"Lilly Cosgrove could feel her heart beating with anxiousness. The screams of the crowd were echoing all throughout the stadium. Some where cheering her on, calling out the blonde girl's name, while others were simply screaming with excitement. It was not everyday that one got to view a championship match, after all. As much as Lilly wanted to acknowledge them, she knew that she had to drown out their roars and focus more on the task at hand.
Her sapphire blue eyes narrowed, facing the woman who stood on the opposite side of the battlefield. Lilly could not make out much about her opponent. The shadows of the stadium did well to keep most of her facial features hidden from the teenager. Then again, Lilly had to admit she really could not find herself caring much about what her opponent looked like. All she could find herself truly focusing on was one thing, the desire to win. Both of the trainers were down to their final Pokémon, and it had reached a point where one move could determine who would be triumphant and who would be walking away in defeat.
Without a moment's delay, both Pokémon charged towards each other in a rush. A thick cloud of dust and dirt began to kick up, quickly spreading across the arena and obscuring the view of the battlefield. The roars and screams of the crowd fell deathly quiet, not even a murmur or a whisper being heard. Lilly clenched her fists as the dust and smoke slowly began to clear, the figure of her opponent standing absolutely still coming into view.
After what felt like an eternity, the booming voice of the announcer finally came through and echoed throughout the stadium. "And the winner of the match is..."
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Lilly groaned as the loud beeping of her alarm clock began to stir her from the realms of sleep. She glared at her Piplup-shaped alarm clock in contempt as her hand lazily fumbled about for the silence button. Lilly did not bother looking at the time however, choosing to remain in bed for just a bit longer. She had been having many dreams with the same theme with a rather alarming frequency as of late. All of the dreams somehow had the same cliffhanger ending, something that she was starting to find extremely irritating by this point. To make matters worse, Lilly had never gotten to actually see the features of that female trainer she was battling against nor had she gotten a good look at the Pokémon she was using in the dream. In reality, Lilly did not even possess a single one.
She was
not a trainer.
Realizing that she should probably not put it off much longer, Lilly sighed and slowly climbed out of her bed. She then made her way towards the bathroom where she would begin her usual morning routine. Well, not quite that usual, as it was currently Saturday. This meant that she got a day off from her grindstone training to be the next big Pokémon Contestant, something that Lilly had no problem with in the slightest bit.
It was not that she had any major qualms with those who decided to pursue such a career choice. Her mother had made quite the name for herself as one. Such a calling just was not for her. Lilly had tried before to get this through to her mom... but the older woman was just dead set on having her daughter follow in her footsteps.
"Lilly! Your friend is here to see you!" said woman in thought called from downstairs.
"Alright, mom!" Lilly responded, slipping on her favorite brown cap.
Before heading down the stairs, Lilly decided to give herself a quick once over in the mirror. Lilly was a girl of tan complexion. She stood at a height of about 5'4" with a somewhat slender body build. She had light, platinum blonde hair that she kept short, just reaching down to the base of her neck. She was dressed in a pair of rather worn, denim shorts and knee-high, brown leather boots. A black, sleeveless tank top adorned her chest, with a pink, denim-vest over top of it. It was an outfit perfect for what was to be the last days of the Sinnoh summer, right before that inevitable cold-snap would likely grip the region. Once Lilly made sure everything was in order, she grabbed her red shoulder bag and quickly made her way down the stairs.
"Pokémon are by our side, always. I hope you will understand the meaning of these words."
That comment was left by Professor Rowan, who has just returned to Sinnoh from the Kanto region.
Making her way to the couch, Lilly leaned over the back of it and glanced over at her mother curiously. "Wha'cha watching, mom?"
Lilly's mother, Selena, turned of the television as the credits started to roll across the screen. "Just an episode of 'Ask Professor Rowan.' I had no idea you were going to sleep so late. Usually you never miss an episode, Lilly."
"Yeah, well... I guess I was more tired than I thought," Lilly replied, making her way into the nearby kitchen for a glass of juice. "So, what was he talking about today? The anatomy of a Bidoof or something like that?"
Selena shook her head. "Actually, he was talking about his recent trip to Kanto. He had been doing some research with Professor Oak, an-"
"Hey! There you are!"
Both Lilly and Selena turned in the direction of the voice to see a boy Lilly's age come rushing out of the guest rest room. He too was blonde, with bright green eyes. A pair of black sneakers adorned his feet with gray slacks on his legs. An orange and white t-shirt was over his chest with a lightweight, green jacket over that. A wide, eager smile graced his lips as usual. It seemed like he was having even more of a problem sitting still than normal.
"Hey, Lilly! Did you hear? Professor Rowan's visiting the lake. I bet an old guy like him probably has a
ton of Pokémon. He might even be giving some of them away! Do you know what that could mean?!"
Lilly rolled her eyes, rubbing the back of her head. "Barry, I don't think the professor would just-"
"Don't be such a negative Noibat! He could be there right now, Lilly!" Barry interrupted. "I'll wait for you outside. If you're late, I'll fine you a million Pokédollars!" Before waiting for a reply, the blonde boy was already out the door. At the very least, he did manage to call out a quick word of thanks for being allowed to use the restroom.
Lilly sighed while Selena had a small laugh at the boy's eagerness. "I guess you should probably go with him, Lilly. He might explode if you keep him waiting around again. Besides, if he did decide to give you two a Pokémon, it'd be just what you need to jump start both of your careers."
Usually, Pokémon trainers were able to begin their journeys around the age of 16 or so. Lilly had heard stories that they used to be allowed to go out as early as the age of ten, but apparently it was deemed that setting out at such a young age was far too dangerous. Even then, setting out on a journey was something that was risky. There was a lot to take into consideration out there, and it was quite easy for one's journey to end in failure. It may have been for this reason that Barry's mother kept him home for an extra year, making sure the boy would finish high school before setting out. She could see the reasoning behind it. Lilly wished that she could have been so lucky.
Lilly had tried to convince her mother for years to change her mind about her future. The older woman was just determined to have Lilly follow her in her footsteps though. She often cited that Pokémon trainers were often irresponsible and it was just a profession that did not fit with young women very well... despite the fact that many trainers in the region were female as well as male. Lilly's father was a trainer as well... and he and Selena had divorced a little over six years ago. She often wondered if that fact had anything to do with her mother's reasoning.
Snapping out of thoughts, Lilly quickly bid her mother farewell and made her way to meet Barry. She had kept him waiting long enough and did not want to be responsible for him having some sort of breakdown.
Lilly stepped out into the late morning sun, taking in the smells and sounds of the little town of Twinleaf. A comfortable breeze blew through the town as the sun was high in the air. A small chill could sometimes be found, a sure sign that the days of summer in Sinnoh were coming to an end. All around, Lilly's neighbors were going about their usual routines. Some of the local housewives were busy chatting and gossiping. The younger children were busy shouting and playing an intense game of tag. The sounds of chirping Starly reached her ears. All in all, it was a pretty typical day in Twinleaf. Well, almost typical. The problem was that Barry was nowhere to be found. Lilly even made sure to check around her house to make sure that he was not hiding in the bushes near her house so he could jump out and scare her... Believe it or not, it would not have been the first time he did that. One of the locals must have taken notice of this, as he called out to the blonde girl to get her attention.
"Are you looking for Barry?" he asked. Lilly nodded. "He was waiting around the entrance of the town just a moment ago. Then he all of a sudden bolted back towards his house, saying something about forgetting something. Maybe you should check there."
Lilly thanked her neighbor for the tip and began to make her way towards Barry's house. Such behavior was typical of her friend. There were times that she swore Barry would forget his own head if it was not attached to his own neck. Within moments the teenager was at his house. She had just begun to reach forward to knock on his door, when all of a sudden the door swung open and Barry came charging through. Before the poor girl had time to react, Barry plowed right into her, causing both to fall back onto their behinds. Barry had been busy cramming several things into a bag as he ran into Lilly, causing a few of the contents to empty out onto the ground.
"What was that for?! Watch where you're going!" Barry snapped, before realizing it was his friend he had plowed into. His eyes widened and he smiled quickly as a faint blush rose to his cheeks. "Lilly, you're late! I was starting to think you weren't coming!"
"It's only been a few minutes, Barry..." Lilly sighed as she climbed back up to her feet. She watched as he began to scramble about, gathering his belongings and shoving them back into his bag. "But... What's with all this stuff?"
Barry's eyes lit up as he stuffed his journal into the bag. "My supplies! A trainer has to be ready at any moment, especially when they begin their journey!"
"But, Barry... We don't even kn--"
"No time!" the boy exclaimed, quickly scrambling to his feet. Without even asking the girl if she was okay or not, Barry began to run off towards the town entrance once more. " If you're late, I'll fine you a million Pokédollars!"
Lilly was starting to feel quite annoyed with her best friend as she watched him dash off for the town gates. She had grown up with Barry, so she knew first hand just how easy it was for him to get excited. That said, the blonde boy seemed to be displaying an even higher level of hyperactivity, and it was quickly starting to take its toll on Lilly has the day moved on. Sighing, the teenager made her way to meet up with her friend once again.
"Alright, you're here!" Barry exclaimed as Lilly reached the gates. "Now, let's get going!"
Without a moment's delay, Barry grabbed Lilly by the wrist and began to drag her to the right... right towards the tall grass to be exact. Not wasting a single moment, Lilly's eyes widened as she yanked her wrist from Barry's grasp. A stern glare was on the teenage girl's face as she did so.
"What the hell, Barry?! You know better than that!" Lilly scolded.
Barry gave Lilly a confused look. "Know better than what?"
Lilly groaned and merely pointed towards the grass. Barry spun around and looked in the direction his friend was pointing. His eyes lit up at the sight and he began to chuckle.
"What are you laughing about?" Lilly asked. She was starting to think Barry may have finally lost it.
"You are! I can't believe you're actually worried about the tall grass!" Barry replied. "You act like I haven't been thinking ahead or anything. I know of a way we can get through it all easy, even without having a Pokémon of our own, no problem!"
Lilly crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at the boy. "How can it not be a problem, Barry?"
"Simple! Here's what we do..." Barry began. He paused for a moment and looked around before leaning in close. It almost looked as if he was about to tell Lilly his most prized secret. "You know how wild Pokémon like to jump out at you, right? All we have to do is dash through using like, super-ninja-type-stealth! We'll run so fast, the Pokémon won't even have a chance to jump at us!"
Lilly sighed and began to rub her eyes wearily. "Barry, that's gonna wo--"
"Trust me! It'll be great!" Barry insisted, ignoring Lilly's argument. He backed up and then crouched down, as if preparing to run a relay race. "On your marks..."
"Barry, please..."
"Get set..."
"Damn it, Barry... Would you just..."
"GO!"
"BAR--"
"HOLD IT!"
The sudden shouting of a voice that belonged to neither Lilly or Barry caused both teens to stop dead in their tracks. A shiver ran down Lilly's back as both she and Barry turned to face the owner of the voice. They both knew that they were probably in some sort of trouble... but the two never imagine that they would be busted by none other than Professor Rowan himself!
The older man looked between the two teens, a stern and quite honestly frightening expression graced his facial features. "You two... You don't seem to have a single Pokémon between you, am I correct?" Both teens shook their heads, confirming the professor's suspicions. "Then would you mind telling me what in the world you were thinking? Going into the tall grass alone... How incredibly foolish!"
Barry stared in disbelief at the man. Slowly, he backed away to fall beside Lilly and elbowed her genetly as he leaned in close.
"Hey, Lilly... This guy... Is this old man really
THE Professor Rowan?" he asked in a rather loud whisper. "What's he doing here?"
Lilly shot her friend an annoyed glare. "Of course it is! You're the one who said he was going to be down at the lake today, Barry..." she answered. She glanced back over at Rowan for a moment before continuing. "Although I don't think any of that matters now. There's no way he'll give us a Pokémon after that little stunt you just tried to pull!"
"Oh crap! You're right, he might totally refuse us now... Wait, I know! What if we managed to catch a super rare Pokémon for him?"
"With what, exactly?"
Unknown to Lilly and Barry as they talked amongst themselves, Professor Rowan was listening to their conversation initially. As their argument began to crawl on, the older man closed his eyes and began to think deeply about the scene playing out before him... eventually blocking out the conversation from his mind.
"These two... They attempted to go through the tall grass in order to get Pokémon. To do something so reckless, they must really want to begin to walk down the path of a trainer. However, could I truly send them down that path? It is not one easily traveled. While it can be filled with joy and excitement, it can just as easily be filled with sorrow and hardships... Is this really the right thing to do?"
The man slowly opened his eyes and cleared his throat. This brought a sudden end to the conversation between Barry and Lilly, as both teens were now focusing their eyes upon Rowan's stern gaze.
"You two..." Rowan began, his gaze drifting from Lilly, over towards Barry, and then back to Lilly again. "You two truly value Pokémon, correct?"
"I... I do," Lilly answered, shifting in place slightly. Feeling Rowan's gaze upon her made her somewhat nervous, but she answered honestly nonetheless.
"Me too! I totally love them too!" Barry sounded in, his voice much more enthusiastic than Lilly's.
"I'll ask you one more time," Rowan said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You both truly value Pokémon, correct?"
"Are you kidding me?" Barry snapped. A tone of disbelief hung in his voice, as if there could not possibly be any room left for doubt in the teens' previous answers. "You could ask us a million times and the answer would always be the same. We both love Pokémon!"
"Yeah... Yeah, that's right!" Lilly chimed in, finally meeting the professor's stern gaze with one of her own.
"I see," the professor sighed as he began to stroke his chin. "A pair of kids who reckless try to charge into tall grass without any Pokémon of their own? I must admit, it does worry me what people like that might do with Pokémon..."
Barry's eyes fell downcast, his feet shuffling around in the dirt slowly.
"Well, y-you see..." he began to stammer. Barry took a deep breath as he looked up, facing Rowan eye to eye. He clenched his fists as he looked over towards Lilly and then back to the professor. "Then forget about me! But at least give my friend a Pokémon!"
"Barry...?" Lilly questioned with surprise.
He looked at his friend and gave her a weak, yet reassuring smile. "I was the one who was trying to go through the tall grass. Lilly was just trying to stop me. I should have listened, but... well, I just didn't."
"How big of you..." Rowan mused. The look on the professor's face had changed. He was quite surprised by Barry's honesty of the whole situation. Slowly, a warm-hearted smile came to grace the lips of Rowan. "Very well! I have decided to trust you both with a Pokémon! I apologize for putting you both through such an exercise."
Upon hearing Rowan's decision, both Barry and Lilly gasped in surprise. The girl herself could not help but smile wide as she felt the excitement starting to build up inside of her. Before both teenagers could truly begin a celebration though, a sternly-voiced "however" caused them both to freeze in their tracks.
"Both of you must promise me never to do anything so foolish again! There is nothing to be gained in endangering your lives in such a manner. Do I make myself clear?" he inquired. Both of the teenagers nodded in understanding and Rowan nodded back. "Good... Now, where did I put that...
Lilly watched curiously as Professor Rowan began to look around, as if he had lost something incredibly important. Then, as if it had been rehearsed, a boy about her age came running towards the professor from the direction of the lake. He looked to be a good head taller than she was, with dark, blueish hair. His hair did look a bit messy, but most of it was kept in check by a black and gray baseball cap. From the look of his appearance, he appeared to be a much more experienced trainer.
"Professor Rowan, you left your briefcase back at the lake when you took off like that," the boy explained. He paused, glancing around and taking notice of Barry and Lilly for the first time. "Uh... Is something wrong?"
"Ah, there it is! Thank you, Lucas," Professor Rowan replied as he took the briefcase from the boy. "Now to answer your question, everything is just fine. I was about to entrust these two with a Pokémon of their own."
Lucas' eyes widened at the man's statement. "Professor, are you sure? These Pokémon are quite rare and hard to replace... Maybe something a bit more... common for trainers just starting out?"
Barry rolled his eyes, visibly being bothered by Lucas' comment. However, the smile remained in place on Rowan's lips as he nodded in Lucas' direction. "Lucas, we live together in this world with Pokémon. I firmly believe that there's a time when should meet a Pokémon and they should form a bond as they travel down the road of life together. Today is that time for these two, and that path has presented itself."
Lucas gave a firm nod at the professor before smiling back at Lilly and Barry. Rowan placed his briefcase on the ground and then opened up the clasps on the briefcase. It flung open, causing several pens and papers to shift about inside. Of particular notice, three Pokéballs rolled towards the front of the case.
"Alright then... Lilly. Barry. Go ahead and choose!" Rowan commanded.
Barry's smile grew even wider, he could not believe this was actually happening. "Professor Rowan, you're so awesome! I can hardly keep myself from dancing right now!" Somehow, the boy managed to contain himself however. He turned and faced Lilly, prodding her with his elbow. "Lilly, you go ahead and choose first!"
Lilly was taken a bit back by Barry's choice. She gave the boy a strange glance. "Are you sure...?"
Barry nodded. "Of course! I am the oldest of us, after all. It's my job to be the responsible one and show some patience."
"Yeah, by a whole month..." Lilly muttered as she rolled her eyes before glancing down at the briefcase.
She kept looking between the three balls, taking note of the symbols on each one. The ball to the left had a leaf painted on it, the middle had a small fire, and the right ball had a teardrop. She really was not sure which one to pick off the bat, so in the end she settled on picking out the ball with the fireball on it. Pressing the button in the middle, Lilly watched with bated breath as it opened and a flash of light shot out of the ball, revealing a small, orange, monkey-like creature. Its hair was a little bit long in the front, causing part of it to brush over its left eye. Interestingly enough, it seemed to have some sort of strange, spiral bracelet on its right arm. The monkey glanced up at Lilly, a faint blush quickly creeping to its cheeks before its eyes fell downward to the ground.
"Ah, Chimchar... That's a very good choice, Lilly," Rowan mused. He then glanced over to Barry and smiled. "And you?"
Barry did not waste a single moment in thought like his friend. The boy quickly grabbed hold of the Pokéball with the teardrop on it and pressed the button in the center. Like the one which held Chimchar, the ball opened up and from it emerged a small creature. This one resembled a blue penguin.
"And Barry chose Piplup. Another fine choice!" Rowan commented.
Lilly glanced back and forth between her new Chimchar and Barry's Piplup. A sudden thought entering the teen's mind. "Wait a second, what the hell, Barry? Did you let me pick first just so you could pick the one that would be strong against my Pokémon?!"
A faint blush rose to Barry's cheeks as Lilly shot him a rather dirty glare. Rowan chuckled at the antics of the two teens as he closed his briefcase and picked back off the ground.
"Now then, you both have a Pokémon. I'd love to stay and chat a bit longer, but I'm afraid I'm quite busy for today. So, if you'll excuse me..." Rowan nodded at both teens one final time and began to make his way past them. He stopped after a few short steps, glancing over his shoulder at the two one final time. "That reminds me... I think that perhaps you should both consider stopping by my lab in Sandgem Town time. I think it might be worth your time."
Barry and Lilly nodded, watching as the professor took his leave. Lucas followed shortly behind the older man, bidding farewell to both the new trainers as well. Once the two were out of sight, Barry turned to face Lilly and smiled widely.
"Wow, Professor Rowan is actually a pretty nice guy..." Barry mused. "On TV he always seemed so stern and scary."
Lilly sighed. "If you thought he was so scary then why were you going to ask him for a Pokémon?"
"Yeah, well..." Barry replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. His eyes glanced down to the Piplup standing before him, watching as the Penguin was dancing back and forth on his little, webbed feet. "Look, none of that's important now, Lilly. We have Pokémon now! Actual Pokémon! You know what comes next, right?"
It did not take Lilly a map to figure out where Barry was going. She glanced down at her Chimchar, who seemed to be tensing up... with what appeared to be a bit of nervousness. The little monkey bit her bottom lip, slowly backing away and trying to hide behind Lilly's leg.
"Lilly, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" Barry shouted. "Piplup, use Pound!"
Lilly's eyes widened as Piplup charged forward, and slapped her Chimchar right in the face with its fin-like appendage. The Chimchar jumped back in surprise, rubbing its cheek slowly before glancing up at Lilly.
"Damn, Barry! You could at least wait until we were ready!" Lilly retorted, but it seemed that her comment fell to deaf ears as Barry was busy pumping his fist in excitement. She rolled her eyes and knelt down to her Chimchar's level. "Alright... I know he started off fighting dirty, but we can handle this. You look like..." Lilly paused, watching as Chimchar looked somewhat hesitant to battle against the Piplup. "You look like a pretty tough thing to me... So, let's go!"
Lilly's little speech seemed to have had some effect on the Chimchar. It offered her a small, nervous smile before climbing up to its feet and taking a proper battle stance against the Piplup.
"Chimchar, Scratch!" Lilly shouted.
"Piplup, another Pound!" Barry countered-ordered.
Both of the Pokémon charged towards each other. Chimchar took a swing at the Piplup, it's somewhat sharp-looking nails jabbing into its stomach. Piplup's own attack managed to land as well though, as the Pound attack sent the Chimchar staggering back. Before it could even regain its senses, Barry had ordered his Piplup to use another Pound attack. The Chimchar's eyes widened as the penguin charged forward and rolled out of the way just at the last moment, causing Piplup to miss its attack. Lilly wasted no time in ordering the Chimchar to use another Scratch attack. Chimchar followed through and landed a surprisingly powerful attack on Piplup. It was enough to send the Piplup falling back to Barry!
"Wow... You're either really lucky or a lot stronger than you look," Lilly mused, glancing down at her Chimchar. "Nice job!"
Chimchar let out a small squeak and rubbed the back of its head as a familiar, rosy color rose to its cheeks. Barry gently scooped down and picked up his Piplup. A worried expression graced his features for a moment, before the penguin let out a weak chirp. He sighed in relief to see that his Pokémon was alright before sending Lilly and her Chimchar a fierce glare... which then turned into a bright smile.
"That was incredible, Lilly! I had no idea you were such an awesome trainer! Has your mom been teaching you or something?" he questioned.
Lilly shook her head. "Not exactly... B-Besides, it was just luck I'm sure. Besides, you were pretty good yourself!"
Barry seemed quite pleased to received that last bit of praise from Lilly. He took a moment to recall the Piplup into its Pokéball. The smile on his lips faded as he held the ball foreward, instead being replaced by a confident looking smirk.
"Lilly! You may have won the first battle, but don't think it's over yet!" Barry declared. "You're my new rival! And I will definitely win the next battle!"
Without waiting for a response, Barry took off running towards his house. Lilly blinked slowly, as she took in everything that had just happened. She met
THE Professor Rowan... She received her first Pokémon... She won her first battle and tasted her first victory as a trainer... And now her best friend was suddenly her rival! It had definitely been quite the busy day.
Lilly glanced down at her Chimchar. Said Pokémon curiously glanced up at its new trainer. It was at this moment that the realization of it all finally sunk in.
"Holy muk... I'm... I'm a trainer! I'm an actual Pokémon trainer!" Lilly exclaimed. Without a word of warning, Lilly quickly scooped her Chimchar up and spun the little monkey around. It squealed in surprise at the sudden closeness of the trainer, before Lilly sat it up on her shoulder. "You were so amazing, Chimchar! I mean, I had a few doubts at the start, but... You really showed some fancy stuff!"
The Chimchar let out a small, appreciative-sounding squeak. Lilly gave the Chimchar a small pat on its head before she began to head for home. She had a feeling that her dreams may just finally start to come true.
