It had been a few days now since the day Brennan paid his first visit to Gardevoir. He had gone back every day since then with a box of berries and the hope that he would see Gardevoir again.
Usually she would stay hid and he wouldn't be able to find her. She seemed like she only came out to see him if his Pokémon weren't around. He played it off as maybe her being shy? Either that or she was worried they would attack her after what Blaziken had done.
He and his Pokémon were currently on their way into the city to head to the mall. Brennan had bought two boxes of berries the previous day so he didn't have to worry about going into the mall right away to buy some.
The light, morning breeze felt amazing to Brennan. That was just another plus about making these trips back and forth everyday.
The trips seemed to be getting shorter and shorter, too, which was just another bonus.
Brennan's Pokémon didn't seem to mind the trips either. They were happy to be getting out of the apartment and doing something. Especially Mightyena. He in particular loved being outside. He was always so excited when they had to make a trip into the city.
The group finally made it into the city. It was already after ten, so the streets were pretty busy with people heading to work, or heading to the store, or just enjoying a day out. It was pretty relaxing taking a walk around town, especially on a nice, cool day like this.
They finally reached the mall not too long after. It was already pretty busy. Not like it mattered to Brennan though.
Brennan headed straight towards the spot where he first found Gardevoir, his Pokémon were following right behind him.
He stepped through the bush and into the forest beyond. The first thing he looked for was the berry box he had left the previous day. It was gone. He smiled.
He walked further into the greenery and looked around, hoping he'd spot Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir? It's Brennan... the trainer." Brennan called out. This is what he usually had to do to get her to come out.
When she didn't appear, he turned back to face his Pokémon.
"Fall back, guys, I'll be okay." Brennan said. His Pokémon, especially Blaziken, were unsure. Again, none of them were fans of letting their trainer go off without them. "This won't take long, I promise." He continued. His Pokémon looked around at each other, before Blaziken reluctantly nodded.
"Blaziken." Blaziken said. Brennan nodded.
"Trust me, I'll yell if I need you guys." Brennan assured. After, Blaziken and the rest of Brennan's Pokémon started heading back towards where they had entered at, leaving Brennan by himself.
After they were gone, Brennan looked around. He was hoping he'd have a better chance at Gardevoir coming out if she saw he was alone.
"Gardevoir? I have some berries if you-" Brennan was saying before being interrupted.
"-Gardevoir?" Gardevoir said curiously, causing Brennan to jump and almost drop the berries.
He turned around, his heart racing, and saw Gardevoir standing there.
"Jeez, Gardevoir, you scared the crap out of me." Brennan said, trying to relax.
"Voir." Gardevoir said, looking towards the ground.
"No, no, I'm not mad at you. Just... don't sneak up on my like that, okay?" Brennan said, as he took a few steps towards Gardevoir. She looked up at him and nodded.
She started looking him over, when she spotted the berries. An innocent, child-like smile formed on her face.
"Gardevoir?" She said curiously as she pointed at the box. Brennan smiled and nodded before letting out a light chuckle. He thought she was adorable.
"Yeah, I brought you some more because you've been enjoying them so much." He said. Gardevoir looked ecstatic about hearing the berries were for her.
"Gardevoir." She said happily. Brennan smiled as he extended out the box of berries to her.
"Here you go." He said. Gardevoir slowly walked towards him and took the box.
"Gardevoir. Garde." She said.
"You're welcome." Brennan replied. "Just glad I can help you out." He continued. Gardevoir nodded. She looked down at the berries before quickly pulling Brennan into a hug.
Before Brennan could do anything, Gardevoir was gone.
Brennan looked around in shock, not knowing what to say.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir watched with a slight blush on her face as she watched the trainer walk away. He made her happy. He was the first person she had had any contact with for a long time.
She looked down at the box of berries, now looking forward to getting back to her cave to eat some of them.
She started making her way back to the cave, but almost immediately, something felt off.
Gardevoir stopped and looked around. Nothing. She decided to just ignore it and get home, even though she still didn't feel right.
She had made it almost halfway home, when she heard a growl. A growl that she knew way too well. She immediately stopped and looked around.
She saw a pair of glowing eyes not even ten feet away from her. She slowly started backing away, but didn't make it far before she heard another growl behind her. She quickly shot around and saw an Ursaring standing behind her. He snickered when he saw how afraid she looked.
Gardevoir started backing up again, realizing that the Ursaring obviously wasn't alone. She looked around and saw two more besides the one in front of her.
She was trapped.
The three large Pokémon started surrounding her, licking their chops as they did.
The one Gardevoir presumed was the leader, pointed at the box of berries in her hand.
Gardevoir looked down at the box before looking back up and shaking her head. The trainer gave her those, she didn't want to give them up to a bunch of bullies.
Once she shook her head, the leading Ursaring let out a loud roar, shaking Gardevoir to her very core.
This was all way too familiar to her. This had happened before. Three Ursaring' surrounding her, wanting her food.
Gothitelle.
That one name made Gardevoir freeze. She stood there frozen, thinking about what happened the last time she saw Gothitelle. The only other thought that crossed her mind in that instance was the fact that she was about to suffer the same fate.
She was so scared and upset, she didn't even have it in her to fight back. She knew she couldn't over power all three of them. She was a goner, and she knew it.
•••
•••
•••
Brennan and his Pokémon hadn't made it too far away from the mall, when Brennan stopped walking.
He didn't know why, but for some reason, a major wave of sudden dread ran through him.
He placed his hand on his head and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down.
"Blaziken?" Blaziken asked. Brennan didn't reply.
Then, what weirded him out even more, was Gothitelle popped into his head. Why was he suddenly thinking about a Gothitelle. He had only ever seen one in his almost ten years as a trainer.
"Something's wrong." Brennan said. All of his Pokémon were now worried.
"Champ?" Machamp asked.
"I-I don't know. I-" Brennan was replying before stopping. He stood there in silence for several seconds, before going wide eyed. "Gardevoir." He continued before turning and running back towards the mall. His Pokémon quickly ran after him.
•••
•••
•••
As the three large Ursaring' surrounded Gardevoir, one of them let out a loud roar, causing her to let out a frightened whimper.
The Ursaring' were enjoying this.
Gardevoir closed her eyes tight, not wanting to see them anymore.
One of the Ursaring' bared its claws and smacked the box of berries right out of Gardevoir's hand. Gardevoir let out another frightened whimper as she continued to try and back away from them.
Even though she no longer had the berries, the Ursaring' were still not backing away from her. They didn't just want the berries, they wanted her blood.
The Ursaring' let out a sinister laugh as he raised he claws again to strike. A tear escaped Gardevoir's eye as she waited for the pain.
"Blaziken, fire punch, NOW!" A voice yelled.
Blaziken flew out of nowhere and blasted the Ursaring that was about to strike Gardevoir with a fire punch. The Ursaring flew backwards and crashed hard into a tree, snapping through it in the process.
Blaziken stood in front of Gardevoir, protecting her from the other two Ursaring'.
They both let out simultaneous roars as they got into battle stances and stared at Blaziken.
One of them was getting ready to strike, but was interrupted.
"Machamp, use dynamic punch!" Brennan exclaimed. Machamp quickly intercepted the Ursaling, and connected with a strong punch, sending him flying backwards.
The Ursaling pushed himself back onto his feet, and let out another roar. He was angry.
Machamp narrowed his eyes at him. This time, he didn't wait for Brennan's instructions. He ran and blasted the Ursaling with an even stronger dynamic punch, this time sending him flying backwards and crashing into two large trees. The Ursaling collapsed to the ground, out of it.
The last Ursaling that was left standing, never took his eyes off of Blaziken.
He was getting ready to slash at him with his claws, but a growl stopped him. The Ursaling looked over and saw Mightyena in a tail-up position, and his fangs bared.
Blaziken took advantage of the distraction and used blaze kick, kicking the Ursaling as hard as he could, sending him flying backwards and crashing hard into the first Ursaling he had taken out.
Blaziken walked over to the two downed Ursaling to make sure they were out of it. They were.
Brennan looked around at the mess, before his eyes finally landed on Gardevoir. She was leaned up against a tree, her hands covering her face. She was shaking.
"Gardevoir?" Brennan said, as he slowly approached the shaken up Pokémon.
When he got close enough, he slowly extended his hand and placed it on her arm. She quickly jerked away in fear.
"Gardevoir, it's Brennan, I'm not going to hurt you." Brennan said as he put his arms out in front of him to show her he meant no harm.
Gardevoir slowly removed her hands from her face, that's when Brennan saw she was crying.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Gardevoir wiped the tears off of her face before slowly nodding.
Gardevoir tried to calm herself down. This whole situation forced what happened to Gothitelle back into Gardevoir's mind. Sure she was scared. But she was crying because of the flashback playing over, and over again in her head.
"G-Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said in a low-toned voice.
"Of course. You're welcome." Brennan replied. Gardevoir looked past him at the Pokémon that were now staring at her.
"G-Gardevoir. Garde." She repeated. Blaziken and Machamp nodded.
Brennan glanced back at his Pokémon. He saw they were keeping their distance because they didn't want to scare Gardevoir away. But she hadn't run yet. Maybe she was warming up to them?
"Gardevoir, I know this may seem a little sudden, and you don't have to if you don't want to, but why don't you come stay with us? It's obviously not too safe out here, and maybe it would ease my worrying if I knew you were okay." Brennan said.
Gardevoir was caught off guard. He wanted her to come stay with him? And did he just say... he worries about her?
Gardevoir blushed a faint shade of pink as she bit her bottom lip.
"Like I said, I know it's kinda sudden but-" Brennan was saying before being interrupted.
"-V-Voir!" She blurted out, hiding her face in embarrassment almost immediately afterwards. "V-Voir." She repeated, this time more calm than before. Brennan smiled at her and nodded.
"Well, then it's settled then. Guys, you don't mind a guest joining us, do you?" He asked as he looked back at his Pokémon. They shook their heads. Mightyena actually looked kind of excited about it. "Cool, then lets get headed home." He continued with a smile as he looked back at Gardevoir.
Gardevoir gave a slightly nervous nod, before she started following the trainer and his Pokémon.
They made it to the clearing of the forest where Brennan would usually enter. His Pokémon exited first. Brennan was getting ready to follow suite, when he realized Gardevoir had stopped.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he looked at her.
"Gardevoir. Voir. Gardevoir." Gardevoir replied. Brennan could tell she looked scared.
His assumptions were true at least. He figured Gardevoir had probably never left the forest before.
He saw her looking around at all of the trainers' and their Pokémon as they walked past.
"Don't worry, Gardevoir, we aren't going to let anything happen to you." Brennan said as reassuring as he possibly could. He was being honest though. There is no way neither he nor his Pokémon were going to let something happen to Gardevoir after gaining her trust this much.
Brennan could see she was still nervous, so he got an idea. He slowly extended his hand out towards her.
Gardevoir looked down at it, before looking back up into his reassuring eyes.
"It'll be okay. Trust me." Brennan said softly. Gardevoir slowly nodded before grabbing hold of his hand. Brennan smiled.
Gardevoir started taking small steps out of the forest, until she was finally with the rest of the group.
"Lets go home." Brennan said, before he and his group of Pokémon started heading for home. Gardevoir stayed pretty close to him the whole way.
Sure, Brennan got some strange looks because he was walking through the city holding Gardevoir's hand, but he didn't care. Not one bit. All he cared about was making sure she wasn't scared about being around this many people.
Even after they got out of the city and onto the trail, Gardevoir still stayed pretty close to Brennan. She felt safe around him. Like what he was saying about not letting anyone hurt her was possible as long as she was with him. She believed him. She really did.