| Chapter 1 |

|Welcome Home|

"It's the cutest little house you've ever seen!" said Caroline, placing a box labeled 'Max's Toys' into the large orange and white moving van. "And you'll get to have your own room, too. Your father and I decided that since you're fifteen now, you should have one. And from what the paper said, two of the rooms have their own balconies. I remember reading somewhere that teenage girls like balconies... Something about it being romantic..."

May rolled her eyes at her mother and her pointless speech, turning around to walk back into the lobby of the apartment building the Maple family currently lived at. They were currently packing every belonging they had in order to move to Lilycove City for her father's new job. They were currently building a new gym there after complying to the huge popular demand. Many current gym leaders, including May's father, applied for the job. He received a letter a couple days previous telling him he had gotten the job.

May didn't really see what was wrong with his current job as gym leader here in Petalburg. Though when asked, Caroline would say "It's worn out, it'll be good to start with something new. Some change, yes?"

There was nothing wrong with it. Sure, May had to share a room with her younger brother, the ceiling leaked every so often, the elevator constantly jammed on itself, and the neighbors were a real pain in the ass sometimes, but other than that...

"Come on May," The brunette ignored her brother's calls. "It's not going to be that bad! A new school, new friends–"

"But I like Spring Ridge High School and I already have friends here! I'm not like you, Max, I actually have a life here in Petalburg." Max opened his mouth to retort, but someone interrupted.

"Knock it off, you two. May," Norman pulled his daughter aside by the shoulder. Not forcefully, but acting more as a guild. "This job is extremely important to me," May, who had been glaring at her father a minute ago, softened her gaze as he continued on. "And I may never get a chance like this again. Not only will I be the new gym leader of the Lilycove Gym, but you and Max will be eligible to enter the best boarding school in all of Hoenn." Not looking convinced, Norman added quickly, "Plus, my new job pays more."

"And does that mean I can have a larger allowance?" May asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion and expectation. When her father nodded, May grinned and hugged him around the middle.

"We leave tomorrow, so you–"

"I already did say goodbye to all my friends, dad. I kinda figured you wouldn't change you mind anyways. I'll be inside finishing packing up my stuff." May gave her father a two-fingered salute before turning on her heel and walking back into the lobby of the apartment building.

She smiled hopelessly at the door man before pressing the button to open the elevator doors and stepping inside. Clicking the button marked '8' and watching the doors close, May sighed. How could she possibly leave all of her friends behind? Not to mention her boyfriend, Brendan. They'd been going out for months, being declared Mr. and Mrs. It Couple. She was extremely popular among the entire student body, loved by all of the teachers, and was even able to access the soft side of one very cruel principal.

And now she had to start all over. She would have to attempt to regain her status and relationship with her teachers. She and Brendan had made a promise to each other that they were going to make a long-distance-relationship work out, no matter how hard and difficult to movies made it seem.

What if my new classmates hate me?May thought, suddenly beginning to panic. What if they don't like my personality? From the teen novels I've read, no one likes the new girl. And no one dislikes the new girl as much as the High School Whore.

Spring Ridge's 'High School Whore' happened to be May's very own cousin, Tanya. Though it may just be because May was more liked and respected than herself, but Tanya had had it out for May since their first day of ninth grade.

The High School Whore always makes it her job to make the new girl's life living hell... Oh, I don't think I can do this…! I know it's for daddy's sake but…What the hell?

May looked up at a blinking red light above the elevators doors that read, 'EMERGENCY!' Grumblings to herself, May grabbed the telephone on the opposite wall and waited for and someone to answer.

"Yeah, Ed?…Yeah, it's May… The elevator jammed again.

The next day (After escaping the broken elevator, completing the rest of her packing, and finally getting a chance to call Brendan) the Maple family was loaded in the moving van and headed off to Lilycove City. Norman, who was driving, was having a conversation with his wife about new renovations he wanted to make to the gym.

"I was thinking instead of continuing with my tradition of normal types, to switch to maybe grass types…Or maybe even ice types!"

"What does the new house look like?" Max asked from the back seat. "All you've talked about is how 'cute' and 'adorable' it is, but you've never actually shown us a picture of it."

May nodded in agreement. "Please don't tell me you did what really old couple do. They close their eyes and randomly select something." May gasped in horror at a sudden thought. "It's not one of those decked out Eco-friendly houses with the newspaper toilets and paper towel roll furniture is it?"

Caroline chuckled at her daughter. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Here's a picture of it. It's a little fuzzy, since I used that old printer from the library." She handed the picture to Max, who quickly had it snatched from his hands to be inspected by his older sister.

"Will we have any neighbors?" Asked Max, peering over May's shoulder to get a better look at their soon-to-be new home.

"No, which will save the awkward greetings and exchanging of deserts." Norman laughed, while Caroline, though smiling, hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"It has around six acres of forest that comes with the house," Explained Caroline, excited. "Meaning that we'll have room to make the house bigger if we want to, or maybe even open up our own farm."

May sighed, handing over the photograph to her brother. She gazed out the window, seeing nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. At least it's Lilycove. She thought. It's known for it's giant shopping centers and such. I would die without at least… Three malls.

"We're about forty-five minutes from our new home." Shaking her head, May stared at her father.

"Forty-five minutes? But we passed the 'You Are Now Entering Lilycove' sign half an hour ago!" May practically shouted. "Is there no civilization at all where we're going to live?"

"Mom did say thatthere was six acres of forest that came with the house." Max said from next to her.

May groaned, flopping her head back onto the headrest. Great. Just great. They had no neighbors, and lived over an hour away from the rest of the Lilycove locals.

"Look, Max." May said, pointing out the window.

"What?" Said brother asked, looking at where May was pointing. "I don't see anything but trees."

"What do you mean? Look, it's right there."

"What's right there?"

"My life! See how happy it is? Spending time with Brendan, Mitchel, and Callie. Oh, look. It's slowly dying away. Goodbye life, I'll miss you. Maybe we'll meet in the afterlife…"

"Drama queen." Max muttered, rolling his eyes.

About half an hour later, May noticed the truck was coming to a stop. Realizing that whatever house lay in front of her would now be her forever home, she leaped from the vehicle, only to have an overwhelming urge to jump back inside.

"Welcome home, Maples!"

May would never be able to call this place home.

"What are you screaming for?" Max, Norman, and Caroline yelled, all covering their ears. Max even had his eyes screwed up in pain.

"It's… It's…" May gaped at the sight before her, utterly horrified. Noticing the now depressed expressions on her parent's faces, May sighed. "…Nice. It's, uh, okay." Norman smiled.

"That's my girl." He have her a one-armed hug, then turned to his son and wife, clapping his hands together. "Alrighty then! Let's get unpacking!" Max and Caroline agreed, obviously enthusiastic about the new house.

Taking a box filled with silver wear and china from her mother, May began to walk closer to the cottage.

It looked as though at one point it had been shell white, the window panels pure black. Now however, the paint was chipped and peeling. The small overhang above the door was covered in Pokemon droppings and cobwebs. Some of the windows were smashed, as though they were broken in to. It was two stories, with vines snaking their way all the way up to the roof, entangling themselves in the chimneys adorning the very top. A fence that reached up to about May's waist also looked at though it had been white at some point in time, but was now chipped and broken.

"Come see the inside, honey." May started, looking up at her mother who had appeared next to her.

"Huh? Oh, sure." Following her inside, however, seemed to be a mistake.

The interior looked worse than the outside, if it were possible. Even more cobwebs hung from the ceiling. May swore she saw a Ariados scurry around the corner into the next room. There wasn't a single thing May could see that would prove that living human beings actually inhabited this house in at least fifty years.

Placing the box down, May walked around the rooms. She could tell that there was a dining room, kitchen, and living room, so that was a plus. May located two more rooms, though she didn't know what they could be for.

Walking upstairs, May found the master bedroom, a bathroom in need of desperate attention, another bedroom, and finally a locked door.

I'll let Max have this one, then. The brunette decided, smirking to herself. He's the one with the brains, let him figure it out. Just as she was heading back to the other bedroom, she heard Max's and her mother's voice.

"So I get this room all to myself?" Max sounded extremely happy at the prospect of having his own living quarters.

"Yes, and May will be just down the hall if you need her."

"Trust me, I won't." Caroline smiled, exiting the room.

"Oh, May. Did you find your room?" Caroline asked, looking at her daughter expectantly.

May shook her head. "No, I found a room. But it's locked."

"Oh, it's not locked, sweetheart." Caroline lead her daughter back over to the seemingly locked room. "It said in the report that you just have to turn and pull." She demonstrated, succeeding in opening the door. Caroline stepped aside.

May walked inside then stopped in shock. Okay, now this she was okay with. "Is that a balcony? And a walk-in closet?" May squealed, jumping on her heels a little.

"Do you like it?" May nodded. "I told you girls your age like balconies." Caroline smiled. "For now we'll be staying at a motel closer to town while some carpenters and plumbers fix the place up. Then we'll paint and you two can redecorate. And in about two weeks you and Max will begin school."

May smiled, suddenly looking at the move in a new light. Hey, maybe it might not be as bad as she had suspected.