Something New
There was something new about this place.
No, Hilda had been up and down this rural route a million times. She had run through it, racing with Cheren and Bianca, and she had ambled up it with tears in her eyes when no one would take her to her last school dance. She knew the seasons well, how the grass smelled sweet in the summer and how the plows piled up the snow in soft, while hills on the side of the road each winter. It was summer now, and it looked no different than the sixteen ones before Hilda spent chasing her friends around.
The already warm morning sun beat upon her as she took her first few steps onto the dirt path that would lead her to Accumula Town. Hilda walked by the ocean and stopped. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she looked out upon the glittering waves. It was hard to believe that just two years ago, she and Cheren had gotten themselves lost in her father's boat out there. Her first adventure didn't end as well as she hoped this next, greater one would. She walked along the sands for a bit, taking her time. Cheren and Bianca would meet her by the end of the day. They wanted to have a contest. Whoever caught the most Pokémon today won. Hilda stopped on the beach and reached into her bag. Looking down, she pulled out the Poké Ball her new partner occupied.
It seemed odd to even have a Pokémon in her possession. Sure, both of her parents were trainers, but Hilda didn't even think about following in their footsteps seriously until Cheren encouraged her to. She wondered how some people could fill up boxes and boxes of the little monsters; her mom could barely manage the team of six she kept. Catch them all? No, she didn't think she could. For now, one was enough. There was no way she could already replace Snivy. Hilda pressed down on the ball, releasing her partner's energy, and watched as her new friend materialized on the sand.
The grass snake blinked rapidly, as if she had been sleeping in her capsule. Then she sniffed the air, smelling the rough scent of sea salt on the breeze. The little Pokémon turned her back to Hilda and took a few steps into the surf, seeming to enjoy the cold water rushing through her claws.
"You like the water?" Hilda asked, deciding to join her Pokémon. She slipped off her socks and boots, dropped her bag to the ground, and then began to wade into the water to the knee, far deeper than her monster could follow. "Here, let me hold you. I'll teach you how to swim." Hilda bent over, reaching with her arms for Snivy. The Pokémon stared at her with nervous brown eyes for a moment, then waded into her trainer's hands. As Hilda moved farther from the shore, where the water was high enough to graze the hem of her shorts, Snivy gripped her fingers tightly.
"It's okay," Hilda cooed, holding the reptile close to her body. "I won't drop you." Snivy looked over to the shore then back at her trainer. Carefully, Hilda lifted the Pokémon onto her shoulder. "Now, when you get in the water, you kind of want to move your arms like this." To demonstrate, she moved her arms like a pinwheel, keeping a slow pace as to not bump her partner into the water. "Since you have teeny little limbs, you might want to wiggle a bit too." She gyrated her hips to the skeptical Snivy, and the brave little creature crawled down her arm and let her human dunk her into the water.
"Don't worry, I'll hold on to you until you get the hang of it," Hilda promised, smiling. Snivy did as her trainer had told, her movements wary and unsteady at first. Soon, she was wiggling towards the beach, dragging her trainer along with her. Hilda's hand slipped away from the creature's sleek scales, but she kept going. She watched with pride as Snivy swarm along towards the shore, thinking that maybe the young Pokémon wasn't as helpless as she thought.
An enormous wave smacked Hilda in the back of her head, throttling her and pushing her beneath the water. Her bare legs scraped the sand, and she was tossed around. She found her feet and broke through the surface, now facing the empty horizon. Frantically, she tossed her head around, searching for her Pokémon and calling her name. Her eyes caught a green glint on the sand, her Pokémon, safe, mocking her with a squeaky giggle she could hear over the roar of the ocean. She looked down. Her clothing was sopping, and her hat floated a few feet away from her. She grabbed at it and shook it off.
"My Pokémon is laughing at me," she grumbled, throwing a piece of wet hair behind her shoulder and setting the wet cap atop her head. "There goes the last lingering piece of my dignity." Hilda waded back to the beach, her frustration melting away from the warmth of a smile on her face. For day one of her adventure, it could have been worse. She thanked the Heroes that this happened rather than a mugging, or worse having Cheren mock her over this little bought of bad, clumsy luck.
Hilda laid out on a grassy knoll her with Pokémon, her vest discarded as they dried out beneath the sun. For an hour or so, they watched the clouds form and dissolve above them, shading their eyes and forming pictures from them. It was something familiar, something she had done with her friends loads of times before they both received their Pokémon. But it was all different now, all new, because she had a new friend laying beside her.
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