My father would often tell me stories from his early years, as my small body tried desperately to sleep at night. He would tell me about his journeys and folks he met. And how he would never regret leaving home when he did. Then, after I had fallen asleep- or rather, when he thought I had- he would ask me if I would ever leave and not regret it.
And I supposed, when it was all said and done, I wouldn't regret it. Not because of the journey or the folks I'd meet, but being able to see places I could never imagine. And experiencing moments that never would have happened.
Keep in mind though, those were the thoughts of a little girl that had hardly any knowledge of the world.
The Miltank slept peacefully in the barn, our Blitzle keeping watch over them dutifully as I latched the doors shut. The cold air managed to dance against my fingers despite my warm breath constantly hitting them. Another wonderful night in the northern Hoenn region, I thought sarcastically.
The wind began to pick up, and once I again I wondered why we thought moving our dairy farm to Lilycove would be a good idea. Then again, my parents always thought outside the box. I shivered, thinking of my tenth birthday.
My legs were stiff as I made my way back to the house. Perseus, my growlithe, was waiting happily at the door for me. I reached down and gave him a soft scratch behind his right ear. Just how he liked it.
"Good boy," I muttered, yawning soon afterwards. Together, we made our way up to my room, flopping down on the bed quickly after changing. My long brown hair hit the pillow ungracefully, and my chocolate eyes flew shut, submitting to sleep. Perseus wasted no time taking his spot in the curve of my back.
Another average day. Not that I minded, of course.
"Oh, Anna, just the girl I wanted to see," My mother spoke as I sat down at the kitchen table. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a bun as she hunched over the stove in her old, white apron. "I need you to do something exciting!"
"Goody. Scooping up the poop in the yard," I asked, still groggy.
"No, you're father has already done that-"
"Clean the gutters? Did that."
"Good-"
"Wait, is Lily giving birth today?"
"No-"
"Good. I still need to get a new pair of glove-"
"ANYWAYS," My mother nearly yelled, sending me her widest smile that it was time to be quiet.
"Your brother is in Mossdeep city for a while, and has a couple of Zubats with him that will help with all the annoying bugs in the barn. I need you to go get them for me."
"Why? Can't Luke just come over here?"
"No, I'm afraid he's a bit tied up with work. And as soon as he's done he needs to head back to Kanto. Besides, you two haven't seen each other in a while, and you always talk about wanting to visit Mossdeep."
It was true. The shores at Mossdeep were fascinating, and they recently started taking people on tours of the Space Centre. And, yeah, it had been a while since me and Luke saw one another.
"Fine, but will you and dad be fine while I'm gone?"
"Come on, Anna, give us some credit. We're your parents, of course we have it under contro-" My mom was cut off as my dad, in all his glory, came barreling in with scorched pants, his black hair spiked up in all directions, and his usually tan face tinted in black.
"So, tip, don't walk behind a Blitzle whose sleeping." Without another word, he fled upstairs, his pride pounded into the ground once my mom's phone clicked, taking his picture.
"That man," she groaned, catching my smirk. "I'll watch him. Now go get ready. You want to get an early start."
"Okay, okay."
Today was already different, I decided.