Yeah, it's been a long time. Check the info.

So the polls on my profile have still been up during the hiatus. The vote is currently for P.

Time for the pairing that people still have not figured out the proper name for.

LeafGreenShipping: Gary x Leaf

"Um, where am I?"

Leaf gazed ahead at the town before her. She blinked a few times, not too sure of what was even happening. Was this…Pallet Town? Her home? She realized she had been away from here for quite some time, but she was positive that the town would not have expanded this much in just a few months.

Also, not only had the amount of houses doubled—tripled—quadrupled?—quintupled?—but the ground was rather hilly and bumpy. From what she recalled, Pallet Town was a pretty straightforward town with only a few houses and the laboratory. Now it looked about as abundant as Saffron City—only with homes instead of businesses and skyscrapers.

How was she going to find her own house in this mess? Her Town Map certainly was of no help while actually in the town, and she failed to have any means with which to communicate to the Professor or even to her own mother.

"I guess I'll just try walking around."

Leaf took a slow stroll around the town, witnessing faces that were certainly not familiar to her. Most of the people she saw were women who were tending to gardens. Some waved to her as she passed. The town was still as friendly as she could recall, but…

This was surely strange.

She thought about using her Pidgeot to take to the skies and search for her house, but she was only limited to Flying strictly to the Pokémon Center of each town…

"Hmm? What's that?" A large building surfaced from her view, sitting upon possibly the biggest hill in the town. From a distance, she could only make out a large windmill protruding from the rear of the building. "That can't be the lab, right?"

She raised an eyebrow, but she didn't have any leads. She might as well check it out, for standing around here wasn't getting her anywhere.

Trotting up the steps was quite the workout, considering she had already been walking for about an hour. She spotted a sign that indicated that this was certainly Professor Oak's laboratory, although…yet again, much different from what she could remember. When she reached the top, she hesitated before knocking on the huge doors.

"Hello, is anyone here?"

She waited a few moments for a response. Unless someone inside was directly near the door, she assumed they wouldn't be able to hear her anyway.

Sighing, she decided to just walk right in. The door was unlocked, so she was sure it was okay to enter.

The lab looked quite a bit different from the last time she was here. The entrance appeared to be much bigger than the entirety of the lab she recalled. She stepped forward through a smaller doorway which opened up into an expansive area filled with odd machines she had never seen before.

"What…is all of this?" she said aloud, not realizing there was another person observing said machines. He spun around after hearing her voice and Leaf froze.

"G-Green?" her face showed an expression of thorough confusion as she gazed over the boy. He was adorned his usual clothes but with a lab coat over them, something she had never thought she'd see him wear. The kid with spiky hair blinked.

"Um, hello?" he remarked. "Can I help you with something?"

She remained in place, trying to comprehend what was happening. The boy she addressed as Green looked positively puzzled. Something seemed different about him, but this couldn't have been anyone else but him.

"Green, what's going on?" she stepped forward closer to him. "Why are you here in the lab? Didn't I just see you in Cerulean City, like yesterday? I thought you were gonna visit Bill or something?"

He scratched his scalp, looking as if he had no idea what she was talking about. "Um, I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. My name isn't…Green, did you say? I've never heard of person named after a color before."

Leaf's face dropped. "Huh? You're not Green? Well then who are you? You look just like him!"

"My name is Gary," he smiled. "Gary Oak."

She could feel a headache forming. "O-Oak? Like…in relation to Professor Oak?"

"Yeah, he's my grandpa."

Someone was pulling her leg. "C-c'mon, Green, very funny," she started chuckling nervously. "I know you like to play games, but this isn't very well thought out."

"What do you mean?" the boy apparently named Gary asked. "It's not a joke."

She began to get a bit frustrated before she realized that the entirety of Pallet Town had changed while she was away. Even if Green was messing with her, there was no way he could have expanded an entire town in a few months.

"Do you know of someone named Red?"

"Is that someone's name, too? That's…also a color."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Uh, as far as I know, I do not…"

"Are you working on being the replacement Gym Leader of Viridian?"

"Nope, I'm helping my grandpa with his research."

She was completely and utterly confused. What was going on here? Did she step into some kind of other dimension while traveling back home?

Wait a second…now that she thought about it…

"So, you think you accidentally slipped into another dimension or something after encountering a Giratina?" Gary questioned, trying to piece Leaf's story together. They were now seated on the set of couches in the living room, freshly brewed tea courtesy of the unfamiliar boy named Tracey on the table before them.

Leaf nodded. "I got a message from my friend from Sinnoh named Lucas while I was visiting a Pokémon Center. He told me that there had been a crisis involving the Legendary Pokémon Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. Supposedly they were being used by a bad man named Cyrus and scattered to different regions to escape his grasp. Giratina came here to Kanto and Lucas begged for my help."

"Wow, so you actually encountered this Pokémon?" Gary jumped up in excitement. "It's a Pokémon I've only heard in rumors!"

"Yeah, I did," Leaf took a sip of tea. "It took roost at the Seafoam Islands. I tried to challenge it to calm it down, but it took me off guard and knocked me out. And the next thing I knew, I had woken up and it was gone.

"I decided to take a break after failing to find it and Fly back home, but my Pidgeot refused to go toward the town and went straight for Viridian.

"I noticed Viridian looked pretty odd from what I remembered, but I just ignored it and pressed on, ready to rest at home. But when I arrived here…"

"Pallet Town had changed immensely," Gary finished her sentence. "It looks like Giratina must have thrown you into another dimension."

Leaf frowned. "Sigh, what a mess. Now I'm gonna have to find Giratina again and hope it can take me back to my own world. But the problem is, I don't have any way of knowing where to find it and with all of my friends gone, I have no way of asking for help."

Gary chimed up. "Hey, how about I help you?"

She didn't even flinch. "No point in bothering. It's just gonna be trouble trying to involve someone else. And besides, there's no telling how long it'll take."

"I don't mind," Gary removed the lab coat and stood up. "I've been in an adventurous mood lately. I enjoying helping my grandpa out, but sometimes I just get urges to journey out again and this gives me a perfect opportunity."

"You've been on a journey before?" she asked.

"Of course, awhile back. And I have really strong Pokémon from that journey, so I'm well prepared."

A feeling of happiness coursed through her. This boy—who certainly looked strikingly familiar—who knew nearly nothing about her was offering to put aside his research to help her out. Even knowing that it may take quite a long time, he was willing to make that sacrifice.

Gary and Green were certainly different people in that aspect. Even Red would have been much more willing to help her out rather than Green. Besides, he was much to busy with his own business concerning having lost the Champion title. He had been pretty distant after that incident, talking only in short sentences and rushing off only minutes after a reunion.

But Gary…was someone she could see herself opening up to. The journey would be a long one, but she knew she could trust him by his offer alone.

She stood up and held out her hand to him. The realization of her whole world being left behind was a near crippling one. But she had a new friend who would be here for her.

"Thanks," her cheeks reddened as Gary shook her hand and smiled.

The only question would be what would it be like to eventually have to leave his company? Such thoughts were thrown to the back of her mind for another day.