Pokémon Hoenn for the Holidays (one shot)

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Spoiler: Author's Note

Written last year and only finally cross-posting here, Hoenn for the Holidays is sort of a spiritual sequel to my other Hoenn League holiday fic, The Gift of Giving. There's some nods to the events of that one, as well as small references to events covered in the Short Stories Collection. None of it is required reading prior to this fic, but readers familiar might get a few extra smiles out of it by the end. Thanks so much for checking this fic out.

Summary: Glacia introduces her fellow Hoenn League members to a new holiday tradition. As expected, it goes smoothly without any sort of shenanigans whatsoever.

Hoenn for the Holidays
~*~ a Hoenn-verse holiday one shot ~*~
​

Phoebe was perched on the couch in the lounge at the League headquarters with a broad smile on her face. The League was having a small get-together before their holiday recess. The room was decorated with festive ribbons and garlands, and even though there was no snow in Hoenn’s forecast, the room still held a warm and cozy atmosphere.

A small evergreen decorated with shining baubles sat to the side of the hearth. Beneath its branches sat five presents, wrapped in various kinds of festive paper. One for each Elite; one from each Elite, as Glacia had suggested.

“This was such a good idea, Glacia!” she chirped, rocking forward on cris-crossed legs to admire the decor. “We’ve never had a celebration like this before.”

Glacia stood from where she’d lit the fire in the hearth and returned Phoebe’s smile. “I’m glad you all were on board. It’s a Sinnohan tradition to share little gifts like this to help brighten spirits in the dead of winter.”

Phoebe giggled. “And after the fiasco Steven pulled last year…” she trailed off, and Glacia gave a good-natured huff, brushing a hand against the rainbow stone tucked in the brooch at her neck.

“Yes, well, we certainly didn’t want a repeat of that.”

“A repeat of what?” Steven asked as he came into the room, Sidney and Drake right behind him.

Rather than answer, Glacia fiddled with her brooch with a bit more intent, and gave the Champion a thoughtful hum. “You’re looking rather healthy this year,” she said pointedly, instead.

The realization struck, and Steven at least had the sense to look embarrassed. “Ah, yes. That.”

“Don’t worry, lad,” said Drake, clapping a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “We won’t hold it over your head for too much longer. New year an’ all that.”

Sidney laughed before letting out a low whistle as he looked around the lounge. “Wow, Glacia, you went all out with this.”

“Thank you, Sidney,” she said, tipping into a small curtsy. “It’s the least I could do for my home away from home. Now, since we’re all here, shall we get started?”

Drake needed no further invitation to grab a seat in one of the armchairs around the fire. He sat down with a small groan and pulled out his pipe. “Sounds like a grand idea t’ me.”

Sidney slid onto the couch next to Phoebe, while Steven chose the armchair opposite Drake. “Remind us again how this works, Glacia?” the Champion prompted.

“Of course,” she said, moving to stand next to the festive tree. “You may have heard of this kind of gift exchange by another name; I believe they call it a White Cufant in Galar. But in Sinnoh we simply call it a Sinn’an Swap. Taking turns, each person chooses a gift to unwrap. They then have the choice to either keep the gift, or swap it with someone else’s. This continues until all of the gifts have been opened.”

“Ohh, how do we choose who goes first, then?” asked Phoebe, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Glacia tapped a white gloved finger to her chin. “Hmm, there’s various ways to decide. Age, seniority, or maybe it’s easiest if we just use our current League order.”

“That last one sounds good to me,” said Sidney, already standing up from the couch.

Steven glanced around at the group. “Any objections?”

Drake quirked an eyebrow as he puffed on his pipe and shook his head.

“Nope!” chimed Phoebe.

With Steven’s gaze landing on her, Glacia simply bowed and made way for Sidney to approach the tree. “Go right ahead,” she said, before taking a seat at the far end of the couch.

“Hell yeah,” said Sidney, crouching down in front of the array of gifts and rubbing his hands together. “Alright, which one should it be?”

One was tall and skinny, but not too thin. Another was small, neatly wrapped with a blue bow. The other three were similarly rectangular, and none gave away what sort of goodies were hiding beneath their festive trimmings.

“Gotta go with this one!” Sidney announced, rising to show he’d selected the tall, thin gift.

Facing the group, he tore into the paper, and his eyes went wide. With one final rip, the paper came away to reveal a bottle of fine, amber whiskey.

“Holy shit, definitely keeping this one!” Sidney crowed with a pump of his fist. “Not like I can swap with anyone anyway.”

“Not yet,” said Glacia, with a mischievous glint in her eye, but Sidney was too excited to notice.

“Wow,” he said, admiring the bottle in his hands as he took his seat back on the couch. “Thanks guys!”

Drake’s mustache quirked up at the corner. “Yer welcome, lad.”

Steven chuckled. “Ah, of course that would be yours.”

Drake simply shrugged and puffed his pipe, tipping his hat towards the tree. “You’re up next, little lady,” he said to Phoebe.

“Oh!” she said with a small gasp, and darted off the couch. Without hesitation she reached down and plucked a gift out from under the tree. “This one!”

Kneeling in front of the fire, she proceeded to unwrap it, only to peer down at the open box in front of her with a puzzled expression.

“Are there supposed to be presents inside the present?”

Phoebe brought two things from the box; one small and slim, the other flat and rectangular, both individually wrapped with more of the same paper that had covered the outside of the gift.

Sidney stared for a second before tipping back in his seat with a laugh. “Oh man, that’s good.”

“Hmm. That’s not typical, but, well, keep unwrapping I guess,” said Glacia, seemingly just as puzzled as Phoebe.

But the latter’s puzzlement was fleeting as she set to work unwrapping her gift for the second time. Finally getting her fingernail under the seam, the first of the mystery objects was revealed to be…

“Is that… a pencil?” said Steven, leaning forward to get a better look.

With a rip, the second mystery object came free, and Phoebe giggled. “Perfect for this, apparently.” She wiggled the sudoku book in the air.

Sidney laughed even harder. “Too bad you didn’t get that one, Boss. But wait, isn’t there somethin’ else in there, Fee?”

“Oh, right!” she said, pulling out one more wrapped mystery item from the box. Giggling, she unwrapped the last part of her gift to reveal… “More alcohol?”

As Phoebe held up the small bottle of clear liquor, Sidney tried to hide his wince at the slight disappointment in her tone.

“Well,” said Steven, “I suppose if used in conjunction with the rest of the present, that would make the sudoku more of a challenge, even with the pencil.”

Glacia looked on as Phoebe collected the items of her gift back into their original box. “You can always choose to swap if you want,” she said, a bit sympathetically.

“Nah, that’s okay,” said Phoebe with a cheerful smile. “Sidney can keep his present. Besides, I can use this to practice and finally get better than my Gran at sudoku.”

“Alright,” said Glacia, rising from the couch. “It’s my turn then.”

She hummed to herself as she contemplated the remaining presents. “I think I’ll choose this one,” she said, rising with the small, blue-bowed gift in her hand.

The ribbon slipped off with ease, and with gentle tearing, the paper came away to reveal a small padded case, almost like a jewelry box. Glacia’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and she carefully lifted the lid of the case, only for her expression to fall completely flat.

She spun the box so the rest of the group could see. Nestled inside the soft velvet interior of the box was a brown, rocky lump. Not just any brown, rocky lump. One that looked an awful lot like coal.

Sidney’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull, and he had to plaster both hands over his mouth to keep from laughing. “Holy shit,” he squeaked out between his fingers. Even Drake sat upright in his seat at the shocking twist of a gift.

“What. Is this?” Glacia’s tone held a deadly chill.

“Well, from here it looks like a sample of bituminous—”

Steven was drowned out by Sidney’s spluttering laughter, and Glacia turned her icy stare to him. “You did this, didn’t you? You thought it would be funny to pull a prank like this.”

Sidney waved his hands defensively, “No, that ain’t mine, I swear!”

“Then what’s so funny?”

“I mean, c’mon, you gotta admit—” Phoebe smacked him on the arm. “Ow!”

For a moment, Glacia stared at the offending lump in her hand in silence, before an evil grin spread over her features. “You know,” she began a little too sweetly, “I think I’d like to swap this gift with someone else’s.”

She stared right at Sidney, and her smile grew wider, more predatory. It took Sidney a minute to notice; he was still nursing the spot Phoebe smacked him. He paled when he finally realized where Glacia was looking.

“Wait, what? Me? What, no! Aw man, c’mon! Glacia, don’t do this,” he pleaded.

“Rules are rules,” she said, sauntering up to the couch. She stood in front of him with the coal in one hand, and the other palm upturned, gesturing for him to relinquish his present to her.

Sidney only hugged his bottle of whiskey tighter. “Glaciaaa,” he whined. “You don’t even drink!”

“That you know of,” she replied, reaching out and plucking the bottle from his grasp. He didn’t resist. Instead he simply stared, dumbfounded, at the box that was deposited in his lap in return.

Steven looked on, slightly apprehensive. “Ah, hang on, didn’t you say this little get-together was about spreading holiday cheer?”

Rather pleased with herself, Glacia sat back down on the couch. “You’re right, Steven. I did. And I feel quite cheerful now, actually.” She adjusted her posture, unruffled. A picture of proper lady-like grace. “Well then, who’s next?”

“Already on it,” said Drake, rising from where he’d claimed his gift from beneath the tree. Amusement twinkled in his eye as he began to unwrap it, hardly even looking at the gift in his hands before he made his way over to Glacia.

“From one of the old guard to another, I’ll do yah a favor,” he said, holding out the freshly-revealed basket of homemade cookies. “Something tells me you’ll appreciate this more’n me.”

Glacia’s eyes widened when she saw the cookies, and she smiled warmly up at Drake. “Looks like your sailor’s intuition was right,” she said, handing the whiskey bottle over.

As Glacia cradled the cookies in both hands like they were made of the finest porcelain, Phoebe beamed with pride. “I made them with my Gran this morning.”

Somehow, Glacia’s smile grew even warmer. “Mm, and you know how much I love your Gran’s baking. Thank you, Phoebe.”

A low chuckle came from Drake as he sat back in his armchair, stowing the whiskey on the floor by his feet. “Can’t say I expected to end up with my own gift in all this, but it’s worth it to see the joy on the lass’s faces.”

“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Sidney, plopping his chin in his hand.

“Hey, it’s not over yet,” said Phoebe, rubbing a soothing hand on his back. “There’s still one more gift, and that means one more possible swap!”

Sidney slouched forward, groaning into his hands. “Thanks Fee, but you’d have to be crazy to want to swap anything for a lump of coal.”

“Guess that makes me crazy, then.”

“Whu—?” Dumbly, Sidney sat up, only to be greeted by the smiling Champion and an outstretched offering of the final gift; a bundle of tea and hot chocolate, wrapped in a fine silk scarf.

“I’d be happy to take that coal sample off your hands,” said Steven. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Sidney blinked. “What? No, I don’t mind. Why would I mind?”

“Good, good. It’s a nice scarf, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no sample of bituminous coal.”

“Wait a minute…” began Glacia. “The last gift was mine, a traditional Sinnohan ‘keep warm’ bundle. If the cookies were Phoebe’s and the whiskey was Drake’s, and if Sidney denies it was him, then that means the one who put the coal in was… Steven?!”

“Ah,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Guilty as charged.”

It was Glacia’s turn to blink in surprise. “Can’t say I expected something like that from you. But in hindsight, I also can’t say I’m that surprised.”

Drake grated out a coarse laugh in a puff of smoke. “Ha, looks like the Champ has a sense of humor under that all that seriousness.”

Steven’s smile turned a little more lopsided. “Well, after last year, I didn’t want to cause trouble again, so I figured this year I would be a little selfish. I’d wanted a coal sample from outside of Motostoke for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to treat myself, as it were. Knowing there would be swapping involved, I didn’t see anyone willingly swapping for a piece of coal, so it felt like a safe gift to put in the pool.” He laughed nervously. “I guess I didn’t quite manage to avoid causing a stir after all. Sorry, Sidney.”

The dark-type trainer sunk back in his seat, shaking his head with a disbelieving grin. “You’re killin’ me, Boss.”

Beside him, Phoebe’s brows scrunched up in thought. She tapped a finger against her knee. “Um, Glacia? Is there a rule that says we’re not allowed to share our gifts?”

“Hm, not that I’m aware of,” she answered with a hum, curious what was on the younger trainer’s mind.

“Perfect,” said Phoebe, pulling the bottle of liquor from her gift box and tucking it into Sidney’s drink bundle with a wink. “Just make sure you share some of the hot chocolate with me, alright?”

Sidney grinned, raking a hand through his hair before resting it on the back of the couch behind Phoebe. “Ha, you got it, Fee.”

“I have to ask, though. Why the sudoku?” Steven pondered, giving his coal one more fond look before closing its case for safekeeping.

Sidney gave a one-armed shrug. “I tried to find something everyone would like, and I remember you all talking about sudoku before.” He scratched the side of his head. “And, uh, I couldn’t remember if Drake said he did sudoku too, so I threw the liquor in there just in case.”

“How thoughtful of you,” said Glacia, actual sincerity in her voice.

That brought a grin to Sidney’s face. “Hey, I thought so.”

“So,” Drake began with a puff of his pipe, “can we consider this Sinn’an Swap a success?”

“Mm, I think so,” said Glacia, contemplating the cookie in her hand fondly.

“Can we do it again next year?” asked Phoebe, practically bouncing in her seat.

Glacia smiled before offering the cookie basket to the Champion. “As long as Steven promises not to put another rock in.”

“It’s a tall order, but I think I can manage.” Steven said with a laugh, tipping the cookie in his hand towards the rest of the group. “Happy holidays, everyone.”

The sound of a cork stopper coming free sounded in reply. Drake grinned. “Aye, I’ll drink to that.”

FIN

(Inspired by this post)​

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Heya, was swinging by to pick off a oneshot and a name from my list of authors that I wanted to make a point of getting at least one review in for before Review Blitz ended, but… a spiritual sequel to The Gift of Giving, huh? That’s certainly a blast from the past, but I remember having had a good time with that one-shot, so let’s see where this sorta but not quite sequel to it goes:

Spoiler: Line-by-Line

Phoebe was perched on the couch in the lounge at the League headquarters with a broad smile on her face. The League was having a small get-together before their holiday recess. The room was decorated with festive ribbons and garlands, and even though there was no snow in Hoenn’s forecast, the room still held a warm and cozy atmosphere.

Wait, but would there ever be snow on Hoenn’s forecast given that it’s supposed to be a tropical region?

A small evergreen decorated with shining baubles sat to the side of the hearth. Beneath its branches sat five presents, wrapped in various kinds of festive paper. One for each Elite; one from each Elite, as Glacia had suggested.

That actually makes me wonder if Hoenn is outright in the southern hemisphere in your take on Pokéworld, since if so, that would mean that their Christmases would happen in summer like it does for Australians IRL.

Though I can already tell that this gift-giving is going to lead to shenanigans, since color me skeptical that everyone didn’t just give stuff that reflected their own specific type theming.

“This was such a good idea, Glacia!” she chirped, rocking forward on cris-crossed legs to admire the decor. “We’ve never had a celebration like this before.”

Glacia stood from where she’d lit the fire in the hearth and returned Phoebe’s smile. “I’m glad you all were on board. It’s a Sinnohan tradition to share little gifts like this to help brighten spirits in the dead of winter.”

Sidney: -motions around at the tropical weather outside-
“Um… I think we’re kinda missing the ‘dead of winter’ part right now, just saying.”

Phoebe giggled. “And after the fiasco Steven pulled last year…” she trailed off, and Glacia gave a good-natured huff, brushing a hand against the rainbow stone tucked in the brooch at her neck.

“Yes, well, we certainly didn’t want a repeat of that.”

A part of me kinda wonders if there should’ve been a bit more description of stuff like mood shifts and things like that up to this point, but I presume that this one-shot is both kinda closed book and that it’s written in a similar style as your general collection of Hoenn vignettes and one-shots, so I won’t bag on it too much in this review.

“A repeat of what?” Steven asked as he came into the room, Sidney and Drake right behind him.

Rather than answer, Glacia fiddled with her brooch with a bit more intent, and gave the Champion a thoughtful hum. “You’re looking rather healthy this year,” she said pointedly, instead.

You sure that this is a spiritual sequel to The Gift of Giving? Since I distinctly remember that Steven was sick in that one-shot.

The realization struck, and Steven at least had the sense to look embarrassed. “Ah, yes. That.”

“Don’t worry, lad,” said Drake, clapping a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “We won’t hold it over your head for too much longer. New year an’ all that.”

Sidney: “But it’d be funny to hold it over-”
Phoebe: “Sidney, no.” >_>;

Sidney laughed before letting out a low whistle as he looked around the lounge. [ ] “Wow, Glacia, you went all out with this.”

Okay, this part, I do wonder if it’d have made sense to stop and smell the roses a bit more description-wise. Especially if Glacia went as far as trying to personalize the Christmas decorations to reflect the different members of the E4 such as Polynesian-esque ornaments for Phoebe, ship stuff for Drake, and rocks for Steven or something like that.

“Thank you, Sidney,” she said, tipping into a small curtsy. “It’s the least I could do for my home away from home. Now, since we’re all here, shall we get started?”

Drake needed no further invitation to grab a seat in one of the armchairs around the fire. He sat down with a small groan and pulled out his pipe. “Sounds like a grand idea t’ me.”

Drake: “Even if I still say that we could’ve held this party on my ship. Why we could stay out on the water until New Year’s and watch the fireworks over Mossdeep!” ^^;
Glacia: “Yeah, no. Not after what happened the last time I was on your boat.” >_>;

Sidney slid onto the couch next to Phoebe, while Steven chose the armchair opposite Drake. “Remind us again how this works, Glacia?” the Champion prompted.

“Of course,” she said, moving to stand next to the festive tree. “You may have heard of this kind of gift exchange by another name; I believe they call it a White Cufant in Galar. But in Sinnoh we simply call it a Sinn’an Swap. Taking turns, each person chooses a gift to unwrap. They then have the choice to either keep the gift, or swap it with someone else’s. This continues until all of the gifts have been opened.”

Oh boy, a white elephant exchange. So, who’s going to be the poor soul that gets stuck with Phoebe’s homemade poi?

“Ohh, how do we choose who goes first, then?” asked Phoebe, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Glacia tapped a white gloved finger to her chin. “Hmm, there’s various ways to decide. Age, seniority, or maybe it’s easiest if we just use our current League order.”

“That last one sounds good to me,” said Sidney, already standing up from the couch.

Steven glanced around at the group. “Any objections?”

Yeah, I can already tell that those shenanigans are imminently inbound.

Drake quirked an eyebrow as he puffed on his pipe and shook his head.

“Nope!” chimed Phoebe.

With Steven’s gaze landing on her, Glacia simply bowed and made way for Sidney to approach the tree. “Go right ahead,” she said, before taking a seat at the far end of the couch.

Famous last words, all of you.

“Hell yeah,” said Sidney, crouching down in front of the array of gifts and rubbing his hands together. “Alright, which one should it be?”

One was tall and skinny, but not too thin. Another was small, neatly wrapped with a blue bow. The other three were similarly rectangular, and none gave away what sort of goodies were hiding beneath their festive trimmings.

“Gotta go with this one!” Sidney announced, rising to show he’d selected the tall, thin gift.

Facing the group, he tore into the paper, and his eyes went wide. With one final rip, the paper came away to reveal a bottle of fine, amber whiskey.

I can already tell that that one was the gift that Drake picked up.

“Holy shit, definitely keeping this one!” Sidney crowed with a pump of his fist. “Not like I can swap with anyone anyway.”

“Not yet,” said Glacia, with a mischievous glint in her eye, but Sidney was too excited to notice.

Glacia, what are you planning there, anyways?

“Wow,” he said, admiring the bottle in his hands as he took his seat back on the couch. “Thanks guys!”

Drake’s mustache quirked up at the corner. “Yer welcome, lad.”

Steven chuckled. “Ah, of course that would be yours.”

Yeah, I knew that would’ve been something that Drake bought, especially with the way he’s depicted in your writings.

Drake simply shrugged and puffed his pipe, tipping his hat towards the tree. “You’re up next, little lady,” he said to Phoebe.

“Oh!” she said with a small gasp, and darted off the couch. Without hesitation she reached down and plucked a gift out from under the tree. “This one!”

Kneeling in front of the fire, she proceeded to unwrap it, only to peer down at the open box in front of her with a puzzled expression.

“Are there supposed to be presents inside the present?”

What on earth did you get anyways, Phoebe? An Advent Calendar?

Phoebe brought two things from the box; one small and slim, the other flat and rectangular, both individually wrapped with more of the same paper that had covered the outside of the gift.

Sidney stared for a second before tipping back in his seat with a laugh. “Oh man, that’s good.”

I’ll just take that as a sign that that’s Sidney’s gift there from the way that he’s reacting.

“Hmm. That’s not typical, but, well, keep unwrapping I guess,” said Glacia, seemingly just as puzzled as Phoebe.

But the latter’s puzzlement was fleeting as she set to work unwrapping her gift for the second time. Finally getting her fingernail under the seam, the first of the mystery objects was revealed to be…

“Is that… a pencil?” said Steven, leaning forward to get a better look.

With a rip, the second mystery object came free, and Phoebe giggled. “Perfect for this, apparently.” She wiggled the sudoku book in the air.

Maybe I was a bit quick to judge, that that admittedly feels a bit more ‘Glacia’ to me, especially as depicted in your stories.

Sidney laughed even harder. “Too bad you didn’t get that one, Boss. But wait, isn’t there somethin’ else in there, Fee?”

“Oh, right!” she said, pulling out one more wrapped mystery item from the box. Giggling, she unwrapped the last part of her gift to reveal… “More alcohol?”

As Phoebe held up the small bottle of clear liquor, Sidney tried to hide his wince at the slight disappointment in her tone.

Well, maybe it was Sidney’s gift after all. Since that reaction sure moved the needle with him.

“Well,” said Steven, “I suppose if used in conjunction with the rest of the present, that would make the sudoku more of a challenge, even with the pencil.”

Hue. Though my money is on this winding up with Glacia by the end.

Glacia looked on as Phoebe collected the items of her gift back into their original box. “You can always choose to swap if you want,” she said, a bit sympathetically.

“Nah, that’s okay,” said Phoebe with a cheerful smile. “Sidney can keep his present. Besides, I can use this to practice and finally get better than my Gran at sudoku.”

I… wasn’t expecting that one, though I suppose that Phoebe was a bit of a more conscientious character in your depictions of her.

“Alright,” said Glacia, rising from the couch. “It’s my turn then.”

She hummed to herself as she contemplated the remaining presents. “I think I’ll choose this one,” she said, rising with the small, blue-bowed gift in her hand.

The ribbon slipped off with ease, and with gentle tearing, the paper came away to reveal a small padded case, almost like a jewelry box. Glacia’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and she carefully lifted the lid of the case, only for her expression to fall completely flat.

It’s a rock, isn’t it? :V

She spun the box so the rest of the group could see. Nestled inside the soft velvet interior of the box was a brown, rocky lump. Not just any brown, rocky lump. One that looked an awful lot like coal.

Yeah, I knew it. I already know who picked that one.

Sidney’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull, and he had to plaster both hands over his mouth to keep from laughing. “Holy shit,” he squeaked out between his fingers. Even Drake sat upright in his seat at the shocking twist of a gift.

“What. Is this?” Glacia’s tone held a deadly chill.

“Well, from here it looks like a sample of bituminous—”

Oh, so she did just straight-up get coal. Great going there, Steven.

Steven was drowned out by Sidney’s spluttering laughter, and Glacia turned her icy stare to him. “You did this, didn’t you? You thought it would be funny to pull a prank like this.”

Sidney waved his hands defensively, “No, that ain’t mine, I swear!”

Well, I suppose that one way to find out would be to see if Steven is awkwardly hemming and hawing in the next five seconds. Since just saying, I could’ve seen him giving coal unironically and not realizing “oh, right, Christmas tradition” until after the fact.

“Then what’s so funny?”

“I mean, c’mon, you gotta admit—” Phoebe smacked him on the arm. “Ow!”

For a moment, Glacia stared at the offending lump in her hand in silence, before an evil grin spread over her features. “You know,” she began a little too sweetly, “I think I’d like to swap this gift with someone else’s.”

Phoebe + Sidney:

Drake: “Should’ve kept those mouths of yours shut, kids.” -_-;

She stared right at Sidney, and her smile grew wider, more predatory. It took Sidney a minute to notice; he was still nursing the spot Phoebe smacked him. He paled when he finally realized where Glacia was looking.

“Wait, what? Me? What, no! Aw man, c’mon! Glacia, don’t do this,” he pleaded.

Glacia: “Oh no, I think that you absolutely deserve some coal for Christmas, Sidney. I’ll be taking that whiskey, if you please.” >:V

“Rules are rules,” she said, sauntering up to the couch. She stood in front of him with the coal in one hand, and the other palm upturned, gesturing for him to relinquish his present to her.

Sidney only hugged his bottle of whiskey tighter. “Glaciaaa,” he whined. “You don’t even drink!”

“That you know of,” she replied, reaching out and plucking the bottle from his grasp. He didn’t resist. Instead he simply stared, dumbfounded, at the box that was deposited in his lap in return.

I can already see Phoebe nervously eyeing her sudoku book and alcohol right now. o<o

Steven looked on, slightly apprehensive. “Ah, hang on, didn’t you say this little get-together was about spreading holiday cheer?”

Yeah, the coal was Steven’s gift, I can already tell.

Rather pleased with herself, Glacia sat back down on the couch. “You’re right, Steven. I did. And I feel quite cheerful now, actually.” She adjusted her posture, unruffled. A picture of proper lady-like grace. “Well then, who’s next?”

“Already on it,” said Drake, rising from where he’d claimed his gift from beneath the tree. Amusement twinkled in his eye as he began to unwrap it, hardly even looking at the gift in his hands before he made his way over to Glacia.

“From one of the old guard to another, I’ll do yah a favor,” he said, holding out the freshly-revealed basket of homemade cookies. “Something tells me you’ll appreciate this more’n me.”

Glacia’s eyes widened when she saw the cookies, and she smiled warmly up at Drake. “Looks like your sailor’s intuition was right,” she said, handing the whiskey bottle over.

Sidney: “Did… Did you just trade back the thing that you bought as a gift?”

Drake: “Well, it’s not like you needed it when you decided that you wanted coal more instead, and Phoebe doesn’t drink, so....”

As Glacia cradled the cookies in both hands like they were made of the finest porcelain, Phoebe beamed with pride. “I made them with my Gran this morning.”

Well, that answers that for who made brought that gift over.

Somehow, Glacia’s smile grew even warmer. “Mm, and you know how much I love your Gran’s baking. Thank you, Phoebe.”

A low chuckle came from Drake as he sat back in his armchair, stowing the whiskey on the floor by his feet. “Can’t say I expected to end up with my own gift in all this, but it’s worth it to see the joy on the lass’s faces.”

inb4 Sidney dumps the coal either on Drake or back onto Glacia in like five seconds.

“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Sidney, plopping his chin in his hand.

“Hey, it’s not over yet,” said Phoebe, rubbing a soothing hand on his back. “There’s still one more gift, and that means one more possible swap!”

Sidney slouched forward, groaning into his hands. “Thanks Fee, but you’d have to be crazy to want to swap anything for a lump of coal.”

Cue Steven doing just that since I will be shocked if that coal turns out to have been anyone’s gift other than his own.

“Guess that makes me crazy, then.”

“Whu—?” Dumbly, Sidney sat up, only to be greeted by the smiling Champion and an outstretched offering of the final gift; a bundle of tea and hot chocolate, wrapped in a fine silk scarf.

“I’d be happy to take that coal sample off your hands,” said Steven. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Sidney blinked. “What? No, I don’t mind. Why would I mind?”

Sidney: “Steven, did you hit your head in the morning or something?”

Steven: “Sidney, I collect rocks. Do you really think I’m going to say no to a coal sample?”

“Good, good. It’s a nice scarf, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no sample of bituminous coal.”

“Wait a minute…” began Glacia. “The last gift was mine, a traditional Sinnohan ‘keep warm’ bundle. If the cookies were Phoebe’s and the whiskey was Drake’s, and if Sidney denies it was him, then that means the one who put the coal in was… Steven?!”

I mean, I saw that twist coming almost from the beginning. It just feels like the exact sort of oversight that ronk man would make when picking out gifts. The only thing that I’m more surprised about is that there wasn’t more “not it” fighting among the others over who was going to get the coal.

“Ah,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Guilty as charged.”

It was Glacia’s turn to blink in surprise. “Can’t say I expected something like that from you. But in hindsight, I also can’t say I’m that surprised.”

Drake grated out a coarse laugh in a puff of smoke. “Ha, looks like the Champ has a sense of humor under that all that seriousness.”

Steven: “No, I… was genuinely expecting whoever received my gift would’ve liked it and used it as a desk ornament or something.” ^^;

Steven’s smile turned a little more lopsided. “Well, after last year, I didn’t want to cause trouble again, so I figured this year I would be a little selfish. I’d wanted a coal sample from outside of Motostoke for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to treat myself, as it were. Knowing there would be swapping involved, I didn’t see anyone willingly swapping for a piece of coal, so it felt like a safe gift to put in the pool.” He laughed nervously. “I guess I didn’t quite manage to avoid causing a stir after all. Sorry, Sidney.”

Can’t tell whether or not this will get Glacia crabby or not for defeating the spirit of the White Cufant exchange.

The dark-type trainer sunk back in his seat, shaking his head with a disbelieving grin. “You’re killin’ me, Boss.”

Beside him, Phoebe’s brows scrunched up in thought. She tapped a finger against her knee. “Um, Glacia? Is there a rule that says we’re not allowed to share our gifts?”

“Hm, not that I’m aware of,” she answered with a hum, curious what was on the younger trainer’s mind.

Ah yes, let’s check in on how the gang’s going to be doing in about five minutes:

“Perfect,” said Phoebe, pulling the bottle of liquor from her gift box and tucking it into Sidney’s drink bundle with a wink. “Just make sure you share some of the hot chocolate with me, alright?”

Sidney grinned, raking a hand through his hair before resting it on the back of the couch behind Phoebe. “Ha, you got it, Fee.”

Oh, so Sidney really did give the sudoku and booze combo.

“I have to ask, though. Why the sudoku?” Steven pondered, giving his coal one more fond look before closing its case for safekeeping.

Sidney gave a one-armed shrug. “I tried to find something everyone would like, and I remember you all talking about sudoku before.” He scratched the side of his head. “And, uh, I couldn’t remember if Drake said he did sudoku too, so I threw the liquor in there just in case.”

Ah, well. That would explain things there.

“How thoughtful of you,” said Glacia, actual sincerity in her voice.

That brought a grin to Sidney’s face. “Hey, I thought so.”

“So,” Drake began with a puff of his pipe, “can we consider this Sinn’an Swap a success?”

7/10, not enough fighting over ‘not it’ with Steven’s coal. /s

“Mm, I think so,” said Glacia, contemplating the cookie in her hand fondly.

“Can we do it again next year?” asked Phoebe, practically bouncing in her seat.

Glacia smiled before offering the cookie basket to the Champion. “As long as Steven promises not to put another rock in.”

I mean, that feels like a kinda pertinent ground rule, yes. Since otherwise Steven’s just going to game these things to put in whatever rock he wants for himself.

“It’s a tall order, but I think I can manage.” Steven said with a laugh, tipping the cookie in his hand towards the rest of the group. “Happy holidays, everyone.”

The sound of a cork stopper coming free sounded in reply. Drake grinned. “Aye, I’ll drink to that.”

FIN​

D’aww…

(Inspired by this post)​

I mean, yeah. That does sound very ‘Steven’ there, now doesn’t it? :p

Alright, I’m admittedly a little over a week late from when an optimal reading for this piece would’ve been, but I think that it’s cute enough to stand up on its own even a bit out of season. The highlight here is first and foremost the characterization on display and the way that Steven Stone and the Hoenn E4 bounce off of each other. Like it’s going a bit off on a limb, but it all feels like very organic depictions of them, and it’s a nice treat for readers who are familiar with your other stories centered around them. The fundamental premise was also cute and funny, since of course Steven would be the one guy who would be completely unfazed for getting coal for Christmas, so logically he’d be unfazed about giving out coal as well if he ultimately expected to get his gift back in the end.

I don’t really have too much to level as criticism. Maybe it’d have been worth stopping to smell the roses a bit more for initial setting description to try and sell that sort of cozy feeling of a Christmas party and its attendant decorations or else giving a bit more detail to certain reactions such as Sidney’s horrified reaction to getting Glacia’s Christmas coal unloaded on him, but what’s there already makes the piece work quite well. A part of me kinda wishes that the Christmas coal did a couple more “not it” trips around the group for rule of funny, though I suppose that per your established depictions of the Elite Four, that Sidney was always going to be the most likely person in the group to be hosed, and wouldn’t have had the heart to dump the coal on at least one of the three other people he could’ve.

But I thought that this was a fun little breather, @Panoramic_Vaccuum , and a fun followup to your other holiday-themed piece involving Steven and the Hoenn Elite Four. I admittedly am a bit spread thin in Review Blitz this year, so I’m unsure if I can make it back for more of your stories before things end, but I do intend to drop by again sometime. Your stories always have a lot of charm to them and breathe their characters to life quite convincingly, and this one was no exception.

 

[Starlight Aurate]

A Hoenn one-shot by Pano just in time for Review Blitz and around Christmas (okay, it's January as I'm typing this...)?! I HAD to read it!

Spoiler: Line-by-lines

The room was decorated with festive ribbons and garlands, and even though there was no snow in Hoenn’s forecast, the room still held a warm and cozy atmosphere.

I have a sort of headcanon that Hoenn is warm and relatively tropical. I wonder: is the "no snow in the forecast" in that you also portray Hoenn as a warm region, or is it more temperate just without snow?

One for each Elite; one from each Elite, as Glacia had suggested.

Oooh, a white elephant (random gifts), or a Secret Santa gift exchange?

“You may have heard of this kind of gift exchange by another name; I believe they call it a White Cufant in Galar

Aha, it IS a white elephant Cufant!

Facing the group, he tore into the paper, and his eyes went wide. With one final rip, the paper came away to reveal a bottle of fine, amber whiskey.

SCORE!

Oh, and I LOVE the fact that Drake is the one who gave it! Totally fits his old sailors vibe, hehe.

Nestled inside the soft velvet interior of the box was a brown, rocky lump. Not just any brown, rocky lump. One that looked an awful lot like coal.

PLEEEEEEASE tell me that Steven gave this one completely seriously and not as a gag gift!

Ha, had to look up what the word "bituminous" meant!

“Glaciaaa,” he whined. “You don’t even drink!”

“That you know of,” she replied, reaching out and plucking the bottle from his grasp.

Sometimes, the purpose of stealing a gift isn't so you can enjoy it yourself. The purpose is to take it from other people and inflict inconvenience on them, which Glacia seems to be doing here. I 100% support!

Ha, I love that Drake got the whiskey that he bought in the first place! Honestly, sometimes I buy things that I would like the most, so it's nice when they end up back with me, lol.

“The last gift was mine, a traditional Sinnohan ‘keep warm’ bundle. If the cookies were Phoebe’s and the whiskey was Drake’s, and if Sidney denies it was him, then that means the one who put the coal in was… Steven?!”

YEEEEEEESSSSSS!

"I’d wanted a coal sample from outside of Motostoke for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to treat myself, as it were. Knowing there would be swapping involved, I didn’t see anyone willingly swapping for a piece of coal, so it felt like a safe gift to put in the pool."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Omg, Sidney is the one who actually put the most thought into creating a gift. I'm dying.

This was 100% up my alley: the Christmas theme, the random gift-giving, the expansion on Hoenn characters, and the hilarity of the different gifts involved. I predicted the different "twists," but I'm actually really happy that things turned out the way I predicted them, and it was all a lot of fun overall! I really like the way you flesh out the different characters, especially the fact that Steven literally got a gift with himself as the recipient in mind and treated it as "a gift for me" lol. So perfect. Someone once left me a review saying "Let's be real, Steven would abandon his firstborn son if you said there was a cool rock in it for him," and while I'm not saying he goes to those sort of lengths here, his rock obsession will always and forever amuse me.

I don't have too much else to say apart from this, since it is such a short, comedic snippet. Overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable, and thank you so much for sharing it here!

 

[Phoenixsong]

Hi again! Definitely wanted to check out both of your holiday pieces, like I said. I really enjoyed "The Gift of Giving", and this newest one definitely does not disappoint!

Once again the family vibes are super-strong with this one. Drake feels so authentically "grandpa letting all the kids tire themselves out with their gifts first" here. The Elites' gift choices were all thoughtful and flavorful, from the ones that feel "obvious" (Drake's whiskey) to the ones you might not expect on first glance, but once we get to see the thought process behind it it totally jives why they'd've thought that way (love that Sidney was basically nervous about making sure any of his friends might enjoy his gift, and that we got to see that hint of it when Phoebe was disappointed in the bottle of liquor).

I suspected Steven might've been responsible for the coal, heh, but I enjoyed the others thinking that well surely it must've been Sidney pulling a prank (on himself for a good while there, as the swapping happened to work out, lol). I was also wondering if maybe Steven genuinely thought someone might appreciate the carefully-selected sample he'd gotten them, but him actually pulling a fast one on them was even better! Makes sense enough that he's long since figured out the others don't have quite the same enthusiasm for geology that he does, and it's always a lot of fun seeing a normally-serious character put a clever little twist on games like this.

I also love that Steven wanted to "be a little selfish" after last year. There you go, buddy, take some time to take care of yourself! As much of a ruckus (and some good laughs) as it caused, I bet the rest of the Elites are relieved to see it, frankly.

Once again you've knocked it out of the park with making me feel genuinely warm and fuzzy as I watch these guys spend a little quality time together. The Elites' gifts and reactions felt as natural as anything, and had me regularly alternating between and with every interaction. Couldn't ask for more than that for a light and lovely holiday read.

 

[K_S]

Hoenn for the Holidays
~*~ a Hoenn-verse holiday one shot ~*~
​

Hi, here for blitzing and curiousity, shall we start?

Phoebe was perched on the couch in the lounge at the League headquarters with a broad smile on her face. The League was having a small get-together before their holiday recess. The room was decorated with festive ribbons and garlands, and even though there was no snow in Hoenn’s forecast, the room still held a warm and cozy atmosphere.

Hey it can be cold and nippy minus snow.. just no rain... granted hoenn reads as largly tropical so... shrugs...

A small evergreen decorated with shining baubles sat to the side of the hearth. Beneath its branches sat five presents, wrapped in various kinds of festive paper. One for each Elite; one from each Elite, as Glacia had suggested.

Did they secret santa it?

“This was such a good idea, Glacia!” she chirped, rocking forward on cris-crossed legs to admire the decor. “We’ve never had a celebration like this before.”

Glacia stood from where she’d lit the fire in the hearth and returned Phoebe’s smile. “I’m glad you all were on board. It’s a Sinnohan tradition to share little gifts like this to help brighten spirits in the dead of winter.”

Kinda curious that hoenn doesnt have a winder holi. And I wonder what the celibrate and how it differs between sinnohs...

Phoebe giggled. “And after the fiasco Steven pulled last year…” she trailed off, and Glacia gave a good-natured huff, brushing a hand against the rainbow stone tucked in the brooch at her neck.

“Yes, well, we certainly didn’t want a repeat of that.”

Ah incoming noodle incident!

“A repeat of what?” Steven asked as he came into the room, Sidney and Drake right behind him.

And incoming instigator of noodle incident. Scuse me i'm gunna make some popcorn...

Rather than answer, Glacia fiddled with her brooch with a bit more intent, and gave the Champion a thoughtful hum. “You’re looking rather healthy this year,” she said pointedly, instead.

The realization struck, and Steven at least had the sense to look embarrassed. “Ah, yes. That.”

“Don’t worry, lad,” said Drake, clapping a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “We won’t hold it over your head for too much longer. New year an’ all that.”

Which means its free digs at Stevens dignity for at least the next weekish and a half. Go wild everyone!

Sidney laughed before letting out a low whistle as he looked around the lounge. “Wow, Glacia, you went all out with this.”

“Thank you, Sidney,” she said, tipping into a small curtsy. “It’s the least I could do for my home away from home. Now, since we’re all here, shall we get started?”

Drake needed no further invitation to grab a seat in one of the armchairs around the fire. He sat down with a small groan and pulled out his pipe. “Sounds like a grand idea t’ me.”

Sidney slid onto the couch next to Phoebe, while Steven chose the armchair opposite Drake. “Remind us again how this works, Glacia?” the Champion prompted.

“Of course,” she said, moving to stand next to the festive tree. “You may have heard of this kind of gift exchange by another name; I believe they call it a White Cufant in Galar. But in Sinnoh we simply call it a Sinn’an Swap. Taking turns, each person chooses a gift to unwrap. They then have the choice to either keep the gift, or swap it with someone else’s. This continues until all of the gifts have been opened.”

“Ohh, how do we choose who goes first, then?” asked Phoebe, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Glacia tapped a white gloved finger to her chin. “Hmm, there’s various ways to decide. Age, seniority, or maybe it’s easiest if we just use our current League order.”

“That last one sounds good to me,” said Sidney, already standing up from the couch.

Steven glanced around at the group. “Any objections?”

Drake quirked an eyebrow as he puffed on his pipe and shook his head.

“Nope!” chimed Phoebe.

Have to admit i had no idea how this version worked. Wonder what Glacia got for them?

With Steven’s gaze landing on her, Glacia simply bowed and made way for Sidney to approach the tree. “Go right ahead,” she said, before taking a seat at the far end of the couch.

“Hell yeah,” said Sidney, crouching down in front of the array of gifts and rubbing his hands together. “Alright, which one should it be?”

One was tall and skinny, but not too thin. Another was small, neatly wrapped with a blue bow. The other three were similarly rectangular, and none gave away what sort of goodies were hiding beneath their festive trimmings.

perhaps enny meany minie moe will solve the quandry?

“Gotta go with this one!” Sidney announced, rising to show he’d selected the tall, thin gift.

Facing the group, he tore into the paper, and his eyes went wide. With one final rip, the paper came away to reveal a bottle of fine, amber whiskey.

“Holy shit, definitely keeping this one!” Sidney crowed with a pump of his fist. “Not like I can swap with anyone anyway.”

“Not yet,” said Glacia, with a mischievous glint in her eye, but Sidney was too excited to notice.

Ohh shes got a game plan it seems...

“Wow,” he said, admiring the bottle in his hands as he took his seat back on the couch. “Thanks guys!”

Drake’s mustache quirked up at the corner. “Yer welcome, lad.”

Steven chuckled. “Ah, of course that would be yours.”

Drake simply shrugged and puffed his pipe, tipping his hat towards the tree. “You’re up next, little lady,” he said to Phoebe.

“Oh!” she said with a small gasp, and darted off the couch. Without hesitation she reached down and plucked a gift out from under the tree. “This one!”

Kneeling in front of the fire, she proceeded to unwrap it, only to peer down at the open box in front of her with a puzzled expression.

“Are there supposed to be presents inside the present?”

Phoebe brought two things from the box; one small and slim, the other flat and rectangular, both individually wrapped with more of the same paper that had covered the outside of the gift.

Sidney stared for a second before tipping back in his seat with a laugh. “Oh man, that’s good.”

“Hmm. That’s not typical, but, well, keep unwrapping I guess,” said Glacia, seemingly just as puzzled as Phoebe.

But the latter’s puzzlement was fleeting as she set to work unwrapping her gift for the second time. Finally getting her fingernail under the seam, the first of the mystery objects was revealed to be…

“Is that… a pencil?” said Steven, leaning forward to get a better look.

With a rip, the second mystery object came free, and Phoebe giggled. “Perfect for this, apparently.” She wiggled the sudoku book in the air.

Sidney laughed even harder. “Too bad you didn’t get that one, Boss. But wait, isn’t there somethin’ else in there, Fee?”

“Oh, right!” she said, pulling out one more wrapped mystery item from the box. Giggling, she unwrapped the last part of her gift to reveal… “More alcohol?”

As Phoebe held up the small bottle of clear liquor, Sidney tried to hide his wince at the slight disappointment in her tone.

“Well,” said Steven, “I suppose if used in conjunction with the rest of the present, that would make the sudoku more of a challenge, even with the pencil.”

Glacia looked on as Phoebe collected the items of her gift back into their original box. “You can always choose to swap if you want,” she said, a bit sympathetically.

“Nah, that’s okay,” said Phoebe with a cheerful smile. “Sidney can keep his present. Besides, I can use this to practice and finally get better than my Gran at sudoku.”

Wonder who she thought would be a good fit for that sudoku? I dont know this league very well so thier reactions to the gifts are my main window to thier character for me.

Its an interesting ride thus far.

“Alright,” said Glacia, rising from the couch. “It’s my turn then.”

She hummed to herself as she contemplated the remaining presents. “I think I’ll choose this one,” she said, rising with the small, blue-bowed gift in her hand.

The ribbon slipped off with ease, and with gentle tearing, the paper came away to reveal a small padded case, almost like a jewelry box. Glacia’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and she carefully lifted the lid of the case, only for her expression to fall completely flat.

She spun the box so the rest of the group could see. Nestled inside the soft velvet interior of the box was a brown, rocky lump. Not just any brown, rocky lump. One that looked an awful lot like coal.

Sidney’s eyes nearly bugged out of his skull, and he had to plaster both hands over his mouth to keep from laughing. “Holy shit,” he squeaked out between his fingers. Even Drake sat upright in his seat at the shocking twist of a gift.

“What. Is this?” Glacia’s tone held a deadly chill.

“Well, from here it looks like a sample of bituminous—”

Incoming rock rant, brace yourself...

Steven was drowned out by Sidney’s spluttering laughter, and Glacia turned her icy stare to him. “You did this, didn’t you? You thought it would be funny to pull a prank like this.”

Sidney waved his hands defensively, “No, that ain’t mine, I swear!”

“Then what’s so funny?”

“I mean, c’mon, you gotta admit—” Phoebe smacked him on the arm. “Ow!”

Its a rock, if the league did the shopping (i'm guessing it's one league member producing one gift for the shuffle) then blame all rock adjascent schenanigans on Steven...

For a moment, Glacia stared at the offending lump in her hand in silence, before an evil grin spread over her features. “You know,” she began a little too sweetly, “I think I’d like to swap this gift with someone else’s.”

Poor Sidney isn't getting his drink tonight.

She stared right at Sidney, and her smile grew wider, more predatory. It took Sidney a minute to notice; he was still nursing the spot Phoebe smacked him. He paled when he finally realized where Glacia was looking.

“Wait, what? Me? What, no! Aw man, c’mon! Glacia, don’t do this,” he pleaded.

“Rules are rules,” she said, sauntering up to the couch. She stood in front of him with the coal in one hand, and the other palm upturned, gesturing for him to relinquish his present to her.

Sidney only hugged his bottle of whiskey tighter. “Glaciaaa,” he whined. “You don’t even drink!”

“That you know of,” she replied, reaching out and plucking the bottle from his grasp. He didn’t resist. Instead he simply stared, dumbfounded, at the box that was deposited in his lap in return.

Steven looked on, slightly apprehensive. “Ah, hang on, didn’t you say this little get-together was about spreading holiday cheer?”

Yeah and one of the most popular xmas songs expouse telling ghost stories to increase holiday cheer. Theres the little matchgirl tale... I could keep going but theres a lot of canonical creepyness under the mistletoe

Rather pleased with herself, Glacia sat back down on the couch. “You’re right, Steven. I did. And I feel quite cheerful now, actually.” She adjusted her posture, unruffled. A picture of proper lady-like grace. “Well then, who’s next?”

“Already on it,” said Drake, rising from where he’d claimed his gift from beneath the tree. Amusement twinkled in his eye as he began to unwrap it, hardly even looking at the gift in his hands before he made his way over to Glacia.

“From one of the old guard to another, I’ll do yah a favor,” he said, holding out the freshly-revealed basket of homemade cookies. “Something tells me you’ll appreciate this more’n me.”

Glacia’s eyes widened when she saw the cookies, and she smiled warmly up at Drake. “Looks like your sailor’s intuition was right,” she said, handing the whiskey bottle over.

As Glacia cradled the cookies in both hands like they were made of the finest porcelain, Phoebe beamed with pride. “I made them with my Gran this morning.”

Somehow, Glacia’s smile grew even warmer. “Mm, and you know how much I love your Gran’s baking. Thank you, Phoebe.”

I suspect those cookies may not make it past the next shuffle of gifts...

A low chuckle came from Drake as he sat back in his armchair, stowing the whiskey on the floor by his feet. “Can’t say I expected to end up with my own gift in all this, but it’s worth it to see the joy on the lass’s faces.”

“Easy for you to say,” grumbled Sidney, plopping his chin in his hand.

“Hey, it’s not over yet,” said Phoebe, rubbing a soothing hand on his back. “There’s still one more gift, and that means one more possible swap!”

Sidney slouched forward, groaning into his hands. “Thanks Fee, but you’d have to be crazy to want to swap anything for a lump of coal.”

“Guess that makes me crazy, then.”

“Whu—?” Dumbly, Sidney sat up, only to be greeted by the smiling Champion and an outstretched offering of the final gift; a bundle of tea and hot chocolate, wrapped in a fine silk scarf.

“I’d be happy to take that coal sample off your hands,” said Steven. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Sidney blinked. “What? No, I don’t mind. Why would I mind?”

“Good, good. It’s a nice scarf, don’t get me wrong, but it’s no sample of bituminous coal.”

“Wait a minute…” began Glacia. “The last gift was mine, a traditional Sinnohan ‘keep warm’ bundle. If the cookies were Phoebe’s and the whiskey was Drake’s, and if Sidney denies it was him, then that means the one who put the coal in was… Steven?!”

Its a rock. Steven loves rocks. How is this a surprise?

“Ah,” he said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Guilty as charged.”

It was Glacia’s turn to blink in surprise. “Can’t say I expected something like that from you. But in hindsight, I also can’t say I’m that surprised.”

Drake grated out a coarse laugh in a puff of smoke. “Ha, looks like the Champ has a sense of humor under that all that seriousness.”

Steven’s smile turned a little more lopsided. “Well, after last year, I didn’t want to cause trouble again, so I figured this year I would be a little selfish. I’d wanted a coal sample from outside of Motostoke for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to treat myself, as it were. Knowing there would be swapping involved, I didn’t see anyone willingly swapping for a piece of coal, so it felt like a safe gift to put in the pool.” He laughed nervously. “I guess I didn’t quite manage to avoid causing a stir after all. Sorry, Sidney.”

The dark-type trainer sunk back in his seat, shaking his head with a disbelieving grin. “You’re killin’ me, Boss.”

Beside him, Phoebe’s brows scrunched up in thought. She tapped a finger against her knee. “Um, Glacia? Is there a rule that says we’re not allowed to share our gifts?”

“Hm, not that I’m aware of,” she answered with a hum, curious what was on the younger trainer’s mind.

“Perfect,” said Phoebe, pulling the bottle of liquor from her gift box and tucking it into Sidney’s drink bundle with a wink. “Just make sure you share some of the hot chocolate with me, alright?”

Sidney grinned, raking a hand through his hair before resting it on the back of the couch behind Phoebe. “Ha, you got it, Fee.”

“I have to ask, though. Why the sudoku?” Steven pondered, giving his coal one more fond look before closing its case for safekeeping.

I have to admit inwas wondering at the sudoko thing too...

Sidney gave a one-armed shrug. “I tried to find something everyone would like, and I remember you all talking about sudoku before.” He scratched the side of his head. “And, uh, I couldn’t remember if Drake said he did sudoku too, so I threw the liquor in there just in case.”

“How thoughtful of you,” said Glacia, actual sincerity in her voice.

That brought a grin to Sidney’s face. “Hey, I thought so.”

“So,” Drake began with a puff of his pipe, “can we consider this Sinn’an Swap a success?”

“Mm, I think so,” said Glacia, contemplating the cookie in her hand fondly.

“Can we do it again next year?” asked Phoebe, practically bouncing in her seat.

Glacia smiled before offering the cookie basket to the Champion. “As long as Steven promises not to put another rock in.”

“It’s a tall order, but I think I can manage.” Steven said with a laugh, tipping the cookie in his hand towards the rest of the group. “Happy holidays, everyone.”

The sound of a cork stopper coming free sounded in reply. Drake grinned. “Aye, I’ll drink to that.”

FIN

(Inspired by this post)​

well that was a fun fic. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Negrek]

Hey, Pano, great to see you posting again! I always enjoy your Elite stories, and this one is no exception. Definitely reminded me of white elephant swaps I've experienced myself; I'm the one over there with poor Phoebe trying to figure out which packages are least likely to contain alcohol.

As always, your characterization is on point here, and it's fun to see some attention paid to characters like Glacia who don't get the spotlight very often. I enjoyed her indignation at the coal, although, come on, Glacia, look who you invited to your gift swap. Are you really so surprised one of them pulled something like this?

On the other hand, I knew what was up as soon as the coal was revealed. Like, really, there's only one E4 member who could ever consider that a reasonable gift, although with the potential double meaning I can understand how Glacia thought it was potentially some non-Steven person playing a prank. All in all, the gifts each character gives--and the ones they want to receive--are all fun and make perfect sense for them, which is what makes a one-shot like this succeed. I'm also amused that Drake and Steven were the two who chose to put items they really wanted themselves into the pool, and that they also ended up receiving those items in the end.

Probably my favorite bit was Sidney explaining how he'd tried to pick a gift that would appeal to any of the other E4 members. That and Phoebe and Glacia sharing their gifts with other people were really heartwarming little details that give you a sense of how important these people are to each other. Perfect for a holiday one-shot.

My only gripe is

Sidney grinned, raking a hand through his hair

WHAT HAIR??? I don't think I can dignify that weird inverted soul patch on his head with the term. Can he even really get his fingers in that thing?

All in all a very cute one-shot, and very appropriate for the holidays. Thanks for bringing it over!