Author's Notes: I forgot to put this in Chapter One, but shout-out to Apop and Shiny Oji-san for proofreading this for me!

"A sleepover?"

Hanamaru nodded her head in excitement. "Yup! It will give me a chance to get to know you better, zura! If we're going to be together on the road for a week or two, it will get awkward if we don't know what the other likes!"

Ruby peered down from her bed, Jigglypuff plush clutched in her arms, over to where Hanamaru was resting on the Snorlax beanbag, in the corner of the room. "I suppose that makes sense, but I don't exactly have a sleeping bag ready to go," she trailed off.

"That's no good," Hanamaru lectured, shaking a finger at Ruby. "You should definitely have a sleeping bag if you're going to be exploring the Hoenn region. You can't always rely on finding a Pokemon Center to get your sleep, and hotels can get really expensive if you constantly are relying on them."

Ruby thought it over for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"We can find you a sleeping bag at the convenience store a few blocks down," Hanamaru pointed out, "they aren't too expensive, but you'll want to make sure it's a decent quality, since it will get used a lot."

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Ruby exclaimed. "I haven't done a sleepover since I was like, ten!"

"Ruby," Hanamaru almost sang, dragging the syllables out. "You do know sleepovers with your sister don't count, right?"

"Um, alright," Ruby admitted, playing with one of her pigtails, "maybe I haven't done a real sleepover before..."

"Okay, let's check off our supplies you'll need for tonight," Dia said, looking down at her checklist, "sleeping bag, check! Two sets of sleepwear, check! Toothbrush and toothpaste, check! Variety of healthy snacks, check! A-"

"Knock it off, Dia-san," Hanamaru scolded, "if you can't handle your sister going across the street for one night, how are you going to handle her leaving for Slateport tomorrow? For that matter, how did you survive going over a year in an entirely different region than your sister?"

"Hey!" Dia's look was a mixture of offended and embarassed. "I'll have you know I am entirely sure that my sister can hold her own out there!" she huffed.

Ruby peeked out from behind her backpack, which Dia had shoved into her arms rather haphazardly. "I appreciate the help, Onee-chan, but I think I'll be okay from here." She put the bag down before going up and giving Dia a hug from behind. "If I promise to come and say goodbye tomorrow morning before I head off, will that make you feel any better?"

"...maybe." Dia grumbled. "It's just hard to finally see you after all this time, only for you to just go away again, you know?" She turned around, and mussed Ruby's hair up before straightening it back out. "Can you at least call me when you get to Oldale? Just to ease these silly worries of mine?"

"Awww, fine." Ruby replied, faking a pout for a moment before smiling again. "If I have to."

"Wow, Hanamaru-chan, I didn't know your bedroom was above the Pokemon Lab," Ruby commented, absentmindedly gazing around the place, which was a lot bigger than she'd expected for a teenage girl's bedroom. Hanamaru's room might have been almost half the size of the battlefield she'd been on earlier, and that wasn't even including the closet or bathroom connected to it.

"Well of course it is, zura!" Hanamaru chirped. "It's easier to do your lab work when you don't have to go back and forth across town everyday."

"Yeah, that is pretty convenient, I'd imagine," Ruby conceded, "but I'd worry that you'd get restless just staying in the lab all day, every day."

"Ha!" Hanamaru snorted, almost choking on the chips she'd brought up with them. "That's a good one! I suppose you don't know my dad all that well, do you?"

Ruby glanced at the celery sticks her sister had packed, before reaching past them for the chip bowl. "Not really, outside of what he said to me today. He seems nice though."

"Well he's definitely not the kind of guy to stay inside on a regular basis," Hanamaru explained. "Dad is only in the lab about one week each month, if that. The rest of the time, he's out exploring in the forest or visiting other towns and talking to the locals. Hands-on research, you know?"

"Oh yeah, you mentioned your father explored the Petalburg Woods earlier today, right?" Ruby recalled. "Does he go out there all by himself? What if something were to happen to him?"

Hanamaru waved off her concerns. "Nah, you don't need to worry about the dork. He has an assistant on speed dial in case of emergencies, with said 'emergencies' happening like, once or twice a week."

"Heh," Ruby sheepishly chuckled, "I see. I'm glad he at least knows his own limits, I suppose."

"Um, Hanamaru-chan?" Ruby asked.

Hanamaru looked up from what she was doing. "What?"

"I understand that Pokemon are, like, supposed to help us on our adventure," Ruby started.

"Yes, and?" Hanamaru asked, totally lost on what Ruby was getting at.

"Don't you think using your Torchic to roast marshmallows is a tad lazy?" Ruby deadpanned.

Indeed, Hanamaru was doing just that, holding the treats on a metal rod in front of Noppo. "Not really. Since Noppo-chan's flames can easily reach really high temperatures, it doesn't take much effort for her to just toast them. She doesn't mind at all!"

"Well alright, I guess you'd be a better judge of that than me," Ruby conceded. "It's still a bit strange to watch."

"Eh, that's understandable," Hanamaru acknowledged, shrugging in response, "You're from the big city, right?" Getting a nod in response from Ruby, she continued on, "I imagine most of the Pokemon there either stayed away from you, or they were kept in their Poke Balls for most of the time, zura."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Ruby replied, "most of the Pokemon you'd see on the streets were the smaller, less volatile ones. You know, like Pidgey, Rattata, Jigglypuff, and so on. The only exception to that really was the stupid infestation of Grimer and Muk the city had to deal with. I knew a couple of families that had to move out because they couldn't handle the city's air anymore, which was pretty unfortunate."

"Yikes," Hanamaru responded, "that doesn't sound too pleasant. We have some Grimer and Muk in the Hoenn region, but they're all up near the volcano, where the air isn't exactly expected to be a fresh spring breeze."

"Good," Ruby huffed, "they can stay up there and never come down. Never want to see another Grimer in my life."

"I can't believe you still need a nightlight Ruby-chan," Hanamaru teased. "It's not even a cute one, unless you somehow consider Voltorb 'cute'."

"Hmph!" Ruby retorted. "Shows what you know. Voltorbs are round, and probably really squishy if you ever held one."

Hanamaru just shook her head. "Not like you'd really get a chance. Even if they didn't just shock you on contact, they can explode from as little as a bump in the road, so I wouldn't exactly want one near me."

At that Ruby just gave a flat stare. "How many times have they blown up on your dad?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Hanamaru responded, "probably a few dozen times. He forgets to keep his distance, even with my warnings. Luckily I keep a first aid kit for when that happens. He's also learned to wear protection so his eardrums don't rupture, which isn't enough in my opinion, but at least it's progress."

Ruby was used to sleeping with loud noises. Growing up next to a highway helps with that. However, usually those noises were muffled because they were outside her house. These noises, on the other hand, were coming from the bed right next to her. It figured that Hanamaru snored in her sleep, when they were going to be traveling together for the next few weeks. At least it wasn't sleep talking, Ruby figured. The girl said 'zura' enough times when she was awake, no need to add any more to that counter. Lying awake, in the unfamiliar sensation of being wrapped by her sleeping bag instead of her warm bed, which would soon be the norm, Ruby's mind drifted back to the battle she'd had earlier in the day. While the request had come out of the blue, and she had definitely been at a disadvantage during that fight, Ruby still found it enjoyable to remember. This was strange, considering she had lost, and rather easily at that, only landing one hit the entire fight. However, the first thing that came back to her wasn't the sting of how it had felt to lose. Rather, it was the adrenaline rush she had received, the power at her fingertips as she'd attempted to outthink her friend. Where she'd expected to be crying that her new friend Emi had gotten hurt, instead she was thinking of ideas should they fight again. Which was weird, considering she wasn't here for the battles. It wasn't like this was how her contests would work out. It'd probably be nothing like what she'd experienced today. Regardless, Ruby figured she probably wouldn't come to any conclusions on the issue tonight, and she turned her focus to ignoring the snores of the other girl in the room.

Hanamaru woke up first, and woke up Ruby by shaking her sleeping bag. After throwing a few pillows at Hanamaru and faking a pout at being woken up so early in the morning, Ruby remembered what today was, and any sleepiness remaining instantly vanished, replaced with almost overwhelming anticipation. She quickly packed up her things, before heading back home for her final goodbyes.

After being away from her older sister for over a year, Ruby had almost missed having Dia be overprotective of her. That being said, she'd remembered how much Dia could overdo it when Ruby had been preparing for the sleepover. Now that she was about to leave, Ruby was rather glad that this would be the last bit of doting she'd get for a while. "Onee-chan, you've been pinching my cheeks for like two minutes now. Can you please let go of me?"

Dia grumbled for a moment, before reluctantly letting her go. "Fine, but you know I'm going to miss you, right?" she pointed out.

"Of course Onee-chan!" Ruby replied. "I'll always know how much you care for me! No need to question that, teehee!"

"Now, now Ruby-chan," Mrs. Kurosawa chided, "you know your sister is just nervous. She went through all this trouble to pack your stuff for you, I think you'll be fine with giving her a hug."

Ruby grinned at that, "yeah Mom, I know. I'm just a bit excited. Can you really blame me? I think anyone would be jumping out of their seat in my position." She fiddled with the Swablu strap on her backpack. "Besides, the sooner Hanamaru and I take off, the more likely it is we'll find a Pokemon Center before nightfall."

"I suppose you have a point," Dia acknowledged. "Still, please call Mom or me when you get the chance. Just tell the gym you're the leader's sister and they'll put you through to me."

"Alright Onee-chan, I promise, okay?" Ruby agreed. "I'll call you both when I get to the first Pokemon Center."

The first feeling Ruby had after she left Littleroot Town was excitement, because she was stepping into the unknown. The open wilderness was finally hers to explore, after being stuck in the city her whole life. Literally miles of adventure and mystery awaited her. The second feeling Ruby had was boredom, because as it turned out, the open wilderness likes to have wide expanses filled with absolutely nothing. Luckily she wasn't by herself anymore. Emi-chan was sitting on Ruby's head, and Hanamaru was in front of them with her Torchic, leading the way.

They'd been going for about an hour when Hanamaru decided to break for lunch. Ruby wasn't sure if it was actually lunchtime yet, or if Hanamaru was just hungry, but she was ok with stopping either way. Luckily for both of them, Hanamaru actually was a decent cook, and in the span of thirty minutes she had both a stew for her and Ruby, along with a decent berry salad for Emi and Noppo, along with Hanamaru's Lotad, Maria. Ruby initially mistook her for a regular lily pad, which she supposed was the point.

Lotad, the Water Weed Pokemon: This Pokémon lives in ponds with clean water. It is known to ferry small Pokémon across ponds by carrying them on the broad leaf on its head.

Giving a look to Maria, Ruby didn't think it had the appendages to swim all that well, so she guessed that it only could float using the leaf to float.

"You know Ruby, your sister gave you some Poke Balls in that bag of yours didn't she?" Hanamaru asked Ruby shortly after the meals were served.

"Um, yeah," Ruby answered, "I think she did. Why do you ask?" She added, glancing down at Emi, who was rather leisurely munching away.

"Well in that case I should probably teach you how to catch new Pokemon," Hanamaru pointed out. "You can't exactly win contests with just Emi-chan. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're required to use a different Pokemon for the second round, so I don't think you really have a choice in the matter."

"I mean, I guess you have a point," Ruby replied, "but I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of catching Pokemon against their will. If they want to be on my team, that's one thing, but I don't want to have a Pokemon hate me like that," she finished, absentmindedly stirring her stew.

"I mean, it's not like you have to catch them like that," Hanamaru argued, "some Pokemon just want to battle you first so they can see you're a strong trainer. Others might just join your team if they bond with you enough. It just depends on the Pokemon, zura."

"Fair enough," Ruby reluctantly agreed, "although I doubt too many Pokemon are eager to join some random new trainer, haha."

Hanamaru sighed. "Ruby-chan, you really need to work on your self-esteem. It's not like you're a slave-driver of a trainer. If anything, you'll probably be the opposite, and totally spoil them, which is kind of fitting, considering you're going to be showing them off in contests."

"Alright Emi-chan, we need to practice for our first contest," Ruby asserted, trying her best to sound like she actually knew what she was doing, and not someone who just got her first Pokemon a day ago. "Although you only know Pound, Leer, and Absorb so far, which isn't really that much variety..." she trailed off, trying not to make Emi feel bad. It just wasn't much to be creative with.

"You could always work on outfits," Hanamaru suggested, "since that doesn't really require any training. Just takes time, I'd guess."

"Nah," Ruby declined, "I can do that when we're stopped at Pokemon Centers. However, we should take advantage of being outside to do some training."

"Alright Ruby-chan, I'll go get my bag and we can go find a place to train," Hanamaru agreed.

"Um, Hanamaru-chan?" Ruby hesitantly asked "Is your bag supposed to be moving?"

Before Hanamaru could respond, something leaped out of the bag. Ruby identified it as a weird striped fur ball of sorts, before checking it with the Pokedex.

Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon: Zigzagoon restlessly wanders everywhere at all times. This Pokémon does so because it is very curious. It becomes interested in anything that it happens to see.

Looking closer at the Pokemon, a Zigzagoon apparently, Ruby noticed a bag of chips held in its mouth. "They seem to be interested in your snacks, Hanamaru-chan."

"Zura!" Hanamaru cried out. "That's not nice!" She slowly crept up to the Zigzagoon. "Hello there pal, could you please be nice and give me my food back?"

Hanamaru got within about 10 feet before the wild Pokemon began backing up. That was when Hanamaru tried to dive for her chip bag. The Zigzagoon easily dodged the brunette as she skidded where it once was, before bolting off towards the nearby trees. Ruby wasn't sure exactly if she was supposed to intervene, but Hanamaru would not be deterred. "Maria-chan, use Growl!" The Lotad looked up from her meal, before beginning to pursue the thief.

Ruby had to cover her ears as a high-pitched whine was emitted from Hanamaru's Pokemon, which could be seen by a red shockwave that covered the surrounding area. The Zigzagoon dropped its catch, forced to stop by the sudden irritation to its senses. Now irritated, it turned towards Maria, snack forgotten for now, and began charging towards her, trailing a bright white. The attack scored a direct hit, and Maria was forced back a fair distance. However, she just shrugged off the blow it seemed.

"Ha!" Hanamaru exclaimed. "Growl lowers a foe's attack, so that Zigzagoon's Tackle attack didn't deal as much damage as it should have otherwise!" She pointed at the snack thief once more. "Maria-chan, use Absorb!"

As the Lotad let out another cry, the Zigzagoon suddenly fell down on one knee, glowing a dull green in color. However, before Hanamaru could call the decisive blow, it fled into the trees, forgetting the chips entirely. Hanamaru waited for a moment, before she went up to grab her snack. Going back to check on her bag, she let out a groan. "Ugh, the inside of the bag's a total mess now!"

"Yikes," Ruby replied, "that's not good. It's not really surprising though, considering that the Zigzagoon had what looked like jelly on its ear. When I saw that, I kind of guessed your bag wasn't really going to be squeaky clean."

Hanamaru sighed. "Well, I guess I'll need to get it cleaned when we get to Oldale. Not too much I can do right now."

After that particular incident, Hanamaru was somewhat moody the rest of the afternoon, Ruby noticed. She supposed that was somewhat understandable, since half of their food had been eaten or rendered inedible in one fell swoop. Even so, it made it a lot harder for Ruby to start a conversation with the normally upbeat girl. This was a problem, considering how hard it was for Ruby to normally talk in the first place. This made Ruby all the more appreciative of them stopping for the night, even if they weren't able to find a Pokemon Center before the sky went dark.

Even so, that did not make it any easier for Ruby to set up a tent, since this was her first time doing so. "Um, Hanamaru-chan, I could use a little help here!" She asked, struggling the poles as if they were possessed by snakes.

Hanamaru looked over at Ruby's plight and sighed as the poor girl struggled. "Alright, I'll be over there in just a mo-"

She was interrupted as she was suddenly knocked over, luckily steadying herself before she fell into the rocks surrounding the impromptu fire pit they'd constructed earlier in the night. Turning around, Ruby saw Hanamaru's eyes widen. "Hey! It's you again!"

Looking closely, Ruby could see that it was indeed the Zigzagoon from earlier, especially since it still had the jelly on one of its ears. "Hanamaru-chan, please calm down. Maybe if you don't make it angry, everything will be alright?"

Hanamaru shook her head at that. "Not a chance! Even if that little trouble maker isn't upset, I still am!" She put one hand on her Poke Balls when the Zigzagoon bolted once more, this time heading towards Ruby.

Caught off-guard, Ruby let out a cry as it hit her with a full-power Tackle attack, ending up lying on top of the bungled mess that was her tent. Gingerly getting up, Ruby rubbed the back of her head, which had collided with one of the poles. The Zigzagoon seemed to tense up at this, and let out a Growl attack, forcing Ruby back to her knees as she covered her ears.

This did not help Hanamaru's anger at all. "Alright, you're going down!"

"No need to do that, Hanamaru-chan," Ruby interjected, catching her friend off-guard. "I think I know why it's acting all aggressive."

She began to walk towards the Zigzagoon, keeping her hands up to avoid any misinterpretations. It did not take to this too well, letting out another Growl attack. Ruby cringed, but she didn't slow down this time, continuing forward until the wild Pokemon was right in front of her. She then kneeled down and began to pet it, getting what sounded like a purr in response. "Hello there. My name is Ruby, Ruby Kurosawa. I'm not going to hurt you, I just want you to please stay still while I check on something?"

It stared at her for a moment, before smiling. "Alright," Ruby reassured, "now I promise I'll try to be gentle while doing this." She then pulled up some of the fur on its head before her face changed to a frown. "That's not what I thought it was," she muttered. "Hanamaru-chan, do you happen to have a pair of scissors on you?"

Somewhat confused, Hanamaru rummaged through her bag for a moment or two before pulling out a pair. "Um, yeah? What do you need them for?"

"It looks like someone put a tracking device on this Zigzagoon," Ruby answered, "it's wrapped around his head, and it looks to be on pretty tight, enough to be painful, so I think we'll need to cut it off."

It had taken a few minutes before the wild Pokemon was calm enough for Hanamaru to safely approach it, but once she was able to take a look, the device came off without much trouble. After that, like Ruby had predicted, the Zigzagoon was much calmer as a result, falling asleep rather quickly in Ruby's lap. She was cleaning with a wet cloth from her bag when Hanamaru came back. "Alright, zura, I disposed of the tracker so that no one else should have trouble with it."

"How'd you do that?" Ruby asked.

"Pretty easily," Hanamaru replied, "I just had Noppo-chan burn them until it was just a bunch of ash. Then it's just blown away, basically harmless now."

"Ah, that's good to hear," Ruby acknowledged, relieved, "although I'm still a bit sad that it was on so tight in the first place. Couldn't they have just put some sort of tag on its tail? That would have been a lot less painful."

"Yeah," Hanamaru agreed, "I don't know why in the world someone would choose to do it like that. Could have also been done more efficiently by just giving it an actual headband. Would have been easier to identify too. That reminds me," she said, looking over at Ruby. "How did you know that there was a tracking device on the Zigzagoon? I couldn't see it at all until you pulled up its fur."

"Oh, that?" Ruby asked. "When I got hit with that Tackle attack, I felt something sticking out of its fur. I had assumed it was just something that had gotten stuck, caught on its fur, I didn't know it was a tracker until I looked."

Hanamaru seemed to ponder the answer for a moment. "So what were you going to do if it started attacking you again?"

"Eh?" Ruby replied, caught off-guard. "Well, I didn't really have a plan for that," she answered somewhat sheepishly.

The brunette sighed at this response. "That's what I thought. You need to be more careful, Ruby-chan. There are a lot more dangerous Pokemon out there. You could get seriously hurt if you tried this with them," Hanamaru lectured.

"Alright," Ruby conceded, "I'll keep that in mind, okay?" When Hanamaru seemed to accept this answer, she continued, "so what do we do with it now?"

"Hmm," Hanamaru thought about it for a moment, "the poor guy's obviously tired. Probably couldn't get much sleep with that device almost needling its head constantly. It can sleep with one of us tonight, then we see how it feels and go from there."

Ruby's sleeping bag was more comfortable than it was the night before. It wasn't any warmer than the night before. If anything, the bag was cold from lying on the ground. It wasn't any quieter than the night before, Hanamaru's snoring could be heard through both of their tents loud and clear.

The main difference this time was Ruby wasn't sleeping alone. This time, she had a little ball of fluff in her arms, and her starter Pokemon Emi resting on her head. Ruby slept well tonight, dreaming sweet dreams of friendship and other good times.