"LOTTIE! GET HIM OUT OF HERE."

There was a crash and a bang, followed by a shriek of horror and the him in question came streaking out of Lottie and Marlene's shared bathroom, blue arms above his ducked head as he ran as fast as he could toward Lottie's room. There was about a five second delay before Marlene came pelting after him, soaking wet, her hair plastered to her face and Star trailing not far behind. The shape took a running leap and tucked himself away behind Lottie, staring, his eyes barely showing from behind her. Marlene soon followed, slamming the door open with such force that the shape hid himself completely and Lottie jerked her head towards the door in surprise.

"What on earth was that for?" Lottie questioned, narrowing her eyes in anger as she took in her drenched sister. "You're dripping water all in my room! Stop that!"

"Then tell your Pokemon not to spray me whenever I'm in the bathroom! Just because that's the place we take showers at does not mean he can drench me whenever I step foot in there!" she exclaimed, glaring at her sister.

"Oh, stop whining! Jet didn't mean to do any harm, he thought he was helping you out!" she said with confidence, picking up her Pokemon and cradled him to her. He was obviously frightened, shivering and whimpering. He gave a small, "Pip Piplup," in agreement to Lottie's words and Marlene didn't know if that was because he actually believed them or if he was just glad for the excuse. Suddenly, Marlene wasn't angry at the small penguin anymore. Who could be mad at such a little Pokemon when it was this frightened, even if it had drenched her?

"Yeah well," she grumbled, still staring at the piplup. He might be cute but he sure was a handful. "You can clean up the mess in the bathroom. And I'll stick to fire types thank-you-very-much. No water types for me."

Just because Marlene had calmed down and grudgingly forgiven the Penguin Pokemon did not mean Star had. She took Marlene's surrender personally and decided to take care of telling off the piplup herself.

"Cynda Cyndaquill Quill Quill," she said sharply, smoke curling from her nose, her back steaming as if on the verge of catching fire. Combined with her wet fur, the steam grew rabidly, drying her back.

It had been almost four years since her sister had picked out her starter and over five since she had first opened Star's Pokeball. The little cyndaquil had certainly grown, her skills in commanding fire expanding as she got bigger. Knowing that, Marlene decided that it was safer for all of them if she calmed the Fire Mouse down. The smoke was already a dangerous sign and she knew just how bad her cyndaquil's temper could be when she got wet.

"Come on Star, it's finally stopped raining! Let's go take a walk."

Lottie nodded her head in thanks, obviously recognizing the signs from the last time Star had gotten this worked up and managed to set the living room curtains on fire.

Marlene turned to walk back to her room but stopped at the door when she realized Star wasn't following. She was still glaring at Jet but when Marlene cleared her throat loudly, she gave a little snort and swiveled around to follow Marlene back to her room, head held high. Marlene rolled her eyes in amusement before entering her room and changing out of her sopping clothes, stepping outside and smiling as the sun shined on her face. She then struck off down the road, Star now resting merrily on her shoulder, earlier mishaps slowly dissipating as she soaked in the sunshine that hadn't been seen for days.

It was a beautiful day outside, just like it always is after a weeks' worth of thunderstorms finally blow away. Water glistened on the grass and the dirt road was packed and muddy, puddles forming here and there along it. The great pine trees lining the road were heavy with moisture and swayed with the weight of it. Still, the sun showed brightly above, catching the water and making everything shine like diamonds.

"What do you say to visiting the river today Star?" Marlene asked. After an excited nod of the head from her Pokemon, Marlene turned and began traveling down a well-worn path into the nearby woods. The mud became even more apparent and the slopes became steeper as she went over hills. The trees began growing even thicker the further she went. Eventually, she came to a clearing with a river flowing through it that was swelled to twice its normal size with rain water. It was flowing swiftly downhill, tumbling over rocks and rushing down slopes – nests of water Pokemon who had fled when the rain failed to stop. Tree branches and other debris were swept down in the muddy water, moving out of her line of sight as they got further downriver.

Here, Marlene found the driest patch of grass she could find within the puddles of mud and sat staring out over the water. Despite her dislike of water, this was one of Marlene's favorite spots. She often came out here to think when she needed somewhere quiet. Whenever the river was at its normal size, it flowed gently down and Pokemon gathered to play and drink from it. Now however, the Pokemon were too scared to approach the torrent that was flowing down.

Her cyndaquil jumped off her shoulder and began sniffing around, turning over rocks and sticking her long nose in various holes she found in the ground, dodging muddy puddles with looks of distaste. She did this every time she came here, as if expecting to find something different. Marlene often questioned her but it was to no avail - Star never attempted to give her a reason. Warning her not to get too close to the water, Marlene leaned back on her hands and looked around at the beauty of the woods, fresh from rain.

The sun warmed the ground and she was just beginning to doze off when the quiet was shattered all of a sudden by a surprised 'quiiiiiil!' and Marlene jerked up in surprise, looking over to her Pokemon. She almost couldn't see Star under the great leafy bulb that made itself known by sitting right on top of her. Marlene tensed, mouth open to give a command to fight off the attacker when she recognized it and shook her head, laughing.

"Hey Adam!" She greeted as the bulbasaur hopped off Star and trotted over to her, nuzzling her hand as she knew he would. Adam loved to be pet and would often walk up to you on his own accord. And wherever Adam was, sure to follow right behind was…

"There you are!" came a voice, panting as it came into view. "Little thing left me behind! He must have known you were out here, he took off half-way up the trail. I was coming to see how big the river had gotten. Looks like no training today."

Lily walked over and sat down next to her, Adam immediately jumping into her lap. He turned a few circles, making himself comfortable, and then plopped down heavily. Star followed at a much slower pace, opting to sit close to her trainer instead of on her. Marlene absently reached out a hand to pet her and smoke curled from her nose as she gave a little purr-like rumble.

"How has training been going by the way?" Marlene asked, striking up a conversation. Ever since Lily had gotten her trainers license six months after Marlene, who had gotten hers a whole year and a half ago, she had thrown herself into training her bulbasaur. Staying true to their promise, they had both decided to wait for the other two before leaving. That didn't mean they couldn't train in the woods though, battling wild Pokemon and local trainers alike, growing stronger for their journey ahead. It would be another two months before Lottie got her license and another four after that before Addy was ready but they had waited this long – before they knew it, they'd be off on their own.

"It's been great!" she said enthusiastically. "Adam and I have been working really hard. I've been thinking about adding another Pokemon to my team."

"Really?" Marlene asked. This was the first time she had heard Lily express an interest in caching a Pokemon locally. There was usually families of water Pokemon around and sometimes, if you were lucky, you could find flocks of bird Pokemon flying about but there wasn't anything Lily had ever said she'd wanted to catch around here. Most of the Pokemon around this area were old and experienced anyway – they didn't want to be caught by new trainers.

"Yeah!" she said, staring out over the water as she replied. "You know, Garnet City is very close to Emerald… I've been wanting to add a fire-type to my team."

Most trainers started their journey in Emerald City because that was where the first Gym in the Paragon Region was. Trainers would then travel through the circuit of gyms and end up in Amethyst City, the last gym before traveling through Victory Road. Amethyst City was the closest city to Pine Town with Victory Road leading out of its opposite end. This was all if the trainer wanted to challenge the gym circuit – some just wanted to travel for the fun of it and others would instead flock to the towns where they held Battle Competitions and other such events. But to get to Garnet City, Lily would first have to fly to the other end of the region, a trip that would start when they…

"How soon were you thinking about adding this Pokemon to your team?" Marlene asked slowly, both wanting to know the answer and afraid of what she was about to be told.

"Well," Lily replied, still staring out over the fast moving water. "The Battle Competitions just finished this week. If I'm going to enter the next one to start, I need to train with the members I add to my team. Which will be hard seeing as you need three to enter and I only have Adam at the moment. And the next one starts in six months, when – "

"We leave for our journey. Together." Marlene interrupted firmly, now looking directly at Lily. The dark-haired girl still refused to meet her eyes like she knew what she was about to finish saying would spark something in Marlene she didn't want to see.

"Which will be another six months of waiting. Time that would be better spent training," Lily pointed out.

"Waiting like we have been doing for a while. We're over halfway there, why leave now?"

"Don't you ever get tired of the same thing? The same woods and the same Pokemon and the same people?"

Here Marlene shot Lily a look. Of course she got tired of staying in the very corner of this region. Pine Town had grown on its own when people began moving further north and was often classified on its own. But she couldn't leave her sister or Addy. Why go without them? They'd done everything together since they'd met. Why would Lily want to change that now?

"And what about Lottie? Addy? Our promise? Don't you remember what we told them?" Marlene burst out, now feeling slightly angry at the girl sitting next to her. They had promised. And if it was one thing the girls did, it was to never break their promises.

"Of course I remember our promise!" Lily snapped suddenly, swiveling around to face Marlene. There was a deep v in her forehead from her scrunched eyebrows and a frown dominated her face. "Don't you think I remember why I'm even still here? I could have been long gone, started my own journey ages ago!" She started picking at the grass around her feet in agitation, tearing a few pieces out and shredding them before dropping them and repeating the process. Adam was still curled in her lap but his ears pricked up at the frustrated voice of his trainer.

"And at first I was okay with waiting," Lily continued. "At least when I finally did start I wouldn't be alone! But I just can't wait anymore Marley." Here she shot Marlene a desperate look. "I can't stay in small Pine Town for another six months! It's too long of a wait. I'm ready to start now."

"Why are you telling me this then?" Marlene asked after a moment, narrowing her eyes. "Why not just leave? If you're going to go no matter what I say, then why haven't you left yet?"

"I want you to come with me."

Marlene was on her feet in an instant, staring down at Lily. Star gave a little jolt as her trainer jumped up but didn't follow. She remained seated and watched everything from half closed eyes. Lily slowly stood up, wanting to be eye level with the angry girl standing in front of her. Adam jumped from her lap and landed lightly on the ground before sitting back on his haunches and staring up at the two girls.

"You what?" Marlene growled. "You expect me to break my promise? It's one thing, Lily, to do it yourself. But to ask me to do it too?"

"It's not like we wouldn't come back for them!" Lily said, arguing her case. "We could go, train to enter next seasons Battle Competition, and then come back just in time for Addy to have her license! Then we could all travel together! We'd still be keeping our promise. Don't you want to take part in the competitions with me? I thought that's what you wanted to do once you became a trainer."

In truth, it sounded well thought out. Marlene did want to take part in the Battle Competitions rather than challenge Gym leaders, which is what Lottie and Addy wanted to do. They also took a lot of extra training. Battle Competitions were an interesting mix of the Gym circuit and the far away Coordinator Contests of Hoenn and other such regions. Separate from the Gym challenge, Battle Competitions were held in certain cities across the region. A trainer planning on taking them on could enter into any of the six Battle Competition locations and if they won at four of them, could then participate in the Masters Battle Competition held once a year in Marvel City at the center of the region. The previous champion of the Master Battle Competition would then challenge the new winner for the title of Master Battler. This title was completely separate from the Champion title one received if they challenged the gym circuit but it was revered just as much. The locations for this circuit were only open the six months leading up into the Master Battle Competition so it was best to spend the six months in between the Masters competition and the opening of the circuit training.

But still, the whole point of Marlene and Lily waiting was so that they could all experience traveling for the first time. So that they could all take that first step into Route 1 and see each other capture their first Pokemon together. It was more than just traveling to compete – it was traveling to learn and grow together. And it wasn't like they couldn't train here, they'd been doing it for months!

"You don't want to take that first step together?" Marlene challenged. "You don't want to capture our first Pokemon together? You don't want to see all the towns, the Gyms, the Competitions, the Pokemon together?"

"It's not that Marley," she said, growing so quiet that Marlene had to strain to hear over the rushing water. Then Lily shook her head and before Marlene could question her, she started walking back up the path into town, Adam trotting quietly behind her.

"I'm not telling them, you know. If you plan on leaving, that's the least you can do."

It was a quiet statement, made as Marlene stared hard at the ground between them. Lily paused and barely glanced over her shoulder. Then, she took a deep breath as if preparing for something and continued on, throwing over her shoulder as she went, "I thought you'd support me, Marlene. I thought it was what best friends did. I guess I was wrong."

And Marlene was left to stare after her longtime friend as she walked away.

Marlene slept badly that night. She tossed and turned as guilt gnawed at her, trying to fall asleep as Lily's voice echoed in her ear. I thought we were friends, it said tauntingly. I thought you'd care enough. And even when she did fall asleep, it was broken by dreams that had no real substance to them, only darkness and the feeling of being followed. Each time she woke up with a gasp, staring around her room but finding nothing in there but the sleeping form of Star and those words to chase her back to sleep.

When the sun began to finally make its way above the horizon, Marlene gave up on sleep in favor of a steaming cup of coffee in the kitchen that Star warmed up with a gentle fire, staring up at her trainer with what could only be described as concern on her long face. About an hour later, Lottie came trudging down the stairs, her piplup following wearily behind. She stared at Marlene's coffee for about ten seconds before deciding it was worth it to make some herself.

"Bad night huh?" Lottie asked while she worked, studying her sister for a moment. Marlene sat glaring at her cup in contemplation and snapped her eyes up to her sister when she said this.

"Gee, I wonder what gave that away," Marlene replied dryly. Lottie raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. It's too early for this. I didn't sleep very well, I can't think of why though." It's not like Lily was planning on leaving them, Marlene thought to herself.

As far as she knew, Lily had not told either Lottie or Addy about her plans to leave since their conversation yesterday. At least not yet. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing – good if Lily was rethinking her decision to leave and bad if she decided to leave without telling the other two girls. This created a spark of hope in Marlene's chest. Maybe Lily would stay with them. Maybe Marlene had talked some sense into her. And maybe, just maybe, Lily would keep her promise.

"Yeah, me either. I don't know what's going on but –, "Lottie cut off suddenly as their mom walked in and it was immediately apparent why. The normally cheerful disposition was gone, replaced by hooded eyes and a blank expression. Her mouth was turned down in a frown and she stared at the ground as she walked, as if afraid it would disappear from underneath her feet. She sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs and ran her hands through her hair. Lottie and Marlene shared a look of confusion before Lottie opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. Her mom beat her to it though, looking at both of them as she explained her odd behavior.

"Lily is gone."

Immediately the spark of hope died within Marlene and she slammed a palm into the table in front of her. So Lily was just going to leave? After everything Marlene had said to her just yesterday? She scoffed and opened her mouth saying roughly, "So she decided to do it huh? She really decided to leave. I cannot believe that –"

"Marley," her mother interrupted her quietly and something in her voice made Marlene pause, mouth open to continue her rant. She looked surprised at Marlene's outburst, as if that was the last thing she expected as a first reaction. "Adam is still here. Lily is gone."

(A/N):

And here is the official start of our story! I have a lot more planned out for this than I did when I first began the first chapter and I'm excited to see where it will lead.

Out of curiosity, what would you do if you were in Marlene's position and a friend asked that of you? Would you break your promise and go with them? Or would you refuse to go in favor of said promise? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Thanks for reading!

-Thatonebookworm