Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing

Love Expert

Brock was An Expert on many things. One of those things was, by his own testimony, love. Which, while not necessarily true in all cases (his own attempts to get himself a girlfriend came to mind), did mean that he was slightly more perceptive than Ash when it came to who was in love with who. (Of course, it was Ash, so that wasn't saying much.)

But the point was that Brock's very extensive knowledge of love meant that he could tell when a certain companion of theirs had a crush. A certain coordinator-come-owner of a Pokemon model.

Dawn.

He was referring to Dawn.

Brock had experienced the whole "love at first sight" thing enough first hand to recognise it in someone else. Or, if not quite at first sight, then the beginnings of love. Blushing and compliments and generally stuff that Brock had trained himself to notice over the years in the off chance that a girl actually fancied him back. Oh, yes, Dawn definitely had a crush on Zoey. You could trust ol' Brocko on that.

He saw this and he did-

Nothing.

It wouldn't do to force things, Brock told himself. It wasn't advice he himself would listen to, but Brock wasn't the sort of person to give unwarranted love advice to people (although a few Pokemon had received it over the years. But that was beside the point.) So he left it.

And then…stuff…happened. Zoey went back to Snowpoint to celebrate winning the Grand Festival, Dawn was offered the opportunity to let Buneary model, and Brock started training to become a doctor. Sure, they were still connected,in a way, but it wasn't really the same thing as meeting face to face. By the time Brock and Dawn saw each other again, she was almost thirteen.

"So," he started, putting the warm cup of tea to his lips, "met anyone interesting? Any boys? Girls? Someone else?" They were in a small tea shop in Brock's home of Pewter City, a short time when Brock had a break and Dawn was passing through as she competed in Kanto Contests.

Dawn sighed in exasperation. "Trust you to ask about that, Brock."

Brock put the cup back down on its saucer and sat up. "Well okay, then. Have you seen Zoey recently? What about Ash?"

She started slightly at that, and the tea in her cup swirled around, lapping the sides. Brock watched her carefully as she took a long sip.

"Ash is fine. Or…well…when I last saw him in Unova he was fine. But wouldn't you know, Brock? You're one of his closest friends."

Brock shook his head. "I talked to him a while ago, but when he got home he went straight off to Kalos and I guess he just hasn't had as much time as he'd like. You know Ash, always running off on adventures. And Zoey?"

Brock noticed that the years hadn't hurt how she felt; as soon as he mentioned Zoey again she blushed.

"I…uh…well, we're both moving around a lot, in different regions, and we don't always know where the other is, and so it's a bit hard to contact each other a lot of the time and," she smiled as if she was apologising for something, "you get it, right, Brock?"

Brock looked at her in concern. "How long is it since you talked to her?"

"Maybe…a few…months…or a year…maybe…"

This wouldn't do. Dawn clearly missed Zoey, and if there was anything Brock didn't like, it was the look people gave when they missed someone. So he would fix it.

He stood up suddenly, brushing his cup which wobbled slightly before returning to its original position. He pointed dramatically at Dawn. "You," he said as she (and several customers) stared at him in surprise, "are going to talk to Zoey, and that's that!"

He pulled Dawn from her seat and dragged her to the door. "Come on! We'll call her even if it involves ringing up every Pokemon Centre in the region. Which region is she in?"

"Hoenn. Uh, Brock?"

"Yes?"

"Are you going to pay for our tea?"

After Brock payed for the drinks, they eventually found her at the Pokecentre in Verdanturf Town. She appeared on the screen looking slightly confused, but her face lit up when she saw Dawn.

"Hey, Dawn! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Dawn looked slightly mareepish. "Zoey, I'm really sorry! I wanted to call you but I never knew where you were and I thought you might be busy and-"

Zoey waved it off. "Hey, don't worry about it Dawn! To be honest, I should have been better at contacting you as well, so it's not like it's your fault. It's great to see you again! Are you working to get to the finals?"

"You bet, Zoey! And even if we can't battle each other this time, I'll still be thinking of you, okay?"

Zoey laughed, warm and friendly. "Sure. But don't forget, you'll be in my mind as well!"

Brock smiled. Seeing the way they looked at each other now, he could confirm that he was definitely a love expert. And as a love expert, he decided that he should give them their space. He'd seen an especially pretty trainer sitting in the entrance room anyway.