Brennan's walk into the city was just about as eventful as it usually was. He and his Pokemon remained silent most of the trip, none of them really having anything to say.
As they walked, Brennan did think about something, though. He still couldn't get over the fact that he somehow managed to feel Gardevoir's emotions. It was strange.
He knew she was a psychic type, but he had only known her just over a week, and she technically wasn't even his Pokemon, so how was he able to feel her emotions?
All he knew was it was definitely something he wanted to find out more about.
Brennan pushed his thoughts away for now, once he saw the city in the distance.
Slateport City. A city that was always packed with trainers' and their Pokémon. Some lived in the city, or just outside of it like himself, or some were on a journey, constantly traveling around to see new things, just like he and his Pokémon had previously been on.
Once the small group made it off of the trail and into the city, they headed straight towards the small supermarket that Brennan frequented for his shopping. It may not have been the nicest store in the city, but they sure did have the best prices.
And another nice thing about this particular supermarket was Brennan could have more than just one of his Pokémon out with him.
Brennan headed in, grabbed a cart, and headed towards the dairy products.
"Okay, Machamp, we need a loaf of bread and two cartons of eggs. Do you think you can get them and bring them back without crushing them this time?" Brennan asked, as he stopped and faced the four armed Pokémon.
"Champ." Machamp replied, as he nodded.
"Okay, I'm counting on you." Brennan said. Machamp nodded again, before heading off to get the items he was told to get.
"Mightyena, you can stay with me buddy." Brennan said, as he looked down at his other Pokémon, before patting him on the head. Mightyena's tail wagged happily as he did. Brennan got a small chuckle out of that. "Now, while Machamp is busy getting what he needs to get, we need to get a gallon of milk." He said, as he and Mightyena continued on their way to the dairy section.
•••
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•••
Machamp had made it to the bread section and grabbed a loaf. He grabbed the one he thought Brennan usually bought. He remembered the small baker guy with a rolling pin in his hand on the front of the bag next to the logo.
After he had the bread, he headed over to where the eggs were. Once he got there, he stood there looking through their surprising large selection, when someone got his attention.
"Look! Mommy, that Pokémon is shopping!" A little girl, no older than five, exclaimed, before letting out a giggle. Machamp looked over and saw the little girl staring at him, he gave her a polite smile and a wave with his upper left hand.
The mother of the little girl turned to him and looked him up and down.
"Now what kind of trainer lets their Pokémon wander around by themselves?" The mother asked in a snobby tone, before grabbing the cart her little girl was in and pushing it away. Machamp frowned.
Boy if he could speak English, there was definitely a few things he wanted to tell that women. He shook his head, before going back to what he had previously been doing.
Brennan wasn't a bad trainer, and Machamp didn't like when someone said something along the lines to make it seem like he was. It annoyed him.
Machamp finally found the eggs that Brennan had tasked him to get and grabbed two cartons like he was told. After he had the eggs and the bread, he headed over to the dairy section to hopefully find Brennan.
He had to be careful though, he was carrying some of the most fragile groceries you can buy, so he honestly didn't know why Brennan sent him to get those things in particular after what happened last time they went shopping.
After crushing four loafs of bread, and breaking eight cartons of eggs, Brennan finally realized that maybe he shouldn't task Machamp with getting those kinds of items, yet, here he was, again getting eggs and bread.
He was actually doing quite well, though. He kind of surprised himself.
He started to grow very relieved when he saw Brennan and Mightyena in the distance.
"Okay, Mightyena, cheese, milk, and yogurt, check. Next we need some lettuce." Brennan said, as he looked down at Mightyena.
He looked back up just in time to see Machamp approaching them with the eggs and bread. Brennan was relieved that he actually managed to get them in one trip this time.
Brennan sighed in relief as Machamp closed in on them.
"Good job, Machamp, one trip, that's a new record." Brennan said, a relieved smile on his face.
"Champ. Champ. Cha-aaammmmp!" Machamp was replying, before he tripped over a Treecko that was walking by.
Machamp fell to the floor, landing on the bread, flattening it in the process, and sent both cartons of eggs flying across the store and breaking open all over the floor, just a few feet away from Brennan.
Machamp pushed himself to his knees, as he listened to the angry Treecko berate him over not watching where he was going.
Brennan looked at the mess in front of him, before sighing and rubbing his face with his hands.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir, Blaziken, Roserade, and Sandslash were all still sitting around in the living room watching tv.
None of them had said anything since Brennan left. It was pure silence except for the tv.
Gardevoir didn't know what they were even watching. It was some sort of cartoon about a talking baby and his Pichu getting in some sort of predicament. They were already on their third episode since Brennan left.
Gardevoir wasn't even really paying attention to the show. She wanted to watch more of the models that she saw yesterday, but she didn't dare ask Blaziken for the remote.
She just didn't feel like he liked her too much.
He lay in the same sprawled out position on the couch with the remote resting on his stomach, as he stared at the tv.
Gardevoir glanced over at him, before quickly turning her gaze away. She didn't want him to catch her staring at him, who knew what kind of problems that would cause.
To Gardevoir, it honestly seemed like hours had passed already that Brennan had been gone. She just felt plain awkward sitting there without him.
He made her feel welcomed. It was quite comforting, especially considering how much had changed for her in the last day.
She wanted him to come back already.
Her mind started wondering if he was going to come back, but she quickly shook off that ridiculous question. Of course he's coming back, there's no reason why he wouldn't be.
Gardevoir slumped down into the chair and continued to stare at the tv. She needed to relax. She was worrying herself way too much.
Brennan would be back, she knew he would be, she could sense it.
•••
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•••
After Brennan helped a young worker at the store clean up the mess and made Machamp apologize to the young girl and her Treecko that he tripped over, Brennan finished gathering the rest of his groceries as quickly as he possibly could.
He wasn't mad at Machamp for what he had done, it was an accident and he knew that, it was just... something he didn't plan on happening.
As Brennan, Machamp, and Mightyena stood in line at the register, Brennan realized he had forgotten to grab Blaziken's cereal.
"Crap." He said quietly, getting Mightyena's attention. Machamp was too busy reading a magazine he had picked up to even notice Brennan had said anything. "I forgot to get Blaziken's cereal." He said, looking down at his curious looking Pokémon. "You two stay here, I have to go back and grab it. Dealing with a moody Blaziken is not something I want to do today." He said, before quickly walking off towards the cereal, leaving Machamp and Mightyena standing in line with the cart.
Mightyena looked up at Machamp, who was still immersed in his magazine.
Pokésports Illustrated, it was one of Machamp's favorite magazines and one of the main things he would look forward to when they went shopping.
Bored, Mightyena decided to look around to see what he could see. He started looking around, eyes landing on everything they could as he did.
As his eyes traveled the store, he spotted a display full of fudge-chocolate chip cookies. The mascot of the cookie brand a giant cartoon version of the cookie it was trying to sell, complete with arms, legs, eyes, and a large smile on his face, stood proudly on top of the large display.
Mightyena's pupils turned into hearts, as he was lifted up off of the ground and floated over to the display.
Once he was at the display, he stared up at the cookies, enamored by them.
Brennan wouldn't let him eat chocolate, which he was annoyed by. The one time he did get to taste it though, it made him sicker than he had ever been before. But still, it was delicious.
Mightyena finally broke out of his trance and returned to the floor. He needed to get some of those cookies.
He looked around to make sure no one was watching him, before looking back up at the display.
He knew if he stood up on his hind legs he could get a pack of them. Once he realized that, he started drooling at the thought of tasting the sweet sweet chocolate once again.
Brennan may not be happy with him about it, but it was going to be worth it.
Brennan finally found Blaziken's cereal and quickly returned to his cart. Once he got back, the first thing he noticed was the lack of Mightyena.
"Hey, Machamp, where's Mightyena?" Brennan asked.
"Champ." Machamp replied, as he shrugged, not bothering to look away from his magazine. This annoyed Brennan.
"Machamp! Where is Mightyena?!" Brennan asked again, this time yanking the magazine out of Machamp's hands as he did.
"Champ?!" Machamp exclaimed.
"Where is Mightyena?" Brennan asked a third time.
The annoyed Machamp was getting ready to reply, when he noticed Mightyena hop up onto his hind legs in front of a display.
"Champ." Machamp replied, as he pointed behind Brennan. Brennan quickly turned around and saw what Mightyena was getting ready to do, he went wide eyed.
Brennan dropped the magazine and took off over towards his misbehaving Pokémon.
"Mightyena! Stop!" Brennan exclaimed, but by the time he did, it was already too late.
Mightyena had jumped up onto his hind legs and leaned his weight against the flimsy cardboard display when he went in to grab a pack of the cookies.
He was able to get the cookies, but his weight caused the display to fall backwards, not only messing up the display, but spilling the masses amount of cookies all over the floor.
Brennan slid to a stop as he watched Mightyena pop up from the mess with a pack of cookies in his mouth.
He was both angry and embarrassed at this point. All of the people staring at him and more than likely talking about how bad of a trainer he was were giving him anxiety. It was awful.
•••
•••
•••
After the mess that Brennan had to deal with in the grocery store, he was finally able to get out of there.
He helped clean up the display, apologized profusely for the mess, and bought the cookies Mightyena snagged in his mouth.
They were on their way back through the city, none of them saying a word. Mightyena already knew that he made Brennan mad, and he didn't do that too often.
Machamp was always a help to bring when they needed to go shopping because for the most part he could carry most of their groceries by himself.
Brennan did stick a few of the more fragile things in his backpack, but for the most part, Machamp had everything else.
"I have to make another stop before we go home." Brennan said, finally breaking the silence.
Neither Mightyena nor Machamp questioned their trainer, instead, they followed in silence.
Brennan needed to make a run into the mall before they headed home. He wanted to surprise Gardevoir with a box of those berries she likes, considering she didn't get to enjoy the last box he bought her, to no fault of her own.
As they approached the parking lot of the mall, Brennan noticed two mean dressed in black headed into the opening of the woods where he would enter when he went to see Gardevoir.
They had some sort of logo on the back of their black jackets, but he was too far away to be able to tell what it was.
They looked shady, Brennan knew that for sure.
He watched them until they disappeared out of sight. He didn't know what they were up to, but he knew it wasn't good.
He finally managed to push them to the back of his mind once they made it to the entrance of the mall.
"Alright, I need to run in here and don't want to leave you two out here by yourselves. Mightyena, since Machamp has all of the groceries I'm going to put you back in your Poké ball until we get out there." Brennan said, Mightyena didn't like that idea too much and Brennan could tell. "Look at it as punishment for what you did in the store. Besides, we shouldn't be in there any longer than five minutes." He continued. Mightyena sadly nodded, looking down towards the ground in shame.
Brennan sighed before pulling Mightyena's Poké ball off of his belt. He patted him on the head, before returning him to his ball.
Brennan immediately felt bad for doing so. One thing he really hated doing was punishing his Pokémon. He didn't even like being mad at them.
They were his best friends. But sometimes they needed to learn from their mistakes. Brennan knew if he didn't punish them when they went too far, they would just keep doing it, and eventually they'd stop listening to him.
He never hit his Pokémon, and he never thought about doing so. His punishments consisted of no desert after dinner, no television, or returning them to their Poké ball for a certain amount of time.
After Brennan returned Mightyena, he looked at Machamp.
"Lets hurry." Brennan said. Machamp nodded.
After, Brennan led his grocery carrying Machamp through the mall to the same food stand that he had been buying the berries at.
The line was somewhat long, but not too bad. Brennan got the berries, stuck them in his bag, and was on his way in less than ten minutes.
As they were headed back towards the entrance, a women made a snarky remark to them.
"Having your Pokémon carry your bags for you? Horrible. What is he, your butler?" The women asked. Brennan frowned at her, Machamp did the same.
"Champ, Champ, Cham-" Machamp started, before Brennan put his hand up.
"-It's okay, Machamp." He assured his Pokémon, before looking back at the women. "No, he's not my butler, he wanted to help, and as far as being a horrible trainer, at least I care about my Pokémon enough to let them out of their balls. Can't say the same for you, aye." He continued, as he glanced down at the three Poké balls strapped to the women's belt.
The women gave him a nasty look, before continuing on her way. Brennan looked back at Machamp, a successful grin on his face.
"That's how you deal with a bully." Brennan said. Machamp smiled at him, before nodding.
After the incident, Brennan and Machamp headed out of the mall. The first thing Brennan did when they got outside was let Mightyena out of his Poké ball.
Once Mightyena was released, the trio headed for home.
Brennan was wondering how Gardevoir was. He was curios if she had been okay while he was gone.
He was hoping Blaziken hadn't said or done anything to her. He figured he didn't, but he was still worried.
They had been gone two hours now, that was longer than Brennan had expected to be gone.
After the relaxing, yet somehow worrisome walk, the group finally made it back to the apartment building.
Brennan was excited to get inside and get off of his feet.
It didn't take them long to make it to the door. Once they did, Brennan pulled his key out and walked inside.
He wasn't even inside the door all of the way, when Gardevoir tackled him into a hug. She caught him off guard, but a small smile made its way onto his face.
"*Chuckles* I missed you, too, Gardevoir." Brennan said as he hugged her back.
"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir said as she looked up at him.
"Yes, I'm okay." Brennan said as reassuringly as he could. "Besides a few minor incidents-" he was saying, before pausing as he looked back at Machamp and Mightyena. "-everything went great." He finished, looking back at Gardevoir.
"Blaziken. Blaziken?" Blaziken asked. Brennan nodded.
"Yes, I got your cereal." He replied, as he looked at him. "Oh, I got you something, too." He continued as he looked back at Gardevoir.
Gardevoir was curious at first, as a smile grew on her face.
Brennan pulled his backpack off and opened it up, before pulling the box of berries out of it.
"Made an extra trip when we were in the city." He said as he extended the berries out to her.
Gardevoir quickly hugged him again, before taking the berries.
"Gardevoir. Garde." Gardevoir thanked him. Brennan smiled and nodded.
"You're welcome. Enjoy them." He replied.
"Champ?" Machamp asked, getting Brennan's attention. Brennan turned around and saw Machamp still standing in the doorway with his arms full of groceries.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Head to the kitchen, I'll be right behind you." Brennan said. Machamp nodded as he walked past Brennan and towards the kitchen. "I'm going to help him put the groceries away. Relax and enjoy your berries, I'll be back out here in a few minutes." He said, looking back at Gardevoir.
She smiled and nodded, before making her way back over to the recliner with her berries and retaking her seat.
Brennan smiled at her, before heading into the kitchen. He was relived that she was starting to get more comfortable.
Gardevoir was relived that Brennan had made it back. She knew he would, but she just couldn't help but worry.
But he was back and that's all that mattered. Now it was time for her to relax and enjoy her berries.