A/N: Hey guys, this is my first one-shot I've ever written and decided to publish... so I had to do it for my favourite ship, Advanceshipping! Small note, I was dared to do this to help bring Advanceshipping back to life (not that it ever died!).

The characters may act slightly OOC as they will be a bit older (think five years into the future).

I hope you enjoy. Please review, I'd love to hear feedback! Thanks!

The Love Book

"No."

"Come on Ash! Why not?"

"Brock… You know why!"

The dark haired trainer sighed as he walked through the halls of the Pokémon centre. Trying to talk Brock out of something wasn't easy, it was almost impossible. Not only did Brock have an unbelievably persistent personality, he was also hard-headed. No wonder he chose the rock type as his specialty… Ash thought as the older trainer frowned and looked his way.

"Why can't you just take my advice?! I'm amazing with the ladies!" Brock exclaimed, while Ash shook his head side to side.

"I really doubt that Brock… when's the last time you were in a relationship? If anything, I should be giving you advice." Ash smirked as Brock paused, then started laughing like a maniac while clutching his stomach.

"You. YOU. Ash -denser than any person on this planet- Ketchum, think you can give me advice on women?! I swear, you crack me up sometimes Ash. Really." The gym leader laughed heartily until he noticed the death glares being sent his way by the raven-haired trainer.

"Okayyyyyy, fine. But honestly Ash, you've never even noticed the hints the girls used to give you—" Ash cut him off abruptly.

"I was ten for God's sake! I didn't even hit puberty then!" Ash said while huffing in embarrassment. He couldn't help but get slightly annoyed, since Brock had been roasting him for the past hour or so about every travelling companion he travelled with…

"Alright alright, I'll stop crapping on you for like five minutes. I'll only listen to your advice, if you listen to mine. Deal?" Brock had a glint in his eye as he stared down Ash, meaning he wasn't going to take 'no' as an answer. Ash really didn't have a choice at this point.

"Kay, but then you can't roast me about my love life for at least a week. Cool?"

"Cool." Brock nodded, while not helping being able to smile about his mini-triumph. The pair found the Pokémon Centre's cafeteria shortly and seated themselves by the window. Ash cleared his throat while looking up at the digital board that was updating the Pokémon that were ready to be picked up. He was still worried about his Pokémon, they were exhausted from a battle and were currently being treated by Nurse Joy.

Frankly speaking, Ash didn't really think Nurse Joy would make a good match for Brock. Brock needed someone who would appreciate his eccentricities and someone more on the 'wild' side. But then again, he didn't want to lump all the Joys together. That would be stereotypical. Ash sighed to himself and just decided to just get on with the advice.

"So…. You've been hitting on Nurse Joy since forever, and they're all pretty much related, so any Nurse Joy you hit on will know who you are. Quite the reputation you set up for yourself."

Ash chuckled to himself as Brock dramatically put a hand on his heart, signalling he was hurt by his best-friends comments.

"That stung."

"Haha. Anyway, what you need to do is something she's NOT expecting. Like not hitting on them for once. You know, don't open with one of your stupid pick-up lines. They clearly don't work." Brock tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't appreciate being on the other end of the insults.

"I guess I could do that… But it's just so hard to control myself, they're gorgeous, hot, and smart—" Ash covered Brock's mouth.

"Man! I'm just saying to control yourself for like, ten minutes. You can do that. I know you can."

"So… you're saying I shouldn't be myself?" Brock questioned.

"No-no. I'm just saying, don't open with a pick-up line! That's creepy. You're a Pokémon doctor for crying out loud… and they're Pokémon nurses."

Ash paused for a moment as light bulbs began to flicker in his mind. The best way to bond with someone would be to teach them something, he thought. He continued on with his advice.

"Talk about that medical stuff. You can always flirt with them afterwards… Like you really have to try and connect with them, teach them things they don't know yet, you know, it's easier to form a bond when you're someone's mentor—"

"Oh, like how you mentored May?" Brock grinned at Ash, knowing he just pulled on Ash's heartstring. He knew Ash would unknowingly mention the brunette without even thinking about it.

"Umm, s-sure."

Ash gulped, he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, and the last thing he wanted was for Brock to pick up on that. Unfortunately for Ash, Brock already knew that there was something going on between them, they just didn't want to admit it yet. All Brock needed to do was to push Ash…

"Well, I guess I could try your suggestion… Now, since you made a deal to take my advice too, ask her out." Brock flashed Ash a cheeky smile while Ash's eyes widened.

"Who?"

"Ash, don't play with me. We both know."

"I don't like anyone like that…" Ash uneasily moved in his seat, looking back up at the display board to see if his pokémon were ready to be picked up. Anything to get out of that conversation.

"For God's sake…. The first step is admitting you like her!" Brock exclaimed while Ash frowned back at him.

"Brock… we haven't seen each other ever since she went on that journey with the others…" Ash said slowly as Brock rolled his eyes.

May decided to go on a journey with all of her rivals again. Even Dawn paused her fashion designing to go back into coordinating with them after May insisted she tag along. May's fiery competitive spirit always wanted to get better, much like Ash's.

Brock looked at Ash and spoke. "Excuses, you'll see each other soon, probably next week since you're both going finish your journeys soon. What's stopping you?"

"Well, for one... what if she likes someone else?!" Ash blurted out, immediately regretting it. He was always so confident in battles, why couldn't he be as confident with love?

Brock rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"So insecure Ash…. If she did like Drew, they would have been together already, don't overthink it…" Brock abruptly got out of his seat. "Just. Do. It!"

Ash covered his face with his cap immediately as the people around were startled by Brock's outburst.

"Sit the hell down Brock… what am I supposed to say exactly?" Ash crossed his arms after placing his cap back on his head. Brock grinned and sat down.

"Oh Ash, you still have so much to learn….." The tan trainer reached into his backpack and brought out a book titled,

'Dr. Love's Original Guide to Love – By Brock Harisson'.

Ash immediately sweat-dropped after reading the title.

"You promised you'd take my advice so….. read." Brock pushed the book forward while Ash grunted, regretting all his life choices upto this moment.

"Real nice title there, Brock. I can only imagine what's inside it."

Ash opened the book to the first chapter, titled;

'Pick-up Lines are a Man (or Woman's) Best Friend'.

Ash couldn't help but laugh at his friend's enthusiasm.

"Yeah Brock, I don't know if you've noticed, but Drew's been hitting on May for years, and if that doesn't work…" The trainer frowned as he flipped to the next chapter-

'Chapter 2: A Rose by Any Other Name is Just as Sweet'.

-"Flowers definitely won't either."

Brock smiled at Ash and forced Ash to flip the book to the next section,

'Chapter 5: How to Find Out if She Has Fallen for You.'

Ash raised his eyebrows at the title, and started reading the chapter intently. He would feel so much more comfortable if he knew for certain that May would return his feelings… Maybe Brock's crazy book actually had something useful. However, after a moment, Ash's eyes shot upto Brock's in slight horror.

"This is so creepy Brock… Go to her workplace and talk to her co-workers?! Create a fake Facebook account and message her as a 'secret admirer'?! Why the hell would you do that?!"

Brock pointed to the next paragraph in the chapter.

"If she says she's not interested, then you can probe her further for details about who she likes! The social media age makes it so much easier." Brock winked at the younger trainer, who was just staring at him, mouth agape.

"Yeah, not doing that… That's just borderline stalkerlike. I hope you don't do that…"

Brock sighed. He was getting nowhere with Ash, he was rejecting all of his advice and on top of that, Brock was getting roasted too. Right when Brock was about to knock some sense into Ash, Ash's cell phone started to ring. Ash froze when he saw the name, and showed the phone to Brock, who smirked.

"Speak of the devil. Or should I say, someone up there was looking out for you… Take the call!" Brock yelled as Ash fumbled and pressed the button to take the call.

"Hello? Ash?" A familiar female voice called out from the other line.

"H-Hey, May! Long time no talk." Ash spoke nervously, while avoiding Brock's face. He couldn't believe that May of all people decided to call him right now of all times.

Brock took this opportunity and started making smooching noises in the background and Ash abruptly got up and ran to the bathroom as quick as he could, blushing heavily. Brock chuckled to himself.

"Classic Ash, I knew you wouldn't make the first move."

Brock smiled to himself as he flipped to the last chapter, titled;

'It's the Modern Age: Let the Girl Make the First Move.'

"And now... the ship will sail itself. Dr. Love always wins."

FIN.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! It's a bit on the short side because it was a drabble dare... but I'll learn slowly.

Thanks for reading! 3

Yeah, Brock totally tipped May off. ;D