Chapter 7 has arrived! w00t! ^_^ Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday, and is ready to ring in 2009! I'm glad you all liked my attempts at shipping, but for now, you get a chapter in which May snoops and info about Laura's shady past finally starts to reveal itself. Aren't you excited? I bet you are. XD so, without further ado, enjoy!
"A Passion Revived": chapter 7
"May...May, get up."
The Coordinator groaned, forcing her eyes open. She didn't even remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was coming up to a room last night, after Ash comforted her, and seeing the bed...
"Come on, May, get up."
May huffed, making a face as she heaved herself into a sitting position. " 'm up, 'm up..." she grumbled, yawning. "What time is it?"
"6:00 am." Ash replied, in the same grouchy tone that all people had when they were woken well before they were ready. "According to Laura, that's considered 'sleeping in' here. She wants us to help her out around the ranch today, while Brock cares for her Tauros. Her phrase this morning was 'make yourselves useful.'"
"Whaaa?" May groaned, her brain beginning to wake up a little more. "Aw, man..."
"Hey, at least she left breakfast for us." Ash replied, shrugging his shoulders and yawning again in reply. " 's down in the kitchen when we're ready."
May sighed in response. "Lemme get changed, then." she muttered, making a shooing motion towards Ash, who blushed slightly and turned away.
The door shut with a small click, and May flopped down onto her back. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to wake herself up, then grumbled again and swung her legs out over the side of the bed. Her clothes were already laid out on the end of the bed, and it didn't take long before May was fully dressed.
This room, like many others in this house seemed to be, was sparsely furnished. There was the bed, shoved up into a corner on the wall opposite the door. Beside the bed was a dresser, a handsome piece of furniture with an elegant dark stain. Other than some small pictures on the dresser, there was only another rug on the floor, a plain beige color.
One of the pictures caught May's eye as she leaned over to wrap her bandanna around her head and she paused, looking closer. It was a lawn, not unlike the grassy areas around the house. Two people were standing on either end of the frame: a boy on one end, with a Jolteon and a Grotle. Someone else was on the other end, with a Houndour and Larvitar. May narrowed her eyes, taking a closer look, then widened them in shock.
The other girl was Laura.
She looked a lot younger, perhaps fourteen or so, but there was no mistaking her. But her expression was vastly different than the seemingly constant scowl she wore now -- it was a smirk, confident but not cocky. She was enjoying the battle. But there was something else, too...
'This looks a lot like my and Ash's battle last night.' she realized, taking another look at her opponent. 'But who's he?'
A couple knocks pounded on her door. "May?" Ash called faintly through it. "You ready?"
"Almost!" May called back, startled back into reality. Quickly, she tied her bandana around her head, leaving only two strands on either side of her face loose, and slipped her shoes on. Her pack was over on the other side of the room, under the window. As she stooped to get it, she caught a glimpse of figures moving down on the grass.
Laura was there, along with several Fighting-type pokemon in a line. The sun was just rising over the trees, casting an almost lilac glow across the grass. As one, all in the line punched, then kicked, then punched again with the other hand before finishing with a roundhouse kick with their other foot. A Lucario was on her left, and a Medicham was on her right. The training continued and May slowly turned away. This morning had given her a lot to think about, and it had barely started.
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By the time May got downstairs and had eaten, Ash was already outside, watching Laura train with an intrigued, excited look on his face. He and Pikachu even attempted to join in, though Ash always managed to almost fall on his face any time he attempted a kick. When May went out to join them, the workout session seemed to be ending; after a flurry of punches, kicks, feints, blocks, and dodges, Laura and all her pokemon froze in place as one. Then they relaxed their poses, and the pokemon started to disperse.
"Good, you're awake." Laura stated, grabbing a towel she had lain nearby and wiping it over her face. The hostility from last night was gone, replaced yet again by the seeming lack of emotion at all. "I took a look at your Glameow last night -- he's a temperamental little bugger." she added with a small chuckle.
"He?" May questioned. "I though Glameow was a girl."
Laura gave a small sigh. "No, May, your Glameow is definitely a male. That's why he's been giving you so much trouble -- simple testosterone. He's used to being dominant." she continued, placing a hand on her bicep and flexing, loosening the muscles. "He needs to learn that you're the trainer, and as such, the leader, who he needs to submit to."
"That seems rather harsh." Ash piped up, wiping down Pikachu with the towel Laura had tossed aside. "I've had pokemon that don't listen to me, and I've never had to work it out like that. I just earned their trust."
Cerbera trotted over to Laura's side just then, and Laura rested a hand on her Houdoom's neck, scratching it lightly. "That's certainly one way to go about it, yes, and the way I prefer. However, there are times when that is simply not viable." She then turned her eyes to Ash. "Think of it as if you're a pokemon yourself -- a dominant member of their pack or herd or what have you. Not all pokemon take kindly to being captured, and may not respond well to being ordered about by a human. You need to put it in terms that they'll understand -- you are the dominant pokemon. Trust will come, in time; every leader must prove themselves, after all, or they will not be leaders for very long."
May winced slightly. It seemed to her that Laura had directed that last sentence at her, dragging up her statements from the previous night. 'She still hates me,' May realized 'why would she still hate me?'
"Now, you two are going to work." Laura continued, seemingly ignoring May's actions. "You will help me feed and manage my pokemon, as well as assist with general chores. However, first," she paused, looking down at them both, "you will help me with some Spring Cleaning in my house."
Ash groaned, and May wasn't feeling too pleased, either. 'What are we, a cleaning service?'
"Oh, don't give me those looks. With the two of you working, you'll be done in no time at all. All this place really needs is a good dusting, and a good dusting is all I'm going to ask you to give it. Ash, you take the basement and first story; May, you do the second story and the attic. Supplies are in the hall closet, and send your Pikachu out to find me when you're done. Got it?"
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May heaved a sigh as she exited the house a few hours later, flopping down beside Ash with a tired groan. "Pikachu gone already?"
"Yeah." Ash replied, sounding just as tired. "This house is insanely large. How does she live here all by herself?"
May shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. But I did find some pretty interesting things in her attic."
Ash rose to a sitting position, interest piqued. "Yeah? Like what?"
"Old pictures." May replied, her voice suddenly going soft. "There was one in my room this morning, too. I brought that one down to show you, and another I found." she added, producing the frames.
Ash looked excitedly at the pictures; the one from May's room he merely glanced over, and he focused on the other one. It was the same person from the picture of the battle, a little younger-looking now, dressed in a pair of baggy pants with rolled up cuffs and socks. He held a Pokeball in one hand, and a Jolteon -- apparently the same one from the battle -- lay at his feet, looking up at him. He was in mid-turn, apparently surprised the the Haunter who's hand rested on his other arm. A Meowth sunned lazily in the window, and a little girl stood in it, smiling with her hand in a too-long sleeve resting on the Meowth. But clearly recognizable was the hallway around them: it was the entrance hallway to Laura's house. The scenery outside was a little harder to place -- rolling hills and a tidy path leading out through a white wooden arch -- but the underlying features were exactly like the ones in front of the house, where they had first approached it. "Woah..."
May nodded. "The one from my room looks a lot like the battle we were having last night. I think we reminded her of this guy with the Jolteon, whomever he is, and from the way she reacted, that's probably not a good thing."
"You should take those back, May, before Laura shows up here." Ash cautioned.
May nodded. "Yeah...I just wanted to show them to you. I'll be right back."
Ash leaned back on his hands, letting his head fall back and the early sun warm his face. Today was going to be hot, he could already tell. He would have appreciated more sleep, but he had to admit that it felt nice, having accomplished something on this scale by nine AM. And then there were battles to be had later on, he remembered with a smile. He couldn't wait to go toe-to-toe with Laura's Pikachu!
"Pika!"
"Oof!"
May laughed from somewhere behind him as his own Pikachu sprung onto him, landing squarely on his stomach. She had returned at the same time he had, and Pikachu had also brought Laura and Cerbera with him. Even Laura was chucking.
"Well now, see? That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Brock's already in this barn, caring for my Tauros, but there's another one further down by the lake with pokemon in it that need their breakfast, and we're going to give it to them. Follow me."
"Ms. Cooper?" Ash asked. "What about our battle?"
"This evening, Ash." Laura replied. "Things are getting done much faster than usual, today, thanks to you two helping. We'll have plenty of time then."
Short chapters, short chapters, I'm sorry about short chapters...but hey, this was originally 2 chapters, so I was nice and combined them just for you. Your thanks can be expressed adequately by clicking the 'Review' button :)
