A/N: Hello everybody, I am back with my net Pokemon story. This is part of the my "Other Tales" series meaning it occurs in the same universe as "Ash and Misty's House Party" and taking place after the events of that story. Reading that story is not essential for reading this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
Lara Laramie rushed out of her house. Tears streaked down her eyes flying off as she ran. Lara could hear her family calling for her, but she ignored it. Lara kept running until she tripped over a rock and fell. As she got up, she saw Rapidash and run after her.
"Lara!" cried Rapidash.
Rapidash raced off and easily caught up to Lara.
"Please stop." requested Rapidash.
Lara tripped on a rock so Rapidash got in front of her and kept Lara from falling.
"I guess I couldn't outrun a Pokemon that can run a hundred and fifty miles per hour." said Lara sadly.
"What's wrong?" asked Rapidash.
"Dario is a jerk." answered Lara angrily.
"Tell me what happened." requested Rapidash.
"He stole money from the family." said Lara.
"Oh my!" gasped Rapidash.
"I tried to defend him." continued Lara.
Rapidash let out a murmur.
"But, that dirty snake has been cheatin' on me!" cried Lara.
"What?" asked Rapidash surprised.
"For months now." answered Lara.
"I'm so sorry." said Rapidash.
"He never loved me. He was usin' me the whole time." said Lara.
"You're too good for him." said Rapidash.
"I loved him." said Lara crying.
Rapidash nuzzled its owner.
"It's okay Lara." whispered Rapidash.
"Thank you." sobbed Lara.
Lara Laramie shot up in her bed. Her body was covered her sweat, her heart was racing and her pulse was rushing. Lara opened her drawn pulling out a pack of cigarettes and her lighter. Lara got out of her bed and quietly left her bedroom. She then tiptoed through the house so not to make noise and wake her family out. She slipped outside, packed her cigarettes and pulled out out.
"Having trouble sleeping?" asked a voice.
Lara nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Yeah. I can't sleep." answered Lara.
"Sorry I scared you." said Rapidash.
"It's fine."replied Lara.
Lara put the cigarette in her mouth.
"I just need a smoke to calm my nerves." said Lara.
Lara manipulated the spark wheel on her lighter, but only got sparks.
"Darn. Must be out of fluid." sighed Lara.
Rapidash bent its head.
"Go ahead." offered Rapidash.
"Thanks." said Lara.
Lara leaned forward used Rapidash's flames to light her cigarette then took a long drag.
"Much better." said Lara relieved.
"Are you thinking about Dario again?" asked Rapidash bluntly.
Lara flinched at this.
"Yeah." answered Lara.
Lara took another drag on her cigarette.
"It's been a while." noted Rapidash.
"The anniversary is coming up." explained Lara.
"Oh right. It's been two years since he went to prison." realized Rapidash.
Lara took a long drag on her cigarette.
"Sorry." said Rapidash.
Lara shook her head.
"You shouldn't apologize for stating facts." shrugged Lara.
Lara sighed and took a drag of her cigarette.
"Even if the facts suck." said Lara.
"Hard to believe it's been so long." mused Rapidash.
"Yeah." said Lara sadly.
"Lara..." began Rapidash.
"I know. I still have feelings for Dario." said Lara.
Lara took another drag on her cigarette.
Rapidash gave its trainer a mournful look.
"Please don't." requested Lara.
"He doesn't deserve your love." stated Rapidash.
"We had this conversation ore times than I can count." sighed Lara.
"Last time was before Ash and Misty's party." noted Rapidash.
"I can't stop having feelings for him." confessed Lara.
"Why?" asked Rapidash.
Lara took a drag on her cigarette.
"I loved with all my heart." answered Lara.
"Look at what he's done to you." said Rapidash.
"Yeah. I know he had those no-good scoundrels break my arm." said Lara.
"Sorry." said Rapidash guilty.
"It wasn't your fault." replied Lara.
"But, you know that's not what I meant." said Rapidash.
Lara took another drag on her cigarette.
"Yeah." said Lara softly.
"You've been emotionally torturing yourself for three years." stated Rapidash.
Lara took another drag of her cigarette.
"It's not healthy." said Rapidash.
"I know!" cried Lara.
Lara began to cry softly.
"I just...don't know." cried Lara.
Lara solemnly left the home and began to wonder the fields of the ranch. Her Growlithe tried to follow her, but Lara sent it back. Lara walked to a secluded part of the ranch and watched Rhyhorn walking around. She pulled her cigarettes out of her pocket and packed them. She put them away, pulled out her lighter and lite her cigarette. Lara took a drag of her cigarette as she heard hooves approaching. Lara knew right away who it was.
"Hello Rapidash." said Lara sadly.
"What is wrong?" asked Rapidash worried.
"Dario is in jail." answered Lara.
"What?!" exclaimed Rapidash surprised.
"It's true." sighed Lara.
Lara took a drag of her cigarette.
"What happened?" asked Rapidash.
"I'm not one-hundred percent certain." answered Lara.
Lara took a drag of her cigarette.
"He was answered in Vermilion City." stated Lara.
"Do you know why?" asked Rapidash.
"He was smuggling cocaine in a cigarette boat." answered Lara.
Lara took a drag of her cigarette.
"Apparently, it had something to do with Team Magma." added Lara.
"Oh my." gasped Rapidash.
"As for the details, I don't know and I don't care." said Lara.
Lara took another drag of her cigarette.
"Ar you okay?" asked Rapidash.
Lara took a drag of her cigarette.
"Not sure." answered Lara numbly.
"That must be difficult for you." said Rapidash.
Lara took another drag of her cigarette, deep in thought.
The sun shone on a new day in Kanto. Lara Laramie had manged to get back to sleep after finishing her cigarette wasn't too terribly tired. After having breakfast, Lara proceeded to do her chores as normal. Lara mounted Rapidash and they helped with the other Pokemon on the Laramie Ranch. As the sun began to set, Lara was still on Rapidash as they watched the Tauros graze.
"Lara, you seem to be doing well today." noted Rapidash.
"Yeah." replied Lara.
"I'm feelin' fine." said Lara.
"It's not healthy to bottle your emotions." noted Rapidash.
Lara let out a chuckle.
"I'm not bottlin' my emotions. I swear." replied Lara.
"I trust you." said Rapidash.
Lara petted Rapidash.
"Thanks." said Lara.
"I can only imagine how hard this has been." said Rapidash.
"Yup." agreed Lara heavily.
"Please, let it go. Don't hold back." said Rapidash.
Lara shook her head.
"I'm fine. Really." said Lara.
"Okay." said Rapidash.
Lara rubbed her face with her hands.
"My emotions have been tossed and turned like clothes in a washer." sighed Lara.
"Do you want to talk?" asked Rapidash.
"Everythin' that needs to be said has been." answered Lara.
"It doesn't sound like it." mused Rapidash.
"What do ya mean?" asked Lara.
"If that was the case, then I don't feel like you'd be like this." answered Rapidash.
"Maybe you're right." mused Lara.
"Lara, you're not going to get better until you let this out." said Rapidash.
Lara let out a sigh.
"I'm so..." began Lara.
Lara rubbed her face.
"Ahh!" cried Lara in frustration.
"Please, stay calm." requested Rapidash.
Lara took a deep breath.
"Yea. I can't lose it." agreed Lara.
Lara and Rapidash suddenly heard a noise.
"Huh?" asked Lara confused.
Lara and Rapidash both saw a car pulling up the driveway.
"Did we expect a visitor?" asked Rapidash.
"No." answered Lara.
Rapidash was ready to speak, but was cut off.
"Hey! That was my dandelion!" exclaimed a Tauros.
Another Tauros tauntingly chewed and swallowed the dandelion.
"No! It's mine!" exclaimed another Tauros triumphant.
The two Tauros used Tackle ramming into each other.
"Oh brother." sighed Rapidash.
"Knock if off!" called Lara.
The Tauros ignored Lara and continued to Tackle each other.
"Rapidash, use Fire Spin to stop them." ordered Lara.
"Right." replied Rapidash.
"Rapidash used Fire Spine stopping the two.
"What's all the fussin' about?" asked Lara.
"He stole my dandelion!" cried the first Tauros.
"It was mine!" declared the other.
"He already ate the dandelion. There's plenty of 'em around." noted Lara.
"But that was mine." said the first Tauros dedicated.
"There's no point in fussin' over somethin' you can't change." replied Lara.
The first Tauros snorted, turned around and left.
"Two males jockeying to be the alpha." mused Lara.
Lara and Rapidash watched the Tauros get back to eating with no fuss. They had forgotten about the mysterious car and didn't really seemed worried about it. However, they both suddenly heard yelling from the direction of the house. Rapidash turned around and galloped off with Lara holding on tightly. Luckily, she was accused to this. Thanks to Lara's speed, they arrived quickly.
"What do you think is going on?" asked Rapidash.
"I don't know." answered Lara.
Lara dismounted Rapidash.
"What ever it is, I'm gonna find out." vowed Lara.
"I don't know what gave you the right to come back here." said Lara's Mother.
"You're lucky I don't have my shotgun!" declared Lara's father.
"I haven't heard Pa this mad since he found out Dario was stealin' from us." thought Lara.
"I don't want to hear a word from you!" exclaimed Lara's father.
"You better leave right now." agreed Lara's mother.
"I'm gonna put my foot up your ass!" declared Lara's father.
"You better go in there." said Rapidash.
"Yeah." agreed Lara.
Lara burst into her house and froze seeing the visitor.
"Hello Lara." said Dario.
A/N: That is where we'll end this chapter. I hope you like the setup and will continue to support this story. Next time, we find out why Dario is here. Please review.