When Ash Met Brock

Geodude was down, with Pikachu having knocked it out by making it dizzy using his speed. Onix was next.

Ash grinned, remembering the events in Viridian before she left.

“Hey, I’m going to go see Giovanni now! I’ll see you in a bit!” Ash called out as she and Pikachu left the Center, dressed in her travel clothing.

She winced a little at the bindings. They were horrible, but she’d rather feel the pain than get used to them. And the clothing themselves…she felt out of her skin, which was odd because normally she would be okay in jeans and a shirt. Maybe because she wore them as a guy now…

She went inside the gym, surprised to see someone waiting for her this time. But it wasn’t Giovanni. She inwardly pouted at that.

“Are you Ash Ketchum?” the assistant asked, wearing a polite smile.

“Yes, is Giovanni here?” She smiled brightly back.

“No, but he left something for you. Hold on one second. Here,” and he handed her a non-descript package, that was thankfully medium-sized so she could carry it without problems.

Confused, but smiling nonetheless, Ash accepted it and left after saying thanks. A little sad that she didn’t get to see Giovanni one last time before she left, she entered the Pokécenter with a glum face.

“What’s wrong, Ash?” Misty said when she caught sight of the other girl, who actually looked down for once.

“Giovanni wasn’t there…but he left me something,” Ash brightened up when she remembered the gift.

“Oh, what is it? Open it!” Misty’s curiosity flared up and she wondered what the older trainer could have gotten her friend. Especially given it was Giovanni, who was notorious for his strictness and sometimes even acidic personality. The man prided himself on being cool-tempered and logical, and generally put himself above others, though he could back up that arrogance quite easily. She also heard he was a bit of an authoritarian, bordering on dictator…

Ash opened it to see a pokéball sitting atop a nice cloth. Taking out the pokéball and handing it to a dumbstruck Misty, Ash took out the cloth to unfold into an attractive suit not unlike Giovanni’s. Only the top and bottom piece were navy blue and the dress shirt was black.

“That’s nice of him! It’s really nice-looking too,” Nurse Joy commented, admiring the outfit.

“It looks tailored for you,” Misty added, appraising it with her eye.

“Go try it on!” Nurse Joy ordered excitedly.

While Ash went and did that, Misty began muttering to herself. “It really looks like it was tailored for her. It’s like the exact measurements…wait a sec…when did he find time to get measurements?! That pervert!”

Apparently Mr. Harsh was also a closet pervert or something.

Ash came out just as Misty began to grow red in anger. “Are you okay, Misty?” she asked the other in concern.

Misty forcibly calmed herself down and forced out a smile. “Just peachy.”

The water trainer’s anger rose again when she saw the suit fit Ash perfectly.

“You look so handsome!” Nurse Joy squealed, breaking the tension and making Misty focus back into the present and out of her rage-induced thoughts.

Misty looked and blinked. Ash really did look rather handsome, looking petite but professional in the outfit. Just another androgynous working male, or so…

“Mademoiselle Waterflower, how does your opinion go?” Ash smirked, bowing like a gentleman.

“Quite satisfied, Monsieur Ketchum. As my escort, I am pleased to see such a handsome male accompanying me,” Misty returned, lifting her nose mock-haughtily.

All three of them laughed.

“Oh! The pokéball!” Ash remembered, even more excited about this.

She released it and an Espeon came out. “Wow, what’s this?” Ash asked, not sure if she’d ever seen anything like it before. It sort of looked like an Eevee though…

Ash pointed her pokédex at it and a hologram appeared, the monotone voice answering her.

“Espeon, class psychic. Evolution of Eevee with Sun Shard, or high developed friendship in daytime/morning. Native to Johto, also located in Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. Level 54.” Here Ash choked on her breath, caught off guard by the high level of the pokémon.

“Ash, that Espeon is really powerful! Wow, you sure do make friends with the right people,” Misty exclaimed, forgetting about her animosity for a second. Besides, if Giovanni was willing to do all this, she guessed he wasn’t that bad. S’long as he doesn’t try anything…

“Wow…I won’t use Espeon until I’m worthy enough,” Ash said determinedly.

“What? What are you talking about, Ash?” Nurse Joy wondered, also amazed at the grand gift.

“Espeon was given to me, I’m not going to abuse this privilege. And it’s so powerful already, I feel like I don’t deserve to have Espeon just yet. I didn’t train it myself. And it would be unfair to the other trainers…”

The other two just shook their heads. Ash was Ash.

And now she was up against Brock.

Misty was not happy with that. The rumors about Brock were true, with the idiot immediately having hearts in his eyes when he saw Ash. He even had the gall to rush up to Ash and ask for her hand in marriage before Misty wacked him back towards his spot in the gym with her mallet.

Brock reluctantly kept his distance after that.

Ash was now opening an umbrella, garnering a confused look from Brock. Misty copied Ash, wondering why the other girl had asked her to bring it in the first place.

“Pikachu, same as last time!” she winked at her Pikachu.

The electric pokémon let out a huge thunder, activating the sprinklers and then promptly shocking Onix.

It fainted and Ash cheered, Pikachu doing the same. Brock sighed and called back Onix.

“Good job, Onix. Next time,” Brock said sorrowfully.

He had wanted to win, just so he could impress Ash and keep her around for awhile longer. He hadn’t even lasted that long against her…

“Yatta! Thanks for the great battle, Brock!” Ash yelled happily, running to him and giving him a hug.

Brock’s sad look turned blissful, though Misty was watching in the background and glaring at him. He gulped and twitched nervously, but tried to savor Ash’s hug for as long as he could.

“Hey, Brock! Give her her badge already,” Misty yelled irritably.

Grumbling under his breath, Brock took out a badge and presented it to Ash, who took it with a squeal.

“Congratulations! You have the Boulder Badge,” Brock put on a smile. “Anou, please do me the honor of staying a little while and letting me cook for you.”

Misty was about to answer no when Ash said yes. The red head twitched. Ash was so oblivious. Didn’t she see that Brock was infatuated with her? She really did think too much with her stomach too, sometimes.

“Excellent! You won’t regret it!”

Misty readied her mallet just in case Brock tried something.

Brock cried a waterfall as he cooked, his mouth opened in a painful grin. His head supported a huge bump.

Misty smirked in triumph, glad that Brock had tried something. She readied her mallet again, just as Brock looked over.

The rock trainer shivered and hurriedly turned back to his cooking.

“Wow, your hair’s so pretty, June!” Ash exclaimed as she braided the hair of one of Brock’s siblings.

“Sugoi, you’re so nice! Ash! Will you stay here forever?” June squealed, looking at the older girl with bright eyes.

“Nani?” Ash blushed. “Um, gomen, June. But I’m going to become a Pokémon Master and to do that I have to travel and collect the badges.”

The little one pouted. “Okay, but promise we’ll see you again!”

There was a chorus of yeahs from the others, with Brock glancing hopefully at her. Not that she noticed that.

“Of course! And when I’m a Pokémon Master, it’ll be easier to see you all!”

There was a knock on the door and everyone stared at it curiously. They all turned to look at each other in confusion, but none of them had a clue who it could be.

“Ah, I’ll get that,” Ash said, mentally shrugging.

“No, no! It’s okay. I’ll do it,” Brock tried to say, but Ash had already gotten up and gone to the door.

“Hello there, Miss! Is Brock here?” an elderly man stood joyfully at the door.

“Yes, come in,” Ash hesitantly invited, thinking that maybe Brock would want to deal with this himself.

“Thank you. The name’s Flint, Miss,” he smiled gratefully at her.

“Oh, please. It’s just Ash,” she grinned back cheerfully.

“Dad?” Brock asked incredulously as he saw the man enter. A scowl crossed his face and he stalked forward to face his old man.

“Son,” Flint replied back with sorrow in his tone, standing still and letting his son come closer.

“Where have you been? You’ve been gone for so long…I’ve raised the kids up until now, why are you back?” Brock was trying not to show how angry he was, considering Ash was still there and looking confused.

She was cute smiling but confused-looking.

“I know…but I want to make it up to you,” a knowing look entered his eyes as he glanced between Brock and Ash. “Why don’t you join this young lady? Help her out like the nice, young gentleman you are,” Flint grinned deviously, hinting to his son, who was struggling between staying angry with his father and the opportunity of his lifetime.

Misty froze.

“Okay!” Obviously, the opportunity won out.

Dammit.

Misty started cursing up a storm in her head, glaring at the father and son duo.

Ash hadn’t fallen asleep yet, even though everyone else had. Instead, she sat at the bed loaned to her until she sighed and couldn’t sit still anymore. She quietly walked out of the home, and trekked along the stream outside. Taking a stop by the water, she smiled a little as she let Pikachu catch up, the electric mouse having followed after her. Taking Espeon’s pokéball from her belt, she stared at it before plopping down onto the ground and taking out the letter that had been in the pocket of the suit pants Giovanni had given her.

Dear Ash,

Most probably, you are both happy and concerned about the Espeon I have given you. I understand, knowing you, that you dislike the idea of being hand-given things, especially matters concerning pokémon. Given its evolution and high level, it makes you doubly wary and upset at having Espeon and using it in battle. So here’s a situation and challenge I pose to you –wouldn’t it be as hard, if not harder, to bond and train with a pokémon that has already evolved and reached a high level without you, its new trainer? So now, instead of you training it from scratch, you are faced with the challenge of training and bonding with a pokémon that is more or less independent of you. Espeon was not yours from the beginning. You did not evolve it, or train it. You have a different problem to deal with then –taking the time to become compatible with it, learn with it, teach it and let it teach you. Bond with it and love it, so that it will in turn love and become loyal to you. Train it to know you, so in battle you two are in sync. This is the way I ask you to think of this, Ash. Please accept this gift and treasure Espeon, as I know it will come to treasure you.

Giovanni

Ash carefully refolded the letter and put it away, before turning back to look at Espeon’s pokéball. She threw it gently and Espeon came out, and the two were face to face. Pikachu watched curiously, but stayed quiet for his trainer.

Dark eyes peered at Ash from a profound gaze. Ash smiled brightly and leaned closer to Espeon, gripping the female pokémon’s head and closing her eyes, hiding sadness that had been there for a moment. She leaned her forehead against Espeon’s.

Espeon wasted no time creating a mental connection and peering into Ash’s mind and memories.

“Dad, Dad! Where are you going? Don’t leave me! Please!”

Daddy, won’t you look back? Don’t go. Hold onto my hand a little longer…

“Daddy!”

Your warm hand…is slipping slowly from mine. Turn back and look at me, please?

Don’t go.

Ash pulled away and continued to smile brightly at Espeon.

“Ne, Espeon, stay by my side, okay? I promise I won’t ever leave you,” she stroked her head tenderly.

Espeon tilted her head up and gently licked Ash’s hand.

‘You are a worthy trainer. I will not leave you either.’

And if Ash’s smile was a little sad, she ignored it like she always did, as she reached down and grabbed Espeon, cuddling it close. Pikachu climbed onto his trainer and traveled up, until he settled onto her head like always.

“We’ll be a close-nit team, I promise,” Ash murmured to her pokémon.

Brock quietly trekked out of his house and found Ash outside, who had seemed to have fallen asleep outside. He took the blanket he’d brought with him and draped it onto her, covering her and her pokémon, both of whom were awake and watching him closely.

He gave them a small smile, before sitting down next to the younger female. It took awhile, but soon enough she’d awoken and was surprised to see him next to her.

“Eh, Brock?” she groggily sat up.

“Morning,” he smiled gently at her. “It was cold last night, and I can’t imagine the ground being comfortable.”

She blushed at the silent question in his words, and gave him a sheepish smile. “Um, I couldn’t sleep last night. So I came out here, and I was just bonding with Espeon and Pikachu.”

He tossed her another gentle smile before going back to watching the stream.

“Anou…my father left me too,” she murmured quietly, breaking the momentary silence. “I’m really glad your father came back. I hope my dad will come back one day too, just like yours,” she gave him a wide grin, but he felt that somehow, even though she really was happy, that there was a little sadness there too.

He ruffled her hair.

“He’ll have to be the one waiting this time, since you’ll be on a long journey, ne?”

Brock felt satisfied at the beaming face he’d earned.