"Your Pokémon are all healed up and ready to go! Have a nice day!" the cheery nurse said as she handed us back our Pokémon.

"Thanks, you too!" I replied as I stared at Saber's Poké Ball. "You... did great," I said to the object as if Saber could hear me from within. I attached Saber's ball to my belt, Hugh attached Flaris' ball to his, and Rosa slipped Ivy's into her shorts pocket. While we were waiting for our Pokémon to heal, we discussed what our upcoming plans would be. We had Pokémon now, so that meant we were supposed to go on a journey. We decided that Hugh would go home and talk to his parents about this and he would hopefully be able to meet us at the Route 19 gate.

"I'm gonna take Lily home. See you guys in a bit. I'm not worried that my parents will say no, they've been wanting me to go on a journey too."

"Be safe! If my big brother's friends got hurt, I'd be sad," Lily said. "And also, be nice to Saber and Ivy please! Take really, really good care of them, okay?"

"Why wouldn't we?" I laughed. "These Pokémon are our partners! They're the reason we're going on a journey in the first place."

We waved bye to Lily and headed home. Our mom was sitting at the dining room table, like she had been waiting for us to come home. She had two good-sized boxes on the ground beside, both wrapped in colorful wrapping paper.

"How'd it go?" she asked before we were able to say hello. "Who did you two pick?"

We showed her Saber and Ivy. Our mom looked so happy for us when she saw our starters. "That's great! And I also have another surprise for you two!" She hauled up the two boxes and set them on the table. She explained that these were going to be our birthday gifts, but she decided that now would be a better time to give them to us.

We tore into the boxes and saw what we got. Rosa pulled a large white and pink backpack with gold accents from her box. I too had gotten a backpack, mine was dark blue with black accents.

"Don't stop there, open them!" Mom said.

Inside the backpack were five Poké Balls, a few Potions, a container of Pokémon food, a lightweight sleeping bag, and a brand-new wallet. Rosa got the same things that I did, except she had opened the wallet she got.

"Mom! You didn't have to..." She gaped at what she found in the wallet. She reached inside and pulled out 12,000 PokéYen. I hastily checked my wallet and found the same amount.

"I've been putting aside that money, bit by bit since you two were ten," Mom began saying. "I wanted you to start off with a nice amount of money. I know you earn money from Trainer battles, but I didn't want either of you to already be pressed for money. It's tough out there."

I suddenly felt my throat tighten and the corners of my eyes stung with welling tears. Our mom had always done so much for us, and that wasn't more evident than it was now. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tighter than I had ever before. Rosa joined in and our mom responded by lightly kissing us on our heads. "Watch out for each other, and be careful! I know you two will do great out there," she said quietly. We let go of her and she handed us our final gifts. Xtransceivers, just like the model she wore around her wrist. I put mine on my right wrist, marveling at its shiny blue exterior and the spotless touchscreen. I wanted to say thank you, but I was too choked up to say anything.

Rosa and I put on our backpacks and headed for the front door. I turned to look at my mom one last time. We would have to talk would be through a screen from now on, I thought. "Love you, Mom," I said.

"I love you too Nathan," she said, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. I realized that she had been holding back tears the whole time we were talking. I nodded, closing the door behind me before I could start crying in front of her.

I leaned against the front door rubbing my eyes roughly, trying to stop the tears that were intent on spilling from them.

"Are you okay?" Rosa tentatively asked me. "I've never seen you get that emotional... We'll be able to talk to Mom any time... Nate?"

"I'm good!" I said shakily, taking my damp hands away from my face. I blinked as the bright afternoon sunlight briefly blinded me. "It's just... Mom does so much for us, y'know?"

"Yeah, she does." She put her arm around my shoulders. "Ready to go?"

"You know I am," I replied, my tears finally gone.

We left our house behind and headed for the Route 19 gate. Hugh was there waiting for us. The three of us went through the gate, like we had so many times when playing on the routes as young kids, and we took our first steps as Trainers. It almost didn't seem real, but feeling the chilled breeze on my face and hearing Rosa and Hugh chatting beside me made me know this was really happening. Everything stopped though when we saw a Lillipup scamper out of the tall grass. The game was on!

A few minutes later, Rosa and I had caught ourselves some new Pokémon. I caught the Lillipup we had first seen, and Rosa found a Purrloin. We named them Lilith and Slinky. Hugh however didn't bother searching the grass around here. "I love Lillipup and Purrloin, but since you guys already caught them, I want something different," he had said.

Route 19 wasn't too long. I mean, looking from Aspertia's skyline gave a clear view of the next town over, Floccesy Town. It was a little town with an old-fashioned feel to it, and the few times I had visited it with my mom made me think that it was one of those towns that would always remain in the state it was in. We were about to enter Floccesy Town when someone called to us.

"Hello there!"

None of us had any idea where the voice had come from, so we started looking around the area we were in. There was the town ahead of us, the route path we had came down, a dense forest to our right, and a sheer cliff to the left. It just so happened that I glanced up to the top of the cliff, and I caught a glimpse of someone looking over the cliff's edge. I gasped and backed away when the person caught my gaze. Rosa and Hugh saw what I was doing and they looked up as well.

"Hello down there! You should move out of the way!" The person then jumped over the cliff! Instead of plummeting to the ground like I thought they would, they gracefully fell, like it was an act they had performed numerous times.

When they landed I saw that he was an older man. His hair was bright red and orange, like the color of a flame. He was wearing a tan poncho with red trimming, weathered white pants and brown sandals. The main thing that stood out to me was that he had a string of six Poké Balls hung around the back of his neck.

"Who are you?" Rosa asked.

"I was about to ask you three the same thing!" the man laughed. "My name is Alder. Sorry for intruding like this. I happen to be an acquaintance of Professor Juniper, and she informed me of a few new Trainers receiving their first Pokémon today. I noticed you three, and reasoned that you were the Trainers, am I wrong?"

"No, you're right," Hugh said. "I'm Hugh, he's Nate, and she's Rosa." He crossed his arms. "Why do you wanna know?"

"No real reason," Alder said. "I guess you could say I'm interested in seeing new Trainers, especially out here. You three from Aspertia?"

"Yeah," I chimed in. "And you're from Floccesy?"

"I'm living there for the moment," Alder said. "I'm interested in you three because I think you have potential. The way you commanded your Pokémon and how they immediately listened without hesitation. I haven't seen connections like that in two years." Alder looked wistful.

"So you want to help us or something like that?" Rosa said.

Alder nodded. "Yes, I do. I'm a teacher of sorts, helping new Trainers figure out their style of battling and helping them start building bonds with their Pokémon. And if the Trainers go far, it feels so fulfilling to know you had a hand in helping them. I want to help you, will you let me?"

I honestly didn't care what we did. It would be nice getting help from such an experienced looking person. Normally, I wouldn't be so trusting of random strangers. Something about him though seemed... I don't know, genuine? Maybe it was his tone or how sincere his words were?

"I'd like some help," Hugh said. "I have to get stronger, so I'll be willing to do it if you two are." He looked from me to Rosa.

"I'll do it. It couldn't hurt, " I said.

"Ok, let's do it," Rosa agreed.

"Then it's settled! I'll get you rooms at the Pokémon Center." Alder led us into Floccesy Town and to the Pokémon Center. Alder talked with the Center's nurse and he was able to get us two rooms. Hugh and I would be sharing one room, and Rosa would be in a room by herself since no one else had asked to stay overnight. When Alder was finished talking to the nurse, I approached her.

"How do I sign up for the Unova League Challenge?" I asked her. From the second I first heard about the League Challenge years ago, I knew that's what I wanted to do when I got my first Pokémon. Battling the eight Gyms and receiving badges, it sounded like an enthralling experience.

"You want to participate in the League Challenge? Okay, hand me your Pokédex please."

I handed over my Pokédex and the nurse inserted it into a slot on a machine built into the counter. She checked the screen behind her and I saw my Trainer information displayed on it, including small photos of Saber and Lilith.

"Nathan Acress?" the nurse asked. "Wait a second. I don't mean to be nosy, but are you perhaps related to Hana Acress?"

"Yeah, I'm her son," I replied. My mom was a retired Pokémon Center nurse and she used to work in different Centers all around Unova. She was also pretty well-known among other Center nurses and was friends with most of them. I assumed this nurse was one of her old friends or something.

"I never knew Hana had a child, guess I never asked her. Anyway, next time you talk to your mother, tell her that Karley from the Floccesy Pokémon Center says hi!" She gave me my Pokédex along with a small bronze-colored case. "This case is your Badge Case. As you obtain badges, you can store them in this."

"Thanks but no thanks," I said. "I'd like to hold onto them myself if it's okay."

"No, it's okay if you don't use it." Karley took back the case. "Good luck in the League Challenge," she said. I thanked her, asked what room I was assigned to, and said that I wouldn't forget to tell my mom about her.

I didn't know what Rosa did for the rest of the day, but Hugh and I stayed in our room talking about random things, mainly how much fun it was being Trainers so far. Hugh had also signed up for the Unova League Challenge, but he had decided to keep his Badge Case. By the time we ran out of things to talk about, it was nearly ten.

I flopped down on one of the room's two beds, Hugh taking the other of course. I stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what happened today and how fast it had gone by. It was crazy, less than ten hours ago, I was sitting bored at home. I quietly laughed to myself. If today had been so crazy, I couldn't imagine what tomorrow would bring. And I was right, I wasn't able to imagine what was going to happen.