"You have everything packed, right?"
"Yes, Mom."
"You have your sleeping bag?"
"Yes."
"Your toothbrush? Your deodorant? Your Pokeballs?"
"Mom, the boat-"
"Oh! The boat! It's not going to wait forever, now is it?"
I smiled at my mom. Regardless of how much of a worry wart that she was, I was still going to miss her. I was getting ready to depart from Sinnoh on a boat leaving from my hometown of Snowpoint City. It was the first time that I had ever really left home, so my mom had every right to be worried. However, I was ever so excited...not to mention a tad nervous as well.
I watched two figures run towards my mother and I. As their faded images grew closer, I could tell who they were. They were my dad and Candice, respectively. To Sinnoh, Candice was known as the gym leader of Snowpoint. To me, however, she was just my big sister. My dad and she were at the gym before they joined us at the dock. (The only reason why they couldn't join my mother and I earlier was because Candice had a last minute battle to attend to, and my dad had to make sure that nothing broke during the battle. (We had an incident a few weeks before my departure where an opponent's Pokemon went bexerk and started demolishing the gym's interior. Because of that, my dad became panicked about the gym's safety. Why? He practically owns the gym. Go figure.)
Once they met up with us, I hugged each one individually. When I hugged my dad, he whispered in my ear, "Don't come home with a boyfriend, alright?"
I elbowed him. "Dad!" I moaned, embarassed.
"Only kidding, darling," he assured me.
He pat me on the back, and then I went to hug Candice. (I bet she needed it, too, because I didn't know how she didn't freeze to death by wearing a short skirt in a climate like Snowpoint's!) "I'm gonna miss you the most," I confessed as I whispered quietly in her ear.
As we continued to hug, she told me, "I'm gonna miss you, too, little sis."
We let go of each other. Then, as she reached into the pocket of her tan skirt, she said to me, "I have a parting gift for you."
She then pulled the gift out of her pocket: a polished Icicle Badge attatched to a sparkling, silver chain. She hung it around my neck and smiled. I hugged her again. This time, she said to me, "Oh, and get a boyfriend while you're there. I'd love to see Dad's reaction."
I giggled. I immediatley stopped hugging my sister when I heard the boat's horn blare. It indicated that it was my last opportunity to board before the boat set sail. I ran over to my backpack, which was overflowing with necessities and had a sleeping bag that was rolled up tightly attatched to the top, and grabbed the objects. I put the backpack on and scurried on over to the ship, waving good-bye to my family as I did. I quickly got aboard the ship. A few minutes later, it set sail.
And that's where my journey began.