Lily's POV
I woke up with a weight on my chest, making the mattress sink deeper. I opened my eyes immediately, used to my old alarm blaring for me to go to Trainer School. I stopped going half a year ago, having made sure I learned as much as humanly possible about Pokémon before my twelfth birthday. Wait…birthday…
That was when I remembered the weight still on me. I looked forward, blinking away the blurriness from sleep. A reddish form came into view, in kind of a sitting-dog shape. It barked, and I blinked in response, not understanding what was on my bed with me.
"Well?" My mom expectantly asked from the doorway. I turned to her, a puzzled look on my face. "I told your father we should give it to you when you're actually awake…" She muttered, smiling brightly as what was happening finally dawned on me.
"You got me a Growlithe!?" I yelled, smiling as widely as I could without it hurting too much. The Growlithe barked happily at its name. I hugged the Pokémon, and it licked me right back. Mom just smiled after reminding me I still had to wait a few months before going on my journey, and left me with my new friend. "What am I gonna name you?" I asked it, not expecting an answer. It tilted its head. "Maybe something Latin, Latin's cool…" I thought to myself. Growlithe barked happily.
After looking up definitions online for half an hour, I finally thought of it.
"Ace!" I called, leaning on the front door. He bounded down the stairs, carrying his own Pokeball in his mouth. He dropped it into my open bag, wagging his tail in excitement. I bit my lip, nervous. Was I really ready to leave Hydron Town? It was all I knew, could I make it?
I shook my head at this. I'd been preparing my whole life, I had everything planned and under control. I had Ace by my side (or in my belt to be precise). I had to make it.
Bidding goodbye to my parents, and standing uncomfortably in all three of Mom's bear hugs, I walked out the door and into Route 1.
Athena's POV
I rushed out of m house, barely yelling "Bye!" to my parents over my shoulder. Professor Acacia was just next door, but I'd been waiting for months to get my partner, nothing would stop me today.
Except for crashing into someone else.
Lillian's POV
In a daze, I looked at whatever I crashed into. I saw light blonde hair going down, reaching the girl's back. Immediately, I launched into about a thousand apologies
"It's fine, I swear. Quit apologizing, it was just as much my fault for not looking." The girl said.
"I'm just so sorry-my name's Lillian, what's yours?" I asked her.
"Athena. Yeah, I know, Greek Goddess of Wisdom." I smiled at this, holding out my hand. "Why were you in such a rush?" She asked as she took the handshake.
"Just getting my starter Pokémon. What about you, oh great goddess?"
"Me too, shall we go?" She held out her arm, which I linked mine in. We walked into the lab, and came out holding our respective starters. Athena smiled down at the Squirtle in her arms, and I just grinned down at my new Charmander.
That was when we were crashed into for the second time in an hour.
Athena's POV
Lillian's large bushy black hair was in my face, and someone else's body was sprawled onto mine. The body rolled off, yelling "Oh my god I'm so sorry!"
I got up, and saw a brunette girl with glasses looking insanely embarrassed and a bit scared, seemingly from seeing new people. I looked down and saw that the girl had a single Pokeball on her belt.
She stopped herself on another apology by saying "Oh, I love your Pokémon!" I'd forgotten about my Squirtle, and looked down to see it still lying on the ground, stunned from the sudden fall. I saw Lillian smile and thank the girl.
"I'm Lily, are you two going on a journey too?" She asked. Lillian nodded, a sudden fierce look etched onto her face.
"I'm going to challenge all the Gym Leaders!" Lillian declared. Lily turned to me, expecting me to say my goal.
"I just wanna find Pokémon, I guess. Maybe participate in Contests." I shrugged.
"I don't know what I want to do yet; I just wanna see the world, collect Pokémon. I think I'd like being a Breeder…" Lily admitted.
"Well, let's travel together!" Lillian suggested. "It'll be a lot more fun to travel across the region of Dentan together, and we'll always have someone to lift us up or give advice. I have a feeling we'll all need reminding on stuff like type advantages."
"I made a chart for that in Trainer School!" Lily helped. I held out my Pokedex.
"If Lily ever wants to know the name of a Pokémon, you and I can whip these out." I said to Lillian. She took these responses as an agreement and smiled widely. She turned to Lily then.
"Are you getting a Pokémon from Professor Acacia too? I think she only has a Bulbasaur left, which may be our faults." She admitted, looking a bit sorry.
"Nah, my family got me my partner for my birthday three months back." At this, she retrieved her only Pokeball from her belt.
"Come on out, Ace!" She called, and a red light flashed before revealing a small, reddish dog. Lillian and I both flipped open our Pokedex.
"Growlithe," They said "the puppy Pokémon. Extremely loyal, it will fearlessly bark at any opponent to protect its own trainer from harm."
Ace looked at the two of us suspiciously, unfamiliar with us. "S'alright, Ace, they're gonna join us on our journey!" Lily told the Growlithe. It looked back at her and barked happily.
She returned Ace to his Pokeball, which I took as a signal to withdraw my Squirtle. Lillian took notice and called her Charmander into its new Pokeball too.
"Wonder what Pokémon are in the first batch of tall grass." Lily said to herself, walking out of town.
"It won't matter what appears if we don't buy any extra Pokeballs!" Lillian said, making Lily come back.
"It won't be good if the wild Pokémon knock ours out, either." I added, guiding Lily to the nearby Pokecenter, which held a Pokemart inside.