Work Text:
Brock was mixing food in the kitchen, being careful to select the right mixtures for the right type of Pokémon. Several bowls were already placed on the table, waiting to be filled with nourishing food that the preserve's Pokémon would surely enjoy. Every day, he would do the chores around the laboratory and help to take care of the Pokémon who lived here. It was another step toward achieving his dream of becoming the world's greatest breeder.
Over a month had passed since he had started working for Professor Ivy, alongside her assistants, at the Pokémon research lab on Valencia Island. It had been saddening to separate from his friends, Ash and Misty, but the most important thing was that he was enjoying himself here and working to achieve his dreams. Brock paused his stirring as he thought of them, wondering what they would be doing right now. The last he had heard of them was from Professor Ivy herself, after she went over to Shamouti Island. Ash had actually saved the world, an admirable feat indeed. It was too bad he couldn't have gone as well, but he had needed to take care of the Pokémon after all.
"Brock?" One of the triplet lab assistants had entered the kitchen. He looked up as she spoke his name. "Professor Ivy would like to speak to you. She's in her study, waiting for you."
"Okay. I'll go see her right now," Brock said, wiping his hands clean. He then untied his pink apron and hung it up before leaving the kitchen, wondering what it could be that Professor Ivy wanted to talk to him about. It couldn't be a problem with his work, he was too good at what he did for her to have any complaints.
Brock walked through the lab until he reached the door to Professor Ivy's office. He cautiously opened the door, looking into the room. It was a disorganized mess as usual, with books and papers scattered all over the place. The fact that the room wasn't that large to begin with didn't make the situation look any better.
"There you are, Brock." Professor Ivy was reclining on her chair, one slender leg lifted over the other. As Brock glanced at her, he noticed that she seemed to have missed one or two buttons on her top, revealing a fair portion of her bosom. He quickly looked up in embarrassment, not wanting to be caught staring. She must have been distracted and forgotten to button her top, he supposed. "Please, take a seat." Professor Ivy gestured at another chair.
"Is there something wrong, Professor Ivy?" Brock asked in concern as he sat on the chair. Judging by her tone, it didn't sound like there was a problem. She sounded friendly enough, but still, he couldn't help but wonder.
"No, there is nothing wrong. You are an excellent assistant and I am honored to have you working here at my lab. You are good at the cooking, the cleaning, everything and I don't know what we would do without you." Professor Ivy rose from the chair and walked around the desk toward him. She stopped and leaned against it, hiking her short skirt up her leg slightly. "You must be planning to stay here for quite a while."
"Well, actually, I hadn't thought about how long I would be staying," Brock said awkwardly, staring up into her half-lidded eyes as he wondered where this conversation was going. "I like it here after all and it's helping me get closer to my dream after all."
"I know. You can stay here as long as you want to, Brock. I appreciate having you here with us very much," Professor Ivy assured him. "Though, don't you sometimes feel a little bored? At your age, you must be craving some excitement in your life."
Brock was quite surprised by her words. Just what was she suggesting? "No, of course I don't find work boring. I'm enjoying it here." Could it be she was afraid of him leaving them? He wasn't planning on doing that anytime soon. What was she talking about when she mentioned excitement? Suddenly, he was feeling quite nervous. Something didn't seem right, but he wasn't sure what it was.
"Are you really that innocent?" Professor Ivy sounded like she was actually teasing him then. She moved closer to him, away from the desk, and leaned over him. "Being surrounded by women all day, are you really not just a little tempted?"
"What?" Brock exclaimed, appalled at the way she was speaking so frankly to him. How could she be talking to him in such a way? He had never once been tempted to even try flirting with his fellow assistants or his employer. "I would never even think of trying anything, Professor Ivy. I respect you all..." He froze at the warm touch of Professor Ivy's hand on his arm.
"Even I get a little bored sometimes," Professor Ivy murmured, her mouth twitching in a smirk. "I've never had a cute male assistant before."
Brock sharply stood up, knocking back the chair as he did so. "I've got to get back to preparing food for the Pokémon." Before she could object, he was already hurrying out of the room.
Just what had that all been about, Brock wondered as he rushed back to the kitchen, his face burning red. It certainly had seemed like Professor Ivy was coming onto him. The sheer thought of it was ludicrous, but he couldn't deny it. The way she was acting and speaking to him, that unbuttoned shirt revealing most of her large cleavage, how she had leaned in so closely to him, she had definitely been trying to flirt with him in some way.
Sure, he had come onto older women before as well as every Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny he had met on his travels, but that was completely different. This was supposed to be a strictly professional relationship between an employer and their employee. Even if he might have found Professor Ivy attractive on first sight, the thought of actually doing anything with her was simply unthinkable. A Pokémon professor should not be thinking of getting it on with their underage assistant.
To Brock, the very idea of doing something like that seemed sinful. He didn't want it at all. Despite his constant pursuit of women, he still had his limits and he wasn't about to break them anytime soon. There was no way he would even consider committing such a sin and he couldn't believe that Professor Ivy was suddenly acting this way toward him.
Brock had hoped there wouldn't be a repeat occurrence of that time in the office, but he was wrong. Professor Ivy continued to make advances on him and it wasn't until the time that she pinned him against a wall out of sight of anyone and kissed him, her hands sliding up his shirt and caressing his chest, that he realised he had to run away and never return. Brock didn't want the harassment or degradation to continue. Even achieving his dream wasn't worth going through the horror of his once kindly employer subjecting him to such shame.
He couldn't even stand to hear her name anymore. Just the mere mention of it brought the memories rushing back, of when Professor Ivy tried to lure him into her honeyed trap. She wouldn't have given up and Brock hardly dared to think what would have happened if he had stayed on Valencia Island after all.