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The Holinight party at Cerise Lab is over. Ash and Goh return to their shared room with Grookey and Pikachu, kicking off their shoes. Goh turns the lights on their Holinight tree in the corner of the room while Ash flicks off the bedroom lights.

Goh checks his phone. It’s almost mid-Holinight. Still wearing his red sweater and white jeans, he hops up the ladder to his bunk, rustling with something under the covers at the foot of his bed.

“Coming up,” Ash calls as he trots up the ladder with Pikachu and crawls onto the mattress. He looks comfy in his blue, Piplup-themed Holinight sweater. He smiles, producing a slightly mangled package. “I got you something! Happy Holinights.”

Ash’s wrapping job is kind of a disaster— it looks like he just haphazardly balled up the wrapping paper around Goh’s gift and tied it all off with an excessive amount of thin, gold curling ribbon.

Goh snickers a little at his friend’s handiwork. “I hope your gift is better than your wrapping job,” he teases, and Pikachu giggles.

This riles Ash up a little. “Hey! You ever try to wrap something round?? It’s not easy!” There’s a small, frustrated blush on his cheeks.

“I’m just kidding,” Goh smiles fondly back at him, illuminated by the warm, ambient light coming from their Holinight tree. Ash huffs a little and smiles as he relaxes, leaning back with his arm over the safety rail.

Grookey hops onto the crown of Goh’s head, as it so often does, chittering and jumping around in circles. From its perch on Ash’s shoulder, Pikachu perks up and chimes a “Pika~!” when it sees its friend. Goh can feel Grookey clinging to tufts of his hair with three paws, while the other is waving its stick.

As Goh’s Pokemon jostles his head around, he meets Ash’s eyes with the same lovingly exasperated, deadpan expression as a new parent enduring the grabby hands of their naughty toddler, his eyes occasionally wincing as Grookey yanks on his cowlick. The corners of Ash’s eyes smile as he gazes back at Goh with a mix of empathy pain and schadenfreude.

Grookey seems to be trying to get the boys’ attention, but they’re a little preoccupied with each other’s eyes. Feeling jealous of its trainer’s attention, The impatient little chimp whacks Goh right between the eyes with its stick.

“OW!!! GROOKEY?! What has gotten into you?!” Goh’s eyes start to water as he swats it away from his forehead.

When Pikachu paps its trainer’s cheek and points up at Grookey, Ash finally looks up at the same time Goh glances over his shoulder, subtly reaching for the neatly wrapped box hidden behind him.

“I have a present for you, too,” Goh says, feeling a little shy. Grookey starts gibbering fervently, still hopping up and down on Goh’s head. 

Ash slowly straightens up, suddenly seeming a little nervous. “You do?”

Goh looks up in time to see Ash’s eyes snap back down at him. Seeing the unusually panicked look on Ash’s face, Goh’s brow furrows and he says, “What? It’s not a big deal…”

“Oh. Uhh. Yeah. Okay?” Ash stammers, turning so his whole body is facing Goh’s. His eyes are wide with anticipation, and they keep glancing up at Grookey.

Goh leans forward to hand Ash his gift, flourishing the gift box out from behind him. At the same time, Ash closes his eyes and leans forward on his hands with his lips ever so slightly parted. They come almost nose to nose before Goh yelps and pulls back in surprise. Ash opens his eyes, still leaning forward and blinking at him expectantly.

“What…What are you doing?” Goh asks carefully, his eyes flicking down at Ash’s lips and back up at his eyes.

Ash just points up, his lips still comically puckered out, and Goh finally looks up at his mischievous Pokémon, beaming down at them with a sprig of mistletoe tied to its stick, dangling it above them. The rounded leaves are glowing green and shimmering with Grookey’s special ability as it slowly grows.

The hapless trainer turns Holinight red as he wrestles his Pokemon off his head. ”Aah!!! Where did you even get that—?!“

Ash leans back, frowning in confusion. “That wasn’t your present?”

Goh’s head whips back at his friend. “Wh—?! Of course not, it’s—“ They both look at the modest gift box sitting between them. Goh drops his little troublemaker Pokemon onto the mattress beside him, and Pikachu leaps off Ash’s shoulder, chasing Grookey in circles and off the bed. They’re still playing on the floor, running circles around their Holinight tree and  jingling the lowest-hanging ornaments. “—Wait, you thought I was gonna— and you were just gonna— let it happen—???“

His fellow research fellow rubs the tip of his nose with his thumb nervously. “Ah-ha-ha, you said it wasn’t a big deal, so—“

Goh scoffs a little incredulously. Under his breath, he mutters, “ ‘Not a big deal,’ he says…!” Shoving the present into Ash’s hands, he clears his throat and pointedly says, “Here.”

Ash grins and tosses Goh’s gift to him. They unwrap them together; Ash got Goh a red and black Cherish Ball, while Goh splurged on a Luxury Ball for Ash. Ash pops open the ball curiously to see Goh placed a small bag of homemade chocolate scones inside.

“Whoa, this is so awesome,” Goh smiles, turning Ash’s gift to him over in his hands. “Thanks so much, Ash…”

Instead of a “thank you,” Ash just stares at him and says, “You got me two gifts.”

Confused, Goh looks up at him and responds, “Oh, you mean the scones? Don’t worry about it,” and averts his eyes again, nervously running his fingers over the unusual, concave shape in his new pokeball.

Ash scoots a little closer next to Goh, brandishing the tiny stick and mistletoe, holding it playfully over their heads. Grookey dropped it in its haste to outrun Pikachu.

Goh’s heart doesn’t even skip, or speed up, or anything like that. He thinks Ash is just messing with him. Holding up a hand to stop him, the researcher says, matter-of-factly, “Ash, I’m not wasting my first kiss on a joke.”

“I'm not joking,” Ash says earnestly, tentatively wrapping his free hand around the nape of Goh’s neck into his hair.

That’s when Goh’s heart gets the memo to skip, practically tripping over itself as it suddenly takes off.

For an unbearable moment, they just stare at each other like that, their eyes tremoring back and forth. Then Ash leans forward, brushing Goh’s lips with a precious kiss, and stealing another quick kiss right before he pulls away. The champion smiles at the dazed look in Goh’s eyes. From this angle, they’re reflecting the Holinight lights, and it’s like Ash can actually see the stars in his eyes.

Goh’s voice cracks a little as he blushes red, murmuring, “…You got me three gifts…” and he leans forward again, resting his hand across Ash’s sweater, kissing him three more times, each one lasting longer than the one before it.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Ash laughs, peppering Goh’s face with four more playful kisses.   

The two of them carry on like this until they both lose count, dizzy and snuggling the Holinight away.