The next day

Katy

"Go! Turtwig!"

Simeon's excited cry echoed throughout Twinleaf Town as he sent out his new Pokémon. Turtwig was a small, light green, quadruped Pokémon resembling a turtle or tortoise. Its eyes, feet, and lower jaw were yellow. Its body was covered by a brown shell that was composed of earth. The shell had a thick black stripe and a black rim.

"Turtwig!" The Pokémon cried as it came out of its Pokéball. Turtwig turned around and jumped right into his trainer's arms as Simeon let out a laugh. Katy watched the heart-warming scene with pride. Her brother really had a good bond with Pokémon, and he just got the Turtwig yesterday.

Sneasel, who was perched on her shoulder, poked Katy's face with his claws. Katy turned towards her Pokémon. "What's wrong Sneasel?"

Sneasel pointed to where Turtwig was hugging Simeon, and a look of realization flashed across Katy's features. Sneasel wanted a hug.

Katy grinned. "Aww, come here Sneasel!" She grabbed her Pokémon off her shoulder and hugged him tightly. Sneasel let out a mew of glee and hugged her back.

Katy suddenly heard a voice from behind her. "Katy's going soft…who would have thought?" Katy turned around to see Shane smirking at her sign of affection.

Katy glared at him. "Shut up Shane. I'm allowed to hug my Pokémon. Who cares if I'm tough? That doesn't mean I can't have a soft side!"

Shane chuckled. "Relax Kate, I was just kidding."

Katy rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's Katy, not Kate."

Shane grinned. "I'm going to keep calling you Kate."

Katy huffed. "Of course you are…"

Shane decided to drop the subject before Katy decided to punch him. "Where's Jay? Aren't we supposed to leave soon?"

Simeon answered Shane's question. "Jay said he had something 'Important to attend to'."

Shane raised an eyebrow. "What did he mean by 'Important'?"

Simeon shrugged and turned his attention back towards Turtwig. "He didn't say."

Katy sighed in annoyance. "Leave it to Jay to ruin our plans. I want to be in Sandgem town by tomorrow."

Shane turned towards Katy. "Why?"

Katy smirked. "I want to rub my Pokédex in Cali's face."

Cali is Katy's rival. They have been trying to beat each other at everything since they were toddlers. Now that Katy had a Pokédex, she would finally do something better than her.

"Oh…Cali…" Shane said nervously. Cali has a crush on Shane, but Shane doesn't like her back. Whenever Cali is around Shane always finds an excuse to leave. Katy found it amusing at first, but now Cali's crush is annoying.

"Don't worry Shane. We'll only see her for a few minutes so I can brag, then we can leave." Katy explained. "Nothing to worry about."

"Sure…nothing to worry about." Shane muttered unsurely.

Later…

Jay

Jay arrived back at his house a few hours later. It was turning dusk, so the sky was a beautiful mix of orange, purple and blue, with dark colored clouds dotting the sky.

As soon as he walked through the gate, he heard his sister's angry yell.

"Where the hell were you?!"

Jay sighed. "I went to Lake Verity."

Katy's anger turned into confusion. "Why?"

Jay shrugged. "I just wanted to head back one last time before we left. We might not be back for a while."

Katy nodded in understanding. "It's alright little brother. I understand. I'll tell Shane and Simeon you're here and that we can head out."

Katy and Jay headed up the cobblestone walkway and through the front door of the house. When they got inside they were greeted by Simeon and Jay.

"Finally you're here!" Simeon exclaimed with an annoyed look. "Where were you Jay?"

"Jay was at Lake Verity. He wanted to see it one last time." Katy explained.

"Understandable." Shane replied. "You're gonna miss that place huh?"

Jay nodded. He would always go to the lake to calm his mind when he needed to blow some steam. Lake Verity was his special place.

Simeon's annoyed look disappeared. He knew how much Jay loved to go to the lake. Heck, Simeon even went there once in a while. It was so peaceful.

Katy smiled. "Well, now that Jay's back, we can start our Journey!"

Simeon grinned from ear to ear. "Yes! Let's go!"

Shane

After traveling through route 221 most of the night, the group made it into Sandgem town by three o' clock AM. When they got there, they decided to spend the rest of the night in the Pokémon Center. Oddly, Shane couldn't fall asleep.

Shane was lying in his bed, thinking about everything that happened in the past few days. He wanted to go to sleep, but his mind just wasn't allowing him to get a good night's rest.

Shane rolled over and checked the time. 5:00 AM, the clock read. Shane let out a sigh. It was already morning. He removed the bed sheets from his body, and quietly exited the room onto the balcony through the back doors of the room, careful not to wake his friends. Little did he know one of his other friends also wasn't sleeping.

Shane sleepily stared off into the distance watching the sun rise, his arms resting on the railing. His mind wandered. What will my Journey be like? How many Pokémon will I meet? Will I earn Gym Badges? So many questions…

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, tired voice. "Couldn't sleep huh?" Shane turned around and saw Katy at the doorway, surprisingly without Sneasel on her shoulder. She was wearing a blue silk buttoned-up pajama shirt with white lace and a Great Ball on the lower left, and pajama pants of the same design.

"No…" Shane admitted. "I'm too excited to sleep I guess."

Katy joined him on the balcony. "Me too."

They stood there in silence for about five minutes, taking in the view of the sunrise and Sandgem town itself. Katy broke the silence by saying, "I'm so excited to start this journey. I can't really describe the feeling."

Shane said nothing, but turned to stare at her. She wasn't looking at him, but she was looking into the distance.

Katy continued. "When I received my Pokédex, I knew it meant I would big things." She turned to look at Shane. "I'm just not sure what those things are…"

Shane smiled. "I know how you feel. I feel the same exact way." He paused for a second then said. "I'm sure we'll accomplish amazing things though, no matter what they are."

Katy smiled back. "Yeah…I'm sure we will."

Sneasel suddenly came hopping out of the room and out onto the balcony. He jumped onto the railing between Shane and Katy, and looked up and Katy expectantly. She picked him up and Shane said. "And we'll have our Pokémon to get us there."

Hey Everybody! Here was Chapter 2! I hope you all enjoyed. Chapter 3 will come whenever I can update. It could be tomorrow, or a week from now. I'm not really sure.

Until then,

Review!