A Brief Moment in Time

I fall to the ground in despair.

Brock immediately kneels beside me. “Rose?! Are you alright?!”

“Brock.” I whisper. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?”

“That I couldn’t save you…” what… what’s going… on…

“She fainted! Ash! Get out some water-”

@---}-----

*Rose.*

Hmm? Who’s there?

*Rose Thorn you have a pure heart, the purest I have seen in centuries. You must stop them.*

Stop who?

*You must stop Team Rocket from destroying our world.*

But… I can’t…

*Rose, I know what you have gone through. That is not your own words. Those are words Team Rocket has planted in you so you would never rebel.*

What do I need to do? Please, tell me.

*Go to the City. After that, you will know what to do.*

But-

*Never stop believing in me.*

@---}-----

“I think she’s waking up!”

“Rose?! Are you okay?”

My eyes open suddenly.

“What? What’s going on?” I look down at my soggy clothes. “And why am I wet?”

“We had to empty a water jug on you so you would wake up.” replies Ash.

Although I would have loved to stay in Brock’s arms, I knew at that moment I could not. I shakily stand on my feet.

“Rose? Are you feeling alright?” It was Jesse. I give her an odd look. Has she changed? Why does she trust me after just meeting me moments ago?

“I’m… alright… I think.”

“You shouldn’t be standing right now. What if you faint again?” asks Brock.

“I won’t. I feel fine.” Except for… that odd dream. Was it a dream? I give him a look that tells him that something just happened.

He’s the only one I can trust right now.

“Ash. We need to stop Team Rocket.”

“But how?”

I smile. “By doing what they don't expect. But, Jesse? James? Meowth?”

They look at me.

“Will you help us?”

“No!” says Jesse.

“No way no how!” echoes James.

My face gives a questioned look at her. “What? Why not?”

“If you hadn’t been listening earlier, they want to kill us!” rants Meowth.

“I heard that. But why are you refusing my help?”

“Your HELP?!”

I give a half smile. “Think about it. You want to be in the safest place you can be, somewhere Team Rocket won’t expect you to hide. And that would be right under their noses.”

They look at each other blankly for a moment.

“Oddly enough that makes since.” says James.

“And if you help us defeat them, there’s going to be a huge reward.” I add. Knowing them they won’t be able to resist such a thought.

“Cash!”

“Mullah!”

“Dough!”

“That’s right!” I’m silent for several minutes. I know what the real reward is, but I won’t tell them. “Will you help us?”

“You bet!” they chime in unison.

That was easier than I thought.

“Rose, how do you plan to take them by surprise exactly?” asks Ash.

I smile wide. “By doing what us Rockets do best.”

@---}-----

“THAT’S YOUR PLAN?!”

“Yea, that’s it.” I didn’t expect Ash to take it so hard.

“How’s it going to work?! Especially when part of the plan involves those three?!”

“I resent that!” says Meowth.

“It’ll work.” I say with assurance. “Do you have a better plan?” I ask hopefully. My plan stunk, but it was the only one we had.

He shuffled his feet. “No…”

“Then don’t argue.”

“We could make a better plan, one that could possibly save us from getting killed, if we thought long enough-”

“But that’s time we don’t have, Ash.”

“Rose is right Ash. If we’re going to make a move now is the time.” says Brock.

After a moment he nods. “Let’s do it.”

“Alright!”

@---}-----

We’ve been walking for several hours to Ecruteak City, which was in between us and Goldenrod City.

Team Rocket decided to walk with us. There was no since in taking the Meowth-head balloon ahead of us, and the entire group couldn’t fit, so they decided to join us.

Everyone had been talking for almost the entire way, like they knew each other for a long time, which they do. But me, I was quiet.

I thought about everything. About this adventure, meeting Ash, Misty, Brock, Jesse, James, Meowth, and what would have happened if I hadn’t met Celebi. Even if it was just for a brief moment in time, it had changed my life completely.

Then my mind wandered to… Brock.

I shake my head to myself.

Of all people why did it have to be Brock?

I had heard stories about Ash, his Pikachu, Misty, and Brock ever since I was a little girl. How, no matter what, they always beat the bad guys and that true friendship and love conquered their worst fears and solved any problem.

Brock was a strong man that never wanted to hurt Pokemon, loved them for what they were, and was sensitive to other peoples feelings .

The girls in my hometown absolutely loved to hear heroic stories about him. They thought that, next to Ash, he was the perfect man to meet and marry. He had gone into hiding when Team Rocket took over and no one has seen or heard of him since.

Now, the irony of it all, I find out that he would settle for just about anyone that was a female, like anyone would do.

Does that mean he never feels go enough to just go for one woman? Or does it mean that, at least right now in his life, he’s just plain girl crazy?

When I first met him I would have thought the later, but now. Now I just don’t know what to think.

“Rose?” I look for the face that matched the voice that called my name. Brock, of course. “Are you alright? You’ve been quiet.”

“No I’m, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yea.”

“Rose, I was wondering…” he trailed off. Oh God what now? “You’re going to go back, aren’t you. To your own time.”

I look down at the path in front of me. I seriously haven’t thought about it. “I don’t know.”

“Well, in case I can’t tell you later, I’ll always remember you.”

As what? As a friend?

“Brock, please don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

I look at him, eye to eye. “Don’t make it harder than it already is.” I fasten my pace and come up beside Misty.

I just don’t want to think about it… not now…

________________________________________________________________________

Rose signing on.

Hi! It’s me! Thought you got rid of me, didn’t ya? Well think again buster! I’m just here to tell you that the next part is kinda long because, just like part 5, it has a song in it. But don’t worry, I won’t turn this story into a musical. That would just be an insult to my intelligence, and to Pokemon for that matter. And I still need to, to ‘tweak’ it a little (Rose smiles knowingly). Don’t worry! It’ll be great, I promise. And for those who hadn’t noticed, the title of the story is in this part. I liked it, so I named it that. But enough chit chat. I’ll see you later.

Rose signing off.