Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any of the characters or plotlines associated with it.
Wildflowers
My hair was an unruly mess of brunette curls and twists, tied up high and fluffy. A wicker basket was swinging around my bike handle and I pedaled through the trees, indulging in my old habit of standing up on the pedals and cruising down the hills.
Suddenly a bump was thrown into my path, and I was thrown through the grass and into a huge patch of rainbow petals. I cringed at the awkward angle my ankle was positioned in, but heck, I'd been through worse and survived. I pushed myself up with a little help and looked down.
I turned around to the empty path, quietly admiring all of the flowers on either side. It was truly beautiful. Each petal was like a silken tapestry, in an array of golds, reds, sunset oranges; deep magenta to fragile lavender and periwinkle.
With no small amount of hesitance I took out a sharp pocketknife and began to saw away at a few stems, slowly clipping more and more, placing them gently next to me. The snapping of the stems was a strange sort of rhythmic sound, like a strange animal's cry or a lullaby from when I was young. The distant familiarity tricked me into my next trap; I started swaying and moving to the music a little as I cut, humming a little tune to myself and laughing.
I jumped at least a foot in the air at the voice suddenly behind me.
"You- um... You realize this is private property, ma'am?" A red crept up to my cheeks and I was too afraid to turn around, so I simply dropped my knife in shame.
"I'm very sorry, sir. I didn't realize. It's just that the flowers were really beautiful and I thought I could bring them to my mother back in Nuvema Town down the road. I didn't mean any ha-"
He cut me off with defiance. "I understand. They truly are marvelous, aren't they?" He chuckled. "I'll make you a deal. If you help me make a bouquet for myself then I'll let you keep the rest of the flowers you've cut."
I was so grateful I dropped the flower I had been twirling around in my fingers and turned around. "Really? I mean... of course. Certainly. That's very kind of you."
He bowed a little and nodded, gesturing towards a little cottage I hadn't seen before. I realized it had been covered by ivy and tree branches in my way, and silently cursed myself for not looking better. Who just randomly finds a whole patch of exotic flowers?
The young man chuckled again, like he knew what I was thinking. The sound tickled my spine. I looked back at him curiously only to find him heading towards the house, his messy green tangled swishing behind him.
I quickly followed, actually forgetting the flowers at first, but then running into the house.
When I entered, he was at a green and blue wooden table, like a bench, but elegantly carved. He was sitting in front of a vase full with water.
"Here. You can choose which ones to put in. Matching up colors ad styles has really never been my forte." He smiled at me and it gave me that strange spine-tickling feeling again. I felt like I should know him.
I say down at the bench in front of him, taking the most spectacular flowers and arranging them with the brightest and tallest in the middle, and a few light ones dotting the outside.
"Hmm..." The young man inspected it before turning to me, a soft smile gracing his lips. "It's lovely. Let me fetch you a basket for those ones you have left there."
As soon as he left I let out a deep sigh I hadn't realized I was holding. The Pokémon Master getting nervous over a handsome stranger? It was all ridiculous.
His shoes clicked on the tile floor as he came back. "Here you go. You can keep it."
I took it gingerly with no small amount of blushing. "Are you sure?" I asked as we loaded the flowers into the basket.
"Positive." He finished up and walked to the door after me. "Thank you for the bouquet, Hilda."
My eyes widened. Suddenly it was like being hit in the face. How had I not realized? The hair, the smile, the familiarity, the calmness-
"You're welcome, N," I said quietly, trying to resist the urge to ask him when he got here and how come he hadn't told me he was here.
As I stepped through the door, I heard some hesitant words behind me, and stopped.
"You don't have to leave now if you don't want to."
I dropped the basket and ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck as tears began to stream down my cheeks. "I missed you!"
He had gone slack under my grip, and I could see his cheeks were red, so I let go.
"I had fervently wished to see you for a while, but I certainly didn't expect to find you dancing like a child in my garden, though." He looked down at me and now so blushed, shoving him away.
"Hey, I'm not that bad of a dancer!" I tried to sound offended but that wasn't working, so I dropped it and we just laughed.
We just stood there for a while, then N showed me the cottage and his whole garden and the little patch where Zekrom loved to sleep (where it was right now) and told me he had been wandering for a while and found this little old abandoned thing, and with the help of all his Pokémon, had fixed it up to working condition.
"I didn't realize I would see you." I resisted the temptation to ask why he hadn't visited, or what had happened on his adventures, settling with that these things could be discussed at a later time.
Eventually afternoon had faded into evening and I realized I needed to get home, so I started for the door with my goodbyes, and a moment later N joined me, one silky pink flower in his hand. He gently tucked it behind my ear, my hair having fallen out of its messy ponytail long before.
"Remember to visit. My Pokémon have been wanting to see you. As have I."
I smiled and nodded simply, grabbing my basket and taking it to my bike, starting it back up to the actual path, considering what kind of bouquet to make for my mother.