1. Midori

She always believed that would live a fairly normal life. After spending most of her childhood in the rural town of Twinleaf in the region of Sinnoh, she was filled with a sense of boredom. Her days were set on repeat, living her life by routine to the point where she hardly even noticed the passing of time. By the time her seventeenth birthday had rolled around, Leafia couldn't quite believe the person she had become after so many years. Dark locks of hair which she had refused to cut short, lay contently by her stomach and her eyes were a weak shade of brown.

Nothing about her screamed attention. Leafia Midori was the type to fade right into the background. She was simply a shadow of a person, happy to float through life alone. However, a shadow cannot exist without light. Dawn-Louisa Garcia was just that. They met on Leafia's first day of school after moving up north to the Sinnoh region. She was six years old and her new classmates were intrigued by her; it wasn't often that any foreigners moved to such a cold climate, after all. They were friendly enough but they plagued her with questions about everything; from her previous life in the Kanto region to the gangs that ruled there. Leafia was terribly bewildered, looking up at a sea of light-haired, pale-skinned children who had lived in the chill of the cold all of their lives.

Her prayers were answered however, as another young girl simply walked up behind Leafia and asked her classmates to stop bothering the new girl. Amazingly enough, they listened to her. This girl had a huge presence and her authority amazed young Leafia, to say the least. The children began to walk away, going back to playing games and running around. Leafia simply stared at this girl in awe. Her hair was a radiant midnight-blue, tied up in a ponytail.

"Hello, I'm Dawn!" she smiled without a hint of hesitation. "What's your name?"

"I...I'm Leafia. Leafia Midori," she replied timidly, a certain edge to her voice.

"Leafia? What a pretty name!" Dawn squealed, her eyes sparkling. This girl honestly frightened her when they first met, as they were exact opposites. Everything about Dawn shined, from her bubbly personality to her dazzling smile. Although Leafia was apprehensive at first, she slowly learned to trust Dawn and they had stayed friends ever since then. Leafia remembered their first meeting well, despite it's simplicity. Dawn was the only friend she had after moving away from Kanto and she treasured her a lot, despite never showing her feelings on the outside. She did not wish to be so stoic, it was just how she was. Dawn always used to say that Leafia should smile more, apparently it made her look so radiant. Leafia would simply avert her eyes to the ground, pretending not to have heard. She has smiled before, of course, but those times were few and far between.

As she grew older, she began to forget about her previous life in Kanto. Memories faded, and as a result she forgot the faces of the children she used to play with. Another thing she had forgotten was the face of her father, and this was something she didn't wish to happen. Her mother refused to talk about him whenever Leafia happened to raise the question, hastily changing the topic of conversation before her daughter could press her for answers. She knew it was wrong to hide the truth, yet she continued to do so. She wanted to continue protecting her daughter for as long as she could.

Leafia often wondered about her father. She was intent on finding out who he was and why he was never a part of her life. She wondered why her mother decided on such an abrupt move to Sinnoh all those years ago, taking her away from the life she once knew. Nothing made sense; something was missing.

However, she had made many wonderful memories from her time here in Sinnoh. When Leafia was ten years old, she got her first Pokémon. This was something she remembered vividly, even now, running up the stairs to Professor Rowan's lab in the next town over with Dawn leading the way. The bluenette girl chose her starter right away, a tiny blue penguin called Piplup. Leafia could not choose however, as none of the three Sinnoh starter types appealed to her. She wasn't being ungrateful, she just wasn't attracted to any of the three.

Even after all the other children had left, Leafia was still undecided. The Professor walked up to her and smiled. "You don't want any of them?"

"I...it's not that..." she muttered. "I just don't think any of them are right for me..."

"I have an idea then," he replied, going into his office and coming back promptly, a ball in his hand. He released the creature and Leafia stared in adoration. It was a beautiful red lizard Pokémon with a fiery tail. She knew she'd seen one of these before.

"This is from my homeland..." she murmured quietly, kneeling down to pet its head. It responded back happily, a bright smile on its face. "He certainly is," the professor replied, "I would like you to take care of this Charmander for me. He was supposed to be kept for research purposes but I know he'd be much happier with you."

"Thank you very much, Professor." She then broke out into a huge smile, leaving Dawn shocked as she waited by the door. She'd never seen Leafia this happy before.

"Take care, girls," Professor Rowan nodded. They thanked him once more before leaving the laboratory.

"What a cool Pokémon! I've never seen one of those before!" Dawn squealed as they headed back to Twinleaf town.

"He's one of the starters from my homeland," Leafia replied, as she walked with Charmander still in her arms. It was the best gift she had ever been given. She was going to treasure him with all her heart.

Seven years had passed since then and life in Twinleaf had become a huge normality for Leafia. High school was challenging, but it had its perks. She was a bright girl, despite her shyness, and she put everything into her studies. Leafia always had time for others, however, especially her best friend. Dawn was still the same as she had always been, charismatic and peppy, everything that a true light should be.

Leafia once told Dawn about her theory of the light and the shadow bringing out each other's strengths and Dawn was intrigued by it. After thinking it through, she realised that Leafia - or 'Leaf' as she tended to call her these days - was exactly right. Their qualities complimented each other, and although Dawn had many friends as a result of her personality, Leafia was always the most important one of all.

"I'm her light, huh..." Dawn muttered to herself as she headed home that day, her feet treading through the snow. It was one of the nicest things she had ever been told, and it brought up a lot of memories that had been made as a result of their complimenting differences; such as the time where Dawn was twelve and had become a bit of a brat, refusing to let Piplup evolve. It had become such a problem that she called Leafia and begged her for help. Leafia simply stated that she would be there in two minutes, before hanging up. After arriving, she calmed Dawn down and explained that she had to respect the wishes of her Pokémon, and that evolving would do him a world of good; their bond would strengthen even more as a result of it.

Dawn put all her faith into Leafia that day, and allowed Piplup to evolve. It was the best way forward, and Dawn was glad that she always had Leafia around to help her in these situations.

However, something was constantly lingering in the back of Leafia's mind, awakening itself every time she laid her head down on her pillow and closed her eyes. As happy as she was with living in such a rural land, she knew in her heart that this wasn't where she belonged. Life was almost too good for her here; stuck inside this perfect, frozen little town with absolutely no recollection of what life was like in her homeland. She wanted to find her father and learn the truth about why they left him.

Of course she knew exactly how different Kanto and Sinnoh were. Sinnoh was a region of tranquility and snow while Kanto had a reputation of violence and gang crime, particularly in the cities. Despite this, Leafia knew in her heart that she had to go. She didn't want to leave Dawn or her family behind but if she didn't, then another seven years would pass just as quickly as the last did. She didn't want to spend her life in such a way.

Convincing her mother to allow her this was surprisingly easier than Leafia had thought it would be. Of course, she wasn't happy with it as Kanto was quite a dangerous place to live, but if this was what she wanted, then she could not say no to her. Leafia was incredibly independent and she knew she could cope. Her mother also knew that she owed her daughter this. She'd kept secrets from her all her life, taking her away from the place where she once lived.

Of course, there was one person who was absolutely horrified to hear the news. "What do you mean? Leaf? You can't be serious..." Dawn trailed off on her last sentence. The look on Leafia's face told her everything she needed to know.

"This is something I feel like I have to do, please don't hate me for leaving," she muttered. Dawn stared at her best friend, tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, before stopping herself just in time. "...It's alright! Really!" she faked a smile. "Where are you going to stay? Are you enrolling at a new school?"

The brunette girl nodded. "I'm staying with my grandmother in Saffron City and I'm also going to school there."

Dawn looked away for a moment, thinking about a life without Leafia in it. She didn't want her to go to what she considered to be a dangerous land, yet she couldn't tell her this. Leafia had been trying to get answers for years, it was about time she actually stepped forward and grabbed them with her own hands. Dawn truly admired her.

Leafia stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Dawn. "I'll be back, I promise you that. I have to find out who my father is, there are many things I need to ask him and I must find out why he abandoned our family. Please understand, Dawn. I know it's selfish of me-"

Dawn's eyes widened, she could hardly believe what she was hearing. "You are not selfish, Leaf!" she barked back, perhaps a little too hastily. Her cheeks reddened. "Sorry, I...never mind."

Leafia's lips curved up into a tiny smile, petting the head of Dawn's Prinplup, who also seemed to be showing a look of concern for the brunette. "Don't worry, I'll take your word for it. There is no other person in this world I trust more than you."

Dawn felt a wave of guilt wash over her, but she pushed the feeling away. "I guess all I can do is be the greatest friend I can be until you leave, huh..." she murmured. "I'm so glad you understand," Leaf replied. "Thank you, Dawn." Leafia was honestly terrified about the journey she was about to embark on. The shadow was leaving the light, could she make this work? A tiny part of Leafia was telling her to stay right here in Twinleaf Town, continuing to live comfortably in the ice and snow. However, she knew she couldn't do that. She had far too many questions to ask her father, and she hoped that he would tell her everything she wanted to know.

It was a part of her life that she needed to find out about.

Author's Note: This has been sitting in my notes for months now, so I figured it was about time I showed my face here again ^_^ This was originally supposed to be a rewrite of Codename Kitty, however I ended up getting v carried away with the planning, so much so that I somehow created an entirely new story plot altogether. I hope you all enjoy this one! feel free to review and ask questions or point out any mistakes, etc. to me so I can fix them. Thank you!