Hey guys! So in celebration of the Christmas season and the holidays to come, I present to you, a Pokemon Christmas one-shot! And yes, I know Christmas isn't here yet, but I don't care!

Also, a quick update: Pokemon: Rise of Evil has been put on hold for a while because 1) I have major writer's block and 2) I have exams and Christmas shopping to do, while also trying to catch up on Gotham. But no worries, RoE should be out by this week.

Anyways, on to the story!

"Hurry up, May! Ash is going to be here any minute!" Max yelled up from the first floor.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Just need to wrap this up…" His older sister yelled from her room, the sounds of frantic shuffling echoing from upstairs.

Max sighed. He knew he should have reminded May to wrap her presents before the guests arrived. Well, to be honest, he had. He just didn't realize she would procrastinate and leave it to the last minute to wrap the presents she had.

"Max? Where's your sister?" His mother Caroline, who had just appeared from the kitchen, asked. Max was about to answer, until a loud THUD sounded from upstairs, followed by a torrent of choice words.

"Do I need to answer that?" Max asked, as Caroline sighed.

"I thought she would have known better than to wait till the last minute before wrapping the presents." Caroline remarked, before removing her kitchen gloves. "I'm going to help her."

"You might want to hurry, Mom. We don't know how long until they…"

Ding dong!

"…crud. Just go, mom. Dad and I will help entertain them." Max raced out of the living room while Caroline scaled the stairs.

Upon opening May's room door, Caroline nearly went into shock. The entire room looked like it had been upended by a tornado. Magazines and Pokedolls littered the floor, May's bed looked like she had just gotten out of it, and her table was upended.

In the corner of the room, May was struggling with Munchlax for a rectangular object, trying to pull the gift out of Munchlax's mouth.

"LET GO, YOU!" She yelled as with one final tug, she pulled the present out of Munchlax's mouth and grip. Disappointed at not being able to appease its hunger, Munchlax tried to run out of the room, until May threw a Pokeball at it. Instantly, the blue Pokemon was warped into its ball.

May sat down, panting with exertion. It took her a while to recover, but once she did, she noticed just how messy the room had become, and her mother standing at her door.

"Um…" She tried to explain.

"Don't worry about it, May. We'll clean this up later, but right now can we go downstairs? The guests are here." Caroline waved her hand dismissively.

"They're here!" May grabbed her gift-wrapped present and zoomed out of the room, straight to the living room.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed enthusiastically as she saw her close friends Harley, Drew and Morrison.

"May!" Harley returned the enthusiasm, racing forward to hug her. Drew and Morrison replied with "Sup?"

After breaking away from the hug, May quickly noticed someone was missing. "Where's Ash?" she asked.

"Ummm, he got a little sidetracked." Morrison replied sheepishly. "Something about grabbing something for someone."

"Knowing him, he's probably off battling somewhere." Drew replied snarkily.

"Drew! Come on, he knows how about this occasion is! He's always late anyways!" Harley, upon noticing May's disappointment etched on her face, admonished, hoping to cheer her friend up.

Her words seemed to do the trick, as May laughed, "That's true. Ash hasn't ever been on time for any of these parties."

"Hey, what's that?" It was then Morrison noticed the present in May's hands.

"It's a present, duh." Drew replied.

"Don't be rude, Drew!" This time, it was May who scolded him, before racing to place the present under the Christmas tree. "It's Ash's present."

"So, whatcha get him?" Harley enquired.

"It's supposed to be a secret, Harley. You guys will just have to see it later when you guys open your presents too!" May replied.

The group found a spot to sit and started chatting, describing some of their recent experiences. May joined in, but inside, a part of her was unhappy. Sure, it was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but May was just sad that Ash still wasn't here…

Almost instantly, the doorbell rang again.

"I'll get it!" May got up and raced to the front door.

Standing outside was just the boy she was hoping to see.

"Ash!" She exclaimed, before hugging him.

"May…I can't…breathe…" It was then May realized she had been hugging him a little too tightly.

"Oops, sorry!" She apologised, before releasing him from her bear hug. Ash sucked in a deep breath.

Once he had caught his breath, he faced her, "Sorry I'm late. I was grabbing something…"

"Doesn't matter. You're here now!" May was still extremely excited, and immediately pulled Ash into the house, slamming the door behind her.

"Ash, my bro!" Morrison was the first to see him, and immediately came over, "Brofist!" Ash returned the favour in kind, saying, "Nice to see you too, Morrison!"

"Well, the prodigy returns."

"Drew!" Everyone except Ash yelled.

After Ash had placed his presents under the tree, the group continued chatting until Caroline called from the dining room, "Dinner's ready!"

"Alright, I'm starving!" Morrison exclaimed, as the group made their way to the dining room.

Dinner was hearty, to say the least. By the end of it, most of the teens were so full they couldn't move.

"Presents!" May, who had somehow managed to eat as much as the group and still remain energetic, grabbed Ash and Morrison by the wrists and pulled them to the living room.

Drew and Harley looked at each other.

"That girl's psychotic." Drew remarked.

"For once, I agree." Harley replied.

"DREW! HARLEY! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE NOW!"

"I pity whoever ends up with her." Drew told Harley, as he pushed himself out of his chair. Helping Harley, they both made their way to the living room.

It was close to midnight. Most of the group had fallen asleep, except the ever-energetic May. She was miserable.

She hadn't gotten anywhere in her plan.

As May stared at the sleeping bodies around her, she wondered how it had all gone wrong.

The group had opened their presents eagerly. Most of the gifts were cool and some were even really useful for Pokemon. May had requested Ash to open her gift last, without explanation. In reality, she had hoped her gift would really surprise Ash.

It had, but not in the right way.

She had given him a photo album, full of photos of her adventures with him. There were a lot of them, and each one had showed them smiling and basically enjoying the journey.

"May, this is…beautiful." Ash had replied, and May had inwardly cheered.

Great! Now I just need to play my cards right, and hopefully…

"I've gotta send a picture of this to Serena!"

For May, it was as if a Tyranitar had stepped on her. She felt her world crashing down.

She hadn't spoken to him since. There hadn't been a reason to. Instead, she had avoided him like the plague, her carefully-made plans completely ruined.

"May?"

That voice could have only belonged to one person, and it was the only person she did not want to talk to. She turned away from the voice, ignoring it.

"May?"

Still no response.

"May, come on, talk to me."

"Stop it, Ash." May turned away even more.

"Jesus, May. What brought this on? I want to know."

"What brought this on? What brought this on?" May suddenly turned toward Ash, and even in the dark, Ash could have sworn he had seen fire blaze in May's eyes.

"Do you have any idea—ANY—how much I wanted this? Do you know how much I missed you when you were gone? Do you know how I felt about you?" May's anger, which she had kept down and festering, exploded outwards, raising her pitch and her voice.

"May…"

"No, don't interrupt! I need to get this off my chest. Ash, ever since we met, there was just something about you, something unique, that made you unforgettable in a good way. I wanted to tell you how I felt, but at that time, I wasn't sure if it was a phase or not, but now, I know how I felt. I was going to tell you. I wanted to tell you today. Then you had to mention this 'Serena' girl."

"What's Serena got to do with it?"

"Everything! You obviously hold her in very high esteem, something that you never seemed to have for me. You know how it pains me to hear you talk about her like that?"

There's an uncomfortable silence, until Ash breaks it.

"Are you…jealous of Serena?"

May rolls her eyes, "No, I love her with all my heart. Of course I'm jealous!" May yells, angry tears welling in her eyes. "It's obvious you like her, maybe even love her. And I know that no matter what I say, you'll obviously still like her in a way that I do, but you will never reciprocate for me!" The bank breaks, and tears well down May's face as she is overwhelmed with emotions.

Silence fills the air, and when Ash speaks again, his voice is almost as soft as a whisper.

"May…Serena's my friend, nothing more. We met when we were kids and were close, but that's it. You don't have to feel threatened by her. And besides…" Ash breaks off.

"What?" Through her misery and anger, her curiosity gets the better of her.

Ash lifts a finger to her face, wiping away a tear. She looks up to see him smiling down on her.

"I've got my eye on someone else." He replies, before leaning in.

May's brain tells her to pull away, to move away from him, but her instincts tell her to move in, to close that distance between him and her, to press her lips to his, to profess her love for him…

The kiss is a gentle one, no lust, just passion and emotion as the two teenagers embraced and pushed their bodies against each other, their kisses sharing what they felt at that moment. May feels the tears streaming down her face, but these are tears of joy, not anger or sadness.

When they reluctantly break away, Ash looks into her face. Despite being tear-stained, she is easily the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"It's you, May. It's always been you." He tells her. May joyfully kisses him again.

When they come apart, he whispers, "Merry Christmas, May."

"Merry Christmas, Ash." She replies.

"Just get a room, you two."

"DREW!" Morrison and Harley yell. The two lovers, however, don't care, too caught up in their attention only on each other.

Merry Christmas, everyone! This is a gift to all Advanceshippers out there! Know that you are not alone today.

And also, Merry Christmas, Jie and Mum!