"Hand me that." Ethan said, sticking his hand out. His head and torso were wedged under the long rectangular water trough attached to the New Bark Pokemon Lab. It was currently empty, a pipe had broken and we were trying to fix it, or he was. I handed him the wrench I had in my hand and debated messing with him while he was stuck under there, but I contemplated too long. By the time I decided, he scooted himself from under the water basin. His face was dirty, and his shirt was stained with drips of water.

"Turn it on." He ordered, standing up.

"Only if you stop being so bossy." I grumbled, turning the faucet on. A stream of clear water poured out, and Ethan sighed in relief. "We did it!" I cheered.

"I did it." Ethan corrected, pushing me affectionately with a smirk on his face.

"I helped," I shoved him back. Our playful banter soon turned into a competitive shoving match, and we each took turns getting dunked in the pokemon water trough until we were soaked.

"What's going on?" Professor Elm, well, Ethan's dad, came out of the back door of the lab, only to stop and stare at the muddy mess we made.

"He did it!" I pointed at Ethan, jabbing his dirty cheek with my finger.

"No way, she started it!" Ethan shot back. He started to retort further, but Professor Elm interrupted him.

"Well, your game will have to wait. We need to get your trainer information ready for when you challenge the gyms," He explained, then looked at me. "Kyoko, you can go home for the day. Thanks for the help, and you'll come back tomorrow?" He asked, and I nodded. "Thank you, I'll need a lot more help now that Ethan is leaving." He said with a friendly smile.

"See, I helped." I smirked at Ethan, who only glared. "Sure, Professor," I said as I turned to his dad. "Bye". I said it with a smile, but my good mood was gone. Ethan was leaving, and I couldn't go with him. My mom wouldn't let any of my siblings go on a journey around Johto, any time I mentioned it she snapped and said I would never become a pokemon trainer. Ethan and I wanted to go together, but no matter how much we begged, she always said no. My shoulders sagged as I walked to the gate in wet clothes and soggy shoes.

"Kyoko, wait!" Ethan ran to me, his sneakers squishing the entire way. He pulled me into a hug once he got close enough, "We'll travel together eventually Kyo-yo, even if I have to go around Johto twice." He said it out of sympathy, we both knew the chances of us traveling together was slim at best.

I was thankful he couldn't see my face as tears pooled into my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away as I separated myself from him. "Yeah," I sniffled.

"Come by tomorrow so I can see you before I leave." Ethan instructed, then shoved me. "Now, get out of here, I'm busy." He joked.

…

I stared out of my window, behind the lab and at the pokemon water trough I helped fix several years ago.

"I haven't seen Ethan in forever…" I thought sadly, but perked myself up by remembering I was going to be traveling today. Traveling across Johto has always been a dream of mine, but I wanted to leave New Bark Town so much more after my best friend Ethan left over a year ago.

"Maybe I'll see him soon!" I thought to myself as I ran downstairs. I was ready to go over an hour ago, but neither of my siblings had even woken up yet. My mom was sitting in the living room, curled up on the couch reading a book. She looked up at me and smiled, "Oh, good morning Kyoko! You're awake much earlier than I thought you would be. I knew you were excited about leaving, but you haven't been up before noon in a long time!" She teased.

"Mooooooooom." I complained, flopping on the couch next to her. "Haru and Hikari aren't awake yet, I'm going to die!" I wailed, rolling myself off the couch.

"Don't be so dramatic, not everyone wakes up as soon as the Noctowl's go to sleep." She giggled.

"You do." I pointed out, spreading myself out on the floor.

"A mother's duty. And I knew you would be awake anyway." She said, looking down at me.

"Hey!" I yelled. Mom jumped, but I gathered myself off of the floor too quickly to see her reaction. "I'll wake them up myself!" I scrambled to the kitchen and began digging in the drawers. I pulled out a metal mixing bowl and a serving spoon and grinned evilly at my mother, who was now leaning against the counter. She only shook her head, but I saw her smile.

"WAKEEE UUUUPPPPPP!" I screamed, running up and down the hallway, beating the bowl with the spoon. "Get up get up get up get up!" I howled, laughing until I tripped over the pant leg of my eeveelution pajamas. The serving spoon slid down the hallway back to the kitchen and the metal bowl landed on my head, but I only laid on the floor laughing.

"What in Arceus' name are you doing?" Hikari's door flew open, and my sleepy and very angry sister stomped out. She wore a soft pink nightgown, and her lavender hair was pulled up in a messy bun. "Do you know what time it is!" She shouted, kicking the metal bowl my head was under. I got up, dazed and dizzy, and took the bowl off in time to see her slam the door. "I'll get out of bed when I'm good and ready!" She yelled through the door.

I wiggled myself on the floor back to my mom, who was laughing so hard tears pooled in her eyes. "You three kids are certainly the personality of this house." She wiped her eyes, but helped me up, "Kyoko, I just remembered! The Professor stopped by earlier. He said he wanted you to help him finish up a few things before you left for today. He's in the lab, he told me to tell you to just stop by whenever you woke up." She put the bowl and spoon away, "Go get changed and head over there." She said, pushing me in the direction towards my room.

"You just don't want me to make any more noise." I said, running towards my room.

"That too!" She shouted up to me.

Break

I had been helping Professor Elm for a few years, but it became a part time job after Ethan left a year ago to challenge the Pokemon Leauge. The Professor had an assistant, but he normally had his own branch of research to work on and didn't help the Professor much. I didn't actually get paid, I worked to earn the pokemon and pokedex my siblings and I would use when we left on our pokemon journey. The work wasn't hard, and I would have done it for free just to learn more about pokemon. Besides, it gave me something to do after Ethan left. Besides Haru and Hikari, Ethan and I were the only other teenagers in New Bark Town. There were a few other kids, and I knew people from Cherrygrove, but that was a long walk and the kids here were much younger than me. There wasn't much to do or many people in New Bark Town, which only made me want to leave more.

I quickly changed out of my pajamas so I wouldn't keep the Professor waiting. I didn't put too much effort into how I looked since most of the work I did for the Professor was physical labor anyway. I grabbed a set of clothes from my closet and changed into them, then shoved my feet into a pair of sneakers. I ran a brush through my tangled hair, wincing as the brush sagged my knotty hair. I ran to the mirror to look myself over as I finished brushing my hair, then put my light pink hair into a ponytail, before deciding against it and letting it fall down past my shoulders. I wore my usual clothes, jeans, with a black tank top with a black and gray athletic jacket over it. I smiled widely in the mirror before running down the stairs, quickly yelling a goodbye to my mom as I ran out of the door.

Break

I jogged to the lab, and since it was next door I was there before I was even out of breath. The Professor's assistant sat at a desk near the door, staring intently at an egg sitting in front of him.

"Where's the Professor?" I asked, walking over to him.

"In the back," He mumbled, not bothering to look up from the egg. As he started scribbling notes, I shrugged and walked through the lab. Bookshelves and pokemon diagrams lined the walls, several tables filled with notes were scattered throughout the room. Against the back wall was a huge machine for healing pokemon, and a hooked up to it was a computer that the Professor was furiously typing on.

"Professor?" I said, tapping him on the shoulder. He squealed girlishly and toppled over in the chair before scrambling up and greeting me.

"Hello, Kyoko! Sorry, you gave me quite the scare, I was so focused on my work I didn't hear you come in!" He adjusted his glasses and scratched his balding head. I only smiled widely, I was so used to the Professor's scatterbrained personality that it didn't surprise me. "I was hoping you'd be here soon, and here you are!" He said cheerfully.

"What did you need help for?" I asked curiously, looking around. The only thing it looked like he needed help with was cleaning.

"I would appreciate your help finishing a few things before you and you brother and sister leave today. Are you excited to finally get a pokemon?" He asked, and I cheerfully nodded. He turned around to pick up a few papers before patting his lab coat pocket to find and then hand me a pen. "Here, fill these out please."

"Of course!" I exclaimed, glancing down at the papers he handed me. "I've been waiting for forever to get a pokemon, I'm definitely going to choose-" I was cut off as the phone program on the Professor's computer began ringing. A picture and a name I didn't recognize popped up, but the Professor went wide eyed and jumped to answer it.

"It's probably Mr. Pokemon, hold on a minute, will you Kyoko?" He asked, waiting for me to answer before picking up the phone. "I'm sure this would only take a minute, why don't you fill out those forms?" He suggested, turning around and placing the phone to his ear. "Hello, good to hear from you!" He said. I studied the forms, they were just the basic questions that would make the Trainer Cards as accurate as possible. I looked around to find an empty space to write on, before sighing and using a side of the closest bookshelf to fill in the name, birthday, and hometown spaces for myself, Haru and Hikari.

I had just finished the last of the paperwork when Professor Elm sigh and exclaim, "Oh, this is terrible!" I tried not to worry, but his expression was concerning. He only tightened his lips and shook his head, "I understand completely," He paused to wait for a response, "These things just happen," My mind raced to think of the best logical scenario, but my worrying only got worse when he said one last goodbye, then hung up the phone.

"Kyoko," He started, sitting down in his desk chair and looking up at me. I handed him the forms, but he only swiveled in his chair and set the papers and pen down. "My acquaintance, Mr. Pokemon, was supposed to deliver your pokemon. But he can't come to New Bark Town anymore, he said he was in the middle of urgent business and couldn't leave."

"So, what does that mean?" I asked.

"You can't leave without your pokemon," He explained, "I can't let you wander around the region without anything to protect you."

"You don't have them here?" I felt my shoulders sag as he shook his head.

"Not since New Bark has had a thief lurking around, I can't keep such rare pokemon in a small laboratory like this." He explained, "It would be too easy for them to get stolen." He scooted towards me in his chair and put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry. I know how much you've been looking forward to this since Ethan left."

I shook my head, "It's not your fault." I stated, but even I could hear the disappointment in my voice. "I'll go home, I guess. I waited this long, I can wait a little longer…" I gave him a fake smile, but Professor Elm knew how devastating this was to me. I said goodbye, and the Professor apologized one more time as I went home to go sulk.

Break

As I dragged myself through the front door, Mom was still reading on the couch but now Haru and a very sleepy Hikari were sitting with her. Hikari was sprawled out on the couch, and Haru was sitting in an armchair reading a pokemon trainers manual. I slumped into the other chair, and Haru and my Mom looked up, but surprised at my awful mood.

"You're back early Kyoko," Mom noticed as she put a bookmark in what she was reading. "Whatever the Professor wanted must not have taken long. What's wrong?" She asked, concern in her voice as I slumped into the chair.

"We're not getting our pokemon," I said dully, "The Professor doesn't have them and they can't be delivered."

"What?!" Hikari shrieked shrilly, "He's had months to prepare, why doesn't he have them?" She asked angrily, her lavender hair sticking up in every direction as she glared at me.

"You know how the Professor is." Haru said pointedly. "He's so scatterbrained, I'm not surprised this has happened." He said matter of factually, putting his trainer's manual down and pushing his glasses up his nose.

"It's not his fault!" I shot back. "Since we've been having some criminal activity lately the Professor decided not to keep our pokemon here. He was just as upset as we are." I explained, but nobody seemed much happier.

"I have a suggestion," Mom put in, sipping on a mug of tea. "Why don't you three go get your pokemon yourselves? It will show you're dedicated and responsible trainers." She asked, smiling at me. "It can't be that far away if they were going to be delivered today." She added.

"You're a genius!" I cheered, and my good mood reappeared as I stood up, but Hikari and Haru didn't look as thrilled as I did.

"Uhg, count me out," Hikari huffed, fixing her hair as she continued talking, "I'm not about to do the Professor's job for him."

"I agree." Haru chimed in, "What would he learn if we solved his problem for him?" He asked, giving me a sideways glance, "He should have planned better. We're prepared, and this is his job."

"Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands!" I announced, but Mom was the only one who looked as if she agreed. "I'm going whether you two are coming with me or not!" I exclaimed. I ran back to the door, "I'll be back soon!" I shouted as I ran out of the door to tell the Professor what I had decided.

Break

The Professor was surprised to see me again, but happily obliged to give me directions to Mr. Pokemon's house. His house wasn't far, just past Cherrygrove City, and Professor Elm told me it was only a half an hours walk there. On the way out, his Assistant working by the door stopped his work only long enough to hand me a pokeball and a map. "The map is in case you get lost," He explained, "The pokeball is in case any wild pokemon jumps out at you. You probably won't catch it, but you'll have time to escape." He said as he gave me both items.

"Thanks, both of these will be good to have," I replied as I shoved both things in my jacket pocket. He smiled at me and wished me luck before going back to his work, but both him and the Professor called out a faint goodbye as I left.

Break

I had been walking down Route 29 for a while now, and to keep me entertained I tried to look for as many of the different pokemon that lived on the route as I could. Hoothoot's and Pidgey's flew over the treetops ahead, and I saw the occasional Sentret and Furret running through the grass. I knew my way to Cherrygrove City, but past that to Mr. Pokemon's house was new to me so I pulled the map the Professor's Assistant gave me out of my pocket and tried to find my way as I kept walking. He was kind enough to scribble directions and circle the house I was looking for, and I had just found the trail North to his house a I felt something squish under my shoe.

"I stepped on a bug!" I thought to myself as I looked down, but my relief turned into disgust as I lifted my foot and saw gooey pieces of an Oran Berry stuck to my shoe. I groaned and started wiping my shoe clean on the ground, but my sticky shoe became the least of my worries as I heard a pokemon begin to growl behind me. I turned around slowly and clutched the map in my hand as I saw an angry Furret on it's hind legs, snarling and baring its sharp teeth at me. Standing up it was about the same height as me, and I noticed several more Oran berries near its feet, along with it's paws and muzzle stained a deep blue. It flopped down to all fours, and dug it's claws into the ground before slowly lumbering towards me, still growling and clearly very angry.

"It's ok," I said quietly, slowly trying to back up and keep a reasonable distance between me and the wild pokemon. The map in my hand became a crumpled mess as I continued to back up, but the Furret showed no signs of giving up.

Then, it lunged at me, knocking me over onto my back, with it on top of me. I felt the berry I had stepped on flattened under my back, and tried to hold the map in front of me to keep from getting scratched, but it was quickly torn to pieces. I started screaming once the map was torn to shreds, and struggled and wiggled to try to get it off me as I felt claws rip into my arm and jacket, and teeth grazing my face. I kicked and tried pushing the pokemon off me, but I was quickly losing my strength and the Furret was only getting angrier at my retaliation. I tried to hold Its muzzle away from me, but I felt its claws dig into my chest harder until I gasped in pain and let go.

"What am I going to do!" I thought to myself, "My journey's going to end before it begins!"

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this! This is a rewrite of the original Johto Journey's I uploaded, and I'm planning on adding a lot more to the story as Kyoko gets farther inher journey. If you have any characters you'd like to be added, PM me or leave it in the reviews and I'll do my best to add them into the story!