Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or Leaf would have been in the Anime and pairings would be canon.
AN: This story features Gary and Leaf when they were younger, and after they've grown up. To clarify, while in the Anime, Ash and Gary were neighbours all the while, in this story, Gary and Leaf were neighbours first, and Ash moves into Pallet Town later. This is my first Pokemon fanfic, so thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy it(: All reviews are much appreciated(:
Prologue
When Gary first learnt that his new neighbour next door was going to be a girl, he scorned.
Growing up under the care of his older sister, Daisy, and his grandfather, the famous Professor Oak – or 'Gramps' as he called him, had given him one of the most stifling childhood despite its perks. There had been no one to play battle against, no one to go on adventures with, and even at the young age, he had been forced to learn as much as he could about Pokemon, robbing him of the fun he would have had learning about it like everyone else.
While it did make him the top student in his school and the envy of everyone else's eyes, Gary failed to enjoy it. What he truly wanted was a playmate. Someone he could finally let his hair down around, someone who could make him forget who was: the grandson of Professor Oak, a potential future Pokemon researcher. And in his opinion, that didn't come in the form of a girl.
Sure, she might have been his age, but it didn't quite matter. From what he had seen at home, girls had no interest in battling, or getting muddy and dirty trying to catch a wild Pokemon. All they dabbled in was boring Pokemon dramas and cooking, neither of which were in his to-do wish list and he didn't need that.
He needed another boy like him, eager to learn about Pokemon hands on, and eager to explore the rest of Kanto beyond tiny Pallet Town.
It was perhaps for that reason that he never bothered to see who the girl was the day she moved in and instead, locked himself in with his pile of homework. He would get to know her soon enough anyway. Daisy had mentioned that she was also enrolled in his school.
Bleh, as though he wanted to see her.
'Girls have cooties,' he recalled saying. 'And they're boring. They don't like anything that doesn't glitter or have cute stuff.'
It was true; the girls in his class had a limited attention span. The moment their eyes caught on to something sparkly, it was as though all sense of studiousness flew out of the window. Anything that everyone in class heard for the next few moments would be about that sparkly thing, and it drove Gary nuts having lessons being interrupted by such silly things.
Daisy hadn't shared his amusement though. 'Just be nice to her. Leaf's not like others. It won't be the same.'
Lies.
Gary didn't take her words seriously. He didn't see the point especially since his sister was always trying to get him to be more accepting and less cynical. Long used to it, he was certain that it was going to be the same this time. Going to school and ending up telling her when he got home that the new girl, or Leaf, squealed at the shiny butterfree magnet Mrs. Linch placed on the whiteboard.
In fact, he was so convinced that his deductions were correct, that not once did it strike him that perhaps his sister may not have said that because she wanted him to be nice to his neighbour. That maybe she had said it because Leaf truly was special.
He never considered the possibility, right up till the moment he got to class.
For when his eyes finally laid upon her, and his ears registered what Mrs. Linch was saying, Gary realised how wrong he had been the whole time. Leaf wasn't like everybody else, Leaf was indeed different.
He felt a short pang of guilt...
Leaf was blind.