Sinnoh Journey

Chapter 1 - The Journey Begins

Everyone starts their journey at some point. Whether that be at the age of ten, or you go a Trainer's School until you graduate at sixteen, you will start your journey at some point. Today is that day for Kyra and her two childhood friends: Nate and Willow. Starting off in Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh Region, the three friends intend on travelling the world with their pokémon partners by their side, travelling together and becoming closer by every challenge they face.

Kyra woke up early that morning, she had ensured she had got as good of a sleep as possible despite her excitement at finally being able to go on a journey. She woke up to the smell of Victoria, her mother, cooking breakfast. From what Kyra could tell, it was pancakes, her favourite.

As usual, Kyra headed downstairs to eat before getting changed, it was still early and there was no point in heading out yet since Nate and Willow both got up much later than Kyra.

"Morning Mum," Kyra greeted, walking into the kitchen to see the Victoria sorting out the pancakes.

Victoria laughed slightly, "Of course you'd come down to my pancakes, I'm not surprised. After all, this is the last time you'll have them for a while. They're almost finished, I'll bring them through once they're ready," she said.

Kyra went to wait at the dining room table, looking out into the garden as she zoned out. It was strange thinking that this would be the last time she ate breakfast in her own home before she started her journey. For a time she had thought she would never get to leave for her journey, but that thought had long since passed. She had been terrified of pokémon of any kind since the age of seven, that incident had also made her lose trust in most people as well. It was a memory she wished she could forget, but one that always played on the back of her mind at the worst of times.

Victoria came through with the pancakes and Kyra put her thoughts behind her so as not to raise concern. As much as Kyra loved Victoria as a mother, there were certainly times where she wished there was a little less protection over her.

"You alright? You're not getting cold feet are you?" Victoria asked, picking up on Kyra's abnormally quiet self.

Kyra sighed, "I'm fine, just thinking back to what happened ten years ago," she admitted, knowing that lying wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Victoria understood exactly what Kyra meant, or at least, she could make a good guess at what it was. "Just make sure you stay in touch. I don't want you losing contact like that good for nothing father of yours," she replied.

"He's not a 'good for nothing'. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason behind why he left. Although that's not the point. Can we change the subject please, the last thing I need is those memories coming back today of all days," Kyra said, hoping that Victoria would accept her response.

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't call him a 'good for nothing', I just haven't properly forgiven him yet, that's all. You're right, you're heading off on your journey today, it should be a happy day for you. Speaking of you setting off, who are you thinking of choosing for your starter?" Victoria apologised, hoping that asking Kyra about the start of her journey would help ease the small bit of tension that had come up.

Kyra thought for a moment, the three starter pokémon of the Sinnoh Region all had their positives and negatives. Turtwig, the Grass Type had a good Physical Attack and Defense, but wasn't very fast. Chimchar, the Fire Type, had good Attack in both Physical and Special along with good Speed, but it wasn't all that great Defensively. Finally was Piplup, the Water Type, it had good Special Attack and Defense, but elsewhere it didn't shine too much. All three starters gained a secondary Type upon their final evolution, Ground, Fighting, and Steel respectively.

"Out of all of them, I think Piplup would be the best. I enjoy a challenge and since Piplup would give me that, I'd want one of them. When it evolves, it becomes weak to both Ground and Fighting so it wouldn't necessarily have the advantage over other trainers using their starter pokémon. I'd need a lot of strategy, so Piplup would be the perfect starter," Kyra explained.

Victoria laughed again, "You always were one to make things more difficult than they needed to be. I can see you doing well with a Piplup, they too are pretty determined to show their worth," she replied, glad to see Kyra's spirits up.

The two continued to chat as they ate; then Kyra went back upstairs to finish getting ready. Her bag was already packed with all that she would need, it was surprisingly light for how much she had packed.

Kyra wore a grey v-neck sleeveless top with a baby blue top underneath, a turquoise skirt and boots of the same colour, finishing off her outfit with black knee high socks. She spent a few minutes deciding on how to tie her long ginger hair, in the end deciding to go  for a half-up-half-down style with two darker turquoise clips holding it in place.

Before heading back downstairs, Kyra saw one of her scarves draped over the end of her bed. The scarf held a lot of sentimental value, it was the one thing her father had left behind, she had always been obsessed with it and was glad she still had it.

In the end she decided to wear the scarf, it finished off her outfit nicely and gave her something to help remember home by. She never understood why her father had left her, he was the one who had ruined her trust in people, but at the same time, she still wanted him back.

Kyra took one last look around her room before leaving. Everything in her room had a meaning behind it, it was very bittersweet leaving it all behind.

"Now you make sure you're careful. I don't want you injuring yourself," Victoria said before Kyra left.

"I will Mum, don't worry. Everything will be fine, I'll have Nate and Willow with me. Besides, children younger than us go on journeys with no problems, we're all seventeen now. We can handle this," Kyra replied, reminding Victoria that this was normal and that she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Victoria sighed and hugged Kyra, "I know that really baby. I'll miss you," she said.

"I'll miss you too, but this'll be worth it. I'll keep in touch and tell you how everything's going. I love you Mum," Kyra replied, hugging Victoria in return.

The two kept up their hug for a bit, Victoria wanting Kyra to go, but also wanting her to stay.

"Mum, come on, I'll be late if I don't go. I promise I'll send you a picture of my starter this evening, or when I get to Jubilife City," Kyra reminded.

Victoria broke away from the hug and wiped a couple of stray tears away. "Make sure you do, that way I'll know you got there safely. If I don't hear from you by tomorrow evening then I'll start worrying," she said.

Kyra accepted the terms and headed out, leaving the house for the final time before she finally became a trainer.