A/N: Sorry guys to make you wait. I have a lot of things to do and plan plots for my future pokémon stories that it was delayed for… uhm… I don't know how many months but here I am with another update of the story. Also, I don't plan to discontinue any of my stories. It's just that I have a writer's block and/or I am busy and/or unfortunate things happen. Thank you for waiting and here's the chapter.
Ch. 27: Connections
Andrew woke up but he noticed that the sun wasn't still up. Despite that fact, he left his room and roamed around.
'It's nice to roam around sometimes,' Andrew thought. 'But… what is this thing that I'm feeling?'
He continued to walk along the corridors until he finally reached the mansion's entrance. As he walked out, he noticed that it's almost daybreak.
'The day's about to start,' Andrew said with a smile as he continued walking forward, not even sure where he wants to go. As he walked around aimlessly, his mind was filled with questions. Seconds passed, he was still thinking of things that got his curiosity. Minutes walked away but he was still in the same state. Just then, the scent of flowers reached his nose and he realized that he had got himself into the flower fields.
'Flowers…' Andrew thought. 'I think these are the flowers that Lyka takes care about.'
Just then, sunlight peeks through the forest and shines on the sky. Also, a gentle breeze came, making the flowers dance with it.
'The sunrise feels familiar somehow…' Andrew thought.
Just then, Lyka entered the flower fields with a water spray. She noticed Andrew and she tried to call his attention.
"Andrew!" Lyka called to him and Andrew noticed her.
"You're up early," Lyka said.
"You too," Andrew said. "So, you do care a lot about these flowers."
"Yeah!" Lyka said with a smile, although Andrew can tell that with her Aura since he had refined his aura-reading skills.
"These flowers can survive on their own, right?" Andrew asked.
"Of course they can but they'll be more beautiful if they are cared and tended to," Lyka explained.
"May I ask why you like tending to the flowers?" Andrew asked.
"Well, it may be because I'm a grass type… Well, when I see them, I feel attached to them like they're my brothers and sisters," Lyka explained.
"Thanks, Lyka," Andrew said.
"For what?" Lyka was confused when she heard what Andrew said.
"Well, for the little chat," Andrew said. "Anyway, I'll be going."
"Okay. See you soon!" Lyka waved goodbye as Andrew left. After that, Lyka started watering the flowers. After a minute, she remembered something.
"Oh yeah!" She said as she realized. "Today's the day! How could I forget?"
Then, she resumed tending to the flowers.
…
After an hour, Percy and Roderick went out of the mansion. Roderick had a big smile on his face while Percy was on a good mood.
"What are we going to do today, Roderick?" Percy asked.
"Well, we'll have some fun!" Roderick cheerfully said.
"Yeah. I hope you could come up with something before we meet the others," Percy said.
They paused for a while and no one spoke. After two minutes, Percy said something.
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Percy asked. "I think there is something we must do today but it's on the tip of my tongue."
"Well, I don't think we have an agreement for today," Roderick said.
"Oh well… Maybe I just mistook it for something else…" Percy said.
Just then, Roderick thought of something.
"I know! Maybe we should play ping pong today!" Roderick said.
"Great idea! I haven't played it for so long," Percy agreed.
"Come on, let's find Andrew," Roderick said.
Then, the two went to look for the Riolu. Meanwhile, Jasmine was walking along the mansion's corridors while humming. As she passed a window, she saw Roderick and Percy run by.
'I wonder what they're up to,' Jasmine thought.
Just then, she saw Jenny pass by with a sheet of cloth in her beak.
"Jenny! Can I help you with that?" Jasmine offered.
Jenny shook her head as a sign that she can take care of it and left.
'Maybe I'll take a swim first,' Jasmine thought.
Just then, Andrew passed by.
"Good morning, Andrew!" Jasmine said.
"Good morning," Andrew said as he passed her.
'Everyone seems to be busy today…' Jasmine thought.
After a few minutes, Percy and Roderick came.
"Hey, Jasmine!" Roderick said. "Have you seen Andrew?"
"He just passed by a while ago," was her reply.
"Thanks," Roderick said. "Let's go, Percy."
"Right," Percy said.
As the two left, Jasmine went to a nearby water source. Meanwhile, Steve was sitting on a tree branch when he saw Jenny pass by. He just plainly ignored the Torchic and closed his eyes. He sighed and looked up the sky.
Jenny was now at the flower fields and she saw Lyka, who's busy with something.
"Great timing, Jenny!" Lyka smiled. "I could use a helping hand here."
"What are you doing?" Jenny asked.
Just then, Lyka's face turned into a worried one.
"Can't you remember? Today's the day!" Lyka said to the Torchic.
"Today's what day?" Jenny asked as she remembered nothing about what Lyka was saying.
"Ooh! Come here!" Lyka dragged Jenny with a vine of hers and went somewhere.
Meanwhile, Roderick and Percy finally found Andrew.
"Hey Andrew! Let's go and play the new game we invented!" Roderick said, obviously excited.
"Sorry guys," Andrew said. "Blissey just asked me to go meet her for something important."
"Aw…" Roderick said as he was let down.
"Don't worry," Percy said. "We can always play it tomorrow!"
"Percy's right!" Andrew tried to cheer the Charmander. "We'll absolutely play tomorrow!"
"Promise me that, okay?" Roderick said as he cheered up and made a thumbs-up.
"Sure!" Andrew smiled. "Gotta go, guys,"
"See ya later!" Both Percy and Roderick said.
Andrew left quickly and not too long, Lyka came and the two noticed it.
"What are the two of you doing this all time?" Lyka said with fuming anger.
"Uhm… Should we do something else?" Roderick asked.
"I have the same question too…" Percy said.
"What? We only have one hour! Don't tell me you forgot that we'll prepare something for the blue lovebirds?" Lyka said.
"Huh?" Both Roderick and Percy said which made Lyka sigh in disbelief.
"Why am I the only one who remembered it?" Lyka said to herself.
"Sorry but I can't really remember anything about that," Roderick said.
"Come with me, you two!" Lyka said and dragged the two with her vines.
…
"Almost done!" Lyka said as she placed a basket down.
"We only have fifteen minutes left…" Jenny said.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THE THREE OF YOU FORGOT ABOUT IT!" Lyka shouted.
"We're sorry…" Roderick apologized.
"We only need those two…" Jenny said.
"Right. Both I and Jenny will look for her and the two of you boys will have to find him," Lyka said.
"Consider it done!" Roderick said.
Meanwhile, Jasmine was placing the icing on the cake she had just finished baking.
"I'm sure everyone will be happy when I present this!" Jasmine said to herself happily.
As she finished the cake, she packed it properly and placed it in her basket. She thanked the pokémon working there for letting her use the kitchen and she was about to leave when Jenny and Lyka came in.
"Jenny and Lyka! It's good to see you here!" Jasmine said.
"Good to see you here too, Jasmine!" Jenny said.
"You go ahead to the flower garden," Lyka said. "Jenny and I will get some things needed for lunch."
"I can help you with that," Jasmine offered her help.
"N-no thanks!" Jenny said.
"Besides, you're already carrying something," Lyka said. "We can do it ourselves."
"Okay," Jasmine said. "See you there!"
Jasmine headed towards the flower fields with her basket. Meanwhile, Percy and Roderick have found Andrew. They approached the Riolu and he noticed them.
"Roderick and Percy!" Andrew said.
"Hey Andrew!" Roderick said.
"So, lunch is ready?" Andrew asked.
"Yep!" Percy said as he presented a basket he was holding with his vines.
"We've got berries, poffins and even some yummy Gummies!" Roderick said.
"So, should we go?" Andrew asked.
"You go to the flower fields first," Roderick said.
"We're going to help Jenny and Lyka," Percy said.
"I can help too," Andrew said.
"T-thanks but no thanks," Roderick said.
"We're enough help," Percy said. "You can bring this picnic basket to the flower fields if you want to,"
"Okay," Andrew accepted the basket from Percy.
"We'll be there soon," Roderick reassured Andrew.
"Okay. I'll see you later!" Andrew said.
Andrew went to the flower fields and sat down on the clearing with the basket. He waited for a while but no one still came. He was about to leave when he saw Jasmine with a basket. He helped her by taking the basket and placing it on the clearing. Both of them sat down and had a little chat. After a moment, the topic shifted.
"I wonder where the others are," Jasmine asked.
"Yeah. They're taking too long," Andrew said and he suspected that something is fishy.
"Maybe they're up busy or they helped someone out there," Jasmine said.
'Maybe… but I can't help to think that there's something…' Andrew thought.
"Andrew?" Jasmine said.
"Yes?" Andrew said.
There was silence for a while and Andrew used this opportunity to use his Aura abilities to check his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was Jasmine's aura, which made him think for a while.
'Her aura… feels so warm…' Andrew thought.
He shook the idea out of his head and concentrated on a wider radius. The air is normal and there are no hiding pokémon hiding in the flower fields. He concentrated on another area, which was the nearby forest, and he detected four familiar auras. As he thought, the auras do belong to the other four who were still missing.
'It's a set-up,' Andrew thought and he opened his eyes. He saw Jasmine fiddling with her necklace. Andrew noticed the necklace, which he never did before.
"That's a beautiful necklace," Andrew commented.
"Thanks," Jasmine thanked somewhat in a low tone. "This necklace was given by my mother."
"Oh," Andrew said and made him try to remember about his mother but he can't remember one thing, which made him somewhat a little down in the dump.
"It's nice to have some memories of your mother, isn't it?" Andrew said.
"Yes," Jasmine said. "For all those times that mom helped me, cared for me, and guided me, I'm grateful. But… I wish that I could've said at least thank you to her."
Andrew was just silent. He could've said the same thing too and he wished that his memories will come back completely. After that moment, he remembered about the other four. He thought about it for a while and stood up and he was hugged by the crying Piplup who rushed to him.
"I miss my mom!" Jasmine said as her tears flow and most of it landed on the Riolu's fur. Andrew can feel both Jasmine's aura and emotions. The feeling that make someone miss someone who had an impact on your life and that thing that is formed when a life meets another life—your connection to other people that makes life different and interesting at the same time. The Riolu thought about it like destiny—if you haven't met this person, there are possibilities of another event that might have happened and one of those is that you'll meet that certain person. Because of these connections with other people, all of us grew and changed to the way we are now.
"Jasmine, I'm sure that your mom also misses you," Andrew said. "In fact, everyone you've met misses you,"
"You think so?" Jasmine asked.
"You just asked one of them," Andrew said. "Besides, all of us will be there for you. Whenever you go, don't think you're alone because we're all connected."
"Andrew… thank you!" Jasmine hugged him tighter and made the Riolu blush a little bit.
"You're welcome, Jasmine," Andrew said. "Can you please stop hugging me so tightly?"
"Oh," Jasmine said and the fact that she was hugging the Riolu hit her and made her blush. She removed her arms from the Riolu and backed away for a bit.
"Uhm… I'm sorry," Jasmine said while her face was still red.
"Don't worry about it," Andrew scratched his head.
"By the way, those four are late," Jasmine said. "Steve too."
"Yeah," Andrew said even though he knows that Percy, Roderick, Lyka and Jenny are just nearby.
"Why don't we go look for them?" Jasmine said.
"Sure," Andrew said.
Andrew and Jasmine went to find the others and not too long, Roderick, Percy, Jenny and Lyka approached the two. Andrew silently glared at them while Jasmine was glad that they came.
"Sorry we took so long," Percy said.
'As if,' Andrew thought.
"It's okay," Jasmine said.
"So, did the two of you had fun while we're away?" Lyka asked.
Andrew just didn't spoke a single word but Jasmine smiled a bit.
"Why don't we munch our lunch now?" Jasmine said.
"Good point!" Jenny said.
"I thought you'd never say that!" Roderick said.
"I am pretty famished," Percy said.
"Then, let's eat!" Lyka said.
"But where's Steve?" Jasmine asked.
"Looks like he's ahead of us," Percy said as he pointed to the place where the baskets are and the Treecko was already eating his share of berries.
"Hey! Save some for us!" Roderick joked and he ran along with Percy, Lyka and Jenny.
"Let's go, Andrew!" Jasmine grabbed Andrew by the hand and ran to catch up with the others.
"Hey, don't run so fast!" Andrew said as he tried to keep up but what bothers him most is that Jasmine was holding his hand.
A/N: End of chapter. I do hope that no one is angry because I updated really late. I'll try to update the next chapter MUCH earlier. Anyway, please review and I'm grateful for the guys who do. ^^
