Nelson and Simon had returned to The Scavenger's headquarters. They were currently walking down the decently lit hallway on their way to their bosses office. Simon hadn't been able to wipe his ridiculous grin off of his face the whole way back, and it was pissing Nelson off.
"You better not go in the bosses office with that stupid fucking grin on your face." Nelson said with his usual harsh, gruff tone. Simon huffed in response. He was going to enjoy this all he could, no matter what Nelson said. If it wasn't for his plan, they wouldn't have possession of the Gardevoir their boss wanted. And he was enjoying that fact.
The duo walked until they finally got to the large, double black door at the end of the hallway. On the door were two giant, gold cursive letters. A "G" and an "T." They were Team Scavenge's Bosses initials.
The duo stopped in front of the door, before Simon finally knocked on it. Several seconds of silence followed afterwards, before they were finally given a response.
"You may enter." A deep, and very serious voice replied back. Both men knew exactly who the voice belonged to. They stood in place for several seconds, before Nelson finally opened the large doors so he and Simon could enter.
The walked in the dimly lit room, that was only lit by the glow of a few computer monitors. They slowly walked towards the desk on the opposite side of the room, where their boss sat with the back of his chair facing them.
"Did you two succeed this time, or did you fail me again?" The man asked, growing more harsh with his words at the latter part.
"We caught the Gardevoir, sir." Nelson said, before nudging Simon and motioning for the Poké ball that currently held Gardevoir captive inside. Simon de-attached the Poké ball from his belt, and gently sat it down on the desk in front of them.
The ball sat on the desk for several seconds, before the boss slowly started turning his chair around to face the two men. They both grew slightly nervous, but tried to maintain their confident postures. Once the man was fully facing the two men, he stared at them in silence for several seconds, before finally looking down at the Poké ball that rested on his desk.
"This is the Gardevoir?" The man asked. Simon nodded.
"Yes, sir." he replied. The intimidating man that had asked the question was making his confident posture slightly faultier.
"Show me." The boss said, looking back up at the two men. Simon and Nelson stared at him for several seconds, before looking down at the ball. "*Chuckle* I don't know what the hell the two of you are waiting for, but open the damn ball and prove to me that you to aren't the failures that I think you are!" He yelled, as he slammed his hands down the desk. Both Simon and Nelson slightly jumped, startled by his sudden raise in voice.
"Go get the Ursaring'." Nelson ordered, not looking at Simon as he did.
"No, hold on-" Simon started protesting, before quickly being cut off.
"-Go get the damn Ursaring'!" Nelson yelled, finally looking over at him. The look on his face was proof enough that he wasn't screwing around at that moment. Simon finally huffed, before heading back to the office door so he could recover the three large bear Pokémon that they had recruited on their hunt for Gardevoir.
Gavin, the boss, locked his eyes onto Nelson. Nelson looked up at him, growing very uneasy with the hard expression he was being given.
"The Ursaring' are just in case she gets frisky." Nelson said, figuring his boss was wondering why he sent Simon to recover the Pokémon. He didn't get a response, as Gavin's hard, intimidating expression remained staring holes through him.
Simon finally returned to the room with the three Ursaring' in tow. Nelson looked over at him, an impatient look had grown on his face as he did. Simon stared at him in silence not saying a thing in response.
Nelson finally turned back to face his boss, who's expression remained the same. He grabbed the Poké ball off of the desk, before taking a few steps back.
"Be ready to grab her if she tries something." Nelson said in a serious tone, as he looked around at the Ursaring'. They nodded in response. "Alright, sir, here she is." He continued, as he looked back towards the man sitting behind the desk. He was clearly growing impatient with the two men.
Without saying another word, Nelson pressed the center of the ball, and tossed it towards the middle of room. A bright red flash was seen, as Gardevoir emerged from the ball. She immediately charged a Shadow Ball and sent it flying towards one of the Ursaring. It slid across the floor, before crashing hard into one of the walls.
"Gar-de-Voir!" Gardevoir yelled, as she went to charge another Shadow Ball. Before she could, one of the Ursaring quickly ran up behind her and locked her in a tight bear hug. "V-Voir!" She yelled, as her eyes started glowing a bright blue color. Before she could finish what she was about to do, the third Ursaring ran up and smacked her in the head with his paw. He nicked her with his claw, leaving a noticeable scratch mark on her left cheek. Gardevoir looked around, dazed by the sudden blow. He went to swing at her again, but was stopped.
"Enough." Gavin spoke up, getting the large bear's attention. He stood up and slowly walked around the desk with something clutched in his hand. Nelson stepped out of the way as he made his way around the desk.
Gavin walked over and stopped in front of her. He stared at the dazed Pokémon as she looked up at him. Her vision was blurry, but she could barley make out his form in front of her. A small snicker escaped his still closed lips as he continued to stare at her. Several seconds of silence passed, before he finally raised what he had in his hands and clasped it around her neck. Simon and Nelson watched in silence as he did.
Gavin took a few steps back, not taking his eyes off of Gardevoir.
"Release her." Gavin ordered the Ursaring. He held onto her for several more seconds, before finally releasing his tight grasp. Gardevoir fell down onto her hands and knees, looking up at Gavin as she did. She glared at him before pushing herself back up.
"Gar-de-vooooirrrr!" Gardevoir yelled, as she once again went to use Shadow Ball. But as she was getting ready to charge it, a strong electric shock was sent coursing through her body. She let out a loud cry, before dropping back down to the floor. Nelson and Simon watched in surprise. But Gavin-Gavin's hard expression finally curled into a smirk, as he stared down at the weakened Pokémon.
Gardevoir once again tried pushing herself back up. But as she weakly tried, Gavin very slowly shook his head.
"I wouldn't try it again, sweetheart. Unless... you want another one of those shocks." He said. Gardevoir's weak glare remained on her face, as she stared at the man. "That collar you're wearing was designed by Team Scavenge's scientists', Luciana and Carter. Very bright, young workers of mine. It's only a prototype, but I wanted you to be my test subject. That collar can read your energy level, and can sense when you're about to use one of those moves of yours. And to prevent any sort of... accident from happening, it gives you a nice, powerful electric shock." He explained. This was the first Simon and Nelson had heard of the shock collar. So generally, they were both surprised by it.
Gavin stepped back towards Gardevoir, and crouched down in front of her. Gardevoir's glare never left her face. She tried backing up away from him, but quickly realized she was still at the feet of one of the Ursaring.
Gavin's smirk remained, as he continued to eye Gardevoir.
"Now, regardless of whether you want to believe it or not, it's a pleasure to finally have you here. I've been waiting to meet you for a very long time." Gavin said. Gardevoir stayed silent as he spoke. His tone of voice sent chills down her spine. "You may not like it here at first, but trust me, you'll get use to it. Eventually." He continued. He stared at her for several more seconds, before finally pushing himself back up to his feet.
One he was up, he turned to face Nelson and Simon. They stood in silence as he approached them.
"I really thought that you two were going to let me down again. But, you surprised me. You really did. Even though the simple task you were given would have been very hard to mess up to begin with." Gavin started, as he stared the two men down. They both remained in their nervous states as he did. Gavin's intimidating presence would have been hard for anyone to not be nervous around, especially when he is staring you down. "Since the two of you managed to get the job done, I'll keep my end of our deal. Janitorial duty for the two of you is done, and I will keep you in mind when I need reliable workers to complete a task for me." He continued. Simon and Nelson couldn't help but slightly smile as he said this. They were finally getting recognition from their boss that they were reliable members of Team Scavenge.
"Thank you, sir. You won't regret your decision." Simon said. Gavin let out a light huff, as his usual hard expression returned to his face.
"You better hope I don't." He said, causing the little confidence Simon and Nelson had built up after his announcement to vanish as if it were never even there. "Now, take her to the lab. Carter has been ordered to do a little blood work on her. I want to see just how much Pokémon she actually has in her." He continued, as he looked back towards Gardevoir.
"Yes, sir." Simon and Nelson said in unison. Nelson motioned for the Ursaring that was standing behind Gardevoir to get her up, so that's what he did. The Ursaring roughly grabbed Gardevoir and pulled her back up. She tried to fight away from him, but with how weak she was, and how strong the Ursaring was, it didn't happen.
"I don't want any more harm done to her. Carter has his orders, and you two have yours. If she gets out of hand, the collar will put her in her place." Gavin said, looking back over to Simon and Nelson. The two men nodded in response to their boss. "Good. Deliver her to Carter and let him know that I will be down there shortly." He continued. The two men nodded once again, before they headed towards the door. The three Ursaring followed, one of which was carrying Gardevoir with his tight hold.
Gavin watched as the two men and the three Ursaring left with Gardevoir. A small, sinister grin formed on his face as they exited his office. He had finally gotten what he had been after for so long. And he couldn't be happier about it.
•••
•••
•••
Brennan's group had now been walking for hours, as they headed towards The Scavenger's "hideout." Brennan had shown no signs of slowing down. He told himself he wasn't going to until Gardevoir was back with him.
The others on the other hand had grown very tired from their long walk so far. They had all started falling behind. All except Luna. She was tired, but she wanted to find Gardevoir just like Brennan did.
"Brennan, maybe we should stop and rest for a few minutes." Luna said, as she slightly quickened her pace to catch up to him. Brennan shook his head.
"No." He replied plainly, and without hesitation. Luna looked back towards the tiring group behind them, before speaking again.
"Brennan, look at them. They need a break. We've been walking for six and a half hours now." Luna said. Brennan still refused to stop.
"I'm not stopping. Not until I get Gardevoir back." He said. Luna knew he was dead set and rescuing Gardevoir, and nothing was going to stop him from doing so. But she also knew they still had a long walk ahead of them, and they weren't going to make it the whole way without any breaks. There's no way they could do that.
"Brennan-" Luna started, before quickly being cut off.
"-Luna, I've already told you I'm not stopping." Brennan interrupted. He finally looked over at her as he did. She could see nothing but worry and determination in his eyes. Luna stared at him for several seconds, trying to think of how to word what she was going to say next.
"Please, just... listen to me." Luna said, as she stepped in front of Brennan and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stop. "We all want to find Gardevoir and get her back. We do. But we still have a long walk before we get to The Scavenger's hideout. We've already been walking for six hours straight, and if we don't stop and rest, there is no way we're going to make it there. And if we don't make it there, we won't be able to help Gardevoir. And none of us want that." She continued. Brennan stared at her for several seconds, before looking back to the others. They were all either sitting down resting, or standing with their hands resting on their knees as they tried to catch their breath. He looked back at Luna before replying.
"Okay, fine." Brennan started. Luna smiled as he did. "You guys can stay behind and rest, but I'm going to keep going." He continued. Luna's smiled quickly turned into a frown as he did.
"Brennan!-" She started, before quickly being cut off.
"Luna! I'm not stopping! I'm going to get Gardevoir back! She's-she's probably scared and-and who knows what those people could be doing to her! She needs help! We can't stop! We just... can't. I won't." Brennan said. His frustration that he started speaking with, quickly turned to sadness towards the end. Luna stared at him for several seconds in silence, before finally sighing.
"How about this. We go until sundown, then we stop and rest for a few hours, and start fresh again at sunrise. It'll be impossible to know where we're going in the dark anyways." Luna suggested. Brennan stared at her silence, before looking away. He knew there was still a few hours of daylight left, and they could make it a good distance closer to the hideout than they currently were now if they walked until sundown. But Brennan, he didn't want to stop. He wanted to keep going. He wanted to risk walking in the dark. He was willing to do whatever it took to get to Gardevoir.
Brennan looked back towards the tired group behind him, before turning his attention back to Luna. They were willing to come all this way with him to help him get Gardevoir back, but he wasn't willing to stop and let them rest after hours of walking. It made him feel worse than he already did.
"Fine... we go until sundown, and them we find camp for the night and rest." Brennan finally said. A small relived smile formed on Luna's face, as she nodded.
"Is that okay with you guys?" She asked, as she looked over towards the others.
"H-how much longer until sundown?" Lane asked tiredly, as he looked up at his girlfriend.
"About three hours." Luna replied. The whole group groaned in response.
"Look, if we're going to stop in a couple of hours I want to get in as much progress before sundown as we can. So lets get moving." Brennan said. Luna nodded, before stepping out of his way. Without anymore hesitation, Brennan continued on his way. Luna looked back towards the others and motioned them to follow, before she did the same. The group let out another combined groan, before following behind.
•••
•••
•••
After another three hours of nonstop walking, the sun finally started setting, to the relief of everyone in the group besides Brennan. They walked for several minutes, before Luna finally spoke up.
"The sun's going to be down in a few minutes, we should probably start looking for a place to camp out for tonight." She spoke to Brennan. The others let out relived sighs as she spoke. Brennan continued walking for several seconds, before sighing.
"Yeah. Yeah, alright." He replied very reluctantly. He didn't want to stop. But he had made a deal with the others and knew he had to honor it. Luna placed a hand on his shoulder, before nodding. She started looking around, before spotting a small clearing just off of the route they had been following.
"Okay. Come on. Maybe there's a nice place through there." She said, pointing to the small clearing. Brennan looked at it and sighed again. The thought of Gardevoir standing there like the first time he first saw her ran through his mind. It made him want to break his word to the others and keep walking. "Brennan, are you coming?" Luna asked, breaking him from his thoughts. Brennan had zoned out, without him even knowing. The others had already entered through the clearing, and were now waiting for him and Luna. He finally nodded, before following her through.
They walked through the forest for around a minute and a half, before finally stumbling upon a small space, just big enough for them to set up camp.
"This should do." Luna said.
"Finally!" Lane said, as he dropped his bag and sat down. He let a loud moan, once he finally hit the grass. He took his shoes off and started rubbing his sore feet.
Frankie followed suit, although he left his shoes on. The closer and closer they got to Team Scavenger's hideout, the more and more nervous he grew. He seemed to have something on his mind, and he hadn't been able to get rid of the sick feeling in his stomach.
Brennan and Luna sat their bags down, before sitting down like the others had. Brennan watched as Mightyena dropped down into the grass and dozed off within seconds. Sleeping wasn't going to be that easy for him, and he knew it.
As the sun went down, Luna pulled out the lantern she had brought with her. She sat it up in the middle of the group and lit it up. It was a pretty bright lantern. It gave them as much light as a fire would have. The group sat around, some of which sat against the body of a fallen tree that Machamp had found nearby.
As small chatter filled the otherwise quiet circle, Brennan sat in silence, staring off into the darkness of the forest. The only thing that had remained on his mind all day was Gardevoir. He was worried about her-scared even. He didn't even know if she was okay, or what Team Scavenge was even doing to her. Those kind of thoughts made him want to jump up and run as fast as he could the rest of the way to their hideout. He closed his eyes tight and took a deep breath to try and ease his mind a little. But he knew damn well that that wasn't going to happen until Gardevoir was back with him.
Luna, who had been in a somewhat random conversation with Lane, looked over at Brennan and saw him sitting with his worried expression remaining on his face. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to open his eyes and look at her.
"Hey, Gardevoir is fine. I know she is. She's strong, and can take care of herself." Luna said, trying to ease some of Brennan's worry. "Try and get some sleep. We'll start again first thing in the morning." She continued. Brennan huffed.
"Sleep. Yeah, right." He said, before turning his attention back to the darkness of the forest. Luna stared at him with a very sympathetic look. She knew he was worried, and he had every right to be. And she also knew that there was nothing she was going to be able to say to get him to calm down just a little bit so he could relax for a few hours.
She let out a little sigh of her own, before finally looking away from Brennan. She looked around at the group of scattered Pokémon... and trainers'. Almost all of them had dozed off already. They had brought a couple of sleeping bags, but not enough to fit everyone.
She stood up and grabbed her bag, de-attracting the sleeping bag from it. She walked over to Brennan and stuck it out in front of him. He looked at it, before looking up at her.
"You didn't bring one. Maybe if you lie down, you'll be able to get comfortable." Luna said. Brennan shook his head.
"No thanks. Give it to one of the others." He replied. Now it was Luna's turn to shake her head.
"No, Brennan. You need to try and get some sleep. The others are already asleep, so there's no point in waking them up." She said. Brennan still didn't reach for it. Luna sighed, before deciding she was just going to spread it out for him in case he changed his mind. Brennan watched her as she did. Once it was set up, she looked back at him. "It's there. You need to get a couple of hours of sleep." She said. Brennan sat in silence as he turned his attention back to the sleeping bag. He just sat there staring at it.
Luna decided to leave him be for now, as she went around and sat up the other two sleeping bags they had brought. One for Frankie, and one for her and Lane to squeeze into. Once they were ready, and she had managed to wake the two boys up just enough so they could get in them and go back to sleep. She walked over to the lantern to turn it out. She saw Brennan still sitting in the same spot he had been sitting in since they stopped. She really did feel bad for him. She sighed, before dimming the light. She didn't want Brennan to be left sitting in the complete blackness by himself.
Brennan continued to sit staring ahead. He wasn't paying attention to anything around him. So he didn't even notice when Luna dimmed the lantern and crawled into her sleeping bag with Lane. He now sat awake, alone with nothing but his thoughts.
He sat, and sat, and sat, not even paying attention to how much time had passed. He finally got tired of staring into the darkness, so he started looking around at all of his sleeping friends. Mightyena was nearby curled up in a ball like he usually slept. He was always one to stick by Brennan when something was wrong. Brennan reached over and gently stroked his head a couple of times. Mightyena slightly stirred, but didn't wake up.
Roserade and Sandslash were sharing a small blanket that Luna had brought in her backpack. It wasn't a sleeping bag, but the two of them did look comfortable in it. Machamp sat propped up against the tree body he had found earlier. He had all four of his arms crossed as he slept sitting up. And finally Blaziken sat propped up against a tree with his arm draped around Delphox as she snuggled into his fur. Those two definitely cared about each other, and Brennan knew that they would do anything they had to to protect each other. That's when his mind traveled back to Gardevoir.
He cared about her. He really did. And he would do anything he had to to get her back. And he knew that if he was in Gardevoir's place... she would do anything she had to to help him. He shook his head and quickly climbed to his feet. He couldn't just sit there anymore. He was wasting time. He needed to get to Gardevoir and help her. Not leave her trapped so he could get some sleep.
He opened his backpack and pulled out an old notebook he kept with him when he was traveling. He opened it up and grabbed the cheap pen that rested, pinned between the pages. He quickly jotted something down, before ripping the page out. He folded it up and walked over to Luna's backpack. He slid the paper into one of the pouches on the outside, making sure it stuck out enough for her to see it.
After that was set, he looked around at his sleeping friends. He walked over to the sleeping bag that Luna had laid out for him. He grabbed it, unzipped it, and walked over to Machamp. He draped it over him, deciding since he didn't have fur, he probably needed it the most.
After that, he grabbed Luna's lantern, before heading back through the forest towards the route, leaving his friends to sleep. He wasn't wasting anymore time. He was going to get Gardevoir back.