Breakfast was finished and the plates were cleared away. Sora sat next to her uncle, Vivi purring happily in her lap. She looked expectantly at him. "Isn't there anything you would like to say to me, Uncle Elm?" she prompted. The Professor looked confused.

"Er...Good Morning, Sora?" he ventured cautiously. Sora sighed and stood up, dropping Vivi on his head as she went.

She stopped at the calendar on the wall. Taking it off the peg, she reached into her pack and pulled out another one. "Well, for starters, you can change this calendar out, because it's from last year. Then you can simply turn to the fourth month..." She flipped pages as she spoke. "And...oh my!" She gave a pretend gasp. "April second! Do you know what that means, Uncle Elm?"

"It's...Tuesday?"

He really is that hopeless, Ash thought. And she has to deal with him every day!

"No." Sora ran her fingers through her light brown hair. "It means it's my Birthday today, Uncle Elm."

Professor Elm's expression changed rapidly, possibly out of fear for his ferocious niece's temper. He adopted a look of total surprise. "I knew that!" he said quickly. "I was just wondering if you remembered."

Sora gave a perfect deadpan. "That way, turn the corner," she muttered, sticking out her thumb to direct him to the room where the three Pokéballs were. The Professor hastily obeyed, then stopped. He handed the confused Vivi to Brock and went on his way again. Brock tickled under the Eevee's chin. Vivi squeaked and wiggled deeper into the older teen's arms.

Professor Elm came back, the three Pokéballs in his hands. He carefully placed them on the table and motioned for Sora to come stand there. She went over beside him. "You're going out on your adventure today, Sora," he said ceremoniously. "Goodness knows it's long overdue. Well, here are three Pokémon. You may choose one of them to accompany you in your travels."

Sora nodded and looked the balls over. She picked up the one on the far left. Professor Elm examined it. "You want the Water-Type, Totodile?" he asked.

"Well, I've never seen one before," Sora replied. "So how would I know? Can I let it out and see?" The Professor nodded. "Totodile! Go!" Sora cried, tossing the Pokéball on the ground. In a flash of red light, a small Pokémon appeared. Ash had never seen anything like it.

Totodile was like a blue Charmander, with the same lizard-like tail and scales. But its muzzle was longer, and blunted at the end. It opened its mouth to reveal a large number of sharp white fangs. This vast display of dental weaponry seemed to scare Sora. "Totodile, return!" she said, calling the thing back into its Pokeball.

"Maybe Totodile isn't your speed," Professor Elm murmured as Sora's hands shook. "There's always one of the others."

Sora nodded and picked up another ball. Professor Elm looked over her shoulder at it. "Maybe not that one, Sora," he advised calmly. Sora shook her head.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Really! I swear I won't have another attack. Chikorita! I choose you!" She tossed the second Pokéball.

Chikorita was a small, green Pokémon with sparkling eyes. It had a ring of things that looked like little plant buds around its neck, and a big leaf on its head. The smell coming off the leaf was soothing to Pikachu, and the Mouse Pokémon relaxed on Ash's shoulder. It did not seem to sooth Sora, though. She gave a soft scream of terror and fumbled for the Pokéball. Professor Elm snatched it from her. "Return, Chikorita!" he called. Chikorita sped back into the ball in a streak of red light. "Are you all right, Sora?" he asked nervously.

Sora was cradling Vivi in her arms. "Y-yeah," she stammered. "I'll be fine...Just...just give me a sec..." Her face was a little paler than usual.

Ash turned to Brock and Misty. Both looked just as confused as he felt. "What was that all about?" he whispered.

"I think Sora may be afraid of Grass-Type Pokémon," Brock muttered so that the girl wouldn't hear.

"But why?" Misty asked softly. "They're some of the most gentle Pokémon around! Why would anyone be afraid of them?"

"It's her choice whether or not she wants to tell us," Brock told the other two. "Sora could be very sensitive about her fears. Don't bring it up. Wait for her to talk about it, and only press her as far as she wants to go." He looked up. "Hey, she's got another one!"

"Cyndaquil!" Sora cried. "Come on out!"

Cyndaquil appeared in the wake of a red flash of light. It was teal on top, with a creamy yellow underbelly. Four red spots were dotted on its back. Its nose was long. Sora gave a squeal. "It's...so cute!" she breathed. She crouched in front of it. "Hey, little–"

"Da-QUILL!" the Cyndaquil shouted, shooting blazing flames from the spots on its back. Sora drew back her hand swiftly, checking for a burn.

"All right," she muttered. "I guess I deserved that one. Came up before it was ready to see me. Vivi, see if you can talk to it."

Vivi approached the flaming Pokémon with as much care as he would a charging Tauros. "Vee?" he squeaked. "Wee-vee?"

"Quill," the Cyndaquil murmured, letting the flames burn out. "Cyndaquil."

"Vee, vee!" Vivi assured it. "Vee Eevee! Vee!" He pointed to Sora. The Cyndaquil raised its head to get a better look at the girl.

"Da-quill. Quill." It nodded. The Cyndaquil stepped curiously onto Sora's lap, sniffing her face. It grinned. "Cyndaquil! Quill-quill cynda!"

"I think he likes you," said Professor Elm. "You want the Fire-Type Pokémon, Cyndaquil?"

Sora nodded happily. "You need a good name," she told her new Pokémon. "Something graceful and important-sounding. A name that gives you authority in your own mind."

"Try Shakespeare," the Professor suggested as he gathered up the other two Pokéballs. "I know you like some of his things."

Sora made a face. "Anything but Macbeth," she growled. "I hated that one." She turned back to her Cyndaquil. "Uncle Elm, what's that one from Julius Caesar? The one who was the conspirator who had a poet with the same name who got killed in his place?"

"Cinna," Professor Elm said over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Cinna," Sora repeated. "You like that one?" The Cyndaquil nodded excitedly. "All right, then! We'll call you Cinna."

"Da-QUILL!" Cinna squealed happily, letting his back blaze to show his appreciation. Sora laughed.

---

"Trust me, you'll like my Mom," Sora said later as they were preparing to leave. "She's really, really nice. Come on, I'll show you where I live. Mom likes it when I bring home friends."

"You, Brock, and Misty go on ahead," Professor Elm said. "I need to have a word with Ash first. It slipped my mind that I needed to talk to him."

"Like most things," Sora muttered playfully. Professor Elm pretended not to hear. "All right! Misty, Brock, Vivi, Cinna, all ashore what's going ashore!"

Ash watched them leave. "Don't worry," the Professor told him. "Her house is the least hard to find. Look for the garden. It's got the biggest one. Now, you must be wondering why I asked Professor Oak to send you to me."

Ash nodded. "Why?" he asked.

"Well, I'm a little ashamed at asking something like this of you, but I heard how well you did in the Indigo League. Sora's mother, Mara, asked me if I could find some Trainer willing to accompany Sora as she started her journey. Would you...you know..."

"Go with her?" Ash asked. Professor Elm nodded. "Sure! I don't see why not."

"Pika!" Pikachu squeaked, nodding rapidly.

"That's great!" Professor Elm exclaimed. "All right, that's all I needed to ask of you. Go on, you can go find Sora and the others now."

"It's the one with the biggest garden, right? My Mom had a pretty big garden, too. I bet I know what to look for."

Professor Elm rolled his eyes. "Mara's garden is like nothing you've ever seen before. Once you see it, you won't believe your eyes."

Ash nodded and set out with Pikachu on his shoulder. The Mouse Pokémon tapped his shoulder. "Pikapi?" he whispered. "Pikachu?"

"Yeah, I know what I'm getting into, Pikachu," Ash assured him. "How hard could it be to watch out for one more person? And besides, it's not like we're taking her all through Johto, is it? She'll probably go off on her own after a while."

Pikachu nodded. "Ka-chu. Pika-pika."

Ash looked around him. "All right, buddy. See any big gardens?" He glanced over to the side. "Huh. That one's almost as big as Mom's...And besides, that one's bigger..."

"Pikaa!" Pikachu cried, bouncing up and down. "Pika-pika! Chu! Pikapi!"

Ash followed Pikachu's paw. His eyes widened. "Uh...yeah. That one's the biggest. Must be Sora's."

The house Pikachu had pointed to was unidentifiable as a house. What it looked more like was a large, house-shaped garden. Exotic flowers and trees grew all around it, like some bizarre greenhouse gone wrong. It looked like a desert oasis compared to the other gardens. The largest flower Ash had ever seen broke away from the bunch and thundered towards him. Wait...was that a Pokémon? The creature towered over the boy's head. "Mega meg!" it cried. "Meganium!"

"Meg, you leave him alone!" came a woman's shout. The Pokémon stopped and looked back. The speaker didn't wait. "Oh, hi, hon," she said, "You must be Ash. Come on in!"

"You're Sora's mother?" Ash asked. The woman nodded, patting the huge Pokémon on the flank.

"Mara's my name, so you can just call me that. What're you waiting for? Any one of Sora's friends are welcome here!" Ash glanced up at Pikachu before nodding. He followed Mara into the house, walking slowly to take in the beauty of the plants and flowers around him.As he entered the house, he didn't notice the infamous Meowth-shaped balloon hovering overhead.

But Meg did.