A/N: Hello everybody, I am back with chapter two of this story. Here, we deal with the return of Dario.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon

Lara was frozen in place. She couldn't believe that Dario was standing right before her. He was supposed to be serving a twenty year prison sentence. However, here he was right before her in the flesh.

"Hello Lara." said Dario.

"I..." stammered Lara stunned.

"It's been a while." noted Dario.

"How?!" asked Lara.

"I drove here." answered Dario.

"That was you!" exclaimed Lara.

"I guess ya saw me." replied Dario.

Lara rubbed her face.

"This ain't happenin'." sighed Lara exasperated.

"It's real alright." said Dario.

A thought suddenly hit Lara.

"How did you get out?" asked Lara.

"Did he escape?" asked Lara's mother, worried.

"I'm gettin' my shotgun!" answered Lara's father angrily.

Lara's father began walking off.

"Wait a second! I didn't break out!" cried Dario.

Lara's father stopped.

"Then how did you get out?" asked Lara suspiciously.

"Parole." answered Dario.

Dario pointed to the ankle monitor.

"But, you got twenty years without parole." noted Lara.

"I got a new attorney and he convinced the judge that was excessive. Hence, immediate parole." explained Dario.

"Lousy soft on crime judge." muttered Lara.

Lara rubbed her temples.

"Look, you can't be here." said Lara.

"Actually, I can." said Dario.

"What do you mean?" asked Lara.

"This was my last residence." answered Dario.

"That's a bunch of hooey!" cried Lara.

"That's what the court records say." shrugged Dario.

"You had to get mail." noted Lara.

"We kept getting his mail, but redirected it." said Lara's mother stunned.

"Yup." confirmed Dario.

"I did use some of his mail for kindling." stated Lara's father with a grin.

Dario gritted his teeth clearly displeased hearing this.

"Sorry." said Lara's father sarcastically.

"Regardless, I never updated my place of residence." said Dario.

"How?" asked Lara's father.

"I had so much to do it slipped my mind." answered Dario.

"You know you did it on purpose!" snapped Lara.

"Well, I'm court bound here so I gotta stay here." said Dario.

Lara's father clenched his fists.

"Stay calm. Don't do something stupid." warned Lara's mother.

Lara's father took a deep breath.

"You can stay in the guest room..." began Lara's father.

Dario let out a chuckle.

"For now!" declared Lara's father forcefully

Dario's smirk was wiped off his face.

"Once I get this hammered out, you'll be out of here." said Lara's father angrily.

"Pa, we can't let him stay here!" cried Lara.

"We don't have a choice." sighed Lara's father.

Lara's parents left leaving the two alone.

"Lara..." began Dario.

"Save it! I ain't forgotten what you did to me! You stay away from me!" exclaimed Lara.


Lara turned and left. She slammed the door behind her for emphasis shaking the crucifix on the wall. Lara stormed off with an angry expression that clearly told Rapidash something was wrong. Lara hopped onto Rapidash and said she would explain it momentarily. Rapidash brought Lara to a secluded area of the ranch where they could be alone. Once she got off, Lara pulled out her cigarettes and used Rapidash's flames to light it.

"What is wrong?" asked Rapidash.

Lara took a big drag of her cigarette.

"Dario is back." answered Lara.

Rapidash was stunned by this revelation.

"But how?" asked Rapidash confused.

Lara took a drag of her cigarette.

"Parole." answered Lara.

"But, he got a prison sentence without parole." noted Rapidash.

Lara took another big drag of her cigarette.

"He got a new lawyer who got him parole." said Lara.

Lara took another drag of her cigarette.

"It gets worse." continued Lara.

Rapidash wasn't sure how and was afraid to ask. However, she knew she had to.

"How?" asked Rapidash.

Lara took a drag of her cigarette.

"He's living with us." answered Lara.

"What?!" exclaimed Rapidash.

Lara took a big drag from her cigarette.

"He never changed his address so this is the last place he is recorded as living." explained Lara.

"I bet he did that on purpose." huffed Rapidash.

Lara took a drag of her cigarette.

"Of course he did." spat Lara.

Lara took a drag of her cigarette.

"So, what now?" asked Rapidash.

Lara took a drag of her cigarette.

"We have to live with him." answered Lara.

Rapidash thought for a minute.

"Lara, how are you?" asked Rapidash.

Lara gave her Pokemon a confused look.

"What do you mean?" asked Lara.

"You have feelings for Dario still." answered Rapidash.

Lara flinched at this.

"My head is racing." answered Lara.

"Don't forget what he did." replied Rapidash.

"Yeah. He lied, stole from the family and cheated on me." said Lara bitterly.

"Please, do not go back to Dario." requested Rapidash.

Lara clearly did not expect this.

"Why did you say that?" asked Lara.

"Because nothing good will come from it." answered Rapidash.

"I'm not going back to him." stated Lara.

"Good." sighed Rapidash.

"I'm surprised you said anything." said Lara.

"You still have feelings for Dario and he's staying here." said Rapidash.

Lara nodded her head understanding.

"I get it. Thanks." said Lara.

"No problem." replied Rapidash.

Lara nuzzled Rapidash.

"You ready to go back?" asked Rapidash.

Lara finished her cigarette and put it out.

"Yeah." answered Lara.


Lara returned and continued to perform her duties on the ranch. Dario attempted to talk, but Lara ignored him every time. Part of Lara wanted to talk to Dario, but she remembered what Rapidash told her and tried her best to follow it. However, each time Dario tried talking to Lara her resistance weakened more and more. At night, Lara was stacking bales of hay in the storage shed when she heard footsteps coming up.

"Someone's sneaking up on me." thought Lara.

Lara turned and punched the figure in the stomach.

"Ahh!" cried Dario.

Dario dropped his right knee to the floor and clenched his stomach.

"Dammit! That hurt!" exclaimed Dario.

"If I knew it was you, I'd have hit harder." scoffed Lara.

Dario got back up, still holding his stomach.

"You where never like this when we where dating." noted Dario.

"Because I didn't know you where a snake." spat Lara.

"Why did you hit me?" asked Dario.

"You could have said something." answered Lara.

Dario took a minute.

"Look Lara..." began Dario.

"No! I won't have it!" cried Lara.

Dario stop speaking at this.

"I opened my heart to you and you crushed it!" cried Lara.

"I know I made mistakes." replied Dario.

"You stole from us! You cheated on me!" exclaimed Lara, hurting.

"I never should have done that." stated Dario.

"I should have never trusted you! You had that group of scoundrels spook my Ponyta and break my arm!" noted Lara angrily.

"I was going down a bad road." said Dario.

"Oh brother." said Lara rolling her eyes.

"I made a lot of mistakes, but that's because it's all I knew." said Dario.

Lara unintentionally let her guard down.

"Really?" asked Lara unsure.

"My family life was horrible. I was never taught right from wrong." continued Dario.

"Oh wow." replied Lara.

"I did a lot of stupid things I regret." sighed Dario.

Lara was consumed in thought.

"I met you and that was the best thing to ever happen to me!" declared Dario.

"Really?" asked Lara.

"Yes. You gave me a chance. You where like a lighthouse guiding me to safety." answered Dario.

"Well." said Lara blushing.

Lara thought back to her conversation with Rapidash.

"Dario, you still stole and cheated on me." noted Lara.

Dario hung his head.

"I made huge mistakes! I was weak and foolish!" cried Dario.

"Why I should I ever trust you again?" asked Lara.

"You shouldn't." answered Dario.

Lara was surprised by this answer.

"I didn't expect that." muttered Lara.

Dario fell to his knees.

"You should trust me after what I did. But, I want to regain your trust by proving myself." said Dario.

"I don't know." said Lara confused.

Dario crawled to Lara on his knees.

"I've changed! You've changed me!" declared Dario.

"I forgive you Dario! I love you!" declared Lara.

Dario jumped into the open arms of Lara embracing and kissing.

"You won't regret this." said Dario.


They two left and returned to the house. The next morning at breakfast, Lara announced she and Dario where back together. This did not go over well especially with her father. Lara's father jumped up and began to physically intimidate Dario while Lara stood in front of him. Luckily, Lara's mother successfully defused the situation. With breakfast ruined, Lara left and jumped onto Rapidash. She traveled out and began to monitor the Pokemon at the ranch.

"I heard a lot of yelling early." noted Rapidash.

"Pa went off." answered Lara annoyed.

"What happened?" asked Rapidash.

"He was mad Dario and I are back together." answered Lara.

"Lara!" exclaimed Rapidash horrified.

Lara winced realizing what just happened.

"Look Rapidash, he changed." said Lara.

"No he hasn't!" declared Rapidash.

"You sound like pa." huffed Lara.

"Did you forget what he did?" asked Rapidash.

"He knows he made mistakes and I forgave him." answered Lara.

"Lara..." began Rapidash.

"He changed. I believe it and we're not breaking up." stated Lara.

Lara dismounted.

"I'm gonna continue on foot." said Lara.

Growlithe came over.

"What's going on?" asked Growlithe worried.

"Nothing. Let's go." answered Lara, "Rapidash is going to stay here."

Lara and Growlithe walked away.

A/N: That is where we'll end this chapter. This is based on the anime and in "The Ghost of Maiden's Peak" there was a cross held by Misty. Next time, we march forward. Please review.