As the large truck began pushing throughout the small forest, it came to a stop with the back gate being lifted upwards by a young 11-year-old boy sporting a white hat, and a red and black jacket tied around his waist. He wore a red T-shirt with white stripes at the end of its collar, sleeves, and bottom. The boy had a pair of green Caprese pants. He wore white socks with a pair of shoes that matched his jacket having a black coating all around with the designs being dark red. He had a light tan with pale skin, green eyes, yellowish-blonde hair, and something he hid left hand by covering it with a single glove with a Pokémon League design on it
"Welcome home, Leaf, this is our new home in Littleroot Town," The boy's mother said as he sat on the edge with his legs hanging low, having the bottom of his shoes barely hovering a couple of inches over the grass.
" Thanks, Mom, I'm glad we made it, "He said with a smile
" And I'm so sorry you had to ride with our staff, we didn't have enough room in the car"
"Don't worry about it, It was fine, and there was plenty of room for me" He often hated confined spaces always being in large open areas.
"And guess what, your father has a friend whose daughter is the same age as you"
"I hope that she won't think I'm weird," He said looking down, being in the forest for seventy-five percent of his day would be considered strange, which is where he was made fun of and called "Tree Boy"
"I think that you two will get along great! I'll start unpacking why don't you go over and introduce yourself"
"Are you sure I should do that?" He asked
"Of course, you should go," She said returning inside while he nervously traveled to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door, giving three light taps. Seconds later a middle-aged woman opened the door and then crouched down to speak face-to-face with the child
"Oh hello, who might you be?" The woman asked
"I-I'm Leaf, I just moved here earlier today"
"Oh, so you're Norman's son, I've heard so much about you"
"How did you know?" He asked taking a step back
"Oh, your father is a dear friend of my husband, Professor Birch." She explained then moved out from behind the door "Anyways come in, my daughter, May, should be upstairs. You should go up and see her, it's the first door on the right"Leaf began to walk up the staircase, one step at a time as he slid his left hand, the one with a fingerless glove, up the railing.
Once seeing the hallway that was horizontal from the staircase Leaf turned to the right and knocked on the first door, a girl opened wearing a red bandana that was tied in her hair giving her a ponytail with the ends of the bandana sticking up, she wore a black tank top with a red shirt over it just barely showing a few inches of the tank top, She wore black biking shorts and a pair of red running shoes.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you!" She said with an energetic smile and pulled him into her room"When I heard you would move here I got so excited, I'm May!"
"H-hi, I'm Leaf, it's nice to meet you too" Soon an adult scream was heard from outside as the two ran out seeing Professor Birch running from a wild Mightyena
"H-help me!" He screamed running in a circle as Leaf and May hurried out to get there."In my bag, grab a Pokéball!" He shouted once more as the Pokémon used tackle and knocked him over
"I-I got it!" Leaf said as he grabbed a random Pokéball and threw it. Once the Pokéball impacted the ground, it bounced up opening as a red beam up the light was directed in front of it. The light faded as small, green, and red gecko Pokémon was in sight
"A Treecko! Tell it to use pound" May said as Leaf looked down to it, crouching to its level
"Only fight if you want to, I'm Leaf" It nodded in response as Birch said afterward with him holding back the Pokémon
"This is a nice meeting in all but a little help please!"
"S-sorry, Treecko use Pound!" Leaf said as it ran out forcing the Mightyena to jump away from the Professor. Next, it leaped into the air unleashing an overhead strike with its large green tail.
"Don't worry Leaf, I got it from here!"May then threw an empty Pokéball onto the pokémon, encasing it inside as a white light emerged onto the pokémon. The Pokéball rocked a few times before it clicked successfully indicating that it was caught.
"G-good work you two" Birch exhaled getting up and wiping the dirt and mud off of himself "You must be Leaf, your father, Norman, has told me a lot about you"
"You know about me? But I haven't done anything"
"What are you talking about, you fought well with a Pokémon you've never met," May said to him
"Plus you put the Pokémon's feelings first, that's a sign of a good trainer" Birch added on
"I was just trying to be nice, a Pokémon shouldn't have to fight for someone it doesn't know if it doesn't want to" Leaf admitted "That and I get along with Grass-type Pokémon easier than others"
"Is that why your name is Leaf?" May asked
"Actually, Leaf's a nickname, my real name is Akimaro, but that's hard to say so my friends just call me Leaf" He explained" But yeah that's why I have the nickname"
"Good to know, but since we're friends, I'll just keep calling you Leaf" She winked as Professor Birch looked at his watch
"It's getting pretty late, you two come over to the lab, I want to officially thank you both"
"Okay, I'm sure Mom has dinner almost ready anyways" Leaf agreed to come.
Once they arrived at the lab Professor Birch had two boxes for them to open, one for May and the other for Leaf.
"What's inside?" May asked
"Open them and find out"Leaf and May opened them at the same time seeing that it was a Pokéball and a red device.
" Since you said that you like grass types I'm giving you the Treecko you used. And May, You get to choose either Torchic or Mudkip"
"I choose you Torchic!"The two opened their Pokéball as their Pokémon jumped out and went to the trainer.
" It's good to see you again Treecko!"Leaf said hugging it as it hugged back then climbing onto his shoulder
"And this is the Pokédex, you can use it to get data on any Pokémon"
"That's so cool!" The two said in synchronization
"Now you should head home, I'm sure that it should be supper time for both of you"
"Oh right I'd better head home," May said waving goodbye and leaving as Leaf began to follow
"Hey Leaf, your father told me about your hand"
"Y-you know about it? Can you tell me what it is?"
"First I need to see it" Leaf nodded taking off his glove and showing him the back of his left hand" I'm not quite sure but I'm certain I've seen this before in the cave drawing, I think you should see Steven Stone about it"
"Alright thanks" Leaf then waved goodbye after putting the glove back on and heading home
"Sorry, I'm late, I encountered the Professor after he was attacked by a wild Pokémon"
"Oh, dear! Was he alright?"
"Yes, I helped him and he gave me these" He showed the Pokéball and Pokédex.
"Oh, that's great! By the way, have you asked about your mark?"
"Yeah, he said to see Steven Stone about it"
"Alright then, it's time to eat, wash your hands"
Later that night
Laying in bed Leaf took off his glove putting his hand up and looking at it "What is this, and what does it mean" It was unlike anything he's ever seen so he always just covered it making sure nobody saw it
"Goodnight Akimaro, tomorrow you can start your adventure"
"Thanks, mom, goodnight," He said turning his lamp off and rolling to the other side of the bed dreaming of the day it went away. Well, he wanted to have that dream but instead, he'd have dreams of a Pokémon he's never seen before