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A soft snow drifted down listlessly to the earth, slowly piling up enough to sheet the ground and roofs of buildings in white; the trees, long since bare, also collected their share. The houses had lit their hearths to stave off the chilly air; winter was once again upon the land.
To the pokémon of the small town, it was just another day, albeit one where you could see your breath and had to bundle up for. A Pichu, Clefairy, and Nidorino built a mini snowmon, a Furret couple was tussling in the snow in what was the town’s park; and many of the town’s youth played over the frozen pond.
While they played, the mature pokémon walked the streets going about their business, running errands or working their jobs. For those that couldn’t stand cold paws, a Mamoswine sled service made rounds around the town, letting pokémon hop on and off as they pleased. Late morning crawled into midday as the citizens went about their day.
The members of one of the local guilds, however…
“Would ya lazy asses quit yer foolin’ ‘round? We’ve got stacks a year-end paperwork to be filed!” barked the guild’s loudmouth accountant.
The guild base was alive with activity it rarely saw. Pokémon ran to and fro, working hard on their tasks and mostly ignoring the angry Buizel. A dusk Lycanroc was busy in the kitchen with mixing bowls, bakeware, and an amount of food only seen during times of celebration. An Umbreon with mottled black and gray fur and many scars hovered around her; quietly helping himself.
Finally, two Glaceon worked around a large fir tree. One used her frost breath to form specific shapes, while the other did his best to hang them from the branches with only his mouth.
“We’ve still got a week, Fergus; one day isn’t anything to lose it over,” Myra said, putting bread into the oven.
“Ya don’t seem too concerned, lass! Might I jog yer memory that if we don’t get this done, we can’t operate? No guild, no jobs; no jobs, no money! We’ll be on the streets beggin’ fer scraps!”
“Not today, we won’t~” she said before glimpsing one of her fresh-baked cookies being pilfered. “Sydney, if I catch you stealing again, I’m gonna lay you out!”
“Cool it, bitch, I‘m just borrowing it,” he snapped.
As another quarrel started, the female Glaceon sighed. “There they go again… They can’t keep it together for one day; sorry that they’re ruining the celebration,” she said, ears folding.
The male Glaceon laughed, almost dropping the bauble in his mouth before he hung it. “It’s not like that at all, Chloe. Stuff like this happened all the time; we’re getting the authentic experience.” His words allowed her to perk up a bit.
There was a loud clatter that startled them both. Sydney rushed out of the kitchen before lying down and rubbing his head.
“What happened?” asked Rowan, who couldn’t see from behind the tree.
“I think Myra threw a pot at him,” Chloe pondered. Rowan couldn’t stifle another laugh.
Sydney picked it up and growled. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”
Chloe finished another ornament in the vague shape of a snowflake, and Rowan took it in his mouth. “We could use another set of paws if you aren’t busy, Sydney,” she said.
“What are you even doing?” he asked, making Rowan feel slightly self-conscious.
“It’s called a Christmas tree; you decorate it with ornaments and put a star on top to celebrate Christmas.”
Sydney scowled. “This looks ridiculous. Trees belong outside, the human does, too; and what the fuck is ‘Christmas?’”
Chloe sighed. “We’ve been over this; Rowan is a member of the guild, and he deserves to feel at home here, so we can partake in his traditions, too. Besides, it seems fun!”
“No,” he said. …but if I could get that tail, I think I—”
“Sydney! Fuck off, or you get the cast iron pan!” Myra shouted from down the hall.
“This doesn’t concern you!” Sydney took a seat near the wall and observed the other two eeveelutions as they worked, satisfied that Chloe’s face was as red as a tamato berry.
His eyes caught a glimmer in the candlelight, it was a star made of yellow glass.
“M-maybe we should ask Vrid to help us; his psychic powers would be useful, wouldn’t they, Rowan?”
“Yeeeah, but I don’t want to take advantage of him like that.”
Chloe stopped blowing another bauble to look at him. “You know he’s taking advantage of you, right? He’s fascinated by your very existence; he’d probably be glad to help if he got to learn more about you and your customs.”
They both heard glassware shattering; they both looked to find the floor covered in sharp, sparkling glass shards before the Umbreon.
“Oops,” he said.
Rowan had had enough of this pokémon. “You did this on purpose!” he shouted, getting off the stool to confront him to his face.
“I did not! I just wanted to look at it, and it fell off the table!”
“You’re so full of shit, Sydney.”
Chloe pushed her way between the feuding boys, looking to Rowan. “We can go back to town; I’m sure the Claydol would be happy to make another one.”
Rowan broke his stare-down with Sydney to look at the floor. A star is the ideal piece to top the tree, but he got to thinking, maybe there were more options; this was the pokémon world, after all; he could take some liberties in the spirit of the holidays. “I have another idea. What if I went to the gem cave up north and grabbed one of those? I should be back by the end of the day.”
She cocked her head. “The gem cave? That’s not a good idea; rumor has it that a powerful feral lives in there.”
Her warning gave him pause. All he heard about that place was that there were pretty crystals and gemstones there, nothing about it being potentially dangerous. As great as those rocks sounded, did he really want to risk injury for this?
He looked over the pokémon before him. She was already special in her own right being a shiny Glaceon, but she also had small, thin patches of white fur on the tips of her ears, the tassel-like appendages beneath them, as well as her tail. They reminded him of the frosted-over glass on chilly mornings.
‘Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe her,’ he thought. He needed something to top the tree, but also because he had nothing to give as a gift! He doubted anyone else was actually going to be exchanging gifts, given that they’ve all been stuck at the guild pushing paper, but to Rowan, it would be criminal for him not to at least have something to give Chloe.
That settled it in his mind; he was going. Sydney, however, took his silence as hesitation.
“What’s wrong, mister ‘I beat a veteran battler?’ Having second thoughts?”
Rowan glared at him. “If you could keep your mouth shut for five seconds, you would’ve heard me say that I’m going.”
His paw gestured to the guild’s front entrance. “Alright, go on, then. In the meantime, I think I’ll spend some quality time with our leader,” he said, bumping Chloe with his shoulder.
“The way you treat her like a hunk of meat is appalling.”
“It matters none. You’re not worthy; know your place.”
As much as he wanted to stay and knock him down a peg, he had to get to the gem cave; Sydney could be dealt with later.
“I’m on call, so I can rescue your sorry ass when you don’t make it back,” Sydney said as Rowan passed by.
“Great, might as well be as good as dead… again,” Rowan muttered as he picked up his go-bag with all his supplies.
He stopped at the entrance, however; he didn’t consider one crucial detail…
“You have no clue how to get there, do you?” Sydney asked.
Rowan’s paw scratched at the floorboards. “No,” he admitted.
“I’ll come with you,” Chloe said, leaving Sydney’s side and grabbing her own supplies. “I know the way.”
Sydney scoffed. “You’re trusting a human as an expedition partner?”
“Yes,” Chloe said tersely.
“You don’t have to do that,” Rowan insisted. “Just point it out on the map and I can make it by myself.”
“What kind of leader would I be if you went on an expedition alone and something happened to you? I know they’re just rumors, but what if they’re true, and you can’t handle the feral? No, I’m coming with you.”
Sydney growled. “He doesn’t know the first thing about how to keep the team safe; you’re better off having Fergus as a partner.”
“How is he supposed to learn? This is a bit much for a first mission, but the way he handled himself at the arena suggests he’s more than capable.”
“You’re being foolish, Chloe, and I’m forced to keep you from making this mistake; I’m going, too.”
This was not going as planned. All Rowan wanted was to go, grab some pretty-looking stones, and return, but now it’s turned into a day trip for half the guild. They could’ve been using this time to run an actual job rather than help him with his Christmas shopping, so to speak.
Ignoring his objections, Sydney grabbed his things and led them out and into the snow.
‘Well, at least Myra will have some quiet time to do her cooking,’ he thought.
The snow crunched under their paws. It was still morning when they left, but now was well into the afternoon. Snowflakes had stopped falling, and the clouds allowed a glimpse of the sun occasionally.
They were traversing what had been the marshlands; normally not traversable, but was now easy with the mud being frozen solid. The pokémon that lived here had long since migrated or gone into hibernation, leaving a rather empty landscape; it reminded Rowan and Chloe of Rowan’s first day in this world, but not nearly as harsh as that blizzard.
Chloe passed the time by admiring all the snow; she loved everything about it: the texture, the coldness, how it blanketed everything… She wouldn’t mind spending all day out here, but they weren’t out to goof off, they were out to find something in the gem cave for Rowan.
Rowan… She’d been… quite strong with him lately, but thankfully, he didn’t resent her for it; she suspected Myra had something to do with it after they had gone to the bar when they met. This pokémon was a source of many strange new feelings; she surprised herself at just how possessive she acted.
Her eyes found him walking beside her. She didn’t blame herself in the slightest. He certainly was unique and… attractive. What immediately struck her was what looked like strange runes that ran across his flank and down his tail. They were unlike any she’d ever seen before; he claimed he didn’t know what they were, either. On his back, instead of the usual dual diamonds, there were multiple sets of smaller diamonds in a tessellating pattern. What caught my eye most about his appearance, however, was his crown, which instead of a solid blue, was iridescent; mixing the light into a lustrous mix of color.
A sharp blush came over her as she noticed she’d been staring; refocusing on the trek ahead of her. It wasn’t just his looks that caught her, either. He tended to be quiet and reserved, but once one got beneath that, they found how personable and easy to talk to he was, and that was when they found a heart of gold. He had a habit of putting others too far ahead of himself, but she could admit that she respected the determination to right wrongs for his friends.
It embarrassed her to admit it, but these were all traits she found suitable in a potential mate. She had overseen many pokémon at the guild, but none of them made her feel that way.
‘Something about that Glaceon…’ she thought.
Beyond the marshes, it became a barren tundra. This region was notably colder and more hilly, which naturally led to the formation of caves, like the one they were looking for.
The three of them arrived at the entrance to a large, but otherwise nondescript hole in the earth. They dropped their packs for a brief respite and something to satisfy their growing hunger.
“Hearsay says the cold helps with the formation of gemstones, and the mountains are rich in minerals,” Chloe said.
Rowan listened raptly as he finished an oran berry. “So you’re saying there could be more of these caves around here?”
“Theoretically, but this is the only one that was ever discovered.”
Rowan went against himself and reached for another berry. He was normally quite sparing with supplies in case someone else needed them, but he had the feeling he’d need the energy.
“You could probably make a fortune if you sold the gems back in town; have you considered that?” he asked.
“Only everyone and their mothers,” Sydney cut in. “It takes all daylight hours just to get here and back; you know how much rock you’d have to haul back just to turn a profit? More than you’d be capable of, that’s for sure.”
The Glaceon wanted to spit at him, or flip him off, or do a multitude of things his pokémon body just wouldn’t allow him to do anymore; he settled on glaring at him.
In short order, everyone was back on their paws and moving into the mouth of the cave. It was dark, but the glow from Sydney’s rings was plenty to guide their way; allowing them to dispatch a small group of Dwebble.
“Your choice of a partner would’ve left you scrambling in the dark, Chloe,” Sydney sneered.
“I brought candles, Sydney,” she retorted.
He pointed to the pile of unconscious ferals. “You’re really going to fight with a candle in your mouth? No.”
Chloe shot him a deadpan look; he sighed. “Let’s just get this over with; I’m tired of looking at this freakshow.”
His rage was building again, but Chloe stepped in. “It’s hard to believe you would talk about any pokémon like that.”
“He isn’t a pokémon, Chloe; he’s an unnatural thing. Look at him! He looks like a spawn of Giratina! If you were wise, you’d let me end this here and now and go back to the guild with me.”
Rowan was ready to accept his challenge; Chloe once again saw this and batted him away. “I will not tolerate any fights between our members.”
“Tch.”
A Diglett popped out of the ground to their left; Chloe took it out with Ice Shard before it could attack, and they moved on.
The group fell into silence, remaining vigilant for any more aggressive ferals. The cave forked into separate paths multiple times. With no clue where to go, they hugged the left wall, making it easy to find their way back and impossible to get lost.
Sydney couldn’t crack it in his mind; why did Chloe insist on hanging around this imposter? She could have a powerful male in him any time she wanted; she didn’t even have to ask, but she clearly saw something special in the human.
He was sure special, alright, and what made him special was exactly why he should be taking a dirt nap.
His rings continued to light their way. They were deep into the cave at this point; the cave itself looked no different, but the feral attacks grew increasingly sparse. He wondered whether the rumors were true.
He snorted. He hoped the rumors were true, because then Chloe could finally understand the mistake she’s making and come to her senses.
Might made right, and what was right was him claiming her as his rightful mate.
That put a pep in his step!
They began picking up on noises echoing off the walls; faint, but getting louder. They sounded like they were coming from the unexplored chambers ahead of them.
As the noises grew closer, it became clear there was a fight going on, and it sounded nasty.
Scrapes; a boom; a wail; a thud.
A deafening roar flooded the cave, reverberating as it bounced off the walls and forcing the team to the ground to cover their ears.
Suddenly, two large Ursaring rushed them from their front! …but they paid the explorers no mind, running past them and toward the direction of the entrance. One of them left behind a trail of blood, looking quite worse for wear.
It was a small relief that they didn’t have to face such formidable creatures, but that also meant facing what caused them to flee like that.
Missing only a few beats, they pushed onward until they came to a chamber where a soft glow emanated from within. They couldn’t believe what they saw: the chamber was huge! The ceiling had to be fifty feet high and the diameter easily twice that. All over the walls were vibrant crystals and evolution stones, large and small, causing the whole room to glimmer.
They couldn’t admire their find, though, as the resident was hard to overlook. It was a pokémon that none of them had seen before: a Salamence. If they thought the Ursaring were large, this pokémon was easily the size of both of those pokémon combined.
Luckily, it hadn’t seen them before they pulled back behind the corner. “What are we going to do? That pokémon is huge,” Chloe whispered.
Rowan nodded. “I, for one, do not want to fight that thing. I say we wait for it to go to sleep and take what we want and get out without provoking it.” Chloe hummed in agreement.
“You’ve gotta be joking me. You don’t think we can handle that? I could take it on myself,” Sydney said.
“Are you insane?!” Chloe whisper-shouted.
“Maybe to you, dear, but you underestimate me.” He rounded the corner and strutted into the chamber. “Watch and learn.”
The two Glaceon watched in horror as Sydney went in and challenged it solo, exuding nothing but pure confidence in his actions.
The Salamence’s eyes tracked the Umbreon as he approached; likewise, Sydney sized it up. From what he could gather from the two Ursaring, the sounds he heard, and the scars on the battlefield marking the recent fight, he had an idea of the capabilities of his foe.
‘Let’s put a stop to it right now,’ he thought. “You think I’m scared of you? Please. You see these scars? The pokémon that gave them to me would eat you for fucking lunch, lizard.”
The Taunt landed easily, even though he doubted this feral understood a word he said. There was no more threat of them being sent away by its ear-splitting Roar.
It opened its mouth, gathering purple energy before sending it his way.
‘Dragon Pulse,’ he thought and deftly dodged right. There was a loud BOOM as the attack hit the earth, sending splinters of rock everywhere.
Sydney closed the distance, getting up close and personal to deliver a nasty Night Slash across its chest. Its scales were tough, though; absorbing the shock from the blow well. It would take some effort to bring down with physical attacks.
The Salamence tried to rend him with a Dragon Claw, but the explorer was too nimble, hopping out of range before reengaging with another Night Slash. ‘Being quick and hard to hit are key.’
The fight went on for several minutes; meanwhile, Rowan and Chloe made use of the distraction Sydney was creating and looked for a good gem to bring back and top the tree. Their searching was inefficient, though, as they kept an eye on the spectacle that was Sydney’s battle. He was one of the best fighters the guild had ever seen, and it showed with the prowess on display.
The Salamence tried another Dragon Claw. The attack would paint the Umbreon all over the cave walls… if it landed. Instead, he jumped over it and delivered a wicked headbutt straight to its face; the Foul Play left the feral dazed, and he followed immediately with a Night Slash to its exposed underbelly, sending it down to the hard cave floor.
Ever the showboat, he walked around the back of the feral and addressed his other teammates. “I don’t know what you were afraid of; it ain’t nothing. In fact, I think I should be in charge of things with how hard I kicked this monster’s tail!”
He saw their expressions of awe wilt to horror; he had no time to react.
A harsh impact to his side sent him flying into a large yellow crystal. He felt the distinct pain of being electrocuted before falling to the ground in a heap.
He wasn’t done, though. It would take more than that to put him down. He just had to get up… Get… UP!
His limbs wouldn’t respond.
Rowan and Chloe watched in horror as the Salamence stood up and hit Sydney directly with a Dragon Tail, like it was swatting a gnat. The crystal couldn’t withstand the impact; it shattered, sending yellow shards everywhere. Electricity arced from his body; he glowed so brightly they had to avert their eyes.
“The larger crystals must contain elemental power,” Chloe said, shielding her vision.
Then, Sydney was on the ground. Latent static electricity danced across his disheveled fur. The Salamence pressed toward him, but he wasn’t getting up.
“He’s paralyzed,” Rowan said.
“We’ve got to help him now,” Chloe said, running toward danger; Rowan following.
Being this close to something of this size was unnerving, but they didn’t have a choice anymore; Sydney got himself in major trouble.
They weren’t going to get there in time; the Salamence now loomed over their incapacitated teammate.
Thinking fast, Rowan gathered the frosty blue energy in his mouth and shot the ensuing Ice Beam at Sydney, praying to Arceus that his plan would work.
It hit, instantly dropping his temperature. ‘What the fuck was he doing? How could he miss the giant dragon standing over me?!’ Sydney thought.
Quickly, the energy coalesced into solid ice, building around him and freezing him solid. The dragon didn’t even acknowledge what was happening, going in for a bite to finish him, but when it bit down, the only thing its jaws found was a thick layer of ice. Some of the ice chipped away, but the pokémon within was safe and sound, albeit cold.
Shards of ice pelted its body, making it wince. It hated the cold, and whatever was responsible would feel its fury.
The Salamence turned its attention toward them, and it sure wasn’t happy. It forgot about Sydney and lumbered toward the two Glaceon instead.
‘Well, Sydney’s safe, but now we have to deal with this thing!’ Rowan thought.
Chloe hurled another Ice Shard at it. They hit it, but it only seemed to make it angrier. It lunged, using its huge wings to close the distance quickly.
“Split up,” she said and gracefully bounded away from Rowan while he stayed center; he felt like he was staring down the barrel of a gun.
‘You can do this; you’ve taken down an Arcanine; you can handle this Salamence.’
Rowan considered encasing himself in ice armor like he did against Logan in that fight, but decided against it; he’d need to be nimble and rely on his reflexes.
The feral stuck its neck out and tried to bite him; unlike its other attacks, this one was quick! Rowan was lucky and jumped over it; startled at the aggression. The beast then flinched as Chloe hit it with an attack from behind.
‘It’s going to try that again,’ Rowan realized. Why wouldn’t it? It almost took his head clean off. Cold energy began building over his sharp teeth. ‘I’m ready for it this time, though.'
As he predicted, another Bite came; again, he jumped it, but this time into the Salamence where he delivered an Ice Fang right to the throat before disengaging.
It cried in pain, the move leaving a patch of frost on its tough scales. The male Glaceon didn’t take his eyes off his enemy, circling it; looking for an opening.
It charged a Dragon Pulse, but it wasn’t looking at Rowan, instead throwing its head over its shoulder and firing behind itself.
“Eek!”
“Chloe?!”
He ducked his head, looking underneath his enemy and saw her picking herself up off the ground. It didn’t look like she was seriously hurt.
In blind rage, he went in for another Ice Fang, but was met with the sharp claws of the dragon, forcing him back. Deep lacerations went down his side, bleeding profusely.
“Rowan!” he heard to his left; Chloe was there, looking deeply worried.
“I’m okay,” he grunted. Using Ice Beam, he built a layer of ice over the wound, stopping the flow and numbing the pain, if only momentarily. He couldn’t take another hit like that; he had to be smart.
The Salamence lumbered forward on short, stumpy legs; it couldn’t move very fast, and it had quite a bit of mass.
He had an idea. He stopped attacking it directly and instead fired Ice Beams at the ground below it, creating a fine layer of slick ice underfoot. Chloe realized what he was doing and began doing the same.
Soon, the center cave floor was a slick hazard. The two Ice-types had little issue navigating the difficult terrain, but the Salamence…
CRASH
The plan was working; the mighty beast was on its stomach, legs trying and failing to get back under itself; leaving it wide open to attack.
Rowan loosed another Ice Beam, scoring an easy direct hit. He was about to do it again until a fierce wind whipped up and the temperature in the chamber plummeted. The epicenter was the female Glaceon, quickly being surrounded by snow and ice crystals, made from the frozen moisture in the air and carried by the gale around her.
Then she loosed it; the wind roared as it sent everything at the dragon.
It was an onslaught, one that it tried to withstand by sheltering itself with its wings, but it was too much. After the attack died down, the walls were coated in snow, and the Salamence was unconscious.
Rowan sat in awe. “Wow,” he said simply. “So, uh… hey, could you teach me how to use Blizzard?”
She giggled. “Maaaybe. You’ve still got a lot to learn about being a pokémon.”
Their gazes fell on their teammate, still frozen solid. “We should probably get him out of there,” Chloe said.
“It’ll take a while to chip it all away; you got anything in your pack?”
“No, I’ll check Sydney’s.”
Rowan's eyes caught something unusual in the far corner of the cave; a giant orange crystal where the snow from the Blizzard was already melted in a large area around it.
“Hey, that crystal is giving off a lot of heat; help me push him over there,” he called.
It wasn’t hard to do since the ground was frozen; now was a waiting game, which Rowan passed by collecting the shards of the crystal Sydney got tossed into. The shards flickered with latent electric power.
‘They’d make good Christmas lights,’ he thought.
He brought everything back to the others. “This crystal must be why the Salamence took up residence here; makes a good heat rock.”
She nodded. “You know, I keep underestimating how smart you are tactically; it’s no wonder you defeated Logan.”
“I surprise myself too, honestly. I’m more of a ‘work harder, not smarter’ kind of guy; I made things work by sheer force of will. Maybe a little more had changed about me than just my appearance.”
“Well, you look great, so if the changes were anything like—” She stopped mid-sentence, a fierce blush settling on her face. She said that out loud, didn’t she?
Rowan also blushed, remembering what Myra had told him their first night drinking: she liked him, and her Freudian slip proved Myra not to be a liar.
Embarrassed, they both went back to searching, pretending like that hadn’t happened. Chloe’s paw dusted away the snow where a faint red shimmered through. Underneath was a vibrant fire stone. She’d never seen one that glowed so brightly!
“Rowan, will this do?” she asked. Rowan was just as shocked at her discovery. “That’ll work great!” he said. They worked together to chip it free from the cave wall and put it in Rowan’s pack.
With that out of the way, now he needed to find something nice for Chloe. He kept searching until—.
“Ouch,” he complained. He stepped on something sharp. Using his paw, he brushed away the snow; what he saw was…
‘Wow, this is beautiful,’ he thought and without debate, quickly harvested it. Making sure Chloe didn’t notice, he discreetly slipped it into his pack. ‘It’s too perfect; I almost hate to give it away.’
When Sydney thawed out, was out like a light. “Darn, I kind of wanted him to be awake so I could gloat. There’ll be plenty of time for that when we get back, I suppose,” Rowan said. He was resting on his side while Chloe tended to his wound; it looked bad, but nothing Sitrus juice couldn’t help with.
Chloe had him stand so she could wrap him up with bandages. She had a hard time keeping herself together as her paws touched his body, but she made it through without incident.
“Alright, how do you want to do this?” Rowan asked. “We’ll probably need to drag him home.
“I hadn’t thought of that…” Chloe admitted. “Any ideas?”
“Hmm… he’s too heavy with all our things; we can’t carry him. I brought some rope, but we can’t literally drag his body through the snow. We can’t wait for him to come around, either; who knows when the Salamence will wake up.”
He kept pondering until he thought back to the fight, specifically when he blasted Sydney with an Ice Beam.
He had an idea.
The last vestiges of daylight were gone as they reached the guild. Myra and Fergus sat outside awaiting their return.
Myra laughed. “Now that’s not what I expected to see today,” she said.
“N-not one more f-fucking word from you!” Sydney seethed, having woken up during the trek back home. He was on his side; his entire self—minus his head—was once again frozen in a block of ice. Wrapped around him was the rope Rowan brought, with the other end tied around the Glaceons’ bodies, allowing them to tug him home like sled dogs. It made the ordeal much easier than he could’ve hoped, as the block glided over the snow with little resistance.
Rowan undid the rope around him and dropped it. “Alright, let’s get him inside and warm him up.”
While the rest of the team tended to Sydney, Rowan and Chloe finished decorating the tree and mounted the makeshift tree-topper. It was a task to get it up there, but with a dangerous combination of a table and a stepladder, Rowan was able to make it work.
They took a step back to admire their work: a tree, adorned with ice ornaments, flickering crystal shards, and a brilliant fire stone ‘star’.
Chloe’s eyes lit up. “Wow, I never thought something like a plain old tree could be so pretty to look at! Is this a good representation of what it looked like from your world?”
“Yup, even better than I hoped it could be,” he responded.
“So, what happens next for ‘Christmas'?”
Rowan stood up. “I’d say it’s time for a Christmas dinner; I hadn’t properly eaten all day, and smelling whatever Myra made is damn near torture.”
“I could get behind that; pulling Sydney all the way back was exhausting, heh. Let’s go.”
Plates packed with mounds of food awaited them at their usual spots at the table. Berries were in abundance, so they were incorporated into most of what Myra made, from the guild-favorite sour sitrus bread, to the simple fruit salad, though one couldn’t refuse the bowl of roasted chestnuts. It took effort to hold themselves back so that they could enjoy the still-steaming pecha berry pie for dessert.
Fergus had busted out the liquor, which the guild enjoyed in abundance, especially Sydney, who seemed intent on drinking away the events of the day.
Everyone listened attentively as Chloe recounted tales of their journey… as attentively as they could manage, that was. Chloe had a low tolerance for alcohol, so she took it easy; someone had to tell the tales, after all! Her friends especially loved hearing about their run-in with the Salamence.
While she was talking, Chloe hadn’t noticed Rowan wasn’t among the group anymore; half of his food was still untouched.
‘Where’d he run off to?’ she wondered, and excused herself from the table of her drunken guildmates.
He wasn’t hard to find; he was back in front of the tree working on something she couldn’t see.
“There you are. I was wondering where you snuck… off… to…” He had moved out of the way, revealing a box now sitting under the tree. “What’s that?” she asked.
Rowan sat down in front of her. “Well, after everyone ate their dinner, that’s when the family exchanged presents, although I’m fine with it being just you here… I didn’t really get anything for anyone else, but I don’t think they’re in much of a state to care, anyway.”
“Oh, so that one’s for…” Her voice faded off, but he put a paw to her chest.
Rowan chuckled. “Yes, it’s for you.”
She approached and eyed it up; it wasn’t a large box, but she was curious. Anything could be inside; she had to know!
“Yeah, it doesn’t look like anything special, but I could only find that box lying around, and the lack of wrapping paper kinda left me no choice but to put it under the tree as is.” He didn’t think she appreciated the gesture.
She smiled. “You misunderstand; you didn’t have to get me anything, but I’m grateful to receive a gift from you, whatever it may be.”
Without fanfare, she opened the flaps of the box; inside was a small cluster of quartz… but none of them were the same color! She could pick out each color of the rainbow on an individual bud, and then the colors between those!
“Wow! You fond this at the gem cave?” she asked, loving the way it reflected the candlelight.
“Yeah, I kind of… stepped on it; glad I did though, I thought it made a good memento of our outing today.”
“It is! It’s so pretty! Thank you, Rowan!”
“Anything for you,” he said, a bit more quietly this time, though.
Chloe gently sat down the cluster. This was the moment; she wouldn’t let it escape her. “You know, the tradition is to exchange gifts, so I got you one of my own,” she said.
“You didn’t have to, but… when did you have time to—”
His words died in his mouth as he felt give him a peck on the cheek. He felt his fur standing on end in surprise.
When she pulled away, Rowan was stunned into silence; they both just stared at each other for a minute, faces completely flushed.
“I don’t care what anyone else says,” she muttered. “You’re one of the nicest pokémon I’ve ever met, and every moment I spend with you is like a dream I don’t want to wake up from, so I hope you can forgive me for coming on so strong, but it would’ve been a terrible mistake to lose my courage here.”
Rowan’s mind was television static. She had made him undone; he didn’t know what to say, so he settled with an admission. “I'm glad you came with me to the gem cave; I would’ve been mincemeat if you weren’t there to take down that dragon.”
“We did it together! You don’t have to feel like everything falls on your shoulders; we’re all a team, so stop acting so damn selfless all the time…” She leaned her head on his chest; her voice became hushed, like she was concerned someone would hear. “You’d give your soul if someone needed it…”
“I wouldn’t give that to just anybody… but I’d give it to you,” he said, whispering.
Their faces inched closer; they closed their eyes…
Fergus’ voice suddenly boomed from the dining room. “Wait just a minute! Ya mean ta tell me that cha went to the gem cave, and ya didn’t bring anything back to sell at market?!”
The two Glaceon shared a look, still blushing hard.
Rowan found his words. “Heh, you might wanna put that away… for safekeeping.”
Chloe laughed. “I think you’re right. C’mon, I think I know the perfect spot for it,” she said and led them both back to her quarters, leaning against each other; their tails flicking with residual excitement. Neither was sure where this would take them, but they could accept it just for now; there would be time to ponder it tomorrow.