Hero and Partner Week, Day 4: Festival (+ Day 2: Flowers)
One year after her arrival in the world of Pokémon, Skitty takes Neo to her first Shaymin’s Equinox Festival. Before the party starts, they show their gratitude for Kangaskhan by helping her decorate her shop for the festivities!
I wrote a short story to accompany this illustration and provide some lore for what the festival is. You can read it below or here on Archive of our Own!
@heropartnerweek
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“Hold still, I’m almost done.”
Skitty braided the second to last of the flowers into Neo’s mane and sat back to admire her work. She had tucked one dainty bloom behind Neo’s left ear and dappled several others across her mane as if a gentle breeze had blown them onto her, and then she loosely braided each of the stems into her fur to fasten them. Six coral petals adorned each small flower, and six bright yellow stamens erupted from each of the snow-white centers. The dark leaves, glossy like emeralds, contrasted against the plush grey and white of Neo’s long fur.
“Finished now?” She asked, impatient from Skitty’s fussing.
“Yes,” replied Skitty, “and if I say so myself, you look beautiful.” She leaned in and nuzzled Neo’s forehead.
Despite her small smile, Neo pawed at her muzzle and glanced away. Not meeting Skitty’s eyes, she grumbled, “what are these, anyway?”
“You …” Skitty tilted her head slightly, considering. “I guess you can’t remember them, do you?”
Neo shook her head at that.
“They’re called gracideas,” Skitty explained, placing the final blossom behind her own ear. “Around here, they’re always the first flowers to bloom after the season’s last snowfall, and they mark the beginning of springtime. They don’t last long: just a few weeks. You must have come here not long after the last gracideas had died.” She hummed low in her throat. “I forget, sometimes, how little time you’ve actually been here with us.”
As she listened, Neo watched the day’s last rays of sunlight streaming in through the window. “It doesn’t feel like it’s only been a year to me, either.”
After a moment, Skitty said, “every year, we throw a party in honor of the coming of spring. It’s called the Festival of Shaymin’s Equinox, after the Pokémon who planted the very first gracidea seeds and brought the world out of a long winter many generations ago. We celebrate Shaymin’s Equinox by decorating the Square with gracidea flowers we collect from the Beau Plains, making lots of special foods, stuff like that. A long time ago, the festival was about celebrating those who survived the winter and mourning those who were lost, but now that we’ve learned how to adapt to the colder months, it’s mostly about showing our gratitude to the Pokémon we care about.” Skitty lifted a paw and caressed one of the flowers she had braided into Neo’s fur. “It’s really important around to Pokémon around here.”
Skitty stood abruptly. “Anyway, it’s time to go!” She waved with her tail for Neo to follow. “I promised Kangaskhan that we would help her set up before the festival starts.”
Neo smiled again, charmed by Skitty’s sudden bashfulness. She stood and pressed a brief kiss between her eyes before leading the way outside.
As they walked together out of the rescue base and into the golden spring evening, Neo entwined her tail with Skitty’s and thought how lucky she was to be alive in this world.
