December

"Red."

Red hums, but Green can tell his attention is elsewhere—namely on Snorlax as the pokémon tries to master some kind of elaborate move.

Green huffs, folding his arms, partly in annoyance and partly to shield himself from the cold mountain air. "Are you even listening to me?"

Red hums again.

"Are you coming?" Green asks.

Red turns to him, finally. "Where?"

Green blinks, frowns, scowls. "The Christmas dinner? That my sister is hosting this year and that I already told you about? Red."

For a brief moment, Red looks like he's thinking about it. Then he turns back to his pokémon, shrugging.

"Oh for—Red. Come on. It's Christmas. Everyone is gonna be there. I think even Leaf might show up this year."

"It's always Christmas here," Red says.

"It's always snowing here," Green snaps back. "Not the same thing."

"I need to train," Red says.

"You really don't," Green mutters, his words lost under Snorlax's thundering footsteps. "Your mom is gonna be there. She's looking forward to seeing you." It's playing dirty, Green knows, but sometimes you need to pull a filthy move when your opponent is a master of stubbornness.

Red's shoulders tense under his jacket. "Who else?" he asks.

"Me. Daisy and the boyfriend, obviously. Gramps. Your mom. Leaf, if we manage to track her down. She's even worse than you are." Red turns back to him and Green smiles. "You, at least, stay in one place."

"That's a lot of people.”

"That's literally seven people, including you. Barely enough to fill our dinner table."

Red grimaces, the corners of his mouth pulling down and his brows drawing together. "I need to train."

And the thing is, Green is cold and tired and his mood is plummeting with each refusal. He kicks at the snow. "Fine," he says. "If you want to spend Christmas alone and miserable, be my guest. Or not, I guess," he says. He falls silent, staring at the back of Red's head.

Snorlax's eyes are closed and Green would think he was asleep if it weren't for the way his head turns left and right, his attention divided between Red and Green. Red says nothing.

"Okay. I'm leaving now." Green takes one step back and stops. "Bye."

Red waves, and Green's shoulders slump.

- - -

"So?" Daisy asks Green when he calls her later that night, after getting home. "How did it go?"

It's December, and the landscape underneath Mt. Silver doesn't look much different from its peak. It's just slightly warmer and there's much less snow. The neighborhood around the Viridian Gym is decked out in bright lights, but besides the huge blow up dolls of Stantlers and fat Santas, Green is alone as he walks home. Even Eevee is hidden in her Pokeball, not fond of having wet feet.

Green sighs. "He's not coming." He keeps his voice light, nonchalant. Like he doesn't care.

Daisy is quiet. "Oh," she says, in the end. It's hard to tell over the tinny sound of the phone, but she sounds disappointed. Surprised. "I really thought… Red's mother wanted him here. She is going to be… Oh, well."

"Yup," Green says. "Guess we can't always get what we want."

— — —

Life goes on. The holidays creep up on Viridian City with all the usual fanfare of the Christmas season. Before Green knows it, Christmas Eve is upon them and Green is expected to make the short way home.

Red is nowhere to be found.

He and Green talk, if texting can be considered talking. They talk everyday, sending quick messages about training techniques and diet tips for grass type pokémon living in sub-zero temperatures.

Green is bitter, but civil. He's not going to beg Red to come. He has a small present—limited edition Ultra Balls with a pikachu theme that he hopes will make Red's eyes crinkle around the edges, and some pokémon vitamins he knows Red will appreciate. He leaves it under the small spruce branch he has in the living room.

'merry christmas,' he texts Red before he locks up his apartment, a duffel bag full of presents for the rest of the family slung over his shoulder.. 'if that means anything to u,' he adds, along with an emoji of a freezing face and a snowflake.

Red doesn't reply.

Well.

The trip is short, but uncomfortable enough that Green thinks about nothing but the cold. He's oddly excited—for the food, for a few evenings without having to run the gym and dealing with trainers and the league. For seeing his small, extended family. Yes, even his grandfather. Kind of. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

Red is as far from his mind as possible.

Pallet Town is as it always was—a bit lost in time, and very serene. The snow is fresh and white, unstained by the traffic of bigger towns like Viridian. Everyone must be home for the evening already—most of the houses are lit with garland lights, red and blue and yellow, painting the entire town. Even Gramps' research lab is decorated, but the windows are dark tonight.

This time of year does the town's name justice.

Green still has the keys to his childhood house so he doesn't need to ring the bell, thankfully, and he hurries inside, barely even wiping his shoes. There's snow stuck in his hair and the scarf that's wrapped around his neck, but once he opens the door the inside of the house is toasty, and smells of roasted chicken, of cinnamon and oranges. There's also an uncharacteristic amount of noise—a cacophony of voices and laughter not often heard in the Oak household.

Green leaves his presents in the hallway and makes his way to the living room, releasing Eevee from her ball. "Yo," he says as he enters, as loud as he can. The voices quiet for a moment as the occupants of the house all turn to Green.

There's Daisy, her hair up and face red as she sets the table with her lanky, nerdy boyfriend, who has a business degree and no interest in pokémon. He seems to genuinely love his sister, though, so Green is willing to forgive him.

There's the Professor, seated at the head of the table already, face flushed and a glass of wine in one hand, looking slightly surprised to see Green, as if he forgot he existed. Red's mom sits next to him, smiling wide and obviously already tipsy.

Leaf is lounging on the sofa, legs crossed, looking tan and happy, the world's smuggest smirk on her face as she watches Green.

And next to her—Red.

Green stops in his tracks, jaw falling. He can hear Daisy and Leaf laughing, but he can't take his eyes off Red, running through every conversation they had in the past two weeks. "You," he says, and Red waves at him. "You! You said you weren't coming."

"I changed my mind," Red says and stands up, crossing the room. He stops short of hugging Green, close enough that Green can feel his breath on his cheek. Red smells vaguely of mulled wine.

"Oh?" Green says. "And what made you change your mind?"

Red shrugs. "I didn't want to spend Christmas alone and miserable," he says, and there it is—the little expression that Red makes when he's amused, when he's happy, that crinkles his eyes and makes his cheeks bunch up.

"Right," Green says. Then, quietly, he adds, "I'm sure your mom is really happy that… that you're here."

Red nods, but says nothing. He keeps watching Green like he's waiting for something.

"I left my present for you back home," Green says. "As in, in Viridian."

Red nods again. "I'll come pick it up tomorrow," he says. His voice lilts towards the end, like he's not sure, like it's a question.

"Yeah," Green says, "I'd like that."

There's a noise from behind them, and when Green looks over Red's shoulder, he sees Leaf laughing into her drink, watching them. He glares at her and grabs Red by the wrist, dragging him towards the sofa.

"You!" he says and plops down, tugging Red down beside him—the couch is small and he ends up squished between him and Leaf, who lets out a surprised little 'oof'. "I'd say it's nice of you to finally grace us with your presence, except that you're already being annoying."

"Get off," Leaf says, and pushes at him, "get off. Off!"

A grin settles on Green's face and doesn't leave—not as Red's mom pours him a glass of punch, not as they sit around the table stuffing their bellies with food, nor as he watches his family unwrap their presents.

He grins and grins all the way through the evening, until the alcohol mellows him out and he and Red end up sitting on the couch alone, leaning into each other, warm and fuzzy and tipsy on punch and spicy hot wine.

Happy.