A/N: Last but definitely not least… The last chapter of Brocko's journey! Thank you all so much, and please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).
Leave Brocko Alone!
Chapter 9
"Thank you, Mr. Harrison, that was all," Dr. Mendoza said, nodding at me. My smile was pasted on my face as I watched her rise from the chair, soon followed by the other two members of the PhD committee. The three women nodded and smiled at me, and I was all too glad to leave the stage.
The smile stayed on my face as I took my place in the front row, between Lucy and Dad, but as soon as the committee disappeared in the other room, I sagged in my chair and the smile fell from my face. My cheeks hurt from keeping up that polite smile for so long, and I let out a long breath.
"Don't worry, Brock, you did great," Lucy said, taking my sweaty hand in hers.
"Exactly, Brock, you've got nothing to worry about." Dad clapped me on the shoulder with a bit too much force, but he was beaming in pride and I couldn't help but tiredly smile back.
"I'm very proud of you, Brock." From Dad's other side Mom's smiling face appeared, and after a moment of hesitation, she lightly patted my knee. "I'm sure you'll pass."
It was still odd and sometimes awkward and uncomfortable to have my mother back in my life. But… it was also kind of nice.
After having reunited Meowth with Jessie and James – whose neglect had stemmed from the unexpected pregnancy – and seeing them so happy together, I had made my decision regarding my mother.
Of course, doubts had resurfaced when I had finally, finally spoken about this in depth with Lucy, but in the end, the love for my family had prevailed. I had to admit that without Lucy, I undoubtedly would have had a lot more difficulty in dealing with these issues. She had been patient and understanding as I had sorted through my thoughts and feelings, and she had helped immensely by asking the right questions at the right time. How she had done it, I had no idea, but it had felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
When our impromptu Kalosian holiday came to an end, and it was time for me to face my parents and siblings again, I (and I'm not proud to admit this) had once again tried to scramble out, but Lucy had stayed at my side and (forcibly) reminded me of our conversation and my decision, and we pulled through.
Of course there had been some difficulties, and in no way my relationship with my parents was now completely fixed. I had not expected otherwise. The initial confrontation had been tearful and had involved a lot of hugging, and though I had made clear that not everything was forgiven or forgotten yet, at least we had made the first steps in the right direction.
Things between my siblings and I had been back to normal within a few days, and Dad and I were on good terms again after a few weeks. But Mom…
She had tried, very hard and sometimes painfully obvious, to show us how much she loved us and how sorry she was and all that- And really, that hadn't helped me any, because it had been a constant reminder of what had gone wrong. Although, on the other hand, if she had presumed to act completely normal, I undoubtedly wouldn't have liked it either.
Still, as the days had passed into weeks, normalcy had started to set in anyway. It had been strange to give up the control in the household; before, it was me who decided what we had for dinner, it was me who did the cooking, and it was me who did the cleaning up after (okay, Dad did help at times, but it was mostly me). Now, it had become quickly a habit to let Mom help with the cleaning up, and then she had also been doing the groceries, and before I knew it, she had been helping me cook.
At first, I had let all of that happen, keeping in mind Lucy's comment about how I liked to control everything and how sometimes you just had to let go, but at that point I had put my foot down.
A breath whooshed out of me, and though I hadn't intended it, this seemed to be enough to draw my mother's attention.
She turned away from the kitchen counter with a smile on her face. "Hello, Brock." She had a spoon in one hand, and her eyes shone brightly. "Is there something I can help you with?"
For a moment I hesitated. She looked so happy like this, and the food smelled good, and-
She was wearing my apron.
"Yes, actually…" Her smile fell at my serious demeanor. "You're taking over the household."
That came out as more of an accusation than I had meant it, and my mother cringed.
"I- I mean," I attempted to correct myself. "You're doing my job."
She cringed again, and this time I did so as well; that had been even more of an accusation than my earlier statement.
"Right." My mother nodded and swallowed, her smile now gone as if it had been never there. "I'm sorry." She seemed as if she wanted to say more, but then she placed the spoon on the counter and took off the apron.
"No, no, I don't mean-" Well, I actually had meant it, but I hadn't meant to make my mother look so miserable. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong… I meant…"
Now my mother smiled sadly. "It's okay, Brock. I- It was my job, and I gave it up. And… I never realized how stupid that was until it was too late." She swallowed. "But you're right. I'm sorry." There were tears in her eyes when she attempted to smile at me, and she blindly shoved the apron at me as she walked past me.
"Mother… Mom…"
She stopped and turned back around. "It's okay, Brock, really." This time, her smile was a bit more convincing, the tears blinked away, but I couldn't ignore the heavy feeling in my stomach.
"What are you going to do now?" The question was out of my mouth before I could think about it.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "What I'm going to do now?"
"Uh, I mean, if I'm going to do this again…" I gestured vaguely at the whole kitchen. "What are you going to do?" Then I spoke quickly, "Because if you don't have anything else to do, you could help."
Her face brightened, before she quickly hid her hope again. "Brock, you don't have to-"
"We could do this together," I interrupted her. "It's a big household, it's easier to take care of it if we would do it together."
"Brock…" she whispered. I smiled at her, and she beamed at me.
"So… together?" I offered again, and she nodded. My smile widened, and suddenly I felt a lot lighter.
I nodded. "Together." A moment of consideration. "But I still do the cooking."
Mom laughed and then she was hugging me, a strange and familiar feeling. "Of course, my boy, of course." I hesitated for a moment longer, and then I wrapped my arms around her.
"I missed you, Mom."
"I missed you, too, Brock."
Of course that emotional moment hadn't meant it had gone smoothly from then on, but things had definitely improved.
So when Mom patted my knee and complimented me, it was easy to smile back gratefully. Before I could give her any more of a response, Ash's beaming face appeared front center in my sight.
"You did awesome, Brock!" He grabbed my shoulders and gave me a congratulatory shaking. "They were asking really difficult questions and you knew it all!"
"Pika!" the Pokémon on his shoulder agreed.
"Ah, yeah, thanks, Ash." I wondered if he had realized the purpose of the questions and the answers – that is, defending my thesis – but then decided that it didn't really matter. "Did you like it?"
"Of course he did," Gary butted in after appearing out of nowhere. "It was about Pokémon."
Ash looked offended. "I care about other things than just Pokémon!"
"Food?" Leaf offered dryly, as she too joined in the boys in crowding me. I got up from my chair to make conversation easier, because it would undoubtedly take some time for the PhD committee to reach a decision.
"And me, of course." Misty walked up to us and wrapped an arm around Ash, grinning predatorily at him. "Don't you, Ash?"
"Y-y-yes," he stuttered, managing to look both embarrassed and afraid.
Misty's threatening's demeanor disappeared and she beamed. Ash grinned and put an arm around her shoulders. At that sight, pride surged through me and I had to stop myself from grinning too widely.
"Aww, how sweet," Gary mocked, and Ash glared at him but Gary just grinned and held up his hands in defeat, before copying Ash by snaking an arm around Leaf's waist. The girl raised her eyebrows and for a moment it seemed as if she wanted to push him away, but then her face relaxed in a smile and she leaned against him.
At that, I was unable to fight my grin any longer. "You are both so cute."
"Brock…" Misty said in a low voice, her eyes narrowed, but Gary just barked a laugh.
"We know," he said cockily.
"How long is it going to take?" Ash asked, either by coincidence or by his own design dispelling an impending fight.
"Long," Leaf, Gary, Misty and I chorused, and Ash hung his head. Pikachu chortled in amusement.
I chuckled as well, before turning to a bit more serious subject. "Thank you for coming here, I'm really happy you wanted to come."
"Of course, Brock," Misty said without a hint of teasing in her voice.
"We wanted to see what you've been working on all those months, even if we don't understand it all," Ash added.
Misty couldn't resist. "Are you sure it wasn't just you?"
"Yes!" Ash replied instantly with fire in his eyes, and seemed to want to say more, but when Misty smiled charmingly and told him she was joking, he relaxed and pulled her close again.
Ah yeah, they were cute.
"But anyway, I'm really happy you guys came," I repeated, also giving Gary and Leaf an appreciative smile.
"It was very interesting," Leaf said seriously, and Gary nodded.
"Really a lot of people came," Ash remarked, and I had to agree with him. News of my research had gotten out and many interested scientists and other scholars had come, plus of course my extended family, Lucy, some friends from school and Ash, Misty, Leaf and Gary. Those guests I had expected, but there were also several unexpected though welcome faces in the crowd.
Crowd… Yes, it was actually a crowd, and that hadn't helped my nerves any. It still made me nervous, even with my presentation over and done, because all these people… What if I failed?
"Brock?" Leaf asked, and I was pulled back into reality.
"Oh sorry, yes, what were you saying?"
"Just that a lot of people came all the way to Kanto to see you," she said, and I knew she was right.
"Yes, I should go thank them…" I said, more to myself than to the others.
"Good idea," Gary said, and then promptly shouted to the small crowd, "Hey people, Brock wants to thank you for coming!"
The small audience, which had been engaged in their own conversations, now turned their attention to Gary and me, and a cheer and applause went up. I flushed, suddenly not knowing where to look with all those people's eyes on me.
I caught Lucy's eye and she beamed at me, which only made my cheeks burn more.
"I meant personally," I hissed at Gary when the noise died down, but the boy just grinned in response as he clapped my shoulder.
"You deserved that, Brocko."
I let out a theatrical sigh before smiling and clapping him on the shoulder as well, perhaps with a bit more force than needed. After that, I excused myself, because I did actually need to thank some of my visitors who had come from far.
I walked past the first row, which was filled with my siblings, then slid in a free chair on the second row.
"My guests of honor," I greeted my three friends from Sinnoh, and Reggie, Dawn and Paul looked up from their conversation. Okay, Dawn and Reggie looked up from their conversation, Paul had just been sitting there as talkative as a stone.
"Brock!" Dawn exclaimed, jumped up and wrestled her way past Paul and Reggie to throw her arms around my neck and squeeze me to death. "That was amazing! You explained it so well, and it's so cool that the experiment was such a success!"
Dawn pulled away and much needed oxygen rushed in my lungs. "Thanks," I croaked.
Dawn beamed. "You're welcome. Though, really, you should thank Weavile and Buneary and Bun-Bun."
Surprisingly, Paul actually decided to make a comment. "It's a boy and you keep calling him Bun-Bun…" His exasperated tone told me they had had this discussion before.
"It's his name! I didn't know he was a boy when I named him…" Dawn countered weakly, and she sounded like she already knew how this discussion was going to end.
"We had agreed on Bun," Paul said, though he didn't sound very enthusiastic about it. "He will never listen to his new name if you keep using his old one."
"I know…" Dawn pouted. "But it's such a habit, and I like Bun-Bun…"
"It's not a boy's name." I had to agree with Paul, Bun-Bun wasn't very manly. I bet Paul would've wanted to call the Pokémon Dynamite or something like that.
"But, but…" Dawn's face brightened. "It does sound a bit like Punch-Punch, doesn't it? That's manly!"
Paul groaned, but Dawn was beaming and wriggled her way past Reggie again to land on Paul's lap. They continued their squabble, though now it seemed like Paul was on the losing side.
I blinked in confusion, and when I looked at Reggie for clarification, he only shrugged in response.
"They've been like that for a while." He grinned, then leaned closer to me. "Nothing official yet, but well…" He trailed off and glanced at Paul and Dawn again, and I knew what he meant.
"They're… surprisingly cute," I said, and Reggie nodded, still grinning. There was a touch of mischievousness to that grin, and I suspected that Paul had had to suffer some teasing already.
"But anyway," I said, turning my attention away from the couple to be. "I didn't come here to discuss Dawn and Paul's romance, I came here to thank you."
"Oh Brock, you really don't-"
I ignored him. "No, I mean it, Reggie, if you hadn't helped me, this research never could've happened. You put so much time-"
"They paid me!" He laughed.
"Well, yeah, but you still did it, even with all the other work you had to do-"
"I liked doing it, it was very interesting to raise the Buneary-"
I laughed. "Stop interrupting me! Let me finish my sentence!"
Reggie laughed as well. "Ah, sorry, please continue."
I cleared my throat. "Right. So…" I faltered, a sheepish grin forming on my face. "Thank you for all your help."
Reggie grinned. "It was not a problem, Brock. It was a win-win situation for both of us."
I had to admit to that. I had needed a place to do my research on the influence of the biologic parents on the development of baby Pokémon, and Reggie and his Breeding Center needed the money. The results were perplexing and better than any of us had anticipated. Pokémon raised by both of their parents came out on top, followed by Pokémon raised by one parent or adoptive parents, and Pokémon raised by humans ended last.
It turned out to be such a great development that even the press took interest in it, and Reggie and his Breeding center profited quite a bit from that. As for me, the media attention secured more finances, and the university had offered me a job – though I'd like to think so that even if it hadn't been such a success, they still would've wanted me – and I was allowed to continue my research.
"It definitely was," I agreed with Reggie with a grin. When I moved to get up and leave, this caught Dawn's attention again. Before she could protest, I quickly spoke.
"Don't worry, we'll speak more afterwards. Thank you, Dawn, thank you, Paul, for your help and for coming here." I bobbed my head and Dawn beamed, while Paul just nodded shortly.
I had just moved out of the chair and was considering who I would talk to now, when I heard a familiar screech and jumped in reflex.
"Twerp!"
I whirled around and came face to face with the former Rockets.
"Er, I mean, Brock," Jessie corrected herself and smiled sweetly, but after so many years of misguiding smiles and evil laughs, even that sweet smile seemed threatening. But I was quick to recover and grinned at them.
"Hello! What a surprise!" And it really was, because what the heck were they doing so far from Kalos?
As if he had heard my thoughts, Meowth said, "Ya did so much for us, we thought we'd come support ya."
"Yeah, and we wanted to see Kanto again-" James said, before Meowth elbowed him in the shin. "Ouch!"
"And we came to tell ya about what da little twerp said!" he attempted to cover up James's slip-up, badly. It sufficiently distracted me, though, for the moment.
"Little twerp?"
"That one from Kalos," James clarified, still rubbing his shin. "The blond one. Bonnie."
"Bonnie? What did she say, then?"
Jessie frowned. "Something about… It was strange… Something about 'it's working?'"
"Yeah, those were her exacts words." James nodded with a thoughtful nod. "It's working."
"It's working… Are you sure Bonnie-" Then it clicked. "Oh, right, it's working." I nodded in satisfaction. Clemont and Serena must be getting closer. "Good."
The trio looked at me expectantly, but I had other things on my mind.
"Why did you come to Kanto?"
James, forever naïve, answered without hesitating, "We came here to look for-"
This time it was Jessie who cut him off, jabbing a sharp elbow in his side. "Ow!"
"He isn't supposed to know that!" his wife scolded, and James whimpered.
Meowth grinned innocently at me. "We came here just for ya," he assured me, but I just raised my eyebrows.
"But, but," James defended himself, clutching his side. "The twerp isn't going to tell the Boss."
The Boss? What… "Uh, no, no, I'm not going to tell Giovanni," I quickly said, now completely thrown off. "Whatever it is."
Jessie shared a look with James and Meowth, then sighed and rested a hand on her very pregnant belly. "We want to move back to Kanto."
"Kalos is nice, but… it isn't home," James added, and Meowth nodded in agreement.
"We want to raise the little one here…" Jessie said with a wishful sigh.
"And if Giovanni found out…" I prompted.
Meowth chuckled. "He wouldna like hearing 'bout his best agents leaving Team Rocket."
James was more serious in his response. "You don't just resign from an organization like Team Rocket. You're in for life, or…"
That seemed a bit over the top, but I kept my thoughts to myself. They undoubtedly knew the criminal world better than I did. Still, over the past years, the influence of the criminal organization had been declining, and I voiced these thoughts.
"But isn't Team Rocket almost done for?"
James choked on air and Jessie looked highly offended.
"Done for?! Team Rocket? Never!"
"We will stand strong and we will persevere!" James punched his fist in the air and struck a pose.
Only Meowth seemed to remember their new situation. "But we ain't part of Team Rocket anymore!"
James promptly dropped his pose, and Jessie momentarily seemed to falter before she regained her energy with a new realization. "That's right! That must be why Team Rocket is faltering!"
James looked up, a hesitant hope in his eyes. "That-that's good, right?" When Jessie grinned in response James continued with more confidence, "Yeah, that's good! We won't have anything to fear from the Boss, then!"
Meowth was the only one who still looked unconvinced. While James and Jessie enthusiastically talked about their newfound safety, Meowth gave me a look. I squatted down to be eye to eye to him, a reassuring smile on my face.
"Really, Meowth," I said before he could speak. "I don't think you have much to worry about. It's really true, Team Rocket is not nearly as strong as it used to be." Plus, these three had never been top agents, in fact quite the opposite, so I doubted Giovanni would mourn their loss.
"Really," I said again and patted his shoulder. Then, finally, he grinned, but just as he wanted to say something, he was pulled up in the air by James.
"Now we can really be one big family!" he said happily, one arm around Jessie and the other squeezing Meowth tight. After the Pokémon had managed to get in a better position – a position in which he could breathe – he seemed happy enough, and I felt that this was my cue to leave.
"Right," I said, laughing and getting up again. "Thank you for coming, and I'll just…" I trailed off, the three of them no longer paying any attention to me. Shaking my head I left them and I looked around for other familiar faces, but halted when my eyes fell on the door the committee had disappeared through. My nervousness returned in full force. It wasn't taking long, was it? No, no, it hadn't been that long yet…
I was pulled out of my thoughts when some friends from school called me over, and I spent several minutes talking with them. They had enjoyed it so far, and coming from them, I could finally start to believe it. My family members and friends all meant well, but they had very little knowledge on the actual content.
"Brock! Hey, Brock!" The sound of a familiar voice pulled me out of the conversation and I looked around to find the owner.
"Leave him be, May, he's talking!" I heard another familiar voice respond, and a smile appeared on my face when I saw the Maple siblings, followed by a certain green-haired Coordinator.
"We came all the way to Kanto for him, the least he-" May cut herself off when she saw me looking at them and she enthusiastically waved. "Brock!"
I quickly said my goodbyes to my fellow students, and then made my way to my friends. May was very enthusiastic in her greeting, taking a leaf from Dawn's book by enveloping me in a hug, while Drew and Max just greeted me with a polite nod, as we men tend to do.
"I had already been looking for you," I half-apologized. "Thank you so much for coming-"
May cut me off. "Don't worry about it, it's really cool that you're actually going to become a doctor!"
"Hopefully, anyway," Max added, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "Though so far I have to say I haven't been able to find any holes in your work."
Max had wanted to read the whole paper, had wanted to see my research, and though he already told me before that my reasoning was sound, it was nice to hear it again. Max wasn't one to hold back when he judged things seriously. He would make a fine researcher one day, if he ever put his mind to it. For now, he had his eye on his father's Gym Leader position.
I puffed out my chest. "I'm glad you thought so, thank you."
"Was it very difficult to do?" May asked eagerly, and Drew watched her curiously. "It was very interesting to read, though you did use some terms I had to look up-"
"You read it? All of it?" I asked, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.
"Why is everyone so surprised about that?" May sounded a bit offended – and perhaps rightfully so – though the smile stayed on her face. "Yes, I read it, all of it, and it was good, in my opinion. I especially liked the part in which you hypothesized about the cause of the differences in the results."
"I- wow, May, I never knew you had such an interest in academic stuff," I said, still dealing with this new development. Max grinned in pride, and Drew quickly glanced at me, before turning his eyes back to May.
"Yeah," she said, shrugging and blushing a bit. "Drew and I had been talking about the future-"
I choked, and May looked at me worriedly. "You okay, Brock?"
"Future?" I croaked. "Not marriage again, right?"
"No!" the three of them exclaimed simultaneously.
"Oh, okay." I breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling stupid for considering it. "Phew." I grinned sheepishly. "But continue, you were talking about the future?"
May seemed to hesitate, glancing at Drew, who smiled encouragingly at her.
"Yeah, the future," she said, seeming to regain her confidence. "I've been thinking about going to university, when, you know… later." Her eyes were wide, expectant, and almost fearful as she waited for my reaction.
"Wow… May, that's… good for you! I never knew… But that's a great idea. It's really fun." I gave her a thumbs up. May seemed to deflate in relief, and Drew put an arm around her. She beamed at him.
"Told you." He smirked.
I blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"
"May thought that people would laugh at her," Max explained, his tone telling me he found that a ridiculous notion.
May's cheeks turned pink and Drew squeezed her shoulders.
"We both told her she didn't need to worry about that," Drew said, flipping his hair, "But she didn't believe us."
Shaking my head slightly, I grinned at her. "Oh May…"
"Yeah, yeah," she said, a sheepish smile on her face. "I know…"
"Good." I patted her head, and she stuck out her tongue. Max rolled his eyes at her childish gesture but Drew chuckled. May smiled at her boyfriend, and then the two of them seemed lost in each other's eyes. Long moments passed…
"Bleh!" Max made a gagging sound. Though Drew and May didn't let go of the other, they did seem to remember there were other people in the room. May seemed to want to say something to Max, but I interrupted her.
"I have to agree," I said with a chuckle. "You two are disgustingly cute."
"Brock!" May whined at my siding with her brother – who nodded in satisfaction – but Drew just smirked and pulled her closer.
Behind them, I noticed another couple of familiar faces, and I decided this was a good moment to wrap things up.
"Well guys, I'm off again, but thank you so much for coming." I grinned brightly at the couple and their frowning third wheel.
"Not a problem, Brock!" May happily replied, and Drew nodded with a smile. Max nodded as well, though he looked more hesitant. I raised my hand in goodbye and was about to leave-
"Wait, Brock!" Max quickly dashed to my side. "I'm coming with you!" He pulled a face as he looked to his sister and her boyfriend. "I don't want to be left alone with those two!"
May rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, before turning her attention to me. "We'll see you later, Brock. Be good," she added with a look at Max. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes, and with that, Max and I left the couple on their own.
We met up with Tracey, Daisy, Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak – it was quite an honor that he had come to my thesis presentation – and we made some small talk. I watched Daisy and realized that while she was still attractive, there was no way to deny that, I felt no need to go down on my knees and beg for a date. I prefer dark hair, anyway, I thought to myself with a smile.
Gary and Leaf joined us, and now Max grew even more enthusiastic. He had already been excited when he got the opportunity to talk to the great Professor Oak, but now that his grandson also joined in the discussion, there was no stopping him.
My thoughts wandered and I looked back at the door that lead to the room in which the committee was still discussing my fate. The front row was still filled with my siblings, though several of them had taken the liberty to start climbing on other chairs and running around. Dad was fruitlessly trying to get them in hand.
Ash and Misty were also still standing where I had left them, now engaged in a conversation with Mom and Lucy. Next to them I noticed two familiar faces, politely smiling but not very comfortable as they pretended to be interested in a conversation with people they barely knew.
I quickly excused myself from the academic conversation and Max didn't follow me as I walked back to the front row. Cilan noticed me coming from the corner of his eye and he turned to face me, a relieved smile on his face. He nudged Iris, who turned and then grinned widely at me, relief in her eyes as well.
"Hello my foreign friends," I greeted them with a grin. "I have come to rescue you from an uncomfortable conversation with my mother and girlfriend."
"Oh, it wasn't uncomfortable," Cilan assured me, eyes wide as he glanced at said mother and girlfriend. Lucy and Mom were fortunately still engrossed in their conversation with Ash and Misty, and I heard my name mentioned a few times – I sure hoped they weren't telling any embarrassing stories, but their smiles were decidedly evil…
I shot them a glare, but none of them noticed, and with an internal sigh of resignation I turned back to the two Unovians.
"Sure it wasn't," I agreed easily with the Connoisseur, my tone telling them the opposite and Iris smiled wanly in response. I grinned at her, then decided to let it go. "But anyway, I came here to thank you for actually coming all the way from Unova for just this…"
"Oh, it's not a problem," Cilan said, at the same time as Iris grumbled, "Yeah, and was it a long way…"
"Iris!" Cilan sounded scandalized, but I just laughed. Iris's honesty was as always refreshing.
"Yeah, undoubtedly it was a long way." I chuckled. "I'm sorry. Did you have any trouble underway?"
"No, not trouble, we just took a detour…" She glared lightly at Cilan, who looked somewhat embarrassed.
"It was just a small detour," he defended himself. "I was just…"
"Distracted?" Iris offered, eyes sparkling. She turned to me. "He forgot to wake me when we were at the station we were supposed to get out, because he was too busy ogling the train."
Cilan scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly in a decidedly Ash-like manner. "We got out at the end-of-the-line."
"Ouch," I said, laughing a bit.
"Yeah." Iris laughed. "We did get to enjoy the sights of Kanto, as we had already planned before."
"A mini-vacation?" I asked, and both of them nodded.
"No offense, Brock, but to come to Kanto for just one evening would be quite a waste…" Cilan said carefully.
"None taken." I chuckled again. Cilan and I had kept in touch these months, so I knew his and Iris's relationship was still going strong. He had insisted on coming, claiming that he wouldn't want to miss a friend's important evening. Now that I had heard about the trains, I suspected he had had a higher purpose to go on this trip.
"So we came here by train, and we'll leave by foot," Iris explained, and I could see their compromise in that. They were as different as night and day – if you'll excuse my bad metaphor – but it was wonderful that they were managing to make their relationship work.
"You're going to walk all the way to Unova?" I questioned in disbelief.
"No, no." Cilan laughed. "Just to the Dragon's Den in Johto, and from Blackthorn City we'll take the plane."
That made more sense, and I nodded. "I'm still very glad that you two managed to come."
"Afterwards there was a party, wasn't there?" Iris asked with a cheeky smile.
My gaze darted to the fateful door and my inwards squeezed uncomfortably, but I grinned at my guests anyway. "Definitely!" It didn't come out as confident as I had intended, and Cilan easily caught it.
"You need not to worry, Brock," he said. "Your presentation was a perfect blend of humor and knowledge."
"Thanks." My lips quirked upwards in a sad attempt at a smile. The committee was taking long…
Iris smiled sympathetically. "They can't not pass you! They already offered you a job, didn't they? And the media wouldn't stand for it."
I almost cringed at her reminder of the media. At first, I had liked the attention – admittedly, I still quite liked it – and the money and acknowledgement that came with it, but if I failed now… They weren't present here, inside, because it was for friends and family and other interested parties only, but outside they were waiting, waiting, waiting, like predators on their prey-
"Brock, are you feeling well?" Cilan's concern pulled me out of my panicked thoughts, and I let out a breath.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, just… nervous."
Unexpectedly, an arm was swung around my neck as someone came up at me from behind. "You're going to pass, Brocko!" Ash's voice was loud in my ear and I cringed. He smiled sheepishly at that, and I couldn't help but grin back.
On my other side, Misty also put her arm around shoulder. "Exactly, you got this."
"Thanks, guys," I said in a choked voice, feeling oddly emotional all of sudden. Rationally, I knew the odds of passing were very much in my favor, but still…
"Ah, is my boy still unsure of himself?" Ash and Misty let go of me at my father's voice, and a moment later a tanned, muscular arm took the free spot on my shoulders and Dad squeezed me tight.
"Oh, don't you worry, Brock, there's no way they won't let you pass," Mom added, reaching up to ruffle my hair before going to stand on Dad's other side. My siblings then joined Dad in squeezing me to death, and my friends just stood there and didn't do anything, except smile as if watching me being tortured by my family was amusing. Traitors.
Then, as if by magic, all of them just let go of me. I gratefully fully filled my lungs with fresh oxygen, then glanced at my side to smile at my rescuer. Lucy smiled back at me and took my hand in hers. She looked completely calm and at ease, and finally I felt myself relax. I would pass, of course I would-
The door opened.
Oh Arceus. The PhD committee walked back on stage and suddenly my nervousness was back in full force.
"Mr. Harrison?" Dr. Mendoza asked, and I gulped. Lucy gave my hand a last squeeze and smiled at me, before she let go. More people patted me on my back or touched my arm reassuringly as I left my group of family and friends, but my legs still felt wobbly as I ascended the stage.
The audience quickly shuffled back to their places and silence fell over them when I took my place next to the committee. As soon as the audience had fallen silent, all expectant eyes and encouraging smiles, Dr. Mendoza spoke.
"After a long and thorough discussion-" At this, the woman nodded to the other two members of the committee with a smile. "-we have reached a decision."
Caterpie were crawling in my stomach and I squeezed my hands together. I attempted to keep up my polite smile, but I felt beads of sweat forming on my forehead.
"Mr. Brock Harrison…" Dr. Mendoza said, looking me in the eye as she allowed the moment to drag on purely for her own evil dramatic purposes. Then, finally, a smile broke through her poker face. "Congratulations, we are happy to announce that you have passed!" She had to yell the last part to be heard over the cheer of the crowd, who had already started celebrating at the first word of her sentence.
For one moment, I could only dumbly stare at her, glancing at the other committee members who just smiled at me, and then her words hit home and a wide grin formed on my face.
"Congratulations," Dr. Mendoza said, offering her hand which I gladly shook, beaming at her in a not very professional way. The other two women offered their congratulations as well, and still all I could do was grin speechlessly.
The applause and cheers died down a bit, and Dr. Mendoza took this moment to say a few last words.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming this evening." Her smile widened and she stepped aside with a flourish. "May I present to you… doctor Brock Harrison!"
The cheers and applause almost blew me away, and I grinned at the audience, my eyes easily finding the familiar faces.
Dawn was beaming, as were May, Mrs. Ketchum and Mom, the latter two appearing teary-eyed. Reggie gave me a thumbs up, Drew flipped his hair with a smile and Meowth whistled in a loud and high-pitched way. Max had a satisfied smile on his face, Ash and Misty were cheering loudly, and even Paul seemed to be slightly smiling. Leaf nodded at me with a smile as she clapped, and Tracey punched a fist in the air.
Cilan appeared to be saying something to Iris as he clapped and smiled, probably complimenting me by comparing me to food, and when she rolled her eyes with a grin that only strengthened my suspicion. Jessie and James stood close to each other, smiling widely, and Gary and Professor Oak seemed to be already discussing something as they clapped. My brothers and sisters were cheering the loudest of everyone, and Dad was grinning widely in pride. Lastly I looked at Lucy and held her gaze, the wide smile on her face lifting me up even higher.
Slowly, the applause died down, and it seemed as if they were waiting for me to say something.
"Thank you," I said, but it came out hoarse and quietly. A few laughs went up, and I grinned. Nothing could ruin this moment. I cleared my throat and my confidence grew.
"Thank you," I said again, and this time it came out loud and clear. I took the time to look all of my friends and family in the eye, my gaze lingering on the front row with my family and Lucy. "Thank you. Thank you, all of you. You've supported me all, in some way or the other, not only with my study, but also with everything else happening in my life."
I looked at Mom and Dad, now both teary-eyed, and my siblings, who were smiling and grinning and seemed to be ready to burst out in another cheer, and then at Lucy, who simply beamed. Time to wrap this up, I decided. "And so I can only say thank you."
Loud cheers and applause filled the room again, and with a flourish bow and wide grin, I left the stage, into the welcoming arms of my family and friends and my sweet girlfriend.
The end.
A/N: I can't believe it… It's actually really over… This was the last chapter… Wow, that's a really strange feeling haha. Brock's tale is finally over, after so many years and so many hours of writing. I'm happy, because this is what I've been working towards all that time (okay, maybe not this exactly, because when I started I definitely didn't have an ending in mind), but I'm also kind of sad, because Brock's story has been at my side for so long and now I have to let it go… But, it's done, and I'm happy and proud of what it has become.
And seriously, this story couldn't have been done without you, my faithful readers and reviewers. You kept me going by simply reading or leaving reviews or alerts or favorites, and you gave many helpful tips and pointers and I'm really, really happy that I've been able to make this journey with you. Thank you so, so, so incredibly much for everything. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did, and it would make me very happy if you would please leave me one last review ;)
Last thing: this story might be finished, but I'm nowhere near done writing yet. Besides a rewrite for Leave It To Brocko and this story, which might or might not happen depending on the time and energy I have haha, my next step is completing my WishfulShipping story Tomboy. So, for those interested in that one, there will be a new chapter up next week :)
Once again, thank you, thank you, and thank you! I wish you the best, and hopefully I'll see you around!
Recommendations:
Pokémon: Hopeless by CookiesNCreamNess. FFN. Okay, this is just a really silly, really funny, kind of a parody but not quite, one-shot about May and Drew and their relationship, with Dawn being helpful and some hints of IkariShipping as well. Good for a laugh!
Pokémon: Impossible by KissyFishy. FFN. IkariShipping! Sadly unfinished so far, but a great multi-chapter about how Paul is challenged to win over Dawn. The writing is hilarious and the story is great, with a right dose of seriousness among the humor. Definitely recommended!
Harry Potter: Children of the Future by Alohaemora. FFN. A short but beautiful story about the children of the next generation in the Harry Potter world. Definitely worth a read, and it doesn't even cost that much time ;)
The list of recommendations will continue in my other stories, so recommendations are still very welcome!