With her Oshawott resting contently on her shoulder, Kaminari prances down the stairs, having an argument already planned out in her mind. Cheren, speaking to her mother, is already on the part where she deliberately had her Pokémon knock her television on the floor so she could blame the whole event on him. "He's lying, Mom!" she blurts and rushes to Cheren's side. The two loudly present their arguments, trying recount their own story fully before the other finishes. Bianca covers her ears and whines behind the two while Kaminari's mother simply grins and takes a sip from her steaming tea mug, not even attempting to distinguish between the two explosive voices in the room. Tsunami and Snivy begin to argue with each other without really knowing the reason why while Tepig cowers behind her trainer, quaking in confused fear.
"Alright," the adult finally declares to the competing teens in that mellow voice of hers. Cheren and Kaminari go silent instantly. "It's fine. I'll clean up the mess. I completely understand why the three of you would want to battle right away. In fact, I'm glad you did!" Bianca and Cheren's jaws drop out of shock while a wide, grateful smile spreads across Kaminari's face. "Now, don't you three have a certain professor to visit?"
Kaminari nearly tackles her mother with an ecstatic hug. "Thanks, Mom!" she cries in delight. "You won't be sorry, I promise!" With that, the girl leaps up and bursts out the door, nearly breaking it. The disgusted Pidove outside take off, flustered about having their peaceful morning meal disrupted by an ignorant teenager. Oblivious to their annoyed squawks, the girl races in the direction that she thinks Professor Juniper's lab is in.
"Nari! Hold on!" Kaminari halts and turns to face Bianca, who is still in the doorway. "Cheren and I have to see our parents before we go, too!" she calls and bounds towards her house, which is about five steps away from Nari's.
Cheren saunters outside and adds snidely "The lab is in the other direction, you know." As he walks off, Snivy flickers his tongue at the girl and her Oshawott from the top of the boy's head. Kaminari groans, sticks her own tongue out at the snake, and follows Bianca into her house with Tsunami waddling after her.
"Absolutely not!" The booming voice of Bianca's father startles Kaminari as soon as she steps in through the doorway. "You have no idea what's out there. There's no possible way I'll let you go. You'll get hurt!"
"But…" Bianca whimpers, trying to hold back her tears, "but I'll have my Pokémon with me…"
"That's exactly why you can't go!" he roars. "You know what happened to-" he sees that Kaminari has entered the room and cuts off the sentence halfway through. "My answer is no, and that's final, young lady!"
Tears streaming down her cheeks, the blonde opens her mouth to speak, but Kaminari stops her with an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about Bianca. She'll have me by her side the whole way!" The brunette plasters on a fake smile and tilts her head innocently. This guy is such a buzz-kill.
"Are you deaf, child? I just said no!" He turns his back on the girls, disregarding their argument.
With quivering lips, Bianca blurts "Oh yeah? W-well, I don't need your permission!" She then storms out of the house, with Tepig and Kaminari chasing after her. Once outside, too far for her parents to hear, Bianca bursts into tears, wailing her aching heart out. Tepig stares up at her trainer with twinkling eyes and paws at her leg as Kaminari provides her closest friend with a warm hug.
"Hey, you know what?" she croons as she strokes Bianca's soft hair, "You're right. You are your own person and you don't need him to tell you what you can and can't do anymore, right?"
"Yeah," Bianca sobs and wipes her eyes. "I-I'm okay. Let's just go after Cheren."
After about half of an agonizing hour roaming around their tiny town, the girls finally discover Juniper's lab not far from where they started. Cheren is standing in front of the door, impatiently tapping his foot and flicking his thimb. "Where have you been? I've been waiting here for ages!"
"We got lost..." Kaminari mutters, hiding her slight shame at letting Cheren get yet another thing to hold against her for eternity.
"Maybe if you actually came here once in a while, you wouldn't hold the rest of us back," he snorts. The boy then glances over at Bianca, whose head is hanging low. "What happened?" he asks, with a suddenly caring tone.
Kaminari is ready to explode with all the insulting words she could describe Bianca's father with, but the despairing girl speaks first. "Nothing happened. C'mon, let's go meet the Professor!" she chirps in a tone of false happiness. Cheren's eyes narrow suspiciously at Kaminari, but he says nothing as he opens the door and allows the girls to pass.
Inside, a woman in a lab coat is typing with quick fingers on her computer. A fluffy, silver rodent next to her notices their guests and tugs on her trainer's coat. Professor Juniper turns to them with a welcoming smile. "Ah, you're here! Fantastic! My name is-"
"Professor Juniper? I know who you are." Cheren rolls his eyes. "Can I please just receive my Pokédex and get started?"
For a brief moment, the professor has an agitated, did-you-really-just-interrupt-me expression on her face. "Come now, Cheren. This is a ceremonious day; you shouldn't rush it, no matter how much better than everyone else you think you are." Cheren's eyes grow wide and Kaminari giggles as she continues. "As I was saying, my name is Professor Juniper, and I have dedicated my life to studying the Pokémon of the Unova region. They are fascinating creatures who either live on their own in the wild or with trainers. Unfortunately, I can't do it all on my own. That's where you three come in!"
Professor Juniper scrambles through the cluttered drawer of her desk until she finds three red machines. Cheren's eyes soak in every aspect of their beauty while the girls think nothing of the little devices. "These are your Pokédexes, fresh out of the box. I would like for each of you to do your best to capture every Pokémon and fill up your Pokédex. Will you do it for me?"
There's no question about her request in any of their minds. "Of course, Professor!" Bianca declares gleefully. "We'd love to!" The four Pokémon in the room cheer as well.
"Excellent!" As she passes out the handheld devices, Professor Juniper checks on each of the Pokémon.
Snivy possessively wraps his leafy tail around Cheren's ankle and nods righteously. "Vy!"
Tsunami takes out his tiny scallop and slashes it around in the air, as if to protect his trainer from some invisible, oncoming threat. "Osha!"
Tepig sleeps contently on Bianca's foot.
"Well now, you three have already battled, haven't you? You already have deep bonds with your new partners!" Professor Juniper is practically overflowing with joy. "Terrific! I can see you're eager to get started. Meet me on Route One." With that, the professor puts her Minccino in its Poké Ball and hurries out of the lab.
The three friends stare at each other, wordlessly. They all know where Route One is. For years, they've stared longingly down that road, wishing to know what lied beyond their hometown. The moment of their freedom has finally arrived.
"Last one there is a rotten Exeggute!" Kaminari screams. She grabs the surprised Oshawott by the paw and races out the door, only to bump into her mother two steps outside. Her friends file out as well and stand next to her.
"Oh my! I knew you were excited, but not this excited!" her mother chuckles, pulling out three chips. "I wanted to give you these before you go. They're town maps." She passes them out to the teenagers, who insert the chips into their Pokédexes. After thanking her, Bianca drags Cheren away toward Route One, leaving only Kaminari and her mother, who begins tearing up.
"Oh, mom." Kaminari blushes, a bit embarrassed at her mother's display of emotion. "I promise I'll return as soon as I complete my journey. I'll have little Tsunami by my side the whole way, and you know me. I'll be fine."
"I don't doubt that at all. You're my strong little girl, after all." She takes her daughter gently by the shoulders and looks her up and down. "You just remind me of Akira when he got his first Pokémon. You're all grown up now." She embraces Kaminari for an extended period of time.
Tsunami tilts his head and watches the affectionate moment, starting to understand his trainer. "Oshaa…"
Kaminari's mother smiles at the little otter as she kneels down and scratches his round head. "You'll make sure my child stays safe out there, won't you?" He puts his paw on his heart and nods in response.
"Alright Mom, the next time you see me, I'll be a Pokémon master!" Kaminari returns Tsunami to his Poké Ball and hikes away, waving goodbye to her parent.
It doesn't take long for her to reach Route One, where Bianca is hopping up and down in excitement. "Hey! Kaminari! Cheren and I decided that we're all going to take our first steps out of Nuvema Town together! C'mon, take my hand!" the blonde chirps. She grabs the hands of her two friends, causing the boy to blush. "Alright, Cheren, you begin the countdown."
He grins and accepts the privilege. "Three…"
"Two…" Bianca shakes with anticipation.
"One!" Kaminari drags her unprepared friends forward, and finally they are free from the restraints of their little home.