Chapter 10: Back to the Drawing Board

Brock could already feel a headache coming on. Though in hindsight, it could probably have been brought on by his slamming his head into the window, he was sure that what he had just witnessed between his two younger friends was the main instigator.

A handshake.

A handshake?

After all that, the only thing that kid could think to do was shake her hand? Everything had been so perfect—sunset, female all dressed up with nowhere to go, a long-awaited apology… The cliché movie/romance novel setting for the protagonist and his leading lady's "happy ending," and it would have been the ideal place for Ash to at least do something to show Misty how much he cared. Even Misty could have made some sort of gesture. Sure, it hadn't been the original plan for the day, but Brock had thought it a lovely alternative. And yet, nothing.

He shook her hand.

Brock groaned against the window pane, "What idiots…"

"Was he supposed to do something else?" May questioned, gazing up at her older friend from where she and Dawn kneeled on the floor.

"So many things…" Brock continued to mutter nonsensically to himself, "and…really…a handshake? ...how blind…any…anything…not even…could've hugged…this…oh…stupid…"

He wasn't able to shake himself out of his dejection until the twisting of the doorknob sounded in his ears. With surprising speed, all three spies managed to leap away from the window and scatter around the front room into the most "natural" position they could come up with. That, of course, meant that they really didn't look very natural at all. Luckily, neither Ash nor Misty seemed attentive enough to notice.

"Hey guys," Misty greeted cheerily.

Dawn looked up from the magazine she was reading upside down, acting as if she only just noticed the two teenagers walk in through the door. "Misty, Ash," she smiled. "Hey! Look guys, Misty and Ash are back!"

Brock and May too looked up, both wearing the same look of feigned surprise as they greeted their friends. For a second, Brock thought he saw a look of confusion cross Ash's face. He was probably wondering what was going on now, considering he had seen all three of them peeking through the window earlier. As soon as it appeared, though, it went away again, and Brock sighed in silent relief.

"So…?" Brock said, standing up from the couch. "Is everything alright then?"

"Yup!" Ash flashed a grin, sticking a thumb up in the air. "Mist and I are still the best of friends!"

"That's great!" May clapped her hands together. "And here I was, thinking I'd have to do more damage control."

"May? Since when have you been good at 'damage control'?"

Brock let the conversation fade from his ears as he began to think of new tactics. He'd definitely have to go back to the drawing board (Tracey) for this one. This whole "match-making" business was way harder than he thought it would be. But of course, it was all for love, and who was he to stand in the way of love? Brock had given himself the duty of bringing his two friends together, and he wasn't giving up that easy. Love, as difficult as it may be to acquire, was something Brock never gave up on, and he had the sore ears and back pains to prove it.

Quickly thinking up an excuse in his head to get Ash and Misty out of the room so he could converse with his fellow Team AAML members, Brock interjected himself into the conversation. "Hey guys, it's getting a little late. What do you say we just get ourselves settled for the night and hang out down here for a while?" he asked. "We can play some games, watch some movies…"

Everyone happily agreed and he smiled at their positive responses.

"Hmm… You know, since we are now in the company of four lovely ladies, rather than just Misty and Mrs. Ketchum, why don't you three take the guestroom and I'll bunk with Ash?" he suggested.

"Okay!"

"That sounds fun!"

"But you snore! And talk in your sleep!"

"Sure!"

"Well alright then!" Brock exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Misty, why don't you go up and get ready first? You can move your stuff out of Ash's room so you're all set."

"'Kay," Misty agreed and began to run up the staircase.

"Ash," he said, laughing inwardly as the boy snapped his attention to Brock, "you too. That way you can stare at Misty for a little while longer."

Out of the corner of his eye, Brock saw Misty unknowingly disappear at the top of the stairs as Ash's eyes widened in alarm. "I wasn't staring!" he defended.

"Do I need to call Max to come grab you by the ear like he did with Brock?" May teased.

Joining the game, Dawn leaned forward to giggle in the poor boy's face. "Or Brock could let out Croagunk…"

Ash stuttered in place, unsure what to do. "I-I… No! I wasn't— I wasn't staring!"

Ignoring Ash's pleas, Brock offered his own suggestion. "Or we could just do it old-school. Want Misty to tug on your ear, Ash?"

"Whaa— No! I wasn't staring!" Ash's face began to color as his friends began to laugh at him. Even Pikachu was supplying his own giggles to the mix. "Guys! I wasn't staring!"

Ash's protests only elicited more laughter from his friends. He seemed to grow even more uncomfortable (if that was even possible) when the girls began cooing over how sweet it was that he thought Misty pretty enough to "admire her from afar." Of course, this only led to more denials and an ever-flustering Ash.

"You guys suck," he huffed, folding his arms across his chest with a glare that could rival Paul's.

...Well, not really. But it was as close as Ash would ever manage.

Deciding to let up on the poor kid—for now—before they ran out of time to actually discuss anything, Brock calmed himself, smiling good-naturedly at Ash. "Alright, Ash, whatever you say. Just go upstairs now."

Ash faltered for a minute, looking as if he was trying to decide whether or not to listen to Brock, before he finally turned toward the stairs and headed up after Misty.

"Oh! And by the way," Brock shouted just as he disappeared at the top, "I don't snore!"

"Yes you do!"

"Don't act like you don't too, Ash!" Brock chuckled to himself as he turned towards the two girls in the room. "So, what were you saying about Misty and what you told her?"

"Well," May began, "earlier when we were out shopping, Misty started getting upset about how Ash never called her and didn't feel like he was treating her as a best friend at all."

Dawn nodded in agreement. "And then just now we were talking to Misty and she started storming around over how bad an idea it was to do all this," she said sadly.

"Yup, sounds like Misty..." Brock sighed.

"So we told her we would help her."

Brock's head shot up in surprise and he stared at the two girls incredulously. "What? Why would you do that you didn't tell her about me did you?" he asked. "She will kill me. She almost figured it out once before and believe me when I say I do not want to go there again!"

"Don't worry, don't worry!" May assured him, waving her hands back and forth. "We didn't tell her anything about that."

He sighed in relief. "Good. I don't know if I could deal with another Misty confrontation." Then after a little thought, Brock gave a halfhearted laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Man, this is harder than I thought it'd be. Guess that's my fault for picking the most stubborn two I know, huh?"

The girls laughed along with him, assuring him it was alright; it would work out in the end. Somehow, anyway.

"So…" Dawn glanced at May, then Brock. "What are we supposed to do now?" she asked.

Brock looked up, hearing footsteps in the hallway upstairs. "Right now? Nothing. Just relax tonight," he said. "But tomorrow, we'll go see Tracey up at the professor's. I'll let you know what time we leave before bed, okay?"

The girls nodded in agreement, before all three looked up as Ash and Misty came running down the stairs. Racing each other, of course. They wouldn't be Ash and Misty otherwise, would they?

May yawned loudly, stretching her arms up over her head as she and Dawn followed Brock down the stairs. "Why are we up so early?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "I thought I was getting a short break but I'm still waking up at the crack of dawn." Her hands dropped to her side as she groaned, "It's too early."

He glanced over his shoulder with a chuckle as his feet touched down to the hardwood floor. "First of all May, it's not that early. Second, when have you ever gotten up at the crack of dawn?"

"Hey! If I'm going to beat Drew, Harley, Dawn, Soledad or anyone else and become Top Coordinator, I need to practice," May defended.

"I know, I know." Brock smiled. "I'm just kidding."

Dawn furrowed her brows together confusedly as she glanced at the clock. "May does have a point, though," she said. "It's barely seven-thirty, and a Saturday. How do we even know this Tracey guy will be out?"

Brock chuckled. "Listen, I may not know Tracey too well, but from the time that I have, and the stories I've heard from Ash and Misty, he should be there." He made his way to the door, silently trying to slide across the floor in his house slippers. "The guy works for Professor Oak and loves it," he explained. "He already has to get up early to feed all those Pokémon, and he'll do that as efficiently as he possibly can." He paused, then added, "With, of course, making time to sketch some as well."

"Sketch?" repeated Dawn.

"Oh! You should see it!" May exclaimed, clasping her hands together excitedly. "He's amazing! Last time I was here, he drew this Pidgeot for Max. It looked like it would fly right off the page!"

Dawn's eyes sparkled at the thought. "Whoa, that's so cool! Do you think he'll look at my designs for me?"

Brock scratched the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "I don't think he's all that into fashion, Dawn," he said. "Now, let's get going! We have to try to be back before Ash and Misty wake up."

"Just a minute, you three."

They froze in place, turning slowly to see Delia standing in the doorway of the kitchen, Mr. Mime peeking out from behind her.

"Oh, Mrs. Ketchum," Brock said unsurely. "We didn't wake you, did we…?"

She smiled kindly at them, and all three breathed a silent sigh of relief. "No, no," she said. "I was already up. I heard you three talking last night, so I knew you would be down here." The mother's face seemed to glow with pride as she clasped her hands together excitedly. "I think it's wonderful what you're doing for those two. Heavens knows they need someone to help them out. And then I thought I could help you."

"Huh?" All three looked blankly at Delia.

"Can't do much thinking on an empty stomach, can you?" she asked, turning to the side to reveal the breakfast spread across the table. "I figured by the time you get back, my Ash might have eaten it all." She giggled abashedly for her son's antics.

"Oh wow, thank you!" May cried, rushing forward.

"Thanks Mrs. Ketchum!"

"Oh, what was I thinking?" Brock chided himself. "I should have made breakfast. I'm sorry—"

Delia cut him off, waving a hand dismissively, "No, no, Brock. You are a guest here, remember? Please, eat."

Brock smiled gratefully, for once not putting up a huge fight over not helping out enough—of course that didn't keep him from arguing with Mimey over who would clear the table afterwards. Delia quickly remedied that issue, however, informing Brock it would not be necessary and ushering him, May and Dawn out the door. She bid them good luck and they thanked her for the meal before finally beginning the trek to Professor Oak's.

They walked up the road in a comfortable silence, just feeling the early rays of the sun on their backs and listening to the calls of wild Pokémon in the surrounding woodlands and fields. It was only broken when Dawn suddenly asked, "What's that over there?"

"Huh?" Brock looked up in confusion. It didn't take him long to spot what Dawn was talking about. A brightly colored booth-like setup was sitting on the side of the road just ahead—not quite what one would expect to see in Pallet Town. It looked out of place among the simplicity and earth tones of the rest of the landscape. He began to move towards it, investigating.

"Hello?" he called in. "Is there someone in here?"

"Welcome!"

Brock nearly fell over in surprise as two people burst out of the seemingly empty shack. Like the booth, they were dressed in bright colors, the booth being the only thing they actually matched in any way.

The woman peered over her round tinted glasses at him. "Can we help you?"

"Uh… What is this exactly?" May asked, coming up beside Brock.

"Oh!" the man exclaimed. "We haven't introduced ourselves!"

The woman smiled. "Hi, I'm… Well, you don't really need to know our names," she said.

"We don't?" asked Dawn.

"Then what do we need to know?" Brock asked, regarding the two with a cautious eye.

"I am glad you asked that, young man," the woman replied. "My associate here will tell you all about that. Won't he?"

"I would love to," he said, tipping his hat over his eyes. He was silent for a moment, leaving the three teens blinking in confusion. Out of nowhere, he came back to life, grabbing the brim of his hat and flinging his arm up in the air with it gripped tightly in his fingers. "We happen to be the top matchmakers in Johto!" he announced. "We are known as the 'Roquettes d'amour.'"

"Matchmakers...?"

"From Johto?"

Brock was still immensely confused. "So what are you doing here?"

The woman was quick to jump in. "Oh, life in Johto had just become so boring, routine." She put a hand to her forehead in distress, raising the overall dramatization of her spiel drastically. "Every day, a new town, the same issues, the same types of people... We became so accustomed to it all, we almost didn't notice it."

"Notice what?" asked May.

"Well, you see, our services quickly became popular throughout the region," continued the man.

The woman cast her eyes to the distance, staring forlornly at some unseen point. "Eventually, it got to the point where... the people... I..." she said, her voice sounding choked. "Oh, it's just so horrible I can't go on!" She slid to the floor, body shaking in sobs that didn't sound quite so sincere but were nonetheless accepted.

The man placed a hand over his heart, tipping his hat to shadow over his eyes as he continued for his fallen companion. "What she means to say is that it eventually got to the point where people were no longer coming for lo—"

"They even weren't coming for love anymore!" she broke in. "All they wanted was the fame of working with us; just being in our company. It was truly awful!"

The group of teenagers just stared blankly at the strange pair in front of them. It took a few moments before someone broke the awkward (on one side, anyway—the other was taking a "dramatic pause") silence and stepped forward. Brock cleared his throat before saying, "So, to be clear, you left because people were taking advantage of you?"

"They were abusing our powers in love!" the man corrected, although it was pretty much just a rephrase of Brock's deduction.

"So now that we've gotten those silly introductions out of the way, can we help you three with anything?" the woman quickly recovered herself. "Perhaps one of you could use some help in the area of love? Or maybe even you want to help out someone else? A Pokémon, even," she drawled. "Everyone deserves love!"

All coherent thought towards Ash and Misty disappeared from Brock's mind at that, quickly being replaced by images of beautiful girls. He didn't realize he had been drooling until May's hand came into his vision. Shaking his head, Brock brought himself out of his trance and pushed himself forward so he was leaning over the shack's counter. "Do you think you can find someone for me?"

"Brock!"

He turned to see May and Dawn behind him, giving him irritable looks that only took a second for him to decipher. Turning back to the strange man and woman, he let out a defeated sigh. "Sorry, that's not what I meant," he told them. "But if you don't mind, there may be a little problem you could help us with."

"Oh?" The two leaned forward now instead, and to a more observant person it would seem the anticipation was crawling up their skin, the faces of satisfaction and victory only just visible.

Brock nodded. "Yes, see, I have these two friends," he began. "I've known them for years now and if you could just see them together, you would think they were perfect for each other. Practically soul mates. But they're both really stubborn, and of course, growing up with nearly everyone insisting that they should be together, they don't seem ready to give up the little denial routine just yet."

The two matchmakers clasped their hands together, and wide smiles grew on their faces. "Ooh," the man cooed, "we could definitely help out with that!"

"Perhaps you could tell us a bit about your friends? So we just have some idea of what we're working with," the woman said. "How do they act? What kind of things do they do?"

"What kind of Pokémon do they have? Is there any time of day they won't have their Pokémon with— ouch!"

The woman smiled apologetically. "Never mind that; their Pokémon may not quite matter." She turned to her partner with another fist clenched tightly at her side, and stiffly said, "Isn't that right?"

"Right." He nodded. "Sorry, my mistake."

"Uh… Okay then," Brock said awkwardly. "Anyway, May, Dawn? Would you help me out here?"

Both girls quickly struck their best thinking poses before soon shooting out any traits they thought might help.

"Ash—that's the guy we're talking about—rushes into everything."

"Yeah, total hero complex. And Misty—the girl—usually yells at him for that."

The matchmakers nodded interestingly, encouraging the girls to continue.

"But they're really, really great friends still."

"We all are," Brock put in. "Any of us will really do anything for each other. That's why we're here; I hate seeing Misty moping around because of Ash's lack of emotional maturity."

"I see," the woman said. "Well, you should be glad to know, we have a plan!"

Brock looked disbelievingly at her. "Already? We barely even—"

The man held up a hand. "Please, don't insult us," he said. "This is our living, and our expertise goes far beyond any other matchmaker. We sense these things."

"Okay…" May blinked.

"So what is it?" Dawn asked excitedly. "What's the plan?"

The woman gave a short laugh. "Well—"

"Hey Jessie, James!"

The two people behind the counter stiffened at the voice. Brock, May and Dawn, confused, glanced around the side, and upon seeing the short cat-like figure standing just behind the booth with a box in his arms immediately went on the defensive.

"Meowth?"

Hearing his name, Meowth turned to look at the source, dropping the box and staggering backwards. "Twerps!"

"You idiot!" the woman shrieked, rushing out of the shack and whacking the Pokémon. "What do you think you're doing? You blew our cover!"

"You told me ta get da rest of your disguises outta the balloon!" he defended. "How was I s'pposed to know dem kids would be here?"

She sighed, bringing the palm of her hand to her face. "I never get to finish the act, and I play it perfectly every time," she murmured to herself. Quickly she turned to the wide-eyed teenagers and took on a different stance. "No matter! This'll do just fine."

"What's going on here?" Brock asked, holding his arms stiff at his sides.

The woman laughed, tilting her head back. She then ripped off the disguise, revealing her long red hair and Rocket uniform. The trio of kids gasped in recognition, and again when her companion appeared in his own uniform.

"Listen, is that the gasp of unsuspecting twerps I hear?"

"It's speaking to me— uh… hmm."

Jessie froze, and turned to glare daggers at her partner. "James. What did you just stop for?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea," James replied, bringing a hand up to his chin in thought. "I don't think we've done the motto in a while without the Twerp being here."

"Team Rocket!" the teenagers screeched.

"Yes, yes, that's us!" Jessie huffed, upset she hadn't been allowed to finish.

Dawn jumped out in front of her friends, pointing a finger at the dastardly group. "What do you think you're doing here?" she asked.

"We heard about your little project," James informed, "and thought we could be of some assistance."

"Wait," May interjected, "you want to help us?"

Brock shrugged. "They've helped us before," he said. "Although," he added as an afterthought, "before, helping us benefitted them as well."

"Nonsense!" Jessie exclaimed. "We've been watching those little twerps for years, and even we've seen that spark of theirs! Of course we'd want to help."

Meowth nodded in agreement. "Dat's right!"

The oldest of the three kids stepped forward cautiously. "And you say you still want to help?"

"Of course!"

"And you already have a plan…" Brock trailed off in thought, occasionally risking glances at Team Rocket from time to time. They kept giving him these really creepy smiles, as if they thought that would somehow convince him to let them join up. After a moment, Brock spoke up again, "You're completely sincere about this?"

"Brock!" May whispered in disbelief.

Dawn grabbed a hold of his arm, as if trying to tug him away. "What are you doing?"

The villains smiles grew as Brock seemed to be coming—although careful and unsurely—over to their side. "Completely sincere," they replied in unison.

Brock took a deep breath. He would probably regret this later, but perhaps an idea out of the ever-scheming Team Rocket trio would work. They always seemed to have something up their sleeve and provided it didn't involve stealing Pikachu, their plans tended to at least be somewhat successful. He glanced down at May and Dawn, shrugging his shoulders. "I think we should… Maybe we should give them a chance."

"Brock," May said, "are you sure?"

"It's Team Rocket," Dawn emphasized.

"I know but maybe they can help," Brock said, glancing up at the trio. "Somehow…"

May sighed. "If you're sure…"

"We'll back you up all the way." Dawn smiled. "No need to worry."

Brock smiled at his friends, before straightening up and looking hard at Team Rocket. "We'll give you a chance." Team Rocket began to cheer. "But no funny business!" he continued. "We will be watching you."

They put their hands up in mock salute. "We won't try a thing."

"Alright," Brock sighed. "So what's the plan?"

A/N: I am so sorry. Whyyy did this chapter take me so long to write? I knew exactly what I wanted to put in there and how, but I just couldn't seem to put it to words. But even when I did get something, I had a million other very stressful things going on. I know, I know; I make way too many excuses. I don't even want to talk about it. It's crappy and depressing anyway, so it won't make anyone feel better, nor justify my lack of updates. Sigh…

What really frustrates me is that I really, really wanted to get this chap out early for you guys! The feedback last chapter was amazing (16 rev— WAHH?). Why are you all so nice to me? :'D I really, really don't deserve it—I don't deserve any of you. And I'm not trying to be modest; I really don't deserve it. Do you see how long it took to update?
Me: Oh yeah, guys! Update'll be coming real soon! *disappears off the face of the planet*
Then the just other day, I told a few people I'd update Friday. Gahh.

But anyway, I might as well just end my rambling here and let you all fire at will. Happy holidays to everyone! I hope they're great and cheerful with all your loved ones and lots of presents. ;D