Here is the eighth tale in Brock's spinoff story released right when it was supposed to be released. For those interested, this chapter is set between the Grand Festival and Indigo Conference arcs of Dreams placing it between Parts LXX and LXXI and there are a lot of spoilers in the chapter for Part LXX, as well as some for Parts LV and LXII so you have been warned about them. I also want to note that this is the last chapter in this short spinoff and I will mark it as complete though for obvious reasons there is still one more chapter but that won't be released until around Part CCCI (current projection) which is right at the end of Hearts 5 so it's a long time off. Anyway, that is all the administrative stuff for note, there are 2 questions to answer and a brief notice to make before the chapter starts.

Will Brock and Lucy reveal their relationship to Ash and Dawn in Cremini Town or up on Indigo Plateau? The answer is neither, the reveal is set to occur sometime in Hearts 4 but that's all I'll say about it so as to avoid any spoilers.

Between Ash and Brock, who got an official girlfriend first? Ash. If you follow the Hearts Series, which if not I do recommend y'all do, Ash and Dawn became official in Part VII while Brock was still in Pewter City. Brock didn't become official with Lucy until around Part XXII though she was first mentioned in Part XI.

Quick note on ages as this has come up in other aspects in Dreams Come From the Heart. Brock and Lucy are 22 in this series, based of Brock's age (15) at the start of the anime with 7 years for Ash's 7 adventures added to it so that all the characters are aged up using a linear rather than the typical roving timeline.

That is all for this pre chapter note. Please sit back and enjoy the eighth and currently final installment in Luck Strikes the Heart.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Taking it to the Next Level

"And there we go, all your favorites just as you like them." Brock said with a smile at Lucy as he set down the last of the main course dishes on her outdoor table. "After the last few weeks you deserve it."

"Tell me about it." Lucy said as she began eating and almost moaned at the taste of Brock's cooking. "I really needed this."

It had been a hectic few weeks since the last time they had been able to do this, have quiet date night in Lucy's backyard as Brock served his unbeatable cooking to her. There had been a good reason for it and it was the same as last time only worse.

There was only one challenger left on the Battle Frontier, who'd beaten Lucy a few days ago, but thanks to two damned gyms in Kanto, the Fuchsia one got a sudden overrun that made the last overrun look tame in comparison. Thanks to Blaine's stupid but understandable riddles out on Cinnabar that he used to avoid battling tourists and the grossly incompetent and ever absent Silver out in Viridian, neither of whom had a backup, they'd forced a buildup of trainers to come to Fuchsia for one of their final few badges.

This time however things were different which is why they were worse. This time Lucy had been asked to serve as the backup gym leader and not the emergency one like before.

Aya was a good trainer but her skills, likely due to her focus on Pokémon martial arts, were insufficient for even a backup gym leader according to the Pokémon League. That meant that in order to deal with the copious amount of trainers and allow Janine and her Pokémon the time to rest and recover that she needed, Lucy had to serve as acting gym leader twice a week. She also had to be on call the other days just in case she had to step up and fill in at a moment's notice.

This had been asked of her just before the second wave, and while she had accepted it, it had meant that when she wasn't in the gym she was basically on her first real catch spree in years and thanks to the gym's rules Lucy couldn't focus on her serpentine preference. That was because rules of the Fuchsia Gym were rather strict and required the leader to use 3 Pokémon and that all 3 had to be a poison type.

Lucy only had two of her own, though one was her primary Pokémon, so she had borrowed 2 of Brock's, his Croagunk and Crobat, when she was the emergency leader. However as the backup she needed more to ensure things went smoothly as even with Brock's Chansey on loan to the gym to help heal, Lucy needed to have as many poison types as possible. So in her brief moments of free time she went out to catch them. Good thing Lucy liked catching Pokémon; it was just a bit of a sudden blitz she hadn't expected to have to do.

Lucy first gone to the Safari Zone and deal with the slightly unhinged man who ran it, some oddball call Kaiser who Brock straight up refused to go near and get 30 Safari Balls. She'd managed to catch a Nidorino, Nidorina and Venomoth while there so that was 3 more poison types to her rotation. She'd also caught a Chansey of her own to help out and Slowpoke that she hadn't intended to catch but had accidentally dropped a ball on its head while trying to catch the Venomoth and it was apparently too stupid to resist the ball.

After that she'd spent her other free periods in the surrounding woods, fishing on the beach, or out on the ocean looking for the Pokémon she needed. In the process Lucy had ended up with a Weepinbell that was really into battling and wanted to evolve so she bought it a Leaf Stone to do so, expensed to Janine of course, a really aggressive Beedrill that took a lot to capture which was a lot of fun for her and an annoyed Tentacool while fishing.

However the best Pokémon she'd caught was a male Gloom, she knew it was male because of its markings. It was one of the few Pokémon with eyes similar to Brock's, along with a Gulpin, that she didn't have so she was ecstatic when she found one and he was just what she was looking for in a Pokémon. Her new Gloom enjoyed a good, offensive dominated, fight.

One thing Lucy knew how to find when it came to catching Pokémon, though it wasn't exclusive to the ones she caught, was that she knew how to find ones that loved to battle and wanted to get stronger. All it took was showing them that she could give them what they wanted and they bonded with her.

Now she had an additional 7 poison types to work with, all but Gloom kept at the gym, and could fully work there. The bonus healing Pokémon in Chansey helped though for the life of her Lucy had no idea what to do with her Slowpoke other than that she was keeping it. She'd figure that one out later though.

The only times she got off where when her actually duty called her back to the Battle Pike. As that was her job, whenever that came up it was non-negotiable that she take it. She also got a day off every week from even being on call when Aya served as the emergency leader so that had been when she'd done most of her new catching. That had been her life for a good few weeks.

Thankfully that had all come to an end a few days ago as the deadline for the 8 gym badges needed passed and the challengers dried up to none giving Janine a needed break. Lucy had then sat a very exhausted and harried Janine down for a frank chat. Despite their longstanding rivalry, they had a cordial relationship for years and after the recent events and seeing what Janine went through as a gym leader Lucy could finally truly call her a friend. So as her friend she sat her down and told Janine that she needed to train her aunt to be her fulltime backup.

Janine had agreed and thanked Lucy profusely for her help with this hectic period in her life. Course there was a lot of blame on Blaine and Silver that Lucy fully agreed with but the woman still needed to get Aya up to snuff as a poison type specialist. Lucy was ok being an emergency option when it was necessary but that was it. A backup was too much for her unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

Janine had promised to use the next 6 weeks that would have minimal challengers due to the Indigo Conference buildup, the Conference itself, and the aftermath to begin an intensive training regime for Aya to ensure she was good enough to be a backup. Lucy thanked her and returned home for a much-needed break with Brock.

As much as she had wanted that first night to be like this, it had also been the night of the Grand Festival Final where Brock's friend Dawn was facing off against some dude from the same town in Sinnoh called Kenny for the Ribbon Cup. Brock wasn't going to miss it and Lucy needed some relaxing enjoyment so snuggled up with him on her couch to watch it.

She had to admit, it was more like a normal battle then she expected after watching more traditional Contest battles when they'd watched the Wallace Cup. It seemed that Kenny was going for that and when Brock explained that he had a crush on Dawn and that he wasn't the most accepting of her not reciprocating and being with Ash. When he'd explained that Lucy understood why this match was not as fancy as most Contest battles.

It was made even more interesting by Dawn's Pokémon, a pair even Brock was stunned at and for good reason. It wasn't every day that you saw a pretty, sweet, innocent looking girl in a pink miniskirt who was known to own Pokémon like Piplup, Buneary and Togekiss, suddenly whip out a Banette and an Arceus damned Spiritomb of all Pokémon in a battle. Dawn had then proceed to use them with a graceful art that really impressed Lucy. Dawn showed that she was the best in the final and truly earned her win.

Naturally Brock had been thrilled with his friend's victory and cried, a really sweet sight that tugged at Lucy's heart and made her love him even more than she already did, when Dawn won and lifted the Ribbon Cup high above her head. He had explained what she'd been through in the past and Lucy could see it on the girl's face as she cried and clutched the cup to her chest for several moment just how much Dawn had given to win it and become a Top Coordinator. It made Lucy eager to meet, and maybe battle, the girl Brock had travel Sinnoh with.

Ok the battling part wasn't entirely due to the win Dawn had in the final, though Lucy did want to test herself against that Spiritomb. No that was due to the fact that Lucy noticed the band on Dawn's arm during the match and the item in it and loudly gasped once she was certain it was what she thought it was. Brock had been confused until Lucy pointed out that Dawn had an Ability Symbol on her causing Brock to have the same reaction.

That was only give to people who won an official battle in the Battle Tower and that meant beating Anabel. Lucy had no idea how that had happened. She'd expected Dawn and Ash to run into Anabel when Brock told them they were in Cremini Town but for her to face Anabel in an official battle and win, that was unprecedented against the final Frontier Brain.

Sure a Frontier Brain could have an official battle with someone not registered on the Frontier, Lucy had had a few herself, but Anabel hadn't had one as far as she knew. That was until Lucy had seen the symbol on Dawn's arm at least, that confirmed that Anabel had had an official battle.

It had caused Lucy to call Anabel in the morning and question the younger girl as to what had happened when Ash and Dawn were in Cremini Town. What had happened somehow shocked Lucy even more if that was even possible.

Dawn hadn't only beaten her in an official battle that had been Anabel's idea but she had out strategized the Salon Maiden in every aspect of the battle. Dawn had possible the perfect team with the perfect moves and types to counter Anabel's Pokémon and their moves. In fact it had been so perfect, mainly that Spiritomb again, that it had forced Anabel to actually forfeit the final matchup. After hearing that there was no way Lucy was not going to face Dawn in a battle after that. If that girl could beat Anabel then Lucy was going to test herself against her.

That had been a few days ago though. It had been a nice night but after that Lucy had to get back to the Pike for a few days of paperwork to close out the Frontier for the year while Brock sorted his own things out. Thankfully that was finally done and when he'd asked her to have this date night and asked her what her favorites were, a hard ask with Brock's cook, so that it could be special she hadn't hesitated in agreeing.

This would be the last day before they began their trip to the Plateau with an expectation of arriving the night before the Indigo Conference started. As such Lucy wanted to maximize this meal and time with Brock while their Pokémon, except Steelix and Croagunk who were off somewhere else for some reason, ate nearby.

"That was probably the best meal you've ever cooked." Lucy said with a sigh of contentment as she finished her plate, she'd been so blown away by the food she hadn't talked all meal but the silence had been comfortable while they ate. "And that's saying something given your unparalleled talents when it comes to cooking."

"It is an honor to serve my queen such a feast." Brock said with a grin that made Lucy blush deeply. "I'm pleased I outdid myself though, that is great to hear."

"Well I will need my rock later." Lucy said smiling back at him.

"After dessert, I have something special for that." Brock said and Lucy nodded, the favorite meal had included her favorite dessert as well which she was really looking forward to. "But not until after we've digested that a bit."

"Agreed." Lucy said. "So I guess the only question I really have before we leave for the Plateau is do you think Ash will win?"

"He should at least reach the semifinal." Brock said thinking for a moment. "I know how good he is and he's using all his Pokémon so there will be some strong ones in the Conference. Ash has never done worse than the last 16 and that was once and back in his first Conference. Since then it's been quarters or semis, though the latter was only in Sinnoh. I know that Ash will reach them again, I can feel it."

"I will trust your judgement." Lucy said. "Ash was good against me so I am not surprised he could make it that far in the Indigo Conference."

"Yeah though I certainly think he can reach the final." Brock said. "And if he does then I am sure he can win it."

"It's a whole different match in the final." Lucy said recalling her own Conference finals. "I was there twice and lost both times. It's tough to reach and even tougher to lose but exhilarating at the same time. Hopefully he makes it. I know it will be good."

"That it will be." Brock said as he began to gather the plates. "But we can talk more on this on the way to the Plateau, I can tell you about all of Ash's Conferences that I've been to. I am going to go in and get dessert."

"I can help." Lucy said beginning to get up but Brock gently put a gently hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "No my love, this night is for you. Please, let me do everything."

"Very well." Lucy said raising her unwrapped hands to take his in hers as she looked up lovingly into those beautiful eyes that returned her love just as deeply. "Tonight only though."

"That's all I need." Brock said with a smile before he let go of her hand and went inside.

Lucy was left for a moment waiting and looking out over her garden and Pokémon eating, or in her Snorlax and Skitty's cases sleeping, in their favorite spots. It was a nice quiet day that she was enjoying. She needed this, and Brock, after the insanity of the last 2 months.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Brock's return until he placed a silver serving dish with a lid over it in front of her, something he'd never done before. Confused she looked at him to see that he was flanked by Croagunk and Steelix. How she'd missed nearly half a ton of steel serpent slithering towards her was beyond her. As was the fact that for some reason Croagunk was wearing a black top hat and bowtie, as was Steelix minus the hat though his bowtie was much bigger.

That answer was revealed when Brock removed the serving top thing with a flourish and Lucy gasped at what she saw before he, her hands going to her mouth. On a small silver tray, atop the dessert, was a black ring with a beautiful, and almost certainly rare, purple diamond in the center of it.

As Lucy looked at it she noticed that the holding of the ring was actually a miniature replica of a Seviper's mouth. The ring fully symbolized her. Around the tray, writing in black and purple frosting, were the words LUCY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Lucy slowly turned to find Brock on one knee by her chair smiling up at her. With a nod Steelix lowered his head so that it was next to them and Lucy saw a black box on it. Brock picked the box up and Steelix returned to his full height as Brock opened the box to reveal that it was where the ring was meant to be and that it had a dark purple interior.

"Lucy." Brock said as he carefully picked the ring up and put it in the box. "I know it's sudden and quick but, well, I've never felt this way about anyone before. I love you with my whole heart and I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Please, make me the happiest man alive and say yes."

"Brock." Lucy said hesitantly looking down and into his eyes. "As cliché as it is, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. After you left my love for you only deepened as I was always remined of your eyes. No man could ever replace you in my heart in the time you were away even though I never expected to see you again. However, Arceus, and more importantly Croagunk, blessed me with seeing you again and learned that you had only gotten more amazing in that time. That was when I knew that my love for you was true. I know this is fast but I also know that what we have is eternal."

"So that's a yes?" Brock asked.

"Of course it's a yes Brock." Lucy said grinning at him. "I will marry you."

Brock just returned that grin as Lucy, trembling slightly, held her left hand out to him to put the ring on it. Without hesitation Brock pulled the ring out and slipped it onto her left ring finger. It was a perfect fit, something that Lucy would have to ask about but at a much later date. For now she just smiled as she looked down at it. She knew this was fast but she didn't care. She knew that the love that she and Brock would ensure that they would be together forever.

That was why, as soon as she was done admiring the gorgeous ring, she leapt off her chair and tacked her fiancé to the ground, kissing him passionately as she did. When she'd met Brock she had fallen for him but he couldn't stay and she hadn't told him of her feelings back then. When he'd returned she couldn't believe it, nor that he still liked her and wanted to date her. Add in that Croagunk allowed it when he'd prevented Brock from being with anyone else and she knew she was special.

Now he'd proven it and she couldn't wait to spend the rest of her life with him. First though, Lucy was going to enjoy this moment as everything fell away from them and they gave into their love.

The unthinkable has happen, Brock has gotten engaged! Ok it was unthinkable that he would get a girlfriend in the first place but this is even more so. As such, this is the last chapter for now. The wedding and reception will get its own chapter but that is years off so for now I am marking Brock's spinoff as complete but it will be updated in a few years. Well, that is all for this chapter, as always please favorite, follow, and review and don't forget to follow me for more great content. Until next time.

Stringdog