"So... We head to the West to Cherrygrove, then head North on Route 30 to...," Ripley repeated Elm's instructions out loud, her voice trailing off as her memory drew a blank.

"Mr. Pokemon's house," Lyra chimed in. Ripley beamed at her in a silent thank you, she winked and grinned in reply.

But really, this was repetitive and boring. Why were they sent out to run the Professor's errands instead?

Ethan was restless. His Totodile watched him with amusement.

"What are we standing here for? Let's get going! I'm itchin' to train my Totodile!"

Lyra giggled, while Ripley sighed.

"Calm the heck down, Ethan. I swear you're gunna bust a blood vessel in your head or somethin'. We don't need you having a sudden aneurysm."

Ethan had obeyed, a slight pink dusting his cheeks in embarrassment. The other girl snickered, giving her friend a high-five. The boy pouted, "Hey, you two aren't being fair. I've never had a pokemon until now. You can share at least a little of my enthusiasm, y'know."

He had a point there.

Ripley still had Chikorita in her arms, which he (discovering earlier that he was a male before they had left) happily nestled in against her chest. Lyra smiled, "Geeze, looks like Chikorita has grown on you a lot already, despite the fact he wasn't your first choice."

The pink-haired girl looked at her, modest. "What ever gave you that idea?," she questioned, innocently.

Lyra nodded her head toward Chikorita.

"Well, you haven't put him down even once since we left the lab," she pointed out.

Ripley puffed her cheeks out a little, blushing. She took a minute to savor the closeness of her new pokemon, then gingerly placed him on the ground. Chikorita started to nibble at the dirt.

Ethan rocked back and forth on his heels, antsy. "So...," he began. His eyes shifted off to the tall grass that made up most of Route 29. Ripley's gaze focused on him and laughed lightly.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"Well, I was thinking...," he muttered, making a line in the gravel with the toe of his sneaker. Ripley raised an eyebrow. "Maybe we can have some sort of race?"

Really, almost nineteen and he still acted like he was ten. It was kind of cute in a way.

"That sounds like a great idea!," Lyra replied enthusiastically, which made Ripley jump. "Let's test our pokemon's abilities, and see who gets there first!"

Ripley barely had anytime to think about it, when Ethan fist-pumped the air with vigor;

"Hell yeah! Let's get going! Totodile and I are totally gunna kick ass!" The water pokemon cackled and danced happily in agreement.

"Nuh-uh! Not if Marill and I get there first! It's all about stealth! You're too reckless and loud, wild pokemon would be drawn to you with every step. We got this in the bag!," Lyra said confidently. Ripley looked between the duo. She could have sworn she'd seen sparks of competitive intensity fly when the two made eye contact. Totodile and Marill were both pumped just as much as their trainers were.

"That's what you think! I can be stealthy as Hell! I'm like a ninja!"

"Oh yeah right!"

"Bring it!"

They disappeared like a blur into the tall grass, leaving Ripley and Chikorita on their own. She blinked stupidly. How in the world..? They didn't even know exactly where they were going yet!

She looked to Chikorita, who turned his head upward to stare back, confused.

"Well, we might as well get going too, right? Cherrygrove first it is then."

The pokemon hopped and let out a cheery cry.