A/N So you know how Brock's Croagunk is always Poison Jabbing him in the 'back' and then dragging him away whenever he tries to hit on a girl? Well, during one of the episodes (or was it a movie?) after this happens someone says "I wonder where Croagunk takes him?" And I got thinking, 'hey yeah, where does Croagunk take him? And more importantly, what happens once they get there? At first I thought he just took him out of sight and beat him up some more, but then this idea took a hold of me, and I felt the need to write about it.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon. It would be sooooo much different if I did. Way more emphasis on Rangers and Team Galactic. And Saturn would become a recurring character. And all the Saturn fangirls cheer!
"Thanks so much Nurse Joy," Dawn said perkily to the pretty nurse as she handed Dawn back her fully healed pokemon.
"Not a problem at all, I'm happy to help," Nurse Joy responded genuinely. She truly did enjoy helping all the young trainers and pokemon that came through her Pokemon Centre; she loved seeing the happy looks on their faces when she handed back their pokemon in perfect health. However, she was distracted by this particular happy face when a young boy bounded forward unexpectedly, stars in his eyes as he dropped to one knee and took a hold of her hands.
"And I would be happy to help you too! I could help you find true love, and we could live together for-" Unfortunately for Brock, he did not get to say how long they could live together for on account of the glowing purple Croagunk hand that had jabbed him in the back, stunning him into silence before falling to the ground in pain. Brock didn't remember when Croagunk had left his pokeball, but he obviously had for he was now dragging Brock out the Pokemon Centre door while his friends and Nurse Joy simply watched awkwardly. Ash and Dawn were far too used to this recurrence to be alarmed, and simply laughed a little before discussing where to go once they had set off on the road again.
Croagunk only stopped once he had dragged him behind some bushes in a nearby clump of trees. Brock could not get up straight away- Croagunk's Poison Jab was getting to be very powerful with all this practice, to the point where Brock barely felt the need to train him. However, once he did recover and managed to sit up it was to find an array of berries set out before him, which Croagunk had apparently gathered while Brock was still unable to move.
Brock was not surprised by the offering, but he was starting to get curious about Croagunk's motives. He sat and chewed on the berries thoughtfully, looking his Croagunk in the eyes as he did so. Croagunk stared steadily back, completely unperturbed by his trainer's gaze; in fact, he regarded the whole thing as a staring contest, something he never lost. Finally, Brock put his thoughts into words.
"Croagunk, why do you always attack me when I'm…er… talking to a girl? None of the other pokemon I have or have had has ever cared, and it really doesn't affect you at all." Croagunk simply stared at Brock some more. In fact, he stared for so long Brock assumed he wasn't going to answer. Croagunk was not exactly talkative. But he did eventually provide some insight to his motives.
"'Cause she's not good enough for you," he finally said in poketalk, "I won't attack you when you flirt with someone who's good enough for you." This was all he said, and then fell silent once more.
Brock stopped eating. Did that mean Croagunk was…protecting him? If in a slightly convoluted way. Brock was touched; Croagunk wasn't attacking him to help the girls out, or even for some sort of sadistic pleasure. Croagunk attacked Brock because he didn't think the girls were worthy of him. He had no idea Croagunk had such a high opinion of him, or that he felt compelled to protect him from girls he deemed 'not good enough' (though that seemed to be all of them).
After a few more moments of a comfortable silence Brock finished the healing berries and stood up, smiling slightly.
"Come on buddy, let's go join the others".
And so they walked back into the Pokemon Centre, Brock with an easy, happy gait and Croagunk with his usual waddling gait. They joined Ash and Dawn, where the three discussed where to head next, and watched as the whole Poison Jabbing scene started again when Nurse Joy stopped to make a suggestion.
So what did ya think? I personally like this version of events more than 'Croagunk drags him off and beats him up more'. But I don't know, what do you think?