>High noon, Australia...
>
> The sun pounded down on the vast prairies of Australia, leaving
>only sparse shade where the scraggly bushes grew. In the middle of
>one of those clumps of bushes lay a small girl who crawled through
>the underbrush at an almost revoltingly slow speed.
> *Just a little father and a Kangaskhan will be mine!
>...hopefully...*
> The girl, sweaty in camouflage, pressed forward and looked out over
>a field of Kangaskhan. She quickly reached back into the brush and
>pulled out a camera, taking a couple of quick shots. She really
>wanted to catch a Kangaskhan, yet they were really difficult to
>capture. They were pack animals and fought viciously, the mother
>always protecting the baby in her pouch. The girl, however, had a
>plan.
> *And a damn fine one at that* she boasted to herself. She
>wiped her sun-faded brown hair out of her eyes and prepared to enact
>her plan when-
> "Azel! You done yet girl?"
> Azel, the girl, grimaced as all the Kangaskhan took fright at the
>noise and ran away leaving her in a could of dust.
> *Boy, we sure could use some rain...next time I travel I'm going
>somewhere cool...somewhere north.* Azel counted down in her head
>the days until she left again, waiting for the dust cloud to move
>off. Soon the dust moved off and Azel could identify the speaker.
> "Dang it Lavos! You scared away all the Kangaskhan!" Azel called,
>directing a scathing glare in the direction of her older brother.
>Lavos just shrugged off the glare and started walking across the
>field in Azel's direction.
> "You weren't gonna catch any of them anyway."
> "Were too! I had a great plan!"
> Lavos grinned condescendingly at his sister. "And what was your
>marvelous plan?" His words were thick with teasing sarcasm. "Going
>to use a trap? Yeah, right, it wouldn't work. Besides, why
>bother...they're just silly Pokémon," Lavos continued on, despite
>Azel's continued glare. "Besides I was on my way to Silvia's and
>Mom wanted me to tell you that she wants you to help with dinner."
> "What?! She has ten other kids with nothing else to do today
>and she has to ask ME to help with dinner the only day of my visit
>when I'm actually trying to get some work done?"
> Lavos just shrugged, his answer to everything. "It isn't real
>work anyway...it's just Pokémon, a hobby for the rich."
> Azel grimaced. *I'll never get my family to accept that Pokémon
>training is real work. I tell them that being a breeder or gym
>leader has prestige and they just laugh...stubborn idiots...but
>family is family, no matter how much you wish otherwise.*
> Lavos stopped walking at the edge of the bushes and waited for
>Azel to dust off and start heading back home. Azel, looking around
>and not even finding a trace of any of the Kangaskhan, grudgingly
>gave in and trudged on. Lavos back tracked to head for the road
>that led to Silvia's place, and in the opposite direction, their
>ranch. As she and Lavos headed down the path towards the road home,
>she noticed once again the height difference between her and Lavos.
>She paused and considered this once again.
> *Just my luck to be born short in a family of giants...maybe if
>I was taller they'd accept my profession...or maybe I just need to
>learn something else too, like martial arts. Hey, I have an even
>better idea! I'll just bring home a really tall hulking Pokémon
>trainer and that'll show 'em!*
> Azel nearly laughed aloud at the thought. She ran to catch up
>with Lavos who was leading the way to the main road.
> *I don't really want to return home...it's always so crowded. It
>seems like the place holds twice as many people as it should...and
>it keeps getting bigger!*
> Three of Azel's sisters were married and had brought their
>spouses to the ranch, and if things kept looking good for Lavos,
>he'd be doing the same soon.
> Azel looked over at Lavos who was dragging his feet in the dust,
>almost in the fashion of a little boy caught with his hands in the
>cookie jar. Lavos looked up, opened his mouth to speak, but then
>hesitated.
> *This could be serious...but come on, it's Lavos. I bet he just
>asked Silvia to marry him.*
> Azel grinned at the thought. She always like Silvia and hoped
>that she would spice Lavos up a little. Lavos had a tendency to be
>slightly...well...dull. Azel grabbed Lavos' hand and grinned.
> "Come on, what were you going to say? Spill! Did you ask Silvia
>to marry you?"
> "No, not exactly, but it sort of has to deal with that..." Lavos
>back at Azel more seriously, he seemed to hesitate answering.
> "You got engaged? Betrothed? Promised at least?"
> "No...it actually has to deal with you. Mom thinks it be best if
>you gave your little hobby-"
> "Pokémon ISN'T a hobby! It's my life's work-"
> Lavos stopped walking and continued talking. "...as I was
>saying, hobby and got married-"
> "Married? Nah, I'm not ready to settle down yet-"
> Lavos growled at Azel. "This is hard enough as it is. Stop
>interrupting." Azel made a gesture of apology, though she really
>wasn't apologetic. Lavos realized this and gave her a cross look.
>Azel just looked back innocently and sat down on a rock, as if to
>give him more space to talk in.
> Azel grumbled on, "She always thinks that. So what's new about
>it this time?"
> "You know Mark?"
> "Yeah, I know him, the jerk. He keeps hanging around the ranch
>hoping he'll marry one of us and get some land. He doesn't even
>care what gender the person is, he just wants the land." Azel
>wrapped her hands around her knees.
> *Boy, I hope his ends soon.*
> Lavos just sighed and continued. "Mom told him if you'll agree
>she'll give him your hand and the land."
> Azel was shocked.
> *My mom's a sensible women...she wouldn't say that!*
> "She wouldn't! How could she! She knows Mark's a loser-"
> Lavos began to stare down the road, avoiding Azel's face. "I
>hate playing the devil's advocate, but it's not about Mark. It's
>about settling down and getting married-"
> "I don't want to get married yet! I've barely even gotten to see
>the world, meet new people, discover new cultures-"
> "It's not even about marrying! It's about settling down!
>Gracious knows what you've been picking up in those foreign places,
>uncivilized people. You know, settling down isn't such a bad idea.
>You could come back and stay at the ranch permanently..." Lavos
>trailed off, looking for words to say.
> Azel grimaced. "How could you say such things? You've never
>left Australia! You don't know how things are like out there, so
>many new things, exotic places, adventures, my profession with
>Pokémon, how DARE you speak!" Azel was enraged at, not Lavos, but
>all that he stood for. Hermit-like life, settling down without ever
>trying anything, the whole closet life.
> Lavos looked bewildered. He had never wanted to try such things,
>never had the motivation... "Azel, please, we only want what's best
>for you-"
> "Shove it!" Azel replied. She scrambled up from the rock she had
>been crouching on.
> *I'm not going to let anybody run my life! No way! Only I know
>what's best for me, and that's why it's best for ME. Well, I'll
>show them! I'll go somewhere exotic and totally foreign. I'll
>become a great Pokémon master, so famous everyone will have heard of
>me!*
> Some part of her realized that this was a childish statement, but
>she didn't care.
> *I'm not a little child. I'll make it work,* she swore to
>herself. She had traveled before, but never quite far enough to
>remove herself from family obligations, visits so often they
>crippled her professional life.
> *This family has used up all the obligation it's gonna get. I'm
>leaving for good. Finally I can become a real Pokémon trainer,
>maybe someday even have my own gym!*
> Azel ran down the road towards the ranch, needing her stuff from
>her room. When she gave one last look back at the field where the
>Kangaskhan had been, she saw Lavos standing around looking
>confused. He apparently gave up trying to understand his little
>sister and headed off in the direction of Silvia's house.
> *Good, that ties up one loose end...he won't be home till dark.
>Lavos always follows his schedule,* Azel thought sarcastically. She
>than continued to run back to the ranch...but she wasn't going to
>stay this time.
> *Oh no...I'm not staying this time. I have better things to do
>now. Like creating my own world...with the perfect place. Just.
>For. Me.*
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