A/N: Hi hello and welcome! :D This is the first Pokémon fanfiction that I'm posting to this site (heh). So please leave a review letting me know if you like it? ^_^
Also, big note that I am a co-author! The other co-author's name is Melody. I write the chapter, send it to her, she makes edits and changes and basically approve the chapters to be posted. So she is amazing and deserves a huge amount of credit for this story!
Disclaimer: We do not own Pokémon.
The cramped, dark space of the moving truck was not May's ideal situation.
Having to leave Johto, all of her friends and the house she grew up in, was also definitely not her ideal situation. Especially since she had recently turned 10 and would be able to go on a journey with Pokémon soon. However, her father Norman's line of work had other plans, which had gotten him the opportunity to be Petalburg City's Gym Leader. And bam, here she was, in the back of moving truck, on her way to her new house in Littleroot Town.
Their small family had trouble finding a suitable home in Petalburg, due to it being a very, as May's mother Caroline had put it, "happening city". Caroline had requested a small, fairly secluded place to live, which Norman was happy to comply with. Their new house in Littleroot Town was perfect for them.
May found herself being thrown forward suddenly, as the moving truck halted to a stop. She was able to catch herself from falling completely on her face, but not before taking a blow to her shoulder. She groaned a bit, rubbing her shoulder with her opposing hand. The pain went away after a moment, soon being replaced with curiosity and excitement.
We're finally here!
She stood up quickly, instantly regretting it as she was reminded of the soreness that plagued her body.
She was so going to get Max for taking the last seat in the moving truck.
Soon the heavy doors were opened, and light poured into the dark compartment. She breathed a sigh of relief as she climbed out the back of the truck. Squinting as she jumped out, she shielded the sun from her eyes with her hand, and took a look at the new place she would call home.
It was a cozy looking, moderately sized home, adorned with different shades of a soothing brown color. It was a lot different from their rather cramped living space in Johto. May looked around at the quaint little town, noticing only one other house within her line of vision that looked very similar to May's house, only minor differences. A ways away, she noticed a rather large brick building, and made a mental note to figure out just what it was after all of the family's possessions had been unloaded.
Caroline waved frantically as the moving truck drove away, letting out a content sigh. The past two hours had been spent helping the Machoke Movers unpack and tell them where everything went. It was starting to feel like home to her.
May, however, was still slightly unsure. She'd been given her own room, which was a major plus. No more sharing with her dorky little brother! But, she still didn't really know anyone in this region. At all.
As if on cue, Caroline called May back downstairs. May took one last look at her new room before going.
When May walked into the room, Caroline was putting the phone back on the receiver.
"That was Linda Birch, May. Do you remember the Birches?" (A/N: I couldn't find any information on what Birch's name or his wife's name is. So I made it up.)
May's brow furrowed as she tried to wrack her brain. The name itself was familiar, her father and Professor Birch being old friends and all, but she couldn't recall meeting them.
"Sort of," May responded. "The name sounds familiar."
Caroline smiled warmly. "Well, we haven't seen them since you turned two, when their family moved here to Hoenn for the father Michael's line of work. Looks like we were just 8 years late to the party!" she paused to chuckle.
"Anyway, that was Linda, his wife. I'm not sure if you remember, but they have a son about your age. His name is Brendan. You two used to play together all the time, before they moved. Maybe you should go meet him; they are our neighbors after all!"
May's heart stopped. Boy? Next door? My age? We played together when we were little?! Of course this would happen to her, she was known for her bad luck.
May was still unsure about boys, just coming out of the stage where boys were "icky". She didn't know who this Brendan Birch was, but the idea of meeting him made her stomach churn.
"Alright, I'll go meet them." May sighed. Caroline beamed, telling her daughter to be careful on her way out.
May trudged through the grass, a feeling of dread exploding inside of her. What if they hate me? What if he remembers me and I don't remember him? What if he's cute?
May had no idea where that last internal question came from, but she tried her best to ignore it as she knocked on the door.
Linda placed the phone on the receiver, having just spoken to Caroline. May would be coming over soon, and she decided it would be best to warn her headstrong son, who didn't do well being taken by surprise.
She walked up the stairs, walking up to her son's room and knocked gently. Some sort of sound of acknowledgment was made and Linda took that as her cue to enter. Brendan sat on the floor of his somewhat unusually clean room (for a 10 year old boy), reading a Pokémon magazine.
"Brendan?" she began, his ears perking as his eyes lifted off the page to look at her. "Our new neighbors just moved in. And they happen to be our old friends from Johto. Do you remember Johto at all?"
Brendan's face twisted slightly, before he shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "A little bit."
Linda rolled her eyes, smiling at her son. "Well, it's the Maple family. They have a son that's about four years younger than you named Max, and a daughter that's about your age, May. Their father is the new gym leader of Petalburg, so now they live here in Littleroot next door to us. May and you used to be playmates when you were babies, you'd play games together for hours," Linda giggled fondly at the memory. "Anyway, May is on her way over now to introduce herself. Please be nice."
Brendan felt his cheeks flush a little bit. He hadn't thought about girls much through his Pokémon-driven lifestyle, but a girl he played with when he was little? And she lives next door? He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and nodded at his mom. She smiled lovingly, before making her exit.
The knock on the door sounded, and Linda hurried to the door, opening it with a smile. May was getting so big!
"Hello, you must be May!" she mused, stepping aside so May could enter the house. "I'm Linda Birch. It's so nice to finally meet you! My, I remember when you were just a wee bitty thing!" she laughed, leading May inside.
May felt her face heat up in embarrassment, but smiled politely nonetheless. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Birch."
"Please, call me Linda!" Linda smiled with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, I'm sure you'd like to meet Brendan, he's in his room upstairs."
May swallowed her nerves as best as she could, making her way up the stairs and timidly knocked on the door. And she could only assume that Brendan was the one who opened the door from the other side.
He wore a simple black and red short sleeved shirt, with simple black pants. He wore a white hat with a green band, which almost made it look like he had white hair, only May noticed the dark brown pieces of hair sticking out at the bottom of the hat. He had green, red and black gloves on his hands that matched his shoes, and a green backpack that strapped across his torso. He looked at her with wide gray eyes, before flashing a wide smile at her.
"Hey, you must be May Maple." Brendan greeted politely, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "I'm Brendan Birch."
May took his hand, noting that he had a strong grip, and smiled back.
"Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you, Brendan."
They awkwardly let go, and Brendan scratched the back of his neck. "So uh, apparently we played together as babies?" he laughed awkwardly, turning a little red. May laughed heartily, nodding.
And little did they know, it would be the start of an amazing friendship.
A/N: In case you didn't realize, this is a flashback chapter. The first few will be like this so you can kind of get a feel of what Brendan and May have been through before the actual story starts. Hopefully you like it! R&R please! :-)