A/N: Poor Brock, having to suffer through all this drama… and it ain't gonna end soon! XD Thank you for your support, I'm very happy you're still enjoying this little tale. Here's the next chapter, prepare for trouble!

To Guest: Yes, definitely a lot of drama! Thank you :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Leave Brocko Alone!

Chapter 7

With a huff, I awkwardly managed to push the heavy paper bag in a higher and a tad more stable position against my body. It wasn't a very comfortable position, though. One bag of groceries dangled in one hand, while I tried with my other hand to prevent the second paper bag filled with greenery – amongst which were pointy beans poking in my torso – from falling.

It would have been much easier if I had the car with me, but since I had just stalked off to the city center without thinking about such practical things (I had just been too happy I had been able to escape), I would have to carry everything with my own hands. With another grunt, I continued dragging myself and the bags through Pewter City and back towards the Gym.

With a forced relaxed pace, unusual detours and excuses that sounded flimsy to even myself I had managed to extend my time away from home as long as possible, but now it was truly almost dinnertime and I was out of ways to procrastinate my return home. The further I got away from the center, the shops and restaurants making place for flats and houses, the less crowded it became. Still, it was lively enough, with cars and bicycles passing by, and small Pokémon scurrying around. Rattata in an alley, Pidgey on the roof, an Oddish walking after a young girl, a Meowth walking lonely on the sidewalk, a Squirtle being dragged along by a young trainer-

Wait, what?

Looking away from the struggling trainer, I quickly located the Meowth again on the opposite sidewalk. My eyes hadn't betrayed me: it was indeed a Meowth, its head low, front paws as if he had stuck them in his non-existent pockets and his hind legs dragging themselves slowly over the sidewalk.

Unable to fight my curiosity, I attempted to quickly cross the street, but both the traffic and the stupid bags slowed me down. Fortunately, with my long legs and Meowth's slow pace, I easily caught up with the Pokémon again.

I passed it, then awkwardly managed to bend down while at the same time continuing to walk, and so I finally got a good look at Meowth's face. I grinned. "Hey, Meowth."

The Pokémon looked up from the pavement, the shock on his face quickly replaced by recognition. "Twerp!"

I smiled pleasantly at him, and Meowth fumbled to correct himself. "Uh, I mean, Brock." He seemed to have some difficulty acclimating to this new situation of having to have a polite conversation with me, but then he pasted a grin on his face and slowed his pace to a more conversation-friendly speed. "Long time no see, huh?"

"You can definitely say that," I said as we came to a stop, and I placed my bags with groceries carefully on the ground, gladly taking this as an opportunity to rest and to procrastinate my return home. Besides, I truly was curious as to what Meowth was doing here, seemingly without his human companions. "What brings you to Pewter?"

Darkness flitted across Meowth's face. "No specific reason," he muttered, looking down at the ground again.

Now my curiousness was definitely peaked.

"Where are Jessie and James, are they here as well?" I kept my tone light as I tried to recall my last contact with the former Rockets. Hadn't they said they had wanted to open their own restaurant?

"Back in Kalos." Meowth shrugged, and his tone suggested he cared very little about that.

"Kalos?" I echoed, my surprise preventing me from adequately reacting to Meowth's strange tone.

"Yeah," he continued in the same tone, eyes still downcast. "Da ding in Johto went so well dey got an offer from some Kalosian big cheese and now dey got a hotel running dere."

It wasn't any of my business and Meowth seemed less than enthusiastic about having this conversation, but those things didn't stop me from asking more questions and meddling in things I should probably leave alone.

"Is..." I hesitated for a moment. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sure, why- why wouldna it be?" Meowth finally looked up at me, giving me his best fake smile. I half-heartedly smiled back, not sure what else to say without making my interest in his personal affairs too obvious.

"Well, anyway, I hafta be-"

"Would you like to join me for dinner?"

He stared at me with wide eyes, and I myself was also quite surprised at the words coming out of my mouth. But I just couldn't let him leave in a mood like that. I attempted to look natural as I gestured to the groceries with a grin.

"Wha- Really?" His face had lit up, though he quickly attempted to hide his happiness.

"Sure," I said easily, now knowing that I had made the right decision. I tried not to think of the drama I was about to pull Meowth in, though in the back of my mind the hope was forming that his presence would prove to be a sufficient distraction. "We're having some sort of a party anyway, so you're free to join… Unless you have somewhere else to be…"

"No, no," Meowth quickly assured me, then picked up one bag of groceries to show his willingness.

"Alright." I nodded, then picked up the remaining bag. "Let's go!"

Despite his initial happiness, Meowth was mostly silent during our walk to the Gym. I took it upon myself to fill the silence, telling him about Lucy, my siblings, mentioned the other 'twerps' and just in general kept the mood light and the awkwardness at bay.

I was in my element like this. I liked helping people, feeling useful, gaining their trust so that I could help them with their problems.

As the Gym building was becoming visible in the distance, the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach grew. In a last ditch effort to delay the inevitable, I told myself that I couldn't enter this situation without knowing what exactly was going on with Meowth, and so I slowed to a stop, Meowth doing the same with a confused expression on his face.

I put the groceries bag on the ground and bent through my knees to come face-to-face with the Pokémon, whose expression went from surprised to suspicious.

Before I could open my mouth, Meowth had already caught on. "Oh no." His eyes widened. "No. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Meowth, I just want to help…" Despite my gentle words, he continued to surly look to one side. "What happened between you and Jessie and James?" Sometimes it was best to jump right in it. Not to mention that in this situation, I had no other ideas how to deal with this.

He let out a low growl. "Nothin' happened."

I continued to give him my best inquisitive stare.

"It ain't none of your business!" Meowth attempted again, but I wasn't going to give in and continued to unblinkingly stare at him.

"Fine!" He threw his hands in the air, before all fight seem to drain out of him. "Fine…" He let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping and his gaze back on the ground. "Jessie and James… dey're doing fine. Really fine. Dey're happy." His voice held a strange mixture of jealousy, hurt and happiness.

Something clenched in my stomach, and my expression softened. I waited patiently as he gathered his thoughts.

"Da hotel… it's goin' pretty well. Everyding is goin' well. Dey're busy, yeah, but dey're happy, and…" He let the rest of the sentence hang in the air, but I was able to make a pretty accurate guess.

"But they don't have time for you anymore," I said quietly.

"Dey're in love, what did ya expect? I understand," he muttered, still not looking at me. "I'll just… leave 'em be… Dey won't even miss me…"

My eyes burned, and I had to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Meowth..." I wasn't sure what to say, and I awkwardly put a hand on his shoulder. "I... I can't believe… I'm sure Jessie and James miss you. Really, a lot. They might be busy now, but you're part of their family. I'm sure," I repeated, gaining confidence as I spoke. Even though we had never been friends, it was hard not to get to know someone if they stalked you for years. And if there was one thing I knew for sure about them it was that there wasn't a Jessie and James without Meowth.

He sniffled, and after a moment of hesitation I tugged on his shoulder and he fell into my hug. As the Pokémon fought to regain control of himself and his emotions, my mind whirled with questions and half-formed solutions.

And although I knew I really, really didn't need this, too, with all the drama in my life, I couldn't not help Meowth.

"We'll find a solution," I said with certainty as Meowth pulled away.

"Man, I'm pathetic," he said, in an equally pathetic attempt at a joke.

"I'd be pathetic too if I thought my family didn't want me anymore," I said, and my own words echoed in my head with a double meaning I didn't want to think about.

"We're almost there," I told him, getting up and picking up my groceries bag again. "We're going to have dinner and you're going to enjoy yourself, and afterwards we'll think on a solution. Okay?"

Meowth blinked a few times, and then nodded with a shimmer of determination. "Alright." He picked up his groceries bag as well, and side by side we walked on to my house and its hidden drama.

My own description of hidden drama turned out to be more true than I had initially thought, as the house was uncharacteristically silent, and I slowly made my way to the kitchen, Meowth following me as a shadow. I stayed silent as I placed the bags on the table and started emptying them.

"I thought ya had loads of siblings," Meowth remarked rather loudly after a moment, and I cringed and made shushing gesture.

"I do, I… uh…" My whisper dropped into nothingness as Forrest's figure appeared in the door opening.

We stared at each other for a long moment, Meowth's presence forgotten.

"Brock… You're back…" my brother said quietly, and I could only nod in response.

"Yeah…" I didn't know what else to say or to do. My eyes searched the room, until they caught sight of the paper bags on the table. With an unnatural smile, I grabbed one and held it up. "And I bought groceries…"

Forrest stared at me disbelievingly, and I slowly lowered the bag, feeling the smile slip off my face. His reaction was a painful reminder of the situation I had left behind here, and I regretted both leaving and coming back.

"Is Lucy still here…?" I asked carefully, and he nodded.

"She's back there…" He gestured behind him. "…with everyone else, waiting for you."

Now I cringed. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Forrest momentarily shut his eyes and shook his head. "Brock, you don't… I don't mean… I understand why, but…"

"I know," I said softly, looking away from Forrest pitying, understanding and still pleading gaze. For all that he hadn't finished his sentences, I knew what he was getting at. I didn't have to apologize. He hadn't meant to sound accusing. He understood I had run from this situation and Forrest, out of all of my siblings, understood my feelings on this subject probably best.

And he still wanted me to get over those feelings and join the family again.

Meowth then decided to take that moment to remind us of his presence here. "Well, I don't know!"

Forrest jumped and turned to Meowth with wide eyes. "Who-"

"Meowth, nice to meet ya, and you-" The Pokémon turned to me, eyes narrowing. "-didna tell me 'bout dis drama goin' on here!"

"Brock, what… what's going on?" Forrest's eyes, first wide with confusion, now narrowed in suspicion.

I sweatdropped. "Eh… I can explain."

Dinner passed about as awkward and uncomfortable as I had expected it. In that regard, Meowth's presence was a blessing. His ability to talk had the kids – and Lucy as well – enraptured, and he gladly told the story of how he had gotten so far, and many other exaggerated adventure stories as well. His constant blabbering was a good excuse to not see the looks all occupants of the table occasionally sent me, and as soon as everyone was done eating, I was the first one to get up and shoo everyone out of the kitchen with the excuse that I had to do the dishes.

Or at least, I attempted to shoo everyone out of the kitchen. My younger siblings listened well enough, and Meowth was gladly pulled along by them, but Forrest, Yolanda, Dad, my mother and Lucy all stuck around.

They shared looks in a way that made me uncomfortable, and then, as if by some unspoken agreement, they all left, with the exception of the raven-haired beauty.

"You wash, I dry?" Lucy offered, already starting to empty the table. The look she gave me suggested that more than just washing and drying would be going on (and that that 'more' wasn't going to be the 'more' I was hoping for) if all the previous hints hadn't made that obvious enough.

I let out a long, theatrical sigh and then joined her in emptying and cleaning the table. But for my semi-relaxed attitude, my mind was whirling with thoughts.

"I'm sorry," I said, after some silence. "I shouldn't have left you here like that, and I'm sorry."

"I agreed to it," Lucy answered. "It's okay. You needed time on your own."

Yes, I'd needed time. I'd needed time to get back in control, to somewhat regain my balance, to put my extreme emotions safely behind bars again. And I knew that these few hours hadn't been enough yet, even if I had found a nice distraction in Meowth-

An idea occurred to me.

"I… I think that you pretty much figured out that this family isn't as perfect as it sounded, eh?" I offered in a sad attempt at a joke as I filled the sink with hot water.

"They all seem nice," Lucy answered carefully. "Your younger siblings are very sweet, though they do have a lot of energy." I cracked a small grin at that. "But… your parents… something is up with them, right?"

It wasn't as tactfully worded as it could have been, but it did hit the nail on the head. I vaguely remembered that I had said something about my mother to Lucy back at my breakdown in the Gym, but I couldn't exactly recall what it was.

"Eh, yeah, indeed," I admitted, my hands automatically starting with washing the dishes even as my mind struggled to come with a proper explanation. I swallowed. "When I was eleven Dad left for a Pokémon journey. Mom stayed with us, but, well, you've seen how she is…" I tried to laugh it off, but it sounded hollow. "Anyway, she wasn't all that good at taking care of us, so I got quite handy at doing chores. And when I was almost thirteen…"

A silence followed, only disturbed by the sounds of water sloshing over the dishes and the soft clings of Lucy putting them on a nice pile.

I didn't want to talk about this. I didn't want to think about it. I just wanted to forget about it all, but my mother's return had made that impossible. Besides, Lucy deserved an explanation. Communication was the key, wasn't it? That one surely had come back to bite me in the behind.

"I don't want to talk about this," I told her honestly, and my voice didn't come out as strong and confident as I had hoped. "Not now," I amended in an attempt to pacify her. I actually never wanted to talk about it, but I doubted that was a possibility. Lucy hummed neutrally, but otherwise didn't react.

Her patient silence helped me gather my courage. I took a breath, momentarily closing my eyes. Just the facts. Stick with the facts.

"When I was almost thirteen," I continued. "My mother left. When I was fifteen, Dad returned. I left on my Pokémon journey with Ash and Misty."

There, the facts. Just the cold, hard facts, nothing more, nothing less.

"And when you returned from your journey?" Lucy hesitantly asked. "Your dad…?"

"He stayed." He stayed. "We made up-" And he brought her back.

My hands unconsciously clenched in the hot water, and my eyes burned even though I was sure no soap had gotten in. Right, enough facts.

"I'm sorry that you were pulled into this," I said, forcing my emotions away. I was not going to break down again. I needed to stay in control.

Very lightly, very carefully, I felt Lucy's hands on my upper arm. "It's okay, Brock, really. Thank you for explaining."

"Thank you," I whispered, still feeling like the dam I had built was about to break. Her hands gently squeezed, before letting go. My own hands hung uselessly in the warm water.

"Anyway," I tried to lighten the situation with some desperate humor, "as you can see, this isn't the greatest moment for a meet-the-family weekend."

Lucy let out a hollow chuckle, and her expression showed that she wasn't sure what I was getting at.

"So, I thought… Well, Meowth offered… His friends have a hotel in Kalos, perhaps we could… I mean, I don't want to be here right now, and-" I cut myself off in my jumbled proposition of the idea I had thought up. Meowth hadn't offered anything, but this was the perfect way for me to get away from home and at the same time I could help Meowth. That is, if I could manage to get out the right words.

I opened my mouth again in an attempt to make more sense, but Lucy was faster. "You want to go to that hotel for some time away… to think about everything…?" She didn't sound very certain, but the look of utter relief on my face confirmed it.

She smiled, though it looked somewhat forced. "Alright, then."

My relief ten-folded, and a grin broke out on my face.

"Great," I breathed, then turned to her and took her hands in my wet ones, before saying louder, "Great. Thank you so much." Her expression was still somewhat odd, but I was too happy with her agreement to really notice. "Thank you. I'll talk to Meowth and we'll be gone here as soon as possible, okay?"

She blinked. "We…" Then a real smile appeared on her face. "Yes, sure. That's… that sounds good." She paused. "Kalos, you said?"

I pressed a quick kiss on her lips and then nodded, still grinning. Her smile widened and a twinkle appeared in her eyes. "At least you picked somewhere romantic to go for your search of spiritual balance."

I chuckled and then let go to turn back to the dishes. "I guess that's Fate at work for you."

Lucy hummed something in the affirmative, and the rest of washing-up was spent in comfortable silence.

For a change, it seemed that luck was on my side. It had been surprisingly easy to convince Meowth to go to Kalos with me and Lucy with the excuse that I needed to get away from my family troubles for a while; I suspected that Meowth had found out that my siblings were more than he could deal with.

I hadn't specified our exact destination – the Reaching for The Stars Above Hotel – but I couldn't imagine Meowth being so dense to not realize my ulterior motive.

And for all my stress and worries, Dad and Forrest had both proved to be more understanding than I had thought, and so Lucy, Meowth and I were now on an early morning flight to Kalos.

Meowth was staring out of the window, Lucy was staring at the aisle to her side, and I was staring at the chair in front of me as I was seated between them. Perhaps due to the early hour it was mostly silent on the plane, and combining that with a stable course and the lack of sleep pressing on my eyelids – with everything going on, I had hardly been able to properly sleep – I found myself dozing off.

Until, of course-

"Will you please take care of my big brother?"

My much-needed sleep was loudly interrupted by high-pitched question, and I shot up in my uncomfortable chair, the muscles in my neck protesting painfully at the sudden movement.

"Bonnie! No!" a panicked male voice called, and my eyesight adjusted to the harsh lighting enough to see how a blond girl, no older than twelve, was being pulled away from my girlfriend by a boy who couldn't be anyone but her brother.

The boy was now apologizing profusely to Lucy, nervously adjusting his round glasses while at the same time keeping his sister behind his back. "I'm so, so sorry, she does that all the time, my apologies-"

Lucy was already assuring him that it was no problem, but the scene jogged something in the back of my mind.

"What- what's going on?" I asked, to which Lucy only responded with an equally confused expression and a shrug.

"My big brother will never find a wife like this!" the blond girl called from behind said big brother, who promptly turned red again and shushed her with an exasperated "Bonnie!"

A blond girl named Bonnie who asked women to marry her older brother-

"Whooz bein' so loud?" Meowth's voice came groggily from my other side, and his reaction confirmed my suspicions. "Hey! It's da twerps!"

This seemed to throw off even Bonnie and she blinked at the Pokémon, before a huge grin split her face.

"Meowth!"

"Er… hi." He awkwardly waved at her in response. From behind Bonnie, another girl hair stuck her head into view, a confused expression on her face.

"Meowth? What- what are you doing here?" The blond boy straightened up and his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, though his voice only held confusion.

"Meowth?" The other girl echoed, leaning further around Bonnie and giving me a better view of her: about fifteen years old, I guessed, and with short honey-colored hair and questioning blue eyes.

"Eh… hello," he repeated his awkward greeting, again waving with a sheepish grin on his face.

"What are you-" Before Bonnie could finish her accusing question, everything clicked, and I interrupted her with a loud cry of realization.

"Hey! I know you!" I pointed excitedly at the three of them, whose befuddled expressions told me they hadn't figured it out yet. "You're Bonnie, the girl always asks women to marry her brother-" Clemont turned red again, but Bonnie nodded enthusiastically, "-and you're Clemont, the inventor whose inventions- the inventor!" I cut myself off, not wanting to insult the boy by remarking that his inventions, as I had gathered from Ash's stories, hardly ever worked.

Lastly, I turned my attention to the other girl. "And you… Are you Serena?"

She nodded after some hesitation, and I could see the light of realization dawning in her eyes. I nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, Ash told me all about you guys." I grinned, patted myself on the chest and then held out my hand to Clemont, who stood the closest to me. "I'm Brock, Ash might have told you about me."

Recognition was now obvious on all three their faces, and they took turns shaking my and Lucy's hand. Lucy seemed confused, and it took us several interrupted, messy attempts of explaining before the story was clear to everyone.

The Kalosian trio explained that they were on their way home, while we quickly whipped up the excuse that Lucy and I were going on a romantic holiday to the hotel of Meowth and the Rockets (and the way Meowth cringed didn't escape my notice).

"Oh yeah." Clemont nodded. "I've heard more often that couples go to Kalos to fix their relationship problems-" He then seemed to realize what he had said, and with a bright red face, he quickly corrected himself, "Not- not that I meant you have relationship problems! I just meant, that- that, you know, Kalos is the region of romance, and, uh-"

"Just give it up, big brother." Bonnie patted his arm while Lucy and I shared a laugh. Clemont apologized, but still, his previous words rang in my mind. Lucy and I didn't have relationship problems… right? No, no, our dates were wonderful, they just got interrupted a lot, but she knew that I had to help my old clients-

Wait, she did know that, right?

"Say, Lucy," I said in a low voice, though I kept my eyes on the three Kalosians. "Did I ever tell you why our dates kept getting interrupted by phone calls from my friends?"

She blinked, then shook her head slightly. "There's a reason?"

Serena patted Clemont's hand as she said something, which caused him to blush slightly and stutter out a response, and the scene distracted me for a moment.

"Yes, there's a reason," I said, nodding and turning my attention back to Lucy, while in the back of my mind puzzle pieces were falling together. "It's because I'm a matchmaker."

Lucy's raised eyebrows were the only signs of her disbelief, the rest of her expression was polite curiousness. "A… matchmaker?"

"Yes, a matchmaker," I said, pride seeping in my voice. My eyes fell back to the three teenagers on the other side of the aisle. "I helped some of my younger friends with finally facing their feelings and getting together with their crush. And they interrupted our dates because…" I trailed off, my attention caught by the way Serena was watching Clemont as he seemed to be explaining something to Bonnie. A sly smile grew on my face.

"Brock?" Lucy called me back to earth.

"Oh, right, they kept interrupting our dates because they still needed my advice," I continued distractedly.

"Really." The disbelief in Lucy's voice did manage to catch my attention, and I turned back to her.

"Don't believe me?" I grinned confidently, a plan already formed in my mind. "Watch this." And with a wink, I got up and crossed the aisle to couple my new lucky victims.

A/N: Looks like Brock can't resist one last matchmaking scheme! Thanks a lot for reading, I hope you liked it. As I mentioned before, I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, which means that by the end of this month, I will hopefully have finished writing this story, and then updates should be fast :D We still have about two, three more chapters left, I think. See you in three weeks, and thank you for reading, please share your thoughts with me!

Thank you!

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