"Do we really have to go visit this ranch?" Misty complained as she trudged through the snowy grass.
"Well, as we're going around Saffron again and heading to Fuchsia City instead, we might as well hit some points of interest on the way," Brock said. "Besides, Aaron agreed to this and it's his journey."
"Yeah!" Ash nodded. "I want to see the pokémon on this ranch!"
And he wanted to talk to them about their experiences being raised by humans. The pokémon that he had known had either been wild pokémon or had become trained pokémon after reaching maturity. (But his human companions didn't need to know about that…..)
When Ash had decided on his next gym, Misty had insisted that they take the ferry from the coast near Celadon across the gulf. She had claimed that the bus ride over the long bridge that connected Celadon and Fuchsia was incredibly boring and that they could at least fish on the boat.
Ash had enjoyed the ferry; for him, it was a bit like being on a moving pokémon center. He got to eat in a cafeteria, watch movies, and sleep in a bed for a few days while they crossed the water. Misty had enjoyed the ocean and the fishing. She even caught a horsea during the trip.
Brock had hated it. He couldn't let any of his pokémon out to train, he hadn't liked the food, and he had gotten seasick on the first day. He had been the first one off the ferry.
The ferry had dropped them off at a small port town and it was there that Brock had remembered that the Laramie Ranch was in the area. He had then talked with Ash about it, who had wanted to visit it after hearing about it.
(If Ash had been a more suspicious sort he might have wondered if Brocks' request to make a detour was some sort of petty vengeance attempt against Misty suggesting the ferry.)
They had set out from the small town on foot, heading for their destination. They were currently travelling through another set of grasslands, north of Fuchsia City.
They came to the top of a small hill and Ash took the opportunity to look around. Gentle hills covered in snow surrounded them as far as the eye could see, dazzling with reflected sunlight. Ash saw brown shapes on the horizon to the north-east, part of the mountain chain that ran by Lavender Town extending down Kanto's eastern coast. To the south, at the very edge of his vision, he could see the beginnings of the lush forests that had to be part of the Safari Zone that he had heard about.
Silence filled the crisp cold air around him; there were no birds or flying types to sing during this season. There was no wind either and the only sounds that he had heard before he stopped had been the snow crunching under his and his companion's feet. The smell of wet dirt, from the snow that had soaked into the earth, wafted through the air.
"It's….." Brock spoke up from beside Ash and the boy realized that his companions must have stopped when he had. "It's…. It's peaceful." Brock eventually said.
"Yeah," Misty agreed from Ash's other side. "We didn't get this sort of scenery around Cerulean."
"Same with Pewter," Brock replied. "Too many people, too many mountains. And I never had time to go hiking after I became the gym leader."
"My sisters would never let me go hiking, not without their supervision, and they didn't like to go," Misty complained. "I think I went about twice in my life before I took some survival classes for my journey."
"I- uh," Ash rubbed the back of his head. "I sort of got to hike a lot when I lived by Lavender Town, but my parents-" his pokémon ones "- didn't like me going outside too much when it was cold."
"You've mentioned that," Misty said. "They were worried about you getting sick, right?"
"Yeah," Ash nodded.
"So, it looks like none of us got to enjoy views like this before," Brock pointed out.
"Seems so," Misty said while Ash nodded in agreement.
"Then aren't you glad I suggested stopping by the Laramie Ranch?" Brock said, a little smirk on his face.
"Yeah!" Ash agreed with a wide smile. Misty just shot Brock a dirty look.
"We could have had some nice views if we had taken the coast down to the city," Misty pointed out. "And we could have gone fishing or swimming or-"
"It is way too cold to go swimming," Brock interrupted.
"No, it's not!" Misty protested. "Especially if you've got an insulated wetsuit."
"Aaron and I don't have any kind of wetsuit!"
"Well you should have thought of that sooner!"
They're being loud again, Pikachu complained from inside the hood of Ash's winter jacket. Make them be quiet. Pikachus didn't hibernate during the winter, but they did tend to sleep more. As such Ash's starter had taken to napping in Ash's hood or draped around his trainer's neck.
"Guys, I think you're bothering Pikachu," Ash told the other two.
"Oh, sorry," Misty said in a much quieter voice. Brock didn't say anything, though he looked like he was rolling his eyes.
They resumed their journey, crunching through snow, going up and down hills and across flat stretches of land. The three humans traveled until the sun started to get low on the horizon. It was then that they heard a rumbling in the distance.
"What's that?" Misty asked, pokéball in hand.
"I don't know," Brock said, also holding a pokéball. "It sounds big, whatever it is."
"I think it's coming from over there," Ash said, pointing to the south-east where he thought he saw movement.
"Whatever it is, let's just be ready for it," Misty said. "Go Starmie!"
"Go Onix!" Brock followed her lead.
"Pikachu, wake up!" Ash shouted, fishing the electric type out of his hood.
White light blazed as Pikachu jumped off of Ash and then joined Onix and Starmie standing before the humans.
"Everyone, get behind Onix just to be safe," Brock said, taking shelter. Ash and Misty joined him.
The rumbling grew louder, closer, and within a minute Ash and his companions could see the source. A herd of tauros were stampeding across the land, tails lashing to and fro, heads tossing as they charged forward.
"Onix, get out of the way!" Brock commanded. "Everyone stay behind Onix!"
Onix slithered out of the path of the herd, while the humans and the other pokémon followed. But even as they did that, there was a burst of orange by the herd. Ash thought he saw flames as something zoomed to the front of the herd and the whole group skidded to a stop in a flurry of snow.
"Hey there! Ya'll can come out now!" A woman's voice called out. Ash, Brock, and Misty all filed out from behind Onix to see what was going on.
A woman with blue hair and blue eyes, dressed in modern-day riding clothes, sat on top of an equine pokémon that had fire in the place of a mane, a rapidash. The tauros herd was still behind her, the pokémon acting much calmer now.
"Thanks for that," Misty said, recalling Starmie.
"Yeah!" Ash said, nodding. "That was going to hurt."
Brock didn't say anything. Ash glanced over at him and saw that the older boy was fighting to keep a blush off of his face. Ash heard Misty sigh and then saw her elbow Brock in the side.
"Oh! Right, thank you very much!" Brock said hastily, cheeks still red. "Uh…. I'm probably wrong, it's just I've read some articles and they had pictures, and I might be totally off the mark, but it really looks like you are, and I'm so sorry if I'm wrong, but, uh, are you Lara Laramie?"
"Ya got some mighty fine eyes there," the woman exclaimed, beaming at Brock. "That's me alright!"
"I guess that means we're close to the ranch at least," Misty muttered, before speaking up. "Anyway, hi Lara, I'm Misty."
"I'm Aaron!"
"And, uh, I'm Brock," the former gym leader said, swallowing.
"Nice ta meet y'all! And I'm sorry 'bout all that," Lara said, trotting her rapidash closer. "They sometimes get spooked and it's better ta let them tire themselves out when that happens."
Better yet, it gives us an excuse to have a bit of a run, her rapidash said. It is the only excitement that we get on days that we must spend tending to the herds.
"It's okay," Ash said as Pikachu jumped back onto his shoulders and climbed into his hood. "We were actually going to visit your ranch. Are we going the right way?"
"It ain't exactly my ranch," Lara said, rubbing the back of her head. "It's my family's. But y'all are heading in the right direction."
"Thanks," Ash nodded. "Let's keep going!"
"Well, if y'all are willing ta wait a little bit I can actually take you there," Lara told them. "I just want ta wait a few minutes ta let the tauros calm down."
"Think we can keep up on foot?" Misty asked.
"Well, if ya can't, one of y'all can ride with me and the others can ride some of the tauros," Lara told her, peering closely at her. "Ya look familiar. You wouldn't happen ta be from Cerulean City would ya?"
"Yes," Misty said, gritting her teeth.
"Are ya the little sister of the gym leaders!" Lara asked, leaning forward on her mount to grab Misty's hand excitedly.
"Yes," Misty sighed.
"I'm such a huge fan!" Lara squealed, shaking Misty's hand. "I've got a bunch of posters of them and I've seen recordings of a bunch of their shows!"
"A lot of people have," Misty grumbled.
"I've always wanted ta see them in person! Do you think you could get me an autograph?" Lara went on, leaning further off of her pokémon. "Ooooooohh! Can I get your autograph!?"
"I'll- Wait, what? You want my autograph?" Misty brightened up. "Well, uh, do you have a pen and some paper with you? I can do it right now!"
"Ah, shucks, I don't have any," Lara sighed. "Well, there should be some back at the ranch."
"I'll do it right away when we arrive!" Misty exclaimed. "When do we leave?"
Lara picked three tauroses from the herd for Ash, Brock, and Misty to ride back with her. According to the blue-haired pokémon rancher, they were the three most docile members of the herd and would be the easiest to ride.
Last thing I wanted to do today was haul a bunch of humans home on a full stomach, Ash's tauros grumbled. At least you're small.
Hey! I'm still growing! Ash protested. I'm only twelve!
Well, that's- Wait a moment! The tauros looked over its shoulder at Ash. Did you just speak properly?
No, you're just hearing things, Ash said with a straight face. You must have eaten too much.
That- Hey, wait a minute, the tauros glared at Ash out of the side of his eye. You must think that you're very clever…..
He's awful, Pikachu piped up. He does this with every pokémon he meets.
Why haven't you taught him some manners yet?
He's just too stupid to be taught.
Ash simply sighed while the two pokémon complained about him.
Lara came over to make sure everyone was situated and then gave them the basic instructions on how to safely ride the pokémon. Once she was sure everyone understood, she got back on her rapidash and led the herd away.
Ash found that riding a running tauros was a very different experience than sitting on one that was walking sedately. He was jostled a lot more and had to take care to hold on with his hands and knees. Pikachu complained about not being able to nap the entire trip.
The ranch wasn't what Ash was expecting either. He had thought that there would be a few wooden buildings and a wooden corral, the sort of thing he had seen in books and in one old movie that he had seen at a pokémon center. Maybe a barn as well.
He was not expecting to find a collection of things that looked like a cross between a tent and a hut. There were round canvas structures like tents, but looked more solid and had brightly decorated doors instead of flaps. Some of them were plain canvas, some had various geometric patterns, and some looked like they were covered in calligraphy.
Ash racked his brain for what the things were called. A half-forgotten memory from school rose to the forefront, something about how the nomadic tribes who had once occupied Kanto had lived in structures called yurts or gers.
"Oh, I forgot about this," Brock said as the herd came to a halt. "It's time for the big race, isn't it?"
"Race?" Ash asked.
"Yep!" Lara nodded. "The Fuchsia Free-For-All is this month!"
"The what-for-what-for all?"
"The Fuchsia Free-For-All," Lara repeated. "Ain't you ever heard of it?"
"No," Ash shook his head.
"That's just too bad then," Lara sighed. "Here I was kinda hopin' that y'all were heading ta the ranch to compete. Ah, well, at least I get ta give y'all the grand speech." Lara cleared her throat.
"Listen up," Lara said, but something about her voice, her words, seemed off to Ash. He could understand what she was saying, but it didn't sound how human speech normally sounded to him. "I've got something important to tell you knuckleheads!"
"Oh, is that Kantoese?" Misty asked.
"It is!" Lara exclaimed, sounding much more normal. "Do you speak it?"
"Sorry," Misty shook her head. "I just recognize it from a bunch of historical movies. What does it mean?"
"It means 'Pay heed to my words those gathered here, for they are of great import'," Lara told the younger girl, which Ash figured was close enough what he had heard.
"It's rare to meet someone who speaks it," Brock commented. "Judging by the gers I take it your family tries to keep the old traditions alive?"
"There's no point in just knowing that most of us are descended from the tribes if no one's willin' ta keep the memory of how they lived and spoke alive," Lara said while nodding. "Nowadays most kids just learn about their heritage from books and movies. They don't even try ta live part of it!"
"Well, kids like Aaron here get to live part of it, when they go on their pokémon journeys" Brock pointed out, sliding off his tauros.
"They only get ta taste a part of it," Lara replied, shaking her head. "They don't know what it's like ta travel as a family, ta eat and sing under the stars. Lots a places had pokémon journeys. Not as many lived on the road."
"I guess," Brock shrugged. "But not every part of the tribes did either. Some of them were only semi-nomadic."
"And that's still more than today's kids are getting'," Lara retorted. "I'm not sayin' that everyone should pack their bags and hit the roads, but would it kill them ta take a few weeks out of their year and try to live the old life?"
"Eh," Brock shrugged. "So, you live like this year-round?"
"Only during the winter, as part of the festival around the big race," Lara said. "Oh, and ya got me going on about this again."
"I take it that this is a subject you're passionate about," Brock inquired.
"You betcha!" Lara said, snapping and winking. "Right, the grand speech."
She coughed again and then launched into her speech. "Listen and pay attention! I've got something important to tell you knuckleheads!", and then she switched back to Sinnohese.
"Once the nomadic tribes warred among themselves! In time they realized that this was foolish and decided to settle their disputes in a new way!" Ash noticed that Lara was doing her best to suppress her accent during the speech. "Every year they would gather here for the Grand Race! A test of wisdom, endurance, and most importantly, a test of courage! We gather here in honor of those bygone days and those bygone peoples!"
Ash, Brock, and Misty politely clapped when she was finished.
"That's mighty kind of y'all, thanks," Lara said. "It's a fun bit, but it lays it on a bit thick."
"So, what's the race like?" Ash asked.
"You ride your pokémon ta the top of a big mountain and grab a flag," Lara explained, grinning sheepishly. "In the past they'd wait until there was a storm ta make it challenging for riders with flyin' types, but nowadays we do it differently. They can't go above a certain height and they've got ta hit the ground at checkpoints."
"Sounds troublesome, but there's not much else you can do," Brock said.
"Yeah…." Lara sighed. And then she immediately brightened up again. "The autograph! Hold still y'all, I'll be right back!" She and her rapidash took off at a full gallop, racing to one of the gers, while Ash and his companions waited awkwardly.
"Here ya go!" Lara shouted as she came back at full gallop, waving a notepad and a pen.
"Right," Misty nodded, taking the items. She uncapped the pen and then stared at the notepad. "Uh…" Misty's cheeks reddened. "What do I…. I mean what do you want me to say?"
"Just say 'For Lara, from the youngest Sensational Sister'", the blue-haired woman told her.
"You mean from the Runt," Misty snorted as she wrote. "I'm not exactly one of the 'Sensational Sisters'."
"I know, but I've still seen you in some of their shows," Lara told her, taking the pen and paper back. "And I'm pretty sure that you've helped with some of their pokémon."
"I mean, I did help raise some of them," Misty looked down, one arm hanging limp, the opposite hand on that elbow. "But it was just to teach me."
"So, ya still helped, didn't ya?" Lara asked. "Even if you were learning at first ya still were able ta help them later. When we're teachin' youngin's they're a bit of a burden at first, but they start being helpful real quick!"
"I guess," Misty admitted. "But I still didn't do too much. Everybody at the gym helps raise the pokémon."
"And I've seen ya in some of the shows they put on," Lara continued.
"Ugh, don't remind me," Misty groaned. "But even then, I usually just had a bit part."
"Again, you were learnin'," Lara pointed out. "But you did good with those parts and you were great when they gave you underwater dancin' parts."
"Thanks," Misty said, face turning a shade or two redder. "But I wish I had said no to those parts. My sisters took my participation as a sign that I was going to focus on performing. I like underwater dancing, but it's just a hobby. Pokémon training and battling is my passion."
"Ya would've done great with them, but if ya need ta go down a different road then there's no helpin' it," Lara said with a smile and a shrug.
"Anyway, how come you're a fan of my sisters," Misty asked. "I didn't think that their performances were that popular outside of Cerulean City."
"Oh, they got fans all over Kanto," Lara told her. "Our contest circuit still has another couple of years 'til it's big and we don't have any official Pokémon Performers. Your sisters are the closest thing we got 'round these parts."
"Oh, trust me, they'd probably love to drop the gym and go off and be Coordinators or Performers," Misty said, rolling her eyes. "But I never would've guessed that you would be a fan of that stuff."
"'Cause of the hard-ridin' vibes I give off," Lara laughed. "I get where you're comin' from, but it's way off the mark. I just like seein' all the different things the pokémon can do. Battlin's fine and all, but there's so much else they can do. Whether they're doin' jobs or they're performin' or bein' part of a contest, it's all great ta see. It's fun seein' where the pokémon we raise can end up."
"Oh, I can get that," Brock said. "I mean isn't that one of the big reasons people become breeders and ranchers in the first place?"
"That's true," Lara agreed. "I was born into it, but most of the people we hire are like that. They also tend ta be fans of your sisters, Misty."
"I probably should keep that a secret," Misty mused, "so their egos don't get any bigger."
"Can you at least tell them about me?" Lara asked. "I'd really like their autograph!"
Lara insisted that Ash and his companions should stay at the ranch for the next few days and she eventually convinced them. They spent the rest of the day talking with some of the people at the ranch. Ash kept trying to get some time alone with the pokémon, but there were no opportunities.
They ate under the stars of the winter night sky and then passed the evening away listening to old tales and old songs that their hosts were dedicated to keeping alive. After that, they were given a guest ger for the night.
Noise from outside woke them up all too early, before the sun had risen. The ranchers were already up and making breakfast when Ash, Brock, and Misty emerged from their ger, rubbing at their bleary eyes.
There was a wide selection of dishes for their first meal, from raw egg over rice, to grits and eggs, to biscuits and gravy and many more options besides. Ash made sure to have some of each, to the amusement of the cooks. Brock sampled some of each dish as well, though not to the extent that Ash had, and then compared notes with the cooks while drinking coffee out of a tin mug. Misty was gently but firmly rebuffed from getting some coffee of her own.
"I'll stunt your growth…." She muttered, storming off with her arms crossed.
After breakfast, the Ash and his friends joined the ranchers as they went about their day.
First, the pokémon were fed a small meal to start the day to tide them over until they could be taken out to pasture to feed themselves. Troughs were filled with bulks of dried plants and a bit of pokéchow and then the pokémon were turned loose to vacuum up the food. From there, the ranchers split up into groups.
Ash and Misty went with Lara to inspect the herds, while Brock talked with some of the breeders. Ash learned how to check the hooves of tauroses, miltanks, and ponytas for problems, how to inspect the coats of ponytas and dodous. They gathered eggs from a small group of chansey and inspected the winter wool coats of mareeps, which, for reasons he didn't understand, stirred a sense of nostalgia in Ash.
Ash saw Brock talking with someone near a herd of rhyhorns while Lara went on to show them where they kept the sandslashes. Lara demonstrated to Ash and Misty how they had the sandslashes keep their claws sharp by clearing away rocks and told them that later the sandslashes would be taken to a quarry to cut some stone, both as an exercise for the sandslashes and to get some building materials for the ranch.
Next, they saw a group of growlithes who were racing about and play-fighting with each other. Lara explained that they helped guard the herds against poachers and predators. Later the ranchers would run through some obedience and battle training with the fire-types.
Lara continued taking them through the ranch and explained what they would be working on with each group of pokémon. The exercises or training the pokémon were undergoing were usually related to either providing the ranch with raw material they would sell, providing a service on the ranch, or to develop the pokémon into a specimen that would be in demand for trainers, industry, and the occasional coordinator or performer.
Then it was time for lunch. Everyone gathered for a quick meal of some grilled meats, leftovers from breakfast, some miso soup dishes, riceballs, and sandwiches.
Next the herbivores were taken out to pasture to graze, while the carnivores were fed more specialized diets. Lara took the tauroses out again, giving Ash and Misty mounts from the herd once more.
You again, the tauros grumbled as Ash got on. Learned any manners lately?
No, he hasn't, Pikachu sighed from Ash's shoulder. I try and try, but this child will not learn!
Oh, shut it you two.
They all rode several miles from the ranch to a patch of tall grass that pokéd out of the thin layer of snow. The tauros immediately began to graze while Ash and Misty went over to talk to Lara.
"Thanks for giving us the tour," Misty said.
"Aw, shucks, it was my pleasure," Lara replied. "I love showing off the ranch ta visitors."
"Well, thanks still," Ash said. He had gotten a chance to talk with some of the pokémon about their experiences during theduring the morning. In a somewhat depressing turn of events, their experiences growing up on the ranch sounded a bit like his own memories of being raised by pokémon to live as a human. Drills and exercises made a similar enough substitute for studying and math problems.
"Do you get a lot of visitors?" Misty asked.
"We get a fair number," Lara answered. "Plenty of people lookin' ta adopt a new pokémon, breeders lookin' ta make matches, and plenty of tourists comin' down ta gawk. It's how we stay in business."
"How does it work?" Ash asked. "I mean not selling pokémon, but adopting them." He knew that they weren't selling pokémon like livestock (the ranch pokémon wouldn't put up with it), but he wasn't sure how adoption could be profitable.
"There's still fee if that's what you're askin' about," Lara told him. "Though we put it in the bank for a while in case the pokémon needs ta come back, so we can refund the money."
"That's enough?"
"People will pay a lot ta adopt our pokémon," Lara said with a proud grin. "Ya also saw some of the other stuff we sell, like the wool and the eggs. It's enough ta keep us afloat. Heck, it's more than enough. We can also host the race and do our historical exhibits."
"Is the race expensive?" Misty inquired.
"It can be," Lara answered. "We've got ta set up the course, get medical supplies, and then there's the party after that."
"Is it worth it?" Ash asked.
"Darn tootin!" Lara swung her fist in excitement. "The Fuchsia Free-For-All is just grand! There ain't nothin' like bravin' the elements and the mountains, ground flying beneath your pokémon, wind in your hair as ya jockey for position!" Lara sighed.
"I wish I could do it again," she said, deflating on her rapidash.
"Why can't you?" Ash asked, tilting his head. She and her rapidash looked perfectly fine to him.
"I already won twice," Lara smiled ruefully. "It's against the rules for me ta race again."
"What?" Ash exclaimed. It didn't strike the boy as very fair that she couldn't keep doing something she obviously enjoyed so much.
"It's ta give everyone a chance ta win," Lara explained.
"That's not how it normally works," Misty said. "What's the rationale behind that rule?"
"It's 'cause of the reward," Lara told her. "The winner becomes an honorary clan member and we want ta spread that around."
"Can't they just give that to the second-place winner?" Misty inquired.
"Nah, it would be too much like pity then," Lara shook her head. "But, it's no use worrin' 'bout it. I can still ride the course for practice and I can still watch the race."
"But it's not as fun," Ash said, looking at the ground. "Is it?"
"No. But it's fun talking ta the people who visit for the race," Lara smiled, a touch sadly. "That's why I was so excited when I met ya yesterday. I thought ya might be entering the race. It would've been fun ta talk to ya about that."
An idea struck Ash. It wasn't a crazy idea and he didn't think it was a stupid one, but he felt like he would be insulted for it later by a certain yellow creature standing on his shoulder.
"I'll do the race!" Ash declared.
What? Pikachu slapped himself on the forehead. Oh, of course you're gonna…
"You want to join the race," Misty sighed, massaging her temples with one hand. "Of course, you do."
"Yes!" Lara pumped her fist. "I know one of ya would want ta join!"
"Do you even have a pokémon you can ride?" Brock asked when everyone was back at the ranch. He, Ash, and Misty were sitting around in the ger that had been assigned to them. Pikachu had decided to nap on the pillow on Ash's cot.
"Uh….." Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe?"
"Really? Which one?" Brock crossed his arms and leaned back.
"Uh….." Ash thought for a moment. "Pidgeotto!" He exclaimed finally. "Pidgeotto can carry me!"
"Is that even allowed?" Misty asked, lying on her cot and staring at the ceiling, idly kicking her feet. "I thought you had to ride the pokémon, not get carried by it."
"Well, um…." Ash realized that he didn't know the answer to that question. "Maybe. I'll ask. And even if I can't get carried, there's something else I might try. I'll have to talk to Pidgeotto first, about the other thing, to see if she'll do it."
"You really just did this on a whim, didn't you?" Misty sighed, letting her palm fall onto her face. "Aaron, you really need to learn to look before you leap."
"You should go apologize to Lara for getting her hopes up," Brock told him. "And tell her not to register you. Did you have to pay an entrance fee?"
"It was only a little money," Ash said. "And I'm not going to apologize unless there's no way I can do the race!"
"This is really reckless," Brock said, getting up. "Even if you could take Pidgeotto, this could be dangerous."
"Duh," Ash replied. "But that's just life."
Brock's face adopted an odd expression, one that Ash couldn't place.
If the pokéraised child had been more inclined to reflection, he might have realized that Brock would've gotten the wrong impression about what he had just said. Ash had been thinking of life in the wilds, about the cycle of predators and prey, and about his hunters.
Meanwhile, Brock had thought that the boy was referring to the various encounters with Team Rocket that Ash had endured.
"Maybe," Brock said eventually. "But that doesn't mean you need to seek out more."
"Well, this is going to be fun," Ash said, hands on his hips. "Hey, that's why you don't want me to do this! I'm going to have fun and win and you two will be all jealous 'cause you know you wouldn't be able to do as good as me, you slowpokes!"
"That's-" Brock began, but was interrupted.
"Oh, I could totally beat you in a race," Misty said, standing up. "Starmie and I used to beat all the kids in Cerulean whenever we raced!"
"Yeah, well, I was never there!" Ash retorted, turning to face her.
"I doubt a shrimp like you could beat me and Starmie!" Misty exclaimed, glaring at Ash and getting in his space.
"Prove it then McBossypants!" Ash leaned forward and matched her glare with one of his own. "Why don't you enter the race too!"
"You know what? I will!" Misty shouted. "And I'll beat you and force you to eat your words you shrimp!"
"You wanna bet?"
"What, do you want to make a wager too?" Misty smirked. "Yeah, I'll bet on it!"
"Oh, really? Fine, if I win, then you, uh-" Ash tried to think of something he wanted Misty to do that would work as a bet.
"If I win, then you'll have to buy lunch every day when I'm in Fuchsia City!" Misty crossed her arms, looking smug.
"Well, if I win, then you'll have to buy me lunch!" Ash replied, pointing at her.
"Oh, look at the ditto here, copying whatever I do," Misty stuck out her tongue. "What's next, are you going to become a water-type specialist?"
"No, I'm going to beat you in a race!" Ash declared, stomping over to the entrance of the ger. "But first I gotta ask Lara about the rules!" And then he left.
There was a moment of peace and quiet after that, the two humans looking at the door. And then Brock turned to look at Misty, raising an eyebrow.
"What," she asked when she caught the look.
"That came out of left field. You never told any of us you used to race."
"It was when I was ten," Misty informed him. "I wanted to start my trainer's journey then, like everyone else in town was doing, but my sisters said no. So that summer, I started sneaking out at night and joined an underground racing circuit. It was actually how I trained Starmie to function on land."
"Did your sisters ever catch you?"
"Almost," Misty admitted. "They found some shoe prints on the windowsill. I managed to talk my way out of that, but decided it wasn't worth the risk to keep going."
"And Aaron joining the race dredged the memories of that summer back up all of the sudden?" Brock asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, it was him using slowpoke as an insult," Misty clenched her fist. "So what if they're not the fastest pokémon? They're still great water-types!"
"Fair enough," Brock said.
They were silent for a little while before Brock spoke again.
"Does this have anything to do with your new fan?" Brock asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Brock explained. "You met someone who was impressed with you enough to ask for your autograph and now they're paying attention to Aaron so you decided to show off."
"What, no! That's got nothing to do with this!" Misty protested.
"If you say so…." Brock sighed. Another period of silence passed before he spoke up again.
"You do realize that if he wins, he can decide to linger in Fuchsia City, right? And if you win, he can just rush through there."
"Well, I'll at least get one lunch out of this," Misty harrumphed, crossing her arms.
"If that's what you think….." Brock said. He reclined back on his cot and sighed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"I thought so."
Another sigh.
"Watch it!"
AN: I'd like to thank laurwest and amationary for beta reading!
Hoping to do a few things with character and world-building in this little mini-arc.
My buffer is partially rebuilt, but writing is still going slower than I'd like, mainly thanks to the goddamn heat. Hopefully now that it's nearly autumn that problem will go away. For now weekly releases are back in effect for the next few chapters at least.
Anyway, don't forget to review!