Whoo! Chapter 9 is finally here! ^_^ sorry this took so long to update; this was the first chapter of this story that hadn't been previously written. I took into account people's comments about the general shortness of chapters and tried to fix it, but I've also been swamped recently with my classes for the winter quarter starting up this past week. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

A Passion Revived: chapter 9

A soft knock sounded at Ash's door.

"Pi...?"

Ash turned slightly towards the door. " 's open." he called out glumly.

The door opened slowly, and Brock slowly came in. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" Ash grumbled, turning his back to the older breeder.

"Come on, Ash, I've traveled with you since you were a rookie. I know you too well for you to pull that sort of attitude." Brock reasoned, closing the door and crossing his arms. "You were really upset after your battle with Laura, and I want to know why."

"If you're so smart, why don't you tell me?" Ash growled, not turning around.

Brock sighed. "I have my suspicions, but I want to hear your reasoning."

The younger trainer sighed in return. "She completely swept me. Pikachu and I couldn't even land a hit. I don't get it -- how could that happen?"

Brock frowned. "While it is strange, losing hasn't bothered you this much in a long time. Are you sure that's it?"

Silence. "Why...didn't she ask me?" Ash finally asked, voice soft. "If she thought that...if she really, honestly thought that, and wanted to become a better trainer that way...why didn't she just ask me?"

'Ahh...now this is starting to make sense.' Brock thought. "Well...I don't know, to be honest. But I have a suggestion, if you're so worried about your training. Why don't you go down tomorrow morning and see for yourself what will be going on?"

"You...you think I need to?"

"Not unless you think you need it." Brock replied. "The choice is up to you. Ms. Cooper's Tauros should be back on it's feet within the next few days, so even if you don't, you shouldn't be missing too much. I'll let you decide for yourself." With that, the breeder left the room.

Ash sighed again as the door clicked shut. Pikachu climbed up into his depressed trainer's lap, looking worriedly up at him. "Piii, ka?" His only response was Ash placing a hand on his head, scratching him slightly behind the ears and staring off with cloudy eyes at something that Pikachu couldn't see.

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The sun's familiar morning glow washed over the landscape, but May didn't appear to notice. What she did notice was something that surprised her a lot more. "Ash? What are you doing out here?"

Ash reached up, sheepishly placing a hand behind his head. "Um...just...wanted to see what you guys would be doing."

"No. You wanted to find out why you lost yesterday." a voice stated, in a slightly amused tone. The two younger trainers turned, watching Laura come out from the barn where Brock was tending to her Tauros. "Glad to see you two are on time. Let's not waste any time, then; show me your pokemon."

May nodded, taking six pokeballs out of her waist pack and tossing them in front of her. In a brilliant flash, her pokemon appeared on the grass. Glameow, once again, immediately tried to scratch May, but this time it was held back by her Blaziken, and struggled in vain against the feathered arms of the Hoenn region's fire-type starter. Her Venusaur, Wartortle, Glaceon, and Beautifly watched on -- it was clear that the new addition to the team was severely trying their patience.

Laura's cool gaze turned to Ash. "Ash? Are you going to merely observe?"

"Erm...no, Ms. Cooper." Ash mumbled, releasing his own pokemon. Pikachu jumped down to stand beside the emerging forms of his pokemon, landing next to the recently-evolved Monferno. Grotle, Sceptile, Buizel, and Gliscor completed the lineup.

Laura's critical eye scanned the two groups of pokemon, and a hand reached up to cradle her chin as she walked back and forth slightly, to get a better look at them all. May began to shift her weight nervously -- how long was it going to be before she said anything? However, finally, Laura stepped back and took something out of her own pouch. "All right -- that tells me a lot. Now, in my defense, the battle with Ash was the first I've had in a long time, but to be fair, let me show you the pokemon I battled with. There's Cerbera, of course," she began as her loyal pokemon stepped forward, "and then there's Zen, Riku, Ria, Mango, and Reggie." With each name she called out, a pokemon emerged: first a Medicham, then a Torterra, Lucario, Jolteon, and finally, a Floatzel.

"A person's team can reveal a lot about the trainer's individual battling style." Laura continued, turning to Ash. "Ash, you value speed, and being able to get in the first attack -- Turtwig are actually quite speedy, if you recall. However, your attacks lack subtlety; they are predictable, once the battle starts, and therefore easily countered." She turned to May and continued, "May, your team, on the other hand, seems to be based largely around type coverage. Were you to be in a regular battle, the typing of your pokemon lends itself to a wide variety of moves. For contests, you still have that array of moves to compete with, which gives you an edge in the battle rounds. However, it also shows that your style is the opposite of Ash's -- reactive instead of proactive. Your opponent's actions dictate your own. This can be a very big handicap, as it also falls into the trap of predictability."

May's eyes widened. She'd never thought of it that way before, but somehow, every word made sense. "I...I never realized that my team revealed so much about me."

"Not many people do." Laura replied, gesturing to her own pokemon. "Now, this team is, in a nutshell, based on the saying 'the best defense is a good offense.' Many of these pokemon are extremely offensively-based. The harder I can hit my opponent, and make them focus on defense, the less I need to focus on it. I can hit a wide range of pokemon for a great deal of damage. But then, as with all teams, there is a fatal weak point: as a tradeoff for offensive prowess, many of my own pokemon are defensively very weak. If I come up against a team that relies heavily upon status -- poisoning, burning, paralyzing, etcetera -- or changes to the field with weather or moves that deter me from sending in my pokemon, like Stealth Rock, I am hard-pressed to keep my pokemon in the battle long enough for them to do the amount of damage they are capable of. Even Riku, the most defensive of my pokemon on this team, has major issues when my opponents start flinging ice attacks around -- particularly ones like Ice Beam, which are special attacks. He can handle physical attacks fairly well, even some ice-type ones, but he has a lot more problems with special attacks."

"But Ms. Cooper," Ash interrupted, "there's so many pokemon living here with you. These six can't be the only ones you've ever battled with."

Laura threw a sharp glare at the boy, making him cringe slightly. "Yes, I have captured all of the pokemon that are on this property at one time or another." she explained icily before turning back to May. "The Tag Battle competition in Hearthome is in exactly one week. That will be your 'exam,' so to speak."

May nodded firmly. "I won't disappoint you, Ms. Cooper."

Laura waved a hand. "I appreciate the respect, but just 'Laura' will be fine. That goes for you too, Ash - and Brock as well."

Ash nodded, less sure than May had been. 'So...she doesn't like the fact that she's caught all these pokemon or something?' "Hey, er, Laura...there's one thing I don't understand. Well...two, actually."

Once again, Laura's cool gaze rested upon him. "Yes, Ash?"

"Well, you said your team is very offensively based -- but you said the same of mine, and that it was predictable. Isn't that the same problem with yours?"

"A valid question." Laura agreed, nodding. "The difference isn't so much in style as in the pokemon themselves. While your team, like this one, is very offensively-based, the pokemon themselves really cannot learn a wide variety of techniques. Your Pikachu knows mainly electric techniques, Buizel learns mainly water and normal techniques, Grotle and Sceptile learn mainly grass techniques...there's not much variety. However, my Medicham, Zen," she continued, bringing her pokemon forward, "can learn many different types of moves -- true, it's main set is mainly made of of psychic and fighting techniques, but there are many other options to teach it different techniques, and thereby catch my opponent off-guard." Her gaze turned back to Ash, who merely blinked in an effort to take it all in. "Your second question?"

"Er...yesterday, when Pikachu used Volt Tackle. You had Buster use Thunder Wave -- but that's an Electric-type move. Why didn't Pikachu's Volt Tackle absorb that electricity?"

A small smirk twitched up the corner of Laura's mouth, and she uncrossed her arms. "Well, there's actually a pretty simple explanation for it -- I think it's best if you see for yourself. Have your Pikachu use Volt Tackle on...hm...Riku, here." she said, gesturing to her Torterra. "He's a ground type, so it won't affect him. You up for a demonstration, Riku?" she asked of her pokemon, laying a hand on his head.

"Tor!" the large pokemon replied with a powerful tone, stepping forward and facing the much smaller form of Pikachu.

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Er...okay then. Pikachu, use Volt Tackle on Laura's Torterra!"

"Pi?" Pikachu looked back at Ash, then almost seemed to shrug and turned back to his opponent. After a moment, he launched himself straight into a Volt Tackle, just as powerful as the one he'd launched the day before. Sparks streaked magnificently out behind him like the tail of a comet as he charged, then leapt headfirst and collided solidly with his Torterra target. They scattered everywhere from the point of impact, giving the impression of a fireworks display. Riku grunted with the force of the impact, but shook his head slightly and was otherwise unharmed.

"Yeah! Nice one, Pikachu!" Ash cried out, throwing his fist up into the air.

Laura nodded. "An impressive display, to be sure." she stated. "Buster, use Thunder Wave on Riku."

"Chu!" the smaller Pikachu agreed enthusiastically, causing both Ash and May to jump - they hadn't realized he was even around. As it was the day before, Buster's attack was no more than a light spark. The contact with Riku was light, and the circular form dissipated upon contact with a single branch of the tree which grew on it's back. Indeed, it almost looked like the tortioise-like pokemon hadn't even felt the attack.

Laura turned back to Ash, a neutral expression on her face. "You see the difference between the two attacks, don't you?" she asked, stepping forward slightly. The grass under her feet crunched softly, charred by the stream of electricity Ash's Pikachu had left in his wake. She knelt, motioning for the younger trainers to come down to her level, then pointed at the grass. "While visually impressive, and a powerful move, the electricity given off by Volt Tackle is essentially wasted until the pokemon makes contact with it's opponent. It is directionless, and the pokemon must constantly generate more electricity as it is running, or else it will all be lost. That's why it causes the 'backlash' damage; all that energy constantly creating electricity cannot be stopped in a moment's notice, and the sudden stop to the flow of electricity damages the internal structure. Thunder Wave, on the other hand, is a light, precise jolt to the opponent's nervous system, which paralyzes them." She stood, dusting off her hands slightly, and continued. "Obviously, these are two very different paths. However, electricity, by it's very nature, will follow the path of least resistance, and therefore go where even the smallest portion of it is directed. That is why your Pikachu's Volt Tackle was not strengthened by Buster's Thunder Wave; the wasted electricity from Volt Tackle met the directed electricity of the Thunder Wave, and followed it."

Ash seemed dumbfounded, and May was equally surprised. However, it wasn't Ash's reaction that caused her disbelief -- it was how knowledgeable Laura really was about pokemon and how their moves worked. 'This is the kind of thing a researcher or high-level trainer would know -- most people don't bother to figure out how or, more importantly, why moves work the way they do. I suppose being around so many pokemon like she has here has helped a bit, but she still would have had to be around pokemon for a very long time.' Swallowing slightly, she looked up at Laura and voiced the question now stirring in her mind. "Are you a formal trainer, Laura?"

"No." Laura replied after a short pause, with only a hint of the coldness she had focused at Ash. "I simply spend a lot of time around pokemon. One observes these things."

'That doesn't account for your battling skill, or those pictures I found.' May thought, but bit the question back. It wouldn't do to make her new mentor angry with her. She would prove that she was not a failure as a trainer -- to herself as much as to Laura. And if that meant holding her curiosity about Laura in check...well, so be it. At least...for the time being.

"Now May," Laura continued, turning to the brunette, "I'd like to have a short battle with you, if you don't mind."

May's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "O-okay. What kind?"

"It will be like a gym battle -- three pokemon each, and only you can switch pokemon." Laura replied, walking a slight distance off and turning back to May. "Are you ready?"

May nodded, but a discontented look flickered across her face. 'She's not a formal trainer...but she knows how gym battles work? She is definitely keeping something from us...'

"All right -- go, Zen!" Laura called out. Her Medicham lept between them, adopting a battle-ready stance.

May shook her head -- she had to keep her mind on the battle. 'Let's see...Medicham is psychic and fighting...so I'll use...' "Go, Beautifly!"

"Beau, Beautifly!"

Once again, the corner of Laura's mouth twitched up in a small, barely perceptible smile. "I see you know your types, anyway. Bug is strong against psychic, and flying is strong against fighting. However...Zen, use Thunder Punch!"

"Beautifly, hit it back with Aerial Ace!" May called out.

Beautifly's wings glowed a brilliant white as it streaked towards Zen, but before the attack had a chance to fully power up, Zen raced for Beautifly, it's fist clenched and crackling with electricity. Literally before Beautifly knew what had hit it, Zen's sparking fist slammed upward into it, sending it flying up into the air.

"Ah, Beautifly!" May cried out, face contorting with worry as Beautifly spiraled down, no longer able to control it's flight. It landed with a soft 'thump' on the grass in front of May -- obviously no longer able to battle. May closed her eyes, then pulled out Beautifly's pokeball. "You did your best, Beautifly -- take a nice, long rest now."

Laura nodded at her pokemon. "Good job, Zen."

"Go, Glaceon!"

"Glaaa..." Glaceon growled, bracing itself.

"Zen, use Brick Break."

"Glaceon, use Dig!"

"Gla!" Glaceon cried out, beginning to dig furiously. Zen's blinding speed very nearly caught it -- the glowing white fist of it's Brick Break barely caught the end of Glaceon's tail as it whisked down the hole out of sight. Zen stood, looking around a bit as if it wondered where it's opponent had gone.

"Now, Glaceon, use Shadow Ball from inside the hole!"

Laura smirked and chuckled softly as the dark balls of energy shot up from the hole, a couple catching Zen as he leapt away, but only lightly. "Clever," she acknowledged, "but not good enough. Zen, use Brick Break on the ground!"

"Meeee...diii....cham!" Zen cried, striking the ground with it's glowing fist. There was a rumble from the shockwave, and Glaceon was blasted out of the ground, flying backwards. It landed hard, skidding slightly.

"Glaceon! Are you all right?" May cried out. Glaceon tried to stand, a determined look on it's face, but it's legs shaking badly. Before it could get up, it slumped back down -- unable to battle. "No..."

"It was a good fight, May, and it's not over yet." Laura chided softly. "You still have one more pokemon."

May's face grew hard as she recalled her Glaceon, murmuring her thanks to it. "And it's my best. Go, Blaziken!"

Laura nodded. "I thought so. Zen, use Psycho Cut."

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!"

The two fighting-types charged for each other -- and, for once, May's pokemon was just as fast as Zen. Zen raised his arm, which was glowing purple with psychic energy, and met Bliziken's fiery foot dead-on. Both pokemon rebounded back, and May felt confident enough for a small smile. It wasn't much, but Zen's arm looked slightly blackened. However, she realized, Blaziken didn't look too well, either. The psychic energy had reverberated through him, causing massive damage to the fighting-type.

"Zen, another Psycho Cut -- but stay back this time!" Laura called out.

'I've got to end this quickly.' May thought desperately. "Blaziken, get in close and use Sky Uppercut!"

"Blay!" Blaziken cried, charging once more for it's opponent, it's massive fist claws glowing blue. Zen raised his arm, once again glowing, and quickly slashed it down; the psychic energy sliced through the air, slamming into Blaziken and throwing it back.

"No, Blaziken! Hang in there!"

"Blaa...Blaaaziken..." Blaziken answered, struggling to get to his feet. His eyes met with Zen's for a brief moment before he bowed his head and slumped over.

"Oh no!" May cried, rushing to her Blaziken's side. "Blaziken...are you all right?"

"Blaay..."

Laura nodded, appearing to be lost in thought as she came up and produced a potion for Zen. After muttering her own thanks to her pokemon, he and the rest of her team dispersed, going about their business. "Well, May, thank you. I know what we need to work on, now." she finally said, handing another few potions to May so she could heal her own pokemon. "I must admit, you battle better than I expected."

"Well, her dad is the gym leader in Petalburg City." Ash defended proudly.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Is he really? Well...that does change things slightly, doesn't it?"

"I...guess so." May replied softly, shrugging one shoulder. "But...how did you get to be so good at battling if you're not a formal trainer, Laura?"

Laura's expression flickered slightly. "I told you. I spend a lot of time around pokemon." she replied, voice slightly flat. "Now, let's talk about your battle strategy..."

'No question. She's hiding something.' May thought as Laura drew closer, gathering a stick in her hand and sketching something in the dirt. 'And I'm starting to think I might know what it be. That only leaves the question...why?'

And so ends chapter nine. I hope you all enjoyed it, and please remember to leave a review! ^_^