Courtney studied the Pokéball in her hand with barely restrained glee— a rare emotion coming from the usually timid girl. She had been looking forward to the day when she could leave on her journey for a long time.

She missed out on the age cutoff to leave with the rest of her class, which wasn't too bad: it meant she didn't have to deal with the big ceremony the rest of her class went through. Today it was just Courtney, and no pomp and circumstance. She preferred it that way.

"So you picked Torchic huh?" The girl standing next to Courtney said, with a slight sneer.

Well, it wasn't just Courtney. There was one other girl getting her Pokémon with her. Her name was Shelly, and she couldn't have been more different than Courtney. Shelly was a lot taller than Courtney, who was tiny. Her dark skin contrasted against Courtney's ghost-like complexion. She was loud, outgoing, and boisterous.

She also loved to annoy Courtney.

Courtney had no idea why, but for as long as she could remember Shelly has singled her out for torment. At least Shelly had been relatively harmless as far as bullies go. As much as she messed with Courtney, Shelly never did anything truly mean or hateful—especially compared to how a lot of their other classmates treated Courtney.

"Well, if you picked Torchic, then I'm taking Mudkip!" Shelly said, trying to sound as obnoxious as possible. She was obviously just trying to tease Courtney, so she didn't let it bother her.

"Take all the advantages you can, because even a type advantage won't be enough for you to beat me," Courtney said, completely deadpan.

Shelly bent down so she was at eye level with Courtney. "You wanna put your money where mouth is then?"

Courtney wanted to tell her it was a waste of time for the two to battle with Pokémon who hadn't been trained at all, but she knew Shelly would just call her a coward or something.

"Okay, fine. You're on," she said.

The battle couldn't have been less remarkable. Of course, it's what's to be expected when two rookie trainers try to make their equally inexperienced Pokémon do battle. In the end Courtney managed to come out on top.

"Oh, looks like you were right all along," Shelly said, although it was obvious losing didn't bother her too much. She grinned. "I'll get you back next time though!"

The two would never see each other again, let alone battle, if Courtney had any say in it.

"Sure."

"Well, I have to go say goodbye to my family, so I'll catch you later!"

Shelly surprised Courtney with an embrace, although to Courtney it felt more like the taller girl was trying to smother her in her breasts. She shoved Shelly away. Shelly just giggled, then waved as she hurried away.

Like Shelly, Courtney also stopped at home to say goodbye to her family, and also to pick up the bag of supplies she had collected for her journey.

It was another hour before she finally set off. She was about to step outside the limits of Verdanturf when someone grabbed her from behind and a familiar pair of breasts pressed into the back of her head.

Courtney sighed.

"You weren't going to leave without me were you?" Shelly giggled playfully.

"Leave me alone!" Courtney struggled, but couldn't get out of Shelly's grip.

"Aww, don't be like that! I'm just trying to be friendly! Besides, you're not supposed to take the first steps of your journey alone!"

Courtney finally managed to squirm enough to get Shelly to let her go. She turned her head and glared back at the other girl. "Why not?"

"Becauuuuse! It's more romantic to take your first step with a partner, of course!"

Courtney turned bright red. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

Shelly cackled.

"Aww, you're too cute! Don't worry, I was just playing around. Unless… Unless you really do want to be my girlfriend?" Shelly teased.

Courtney scoffed. "Get real— I don't want to be with you!"

Shelly looked like she was genuinely hurt. "Aw…"

Suddenly, she grabbed Courtney's arm in hers.

"We're wasting time aren't we? Let's take our first steps together!"

Courtney tried to resist, but Shelly was too strong for her, and she had to follow or else she would've fallen flat on her face. Shelly led Courtney until the two were past the sign welcoming people into Verdanturf.

Shelly giggled. "Aren't you glad we shared our first time?"

Courtney pulled her arm away. "What are you even saying!? Ugh!"

Shelly laughed some more. Courtney was beginning to wonder if she was ever not laughing.

"Well, I'd better get going! I'm not going to get better than you at battling by standing around, after all. Tata!"

Courtney glared daggers at the other girl as she strutted away.

Courtney waited until Shelly was gone and dug through her bag to find her map. She studied it for a moment, then groaned. She would have to pass through Mauville in order to go anywhere else. Mauville was probably big enough that she could avoid Shelly, but she was hoping she could go to a completely different city to guarantee their paths wouldn't cross. She looked down at the map some more. She could try crossing the mountains north of Verdanturf west to Rustboro, but the Pokémon on the mountain were supposed to be really strong, so that would probably be too dangerous for a beginner trainer.

Courtney sighed and began walking. All she could do was hope that Mauville was big enough to keep Shelly from finding her. Courtney rubbed the back of her head. She was used to being manhandled by her family, but it felt differently when Shelly hugged her. Courtney scoffed at the thought. She wasn't going to be fooled by the Shelly's faux affection, although she had to admit that the other girl's brand of teasing felt less malicious than that of their peers. Courtney's other classmates bullied her mercilessly over her being a lesbian, and the other girls in particular treated her as if she would become aroused simply by brushing shoulders with them.

"Maybe she's actually serious…" Courtney wondered out loud.

No way, she thought. It was stupid of her to even think that. She had seen the other girl with boyfriends, even. Not that Courtney cared too much— Shelly really was too annoying for Courtney to be interesting in going out with. The memory of getting a faceful of Shelly's breasts that morning flashed to the front of Courtney's mind. Courtney's face turned bright red.

She definitely didn't want anything to do with Shelly.