The Snake Charmer
"Hey, gimme a piece of that!" Shouted a young boy, no older than six, as he tried desperately to grab something in the hands of a little girl.
"No way!" The girl replied harshly, holding what looked to be a hot dog over her head and out of reach of the boy. "I bought it, it's mine!" The girl and the boy both had matching bright blue hair, which drew the conclusion that they were siblings, with the girl being maybe two or three years older.
The scene soon became a curious attraction on a crowded street in Saffron City. It was around midday, and the business men and women who were on there way to lunch had stopped to watch the two kids fight it out over a hot dog. There was a hot dog stand nearby, presumably where the girl got the hot dog, and the owner as well as his customers had stopped in their tracks to watch the nearby scene play out.
"Come on, sis, I'm starving!" The boy retorted. The argument continued on; the two siblings seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there were more than a few onlookers watching them.
"I told you, no. If you want one, go buy one with you're own money!" She said definitively.
"I just want one bite!" He replied, growing even more desperate.
In a last-ditch effort, the boy lunged at the food, but even then, he couldn't reach high enough to grab the food in his sister's outstretched hands. All that he was able to accomplish was knock his sister off balance, and that was all that was needed to send her sprawling to the ground, and the hot dog along with her.
"Monica, I'm sorry, I didn't..." The boy sputtered pitiably, looking at the hot dog, which was now out of its bun and rolling on the street.
"Now look at what you've done!" The girl shouted before a tear began to well up in her eyes. "And that was my last dollar..."
The scene suddenly became awkward for the silent onlookers, and the crowds quickly dispersed as if nothing had happened. But there was one onlooker in particular who decided to help out.
Quickly running over to the girl to help her up, Brock asked, "Are you alright?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine." She replied as she brushed the dirt off of her clothes.
"I hope you two learned something from this." Brock said quietly. "Arguing without listening rarely solves any problems."
"I'm sorry, Monica." The boy said ashamedly, looking at his feet the entire time.
The girl averted her eyes, but she also said, "I'm sorry, too."
Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out one dollar, which he held out for the girl to take. As she took it, he said, "Here, go buy yourselves another one. But this time, each one of you gets one half."
The boy's face instantly lit up. "Gee, thanks, mister!"
"I'll go farther than that." A mysterious voice said from behind Brock. Brock turned to look, and it turned out to be the middle-aged hot dog stand owner, and he had two hot dogs in his hands. "In this limited time offer, I will give you these two hot dogs for that one dollar. How does that sound?"
The boy's head nodded fervently, and after his sister had given the dollar to the shop owner, he accepted his hot dog graciously. The boy began to run off down the street, but the girl stayed for a second longer. She took her hot dog from the man, then turned back to face Brock. She blushed lightly, then turned her back and began to chase her brother without another word.
"That was a mighty kind thing you just did, son." The shop owner said with gusto. "Here, come with me. I'll give you a hot dog, on the house."
"Thank you kindly, sir, but no thanks." Brock said distractedly. "I have got to get going."
"Aww, that's too bad." The man replied. "Well, come back anytime, if you get a chance. You'll always be welcome here."
Brock nodded, and with that, the man returned to his stand, where the growing line was becoming impatient. Brock then started to walk in the same direction that the girl and her brother had gone, but they were no longer in view. They had turned down one of the side-streets already, and Brock was left to think. Try as hard as he could, he was never able to get a girl of his own age to like him, but with a simple gesture, he had drawn the attention of a girl that was more than a few years younger than he was. It was depressing really, but Brock could not help but feel amused at the same time.
The mid-afternoon sun was glaring daggers down on him, and it was with great relief that Brock finally reached the shop he was looking for. He stepped through the front door and his entire being welcomed the cool air-conditioned room that the shop had to offer.
"Welcome to the Breeder's Haven. Is there anything I can help you with today?"
Brock shook his head to the entrance clerk, who was a few years older than he was. "No, thank you. I would just like to see your Pokemon food ingredients."
"Certainly." The man replied. "You'll find them in the back of the store, on the ground floor."
Brock nodded and walked back to the area that the man had indicated. The store itself was huge but the sheer number of people made it hard to move anywhere, but Brock had expected this coming in. This shop was well known as the best breeder's shop in Saffron City, and was up there in prestige with the likes of the shops on Breeder's Lane. He knew that this place would be crowded, but if it was even only half as good as it was hyped up to be, waiting through the crowds would be well worth it.
The store itself was humongous. It housed three floors of Pokemon food, ingredients, toys, grooming tools and supplies, and anything else that a breeder could possibly want. On the uppermost floor, there was a salon that offered Pokemon massages and haircuts. This area was so crowded that it was by reservation only, but Brock had no interest going there anyway. Brock had become adept enough to groom his Pokemon himself, perhaps even better than the trained professionals here could do it.
When Brock reached the ingredients area, he noticed that it was somewhat less crowded than other areas of the store. He knew this to be because many of the shoppers here weren't actually breeders. They came for the pre-made food, for they could not make it themselves. Brock was thankful for this as he approached a jar of spices on the wall and gave it a whiff.
He instantly recognized this as something that Pikachu would surely enjoy, but this deduction only brought sorrow. It was only a few months ago that Brock had said his final good-byes to Pikachu as well as his good friend, Ash. Thinking about these two, as well as Misty, May, Max, Dawn, and the other friends he had met along his journeys, was still hard for him. But leaving them was something that he had to do. After all this time following and helping his friends achieve their own goals, it was time to pursue his own.
Brock distractedly searched among the ingredients and spices for ones that his Pokemon would like, and grabbed a bottle or two of anything that fit the bill. When he was finally satisfied that he had enough to last all of his Pokemon a good, long time, Brock placed all of it in a bag and carried it to the front counter.
"Quite of bit of ingredients you have here." The cashier said as Brock dumped out what he had onto the counter. "Would you like any instruction on how to create your own Pokemon food?"
"Yeah, I have a lot of Pokemon to feed." Brock replied. "And no thanks, I know what I am doing. I am in training to become a great Pokemon breeder."
"Good luck, my friend." The man said and he rang up all of the items on his cash register. "If you ever need anything else, our shelves will always be stocked."
Brock nodded, and soon after, the register flashed a total amount on the cost of the ingredients. He reached into his pocket and placed the specified amount of money onto the table. Brock grabbed his bag of supplies as the man took the cash and said, "Have a great day!"
Brock muttered, "You too." as he turned his back and left the store. Once outside, he carefully placed the ingredients into his backpack and began traveling once more. The sun was rapidly setting by now so it was not quite as hot as it had been earlier, but it was still unpleasant, so he decided to go find somewhere to pass the time. The activity in the street had died down to a very slow pace; everyone had finished their days at work and had returned back home to their family. This time of day was certainly his most lonesome since he had parted ways with Ash and the others, for now was about the time that they would go have a nice bite to eat at the Pokemon center before heading to bed for the night. It isn't easy to eat alone, and its even harder to sleep alone.
The Pokemon center seemed less than welcoming at this point, given the sad reminders, so he decided that he would go find somewhere else to eat on this night. The city was huge, surely there had to be some good restaurants around here. In fact, Brock had only walked a few paces before he noticed a sign that looked promising. It was a tavern of some sort, but the sign out front advertised some delicious-looking dishes.
With a shrug, Brock opened the door and decided to give it a try. The inside was not much to look at, but it was quaint and full of small television sets and, most importantly, relatively uncrowded. The room had a distinct country feel, despite being located in the middle of the biggest city in Kanto. The tables were all circular and made of wood, and they occupied most of the floor space. In the back was a bar that spanned the entire rear wall. There were no windows except for the ones on the front wall, as the building was surround by buildings on every other side, but the walls were lined with pictures and paintings of various outdoor activities: fishing, hunting, and the such.
"I'll be right with you, sir." A young waitress called out when Brock entered the room.
The waitress was very attractive in her own right, but Brock did not even notice her. A few seconds after he had entered the room, he noticed a familiar figure sitting at the bar at the front of the restaurant. It was Lucy, the Pike Queen of the Battle Frontier, her unique, two-colored hair clearly distinguishable even though he could not see her face.
Any form of reason was lost at this point as Brock's heart jumped into action. "My darling Lucy," Brock exclaimed as he approached her, seemingly unaware that he had drawn the stares of several other people in the restaurant. "Words cannot express-"
Brock had planned to say something very romantic for this fortunate occasion, but Lucy cut him off before he even got the chance to. "Unless the next words out of your mouth are a quick good-bye," She said, sounding exceedingly angry. With that, she turned from the bar to face him, but upon recognizing his face, her anger seemed to quell a bit. "Oh, it's you." She said simply. She offered no further explanation, and instead turned back around to face the bar.
Brock felt the great urge to go grab her hands and continue his offering, but something told him that if he tried to touch her in her current state, he would end up on the floor with a broken nose. It was encouraging, however, that her memory of him seemed to be a positive one, and not just for the reason that she didn't bite his head off for disturbing her peace.
Instead, Brock sat down at the stool next to her and said, "Lucy, what's up? Is there something wrong?"
At first, it seemed as though she had not even heard him. She took a drink of some strange-colored liquid that she had in her glass and stared silently off into space. Finally, after a long moment or two, she replied simply, "I'm fine."
As if he needed more clarification, Brock was now even more sure that there was something going on. "But-" He said quietly.
"Fine." She repeated forcefully, before he even got a chance to make his point.
"Alright, alright." Brock said quietly with a small sigh. With that, an awkward silence developed between them, which was only broken when the bartender showed up to ask what Brock wanted.
"Just a glass of water, thanks." Brock replied to the bartender. He had completely forgotten the fact that he hadn't had a bite to eat since morning, mostly because his stomach was churning butterflies at this point. Brock struggled to find something to say, but he was at an utter loss for words. Flirtatious by nature, the words always seemed to just come naturally for him. Now, however, was not the time for his usual flirting. Lucy was angry or annoyed for some reason, and although the reason for that was unclear, she would most likely lash out on him if he gave her any reason to.
The bartender returned a moment later and put a glass of water down on the bar in front of Brock, and Brock nodded his thanks. As Brock reached out to grab his glass, he could feel Lucy turn her head to look at him for a second or two.
"Where are the others?" She asked indifferently, before turning around again to take a sip of her drink as well.
"Huh?" Brock asked distractedly. "Oh...well, we decided to part ways."
"A shame." Lucy said shortly after she had swallowed a sip of her drink and put the glass back onto the bar.
"Yeah, I suppose." Brock murmured lightly. He looked up and began to watch the television that was hanging nearby, if for no other reason than to hold his attention. It was a baseball game between two teams that he had heard of from somewhere, but he was not very interested in it and he did little more than pretend to watch it.
"What are you doing in a place like this anyway?" Lucy asked after a few minutes.
Brock stirred in his thoughts and faced Lucy. She had been looking at him but she quickly averted her gaze when he turned. "I don't know. What's wrong with a place like this?"
"Well, nothing wrong with it..." She replied. "But, well, it is here people come to drink their troubles away. And you never seem to ever have anything troubling you."
"Is that why you are here?" Brock asked hopefully.
"Careful." Lucy snapped. "You are treading on dangerous ground now."
"Sorry." Brock said with a frown. "I just want to help."
"It's alright." Lucy replied with a light sigh. "I know, but it would be better for the both of us if we just drop the matter entirely right now."
"Alright, I understand." Brock said lightly. He watched as she stared at her drink glass, apparently deep in thought. He silently wondered what could be troubling her, but he knew better than to ask again. Instead, he said, "So, I really look like I have nothing troubling me, huh?"
"It always seems that way." Lucy replied tartly.
"We all have our troubles, and I am no exception." Brock explained, and after a moment, added, "And you would be surprised just how easy it is to deal with them when you have a friend's support."
Lucy took a final sip of her drink and promptly slammed it back onto the table. "Alright, I'm out of here." She hissed, and with that, began to rise from her seat.
"Wait, no, Lucy!" Brock exclaimed after he realized what he had unintentionally implied. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Stay...please."
Lucy seemed firm in her intentions at first, and Brock felt that he had just screwed everything up again. But the two locked eyes as she began walking, and slowly, she came to a halt. And, after a moment or two, she even turned back around and took her seat once again. She begrudgingly did so, and she said nothing more, but Brock felt extremely thankful.
"Thank you, Lucy." Brock said with a sigh. "And sorry."
Lucy grunted in reply, and said nothing more. Brock, again, found it hard to think of anything to say, so he turned to man behind the bar and said, "Hey, bartender, another drink for the young lady, on me."
The bartender grabbed Lucy's empty glass and disappeared into the back of the restaurant. "Brock...thank you, but I've had enough for tonight."
"Oh..." Brock sighed, feeling slightly disappointed. "Well, that's alright, I'll just have it, then."
"I don't think-" Lucy started, but at that moment, the man reappeared from the restaurant's storeroom and placed the drink onto the table. And, despite Lucy's forewarnings, Brock grabbed the glass and took a sip of the strangely colored liquid.
His throat instantly clenched up at the taste of the drink, and most of what he put in his mouth ended up back in the glass. It was rather tasteless, but his entire mouth went numb on touch. The entire experience was rather hard to describe, but it was no pleasant one. As Brock's incessant coughing continued, he heard Lucy laugh lightly. At least something good came out of this, Brock thought as he tried to regain his composure.
"Strong, isn't it?" Lucy asked humorously as she gave him a small smile.
"You could call it that." Brock replied sarcastically. "What exactly is that?"
"Its a drink that helps numb your body." Lucy explained. "Its good for relaxing a troubled mind and body, once you get used to the taste."
Brock nodded, feeling that this was a pretty accurate description. At present time, it was only his mouth that felt numb, but that was probably because he only managed to swallow a couple drops before spitting the rest out.
A sudden thought passed through Brock's head. "Lucy, is this drink, you know, legal...for me?"
"What do you-?" Lucy asked quizzically. "Oh, yeah, you're fine. It's a drink for all ages. This restaurant is family-oriented. And besides, we are around the same age anyway, and you saw me drinking it."
Brock nodded and smiled, but he soon got the grotesque image of a small child drinking this...whatever it was. Shaking the image from his mind, he proclaimed, "Well, so much for that. I guess this drink will go undrunk."
Lucy smiled, then said, "Hey, Brock?"
Brock turned to face her and noticed that she was blushing lightly. "Yeah?" He said.
"Let's go for a walk."