If I owned Familiar of Zero, I'd make more sidestories for the characters who deserve them.
If I owned Pokemon, I'd make Legendaries less statistically broken.
Brock and Tiffania are both stuck in supporting roles because they are nice and don't have much personal ambition. Now to put them both on center stage!
"And that's the last of it."
The sound of a zipper punctuated that statement. Brock, a young man with medium brown skin, slightly darker hair, and permanently squinted eyes, looked around the room that was now empty aside from a few bare necessities, his backpack, and his suitcase. It took three years of medical school, the first two mostly spent living in this room, while the past year he spent mostly at hospitals in various regions, but now, he was finally done. Just one more day until he was officially Doctor Brock Harrison of Pewter City.
A buzz from behind Brock prompted to turn around. He pressed a button on the screen that was mounted above his empty desk. The wall above the desk lit up with an image of his father, Flint. The man was almost the spitting image of Brock, though his face was slightly rounder and his skin a bit darker, and his features were rougher with age.
"You already packed, son?"
"Just finished the non-essentials," Brock replied with an easy smile. "Once the graduation ceremony is over it'll take two minutes for me to pack up and leave with you guys."
"Good! I knew you'd be prepared, you've always been a responsible kid, but your mom has—"
"Oh, give me that!"
Flint was violently shoved to the side, being replaced by a middle aged soman with pale skin, curly mahogany hair, and brown eyes. "My baby boy is finally coming home!"
"I'm twenty-two, mom," Brock sighed.
"You'll always be my baby, even when you're old and wrinkly like your father is starting to be!"
Brock could barely hear Flint's offscreen mutterings of, "I'm not that old, Lola," before his mother continued.
"Once you're back, I can show you what I've been doing. See, I think the place could use some redecorating—"
"You didn't flood the gym again, did you?" Brock cut her off with a trace of panic in his voice.
"Of course not, sweetie!" Lola assured him with an innocent smile.
"I made sure she didn't do anything to the gym," Forrest, the oldest of Brock's younger siblings, called out, sticking his head into the camera frame.
Like most of Brock's siblings, Forrest's looks came more from his dad than his mom. He had a slightly rosier complexion and rounder face. His hair fell down instead of standing straight up, but it still had the same spiky texture. Brock had left the gym in Forrest's capable hands, and the younger brother had yet to disappoint. He was able to make sure that the gym stayed competitive enough to not be shut down and stop their mother from any impromptu redecorating—or destruction—of the gym.
"—so I decided that we should embrace our cultural roots!" Lola exclaimed as if she hadn't been interrupted. She pulled a banner from somewhere and held it in front of the camera. "Tada!"
"It's too close to the camera for me to see a thing, mom," Brock deadpanned.
"Whoopsie." Lola pulled the banner down and whipped it out again, this time at a reasonable distance. "Tada!"
"Is that a banner with the kanji of fire on it?" Brock asked, a bit perplexed by the display.
"You got it!"
"It looks like it was drawn by a five-year-old," Brock said bluntly. "Also, why kanji? We're not an ancient cultural site. And most importantly, why Fire? This is a rock-type gym."
"But we could become a cultural site!" Lola said excitedly. "Just imagine how this place would look with some miniature volcanoes and hot springs! We could make a resort!"
Brock looked to Forrest, who sighed. "We've already told her that we're not turning the gym into a tourist spot," the younger brother said. "But she insisted on putting up those drawings around the house. Only the gym is untouched."
"I thought you were into traditional Paldean dance, mom," Brock said in exasperation.
"A new fancy caught my eye. You know, interests change every once in a while."
"That was last month!"
"An artist's passion is not limited to time!"
"Or good art, apparently," Brock said with a sigh. "Try to hold down the fort, I'll sort it out when I get home, okay?"
"I'll try, son," Flint said, shuffling back into camera view while twiddling his thumbs.
"Of course, sweetie!" Lola promised enthusiastically.
"I meant Forrest."
"I'll make sure of it," Forrest assured him. Then, his expression began contemplative. "Dad, why don't you and mom go make sure the others are all packed?"
"Ah, yes. we should—"
"Let's go, sweetie!" Lola cheered excitedly as she dragged Flint away from the camera. "We can make sure they're all wearing matching…" Her voice trailed off in the distance.
Brock and Forrest sighed in tandem.
"What's been happening with the others?" Brock asked Forrest.
"Quite a bit," Forrest admitted. "Salvadore and Yolanda are still helping me with the gym Pokemon. Salvadore likes being a referee more than a trainer, which is fine. But I think Yolanda's getting a bit tired of the job and wants to join you in the medical field."
"Really?" Brock asked in surprise.
"She hasn't said it directly, but that's my gut feeling," Forrest replied. "Take some time to ask her about that when you get a chance."
"Got it."
"Tommy has another girlfriend—"
"That's the 10th this year!"
"11th, actually, he dated another girl for a week," Forrest informed him.
Brock sweatdropped. "Please tell me he remembered to break up with them before moving on this time."
"His exes eventually slapped some sense into him, I think," Forrest replied dubiously. "Anyway, Cindy's caught another grass-type pokemon, an Oddish. At this rate it's only a matter of time before she moves to Celedon City to apply to be one of Erika's gym trainers."
"Think I should give Erika a call?"
"Dunno, do you think Cindy will take it as extra pressure?"
"…Please tell me the twins are going to be easier to handle."
"Suzie and Timmy are fuming about being held back from going on their own journeys."
"It's been almost a year, I thought they got over that months go!"
"With the League around the corner they're getting antsy about watching it instead of having a chance to participate. I've been trying to get them to help me in the gym, but it's been hard."
"They're brash and feed off each other's energy way too much," Brock said knowledgeably. "Hopefully this year off has given them the patience they need for next time. What about the other twins?"
"Billy and Tilly are still deciding if they want to be trainers at all. They like the Pokemon, and they also want to stay together, but it's getting harder as they start to find different interests."
"That's a lot of fires to put out," Brock said as he sweatdropped.
"I've tried my best, but you're the one who keeps everyone in line," said Forrest.
"I see."
Due to the weak will of Flint and flightiness of Lola, both had been gone from several crucial years of their children's lives. Worse, even when they were around, Brock was the responsible one more often than not. Once he was no longer taking care of the gym, the mantle had fallen to Forrest, but it was unfair to think that Forrest could fill Brock's shoes without issue.
"Well, I have a month before I get my assignment," Brock said. "So that should be enough time to settle everything. Or at least make it manageable."
"Thanks, bro."
"No thanks needed, just doing my job," said Brock. "Try to make sure everyone makes it to the train on time."
"Got it. See you tomorrow, Brock."
"See you, Forrest."
Brock sighed as he hung up. Returning home wouldn't exactly be a vacation, but despite all the hassle that awaited him, he couldn't help but grin.
"There's nothing like a family," he said contently as he turned around.
He stopped short.
Floating mere inches from him was a glowing green circle that he knew couldn't have been there seconds ago.
"What in the world is this?" Brock wondered. He'd seen Celebi make Time Ripples before, but this was something different. Time Ripples were like shattered glass that had green light glowing through the cracks in reality. This circle had edges that were perfectly smooth, and the surface had no texture. Also, Celebi tended to leave Time Ripples in the forests it protected, not in people's rooms.
Brock had met more legendries in the past seven years than most people dreamed of seeing in their lifetime, so he had some crazy experiences to draw from. "I guess this must be for me," he said.
He grabbed his backpack and secured his pokeballs to his belt. He sent a message to Forrest, Misty, and then after another thought, also to Professor Oak. He didn't know who else might be having a similar experience, so it was best to cover his bases.
Then, he stepped forward.
It reminded him of the time he'd felt the power of the Unown. Or how Ash had described the Reverse World to him. The space behind the portal was lacking in proper physics. He was falling, but it wasn't very fast. He couldn't tell where up or down was, and the space was lacking anything except for green light. He felt like he had fallen forever, but when he finally found himself standing on his feet again, it felt like he'd only been falling long enough to blink.
When Brock's vision had adjusted, his eyes transformed into hearts and shot out of his skull.
Before him stood a maiden of unparallel beauty. She had blue eyes and long golden hair that was partially covered by a white hat with a green bow on either side. She wore a dress that barely reached her thighs, only slightly below where her hair fell. The dress had slits along the sides of her thighs that allowed freedom of movement and nearly broke the illusion of modesty. It was barely able to cover her bountiful bosom and only held up because of a cloth loop around her neck. A sheer white shawl over her shoulders and a white ribbon around her waist completed her outfit.
Brock dropped to one knee and offered her his hand. "Fair lady with eyes of crystal lakes and hair as radiant as the beams of the sun, will you marry me?"
The woman's head tilted to the side, her face the picture of innocent confusion. "Eh?"
Tiffania turned a page in her book. The bright afternoon sun filtered through the tree leaves and cast dappled patterns across the words. It was a classical tale: A wandering knight searching the world for purpose and stumbling across a princess longing for freedom.
Tiffania felt like she both related to and envied the characters, just a bit. She liked Westwood Village. It was a nice, quiet village not far from her old family territory. She was in charge of the orphanage, caring for all the kids who had found their way there while fleeing from the war. But she wished she knew what she wanted, and she wished she knew more about the world.
However, she knew that would never come to be. Unlike the knight in the story, she was not brave, strong, or skilled. She could cook and clean, yes, but that wouldn't be turning heads. And unlike the princess in the story, she wasn't beautiful. Yes, she had gotten compliments for her looks even before she had been forced to flee to Westwood, but she knew that if she ever took off her hat, if anyone truly knew what she was—
The girl shook her head. Matilda, her older sister, had given her that book as a going-away-present so Tiffania would have some entertainment in her absence. Not so she could mope. Matilda, now she was brave, strong, skilled, and beautiful. She worked hard traveling around Halkegenia so she could send money to Tiffania and the other kids. If it hadn't been for her, the orphanage wouldn't have been able to take in so many kids without everyone going hungry.
Tiffania was content with her life, but sometimes…
"I wish I could have a handsome knight who'd like the real me," she said softly as she buried her face in the book. "Is there someone like that out there?"
She shook her head, put the book aside and dusted off her clothes. The light around her was already starting to turn green, which meant the sun was—
Tiffania's train of thought petered out as she noticed the oddity. She raised her gaze up and saw a glowing green circle standing in front of her. She wracked her brain, trying to think of anything her sister or mother taught her to do in such a situation, but came up short.
Just as she was about to call out to one of the kids, a man fell through the circle, landing gently on his feet as though unaffected by gravity. He had brown hair and skin almost as dark, darker than some of the complexions from Rub' ah Kahli. His eyes were squinted so tightly she couldn't tell what color his eyes were. He wore brown pants, a burnt orange shirt, and a bulky green vest over it. A large blue satchel was strapped over both of his shoulders.
There was a moment where the two just took in each other's appearance in awed silence. Then, without prompting man dropped to one knee and proclaimed, "Fair lady with eyes of crystal lakes and hair as radiant as the beams of the sun, will you marry me?"
Tiffania tilted her head slightly to the side. The man's tone was passionate, but his words were incomprehensible. "Eh?" she said softly.
There was an odd pop and woosh sound, as a geyser of red light shot from behind the man's back and collided with the ground next to him. In a second, there was a large blue frog standing upright next to the man. Now, large was a relative term, because the frog was size of a toddler, barely coming up to the man's chin while he knelt, but it was certainly bigger than any frog Tiffania had ever seen or heard about. Its appearance caught Tiffania off guard, and apparently the man as well, because he didn't move from his position.
At least, not until the frog's front toes glowed purple and were jabbed into the man's side. The man fell over with a pained gasp, much to Tiffania's horror.
"No, no, no, no," Tiffania stuttered in shock. Stepping around the frog without a second thought to her personal safety, she went to the man's side and saw that his face was deeply flushed. "A fever this quickly?" she whispered in shock.
To add another surprise, she saw the man raise a hand towards her, shaking like he barely had the strength to move. She took his entire arm and pulled it towards her. "Please don't die on me," she begged. "Stay with me, please."
As if the day couldn't get any worse, that was when the man started screaming.
This chapter was shorter than I'd usually like, but it covered what needed to be shown. Brock's a family man. Tiffania's a kind caretaker. It's perfect. Except, you know, there's the accidental summon and everything.
I'll be alternating between this and Zuko for Tiffania's series until I have enough ideas to throw a third into rotation. Weekly uploads are good for forcing me to make my deadlines.
Lemme know what you think of this brief introduction. Next chapter we'll have some better attempts at communication. For now, remember, reviews are food for a writer's soul!