I awoke to the sun streaming through my shades, lightly warming my face. After getting dressed and tossing my bag over my head I gazed at myself in the mirror. For the first time since I was kid that bold feeling in my stomach returned. I felt confident, like I was ready to take life head on and that's exactly what I was going to do.
I head down stairs and into the kitchen where my mom has waffles ready for me.
"Surprise! I made your favourite," she says with a huge smile on her face, almost seeming even more excited than me.
"Aww, mom!" I pull her into a big hug before settling down to eat my breakfast.
As we talk she tells me how proud she is and about what her and my father were like when the first set off on their journeys. They are stories I've heard before, but I still listen just as intently as I did the first time. It's easy to tell neither of us want our breakfast to end as we both know this goodbye will be for a while, but she makes the first move.
"Do you have everything you need?" She asks, clearing our plates.
"I think so! I should have it all right here." I answer, patting my bag, "Are you all ready to go sweet boy?" I ask Horsea, making my way towards his tank. He bubbles happily as I recall him back into the pokeball, bringing a smile to my face.
"I can't wait to hear about all the adventures you and Leo are going to go on together. I must say I am quite happy that you won't have to go alone. You'd do amazingly regardless, but it'll help me worry less." My mom tells me, pulling me into a big hug, "Still you better call all the time."
I try to ingrain in my brain exactly what her hugs feel like. The soft cotton of her tee shirt, her smooth shoulder length hair, strong build, and how lovingly she holds me. I will myself to never forget. So many of my memories of my father feel distant, overshadowed by his disappearance, but the ones that remain untouched I cling to. Breaking the hug my mom opens the door for me.
Before I walk out I turn back to look at her surrounded by all of her Pokemon, "Bye, mom," I say gently.
"Goodbye, Anais." She answers, smiling proudly.
I decide to drop by the Pokemon Lab before going to Leo's house. As the doors open I am hit with a wall of cool air. Instantly, I am transported back to all the times I came here with my dad. Everything feels the same, bookshelves that line the wall, the array of research posters, the familiar silver colour pallet, it's all almost comforting now. I make my way to the back and knock gently on the wood of a self, announcing my presence to the professor who is engulfed in his work. Looking up, a look of surprise, spreads across his face.
"My goodness, Anais Koen, I'm so happy to see you!" He gives me a quick hug, "Have you decided to start your Pokemon Journey?"
"I have and while my father left me a Pokemon to use as my starter when I came of age I still wanted to stop in and say goodbye before I go." I tell him.
"That was so kind of you to do. Do you still have the Pokedex I gave you?"
"I sure do," I pull it out of it's pocket in my bag and show him.
"That's great! I hope you know you will always be welcomed back in town, even as a researcher if you wanted." He tells me, smiling.
"Oh wow, thank you so much Professor, that offer means more to me than you know."
"The pleasure's all mine. I always saw the sparkle you had in your eye when you were working with your dad. Oak Lab's would be honored to have such a passionate young scientist like yourself working with us."
I beam at his high words. "I actually have a question for you about my dad's research." I tell him, almost hesitantly, "Do you know what he was researching when he disappeared?"
"I wish I knew, Ana," he exhales. From the expression on his face it is clear to see that he too misses my dad. "I've gone through his research notes over and over again and there's nothing that I could fathom causing this. Whatever it was he didn't record it here. If I had found the notes I would have done everything in my power to try and bring him back, but there's nothing. I'm so sorry I can't give you a better answer."
"It's okay, I was just curious." I tell him honestly, "I can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me throughout the years though." I think back to all the times he's given me odd jobs or birthday gifts or even just would call me and tell me about what he was doing in the lab because he knew it was one of the few things that made me smile. He had his own family, but he still took time out of his life to make sure that his closest friend's daughter had someone else watching out for her in his absence.
"My dad would be happy to know that even though I've had to go through almost half of my life so far without him, I've had a pretty awesome professor watching out for me when he couldn't."
"I can't wait to see all the amazing things you do," He responds, clearly choked up. We hug again, "well, I'll let you get off on your adventure, this old geezer will always be here, but that world out there needs exploring."
"Thank you, Professor, I'll make sure to keep in touch," and with that I set off into the sunlight to Leo's house where he was waiting for me on his steps.
"Are you ready?" He asks with a huge smile.
"I absolutely am!" I tell him and with that we set off onto Route 1.
"It feels so different now that I'm not just walking through here to get to work." I think aloud, but before he can respond a Pokemon jumps out at us.
"You got this, Ana!" He says, despite having powerful high level pokemon.
"Go, Horsea!" I shout. He materializes in front of me. "Horsea use bubble!"
Enthusiastically he responds and hits the rattata square in the head which then turns and uses tailwhip. Again he uses bubble, but this time the rattata uses tackle.
"Watch out!" I yell at him. He dodges the attack just in time. "Now finish it off with another bubble!" and with that last hit the rattata fainted.
"Heck yeah!" Leo shouts, "Ana won her first battle, Ana won her first battle!" Still chanting he picks me up and spins me around.
"Leo, it was just a rattata," I say, still laughing giddily as he puts me down.
"Yeah, but it was your first one!" He responds, smiling widely.
It made me so inexplicably happy that despite Leo having been a Pokemon trainer for 7 years he was still every bit as excited for me to be starting my journey. He could have belittled me or easily defeated it with his Charizard, but no, he let me have my moment and was possibly even more ecstatic than I was about it and that was something really special to me.
The walk was relaxing and I couldn't help, but to keep smiling at Leo. Along the way we talked about everything under the sun. Even though I hadn't seen him in years and he was much more mature now it was like he had never left at all.
When we got to Viridian City I saw it through a whole new lens. This wasn't just the little town where I had worked in the Pokemart, it was the first stop in my Pokemon journey. I had my best friend with me, the Pokemon my dad gave me, I was a trainer, I won numerous Pokemon battles, my Horsea had leveled up. This was really my life now.
Despite working in the city for about a year and knowing my way around it I had still never really bothered to explore it, but it just made it even more exciting that Leo was taking me to all his favourite spots. He showed me the gym that he had beat and told me all about the gym leader, Giovanni. He honestly seemed kind of off, like he was hiding something, but I couldn't quite place my finger on what. We then move on to the Pokemon Trainers School where young trainers line the classroom, eager to learn more about their Pokemon and what being a trainer entails. I also stop by the Pokemart I used to work at just to say hello where everyone wishes me the best.
"How about we stay here in Viridian City for the night since the next route is much longer? Leo suggests.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," I respond. As he leads me to the Pokemon center where I had healed Horsea earlier I gaze up at the stars above us, it's a beautiful night.
Inside the Pokemon center there are other trainers who had the same idea as us. A group of young trainers sit in a circle showing off their starters and the Pidgeys and Rattatas they've caught so far, a few older trainers also dot the walls of the center. Some are reading or writing under the dim lights while they gently stroke the Pokemon in their lap, small smiles on their faces. It's such a peaceful sight.
"How does right here look?" He asks, gesturing to an empty space.
"Looks perfect." I tell him and with that we start unpacking. As he unrolls his sleeping bag he laughs a little, "What?" I ask, looking over and smiling at him.
"The first time I was here I cried for probably an hour straight." He says unabashedly, his eyes meeting mine. "I missed you and my family so much that I was considering turning back, but an older boy came over and sat down next to me and started telling me about how cool my Charmander was. He showed me his badges, he had all eight. Arceus, was I amazed. He comforted me and told me that he was scared too when he started, but it ended up being the best choice of his life and convinced me to keep going. I suppose I'm rambling a bit, but I guess what I'm trying to say is it is just now hitting me how long I've been away." Smiling sweetly he looks into my eyes, "I'm glad I get to go on the journey with you the second time around."
"I am too" I tell him, "knowing I have you with me makes this so much less scary, I genuinely feel ready."
He engulfs me in a big hug and I hold onto him tightly, still marveling at how much he's grown since I had last seen him. Gently kissing my head he tells me to get a good night's sleep. We lay down on our adjacent cots and I drift off to sleep quickly, a small smile still on my face.