((Warning, I do not own the characters from Pokemon. They belong to Gamefreak/Nintendo etc. I also do not own Kail Murkado, he is an OC that belongs to my boyfriend, however I do own Tori Winter. Enjoy!))
The distance from Verdanturf Town to Mauville City was a short bike ride away. Wally and Brendan sped their way down the paved roads until they reached the automatic glass doors. Thanks to the town's gym leader, Wattson, Mauville had been renovated from the ground up. It was now an indoor city with a few outdoor plazas that almost resembled a shopping mall, which made this place a mecca for tourists and adventurers alike.
Wally and Brendan parked their bikes and locked them up on a bike rack before heading down the long, wide hallways. Much like a shopping plaza, ambient music played throughout the halls as people walked back and forth from the different businesses. Brendan had no idea where this new diner was so he followed Wally as he held his hand.
"Hey... you never told me why you decided to leave Petalburg for your aunt and uncle's after the Pokemon contest. Did your parents do something really bad?" Brendan looked down at Wally curiously as he sighed and shook his head.
"I'd rather not talk about it, but I can't keep it in forever..." Wally stared down at the tile floors of the city as Brendan wrapped his arm around Wally's back.
"You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to." Wally then stopped in front of a business with the picture of a Snorlax eating a burger on it's sign.
"No... I do. You're the only person I feel comfortable telling this to." Wally faced Brendan as Brendan kept his arm around Wally. Brendan remained silent and went into listening mode. Wally's body started to shake as he began to talk.
"W.. well... I flew back home on Talonflame after I checked out of the Cove Lily Motel." Wally paused for a moment to clear his throat before speaking again. "And um... my parents were fighting, but it had become a usual thing for me at that point. What caught me off guard was that... my dad punched my mom. She fell to the ground and dad just went back to watching TV. I... I thought she was out, but she got up, told me that everything was fine, except it wasn't fine. I... never thought that my dad would ever hurt my mom." Wally sniffled and dug his head into Brendan's red and black shirt, which became wet with tears. Brendan ran his fingers through Wally's hair as he led him to a nearby bench. He set Wally down on his lap as he allowed for him to cuddle into his chest.
"Wally, can you please do yourself a huge favor and report this to the police?" Brendan paused in thought as he ran his fingers up and down Wally's back. "What if your mom never gets back up again? What if he hurts you? You don't deserve this at all. I.. it would kill me if you were somehow hurt, you know? You did the right thing though... leaving for Verdanturf." Brendan sighed and rested his head on top of Wally's as he sat and continued to soak in the information.
"Y.. you're right, I should. I'm sorry for filling you with my problems, especially after what happened to you yesterday. I... I feel so weak and powerless." Wally dropped his head but Brendan gripped Wally's chin and forced it back up again as he stared into Wally's blue-gray eyes.
"You are not weak. You have more strength and kindness in your finger than most people have in their entire body. You saw your mom get punched, yet you still flew to Fallarbor, picked me up from the Pokemon Center, made me chicken noodle soup, and took care of me. You showed me nothing but love and hospitality after the bullshit that you had to deal with earlier that day. That's true strength, and that's why I love you Wally. I wish I would've told you my feelings sooner." Wally smiled at Brendan's words and gave him a small peck on the lips as they continued to gaze at each other.
"I love you too Brendan. We make a really good team huh?" he laughed softly as he started to play with Brendan's hat.
"Yeah, we do." Brendan squeezed Wally tightly as he looked over at the entrance of the diner.
"Hey, we're both pretty upset. Want to go get some food? Food's the best medicine in my opinion." Wally giggled at Brendan's suggestion as he slowly got up from his lap.
"Yeah! Let's go." Brendan and Wally made their way inside the diner and immediately noticed that the place was jam packed. Brendan instinctively rushed to the first booth he saw and sat down with Wally following after him. Wally smiled happily and rested his head on Brendan's shoulder as he eyed the menu.
"I kind of feel like having a large chocolate shake... want to share?" Wally asked. Brendan played with Wally's hair as he flipped through his menu.
"Sure, I'd like that." Brendan sat back in the booth as he looked down at Wally.
"So, when are you going to challenge the league?" Brendan smirked as he rubbed his knuckle against Wally's head. Wally laughed softly as he held onto Brendan.
"Honestly? I don't think I will, you win most of our battles and even if I did win and become champion, I wouldn't want to steal your thunder. That's your title to keep, not mine." Brendan nodded in thought at Wally's answer.
"Okay... but I wouldn't feel like you stole my thunder. Champion or not, I'm still really proud of you." Brendan smiled and kissed Wally gently on the forehead. A waitress came by and took their drink order as Brendan and Wally curiously watched all the patrons in the restaurant. Wally gasped as he noticed a very pretty looking Ninetales next to a red headed young man in dark clothes. He didn't look that much older than Brendan.
"Oooo Brendan, look! That Ninetales looks so cool, you know.. we should go to Kanto or Johto sometime, check out the Pokemon there."
Brendan nodded as he eyed the young man and scratched his head from over his hat. "Yeah, that'd be pretty cool." The young man, who was wandering around the restaurant seemed to be looking for a table. He then stopped as a young woman around his age came out of the bathroom with a Weavile and started talking to him. They appeared to be companions since his Ninetales and her Weavile started to play with each other as their trainers were plotting their next move. Wally blinked as he eyed them more closely.
"I think they're trying to find a seat.. I know!" Before Brendan could open his mouth Wally got up and walked toward the couple. Sometimes Brendan thought that Wally was too outgoing for his own good, but it was something that Brendan didn't have, which is why Brendan hated the cameras and the attention he got as champion. Wally continued to talk to the couple and they happily followed behind him as he got back to their booth.
"Hey Brendan! This is Kail and Tori, could they sit down with us?" Brendan smiled weakly and motioned to the seats across from where Wally and Brendan were sitting.
"Yeah, sure go ahead." The couple sat across from them as Brendan carefully eyed the girl. She looked familiar but he couldn't pin point where she was from.
"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" The girl wasn't being very helpful, since she began to answer Brendan's question with a question.
"Hm... oh! Are you the champion? You look a lot like Champion Brendan." Brendan nodded.
"Good guess! Yeah, I'm a champion, but it's Steven who's mostly the public figure of the Hoenn Region, I mostly just stand in the background unless a challenger comes to challenge the league." The blonde haired, bright blue eyed girl smiled at Brendan's answer.
"Then you probably know me because I was the Mahogany Town gym leader in Pryce's place for awhile while he was out doing some field research, I trained under him when I was a child. I'm from Johto, so is Kail." Brendan looked on at his lunch guests in curiosity as the four ordered their food.
"You're from Johto?! That's super cool." Wally said as he climbed off the booth and walked up to Kail's Ninetales. "Can I pet him?"
"Oh! It's a her. Her name is Kirrin. Go ahead, she's very gentle." Wally smiled as he pet the fox-like pokemon. Kirrin let out a purr of enjoyment as Tori began to question Brendan.
"So I recognized Wally right away from Trainer Talk. The pictures taken of you and Wally were so cute, especially the ones from when you were little, is it true though?" Brendan blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Tori let out a laugh at Brendan's question.
"You know... the love stuff? You -and- him?" Tori smirked as Kail looked at his girlfriend and companion in disbelief.
"Tori!" Kail sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Brendan opened his mouth and then closed it.
"Um... well..." He didn't want to say something that Wally was uncomfortable with, but before he could speak, Wally blurted out at the couple.
"Yep! It's true. We just started dating, but we've had feelings for each other for a really long time." Wally climbed back into the booth and sat next to Brendan as the waitress brought everyone's food. The group ate and continued to have mindless chit chat about their past adventures and Pokemon training. Once they were finished, Kail gladly took the bill and paid for the meals. Brendan seemed to think that Kail was a nice guy, but something about him made Brendan want to squeeze his neck. He was courteous, confident, kind, and very good looking. Wally and him seemed to get along as well. Deep down inside, Brendan wished he was just as confident as Kail, especially in the public. Why did he have to be such a chicken? He sighed and followed Wally outside of the restaurant. Both pairs said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Wally raised an eyebrow at Brendan and glanced up at him.
"Brendan, everything okay?" Brendan clenched his fists and all of a sudden started to have a fit of anger.
"No... who does that Kail guy think he is?" Wally blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?" Brendan then started to rant about things that didn't make sense.
"What was he named after? Kale? The vegetable? And you know.. he looks just like his Ninetales, he might as well be a Ninetales. At least I'm a man, he's a Ninetales!" Wally blinked in astonishment before laughing hysterically.
"Brendan! You're silly... you don't have to be jealous at Kail, you have great qualities too." Brendan sighed and drooped his head as he rested his hand in Wally's.
"Sometimes I question that." Wally began to open his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the high pitched screams of a young girl. Both Brendan and Wally shot their heads up and ran towards the direction of the screams. When they found the girl, she was sitting on the floor crying with Kail and Tori right next to her. Wally gasped and knelt down to comfort the girl.
"Arceus, what happened here?" The girl sniffled and looked up at Wally.
"They took Muddles... she's my Mudkip. Two meanies stole her, said that her pink coloring was special." The girl burst into tears and threw her arms around Wally as Brendan bent down and started to talk.
"Where did they take Muddles?" The young girl lifted her hand and pointed toward the direction that was headed toward the exit to Route 118. Brendan began to dash in the direction the young girl pointed in with Tori following after him while Wally and Kail stayed behind with the girl. For a girl in high heels, Tori sure knew how to run. Eventually they caught up with the two thieves who were wearing full black body suits and masks. This caught Brendan off guard since they looked so much like the fossil thieves from Meteor Falls. Tori growled and stopped to pull off one of her shoes. Tori carefully aimed and threw the black shoe straight at the man's head who held the shiny Mudkip in tow. The black pump slammed right into the back of the man's head which made him stumble and fall over as the Mudkip broke free and ran behind Brendan and Tori.
His partner managed to get away but the man was too in shock to move as Brendan pinned him down. Tori looked down at the man as he attempted to struggle.
"You bitch!" The thief sneered at Tori but Tori gave him no reaction as she glared down at him. Brendan immediately recognized the man as one of the fossil thieves, so he decided to question him.
"Hey! What did you do to those fossils?" The man rolled his eyes.
"What are you talking about, punk?"
"You know what I'm talking about! The fossils you stole? Where did you take them?" The bandit continued to struggle before answering Brendan's question.
"I took em to my boss, and unfortunately for you, I have no idea where my boss is at the moment. You'll have to find out for yourself. You know... it's too bad, I would've killed you at Meteor Falls if I could, but the boss told me not to." Brendan blinked in confusion at the thief's words.
"Who in the hell is your boss?! Why does he even care about me?" The man shook his head.
"I don't know, I wish I knew!" Tori shook her head and sighed as she picked up the pink Mudkip who was called Muddles.
"We got the girl's Mudkip, we should just let him go." Brendan sighed "Fine.." Brendan stood up and released the man from his grasp. The man coughed as he stood up. "I know one thing though, you are one crazy asshole." and with that the man went through the exit to Route 118. Brendan followed Tori back to the group but after a few steps Tori turned her head.
"You knew that guy?" Brendan shrugged at Tori's question.
"Not really... he stole some fossils that belonged to Steven. I was there when it happened. I find it especially weird that his employer knows me." Tori nodded as they continued to walk.
"I don't know about you, but I'd investigate this. Those two thieves looked up to no good." Muddles let out a cry of happiness as he saw the small girl who was his owner.
Brendan simply shrugged as he watched Pokemon and trainer get reunited.
"You saved Muddles! Thank you!" The girl hugged both Tori and Brendan.
"How can I repay you?" Tori let out a laugh "Don't worry about it hun. Just try to be safe okay?" The girl giggled and nodded.
"Yes ma'm. You are all very nice! I need to go find my mommy now, see ya!" and with that the girl skipped along. Kail, Tori, Brendan, and Wally all said their goodbyes before splitting for the final time.
"Now do you think you're a bad person Brendan?" Wally asked. Brendan let out a chuckle and shrugged. "I don't know, let's just head back to Verdanturf Town, okay?" Wally nodded and squeezed Brendan's hand.
"Okay, sounds good."
((Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to write the 10th chapter, my dad unfortunately passed away, may he rest in peace. To make up for my absence though I wrote the 10th chapter -and- posted the first chapter of a new story which is called The Future of Destiny's Past. The protagonist is an OC who is the best friend of Gym Leader Bugsy from Johto Region. If you like Johto, Bugsy, or Celebi the legendary Pokemon, I think you should check it out. Has a bit of adventure, has a bit of romance! Otherwise, keep checking in. I'll continue to work on Becoming Brendan. :3 ))