First Steps
"Well, would you get a move on and choose one already? I want to pick my starter pokémon right now!"
"Shut up Cheren," Hilbert retorts defensively on behalf of Andrea.
In front of Andrea stands Snivy, a green, lizard-like creature, whose short, stubby arms are crossed over her chest as she pretends to show no interest in her potential owners; Tepig, an orange piglet who, seeming to struggle with the concept of staying still, restrains movement to excitedly wagging his tail; and Oshawott, an otter-like creature who stares hopefully at Andrea with wide, twinkling eyes. They are all as tiny as the pokémon plushies that lined Andrea's bed. According to Cheren, Snivy, upon further evolutions, was known for her high speed and defense, Tepig is predisposed to having a strong attack, and Oshawott is relatively well-rounded as far as stats were concerned.
Despite this, Andrea is still having trouble making a decision. So she instead thinks of herself and her values. She thinks of her childhood in Hoenn. As much as she is told to only look forward, it is impossible to forget everything that happened. Her past formed who she is today; she is Andrea because of the life she's lived. So she thinks about Hoenn. She remembers the talks she would have with her father about ideals. She thinks about the love of her family, and all the submarine trips and contest shows and trips to the beach. But then she remembers the truth that hid behind that facade of happiness—the compromises and feuds and conflicting beliefs and nasty fights. She can almost feel how rainy it was when her father left, and she remembers perfectly how sad the ocean looked when she sailed across it to a foreign land—to Unova.
I have been transformed. I will forever continue to transform.
"I choose Oshawott."
The otter pokemon squeals and leaps into Andrea's arms.
"You are so cute! Can I call you Kai?"
The oshawott makes a delighted noise.
"We're going to be best friends, right Kai?"
He cuddles closer into her chest.
"Aww, that's such a lovely name for such a lovely little guy!" Bianca coos.
"Yeah it's pretty cool." Hilbert agrees.
"Thanks! My father nicknamed his first Pokemon, a rockruff, Kai. He always told me these funny stories about how his rockruff would run around with him wherever he went since he didn't like keeping any of his Pokemon in poké balls!"
"Huh, that's odd."
"Well—"
"I call Tepig! He's soooo cute!" Bianca beams as she plops down next to the fire Pokemon. "I'm going to name you...Flare!"
"Hey, why do you get to choose before I do?!" Cheren complains. "Oh well, Snivy was my primary choice anyways." Snivy hops onto Cheren's shoulder. "She looks like a worthy partner."
Andrea can't help but snicker at the uncannily similar mannerisms of Snivy and Cheren. Cheren looks at her strangely, not understanding what she is laughing at.
Bianca suddenly gasps as if a light switch had been turned on in her brain. "Oh my gosh, you know what we should do?"
"What?"
"A battle tournament!" She pumps her fist into the air. "Wouldn't that be, like, so cool?"
"Uh, I'm not sure you should do that," Cheren says.
"Why not? I thought it was a great idea. Is it dumb?" Bianca asks, slightly disheartened.
"N-No, not necessarily," Cheren stammers, trying to backpedal. "In theory it's a fine idea, but look around. We're in Andi's room. Even if they are weak pokémon, you shouldn't have battles inside a house…"
"Don't be such a killjoy!" Andrea whines childishly.
"Yeah!" Bianca chimes. "Besides, these little guys are weak, like you said; the only way to get them stronger is to battle!"
"Well of course, but—"
"Then it's settled! I get to battle Drea first since I came up with the idea!"
Andrea chuckles. Although she has gone by Andi her whole life, she loves Bianca's feminine nickname for her. It's especially heartwarming to recall the shine in Bianca's eyes as she asked to call her Drea upon first meeting her. It's special to have someone so excited over a nickname.
"Alright, let's do it! Kai, go!"
"You can do it Flare!"
"Oh my Arceus you guys are actually doing this," Cheren sighs in reluctant defeat while Hilbert chuckles at his failed attempts to save Andrea's room.
"Ok Drea, you can go first!"
All eyes were on Bianca as silence permeates throughout the room. Then, Hilbert bursts into laughter, followed by Andrea, and Cheren groans loudly and smacks his forehead with his palm. Bianca slowly blinks in confusion.
"Ok, ok, I'll go," Andrea exhales between remnants of laughter. She lets out another heavy breath to calm herself, and then calls out, "Kai! Use tackle!"
The oshawott charges forward and forcefully slams into Flare, knocking it off its feet and sending it flying into the wall. Bianca and Andrea gasp. Flare warily stands up and shakes himself off. Too absorbed in the battle, no one mentions the newly formed dent in the wall.
"Ohhh, I'm not letting you get away with that!" Bianca challenges defensively, "Flare, use tackle!"
"Kai, try to dodge it!"
But it was too late. Frozen in fear, Kai takes the tackle and flies into a leg of Andrea's bed. Andrea winces at the sound of wood cracking and tries to push all thoughts about her room to the back of her mind. There are clearly more important matters at hand.
"Kai, are you ok?!"
He nods resolutely.
Andrea grins. "Good! Let's use tail whip this time!"
"Nuh uh!" Bianca exclaims, "Dodge it Flare!"
Flare moves out of the way, but Kai manages to barely hit the tepig. Although the attack doesn't appear to do much damage, Flare seems to have been left disoriented.
"Awesome!" Andrea cheers.
Despite the type advantage Kai has over Flare, Andrea's first first battle is a little challenging. It feels weird to command her pokémon. Besides, the pokémon really only know a couple of relatively harmless moves.
The battle goes on for a little longer. Both pokémon grow weary.
"Alright Kai," Andrea begins, sensing the end of the unvaried battle, "Use tackle one more time!"
"Watch out, Flare!"
Flare barely stands up; he wobbles with each step. Just as Kai is about to rush into Flare, Flare collapses onto his belly. Bianca gasps and falls to her knees.
"Oh no, Flare! Are you ok? Ugh, that's a stupid question!" Bianca sighs, and leans over to pet her pokémon. "Nice try, little guy. Get some rest," she softly soothes.
"Nice job Kai!" Andrea praises, squatting down to Oshawott's level and holding up her hand for a high five. Kai squeals and leaps up to hit her hand.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Bianca marvels.
"I know, right?" Andrea exclaims, "Great job Bianca."
"You too, Drea! I can already tell you're going to be an amazing trainer." A rare sort of sincerity in glimmers in Bianca's eyes, a seriousness not often expressed by the carefree girl. "I'm excited for you!"
"Seriously?" Andrea isn't sure how Bianca can tell, but she is flattered nonetheless. "Thanks."
Cheren loudly clears his throat. "Would you guys mind looking around the room?"
"Sure thi—" Bianca is unable to finish her affirmation due to pure shock.
Andrea's room looks like the result of a disastrous hurricane or earthquake or flood or tsunami or all of the above; it is the token picture, the kind that would be pictured in all forms of media, of the after effects of a natural disaster. Hilbert's out-of-breath-stomach-clenching laughter is unmistakably out of place in a room that looked like it received the wrath of the Unovian Civil War.
Andrea's face pales. "Shit, is my Wii ok?"
"Andrea are you kidding me—"
"Cheren I can't believe you didn't warn us about this," Hilbert manages to gasp out in between uncontrollable laughs.
"—This isn't an acceptable situation to joke about!"
The sound of the door swinging open causes the four adolescents to abruptly turn around. They stand face to face with Andrea's poor mom.
"What's all the commotion fo—"
Andrea's mom freezes as her brain registers the chaotic state of her daughter's room. With panic filling the teen's bodies, they remain too petrified with fear and guilt to do anything; they simply watch Andrea's mom absorb what had happened. The door she stands next to suddenly collapses, falling off its hinges; this startles everyone except Andrea's mom, who remains too dumbfounded to properly react. It takes all of Hilbert's willpower not to laugh.
An eternity of silence painfully hangs over the room like a dark cloud until Andrea can't handle it anymore.
"Uh, hey mom…Did you need something?"
Andrea's mom blinks harshly, suddenly tuning back into this rather unfortunate reality. She takes a deep breath, bracing herself for the tedious task of having to deal with this mess and reason with her stubborn child. She wonders which will be more difficult.
"What…happened?"
"Mrs. Whitelea, we can explain—"
"I'm so sorry!"
Everyone turns to Bianca, whose eyes brim with guilty tears.
Oh no. No one likes to see Bianca cry.
"I-I…It's my fault. I thought it would be fun to have a pokémon battle…and even after Cheren told me it wasn't a good idea I still wanted to do it…"
"Hey, it's not all your fault Bianca," Andrea steps in, slowly approaching Bianca to comfort her, "To be fair, mom, I didn't listen to Cheren either…"
Cheren squints at Andrea in frustration and disbelief. You don't say...
"Well, I suppose this is a lesson learned," Andrea's mom sighs.
Tension once again fills the air, making it suffocating and heavy.
It appears that Andrea's mom has reached a conclusion. "Don't worry about it, mija. I'll clean this…abomination…eventually," She reassures with a tired smile.
"Thank you, Mrs. Whitelea. We really appreciate it."
"No need to be so formal, Cheren. I've known you since you were this big!" She motions to her knee to demonstrate her point.
"Er, sorry, Evelyn…."
She laughs, which causes Bianca to smile and everyone else to breathe out a sigh of relief.
"Pokémon sure are strong beings," Evelyn remarks. "I could hear their cries all the way from down here, but I didn't expect anything like this to happen. Goes to show how strong Pokémon are, and these ones aren't even fully evolved!
"That being said," she continues, "if you guys want to keep battling, please do so out front."
"Yes ma'am!" Hilbert, finally finding a moment to speak up, quickly declares. He swiftly disappears out of the room and can be heard rushing down the stairs.
Cheren and Bianca follow him out of the room. Andrea turns to her mom, who has situated herself by her daughter's bed. Her back is turned towards her daughter, and she sits on her knees.
"Mom, I'm really sorry…"
Her mom says nothing, merely shifting her arms.
"Mom?"
Andrea carefully tiptoes her way over to her mom. She hovers above her and sees her mom holding something that had fallen from the dresser during the chaotic battle. It's Andrea's photo album, the one decorated with pikachu sketches and heart stickers on the front cover.
Andrea is no photographer; when she was younger, she enjoyed looking at pictures of her and her parents and begging to have them for herself. She knows that the first page of the album contains her favorite picture: a photo of her, Bianca, Hilbert, and Cheren, days after Andrea moved to Nuvema. She likes to keep pictures of her and her friends toward the front. Her mom had advanced through the first few pages, though, and is looking at the pictures of her and her husband; Andrea, as a child, had been especially persistent on having copies of these photos. Evelyn had already leafed through photos of herself as a child, Andrea notes, because the album is open to a picture of her dad as a child in his birthplace: the Seafolk Village in Alola. Beyond the laminated surface, he smiles exuberantly as he watches his beloved rockruff hatch from an egg. This is the only picture Andrea's dad had of himself as a child. On the next page, directly to the right of the picture of her father, is a picture of him and Evelyn before they were married. They stand behind the brilliant sundial in Anistar, Kalos.
Her mom looked so young; Andrea can't help but wonder if that's how she'll look in a few years. People have told her many times that she is a spitting image of her mother, with the same bright eyes and full lips. Her father, on the other hand, didn't look much different from how Andrea remembers him. He had that same ragged stubble, his skin was tan, and his blue, tired eyes exuded wisdom. She may look a lot like her mother, but she inherited her dark skin, round face, and self-loathed button nose from her father.
"Mom?"
Evelyn slowly looks up at her daughter. "Yeah?"
"I was trying to talk to you," Andrea explains.
"Ah, I'm sorry...I just got distracted," Evelyn limply gestures, holding the photo album in her daughter's general direction. "I didn't know you still had these pictures."
"Yeah. They're good pictures."
Her mom sighs softly and wills herself to nod and smile. She was stiff.
Andrea swallows. "Anyways, uh, I just wanted to say sorry for the mess…"
"I have the urge to yell at you," Evelyn replies, smiling slightly. "But I know today's a big day. I'm not gonna ruin it by keeping you back and making you clean it."
"Thanks mom. I'm gonna go outside now."
"Ok, mija."
Andrea slowly walks out of her room. As she descends the stairs, she takes one last look at her mom, who is reverently placing the photo album on Andrea's dresser. Andrea smiles, hops down the stairs, paying special attention to the way her steps echo throughout the unnaturally quiet house, and walks briskly to the front door. Upon opening it, a beam of white light enters the house. Andrea squints and holds her hand over her eyes as she steps outside and catches sight of her friends relishing in the soft seaside breeze.
"Here Andi, let me heal your pokémon," Cheren offers.
"Thanks Cheren."
Cheren sprays some potions on the battered pokémon, and within minutes they are back to normal.
"Ohhh, Cheren! It's your turn to battle Drea!" Bianca exclaims, "I totally need to see this go down!"
Andrea laughs nervously as Cheren's head shoots up. He turns to her, his countenance filled with determination and anticipation.
"Well, I think it's only fair that I get a chance to battle her as well."
"I call battling the winner!" Hilbert exclaims.
"I'm looking forward to that, then," Cheren smugly replies.
"You didn't!" Andrea's mouth drops.
"Sorry, Andi. Get ready to lose!"
Andrea scoffs. "As if! Kai, let's go!"
"Go, Snivy!"
"Kai, tackle!"
"Snivy, leer, now!"
Oshawott skids to a stop as Snivy sends a deadly glare its way. Oshawott shivers in intimidation.
Cheren grins confidently. "Tackle him!"
Snivy lands a hit, causing Kai to skid through the grass.
Andrea grimaces. This already wasn't going so well. Cheren was going to be a difficult opponent.
"Alright Kai, tackle!"
"Dodge it, Snivy!" Cheren shouts.
Andrea panics. She decides to rely on instinct: "Pivot to the right and use tail whip!"
Cheren gasps as Kai jumps up into the air, turns clockwise, and hits Snivy across the face with his tail. Snivy's head twists away from its body from the sheer force of the hit. Andrea lets out an amazed laugh.
"Perfect!"
"I have to hand it to you, Andi. That was a pretty sophisticated maneuver," Cheren confesses.
"Hey, you're not so bad yourself," Andrea counters with a proud smirk. "Alright Kai, Snivy's pretty fast, so focus on your speed! Use tackle!"
Hilbert and Bianca stand not too far off, watching in an entranced state.
"Hey, that's something Cheren's right about!" Hilbert jeers.
"What?"
"That Andi's pretty damn good," Hilbert answers.
Bianca's eyes sparkle with happiness. "I know."
As the battle ensues, Hilbert shamelessly teases Cheren while Bianca struggles to cheer for both parties equally. It is after one particularly stinging tease that Bianca has had enough.
"Hilbert, enough with the roasting!" Bianca states, finally defending Cheren.
"Thank you, Bianca!"
Hilbert simply raises an eyebrow at her. "You have to admit they're pretty hilarious."
She sighs. "Well, of course, but he gets so annoyed!"
"That's what makes it even more entertaining! His reactions are gold. Geez, you really are crushing on him…"
"What?"
"Woo hoo! Kai, you're incredible!" Andrea cheers, causing Bianca and Hilbert to disregard their current conversation. "Nice match, Cheren."
"To be fair your Pokemon has already had experience with battling and thus put me at a disadvantage, making the probability of winning—"
"Don't be such a sore loser. You did great," Andrea reassures.
Cheren sighs. "I made a strange blunder in my first battle. Nevertheless, this feeling I have…the feeling of finally becoming a trainer…it's exhilarating. Watch out, you guys; someday I'll be the strongest trainer around!"
"Dude, you can barely do ten push-ups," Hilbert quips.
Andrea tries to hold in a chuckle, causing a strange, garbled noise akin to a snort to come out. Hilbert laughs in response.
"Guys, stop being so mean!" Bianca whines. She walked over to Cheren and tentatively holds the hand holds Snivy's poké ball.
Cheren flinches at this sudden, and rather awkward, display of affection. "Bianca?"
She smiles up at him. "I really do believe you'll be strong someday! I don't really know what you want to achieve, but I'll support you all the way because I know you can do it. You're a really special person, Cheren!"
Cheren wants to crawl under a hole. He hates feeling embarrassed, despite also being flattered from Bianca's encouragement. Reduced far beyond his cool demeanor and advanced rhetoric, he struggles to mutter out a weak "thanks."
"Can you believe these two?" Andrea whispers to Hilbert.
He looks at her for a good moment, really taking her in. It was like he was trying to memorize every small feature, every nuanced micro-expression, on her face to look back upon when he was feeling particularly nostalgic. He sighs.
"I know, right? I can't believe it's gone on for this long…Just make out already!"
Andrea burst into laughter and averts Cheren's fatal glare. He seems to have a supernatural sense for knowing when the two are teasing him.
"Hey Hilbert, you said you'd battle the winner, right?" Bianca asks.
"Right! Let me just fix up your guys' Pokémon first."
When Andrea and Cheren's Pokémon are fully healed, Hilbert excitedly leaps up on a nearby rock.
"It is time for the real Pokemon master, Hilbert Douglas, to awaken from a deep slumber and challenge the undefeated Andrea Whitelea!"
His melodramatic performance earns him silence from his friends and a rather confused stare from that one neighbor who can't stop talking about how cool technology is.
"Dramatic, much?" Andrea jests.
"Nah," Hilbert counters casually. "Anyways, go, Emolga!"
"Come on Kai, you can do it!"
"Emolga, use thunder shock!"
The small, gliding rodent Pokémon's body brightens with a brilliant light. It releases all the gathered electricity into a ray directly at Kai.
And that was that. Despite Hilbert's general inexperience, his passion, not to mention the powerfully super effective move, ends the battle within one hit.
"Don't worry Kai, you did a great job," Andrea soothes as she cuddled her Oshawott.
Hilbert looks on admiringly, surprised Andrea isn't all fired up as she has been so many times when things hadn't gone her way; he has, unfortunately, evidenced her fiery attitude firsthand many times.
"Damn Hilbert, you've definitely got potential knocking Kai out in one hit," Andrea grins.
"You're pretty good yourself, you know…You're a natural!"
Cheren and Bianca glance at each other and share a knowing giggle.
Andrea catches movement out of the corner of her eye. She barely notices the ajar door to her house; her mom leans on the door frame looking fondly at the teenagers.
"Um, mom…what are you doing?"
"Gosh Andi, is it so wrong of me to want to watch you battle your friends? I can't be that embarrassing…"
"Mom, please."
"I was going to say more about how much you've grown up and how proud I am of you et cetera et cetera but I guess you beat me to it," Evelyn giggles as she watches her daughter's face turn red.
"Anyways sweetie, I wanted to talk to you as soon as you were done here."
"Oooohhh," Hilbert jeers as he nudges Andrea's side.
"You're so mature," Andrea counters, rolling her eyes.
"Andi, I was thinking that we should thank Professor Juniper for the Pokemon," Cheren states. "When you're ready, could you meet us at the lab?"
"Yeah, sure thing."
Andrea watches them walk towards the laboratory. Evelyn looks over at her daughter with the type of look only a loving mother could give as a pang of worry suddenly takes over. Is her daughter really capable of going off on her own? Can she take care of herself? Is she too trusting? Too reckless? Not strong enough?
Would she make the same mistakes I did more than 15 years ago?
She sighs and, unable to find an answer to any of her questions, wraps an arm around her daughter.
"I'm so glad you've made such great friends, mija."
"Me too," Andrea smiles, leaning her head on her mom's shoulder.
"That's why I've…rather reluctantly…decided to give you your very own cross-transceiver."
Andrea gasps as her mom hands her the device. "Finally! It's about time you let me catch up with my generation! Now I can actually message my friends…"
"And keep in touch with your mother, I'm hoping."
"Oh yes, how could I forget my darling mother?" Andrea cheers and hugs her mother.
"You're so lucky to be going on an adventure," Evelyn says, "I wish it was me instead!"
"Really?"
"Haha, no I'm just kidding," Evelyn jokes with a wide, unbearably genuine grin on her face. "I've already had my fun. Now, go on and catch up with your friends!"
Andrea squeals. "See ya later feraligatr!" The spritely girl waves to her mom and then skips off towards the laboratory.
"Oh you will!" Evelyn replies. Then, only to herself, but as if she still expects her daughter to hear, she mutters, "Better be sooner rather than later."
"Cheren, Hilbert! Look what I got!"
She is oblivious as to why they are waiting outside the building; all she wants to do in this moment was show off her new toy.
"It's about time!" Hilbert happily grins, all too excited to exchange contact information.
"So, uh, did you guys already talk to the Professor?"
"We're waiting for Bianca," Cheren replies, "Speaking of which, she's taking a long time at her house; can you go check on her? She's probably just spacing out...You know how flighty she is."
"If you're so impatient, why don't you go do it?" Andrea retorts.
"Yeah Cheren, why don't you?" Hilbert eagerly chimes in.
"What exactly are you two trying to imply?" Cheren challenges, unable to look at either of them. "Besides…Isn't that like, a girl thing?"
Andrea sighs. "I mean, I guess…Fine,"
"Finally, a concession."
"Whatever!"
As Andrea disappears into the distance, Hilbert sighs.
"What have we gotten ourselves into man?"
Cheren remains silent, initially confused, then defensive, and then wary.
"You aren't setting me up for another roast, are you?"
"Nah man, I'm serious. Those girls are way out of our league."
"Thank you, Hilbert, for the terribly needed ego boost."
Loud, rumbling voices explode from Bianca's house. Clearly ignoring proper etiquette in favor of feeding her insatiable curiosity, Andrea puts her ear against the door in an embarrassing attempt to figure out what is going on.
"Bianca, what the hell do you think 'no' means?"
Andrea can barely make out Bianca's desperate reply: "Please, Dad! I have a Pokemon and we're actually pretty strong! My friends will be with me and—"
"Absolutely not!" The roaring voice interrupts. Even on the other side of the door, Andrea's nerves fill with fear from the power the voice invokes.
"Not with all these weirdos roaming about! Have you been paying attention to the news? Just this morning there was a report about a mob of radicals preaching about liberating pokémon. Now, nevermind the fact that that's crazy talk—everyone has the right to say whatever the hell they want—but those people aren't good people, honey. They're dangerous."
"B-But dad, you were a ranger; isn't that like, way more dangerous?!"
"Bianca, that's why I know how cruel the world can be! You're too naive to possibly understand; hell, you're only a child!"
"Dad, please-"
"My answer is no and that's final!"
Andrea, knowing that Bianca will storm out of the house in a state of utter distress, quickly runs around to the side of the house. She tries her best to make it look like she had just walked to the front of the house when Bianca approaches her.
"Hey Bianca, I was just looking for you! Cheren wanted me to check up on you."
She looks up at Andrea with hopeless and puffy eyes. It is obvious she had been crying.
"O-Oh, that's really sweet."
"Is everything alright?"
Bianca pulls her green beret further down onto her head. Her eyes drift towards her feet. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Really, don't worry about me."
Andrea finds it impossible not to worry, and harder than hell to act as if nothing happened. Even if Bianca did tell her about what happened, what advice could she give?
Andrea, instead, wraps her arm around Bianca. "Alright. Just remember that you can always talk to me."
"Thanks, Drea. Just keep this whole thing secret, ok?"
Inside the aseptic, meticulous laboratory, the four friends are happily greeted by Professor Juniper, who happily notes the pokémon's closeness to each respective trainer.
"Ok, now that the fluff's all out of the way, it's time for the real issues." Professor Juniper says. "My—"
"You're Professor Juniper. We know your name."
Hilbert groans. "Cheren are you kidding me—"
"Actually," Professor Juniper continues, utterly unperturbed, "I was about to say that my primary reason for entrusting you kids with Pokemon is so that you could fill up the—"
"Pokédex!"
The professor smiles. "Impressive, Cheren! It's clear you've extensively studied pokémon."
It's clear his glory days of being the teacher's pet aren't over, Andrea thinks bitterly.
"Oh my Arceus," Hilbert buries his face in his hands.
The two young girls simply look at each other, Andrea more exasperated than Bianca due to the boys' behavior.
"What's the Pokédex?" Bianca asks.
"Well, simply put—"
"The Pokédex is a digital encyclopedia created by Professor Oak of the Kanto region. It's an invaluable tool to trainers because it contains information about Pokemon you encounter an—"
"Cheren!" Professor Juniper snaps, finally losing her cool; she thought complimenting him earlier would appease his arrogance. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but come on; no one appreciates being interrupted! Besides, this is a serious moment."
"Yeah Cheren, stop trying to show off to your girlfriend."
"Hilbert, that goes for you too."
Hilbert shrinks under Juniper's stern glare. As soon as she turns her focus away from him, he flips off Cheren, who smugly smirks at him; all of this happens behind Andrea's back.
"So…" The Professor sighs. "I'm sorry, where was I?"
"The Pokédex?"
"Right! Thanks Andrea. Basically, the Pokédex is a device used record information about all the different pokémon you'll encounter across Unova! It would really help my research. Besides, if any of you are planning to challenge all the gym leaders, why not help me out as you travel the whole region?"
Andrea has questions, but because she doesn't want to be annoying like Cheren, she keeps her concerns to herself.
"Woah, sounds so techy…but cool." Bianca states.
"I'm glad you think so!" The Professor replies. "Anyways, that's all I really had to say. Actually, no—I want to meet up with you all once you arrive in Accumula Town. Now that I'm done, go begin your adventure!"
"Thanks, Professor!" The teens shout in unison.
"Good luck, kiddos!"
As soon as they step outside, they are greeted by Andrea's mom.
"You just can't let go of me, huh?"
"That's right, chiquita," Evelyn teases. "Really though, I wanted to give you and your friends a map of Unova! You better not call me saying that you're lost."
"But our cross-transceivers already have maps."
Evelyn rolls her eyes. "You kids and your dependence on technology! Trust me, it's always good to have a traditional map handy."
Andrea laughs. "Thanks mom. I love you."
Evelyn tightly hugs her daughter. "I love you too. Please, be careful. Don't be reckless."
"No promises."
Andrea's mom tries her best not to cry as she watches her daughter walk with her friends towards Route 1.
But she is so proud.
"Hey, I have a great idea!"
"What?"
"Why don't we all take our first steps as trainers together?!" Bianca gushes. She grabs Cheren and Andrea's hand. "Let's all hold hands, too!"
Andrea, despite the cheesiness, can't help but smile.
So, as Cheren holds Bianca's hand, Bianca holds Andrea's hand, and Andrea holds Hilbert's hand, they step forward, in unison, onto Route 1.