As the sun began to rise, a soft light began to move across my face. After two weeks, I had learned to draw the curtains to lessen the shock of an early morning awakening. I stirred slowly, taking in my surroundings. The familiar sounds and lighting a had become accustomed to were comforting. However, I noticed additional warmth and felt something against my side, which took a moment for me to realize what it was. As I lifted my head to look, I could see Sienna curled up next to me sound asleep. She was so cute I really couldn't believe that this was really happening. It felt like a dream, all of it had.
I tried my best to crawl out of bed without disturbing her, but to no avail. She stirred just as I was about to stand up. I looked over to see her yawn and stretch out sleepily. She took a moment to open her eyes, most likely not used to the morning sun either. When she did, she looked around for a moment, still not familiar with her surroundings. Once she saw me, she smiled and seemed to relax more. She walked across the bed and sat down next to me as I began to pet her.
"Sorry Sienna, I didn't want to wake you" I said.
"Eeee vi vi" she said back smiling.
"So, today we start our big adventure. Are you ready?
"Vi vi veeeee" she said jumping excitedly.
"Good" I said as I chuckled. "We should get ready, we'll be meeting up with Marc and Ez after breakfast." She nodded as we both go up and got ready.
I grabbed another shower, seeing as how it may be a day or so until my next one. After getting dressed, we brought our packs down. Since Sienna was going to stay out most of the time, I bought a small backpack designed for Pokémon. It could be adjusted to fit most that were small animal to human sized, but I could easily carry it if needed. As I had thought, mom and dad were down at the table with breakfast ready to go. As we entered the room, dad acknowledged us without even putting down the newspaper he was reading.
"So Alex, how was your first night with Sienna?" He asked.
"Good" I replied. "She fell asleep at the foot of the bed nearly as soon as we got home, but she was curled up right next to me by this morning.
"Aww, the poor dear was probably really tired" my mom said as she brought over another plate of food from the stove. "Between the excitement of the ceremony, the training you guys did in the afternoon, and all the new people and surroundings I can imagine why. You guys should eat up, you have a big day ahead of you." We both nodded in agreement and dig in. My dad put the paper away and grabbed a plate for himself.
"So Alex, what is the plan?" He said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Well, we are going to travel with Marc and Ez for a while. I'm not quite sure how long though, I guess we'll just see what happens. I feel as though once we get to Dewford, Marc will want to spend some time there training with Brawly. I'm not quite sure about Ez though, she really didn't say much..."
"That's not very surprising" said my mom. "Esmerelda is very excitable and outgoing, but she seems to lack confidence at times. To be honest, I think you and Mahrkus are her only real friends."
"Really?" I said, my eyes widening. "Why though?"
"Well, I'm not really sure." My mom responded, taking a bite of toast. "I think the way she carries herself, a lot of people take her as bit ditzy. She was only about average as school, so academics were not her strong suit. She is also very pretty, so a lot of the girls were jealous and the guys were either intimidated or were scared off by you or Mahrkus. She is a sweet girl and seems very passionate about being a trainer, I think she is still just trying to figure out what she really wants to do. You and Mahrkus have been inseparable since you three met up and she seems to have been happier since."
"Huh, I never knew that" I said. "Then again, it probably isn't something easy for her to talk about either. Than again, neither is Marc's situation either..."
"Yeah, you are not wrong there." My dad said, setting down his fork. "That boy has not had it easy the last few years..."
"When we were out last night, they said his parents died in a car accident."
"Yeah. They ware on the way home from a Pokémon contest in Slateport City where his mom was a competing trainer. One of the tires blew out and his dad lost control of the car. They veered off the road and into the trees. Mahrkus had a few broken bones and cuts, but his parents were not so lucky. Thanks to an insurance policy they had on themselves, Mahrkus was able to have a place to live with food and tuition for the Trainer's Academy. He's been on his own since then, but he has grown to be a very strong and mature young man. I'm sure he has a lot about that night that bothers him, but he does well to not show it."
I was taken aback as I heard my father talk about what had happened. I really couldn't believe that he had been through so much, yet he seemed like the most calm minded individual I had ever met. "I thought I was unhappy with my old life" I thought. "I can't even imagine what that must have felt like for him. I'm really lucky to have what I have..." I trailed off on thought as I could feel a tear forming. I took a moment to compose myself, looking up to see similar looks in my parents faces. Looking down that chair Sienna was sitting at showed a similar look on her face as well. A rapid series of knocks at the door broke the tension in the room, followed by the sound of the door opening.
"Alex, Mr. and Mrs. Pyrite, anyone home?" I could hear Ez's voice echo.
"Ez, you can't just going walking into houses unannounced." Marc scolded.
"I yelled out for them, so I announced I was here, so there" she quipped back. I could hear what sounded like Marc facepalming as they walked in.
"We're in the kitchen" my mom called out. They entered a moment later, dressed a little different than before. Ez was wearing a pink tank top with green cargo shorts and low cut brown boots. Marc has on what looked like a traditional white Gi with a black sash across the waist with black pants and black athletic shoes. They both had packs on their backs, with Elektra and Machop following close behind.
"Morning guys" I said. "Sorry if I'm running a little late. Guess I took longer to get ready that I thought."
"No problem" Ez said. "Marc is up at 5 am sharp every day and I was so excited I could barely sleep. Then again, maybe I had too much sugar before bed too." We all got a laugh at that.
"Well, Alex, you should probably get a move on" my dad said. "Your mom and I will finish up and we'll be on our way to work as well. I take it you guys are heading to Oldale Town first?" We all nodded. "Well, while it is possible to make it by dark, you won't get much chance to catch or really battle any Pokémon if you do that. Best thing to do would be to take your time and camp for the night. You'll gain a lot more if you don't rush. You have eleven months until the Pokémon League championships, so there is no reason not to take your time. Build strong bonds with your Pokémon and with each other, and from those bonds will come the true strength you need to overcome any obstacle." You could hear the passion in my father's voice, I could tell he had the desire to be a trainer deep down.
We all said our goodbyes to my parents and began heading to the edge of town. A thought crossed my mind as I turned to Ez. "Hey Ez, what about your parents?" She looked at me with a hint of confusion.
"Oh, they already went back home. They only stayed til yesterday afternoon, then headed back home. I stayed with our friends for the night and headed right over after Mahrkus came and woke me up." She shot a slight glare his way, prompting a laugh from him.
"Well, it was already daylight out. I had already eaten, did my morning routine, and showered before I came to wake you. I even took longer since I began training with Lee here" he said as he looked at his Machop, who smiled back.
"Well...us girls need our beauty sleep, so there" she said defiantly crossing her arms.
"I think you would be ok to miss a few hours here and there" I said, prompting Ez to turn the same shade of red as her hair. Marc just shot me a look that screamed "smooth."
A few moment later, we arrived at the end of town. A weathered sign the read "Route 101" with an up facing arrow and "Oldale Town" written next to it was the only thing before the land opened up. We looked to each other, nodded, and began the head out into the world.