(Watched The Rise of Darkrai and Zoroark: Master of Illusions yesterday and decided to finish writing this...on September 3rd-
I haven't really written Brock before, so I hope he's done okay.
I also love Ash & Brock fics, but I hardly read them for some reason. I just love Brock in general and he would do absolutely anything for our boy.)
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Ash couldn't sleep.
Normally it would probably be due to the stuff that happened with Lysander and Laminose City, or maybe thinking of battle strategies and training with his Pokémon, but no. It was about what happened before he left.
When Serena kissed him.
He just stood there and smiled, unsure on how to feel. He never had anyone kiss him before, but he also didn't want that either.
Ugh, this was confusing. Can he not think about this and go to sleep? It's such a minor thing to be worrying about at night. But...he got an idea.
He took out his phone and failed a number.
He answered on the first ring. "Ash? What is it?"
No "Go to sleep Ash, it's late." or "Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
He loved Brock, truly. It also helped that he had some younger siblings, so he was used to being woken up at night anyway.
"Um...this is probably kinda stupid, but-"
"Ash, there's nothing stupid-
"Serena kissed me."
"...Like on the cheek or a friend thing, right?"
"On the lips. Before she left for Hoenn. I...don't think that's a friend thing."
Ash wasn't sure about calling Brock now. Maybe he scared him off or something. Instead-
"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU ASH! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!"
He almost dropped his phone in surprise and immediately pulled it away from him. "What's incredible?"
"When's the wedding? Oh wait, that might be too soon. How about first date? Maybe meeting up with her at Kalos? You did the right thing calling me buddy. I have the best advice-"
"I didn't kiss back Brock. Was I supposed to?"
Silence on the other end of the line again. "You...didn't? How do you feel about her?"
"I don't know. Aren't you supposed to be happy after you get kissed by someone? I mean...yeah, we met when we were kids, but I was just happy to help her. And throughout this journey, she seemed to be wanting to get closer to me or something. It kinda freaked me out."
"...Okay." He said it slowly, like he was trying to process that information. "So you don't want to be with her...romantically? Like in a relationship? Like as boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"...I don't think I even want that, Brock. I mean, Bonnie was always trying to find a "keeper" for Clemont, whatever that means, but he didn't seem too happy about it. Until he did find someone, and then Bonnie wasn't happy."
"Ash, that's a bit different. Bonnie was probably worried that Clemont would be taken from her. She didn't actually want her brother to find a girlfriend in that instance."
"Oh."
"...What do you like, Ash?"
"My Pokémon, and battles, and hanging out with my friends!"
"And what about like-liking people?"
"...I don't know. I don't like that. I just wanna hang out with everyone and be friends with them, y'know?"
"Then there you go. While it kinda sucks I won't be your best man at your wedding-"
"My what?"
"-That's okay. You don't have to like people romantically, Ash. You can just like them platonically. They're still your friends after all. They'll understand if you decide to tell them."
"Right...thanks, Brock. I should probably tell Serena, then. But...what do I say? You've been dumped before, right?"
"Don't remind me..."
It might've costed them some sleep, but that was okay. Because afterwards, Ash would have the best sleep in a while.
For that night, at least.
