A/N: This chapter, in my opinion, is the most boring, so if you find yourself in agreement with me, please keep reading on, it does get better! This is my first fic as well, so I hope you will forgive me if it's not a masterpiece. I can't get any better, though, unless I get some feedback, so please take time to leave a helpful review!

Disclaimer: I know that this will come as a shock to you, but – I don't own Pokemon. No joke.

LEIGH AND THE CHILDREN

By Qwara

Chapter One: The Thief Girl

Leigh leaned against the raspberry red door that entered into the side of a seemingly ordinary row house. It didn't have much curb appeal, as it was located in the center of the city slums. The paint on the door was fading and peeling, and the vinyl siding was clinging to the outside walls only by a thread. Leigh wiped some of the paint chips from the door off of her black leather jacket and onto the cracked pavement that covered the narrow alley she was standing in.

A black wide-brimmed hat shadowed Leigh's face. The heavy jacket she wore made her look shapeless, and her dark auburn hair was very short and was completely covered by the hat. She could have easily been mistaken for a male. Why would a lady be standing around so casually in such seedy parts, anyway? She smiled faintly and shoved her right hand into the pocket of her faded baggy jeans and leaned in closer to the door, her ear covering the tiny crack next to it that separated the door from the outside wall.

"…looked like…I…never forget… golden eyes," whimpered an exasperated female voice. Leigh narrowed her eyes. She had heard that voice before.

"I…she is…take care…her," replied a deep, brassy masculine voice. This voice was familiar to her, too, but she felt relieved to hear this one.

Leigh couldn't make out every word they said, but she didn't need to. She knew that the two people inside were talking about her. Everyone Leigh had ever met commented on her strange eye color, and asked her if she was born with them. To everyone's disappointment, Leigh told each of them that they were only colored contact lenses. Her eyes were actually a dark brown; she never liked them much.

The deep male voice she heard belonged to her father's friend, Duke Mahogany. He was a hit man; an excellent one, at that. Leigh wasn't troubled by the fact that the woman was trying to hire him. Leigh's father was very powerful – Duke couldn't afford to kill his friend's daughter. Leigh was, however, surprised that the woman had resorted to hiring someone like Duke to kill her.

Sure, Leigh had kidnapped the woman's Clefairy, but she hadn't seemed like the vengeful type. Not that it mattered anyway. Leigh was untouchable. She was the daughter of the leader of the Paradise Team.

Leigh knew that the things that the Paradise Team did wasn't moral or right. If she had been given the choice, Leigh probably wouldn't have joined. But her father was the leader – and he didn't think there was anything wrong with the Paradise Team, so Leigh wasn't allowed to think that there was either.

Leigh was only twelve when her father had her join. She recalled her first kidnapping. She had gone along with her brother Thomas to kidnap a Pikachu, fabled to be extraordinarily strong and could be sold on the black market for thousands, perhaps millions. The preteen Leigh was heartbroken when she saw the crushed look on its trainer's face when he realized that his companion had been stolen. But Leigh quickly learned how to ignore her conscience. Kidnapping a Pokemon had to be done quickly and quietly – there wasn't any time to ponder whether it was immoral.

Leigh stood up straight and began to make her way back to the main street so that she could return to the Paradise Team Headquarters. There was nothing left for her to do; Duke would take care of the rest.

She looked up to the sky as she exited the alley. It was a lovely day – the sun shone brightly against the bright blue skies. The sky was nearly cloudless except for a few white, fluffy clouds resting on the horizon. Leigh noted how perfect the day was; but she didn't think about it much longer. She then tripped over something lying on the sidewalk and fell flat on her face.

She groaned and slowly sat up, wiping blood off of her face, scratched by the cement. She looked back at whatever had caused her to fall, and realized that it was a man; and then Leigh realized that not all of the blood she was wiping off of herself was hers. She saw that the man had a knife driven deep into his chest, with a crumpled piece of paper stuffed in his mouth. This wouldn't have startled Leigh since it was perhaps the worst part of town – but what did startle her was that the man was Duke.

Stunned, she quickly crawled over to him and took the paper out of his mouth. Leigh wasn't surprised that he was attacked since he was a hit man – but she was surprised that he had lost. He was a huge, muscular man; most people would run at the sight of him, not even thinking about attacking him.

Leigh flattened the piece of paper out on the sidewalk, and read in sloppy handwriting:

"I know who you are, Leigh Paradise; and I'm going to find you, you rotten thief!"

The note wasn't signed. Leigh shoved it into her pocket and quickly drew herself up to her feet. She had never been threatened before. If the woman in the room had killed Duke, she would have had access to all of the files he stored in his office. That was bad news for Leigh – bad news for the Paradise Team. She would have to leave; but where? After she had thought of a destination, she walked briskly across the street.

There was trouble in Paradise.