"Pika! Pika! Pikachu!"
A clock in the shape of a yellow mouse with red cheeks called out that it has just passed the hour of 11 PM. A young girl sits on the edge of her bed, staring at a small TV screen. On it was a fierce battle between two fantastic creatures, a flying orange dragon that spouts red flames, and its rival, a massive snake made of stones. The young girl has jet black hair pulled back into a small ponytail on the side of her head. Her blue-green eyes are wide open, transfixed on the television, her gaze only wavering when she snaps her head sideways to look at the clock at random intervals.
"It's 11 already?! But…then that means, its only 11…" she says quietly, looking a little crestfallen. "I've been looking forward to this day for so long, why am I so nervous?"
Sighing, she starts tapping her feet against the side of the wooden bed frame, her chin resting on the palm of her hands and her eyes filled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
"Ugh, waiting is the worst!" She exclaims, flopping back onto her bed-sheets adorned with jeweled orange and purple starfish. Flinging her arms out in exasperation, her hand hits the TV remote, and accidentally turned the volume up ten notches.
"IT'S LOOKING LIKE THIS COULD BE THE END FOR CHARIZARD, ONYX'S BIND IS JUST TOO STRONG!" The TV yelled.
The girl turns red in the face and scrambles to get the remote, knocking it off the bed during her flailing.
"BUT WAIT, CHARIZARD HAS BROKEN FREE AND IS NOW SCORCHING ONYX WITH ITS SIGNATURE FIRE SPIN ATTACK!" The TV continued.
"Oh shut up, I don't have time for this!" The girl yelled at the screen, slamming her thumb down on the mute button.
Just then, the door opened to her bedroom and a middle-aged woman with bright orange hair appeared. She looks at the young girl, who had an embarrassed and sheepish look on her face, and crossed her arms.
"Now, missy, it is way past your bedtime and you have a big day tomorrow! If you stay up too late you'll risk oversleeping, and you don't want Professor Oak to run out of Pokémon, now do you?" The woman asked.
"No mom, I don't want that." The young girl responded, looking rather down.
The mother frowned, not unkindly.
"Hey, I didn't mean to make you sad, I'm sorry." She said, sitting beside her daughter and wrapping her arms around her.
"I'm just scared," The girl replied "I've waited for this day for so long and now it's almost here, and I'm just so worried that I'm going to somehow mess it all up and I'll never get to be a trainer."
"I'm scared too," the mother replied, loosening her grip on her daughter and looking up at the ceiling "Your father and I love you very much, and although I know you have to leave someday, it just hurts knowing it will be so soon."
The little girl looked up at her.
"But that's not to say I don't want you to go! It's an amazing adventure…the times I had as a trainer were the best times of my life, besides the times I've had with you, of course." The mother said, gently pushing the girl.
The girl laughed, and pushing back said, "It's not like I'm running away! I'll call, and write, and visit, and from what I know about you and Dad, you'll show up at one of my battles at the other side of the world without as much as a warning."
The mother smirked.
"You know it's true, young lady. I won't have to spend much time convincing your father to come travelling again, even if it's only for a short while. He was on the road for so long that I'm not sure he will ever be totally happy staying in one place…" She trailed off a little, looking worried.
"Oh please, are you blind?" The girl said to her mother "The way he looks at you, it's like he spent years trying to find you."
The mother blushed and smiled.
"At least one of us in this family isn't oblivious." She replied, smiling.
They both laughed, and in that moment, Misty knew everything was going to be just fine.
Tucking her into bed, the mother kissed her daughter goodnight.
"Pika! Pika! Pikachu!" The clock sang as it struck midnight.
"I love you, Lily."
"I love you too Mom. I'll see you in the morning, remember?"
"Yes, I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well, but don't oversleep! Or else you'll have me to deal with" She said, pulling a ridiculous face and sticking out her tongue.
"Don't worry mom, what kind of loser do you think I am? No future Pokemon Master would oversleep their first day as a trainer." The girl replied, pulling the Staryu and Starmie sheets up over her shoulders.
"Not a very good one I'm sure." Misty said with a chuckle. As soon as she shut Lily's door behind her, whispered to herself, "Oh, but I do know of one in particular."
Creeping back downstairs, she opened the door to her bedroom. A yellow mouse lay fast asleep in a bed on the nightstand, and a dark-haired man just slightly her junior lay similarly on the side of the bed closest to the sleeping creature. Misty gently walked around the other side of the bed and climbed under the covers.
"She can't sleep, can she?" The man whispered, apparently not as asleep as he seemed.
Misty sighed, but a smile crept across her face.
"No, I told her she needed to go to sleep now or she'd risk oversleeping. She told me that I was being silly, and that no future Pokemon Master would oversleep their first day."
"She's right, whoever does that must be some kind of amateur." He replied.
Misty leaned over the man and said "Oh really, amateur Ash?"
"Yeah, I am one, but I just so happen to be an amateur, champion, and master all at the same time! Which isn't easy to accomplish." He replied with a wink. "Right Pikachu?"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu replied, giving him a high five with his tail from the nightstand.
They all laughed, and Misty glanced across the room towards the foot of the bed. On the far wall hung a certificate, unassuming in size and decoration, but reading:
Ash Ketchum
Pokemon League Champion
Master of Pokemon
"Misty, if you don't get to sleep we're go to miss Lily's first day as a trainer." Ash said sleepily.
"Oh please, like I'd be the one here who messes that one up." She said, playfully smacking him on the shoulder.
"Goodnight Misty."
"Goodnight Ash."
"Pika!"
"Goodnight Pikachu!"
"Pika pi."
As the moon stood high above the clouds, casting a soft light over the small town of Pallet, the next batch of trainers slept fitfully knowing that tomorrow would be the start of the rest of their lives, and that as of first light, the only things separating them from their dreams would be their feet, their determination, and the help of the best of friends. And among them would be Lily, the daughter of Ash and Misty Ketchum, Gym Leaders of Pallet Town.
When she woke up the next morning, she would kiss her parents goodbye, lace up her shoes, grab her backpack, and put her dark hair into a ponytail situated to the side. She would then take her first steps to becoming a Pokémon Master, choosing her lifelong companion in Professor Oak's lab, a Pokedex, and a map, all of which would guide her along her journey. Finally, she would set out North, leaving the home she grew up in for the hundreds of homes she would get to know across every corner of the world, and all the amazing things she would see and do between them. But for now, she slept soundly, dreaming of adventure and excitement, all of which would come, soon enough.