Disclaimer:I do not own pokemon

Hey, Moonspots here! So I'm really excited about this Fanfiction. It's pretty much about Leaf and Red journeying through the Kanto region. It will be based of the game with a few changes and in an anime setting. The idea of writing their story has been bugging me for a while now, so I decided to write it! I really hope you guys like it!

Chapter 1

A 13 year old girl sat up on her knees, her long brown hair thwapping against her back while she chucked clothes over her shoulders at a very rapid pace. A large pile of clothes had begun to form next to a green, tattered backpack with a pokeball insignia sewn onto it. Various worthless looking items overflowed and spilled out over its sides: a book, a blanket, a small box, a hat, even some silverware. Only after the pile of clothes reached the height of the backpack did the girl stop throwing clothes.

She took a deep breath, her elbows propped on her knees and her hands cupping her chin, an uncontrollable grin spread from ear to ear. Her light brown eyes gleamed with excitement and alertness, even though the moon's glow seeped through her windows and illuminated the sky. She abruptly rose to her feet and snatched a white hat off her dresser. She stuck it on her head, the brim creating a ring around her head. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and her grin turned into a goofy one.

"Watch out world. I am Leaf, from Pallet town! Tomorrow I am going to start my pokemon journey, and eventually become a pokemon master!" Leaf raised her fist in the air and yelled the last part.

"Leaf!" A voice yelled from outside her door.

She cringed and watched as her door was flung open to reveal a very angry looking woman. She had sharp features and narrowed brown eyes. Her black hair was peppered with white and tossed up in a messy bun. Despite the fact she had just slammed open the door, she stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and her foot tapping the ground.

"Sorry Mom," Leaf apologized, suddenly realizing just how ridiculous she must look right now.

Her usually sleek brown hair was frizzy from a long day without a single glimpse of a brush. She was wearing her pajamas, which consisted of a white tank top featuring the three kanto starters and a pair of blue comfy shorts. Even though she was in her pajamas, she was wearing tennis shoes from earlier when she had gotten something from the car.

"Do you realize what time it is?" Her mother demanded.

"Um, night time?" She gulped.

"11:30. 11:30 Leaf! Tomorrow is a big day and you need your sleep! Now hurry up and pack your bag and get to bed already," She scolded her child.

She nodded, proceeding to shove clothes in her already full bag. Her mother sighed and walked over to Leaf.

"Honey, you've got way too many things, and this backpack looks like it had seen some pretty rough days," Her voice had dramatically softened.

"It's the only one I got," Leaf explained.

"I bought one for you, just in case," Leaf's mom smiled at her good-naturedly.

"Really?" Leaf's eyes, once again, filled with excitement.

"Yup, I'll go get it right now."

While her mom was retrieving the bag, Leaf began to sort through her stuff, this time with a more realistic mind. She threw the junk into one pile, and the useful items into another pile. The size of the junk almost doubled her other pile. Leaf's mom returned with a light yellow satchel resting in her hands. Leaf scrambled over to her mom and ecstatically, yet carefully, picked up the satchel. She flipped it over in her hands, feeling the soft exterior and admiring it.

"Thanks Mom. This is really nice," Leaf smiled as her mom pulled her in for a hug.

"Now why don't we pack?"

The two spent about a half hour packing Leaf's bag. The number of times Leaf had to throw one of her items into the junk pile was astounding. Leaf glanced at the small digital clock shaped like a voltorb.

"Wow, it's midnight already. I should probably go to bed!" Leaf declared.

"Agreed." Her mother pulled off her hat, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and set the hat back down in its rightful spot. Leaf watched the door click shut before she sat down at the edge of her bed. Her room was a complete pig-sty from just today. Dirty clothes littered the floor and pair-less shoes lay forlornly in the corners. Her walls were covered in posters of pokemon battles and pictures depicting her life.

One, in particular, caught Leaf's attention. The picture was taken in front of a creek on a sunny day. A little girl had her arms around the shoulders of two boys about the same age. The girl had long brown hair and an oversized smile. The boy to her left had light brown, almost blonde hair. A mustache and large glasses had been drawn onto his face with a sharpie. The boy on her right was taller and had a more serious look on his face. His brown hair was slightly unkempt and he looked a little bit caught off guard.

Leaf's heart fluttered as she looked at the picture, memories taking her to the past. She sat there for a while, reminiscing, before walking over and pulling the picture off the wall. Blue and Red. Her two best friends. Well, one of them not so much anymore. Her eyes fixed on Blue, the kid with scribbles on his face. A couple of years ago, Blue had suddenly grown distant and began to bully her and Red. Now they were more enemies than anything else.

Red was a different story though... He has always been there for her, through thick and thin. He knew all the right things to say, though he didn't say much, and how to make Leaf laugh. And somewhere along the way, he had stolen her heart. Leaf couldn't deny it. She had a major crush. And it bothered her more than anything else. Tom-boy Leaf, who loved to get dirty and act immature, was head over heels in love with her only friend.

She stashed the picture in her bag and set the bag against the bed's leg. She flopped onto the bed, pulling the covers over herself. The anticipation for tomorrow was bubbling inside her. She pushed all thoughts of Red out of her mind and instead focused on which pokemon she wanted.

Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur. All three of them were incredibly cute and surprisingly strong. The thoughts swirled around in mind as she reached up and pulled the lamp cord. The light flickered off, leaving her in almost complete darkness. Fire, grass, or water? Which was best? Leaf slowly drifted off, finding her dreams to be haunted by the pesky question of which one.

It didn't matter how much he wanted to, or how much he tried, he couldn't fall asleep. He had resorted to pacing around his room and occasionally running his hands through his messy brown hair. A dull throb began to form in the back of his head just from all the worrying he'd been doing. Unlike Leaf and Blue, who he was sure were too excited to sleep, he couldn't sleep because of dread. Sure, he was overjoyed that he would be getting his first pokemon tomorrow. Professor Oak had specifically asked the three to travel around and learn about pokemon in exchange for a starter pokemon. Leaf would be so excited tomorrow morning, well until he had to break the bad news,

"Dang it Red! You need to be strong about this," he scolded himself.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and placed his forehead in the palm of his hands. Why him? Red didn't understand how he, of all people, could have been entrusted with such a valuable secret and impossible task. He recalled the night when his life took a downward slide, three nights ago. If only he would have listened to Leaf and not gone out into the forest… That's where he found the dying man and his burden. Red was warned about the dangers that would come with it and the man made him swear never to tell anyone, that he was foolish to even trust Red, but he had too. Not that Red choose to know either. He was a victim of circumstance and now he was going to have to live with the consequences. All he knew is that his life and anyone he held close to him could be in danger.

People would come after him once they figured out what he knew, and they would figure it out. That's why he had to talk to Leaf. That's why he couldn't travel around the region together like they had planned their whole life. He just had no idea how he was going to break it to her.

Leaf was up before the sun, and she wasn't trying to keep it a secret either. Her feet pounded against the stairs as she went up, down, up, down. A door slammed. Something crashed to the ground. Her mom was trying to be patient with her, but this was too much for her to handle.

"Leaf Green, you better keep it down or else you won't be making any trips to the professor's lab!" Her mother yelled.

Leaf stopped mid-step and flinched as she listened to her mother chew her out. Whoops. Maybe she was making more noise than she thought. Oh well. She finished her descent downstairs, this time much quieter, and slid over to the food cabinets. She stared at the rows of food and wondered which would be fit to start the most important day of her life. Oatmeal? Definitely not. Cheerios? She had those pretty much every day. Leaf swung open the fridge door, letting a breath of cold air slap her in the face. How about eggs? She checked the fridge for eggs, but they were out. She rummaged through until finally, she found something worthy. Bacon.

The hissing and popping were like music to her ears as the bacon cooked. She glanced at her watch. 6:15. She would meet Red at his house and they would walk to the lab at 6:30. They were supposed to receive their pokemon at 7:00, but being there early couldn't hurt. Leaf turned off the stove and picked the bacon from the frying pan. After devouring her breakfast, she brushed her teeth and walked into her room. She looked around, trying to take everything in at once. She might have been sad, but excitement was overpowering every other emotional at the moment.

She spotted herself in the mirror and stood up a bit straighter. Her frizzy hair from yesterday had met a brush and now it lay straight on her back. Two smaller pieces of her chocolate brown hair that were barely shoulder length framed the side of her face. Her white hat from last night cast a shadow over her eyes and she smiled at the way it made her appear mysterious. She wore a simple blue tank top with a black collar and a red pleated mini skirt. Her yellow bag hung off her shoulder and it complemented her outfit. Two blue socks were pulled up to the top of her shins and her feet were stuffed inside red and white tennis shoes.

"Mom?" Leaf stuck her head into the bear's den, a potentially deadly move on any other morning at this time of day.

Her mom's eyes were half open as she rolled over to face Leaf.

"Yeah?" She yawned, stretching her arms.

"I wanted to say goodbye." Leaf walked over as her mom sat up in the bed

They hugged and Leaf pulled away.

"I know you'll be great. Don't forget to stop by and visit. Call me too."

"I will, I promise." Leaf walked out the door, her satchel on her shoulder.

Down the stairs, out the door, and Leaf was finally outside. She breathed in the fresh air and couldn't help but do a little twirl. The sun was waking up, the sky was blue, and the pidgey were chirping. She smiled to herself. Maybe I'll catch a pidgey today, she thought. Leaf couldn't help but run over to Red's house. She knocked very loudly on the door and waited. A brown haired, wide-eyed boy opened the door and took one look at Leaf. He had on a red short sleeve zip-up jacket with black sleeves. Red tennis shoes hid under his boot cut blue jeans. To top his outfit off, he wore a red baseball cap with white marking a half circle just above the rim.

"Are you ready?" She asked, bouncing on her heels.

Red looked Leaf over, his eyes resting on her new yellow bag. After holding up one finger, he disappeared and reappeared within 30 seconds with a yellow backpack slung around his shoulders. He shut the door quietly behind him and walked alongside Leaf as she began to ramble about something. She was always talking. His mind wandered to three nights ago when his life changed dramatically. If only he hadn't snuck out, if only he had listened to his friend.

"Earth to Red!" Leaf was waving her hand in front of his face now.

He glanced over at her.

"Where you even listening to me?" She asked unhappily.

"Uh..."

"Okay whatever. As I was saying, did you hear about that guy they found in the woods?" Her voice pulsated with excitement.

Every muscle in Red's body tensed. He had heard alright. It was the whole reason he couldn't travel around with her. He relaxed his muscles and nodded

"They Id'd the body, and it was Mr. A. He was the new guy in town, that was like a biologist or something. So, apparently, he had already been dead for 2 days when they found him. That means he died three nights ago. Red, we were going to go out in the forest that night, remember?" She became more serious.

"It rained."

If only he hadn't gone out that night , but he couldn't tell Leaf that he had. Because it would put her at risk too. It had, in fact, rained that night, and he remembered it very clearly. He pushed aside the memory stirring in his head and focused instead on the fact they were going to be getting their very own pokemon soon.

"So I was watching the news, and it said the police suspected foul play. The marks on his body were from a tyranitar," she exaggerated the last word.

He shot her a look that said 'so what?'

"They are rare pokemon found in the Johto region! It's highly unlikely one could ever make its way down in this area," she clarified, looking smug she remembered something from trainers school.

"Wow!" Red applauded her, pretending to be impressed by her knowledge.

"Hey!" Leaf playfully punched his shoulder.

"Leaf, there is something I wanted to tell you," Red began but was cut off.

Standing in front of the lab doors was a spiky haired boy. He wore a confident smirk as he leaned casually against the side of the door frame. Leaf groaned as she spotted her least favorite person. He wore a blue shirt and blue jeans with a pendant hanging from a worn string around his neck.

"Look who finally showed up, Red and his puppy dog," He sneered at Leaf.

"Good one Blue. I feel very insulted," Leaf rolled her eyes at him.

"What took you so long, I thought I'd have to take the pokemon myself."

"We are like 20 minutes early," Red pointed out.

"Not early enough by the looks of it. You two hurry up," with that he turned and walked into the lab, the door slamming behind him.

Red grabbed Leaf's shoulder before she could follow him. It was now or never. He took a deep breath and met Leaf's curious stare.

"Leaf, I can't journey with you." His heart hammered in his chest.

"What?" Her eyes filled with hurt and confusion.

"Why not?" She demanded.

"I just can't..."He looked down, suddenly feeling very ashamed.

"We've been planning this since we were little. This has been my dream since forever, traveling around the kanto region with my best friend." Leaf look crushed.

Just as Red was about to say something else, the door swung open and revealed Blue.

"Hurry up will ya," he growled and turned back inside.

"We better go in," Red mumbled.

Leaf didn't say anything back. She cut him off as he was about to take a step inside and hurried over to stand next to Blue. Red watched her, an ache forming in his chest. He felt like a real jerk at the moment, but that feeling was soon replaced with an uncontainable excitement. Sitting on a table near Leaf were three pokeballs. Standing near the table was Professor Oak, Blue's grandpa. Oak had tan colored hair that was spiked at one side and a heavy set of eyebrows. He wore a good-natured smile as he watched Red enter the room. Like most professors, he had on a white lab coat over a pair of khakis and a red t-shirt.

"I'm glad to see you all here today. As you already know, my name is Professor Oak. I've spent my life researching pokemon and in return for a rare pokemon, you will take a pokedex and collect data on pokemon." He held up a red device as he talked.

"On the table are the three starter pokemon, Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Each of you will get to choose one to help start off your pokemon journey. Leaf, you can choose first." Oak smiled at her.

Leaf was surprised that she was getting to choose first. She had assumed since Blue was Oak's grandson, he would get the first pick. Blue must have thought so too because the moment the words left the professor's mouth, Blue obliged. Professor Oak shushed him and gave Leaf an encouraging smile. Excitement bubbled inside of her and it was taking all of her self-control not to jump up and down. She walked slowly over to the table, running the options through her mind. Deep down though, she knew which pokemon she wanted, even though she had thought about each pokemon for the longest time. Leaf reached down and picked up the pokeball farthest to the right.

"Charmander. A wise choice. It has a spirited personality and is well suited for a patient and strong trainer," Oak commentated.

Leaf nodded, but she wasn't really listening. She was instead staring at her pokeball in awe. She flipped it over in her hands imagining her Charmander inside. Maybe he was sleeping, or he could be listening to them right now.

"Would you like to give your pokemon a nickname?" Professor Oak asked Leaf.

She glanced up, "Uh, a nickname? No thank you."

"Would you like to go next?" He asked, looking at Red.

Blue's mouth fell open as he watched Red walk over to the table and look over the remaining pokeballs. Leaf couldn't help but smirk. She was starting to really like Professor Oak. After a moment's thought, Red grabbed the one closest to her. A bulbasaur. After a brief speech from Oak about Bulbasaur, he asked Red about a nickname. He politely turned him down.

"Now you can go Blue," Oak turned to his grandson.

Blue snatched the remaining pokeball off the counter fuming. Oak couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"I was going to pick Squirtle anyways. He's the best," Blue grumbled, but he couldn't stay mad for long.

"Now. Here is a pokedex for each of you. You use a pokedex to obtain information about pokemon. Simply point it at a pokemon and it will tell you information. In order to collect more information, you need to catch the pokemon. Also five pokeballs to start off your journey. You can purchase more pokeballs at your local pokemart. The pokemon center is always open for you to heal your pokemon and spend the night. The closest town is Viridian City which is north of here. I wish you all the best of luck. Call anytime you want and feel free to stop by." Oak handed them the supplies and watched as they walked out the door.

Almost in unison, they released their pokemon from their pokeballs. A charmander, squirtle, and bulbasaur stared at the trainer in front of them. Leaf kneeled down next to her pokemon holding out her hand. Charmander was bright orange and looked like a lizard standing on his hind legs. He had bright blue eyes and a tan underbelly. A flame flickered strongly on the tip of his tail. Charmander let his new trainer pet him, feeling a bond already forming between them. Leaf pointed her pokedex at him and quickly gathered information before she pointed it at the other two pokemon.

Red smiled at his new pokemon. Bulbasaur stood on all four legs and slightly resembled a dinosaur. He had light greenish-blue skin with small darker green markings over his face and body. Two ears twitched on the top of it's face. A dark green bulb sat on it's back, making up much of the pokemon.

Blue picked up his squirtle, examining it as he smiled. Squirtle looked like a normal turtle, only blue and much cuter. It's shell looked powerful and sturdy on it's back. It declared its name a couple of times as Blue held it.

"Red?" Leaf turned to her friend, having not forgot their conversation from earlier.

"Hmmm?" He asked, not really paying much attention to her.

"How about we make a deal."

Now he looked up at her interested.

"If I beat you in a pokemon battle, you have to journey with me. If I lose, you don't have to," She declared.

She knew Red too well, and she knew he could never back down from a challenge. He cursed under his breath. She was making it so hard to protect her. But he couldn't back down, he just couldn't. And besides, he'd been wanting to have a real battle for as long as he could remember.

"Deal," He sighed.

Blue laughed and looked over at Leaf.

"You actually think you can beat him? Don't you think there's a reason he doesn't want to journey with you? You're dead weight. You're holding him back and I would drop you too," He sneered.

Leaf ignored him, but the words hurt. She had been thinking the same thing, and now it seemed like her fears might be a reality. Did Red think that she wasn't good enough for him? Her grip on the empty pokeball tightened. She would show them. She wasn't weak. Charmander watched his trainer, recognizing the emotions on her face and a determination came over him.

"Let's go Charmander!"

"Char!"

Red and Leaf stood opposite from each other, both pokemon facing each other. Charmander's tail seemed to burn even brighter as it prepared for its first battle. Blue sat back and watched, a smug look on his face.

"You can have the first move," Leaf said.

"Bulbasaur, use tackle!" Red wasted no time.

Before Charmander could react, Bulbasaur slammed into him, causing him to tumble backward. Charmander recovered quickly though, and just looked even more prepared to fight.

"Charmander, counter with a scratch!" Leaf called.

Charmander's claws connected with Bulbasaur multiple times before he was able to get away. Bulbasaur seemed to have taken more damage than Charmander. Leaf smiled. It looked like she was winning this fight.

"Tackle one more time!" Red instructed.

"Use growl!" Leaf yelled.

Charmander used growl as Bulbasaur threw himself into Charmander. Tackle's effect was greatly lessened, but Leaf could still see that Charmander was wearing down. It was now or never. With Charmander still pinned beneath Bulbasaur, Leaf called out for her pokemon to use scratch one more time. Charmander's paw slammed into the side of Bulbasaur's head, causing him to falter. It was enough for Charmander to push Bulbasaur off of him and land one more blow. Bulbasaur wavered for a moment, and then fell to the ground.

Leaf couldn't believe she won! She jumped up in the air and then ran over to her pokemon to give him a big hug. She won her very first pokemon battle!

"Great job!" She congratulated her pokemon.

Leaf looked over at Red and to her surprise, he was smiling.

"Looks like you're stuck with me!" She beamed.

He just shook his head, unable to think of anything to say at the moment. He picked up his fainted pokemon and returned it to his pokeball. He told Leaf he was going to have Professor Oak heal it and be right back. While she waited, Blue approached her.

"Looks like Red isn't as good as I thought he was. He got beat by you," Blue shook his head.

"I'll take you on too if you think you're so good," She growled at him.

"I would but… it's just an enormous waste of time. We both know who the winner would be and I have better things to be doing. I'll battle you another time. Then we'll see who's the real trainer around here. Smell ya later." He turned and walked away.

What a jerk and such a weird way to say goodbye, Leaf thought. She sat down next to her Charmander and scratched his head while Red healed his pokemon. She wasn't a drag. She had proven that much when she beat Red. She just hoped he thought the same. The door swung open and Leaf popped up.

"Ready?" She asked, returning Charmander to her pokeball.

Red gave her a sideways smirk as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets and walked towards Route 1.

So there it is! I really hope you like it. There will be a lot of character development from Red, Leaf, and Blue, so if you don't like them at the moment, just bare with me. I've edited this a couple of times, but if I missed anything I would love to know. I also really appreciate any constructive criticism you have to offer me. As of right now, I'm accepting OC's. If you want to make one, please Pm me with the following. Name,age,appearance, personality, clothes, history, pokemon, move list for pokemon, if they are a trainer, breeder, ect. And how you would like them to appear in the story. Thanks everyone and please review!