August 27
Brock's eyes fluttered open with the feeling the wind blowing through his dark hair. The former gym leader of Pewter City raised his head from the tuft of feathers he had buried his face in, initially surprised to find himself atop a Pidgeot. Before he could stop himself he gave into his curiosity and found himself staring down a dizzying distance from the earth.
Brock erupted into screams of fright, grabbing the feathers around him for support and receiving an angry squawk from the Pidgeot on the receiving end.
"Hey Brock, be more gentle. They're doing us a favor here," Ash chided, his voice fighting for dominance over the rushing wind.
"A-Ash! What's going on?" Brock yelled out, hugging the Pidgeot's body close to his chest. The tanned teen looked around, seeing that the others were resting atop the other members of the flock
"They're giving us a ride to Pewter City, we've been flying for half an hour. We're pretty heavy and they don't want us to fall off, so we've been going pretty slowly. From what I'm getting on the Pokéglov, we won't be there for a while," Ash explained.
Brock looked at his Pokéglov and saw that Ash was right; they were only a few miles away from his home.
"It would've taken us a few days to make the trip out of this forest, we would've been long dead by now from the Beedrill if it wasn't for Ash's Pidgeot. We were crazy to think that we could've made through here. But we're here, and we're alive."
It took the largest Pidgeot to carry Samurai as the armor only added on to his weight. Other than Pikachu and Meowth who were with Ash on his Pidgeot, everyone's Pokemon had been returned to their respective Pokéglovs.
There was nothing Brock could do atop the Pidgeot aside from sightseeing, the very thought of being so high off the ground making him feel queasy. The others had passed out atop their Pidgeots, most likely from exhaustion. Brock decided to follow their example and let slumber take him once more.
Brock had managed to get half an hour of sleep under his belt before he stirred again, looking down to see that the sea of leaves had diminished substantially as they entered the borderline of the city. The Pidgeot swooped down gently, landing onto the grass on the outskirts of the town and waited for their next order.
The second that Brock tried to walk, his legs buckled instantly and he fell to the ground. Brock tried to get up, but his legs refused to hold him, wobbling as if they were made of jelly.
"Hey guys, time to wake up!" Ash yelled out, probably still filled with adrenaline. The irritated grumbles only grew louder with the reenactment of Brock's boneless act. The initial shock of slamming into the dirt tore the last remnants of slumber, their heads swiveling around so to get their bearings.
It was silent for a few seconds before Brock began to laugh at his complete and utter weakness. What else was there to do? He hadn't the energy to become angry at his situation.
"Might I ask as to what you're laughing about?" Jessie inquired pointedly, blowing a stray strand of crimson hair that dangled over her face.
"I'm alive, and I'm near my hometown, and I'm alive. Did I mention I was alive?" Brock managed through chuckles before eventually bursting into laughter. Brock's mirth quickly became infectious as the rest of them realized how lucky they were to be alive. The Pidgeot stared at them quizzically; unable to understand why they were all in hysterics.
Yet, with every light came its shadow, and Brock was forced to recognize the grim reality of his situation.
"How many times are we going to dabble with death? I think that we're pressing our luck. We've always been lucky, but there's gonna come a point where it's gonna run out. We can't keep doing this," Brock thought.
The others continued laughing, at times they would stop and calm themselves down, but a single snicker would ignite their laughter once more. Fatigue quickly ate their last ounces of strength and cast the clearing into silence, everyone's head feeling light headed except for Samurai who hadn't laughed once.
Ash's Pidgeot made a series of chirps, Ash turning to Meowth for a translation.
"Pidgeot wants ta apologize for comin so late since its flock was busy fightin the oda Beedrill hive behind us."
Ash nodded, "I can't thank you enough for saving me and m friends twice."
Pidgeot shook its head, Meowth found no reason to translate the gesture as Ash seemed to have gotten the gist of it.
"Hey? Where's Pinsir?" Dawn asked, having already counted the number of heads among her twice.
"He…stayed behind, to hold them off. It…it was too late for him," Samurai unveiled, struggling with the words as he said them.
A tense moment of silence hung over them, a moment to mourn the loss of one of their own, regardless for however brief it was.
No one was in any mood to move anytime soon, even Brock had no energy despite the fact that they were so close to his old home. With their last bits of strength they pulled out their sleeping bags. Ash checked his things, seeing that the package that Oak had given him was still in one piece.
Pikachu jumped into his sleeping bag and nuzzled him, Ash wrapped his arms around the yellow ball of fur against his chest and heard a squeal of content. Ash was surprised at how quickly everything began to darken despite it being the crack of dawn, not realizing that his adrenaline had run out.
It was late in the afternoon when Ash began to stir out of his slumber, seeing that a dozen Pidgeot still surrounded them. Their backs were turned, keeping guard not only from the ground, but in the trees above them and in the skies as well.
"He doesn't have to go so far," Ash said, sitting up, seeing that Pikachu was no longer near him. Ash didn't have to search far to find Pikachu standing next to Pidgeot as an addition to their forces.
Ash squirmed out of his sleeping bag, finding it a little easier to move but his muscles were still sore. Pidgeot and Pikachu noticed his movement and left the ring of protection, only to have it filled by another two of Pidgeot's subordinates.
"Thanks for all of this Pidgeot, it means a lot to me. Don't you think that it's a bother to your flock?" Ash asked.
Pidgeot shook its head, Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulders while he looked his to see what time it was. Upon seeing the clock he scrambled over to everyone, shoving them into consciousness.
Ash had moved onto Samurai when he noticed that there had been trails of dried tears on his face. He tapped the armor until Samurai woke up, the warrior quickly turning away to rub away the dried tears.
Ash moved away, making no comment about what he had seen as it would've hurt Samurai's pride. Once everyone was awake they mounted a Pidgeot that would take them to Pewter City.
Samurai was the last to get on a Pidgeot, placing his helmet on before looking into the heart of the forest. He stared at it for a few seconds, turning away and never looking back at it once. He promised himself that he would return here one day, even if it killed him.
They didn't have to fly long, reaching border Pewter city within minutes. Ash looked down, seeing the terrain suddenly plateaued, remembering that Brock's father, Flint, had been lying there when he first entered the city. From a distance, Brock pointed out the direction of his gym amidst the abandoned city.
Houses were completely intact but noticeably vacant; the town was a shadow of its former self in every sense of the word. In a way, it was comforting to them to think that the entire town had left instead of being wiped out by Pokemon.
The Pewter city gym's features began to become more distinguished as they drew closer. Pidgeot and the flock carrying the rest of the group swooped down, landing directly in front of the gym.
Brock dismounted, staring at his gym, untouched by the horrors that the world had been subjected to. He suppressed a sigh of relief, knowing that the integrity of the gym would mean nothing if the people he cared about were no longer there. Each person hopped off his or her mount, following Brock to the entrance of the gym. Ash's old Pidgeot accompanied them; the rest of his entourage flew into the air circled above the gym.
Brock pushed the doors open; the only thing visible was a curtain of ominous blackness. Everyone turned the lights on their Pokéglovs to max, succeeding in only penetrating a few inches of the darkness.
"Pikachu, do you think you could gives a little more light?" Ash asked. Pikachu nodded and entered the blackness. After a few seconds, a small glow blossomed in the dark; small sparks danced from Pikachu's crimson cheeks. Yet, once again, it was not enough to illuminate the entire room. No one really felt secure going into a room without knowing what could be in there.
"Pachirisu, come out and help Pikachu, do the same thing that Pikachu's doing." Dawn spoke into her Pokéglov.
"Noctowl, come on out," Ash's Pokéglov captured the vibrations in the air and registered the command. Two bursts of light revealed Pachirisu and Noctowl, the latter perching on Ash's shoulder. Brock walked into the shadows without warning, no one said anything, knowing that nothing they said would deter him.
"Noctowl, do you see anything like a Pokemon inside there?" Ash asked. Noctowl's eyes turned violet, its head swiveling to and fro, never stopping on a specific direction. The glow eventually faded away and Noctowl looked at Ash, shaking its head in response.
This bit of news was comforting, but not enough to make them not hesitate to enter the dark building. Just because there was no Pokemon, didn't mean that there were no other dangers.
"Ash, we may need more Pokémon" Dawn suggested. Ash nodded and spoke into his Pokéglov, summoning Quilava and Chimchar.
From what they could see, everything inside was intact; there were no signs of struggle, invasion, or evacuation. The rock field for gym battles had been activated and stayed that way.
"Doesn't look like there's any power," James remarked.
"This is why we keep you here James, to tell us things that we don't already know ourselves, what would we ever do without you?" Jessie sighed, the sarcasm oozing from her lips.
"Ya jus got promoted ta Admiral Obvious," Meowth added.
"No need to bite my head off, I'm just thinking out loud," James stated.
"Dat might be cause its built lika rock,"
Brock had already crossed halfway past the rugged terrain when Ash and the others started.
"Mom…Dad…Tommy…Susie…Forrest!" Brock yelled out, his voice echoed off the walls. Ash withheld his questions, recalling that Flint had hinted that Brock's mother had died.
"Cindy…Jimmy…Terrance…Sandy" Brock cried out as he reached the end of the building. He headed to the living quarters of the gym, searching every room yelling out the names of his siblings.
"Cornelia…Doug…" Brock's voice began to trail off until the names were barely above a whisper. His shoulders slumped, his chest and back heaving momentarily before regaining his composure and searching again.
"It's me Brock, I'm back…I'm…"
Dawn wanted to cry, Ash lowered his cap, Tracy and Samurai crossed their arms, Jessie, James, and Meowth closed their eyes. The Pokémon did the same as a sign of respect.
No one had gone inside expecting the worse, but it wasn't like the thought hadn't occurred to them. It was always well within possibility what could've happened, that little tidbit of knowledge never fully left them and constantly nagged them in the back of their minds.
Brock frantically tried to grasp at some kind of lifeline, invent some reasonable excuse as to why no one was here.
"The town…must've evacuated. They're still probably safe…but where can I find them? I can't ask Ash and the others to go off searching aimlessly for my family, but I don't want to go alone…"
"Brock?" the gravely voice said, catching the attention of everyone in the room. The source had come from a corner of the room, shrouded in shadow, more so than the rest of the gym.
"D-Dad?" Brock said incredulously, his voice beginning to crack.
"Son, is that really you?" the man repeated.
"It's me dad!" Brock assured.
Flint was taken off guard as son lunged at him, almost tackling him to the floor with his embrace. Flint's hands were outstretched for a few seconds before his fatherly instincts took hold and did the same.
Everyone else was silent; the only sound was of Flint's hands sliding over the fabric on Brock's back. It sounded loud in the contrasting silence. Brock and his father couldn't help but shed a few tears on each other's shoulders, their embraces still tight.
I'm so happy you're alive, dad," Brock muffled as he dried his tears on his father's shirt.
"Me too son, your mother and I were worried sick thinking that you were out with all craziness going on," Flint replied, wiping a tear away with his finger. Brock slid out of his father's hug, both of them standing in front of each other for a few seconds.
"Where's everyone else?" Brock asked, struggling to regain his composure but unable to hide the fact that he was beaming.
"They're all fine, they're all going to go crazy once they see that you're alive. We've hidden beneath the gym instead of evacuating. I see that you've brought along a few friends of yours. They can come as well, there's plenty of room and supplies for them."
Flint started heading towards the corner of the gym from which he appeared, stopping just before the dark corner to see if they were following him. Everyone began to walk towards the corner, the ex-rockets drying their tears from the touching father and son moment.
Flint kneeled low to the ground, his palms scanning the ground for something embedded in the rock. Ash assisted him by aiming the light from his Pokéglov in the general direction of where he searched. This helped immensely for what Flint was searching, finding it in seconds. It was a manhole slightly covering a dark hole in the floor. He moved out of the way, beckoning them into the hole. Dawn instinctively backed away.
"We're going into the sewers? I-I don't think I can do that. I think I'd rather stay outside with the Pidgeot," the blunette said, looking at Jessie for some assistance but to no avail. Jessie had gone through worse conditions than sewers; she didn't see the problem.
"Alright then, suit yourself, but we have a working bathroom that's incredibly clean down there, along with all the toiletries like shampoo and conditioner," Flint mentioned innocently, having his fair share of experience with several daughters of his own.
Something inside Dawn clicked, her mind had blocked out all the other unimportant words that had come out of Flint's mouth, choosing only to hear the select words like bath, shampoo, and clean. Discarding caution to the wind, she ran over to the hole and shined her light down it. She found a stepladder at the base of the manhole, hopping onto it for dear life and sliding down the rest of the way.
"She must really want a shower," Ash couldn't help but comment as he decided to go next. One by one, they all went, Flint went in last, and closing the manhole over the entrance.
He slid down to meet everyone at the base of the ladder waiting for him. The sewers were surprisingly well lit ever since Flint had taken the initiative of setting up lights to make the back to the base. Two switches that were hidden at the entrance of the sewers and back at the base could control the lights.
Flint led the way, everyone following silently and without questions. After what seemed like a few minutes, they reached a dead end. They all stopped except for Flint, who walked over to the wall, knocking on it.
A loud grinding sound came from wall as it began to slide to the left, revealing what was behind it. The room behind the wall was surprisingly homey considering where they were. All of Brock's siblings were scattered across the room either playing, taking a nap, or with their mother.
"Honey, Brock's home!" Flint's voice boomed, getting the attention of everyone in the room. The clatter of spoons and pans was heard from the kitchen as Brock's mother, Lola, rushed over to her son at the entrance. Brock's brothers and sisters took a few seconds to react before all stampeding towards him.
Lola proceeded to cover every inch of Brock's face with her kisses, hugging him tightly and crying at the same time. Ash and the others moved out of the way to allow the rest of Brock's family surround him and bury him underneath the flurry of arms that wrapped around him in an attempt to hug him. It looked as though Brock was lost underneath all those people for a few moments. Flint had to forcibly remove his wife from Brock, reminding her that Brock needed to breathe.
Brock went and hugged every one of his siblings, having something unique and special to say to each individual. Flint had his arms wrapped around his wife's waist from behind, snuggling into her hair lovingly. She hugged her arms and pressed against him, turning to give him a kiss on the cheek and smile while she cried. Once Brock was down, he moved to give a proper greeting to his parents.
It was a heartwarming sight, making Dawn temporarily forget that there was a bathroom down in this place. She began to look around, noticing that this place made one completely forget that they were in a sewer in the first place. The place was as large as the gym itself, maybe even larger.
Couches lined the walls, the ground covered in scattered carpets. Some rugs were hung from the walls, as well as drapes, and portraits. A random assortment of playthings were scattered across the floor and the tops of the tables like toys and puzzles.
There was a television and a radio but no signal was coming through so they were turned off. At the end of each wall were dozens of rooms like the kitchen, living room, and bathroom.
Dawn felt that it would be rude to rush instantly to the bathroom without introducing herself; it was their house after all. Both Flint and Lola kissed one side of Brock's cheek, each of them hugging an arm. They pulled away to look at their son, remembering that they had other visitors.
"Oh, how rude of us. We apologize for ignoring you," Lola said, wiping a stray tear from her eye.
"It's quite all right ma'am," Tracy replied for all of them.
"Well Brock, introduce us to your friends," Lola urged.
Brock went and introduced each person, keeping Ash last as his father and Ash had met before. His siblings stood by their parents, watching as Brock introduced the newcomers.
"It's great to see you again Ash," Flint said, slamming his hand onto the raven-haired youth's shoulder.
"You all look like you've been through a lot, you must be all tired. I'll run you all a bath and wash your clothes for you," Lola offered.
Dawn looked like she could cry of happiness.
"I think that this is the perfect time to celebrate, let's have a feast once you guys have cleaned up," Flint announced.
Ash and the ex rocket trio looked like he could cry of happiness.
Tracy, Brock, James, and Ash sat quietly in the steaming water of the bath. Samurai had peeled away all of his armor. His skin was paler than all of them, probably due to the fact that he had been wearing the armor for more than a week and hadn't taken it off. Dozens of scars criss crossed his body, some of them from years back, others only a few days old. The bath was more like giant Jacuzzi, being half the length of a pool and almost just as deep.
Their towels were wrapped around their waists as they soaked in silence.
"I'm…glad that your family's alright, Brock," Ash said, doing his best to sound sincere.
Brock noticed the subtle exertion Ash put forth to sound nice, he knew full well where the tension stemmed from.
Brock had been able to see his family while everyone in Ash's town had been killed. The former gym leader understood his resentment, his envy.
Ash fought against this, knowing full well that he should be happy that Brock had found his family safe in sound. Yet, the shadow of a thought in the back of his mind silently wished that he would not be alone in his suffering.
Ash knew this was wrong, pushing the thought away as far as he could, but he knew that it would be like his shadow.
"…Thanks, Ash," Brock replied.
"How long are we staying?" Ash asked, his hands in a flurry of movement as he scrubbed his hair with shampoo before dunking his head in the water.
"What?" Brock scoffed in disbelief, "What do you mean how long are we going to be staying?"
" I'm not asking you, I asking them," Ash motioned towards Tracy, James, and Samurai. "I can't stay here. I'll rest here for a couple of days, but I'm gotta head out once I've gotten my strength back."
"Why not? There's nothing wrong with this place; we're safe! Safer than we've been all week! We can finally rest and take a breather!" Brock yelled.
"Don't take it personally Brock, this has nothing to do with this place or your family."
"Why Ash? Why can't you stay?"
"I don't intend to sit and hide here until I die. I've got stuff to do; I wanna find what made the Pokémon like this. I promised Dawn I'd find her mom, I need to know that Misty, May, and Max are still alive. I have to let Gary know about professor Oak," Ash said calmly.
Brock's hand rose up to cover his face, "You're gonna put Dawn in danger going out there."
"We'll be fine, I'll have Pikachu and my Pokemon with me, I won't be going alone either, right Samurai?" Ash said, nodding in Samurai's direction.
Samurai nodded back, "I shall accompany you, I have no reason to stay here"
Brock turned towards Tracy, as did Ash, awaiting his answer.
"You said you wanted to find a safe place for the Pokémon in Oak's ranch, this is that place!" Brock said.
"I'm sorry Brock, I don't think this is the place I had in mind. You have your family here, I can't afford to bring anything here that might hurt them. This is your family's home, I have no right to make it into my base."
Ash nodded in approval while Brock kicked the water angrily.
"I could talk to them, I know they would agree to help!"
"Brock, you don't need to get so angry, it's not like I'm asking you to leave your family."
I…I don't want you to leave. You guys are my best friends; you're like a part of my family. I've spent years with you, and now you want me to stand by with a smile on my face while you go and do something stupid that's going to get you all killed! You think I can just stand by and let you leave to your deaths; I might as well take my family with you on your journey."
"Brock, that's stupid. Your family will be a target anywhere we go, it's better if we keep the group small. You don't have much of a choice, either you stay with your family, which we can't bring with us, or you leave your family to go with us," Ash explained.
"We know that you would prefer to stay with you family, your family wants you here, with them…where they feel is safer." Samurai added.
James had remained silent throughout the entire argument, his eyes switching back and forth between the speakers. It took him a few seconds to realize that it suddenly became silent, and that everyone's eyes were aimed at him.
"What about you James? You have as much say in this as the rest of us. You're part of the group now," Tracy commented.
James looked back and forth, "Well, it's really not up to me. I tend to go where Meowth and Jessie go."
"What if it were up to you, what would you do? If you decided where Meowth and Jessie went?"
James was silent, contemplating the scenario in his head. It wasn't every day that someone asked him to make difficult decisions and to think a lot. He weighed the pros and cons of his choice. Should they stay, they would be in the home of a stranger that they had never even met before.
They would be safe, safer than if they went on Ash's journey. Then again, if they went with Ash, they would be around company that knew them. Living with Brock's family would be a constant lie, would Brock tell them of their history with Ash? Would they get kicked as soon as their pasts were revealed? There would always be the temptation of doing wrong. Without Ash and Tracy to keep them on the right path, they might falter and fall back to old habits.
He would have to talk this over with Jessie and Meowth, but he had to decide at the moment. Whether his decision decided what him and the other two did affected them or not, he had his answer.
"I personally would go with Ash, I'm not sure about Jessie and Meowth, but I think they might agree with me."
Ash couldn't help but be surprised, not by James' decision, but by the fact that he hadn't needed to correct himself when referring to him by his name, and not the label of "Twerp" that they'd assigned to him over the years.
Brock waded away angrily, water sloshing and rippling everywhere as he headed for the exit.
"Wait, Brock!" Ash called out, watching as Brock stopped at once, but not turning to face him.
"Brock…are we still…friends?" Ash asked timidly, expecting the worst. The gap of silence felt more like hours rather than seconds for Ash until Brock spoke again.
"Yes, Ash. We're still friends. This wouldn't be so difficult if we weren't."
Without another look or word, Brock left the bath.
Dawn was in heaven, or at least what she considered would be heaven at the moment. She felt cleaner than she had been all week, knowing that all the blood, sweat, and dirt was gone.
She floated across the pool-like bath, her dark blue hair flowing out beneath her. Jessie was lounging at the shallow edge of the bath, her crimson hair cocooned in a towel. They had washed each other's hair just a few minutes before. Now Dawn was just relaxing in the steaming water.
"Dawn, I'm leaving, I'm gonna pass out from the heat if I don't leave, you should to unless you want that to happen," Jessie said as she lifted herself out. She swam to the edge, Jessie's hand pulling her out of the bath and handing her a towel.
One by one, everyone began leaving the bath, Ash being the last one there. He sat there alone for a few minutes before the silence began to annoy him and he left. Flint was there waiting for him, his clothes were clean and folded for him in a neat square.
Brock was nowhere to be seen, James and Tracy were changing into their clothes. Samurai had been given a pair clothes that they thought would fit him instead of wearing the armor to the dinner table. Samurai wasn't exactly comfortable with this condition but complied nonetheless since he was in a stranger's home and being shown hospitality.
Ash slid into his clothes enjoying that they had been recently ironed. He met Dawn and Jessie outside of the laundry room, Dawn was especially happy with her clean clothes.
"How did you get this done so quickly?" Dawn asked, motioning towards her clothes and the food.
"Everyone was happy to pitch in, besides we've got so many rooms to spare, we don't know what to do with them. When everyone evacuated we took the liberty of taking what they left behind and put it to good use. Ovens, Washing machines, heaters, tools, and food; we've got enough to run a hotel. We have enough food to support my family and all of you here for a few years. We've rerouted most of the energy and water systems to this area. Whatever wasn't taken when the town evacuated, we've inherited. We've been working like Beedrill these past few days, building this place from scratch."
"How did you build all of this?" Ash asked, seeing all the rooms and the vastness of the area. Flint whistled once, the shrill tone echoed off the walls, then came the rumbling. Seven figures appeared before them, one of them was resting atop the largest of the figures. Brock sat atop his Steelix with Ludicolo to his right, Crobat was perched on his shoulder. To his left was a Golem that Ash presumed was Brock's old Geodude. Swampert stood in the center, directly beneath Steelix.
"These guys and my wife's Pokemon have been helpful in excavating this entire place and making it home worthy," Flint explained.
Lola rang a tiny bell, the chime catching the attention to everyone at the table. All the food had been served; all of Brock's siblings were already at the table. The food was glistening and steaming in all its glory.
Ash, James, and Jessie were practically drooling at the sight of the food. Pikachu, Meowth, and Pidgeot approached them. Pikachu sprinted over, leaping onto Ash's shoulder, Meowth joining both Jessie and James. Everyone took their seats and gave thanks for the food.
"Well everyone, dig in" Lola and Flint urged.
Ash was stuffed, as was Pikachu while they were lying in their beds. Tracy and Samurai rested in the beds next to him. They said nothing, but they were content with their meal.
Dawn and Jessie were in another room and were probably already sleeping. Pidgeot had left to tell its flock its whereabouts so not to worry them. Flint had accompanied Pidgeot to help it find its way out. Ash was beginning to feel slumber take him as well, Pikachu's soft snores were not helping. Brock cautiously entered the room, standing before Ash in the darkness.
"Aren't you going to sleep with your family?" Ash asked drowsily.
"I am, but…"
"But…"
"Is… Is there any way I can convince you to not go?" Brock asked, his tone desperate.
Ash was silent for a few seconds, "No Brock, there isn't any way."
Brock's shoulder's slumped and he began to walk away, "Can't say that I didn't try," he sighed.
"Hey Brock," Ash whispered, "don't let our decision ruin the last few days we have together, okay?"
Brock turned, looking at Ash and staring at him for a long time.
"Yeah…sure" Brock replied before leaving the room. That was the last thing that Ash heard before he fell asleep.
All the lights had been turned off making Brock have to walk through the dark, to his room.
"Everyone must be asleep," Brock thought until something grabbed his shoulder. Brock whirled around and jumped back, it took everything Brock had not to scream.
"Calm down. It's me, son," Flint hissed through the blackness.
"Dad! What're you doing here? You scared the crap out of me, I might've screamed and woken everyone up."
"Sorry son, I just wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"It's about your friends leaving" Flint clarified.
Brock was shocked and speechless for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say next.
"How…how do you know about that?" Brock asked.
"Everyone knows. We heard you shouting in the bath, it's not like it's soundproof."
"Sorry."
"Look, I'm speaking on behalf of everyone here, and it's okay. We don't mind. This is the least we can do for the people that kept you alive for so long."
Ash and everyone else had taken the opportunity to explain in detail their entire journey during the feast. There were many oohs and aahs, the way Ash, Meowth, and James told the story, managing to keep Brock's family on the edge despite the obvious outcome.
"Besides, we're not their parents, if they want to go, that's their decision, if they want to stay, that's great. We don't want them to die as much as you don't, but we respect what they feel they need to do. We don't know if they're walking to their deaths, they might be safe because they've got such powerful Pokémon with them. We don't know, but all we can do is wish them the best of luck, and make their days here as comfortable as possible before they go."
"I just…I just want them to be safe, they're my best friends."
"We know, and that's why we would understand if you decided to go with them."
"Leave with them! I just got here! Why would I go with them?" Brock whispered loudly.
"Because they're your friends, and we're sure that you would still be safe with them. Face it Brock, you'd be happy here for a while, but then you would get bored and miss them. You'd be worried about them day and night and it would stress you out to no end. If you left, at least you would know that we were safe here. That's why you came here in the first place, to see if we were okay, and we are. Sure we'll miss you and worry about you, but we at least know now that you're in good and powerful company.
We didn't know your situation before, but now we do, and it makes us worry less. I think you and your friends can handle themselves, you've gotten this far already. Just know that we would respect your decision if you chose to leave."
"Dad, I'm not leaving, tell everyone that I'm not leaving," Brock declared.
"You don't have to make your decision now, you can sit on it for a few days."
"I have made my decision," Brock nearly yelled.
"You say that now, but wait until it's time, then you can give us the answer you said tonight or something different."
Flint walked away, leaving Brock standing alone in the darkness.