"LEVI! WAKE UP!" a voice boomed from downstairs, startling Levi as he sat at the desk in his room. Annoyed, he continued staring outside his bedroom window, watching the small beads of rain occasionaly fall onto the glass. He sighed, shutting his eyes briefly before he heard the latch on his door open. "Levi? So, you are awake! I was worried about you. "

"Yessss mom...I'm okay." Levi answered with a unenthusiastic tone of voice, causing his mother to pout while she crossed her arms.

"Oh, lighten up! Littleroot isn't that bad. It's actually more pretty than I'd thought it would be."

"Mom, there are only three houses in this 'town', and the Pokémon Lab. It's hardly even a town." Levi threw the hood of the jacket he was wearing over his head, leaning back in his chair to get comfortable. Much to his dismay, his mother grabbed both of his wrists, pulling him up and out of his chair. She smiled at his frowning face, sliding the hood off of his head to run a hand through his messy black hair.

"Now, I know moving can be tough, but I think you'll grow to love Hoenn as much as Kalos! And maybe you'll even make a few friends while we're here!" his mother was as enthusiastic as ever, but Levi couldn't help but disagree. He was never good at forming lasting bonds with people, and thus had no friends back where he was from.

"I don't make friends, you know that." he reminded her.

"Oh, but to the contrary, the neighbors are coming to visit today-"

"Nooooo no no no no no-" Levi interrupted her quickly, fearing where she was going with this conversation.

"Yessss yes yes yes! The neighbors are going to be here any minute now, and they have a daughter your age!" Levi was freaKing out at this point, fearing a forced meeting with a stranger. The fact that it was a girl made it even worse. Levi's face started to flow red, and he screamed when he heard the doorbell ring from downstairs.

"Oh, they're here! I'll send her up to your room, okay?" his mom turned and rushed out of his room, leaving him unable to react. His arm extended, his voice cracked as he tried to object, but his nervousness left him mute. He quickly dashed to his door, slamming it shut before he started pacing around his room. After a few seconds, the room went silent as Levi heard the sound of footsteps coming up the flight of stairs. He quickly tried to regain his composure, wiping the sweat off of his face. He flinched as he heard a knock at his door.

Reflex led his body to move do the door and lay his hand on the knob. He cursed in his mind, regret filling it, but he continued to open the door anyway. The door swung open, too fast in fact, that the edge struck him in the face, knocking him down in the process. He scrambled to pick himself up, reaching for his desk to gain footing. Instead, the weight of his body causes himself to slide on the rug below him. He fell again...this time slamming his face into his hardwood desk.

"Hi, I'm...uhhhh, are you alright?" his visitor asked, wincing as she watched Levi slowly pick himself up and limp over to his bed. As he sat down, he pinched his nose and tilted his head after he felt a thin line of blood drip down to his chin. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of his visitor. She was a girl, as he knew already. According to his mother, she was his age, making her sixteen years old. Her hair was a mix of light and dark brown colors and cut off at her shoulders, groups of strands also covering parts of her face. Her eyes were green, and she wore a pair of black pants along with a red zip up jacket.

"Here, let me help you." pulling up his desk chair she sat in front of him. She pulled a white piece of cloth out of her jacket pocket, moving Levi's hand out of the way to press the cloth against his nose. His head lowered down, eyes closed as he let her treat his small injury. "I'm April, by the way."

She finished wiping away the last of his blood, shoving the cloth quickly back into her pocket. She smiled as soon as Levi opened his eyes, which warranted a smile back from him.

"I'm Levi. It's nice to meet you. And uhh...thanks for helping me out there."

"It's fine...really...So, tell me about yourself. Where are you from?"

"Kalos."

"Kalos! Ms. Serena didn't mention you were from Kalos! There are so many Pokémon from Kalos that I want to see! That's why I'm so excited to start my journey as a trainer! Anything else you can tell me? What about your dad? What's he like? How come he didn't come with you to Hoenn?"

"D-Dad? He's...busy. With...work."

"Oh, well that's too bad I guess. My dad is a tad busy with work too, now that I think about it. So is mom, now that she runs the Pokémon lab here in Littleroot. Oh! Speaking of Pokémon, did you bring any back from Kalos?"

~Slam!~ Levi's closet door slid open, warranting April to jump as she averted her gaze from Levi and looked to the sounds direction.

"What was that?"

"Ah, geez. C'mon!" April had turned back around to see that Levi was now soaking wet, a small puddle of water beginning to soak into his bedsheets and onto the floor around them both.

*skekekeke* Levi was taunted by his attacker, leaving April with more questions than answers.

"Aaaaaaahhhh! That's it! Out here, now!" Levi shouted loudly, which was followed by a large plume of smoke filling the room. When the smoke lifted, April gasped with excitement to see a Greninja crouching down next to Levi, nustling its head against his side. Levi could not help but return its affection by petting its head lightly.

"It's a Greninja!" April exclaimed.

*Nin!* Greninja scuttled over to April before standing fully upright, putting its "hands" together before leaning forward to bow in greeting. April returned the gesture, standing up to face the Pokémon before bowing as well.

"Is he yours?" April asked.

"He's my dad's." Levi started. "He left him with us to look after the house and help out in any way he can. He was dad's first Pokémon, and he helped raise me when I was young, too. And speaking of Pokémon, I should probably introduce you to mine."

Levi grabbed a bag on his desk, rustling a few things around inside before pulling out a pokéball. April, upon seeing the device, shrieked at the sight of the letter "M" atop the balls surface.

"No way! That's a master ball!" as the girl stated, it was indeed a master ball. A master ball was a pokéball design that promised an instant capture upon use on a wild Pokémon. The design was so minimal in production that they were worth a fortune, and could only be obtained by purchasing one or being lucky enough to be given one. "So, what type of Pokémon is inside!? I can only imagine how incredibly rare it must be!"

"Well, don't get your hopes up. Dad caught me this Pokémon a few weeks before we came to Hoenn. He said he used his master ball because he didn't want to miss his chance to catch it. Okay then, here we go..." Levi pressed the button on the master ball's front, reverting it to full size before lightly tossing it in the air. The ball then opened in the air, a stream of light leading down to Levi's shoulder, revealing the released Pokémon.

*Fro!* the small Pokémon reveed itself as Froakie, the unevolved first form of Greninja. April looked confused, however, upon seeing the Froakies skin color. Rather than the usual standard blue color, Levi's Froakie was a shade lighter, like a sky blue.

"Wait...is he sick?" April couldn't help but ask.

"SHE isn't sick. What're you talking about?"

"Her skin? It's not the right color."

*Nin-ja. * Greninja shook its head in disagreement, telling April to take a second look.

"If you couldn't tell by now, Froakie is-"

"A shiny Pokémon!"

"Yea, she's a shiny. The rarest variation of a Pokémon."

"You HAVE to battle me! Please?"

"Battle? N-Now?"

"Yes, now! Come on, I'll wait for you outside!"

Before he could object any further, April was rushing down the stairs. Levi choked on air, looking at Froakie and Greninja who each just shrugged as if to say "oh well". Watching Greninja leave the room and heading back downstairs, Levi turned to look at Froakie, who beamed with excitement.

"You really want to do this?" Levi asked his Pokémon. Froakie only nodded its head, which was enough to give Levi the confidence he needed to accept April's challenge. Calling Froalie back into it's pokéball, Levi stood up and moved to the stairs. Before exiting his room, Levi moved back to his desk, grabbing a white bandana he had hidden away. He tied the fabric around his neck, letting it hang down. He then rushed down the stairs, where he saw his mother and who he assumed was April's mother waiting for him.

"So, you must be Levi. My name is May. I'm April's mother. It is very nice to meet you." May said, smiling as Levi briefly waved in response. "Now, let's all go outside! I wouldn't miss my little girls first battle for the world!"

"So you've changed your mind, Levi?" his mother asked. He looked at her, hesitaring to answer before her nodded strongly. He steaightend his posture, smiled wide and rushed out the door. Breaching the threshold, Levi slid out of the house and skidded along the grass.

"April! I accept your challenge!" Levi pulled at his bandana's knot, tightening it before he readied his pokéball in his hand.

"It's about time you showed up! Alright, here goes!"

Both trainers threw their pokéball's up into the sky, before simultaneously shouting, "I choose you!".