The morning came too quickly and by the time the alarm rang loudly at half seven, I felt like I'd only just closed my eyes to sleep. As much as I wanted to stay in bed, I was conscious of the fact we really had to leave Goldenrod that day. Getting those Gym Badges had to be my top priority. A strange thought struck me as I rolled over, and I couldn't help but smirk to myself as I reluctantly eased my way out of my bed, thinking how funny it felt to be going on a "normal" Pokemon journey. A journey exactly like thousands of other little kids aspired to and embarked on every year. It felt a little weird; I had to admit, not having to worry about rescue missions or finding people that didn't want to be found. I was pretty much free to do whatever I wanted.

I shook awake Nikki and Jasmine, who were both surprisingly fresh and willing to get up. Especially Jasmine. Unlike me and Nikki, she was eighteen, meaning she was old enough to drink with Elliot and Lance and she had taken advantage of it. However, she showed no signs of suffering for it, and was bright and cheery, even more so as Nikki and I, as we dressed and headed down for breakfast.

As we settled into a hearty breakfast, I noticed there was still no sign of Elliot or Lance. Funnily enough, Scott and Bailey were nowhere to be found either. I wasn't particularly worried about them, mind you. I was more interested in Lance and Elliot.

"So, what happened last night?" I asked Jasmine, while wiping toast crumbs from around my mouth.

Jasmine smirked. "What didn't happen last night is what you should be asking."

"Go on, tell!" I begged her.

"All right," Jasmine said with a wicked smile. "Nikki and Bailey left about ten minutes after you, you know that obviously."

"Yeah," I nodded, remembering Nikki shyly sidling in the door of our room not long after I had returned.

"It was getting too loud in there for me, but I didn't want to go back on my own," Nikki explained behind her cereal. "So Bailey walked me home. He's very nice, isn't he?" she asked, looking pointedly at Jasmine.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Jasmine said airily, waving her spoon around. "Well, we finally got out of there just after twelve, I think. Elliot and Lance pretty much forgot we were even thereby the time eleven o'clock came around… the two of them were really away with it."

"Oh, God, what did they do…?"

Jasmine started to snicker. "At one point, both of them had climbed up onto the tables. Lance stripped—"

"He what?"

"Don't worry, he didn't get any further than his top before he fell off the table and smashed his head off the floor." Jasmine said with an evil snicker.

I couldn't help but snort with laughter. The mental image was just too funny. The idea of seeing the calm, composed, intimidating Lance completely intoxicated, attempting to perform a striptease and then faceplanting to the ground just made me howl with laughter. "Oh God, I really hope there weren't any press there. Poor Lance…"

"Don't worry, everyone else there was far too drunk to remember." Jasmine chuckled.

"And what about my significant other?" I asked wearily. "Do I want to know what he did?"

"He…" Jasmine paused as she thought about it. "He wasn't as bad."

"What did he do…?"

"Well, he disappeared for quite a good portion of the night," Jasmine said, pouring herself some orange juice. "When Lance eventually decided he wanted to leave, we couldn't find Elliot anywhere. Eventually we found him underneath one of the booths clutching an empty bottle of beer. He'd lost his shoes somewhere along the line and someone had draped Mardi Gras beads over him…"

I laughed again. "Oh my God…"

Nikki spoke up. "Do you think they'll remember anything? You know… like when Elliot insisted Sienna had to marry him?"

Jasmine burst out laughing while I cringed. "Oh yeah! That was hilarious!"

"No it wasn't!" I cried. "God, I really hope he doesn't remember that."

"He will," Jasmine said with a swift nod. "And if he doesn't, I'm going to make him remember. And about the Monty Python thing. And the Mardi Gras beads."

I groaned. "God, just seeing those two… I neverwant to drink! Please don't ever let me…"

"That's a point actually," Nikki suddenly piped up. "Where are Lance and Elliot? They haven't come down to breakfast," she said, casting a glance at some empty chairs as if expecting them to materialise in front of us.

"Scott and Bailey refused to share a room with them, so they stuck Elliot and Lance in the room next to ours, and Bailey and Scott moved down the corridor,"

"Maybe we should go and see them?" I suggested. "You know, we should really be making a move this morning down to Ecruteak."

Jasmine looked at me. "You sure you want to do that? The two of them will be hungover as hell…"

"We really need to move to Ecruteak though," I stressed. "I don't want to stay in Goldenrod forever. Come on, let's go to their room."

"Pffft," Jasmine snorted. "All right. Just don't say I didn't warn you,"

"It couldn't be that bad, could it…?" Nikki asked nervously.

"Course not," I said primly. "Now come on, let's go."

"Oh. My. Good. God!"

That was the only thing I could say after I'd rapped on the door, and heard a bleary shout of "come in!" I tentatively pushed open the door that housed Elliot and Lance. "Lance!" I screeched, hastily backing out and slamming the door behind me as I caught more than an eyeful of the Elite Four member. "Put some damn clothes on!"

From behind me, Jasmine burst into peals of crazed laughter while Nikki cringed.

I could hear slamming and muttering coming from behind the door and then seconds later, it swung open again. Lance's head poked out, but this time, thank God, he seemed to be wearing a robe. However, he looked an absolute mess. His sweaty hair was stuck all over his face, his eyes were bloodshot and red and he stank of alcohol.

"Good morning," I smiled down at him.

He grunted. "What's so good about it…?"

Ignoring that gripe, I tried to glance past Lance into the bedroom too see if I could catch a glimpse of Elliot. "Uhh… is Elliot up?"

Lance frowned in a pained way, banging his forehead into the door frame. "Elliot…" he called weakly. "Your wife is looking for you…" he murmured before disappearing back behind the door.

"WIFE!" I heard a high-pitched, falsetto squeak that could only belong to Elliot.

Elliot himself appeared at the door a few seconds later, looking in an almost identical state as his big brother, just significantly more panicked. However, as his eyes touched on me, he instantly relaxed, letting out a nervous laugh. "Oh thank God… it's just you, Sienna! I thought I had done something really stupid like ask some random to marry me or something!"

Before I could say anything, Jasmine intervened. "You did ask someone to marry you," she deadpanned.

Elliot's face dropped. "… what?"

"You asked someone to marry you." She repeated, a sadistic smirk touching on her face. She was enjoying this. And to an extent, I kind of was too.

"Who?"

"Sienna."

Elliot looked like he was about to faint. "I— I— I— what?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "You asked me to marry you. Repeatedly." I had to stifle laughter as I saw Elliot's face pale further and further with every word I said. "Don't worry, it didn't actually happen. When it came to kiss the bride, you faceplanted into the table. You seemed to forget about it after that. Oh yeah, and then you and Lance started singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.""

"We did what?" I heard Lance shriek from inside the room.

"You sang the Monty Python theme song." I called out.

"What? But I've never watched Monty Python in my life!" I heard Lance groan from inside and then a corresponding thump. I had a vision of him falling to the ground in despair and I had to bite the insides of my cheeks furiously to stop from laughing.

"I won't tell you about the stripping, then!" Jasmine called through the door.

"I remember that!"

We all creased in laughter, but Elliot looked worried. "I didn't… do that… did I?"

"No." Jasmine smiled. "You did however lose your shoes, lie under the booth for half an hour and somehow acquired Mardi Gras beads."

"Oh that's where my shoes went…" Elliot said slowly.

I smirked, before folding my arms and adopting a more business-like demeanour. "So. Any chance of you getting up anytime soon?"

Elliot looked at me in a pained way. "Can we get some time?"

"But Ecruteak…" I protested, drawing the word out in a whiny way.

"But hungover!" Elliot wailed.

I sighed, realising I wasn't going to get anywhere. "Fine. But I want you both down here before midday. We need to get going to Ecruteak. Right? Midday."

"Hey, you're not my sister-in-law yet! Don't tell me what to do…" I heard Lance say from behind the door.

"Lance, you were supposed to be in Blackthorn last night." Elliot said firmly.

"No I was no—! Oh mother—!"

"Lance!" Elliot cut across him as he started blasting out expletives that would have shocked a hardened pirate. Jasmine was spluttering with laughter behind me. I could even hear Nikki's tiny little squeaky giggles. I was still adamant I was going to keep my self-control. Well that was until Lance's shouts started reaching ear-splitting levels.

"I've got eight missed calls from Clair! Grandfather will kill me! Elliot, get out the way! I need to get showered!"

"Well, hey! Don't use my stuff!"

Elliot slammed the door on us at that point, and the noises of arguing exploded from within the room as soon as it shut. I could feel the laughter tickling my throat, desperate to burst out. In a vague attempt to contain myself, I chanced looks at Jasmine and Nikki. It proved fatal. They both had wicked grins on their faces, and an identical one crept across mine. Within seconds we were howling with laughter, not even caring if Lance and Elliot heard us.

Later on in the day, I was sitting in front of the Johto Regional news; my legs crossed idly, slowly picking at a packet of crisps. The Pokemon Centre was quiet; the only people in the lobby were Jasmine, Nikki, Scott and Bailey. There was still no sign of Lance or Elliot and it was steadily creeping up to midday. I was beginning to get agitated…

"Now, we have some breaking news for you. It seems that a riot has broken out in the normally peaceful city of Ecruteak!"

"You're kidding!" I said out loud, catching the attention of my other travelling companions.

"It appears a group of local Pokemon Rights activists have been protesting outside the Ecruteak Gym and what is described as a "minor scuffle" broke out when the gym leader Morty attempted to break up the fights. There have been reports of paint-throwing, egg-throwing, and attempts to occupy the Gym. We would like to stress to the public that although the riots have passed, the Gym Leader has requested people to stay away for their own safety. The Ecruteak Gym Leader is expected to issue a statement later on today. We will continue to provide you with the latest news and pictures as we get them. For the moment however, we shall hand you over to our special guest Melinda Rivers, who's here to debate the on-going issue of whether or not Pokemon training is cruelty, or simply part of our everyday lives."

"Disgraceful."

I jumped as I heard a voice behind me. Lance was standing over me, his arms folded. He was kitted out in his Elite Four gear, his cape billowing around his ankles, any signs of a hangover long gone. "Ever since the Unova region was plagued by those idiots Team Plasma, activists have been trying to stir up even more trouble. They claim that capturing Pokemon is immoral, and that Pokemon don't have any rights. That's just foolishness. Anyone clever enough to read the law can clearly see that in a lot of cases Pokemon have more rights than ordinary humans! These people… they don't really believe that Pokemon training is cruel. They're just looking for a cause to fight. Such foolishness. They see one sniff of a possible scandal and they're all over it. They just want an excuse to jump on a bandwagon and go around kicking up fuss. They're almost as bad as the Anti-Pokemon Protestors. The very idea that the leagues should be abandoned, that Pokemon training should be banned… it's despicable!"

I looked across at Lance. "Why do people all of a sudden think that Pokemon training should be banned."

"Sienna," Lance said with a slow sigh. "You know as well as I do the statistics of Pokemon training. There's a high casualty rate in trainers, especially in the younger ones. People think its immoral to subject kids to "the big bad world out there" so young. Pah. They forget that people have been doing this for years. Hundreds upon thousands of years. People have trained Pokemon since the beginning of time."

"I don't get it," I said with a sigh. "Yeah, I admit the kids are young when they set out, but that's what Pokemon school is for! To teach them how to survive and live out on their own. And it's not like kids are forced to do it."

"The APP think that it's ridiculous that kids go out chasing badges for a living. They complain that children aren't getting an education, aren't getting qualified to work in the so-called "real-world" and that we're dealing with too many injuries and missing persons' cases for Pokemon training to be viable. You know as well as I do all the horror stories of brand-new ten year old trainers setting out and getting hurt, or maimed or even worse because they couldn't control their Pokemon or… or… fell off a cliff or something. And it is terrible, I can't deny that. I mean, yeah, Pokemon training can be dangerous, but the wrong person behind the wheel of a car is also dangerous."

I sighed. "So, you really think they'll ban Pokemon training?"

"They can never ban Pokemon training," Lance said firmly. "But I've heard talks of them trying to raise the legal age you can leave home to something ridiculous like 16 or something… and that you have to have attained a certain degree of education beforehand."

I opened my mouth to ask something else, when the newsreader cut me off.

"We have reports that the Johto and Kanto League Champion will be giving a speech on the matter…"

Lance nodded his approval. "Good on him. I had a suspicion he would say something about this."

"Lance…" I said slowly. "Who… who is the Champion…?"

Lance smiled, and I saw a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. "For a while, he was me."

This wasn't really news to me, Elliot had told me something about it long ago, but it was still pretty amazing to hear it from Lance himself. "Wow! That's amazing, Lance!"

"Yes," he had a nostalgic smile upon his face. "I served as a champion for many years. When I was eventually knocked off my spot, I claimed a position of the Elite Four. I'll never forget the day I met the man that took my place. He's an exceptionally strong trainer, and I believe that he came from your hometown," he smiled.

"Really?" I breathed out slowly.

"You didn't know that?" Lance looked a little shocked.

I shrugged. "To be honest, I probably wasn't interested in Pokemon when he became champion. I probably wouldn't have cared if the champion came from Pallet. I mean, the town isn't like what it used to be. It's huge now… people don't know each others' business like they used to," I said with a short laugh.

"The boy was a rare talent, but something of a late bloomer." Lance continued. "He travelled through many other regions before eventually coming home to Kanto to take on the League. He's remained undefeated for maybe three or four years now."

"So, what's his name? Would I know him?"

"He was a friend, well… rival of Professor Oak's grandson." Lance explained. "He also is good friends with both Pewter City and Cerulean City's Gym Leaders. His name is—"

"Sienna!"

"Typical…"

I turned around immediately as Elliot came jogging up to me. "Hey, sorry that took so long. Lance was hogging the shower." He added darkly, shooting a look in Lance's direction.

"No, it's okay…" I said, mildly annoyed that I'd missed out on hearing the champion's name. I made a mental note to try and ask someone next chance I got.

"So, Ecruteak?" Elliot asked me eagerly.

"Can't." I said simply, gesturing at the news.

""Pokemon Activist Rioters in Ecr—" Oh, man, I can't believe it." Elliot said with a sigh. "Those Pokemon rights activists are headcases! People have been catching and training Pokemon since the beginning of time! It's not like this is a new thing! This is all that Team Plasma's fault!"

"Nathan was a member of that team once…" I said slowly, remembering something that the leader of Team Quantum had once said. "But he left…"

"Nathan? A member of Team Plasma!" Elliot wrinkled his nose in disgust. "That's completely ridiculous! Didn't Team Plasma want to release captured Pokemon? What was it? Liberation of Pokemon or something? All Nathan and Team Quantum wanted was to capture Pokemon! Jeez! They were just like Team Rocket and all those other idiot gangs! Can't any of them do anything different apart from to capture Legendaries?"

"Easy, Elliot…" I said with a sigh. "Look, I don't really care about these Pokemon rights activists. They're headcases! People don't abuse Pokemon! And if they do, that's why we have police and the PPA—"

"PPA?" Elliot frowned.

"Pokemon Protection Agency, Elliot, please keep up." Lance commented dryly.

"That's why they exist." I concluded firmly. "These guys are obviously just out to cause trouble, and it's trouble I want to stay away from. So, I vote we go down to Azalea Town and challenge the Gym there. And then, if we need to, we can come back through and go to Ecruteak that way."

"I agree. That sounds best." Elliot nodded.

"Need a lift down there?" Lance asked casually.

"No." Elliot said at once, turning a suspicious eye on his brother. "You're just trying to put off going to see Clair!"

"Do you blame me?"

I had to laugh again. I couldn't believe how much I had laughed over the past two days. My ribs and chest were sore from the amount of hysterical laughter Nikki, Jasmine and I had done while confronting Lance and Elliot. As strange as it sounds, being out on the road like this again was brilliant. At least, to me it felt brilliant. I didn't have to conform to the rigid contours of everyday life. I didn't have to follow a strict timetable, have to do certain things at certain times. Don't get me wrong, I love my life. I love living at home, going to pastry school and learning what I love to do. But here, out on the road, I was free. I could go around places at my leisure, I could spend time with my friends who I barely ever see, and I could train my Pokemon and battle them, and meet some of the most interesting people and Pokemon in the world. I was free out here. Pokemon training was the gateway to a life of freedom. When I was younger, I had never understood why so many people went out on a journey. It dawned on me now, as cliché as it sounds, that people did it because they wanted to be free.

"That's why Dad called his dojo "Free Spirits"…" I thought to myself slowly. "It represents being free… he's giving these kids the ways and means to escape their ordinary lives. Wow. That's incredible. That's really the kind of work that changes lives… I kind of wish I could do something as worthwhile as that…"

I was distracted from my proverbial eureka moment when the rest of our travelling party suddenly appeared at our side. I blinked in surprise as all of a sudden we were surrounded by Nikki, Jasmine, Scott and Bailey.

"Hey, guys." I said, a little flummoxed.

"Are we ready to leave?" Jasmine asked, folding her arms.

"I think so." I said, casting a glance at Elliot who nodded. "Yeah. We're headed to Azalea Town."

Bailey looked a little disappointed. "Ohh…"

"Why, what's the problem?" Jasmine demanded at once.

"Oh, nothing…" Bailey said. "It's just… Azalea Town is a Bug Type gym. The one in Ecruteak is a Ghost one. I think I would have done better with that one…"

"We can't go to Ecruteak," I pointed out. "Pokemon Rights activists are rioting up there. We won't be able to get near the place."

"Wow." Jasmine deadpanned. "Déjà vu much."

I blinked in surprise, not understanding what she was referencing. "Huh?"

"Nothing," she said with an airy shake of her head.

Puzzled, I swiftly moved on the conversation. "So, Azalea Town then?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, we'll set out straight away," I nodded. "How long will it take to get us there?"

Elliot shrugged. "A day or two? Maybe less if we make good time."

"I can deal with that," I said nodding.

From nearby, Lance cleared his throat loudly. "I shall take my leave then."

I smirked. As soon as there were people other than Elliot and I around, Lance immediately switched back into his more formal, intimidating "Elite Four" mode. I doubted it would have made any difference now, considering how pretty much everyone around us had seen what a total fool the enigmatic Elite Four member had made of himself. I had a feeling even Bailey's idea of him had been forever tarnished.

"Just don't let Clair or the Dragon Elder know you've been drinking," I grinned, flashing him a wink.

"I think, in the best interests of everyone, we should keep last night's escapades firmly between ourselves." Lance shot everyone his best impression of an angry glare, and everyone squeaked involuntarily. Immediately I knew he had successfully intimidated everyone into keeping silent. Regardless of last night, and the idiot he had made of himself, he was still an impressive and threatening man, especially if you didn't know him as well as I did, being my boyfriend's brother and all.

We walked Lance outside where he released his Dragonite. Almost as soon as the giant bipedal Dragon appeared, people in the immediate vicinity stared ooh-ing and aah-ing. Lance grimaced, knowing he'd been spotted. Clearly not in the mood to deal with his "adoring public", he hoisted himself up onto his Dragonite. Once settled onto his trusted Pokemon's enormous girth, he ran his eyes over each of us in turn.

"Nice to see you all again," he said with a hint of a smile.

"You too. Good luck in Blackthorn," Elliot replied, patting the giant Dragonite on the head.

"I'll need it." he grimaced.

We all laughed, before he bade us a final goodbye and took off into the distance. Just in time too, as no sooner had the giant Dragonite launched into the air, the area was swarmed with people desperate to catch a glimpse of the elusive Elite Four member. Dejected at missing out on their chance, the crowd almost immediately turned on their heels and skulked off dejectedly.

We all stifled a laugh, watching as Lance and Dragonite became a red and orange speck dotted on the horizon and then slowly disappeared from sight. From behind me, Elliot let out a long sigh. I slipped my hand into his. "He'll be back soon,"

Elliot was silent for a few moments before eventually saying "Yeah. Yeah, I know…"

Jasmine cast a disapproving eye over us after a few moments of silence had passed. "So… are we going to Azalea Town or are we just gonna stand here like a bunch of lemons?"

"Yes, Jazz, we're going to Azalea Town!" I said wearily. "Come on, let's go then, if you're so desperate!"

Following Jasmine's direction, we started the long walk south to Azalea Town. It was sunny and unusually warm for the beginning of April, and we were glad of a brisk, cooling wind. There were a lot of people travelling the same route as us, and it was difficult to keep the group together. Added to this, Elliot was still rather distracted; shooting hopeful glances up into the sky. Nikki and Jasmine were walking ahead, while Scott and Bailey dawdled behind. I desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, but their conversation was hushed, coming in small, infrequent bursts. When I sneaked a glance at Bailey, he looked a little awkward and embarrassed. While I was intrigued as to why, I realised that Elliot was beginning to look sad and worried, and my heart gave a little twist. Grabbing onto his wrist to slow him down, I pulled him into a hug.

"Lance will be back, Elliot." I smiled up at him. "You two get on so well now."

"Yeah…" Elliot nodded, resting his chin comfortably on top of my head. "It's good…"

"So what are you so depressed about?"

"I'm not depressed!" he protested at once.

"Elliot, I know you too well." I laughed. "Come on, cheer up." I paused, before trying again. "Always look on the bright side of life?" I offered sheepishly.

"Well life is quite absurd—"

"Elliot," I stopped him. "If you sing that song again in my company, so help me, I will dump you."

Elliot burst out laughing. "Got it," he said, pulling me in close for another hug and a long sweet kiss. A warm smile burst onto my lips on its own accord, and I just wanted to cling onto him forever. He grabbed my wrist and thrust our clasped hands high into the air, in a manner embarrassingly reminiscent of characters from the old Pokemon cartoons. "Now, let's hurry up. Let's go to Azalea Town!"

"Azalea Town!" I echoed happily, the wind picking up and licking at my hair.

Jasmine and Nikki looked more than a little surprised when Elliot and I suddenly ran past them, laughing. Glancing at each other only momentarily, they too broke into runs after us, giggling as they ran. I looked back expectantly at Scott and Bailey, still mysteriously lagging behind, only to see Scott mouth something that looked suspiciously like "morons". I let out another burst of laughter and continued racing down the route with my friends.

I felt truly free here.

And I loved it.

Author's Note

Yeah, another chapter where not much seems to happen... Sorry guys! It'll get better from now, I promise.

Anyway, couple of things I have to say. The only reason you're getting an update so early is that it's my 19th brithday tomorrow (the 7th) and my friends don't seem to care, so I started writing and did about three chapters in an evening. :/ Haha! Now I'm turning 19 in two hours (It's ten at night here at the moment) and I'm bored and I have nothing to do :/ So you guys cash in!

Secondly, I've done some drawings for a Pokemon fic named "Moonlight" by a friend of mine, Dean12321. The links for both the fic and the drawings are on my profile, so check them out if you have time :)

Thirdly... I wrote the ending scene of Free Spirits today :O I got sad writing it, that's all I'm saying to you on the matter.

WowFan123: I had to write Elliot and Lance drunk. It just HAD to happen. :)

WarriorSwfit: Yeah, I couldn't deal with them drunk, personally. Even though Elliot and Lance's antics are based on real experiences from real people I know... haha!

Sniper Mudkip: Bailey has his ways in getting Corsola and Misdreaveus, they will be explained in later chapters, don't worry! And I did consider using the Lumberjack song, but I thought "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" was more iconic and recognisable.

Manser77: Yeah, I'm really sorry for my prolonged absence...

Eeveelutionluvr: Yeah, hangovers are not pretty... the two of them were properly suffering...

Hikaru-Pichu: That was just a typcial Sienna reaction, wasn't it? "In search of the Holy Grail!"

Sunbean: Yeah, Sienna was properly mortified. I had such fun writing the chapter though.

Padfoot Arcanine: Don't worry, university taking up the bulk of my life too! But thanks for catching up!

ArchXDeath: Naaaah, I wasn't dead! Haha! But thanks for caring kohai! Elliot and Lance share a father, their mothers are different.

Zoeten: Thanks for pointing out the italics screwed up, I didn't even notice! :O

Aeroga: Sienna's put a ban on drinking EVER AGAIN on Elliot. So now he can't cook or consume alcohol. Poor boy. Haha!

TwewyReaperGirl: Haha! I'm glad you enjoyed it! NOM NOM CAKE! *eats* Yay! Got cake for my birthday!

KRDiva1: Aww, glad I made your day! Thanks for reviewing!

May and Dawn are the best: I had wanted to script a drinking competition for ages (but to anyone here underage - PLEASE DON'T DO IT! I live in the UK, so drinking at 18 is allowed!) Thanks for reviewing!

So, thanks everyone and please read and review!