"Sweetie! How are you? Did you make it through the boat ride alright?" Leo's mother asked through the phone. Leo made sure that the first thing he did after arriving was call home. He had only barely left them a few weeks, but he was already feeling the cruel effects of homesickness. 

"Yeah. Did you get the money I sent? There were a couple of rich kids on the boat who wanted to battle and they dropped a lot of reward money. Nado here made quick work of them." The Gible, who was standing right behind him, let out a prideful cry at his trainer's words. Leo wasted no time getting right into the point, something his mother duly noted with a sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it about an hour ago...but really, you shouldn't be worrying so much about us. The point of your journey is to let you unwind once after all these years, remember?"

Leo said not a word, rubbing his forehead in stress. She had a point, but how could he [i]not[/i] worry about them? Since dad left, there was no one else there to provide much for them. Working at the poke mart only helped them scrape by and he wanted his family to have more than crappy microwavable meals while he was away. Speaking of which...

"Are John, Travis, and Lily eating okay?" He asked after his brief period of silence.

"Ask them yourself, dear, they've been dying to talk to you." Leo heard the sound of the telephone being handed away to a few overly eager hands.

"LEO!" The boy winced at the combined cries of his siblings, holding the phone a decent distance from his now aching ear. The children were loud enough to draw the attention of some eyes to his direction. Nado let out a happy cry as it heard the familiar sound of their borderline yelling.

"Hey...guys."

Leo heard the phone being swiped from child to child, each arguing over who would speak with him first before an authoritative hand swiped it away from all three of them.

"Maybe later?" The voice was once again his mother's, though he could hear the dejected sighs of his brothers and sister in the background.

"Definitely later. I'll call back later, mom, I should be heading to the lab now. I still need to register for the league challenge."

"Alright, best of luck, dear!"

-----------------

Leo soon arrived at the lab with Nado, again, following right behind him. He was was unsurprised by the sheer amount of people there were ready to visit the professor. He knew that there would be a lot of competition for the league, but seeing them in person made it hard to keep his lunch in his stomach. Without changing the expression on his face, Leo walked down the facility to see the professor surrounded by a variety of trainers. Some had their pokemon with them from the start, while others seemed like they would only just be receiving one of them from the professor herself. He did his best to make sure his worries didn't appear on his face, as he always did, and listened intently to the professor's words of encouragement.

His interest was especially piqued when he heard her mention the pokedex. It was an encyclopedia that detailed everything one could possibly need to know about pokemon, a priceless asset for sure. He tightened his fist. He had to admit, her words reassured him greatly. The crowd soon dispersed when she concluded her speech. Some left to immediately sign up for the either the league or the pokemon contests, while others stuck behind to get their dex before anything else. He himself, naturally, was part of the latter category. It would be incredibly idiotic to rush out without getting one of those things.

"Excuse me, professor?" Leo greeted her, albeit somewhat stiffly. His palms were getting sweaty just looking at her, he never thought just starting out would make him this nervous! "I'd like a pokedex before I set off, please."