Note: This is the first entry in Lost Stories, where I publish fan fictions that no longer exist anywhere on the internet. It should be noted that none of these were written or altered by me and all their original content is intact, including the author's notes (if there were any). I'm merely publishing them because I consider it a crime that they not be enjoyed by others.

This particular fic is entitled Two of a Kind. It is a story of love and loss (as you'll soon see). I'm not ashamed to say it's one of the few stories I've ever read that choked me up. It is my sincerest hope that you will enjoy this story as much as I have. Now without further ado, Lost Stories presents...

Two of a Kind

by: Eji

Chapter One

"Well I think we oughta get more water pokemon!"

"Yeah, well I think we should get more ground pokemon!"

"What do you know!?"

"More than you, I bet!"

"OOH, ASH! You make me so mad!"

The dispute between the two pokemon trainers was escalating, and Brock could envision the ensuing punch-out. Not wanting to be in the crossfire, he forced himself between Ash and Misty.

"Now calm down you two! Fighting never solves anything, right?"

Misty stopped and looked over at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's better just to love everyone, right?" She grinned as Brock felt his face grow hot. In the last town they had traveled through, Brock had made a complete fool of himself swooning over a pretty clerk at the local poke-mart. He could still feel the red marks from the slap.

"Why do you always have to pick on me?!" Brock yelled.

"Well, it's not too difficult," Misty retorted. "After all, you fall in love with almost every girl we come across on our travels!"

Ash looked at him. "It's true. Actually, it's kind of embarrassing for us to be in that kind of situation. You know, the people that usually watch you make a fool out of yourself look at us too!"

Pikachu, who agreed, said a slow "pika pi!"

Brock felt like a train had hit him at over a hundred miles an hour. He had never really thought about how other people felt when he acted that way. But he couldn't help it, because that was just the way he was.

"So… that's what you guys really think of me?" He felt his words come out harshly, and they forced themselves from his dry throat. His face darkened slightly, and he lowered his head, hiding his expression.

Ash and Misty instantly realized that they had gone too far.

"Oh, Brock, I didn't mean it that way," Misty apologized, looking at Ash for help.

"Yeah, we didn't really mean it," Ash said.

"Pika?" Pikachu piped up, looking at Brock worriedly.

"N-no, you're right," Brock murmured, "you're right." A solitary tear streamed down his hidden face. "I've just been keeping it in for so long, that I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I've been a burden to you… to… everybody."

"No you haven't!" Ash and Misty replied.

"Yes, yes I have. I'm no good as a trainer, I can't attract girls, and I embarrass my friends." He looked up at them sharply, his squinty eyes glistening with water. "I don't deserve to travel with you."

With that, he turned around and began packing his things into his large backpack. Ash and Misty frantically rushed to him, to hold him back.

"No Brock! Really! We want you with us!" Ash yelled.

"You can't leave! We're sorry! We want you around, really we do!" Misty gasped.

"No, you two are just pitying me. I can't let you feel sorry for a silly goof like me." He picked up his backpack. "I'm leaving."

Brock turned his back to them and began walking away. They chased him.

"BROCK! Come back!" they yelled. They began catching up to him.

"No, no I have to leave!" Brock said, and he began running, realizing that he was moving too slow.

He felt like he had to leave, to get away. I'm weighing them down, he thought. I'm the weakest chain in their link. Without me… He wheezed, breaking into a full run to escape. Ash and Misty desperately tried to run faster, but Brock's years of looking after his many siblings had put him into supreme physical shape.

He had almost succeeded in getting away when he crossed a small ridge overlooking a deep creek. The land he was running on was brittle, and the ground felt unsteady, but he kept going. He couldn't turn back now. The road was continuing higher and higher up towards a small mountain pass. He breathed heavily as he ran, trying not to hear the fading shouts of the two trainers and Pikachu some distance behind him. All of a sudden, as he passed over a small clump of land, it eroded beneath him, and fell to the creek far below.

"Aaah!" Brock yelled, as his foot slipped on the earth that had slid out from under him. His heavy backpack pushed him downwards as he fell, and his eyes widened in realization. He tripped and began falling towards the creek. The fall would be a long one, and he tightened as he desperately tried to somehow stop himself in mid-air. He fell against the rocks on the steep hill, and the impact struck him hard on his side. He felt the wind being knocked out of him as he tumbled down, and the pain began hitting him from all sides as he rolled.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! H-help me…" Brock weakly yelled as he saw the images around him becoming fuzzier and darker. He could hear Ash and Misty yelling back, but they sounded so distant, so far away, like they would never make it in time. He closed his eyes and tried grabbing anything around him, but he was moving too fast. Then, without warning, he felt the sharp jolting pain of a large rock hitting his head, and then all went black.

"Brock! Brock! Where are you?" Ash and Misty shouted.

"Pikachu! Pika!" Pikachu yelled at the top of its lungs.

They had heard his faint scream and then nothing at all. Fearful of the worst, they ran until their legs felt like they would fall off, and soon they approached the ridge where Brock had fallen. The dirt around the path was scattered around erratically, but Brock was nowhere to be found.

"Brock! Can you hear us?" Misty called out. She looked at Ash with a look of dread. "This is all our fault! If we hadn't been so mean to him…"

"Let's worry about that later," Ash interrupted, "but now, we've gotta find him!"

They looked around the road, but there wasn't anything there. Ash could hear the roar of the creek's current, and when he looked down at the creek, his eyes grew wide in shock.

"Brock's down there!" he pointed, and Misty glanced down the hill. Brock was sprawled out, lying face down near the creek bed. His backpack lay beside him.