A/N: Wow, thank you so much for all your support! I'm so happy to see all of you are still reading and enjoying this story :D My apologies for my lack of replies to PMs and reviews, they'll come, don't worry. My excuse is NaNoWriMo :P
Anyway, as promised, the next chapter! Enjoy the Team Rocket-goodness XD
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.
Leave It To Brocko
Chapter 22
Team Rocket.
Of course.
I should've seen it coming. Theyalways turn up wherever Ash is, no matter how illogical the place. I really didn't know how they managed it at times – they must be inhumanely fast to get back from being blasted off to the place Ash was in mere hours.
With narrowed eyes I watched them, almost expecting them to turn around, throw off their disguises and start saying their stupid motto,again. But they didn't, and continued talking amongst themselves.
When after a few minutes, they even stopped talking and seemed to just relax, I felt my alertness starting to slip away. Perhaps they were here without any bad intentions, just taking a boat to Hoenn for holiday purposes.
Yeah, right, who was I kidding?
Suddenly I got the feeling I was being looked at, and averting my attention from the supposed Team Rocket trio, I found myself looking in Dawn's blue eyes. With her head, she motioned to the three, a frown on her face. I gave her a slight nod, and after patting Buneary on the head, she got up and walked over to me.
Sitting down on the chair that Paul had left, she asked, "Are those three who I think they are?"
At least that meant that Dawn was seeing the same thing as I had seen, and not that I was growing extremely paranoid. "Team Rocket, you mean? Yeah, I think so..."
"Are theystill following Ash around?! Please tell me it's a complete coincidence that they're here too..."
"Nope, they're still following Ash." I gave her a wry grin. "They're actually the reason we ended up in Unova instead of Hoenn straight from Kanto. Didn't Ash tell you that?"
"He did mention something about a plane crash… But Mew..." She shook her head. "And they still haven't managed to catch Pikachu. Surely they start to see now that they aren't cut out for this work, right?"
"Obviously not." I shrugged. "They're not stupid-"
Dawn snorted.
"They're not stupid," I repeated, stressing the words, "they're just horrible at this being-evil-and-stealing-other-people's-Pokémon thing. After all, with all those disguises, inventions and businesses they set up as cover, I can hardly call them stupid. If only they considered a career change."
Dawn seemed to consider this. "If you put it like that…" She nodded. "They could totally build up a normal life with a normal job, and who knows, get married, have some kids- Real kids, not Meowth disguised as one."
"Absolutely." I chuckled, and with an undertone of pride in my voice, I told her, "I've been trying to match them, actually, hoping that they would stop chasing us then."
"Really?" Dawn's eyes sparkled excitedly. "That's a great idea!"
My chest swelled with pride at that compliment. Finally someone who recognized my talent!
"What have you done so far? How's the progress?" she continued, eagerly.
"Uh..." A few moments of silence, as I tried to remember what I had done exactly. The answer I came up with was disappointing. "Nothing...?"
Dawn deflated, and slapped a hand against her forehead.
"Hey, it's really difficult to match people who are trying to kidnap your best friend's pet at every chance they get, and who are less than friendly to you yourself either," I defended myself.
She sighed, and shook her head. She glanced at the trio again, and got up. "Here, I'll show you."
"Wh-what?" I spluttered out, but Dawn was already walking towards them.
"Hello!" she greeted them cheerily, and in the way they stiffened and sputtered out their greetings, it was obvious this was our Team Rocket.
Dawn started talking, leaning over to pinch Meowth's cheeks, but I couldn't make out her exact words. So slowly, I got up, and inconspicuously walked towards them. Leaning against the railing, I pretended to look at the sea, while watching Dawn and Team Rocket from the corners of my eyes.
Dawn was gushing over Meowth – or more precise, the kid he was pretending to be. "Oh my Arceus, he's such a cutie! Well, what do you expect with parents like that? Mew, you two are such a sweet couple!"
She beamed at them, and all three shifted uncomfortably, sweating, and Meowth rubbing his cheek where Dawn had pinched him.
"Er, thanks, but-" Jessie replied hesitantly, but Dawn continued, ignoring her.
"Oh, I'd love to have a life like you when I'm older. Married and with a kid, that's so romantic! How long have you two been married? How did you two met? How was your first date? Oh please, please, please, tell me!" she interrogated- er, asked them overenthusiastically.
"Er..." James looked at Jessie, as if asking her for permission to make up a story. Meowth still looked slightly nervous, but now that Dawn's attention had shifted from him to his partners, he seemed to relax a bit more and even seemed slightly amused.
"Why, I totally understand I'd be your example, little tw- girl!" Jessie let out a high-pitched giggle, her old confidence back in place, though she was still sweating. "We met uh, how long has it been, dear? Eight years?"
James nodded vigorously. "Yeah, and we married after six years-"
"And then we had little… Roger here," Jessie took over the conversation again, only pausing slightly as she made up Meowth's name.
"Oh, that's sooooo romantic!" Dawn squealed, clasping her hands together. "And what about your first date, oh my Arceus, that must've been so amazing! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" And she added in another squeal for good measure.
My poor ears.
If it had been any other couple whom Dawn had been asking these questions to, they would've been totally weirded out. I mean, a total stranger suddenly asking you random questions about your love life – any sane person would've been at least slightly uncomfortable.
But not Jessie and James. Too busy with keeping up their act, they didn't notice Dawn's lack of normal behavior, and just continued answering her questions.
"Well, er, it was very romantic," Jessie assured her. "Very, very, very romantic."
"Uh-huh." James again nodded fervently, and I feared that his head would fall off if he continued like this. "Very, very, very romantic."
From the corners of my eyes I could see Dawn giving them a wide-eyed, innocent and expectant stare, smiling excitedly as she waited for them to continue. Meowth was just standing there, the corners of his mouth turning up.
"Er, we had a picnic...?" James sounded unsure, glancing at Jessie nervously. When she gave a small nod, he continued, "Uh, yeah, yeah, we had a romantic picnic."
"On a grass field," Jessie added. "On a cliff, with view on the sea."
"Yeah, yeah! And there we watched the sunset! It was sooo romantic!" James almost sounded like he was swooning himself.
Jessie stared at him for a moment, but he was oblivious, and then she turned to Dawn, giving her a forced grin.
"Oh wow, you two are so sweet!" Dawn gushed, quickly jumping back in her role after giving James an odd look. A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes – at least, to me it seemed like that – as she continued, "And you two fit so perfectly together!"
"And we were blessed with such a sweet little boy too!" Jessie said, patting Meowth hard on the head when the Pokémon in disguise had sniggered at Dawn's previous comment.
"Oh yeah, you two are so perfect together!" Dawn continued, ignoring Meowth's wincing posture. "You're the woman in charge, strong and independent, and you know exactly what you want. But you're still very romantic, and he brings out the best in you, even though I bet you don't always get on well. But you'll always love him, always!"
Dawn nodded enthusiastically, grinning manically, and then turned to James. "And you love her so much, and you'll always be there for her. You're like her best friend, her constant support and you're the softer one in the relationship, and ooooh, you balance each other perfectly, you two are soooo cute!"
She squealed again, and both of them shuffled awkwardly, with Meowth now full on grinning.
"Erm, yeah, thanks girl, but we have to go now," Jessie said, looking for an escape.
"Awww." Dawn looked disappointed, and wasn't afraid to make sure they got that message. "But we were just having so much fun!"
"Uh, well." James sweated, looking around desperately, Jessie mirroring his movements.
"Oh!" Her eyes brightened, and she roughly grabbed Meowth's paw, pulling him up before holding him against her chest. "Little Roger! He needs to get a clean diaper! So yeah, we have to go! See you later!"
And she rushed off, disappearing in a flash of magenta hair and yellow dress, and leaving James on his own with Dawn.
"Er, yeah, see you!" James nervously grinned, and then fled inside as well, leaving Dawn to stand there on her own, looking genuinely disappointed. A moment later a satisfied look replaced it, and she walked over to me, a definite spring in her walk.
"And that," she said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling smugly, "is how you do it."
Credit where credit is due... That was amazing. And very, very amusing.
"See, now I've planted the idea in their head. And them masquerading as a married couple is just perfect, because now they won't be able to avoid each other and are forced to be friendly with each other. With some hinting and subtle pushes, they'll be a couple in no time!" She grinned brightly, obviously pleased with herself.
And well, she had every right to be. Even though I wouldn't call her manner of matchmaking exactly subtle, at least she had managed to doway more than I had been able to do.
"That was..." I paused, still too impressed to form a proper sentence. "That was amazing, Dawn! Granted, it could've been a bit more subtle, but you sure have acting skills!"
"Thanks Brock!" She beamed, before smirking. "And it was a lot of fun."
I laughed. "Even Meowth seemed amused. And hopefully, they'll finally leave us alone now…" I sighed wishfully, before grinning again. "Thanks a lot, Dawn! You've been a great help!"
"No problem, no problem at all," she said, smiling. "Just keep hinting and pushing, they'll get the message eventually."
"And if not, Ash will be stuck with them. Forever." I shuddered, and Dawn nodded, her expression mirroring mine.
After a few moments, Dawn was whisked away from me by Buneary, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Staring at the water, I thought I could hear Team Rocket's motto echoing in my head, and I shuddered again.
Prepare for trouble, and make it double…
Brocko, I better get them together, or else…
A/N: Thank you for reading! :D I am so happy with your continued support, I really appreciate it and it truly motivates me to write more. NaNoWriMo is going great! It's hard work, but there's so much progress it's really worth it :D
Sadly though, I do have a bit of bad news. Due to NaNoWriMo, I won't be able to update in two weeks this time around. I know that by the end of November, I'll be completely burned out and I really want to edit the chapters properly before uploading them here. You guys deserve my best effort :) So, I'm really sorry, but the next update will be in four weeks instead of two. I'm sorry, and I hope you understand :)
Anyway, thank you all so much, and please review! :D
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