he heard more and more often, both while awake and in his dreams. He froze completely in surprise and couldn't manage a word. Even his Pokémon seemed surprised, except for Absol, who casually stretched past his trainer and his frozen rival, leaned into the snowdrift outside the door, and pulled out an equally chilled Skitty by the scruff of its neck, with a ball of tangled colored yarn frozen to its fur. Then it just kicked the door shut with a hind paw and returned to its bowl, savoring the last few bites.
"I'm so sorry, sir, I wasn't supposed to be here at all, I was just looking for Pokémon and when I saw the clouds, I really wanted to go back, but Skitty stole my hat and started running... I couldn't leave her here, and then it started snowing and..." May babbled. The snow slowly fell off her and began to melt. Finally, she looked up at him. "Drew?" she breathed, quickly standing up in unfeigned confusion and dismay.
"May?" he finally managed to speak. He would have asked what she was doing there, but she had just told him. One step ahead, just like the whole season, it seemed.
"Is this your cabin? You have a cabin in Johto?" she blurted out before he could think of a smarter question.
"What?" he paused, utterly confused.
"Well, you're here, obviously for a while... We're on Mt. Silver and you're in a cabin..." she tried to explain, talking faster than she was thinking.
"This is a ranger emergency shelter. Not a private cabin," he corrected her quickly as it dawned on him that May hadn't knocked on his door because she was prepared like he was.
"Oh... And the rangers build cabins like this for tourists? For staying overnight and stuff?" she confirmed immediately that she had no idea about the rescue system and that only a lucky chance had led her to his door. He wanted to laugh and be furious at the same time. How could she be so irresponsible? On the other hand... that was just her. A master of improvisation for whom everything somehow miraculously worked out. But if it hadn't worked out this time... He didn't want to think about it.
"If you put half as much effort into preparing for a trip into the wilderness as you do into finding a ramen restaurant, you would have known about it," he snapped angrily. An image of May frozen somewhere in the woods kept creeping into his mind. He didn't want to think about it, but he had to. How could she be so reckless? Only with a great effort did he keep his voice sounding detached.
"Hey! I didn't want to be here! It was an accident!" she defended herself immediately.
"See? I wanted to be somewhere else too, but I prepared because mountains are just mountains! You can't just head into them like you're going to a shopping mall; you have to have a backup plan!" he wouldn't be deterred. In his head, a scenario was playing out where he simply stopped running into May. She would be gone, and he would never know. She could have frozen to death a few steps away from him, and he could have done nothing... Guilt. He felt guilt for something that hadn't happened. He began to spiral back through memories all the way to a certain Veronica Grimes, whom he definitely didn't want to remember.
"Drew? Are you okay?" He realized he had withdrawn into himself only when May's concerned voice and the gaze of those sapphire eyes, in which he could drown, brought him back.
"I'm just asking myself why I keep trying to put some sense into that head of yours; obviously, you have an Abra in your brain teleporting all information right back out," he snapped and pulled away.
"You are so annoying... But what else to expect from someone who’d rather be alone in the mountains on Christmas! Sorry for disturbing your 'mysterious' brooding!" she growled and retreated to the other end of the cabin, where she called out Blaziken to help her and Skitty thaw out with its fiery presence. It seemed any potential debate was cut short. Her words stung. She had no idea, but she had hit the bullseye.
A stubborn, heavy silence was felt by all the Pokémon. Drew and May each sat in their own corner, silent, drowning in their own thoughts, and not even the pleasant scent of the treats could break the unpleasant mood of the group.
Roselia was the first one who couldn't stand it. While May gathered the remains of the ripped beanie from Skitty and began weaving something from the yarn, Roselia walked over to her trainer and quite bluntly poked him between the ribs with a hidden thorn.
"Ow! What the... " he started to get angry, but Roselia just pointed toward May, who was quietly whimpering over the strings of her former hat.
"May? Are you okay? I... I didn't mean it like that," he sighed, regretting his harshness. Ever since Kanto, and maybe even before, she had been on his mind, and he couldn't quite control himself in her presence, which he repeatedly regretted.
"I know," she answered feebly.
"Don't cry. No one's words are worth that," he tried to encourage her a bit.
"I know that too. Harley trained me well," she chuckled, though there were still tears in her voice. "It's just... it's Christmas. The first one I'm spending alone. I was supposed to be at the center now, with other trainers around, calling my family... being with them at least like that, you know?" She finally let out what was truly bothering her.
"And instead, you're just here with me, huh?" he replied, sounding more dejected than he expected. He knew he wasn't the best companion. Especially during the holidays.
"Family is family," she muttered meaningfully.
"Yeah, I understand that," he exhaled.
"Drew?" she addressed him after a moment of sad silence.
"Yeah?" he prompted her.
"Don't you miss them? You're here, according to what you said... you counted on the fact that you might not make it back to town. You... you didn't want to connect with your family?" she asked with her characteristic honesty.
"It's complicated," he replied after a moment of considering how much to reveal. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to finally tell someone, but he was afraid of judgment. Enough words had been said. "I think we've had enough of the blues. Do you have your Bulbasaur with you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Call it out and trust me," he requested. He expected her to argue with him again, but to his surprise, she did exactly what he asked immediately. That warmed him. "When I show you, give it the command to use Razor Leaf," he instructed her further, and then he himself ordered Roselia to use Magical Leaf. The combination of green and red leaf attacks, complemented by the delicate wing-work of Masquerain and Skitty's claws, soon transformed the leaves into beautifully carved snowflakes and other decorations. Roselia even managed to make a chain from connected leaves, which Blaziken and Flygon happily draped over themselves.
"Wow, it's beautiful," May gushed, giving Drew the most radiant smile he had ever seen. "But it's missing something," she grumbled and lunged for her backpack.
"Like what?" he asked, trying to sound offended.
"Treats are part of the holidays too!" she declared firmly.
"Sorry, I'm not a 'Magic Tablecloth'," he replied drily.
"True. You’re not flat enough for that," she smirked playfully, pulling various berries and Pokéblock ingredients from her backpack.
"You know Pokéblocks aren't for people, right?" he teased but went to help her set things out. "And we don't even have an oven here," he added.
"The best part of Christmas isn't getting, but giving, right? And we have plenty of friends here to give something to," she smiled. "And as for the oven, speak for yourself. Blaziken, can you help me? Like we practiced, emergency cooking," she then called to her Pokémon.
"Now I'm in shock. You actually did some preparation?" he prodded, genuinely surprised. Blaziken hadn't played much of a role in his original catastrophic scenarios.
"Of course. If we hadn't found this cabin, I would have called Blaziken and we would have built an igloo to huddle in. I might not enjoy studying mountain maps, but I'm not completely unprepared either," she winked at him, making his heart race.
Instead of a playful reply, he preferred to help crush the berries and mix them. When the mixture was ready, Blaziken took the shaped pieces in its palms and baked them with its own heat. They were more like flatbreads than cubes, but everyone enjoyed them immensely.
"Do you know any Christmas songs? Or stories?" May asked while the Pokémon snacked contentedly and Drew began to think about how to schedule training for the following day.
"Hm? Not really... sorry," he shrugged, trying to maintain some distance. During the decorating and baking, she felt closer and closer to him, which terrified him. But May didn't mind his excuse. In the end, she sang carols alone. He didn't even know she could sing so beautifully. Before he knew it, he joined in and added one of the Christmas stories his mother used to tell him when he was little.
Time passed quickly. They didn't even notice that the blizzard had already stopped and it had grown dark outside. After a while, the Pokémon joined in the storytelling, using pantomime, which led to playing games. It was the best Christmas Drew had had in years, even if he didn't want to admit it. Finally, May and all the smaller Pokémon began to yawn and doze off, so they eventually settled down to sleep.
When Drew woke up, sadness washed over him. He looked at the ceiling and wondered if last night had just been a dream. He wanted so much for it to be real, but he couldn't believe it. Then he heard May's snore. He sat up abruptly. The leaf decorations were still hanging on the walls. In the corner lay May's unpacked Pokéblock-making tools, waiting to be cleaned in the morning snow before being packed away again. It was real. It had happened. With a goofy smile, he fell back into his sleeping bag.
He almost didn't want to leave the cabin, but eventually, they had to go. They couldn't stay there forever. May was looking forward to calling home, and even Drew found the courage to reach out to his parents earlier than usual. They cleaned the cabin together, and when they finally went down to the city and the Pokémon Center and it was time to say goodbye, May quickly pressed something into his palm.
"What would Christmas be without presents? So, Merry Christmas! I look forward to seeing you next time," she smiled and was already running toward some friends she had spotted in the crowd in the dining area.
He stared after her for a few seconds, feeling empty. As if a rare Pokémon that could win him every Contest had just escaped. And then he looked at the thing she had given him. A small, surprisingly skillfully woven friendship bracelet made of yarn from the hat that Skitty had torn apart. From the yarn that had brought them together on that Christmas Eve and given him the most beautiful gift. His heart raced again; the bracelet felt warm in his palm. He looked back at May as she hurried to the videophone, beaming at the screen as it lit up with the incoming call. In that moment, he realized she was the one.