Just a note: Brock is about 15 or 16. Ash and Misty, when they eventually come into the story, will be 13 or 14. This is not a series fic. It will be in three parts, kinda like a li'l movie or something. Got it? Good.
After Valencia
Part One
Brock looked out over the lagoon in the glare of the setting sun. He adjusted the focus on the binoculars, and then pushed a button near one lens to activate the heat sensor. The Goldeen and Seaking school appeared as a mass of swirling red dots.
"All right, Professor Ivy. They're settling down to feed. It's time."
"Ok. I'm heading down to the cliffs."
Brock had been staying with Professor Ivy and the triplets on Valencia Island for two years. The research and breeding practice had helped him immensely on his path to becoming a Pokemon breeder. And now that Vulpix had mated with the handsome jet-black alpha male of the pack that roamed the shoreline forests, Brock had a subject to raise and present to the Indigo Board of Breeder Recognition. As soon as Vulpix's pup was born, he could raise it for exactly one year and present it to the IBBR to possibly become a recognized Pokemon breeder. He only hoped it would inherit its father's striking color scheme.
Brock spotted Professor Ivy walking along the path to the lagoon cliffs. He waved from his position on a volcanic outcropping 50 feet above. He wondered if she realized yet how much he was in love with her. All those times he had ogled Jennys and Joys, all those times Misty had whapped him with her mallet for being too girl-crazy, had all been for a reason. He had found the love of his life right here on this tiny little island. Now all he had to do was work up the courage to tell her…
"All right, Brock. I'm going in. Get ready."
Professor Ivy Had come to the edge of the lagoon cliff, just behind the grazing herds of Goldeen and Seaking. She and Brock had been studying school movement patterns of the various sea life around the island for the past week. The annual migration of the Goldeen and Seaking to the lagoon area had been a perfect opportunity. Professor Ivy would dive from the cliff, scaring the skittish fish away. Brock would record their movement patterns.
Professor Ivy gracefully jumped from the cliff in a slightly-less-than-perfect dive that would create a big enough splash to scare the school. The frightened fish quickly moved off in a circular formation; Seaking forming a perimeter ring around the outside to guard from possible predators, Goldeen in another inner ring, and the young in the center. Brock quickly made notes.
Brock met Professor Ivy on the path back to the lab. They chatted about their recent research as they hiked up the hill. As they walked into the lab, Brock automatically tuned toward the kitchen to make dinner. To do so, he had to walk through the dining room, where a miraculous sight met his eyes. The table, usually bare about this time, was covered with the contents of a three course meal, something he had thought the triplets were totally incapable of making. "Surprise!!!" they yelled, popping up in front of him.
"Wow! How'd you guys do this?"
Professor Ivy smiled. "You'll find out. Let's eat!"
About dessert time, Professor Ivy stood up, banging a spoon against her glass. "And now, the secret of who made us this dinner. Everyone, I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Michael!" A tall, svelte, altogether too perfect guy walked out of the kitchen. Brock forced himself not to let his jaw drop, burst into tears, or run screaming from the room.
Later, in his room, Brock contemplated his options. He could kill himself, kill Michael, run away and become a hermit, or go back to his Pokemon journey and search for Ash and Misty. He knew what he had to do. Brock grabbed a piece of paper from his desk and began scribbling madly.
In the morning, triplet #2 found this note in Brock's room.
Dear Professor Ivy, triplets, and Michael,
I feel that the time has come for me to strike out on my own once again. I feel that my help is no longer needed at the lab, and that I have learned all I can about becoming a Pokemon breeder. I want to put my knowledge to work and raise my Pokemon while I search for my former traveling partners. Thanks for all your help over these past two years.
Brock
Now where would Ash and Misty have traveled?
, Brock thought. Of course! The Orange Islands! Maybe I can catch up to them at the Pokemon League tournaments there. But…don't they end tomorrow? Oh, well. How far can they get?To Be Continued