It was late at night in Goldenrod City, and far from the ever-busy center of this giant metropole, most people were already asleep. A young girl, however, sat on her bed, wide awake, directing her gaze outside the window longingly.
Next to her sat a little pokemon, which she stroked absent-mindedly while letting out a big sigh. "I wish we could see everything under this wide sky with my own eyes, Eevee." The girl took her little friend in the arm and lifted it up so it could see out of the window. She nestled her nose in its soft fur and sighed again.
She would be twelve the next day, and still not on her journey like any other kid from age ten onwards. For two years, she and her Eevee had been waiting here in Goldenrod City, going to trainer school, helping her sister out…
It was not that she wanted to leave this all behind. She loved her sister, who took good care of her and worked hard to never have her miss anything she needed, she also loved this home they had made here in this city that had so many possibilities and so much to see. If she was honest, travelling through whole regions by foot and sleeping outside did not appeal to her all that much, but still she wanted to. To do something on her own. Even if it was uncomfortable and maybe dangerous, she knew it was something she had to do in order to grow up.
But there was no way for her to go on this journey for the next few years. Her sister wouldn't let her. Part of her hated her for this, but the bigger and more reasonable part knew that she only did this to protect her. The world was a dangerous place for a young girl who traveled alone, even if she was with a pokemon.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open and jumped a little upon her sister's voice. "There's no need to scare me like that the night before my birthday." This caused the older girl to smile, but she soon became serious.
"Actually, your birthday is the reason I wanted to talk to you." She sat down on the bed as well, her Espeon that had followed her situated at her feet. "I know it's been hard for you to stay here while everyone of your friends left for their pokemon adventure. I also know you understand my reasons for this, don't you, Lily?"
Lily nodded. "It's because I could get hurt."
"Exactly. I couldn't bear to lose you as well…" She paused for a moment and cleared her throat. "But I have realized that I cannot keep you here forever, and that it would be selfish of me to not let you go on your journey. Every parent or sibling is surely worried about those they part with, but we all know this day has to come. You and Eevee have been training for two years now, and I know you are not the type to jump into dangerous situations head over heels, so I have decided that tomorrow will be your last day here- if you want."
Lily looked at her sister increduously. "You mean I can.. go on my journey?" She would never have expected this.
"That's what I meant. But only under one condition. You may not travel alone at night. You sleep in pokemon centers, and for dangerous routes, you take the ferry, bus or or other public transportation. You call me every day to report about your well-being, and I will come to visit you every now and then. Can you live with these conditions?"
"Of course I can! I'll do everything you want if I can only go on my journey!" She jumped from her bed, throwing her perplexed Eevee in the air, and danced around the room like a Skitty running riot. "Oh, thank you, Rose, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She came to a short halt to hug her sister before starting the dance again, luckily, because otherwise she would have suffocated someone.
Rose sat on the bad, smiling and caressing her Espeon which frowned a little upon all the commotion in the room.
When Lily had calmed a little, she said: "I will need equipment for my journey, like food, cards, healing items…"
"Don't you think I already knew that?," grinned Rose. We're going shopping tomorrow, I'm sure we'll find anything you need in Johto's biggest department store right here in Goldenrod City. But I think it would be better if you went to sleep now, because enormous shopping trips require you to be fit. Follow Eevee's good example."
Lily looked down at her little brown pokemon, which was already fast asleep, probably due to exhaustion from all the dancing. "Okay, I'll try to sleep now. But tomorrow…"
"Tomorrow is your big day, dear. You can do whatever you like then." With a smile and a "good night", she closed the door and went to her own room, wiping a little tear from her eye. Tomorrow would be the end of something old, but also the start of something new.