Thanks for reviewing! Okay, here's chapter six. I know, I have very boring author's notes. Oh, and I'm sorry if the Pidgey thing is a bit cheesy. I have cheesy thoughts a lot and it was the only thing I could think of! Anyway, please r&r!


Brooke waited for her parents to leave for work before heading out. If Noah couldn't come to her house, then she'd just go to his. No matter how much his parents freaked her out. Soon, she was standing in front of his house. She could hear shouting and cursing coming from inside.

"What do you think happened?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know, girl. But I hear a lot of Noah's name and a lot of swear words," Sophie replied, her large, sensitive ears picking up bits and pieces of what was being said.

"I hope he's alright," the girl said in a worried tone as she ran up to the door, took a deep breath and knocked.

"ROB! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OFF THE FUCKIN' COUCH AND ANSWER THE FUCKIN' DOOR!!"

Brooke and Sophie both cringed. She sounded really mad.

They heard grumbling before the door opened. A man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes stood there. He grumbled and held up and arm to keep the sun out of his eyes. "What do ya want?"

Brooke gulped. "Um, we're friends of Noah's. Is he home?"

Before Rob could answer, they were inturrupted by Noah's mother. "WHO THE HELL IS IT?!"

"IT'S A FRIEND OF NOAH'S, TERRA!" he called back.

Terra, Noah's mother, automatically came to the door, shoving Rob aside as she stared out at the slightly frightened girls. "Where is he?" she asked coldly, her breath smelling like a mix of alcohol and cigarettes.

"Wh...wh...what?" Brooke stammered, her heart pounding from the look in the older woman's obsidion eyes.

"You heard me you little bitch. Where is Noah?" Terra repeated.

Brooke managed to hold her toung. She was too scared to try and start something anyway. "I don't know. I thought he was here, which was why I came."

"Well you're out of luck. The little bastard ran away like the pussy he is. We found a rope hanging out of his window. Now get the hell off of my property," Terra said before slamming the door in their faces.

Brooke and Sophie ran to the street, scared that she'd be angrier if they disobeyed an order. Once they were safely away from the house, Brooke said "Noah actually ran away?!"

Sophie shrugged. "I guess. Hey, I would too if I were him."

"What do I do know?" Brooke asked with a sigh as she sat down on the grass. "I'm happy that he escaped and I know he can handle it, but it'll be too dull around here if it's just you and me. No offence."

"None taken," Sophie said with a smile. "If you ask me, you have two options. Option one is that you stay here with me as your only friend, wondering what kind of adventures the others are having that you're missing out on. Option two is to take a chance and leave. Start your pokemon journey. If you ask me, I think you're ready."

Brooke sighed. She stood up and began the walk home, rolling her options around in her mind as Sophie walked beside her, waiting for her decision.

'Maybe Sophie's right. Maybe I am ready. But then again, maybe Mom's right, maybe I will get hurt. This is way too many maybes,' she thought as her body seemed to switch to autopilot, walking on its own.

Sophie watched her. She'd been the girl's best friend for more than four years and she already had a pretty good idea of what the girl would choose. At times, Sophie knew Brooke better than Brooke knew herself.

Suddenly, Brooke stopped walking. She looked up from the ground and stared at the sky, her gaze landing on a Pidgey as it flew through a cloud.

'That Pidgey could have flown into something while it couldn't see, but it took the risk and flew right through. I have to take a chance too. There are practically no absolutes in life. If you never took chances, what kind of life would it be? Like Dad said, only I can control my destiny,' she thought to herself, feeling a smile form on her lips and her eyes fill with determination.

Sophie took one look at her and knew that she had picked the right thing.

"Come on, Sophie! We need to head out before Mom and Dad come home!" Brooke said with a grin as she sprinted toward her house, the Espeon right behind her.

They ran up the stairs to her room. Brooke took a moment to look around. This had been her place for years and it would be a long time before she saw it again. After a moment of reflecting, she got together all the things that she thought she might need. Things that she'd collected through her initial journey preparation, camping trips and aborted run away plans.

Yes, she'd chickened out of running away a couple of times before, but this time would be different. She was determined to follow through with her decision.

She packed all of the things into her purple backpack and swung it onto her shoulders. She grabbed a notebook and pen before sitting down on her bed to write a note for her parents. She didn't want them to worry that she'd been kidnapped.

When she was finished writing it, she walked downstairs and taped it to the front door. Then, she walked outside and stood to take in the sight of her house for a moment. It had both her protecting comfort zone and her confining prison her entire life and she had to admit that she would miss it.

But other things were calling her.

"There's a gym in Vermillion City, right?" she asked.

Sophie nodded. "Yep. So that's where we're going?"

"You bet," Brooke replied with a smile as they took the first steps of their adventure.

-ooo-

"Do you want me to take a turn carrying the weakling?" Shadow asked as they walked along the trail. "After all, you already have to carry the backpack."

Noah adjusted Crusty, who was sleeping in his arms. "He's not a weakling just because he fell asleep. He's not nocturnal, like you and he's not used to opperating on minimal sleep, like me. And it's okay, I'll carry him. Besides, I think he's too heavy for you."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I was just joking about the weakling thing. Jeez. Now, give me the stupid lobster. You need to take a break."

Noah sighed before kneeling down and placing Crusty on the Umbreon's back. Then he straightened and continued walking.

"So, if you don't like to battle or capture pokemon, what are we going to do? Just wonder around aimlessly?" Shadow asked, trying to take his mind off of the fact that Crusty snores and drools in his sleep.

"I really don't know. I figured that I'd decide on that later," Noah said with a shrug.

"Oh, come on, Noah!" Shadow pressed. "You can't tell me you haven't been thinking about it too."

"Okay, you're right. I have been thinking about it," Noah confessed. "I can't be a trainer or a gym leader because I don't like to battle. Same goes for being a coordinator. Being a watcher just isn't my thing and being a breeder is just disturbing. I'm not smart enough to be a professor and I don't like the way rangers control the pokemons' wills. I really don't know what I'm going to be or what I'm going to do..."

"Woah, you really have been thinking a lot about it," Shadow replied. "Maybe you could get a normal, non pokemon related job. Or you could travel around and do some soul searching."

"Maybe," Noah mumbled.

"President Yankovic! Look out! He's got a plunger!!" Crusty yelled out suddenly, rolling off of Shadow's back and startling his two friends.

Once they had calmed down, Shadow and Noah switched their gazes between each other and the still sleeping Corphish. Then, they burst into laughter, waking up their lobster friend as they collapsed onto the forest floor.

"Dudes? Are you alright?" Crusty asked as he watched his normally calm friends roll around on the ground, laughing insanely."

Finally, they stopped laughing and got back up, still grinning as they nodded to Crusty.

"Yeah, we're alright. Better than alright actually. We really needed a good laugh," Noah replied with a grin as Shadow nodded in agreement.

They began walking again. Shadow was thankful that Crusty had waken up and was now walking on his own. Meanwhile, Crusty was grumbling to himself. 'I hate when I miss out on something funny,' he thought in annoyance as they continued along the path to Vermillion.

-ooo-

"Okay Sophie. The Pidgey got away after it used Sand Attack and that Poochyena ran away too fast. We need to concentrate if we want to catch out first wild pokemon," Brooke said as they walked through the forest, taking care to stay near the trail so that they wouldn't get lost.

"Yeah. We need to buckle down," Sophie agreed. Suddenly, she stopped. Her ears pricked up as she concentrated on the sound of teeth knawing on a seed. "Follow me," she instructed before funning toward the sound.

Sophie ran through the undergrowth, careful not to make too much noise until she was close enough. Finally, she was within range. She used Quick Attack, striking the Rattata male and sending him into a tree.

Brooke was not far behind. She was the Rattata and grinned. She had a thing for purple. "Sophiem use Sand Attack!" she calledm hoping to temporarilly blind him and making it harder for him to get away.

Sophie kicked up the dust, aiming for the Rattata's face.

He tried to counter with a Hyper Fang, but it missed. He couldn't see well with dust in his eyes.

"Now, use Psybeam!" Brooke commanded.

The Espeon fired the rainbow colored beam at the smaller pokemon. She smiled when it fell to the ground in exhaustion.

The girl grabbed one of the pokeballs on her belt and expanded it. She tossed it toward the mouse and watched as he was sucked in by the red light. She bit her lip as the ball rocked back and forth. Finally, the ball locked and went still. She squealed and ran forward to pick it up.

"We did it, Sophie! We caught our first wild pokemon!" she cheered happily as she picked it up and placed it on her belt. "Now, lets hurry to the next town to heel our new friend and introduce ourselves."

Sophie nodded and they made their way back to the trail, still grinning from the happiness of their little, but important accomplishment.

-ooo-

"What's the matter?" Brooke's dad asked when he walked in to find his wife crying. "Is Brooke alright?"

"No! Thanks to you, Alan!" she replied.

"What do you mean?" Alan asked in a confused voice.

She handed him the note that she held in her hand. It read...

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have to take a chance and follow my heart. I am leaving on my pokemon journey. Don't worry about me, I took plenty of supplies and I have Sophie with me. Don't feel bad or upset, this has nothing to do with you. Like Dad said, "Only you can control your destiny." I love both of you very much and I always will. I'll miss you.

Alan smiled. He was proud that she had taken his advice and he was happy that she was following her heart. He knew that his daughter could take good care of herself.

Naomi, however, was devastated. "Why are you smiling?! Our daughter just ran away from home and she could get hurt! There's nothing to smile about!!"

Alan sighed. "Naomi, I love you, but I disagree. She didn't run away from home. She ran away to her destiny."


Okay, there it was. You'll find out the name of the Rattata next chapter. Now, please review!