House Call

The Gyarados was sick again. I thought the one thing I knew about them was that they're mean as heck, but he just hid in the bottom of the pool. Daisy came in while I was still staring at him.

"Is he still down there?"

I nodded. "He'll come up to eat, but..."

"But he won't eat much," she finished. "I think we should call that old friend of yours, the pokemon food expert."

"Brock," I said, turning a bit so Daisy couldn't see my expression.

"Right, Brock," she said. "He's back at his gym too, right? Shouldn't be hard

to find him." She walked out.

I sat there on the side of the pool, thinking. Was this what it had come down to, after such a huge time had passed? I would finally have to contact Brock over a sick Gyarados? Well, I wasn't going to let a Pokemon die because I was too stuck up. But I told Daisy to make the call.

Brock came the next day.

I was sitting by the pool again in a bathing suit and a wrap with my hair down. I couldn't help watching Brock for any signs of blushing or stammering. But even if I had had time for make-up that would have been too much to expect.

Brock looked the same as always. He finally had some decent clothes, but that was it. Like his father, he would probably remain ageless.

He came and sat down by me, giving my hand a squeeze.

"It's good to see you!" he said. He wasn't going to ask me why it had taken me so long to get in touch with him, and that was just as well.

I started talking about the Gyarados. We had captured it last year, and it seemed like any other... but it wasn't doing well in captivity. That didn't make sense, it was a pokemon after all.

Brock thought for a minute.

"I'm not sure I have any suggestions right now. I want to go home and do some research. I should be able to come back in a few days with some food."

I got up to walk him out, but he stood in front of me. "Really, Misty, how have you been?" he asked.

"I've been OK," I said.

"I guess you were pretty upset when Ash started that gym without you," he continued.

"No... I didn't want to get involved in another gym. I wanted to come back here."

"But you and Ash had been together for years. I mean, even I used to wonder what was going on with you two..."

That got to me. "Yeah, I used to wonder, Ash probably used to wonder, but that wasn't how it worked out. Neither one of us is upset about it, OK?"

Brock shrugged and looked embarrassed.

"Look, Brock, I used to wonder about me and you, too, for all the good it ever did me."

He looked so shocked I tried to make light of it.

"Well, hey, I thought I was at least as cute as Nurse Joy."

He continued to look shocked. I began to realize how stupid I had been to say anything. I walked off into the corridor. He shouted after me but I waved him off.

"I'll see you in a few days, Brock," I choked out. I ran to my room and slammed the door.

After a while I started to cry. I had managed to hide my feelings for years, why couldn't I have done it for a few more minutes?

Brock tried to call me several times but I had my sisters tell him I wasn't around. I'd have to see him when he came back about the Gyarados though; I couldn't keep hiding.

Finally we had our meeting. I refused to dress up. I just walked into the room, sat down, and said, "So what do you have to say about the Gyarados?"

"I need to talk to you, Misty..."

I cut him off. "Talk about the Gyarados first."

He looked angry, but said, "Fine. I think your Gyarados is lonely."

"Does that mean we have to let him go? I can't get another Gyarados."

"Plenty of people have a Gyarados. You can let him swim around with some of your other Pokemon," Brock answered.

"Won't he attack them?"

"At first, probably. Make sure they're strong, and give him some supervision. I left some food with your sisters too, he ought to like that better."

I nodded. I really wanted to leave then. But I knew Brock had some kind of pity speech he wanted to give and I was going to have to hear it. I sat down and said, "Well, what else?"

Brock said, "I just want to know why you never said anything to me. Please just tell me that."

"What would have been the point? It's easy to tell when you like a girl, and you didn't like me."

"It's easy to tell when I'm acting stupid. That's not always the same as what I feel."

"What's that supposed to mean?

"Misty, You were very young when I first met you. Then, later, after I came back... I knew I cared about you in a different way then. But somehow I managed to keep from letting you know. You intimidated me somehow."

"Because I had such a bad temper?"

"No, it's just that in other ways you were so mature... you were the only one of us who thought beyond the next Pokemon challenge most of the time. You were the one most set up to have a life, and I didn't see why you'd want me in it."

"You never acted around me like you did around, well, just about every other girl I can think of." I said. This wasn't going the way I thought it would.

"I was so weird around girls back then... It's too late to change that now. But with you, I was so sure I didn't have a chance, and I didn't want to make you so uncomfortable that one of us would have to leave."

"I guess in the end I didn't get such a big life," I shrugged, looking around the gym. I was still confused; I didn't know what Brock wanted me to say.

"You will though, once you make up your mind. You'll end up wherever you want to be, while I'm still battling ten-year-olds and failing to get a date."

That made me laugh. "Don't ask me, except in your goofier moments I was never sure why all those girls rejected you."

Brock reached out then and took my hand.

"It's... it's too late for us now, isn't it," he said softly.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. And I think battling ten-year-olds is not such a terrible life."

I reached up and kissed him. Suddenly he looked very happy. I smiled too, and I knew it would be all right.