This Story will be finished, sorry for the wait.
Chapter 25
"Hey Brock, I need to talk to you I have an idea." Serena told him as she poked her head around the kitchen door.
"I'm kind of busy right now." Brock said stressfully as he manoeuvred 4 or 5 different pots on the stove.
"Great, here's what I'm thinking." Serena continued, not listening. "I think we should bake a cake for Ash's birthday."
"I'd love to Serena but I have to make sure this is the best meal ever in order to solidify Team Rockets help." Brock replied as he continued to whip the pots.
"That's okay." Serena sighed. "It's just your cooking is so good and I remember your brothers and sisters telling me you can do anything in the kitchen."
She knew it was a slightly dirty trick but she was confident that mentioning his siblings would get Brock on her side.
She saw him stop his culinary activities momentarily.
"I'll do it." Brock said proudly. "If my siblings believe that much in me it's the least I can do."
"Yay, thank you Brock, you're the best." Serena cheered.
"But you have to help me out." Brock commanded.
"Of course." Serena smiled. "Should we start now?"
"Sure, do you want to start by making the batter?" Brock asked.
"Yep." Serena said happily as she got to work.
Serena knew that the meal Brock was preparing for Jessie, James and Meowth was important so she took it on herself to do most of the work as Brock gave her instructions.
She had experience baking before but Brock was gifted when it came to food so she was more than happy to take his lead.
"Hey Brock," Serena began. "Who was that girl who was standing over you when Team Rocket attacked us? You seemed to know her."
"That was Domino." Brock sighed. "I met her the last time we came to Tohjo. She's a Team Rocket operative who was one of the main players in trying to capture Mewtwo and the clone Pokémon all those years ago."
"Oh really?" Serena asked shocked. "So she's a bad person?"
"A lot of people would think that," Brock replied. "But I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?" Serena asked puzzled.
"I don't even know myself." Brock admitted. "Maybe I'm just blinded but I don't sense evil when I look at her, I think there's a good person in there."
"I don't know Brock she seemed very mean back there." Serena pointed.
"You're not wrong but still..." Brock trailed off.
"Let's finish off this cake." Serena continued on, sensing the conflict within Brock.
The two toiled away for another while, making sure the cake was the best it possibly could be.
Eventually Brock and Serena were able to stare at the stylistic cake that lay in front of them. On the cake in white icing wrote "Happy Birthday Ash." Serena's calligraphy with icing even surprised herself.
"Not a bad couple hours work." She giggled. "Thank you so much for your help Brock, I owe you one."
"Don't worry about it." Brock waved off.
"No seriously if you need anything at all you can ask me." Serena insisted.
Brock thought for a moment.
"Well actually there is something I'd like to ask if you don't mind." Brock told her.
"Of course, what is it?" She smiled.
"It's weird asking someone younger than me this advice." Brock muttered as Serena looked on confused. "But you and Cameron are the only people travelling with us in a successful relationship."
"I guess you could say that." Serena blushed.
"Well, just when it comes to those feelings, would you know how to go about it when you have feelings for someone you know you shouldn't?"
"Forbidden love?" Serena gasped wistfully. "How romantic."
"I know." Brock said dreamy eyed. "Though it's one of my many fantasy scenarios it pulls on the heart strings like nothing else."
Serena looked on as Brock lost himself in his own dreams.
"Well Brock," Serena interrupted causing Brock to snap out of it. "I know from my experience that sometimes love you'd never expect is the best kind."
"What do you mean?" Brock asked.
"Me and Cameron were most likely not supposed to be going out. We met by chance at the Kalos League through Ash, then after the tournament we said we'd keep in touch and luckily we did. Then I finally got the courage to ask him out and now look at us."
"I get what you're saying but I don't think that applies to my situation." Brock admitted.
"You're probably right but I can only speak from my experience unfortunately." Serena frowned.
"It's okay, it was a heavy question." Brock smiled.
"Well there is something else." Serena spoke up.
"What is it?" Brock asked.
"If this is about who I think it is, then I don't know if you should pursue it."
Brock almost dropped the cake in surprise. Did she figure it out?
"I understand the idea of trying because why not." Serena continued. "But if you try so hard to change someone who doesn't want to change you could end up destroying them and yourself."
Serena walked past and gave a friendly pat on Brock's shoulder and a smile to accompany it before leaving the kitchen.
"There's only one way to find out." Brock whispered.
Max had just received his Pokémon from the Blissey that was looking after them. He couldn't understand Pokémon talk but he assumed she was saying they're all healthy and ready to go.
Still, Max was eager to double check himself just to be sure. He would be so angry with himself if his Pokémon got hurt last night because he wasn't good enough in battle.
He hurried down to the training area of the Battle Tower and as soon as he arrived he released all of his Pokémon from their pokéballs.
From said spheres emerged Sceptile, Slaking, Gardevoir, Rhyperior, Hitmonchan and Octillery.
"How are you all feeling guys?" Max asked his Pokémon who all cheered in happiness at the sight of their trainer.
"Glad to see you're all in good form." Max laughed as he petted his friends.
"Hey Max, what's up?"
Max looked up to see Cameron was standing across the hall. He was in such a rush to check up on his Pokémon that he hadn't even noticed him.
"Oh Cameron what are you doing here?" Max asked.
"Great minds think alike." Cameron grinned. "I also wanted to check on my Pokémon to make sure they're all okay."
"Makes sense, it was a tough battle." Max muttered.
"Yeah it was." Cameron agreed. "It was looking tight for a while there, how are your Pokémon holding up?"
"They're fine." Max answered coolly. Ever since last night whenever he saw Cameron it irked him. Every time his eyes rested on him it reminded him of his weakness as a trainer.
"Are you okay Max? You seem off." Cameron snapped Max from his thoughts.
"Yeah I'm good." Max answered very unconvincingly.
"You're worried about your battling aren't you?"
Max was shocked, he never expected Cameron of all people to be able to dissect his feelings.
"How did you know?" Max questioned.
"When it comes to anything battling I can pick up on it pretty quick." Cameron admitted. "Though outside of it I don't know a lot."
"Really?" Max asked sceptically. "Didn't you forget to bring a 6th Pokémon when you fought Ash in the Unova League?"
"Hey that doesn't count." Cameron shouted defensively. "It was a one time thing. I was tired."
"Okay I get it." Max shouted back plugging his ears from the sheer volume of Cameron's voice.
"Sorry." Cameron apologised sheepishly.
"I'm sorry too." Max rescinded. "I don't mean to take out my anger on you, I'm just frustrated. I think I should be closer to my goal."
"How old are you Max?" Cameron asked.
"14." Max told him.
"And how many league's have you challenged?" Cameron continued.
"4." Max answered. "Hoenn, Sinnoh, Johto and Kanto."
"How did you place in those tournaments?"
Max looked down, he didn't want to relive his failures.
"Top 16 in Hoenn, Top 8 in Johto, Top 32 in Sinnoh and Top 16 in Kanto."
Max kept his head down, Cameron was probably going to stifle a laugh at his poor attempts.
"Max that's good!" Cameron exclaimed.
"Huh?" Max squeaked in reply.
"For a first four tournaments that's good." Cameron explained further. "In my first 3 I only got to Top 16 in all of them. It wasn't until Unova that I hit top 4."
"But you still got Top 4." Max countered.
"I have a couple of years on you, once you're my age I bet you'll have a Top 4." Cameron assured. "It took Ash until he was 18 to win a league and I'm 17 and still trying. Who's putting this pressure on you to win."
"I am." Max admitted. "I watched Ash get great positions in the league and beat the Battle Frontier all before I was a trainer. Not to mention my Dad is a gym leader. I need to live up to those expectations."
"Max putting too much pressure on yourself will only end up in you performing worse and cause your Pokémon to become just as stressed as you." Cameron told him. "Trust me this is normal for every trainer to go through these thoughts but I saw last night that you had the talent you just need more experience."
"But Ash was doing so much at my age." Max said frustrated.
"Forget about Ash, you're Max." Cameron fired back. "It takes people years to win a league. Ash was a very rare example of winning at our age."
Max still looked frustrated and a little dejected so Cameron took a softer tone.
"Max it's normal to be frustrated but there's no need to put this pressure on yourself, there's enough already as a trainer. Trainers develop at different times, maybe you haven't hit your prime yet but you just have to keep working hard until you hit it."
If Max was being honest he wouldn't have ever guessed Cameron of all people would be able to make him feel better but he actually did.
"Thank you Cameron, I appreciate it." Max had always considered Cameron a bit dim like Ash but when it came to battling and the surrounding areas he had to admit Cameron knew his stuff.
"No problem Max." Cameron smiled. "Now, how about we make sure our Pokémon are ready to go with a light sparring session."
"Sounds good." Max laughed as he and Cameron high fived.