109 hours left. Of course she'd calculated it. The maths helped relax her mind and give her near fried emotions a break. Maths was numbers. Numbers were hardly emotional. 109 meant nothing outside the given context.

Mina tapped her fingers against her laptop next to the trackpad. She would never dare tap her fingers so recklessly against the trackpad. That may click something by accident. Hardly a thing she wanted.

Her feet wriggled and the Pokémon at the end of her bed raised it's head and glared. Mina send silent apologies to her Ninetales, Kitala, for ruining her sleep like this. Kitala almost wondered if sleeping in her Pokéball would be better. That thought was banished again though as she settled her head back. When her trainer wasn't wriggling around, it was actually very comforting to be close.

Mina looked at the clock in the top right corner of her screen again. The numbers has only changed slightly. 11:12 pm. The last she'd looked it was 11:10 pm, when she'd first decided to calculate the numbers.

Again she looked through her contacts online hoping someone was awake to distract her mind some more. She was never getting to sleep this way.

"Hey, Kitala, I think it's time for another late night stroll." Mina swung her legs out of bed and her bare feet flinched at the contact with the cold ground. It was the last of autumn, but it felt like mid winter.

She pulled on a pair of sneakers, tying the laces nice and tight so she could feel her shoes pressing in on ever side. She liked it that way. Knowing her shoes were on so snugly, it was less likely that she would lose her balance because of it and break her ankles.

Kitala's majestic ears perked up and she stretched elegantly. Daintily she hopped off, giving her trainer a glaring look as her paws slipped slightly on a stray item of clothing. Her trainer was letting the stress get to her and in the process of sorting out what would be good for packing, her room was looking a little less than welcoming.

Kitala padded through scattered clothing, following her trainer through the cream door and out into the passage of the house. Everything was quiet. Mina's room mates would be asleep at this time.

Mina slipped her out the house, locking the door behind her. They heavy wooden door not only locked at the handle, but had a deadbolt too. Mina locked them both to be sure that no one could get in while she was gone. She curled her pinkie around the keyring that the key was on and tucked the key into her palm, to be extra safe it wouldn't get lost.

Then they headed into the night.

Mina's breath came out as white puffs and she watched the ground closely. It was dark, which made it harder to see the crack in the pathway.

"You know, this would've been so much better if he was just in Hoenn to begin with," Mina complained.

Kitala let out the closest thing to a sigh a Pokémon could manage. Here was that spiel again…

99 hours left. It was under 100 hours now. Now she was remembering that she still wanted to book a haircut, but were they going to have time for her? Would she have to go to somewhere… Gulp… New? She only trusted this place to be able to manage her curls right.

She didn't want to travel without her hair being cute. Her fringe needed redoing. She couldn't travel without the security of knowing all those disgusting split ends were gone. She couldn't travel knowing her hair would likely turn into a Pyroar's mane the first chance it would get.

They were closed today though, being Sunday. Which means she had to make the phone call, bleh, the dreaded phone call tomorrow. And then she had to hope that they weren't busy the next two days.

So little time… What else was she forgetting?

74 hours left. She woke with a start, not knowing how many hours it actually was. She quickly checked the time. 9 o clock nearly on the dot. Whew. Now she knew how many hours left.

Honestly, why did he have to move somewhere else? Wasn't Hoenn good enough for him? Of course… He'd moved because that's where his job had taken him. She wasn't obligated to follow and was in the middle of completing the Grand Festival circuit again.

The cherry on the cake was she hadn't even made it to the top four that year. She'd missed him and it had thrown off her game. All that hard work practicing was thrown out the window. Mew, even Harley had made it to the top four alongside Solidad, Drew and May.

"Stupid Cacturne wearing freak," She muttered bitterly.

She curled up under her blanket and squeezed tightly. As if she hadn't already missed her best friend enough, the timezone difference made it hard to communicate. If he had fun and didn't contact her for a while, she could feel bitterness welling up in her. How dare he not feel as lonely as she was.

Kitala nudged herself under her owner's arm just as the ping from the message came in.

Mina's eyes darted to the message briefly and then away again. Let him wait. It was petty, but she wanted him to miss her just a bit first.

Kitala got jealous anyway. Her owner spent so much time on her laptop messaging that one boy. It was unlike her.

Eventually Mina's hands were removed from Kitala's head and she instead turned to the message. The laptop was pulled into her… Well, her lap. Where else would a laptop go?

Mina couldn't help it. So she liked the attention. Who else cared?

57 hours left. She was pacing around the lobby of the appeals. Well, appeals had already gone. She'd passed the round with a score of 89. Not her best work, barely enough to scrape in at last place. There had been some really good appeals.

She had been distracted though; kept having to focus her mind.

Being so close and too far away was so tough. She was so close to seeing him.

"Hey, Mina!"

Mina stopped and turned to smile. May had become a dear friend to her since they were often on the same Grand Festival circuits.

"Hey May how's it going? Your appeal was amazing." Mina wasn't lying.

May had been dazzling to say the least, using her classic Beautifly to wow the judges with beautiful moves the butterfly was known for.

May had really come into herself over the years. Not physically… Well, that too in all honesty, but Mina hadn't thought about that! Mina was talking about May's development of her style.

"Thank you." May clasped her hands together, bringing them to her chest. "Beautifly and I have been working on that for so long. She really did well. I'm so proud of her."

"In that case, this is for her since she did so well." As if from nowhere, a rose appeared in May's vision. The hand that held it followed a long black sleeve up the smirking face of her green haired friend/rival.

May's face went red, though from anger, shock or delight it was unsure. "Drew! Honestly how many of these are you going to give to Beautifly. You know, you're kind of freaking my Pokémon out these days."

This time it was Drew's turn to flush, but he hid behind his hair with a well timed hair flick.

Mina had always guessed the boy was just too socially awkward to know how to flirt any other way. This just proved her point. She would have to teach that boy how to show affection.

Perhaps Drew should take lessons from her boyfriend. He was a sweetheart. He managed to woo herself after all.

Her face flushed and she could've nearly slapped herself. Just when she'd finally gotten her mind off HIM and the upcoming trip.

"Oh yeah, Mina how long until your trip? It's gotta be soon right?" May was using Mina as a respite from Drew.

"56 and a half hours," Mina responded after glancing at the clock. Had it only been half an hour?

"I bet you're getting excited." May plonked heavily into one of the chair. She rested her head in a gloved hand. "I would love to travel."

Mina bounced. Her feet were sore from pacing around, but she couldn't hold still. "I am getting excited I guess."

Drew's eyes narrowed. Of the two, he was quicker to pick up on small details. "How are you really feeling?"

Mina glanced to the side. "Well, let's call it nervous anticipation."

May looked honestly shocked. She probably hadn't even considered the possibility of emotions other than excitement. "How could you be nervous?"

"A lot could go wrong. I've never been in a relationship. In person I have to think faster. I can't just take the time to think of a message. What if he doesn't actually like how I am or what if things go wrong at the airport? What if he forgets what day I'm coming and I'm stuck somewhere I don't even know."

Why oh why did the universe have to introduce airports? Why didn't Mina have a flying type? Even going on her own flying type would've made it easier to go home if things didn't work out. Even though the Flying Pokémon ports were apparently tightening their security, it would be better than relying on waiting for a plane.

Mina gulped. Nerves were hitting her strong again now as more 'what if's entered her head. They closed off her ears and it was just herself stuck in her solitary world.

She paced in counterclockwise circles, counting them as she went. Anything to stop the swirling thoughts in her head and put them back into numbers. That's right. It was only 56 and a half hours. 56.5 didn't mean anything unless she assigned a meaning.

She could have 56.5 treats for her Pokémon. Or 56.5 berries packed away for healing. Drew could've given May 56.5 roses thus far. She didn't know the actual number, but she knew May had been given a half due to Munchlax eating a couple of petals from one.

See, 56.5 was a perfectly harmless number.

With a deep breath, Mina could feel the calm returning. Her ears opened and let the rest of the world back into her mind.

"Mina, Mina!" May was clicking her fingers in front of her face, looking concerned. "Are you ok? I said things will be just fine. You know he wouldn't forget you."

"Sorry, I'm not sleeping well." Mina offered a small smile, trying not to let them realise just how crazy she was feeling inside.

Drew's face softened. Mina was amongst his few friends. At first he didn't know what to do, but she grew on him by proximity to May.

"Remind me after the competition to get you some of Butterfree's sleep powder. I had some in my room, but I didn't think I'd need it with me," Drew said.

Mina tilted her head. "I don't really take sleep aide. I'd get too reliant on it."

Drew shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You only need to use little and it won't have you becoming addicted. Consider it a natural remedy."

Mina was skeptical, but she smiled anyway.

She doubted even with a sleep powder her sleep would improve. Oh, she knew that sleep powder was supposed to have a pretty high accuracy, but her anxiousness was also very potent.

She looked at the clock.

Another 56 hours still…

48 hours left.

This was insanity! In two days she would be in the air at this time. She would be boarding half an hour beforehand. She would be leaving for the airport 3 hours before that.

Where was a game? Anything to distract her mind. Please.

Stop thinking about him. Not him. Anything but HIM.

Something needed to stop the noise inside her head. She plugged her headphones in her ears, turning up the volume.

"Kitala! We're going for a run!"

Kitala let out a whine of protest, stretching out her paws in protest.

This was the third time today already.

24 hours left.

Where did all the time go?

Mina couldn't tell if it was going too fast or if it was going too slow. It was time to say goodbye to her friends. She was seeing them for the last time in a while now. It felt like it would be a long time.

Would she get homesick? How much would she miss the people she was normally with.

"You know, flying really isn't all that bad." Ash was shoving handfuls of chips into his mouth. "They tell you everywhere you're supposed to go."

Ash was the only one of her friends who had gone through the airports and gone on an aeroplane.

Dawn leaned forwards. She had eaten several biscuits, but unlike Mina there was no traces of crumbs around her face or even on her clothing. "I think you're so brave, going overseas to see him. I would be so afraid of how things would go."

Well, at least it wasn't outwardly obvious how freaked out Mina actually was. She wasn't anxious about meeting him. No, she trusted him. She just didn't trust herself. All her thoughts were about what if SHE did something wrong?

On the outside, Mina just smiled. Like a ducklett. Calm on the outside, paddling furiously under the surface. "Oh, I don't think it's that brave. I already know him."

Dawn's hands when up in the air, nearly hitting Paul who was not that far away (He had claimed Dawn was the only one he could stand being near when he sat by her like Mina didn't already know something was up). "But you don't know what's he's REALLY like. You've only seen one side of him. You're going to be living with him for two weeks and you're going to be intimate! That's different."

Mina gave a laugh. Her hand wasn't itchy, but her nails found the skin on the back and started to scratch.

"Being intimate with someone she's known for a while can't be that bad." Misty licked her lips, looking ready to fight.

Dawn plucked up, giving Misty a subtle look to Ash and then back. "Would you really think that? Be my guest to show us how that goes."

Misty's face went red and she retreated back into her chair sullenly. She wouldn't be making a move on that boy anytime soon.

"How is she supposed to show us?" Ash asked densely as always.

"Don't worry about it." Dawn gave Ash a perfectly innocent smile. "It was rhetorical. I was just proving a point."

"Well I think Mina will be fine." May had stopped to wipe chocolate from her mouth and decided it was a perfect time to speak up. "I've seen her kick Drew's butt so I'm sure she'll be fine once she gets there."

Instead of protesting that Mina hadn't kicked his butt and that it was an off day for him, Drew smirked at May. "You're looking at my butt?"

May pulled a face at him. "Don't say weird things."

"Then leave my butt out of the conversation," Drew replied with a smug laugh. Inside he was crumbling from the comment, wondering where he was weird and what this would mean for his and May's future, but he wouldn't let anyone else know that. He would need his journal later.

Mina felt very uneasy. This talk was making her think of how much she would miss these friends she'd made along the way. Perhaps this catch up was being counter productive.

She would miss Drew's hair flick. She would miss May's puffed out cheeks because of it.

She would miss Dawn and her perky nature. She would miss Paul and his opposing broody nature.

She would miss Ash and his obliviousness. She would probably even miss the mallet that made regular appearances.

"We should toast to Mina going away," Dawn exclaimed, jumping up and running to the kitchen cabinets.

Paul shot a glare after her. "Troublesome Girl, we're not old enough yet."

Dawn gave him an almost glare back. "I have grape juice, non-adult grape juice."

Carrying a plastic bottle with a lovely coloured green lid back with a few glasses tucked in her hands, Dawn places them on the table before returning for more glasses. They weren't wine glasses, just short tumblers. They didn't look like the kind of glass for a toast. They looked like the type of glass that if it had to hold any amount of alcohol, it would've been a bourbon on the rocks.

Hmm, that green really was pretty.

Dawn set all the glasses upright. Mina's fingers scratched a little harder knowing that Dawn most definitely did not wipe off the rims before she started pouring in that juice. And if they were stacked? Mina didn't know which was where. She didn't know if she could drink in a good mindset not knowing this.

Dawn's fingers left small fingerprints on the glasses as she handed them out.

Mina gave another smile she hoped was natural as her own fingerprints wrapped around the opposing side to Dawn's.

"To Mina!" Dawn cheered once everyone had a glass. "And for a future of romance."

Glasses were chinked together and Mina could only think about the spreading of germs.

As everyone else took a hearty gulp, even Paul (who grimaced afterwards because he was not a fan of grapes), Mina hovered the glass millimetres away from her mouth and tipped the glass enough to pretend to sip.

She wondered if her mouth would still be ok. Could germs jump? She'd probably inhaled some already.

Mina hissed as finally her nails broke through the skin and the blood vessels rushed to clot at the site of the wound opened.

Now she had to brush her teeth soon as well as find a dressing before anyone found out.

12 hours left. It was midnight. She would be taking off in 12 short hours. She would be waking up again in 7 and starting her journey in 8.

Her body needed rest.

She could not rest.

The anxiety was eating her alive. Was she sure that she stepped on absolutely no cracks when she was out? She had glanced up once or twice to make sure she knew where she was going. If the plane fell out the air, it would be all her fault. And she would be lost in the ocean.

He would be waiting for nothing. No one would be able to tell him that she fell out of the sky.

Ahhh, this was maddening.

She hadn't realised she was rocking until Kitala put her paw on Mina's arm. Mina obliged, rubbing her Pokémon behind the ears.

Unfortunately her Pokémon would not be coming with her. Technology might've been improving enough for aeroplanes, but those aeroplanes were not yet Pokémon safe. A plane could not handle Pokémon popping out here or there which could happen with some personalities. As there was no way to guarantee this, Pokémon were not permitted on aeroplanes.

Apparently there was a professor looking into making Pokéball cases for Pokémon that would prevent them bursting open. There was a huge debate on the ethics of this and certain people were enraged over whether or not the technology could be abused.

Regardless, Kitala was not allowed to come with Mina, a thought that made both trainer and Pokémon most upset.

Tears welled, but didn't spill yet. "Oh Kitala, I'm going to miss you so so much. Mum will take really good care of you. And I'll call." She breathed in deeply. "Yeah, I'll call you a lot."

Kitala nudged Mina again. Mina nudged into her Pokémon's fur. It was so soft. So were Kitala's ear. So soft and smooth. She wouldn't be able to pat these while she was away. She wouldn't be able to cuddle her Pokémon.

Kitala let her trainer stroke and hug her, but after a while the Pokémon got restless and wriggled away to settle at the end of the bed. She yawned, trying to signal that she was tired, but when she glanced over to see why the light had not been turned off yet, she saw that Mina had in fact, fallen asleep.

She was hunched over, looking awkwardly sprawled and would probably wake up unhappy. SO being the gracious Pokémon that Kitala was, she got up and nudged her trainer into a better pose. Unfortunately the Pokémon didn't know how the light worked, so she nudged under the blankets and tried to catch some sleep too.

4 hours left. Her bags were all in the car. Her mother was in the driver's seat.

Mina did a final check of the belongings on her person; passport, phone, money and ticket. She was ready to get in.

The journey was silent. Mina couldn't find the words to speak. She could hardly compute what her mother said.

What did you said when the day was finally here? This day that she'd been waiting for, it had finally come.

And now Mina felt unprepared. She was tired. She woke up so early just to triple check her bag. 3 was a good number. It was one of Mina's favourite. Her ultimate favourite was 13, but 3 was also good. 3 was a lucky number.

All too soon it seemed that she was at the airport and she had only 3 hours left. She needed to check in.

The gate stood there, waiting for her to go through, but all of a sudden panic welled up. Mina was not ready to say goodbye yet. She was terrible at goodbyes.

Her mother, seeing her hesitation, spoke up. "Let's get breakfast shall we?"

"I'm not hungry," Mina replied, "I had breakfast before I left."

What had she eaten? She couldn't remember anymore. And now she didn't think she could stomach a bite.

Her mother paused only a fraction. "Well, I am hungry. You can come with."

Her mother bought a juice with her breakfast and Mina absentmindedly sipped on it instead. She was watching the planes take off out the window, knowing she would soon be on one.

All too soon, it was time to go past the gate. Mina smiled, held a thumbs up so her mother could take a photo and then passed through the checkpoint, pulling out her passport and ticket so she would be allowed through.

She followed the arrows, looked at the screen and double checked it against her ticket to get to the right gate number.

Her phone buzzed, her friends wishing her luck. Her family wishing her the best.

She sat down in a chair, by herself, clung to her bag and tried not to let the tears spill again.

0 hours left. She was on the plane. She'd managed to find her seat, and better yet, the chair next to her was empty which meant she didn't have to worry about getting in anyone's way.

Her seatbelt was clipped tight. They'd been taxied down to the runway and were waiting for take off.

The roar of the engines sounded. She leaned to look out the window across the aisle, but was suddenly thrown back in her seat.

Faster and faster and then all of a sudden it felt like she was floating. Oh! She was now off the ground! Her journey had started.

This floating feeling was amazing! Her heart and mind felt light as a feather.

She loved this. She wanted to go higher and the plane obliged without her knowing as it continued to climb higher into the sky.

They passed through clouds and the plane shook, but instead of feeling frightened, Mina just enjoyed the floaty feelings that came with it.

Oh this was amazing. Now… She just have a 24 hours journey and she would be there.

… She was probably not going to sleep a wink.

She was tired. She was utterly exhausted. Her brain felt like it was mashed and her teeth chattered slightly as they touched down for the final time. This pilot was rougher than the past two.

24 hours and three flights later, she was right where she was supposed to be.

She bounced in her seat, waiting to finish the long taxi. Waiting for the seatbelt sign to turn off so she could stand up and ease her aching muscles and joints.

She was waiting for the plane to disembark.

Soon, soon soon! He was out there waiting for her. Minutes away. Waiting to take her home so she could rest.

Oh, her brain needed so much sleep. She had been awake a total of 33 hours. She had not slept on the plane. She didn't realise how impossible it was. Ash had made it sound easy, but that boy could sleep through an Earthquake.

She felt completely rumpled by the time she got off. Her legs wobbled. They seem to have forgotten what solid ground felt like.

This way, that way. Follow the signs saying 'exit'. Take note. Her bag would be coming off at carousel 5. Remember 5. Hold 5 fingers up.

She was so tired, she didn't even care about the cracks she was stepping on. She had made it off the plane. There was no plane left to fall out the sky.

The door opened in front of her. She glanced upwards.

He was there. He glanced from his phone and his smile was enough to make her heart pound at seeing him. He was wearing the shirt she'd sent him over Christmas. He was cuter than she'd ever remembered.

She wanted to throw herself into his arms, but didn't know where to start.

A smile split her face. She was right in front of him, close enough to touch.

He reached and put a hand on her shoulder, like he knew she was ready to collapse.

She smiled into eyes so familiar.

"Hi Jaiden."

Sooo I'm back. I was still so jet-lagged last week that I could not handle life. Honestly the jet lag coming home from America was so rough I don't really remember much from my first week back. So I put off writing. And then I didn't feel like writing anything else and I knew I had to make a fiction about some of the feelings I'd had. It was only meant to be small... But turned into this.

This is only a piece of it. There were some parts of my thoughts that were... Hmm, I dunno very personal to share. So I picked and chose bits that I thought would still make it interesting without revealing everything in my head. I was originally going to make this a Pokéshipping, but my personality doesn't fit anyone aside from... Well, Mina. You know?

Sorry to anyone who doesn't like oc stuff XD Can you imagine Paul thinking any of those thoughts? Or Misty? Or Drew? Yeahhhhh, it really didn't fit much.

See you all again soon hopefully.