Amourshipping : One Day Off

Chapter 25 - Finale!

Lara was a quick runner. She always had been. She quickly dashed to the edge of town, anxious to see someone she thought the world of. She didn't care that it would get her in trouble, she had just kept running. She had an odd habit of running with her arms behind her, slopping in the wind. She felt it helped her run faster, and she wasn't technically wrong. 

Lara was 8 years old. She had long, honey colored hair and dark, brown eyes. Her skin was tanned. On her cheeks, she had Z shaped markings, one on each of her cheeks. She wore her usual outfit, which consisted of a long skirt, which was a lightish red, and a navy blue jacket over a white undershirt. She kept her hair tied up at the bottom, which kept it all together.

She was running. Quickly. There is was. The nearest route out of town. 

A loud clap was hears, and Lara felt her body being stopped, which resulted in her continuing to run, and kind of rubber banding into the air for a brief second, before landing down, unable to move even if she wanted to.

"Lara Ketchum, what the heck did you think you were doing?" Her father had caught up to her, Ash Ketchum. He knelt down to her level, and put his hands firmly on her shoulders, making her face him. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out there without a Pokémon, or someone who knows what they're doing out there?!" 

"I know what I'm doing out there, Daddy. I was waiting for big brother, that's all." Lara said to her father. She spoke innocently. "Why is big brother allowed to go out there then, Daddy? It isn't safe, you just said so!" 

Ash sighed. "Your brother is a Pokémon trainer, I've told you this. Ashley has two year of experience when it comes to traveling, and training Pokémon. He's allowed to be out there. It's to help him become what he wants to be." 

"Why can't I wait for him to come back?" Lara asked.

"Because I'm not leaving you at the nearest exit to the town on your own." Ash told his daughter with a sigh. He had said this to her before. About a hundred times. This wasn't going to be any different. He was almost tempted to not even bother. 

Today was quite a big day for them. Ash's oldest son, Ashley, was returning from a two year journey across Kanto. They hadn't even had so much as a phone call from him until about a week ago, letting his parent know he'd be back in a week. He hadn't video called them. He said he was curious to see how they'd react when he showed up, and they saw him in person for the first time in two years. He defiantly sounded more grown up, that much couldn't be denied. They had seen him, however, during the Kanto league. He had done averagely, coming in the top 24. A good place for a first time league competitor, there could be no doubt of that, but he had said he had wanted to advance further. That aside, they hadn't heard much from him. 

Lara had been excited all week. She had a good relationship with her brother, and she hadn't seen him in such a long time, and now he was a Pokémon trainer, and she wanted to see what kinds of glamorous Pokémon he had. She had seen some of the Pokémon he had on the TV, but none of them were very cute. He must have more than that though, right? 

Ash sighed. "Come on Lara, let's go home. Your mother is bound to be worried about you." He held onto Lara's hand firmly. So she couldn't escape again. She had adopted Ash's personality of running off without thinking. Ash only realized how exasperating it was for someone to do that when he was the one who had to catch them. "Your brother will be back soon, I promise you Lara. Besides, I thought you was gonna help Daddy look after the Pokémon egg we found, huh?" As he spoke, his tone got softer and more affectionate towards his daughter, already putting her attempts at freedom a moment ago a distant memory. 

Lara's eyes lightened up. "Oooh, oooh, is the egg wiggling yet?" She asked excitedly. 

Ash shook his head. "Nope, but it's close, if I know my Pokémon eggs right. It might take a few more days before it hatches." He was embellishing a bit, Tracey had helped him out with the egg a lot, but he did genuinely know the egg only had a few days to hatch. Everything else, he was clueless on.