Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise
Hilda woke up with a beaming smile
Today was the day! Today, she'd finally get her first starter pokemon from Professor Juniper and start on her pokemon journey. While Unova allowed children to start on their journey at 14, the father of her friend Bianca had refused to let her go until she finished her education. Not wanting to leave without her, Hilda and Cheren had decided to do the same thing. They were now done and ready to get their starter
There was a knock on the door and her mother walked in with a box in her hands. "Professor Juniper just delivered this. Said she'd be waiting for the three of you to come and get your Pokedex. I'm sure Bianca had Cheren will be here soon." She said and Hilda smiled at her as the wrapped box was put down on her desk. "Thanks mom." She said and her mother smiled back as she left the room so she could change
Quickly pulling on the clothes she had chosen out for today and checking her bag to make sure she had everything, Hilda waited for her friends to arrive. They had agreed to meet at 11 AM and it was now 10:55. She wasn't surprised when Cheren arrived right on time. He had always been extremely punctual even when they were younger. It also wasn't a surprise when Bianca arrived five minutes later as she had always been far more clumsy. Hilda liked to think that she was somewhere in-between the two, although there had been many times she had to be the peacekeeper
After gently scolding Bianca for being late on the day they'd get their Pokemon, Cheren told Hilda that she was allowed to choose first. This was her house after all and out of the three of them, she had turned 14 first years ago. "I wonder what they'll say." Bianca giggled, glancing at Hilda who gave her a look. It was a small secret that she had always been able to understand what pokemon were saying, often subtly helping when something was wrong
Hilda carefully opened the special box to see three pokeballs lying there, each with a different pokemon inside of them. She pressed the button on all three to see the pokemon. They were the grass-type pokemon Snivy, who looked around the room with a haughty sniff, the fire-type pokemon Tepig who was jumping up-and-down at the chance of meeting its new trainer and the water-type pokemon Oshawott, who was looking rather sad at the moment
"Hey, what's wrong, little buddy?" Hilda asked as she kneeled down next to it. "This is my third time meeting trainers and they never choose me." The pokemon muttered as it sat down and looked at its tiny little feet. It let out a startled little cry as she then carefully picked it up and held it against her chest. "Well, then. That's just their loss and my gain." She decided as she had already wanted Oshawott when she had first turned 14 and this just sealed that decision. Oshawott stared at her, before a beaming smile appeared and it hugged her tightly
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." It repeated over and over again and she chuckled as she stood up with her new buddy in her arms. "You're very welcome." She replied as she stepped back to let her friends choose. Bianca chose the Tepig and Cheren chose the Snivy as his starter pokemon. Hilda didn't say it out loud as she was hugging her own pokemon, but she thought that these pokemon fitted her friends perfectly from what she could see.
Bianca then wanted to have her first Pokemon battle against Hilda there in the bedroom, but Hilda immediately knew her that mom was going to kill her if she made a mess, so she convinced her friend to do it outside in the garden. With her mom watching from the sidelines, Hilda and Bianca had their very first battle against each other. "Tepig, use tackle!" Bianca ordered. "Dodge it, Oshawott." Hilda called and her Pokemon jumped out of the way just in time
It was a very fun battle between them, but eventually Oshawott won with a final tackle of its own. "You did it, Oshawott!" Hilda cheered, her Pokemon immediately running towards her and jumping in her arms with a happy cry. She quickly caught it and rubbed its tiny head with a smile. At the sidelines, her mother was beaming in pride as she watched her daughter bond with her own pokemon. Seeing the mess they had made, Bianca realised that taking the battle put might have been the smarter idea, before Cheren took her place now that they were busy anyway.
This battle was just a bit harder as Snivy had the type advantage over Oshawott and Hilda had already had done one battle, but through sheer determination and wanting to make its new trainer proud, Oshawott fought even harder than before and managed to beat snivy with a newly learned water gun. Now that they had done their very first battles and after cleaning up the garden a tiny bit, they left to see Professor Juniper
"Ah, there you are. How were your first minutes with your pokemon?" The woman asked them with a smile as they entered her lab. "It's been amazing. Thank you." Hilda gushed, holding her pokemon in her arms rather than in its pokeball. "I finally got my own trainer!" Oshawott happily shouted from her arms and she immediately chuckled. "That's amazing to hear." Professor Juniper stated as she grabbed three Pokedexes and held it out to them
Hilda checked her Oshawott with her Pokedex first and found out its moveset and the fact it was actually a girl. After asking them to fill up their Pokedex, Professor Juniper told them that if they wanted to, they could give their Pokemon a name. "What do you think, buddy? Do you want a name?" Hilda asked and Oshawott immediately nodded in answer. She hummed as she thought of a good name, thinking of what she knew about her pokemon already "Ilayda" She finally decided and the newly named Ilayda immediately let out a cry.
"I love it!" She stated and Hilda smiled as she hugged her pokemon tighter, laughing as she was hugged back as best as her Pokemon was capable to with her tiny arms. Bianca named her male Tepig Aidan and Cheren named his Snivy Silas. All their Pokemon were happy with their names. Hilda heard Snivy say I'll accept it," but she could feel that the Pokemon was happy. Professor Juniper told them to go to their parents and say goodbye before they left
"I hope Bianca's dad will finally agree to let her go now. She finished her education like he wanted her to when she was fourteen, so there shouldn't be any complaints this time." Hilda quietly muttered to Cheren as Bianca had already ran ahead. "I know what you mean. I hope so too." He immediately agreed, before he went to his home as well and Hilda went to hers. Her mother was already waiting for her in the living room
She had tears in her eyes as her daughter was going on her own journey. "Mom, don't cry please. You'll make me cry." Hilda begged, Ilayda immediately running to try and comfort her trainer's mother. "I can't help it sweetheart. It seems only yesterday that you were born and now, you're going on your own pokemon journey. I did get to see you for a few more years, but I know that you're just like your father." Her mother said as she kneeled down and picked the Pokemon up. Silence fell as both women remembering the man who had made them a family
He had been about to come home from a journey around the world about three years ago when the ship he had been on had been attacked and sunk into the ocean. No survivors or bodies were found and the police still didn't know who had attacked it. It was one of the few times Hilda regretted not going on her journey earlier as her father would never see her get her first pokemon, earn her first badge or even see her challenge the Pokemon League.
She still had the game console he had given her before he left as an early birthday, despite there having been several new versions having come out since then and she still remembered his last phone call, him promising to be home soon. The ship had been attacked the day after that and his promise had been broken.Hilda quickly joined the hug and tried not cry. This was supposed to be a happy day with her getting her own Pokemon, not a sad one.
A tear still rolled down and a tiny paw gently wiped it away, making her look at a concerned Ilayda. She gave her a tiny smile and took her over, hugging her tightly with one arm. Eventually, her mother pulled back and wiped both her and her daughter's tears away. "Just be very careful, okay? Call me when you arrive in a new city." She said and Hilda nodded as she took a deep breath and hugged her mother again. She then pulled back and walked to the door with her bag and pokemon. Looking back one more time and getting a nod, she walked out to join her friends
"Are you alright?" Ilayda asked in worry. "I don't want to talk about it." She muttered and her Pokemon silently conceded for now. Cheren and Bianca were already waiting for her at the start of route 1, Bianca having managed to convince her dad to let her go, despite his incredible reluctance to let his only daughter go on her own journey. "Are you okay?" Cheren asked in concern at seeing her red eyes and seeing how Ilayda was looking at her in worry as well.
"I'm fine. I just... I just really wish my dad was here." Hilda muttered, rubbing her arm and looking down at the ground to avoid the sympathetic looks her friends were no doubt giving her right now at hearing this. After all, they had been right at her side at the memorial for the victims of the attack all those years ago and if it hadn't been for them, their own families and Professor Juniper, Hilda felt that she would've gone mad in the next three years.
Bianca walked forwards and gently grabbed her hand in support, Aidan following her every step. "Come on. We'll take our first steps together." She said and Cheren quickly took his place at her other side with Silas and together, they walked onto route 1. Hilda took a deep breath as she looked back at her hometown, not knowing when she'd see it again. She, Bianca and Cheren had all agreed to travel the routes together, but to split up every time they'd arrive in a town or city to explore. They'd wait for each other until they could continue on.
Normally, the professor would be waiting for them to explain how you caught a pokemon, but with them being older than trainers normally were and having seen many Pokedex battles in those years, she knew she didn't have to explain it to them. Walking further for several hours, they had their very first battles against wild pokemon, mostly patrats and lillipups. It helped Hilda with distracting herself from what she was missing in her life.
Deciding to start up their camp once the sun was beginning to set, they had their first dinner while on their journey with their Pokemon. Going to bed once night had fallen and snuggling into their sleeping bags with their Pokemon lying nearby, Hilda found herself looking up at the stars, Ilayda already snoring next to her. She had no idea what would happen on this journey and it both excited and scared her as she took a deep breath and went to sleep
Still, she had a feeling it would be a journey to remember