Following Dreams
Summary: It seems everyone is following their dreams, but crushing hers in the process. AAML. (Not as simple as the summary makes it sound, give it a go? Not a oneshot!)
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.
Authors Note: if you think about it, pokemon would never happen in real life... y'know animal cruelty and all that... Also I forgot to put the chapter breaks in last time and left it as a three... my bad!
Four weeks had passed, and Brock and Misty had fallen into a comfortable routine, and found themselves greatly enjoying each others company. The gym had long since reopened, and Brock was a massive help at helping out with the general upkeep a gym required since he had once had his own gym, the family gym he planned to start up his breeding centre at.
Misty was back to her old self, minus the checking for little white envelopes whenever she passed the front door, and she felt a lot safer with Brock staying as well as a lot happier. The gym was now full of sound and life, as both Brock and her pokemon bonded and enjoyed the change in company. Brocks' pokemon enjoyed not having to be kept in their pokeballs at all time, as well as being able to play and train with the water pokemon, while Brock felt he was finally working towards the dream he had almost stopped following so long ago due to the excitement and adventures he often found himself in.
They both enjoyed the delicious hot meals Brock cooked for them every evening, and Brock relished in the fact every night he got to sleep in a comfortable bed, rather than it being a rare treat whenever they finally made it to the next town.
They sat in a comfortable silence in the kitchen, both chewing contentedly on the toast they had made for themselves for breakfast.
"I haven't heard from Ash since we parted," Brock said, startling Misty and the silence in the room.
"That surprises you?" Misty asked, and Brock shrugged in response. "I very rarely hear from him, he just gets so swept up in whatever it is he is doing, he forgets about home and old friends."
"He never forgot about you Misty, you and his mother were the only people he made sure he called on a semi regular basis. I just thought I would fall into that group, seeing as I have spent about eleven solid years travelling with him," Brock said with a sigh, finishing the rest of his toast and moving to put his plate into the sink. "I just didn't think he got quite as swept up as you seemed to think he was. Now I can understand where you come from about us being poor at keeping contact. Here things are quiet and stable so you notice most things that aren't routine, such as calls from me or Ash. But at least he visits you at least once a year, you should see that as an honour. You know, he would mention you at least once a day. I wonder if that boy will ever realise his feelings for you, or you him for that matter..." Brock rambled aloud as he cleaned the plates, and Misty frowned at her rambling friend. "Honestly, you two were made for each other."
"So it would seem," Misty disregarded her friends comments.
"I am amazed he didn't run back after that article, did he call?" Brock asked, taking Mistys now empty plate from her and washing that up to.
"Yea, he was rather annoyed I hadn't told him personally. Like I had the means to do so," Misty replied, trying not to draw attention to her and Ash. "Oh!" Misty exclaimed as her stomach suddenly dropped and began to churn.
She put her hand to her mouth, suddenly unsure if her breakfast was going to remain in her stomach. She jumped up, and ran unsteadily to the nearest toilet as she realised she was going to be seeing her recently chewed breakfast very soon.
"You okay Misty?" Brock's concerned voice rang out not too far from the toilet she had stumbled too. Hearing the sound of something splashing against the water, Brock took it as his queue not to go any closer to the room his unfortunate friend currently occupied. Turning away, he went and fetched her a glass of water from the kitchen.
"Here, sip this slowly," He said entering the toilet and handing the red head the glass of water. She had small beads of sweat beaded across her forehead, and she had gone deathly pale. "This isn't the first funny turn you have had recently."
"You are telling me," Misty grimaced. "First time it made me sick though."
Brock nodded, and Misty shifted slightly so she was in a more comfortable position, but chose to remain on the floor. Her lips felt tingly, as did her legs, and she had broken out in a cold sweat. She couldn't help but hope it passed quickly like the others she had had recently had.
Sipping the water slowly, she began to feel her body return to normal. And before she new it, the turn had gone as quickly as it had come on.
Misty handed the glass of water back to Brock, and carefully got to her feet.
"Well that was weird, if it carries on you should go to the doctor," Brock said, following Misty as she headed to the kitchen she had not long run out of.
"Yea, yea." Came the red heads dismissive reply once more.
"Misty!" Brock's voice interrupted the tranquillity of the gym, and the urgency with which he said her name caused Misty to jump from the sofa she currently rested on and go running to where she thought he might be.
Not having to run far, she found her friend pale and stood in the hallway. She cocked her head to one side, concern etched on her porcelain features. He extended his head, revealing a white envelope with her name scrawled delicately across the front, once again lacking a stamp.
Misty's complexion soon matched her friends, and she snatched the envelope from his hands in a desperate attempt to read the words within.
"He will call you for support," Misty read the first sentence. "Walk away."
Brock frowned for a moment.
"You know this is all awfully specific..." He looked to Misty for a moment, taking in her pale complexion which was tinged with green for the second time that day. "Are you really so sure you don't know who they are talking about?"
The two of them stared at each other, Brock trying to read the normally open young woman before him, while she frowned back in response. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, things would be easier if she could just explain to him about her and Ash, but it felt wrong to do so without talking to Ash about it first. And who knew when she would next get the privilege of getting to do that. As well as that, by asking Ash about whether or not she should tell Brock about them, she would have to explain to him why Brock was there in the first place and making enquiries of the sort.
However, luckily for Misty the silence was broken by the ringing of the phone, making Misty sigh in relief. It gave her time to at least think her options through before Brock next touched on the subject.
"I'll grab it," Misty yelled before vanishing into the gym towards the phone. Shaking his head in confusion Brock followed after his friend.
"Ash!" Misty exclaimed after answering the phone, as his distraught face filled the screen before her. "Is everything OK?"
Brock frowned to himself, the words Misty had read aloud from the note she still clutched in her hand running through his mind. He walked further into the room, and Misty turned slightly acknowledging his presence.
"Yea, just needed to see a familiar face," He smiled sadly, his brown eyes telling Misty all she needed to know even through the phone.
"You lost?" Misty asked, feeling his pain. It hurt her as much as it hurt him when he failed to win a battle. And the worse part was she was no longer there to get him out of his slump. At that moment a solemn looking Pikachu jumped onto his trainers shoulder, a bandage on his head, nodding sadly. "Ah, I see. And you just needed to see my gorgeous face to help you get through it!"
Misty tried to sound cheerful and erase the worry she felt, trying to keep her eyes showing nothing but adoration, sympathy and a playful teasing.
"If you wanted to see a good looking face, you should have called me!" Brock took this as a cue to introduce himself to the conversation, taking the moment to send Misty a meaningful glance.
"Brock?" Ash asked, confusion showing in his features. "Misty?"
"Brock has been staying with me since the attack," Misty explained. "He called me shortly after he left, and decided to come check in on me."
"And since she is at the gym alone, I decided I should maybe stay and keep this beautiful woman company," Brock added with a wink. Misty shot Brock a glare, as did Ash. But the replying look from Brock to Misty caused her to quickly turn her attention back to Ash. "Plus you need someone here to help Misty fight off the horde of guys that turn up just to try and win a battle to take her out for dinner. They all seem to think if they beat this beautiful specimen here then they should be able to take her out for a meal as well, as a way off congratulating themselves. If it wasn't for me being here, and them thinking we were together, what with us two being here alone, I don't think she would be able to get any work done with all the attention she gets."
Misty's face dropped realising exactly what Brock was doing, while Ash became a new shade of red, steam almost coming out of his ears.
"People think you and Misty are a couple!" Ash growled, his lost match long since forgotten as his jealous blood boiled in his veins.
"Well, I think we are perfectly matched. I mean we are both registered gym leaders, with a passion for pokemon and romance, while both being drop dead gorgeous," Brock explained, giving Ash a toothy grin.
"He is winding you up Ash..." Misty said, and Ash snapped his head in Misty's direction, suddenly understanding what was happening.
"You told him!?" Ash said, the cause of his anger shifting. "And you have queues of guys waiting to take you out! Why didn't you tell me! I could have pummelled them all into the ground!"
"She didn't tell me Ash," Brock explained.
"And I hardly have queues! Just the odd guy," Misty replied, smiling slightly to her now calmer boyfriend while Brock scoffed at her statement.
"Hardly the odd guy," Brock stated, and Misty hit him over the head.
"How did you find out then!" Ash accused trying to deal with one problem at a time.
"Well having stayed here for as long as I have, it was hardly hard to work out to be fair," Brock lied, the look from Misty telling him not to explain what the real reason was. Brock had to agree with her, now she was not alone now was not the time to worry Ash. "She turns down all those guys saying she is taken, while wondering around like a love sick puppy and jumping whenever the phone goes off. She yells I'll get it, no matter where she is in the gym and runs faster then she does for dessert to get there first."
Ash smirked at the thought of Misty acting as such, while Misty blushed.
"I don't actually do that do I?" Misty asked Brock, who simply nodded in response.
"And the way she said your name earlier after answering this call told me everything I need to know," Brock finished his explanation, which in the end was mainly true when he thought back over their time together. She did leap whenever the phone rang, and this was the first time she had answered it without seeming disappointed. It just took that note for Brock to connect the dots. "Now, back to the matter at hand. I expect the image of all those guys training desperately hard to defeat your girlfriend so they could ask her on a date must surely be enough to give you the passion you so desperately need to beat this newest gym leader?"
"You know me too well..." Ash smirked, rubbing the back of his head, while pikachu visibly relaxed on his trainers shoulder now his blood was no longer boiling. Only Misty and pokemon battles had that affect on his trainer. "Now just how many are there?"
"Probably as many as your over-active mind is imagining, plus a few more..." Brock teased, and Misty thumped him on the arm.
"I have turned every single offer down! I promise," Misty smiled sweetly.
"They never had a chance, especially when they only ask her out if they win," Brock laughed to himself.
"Doesn't make it any less annoying that they try," Ash grumbled to himself.
"Well I guess you had best win this gym battle then, and prove you are better then all of them," Brock said with a smile.
"Which we knew any way," Misty sweetly added with a smile on her face. Ash beamed in reply, there was nothing nicer then hearing the love of his life compliment him.
""Then I guess I will have to win and prove you right! Although I wouldn't have to worry about people trying to steal you from me if the world knew we were dating," Ash said.
"Yea, you would just have to worry about trying to come and see me through the horde of journalists that would be latched onto the gym any time you came to Kanto!" Misty exclaimed, smiling at her boyfriends' jealousy. It was cute when he was jealous, and was a shame he couldn't say the same about Misty being jealous.
"But I would never have to worry about your safety," Ash said with a smirk.
"You don't have to worry about her safety anyway, I'm here for the foreseeable future," Brock replied.
"Ah so I just need to worry about the frustration levels of the cerulean city girls instead!"
"Hey, in his defence he has been really good lately!" Misty defended Brock. "Now enough chit chat! Go and get your badge! I know you can do it baby."
With that Misty gave him and wink, and blew him a kiss.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
And with that the screen was black once more.
"What now?" Brock asked. "I think they are referring to Ash. That was too much of a coincidence. Why was your relationship such a secret?"
"With Ash being away a lot, we weren't sure how much strain that would put the relationship under, and so since we are such close friends and share a lot of friends as well, we thought it best to see how the relationship went and just saw where it went before we told people. That was three years ago," Misty looked slightly sheepish. "But we hardly see each other, and most of the time we spend together is on video call."
"Understandable," Brock nodded, not hurt by his friends actions, just happy for them. He looked at Misty, reminding her of his other questions.
"Now we wait, that is all we can do."