Another burningleaf! I couldn't help myself XD. Hope you like, enjoy!
Leaf opened her bedroom window to reveal the outside town, and her home, Pallet Town. Today felt somewhat different for some reason, but Leaf couldn't tell why...until the neighbor's door opened and a figure walked out. Leaf recognized the figure as her mysterious neighbor, Red. A mystery because no matter how she hard she tried, she could never get to know him well since he always stayed inside and refused to speak a word if he's spoken to, but today would be different and Leaf remembered why. The Pokémon lab had been finished and has invited the whole town in order to get to know the community. To Leaf, this just meant a big opportunity to understand her mysterious neighbor.
Leaf noticed that Red had looked up to see her and she quickly gave a smile and a big wave, to which his response was a nod and a quick U-turn back into his home. Leaf quickly ran to her desk and opened a note book that was dedicated to the findings and events that have occurred between them.
'September 27,' she wrote, 'Red came out of his house and saw me at my window when I was looking outside. Managed to get a response when I waved at him...he retreated to his house afterwards.'
"So far I've only found out that he doesn't talk...much, he doesn't look at anyone (though we've managed to make eye contact before), and I've heard that he lost his father...just like me." Leaf said to herself before she laughed, "If I keep this up and he finds this, he'll think I'm a stalker." She looked at her previous entries and noticed that they dated back three years, each and everyone stating her encounter with Red in the date entry, "...oh my god, I am a stalker." Flipping through some of the previous pages she came to her first entry, "I remember this entry, it the one that kept this notebook from becoming a diary three years ago."
'December 26, I've received this notebook yesterday and thought about making a diary, but I have found a better use for it. Today I saw the neighbor...Red, I think was his name...I bumped into him on my way home, LITERALLY, and as he helped me stand I realized...I don't know him at all. I decided to try and get to know him, but when I thanked him he nodded and left. I've decided to get to know him as best as I can...with a little detective work.'
"...yep, I've reached stalker status." Leaf sighed as she closed the notebook and headed downstairs, "Maybe I should give up?"
"Leaf, could you ask the neighbor if we could borrow some sugar and an egg?" her mother asked.
"What?" Leaf asked, "That's a bit to ask isn't it? We don't even know them that well."
"That's not true." her mother replied, "I'm good friends with our neighbor, and I've heard from her that you know their son. They say that if he says something, it's about you. Quit playing around or we won't have a pastry for the new neighbors."
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Leaf timidly made her way to Red's house and hesitated at the door for a bit before knocking. A few moments passed before Red answered the door, opening it wide enough to show half his face. Leaf froze stiff as he stared at her with a serious expression before Leaf managed to speak, "U-uh, h-hi-" Red closed the door mid sentence and Leaf stood dumbstruck at what had occurred for a few moments before the door opened again completely and revealed a woman around her own mother's age.
"Hi, sorry about my son, he's a little shy." the woman replied.
"R-really?" Leaf asked, still shocked.
"Oh, aren't you the neighbors daughter?" Red's mother asked, "Leaf right?"
"Ah, yes." Leaf replied, "My mom asked if we could borrow some sugar and an egg."
"Of course, come in while I get them for you." Red's mother replied and Leaf followed." Unsurprisingly to Leaf, the inside of Red's home was similar in structure to her own, mirrored though. "Why don't you go upstairs and say hello to Red?" Red's mother asked, "He rarely talks, but when he does it's about you."
"R-really?" Leaf asked, "What's he say?"
"Why don't you ask him?" Red's mother replied, "You might be able to help him get out more." Leaf was about to say no, but instantly thought of this as an opportunity to find out more about the mystery that is Red. She nodded and headed up the steps, but when she opened the door that led to Red's room, he was nowhere to be found.
"Red?" Leaf called out as she looked around until a notebook on Red's desk caught her attention. 'I wonder if he draws?' she thought to herself as she opened the notebook to the first page and noticed that it was a journal entry...dating December 26.
'Never thought I'd use this notebook, but I need to keep track of what I discover about a girl I ran into today, my neighbor Leaf. She's...different compared to the other girls in town...but I can't straight up ask her about herself.'
Leaf stared in surprise at the page she had just read, "He...he's been trying to get to know me?" She quickly flipped the pages to a random entry dated October 22 of last year.
'Saw Leaf and her mother cleaning their yard while I did ours. Leaf began to play in the leaves, making a bigger mess that what they had before...she looks cute when she smiles.'
Leaf blushed and quickly flipped the pages to the latest entry, dated today.
'Saw Leaf at her window today...she smiled at me and waved hello, and what did I do? Nod and ran back into my house like always...I'm embarrassed.'
'Leaf came to my door just now and again I pulled a stupid stunt...I shut the door in her face...DAMN IT! Why can't I just talk to her!?'
"Leaf?" Red's mother called out, causing Leaf to jump in surprise and quickly closed the notebook before making her way back downstairs, "I've got what you asked for, did you manage to talk to Red?"
"Huh? Oh, no, he wasn't in his room." Leaf replied as she took the items she came for.
"I'm sorry, He's just really shy." Red's mother replied.
"Its ok, I'm sure I'll see him at the lab later." Leaf replied as she headed for the door, "Thank you for everything."
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"I don't know what to do!" Leaf said to herself as she gripped her head in frustration while pacing in her room, "This whole time we've been investigating each other! I-I feel excited yet furious that I couldn't figure it out!"
"Leaf, are you ready?" her mother called out, "We'll be leaving soon!" Leaf stopped pacing and realized she hadn't changed.
'Should I just go like this?' she thought as she examined herself in the mirror. She was wearing her favorite casual clothes, a light blue shirt, red skirt, light blue knee socks that were ruffled down so that they reached halfway, and white tennis shoes.
"Leaf?" her mom called out.
"I'm coming!" Leaf replied hurriedly. She froze at her door and quickly ran back to her desk for her white hat before running downstairs.
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Leaf felt like it would take forever to find Red. She and her mother had arrived five minutes ago, but the whole town was already there. Looking through the crowd of familiar faces, she spotted Red's mother...but no Red.
"Huh, where is he?" she asked herself before her mother approached along with an older man.
"Leaf, this is Professor Oak." her mother explained, "Professor, this is my daughter Leaf."
"Pleased to meet you Leaf." Oak greeted, "I've heard from your mother that you want to become a Pokémon trainer."
"Oh, yes I do." Leaf replied, "I'll actually be old enough to get my own Pokémon in two months."
"Really?" Oak asked, "My grandson will be old enough next month, maybe you two could start out together."
"U-umm...I...I don't know." Leaf replied.
"Sorry, I'm not trying to force you into it." Oak added, "It was only a suggestion. I look forward to seeing you when you come back to pick out your first Pokémon."
"Same." Leaf replied, "Umm...I don't want to sound rude, but I'm trying to find someone..."
"Oh, don't let me keep you, go ahead." Oak said with a smile.
"Thanks." Leaf replied before heading outside to find Red. Once she managed to get outside, she searched all around the lab area to see if she could find Red, but he was nowhere in sight. "I should've known he wouldn't be here..." she sighed.
"Hey." a voice called out. Leaf spun around, having high hopes that it was Red calling out to her, but she was instead met with another person, a boy around her age with spiky orange hair, "Name's Gary. I heard from gramps that you wanted to be a Pokémon trainer."
"Uhh, I'm Leaf," Leaf replied, "and I do want to be a Pokémon trainer."
"What do you say I help you out?" the Gary asked, "After all, we wouldn't want you to end up with losers now, would we?"
"And just what do you mean by that?" Leaf asked, offended.
"Take that Red kid I met earlier as an example." the Gary replied, "He just gave me the cold shoulder as soon as I looked at him! He probably doesn't have any friends."
"He's just shy, you jerk!" Leaf snapped.
"Whoa there, what are you his girlfriend?" Gary snorted, "I wouldn't be surprised, losers need to infect one other person to survive. Looks like you're a loser too. I don't know why I wasted my time talking to-" Gary was cut off as a fist connected with his cheek and sent him flying. Confused, he looked around for his attacker and found Red in front of Leaf.
"Listen good, Gary." Red threatened, "You could call me a loser all you like, I don't care, but if I hear you call Leaf a loser one more time, I'm going to make sure that you can't talk for a week!"
"I'll get you for this, you'll see." Gary replied as he got up and walked away while Red turned to Leaf.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you Red." Leaf replied as she hugged him, but quickly pulled back with a blush which was mirrored on Red as well, "S-so...I-"
"I'm sorry." Red interrupted, "For slamming the door in your face. I guess I...kind of panicked."
"Kind of?" Leaf laughed, "Anyway, it should be me who's apologizing...I read the notebook on your desk." Red's blush deepened.
"Ah...really?" he asked.
"Yeah, you're such a stalker." Leaf replied.
"WHAT!? N-no! T-that's not it!" Red quickly replied and Leaf laughed.
"I know, I'm playing with you." Leaf reassured, "To tell you the truth, I kind of have a similar journal..."
"Now who's the stalker?" Red laughed and Leaf joined. The both of them talked for a few minutes until Leaf began to look nervous, "Something wrong?"
"U-umm...Red...did you really mean what you wrote?" Leaf asked shyly as she looked away to hide her blush, "A-about how I'm...cute when I smile?" Red froze stiff.
'Crap! I knew I shouldn't have written that!' he thought, 'What does this mean!? Did she like that? Does she think I'm weird!?'
"Red?" Leaf called out and Red snapped back.
"I-I, uhh, well...yeah...I did." he replied before his mother came out of nowhere.
"There you are Red." she exclaimed before she saw Leaf, "Oh, so you did get to talk after all?" Leaf nodded and Red looked both of them with a confused face.
"Leaf!" her mother called out as she approached, "Time to go...oh, you must be Red." Red nodded in response.
"We should get going too Red, it's getting late...but if you want to talk a bit more..." his mother added as she lead Leaf's mother away, "don't stay out long." Leaf's mother got the idea and followed without protest while Red and Leaf looked back at each other.
"I guess...we go home now." Leaf commented.
"I guess so." Red replied as Leaf turned to leave before he grabbed her hand, "Wait...uhhh...do you...want to hang out tomorrow?" Leaf couldn't hold back (or rather, didn't even try to hold back) the smile that appeared on her face.
"Of course!" she replied and Red nodded as he let her hand slip out of his. He watched her run to catch up to her mother while he himself turned back to the river and looked up at the moon before he heard foots steps and saw that Leaf had returned. She placed a hand on his shoulder, stood on her toes to get closer (as she has stopped a few inches away), and kissed him on the cheek.
"See you tomorrow!" she whispered before running back to her house and Red went back to looking at the moon, except this time he had a big smile plastered on his face.