Thursday morning rolls around after a long, unrestful sleep, and I find myself disgruntled as I sit in the school's library glaring at my agenda. Clean, rainbow-colored notes and stickers decorate the paper; I've always been one to get carried away labeling things and organizing them to be as orderly as possible. Club meetings, due dates, and appointments make up the bulk of the calendar, but I stare at the yellow-highlighted box with a mini, winking Pachirisu sticker inside of it. Written in all caps is 'MY JOURNEY BEGINS.' Six days from now, my life changes forever.

I sigh.

I should be excited. I've spent my entire life preparing for this trip—with Juliette. Only my travel plans have changed, not my aspirations. I even found a new companion to help me out. Why do I feel so sad?

"Why the long face, Pres?"

Chance slides into the seat next to me, munching on a muffin that smells like pure sugar. There's no taunt in his voice nor is there mischief in his eyes. Even if he framed it as a joke, his concern seems genuine.

I wipe the distress from my face at once, cheering up with a smile. My problems are my own; no one besides myself needs to know I'm upset. I lie, "It's nothing big. I was just thinking about how fast time goes by and got all nostalgic."

He nods. "Yeah, this year's flown past us in a blast. I'm not ready to be a mature adult; there's too many rules and responsibilities involved with that."

Speaking of rules, Chance fishes a sheet of paper out from his binder. His list of our fake relationship do's and don'ts is scribbled down in his half-cursive, half-Torchic scratch scrawl. It's the polar opposite to my own neatly written, color-coded list.

Chance laughs at the difference in professionalism. "I feel underprepared now," he says.

"Nah, I just like to be extra," I assure.

I pull out a fresh sheet of paper and begin compiling all of our guidelines into one master-list. Attend each other's events. Have each other as our Pokégear wallpapers. Post couple photos on social media. Come up with nicknames for each other. Never go into detail on how we 'got together.' Buy coordinating accessories. All that jazz and then some.

After I finish up, a thought strikes me. Chance is kinda, sorta the worst at lying. I look at him and say, "I need to teach you how to lie better if this is going to work."

"I know how to lie," he insists, folding his arms across his chest.

I click my tongue. "Not well enough. Your words might come out right, but your body language gives you away."

"What do you mean?"

I start listing off tips, holding up a finger for each point as I say, "Don't stand with your arms folded or legs crossed. Maintain eye contact. Stop fidgeting; don't touch your hair, clothes, and especially your face. Keep your voice even. Don't exaggerate your expressions."

He blinks. "You... you've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"More than I'm willing to admit," I say with a shrug, busying myself with organizing my notes to store them in my folder. "I've told lots of white lies in my life to try to keep peace and all of that. Practice makes perfect."

Chance sets his chin on his palm and half-smirks. "Then teach me your ways, oh wise sensei."

Oh, I do not like that guilty twinge my gut gets at the thought of teaching someone how to lie. I ignore it, though, as I reply, "You'll learn on the job. Anyways, how about we get our story straight? So—"

"Hey, Chance! Oh, and hey, Lyla! What's up?"

The owner of that peppy voice is impossible to mistake. Turning around, I find Cherrygrove Academy's beloved sweetheart, Theo Briar, beaming at the two of us with Juliette on his arm. His pearly whites are so bright that they can give the sun a run for its money. He is a sort of mini-sun himself with his bright personality and even brighter-colored blond hair. He's so absurdly likable it's unfair.

"Nothing much," Chance replies, lifting his hand in a small wave. He wraps his other arm around my shoulders and jerks his thumb at me. "We're just sketching out some plans for our journey."

I'm quick to lie and make it seem like we've got our shit together as I say, "But we have most of it done. We're just working on some minor details."

"It's great that you've been able to pull together a plan so quickly and efficiently," Juliette compliments with her small, adorable smile. "I wish I could have at least half of your coordination skills, Lyla."

I chuckle in reply, not trusting my words enough to say something smart. If only she knew.

Theo proceeds to break my train of thought about journeys as he winks and says, "Congrats on your relationship, by the way! I saw your Zipagram post."

Chance's cheeks turn as reddish-pink as my hair. He pulls me closer as if he's trying to prove that yes, we are a real couple, and replies, "Thanks! We appreciate your, uh, blessing?"

The secondhand embarrassment I get from him makes me want to crawl under the table and disappear, but I've gotta stay strong. I play into my character and lean my head against Chance's shoulder with a grin. "Thanks," I repeat sweetly.

Then I make the mistake of looking from Chance to Juliette. The sweet child of summer meets my eyes with a question in her gaze: is this real? And, well, I can't blame her for being suspicious.

I've always chased academic and extracurricular work, not relationships. Like sure, I've dated a few people, but they never lasted long since I have a bad habit of prioritizing work over play. Juliette has the patience of a saint with the way she's been able to deal with me for so long. Not a lot people want to hang around a busy body so busy she makes Combee working for an ambitious Vespiquen quake.

Juliette's eyes narrow the slightest; she wants to speak privately and question me what in the Distortion World I'm doing. I can't let that happen, not before Chance and I have our backstory for this lie fixed.

I tug on Chance's arm, stealing his attention from Theo, and say, "Walk me to my class, please? It starts in a few minutes."

"Oh, sure."

We all say our goodbyes, and Chance makes a show out of grabbing my hand and leading me out of the library. Once we've walked down the hallway and turned a corner by my locker, we stop. I take my hand back and cross my arms.

"We need to come up with a story of how we got together and stuff like that," I tell him. "Are you free tonight?"

He grins. "Yeah, I've got some free time after I take a few pictures of Delibird at Sunflora Park. Would you like to meet there?"

"Good," I say, nodding. "Wear your workout clothes."

Chance blanks. "Wait, why?"

I glance at my watch; class begins in less than a minute. It's time to move. End of the school year or not, I'm not messing up my attendance. "We're going on a run; running helps me think better, and I want us to have a good plan. I'll text you details later."

As I start towards my classroom, the redhead chases me, protesting, "But I don't exercise like that—"

"Then it's time to start now. You'll be doing a lot of exercising on our journey."

"Can't we be like a normal couple and go get something to eat instead?"

"Maybe after the run."

Curious students watch our banter, and I halt my speed-walking. If we're going through with this fake relationship for real, it has to look real. Keeping Chance still with a hand on his shoulder, I stand on my tiptoes and try to kiss his cheek. With our height difference, I miss and peck his jaw. Well, it's the thought that counts.

The blush that spreads across Chance's face isn't the light pink I've seen before. This time, it's a deep crimson darker than his cherry-red hair. He refuses to make eye contact.

I snicker at his reaction. Where'd the jokester who was taunting me yesterday go?

"Go get to class before the bell rings," I say, unable to stop myself from smirking. "I'll see you tonight."

He giggles nervously and scratches the cheek I'd attempted to kiss, radiating chaotic energy fueled by his flustered state. "I will. See you later, Pres."

(-o-)

Evenings in Cherrygrove City smell like rain showers and blooming flowers. Standing in the park, the scent of nearby lavender bushes is the strongest to me. The pastel blossoms match the color of the sun's setting sky; you would think the horizon was a painter's canvas with its beautiful splashes of violet, magenta, orange, and gold. Twinkling stars peek out from beneath the hues, lighting up the city like the glowing Illumise and Volbeat fluttering through the treetops. It's beautiful and relaxing and the only reason I ever bother to leave my house this late.

Growlithe sniffs my tennis shoes, prancing in place as he waits for me to move. On a normal day, we would've begun our route already, but I don't want to start without our new running partner. That doesn't stop my feet from tapping impatiently, though.

Chance stands a few meters away from me, snapping pictures of Delibird at the park's fountain. Golden hour shots are a must, of course. Delibird relishes in the attention, posing expertly as she acts cute for the camera while advertising her Burbeartic purse. It turns out Pokémon influencers are the new in-thing for brands; viral posts of cute Pokémon doing cute things with your product works wonders for selling that said product.

Once they finish up, Delibird scowls as Chance fishes out her Premier Ball. She huffs as she stuffs her purse into her white sack and stands with her flippers folded across her chest. Chance says an apology, and she shifts her glare to me at his words. It's amazing how quickly she can switch from being an adorable birb to a seething beast.

"Ready to go?" I check as I tighten my ponytail for the last time. "I was thinking of doing an easy mile since it's your first time. It's just a couple of laps around the park."

Chance winces. "A whole mile?"

"It's not that bad," I assure, smiling. "This about it this way: your body will be thanking you later for taking care of it."

He laughs. "How daring of you to assume it'll survive 'til then."

"I'll make sure you make it out alive. Now let's go!"

Not giving him the opportunity to complain, I pull him forward and start jogging. Chance stumbles at first but catches on quick, frowning the slightest as he maintains our medium pace. Growlithe's positivity is enough for all of us as scampers by my side, happy to expel his pent-up energy from the day.

The further we run, the further my thoughts drift away from my head. Before I know it, my mind is left in comforting silence. And when my mind is quiet, well, I get to really listen to the rest of the world.

Sneakers slap the sidewalk in a steady rhythm of one-two, one-two. Labored pants and grunts escape through clenched teeth. Mild gusts rustle leaves from trees and bushes. An early to rise Noctowl hoots. A purring car passes by on the main road.

I turn my head to watch the car disappear, my interest caught by the way the golden sunlight gleamed off of the windows. The driver had been going fast, too fast. Zie had to be driving at least ten miles over the speed limit. Perhaps the driver has places to be, people to see. Life's short.

Just like that, my thoughts creep back up on me. Life is short, it's why I've tried to plan mine out the best I can so I can take advantage of my time here in the land of the living. I need a plan for Chance.

We end our little bout of exercise back where we started at the fountain. Chance folds in half and pants heavily, almost falling into the fountain in the process. He wobbles as he regains his balance, and he looks thoughtfully at the pool of water.

"Don't," I say, catching my breath enough to warn him not to succumb to his impulses.

He groans and proceeds to (un)gracefully flop onto the ground. Growlithe barks and scampers to his side, sniffing his face before licking his cheek. Chance lazily swats the pup away, and Growlithe retreats to my side.

"How about," I begin, staring at his crumpled form, "how about we met when I was on one of my runs? I started running a lot more after Juliette got busy with Theo. You were out taking photos, and I crashed into you because Growlithe was distracting me."

Chance hums in thought. "Alright, sure. After you tackled me, though, you scraped your knee. I happened to have a band-aid in my backpack, so I patched you up and you fell in love with my gentlemanly charms."

As if my pride wasn't bruised enough for being a klutz bumping into him, now I'm sustaining injuries from the hypothetical wound. My snark accidentally escapes me as I say, "Of course, because when I think 'Chance Lively,' I think 'gentlemanly charms.'"

He chuckles, taking my sarcasm with ease. "I'll have you know it's quite synonymous. If you look it up in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of my face next to it."

"Sure, whatever you say."

I take a seat on the sidewalk beside him, and we spend the next hour discussing our relationship's backstory. To thank Chance for his gentlemanly charms, I'd brought him some of my famous homemade cinnamon buns. That action gave him the idea to take me to his favorite bakery, and it became a tradition for us to share pastries while walking around town. However, we only ever walked on Cherrygrove's mostly forgotten wild trails which encircle Sunflora Park which is why no one has ever seen us together.

"But then there's Jewels," I lament, drawing my knees to my chest and resting my chin on them. "She knows something weird's going on between us."

He quirks a brow. "Are you sure? On a scale of one to ten, how close is your guys' close?"

"Ten out of ten. Actually, no, I'm a hundred percent certain we're a solid eleven on the closeness scale. We're practically sisters."

Or, well, at least we used to be.

Emo hours fit me full-force as I let out a small sigh and stare at the cracks in the sidewalk. "I'll be honest: what happened sucks. Losing someone you care about because they've made you their second-place hurts."

A cool breeze carries through the park, and the briskness of it slaps me awake. I'm throwing myself a pity-party and forcing my woes onto another. No one should have to put up with my crap. Guilt sucker-punches me in the stomach at once.

I backtrack quickly, rushing to say, "It's not that big of a deal now, though. I've already gotten through the worst part which was accepting everything." I manage a half-hearted giggle. "I'm good now. I've got bigger problems to worry about, like becoming the Champion of the Indigo League. That's all I need to focus on. Yup, that's it."

Chance casts me a side-long glance, studying me like how he focuses in on a shot. He notes with a faint trace of humor in his voice, "I know you said I'm a bad liar, but you need to work on your skills some yourself." He then faces away and rubs his neck, adding on, "But if you need to be someone's number one, you can be mine. You know, as long as I'm yours. We're stuck in this mess together, aren't we?"

His adorable display makes my heart skip a beat, and I find myself wanting to protect his confused, kind-hearted self forever. What a sweet but chaotic soul; he's precious. Wrapping him in a one-armed hug, I say, "Thanks, Chance. It means a lot."

He ruffles my hair, making me cry out in protest as he chuckles and says, "We're in this together, Pres. Come Tuesday morning, we're leaving this town to take down Johto and maybe even Kanto if you're up for kicking names and taking ass after demolishing our own Gym Leaders."

"I love kicking names and taking ass."

"You know what I meant."

"Mm, sure."

"Arf!"

Growlithe turns in a circle and nods to the east where the house is. I groan and pick myself up to my feet, wincing as my legs burn in protest. I should've stretched more.

"It's getting late," I say. "This was fun. We should do this again tomorrow, you know, if you want to. Get fit before the big journey."

Chance makes a series of caveman grunts as he struggles to stand up himself. "Sounds good to me. Be careful walking home, alright? Don't run into any other guys on your way out; you might get swept off your feet by their gentlemanly charms and awesome Digcraft band-aids."

"I can't believe my standards in men are based off of how they treat my injuries with their super cool band-aids."

"Not just any super cool band-aids, but Digcraft band-aids."

"Of course." I wave at him. "Goodnight, Chance. Take care going home."

He lifts his hand in a wave. "You too, Pres. 'Night."

The gentle, warm glow of the lamplights keep me and Growlithe company on our way home. In a way, I feel connected to them. For the first time since Juliette dropped her bomb on me, I see a light in the darkness. Hope. There's a chance everything will still turn out okay.

‒‒‒‒‒

Question of the Chapter

If you went on a Pokémon journey, would you travel alone or in a group?

Art

ImberLapis makes amazing graphics!!!!