Hanami: A festival of Japan celebrating cherry blossoms. It is also known as Cherry Blossom Festival. (Hana: flower, mi: a noun-form of [miru] which means 'to see'.)

Hanami

"Whew! Good thing we came early. We got a good spot!" said Kotone, sitting down. "Look up – you can see the entire cherry blossom flowers!"

It was about an hour ago…

Silver's Pokegear was ringing, and when he answered, an excited voice hollered. "Silver! Silver! Are you free today?"

"Yes," answered Silver, who was lying on his bed, reading. He closed his book when Kotone continued. His Typhlosion heard the voice ringing through the Pokegear, and let out a soft growl; if these two did meet, then it meant that he had to meet the dreadful Meganium too. Typhlosion yawned and went to sleep.

"Do you want to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival with me? It'll be so much fun!"

Silver paused – it had been quite a long time since he went to the cherry blossom festival. "All right," he said. "When do you want to meet?" he walked over to his closet as he spoke to find a kimono that would go with the occasion – but it didn't fit. What did he expect? He was six when he went with his mother.

"How about two-thirty in front of the Radio Tower in Goldenrod? I'm currently in Kanto, I'll be riding the Magnet Train." said Kotone excitedly. "I'll see you then!"

Silver put the book back on the shelf, and put on his black jacket; he went to the balcony. He felt the cool breeze brush his hair. He looked around. Sure enough, there were cherry blossom trees everywhere. His Typhlosion followed; it growled again, irritated. It didn't care for trees much after the Meganium used the move Frenzy Plant on the previous battle. That move was powerful although it was a grass-type; when the foe kicked a gigantic tree at you, you wouldn't exactly consider it a light punch.

When he arrived at Goldenrod City, he walked over to the Magnet Train Station to wait for Kotone – his Typhlosion followed, dreading to see its rival Pokemon. Nearly everyone was wearing a kimono – he supposed they were going to the festival too. He jumped when he felt two hands gently push him from his back.

"Did I scare you?" giggled Kotone, when Silver whirled around. Silver tried to snap at her, but he couldn't speak; Kotone looked so… ladylike. Instead of two pigtails, her hair was tied into a bun, and her furisode kimono(kimono with sleeves that are about 39 to 42 inches in length) was light-green, with a drawing that matched her hairpin – white lilies. Typhlosion nudged him slightly. Silver instantly snapped out.

"Not- not really," he said. "And aren't you too… well… young to wear a furisode kimono?"

Furisode kimonos were mostly for girls who were celebrating their 'coming-of-age ceremonies'. Kotone blushed slightly. "I don't have my own kimono and I begged my mom for the one she used to wear. I wanted it because it was really pretty - what do you think about it?" she said shyly. Silver gulped.

"What's in the bag?" Silver asked, changing the subject, reluctant to answer. He made a voluntary gesture to carry it, and Kotone handed the bag over with a soft grunt. To his surprise it was quite heavy. His Typhlosion looked around to check if Meganium was around or not, and much to its dismay, Meganium was standing behind Kotone with a garland on its head.

"Just some food and some other stuff of mine," said Kotone. "I couldn't carry my backpack so I put my balls and Pokegear there." she stepped aside to show Meganium's garland. "Isn't it pretty? I did it myself." Meganium's garland also consisted of white lilies – it happily marched around proudly. Typhlosion rolled its eyes, but froze when Kotone said, "I'll make one for your Pokemon too!"

Silver laughed as Typhlosion hurried back inside its Pokeball. "Well, let's go before the good seats are taken," he said. Kotone followed after.

There weren't that many people, so the two managed to get a good spot to sit on. It was under a big cherry blossom tree, and Kotone pulled out a five layer bento out of the bag. Silver stared. "When did you make all this?" he asked. Tamagoyaki, octopus sausage, fried prawns, broiled salmons… They all looked delicious.

Kotone smiled. "I made it. It didn't take much - three layers are for the Pokemon. The other two is for you and me." she drew all her Pokemon. Silver's Pokemon also popped out of their balls, and Kotone laughed as Silver's Pokemon munched along with hers. "Looks like they have been hungry for a while," she said. Silver made a face.

"I didn't starve them, you know," he said, taking a bite out of the octopus sausage. "…You made this?" he said, swallowing. Kotone nodded, chewing on her tamagoyaki. When she swallowed, she looked at Silver with a nervous look; he was eating another sausage silently.

"Is… something wrong?" she asked carefully, trying the octopus sausage on her wooden lacquered box to see what was the problem. She frowned. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it; it tasted fine.

"Nothing's wrong," said Silver. "It's different than regular octopus sausage – it tastes way better!" He bit a fried prawn. "It's delicious, Kotone," he complimented. Kotone grinned, pleased that her hard work didn't go to waste.

"I put some of my special sauce," said Kotone, giggling. She stopped eating and slowly closed her eyes. She felt the cool breeze tickle her back of the neck; a single petal fell on her nose. She opened her eyes and brushed her nose off with a slight chuckle. She looked up. "Funny, isn't it? Beautiful flowers bloom…" she said absentmindedly, as a few petals fell away with the wind. "yet they bear no fruit." Meganium sniffed the scent and cried happily. Kotone smiled at Silver. "I love cherry blossom flowers. They're so pretty," she said, looking up again. Silver stared at her, and then he put his chopsticks down.

Kotone, who was still looking up and admiring the beauty of the flowers that swayed along with the wind, had no clue that Silver was leaning forward, until she noticed a soft, warm feeling on her lips. She blinked; when their kiss ended, Kotone stayed still in her spot, frozen. She felt her cheeks grow hot; Silver looked at her and laughed softly. Kotone finally snapped out, her whole face crimson. She looked at her shocked Meganium. "Oh, shut up," said Silver and Kotone in unison to all of the staring Pokemon. They withdrew their Pokemon, looked at each other, and laughed again.

More petals fell, and their bento was all empty. Beside the empty square boxes a boy and a girl sat leaning on the tree under the cherry blossoms, their starter Pokemon somehow ironically snoozing next to each other peacefully. Enjoying the scent of the bright-pink flowers, the two smiled. A little later, Kotone's eyes were starting to close, and her head was slowly tilting. Silver let her head rest on his shoulder, and he looked up. Petals fell, dancing upon them. Silver yawned; he gently kissed Kotone's forehead, and rested his head on hers.

Silver fell asleep. The cherry blossom flowers continued to sway in the gentle wind. It was a perfect scene; ever so peaceful, ever so quiet, ever so calm. The sweet scent put a small smile to his face…

A/N: It's based upon my experience on a Hanami I went with my grandmother in Japan when I was a child. We had to compete for a spot that got us a nice view, so we had to come early :) I'm thinking of a sequel… maybe.