Chapter 3: Departure
As April stirred, the first thing that entered her vision was her mother's Flareon, Mary happily standing near her face. That and the coldness of being uncovered. Seeing that her blanket wasn't anywhere near her, April assumed that she kicked it off in her sleep. Still half-asleep, April muttered unintelligibly before rolling over. However, the Flareon on her bed wasn't going to have her trainer's daughter sleep in as usual today.
"Good morning, April!" Mary said enthusiastically, her voice gave off the sound of a mellow tone of voice, smoothed out over eighteen years of a peaceful life.
"Hmm, good morning to you too, Mary." April yawned, groggily rubbing her eyes before turning over to sleep in some more. She would have succeeded, except that her conversation with the Pokémon managed to register completely, which caused April to sit up on her bed.
"Holy crap. For a second there, Mary, I thought you actually spoke to me." April sighed as she brushed non-existent sweat off her brow.
"Well, I did, and I'm surprised that you actually understood me." Mary replied. April jerked her head in Mary's direction, making sure that she wasn't just making a mistake, grabbing and putting her glasses on for good measure. Mary was still next to her, and there seemed to be nothing else around that could be speaking.
"But… how? Did my tears get caught in a net of magic moonbeams or some other ridiculous reason? Or maybe I hit my head while sleeping..." Pondering how this act against nature could have occurred, while Mary shrugged, something in April's mind clicked.
"Maybe it has something to do with Mew." April thought, resting her chin on her hand. Mary took notice of this, and inquisitively pawed April's bare leg, getting the girl's attention.
"Whatcha thinking about, April? Why you're suddenly able to talk to me?" April looked at Mary and silently nodded, not wanting to lose her train of thought.
Deciding that she should just put that question on ice for now, April let herself lay down on her bed and studiously slipped her hands through the sides of her white panties as if her hands were in pockets and relax. April would often come home from Trainer School a couple hours before her mother got home from training with Mary. This meant that she had the house to herself, and while she did sometimes watch TV or do other things, April usually just laid in bed thinking about how her day went or daydreamed. She enjoyed the peace and quiet granted to her.
"Hard to believe that Professor Oak managed to pull so many strings to let me and Blue head out on our journeys a semester ahead of everybody else. Wait a minute, Professor Oak!" As April turned her head to look at the bedside clock, her eyes widened as she saw that it was 9:30am.
"Oh crap! I'm gonna be late to see Professor Oak!" April shouted as she jumped out of bed, startling Mary, who simply sighed. As April ran to the bathroom in frenzy, Mary decided to follow her, but instead took a turn at the stairwell in the hallway to go downstairs.
25 minutes later
April finally managed to dry off as she finished parting her bangs off to the side. She was really glad that she had packed her bag the night before so she wouldn't have had to worry, letting a sigh of relief pass her lips. Knowing that there wasn't any time to lose, April quickly ran back to her room before shutting the door to ensure she had some privacy.
After nearly five minutes of racing against the clock getting dressed, April breathed a sigh of relief as she finished putting on the final touches of her outfit, which consisted of a black zip-up hoodie with red trim, with a black t-shirt underneath, a pair of denim jeans kept up with a leather belt with a gold buckle, and a pair of brown sneakers with a black horizontal stripe across the top of each. April looked herself in the mirror one more time, grabbing the necklace Blue got her, and strung it around her neck.
"It does look nice." April thought, deciding to tuck the pendant underneath her shirt. Taking a deep breath, April headed downstairs to say goodbye to her mom, who was waiting in the kitchen with April's bag. Her mom couldn't help but smile.
"I always knew that this day would come." Ms. Newton remarked. "Be safe, April." April couldn't help but smile as well, and went to embrace her mother.
"Don't worry, mom. I will." April couldn't help but shed a few tears, and her mom responded by stroking April's hair.
"I love you, April."
"I love you too, mom."
Letting go, April grabbed her bag off of the table and walked out the door, off to embark on her journey. Ms. Newton couldn't help but say to herself:
"It's true what they say… all girls dream of traveling."
