42: Forrest vs. Brock
Brock had been able to sleep in that morning, at least for about five minutes before hearing the shouts of one or more of his siblings. He still awoke in a good mood, getting dressed and groomed for the day. He finished his regular chores before stepping outside, where the air was crisp and cool, but had gotten above freezing. Knowing they'd be comfortable, Brock released all the pokemon from their pokeballs for some fresh air. He had to titter at the poor onix, the two of them having even less space in their small enclosed yard as a pair. They made do, squeezing together for the two geodude to bounce around them. Meanwhile, Zubat had plenty of space as a pokemon that could fly above the ground.
Billy and Tilly shouted as they ran outside, the twins taking turns climbing up and down the matching onix. "Hey, stop!" Brock warned. It wasn't the first time he'd told them. Maybe their yard wasn't big enough for both the pokemon to lounge and his growing siblings to be active, but they had to stop disturbing the poor pokemon. The twins jumped down from what seemed too high a distance, but they were fine, and each grabbed onto Brock's arms.
"Can you fly us, bro?" Billy asked.
"Please?" Tilly asked.
"No, no, I can't carry you both anymore," Brock said. They'd certainly grown in months he'd been gone. He used to be able to hold both of the twins easily. When both his parents had left, he'd carried them often, sometimes both, just to better keep track of where they were at times.
"You need to work out more?" Yolanda peeked from inside, teasing her brother.
"That's been done. Maybe I can lift you both," Brock said, trying his best to do so both at once. His youngest siblings shouted in delight as he was successful. "Yeah. But I can't just carry you," he said. "Now, why don't you wait until school to play like this. The onix aren't toys. They don't want you bothering them."
Brock's onix called out briefly in a low tone. The call itself didn't display much emotion, but the pokemon had lowered its head, the other onix soon following his example, offering the children to continue to climb and play.
Brock shook his head, chuckling. "You two are way too nice," he said. "Don't bother them too much," he said to the twins before going inside.
He'd been about to help his dad with breakfast, but surprisingly enough, saw Forrest doing so instead. He raised an eyebrow. "This isn't the kind of chore I usually see you doing," Brock commented.
"Well, tomorrow I'll be an adult," Forrest said. "I should help all I can."
He was going to be a- Brock had to laugh again as he realized what Forrest was talking about. Tomorrow was the second born's tenth birthday, and ten was considered an adult in some ways, though not others. Brock was still waiting to reach full adult age himself, and he felt significantly older than Forrest. The near 'adult' frowned at Brock's amusement. Brock just patted him on the head. Since the kitchen was too small for more than two people to work effectively, Brock took the opportunity to interact with some of his other siblings.
As they sat down to eat, Flint took the opportunity to talk to Brock between the other kids' outbursts. "Hey, about a month until you plan on heading out again, is that right?"
"Yeah," Brock confirmed. "There's some festival in Pallet Town they have annually, so I'll be meeting Ash again there." But why wasn't his dad more concerned about what Forrest might have planned, who was just turning ten? Brock decided to take the opportunity to shift attention to him. "Forrest, what about you? You'll be done with comp-ed in about a month, so are you going to try and get sponsored as a traveling trainer?"
Forrest shook his head. "Na, I don't want to do that."
"Oh, really?" Brock said. Not that Forrest would have gotten the sponsor for sure. There were plenty of applicants, after all, and he wouldn't have the advantage of living in Pallet Town that Ash had, with the professor who sponsored nearly everyone native to there that wanted to go. However, he would have the advantage of being in a gym family with all of those connections, as well as the knowledge that experience had provided, both giving a leg up when compared to others. But it seemed he didn't even want to try. It might have been too late to apply for the current year anyway. "You don't want to train pokemon?" Brock asked.
"Huh? Of course I'm gonna train pokemon! My license is active tomorrow!" Forrest reached in his pocket, taking out the referenced item to show to Brock before their other siblings demanded to see it as well. Forrest happily showed off to the curious younger children.
Of course he did. Brock beamed in response to his brother's enthusiasm. All his siblings wanted to be trainers, but there were more options to being involved in the world of pokemon than traveling around, collecting badges, and entering the league. Brock had a pokeball left. He'd taken two for his own travels, caught Zubat, then hesitated to use the last. He still wanted to train other pokemon, but between his three and helping Ash and Misty with theirs, there was enough to do. Besides, in the back of his mind, he'd wanted to be sure he had one for Forrest for sure.
"Hey," Brock approached the soon to be birthday boy as the siblings started getting ready to leave for school. "What type of pokemon did you want to train, anyway?" Maybe grass-type. Brock's younger brother had always found the moving plant creatures fascinating. Besides, his name was 'Forrest', Brock thought with some amusement, so it would fit. Of course, there were plenty of other pokemon he and their siblings had gotten enthused about during the various gym battles they'd observed throughout the years. He could have gotten attached to any. What would he pick? Brock could research where any specific pokemon might be found while Forrest was at school. The next day was a Sunday, perfect for them to go catch it.
"Rock type!" Forrest declared. "I want an onix, or a geodude, or maybe both! I'm gonna be co-gym leader with you and Dad."
Upon hearing his brother's idea, Brock felt his chest tighten. "That's not happening," he said, speaking more harshly than intended.
Forrest picked up on his mood, his face scrunching up. "Huh? Why not? Dad says he knows where to catch them."
"Forget what Dad says. You can pick any pokemon type you want," Brock said.
"Well I want a rock type!" Forrest clenched his fists as he glared up at his brother. "We're a rock type gym."
"Forget about the gym, too. We don't need you there," Brock assured. Forrest opened his mouth, looking appalled. "Just forget about the gym and anything dad said. Give a lot of thought to what you really want, and then I'll help you catch your first pokemon."
"I already thought about it," Forrest snapped.
"Well, really think about it this time," Brock shot back.
"You don't think I can be as good as you?" Forrest took a step toward his older brother, fist out.
"Hey. Calm down, it's all fine." Brock's father came to the door, putting a hand on a shoulder of his two oldest sons.
Forrest calmed and went to get his school bag. Brock shook him off. "Don't you have a busy morning of challenges? Why aren't you getting ready for that?" The oldest child glared at the man.
"Yeah, I suppose you're correct there," Flint said. He nodded before going in back to get his pokemon. Soon everyone was on their way, leaving Brock alone. He finished cleaning from the morning before realizing that Forrest's answer left him with nothing else to do for the day. Rather than idle, he left. Going to the library was a possibility, but as soon as he passed the gym, he found himself compelled to walk in.
Flint was in the middle of a gym challenge. The other spectators looked to the door as it squeaked open, but everyone turned their attention back to the battle as Brock quickly took a seat. "Ivysaur, solar beam!" the challenger shouted.
"Onix, rock throw!" Flint ordered.
The opponent's pokemon started to glow. "Ivysaur!" it called out as it was hit. At the end, it stood firm, firing the familiar beam of light before Onix started to tumble down.
"Good job," Flint said, taking out a Boulder Badge from the supplies. "You've improved."
The happy trainer took the badge, going over to his friends and being congratulated before they all left. Brock shook his head. Flint sent his onix back onto the field, taking the steps of brushing it down and spraying it with a potion. Brock left the spectator's area to join him. "What kind of a rock throw was that?" Brock asked.
"Did you see something wrong with it?" Flint inquired, eyebrows raised.
"It didn't look very practiced. Ivysaur isn't even fully evolved. An onix should have been able to handle it."
"Nah." Flint shook his head with a grin as he continued to brush the onix. "That boy's a local, he's been trying all winter to beat me. I guess teaching his ivysaur solar beam was his trump card. Good for him!"
"If you beat him so many times before, why did you slip up now? Are you even taking this job seriously, or are you just relying on Forrest to pick up your slack now?"
Flint froze mid-brush, staring back at his son before he relaxed his grip, putting the object down in order to give Brock his full attention. "So that's why you're in a mood today. I figured something happened with a lady."
Brock glanced away before, sighed before turning back and meeting Flint's eyes. "Just let Forrest do his own thing," he said.
"What makes you think I haven't been?" Flint said. He patted Onix's side, giving one more spritz from the potion to the now upright and alert pokemon. "This is the off season, but even when it was the busier season, I was on the job as a gym leader and a dad, trust me! Forrest didn't have to give up studying, his judo practice, playing soccer with friends, or anything else on my account."
"Yeah, sure. I know you and Mom just had a ton of kids because you figured it would be better for the family gym to have more leaders in reserve," Brock accused.
"I'd thought you were enough, but that was one of her thoughts with convincing me we should have more!" Flint admitted with a laugh. Brock responded with silence, a stoic expression on his face. Flint cleared his throat. "Of course, there's also the joy every one of you brought," the man quickly added.
"Right. I didn't see you looking for that joy when Mom left and I had twins to stay up with all night, change diapers, potty train," Brock pointed out, shaking his head. "They shouldn't exist to ease your burden."
"Of course not! Forrest is free to do as he pleases. Of course, if he really does want to help with the family gym, it would be nice to have a backup."
"I'm your backup," Brock pointed out with irritation. He clenched his jaw, deciding to leave. "Just have Onix practice rock throw. And all its techniques. Get better!" he groused before leaving.
After that, Brock really did go to the library. He took the time to look for Seymour and Akihabara's articles in the new monthly journals. Neither had been published yet. Were they both rejected, or was it more of a delay between writing and publishing than he'd thought? None of the other new monthly articles interested him, or at least he found it difficult to concentrate on them.
He ended up picking 'A Quick Index of Pocket Monsters'. Of course, Brock knew the names, types, and many other details of the current hundred and fifty known pokemon species. He just wanted to look over the list to see if there was a better fit for Forrest. Maybe he wanted a large, tough looking type like onix. The nidoran lines both evolved to different large, tough pokemon, though they weren't that large at first. Blaine's ninetales had been somewhat larger than the average pokemon, definitely imposing despite its stature, maybe Forrest would like to hear about it. He could start with vulpix perhaps. Maybe they could even visit Cinnabar to get one. Or if that wasn't right, the fighting types seemed like they might fit the image the new trainer was looking for. A rock type specifically wasn't needed.
Eventually, Brock made his way home. His dad and all of his siblings were home already, taking and making plans for the rest of the day. Forrest turned his head from Brock as he entered, hand on his chin as he read through a book in front of him. "Hey Forrest," Brock greeted him. When the boy didn't respond, Brock sat down next to him, calmly putting a hand on his shoulder. He smiled as his soon to be 'adult' brother looked over at him. "Did you have time to think about it?"
"I'll go to Mt. Moon and catch an onix or geodude with Dad," Forrest said as he flipped a page of his book.
"It's not, uh, it's not that they aren't perfectly fine pokemon species," Brock began. "I just want you to be able to do what you want. So just know... You don't have to get the same pokemon I have."
Forrest looked back blankly. Flint sat down across from them. "Brock," the man began in a booming voice. "It's you that thinks you couldn't do what you wanted, right?"
"Uh..." Brock had to give that some thought. Of course, he'd just been wanting to consider Forrest, since the next day was a major milestone in the boy's life. But maybe that was because he'd put his siblings' needs before his own by habit for so long. So even now, when he'd been thinking of himself, he'd thought of Forrest instead.
How had he felt when he'd been turning ten? Brock had felt the exact same as Forrest, now that he thought about it. When being able to get his first pokemon, the oldest son hadn't been thinking of pokemon breeding or the future in detail much at all, just how he wanted an onix or geodude like his dad, and then to be a gym leader of Pewter Gym right alongside him. Brock put a hand to his head sheepishly. "Well," he began, looking at his dad. "You have made it easy for me go off and travel all I'd like, at least recently." Besides Brock getting to stay in the pokemon centers for free as a gym leader, Flint had provided a modest allowance, one that Brock knew from his own budgeting was probably not that easy to provide. He sighed. "Yeah, thanks Dad."
"I'm just glad you're happy," Flint said. "And I'm sorry, for running off so long. It wasn't right, you know?"
Brock looked at him knowingly, smirking. It did seem their father was trying to make amends, and had been for a while. There was really no need to berate him any further. Instead, Brock had to make things up with Forrest. "Listen!" he began to the boy. "You can't blame me for worrying. I still remember when I had you, and now you're saying you're an adult."
"Brock?" Yolanda stopped next to the table, eyes wide. "You had Forrest? Didn't Mom-"
"Never mind the details," Brock said. "The point is, I remember him being brought home as a little baby, and now he's growing up. Of course I'm worried about him." Brock ruffled his brother's hair. Forrest put his hand up to stop the action, but still smirked in amusement at his brother's eccentric speech. "If you want an onix or geodude tomorrow, that's what you'll get. Everyone starts somewhere. Just don't close your mind to other types of pokemon in the future, okay?"
"No way," Forrest said. "I think I might try for a zubat one day."
Brock laughed. The boy was really just looking up to his admired family members and following from there. It wasn't serious at all, so why had Brock himself been taking things so seriously? Forrest may figure out different things he wanted from life later, the same as Brock had.
"Maybe we'll just try for geodude," Flint said. "After all, onix... The yard is already pretty crowded, isn't it?"
"There's still room!" Brock declared, clamping his hand on Forrest's shoulder. As the brothers looked met eyes, Brock spoke. "Which pokemon do you really want? Geodude or onix? We can only get one for now, so pick which one to aim for."
"Onix!" Forrest shouted. His younger siblings hooted their own enthusiasm for the species, while Flint touched his head, sighing with an amused yet exasperated expression.
The next day, they went off on a family trip, going into Mt. Moon. It was quite a challenge to control the youngest ones, which ran off, assuming every large rock might be signs of an onix. Perhaps any actual onix were alerted far before any of them were able to spot them, because they didn't see an onix all day. In the afternoon, Forrest spotted a pinsir, then became excited at the sight of the large, tough looking bug type. That pokemon ended up being the one Brock and Flint helped him catch.
Forrest held up the pokeball with a grin of excitement. "I'm gonna start training Pinsir to be tough right away," he said. "I'll get an onix too, later... Maybe. Geodude's the best, too."
"Take your time deciding," Brock said. "I'm gonna give you all the tips I can before I go."
Forrest nodded. "I'm gonna be just as good a trainer as you and Dad."
As they made their way back home, Salvadore started talking about his own upcoming tenth birthday. That was a little less than a year away already, Brock realized. Would he be able to see his younger brother then? What else could he be doing? Well, he hadn't actually been making any plans.
Traveling with Ash and Misty as Ash earned his last badge and likely participated in the league would be fun, but now Brock considered maybe he should be thinking of what was next. Misty had insisted before that the two of them weren't Brock's replacement siblings, though perhaps Brock really had been treating them that way. After he was done caring for his family, he'd applied the same thought processes to those two, after all. But he really was free, and supported at that, able to move forward with what he really wanted. He'd been slow to realize that, but it was true, wasn't it? Competing the classes, tests, and papers required for a certification as a pokemon breeder was well within the realm of possibility, and perhaps there were other things he hadn't even considered. All that was left was to remove the limit he'd kept placed upon himself.
Next chapter: Zack vs. Gary