Lily's Rattata
One
All year round Lily would see skilled Pokemon trainers visit her town. Azalea Town was home to a Pokemon Gym, and if these trainers wanted any chance of becoming Champion, they needed to defeat Bugsy: The Gym Leader. However, Pokemon trainers weren't the only people regularly passing through. Travellers, researchers, and historians all made a point to visit Azalea town, for although it was a small town, it had a rich heritage. Lily was well acquainted with it. The Slowpoke Well was home to many (you guessed it) Slowpoke, but most people didn't consider Slowpoke to be of any significance, after all, it was just another species of Pokemon, wasn't it? But the people of Azalea town owed the Slowpoke their lives. Over 400 years ago, a drought hit the small town. The drought was ended when all the Slowpoke yawned and caused it to rain. The town's elderly residents were all very passionate about Slowpoke and it was probably for this very reason that it was Maisy's favourite Pokemon.
Maisy was Lily's best friend. She lived with her grandfather, Kurt whose skills were world-renowned. To this day he is often considered the Pokeball expert. Converting apricorns into Pokeballs is no simple task but Kurt dedicated his life to it, and passed on his skills to his eager granddaughter; she watched him work whenever she could and when he was away she would try to imitate what he had done with the apricorns. Until Lily moved to Azalea town with her father, Maisy spent all of her time with her grandfather and their Slowpoke.
Lily was adopted at the age of 4 by a couple in Cerulean City of the Kanto region. The couple already had a daughter, Sophia aged 10. They wanted to have another child of their own but they were unable. They turned to adoption and brought Lily home with them. Lily came to know them as 'mother' and 'father' respectively, but she always knew the truth. They all lived together happily for a time. But that all changed on Sophia's 11th Birthday.
Sophia, with the assistance of her mother and her Pokemon, travelled to Pallet Town in the hope that she could meet Professor Oak and receive her very own Pokemon. Being the indecisive person that she was, Sophia chose Eevee, knowing that she could later choose five different types to evolve it into. She began her very own Pokemon adventure and trained her Eevee tirelessly. At the same time, her mother made her way home to share the good news. Their mother never made it home. But her Spearow did. A Police Officer had carried the Spearow from the crime scene and brought it home. The Officer brought grave news. Their father was distraught. He didn't know how he could carry on, what he was going to do, or how he was ever going to tell the girls. He waited eagerly for Sophia to return home. He knew she would be passing through Cerulean City to challenge the Gym. When Sophia returned, he hardly even took notice of her Eevee. He embraced her, tears in his eyes. He explained everything to them both and told Sophia that she could stay as long as she liked. Sophia did just that. She was so unsure of herself, she became angry and often lost in thought. Eventually, Sophia continued with the Gym challenge. However, she no longer wished to face the league, but to train her Pokemon to be strong and join the Police force, in the hope that she could prevent the crimes such as that which hurt her so.
Lily and her father moved to Johto once Sophia had gone her own way. The death of his love scarred him terribly and he needed to find a new start. He and Lily settled in Azalea Town where they were taken in by the community as if they were family. And that is what they became. The residents of Azalea Town were all known to each other and shared a strong bond. Perhaps the strongest of those bonds was that between Lily and Maisy. Every day they would play with Maisy's Pokemon in the Ilex Forest. Lily loved the forest, but she had no idea how much it would mean to her in the years to come. The Ilex Forest would play a major role in her story.