"Mina? Mina, wake up!" Minako's eyes fluttered open, and she tilted her head just enough to see her mother peaking through the door.

"What, Mom? I need my sleep."

Mrs. Arashi opened the door and crouched down next to her daughter's head. "Honey, don't you remember what day it is?"

"What are you talking a—" All of a sudden, a Magby fell on her head, and the memories came flooding in. "Oh, crap! What time is it?"

Mina's mom looked down at her watch. "Nine thirty-two. Why do you ask?"

"Because the send-off is at ten! I'm gonna be late!" Mina ushered her mother out of the room, and then pulled open all her dresser drawers at once. She put on a random top and bottom, laced up her sneakers, and quickly ran a comb through her hair. "Looks great, hon," she said sarcastically into the mirror, and pulled out two Poke Balls from her back pocket. She held them up and pressed the buttons, Mika and A.J. getting sucked into their temporary carrying-cases, and then shoved them back into her pockets, running out into the kitchen and grabbing a bagel from the toaster oven. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!"One of her shoes wouldn't go past her heel. She stomped her foot onto the floor and her foot slipped tightly into the shoe. Thank you Arceus, she thought in relief to the God Pokemon, and scanned her eyes across the wall until it stopped at a circle. The round oval kitchen clock ticked nine forty-seven, and after a quick hug-goodbye from her mom, she was on her bike and pedaling fast as her worn old bicycle would go, dodging the odd brave Rattata attempting to cross the street, as she swerved through the inner-city labyrinth of Pallet Town. She arrived breathless, but on time, at Professor Oak's lab.

"…embark on a great journey, and I wish you all good luck! Now, form a line on your left to receive a starter Pokemon, and to your right is a desk where you can pick up your Pokedex. Thank you!" Well, the left side was out; after you turned thirteen you weren't allowed to use a starter on your journey. They thought it would be an "unfair advantage", but that's just because they figured old fogies like Mina had been leveling up the Pokemon they owned since they were ten. Pokedex it is. Minako was given a classic red Pokedex, and a mandatory cell phone programmed with the lab's phone number. Other numbers had to be added manually. Mina thanked the helper giving them out and shuffled to the back of the room. Although she knew that once one got their Pokedex, they officially started their journey, she wasn't quite sure she was ready yet. Ready to leave home, that is. She could handle the outdoors, she could handle the people, she could handle the Pokemon, she could handle the travel…but she couldn't handle being without her home. Her bed, most of her books, her favorite foods…But I've got to do this, she reminded herself, and turned around to see who all was becoming a trainer today.

Nanami cocked her head sideways. "Really? They're all ten? Come on, there must be at least one teenager here…" And that's when she saw her. She had platinum-blond hair with strands of dark chocolate brown down to her shoulder blades, and charcoal gray eyes. A small smirk was planted on her nude lips, and her outfit was simple, a black t-shirt and dark denim shorts. But what mattered most of all was that she was a teenager. It was easy to tell. The way her back slumped, the kind of attitude she omitted, it all added up to one thing: the Teenager. Nanami whispered into her Poketch, "Yep, she's the one…Oh, shut up Georgio! I'm sure Kana does not look fat in that dress!" She grunted. "And I'm sure it would not look better on me!" Then she snapped the Poketch cover shut, and sashayed happily over to the girl. "Hi, I'm Nanami Anamori. I was just wondering, may I have the pleasure…?" The girl took her out-stretched hand.

"The name's Minako Arashi; everyone calls me Mina. And may you have the pleasure of what now?" Mina asked gingerly, confused.

"Of journeying with you, of course!"

"Wha…what?"

Nanami sighed. "Let me put it simply for you: Me want travel with you. Got it?" Then she stuck out her tongue, assuring Mina it was a joke, and laughed. "I guess I should go back a bit and explain. I'm a coordinator. See, I'm a Sinnoh native, and I started my journey when I was ten, from Floaroma town. I competed in all kinds of contests and whooped them all, so I traveled down to Hoenn to compete in contests, and yet again, got all my ribbons within a few months. Well, now I'm looking for something more challenging, and Kanto contests are just the thing! All in all, I'm basically a bored master coordinator who wants to travel in Kanto, but doesn't want to do so with a ten-year-old." She nodded her head at the mass of little kids playing with their new Pokemon and poking them with their grubby little hands.

"I see what you mean." Mina bit her lip, but in the end, figured having a traveling companion could come in handy. She wouldn't have to cook her own meals all the time, and having an experienced trainer on hand would definitely be an advantage when it came to competitive battling. Er, contesting, or whatever it was this Nanami girl knew most about. Mina took a deep breath. "Okay. You can come. But we're going my way, on the routes I need to use, to the places I need to go to. Got it? Oh, and can I call you Nana? Nanami's gonna get a little long after awhile."

A big smile burst out on Nanami's face. "Of course! Oh, thank you so much!" She drew Minako into a hug, then pulled away and pointed heroically to the EXIT sign. "Now," she said, using a husky voice, "let us go out into the world of Pokemon!"

Mina laughed, and walked through the nudged open door, knowing she wouldn't be looking back for quite some time.