p r o l o g u e

..x..x..x..x..

"Are spiders there?" my friend Haneul asked me as I read out the directions to get to Snowpoint City.

"Yes, Haneul, spiders are there." I sighed, giving her a skeptical look.

"What? I don't want to go in there, all those creepy bug Pokemon!" She spoke up once more, her voice a loud whine in my ear.

I saw Aoi shiver out of the corner of my eye while Haneul continued to give me the pleading look of refusal. Both of the girls disliked spiders (or bugs in general for Haneul), and seeing as though we had to go through Eterna Forest to reach Snowpoint City, we really didn't have a choice. Unless we wanted to go the other way which would take at least a week and a half longer. And I sure wasn't going to go that.

"What I think we should really be worried about is getting lost. You realize how thick that forest is? If we're not careful then we could be stuck in there for days." Aoi spoke up, pointing out the most simple yet important detail of our journey to Snowpoint.

"I don't want to be lost in a forest with creepy bug Pokemon for even one day!" Haneul cried out, her fingers twining themselves at the hem of her Lolita fashioned dress.

"And that's why we have to pay attention when we pass through. The last thing we want is to be walking around in circles." I noted, my Raichu nuzzling against my leg.

"So when are we going to leave? I'm not too sure about you two but I'm tired of this town. All there is is flowers!"

"Oh shush Haneul. We'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Yay! We're going to eat before we leave right? 'Cause I can't travel on an empty stomach"

"Of course, 'cause quite frankly I can't either."

"Oh! And what time are we getting up tomorrow? Because I need lots of sleep too, you know that Lakrymosa!"

"Yeah I know. Sleep is important."

Aoi had been quiet through Haneul and my conversation so far until she spoke up. "Shouldn't we be watching our money? We don't have a whole lot last time I checked."

"Yeah how much do we have?" I asked her, Aoi being the one who kept our money.

"Hm well... we have about 1550 Pokemon Dollars."

"That's not a lot"

All of us went quiet for a little while, trying to think of ideas of how to raise money. "I guess we won't be having breakfast tomorrow."

A group of long sighs rang out through the room. "You know, it's a good thing that the Pokemon Center doesn't charge us for rooms. Otherwise we'd be broke by now." Haneul's exhausted comment broke through the silence.

It was quiet again, none of us knowing really what to say. Until Haneul jumped up suddenly, which she did quite often. "Goodnight!" the dark brown haired girl shouted, running off to her room in the small Pokemon Center we were residing in.

Another silence crept in the air as Aoi and I sat on the couch, her Vaporeon and my Raichu laying on the ground at our feet. Aoi twirled a strand of her ebony colored locks between her fingers while I tapped my foot on the ground, unsettled. "Goodnight." we both said in unison.

We both got up and with our Pokemon retreated to our rooms despite the time being a mere 9 pm. After all, we didn't really have anything else to do. And then there's the fact we have a huge journey ahead of us. Heading to Snowpoint City in the north was not going to be easy.