They hit me all at once like a battering ram. Nothing they say is distinguishable. I can't tell in the ocean, but I'm sure I am sobbing. I know my panicking is wasting oxygen, but I can't make myself calm no matter how much I try to force it. Then, one voice sounds above the rest.
"Stop," the ambiguous voice demands with such power that it stills even me.
"Who are you?" I ask the voice, nearly begging.
"Anais, you must leave home now. Your future holds so much. I cannot tell you more as your future is still your own, but you must go.
"What? How do you know my name? Are you what my father was looking for? Do you know where he is? Is that why I must go? Will I find him?" I continue to ask rapid-fire questions.
"I cannot tell you these things, Anais, they will become clear as you journey onward."
"But-"
"Go." The voice says, one final time.
As it releases its grasp on my legs and disappears I become aware of the water trying to fill my lungs. I am not sure how far under the surface I am and as the seconds fly by and my vision starts to darken the only thing I am sure of is that regardless of how deep I am I won't be able to make it back up. My lungs burn so intensely and my body is so exhausted. I stop fighting and submit to the water, praying Arceus will watch over my mom.
I feel a pair of strong arms around me, like how my father would hold me in front of him on Lapras when I was younger. Smiling at the memory, I let my last bit of air go and lean back into the person, but then we are yanked up.
Thrown into the daylight I land hard on my back and begin to have what I'm sure is the biggest coughing fit I will ever have in my life, as does my rescuer. When I finally regain my composure and can think straight again I turn to see who my rescuer is.
"Leo!" I shout, my voice still coming out a bit raspy. I throw myself onto him and hug him tightly. Despite both of us being soaked to the core I could still feel the warmth of his body.
"Holy shit you scared me, Anais." He sits up and hugs me back, "I was coming over to see if you were home and I saw you fall in and then you didn't come back up and just, I'm so glad you're okay"
I release him from the hug and take a moment to look at him. Even sitting you could tell he was now a good few inches taller than me, his shoulders had broadened, his chubby cheeks had melted away to reveal a defined jawline, "You're so grown-up" I say, marveling at how much he's changed.
"So are you. You're so...," he looks me up and down, "old"
I roll my eyes at him, smiling, "Seven years is a long time, old friend. What brought you back here?"
"It is, but even though the freedom of living on my own was amazing and I had a good job I've done about all I can do in Kanto so I decided to come back home, see my parents, maybe give Kanto one more once over, and move on."
"That's so amazing, I'd love to hear about all the mischief you've gotten yourself into!" I tell him.
He laughs lightly, "It's hard to get into much mischief without my partner in crime."
"I'm sorry we weren't able to go together like we had planned," I reflect as I looked into his chestnut eyes, smiling at the thought of the pact we made when we were kids.
"You don't have to apologize, I can't even imagine what that must have been like to go through, I'm not upset in the slightest. I just meant I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, but you can't have been alone all those years?"
"I wasn't always alone, I made some friends along the way, even met a girl or two," He says, which for some reason makes my chest tighten, "But, it wasn't the same as if I had had you with me."
I almost ask about the girls, but before I can he speaks again.
"I honestly can't believe you're still here though." He remarks, almost with a hint of pity in his voice.
"It's taken me a while, but I actually think I'm finally ready to go out into the world," I tell him, not yet ready to bring up what just occurred in the water.
"Say, since you're setting off on your journey and I'm making one last loop, how about we do it together?"
"You really mean it?" I ask, beaming.
"Of course, Ana! You didn't think I'd let you out of our pact that easily, did you?" He responds with a smirk.
"I'd love that more than anything, Leo."
"As would I," he replies, his smile as wide as my own. "Is there any chance Mrs. Koen is home?"
"Yes! She would love to see you." I tell him, "You could even stay for dinner."
"I wouldn't want to impose, plus, I'm all wet"
"You literally saved my life, I think the least I can do is make you dinner and it's a beautiful night so we can just eat on the porch until we dry out," I say before standing up and offering him a hand and with that, we set off across the beach for my house.
I open the door and am greeted by the Smoochum my mom recently hatched. "Hey, I'm back!" I say to my mom who is busy in the kitchen.
"Hi, honey, how does caesar salad sound?" She asks, not turning around.
"It's my favourite salad," Leo responds, causing my mother to immediately drop her salad tongs and turn around.
"Oh my Arceus, Leo!" She rushes over," You're so tall, I can't believe it. Please, please, come in, stay for dinner, I always make too much anyways." She begins to hug him before realizing his clothes are soaked.
"Sorry, we kinda fell in" I tell my mom sheepishly.
"Oh," She says, surprised, "Well, no problem, we can just eat on the porch. I'll bring you out plates."
We talk through the evening and listen to Leo's stories from his journey, marveling at all of them. As he tells my mom of his current plan he brings up me.
"Ana was just telling me that she recently decided that she was going to start her journey soon."
"Oh?" My mother looks at me, pleasantly surprised.
"Yes," I reaffirm, "While I've been spending time at the ocean I've been doing a lot of thinking and I realize, I'm almost 17, and I think I finally feel at peace enough to begin."
"Oh, my Anais, that's wonderful, I'm so very proud of you and your father would be too if he were here." She remarks with a smile, fighting back tears. "I actually have something for you from him. Give me one second, I'll meet you both in the living room."
We sit on my couch where we used to play pretend so many years ago, it almost feels strange that it's all real life now. My mom comes back downstairs with a Pokeball in hand. "Your father wanted you to have this as your first Pokemon when you came of age, you can still see the Professor for one if you would like, but I wanted to make sure to give you this first."
I take the Pokeball into my hand, "has it been inside all these years?"
"Time is lucid in Pokeballs, it won't know." She tells me.
I take a deep breath, preparing myself to speak the words. With Leo and my mom on either side of me, I know I can do this. "Pokemon, go!" I watch as a Horsea materializes in front of me, levitating just above the ground. Tears well in my eyes and I begin to cry, "Hi, I'm Ana, my dad caught you for me."
"Horsea!" it exclaims happily.
I laugh and gently pick it up, holding it in my arms as both Leo and my mom put an arm around me to comfort me. As I sit here between them and with this Horsea in my arms I know I am ready for anything this journey will bring.
My mom gets up and begins to fill one of my dad's old tanks he used for research so Horsea can be more comfortable while Leo and I continue to talk on the couch.
"So when were you thinking of leaving?" I ask Leo.
"I was planning on tomorrow, but if you need more time, I'll wait as long as you need."
I smile at his patience. Despite all that has changed he still has the same gentle kindness about him as he did when we were kids.
"Whenever you would like to go you can, Ana." My mother responds before I can.
"Tomorrow it is then" I affirm, nodding at Leo.
"Well, now that the tank is full I think I will go to bed," my mom says, "But, you're welcome to stay as long as you would like, Leo. Just be careful not to stay up too late as you both have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight kids!"
"Goodnight!" We echo back.
We make our way to the tank and put Horsea in it. It darts back and forth happily in the large tank, making us giggle.
"Hey, come here." He says softly, pulling me into a hug.
"I can't believe this is finally happening" I whisper, my head buried in his chest, "I hope I'm making the right choice."
"I think you are, but if you change your mind we can come back home anytime, I promise." He comforts me. We just stood there for a while holding each other until he eventually pulled away. "I'd stay, but we'll have an entire adventure to catch up over."
I let him out the door and watch as he walks off into the night, illuminated by street lights. "Leo!" I call after him, he turns around, eyes lighting up when they meet mine, "thank you." He just smiles at me and continues walking home.
I let Horsea stay in the tank where it was happily slashing around and made my way to my bedroom. I began to pack my bag for essentials I would need on my journey. Opening up the Pokédex Professor Oak gave me all those years ago was a tender moment. The young girl smiling in the ID picture seemed almost unrecognizable now. I know in the big picture seven years is not that long of a time, but I still craved the innocence and the unyielding happiness I possessed before my father's disappearance.
Closing it, I tuck it in the pocket of my bag then climb into bed. Looking around my room I try to memorize every detail of it. Preparing to leave holds much more weight now than it did when I was nine. I wish I was still as sure this was the right choice as I was then. As the doubts sink in I think back to the voice I heard in the water.
"What if it was just all a hallucination from drowning and lack of oxygen?" I contemplate although I realize that regardless of what it was I already committed and even if it was just one big hypoxia-induced dream I can't really change my mind at this point as I know I would be letting my mom down. Now, all I can do is trust that this happened for a reason and that whether the voice was real or not, I'm going to do great things.