Chapter 2
"Why the long face, Brock? Did you not have a good night at the Pokémon Center?"
"Bite me, Ash. I'm not in the mood", answered the breeder. He had bags under his eyes, was really sweaty(and smelled bad, if Pikachu pinching his nose was any indication) and also looked like he was in pain.
Ash, Brock and Gary were walking to the corral. It was almost time to go, so they were only waiting for Professor Oak to show up and drive them there. Gary missed his car at times like this. It would be far faster to drive in it.
Then again, he never did drive it. And after it got totalled from Ash's Snorlax using it as a pillow, it wasn't much more drivable anymore.
"Wow. Did something happen, other than being rejected from nurse Joy?", asked Gary.
"How do you know about that? Did she tell you? Who else did she tell?", asked Brock frantically, while waving his arms. This action made Pikachu terrified that the "smell of doom" would reach him. 'You know someone has a problem when he surpasses the Muk level of stench', thought the electric mouse Pokémon.
If only Bayleef was here to use Sweet Scent, he may have been spared. Alas, it was not to be.
"Not really, but you're, well, you. Of course you'd flirt with her."
"You make it sound like I'm a pervert."
"You stole officer Jenny's handcuffs and said she should go to prison for stealing your heart. When she arrested you for stealing a cop, you said you would need to make a call. Need I remind you what you did?"
"No, I g...", starts Brock before he was interrupted by the raven haired trainer.
"What happened next?", asked Ash excitedly. He always loved to know more embarrassing stories about his friends, not out of malice, but because he was bound to mess up some time, and he needed the ammo.
"Well Ashy-boy, our Don Juan here got his phone call, but instead of calling home or one of us, he called officer Jenny herself, and said 'not even prison can hold my love for you. Now do you understand the depth of our bond?'", finished Gary, imitating Brock's voice at the end.
"And then?", asked Ash again, while laughing at the expense of his friend.
"Jenny tased him. Twice. And after he stopped twitching from the electricity, she tased him again."
"Is that even allowed?"
"Maybe not, but who'll put her in prison? She is the police, after all. And it's not like that could hurt Brock. If he can travel Sinnoh with you for a year and survive who knows how many poison jabs and thunderbolts, what can a little taser do?"
"True..."
"Well, it did hurt", Brock intervened, "but she apologized later for that."
"Good"
"And then?"
"I...may have possibly asked her if maybe she'd like to perhaps become my bride."
"And then..."
"I might have been sent running because she let off her Growlithe, who just so happened to evolve into a bigger than average Arcanine."
"Is that all?"
"...that I can say, yes. You are much too young for me to enter in detail what happened later. It's sort of a romantic story, which is personal between me and my princess."
"You got tased again, huh?"
"Screw you."
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While the two Pallet prodigies laughed at the Pewter native and Pikachu recovered from his near-faint experience, Delia Ketchum was talking to Professor Oak in her house.
"So you're taking Ash to that camp he went with Serena all those years ago?"
"Exactly. It was Gary's idea, actually. He said that Ash was very well known, has great connections and that he...well, let's just say he can communicate with kids easily", the older Oak decided not to use the same words of his grandson, who said that 'Ash had the same mental age of an infant Slowpoke, and was the best suited to help kids'.
He had reprimanded Gary, of course, but one could see he had a point. Who else would not give a damn about abilities, natures, ask his Pikachu to use Tackle on Ghost types and Thunderbolt on Ground types?
"That is true. Well, as long as you promise that he won't get in any trouble, it's fine with me. And considering he has fought against all major criminal organizations, I'm sure he can take a few little kids", Delia said, laughing at the end.
"Yes, what could go wrong?", the Pokémon Professor answered, unknowingly jinxing them for the first time.
"Exactly. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?", Delia said, further jinxing her son."
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"Jeez, what happened, Gramps? You sure took your sweet time getting here."
"I was just talking to Delia about the trip and answering some questions about camp, I guess we got so engrossed in the theme that time just flew."
"Whatever, can we go now?"
"Wait, let me just know this: which Pokémon are tagging along with you?", asked the professor.
"Why?"
"Just answer."
"I'm taking Croagunk and Sudowoodo", Brock answered.
"I'm taking Umbreon, Arcanine and Blastoise", continued Gary.
"Pikachu, Sceptile, Snorlax, Bulbasaur, Greninja and Charizard", Ash finished.
"Why are you taking a full team, Ash?"
"Well, I thought that they would enjoy the place. And these guys are among the more calm and centered ones I catched, so if any kids wants to play with them, it's safer than if I brought Scraggy along, for example."
"True, he would just go headbutting everybody there."
"Gotta say I'm impressed, Ash. You came here with a plan for once", joked the Pewter native.
"Shut it Brock. Or I'll ask Pikachu here to make you relive that taser"
At this point, Pikachu looked at Brock with a Cheshire Cat-like smile that creeped the life out of the breeder. He was also saying something, which Ash understood as a very weird, dangerous and probably illegal "technique" that the mouse was willing to use on the breeder. Pikachu could be very creepy when he wanted to.
"Alright, enough with that. Let's take off, we don't know how the weather will be today."
"Come on, it's such a sunny day. Aren't you being a bit overzealous?"
"Gary is right. Even if it's sunny now, we don't know if it will change soon."
"Ok, ok, I got it. I still think you're being a little weird, but I give in."
And with that, they finally hit the road towards the camp, where Ash and Brock would act as instructors for a day. Both of them were slightly nervous, but if it was for the kids, then they would gladly do it.
Professor Oak was driving serenely, while Gary was just watching the scenery as they sped through the road. When asked if this was just a one day deal, Gary answered that yes, but with a smirk and some kind of evil glint in his eyes.
"But we'll come home tomorrow, then?"
"Yup, unless something happens. In that case, you can come home today."
"Nah, don't worry about it. We'll just pass that bridge when we reach it. After all, what could go wrong, right Brock?"
"Yeah, I don't think it will be necessary to return today. But don't say that phrase, Ash. It brings bad luck."
"No need to worry, bro. Nothing will go wrong."
Two minutes later, the car broke.
