Here is the second chapter of the future American classic, Captain's Daughter! Okay, I could never publish it or Nintendo would have my ass. That said, I enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy reading it even more.

Disclaimer: SnowLucario doesn't own shit.

Chapter 2

Serena led Ash away from the platform. The boy was too tired and hungry to focus after his long journey; all he wanted was to get to the mansion, whatever it was like, and have a nice big meal.

"I parked in the garage near here" she said. "If only I can remember what space I parked in…".

Ash didn't say anything. He didn't really have anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation, at any rate. He was completely deferring to Serena at this point as she helped him through the confusing throngs of people.

And it really was confusing. Even though it wasn't as crowded as the station in Jubilife City had been, it felt as though this place had been designed to be as difficult to navigate as possible. He made sure that he never lost sight of Serena as she led him towards the garage where she said her car was.

Eventually, she led him to what looked like a luxury car of some sort. Of course, Ash wasn't exactly a connoisseur of automobiles, so he didn't suppose that he had much to say on the subject.

Of course, however, there was the fact that Serena was extremely wealthy. At least, her father was. No wonder she drove such a fancy car.

"This is my car" she said unnecessarily. "Get in the passenger seat".

Ash did as he was told; he didn't feel as though he was in any state to resist.

As Serena backed out of the parking garage, Ash had a mountain of questions to ask her. First on the list was, what would be for dinner? Also, what were her siblings like? Ash really didn't know what to picture.

"Now, my siblings will introduce themselves to you once we arrive at the estate. There'll be no need to introduce yourself, because they will have known that you are coming, and they will all be ready for you".

Ash nodded, even though he knew that the young woman was focused on paying attention to the road, and was probably not looking at him.

"I'm eighteen" she said. "I'm enrolling at Greater Pastoria University tomorrow; did my father tell you that?"

"He didn't" Ash replied. "In fact, I never actually spoke to him. My parents did tell me that, though".

"I see" Serena replied, taking a left turn. "We'll be at the estate in about an hour. Enjoy the views".

Serena, after taking a couple more turns, drove them onto a two-lane highway that ran right alongside the water. Even though it had been hot and sunny in Jubilife City, in Pastoria City, seven hundred miles to the east, it was raining, although only slightly.

"We get a lot of rain here in Pastoria" the girl told Ash. "But we also get a lot of snow. It's just a very wet city, which I suppose is something you get when you're near the coast. In any case, I'm a fan of snow, so that's not a problem for me. Indeed, when you live anywhere in Sinnoh, you have to get used to snow".

This girl talks a mile a minute!, Ash thought. Is there any way to escape it?

Uh, yeah, you could open the car door, but that's pretty dangerous to do on a highway.

Are you crazy, mind? Of course I'd never do that!

Then you're stuck with her until you reach the estate. And for the rest of your year at the university. So deal with it, Ash.

"Nice" Ash replied, trying to pay lip service to that very long statement. He hoped that he was succeeding.

Serena drove them past pine forests and over bridges, up hills and over valleys. Eventually, they were high over Pastoria City, and it was possible to have a great view of the city and its harbor.

"Do you live on top of one of these hills?" Ash asked Serena.

"Nope" she replied. "Down the next of these hills, there's a town called Sanderson. We live not too far beyond it, a little bit inland".

"Ah" the boy said in return. "So you don't live right by the sea".

"No, not right by it" Serena said. "That said, I think you'll find the area surrounding my home quite beautiful".

Most of the rest of the ride passed in silence. Occasionally, Serena would point out one of the interesting rock formations they passed, or the various foothills of the Eastern Coastal Range. For the most part, however, she stayed quiet.

The silence only had the effect of making Ash more nervous. He knew that, as soon as he arrived at the estate, he would have a lot of answers to his question. The question was, did he want those answers?

After an hour on the road, just like Serena had said, they came to a small country road that led to a mansion. And yes, it was a mansion.

The house was on the edge of a hill, so there was reason to believe that there was some sort of basement that was sort of underground, but not really. Even without the potential basement, the house had three floors, as well as a roof with parapets.

It was shaped somewhat like a stereotypical castle would be, with towers placed along the roof. It was clear to see that, surrounded by some of the parapets, there was a Jacuzzi. It was steaming, indicating that there was somebody in it at the moment, but it was hard to tell whom it was from this juncture.

"Oh, that's just Lucas and Dawn" Serena said, answering the question that was in Ash's thoughts.

When the boy looked confused, Serena explained further. "They just come hang out sometimes. They're going to be dining with us tonight; do you have a problem with that?"

Ash shook his head. At this point, he was so hungry that he didn't care whom he would be eating with; all he wanted to do was eat.

Serena pressed a code by the door. "This door isn't locked with a key, it's locked with a code" she explained. "We feel safer this way. I'm not going to tell you the code, at least not just yet".

"I understand" the young man replied. "You don't trust me fully yet".

"It's not that" Serena replied. "It's just that...well, it's no matter".

She punched in the code, which seemed to contain eight digits. After a small green light flashed, she opened the door.

"Mom? Dad? Ash is here!" she called.

A woman whom Ash could only assume was Serena's mother came running down the stairs. She was slightly plump, with relatively short blonde hair and glasses. She looked quite dignified, but Ash had a hard time imagining what political figure of Sinnoh she looked like. That face really did look familiar.

"No, I'm not a politician" she said to Ash, as though reading his thoughts. "I'm Debbie Courtland, Serena's mother, and the mother of four other children besides". She patted Ash on the back. "It's nice to meet you".

The young man smiled. "It's nice to meet you as well. Where's Serena's father?"

"Dominick is on a work call at the moment" Debbie said, sounding a little bit irritated. "I get that he is the manager of a cruise line, but he could do to spend a little more time with his family, am I right?"

As Debbie walked away, Serena turned to Ash. "My father goes on a lot of work calls. Even when we're on vacation sometimes, it'll get interrupted by a call. Once, we were in the middle of a canopy tour when...ring, ring! It was the phone".

Ash laughed; he couldn't help himself. The mental image of that scene was quite something.

"Come on, Ash. Let me show you around" the young woman said, waving a hand backwards through her blonde hair.

Ash followed her into the large living room, which had a very nice view of a couple of large hills (or did they qualify as mountains?) in the Coastal Range.

"They ski there in the winter" the girl told him. "But that's not where we are going this Christmas. We're going somewhere way better".

"Where to?" Ash asked. Once again, he couldn't help himself.

"We're going to the Coronet Range" she replied. "That's where we go skiing every year. I hope that you're a decent skier".

"I; I'm okay" Ash replied. In reality, he had never been skiing before, but he didn't have the guts to tell Serena that.

"Good" Serena replied. "Once we're actually there, I don't want you to end up slowing us down".

Ash took solace in the fact that there were still three and a half months until Christmas vacation began, a little more than that even, so he had plenty of time until that happened.

In a way, it's worse, though, he thought grimly. I have three and a half months to worry about this.

"Is there a place where I can let Coyopa out to play?" he asked Serena.

"Yes; you can let him out into the yard once I've given you the tour" the girl replied. "I'll show you the way around this house first, though".

First, she pointed out how, next to the enormous living room, there was a kitchen. There were also a couple of bedrooms adjacent to it. "You'll be staying in the one right next to this room" Serena said, pointing to the room that she meant. "You might as well drop your stuff there, not have to lug it around the house. Besides, my parents don't like it when the wheels of a suitcase mess everything up".

Ash nodded obediently.

"So put your stuff there, and you can organize your clothes later" she told him. "I'll show you the rest of the house, and, let me tell you, there is a lot of it".

In the corner of the living room, there was a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor. Serena led him down the staircase into the "basement".

It might have technically been a basement, but it could also have passed for the first floor. One could see the mountain from here through a door.

"There are more bedrooms here, and my siblings will probably be around here somewhere...oh, they're probably in the pool".

Ash's eyes opened wide. "You have a pool?"

Serena nodded. "Yeah, it's in this basement. Let me see...yep, they're in there all right. Probably best not to bother them".

"I guess they're enjoying themselves" Ash replied.

"Yep. They love the pool. Of course, I love it as well; what is there not to love about the pool?"

Ash smiled.

"We also have a sauna here, which is only if you really like the heat" Serena replied. "Do you like the heat, Ash?"

"I mean...not really. I guess I won't be using it very much at all, then".

Serena nodded. "That would be advisable. If you ever change your mind, though, just make sure you aren't in there very long, and that you stay very well hydrated, or else you might pass out".

Judging by the manner in which she had said that, Ash guessed that she or some member of her family, or someone she knew in general, had learned that the hard way.

"In any case", she said, "the other rooms, besides this small living room here, are all bedrooms for one of my siblings. I'd say that it's better not to go look in there; I want to respect their privacy, you know?"

Since Ash also liked it when his privacy was respected, he did not comment, instead following Serena as she led him back upstairs. This time, she led him up another flight of the spiral staircase, all the way to the next floor.

"There are really only two floors in this house" the girl said. "I know it looks like three from the other side, but the bottom floor is considered a basement for whatever reason. I always found that kind of confusing, even though this is the only home I've ever known".

Of course, Ash thought bitterly. She was born in the lap of luxury.

Ash didn't find her annoying, though, or snobbish. She might have been a rich girl, but she wasn't a snobbish rich girl. Whenever she laughed, which she had done once or twice that he had seen so far, it had been such a pure sound that it could have melted snow off of a mountainside, or so it seemed to Ash.

Soon, she led him past what appeared to be a home office, and she motioned for Ash to be quiet.

"Dad's working in there" she whispered. "That's where he takes his calls, in the office. It's really better if we stay quiet - we don't want to make him angry".

After the young man gave Serena what must have been a fairly confused look, she said, "Oh, he doesn't hit us. But he gets really mad, to the point that you wish he had hit you".

I'll be careful not to get on his bad side, Ash thought, making a mental note to himself that he wasn't going to. He was determined to get through this, because he could make this be either the most amazing time of his life or the most hellish time of his life, and that might be determined by how well he could get along with Dominick Courtland.

"I'll show you the tower; that's where the hot tub is" Serena said, leading Ash to the end of the catwalk they were standing on. From here, they had a bird's-eye view of the living room, and an excellent view of the area surrounding the house.

She led him past a door and to another spiral staircase. There were two people already making their way down it, however, wrapped in towels and dripping wet.

One of them was a young man carrying a beret, with dark gray hair and eyes. The other was a young woman with longer hair than the man, with hair and eyes a very similar color to that of the other person's.

"Oh. Are you Ash?" the unfamiliar young man asked.

Our protagonist nodded. "Yeah, I'm Ash. And you are…".

"This is Dawn" the boy said, pointing to the girl. "And my name is…".

"I can introduce myself, Lucas", the girl said flatly, gently elbowing the young man (Lucas) in the side.

"Ah, yes, sorry" Lucas said. "Yeah, my name's Lucas".

"And I'm Dawn" Dawn said, reaching out her hand for Ash to shake. "I was told that you'd be coming here to study at Greater Pastoria University".

"Yes, that is correct" Ash replied. "Are you two going there as well?"

"Sure are" Lucas replied, smiling. "And this is my first year as well".

"Sweet" Ash said, looking down at the ground. He didn't know how he felt about Lucas and Dawn just yet.

"Anyway, Ash, you should probably head down to your room" Serena said. "Get your stuff organized. Once you're done with that, the others should be out of the pool. I can't wait for you to meet them".

Ash smiled. He couldn't wait, either. If every member of Serena's family was as pleasant to be around as she was, it was going to be a pleasure indeed.

Five minutes later, Ash was down in his new bedroom, and he was quite happy with it. He had a king bed all to himself, and, what was more, there were two couches right next to the window. Granted, that window did not have the best view in the house - that honor belonged to the windows in the living room. That said, Ash really did like this place.

I could get used to this, he thought to himself. And I'm going to have to, because this is my new life now.

He sorted out his shirts, shoes, socks, boxers, and pants. He also placed his books by the windowsill on one of the couches. Once that task was done, he reverted to staring outside the window.

I can't believe that this is what I'm doing now, he thought. I'm going to be living with Serena, and attending college at Greater Pastoria University. Good thing I already have all my textbooks; I wouldn't know where to get them around here.

"Ash?" called Serena's voice.

The boy turned around to find that she was walking into his room. "What is it?" Ash asked her.

"My siblings are ready for you to meet them. I think that you'll enjoy them very much".

"Okay" the boy replied. "I'm ready to meet them".

Serena stepped aside, and there were four children behind her; two boys and two girls.

All of them had the same blonde hair and gray eyes as Serena, which, considering that they were siblings, wasn't surprising to Ash. All of them were wearing the same green tunic, making them look rather like forest elves, without hats.

Serena's height (5 feet, 10 inches) was slightly shorter than Ash's (six feet even). However, the tallest one present, a boy, appeared to be six feet, two and a half inches tall. Ash didn't know how he had become so good at judging heights, but there it was.

"Hello" said the tallest boy. "I'm Sam, and I'm sixteen".

Ash shook hands with Sam before turning his attention to the next oldest child, a girl.

"I'm Bella, and I'm fourteen".

Turning to the younger boy present, the fourth oldest child, he said, "I'm Patrick, and I'm twelve". Judging by the voice in which Patrick spoke, it seemed as though he was trying to pull a fast one on Ash. Ash didn't know what kind of trick that might be, but he resolved to be careful around the younger boy from here on out.

"And I'm Corinne" the youngest girl said. "I'm nine".

"Nice" Ash said, taking all of that information in. Sam, Bella, Patrick, and Corinne. Those were the names of the Courtland children, besides Serena. He had to keep that information inside his head.

After the four younger children left, Serena turned to Ash. "Now would be a good time to let your Pikachu out in the yard. He won't leave the premises, correct?"

"I mean, there's a fence around the property" Ash replied. "It wouldn't be that easy for him to do so".

"I guess you have a point" Serena said. "Okay, then. Go out to the porch and release him. The rain seems to have stopped, anyhow".

Ash walked outside onto the back porch of the house and realized that she was right. The porch might have been damp, and there might have been a high degree of humidity in the air, but there were no water droplets falling from the sky.

"I release you, Coyopa" Ash said. It really was a relief to let him go play outside, knowing that he was going to be safe. This mansion did have pretty good security.

The Pikachu, Ash's lifelong companion, exited the Pokeball in a flash of blue light and ran down the stairs. Before long, he was frolicking all over the yard, looking rather like a Lillipup chasing a Butterfree.

"Enjoy yourself, Coyopa!"

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Serena.

Ash turned to face her. "What's up?" he asked.

"Dinner is served".

I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter. Remember, if you review, I'll respond to it at the bottom of the chapter. If you don't review, I have no way of knowing what you guys thought of it. So just keep that in mind.

Sincerely, SnowLucario