Happy reading guise! To my new readers, this is originally the prequel to Best Friends Forever, as you may have recognized, but I decided to change it as the prologue instead. No other major differences... it just means that now, I have to change all the chapters again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of its contents.

[I'm so sorry. Today, I skimmed through my story very quickly and tried to catch mistakes, and I found at least 10 typos. I edited some sentences and a few words that have to do with grammar – especially in the beginning because I didn't have the spell check thingy. I sometimes type fast and I don't realize that I'm making mistakes. Hopefully there aren't any more major mistakes…]

~ Best Friends Forever ~

Prologue

Dawn looked back at her house before hopping into her mom's car. Today's her first day attending the Nursery School in the far end of Twinleaf Town. Of course, like most people, they were either nervous or excited - not knowing what's in store for them, or what's going to happen on their first day. For Dawn, it was a mixture of both. She was very excited to meet new people and finally get a chance to go to school, but she was also nervous if she would get along or if her classmates will like her or not. She nervously looked out the window as they passed by trees and buildings which all looked like a blur. She has lived in Twinleaf Town her whole life, but she's never actually seenthis nursery school since she lived a good distance away from it. It was also the ONLY nursery school in Twinleaf (since Twinleaf Town doesn't have that many people) and everyone in Twinleaf must attend it. It was a big school for just preschoolers, and Dawn liked that idea.

She was looking forward to meeting new people and friends since she has not known anybody other than her own family and never had friends. She mostly followed her twin brother Lucas everywhere since she doesn't have anyone else to play with or talk to. The only person she has known who's not a family member is Barry, but he mostly hangs out with Lucas. 'If I don't make any friends, I can always hang out with Lucas and Barry. But I hope that's not the case. I want to make friends of my own and play with my friends. Being with Lucas and Barry's boring sometimes, no offense to them. All they ever talk about is Pokémon or weird things I don't know about,'Dawn thought with a sigh. Lucas told her continuously that she had nothing to worry about, but that didn't help ease her worries at all.

"Hey Lucas, are you nervous?" Dawn anxiously asked.

"Not really... what about you?" Lucas replied casually.

She admitted, "A b-bit."

Lucas looked over to his sister and gave her a friendly smile. "Well, there is nothing toworry about. Just take a deep breath. Everything will be okay. If you're worried about something, other than the first day of school, then let me know, 'kay?"

"Thanks Lucas! You're the best." He simply smiled but didn't reply. As much as she wanted to believe his words, she was still unsure. She took deep breaths, as Lucas had suggested, but she still felt a bit quivery.

Johanna, Lucas and Dawn's mom, stopped the car suddenly. They both looked out to see that they've arrived at the school. They've arrived at Twinleaf Nursery School. "Now you two, don't get into trouble on the first day okay? Behave guys."

"No need to worry mom! Everything's going to be fine!" said Dawn.

Johanna gave her an uneasy look before saying, "And that's when I worry the most."

Lucas just looked at his mom and laughed to himself softly. "Well, let's go Lucas; bye Mom!" Dawn called out as she grabbed her backpack and opened the door. She quickly slipped out and Lucas wasted no time mirroring her moves. Lucas stopped halfway.

"Oh and Mom," Lucas said.

"Mn?" Johanna looked over her shoulder to face her son.

"I was wondering..." he began as he watched Dawn. She stood on the opposite side of the car - waiting for him. He waited until Dawn turned away before whispering something to his mom. She nodded silently and smiled. Lucas grinned before joining Dawn and walking towards the school.

Dawn watched as her mom drove away, and asked, "Why couldn't she come with us and take us to our rooms?"

"You know as well as I do that she's busy. Besides, I know where to go, trust me." Dawn looked at Lucas to see him smiling encouragingly at her.

She then questioned, "Wait, why did you take so long before?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lucas said innocently.

Dawn huffed. "Of course you do!"

"It's nothing you should concern yourself with little sister..."

"I'm only five minutes younger," she mumbled.

"And five minutes younger is what makes me your older brother!" Lucas explained proudly in his as-a-matter-of-fact tone. She pouted as she tugged Lucas's arm with her hand.

"Meanie!"

Lucas chuckled at her behavior. He sighed in relief; even though his sister has very good memory, she tends to forget about things once you go on and talk about something else. Usually he would be pretty irritated, but not today.

He led her into the classroom. Fortunately for a nervous Dawn, Lucas was in the same class as her so there were less things for her to be worried about. Once they arrived in the classroom, they looked around - filled with wonder and excitement. She was quite curious, looking around the lightly lit classroom. The walls were bare, with no papers hanging from it and all that was visible was the light blue wallpaper. The only things hanging from the walls were rules and posters posted in front of the room. In the middle of the room is a big, light green rug and desks neatly aligned around the rug. "Woooow..." Dawn said to herself. This was her first time in a classroom and she couldn't help but feel amazed.

Not realizing that she had said that aloud, the teacher couldn't help but laugh to herself. Dawn blushed in embarrassment once she finally figured out she had said that aloud. "You must be Lucas and Dawn," the teacher told them. "By the way, my name is Ms. Jun."

"How did you know?" Dawn questioned.

"Well, we're probably the only twins in her class, and we're pretty identical," Lucas answered proudly, although he muttered the last part to Dawn. "Am I correct?"

"My you're a smart one!" the mid aged teacher exclaimed.

He thanked her quietly, as Dawn began to grip her brother's hand tighter. She seemed to have been a bit tenser, and pretty nervous around her. 'She's never been good around adults, especially ones she's never really known – otherwise known as strangers.'

Ms. Jun beamed slyly at them before turning away briskly. She sat down at her desk. Without looking back up once, she said, "Why don't you two go out and play? There's still five more minutes until class begins."

Before Dawn could answer, Lucas interrupted her promptly. "Oh, no thank you. I'm just waiting for a friend. My sister and I can just wait here for him."

"Okay then. Feel free to stay here until class begins," she replied in a sweet voice before shuffling through her papers.

Dawn nodded as Lucas led her to one of the desks and sat down. Dawn copied him and sat in the seat next to him. She let go of Lucas's hand gently and set her hands on her lap apprehensively.

"I know you're nervous Dawn, but why can't you loosen up and try to enjoy the day?"

"You're right Lucas! No need to worry right?"

He just stared at her. Usually he would've argued against it, but he decided against it. "Okay then."

Pretty soon, class started and Lucas's best friend Barry arrived just a second before the bell rung. Dawn remembered him mutter something that sounded like "I overslept" and rushed to a desk. Ms. Jun rearranged the seating a minute later. Dawn was seated next to a girl named Leona and Lucas was seated next to Barry. Afterwards, Ms. Jun began explaining the rules and how everything works. Dawn only paid half of her attention towards Ms. Jun as she casually listened to Lucas and Barry's whispered conversation from a couple desks away.

During recess, she effortlessly listened to Lucas and Barry arguing about something that had to do about Pokémon while she sat nearby on the grass.

She sighed, oblivious to the fact that someone else joined her.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked.

Dawn looked to her right. This was the first time she felt visible and living to all of her other classmates. Dawn remembered her as Leona, the girl who sat next to her in class; she had brown hair and an outfit similar to hers (since they had uniforms). "No, I don't mind at all."

"Thank you Dawn. You seemed pretty lonely here, why aren't you playing like everyone else?" she inquired.

"I don't have friends... and besides, I have nothing to do."

"Hey how about you join me on the swings? I don't have any friends either," Leona said.

Dawn looked at the swings without any hesitations. Her lips tugged upward, forming a wide smile. "I'd love to."

After playing and enjoying themselves on the swings, everyone rushed back to their respective classrooms once the bell rung. Dawn felt a whole lot better. And for the first time that day, she felt a whole lot better and didn't feel as if she didn't need to hold Lucas's hand, every step of the way. Maybe she was going to make it through the first day of school all by herself.

After school, Leona and Dawn departed, with a happy smile from both of their faces. "I see you made a new friend," her brother noticed.

Dawn turned around to face Lucas and Barry. "Oh yeah, her name's Leona; she's really nice!"

They both chuckled at her enthusiasm. Barry then said, "Lucas, what are you waiting for?" They were currently in front of the school and Lucas just stood there calmly while Barry and Dawn were trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'm waiting for Mom," he simply replied.

"Well of course he's waiting for Mom," Dawn said as if it was the most obvious thing in the looked at her then to Lucas.

"She doesn't know does she?"

"Nope," Lucas responded quietly.

Dawn demanded, "Know what?"

"Nothing," the two boys chimed, a bit surprised.

Dawn raised her eyebrows and then frowned. "COME ON I KNOW YOU'RE HIDING SOMETHING!"

"Hiding what?" Barry inquired innocently.

"Eh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're confusing."

"Good."

"Wha?"

Before Lucas could say anything back, he spotted his mom's car pulling up into one of the parkings. "HEY LUCAS, DAWN, BARRY! Ready to go?"

Dawn's mom called out.

They all nodded and jumped into the back seats her light blue car. Dawn went in first, then Lucas, and last was Barry, closing the door with a bit of trouble.

After a few minutes in the car, Dawn looked outside the window and scanned the area around her. "Mom, this doesn't look like the way home," Dawn pointed out.

"Of course not sweetie."

"Then where are we going?" Dawn questioned.

Johanna frowned a bit before muttering, "Lucas didn't tell you did he?"

"SO YOU GUYS WERE HIDING SOMETHING FROM ME!" Dawn exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at Lucas and Barry.

"It's best left as a surprise," Lucas said absentmindedly.

"Yeah," Barry agreed.

Dawn opened her mouth to retort, but then closed her mouth again. She couldn't win this argument even if she tried. Lucas would then counter it somehow and he will have Barry to back him up again.

Lucas sat in his seat, staring off into the distance calmly, with a hint of excitement in his expression.

Dawn sighed impatiently. She knew that no matter how curious she got, she knew she would never get any information out due to her brother's stubbornness.

She tried figuring out why this route looked so familiar and beautiful, but despite how hard she tried, she couldn't remember. The ride continued silently - but not for long. Dawn felt Barry twitching and bouncing up and down in his seat. Even though they were across from each other, it really wasn't hard to tell. Every once in a while, she would feel the seat under bounce and couldn't help but feel sorry for Barry. She knew him long enough to know that Barry doesn't like it when the atmosphere around him turns quiet... and just like she is, he's also very impatient. She couldn't exactly figure out if Barry was feeling awkward of the silence in the car or if he couldn't wait to get there. She didn't want to turn to him and ask, that'll make things weirder. Trying to survive the car ride with curiosity, Dawn remained quiet, feeling the car shake every few seconds.

Five minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Dawn was running out of patience. She looked around, and that's when she realized where this place is. Her mom, under Lucas's request, had taken her to Lake Verity. It was beyondbeautiful from the last time she remembered it - which was around a year ago. There wasn't a speck of trash anywhere. The trees were growing and stretching as tall as they possibly can... the wind was blowing calmly and brushing tenderly on her skin... the lake - in the middle - was absolutely wonderful. The lake's water is crystal clear with sunlight reflecting calmly through the water and throughout the lake itself. The sun shone brightly, yet letting just a bit of sunlight to pass through the clearing of the tall trees for wildlife to survive.

When Johanna set everything up (blankets, food, etc), Dawn could hear Lucas and Barry running around behind her while she was admiring the lake. She loved nature, and loved spending time outside when she had something troubling her to calm her down or whenever she has a chance. 'Lucas,'she thought, 'must have done this on purpose, knowing that I haven't been here in a long time. Also, he knows that I love this place as long as she could remember... I owe Lucas one, even though I'm quite mad he didn't tell me in the beginning.'With no further complaints or thoughts, she peered into the distance, smiling lightly.

After a while, Dawn looked around pleasantly. She saw Lucas and Barry poking somewhere around the other side of the woods, barely in sight. They were looking at this unknown Pokémon that Dawn didn't know the name of. Unlike Dawn, Lucas seemed to know this Pokémon pretty well, playing with it with Barry peacefully. Dawn turned her attention away from the boys and towards her mom, who has having trouble with the red and white picnic blanket.

Taking small, slow steps, she approached her mom. Johanna smiled at her daughter's appearance and asked, "Enjoying yourself now?"

Dawn returned her smile briskly before picking up a corner of the checkered picnic blanket and helped her mom spread it out.

"Hey Mom?" she questioned. "Can I walk around?"

Johanna frowned, looked worryingly. "I guess it is okay... just don't wander off too far or get lost. And come back soon!"

Dawn set down her corner of the blanket and walked up to her mom. "Thanks Mom! And I won't. No need to worry right?" Dawn chirped.

Without another word, she set off. Johanna sighed to herself. "And that's when I worry the most..."

And so, Dawn quickly set off on her "adventure" around the area of Lake Verity

Effortlessly, she let herself wander around the forest. She knew her way around pretty well, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any precautions. She scanned the area around her with her eyes and made a mental note of the surroundings. Dawn, unlike other people in her family, has very good memory and is able to remember lots of things really well. Without paying any attention to the ground beneath her, she tripped on a vine, and before you know it, she stumbled into a green web of vines and mosses in between two trees. She could move around a bit but didn't seem to be able to get out; struggling to get out, she tried pulling some vines away, but the more she moved around, the more tangled in it she seemed to get. Desperately, Dawn needed someone's help. Her mom, Lucas, and Barry were too far away to hear her scream, but it's worth a shot. Before she got a chance to yell out, she was interrupted by someone else.

"Are you okay?" Dawn turned around and through the corners of her eye (she couldn't see or turn that much since the vines weren't really being very helpful at the moment), she saw a boy, about her age, with brown hair and black eyes.

She wanted to retort with 'Do I look okay?' but then decided against it. "Yeah, but a little help would be nice."

"Sure thing," he replied. He walked towards her normally before saying, "By the way, my name's Kenny."

"Nice to meet you Kenny, I'm Dawn," she introduced.

Kenny eyed the vines for a while, looking around and finally grinning. "I got a way."

"Really?" Dawn asked happily.

"Would I lie to you?" Kenny inquired teasingly, preoccupied with the vines engulfing Dawn. He tugged on one of the strongest vines and pulled it over her head and around her arm.

Dawn looked at him while he worked. "I don't even know you," she pointed out.

"But I know you," he said simply.

Successfully, he finally tugged the vine out of the way and freed Dawn's right arm. He observed the vines once more and then snapped another vine in half. Then, he grabbed hold of another vine and twisted it clockwise before pulling it downward. Dawn - seeing her chance - seized her arm away from the vines like poison. She looked back at her arm and then frowned. There were red circular markings on her skin, signaling the places where her blood circulation is cut off. Kenny smiled to himself for his accomplishment and then turned his attention back to Dawn. Dawn just looked up at him and returned his smile gracefully. "Thank you. I need to go back. My mom will be worried if I went too long." Dawn began walking back towards the lake to meet up with her mom, brother, and Barry; Kenny followed along.

"You're welcome. And I'll walk with you."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, can you tell me how much you know about me? Since you know... you told me that you knew me... but I don't know... and-"

Kenny cut her off instantly. "You talk a lot," he commented absentmindedly. "Anyways, I don't mind. I know that you live with your mom, Johanna, and your brother, Lucas. I know that you live next to my house. I know that you don't really talk to other people around your age much. I know that you're friends with Barry but not very close. I know that you have a tendency to be reckless-"

"Hey! But how do you know all this?" Dawn interrogated. "Wait- are you a stalker?"

Kenny looked at her strangely before chuckling to himself. "No, although I am observant; I notice a lot of things around me. Anyways, I'll continue. I know you love and care about your brother very much. I know that you are enthusiastic at times. I know that you love coordinating and hope to be like your mom someday. I know that you want to be a Top Coordinator when you're older. I know that we go to the same Nursery School-"

"That's common sense! You know as well as I do that there's only one Nursery School throughout Twinleaf Town!" Dawn exclaimed. She took a glance around her, seeing that they were heading back the right way.

"I know, but I was also going to add that we're also in the same class if you hadn't interrupted," Kenny said a bit impatiently, "and that we're the same age. Did you ever think that I might be older?"

"Oh, we're in the same class?" Dawn asked. She quickly added, "Oh, never thought about that. You look like you're my age... that's why."

Kenny mentally smacked himself. "I know all this stuff about you yet you seem to know nothing about me... how sad." Kenny fake pouted, causing Dawn to laugh.

"Well, I have all the time in the world to figure out more about you." Dawn and Kenny could see the lake in the distance. 'My sense of directions never seems to fail me...'

Kenny seemed to have noticed that they have arrived at their destination. "Really?"

"Really," Dawn assured. "Oh, and for your information, I do know something about you, now." Dawn stopped by the nearest tree and turned to face Kenny.

"And what may that be?" Kenny challenged.

Dawn beamed brightly. "I know that you're my friend."

Without another word, Dawn rushed off to meet up with her mom, giggling to herself in the process. Kenny couldn't help but smile to himself. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he called out to her; it was unknown if she had heard him or not since she did not turn around, but there was one thing that Kenny was certain of - he and Dawn would become great friends.

'I guess Lucas is right - I need to listen to him more often - there really was really nothing to worry about.'

Yay! Another chapter down... and so many more to come.

I know that Lucas and Dawn aren't really brother/sister but since I play the games that contain them (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum), there was a point when I get really frustrated and confused since Dawn and Lucas are both Johanna's children depending on whether you're a girl or boy. I know, that for each game version, this is true, but while I thought about it for a moment, considering Lucas and Dawn TECHNICALLY having the same mom, that they should be twins. Besides, I always loved Lucas and Dawn's brother/sister relationship. I hope this fact doesn't bother any of you... I mean I think it's nicer if they were brother and sister.

One more order of business... PWEASE REVIEW! Reviews will be greatly appreciated. PLEASE REVIEW!

Loving you all dearly,

Lily(: