I wake slowly, not sure what caused me to rise. I had been in the middle of the strangest dream, but it was quickly fading from my memory and within moments it was all but gone. I could recall was that it had seemed very lifelike, almost as if I had lived an entire life in it, but the only details I could seem to bring to mind were that I had had two younger siblings- sisters, I think- and that my parents... Agh, now I couldn't remember anything about it. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and tried again, but now I don't know what it is I'm trying to remember. It must be unimportant; it was only a dream, after all. At any rate, I hear what must have woken me up: my mother is calling for me to wake up and come down to breakfast.

I yell back that I'm awake and coming, then climb out of my bed and look around; I like to think that I'm not too messy, but I know my room is a bit of a disaster as of late. Wait- what? Why does my room look so... unfamiliar? I look down to the bed I'm sleeping in; it's about a twin-size mattress on a spring-box. Huh, I could have sworn I had a double-size captain's bed, with drawers in it for my belongings. Hmm, nope, I don't know why I'd ever have a bed like that- this has been my bed since as long as I can remember. I must still be tired. Yeah, that's it. That's why I'm feeling so disoriented right now. I look up to the posters on my closet doors just by the foot of my bed; they all share something in common: every one of them showcases a different year's Tournament of Masters, each one showing that year's champion posing for the camera. For some reason, one in particular catches my eye right now. It was the tournament from a while back- six years, in fact. On it is the winner of the League finals, with his team all around him looking ready to fight at any moment. He had black messy hair and a back-turned red and white baseball cap on his head. He wore simple blue jeans and tennis shoes, he had a light, short-sleeved jacket over his plain t-shirt, and he had rugged green knuckle gloves on his hands. I looked closer and read the name of the boy: Ash Ketchum, the poster said, also proclaiming that he had been the youngest champion in the history of his league, at around eleven or twelve years of age. I can't help shake the feeling that I had seen him somewhere before, and the pikachu on his shoulder looked just as familiar.

I lose myself in thought for a moment, before being snapped back to reality by my mother again calling me to breakfast downstairs. I shake my head and get back up, quickly dressing in my favorite outfit, of which I have several sets: a pair of almost-baggy khaki cargo pants and a collared polo shirt with tropical print on it, covered mostly by my brown leather jacket. I put on my shoes and, now fully dressed, open the door to my room and bound down the stairs to where Mom is waiting for me, starting to look impatient. She sets our food on the table, and the two of us sit down to eggs and bacon. I must still be a little tired, because I blankly stare across the table at her, taking in her features, seeing them as if for the first time. Her long blonde hair is much lighter than my brown hair, and her blue-green eyes are certainly not mine. Other than that however, I might as well have been a male version of her- her features match my own, and aside from the fact that I, at 17, have a good 5 or 6 inches over her, the same body build. I don't know much about my father, as he apparently left when I was very young, so young that I can hardly remember, and never looked back.

Lost in my own fogged thoughts, I don't make much small talk over our meal, and my responses must be less than adequate, because my mother asks me if anything is wrong. I simply tell her that I'm still feeling a bit tired, and almost regret doing so, because I receive a biting telling-to about how I should get to bed on time, and that if I did I would be able to get up on time.

Time, time... Time! Holy crap, I forgot about what time it was! I look at the pokétch on my left wrist, taking a moment to switch to the simple time application; it tells me that it is currently 9:30 in the morning. I realize how late it really is, and jump up, almost forgetting to clear my plate and place setting from the table, before I run upstairs to get my day pack and bike lock- I was supposed to be at Tenrou's place in about a half-hour! Well I was certainly going to be late for that, wasn't I? Jubilife City was at least an hour's ride from my house in Eterna City, and that's with a stiff tailwind at best. I quickly throw what I think we'll need for our day of hanging out today: my laptop computer (custom-made to be rougher, in order to survive my harsh treatment of it), a few games for us to play, and, for when we get bored of the computer, I throw in a baseball and glove. Rushing back downstairs, I make a beeline for the door when I hear a rather loud "Ahem!" from behind me. I turn around, halfway through the living room, to see Mother in the dining room, giving me a disdainful look.

"Are you heading out already?" She asks this in a tone that makes it clear that it wasn't a question. I realize this, and remain silent for a moment, waiting for her to continue. "Do you have all you need for today, because I'm not able to drive out there if you forgot something, you know." She looks at my backpack, which is pretty empty-looking, its fabric sagging inwards from lack of contents.

I sigh to myself, then make an exasperated reply. "Yes, Mom. I've got everything that I'll need for Tenrou's place, okay?" I'm a bit impatient, as it's now close to a quarter 'till ten, and I'm still here, not on the road.

She doesn't seem convinced, and so she beckons me over to where she's standing, and when I get there she opens up my pack and paws through the contents. She frowns and asks me "Where's your first aid kit? You know it's a long way from here to your friend's place, and if anything happens on the way you'll be on your own until you reach the next Pokémon Center." After another minute or so of chastisement about this, she decides that she's made her point, and stuffs an oversized first-aid bag in the top of my backpack.

I sheepishly thank her, and give the contents a cursory check, satisfied that everything is in order; I don't want to admit it, but I simply forgot about my kit. She's right, I'd be screwed if something were to happen on the road, especially since I don't have a pokémon of my own, a fact which I'm still resentful of. I agreed with my mother that ten years was much too young to go out on my own with only a single pokémon to protect me. I mean, I'm no slouch, but my black belt wouldn't help for anything against a wild pokémon if it decided to really let me have it, and on top of that, I pretty much stumbled my entire way to that rank in the first place. I wouldn't put much confidence in my own skills if it ever came down to it, since I have a tendency to crack under stress.
Anyway, we had both agreed that I ought to wait until later than ten before I started out, but we had never discussed when I would actually leave, and while I was under the impression that I would be allowed to leave once I finished secondary school, that hadn't happened, and my mother was telling me I still had to wait until I was eighteen, which was still a few more months away from now. The topic had been a bone of contention for the last two years or so- ever since I finished school and Mom told me I still had to wait to leave on my journey that everyone my age had already left on. Most of my peers had already gone on, but my two closest friends had stayed back to wait for me.

There was Tenrou, whom I had known ever since he moved to Sinnoh from his old home back in Hoenn, where his parents ran a pokémon caretaking service in Dewford town. He was a bit... eccentric, but that probably came from the fact that Dewford was well-known for being hopelessly addicted to any new trend, no matter how ridiculous. His parents had come with him and left the daycare in the care of their siblings while they got Tenrou set up here in Sinnoh. Tenrou had moved here once he was going to start on his own journey, which was about four or five years ago now. I had met him on the first day of secondary school when we were both freshman, and I think I was the first person to actually talk to him, since he had come to school in a seriously outlandish outfit, and most people only said anything to him to ridicule him.

I still remember that day very clearly, I saw him off on his own during lunch and, not having any real 'group' of my own, I decided to sit with him despite his flamboyant getup. He told me about where he was from, and about himself, and I did the same. After that first day, I think he opened up to me, because the very next day he invited me over to his place, where I met his family and his Zangoose, Mina. That day he told me even more about himself, about how he and Mina had been raised together, and how he had grown up with more pokémon friends than humans, among other things. I was disarmed by how forward he was, and shared my own story with him, although it was much less interesting: I was just born and raised in Eterna, and how I had never really known my father. After that we became best of friends, always taking our classes together, and hanging out in our spare time despite how far it was for me to get to his house; in fact while school was in session I (after talking it over between our parents) stayed at his place overnight much of the time since his house was in Jubilife and so was the school we were attending; for some reason there was only one trainer's academy in Sinnoh, and it was there. So I ended up spending many of my weekdays over at his place, and we came to be almost like brothers. Heck, when I found out that I wasn't allowed to leave when we finished school, he agreed to stay at home as well until my mother allowed me to leave. So to pass the wait, we enrolled in the extended program the school offered, which would certify us as official league representatives, as well as give us our trainer's certification (which I still didn't have, since Mom wouldn't sign for me, as part of keeping me from leaving).

I shake myself from my reverie, realizing that I had already gotten my things repacked, had walked out the front of the house and around the side where my bike was. I unlock it, and place the lock in my pack, then pull the bike back to the front yard and head back inside for a minute to phone Tenrou, letting him know I'm running late. I mount my bike and start pedaling away from the house, heading south; it was much easier to get to Jubilife by going from Eterna to Oreburgh City by way of the downhill cycling path between the two, then going through the Route 203 to Jubilife from there. Of course, the same thing that made it so easy to get there via that path also made it very impractical to return by the same way- the steep downhill of the cycling path made for a fast descent, but a grueling uphill ride was in store for anyone trying to go north along it. I think of all this as I start coasting down the path, taking care to avoid other cyclists, keeping my hands on my brakes once I get up to speed, just in case a crash was imminent.

As I head down the path, I remember another of my close friends, Sanakou. We met each other long ago, when we were both still in grade school. I can't really remember why it was that we got along so well then since we seem to disagree about so much, but we've stuck together through the years and I found out that her family wanted her to wait to go out on her own same as mine. That made it a no-brainer that she'd enroll in the same program as Tenrou and I: the three of us planned to go off together, collecting gym badges, accepting (and making) challenges to other fellow trainers, and whatever else trainers did while on the road. She was a bit of a tomboy though, and always hated it when anyone treated her differently for being a girl. I think it was in protest to this that she has always worn very utilitarian clothing, eschewing the trendy fashions that other girls her age seemed so obsessed with. This was fine with Tenrou and me though, and she was perhaps even more strong-willed than either of us.

I again pull myself from my memories as I reach the end of the cycling path and work my way through Oreburgh. It's a very rustic-feeling city, and you can definitely tell that the mine here is active, as you can hear the machinery running from the far side of town. I ride my bike through the town, leaving to the west, and then making for the route to Jubilife. Now that I'm out of town I don't have to worry about the streets, and I lose myself in a recollection of my third close friend, Axl.

I hadn't met him until fairly recently, perhaps right after I enrolled in the extended program that I was taking with Tenrou and Sanakou, which was about two years ago. I was making my way back home from school for the weekend and met him along the way to Floaroma town, where he and his absol, Terry, were heading the same direction. He was heading over to his new home in Veilstone city, since he had just got in at the port in Canalave. He said he had come from Orre, and just bought a place in Sinnoh recently. We made our way until we reached Eterna City, where I offered to hang out with him some time. He took me up on that offer, and consequently we became good friends. I'd say I see him as more of a mentor though, since he obviously has so much experience; it's just something about the way he acts- you can tell he knows more than he ever lets on. He's about 25, which is a good deal older than I am, but he doesn't seem to mind. He said that, if we'd like, he'd join Tenrou, Sanakou, and I when we left to become trainers, and I accepted. He's hung out with the three of us almost ever since he got here, and we all seem to get along fine, although I think that Sanakou doesn't like him much. She always seems to be a little... cold to him. I don't know why, unless it's that she doesn't like his frank, cynical demeanor. I personally think it's cool, but she just doesn't like him for it.

My mind is once again drawn from my wandering thoughts by my arrival in Jubilife. I slow down and catch my breath; I didn't realize how hard I'd been pedaling, but when I check my pokétch, I see that it's only 10:45! No wonder I was winded, that ride usually takes me a good hour and fifteen minutes! Once I rest for a few more seconds, I begin making my way to Tenrou's house. I pull up to his driveway, and lock my bike to his fence, then head to the front door for a day of hanging out together with one of my three best friends.