(Greetings. This is your author, Rya, speaking once again. Sorry to be so long between updates -I fully expect the trend to continue. In case you were wondering, the reason why you get to see what the Pokémon are saying is because Anna understands what they say. Sort of like Ash with Pikachu. Except totally different.)
Chapter One: The Start of the Journey
The girl had black hair and purple eyes. She was wearing a purple shirt, a black skirt, and a blue scarf.
"Well, I'm off," she said, shouldering her backpack.
"Are you sure you'll be all right, Anna?" asked her mother. "I'm worried about you, all alone out there…"
Anna gave her mother a quick hug.
"I'm sixteen now, Mama. I know you think it's your job to worry about me, but you don't have to worry so much."
"Besides," she added, pausing in the doorway, "I won't be alone. I'll have Erisna and Josh and Mimoru."
She was smiling as she went out the door, an Espeon following at her heels.
"With the four of us together, we can do anything!"
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"Bye, Mom!" the boy called as he went out the door. He had brown hair and dark eyes, and was wearing a white shirt and brown pants.
"Good luck, Josh!" his mother called. "Have fun!"
Josh smiled as he walked, an Umbreon trotting alongside him.
"How could I do anything else?" he asked.
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Josh arrived first.
"Am I late?" Anna asked.
"No," Josh said, "I'm early."
"Are you ready?" Erisna asked Mimoru.
"Of course I am!" he replied.
"Are you sure we're ready?" Josh asked.
Anna glanced at him, surprised. The question was similar to what Erisna had asked Mimoru, and yet at the same time, it was very different.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Josh stared out over the little town. From where they were, it was possible to see the entire town. Still staring at nothing in particular, he said, "This isn't a picnic. We'll be gone for days –probably weeks, maybe months. Can we really handle being away from home that long? And how'll we make it, alone?"
Anna looked at Josh thoughtfully.
"It's usually Erisna who asks that sort of stuff," she said.
Josh shrugged.
"I guess I'm just worried."
Anna smiled a little.
"Don't worry, Josh," she said, taking his hand in one of her own. "We won't be alone. We'll have each other, and Erisna and Mimoru too. We can do anything, the four of us together."
Josh turned to stare at Anna, but she had dropped his hand, and now it was her turn to look out over the town while she went on.
"Home is not simply a place. Home is your family, your friends –human or Pokémon. Home is a feeling -the feeling of being safe and loved. Home is what you love. Home is love. Whenever you are happy… then you are home."
Josh stared at her, speechless.
"At least," Anna said, "that's what I think."
She turned to look at the other three.
"Josh," she said, "Erisna, Mimoru… The three of you together… are all the home I need."
She looked sideways at Josh, suddenly wondering if she had been too weird for him. That happened sometimes.
Josh was standing very still, not looking at anything in particular.
"Josh?" Anna asked.
Josh pulled himself out of his thoughts.
He glanced at Anna, and smiled.
"I was just thinking about what you said," he explained. "And you know what? I think you're right. We are definitely ready."
Erisna and Mimoru glanced at each other, and took up positions with their human friends between them. They had an idea what would happen next, and they wanted to be ready.
Anna and Josh joined hands again, just as they had when they were younger.
"With matching scarves, and hand in hand, together we go to see the land!" they chanted, just as they had practiced when they were younger.
And then, laughing, they headed off, still holding hands, their Pokémon alongside them.
It was the start of the journey, and they knew not where it would take them.
