A/N: Here I am again! With a new chapter! …a few days late… But a new chapter! Yay! Ahum… Anyway, sorry for the lateness again, but my apologies must be getting boring for you guys, so let's quickly move on to the chapter! But first, I wanted to thank everyone who read/followed/favorited this story, and an extra thank you to the wonderful people who were so kind to leave a review. Sorry I haven't replied to your reviews/PM's yet, but I thought you'd prefer a new chapter over a reply. I'll get to it soon!

Thank you all so much for your support, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

To LeChick: I'm glad you're enjoying it! And Brock is an underappreciated character, absolutely. Thank you for your review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.

Leave It To Brocko

Chapter 16

Run.

My legs were moving at what felt like inhuman speed, the trees and bushes just a passing blur as I ran past. Blood pounded in my ears, and my breathing came out rushed and labored. Time was an unknown concept as I pushed my body further, fueled by the need to protect my companions, my battle partners, my friends.

"Pikachu!"

Something in Ash's voice made me stop, and I whipped around. The world slowed down again, and my eyes focused in on Ash's figure, hugging something yellow.

For a moment, I thought the worst. But Ash's grin and the squirming of the yellow thing quickly told me the opposite. Pikachu was fine, and the knot in my chest loosened just a tad bit.

Ash seemed to be talking to his Pokémon, almost squeezing it to death, but I knew we didn't have time for pleasantries. After all, the rest of the Pokémon were still in danger. My Pokémon were still in danger.

"C'mon Ash, we have to keep going!" Gary yelled, already moving to continue the pursuit. His face was unusually serious.

I agreed with the aspiring Pokémon Professor. Of course I was really glad Pikachu was okay, but my own Pokémon…

Ash nodded, and started to move, but froze halfway when Pikachu had wriggled itself free from his hold and had placed itself in front of Ash, his paws raised as to stop him and frantically chu'ing.

"What? What is it, buddy?" Ash had stopped, and was bent over, intently listening to the Pokémon's chirps. My feet were itching, I wanted to continue. Arceus damn it, my Pokémon were in danger and Ash was having a conversation with Pikachu! Hurry up already!

My eyes flew over the rest of our group, and I saw my impatience mirrored in their expressions.

"Team Rocket...? Captured?" A look of frustrated impatience crossed Ash's face, and his voice was harsh as he told his Pokémon, "We already know that Team Rocket captured our Pokémon, Pikachu! We need to hurry up!"

He stepped aside, intending to move past Pikachu, but the Pokémon responded by getting even more frantic. Ash's harsh demeanor faded a bit as he took a calming breath, and he focused his attention back on Pikachu. Once again, he listened intently, the confusion growing on his face as his partner spoke.

"Team Rocket is captured?" he questioned, and at hearing Pikachu's sound of confirmation, he repeated it louder as a statement. "Team Rocket is captured!"

"What...?" Misty asked, wording my feelings perfectly, but before she could ask further questions, Ash continued, getting more enthusiastic as Pikachu told him more.

"Pikachu says our Pokéballs are safe!" He beamed at us. "And James, Jessie and Meowth have been captured by Botch and Cassidy!"

Then his smile fell, and in a more silent tone he concluded, "But that means they have our Pokémon now…"

"Then we'll just get them back!" Iris said determinedly, and Cilan nodded grimly. His former misunderstanding slash setback with the purple-haired girl was temporarily forgotten in the light of the new emergency.

"We'll have to be silent," Leaf said. "Then we can sneak up on them, and maybe we'll be able to get our Pokémon back without them seeing us."

"But-"

"Axew and Pikachu are strong, but Pikachu just survived a fall of I-don't-know-how-many-feet and Axew is still tired from our escape. They wouldn't be able to fight against Mitch and Cassidy's Pokémon," I interrupted Ash, already knowing what he was going to say. "Let's just try to get closer without being heard or seen, so we can see what situation we're facing, and then we can think of a plan."

Ash nodded, still a bit reluctant, but seeing no other option. The others nodded or made a sound of confirmation, and Misty had already continued the pursuit. Clenching my teeth, I followed her, forcing my legs to keep up with her pace.

"We need a diversion," I decided in a whisper. We were huddled in a circle together, hidden by the surrounding foliage. Just a bit further away was a small clearing – created by the crashed balloon – where Bob and Cassidy were taunting a bound Jessie, James and Meowth, while our Pokéballs were lying in a heap on the ground, forgotten.

The plan I had in mind was simple and genius. Someone distracted Butcher and Cassidy, then someone else would get the sack with Pokéballs and then we'd sneak away. Simple as that.

"But what about Jessie, James and Meowth?" Misty asked, and others nodded. Cilan added, "They'll see us and alarm Bill and Cassidy."

So, okay, maybe my plan wasn't genius, but at least it was still simple. That gotta count for something, right?

"Okay, we have to distract them as well, that's going to be more difficult… uh…" I tried to cover up my mistake by trying to come up with a solution, but when I failed to do so, Leaf gently interrupted me.

"We'll just free Jessie, James and Meowth – if their yelling is anything to go by, they'll attack Blotch and Cassidy the moment they're free."

That was quite true, I thought. We couldn't see them – the bushes hiding us from them worked the other way around too – but we could still hear them very well.

"-incapable of doing anything useful. Hah, what kind of thieves get robbed themselves? That's just pathetic!" Cassidy sneered, causing Jessie to let out a frustrated growl.

"We're not pathetic! You cheated!" James half-whined.

"We're the bad guys, we're meant to cheat." Footch laughed, while Jessie snarled at James for his inability to argue.

"You're right, they'll probably finish each other off and save us the trouble," Iris said, grinning as she listened to the exchange.

"So…" I said slowly, "we need a diversion so someone can free our Team Rocket, so that they can distract Hutch and Cassidy, so we can get our Pokémon and sneak away. And by the time they notice the Pokéballs are gone, we're long gone too."

"Yup, that's pretty much it," Leaf agreed, and some others nodded.

"Right, a diversion," I muttered, more to myself than to the group. I stared at the ground in contemplation for a moment, and when I looked up again I found seven pairs of eyes staring at me.

"Uh… why are you all staring at me?" I shifted uneasily under their gaze, feeling like a prey being eyed up by a predator. Or multiple predators, in my case. Their grins matched said predators as well.

Suddenly, Misty stood up and took my hands to pull me up from my kneeling position, before grabbing my shoulders to turn me around so I was now facing the direction of the Rocket clearing. And with one rough push, I was tumbling forward through the bushes towards the clearing.

"Go do your thing, Brock!" Misty cheerfully whispered-yelled after me, and I just knew she had that triumphant grin on her face.

I turned my head around to glare at her – yes, it was indeed that triumphant grin – and hissed, "I'll-"

I tripped over a tree root.

I flailed with my arms, let out a yelp, crushed several branches and bushes in my descent, and effectively killed any chance of nearing the Rockets unnoticed.

"So, so, what do we have here?" Cassidy's voice questioned, and I looked up from the ground. First I saw boots, and then-

Long, long, legs and a short, short, skirt- Can't breathe.

Like seriously, I can't breathe anymore.

A vice-like grip on my collar cut off my oxygen, lifting me up from the ground. I struggled, my feet only kicking air and my hands gripping Cassidy's arms firmly. Holding onto her arms, I could pull myself up a bit, thus allowing air in my lungs.

"Well?!" Cassidy demanded, pulling my face close to hers. "What are you doing here?!"

"I-" I tried to speak, but it only came out as a high squeak. Not because I was afraid or something, just because I couldn't properly breathe.

Okay, I was scared to death.

"Pathetic," she sneered, letting go of my collar. I was dropped to the ground unceremoniously, lying in a heap at her feet, wheezing and coughing to catch my breath.

"Butch!" she barked. "Tie him up!"

Without saying anything, the man went over to me, and roughly hoisted me up.

No, wait, I can't get tied up, I can't, our plan…!

"No, wait!" I yelled, fruitlessly struggling against Bill. "Don't tie me up!"

"Oh no? And why not?" Cassidy asked, before turning to our Team Rocket trio. "Who is he? Another one of your lousy friends?"

"No way!" Meowth yelled. "We're no friends with da- ow!"

"Shut up, stupid cat!" Jessie hissed angrily, having kicked the Pokémon to shut him up. She must've thought – hoped – that since we had come to get our Pokémon, we might free them too.

"That…?" Buffy pushed me back down on the ground, before bending over a bit as to get a closer look. "That what? What are you?"

"And why don't these losers want to say it, eh?" Cassidy added, glaring at Jessie, James and Meowth.

Both looked at me expectantly, and I knew this was the perfect chance I had been waiting for, the perfect moment to come up with something genius to distract them.

C'mon brain, I need something genius!

A fist was shoved in my vision, accompanied by a threateningly "Well?!" and forcing me to go with something less genius.

Misty, I really dislike you at times.

"They don't wanna say it, because, because…" My voice was several octaves higher than usual, and I tried to stall by coughing a few times in hopes of getting my voice back to normal. "Because, uh, they are, erm… embarrassed…?"

It sounded more like a question, and by the confused expressions on the faces of the two villains, it wasn't the answer they had expected.

"Embarrassed?" Chuck repeated, unbelievingly.

"Ye-yeah! They're embarrassed! Yeah, absolutely! Embarrassed!" I squeaked slightly, and I didn't blame Bilge and Cassidy for looking suspicious.

"I don't believe you," Cassidy stated, a dangerous edge in her voice.

"It's true!" I quickly assured her. "They're embarrassed! They're embarrassed… of me!"

Cassidy raised an eyebrow, and her partner crossed his arms across his chest.

"Really!" My voice was still so dang high. "They're embarrassed of me, because, because, I'm helping them!"

"Helping them," Footch repeated tonelessly, obviously still not believing me.

"Yeah! Helping them!"

"And what, in Mew's name, are you helping them with?" Cassidy asked. "Arceus knows they're incompetent and that they need all the help they can get, but you look even more useless than they do!"

Botch laughed a bit, and Cassidy smiled at his appreciation of her evilness. Or at least I think that was why she was smiling.

Surprisingly, there weren't any sounds of indignation coming from the Team Rocket trio, but a quick glance behind Cassidy's legs told me my friends had arrived to untie them.

Which meant I had to continue distracting Patch and Cassidy.

Letting the comment about my uselessness slide, I replied. "I'm helping them with… you know…"

I trailed off, and looked at them conspiringly. At least now I had their full attention, as they leaned in further, curiosity visible in their eyes.

"You know…" I repeated, now whispering, causing them to come even closer. Using my fingers, I made air quotation marks as I finally finished my sentence in a hushed whisper. "'Love affairs'."

For several moment, the two Team Rocket members stared at me, expressionless. Then Cassidy's jaw dropped and Brotch barked a laugh. He turned his head to look and laugh at- no!

"That's right!" I yelled, jumping up and startling both, but thankfully pulling Blick's attention back to me. I couldn't let him see Jessie, James and Meowth, or he'd see Cilan and Gary untying them!

I puffed out my chest, projecting an air of false confidence to keep their attention on me. "I'm a matchmaker! And not just 'a' matchmaker, but…"

I quickly glanced at the still busy Gary and Cilan, before taking a deep breath in mental preparation for the big finale.

"I am Brocko, the matchmaker of Kanto!"

A/N: If you made it here, thanks a bunch for reading! I'm trying to get the new chapter up in two weeks, but university is starting – yay, so exciting! – so it might be a little later. Now, if you would please be so kind to write a review in that little box below, you'd make me really happy :D It doesn't have to be long, just tell me what you thought about it and I'll be really happy. Really. So… please? :)

Thank you so much!

Recommendations:

Pokémon: Hidden Machines by FortuneDP. A funny story with Game!Dawn and Lucas friendship. I mean, everyone wondered why a small birds like Starly can learn fly when it would be complete torture for such small Pokémon to carry a grown-up human. Or even a kid human. So yeah, that's what this story makes fun of. With Dawn and Lucas. A funny, light read.

Pokémon: Cilan and Chili and Cress by Crying Rivers. A poem that is not quite as you expect it. It's kinda funny, in a morbid way… And I have to applaud the author's effort of managing to get everything to rhyme. Really short read, but nice all the same.

Rocket Power: A Simple Kiss by thesolitary-dragon. A TwisterxReggie story, because there aren't all that many of those out there. Can be read as an one-shot, or as a multi-chapter. However, the story isn't finished (and I doubt it'll ever be), so yeah… Anyway, a cute, funny, and in-character story.

Again, if you have any stories you want to recommend, please go right ahead!