"You don't understand, Professor Stein!" Maka cried out, frustrated. "I have to go on a journey, and I will! I will beat the gym leaders! You're a Pokémon professor- you of all people should understand!"

Professor Stein's Leavanny stirred from behind him. Leavanny assisted him in his stitching obsession. "Maka, your childhood friend Ethan just moved to Violet City! You cannot go on a journey without a companion that is your age, which is unlikely that anyone would move into that house with someone aspiring to be a trainer! So for the last time, no! And if you defy us, I will make sure that no one in New Bark Town, including your mother, assists you in your journey if you have no partner! It is more dangerous than you think, Maka!"

Maka stormed out of the lab, exasperated from attempting to persuade the professor. Contrary to her claims, she wouldn't last all the way to Cherrygrove, much less to defeating the champion without the support of the town. And that would only be if Professor Stein would give her a starter Pokémon, which he absolutely refused to do.

Then again, there was always the new family moving in. But what were the chances, really? That anyone would be her age was highly improbable. However, there was always a small chance, if even one in a million.

A few days later, Maka happened to look out her window after waking up to her alarm, and she saw him. A boy that seemed to be her age. Shocked, Maka dropped her book. The albino boy in her line of sight suddenly turned toward her and, making eye contact with her, gave a flirty wave with a wide smile accompanied with a wink. Maka's eyes grew wide in surprise, and ducked out of sight, flustered, because no boy had ever done that. Plus, there was also the fact that the boy was really attractive, which Maka decided to pointedly ignore.

The red-eyed boy that was moving into the house across from hers became downcast, his face falling. Glimpsing a bedroom with a window parallel to Maka's, he prayed to have that bedroom. "Come on, Soul! This is the ideal place to start a journey, but if you ever want to start, get moving!" Soul's mother called. Sighing, Soul shuffled over to his mom, ready to do whatever she needed. Soul did want to go on a journey, after all.

Maka went to sleep with the strange boy on her mind. Would he want to go on a journey with her?

Soul was sure that his mom would never let him go on a journey without a companion. Soul went to sleep with the girl on his mind. Would she want to go on a journey with him?

Both slept restlessly.

Maka, hearing her alarm go off, abruptly hopped out of bed, immediately awake as her phone blasted At the Mercy of a Dream.

Soul groggily awoke to the most beautiful music. Rubbing his eyes, he climbed out of bed, yawning and shivering, as he forgot to close his window the night before. Instant nosebleed. Soul stared until he was in danger of being discovered, fascinated with the girl in that house. He'd been the ultimate player in his last town, but he'd never had nosebleeds, especially ones caused by a flat-chested girl. Maybe it was the music. Whatever it was, he decided to keep that morning to himself.

Maka heard a knock at her front door, and she put down her book, ticked off slightly because she had to get the door- her mom was at the Pokémart. As she headed to the stairs, the morning sleepiness hit her and she yawned, fixing her long hair into a ponytail, too lazy to do her regular pigtails.

Another knock. Apparently she wasn't fast enough. Sweeping down the stairs, she shouted, "I'm coming, chill it! Can you not wait 15 seconds?!" Opening the door, she saw the albino boy from earlier. Soul grinned knowingly, trying not to laugh at her mortified expression.

"So I heard that you want to start a journey?" he asked.

"Ah, yes. I'm Maka. Sorry for shouting, I'm easily annoyed when I'm reading."

"No problem. Anyway, I'm Soul." He smirked, giving a look that caught him "all the girls". Maka, unfortunately for Soul, didn't seem impressed.

"Do you want to come inside and talk?"

And with that, a new friendship was formed. The next day, they talked to Professor Stein, and received his consent, and each a new Pokémon. Soul chose Chikorita, and Maka chose Cyndaquil.

"I have the strategic advantage in battle- that means that when we battle, you'll have to have a trick up your sleeve, because brawn will not save you this time!"

______________________________________________________________________________

*a month later*

"Soul, we are not going into Dark Cave!" "But Maka-" "No buts! We're going to Violet City!" Maka dragged Soul and his Bayleef away from the cave. Maka could see the connection to Violet City, and decided to postpone her visit with Ethan another day. "Let's camp here," Maka announced, attempting to set up the tent. "Let me help you with that," Soul offered, walking over. After halfway setting up, Soul tripped on a pitched string, bringing Maka down, the tent crashing down on top of them, trapping them extremely close together. Maka's heart suddenly started pounding, and she could feel the blood pulsing through her head, making her lightheaded. She fought to keep down a blush, and she struggled, making the tangle worse, and wound up halfway on top of her partner's chest, breathing in his intoxicating scent, on the edge of hysterics. Reaching down, he awkwardly detangled them both from the tent wreckage, as Maka was incapacitated. "Thanks," Maka panted, her heart racing still.

After a few more breaths, Maka stated, "Well, that was fun. How about a do-over?"

______________________________________________________________________________

"Oh, no," Maka complained. "A Zigzagoon must have torn up my sleeping bag!" "It's because you smell nice. Like fruit," Soul remarked. "Oh, thanks, Mr. Genius. That was so helpful." Maka informed him.

"Hey, you could share sleeping bags with me, just for tonight. I mean, we're pretty close to Violet City- you could buy a new one tomorrow. All the Pokémarts would be closed by now." Maka considered his offer. "That's reasonable, but I'm not that desperate. You don't have to be self-righteous, and it'll probably be warm tonight, anyway." Maka countered swiftly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shivering, Maka was beginning to regret not taking Soul up on his offer. She tried to cover as much as she could with her torn sleeping bag, but it was virtually impossible to keep insulated. Maka didn't want to freeze to death. The skin on her arms rose in gooseflesh, and she cursed herself for not packing warmer clothes. At around midnight or so, she eventually crept to Soul's sleeping bag and slid in, nestling next to him, and fell asleep against her best friend. Ethan was second best- journeys were worth more than Maka's childhood to her. And also the fact that Maka was undeniably attracted to her partner, making it hard for her to stay away from him.

Soul awoke to light breathing and movement next to him. Realizing what had happened, he smiled slightly and stared at his pretty companion. The worry lines faded when she was asleep, and she looked like a child. Soul couldn't help admiring his partner- and he reluctantly admitted that maybe, just maybe, he had a very slight crush on her- the first actual feelings of affection towards someone other than those in his family. In other words, above friend level. Still smiling, he attempted to wriggle out of the bag, but Maka, only half asleep, quietly mumbled, "Soul, stayyyy...don't leave me."

Soul decided that it was safest to do what she said.

__________________________

"Maka, is that you?" Ethan stared at her, unable to believe his eyes. "Ethan!" Maka enveloped her friend in a huge hug. "How are you?"
Ethan laughed at his overexcited friend. "Just fine, thank you very much." Finally noticing Soul (along with his jealous expression), Ethan's face split into a wide smile.
"Oh. Did you finally get a boyfriend after all these years, Maka?" he teased, nudging her. Maka's face remains with a terrible attempt of a poker face as she drags Ethan away. She whispered to him, "No more boyfriend cracks, okay? Even if I know that he doesn't know that I know that he used to be the ultimate player, it's impossible for me not to like him. You're my best friend, but any more jokes like that, and I will tear out your intestines and force feed them to your Marill. Are we clear?"

From what Soul could tell, Maka and Ethan were having a very serious conversation. Soul had heard that tone of voice before- it meant that when she was pissed off, she wasn't above murder. Ethan suddenly seemed extremely frightened, and Soul chuckled. Journeys can make you extremely tough.
There was, however, a prikle of unease that emanated from Ethan that Soul brushed off as just nerves. Soul worried about not being good enough to be Maka's best friend- what if he didn't match up to Ethan? What if Maka saw Ethan and thought, 'You know what? This dude is so much cooler than Soul- I'll take him along and ditch the loser!'

Of course, Maka thought nothing of the sort.

"Let's go beat the Kimono Girls' butts!" Maka yelled, bolting toward the dance hall at top speed. Behind her, Soul and Ethan shared a glance, then laughed. "Maka will never change." Soul stated, and Ethan agreed.

"I hope that's part of what you love about her," Ethan affirmed. Soul nodded absently, then stopped, asking, "Wait- where did you get that idea?!" Soul asked.
Ethan shrugged while smiling. Soul was a tough case, but at least he wasn't denying it. "It's pretty obvious- I've been lovelorn myself and I have a girlfriend myself now, so I can tell these things."
"You have a girlfriend?" two voices inquired. Soul looked up, astonished at Maka's voice chiming in with his.
"Wh-when did you get here?" Soul asked.
Maka smiled innocently. "Long enough to know that I want to meet Ethan's girlfriend."

And so they did.
"Ethan! How did you not mention the fact that she's over-the-top?"

Lyra had long, wavy caramel-colored hair that was constantly up in a high ponytail. It matched well with her lovely almond-shaped, deep chestnut colored eyes. Steady and focused, her eyes drifted back and forth from the two newcomers calmly, her expression relaxed in a smile. Her perfectly coordinated outfit fit her slim, lithe body well, which Soul and Maka could clearly see as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. She tucked a curled strand of loose hair to the sides of her heart-shaped, charming face, the long side fringe complementing her fair, golden skin tone.

Dazzled into petrification, Soul only stared as Maka exclaimed, "How did someone astoundingly pretty like you end up with Ethan??!"

Lyra blew a strand out of her face before replying. "Well, if I may say so, that comment is quite judgemental. I have heard much about you from Ethan, Maka." She gave Maka a small smile.
She turned toward the albino of the group and frowned. "And who, then, are you?" Her musical voice rang out with disapproval.

"That's Soul, Maka's journeying partner. And love interest." Ethan elaborates while Maka silently glares at him from beside the starstruck Soul.
"Ethan...this is your second chance. Three strikes, and you'll be knocked out."

Lyra laughed lightly. "Oh, I like her. Ethan, you told me she was headstrong, but you didn't say she was funny!"

The dark-haired boy under Maka's threatening gaze sweatdropped and dryly stated, "You think that the fact that I could very possibly die in the next few minutes is funny...? You may be even more twisted than the one giving the death threats."

Lyra's expression quickly changed into one of an irritated, hostile deadpan. "Keep talking, and I'll be the one who executes them." Morphing back to her previous happy attitude, she added, "I think I'll keep hanging out with Maka."
This snapped Soul from his revelry. "Wow, why did we have to get the bipolar ones?" Soul joined Ethan as they both cowered under the intense anger radiating from the combined forces of Maka and Lyra.

The two girls silently nodded at each other in agreement and both grabbed the back of their partner's jackets, dragging them to the upper floor of the Pokemon center as they drew and ignored the curious squints of bystanders.

"Two on two battle, please," announced Lyra, once they'd let the boys brush themselves off.

"Couldn't you have been a bit more gentle? My back hurts," Ethan whined loudly.

Soul chimed in. "So you want to battle me and Maka?" Lyra turned a cold, fierce fire burning in her eyes, a determined set to her jaw.

"No. WE are battling you and ETHAN."
Yet again stunned into silence, the best Soul could do was follow behind the girls into the battle room.

"Go, Togekiss!"
"You've got this! Hold out, Typhlosion!"
"Keep your cool! Meganium!"
"Go for it, Marill!"
Soul just looked at Ethan. "Dude, you haven't evolved your Marill?"

"It doesn't want to change! Anyway, I have the speed advantage."
Soul shrugged, his attention shifting to the battle, determined to win.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nooooooo.....!" Soul cried out, his last Pokémon fainting. Ethan wasn't doing much better, his last Pokémon in the red.

A well-aimed Extreme Speed from Lyra's sturdy Togekiss took down the rest of its health easily, and Ethan collapsed in disbelief. "I can't believe I lost....they work together better than ME and Lyra, and we've been partners for YEARS!"

Sharing an energitic high five, the two girls walked out after recalling their teams, both leaving the two guys behind. "So how did you and Ethan meet?"

"Oh, it's actually a pretty funny story! It involves a pool table, a spark plug, and a chess set. So Ethan has always been sour about this, but..." They exited the room, their animated voices fading.

"Wow, our girlfriends are great."
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Yes, she is."
"No, she's not!"
"So you're willing to just let someone else come along and steal her heart?"
"No..." Soul admitted, embarrassed.
"I can tell, she likes you! Don't let this chance pass you by!" Ethan passionately exclaimed. "You need to weigh two things: would you feel worse regretting it forever, or would you feel worse if she rejected you? With the latter, at least you tried. Plus, she wouldn't reject you- I can guarantee it."
Soul hesitated, then nodded. "I'll take that into account. Thanks for the advice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You guys haven't beaten the gym yet? Guess we'll need to stay another day," Maka grinned.

"What can I say? We got carried away. Literally. By you." Soul stated, frustrated.

"Never mind that. We must stay in this town another day before going our separate ways, as you two could not complete even the most simple of tasks," Lyra gave Soul the evil eye for about the seventh time that day, not like anyone was really counting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How cliché can you get? Sticking me and Soul in one bed?"

"Well, I mean, I am Ethan's girlfriend. And Soul is your partner."

Maka hesitated. "Can't I sleep with you?"

Lyra gave a fond laugh that filled up the whole room. "People would think Soul and Ethan gay. It would even seem like that to us."

"I guess, but-"

"I'm bisexual, so I don't really care, and in fact I actually find you rather attractive, Maka, but as far as I know, my boyfriend's about as straight as a tree trunk," Lyra cut her off, "unless..."
She glanced apprehensively at Ethan. He shook his head in response.

"I'm not gay, Lyra. You know that." She shrugged.

"Just checking, Ethan. You never know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Goodnight, guys."

Three other voices answered with the appropriate response as Ethan switched off the light, and Maka looked over at Soul. Through the dimness, his outline faced away from her. On the other side of the room, Ethan snored lightly. Lyra wondered whether she'd be able to sleep in peace without havig to murder her devoted boyfriend.

Eventually, Soul and Lyra both passed out from exhaustion. Maka got comfortable in the bed, so relieved to no longer rest in a sleeping bag. Flipping over her pillow, she glanced at Soul again who was snoring up a symphony with Lyra's boyfriend, his mouth wide open. Maka sighed and faced away from him, curling up on her side. Closing her eyes and willing herself to not move a muscle and shut down her brain, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: So I haven't updated in forever lololol
And I became obsessed with Mystic Messenger
sO I NEED SOME HELP
BUT I'M OKAY
also.....

This is my birthday present to the amazing TheShinyUmbreon
Like, she's just so cool. I couldn't physically give her a present, but this is her surprise!! (lololol she told me not to give her anything, but I don't take no for an answer. her birthday's on the ninth but I couldn't resist posting it early lololol)
While we're at it, does anyone have any requests or suggestions? I'm having trouble with finding prompts and ideas.