Chapter 2

The next day, Brock checked in to his work early so that he could get off at noon and watch Ash's next match. His fellow employees didn't mind him doing so, a fact that Brock was very grateful for, and about fifteen minutes before noon, Brock checked out. But now came the hard part. Ash hadn't left him with any directions to meet up with Misty, and Brock was at a complete loss as to where to start looking.

Before he even began to search for her, Brock resigned himself to the fact that he may have to watch Ash's match alone. But, after only a few minutes of search, Brock found her, standing near the main entrance to the stadium.

"Brock!" She exclaimed when the two caught each other's eyes. And, to his surprise, she engulfed him in a tight hug as she said, "It's so good to see you. How are you?"

"No complaints." Brock said in reply. "How about you? You're looking good."

"Oh, thanks." Misty replied shyly. Unlike Ash, she actually did hold the appearance of her youth. Her bright, orange hair was a little longer than she used to have it, but she still had it in her usual, cute ponytail. Her clothes were very similar, even her backpack was. The only major difference that Brock could notice was that she was more womanly, having grown into her body over the past couple of years.

"Just like old times, huh?" Misty said. "How about we go grab a seat?"

"Sounds good with me." Brock replied, and with that, the two of them walked into the stands. There was a massive crowd, but they managed to find a good seat, much better than the one that Brock had just yesterday. They were on the fifth row, right about in the middle, so it was a great view.

They got into the arena just in time, as the announcer began introducing Ash and his opponent just as the two of them sat down. With that, Ash walked into the arena with his hand held high, and he took his place a podium while his opponent took the one opposite. And, shortly thereafter, the match had begun.

Ash began with Pikachu while his opponent used some Pokemon that Brock had never seen before. Judging by the smug look on Ash's face, however, Ash had seen such a Pokemon before and he believed he had the advantage. It was a very back and forth affair, with both sides landing solid shots, but even after several minutes, neither side had claimed victory.

"So, how have you been, Brock?" Misty asked, her voice raised high so that Brock could hear it over the deafening roar of the crowd. "Ash tells me you're a breeder now?"

"That's right." Brock replied. "The League hired me here to help. Things are starting to look up for me."

"That's great news!" Misty said. "I always knew you would do it."

"Yeah." Brock said with a smile. "It's a start, anyway. Maybe, someday, I'll open my own shop. But for now, I'm very happy with where I'm at." Brock then frowned and continued, "Ash didn't seem quite as impressed, though."

"No, I don't think he was, either." Misty admitted. "If I'm being honest with you, he joked about it when he broke the news to me yesterday."

"What has gotten into him?" Brock asked grimly. "I thought it would be great to see him again but he just seems so different."

"He has changed a lot, that much is for sure." Misty said with a sigh. In the background, half of the crowd groan and the other half cheered as Ash's Pikachu finally went down. He was now down by one in his match.

"Well, he can't be as bad as I make him out to be, if you stick by him." Brock replied. "I'm happy for you, by the way."

"Thanks, but..." Misty said hesitantly. "Well, I don't know how long me and him will last."

"What's going on?" Brock asked.

"It's like you said, he has changed a lot." Misty explained. "I first met back up with him a couple months ago, and I was so happy to see him. Maybe I just didn't want to admit otherwise, but he just seemed to be the exact same person he used to be, and I liked that. We began to see each other almost immediately, and its been a steady decline since."

"How so?" Brock asked.

"Well, I'm sure you saw, he's as arrogant as ever." Misty replied. "He's passionate about Pokemon, which he's always been, but that passion has become something of an obsession. Like, everything else, including me, takes the back seat on his journey become the best trainer there's ever been. And he can be a complete jerk when he wants to be."

"Yeah, I can see that." Brock replied grimly.

"And the worst part is that he's steadily getting worse as a trainer." Misty said. "The success he had when he was younger gave him this grand sense of over-confidence, but he's just not doing as well in tournaments anymore. And this just making him even more unbearable; he doesn't take losing very well."

"Well, at least that didn't change." Brock said lightly.

Misty laughed. "Yeah, I suppose."

The back-and-forth battle between Ash and his opponent went on for a good hour or so, with casualties on both sides leading to a final showdown between the last Pokemon for each trainer. Ash looked as confident as ever as he sent out his ace Charizard to face the opponent's Dragonite. In terms of power, the two Pokemon were about equal, trading blow for blow with very little damage being done. In the end, however, it was Dragonite's slight type advantage that gave it the victory.

Ash fell to his knees in unison with his fallen Charizard, clearly letting out a scream of frustration. The crowd was letting out a mixed response of cheers and boos, but Ash didn't seem to hear them. And despite Brock's mixed feelings for Ash at that moment, he couldn't help but feel bad for the ultimate competitor. After the match, Ash reluctantly shook his opponent's hand before exiting the arena the way he came in.

"He's not going to be happy tonight." Misty said as she and Brock rose to their feet. "I'm gonna go find him. I'd ask if you wanted to come along but I doubt he'll be any more personable now than he was yesterday."

"That's alright." Brock replied with a shake of his head. "I want to go see him. This might be the last I see of him for a while, anyway."

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you." Misty said grimly.

Brock frowned inwardly he followed her out of the stands. Brock had no idea where they were going but she obviously did, for she wove her way through the crowded corridors without hesitation.

Before long, they had reached the main entrance to the stadium, where Ash was standing alone with his cap pushed down slightly to cover his face. Brock felt an odd combination of pity and hesitation as he covered the remaining distance between them.

At first, it looked like Ash hadn't even noticed their arrival. But when Misty walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he pushed her away and said, "Get off me."

"You gave it your best, Ash." Misty said quietly. "That's all anyone can expect from you."

Ash didn't reply, so Brock chose to instead. "Tough loss, Ash. I thought you looked really strong out there."

"I lost." Ash said grumpily.

"You can't win them all." Misty said comfortingly.

"Keep training and you'll get them next time." Brock said.

"I have trained enough!" Ash cried in exasperation. "I-"

Ash stopped talking immediately as something had caught his eye. He was staring somewhere over Brock's left shoulder as he exclaimed, "You!"

Brock turned to where Ash was looking to see James walking towards the group. When he got over to them, James said, "Hey, Ash, I just wanted to say, good match. Tough lose for you, I'm sure, but that was the best match I've seen in a while."

"No!" Ash exclaimed, a crazed look in his eye. "No! I've had enough of you! You are never getting my Pikachu!"

James didn't reply, and he cringed a bit under Ash's hate-filled glare. And Brock couldn't say he blamed James. Brock hadn't ever seen Ash look so livid, and even as a spectator, it was downright fearful. "Ash, please, calm down." Brock replied, surprising everyone including himself. "He's not the bad guy anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about, Brock?" Ash exclaimed, rounding on Brock. "He has tried to steal my Pokemon more times than I can count! You know this as well as I do!"

"Ash, please-" Misty said, trying to calm his aggression.

"No!" Ash said loudly, brushing her off. "I don't know what you're getting at, Brock, but James is definitely my enemy. If you have a problem with that, I will take both him and you on!"

"It's true, Ash." Brock replied calmly. "James is the only reason that I even came to meet you here in the first place."

"Aha!" Ash exclaimed. "So you are conspiring with him against me!"

Brock, his face scrunched into a look which can only best be described as confusion, said, "You're insane. Why don't you go take a rest, it's been a long day..."

"Don't patronize me, you..." Ash muttered.

Ash never got to finish that thought, and perhaps that was for the better, as Brock was close to snapping himself. How dare his friend speak to him like that! Brock was gritting his teeth in anger and, due to his fury, he didn't notice the second newcomer to enter the conversation at first.

Appearing next to James, Jessie removed a TV reporter disguise to reveal her team rocket uniform and proclaimed, "Well, here we all are again! How sweet! Nicely done, James, you cornered them. Now, twerp, hand over that Pikachu!"

All of Brock's anger evaporated into confusion and dismay. Seeing Jessie here now was a clear sign that James had lied to him, that they were indeed here to try to steal Pikachu again. He was at a complete loss for words, and he felt like a fool for believing James for even a second.

James, however, looked just as surprised as Brock was, and he said, "J-Jessie? What are you doing here?"

"For the same reason as you, of course." Jessie said simply. "With the twerp in this tournament, his Pikachu will be ripe for the picking!"

"It's, uhh...it's good to see you again." James said meekly.

"Shut it, James, we have work to do." Jessie said sharply. James, whether out of respect or fear, did so, and Jessie continued, "So, twerp, how about you make this easy and just hand over that Pikachu?"

Ash completely ignored Jessie's demand. Instead, he turned to Brock out of spite and said, "You see? They are always my enemy. They will always try to steal my Pokemon!"

Brock, feeling upset and sick to his stomach, quickly turned to James and said, "I trusted you."

"Wait, I didn't know she would be here, I swear!" James said frantically. There was something about his pathetic display that seemed sincere, but Brock was in no mood to open up to him again.

"It's true, only happy circumstance draws us all here today." Jessie reverberated, an evil smile plastered on her lips. "Now, about that Pikachu..."

Again, Ash completely ignored Jessie, an action which seemed to annoy her. He, instead, said to Brock, "So, are you going to help me or not?"

Whether or not James had lied to him was irrelevant at this point. All of the anger that Brock had experienced just a moment ago resurfaced as he replied, "You know what? No, I'm not. You're not the friend I once knew, Ash. I tried to reach out to you but you spat in my face. And it hurts, because we used to be so close. But I don't care anymore. You can deal with these two yourself."

"Fine!" Ash exclaimed heatedly. "I can take them on my own, anyway!"

"Ohh, the drama!" Jessie said playfully. "Looks like we have one less twerp to deal with, James!"

"You mean you" James replied slowly.

"What?" Jessie asked quizzically.

"You." James repeated. "You have one less twerp to deal with."

"James?!" Jessie exclaimed.

"I'm not doing it, Jessie." James replied, his confidence growing with each passing word. "I've turned a new leaf."

"James, snap out of it!" Jessie said, growing a bit more desperate. "If we can get a hold of that Pikachu, we..."

"What, exactly?" James said with a frown. "We can give it to the Boss so he will accept us back with open arms? So that we can be richer than our wildest dreams? You need to snap out of it, Jessie. I'm not Team Rocket anymore, and neither are you."

That outburst left everyone in the group at a loss for words. Everyone except for James, that is, who quickly turned to Brock and asked, "Hey, want to go grab a bite to eat?"

Brock, again, was left speechless. His impressions of James had just taken another flip. He had never seen James speak to Jessie like that, and that alone was enough to convince Brock that James was no longer his enemy. Not only that, but now that Brock had effectively broke his friendship with Ash, James seemed like the perfect person to take the place.

Brock quickly smiled and replied, "Yeah, I'd like that."

And without saying another word, the two of them turned their backs on the dumbfounded expressions of their ex-friends and exited out of the stadium. They continued on walking into town, not knowing where this new friendship might lead them, but enjoying the fact that they were tackling this unknown together.