The holidays, yes they were upon the Pokémon world, and everybody was doing their last minute shopping as they got ready for tomorrow. Yes today was the day before Christmas, and in a few hours it would be Christmas Eve, and it showed everywhere. Every radio station was playing Christmas music, and in front of the superstores there were bell ringers from the Salvation Army.
Along the sides of the rode the streetlights were made into giant candy canes with red and white ribbon, and halfway up every pole was a holly wreath. Every store had decorative lights up in every color of the rainbow, and some of the larger businesses such as the hospital and an office building went beyond festive lights. The local hospital did a life sized Manger scene, while an office building across the street created a large Christmas tree on the side of the building with office lights.

A local bible college illuminated everything on their campus, and then some. Every year the wonderland of lights would get larger and larger, eventually becoming a place for lovers to go during the holiday season. Children and adults alike would flock to the annual light show and walk amongst the lights, casting the colors of the world in bright light onto the faces and bodies of the admirers. One would frequently see mates sharing hot chocolate as they huddled against one another, the cold bringing them closer together.

Yes, everywhere you would look you would see holiday cheer, the spirit of Christmas had filled everybody, even those who knew that this Christmas would be a lonely one. That brings us to our main character of this Christmas story. He's a Lucario who had been living with his mother and sister, but still tries to support himself by working and taking advice from his mate, a male Typhlosion that lived almost one and a half thousand miles away. For our Lucario, Christmas was looking to be like every year, a Christmas with his family. Not a lonely Christmas, but still one that he wishes would have some change to it. He had been able to visit his mate earlier that year, which only added to the longing for his loved one during the holidays. He knew his family was there for him, but he still wished he could be with his lover during the holidays.

They had met each other online in a chat room two years ago, and they became almost instant friends. Months went by with them chatting back and forth with one another, and they gradually grew closer and closer to each other. Around Christmas time a year ago they had begun voice and video chatting with each other, and the Typhlosion began to develop a crush for the Lucario.

He liked how cute the Lucario was, and how well he was able to relate to the aura canine. For three months the fire type kept his admiration a secret, the signs of his crush only visible through their chatting, in which they would sometimes role-play in. The Typhlosion would be very affectionate towards the Lucario, and would blush slightly whenever the Lucario smiled at something he had said or done.

His fur of course would hide the blush, and so it was even harder for the Lucario to realize just how much the Typhlosion liked him. Three months after the Typhlosion realized his affection, he asked the Lucario if he wanted to step up their friendship to something more. Much to the fire mustelid's delight, his crush said yes, and their relationship took off from there.

Let's step away from this narration though, and begin the story of how what normally would have been a traditional Christmas, became something special for our Lucario. No, it won't start with some corny "T'was the night before Christmas" type of beginning; it will start where the narration left off, inside of a Grocery on Christmas Eve.
"Ben and Elysa, do you want turkey or chicken for Christmas?" A middle aged Lucario asked her two children.
She had a pair of dark blue jeans on, with a red long sleeve shirt that had a picture of Santa on the front.
"I'd prefer turkey this year, but I can also do chicken." Ben says.

Ben is in fact our main character; he's a male Lucario of twenty years of age, putting him at two years older than his mate, a male Typhlosion named Greg. Despite Ben being older, his mate was much larger than him, and could lift him clear off the ground with some effort
Ben had a pair of jeans on, along his shirt was a black long sleeve shirt with a dragon on the back that had a claw that reached over to the front and crossed his chest, almost looking as if it gripped his chest spike.

Even on the shelves the Christmas spirit was evident, the price tags were in red and green. Over the constant droning chatter of the other Pokémon, one could barely hear Christmas carols being played. Metallic festive ribbons hung from the ceiling, reflecting the light back onto the ceiling in large colored bands of phantom light.
The workers had nametags that had small Christmas trees on them, and they all wore a smile, despite some of them knowing they would have to work through Christmas day. As customers would leave they would wish them happy holidays. This was how it was every year. Everything would don a coat of Christmas cheer, even things that would be sad on Christmas day.

Despite the species difference, they loved each other deeply, and during the short amount of time they were together, they spent every waking moment with one another. The fact that his mate only had a twin sized bed wasn't a problem; they just slept next to each other, their bodies pressed against each other, the Typhlosion in back of course because of Ben's chest spike. They completed each other, and they knew that they wanted to be with each other for the rest of their lives.
"I want a turkey for Christmas mom." Elysa replies, her mind set on more of a traditional modern holiday feast.
She was two years older than Ben, but also shorter than him. Like her brother, she bore the traditional markings of a Lucario, and was dressed for the season with a white long sleeve shirt that had a Christmas tree on the back of the shirt.

"Turkey it is then!" The mother replies as she looks through the turkeys, eventually pulling out a twelve and a half pound turkey.

The turkey is put into the almost full shopping cart that was being pushed by our Lucario. His mind not set on the current task, he accidently bumps the cart into his sister, who lets out a small yelp and scowls at her brother.

"Sorry about that, my mind is on other things." Ben says, snapping back to reality.

In his mind he had been thinking about his mate. Recently the Typhlosion had asked for his mother's cell phone, and our Lucario had been wondering why for the past week. The two had only spoken once, and his mate hadn't told him why he had asked his mom for her cell.
"Watch where you're going then, and no, I won't tell you why your mate has mom's cell number." She replies.

"Oh come on, not even a hint?" he asks with a slight whine.

"No, you'll find out soon though." His mom replies "And I don't want to hear any more questions about why your mate has my cell phone number."

"Yes mother." He replies as he diligently pushes the shopping cart along, the shopping excursion almost finished.

He trudged along, still thinking about his mate. He really wanted to spend this Christmas with him, but his mother wouldn't let him go to spend Christmas with his lover because she wanted to stick to tradition.

As the three canines padded through the food store, the eldest Lucario's phone begins to ring, and she looks at it, and then answers it as she motions to her daughter to put some distance between mother and son.

"Hello?" She asks quietly, that being the only thing Ben heard before the den of voices and music inside of the store drown out her conversation.

Ben tries to listen in, but his obedient sister pushes him along to look at flowers, leading him away from his chatting parent and ensuring that he didn't overhear the conversation. As he is lead away he watches his mother's facial expression change from its usual cheery expression to a more serious and sad look.

She chats for several minutes, Ben being torn away from trying to snoop in on the phone call by his sister. "Which color Poinsettia would look better by the fireplace, red or white?" Elysa asks.

"I'd go with red, it's more traditional." Ben replies, his mind still wandering.

It wasn't long before the mother finished up her conversation over the cellphone and returned to her two children, maybe at most two minutes. Elysa grabs a red Poinsettia and puts it into the shopping cart that had more food than was needed for three Lucario. "Let's go, we got everything we need for Christmas this year." The oldest female says as she walks towards the registers.
Her children diligently follow her to the register, Ben still thinking about his mate, and his mother. He just couldn't get it out of his mind. It was too weird, there had to be something going on between the two of them.
His mother had told him to not question it, and so he didn't. He didn't like it, but he accepted it and moved on with life. It was with that thought that he noticed all of the registers had lines to them, and so they waited.

In the front of the line was a costumer who couldn't understand why her credit card was being rejected. Once she was taken care of, the line moved quickly, and within the next ten minutes they were on their way home.
Once again the older female's cellphone rings, and once again she checks to see who it was. Making a mental note to return the call, she puts the phone in her pocket once more after silencing the ringer, then sending a text message to somebody.

"Who was that mom?" Ben asks, curious as to why she had ignored the phone call.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out when the time is right." She replies with a smug grin.
Night was beginning to fall when the canine family returned to their house. The house was lit up like all of the others in the neighborhood. The colored lights on every house painted the ground a rainbow of colors, reminding all that tonight was Christmas Eve, and tomorrow was a day of rejoicing.

For Ben, he would have more to rejoice than just being with family as his mate, Gunther, was currently flying several miles above the Earth's surface, en route to meet up with Ben for Christmas.

He had been talking with Ben's mother over the phone, talking about a storm that had popped up suddenly. That was the weather where he was from, yes, he was from Oklahoma. The weather there was prone to sudden changes, and frequently did. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to get to his mate's house before Christmas day because of the storm, but his plane had taken off right before the storm had rolled into Tulsa County.

Gunther, was caring and thoughtful, and had pride in his work, not in himself like the stereotypical fire type. At six feet tall, he was taller than most Typhlosions, and he was toned, but not overly muscular. His fur on his back had white specks on it that closely resembled snowflakes falling in the night and belly fur as tan as the desert sand.

As he flew, he smiled at what he had planned for his mate. He was going to give him an unforgettable Christmas present. A surprise visit from him, and then for the rest of his family also he was going to cook breakfast and lunch for the Lucario family.

The mother only knew about him coming out there, and had hid a spare key to the house under the doormat. He was going to get a taxi over to his mate's house, hopefully arriving after his mate fell asleep.

He would land in an hour or so, and he had packed a few extra presents for his mate's family. He got a pair of hoop earrings for the females, and for his mate he had a ring that was bound together with a second ring. On the inside of each ring Gunther had the initials of one of the two engraved.

The rings had been expensive, but the trip and the rings were worth it. Gunther loved his mate deeply, and he wanted to be with him forever. As Gunther flew onwards to the small airport, Ben was showering and getting ready for bed.

His mother had left a bow out on the counter in the kitchen, along with a gift tag. Gunther had planned this out entirely; he was going to enjoy surprising his mate fully.

Yes this was a plan that had some creativity to it, the Typhlosion had to admit. He couldn't wait to see the look on Ben's face when he realized he would be spending Christmas with his mate. He could only imagine that face of surprise and happiness.

Yes, this Typhlosion was going to make one Lucario very happy in less than half a day. He was going to make this his best Christmas, at least until next year when he would find a way to top this year, which would be no easy task.

He smiled as he pulled out his phone and looked down at his background, a recent picture of Ben. Ben was smiling back from his phone as he gazed on it, sighing softly as the phone's battery power saving feature blacked out the screen.

It wasn't long before he landed and picked up his cell phone once more "Hey, I'm getting off of the plane right now, is Ben asleep?" he asks Cathie, Ben's mother.
"He usually is around this time." She replies "Let me check though."

With a clacking sound he hears the phone get put down as Cathie goes to check on Ben. Moments later she replies "He's asleep, come on over."

"I'll be there in a few minutes." He replies "Thanks again for letting me do this; I have to go now though, I have to get my bags and get a taxi."

"See you in a few minutes; just don't ring the doorbell or knock, just come on in. In the garage is a large box that has been flattened that you might be able to fit in if you want to actually become a present for him. I would recommend waiting on closing yourself in it though. There is a bow tie and present tag on the kitchen counter."

Over at Ben's house, everything was quiet. Cathie had placed a ban on Ben coming out into the living room. She didn't want his surprise being spoiled after all. He had protested, but when threatened to have his internet removed he stopped whining, and obediently went into his room.

Half an hour later, the front door opened, and in stepped a large Typhlosion. "Is he asleep?" The Typhlosion whispers.

"Hi Gunther, I can go check if you want me to. He's going to be so ha" Cathie replies.

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it, if he's asleep I don't want to wake him up, and if he isn't he'll get suspicious." Gunther replies. "You said you had a box though, do you mind showing it to me? I want to get it in here and wrap it up; I'll leave the top two flaps not taped together so that I can still breathe."

"Sure thing Gunther, I trust you know where the garage is from the last time you visited Ben?" She replies.
"Yeah I do, if you can get some wrapping paper down here I should be able to do the rest." Gunther replies, his voice a bit giddy.

He was excited about the idea of actually wrapping himself up. His mate would be so surprised when he got the biggest present this year. In addition to that, it was something new that the Typhlosion had not thought of.
Curious as to if he could actually fit in the box, he pads out to the garage, and sure enough, a large box about half the size of a car was in the garage, lying flat to conserve space inside of the two car garage. With a smile he picks up the box and carries it into the house. It was a challenge to maneuver the box inside of the home, as the hallway out to the garage involved a turn in it, but he made do, and a minute later was standing over the flattened box in the living room.

He kneels and begins forming the box, putting the flaps together. Once finished with making it, he could see that the box would be big enough to fit him. Now it was just a matter of taping it together and wrapping it up in the festive paper that the Lucario mother had placed next to the Typhlosion.

"We're going to need some tape also, you got any around here?" Gunther asks.

"Let me go get it." Cathie replies, walking off towards the garage.

It was a mere half minute she was gone, soon returning with some clear packing tape. "This should work." She says as she hands it to Gunther.

"Thanks." He replies as he begins to tape up the box, making sure to make as little noise as possible.

Being quiet was a necessity since he didn't want his mate to know he was in the house already. It was only a few minutes of taping, and the box was ready to be wrapped up. The paper was simple but festive, red and green with small snowflakes on it.

Gunther made sure that as he wrapped the box up that he didn't close off the top of the box. That part would need to be done by Cathie, as he didn't want to be caught sleeping by his Lucario lover.

It took at least half an hour to wrap up the box without making much noise. It was done though, and before him was a box that would easily fit the Typhlosion. "I'm going to sleep in the box tonight; do you have any spare bedding? I just need a pillow and two blankets and I'll be fine for the night." Gunther asks as he gets the gift tag and puts on it "To Ben, from Santa."

"I'll go get them, you sure you don't want to sleep on the couch? It would be more comfy." Cathie asks after returning with a pillow and some blankets.

"I don't want him to see me until he opens the present, so to ensure that I'm going to sleep in the box." Gunther replies.

"If you say so, might get a bit tight in there." She replies.

"I'll be fine, just make sure I can still breathe after you tape up the box." He replies as he puts the gift tag onto the box. "Also make sure you put the bow on the box."
"I will, don't worry about that." She replies.

"I'm getting tired, so I'm going to go to sleep now." Gunther says as he lays the presents he had bought for the two female Lucarios and his mate under the blanket.
He lies down and covers up in the blankets, hiding the jewelry near his stomach. With a smile Cathie says "Goodnight Gunther." And closes the box, then tapes it shut, making sure that there was a long slit in the box so that the Typhlosion that lay within could breathe.

A few seconds later the finishing touch to the box is added, a large red and green bow that is placed above the gift tag. Gunther had a bit of trouble getting to sleep that night, the thought of what would happen tomorrow almost too much for the Typhlosion to go to sleep.
He did finally fall asleep though, and he slept peacefully until the next morning upon which he was awoken by a male voice yelling "It's Christmas and I got the biggest present!"

Gunther smiled as he heard that voice, he knew there was only one other male in the house, and that was his mate. With a soft groan of disapproval of being woken up, Elysa walks into the room and says "That's nice Ben, why don't you open that one first when mom gets in here?"

"That's what I plan on doing. I want to see what she got me that could be this big." He replies.

"Go ahead and open it up Ben, I didn't get it for you by the way, check the gift tag." An older female voice says.

"Santa doesn't exist though, it had to be you!" Ben replies after leaning down and checking the gift tag.

Gunther barely kept himself silent as he looked up at the male Lucario through the slit in box. He could see his mate's deep crimson eyes look down, and he smiled. He knew that it would be mere minutes before the Lucario would see that she really hadn't gotten him the present.
Gunther shifted and pulled the blanket above his head, hiding his entire self, spreading out as much as he could to disguise his unique body shape. In the blanket there was a bulge where the jewelry was.

With a slicing sound, the tape was removed by Ben and the flaps were opened. Moments later Gunther felt his mate's paws on his head to remove the blanket from his head. "A life sized replica of Gunther?" he asks confused.

Elysa and Cathie just smirk, they knew what was coming up for Ben. It would only be a few more seconds until Ben got surprised by his mate. Gunther remained motionless until his arms were free, then he made his move.

He reached up and pulled Ben on top of him and kissed him on the lips, catching Ben completely off guard. The kiss was a quick one, and once broken Gunther said "Merry Christmas Ben."

Ben was taken aback for a few seconds, and then started laughing as he got up off of his Typhlosion lover. "Now it all makes sense." He says with a smile. "You were talking with Gunther about him doing this weren't you mom?"
"Yup, that's why he wanted my number. He had this all planned out." Cathie replies.

"And I'm not just a gift, but a gift giver also. I got something for all of you." Gunther says with a smile as he gets up with the jewelry boxes. "Ben gets the first one though."

With a smile Gunther hands the necklace box to Ben, and then hands the earing boxes to the two females. "Merry Christmas everybody." Gunther says after handing out the gifts.

Then he turns to Cathie and says "Also, thank you for letting me do this."

"You're welcome Gunther; I know that Ben wanted to see you this Christmas but I also wanted to have one last Christmas with him before he moved in with you, and so when you suggested this, it was the perfect idea, and so I said yes to this occurring."

"I'm glad you let it happen mom, this alone would have been a good enough gift for me." Ben says as he hugs Gunther.

"There are more presents for you Ben." Elysa says as she opens up the box, then says "Thank you for the earrings Gunther, they're beautiful."

"You're welcome Elysa, I saw them after I talked the idea of me visiting Ben for Christmas and I knew you and your mother would like them, so I bought them for you as gifts." Gunther replies "Now let's get the rest of the gifts open, I'm sure you all want to see what you got."
Indeed they were, and they went back to opening presents, Gunther taking pictures every so often to remember the day.

They had fun throughout the day, and Gunther made lunch for them, a second gift to his new family. The house was aglow with merriment and joy, and everybody enjoyed each other's company.

Yes, this was a marvelous Christmas for the four Pokémon. Ben and Gunther cuddled for most of the day, the only exception of course being when Gunther cooked a very tasty turkey and chicken for Christmas lunch. The day was one of happiness and joy mixed in with laughter here and there. Yes, this was how Christmas was supposed to be, not lonely, but with those that you care about most.Chapter End Notes:Instead of a poll question, I'll just say this. Merry Christmas everybody.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, and is applicable for all consecutive chapters that follow.