"Sora...just look at the net below the balloon," Misty growled. Sora obeyed and gasped.
"There's Bulby! And Airmail! And Rooter, Tramp, and Vine!" she cried. "That's not a circus balloon!"
"That's Team Rocket," Ash explained. "They steal Pokémon and try and sell them for money!"
"You can't do that!" Sora yelled. "They're not yours! They're not even mine! They're my Mom's Pokémon!...Well, except for Bulby. He's supposed to be mine, but I never really bonded with him."
"Mega meganium!" Meg told Sora. "Ga-meg!"
"I know you can, Meg," Sora whispered. "But...you know what it means I would have to do..."
"Meg!" Meg shouted. "Mega-mega!"
Sora took a deep, shuddering breath. She licked her lips nervously. Meg wanted to Moonjump and get the net that way. But the only person she was sure she could take up there was Sora. Only the little Johtogirl was small and light enough. Sora gritted her teeth. She handed her pack to Ash. "Take care of Vivi and Cinna," she commanded. "I'm going up."
"Sora...you can't!" Misty protested, seeing the girl step closer to Meg's side. "What if you–?"
"I'll risk it. Those Pokémon mean so much to my mother." Sora put a trembling hand on Meg's flank. "I have to."
Ash opened his mouth to try an dissuade Sora, but Brock put his hand on his shoulder. "Let her," he murmured. "Meg will be a lot more careful now that she accidentally let Sora fall once. She won't fall." Ash nodded.
Meg kept her body low to the ground until Sora gave her the a-okay pat on the neck. The big Meganium crouched low, then sprang up high. "Moonjummmmp!" Sora shrieked as she rose into the air.
Jessie leaned over the edge of the balloon. "What's this?" she mused. "The new twerp in town thinks she can reach us. Tough luck, sister!" She stuck out her tongue.
"Uh...Jess?" Meowth ventured weakly. "Take a better look..."
"Meg! Snap the net cable with your teeth!" Sora ordered. "Airmail, Dandelion, Sprinkles! Grab Bulby and Tramp!" The three Jumpluffs quickly latched onto the bodies of the Bulbasaur and Ivysaur to slow their descent. Sora nodded approvingly.
"Hey! We stole those Pokémon fair and square!" Jessie shouted as Mara's prized Grass Pokémon drifted away.
"Don't worry, Jessie," James soothed. "We'll at least walk away with one of them! Meowth! Deploy the backup net!"
"Deploying!" Meowth chimed in, pressing a red button with his paw. Sora gasped as a second net shot out of the bottom of the balloon basket, trapping her and Meg inside.
"Later, twerps!" Team Rocket called cheerfully as they started to drift up and away.
"Hotshot! Use Wing Attack!" a familiar voice cried. Ash and company looked up to see Mara on the back of a huge Pidgeot.
"Pidgeot-geot!" Hotshot screamed as he sliced through the net cable.
Sora screeched in terror, her worst fear being relived. She was falling again, a terrified five-year-old girl who had just slid from the back of a jumping Meganium. The ground rushed toward her too fast. She was falling, falling, falling...
Mara gasped, clawing for the second Pokéball she knew she had brought with her. Her fingers touched the smooth metal. She tossed the ball. "Go! Windbeak!" she yelled.
Windbeak, her second Pidgeot, did not need any orders from her Trainer to know how to save the day. She grasped the net in her talons and slowed its rapid descent. Mara wiped her forehead, heaving a sigh of relief. Then she turned to Team Rocket and their balloon. Her gaze hardened, becoming icy and intimidating. "You," she hissed. "You almost hurt my baby. Ohh...you got it coming to ya, all right. Hotshot! Wing Attack the balloon!"
"Geot!" Hotshot shrilled, speeding towards the Meowth-shaped thing. He punched two holes in it, coming out the other side just in time to watch it zoom away into the horizon.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" the trio wailed unhappily.
Mara touched down gently on the grass. She wrapped Sora into a tight embrace. "Oh, my baby, my baby," she whispered. "Are you all right?"
Tears were running down the girl's face. She pressed closer to her mother. "Meg wanted me to Moonjump up," she sobbed. "I didn't want to, but I did it anyway. We almost had it, too! Then they got us!"
Mara pulled away. She wiped away Sora's tears. "Shh...shh...It's all right, baby. It's okay. Are you hurt at all?" Sora shook her head. "You're gonna be okay. Don't cry, hon." She looked up. "Hotshot! Windbeak! Make yourselves useful and check all the others! I want a full report on the natures of any and all injuries."
"You're mom's a regular drill Sargent," Ash remarked. Sora sniffled.
"Yeah," she admitted. "She can be."
"I didn't know she had a Pidgeot," Brock said. "I thought she only raised Grass-Types."
"Grass-Types and two Pidgeot," Sora corrected. "Oh...and one kid."
Ash, Brock ,and Misty laughed. Brock was the first to recover himself. "How do you feel now, Sora?" he asked. "Are you a little less afraid of Meg?"
"Of Meg, yes, but not the others." Sora glanced back at the big Meganium, almost nervously. "I doubt I'll ever be fully unafraid of them."
"You don't have to be," Brock told her, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "Like I said, it's psychological. It's all in a part of your head that you can't control. Don't sweat it."
"Well!" Mara declared happily, obviously trying to get the others' minds off of what had just happened. "I think this calls for a celebration. C'mon, Meg! Let's see what we can pull together! You kids play nice now!" She turned and headed into the house, trailed by Meg.
Sora nodded. "That's Mom for ya. She doesn't like people dwelling on things for too long. She's a conversation-changer, that one."
Ash looked out at all the happy Grass Pokémon. He smiled. Sora might not be such a little kid as she lets on, he thought. She knows how to work together with Pokémon even though she's just starting out as a Trainer. With a grin, he added, I might have to watch out for her one day.
He looked around for the girl, but didn't see her anywhere. "Brock!" he called. The older boy turned. "Where'd Sora go?"
Brock shrugged. "I'm not sure. Don't worry about her, Ash. A girl like her knows how to take care of herself."
"That's the problem. I'm supposed to keep an eye on her while she's traveling. That's what Professor Elm wanted me about."
"Knew it!" Sora cried. "I knew it!" She was hiding in the tree above Ash. She was about to jump down when her foot slipped unexpectedly, causing her to plummet very gracelessly. Ash fell to the ground, Sora on his back. "Oops. Sorry 'bout that."
"Get off!" Ash growled. Sora vaulted neatly away, landing a little clumsily beside Misty. Ash sat up, rubbing his back. "What was that for?"
"Tree," Sora replied calmly. "Always good for eavesdropping. My Mom never sits outside when she wants to speak privately with someone. She has to be inside, 'cause she knows I'll hide up here."
"You're a little trickster, aren't you?" Misty joked. Sora stuck out her tongue.
"Call me what ya like, Misty," Sora retorted. "Just don't call me Sara. Ugh." She shuddered. "If I had a dollar for every time someone thought my name was Sara...Well, okay, I wouldn't have a cent to my name." Ash laughed. "I'm serious! I'm not well-known enough to have people mispronounce my name."
"How could you mispronounce 'Sora'?" Misty asked. Sora turned.
"Like this: Sore-uh. See? No! It's Japanese. It's pronounced: Soh-rah. It means 'sky.' " Sora rolled her eyes. Vivi nuzzled her head; he was still up in the tree. She looked up at him. "I'm rambling again." Vivi nodded. Sora sighed and kicked the tree, causing the Eevee to tumble down onto her head.
"Well, I'm sorry I can't show you guys anything really special," she said. "I mean, Newbark's a pretty quiet place. Doesn't have a Pokémart even!"
"Then where did your mom go?" asked Ash.
"Goldenrod City," Sora replied offhandedly. "It's not that far away from here. It's the..." She paused to tick off on her fingers. "Fourth city if you follow Route 29 up to Cherrygrove, then..." She trailed off, noting the confusion on Ash and his friends' faces. She blushed. "Heh. Never mind, then. I forgot you guys aren't from Johto."
"Sora Elise, get yourself in here PRONTO!" came Mara's angry yell from the house. Sora jumped.
"Elise..?" Ash repeated. Sora blushed even harder.
"Yeah. Elise. My full name is Sora Elise Elm. But you are never going to call me that!" She prodded his chest menacingly with a finger.
Ash took a step back. He was starting to wonder if Sora had some sort of mood disorder or something. She was joking one second, and angry the next. His eyes widened. Sora winked. "Chill out, man. Back in a few." With that, she called Vivi and the two of them raced into the house.
"Brock...is she all right?" he asked nervously.
"Pikachu? Pika?" Pikachu queried as well, his head to the side.
"She's just a growing little girl," Brock assured him. "I have yet to see her get truly angry at any of us. The next time she glares at you, open your eyes and stare back at her."
"Why don't you ever try the same?" Misty joked, glaring mischievously at Brock. The older boy turned away from her.
"I...don't know what you're talking about, Misty," he flustered.
"Suuuure ya don't," Misty murmured, sticking her tongue out at him.
Ash sighed and leaned against the tree. "I wonder what's going on?" he muttered. "Is Sora in trouble or something?" He shrugged.
"Pika," Pikachu chirped. We'll find out.