Huzzah for my reviewers! ^_^

Oh, and to Confused - sorry if it wasn't clear, she's got a Gastly and a Haunter.

A Passion Revived: chapter 4

May winced as Laura gently, but firmly, applied the stinging alcoholic salve to her slashed leg, and tightly wrapped a bandage around the injury. She stood, up, testing the leg gently. It twinged, but she could walk without too much discomfort. 'At least it isn't bleeding now' she thought privately, with a small wince. 'But it still hurts -- a lot.' She looked up into Laura's expressionless face and felt suddenly nervous.

"Thanks for getting me cleaned up," she said with a small bow, amazed that she had been able to keep her voice calm. Laura nodded stiffly in return.

"No worries. Brock's helping my Tauros, so I figure that means tit-for-tat. Now, lets take a look at your Glameow."

"Don't you want to check on your Meowth first?" May asked, tilting her head slightly with a confused air. "It got shocked too."

"Who, Levi? She gets shocked at least twice a day. She just loves chasing Rai around the house." At this, she actually let out a small chuckle, her eyes suddenly growing distant as she turned slightly away from May. "It used to drive him mad," she sighed, almost as if she wasn't aware she was speaking aloud.

"Drive who mad?" May asked curiously. Laura froze, her austere expression quickly returning to her face.

"Never you mind," she said sharply. "Are you going to let me take a look at your Glameow or not?"

Startled at the sudden shift in emotion, May looked into Laura's stern eyes and could plainly see that the conversation was over. With only the slightest hesitation, she nodded and handed the Poke Ball over to her, before standing and moving to the door with minor difficulty. When she reached the door, however, she paused and turned her head back, thinking she should at least say something to close the conversation. "Thank you again for taking care of my leg." was all she could manage, along with another small bow.

"Mrph." Laura murmured, barely sparing a glance for the young coordinator as she examined the Poke Ball intently. May sighed to herself and left the room quickly, glad to get away from the woman.

'What's with her?' she wondered as she made her way back through the halls. 'She seemed so nice a moment ago, but as soon as I asked her a question…' She grimaced and shook her head, wandering into the main room. 'I'll be glad to leave here,' she thought as she flopped down on the couch which she had earlier been ordered not to 'soil.' It was large, and rather plush -- just soft enough to ease your bones after a hard day of work, though still firm enough to provide ample support. May sighed again, sinking deeper into the fabric. 'It's been nothing but unpleasant since we got here. I really hope that her Tauros is better tomorrow so we can just go.'

"You don't really mean that, do you May?" Brock asked.

May yelped, jumping almost a foot off the couch before grasping at her heart in surprise and whirling on the breeder who sat relaxed on a couch at the other end of the room. "Don't scare me like that!" she demanded. Brock grinned and held up his hands.

"Easy, easy. I didn't mean to surprise you," he chuckled slightly as he stood and came over to her, leaning over the back of the couch to talk to her.

"Well you sure did a good job of it!" May shot back. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. The realization of what Brock had just said crept slowly into her sane thoughts, and she groaned. "Please tell me I didn't say that out loud…" she muttered, burying her head in her hands.

"You didn't have to." Brock said with another small chuckle. "It was written all over your face." His light mood evaporated suddenly, and a light frown came to his face. "You really shouldn't think that way, May. Laura just isn't used to having any guests, and it's a real strain on her. You shouldn't be surprised if she's a little, um… cold, towards us." May sighed and looked up at him.

"I know Brock, and I am glad that we'll be in beds tonight instead of a field, but she could still be a little nicer, couldn't she?" She sighed again and suddenly realized someone was missing. "Hey, where's Ash?" she asked. Brock nodded towards the door.

"He went outside to train again. You know how much he wants to win the Sinnoh Championship and challenge the Elite Four. It was just plain bad luck that he didn't get that last badge in time to qualify, especially since Paul made it all the way to the semi-finals."

"He really wants to beat him next year, doesn't he?" May smiled, standing up with a light stretch. "I think that I'll go out and train with him actually. I haven't sparred in a while, and it'll feel good to get some practice in." Brock nodded approvingly, smiling again.

"That's the spirit! A little battling and your spirits will be up again in no time! Oh, and, May..?" She paused and turned back to him, her handle on the doorknob.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Don't worry about Laura, or your last two Contests either." he said gently. "A little boost, and things will be back to normal before you know it." May stared at him for a moment before flashing a quick, tight smile, and hurrying out the door. It closed with a click and Brock leant back on the couch, feeling suddenly tired. "It's exhausting trying to take care of Ash's morale, May's sensitivity, Laura's introvertness, and a sick Tauros," he grumbled to himself.

"Ghaaasss," an eerie voice agreed from behind his shoulder.

"Haunta-haunt," a second voice concurred in his ear.

"Whhargh!" Brock screamed, leaping up and sprinting out of the house in surprised terror. Laura's Gastly and Haunter looked at each and chuckled at a prank well-pulled.

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"Sceptile, use Bullet Seed! Grotle, counter it with your Razor Leaf!" Ash shouted.

"Sceeeeep," the powerful grass-type from Hoenn growled, shooting out several forceful blasts of glowing green seeds.

"Gro-o-o-o-o…" Grotle groaned, a flurry of razor-sharp leaves blasting from the bushes on it's back. The two attacks collided in mid-air, exploding on contact. Grotle started to grin when a sudden hail of seeds emerged from the smoke and struck it on the head, driving the grass-type back with a slight yelp of pain.

"Grotle, are you alright?" Ash called.

"Otle gro," it affirmed, shaking it's head to clear away the impact and looking over at it's towering opponent with defiance.

"Great, lets try that again!" Ash said happily. "Remember, Grotle, just because the attacks hit each other instead of the opponent, it doesn't mean that you automatically stop them. You have to assume that the opponent will keep attacking too! Ready? Sceptile, Bullet Seed and Grotle use Razor Leaf!"

Grotle grinned and waited for Sceptile to launch it's attack. The fully-evolved starter shot a cloud of green seeds at Grotle, who began to glow green. Leaves began to swirl around it, forming into a powerful vortex. The Bullet Seed was deflected by the rapidly-swirling leaves, which then charged towards Sceptile, capturing it completely off-guard.

"Leaf Blade it!" Ash ordered, and Sceptile swung a glowing green blade at the vortex. The two attacks collided, the Leaf Blade slicing through the maelstrom of leaves and dissipating it entirely. Ash and Sceptile both stared at the rather smug Grotle in perplexity. "Was that… Leaf Storm?" he wondered.

"Sure looked like it to me," May said, walking out of the shadows to stand next to him.

"Hey May, all patched up?" he asked, looking at her bandaged leg.

"Yeah, thankfully. She's looking at Glameow now; I hope that it'll be okay, Rai gave it a really nasty jolt."

"I really want to battle that Pikachu," Ash sighed, a look of longing on his face. "You can tell just by looking at it how experienced and powerful it is. The attack it used made my hair stand on end! I know that Pikachu and I could learn a lot by battling it."

"How about trying me on instead?" May asked. "I haven't battled in a while, and my Pokemon are crying out for some practice."

"I'd love to," Ash grinned. "How do you want to do it?"

"Is a two-on-two double battle okay with you?" May asked.

"Absolutely! Since they're already out, I'll use Sceptile and Grotle."

"Then I'll go with Glaceon and Wartortle!" May decided, calling her two Pokemon forward. "You ready Ash?" she asked.

"Always," he laughed. "Sceptile, Bullet Seed on Wartortle and Grotle, Bite Glaceon!"

"Block that Bullet Seed with your Shadow Ball, Glaceon; Wartortle, use Ice Beam!" May shouted.

The Bullet Seed and Shadow Ball collided, seeds and streams of glowing light shooting off haphazardly in all directions. Grotle dodged both attacks and ran in close towards Glaceon, before the Ice Beam smashed into it's side. Winded, it was forced backwards from the impact and looked at the water-type with an aggravated eye.

"STOP!" a voice roared. Ash, May, and their Pokemon all turned towards the source of the voice, cringing at the ferocity of it.

"Oh no," May moaned when she realized that it was Laura. She looked at them all thunderously, Cerbera growling softly at her side.

"Just what are you doing?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.

"We were just practicing," Ash said defensively. "I need to train for the Sinnoh League, and May wanted some more practice for her Contests."

"Contests?" Laura asked sharply, her gaze resting on May. "You're a Coordinator?"

"Not a very good one recently," she admitted. "I used to be okay though."

"Okay?" Ash asked in disbelief. "May, you made it to the Hoenn Grand Festival in your first year, and made it to the top 8 in the Kanto Festival. You're more than okay!"

"Why do you say that you aren't very good?" Laura asked interestedly.

"It's a long story," May muttered, not very interested in telling any tales of woe.

"It's a long night," Laura retorted. 'Now you just sit yourself down and tell me what's been going wrong."

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