After finding the group of knocked out Team Scavenge members, it didn't take the Lane and company much longer to get to the team's hideout. They stopped the car when they got close and abandoned it, figuring it would be safer and smarter if they went the rest of the way on foot.
They made their way into the woods on the side of the trail and walked until they finally saw what they were sure was the front entrance of the hideout. The group stood in the mixture of trees and bushes staring at the large, steel doors in the distance.
"Frankie, that's it?" Lane asked not looking over at the man as he asked the question. Frankie stood there very nervously staring at the doors. He was shaking—sweating. He knew they shouldn't be there right now, but they were. His continued silence finally got Lane to look over at him. "Hey, Frankie, this is the place, right?" He said, sounding slightly more annoyed this time. Frankie slowly nodded as he continued to stare ahead. Once he stopped nodding, he looked over at the other man.
"Y-yeah. Yeah, this is it." He replied in a very unenthusiastic tone. Lane nodded before looking over at his girlfriend.
"Brennan has to be here by now." Luna said before Lane could speak. Lane looked off to the side before looking back at her.
"He may be. Frankie and I are going to go in. I want you to wait out here with the others." Lane ordered. The others didn't look too thrilled with his plan.
"There is no way I'm waiting out here! No way!" Luna said, slightly raising her voice in annoyance as she did. This prompted Lane to shush her just to make sure they didn't get caught before they could even get inside.
"Luna, this is dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt." Lane said.
"If you knew it was dangerous, then why did you let me come? Not that you would have been able to stop me from coming either way." Luna said. Lane honestly didn't really have an answer for that one. He eventually decided to sigh before responding.
"I know I wouldn't have. You care too much about Brennan to not help him. But by staying out here and watching his Pokémon, helping him is what you're going to be doing." Lane tried to convince her, but she still wasn't having any of it.
"Lane, I'm not staying out here while you two go in there. It's not happening." Luna said. Her stubbornness was really starting to show at that point. But Lane couldn't be mad at her for it. She was determined to help Brennan, and he knew that. It was honestly one of the things he loved about his girlfriend the most.
"Champ. Champ. Machamp." Machamp spoke up, shaking his head as he did. He wasn't going to just sit there and do nothing either. Not while his trainer was in trouble.
"Machamp, please..." Lane pleaded with the Pokémon. But no matter how much he did, it wasn't changing his mind either. Mightyena, Sandslash, and Roserade agreed with him too. They knew they couldn't not do anything. They NEEDED to help too. Lane let out another sigh as he looked around at the group. "So I guess all of you have your minds made up already, aye?" He said curiously. Luna nodded.
"We have." She replied. Lane closed his eyes and shook his head before letting out a defeated sigh.
"Look, if you guys are all going to come we HAVE to be careful. If we get caught there's no telling what they'll do to us. That means we stay low, we stay quiet, and we stay together. Got it?" Lane asked sternly as he looked around at the group. They all nodded. "Okay. Then let's go." He said. Just as they were getting ready to move... they were stopped.
"You're not going nowhere." A voice said. Lane froze as he felt something cold press up against his back. He knew exactly what it was... a gun. He slowly looked to the side seeing that everyone else was now in that same situation.
"You assholes just made the biggest mistake of your lives coming here." Another man said. This one sounded more gruff than the last.
Luna slowly looked over towards Lane. When they locked eyes, Lane could tell she was trying to keep calm on the outside, but they had been together long enough for him to be able to tell that she was terrified on the inside.
"Get movin', asshole. Boss ain't gonna be happy with your sneakin' around." The man said, before grabbing Lane's shoulder and shoving him forward. Lane stumbled out of the tree line and back onto the trail before tripping and falling on his knees into the dirt.
"Lane!" Luna called in panic as she watched her boyfriend being manhandled.
"Shut up!" The man who was holding her yelled loudly behind her. Lane quickly pushed himself back up before looking back at his girlfriend.
"I'm okay. I'm okay. Just... listen to them." Lane said. He didn't want to, but at that moment, he didn't want to see anyone else get hurt. The man who shoved him huffed before grabbing his shirt and yanking him back to his feet.
"Smart move, dumbass." He said before he continued shoving him towards the entrance of the base. The others were forced to move behind him. Delphox looked like she wanted to burn their attackers. She didn't like how they were treating the others, especially not her trainer, Luna.
Frankie, who still hadn't said anything up until that point was visibly shaking. His heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour. At one point he considered trying to run, but that thought went away just as fast as it came when he realized he wouldn't be able to outrun a speeding bullet. This wasn't going to end well, and he knew it.
As they neared the large, metal doors to the hideout, the man with his gun pressed to Lane's back let go of his shirt and pulled the walkie-talkie off of his belt.
"Marcus, get the door." The man started before a small smirk formed on his face. "And bring back up. Got some snoopers that boss may want to meet." He continued before forcing the barrel of his gun further into Lane's back. He swallowed back the lump in his throat as he again tried to keep calm. He could feel the outline of the cold, metal barrel being forced into his back through his shirt. Small beads of sweat ran down his face at the realization that this was easily the scariest situation he had ever been in before.
The man only seemed to press the gun deeper into his back as they waited for whomever he had just called for.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir was still sitting on the bed being forced to corporate with Gavin, now even more worn out and in pain than before. He had already shocked her twice because she didn't answer his questions at a speed he deemed appropriate.
"Now, Gardevoir, I am aware that some psychic type Pokémon can communicate telepathically, are you able to do that?" Gavin asked. Gardevoir stared at Gavin with her tired, half-lidded glare. She slowly shook her head as she forced herself to sit back against the wall to refrain from falling over. Gavin gave her an almost unnoticeable nod as he stared at her.
"That's unfortunate. It really is. You would have definitely been 'The Miracle Pokémon', if you were able to. I mean, along with those other special assets of yours." He said. Gardevoir knew what he was talking about, and she was disgusted by it. "Speaking of that, that brings me to my next question—a pretty important one actually. Mating season happens to every Pokémon every year. So... over the past nineteen years, how have YOUR mating seasons been? Do you have any children you have neglected to inform me about?" He asked. Again, Gardevoir was disgusted by this question. She didn't want to talk about this kind of thing. Especially not with Gavin of all people. Even though she hadn't done anything remotely close to that with another Pokémon, so she obviously didn't have kids.
She continued staring ahead at Gavin with her tired, angry glare before finally shaking her head. "Voir..." she replied in a muttered tone. Gavin hummed at her answer.
"No children actually works in my favor. You're obviously capable of mating, but what I need an answer to is if you're capable of breeding. Again, your uniqueness really brings up a lot of questions that I intend on getting answers to." He said. He sounded so sure that he was going to get those answers. Gardevoir wished so badly that she could just slap that stupid mocking smirk off of it his face. But she knew if she tried to, he would more than likely shock her until she died. And she didn't want his face to be the last thing she saw. "So, just to let you know ahead of time, regardless of whether you want to or not, breeding is something you WILL be doing. As I've already told you, I have questions I WILL be getting the answers to." He continued. Gardevoir kept her glare on him for several seconds before finally looking away. Gavin chuckled as she did. He was getting ready to speak again when there was a knock on the door. His smirk turned into an annoyed frown as they were interrupted.
"What?!" Gavin called. The door slightly opened and another unnamed member of Team Scavenge peaked his head into the room.
"Sir, we have an urgent situation." The man said. Gavin stared at him before looking back at Gardevoir. He approached the door so he could find out what the ''urgent'' situation was. Gardevoir tiredly glanced over at the two men, but couldn't hear what they were conversing about.
"Take them to the Main Lab. Keep them guarded at all time." Gardevoir heard Gavin order. Hearing it made her heart rate pick up. Who was he talking about?
"Yes, sir." The other man replied at his orders. As he walked off, Gavin looked back towards Gardevoir, who quickly looked away.
"It seems we have to cut this conversation short, Gardevoir. There is an urgent matter I need to attend to. Don't think this is it, though. We still have plenty to talk about." He said as a small smirk once again formed on his face. Gardevoir again refused to look at him. Gavin's smirk remained as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Gardevoir was left alone once again. But now, the only thing she could think about was what she had overheard Gavin say. "Take THEM to the main lab. Keep THEM guarded at all times." Sure, he could have been talking about anyone, or anything. More innocent Pokémon they had captured, or even some kind of other group they were working with, but she knew he could have also been talking about Brennan and his Pokémon. What if they had come to rescue her, but were caught? What if Gavin and his cronies did something to them—hurt them, or... worse. Panic started to set in. She wanted Brennan to come for her, but she didn't want him risking his, or his Pokémon's life's doing so. Even if Gavin planned to let her live, she would have never been able to forgive herself if something happened to Brennan because of her.
She hugged her knees to her chest as she leaned up against the wall next to the bed. She closed her eyes tight, as she mentally told herself over and over again that Brennan was okay. It was the only thing she could do. She was helpless at this point. Trapped... even though she didn't want to be. She was left alone with the thought that something was going to happen to Brennan. And that thought scared her more than anything Gavin or any of his cronies could do to her.
•••
•••
•••
Brennan and Blaziken were very carefully sneaking their way through Team Scavenge's hideout. They really didn't know where they were going, but Brennan was hoping it would end up leading them to Gardevoir. They had had several close calls already, but had managed to avoid being spotted. Blaziken's height wasn't doing too much to help them either.
As they slowly made their way down the long corridor, Brennan couldn't help but worry about just what state Gardevoir was going to be in when they found her. He was starting to worry that maybe they were too late. That feeling alone made him feel sick to his stomach. As Blaziken followed closely behind his trainer, he could tell that he was starting to zone out again, and in this situation, that wasn't a good idea. He lightly tapped Brennan's shoulder, getting him to look back towards him. Deciding to keep quiet, Brennan gave him a nod in response.
He needed to stay focused. Blaziken was going to help him do that. Of course there was a lot to worry about, but with what he and Blaziken were currently in the middle of doing, losing focus is the last thing they needed. They would surely get caught if that happened. And they didn't want, nor need that.
As they continued down the corridor, they were eventually led to a crossroads. There were three different hallways they could have gone down, and they had no idea which one to pick. Brennan figured they only had one chance to pick the right one, so he couldn't mess up. As Brennan was getting ready to decide, he was interrupted by multiple loud footsteps running down the hallway to the right of them. He quickly looked at Blaziken before looking around the surrounding area as panic began to sat in. They needed to find somewhere to hide, and quick. That's when he took notice to a door to the right of them. He quickly grabbed the knob hoping it would be unlocked... and to his relief it was. He grabbed Blaziken's arm and pulled him into the room before quickly and quietly pulling the door closed.
Brennan pressed his ear to the door seeing if he could hear anything from the other side. The footsteps persisted past the door, running in the direction he and Blaziken had just come from. Once they passed, Brennan leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and sighed. As he tried to relax for just a minute, Blaziken lit up a small flame the give the bitch black, closet sized room a little light. And a closet was really all it was. There were shelves with some cleaning supplies, and a few mops resting inside of a decent sized bucket in the corner. That's it. But closet or not, he was just happy it had been unlocked for them to hide in.
He took another deep breath before looking back at his Pokémon. "You ready to move?" He asked. Blaziken nodded. After, Brennan very slowly turned the handle on the door and pushed it open just enough for him to be able to peak back out into the corridor. The halls were once again empty, which was a good thing. At least Brennan thought it was.
He pushed the door open as quietly as possible allowing he and Blaziken to squeeze back out into the hallway. He closed the door behind him before looking around again. But again, he was stumped on which way to go. Their hideout may not have seemed like much on the outside, but it was actually quite large inside. Every wall in the corridor was a bland, bleak white color. It looked pretty off considering the floor was just smoother over rock. He was confused as to why they would bother installing a cheap looking wall, but not bother with the floor. Either way, he didn't care. But with how similar everything looked, it just made it even harder for him to decide which way to go.
He started growing very frustrated once again as he thought. He didn't want to make the wrong choice and let Gardevoir down. He wanted to find her. No. He NEEDED to find her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, turning every little bit of focus he had on finding Gardevoir. Scenes started playing back in his mind. The first moment he met Gardevoir in the clearing. How shy she looked to be around him. He and his Pokémon going back to save her from that pack of Ursaring'. Asking her to come back with them, and her agreeing to. How cute and innocent she looked when she tried to use a fork to eat breakfast. Their moment by the water fountain... staring into her big, beautiful crimson eyes. That's when he got a feeling. He could feel Gardevoir.
"Right." Brennan spoke softly, as he reopened his eyes. "We go right." He repeated. Blaziken replied with a single nod even though his trainer didn't even look back at him when he spoke. Brennan took the lead down the right hallway with Blaziken keeping close behind him. They kept their backs to the wall as they very carefully made their way down the hallway.
There were plenty of doors. Thick, metal dark brown ones. They had small windows on them. They reminded Brennan of doors that the classrooms had at school. The first couple of rooms didn't house anything too special. But as they made their way further and further down the hallway... what they saw in the rooms got worse and worse. There were cages... and they had Pokémon trapped inside of them. They looked worn, abused, tired, beaten... it was a horrid sight to say the least. Blaziken's breathing picked up, Brennan could feel it hitting the back of his neck. He looked back at his Pokémon, small tears were swelling up in his eyes. They were tears of anger, sadness... he wanted to help them, and Brennan knew it.
"Blaziken..." Brennan said getting his Pokémon's attention. He shook his head for just a second at him. Blaziken stared at him for several seconds, before looking back into one of the small windows on the door. He watched as a young Skitty tried to fight its way out of the grasp it was currently in. The small Pokémon fought to break free, but he couldn't. As it's attempt proved futile, it let out a loud, pained cry as a large needle pierced its skin. Blaziken balled his fists as more tears of anger forced their way out of his eyes. He wanted to so badly break through the door and light up the two men responsible for harming that poor, innocent Pokémon.
Brennan was as equally angered by what he had just witnessed. But he knew there was nothing they could do about it. It hurt him when the realization sunk in. He wanted to help these Pokémon—free them. But he couldn't. He couldn't risk getting caught at that moment. He needed to find Gardevoir. "I'm sorry. We have to keep moving." He forced himself to say. He knew Blaziken wasn't going to like it, but he also knew he would understand. He had to. This time the Pokémon didn't even look back at his trainer, he just nodded in response. He kept his eyes locked onto the poor Skitty that he could do nothing to help at that moment. He finally forced himself to look away as he continued to follow his Brennan down the long hallway.
They walked growing even more angry and disgusted with what they continued to see in those rooms. It was pretty unbearable at that point. Brennan didn't understand how someone could be so I cruel—so... emotionless to the point they could torture poor, innocent Pokémon. He feared that he would hear Gardevoir cry out in pain—that they would find her being treated just like these other Pokémon. Brennan knew at that point, if it came to it, he WOULD kill somebody with his bare hands. But, once they neared the end of the hallway and Brennan realized there was still no sign of Gardevoir, a small wave of relief ran over him even though he knew it shouldn't have. Just because she wasn't in one of those rooms in particular didn't mean she wasn't in danger.
They didn't realize there was a left turn at the end of the hallway leading to a shorter corridor until they reached the end of the one they had just barely managed to make through. With his back pressed against the wall, Brennan peaked around the corner to see if he could see anything before they attempted to go down it. There was a man standing at the end. He was talking to another man that was hanging halfway out the door. He didn't know what they were talking about though. He wasn't close enough to be able to hear them.
"Shut up and keep moving!" Someone yelled getting Brennan to quickly look back towards where the noise came from. "Shit..." he muttered to himself, panicked once again. He knew if he and Blaziken stayed in the position they were in they would surely get caught. But with the Team Scavenge member standing in the other hallway, they couldn't go that way.
Brennan quickly peaked around the corner again and saw the Team Scavenge member making his way towards where they were. He quickly tried to open the door behind him, but it was locked. They had no where to go. They were trapped. Blaziken saw the panic his trainer was now in, and he wanted to help. Besides, with his built up anger and frustration towards the team, he needed to relieve some of his anger. As the Team Scavenge member rounded the corner, Blaziken nailed him right in the face with a fist, knocking him out cold. Brennan was left somewhat stunned by his Pokémon's actions. He watched as the now unconscious team member hit the ground with a thud.
He quickly shook off being stunned realizing they needed to get moving. "Help me. Quick." He ordered Blaziken as he grabbed one of the downed members legs. Blaziken listened and grabbed the other as they dragged him back into the hallway he had just come from and out of view of whomever was coming.
"Hell! I knew that idiot was useless. Take them to the main lab. I'm sure that's where boss is goin' to want them anyway." The man continued to yell. Brennan could easily tell that this guy was angry.
"Sure thing, Donnie." Another voice said. Brennan figured "Donnie" must have been who was yelling. He slowly peaked around the corner again just as Donnie turned to start making his way down the hallway. The main thing he noticed was him sticking what looked like a pistol in his belt. He moved back before quickly looking at Blaziken. They were in even more trouble now. In another panicked move, Brennan once again grabbed the handle to the closest door to him and twisted it hoping that it open. And unlike the previous one, this one did. He didn't have time to celebrate, though. He and Blaziken quickly grabbed ahold of the unconscious Team Scavenge member and dragged him into the room, before closing the door behind them. They made it just in time too, because not long after they closed the door, they heard footsteps pass by.
Brennan took another deep breath before finally turning around to see what was in the room they had just entered. The first thing he noticed was it was a lot larger than the closet they had hid in before. The second thing he noticed was the fact that they weren't alone...
"Hey! Who the hell are you guys!" A man with spikey, frosted hair exclaimed as he hopped out of the chair he had been sitting in. He quickly reached for something on his belt, and knowing what that other guy had, Brennan was sure he knew what it was. Blaziken was quick to leap across the room and grab the guy by his shirt collar, but that didn't stop him from continuing to mess with his belt. Brennan quickly ran over to him and tried to fight whatever he had finally been able to get out of his hands. It wasn't hard to do, but it only got worse when he realized it was just a walkie-talkie. "Help! Help!" The man started yelling.
"Shut up!" Brennan quietly exclaimed, but the man refused. That's when Blaziken used all of his force to slam the man backwards into the wall, knocking him out cold. The man fell limp in his arms. Brennan looked at his Pokémon wanting to thank him for the quick thinking, but he didn't have a chance to.
"If either one of you move, I will blow your head off of your shoulders." A cold, serious voice said from behind, causing both Brennan and Blaziken to freeze. "Drop him." The voice ordered. Blaziken listened, and let the unconscious Team Scavenge member slide down the wall and back into the dirty old blue chair he had been sitting in. The owner of the voice looked down at his feet taking notice of the first Team Scavenge member that felt Blaziken's wrath. He huffed. "Figures," he said to himself, clearly unamused by the fact that "idiot", as he referred to him earlier, was dumb enough to let his guard down and be taken out.
Brennan and Blaziken were now with their backs against the wall. There was nothing neither one of them could do. Not with a gun pointed at them. But even with a gun pointed at him, Brennan still couldn't stop thinking about Gardevoir. He had really just messed this up. He made a dumb mistake and gotten them caught for it. And now not only was Blaziken going to have to pay for his mistake, but Gardevoir was too.
"What's going on in here?" Another voice asked, getting the man with the gun to look back towards the door. Standing in the doorway was none other than Gavin.
"Was on my way to find you, sir. Caught a group snooping around outside. Then I found these two. Must've broken in." The man with the gun said. Gavin looked at him, before looking down towards the knocked out Team Scavenge member on the floor.
"Ah. I see the two of you have taken it upon yourselves to not only break in to my headquarters, but to also take out my men. How very... rude of you to do." Gavin spoke. His tone was very... chilling, and intimidating. "I want to know why the two of you felt the need to be so... intrusive, and pull me away from the meeting I was currently having?" He questioned. His voice still sounded somewhat calm. It just made things even more unnerving for Brennan and Blaziken.
"You kidnapped my Pokémon, and I want her back." Brennan answered without hesitation. They were busted. He really didn't feel like there was any reason to hide why they were actually there. His answer immediately made a small smirk form on Gavin's face.
"We did now, aye? I don't recall any ''kidnappings'' taking place recently." He said. This caused Brennan to angrily turn around to face the man, ignoring the fact that he still had a gun pointed at him.
"Hey, asshole! I told you not to move!" Donnie yelled stepping towards Brennan with his finger ready to pull the trigger.
"No, no. It's fine, Donnie. He's smart enough not to try something dumb. At least... I hope he is." Gavin said, not looking the least bit worried by Brennan's very obvious anger. Donnie glanced back at Gavin, but didn't hold eye contact too long before focusing back on Brennan. Brennan didn't even acknowledge Donnie, his eyes were one-hundred percent locked on Gavin, who looked just as relaxed as ever.
"I don't know what kind of games you guys are playing, but I want MY Pokémon back. I know she's here. Once I have her, we'll be on our way and you'll never have to see us again." Brennan said. Blaziken turned around and looked at his trainer. He knew he was serious about what he just said. The only thing Blaziken could think about was all of those Pokémon that were trapped. They were just supposed to leave them and act like they didn't see what they did? Gavin's amuses expression remained on his face. He clearly wasn't taking anything Brennan said seriously.
"Well, I apologize kid. I haven't seen your Pokémon. But if I do, I'll be sure to let... her know you stopped by." He scoffed. This angered Brennan. He balled his fists as his frustrations grew. Blaziken glanced down and noticed this. He looked back towards Gavin growing annoyed himself by the mocking smirk that had remained on his face. He knew Brennan was frustrated and angry, and he knew he was only growing more frustrated and angry. He also knew that it would eventually get to a point where he would do something stupid that would ultimately get one, or both of them killed. Blaziken sighed mentally knowing that something was going to end up happening regardless. It was a dangerous situation they were currently, and his top priority at this particular moment was making sure Brennan got out of it alive. So in a very risky and on the spot move, Blaziken decided to try something—something that may, or may not get him killed. It was risky, but it was a risk he had to take for his trainer.
He noticed that Donnie had taken a very more short steps towards Brennan. This left him just close enough for him to wing it. In a quick move that none of the three humans expected, Blaziken quickly shot forward and landed a hard Flame Punch right on Donnie's right hand. "AH!" He cried out at the now burning pain in his hand. The gun was sent flying off to the side, where he accidentally pulled the trigger. Thankfully the bullet was too far off to the side to hit Brennan. The move left him stunned long enough for Blaziken to kick him in the gut as hard as he could, sending him crashing backwards into the stone wall. He dropped the gun on his way down to the floor, and it slid a few feet away from him. Brennan immediately took advantage of the distraction, charging towards Gavin and knocking him out of the way. Blaziken followed suit and the two took off back into the hallway and in the direction they had originally come from. Their cover had been blown. They weren't even trying to be quiet about it anymore, their loud foot steps as they raced across the old rock ground proved that.
Gavin's amused smile had finally been wiped off of his face. It was now replaced with one of pure anger. He was angry, but he also knew Brennan and Blaziken weren't going to make it far. The gunshot was sure to have been heard around the headquarters. They just set themselves up, and he knew it. He pushed himself back to his feet and looked over at Donnie, who was angrily trying to shake the pain out of his hand.
"Go make sure those two make it to the rest of them. There's something I have to go get." He said. Donnie looked at him, before reaching for his gun and climbing back to his feet. As he went to walk past Gavin, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't kill them. I have something else planned for them." He continued. Gavin wasn't happy with the orders he had just been given. There was nothing he wanted more at that moment than to put both Brennan and Blaziken down. But regardless of whether he wanted to do it, or not, he nodded in response to the orders he had been given, before continuing his way out of the room. Gavin watched him disappear back into the hall way, before his amused smirk returned to his face.
•••
•••
•••
Gardevoir had heard the loud gunshot from down the hall. It had scared the heck out of her. The sudden sound of the loud pop made her stomach drop—it made her feel sick. She could feel Brennan—feel that he was in trouble. She was scared. Scared that something had happened to him. She had jumped off of the bed and rushed to the door, trying to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. It had obviously been locked from the outside. And with the shock collar on, her powers were useless to her. She continued to violently jerk at the handle hoping that just by luck the door would open. But even as her frustrations grew, the door stayed locked.
She needed to get out of that room and see what had happened. She needed to find Brennan, wherever he was, and see if he was okay. But she couldn't... and that caused her frustrations to grow further. Tears started swelling up in her eyes as she began beating on the door. Her pounding continued until she felt a painful shock run through her once again. She let out a loud cry in pain as she stumbled back away from the door and collapsed to her knees. The pain lasted about ten seconds before stopping. Once it did, she dropped her hands down flat on the floor to keep herself propped up. She began panting heavily to once again catch her breath. As she did, the door to the room opened, and a very disappointed Gavin walked in shaking his head.
"It sounded like someone was having a tantrum. We can't have that." Gavin spoke. Gardevoir forced herself to glare up at him as he did. "Now, it's time for you to cooperate with me, Gardevoir," he said as he reached down on his belt for something. It was a Poké Ball. The same Poké Ball that Simon and Nelson had used to trap her to begin with. Gavin's smirk grew at the reaction she gave to once again seeing her new Poké Ball. She pushed herself upwards and tried to crawl backwards away from Gavin. He slowly shook his head. "Uh, Uh, uh. You aren't going anywhere." He said as he held out the ball towards her. "Gardevoir, return..." he called as he pressed the small button in the center of the ball down. It opened, and a flash of red light filled the room, sucking Gardevoir into the ball. It closed with a click, and Gavin stared at it with a sinister smirk. He let out a dark chuckle, before exiting the room.
•••
•••
•••
Brennan and Blaziken were racing through Team Scavenge's hideout, with Scavenge members hot on their tails. They already knew that there was no way that gunshot didn't get heard. They were busted, and they knew it. Brennan knew now they had to avoid getting caught long enough for them to find Gardevoir. Because he already knew he wasn't leaving that hideout without her.
They made a quick, sharp turn down another hallway, but were met with even more Team Scavenge members. Not wanting to slow down, with more quick thinking, Blaziken blaster through them with a Flame Charge. That cleared their path. But even though their path had been cleared, they had trapped themselves in a dead end situation. At the end of the long hallway they were currently running down was a large set of grey steel doors. Brennan looked back over his shoulder and saw a slew of Team Scavenge members closing in on them. He thought that the door being unlocked was going to be their only hope at a saving grace. He was wrong.
As they reached the door, Brennan grabbed one of the handles and ripped it open. His moment of relief that the door was unlocked didn't last long, however. As they raced into the room and closed the door behind them, they were met with eyes, and tons of them. They turned and looked around the room only to realize they had just entered a room full of alerted Team Scavenge members. They put their hands up in surrender as they were surrounded with guns. Brennan shook his head full of disappointment that he had just led himself and Blaziken into this, and that he had let Gardevoir down.
"Brennan...?" A familiar voice said getting Brennan to look in the direction it had come from. That's when he saw his friends and his Pokémon on their knees with guns pointed at them.
"Luna..." Brennan replied both upset and shocked that they had been caught. He left them so that wouldn't happen. They followed him, and were caught for it. Blaziken's eyes had immediately landed on Delphox, who was relieved to see that he was okay.
Brennan was roughly grabbed by his shirt as he was dragged over to the others. "Get in line, asshole." Nelson said as he shoved Brennan towards the others. Blaziken was forced to follow behind him. Once they reached the others, Brennan's knee was chopped out from underneath him, sending him crumbling to the ground. Blaziken was ready to attack in defense of his trainer, but didn't get a chance to as he felt a gun press into his back.
"Don't even think about it." The guard who was hold him said. "Now get on your knees." He continued sounding just as angry as the other Team Scavenge members were. Blaziken flares ahead as he continued to stand there. He was furious about this. He looked down at Brennan, who glanced up at him. He didn't say anything, but it was clear to Blaziken what his trainer wanted him to do. He wanted him to listen. He wasn't happy about it, but Blaziken did finally join his friends on his knees.
Brennan glanced around the room immediately taking notice of the all of the large machines and monitors that inhabited it. The monitors were covered with all sorts of grids and lists and pictures... pictures of Pokémon who had been experimented on. They had been running tests... and... they were horrible to look at. Brennan shook his head and looked down in disgust. Seeing the same things Brennan did angered Blaziken further. It physically pained him to see stuff like that.
"What are you guys doing here?" Brennan finally asked as he looked over at the others.
"To help you. You left us, and we couldn't just-" Luna was replying before being cut off.
"Shut up! No one said you could talk." Nelson said, interrupting Luna before she could finish her response. Lane was more displeased with the way these guys were talking to his girlfriend, than the fact that he had a gun pointed at his back. Luna and Brennan held a silent eye contact for several seconds before finally looking away. The silence remained between the optionless group for a good few minutes before the large steel doors finally opened again. Donnie walked in first, immediately throwing a very hate filled glare towards Brennan and Blaziken. Following him were a few nameless Scavenge grunts, before, finally, the leader himself walked in, Gavin.
Gavin walked past the group of Scavenge members that had accompanied him into the room, as he made his way towards Brennan's group. His amused smirk stayed on his face as he stared each and every one of them down. "Wow. When I was told there were a few nosy intruders, I wasn't expecting THIS many." He spoke. His eyes finally landed on the very, VERY nervous Frankie as he finished. "Oh, hoho. Are my eyes deceiving me, or is that Frankie?" He said curiously as he walked towards him. This immediately got Brennan and the rest of his group to look towards the previously mentioned man. "Long time no see, Frankie. Last time I saw you was the day you left the Team. How has that decision been working out for you?" He asked. Frankie shook his head, trying to avoid eye contact as he prompted to remain silent.
"Frankie... what is he talking about?" Lane asked, ignoring the fact that they were told not to speak. Frankie didn't even look his way, he just continued to avoid making any sort of eye contact with anyone.
"Frankie! What is he talking about?!" Lane asked even louder this time. Gavin seemed amused by this.
"Oh, I suppose your friend has left you in the dark about his past. Quite unfortunate." He said. Everyone's eyes stayed locked on Frankie. They all wanted to know what Gavin was talking about. He let out a chuckle before continuing. "Since it seems he doesn't plan on bringing you up to speed, I will. Frankie here used to be a member of Team Scavenge. He was a good one, too. He brought in a hefty amount of wild Pokémon. He had so much potential. But for some reason he decided to let all of that go. I will never understand why."
Everyone was shocked at the explanation they were just given. None of them knew Frankie had been part of these monsters at one point. "You—you were one of them?!" Lane exclaimed. He couldn't believe that someone he had called a friend would be apart of something so... awful. Frankie shook his head.
"It's not like that," he finally spoke. "They didn't tell me what they were really using Pokémon for. I thought I was bringing them to some sort of haven where they didn't have to worry about going hungry. I was wrong. I left as soon as I found out what they were up to. All of those Pokémon that I brought here... I'm going to have to live with that. I'm... sorry." His own explanation left his group speechless. He dropped his head down, shaking it in disappointment as he finished. None of them knew what to say about any of the things they had just found out. Gavin let out another chuckle as he walked away from the group.
"No need to apologize, Frankie. You did an excellent job. I just wish you would have stuck around longer. You would have made my search MUCH easier." He spoke as he pulled a Poké Ball off of his belt. He turned to face the group again, as he stared at the ball in his hand. "So... much... easier." He pressed the center button on the ball and a bright flash lit the room as Gardevoir appeared from the ball.
"Gardevoir!" Brennan exclaimed as he tried to get back on his feet to rush over to her. He didn't even make it halfway up before a hand forced him back down.
"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir exclaimed as she tried to do the same. Gavin smirked as she began to rush towards Brennan. She didn't make it far before another painful shock ran through her body. She cried out in pain as she dropped to the floor. Brennan, and the others watched on in horror. The shock lasted ten seconds before Gavin finally released the button. Gardevoir weakly tried to push herself back up to her feet as the shocking pain ceased.
"You don't run off on your trainer like that, Gardevoir." Gavin said as he walked over to the downed Pokémon. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to her back up, before dragging her back to where they had been standing. "I can honestly say that this test shock collar has been amazing. I think it's time to get more of them into production." He announced proudly as he looked back at the Team Scavenge member that designed the test collar. Brennan shook his head. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Gardevoir since she had been released from the ball. She hadn't taken her pained eyes off of him either.
"L-let her go." Brennan ordered, getting Gavin to look back in his direction again. He let out another chuckle.
"Why would I let my best Pokémon go? Especially after how long it took me to catch her." He replied. Brennan shook his head.
"She isn't your Pokémon." He said. Gavin lifted up the Poké Ball she had been released from, showing it to Brennan.
"This Poké Ball says otherwise, kid." He spoke. This angered Brennan.
"I don't care about that Poké Ball! She was with me! Your people attacked us and kidnapped her! She's not your Pokémon!" Brennan yelled. Gavin's smirk remained. Brennan's anger was hilarious to him.
"Wrong. My men didn't kidnap her, they brought her home... where she belongs." He said. This confused them. Gardevoir especially. She had no clue what he was talking about. "I've been searching for her for years, and years, and years, and I've finally found her. You see, my sweet Gardevoir was taken from me soon after she was born. Her mother... she took her and ran just to spite me. Everything was going fine, and then she overheard something she wasn't supposed to. I've searched for her every day since then, hoping that I would eventually be reunited with her—to finally get to meet her. To finally get to meet... my daughter." He said. His crooked smirk became more sinister as he finished. Everyone, especially Gardevoir, was left in shock. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that this man was her father. It was impossible.
"You're—you're lying. You have to be." Brennan said in disbelief. Gavin shook his head.
"I'm not. Gardevoir's mother and I... we were in love. When I found out she was pregnant—it was one of the happiest moments of my life. Not only because I would be getting a daughter, but because I would finally be taking the first step in human-Pokémon evolution. My human genes combined with her Pokémon ones, I would finally have the answer I've been wanting for so long to get: can Pokémon and humans mate? The answer... yes. Yes they can." He explained.
"Y-you... and a Pokémon? That's-that's...sick!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin huffed.
"Sick? It was love, and science." He replied.
"That wasn't love! You used Gardevoir's mother for your own selfish wants! I'm glad she got away from you!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin chuckled.
"That's where you're wrong. She may have managed to hide my daughter from me, but she didn't get away. We found her, and she paid for the wrong she did. It hurt me to do it, but it had to be done." He said. Gardevoir looked up at the man as tears swelled up in her eyes. Her mom...saved her, but got caught and killed because of it?
"That poor Gardevoir..." Luna said as more tears ran down her cheeks.
"She got what she deserved. She had no right to keep my daughter from me." Gavin said.
"No! You had no right to do all of the horrible things you've done! You're sick!" Luna exclaimed. Gavin chuckled.
"I don't appreciate the insults." He said before looking back towards Simon and Zoroark. Zoroark nodded, before charging towards the group. He hit Delphox with Punishment so hard that she flew backwards, and smacked into the back wall, creating a crater. She hung in the wall for several seconds, before dropping down hard to the floor.
"Delphox!" Luna cried out. She tried to get up to go over to her, but was forced back to her knees just like Brennan had been. Blaziken was so angry his left eye started twitching. He stared back at the downed Delphox, before glancing over at Zoroark, who had a proud smirk on his face. Gavin let out another chuckle.
"I told you, dear. I don't appreciate being insulted." He spoke.
"G-Gardevoir." Gardevoir said as she fought out of Gavin's grasp. He shook his head at this.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Disobeying your trainer will not do, Gardevoir." He said before pressing the button on the remote in his hand. Another painful shock was sent coursing through Gardevoir's body. She let another loud cry as she once again dropped to the ground. The only thing the others could do was watch. Tears ran down Luna's cheeks as she listened to Gardevoir's cries. She couldn't bare to look at her.
"STOP! You're hurting her!" Brennan cried out as he once again tried to get to his feet. But like before, he was immediately forced back to his knees. Gavin didn't listen, he kept his finger on the button. Gardevoir's cries continued. She was on the floor taking in strong charges of electricity.
"G-GARDE...VOIRRRRRR!" She cried out in pain. He laughed as he watched the life being drained out of Gardevoir.
"Are you going to start behaving, Gardevoir?! Huh?!" Gavin exclaimed.
"V-V-VOIRRRRRR!" Her cries continued. Brennan couldn't take watching his. Tears of anger, frustration, and sadness ran down his face as Gardevoir's cries filled the room. Blaziken stared at Gardevoir, watching as she was being tortured, before looking over at his trainer, who was in tears. He then looked down the line to the others who were all just as upset by this as Brennan was. The last thing he looked towards was Delphox, who remained motionless on the floor. That was it, he couldn't take it anymore. Everything he was witnessing right now, mixed with all of the horrible things he had already seen these people do—his anger finally took over. His blood was boiling. His hatred for these people took over.
A bright flash of gold lit up the room. This surprised everyone. It was so bright that everyone had to look away. Blaziken let out a loud angered yell before bursting out of the light, taking out the Team Scavenge member that currently held a gun to him. As the light faded, and everyone was left off guard, the now Mega Blaziken grabbed the next two closest members by the arms and threw them across the room taking out a larger number of grunts. Brennan was left shocked by this. It took several seconds for him to even notice that the stone in his bracelet was glowing once again.
"Take him out!" Gavin yelled, motioning for more grunts to attack. But Mega Blaziken, his anger, his quickness, it was too much. He was sending grunts flying every direction. Brennan had shaken off the surprise and jumped to his feet charging over to Gavin. He didn't notice Brennan until it was too late. Brennan tackled him to the ground, causing him to drop the remote to the shock collar, before immediately introducing his fist to his face. Brennan's Pokémon had taken to helping Blaziken lay out grunts and Scavenge Pokémon, while Luna, Lane, and Frankie went over to Delphox.
"I'm going to kill you!" Brennan yelled in anger as he drilled another fist into Gavin's face. He went to throw another fist but didn't get to before Simon came running up from the side, knocking him off of his boss. Brennan went to climb back to his feet, but Simon delivered a hard kick to his ribs stopping him from doing so. Nelson ran up and pulled Gavin up to his feet, and they headed for a door on the opposite side of the room. As they went for their escape, Blaziken's rampage grew worse. He started blasting fire, throwing repeated kicked, and throwing hard hits to anyone and anything that he could get to.
The mistake here was when he blasted one of the computer stations with his flames. This caused a pretty big explosion that shook the ground they were all standing on. Large chunks of rock from the ceiling started falling soon after. But that still didn't stop Blaziken.
Brennan had managed to push himself back up, before rushing over to Gardevoir, who still remained on the floor.
"G-Gardevoir. H-hey, Gardevoir," he spoke as he helped her sit up.
"G-Gardevoir..." she spoke weakly, before throwing her arms around him. Brennan wrapped his around her, holding her tight. Gardevoir may have been in pain, but the feeling of being back in Brennan's arms made everything better. The two held on to each other, ignoring everything that was going on around them. The beams and large chunks of rock raining down from the ceiling, the flames being shot around the room, the screaming, the grunts being thrown around... it was all being ignored.
"Brennan! Hey, Brennan!" A voice finally got Brennan's attention. He looked over and saw Lane. "We have to go!" He exclaimed. Brennan nodded, before looking back at Gardevoir. He stood up with her still in his arms. He looked around for his other Pokémon as Luna and Frankie ran up. Luna had returned Delphox to her Poké Ball, and now held onto it tightly in her hand.
"You guys have to get out of here." Lane said as he looked at them.
"We aren't going anywhere without you guys." Luna argued. Lane shook his head.
"Please! Luna! Now isn't the time to argue! We have to get Brennan's Pokémon! We'll be right behind you, I promise!" He exclaimed. Luna didn't want to leave them. But she knew Lane was right, it wasn't the time to argue. She eventually nodded in agreement, which Lane was thankful for. They were getting ready to run for the exit when Brennan stopped them.
"Take Gardevoir with you, please?" Brennan said curiously. This got Gardevoir to look at him.
"G-Gardevoir." She said as she shook her head. She just got Brennan back, she didn't want to lose him again.
"I'll be okay. I want you to get out of here with them. I'll be behind you." He assured her. She didn't want to do it, but just like Luna, she agreed to it to avoid any arguments. Brennan smiled at her and hugged her, before letting her lean on to Luna so they could get out of there.
"Make it quick, okay?" Luna said as they began racing towards the exit.
"We will." Lane replied, before looking back at Brennan. "Now we have to gather your Pokémon." He said. Brennan nodded before doing what he figured would get them out of there the quickest.
"Machamp! Mightyena! Sandslash! Roserade! Blaziken! We have to go!" Brennan yelled out to get his Pokémons' attention. Four of the five were quick to gather. Blaziken being the exception. He returned them all to their Poké Balls so he didn't have to worry about losing them again. As they ran to try and get Blaziken, a large beam broke off of the ceiling and fell, almost crushing them in the process. They were lucky in managing to avoid it. Another loud explosion happened that caused even more rock to start collapsing.
"Brennan! We have to get out of here!" Lane exclaimed realizing their window to escape was running out. Brennan shook his head.
"I'm not leaving with Blaziken!" He replied before looking back in Blaziken's direction.
"Blaziken! Blaziken, we have to go!" Brennan yelled, but his Pokémon continued his angry assault on whatever Team Scavenge members he could get his hands on. All's he could see was red. His anger had fully taken over. "BLAZIKEN!" He yelled again, but his Pokémon continued his wave of Scavenge destruction.
"Brennan! Come on! We have to go, NOW!" Lane exclaimed as he grabbed Brennan's shirt and started pulling him towards the exit. Brennan shook his head.
"Blaziken! BLAZIKEN!" He yelled as loud as he could, hoping to get his Pokémon's attention. But he didn't. "Stop! I'm not leaving without him!" He yelled as he fought away from Lane. Lane grabbed his shirt and turned him to face him.
"Brennan! We have to go! If we don't go now, we WILL die! We have to go!" Lane exclaimed, trying to get it through Brennan's head. Brennan only stared at him for a few seconds before looking back in Blaziken's direction.
"BLAZIKEN!" Brennan yelled again. Lane once again grabbed ahold of his shirt and started dragging him towards the door. Brennan tried to fight away again, but Lane wasn't going to let him go this time. "BLAZIKEN!" He yelled again as he was pulled out the doors. He stared at Blaziken until the wall finally blocked his view and his best friend disappointed from his line of sight.
Lane dragged him back through the hallway as the hideout shook. More chunks of rock started breaking off of the ceiling, crushing the ground underneath them. The two ran through the hallway as the lights began flashing. Another explosion could be heard from behind them, this caused the ground to shake once again. The two ran as fast as they could until they finally made it to the large front doors of the hideout and burst through them. Frankie, Luna, and Gardevoir stood in the distance waiting for them. It didn't take them long to reach the others. And as soon as they did, there was a loud crashing behind them. They turned as chunks of the mountain started caving in.
"BLAZIKENNNN!" Brennan yelled with tears pouring out of his eyes as he watched a large chunk of the top of the mountain cave in on itself, surrounding the area in a large dirt cloud.
Luna, Lane, Frankie, and Gardevoir stood around staring at the dirt cloud in shock. Luna covered her mouth with her hands after witnessing what she just did. They all shielded their eyes as the large cloud engulfed them. Brennan dropped down to his hands and knees and cried as his emotions took over. As the dust settled, the others were left staring at the mess that was once Team Scavenge's hideout. The large chunks that once sat on top of the mountain, were now nothing but crumbled chunks taking over the mountains own insides. Brennan noticing the light from the stone on his bracelet going out just made him cry even harder.
Gardevoir stumbled over to him before getting down on her knees next to him, resting her hands on his back for some sort of comfort, even though she knew she wasn't going to be able to do much. But she was going to try to do what she could.
Silence filled the air. The only thing that could be heard now was Brennan's crying. The result of his heart breaking... the result of him losing his best friend.