All right! Now we can start!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything like that. I only own Sora.

Johto was beautiful, almost a pretty as Kanto was. Ash looked around at the new place he had entered. Newbark Town, it was called. The first town in Johto territory. It was a fairly small place, about the same size as Pallet Town. Maybe smaller, Ash thought. The Pikachu on his head gave a chirpy "Pikaa!" and pointed excitedly. Ash followed its paw.

Running towards them was a young girl. An Eevee wearing a strange collar raced beside her. "'Scuse me! 'Scuse me!" the girl was shouting. "Late, late, late!"

Ash took a step back to avoid being run over by the girl. As she passed, he saw light brown hair and dark green eyes. Curious, he followed, motioning for his two friends Misty and Brock to do the same. The girl was running to a building Ash had failed to notice. The sign in front read "Elm Pokémon Labs." Elm? Ash wondered. Like in "Professor" Elm? The one Professor Oak wanted me to see?

The girl didn't bother to knock. She actually had the nerve to just kick the door open. With a sweeping gesture, she scooped the Eevee up off the ground and went inside. Ash followed slowly. He was confused. The whole lab was a mess and the lights were out. He went up to his "guide."

"Hey–"

"It's Sora," the girl said, cutting him off. "My name is Sora. And if you're wondering where we are, we're at Uncle Elm's Lab."

"Is he even here?" Ash asked. Sora nodded.

"He's here all right," she muttered, flipping a light switch. "He hardly ever leaves here. He's probably fallen asleep at the sink while brushing his teeth. Again." She sighed. "The poor man's so scatterbrained, it's a marvel he's made what discoveries he has."

Sora dropped her pack on a paper-strewn tabletop and plunked the Eevee down on top of it. "Stay here Vivi," she commanded. "You did a good run today." Then she lifted her fingers to her lips. Vivi squeaked and pointed frantically to Ash and company. Sora blushed. "Oops. Good catch, bud. Yeah, you might wanna put your fingers in your ears."

"Why?" Brock asked.

Sora winked. "Trust me, you'll want to."

Ash didn't see any reason to. Sora shrugged it off and put her fingers into her mouth. What followed was possibly the loudest, shrillest whistle Ash had ever heard in his life. There was the sound of something falling out of a bed and a groan. Sora seemed mildly surprised. "Double oops," she murmured. "Looks like he wasn't in the bathroom after all. Vivi, we early or something?"

Vivi tugged at his collar which, Ash had just noticed, was a watch on a string. He looked at the face carefully and said, "Wee-vee vee-vee." Sora looked even more embarrassed.

" 'Daylight savings'?" she whispered. "Ohh...Great." She slapped her forehead. "False alarm, Uncle Elm!" she shouted up the stairs.

"You got me up," a sleepy voice replied. "I can't get back after your little 'alarm clock' bit. You might as well keep going."

Sora nodded and reached into her pack. "Breakfast is gonna be on in a few," she called back. "Don't forget: pants, then shoes!"

"Do you really have to remind him of that?" Brock asked, looking over Sora's shoulder at the food she was pulling out.

"Yes." Was all she said.

"Want some help putting everything out?" he asked.

"Yeah, Brock's awesome with these things!" Misty said. Sora brightened up.

"Would you? That'd be great. I have to get a couple of things and put them where he'll see them." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it's a wonder this man's a Johto-renowned researcher." She paused, then grabbed Ash's arm. "You can help."

"Whoa! Hey!" Ash cried as Sora pulled him along. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No," Sora replied, winking at him. "Come on. I think you'll like helping with this."

She pulled him around the corner and showed him a messy desk with three Pokéballs on it. Ash ran his fingers over the sleek red-and-white metal. He grinned up at Sora. Sora nodded. "There's one Pokémon in each of these," she told him. She picked up the first. "This is a Totodile." She picked up the middle one. "This one has a Cyndaquil inside." She did not pick up the third ball, but rather, pointed at it. "And there's a Chikorita in there."

"Totodile? Cyndaquil?" Ash asked. The names were totally unfamiliar to him. "Chikorita?" He noticed that Sora's hand gave a slight jerk when he said the final name. "What's that all about?"

Sora shrugged. "Uncle Elm will show you when he gets down," she told him.

"Why do you keep calling him that?"

"He's my uncle. Father's brother," Sora replied. "As for my father, I never met the man. It's not like my parents divorced, just that he's not really here. My mom never talks about him, but it's not out of anger."

"Really?" Ash was surprised. "Same here. I never knew my father."

Sora grinned. "Well that makes us quite a pair then, doesn't it?" She whistled again, a little softer and less shrill. The sound started low, then sang up high, and ended low. It sounded like a Captain calling his crew together. Vivi appeared around the corner. "Vee?" he mewed. Sora picked him up, burying her face in his soft, white neck ruff.

"Is he up yet?" she asked. Vivi shook his head. Sora sighed and pushed the Eevee into Ash's arms. "Hold onto Vivi for me. He doesn't bite...well, okay. If you pull his tail hard enough, he does, but you shouldn't have to worry about that." She winked and fled up the stairs, leaving Ash alone with Vivi and Pikachu.

"Are you following any of this?" he asked the yellow Pokémon. Pikachu shook his head.

"Pika-pi...Chu."

Suddenly, there came a loud thunk from the upstairs. It was followed shortly by the sound of an angry roar. "UNCLE ELM!" Sora shouted. "GET UP! You had your ten minutes of Snooze Button-ing."

"But Sora..."

"Don't 'But Sora' me!" Sora snapped. "You have company. Remember the email Professor Oak sent you? Talking about how he was sending you three Trainers, one of them having a Pikachu on his head?"

Ash's face pulled to one side. Of course. He was, as usual, being identified by his Pikachu. Way to go, Professor Oak, he thought grimly.

"The e...mail Profess...or...Oak...sent me..." was Professor Elm's drawn-out reply, "I don't seem to recal–Oh! Wait! Yes, that one!"

"They're here now. All three of them, including Pika-Boy."

Pika-Boy? Ash thought.

"Here? Now? Oh, my word, why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

The sound of Sora's exasperated sigh was barely audible. "Because I needed to make sure you knew what I was talking about. All right? I'm going back downstairs. You have T-minus-Ten to get down."

"Ten seconds?" Elm asked, sounding startled.

"Ten minutes," Sora corrected. "Remember: Pants first!"

"Then shoes." Ash could barely contain a snicker as Professor Elm finished the phrase miserably. It sounded like it was something Sora had to remind him of daily.

Viv squirmed out of Ash's arms. The Eevee gave his brown fur a couple of brisk licks and raced off to meet Sora at the stairwell. Ash waited uncertainly for the girl to return. She didn't keep him waiting. He opened his mouth to ask if there was anything he should be doing when Sora cut him off, which she seemed do to quite a bit of.

"Come on. He's fine once you give him a time limit. He'll be down in roughly eight minutes."

As Ash followed Sora back to where Brock and Misty were, he decided to open up and point something out to her. "You have this whole thing down to an art," he remarked.

"Thanks." Sora flashed him a grin over her shoulder. "It happens to a person. It's part of my routine. Has been for the past three years."

"Vee," Vivi corrected. Sora stopped and stared at him curiously.

"Four?" she asked. "You sure about that?" Viv nodded his little brown head.

"How old are you?" Ash asked.

"I'm eleven," Sora replied calmly.

"Hey! That's like me, only I'm a year older." Ash said. Sora laughed.

"When's your birthday?"

"January 15," Ash told her, "You?"

"April 2nd."

Ash thought about this for a while, then said, "Happy Birthday."

He stepped into the room beside Sora. Brock had been rather busy it seemed. The table had been cleared off and set very neatly. Ash sniffed the air. Just as he had expected, Brock had decided to break away from the norm and make something special. Sora followed his move and sniffed as well. A slow smile spread across her face. "Man, you cook better than my Mom does, Brock, and that's something not many people can add to their resumé."

Brock turned around and smiled. "Well, thanks," he said. "I like to think I can cook pretty well."

There was the sound of water hissing through the pipes in the ceiling. Sora looked up. "Seems he's finished the teeth, which means he's dressed, ready, and hungry."

Brock pulled the pot from his camping stove. "Just in time!" he declared. "I'm ready for him to come eat."

Sora nodded. "Come on, Vivi," she said, motioning to the little fluff-ball. "Let's go get 'im!"

There was no real need, though. As soon as Sora and Vivi had gotten started towards the stairs, someone appeared. He was dressed in a simple lab coat, with a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt on underneath. His brown gaze took in the scene around him, looking somewhat bemused. Ash realized that he was looking at the Professor Elm, the same one who Professor Oak had asked him to see.