Nuvema was one of those towns where you knew everyone. It was quite hard not to since only twenty people, including Hilda and her friends, lived there. The only work you could get in town was at Professor Juniper's lab. Everyone else worked out of town. So basically, Hilda only walked a couple feet before she was at the lab. Cheren was blocking the door with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Hey, can you go find Bianca? I think she spaced out again," Cheren said bluntly.

"Sure! Be back in a bit!" She replied cheerfully.

Bianca's house was on the south end of town. Her Pokémon looked excited to be going to another house. However, an explosion of shouting erupted when they arrived at the front door. She felt her Pokémon flinch in her arms and she let out a sigh. Slamming the door open, she faced the storm. The people inside didn't noticed her.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING AND THAT'S FINAL!" The male in the room said.

"B-b-but I have a Pokémon now." Bianca said shaking, "I can totally go on an adventure."

The adult in the room looked like he was going retort before he noticed Hilda. Bianca had a look of relief on her face.

"Oh, there you are! Let's go!" She said grabbing Hilda's arm.

Hilda tightened her grip around her Pokémon with her free arm while Bianca dashed out the door. They were in front of Hilda's house before she stopped, struggling to hold her tears. Hilda handed her a crumpled up tissue from her pocket.

"I-I-I-I don't understand wh-h-hy he always acts like this," Bianca said before snorting into the tissue. "It's not fair!"

"Your pops thinks the world is a darker place than it really is," Hilda said calmly. "Once you make progress, I think he'll understand."

"I hope so," she replied.

When Bianca fully calmed down, the two girls met up with Cheren. He looked a bit miffed, but didn't ask why it took so long. The three let themselves into the lab. One of the lab assistants put down his work and led them to the back of the building. It was a bit more organized in the back of the lab. Professor Juniper was waiting with three packages in hand.

"So I see you finally choose your Pokémon!" The Professor exclaimed, "I was wondering what took you so long."

"We had a few complications," Cheren replied.

"Well, no matter. I can see that Hilda choose Oshawott. Why don't you two release your Pokémon," The Professor said.

Cheren and Bianca both let their Pokémon out. All of them, Oshawott had wiggled out of Hilda's arms before, dog piling the Professor. She laughed and hugged the starters.

"I can see that you already had your first battle!" Juniper exclaimed.

Oshawott smiled and gave a prideful look while Snivy gave an evil stare. The Professor smiled and started to explain some of the details of what they were able to do on their journey. Hilda was mildly interested until Cheren interrupted.

"So when do we get our Pokédexes?"

"I'm getting there, Cheren," she said, smiling.

The Professor handed them the packages. Inside of all of them was a rectangular electronic device with a poke-ball shape button. It turned itself on and asked if Hilda wanted to name her Oshawott.

"I don't see the point of a name," Cheren said.

"Hmmmm…" Bianca hummed, scrunching up her face.

Hilda read the details that the Pokédex gave her. Her Oshawott was a female and had Torrent for an ability. She wasn't quite sure what that ability did, but didn't let it bother her. Naming her Oshawott was her first priority. An old story that her father told her popped in head.

"Nepta?" Hilda asked her Pokémon.

"What kind of name it that?" Cheren criticized.

"Shortened name of an old sea god," she replied.

The Oshawott gave her a thoughtful look before giving a cheerful chirp. Hilda grinned and registered the name in her Pokédex. Professor Juniper told the three to meet her on Route 1, which was north of Nuvema. Cheren and Bianca quickly recalled their Pokémon and raced out the door before Hilda could register what Juniper said. She blinked and picked up Nepta. The Pokémon gave her a confused look.

"You want to know why I'm not putting you in your Poké-ball?" She guessed.

"Sha," Nepta said in a positive tone.

"I don't see the point on keeping you in there 24/7," She replied, "I want Pokémon to be my friends, not tools for battle."

She pushed open the door that led to the outside and accidentally ran straight into her mother. Nepta squealed as she was almost dropped.

"Ah! There you are!" Her mother said, "Did getting you Dex take longer than the others did?"

"No. Nepta - wait, how did you know we were getting Pokédexes?" Hilda asked.

"It wasn't the Professor that came up with this idea. Mellie, Miril and I had plan this for a while," she replied. "Anyway, I wanted to give you some things before you head out."

She handed Hilda a folded up map of Unova, which was a little out of date. Some of the cities had different names and the paper was a little faded. The second item Hilda was a little hesitant to take.

"Are you sure about this, Mom?" Hilda asked. "I mean, I enjoy practicing, but this is-"

"I expect to practice at least every other day," her mother said, cutting her off. "And I will know if you are being lazy."

Hilda gave her a nervous grin and took the slim carrier that had been under her bed earlier. After swinging it over her shoulder, her mother gave her bone crushing hug. Hilda hugged her back, knowing that it would be the last one for a while. After a final goodbye, she met up with Bianca and Cheren.

"Finally," Cheren sighed.

"What took you so long?" Bianca said.

"Just Mom stuff," Hilda replied, "So are we still doing it?"

"You bet!" Bianca shouted, linking her arms with them.

Hilda laughed while Cheren rolled his eyes, but his smile betrayed him. They walked together into Route 1. They took their first steps of their journey.