Crystal looked up.
"Hello."she said, simply. "I liked the last girl whom my aunt hired."
"Oh, well, I'll definitely try to be as good as she was."
"I hope so."she said, not sounding too enthusiastic.
"What is she like?"asked Suzie.
"Oh, she's wonderful!"said Brock.
"Is she like Ms.Balmaceda?"
"Oh, not at all. Much more beautiful."he said.
"I want to meet her."said Tommy.
"Oh, no. You know you're not supposed to see her. She's pretty tired from her trip, and just wants to get some rest."
"Will we get to see her?"
"We'll see, Tommy."
All the way to the gym, Brock couldn't help but think about Crystal Balmaceda. Fortunately, there were no challengers showing up today.
"Thank goodness,"he said to himself.
"Thank goodness for what?"asked David, as she walked in.
"Oh, I didn't know you'd be coming."
"Just thought I'd drop by."
"You wouldn't believe I have just met the girl of my dreams!"exclaimed Brock.
"Oh? And who is she?"asked David, enthusiastically.
"I just saw her this afternoon. Ms.Balmaceda's niece!"
"You're crazy."
"Of course I'm crazy. Crazy about her!"
"No, no, no, you are crazy. I don't think that girl will be interested in you, Brock."
"Why not?"
"I don't know, maybe because she thinks she's too good for you, or something? I mean, she does come from a family with a lot of money."
"Oh, well…"Brock didn't know what to say. "That doesn't have anything to do with it."he said uncertainly.
"Maybe to her it does."David told him.
"We don't know. Perhaps she's sick of all those rich snobs she meets every day."
"I thought Ms.Balmaceda told you she wasn't fond of children."
"Yeah?"
"Well, you have ten younger siblings. I don't think she'll like them very much."
"Well…"
"You just need to come back to a place called the real world, and leave dreamland."
"Maybe you're right, David. I am only dreaming. Crystal just isn't for me."
"Thank goodness you've realized that in time. I was afraid for a while, you were going to be feeding off false hope."
Brock sighed.
"Well, I gotta go and give my brothers and sisters their supper. It's almost time."
He walked back, thinking of what David had told him.
"He's right,"he said to himself. "I have no chance whatsoever."
He looked around. His whole life revolved around his brothers and sisters. He didn't even get a chance to train his Pokemon as often as he liked. If only his mother hadn't died. If only his father were here. If only…he sighed.