"This guy is so arrogant. Is he from your family too? And what does tomorrow's race even mean for winning or losing?" Ash asked after the boy left.
"He's really annoying. How can someone like that exist?" Suzie muttered, clearly uncomfortable as she glared in the direction the boy had gone.
From his words, it sounded like he was challenging her father's position as head of the Laramie Ranch.
"That trainer uses Dodrio. His name is Dario. Actually, our Laramie family has split into two factions. The leadership of the ranch originally belonged to my father," Lara explained.
"Under my father's leadership, we allied ourselves with the Oak family in Kanto. With their support, our financial troubles eased, and we've been able to focus on raising Pokémon instead of worrying about food and resources."
"Each year, we provide some of our Pokémon to the Oaks. That's the agreement. Honestly, we've been very satisfied living this way. But Dario's father disagreed."
"He believes my father's arrangement with the Oaks was too one-sided, so he wants to take my father's position and renegotiate the deal himself. Because of that, the family has been divided—half support my father, the other half support Dario's father."
She sighed before continuing,
"Just as our family's dispute reached its peak, the annual Pokémon Race arrived. Trainers over the age of twenty can't participate, so tomorrow, I'll race on behalf of my father, while Dario will represent his. If I lose, his father will take control of the ranch. If I win, my father keeps it."
Hearing Ash's question, Lara looked down sadly.
"Right now, it doesn't look good. Unless my Ponyta evolves, our chances of victory are less than forty percent. Dario's Dodrio is incredibly fast. He abandoned almost all of its other training just to maximize its speed."
"I see," Ash said thoughtfully. "So that's what's really at stake. It's like Giselle's family—they treat everything as profit. There's never any shortage of greedy people in this world."
He closed his eyes briefly. "Even I can be greedy. But if I am, it'll only be for something I've earned with my own strength. Money's just numbers to me. Sure, it's inconvenient to have none, but I've got plenty of ways to earn it."
Since it was already late, Ash's group accepted Lara's offer to stay the night at her home. After learning about her family's internal struggle, Misty and the others couldn't help but glance at Ash—they were already considering whether he might help Lara's father.
"Dad, I'm back!" Lara called happily as they entered her house.
"How are the Tauros doing?" Mr. Laramie asked as he stepped out. He was a middle-aged man in traditional ranch attire.
"They're doing well! And I made a few new friends today," Lara replied with a smile.
"Good. That's proper hospitality. As for tomorrow's race, just do your best. Don't worry too much about the outcome." His eyes shifted toward Ash's group, and he added, "And this must be Trainer Ash. I didn't expect the Oak family would send word that you'd come here personally."
Mr. Laramie smiled warmly, but when his gaze fell on Ash, his expression stiffened. He remembered seeing Ash before, at a certain gathering, and though Ash had been younger then, his face hadn't changed much. Mr. Laramie immediately grew tense.
"Dad? What's wrong?" Lara asked, noticing his unease.
"Lara, greet our guest properly," Mr. Laramie said. "This is Ash Ketchum—the youngest Champion trainer in history."
Lara froze, wide-eyed. She had just carelessly revealed all of her family's internal disputes to Ash himself. Her face turned crimson as she bowed her head nervously.
Ash chuckled. "Relax. I'm just a traveler here. Besides, I already knew a little about your situation."
"Please don't worry," Mr. Laramie said firmly.
"We'll resolve this. I have absolute faith in my daughter's Ponyta—it has defended our family's honor more than once."
"You think you can handle this?" Ash said firmly.
"You should know—when someone weaker suddenly acts with such confidence, it usually means one of two things: either their strength has really improved, or they're planning something sneaky. For a clan leader to ignore that possibility… that would be a serious failure."
Ash shook his head, sighing at Lara's father's overconfidence. He had seen too many power struggles to believe things were ever that simple.
"This…" Lara's father faltered, unable to respond. The Laramie family had always lived simply; they weren't used to thinking about deceit and schemes.
"There's no need to say more," Ash continued. "I'll take part in tomorrow's race myself. But keep my true identity hidden from the others. I want to see what tricks Dario and his father have planned. Hopefully, they won't disappoint me."
Ash's voice was calm, but resolute. To him, even a local family rivalry like this was worth paying attention to. It was another chance to see both people and Pokémon tested in the heat of competition.
...
TN:
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