After everyone settled from Blaziken's resurgence, they headed back into town to the Pokémon Center to get him checked out. Because it was very obvious that he needed it.
For what felt like the thirtieth time in the past week, Brennan sat in the waiting room at the Pokémon Center. He had been there so much lately it was beginning to feel like a second home. Blaziken was in the back getting checked up on by the doctor, while the others waited.
Gardevoir, who was sat next to him, glanced over at him as they sat. The smile that she loved so much had finally returned to his face. His pain—the pain that she could feel, it was gone. Now she could feel his joy. His relief. That made her so happy. He felt her gently tug on his arm, causing him to look over at her, the smile still present on his face. She returned the smile as they locked eyes. After, he gently took her hand into his, their fingers intertwining as they rested them back on their respective chair's armrests. Luna took notice of this. All's she could do was flash the pair a smile. She was happy to see Brennan smiling again.
It took about an hour and half, but eventually, the double-swinging doors to the back opened up and Blaziken came walking out with Pichu, who had refused to leave his side, trotting along beside him, and one of the Center's doctors in toe. His left arm was now wrapped in a cast, resting gently in a sling. There were also a few more miscellaneous bandages cover a few more smaller wounds around his body.
Brennan and Delphox were quick to their feet as the smaller group approached them. Delphox hastily made her way over to Blaziken, checking on him. As Blaziken tried to reassure her that he was alright now, the Doctor approached Brennan.
"Mister Phillips, Blaziken is all patched up. However it is very important that you got him here when you did. If his wounds would have gone untreated for much longer it could have led to an infection that more than likely would have resulted in death." The Doctor explained. Hearing that scared Brennan. Sure, he got him there as quickly as he could. But still. What if he hadn't? What if he would have been too slow? "The bullet wound in his shoulder missed all of his vital arteries, but he did lose a vast amount of blood because of that wound alone. That doesn't even include all of the more minor injuries he had suffered. It truly is a miracle that he was able to make it home to you with that much damage to his body."
As he said that, Brennan couldn't help but glance over at the newly dubbed "Miracle Pokémon". A smile was present on his face as Delphox clinged to his right arm. He was still trying to reassure her that he was feeling better. It indeed was a miracle. A miracle that Brennan was glad happened.
"As far as his legs, they fortunately aren't broken. There was some nerve damage and minor bruising though, so he is going to need to remain light on his feet for awhile, as to not make it any worse." The Doctor continued. Brennan nodded in understanding at this. "Anyway, he is free to go." He spoke, before looking towards his patient with a smile. "Take care of yourself now Blaziken, ya hear?"
Blaziken returned the smile, as he gave the doctor a nod. "Blaziken." After that, The Doctor headed back to the back to move on to his next patient, leaving the group standing in the lobby.
"I'm really glad you're okay, Blaziken!" Luna was the first to speak. She sounded just as cheery as ever as she did.
"Yeah buddy, it's good to see you again." Lane added, sounding as genuinely happy as his girlfriend. Blaziken smiled at the pair.
"Del~phox." Delphox spoke, clinging even tighter to Blaziken's good arm. She felt as if she didn't want to let him go again. When she thought he was gone, it broke her... mentally and physically. It was hard trying to process the fact that the Pokémon she had dedicated almost her entire life to was gone. So her having him back made her not want to take for granted another moment with him.
Brennan stared at the pair with a smile. Watching them could have made him cry. Again, not out of sadness, but out of the fact that his best friend—the same best friend that up to a few hours ago he thought he had lost, was back in his life. And just like Delphox, he knew that this was his wake up call. He wasn't going to take for granted another moment not just with Blaziken, but with any of his Pokémon. He loved every single one of them. And knowing that at any moment one of them could be torn out of his life forever scared him. So he swore to himself that from now on he was going to make sure he made every minute he spent with them count.
"So to celebrate, why don't we go get some lunch?" Luna suggested, breaking Brennan from his thoughts. He glanced at her and nodded.
"Sounds like a plan. Blaziken why don't you pick the restaurant, buddy." He said, turning his attention back to his Pokémon. Luna nodded happily, agreeing with Brennan's own suggestion. Blaziken stood thinking about this decision. It didn't take him long before he finally decided.
"Blaziken!" He decided happily. The PokéPlace Diner. This decision somewhat surprised Brennan. It wasn't even his favorite place to eat. Delphox, however, lit up with his decision. Then it hit him. He knew why Blaziken chose that specific restaurant. Because it was Delphox's favorite. A small, smile curled it's way onto his face at the realization.
"Alright, PokéPlace it is." He announced. Everyone looked pretty happy with the decision. After, they headed out of the Pokémon Center and towards PokéPlace. It was only about a six minute walk from where they were at, which wasn't too bad.
As they walked, Brennan looked over towards Gardevoir. She looked just as happy as him about Blaziken's resurgence. He could feel it. As if she knew he was looking at her, Gardevoir turned her head to face him. The two lovers locked eyes once again, their silence remaining. They had fallen a little behind the others, but they were so entranced by each other, they hadn't even noticed. He once again took her hand in his, not even worried about what the passerby thought. He didn't care what anyone thought. Not even a little bit. She intertwined her fingers into his, slightly sliding closer to him as she did.
"C'mon you guys! We're almost there!" Luna called as she looked back towards the two, finally noticing they were missing from whatever conversation the rest of the group was having. They turned to face her, finally breaking their deep eye contact.
"All right. We're coming." Brennan replied in the most relaxed tone he had had in awhile. Luna flashed the two a smile, taking that answer as enough, before looking straight once again.
As they were catching back up, Brennan took that opportunity to look around at his friends—no, his family. They had always been more than just his friends. His life was once again complete. This—This right here was all he needed. It's all he was ever going to need, and he was sure of it.
•••
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•••
After lunch the group had headed back to Brennan's apartment. They had really enjoyed spending the day together. There wasn't a sour sport in the entire group. Everyone had been all smiles. Laughing, joking around, just having fun just like they usually would have. It was very refreshing from all the heartbreak and sadness that had begun to take over.
Brennan and Gardevoir once again tailed behind the group. Brennan watched as Delphox cuddled into Blaziken's good arm, and Pichu rested on his shoulder. He let out a soft, almost inaudible chuckle getting Gardevoir to look over at him. He could sense her growing curiosity as to what his chuckling was about. He glanced towards her with a smile on his face.
"I'm just... so happy." His response caused her to smile widely and cuddle into his arm just like Delphox had done to Blaziken. Brennan didn't mind it. He wasn't even thinking about what Luna or Lane would say if they turned around right now. And quite honestly, he didn't really care either. He gently placed his lips on the top of his lover's head, offering her what little bit of physical affection he could at that moment. She loved it. It was another simple top of the head kiss, but she loved it more than anything.
Brennan always enjoyed walks like this. Gardevoir did too. They were relaxing. Helped clear their minds of any worry that they had, even if just for a little while. But this walk—this walk was different. It was different because all of Brennan's worries had already vanished. Everything that had been tearing him apart was now gone. The feeling was amazing.
After enjoying their walk, the group eventually made it back to Brennan's apartment. They all crowded around in the living room just hanging out. It was great. It was almost eight o'clock before Luna and Lane got ready to head out. Delphox of course wasn't too pleased about it. She really did want to stay with Blaziken. But after promising they'd come back in the morning, they were finally able to convince her to leave. Luna thought it was really adorable.
They said their goodbyes before finally heading out. Delphox made sure to give Blaziken a big, loving hug and kiss before she left. Blaziken had a smile that stayed on his face even after they left. Once they were gone, Brennan turned back towards his group of tired Pokémon.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" He asked happily. All of them responded with some sort of happy cry. Brennan chuckled as they did. After, Mightyena let out a loud, tiring yawn that was so effective, the others followed suit. "Okay, maybe it's time for bed. We've had a pretty exciting day." As he said that, Blaziken carefully moved his legs up onto the couch so he could lay down. After he was settled, Pichu cuddled into his side. Roserade and Sandslash had bid their trainer a goodnight before heading to their room. Machamp was already out of it with his mouth gaped open and his arms dangling over the sides of the chairs when Brennan's eyes finally landed on him. That itself earned a small chuckle from Brennan.
He looked down at Mightyena before gently petting the tired Pokémon on the top of his head. "Come on buddy." He said. Mightyena gave him a tired nod before he slowly began heading down the hallway towards the bedroom. Next he looked towards Gardevoir and motioned towards the bedroom with his head. She nodded. She was next to head down the hallway leaving Brennan to turn the lights off so they wouldn't disturb his sleeping Pokémon.
As he was headed back down the hallway towards his bedroom, he stopped and looked back towards the now darkened living room. "Goodnight guys. I love you." His words were quiet. He knew his sleeping Pokémon weren't going to be able to hear them. But he needed to say them. He glanced back towards the sleeping Blaziken with a small smile on his face, before finally turning and heading towards his bedroom.
He walked in to see Mightyena laying in his normal spot sound asleep already with Gardevoir sat next to him slowly rubbing his head. She looked up at Brennan as he entered the room and made his way towards his dresser.
"You can go ahead and lay down. I'm going to go jump in the shower." He said looking back at his lover over his shoulder. She stood and floated towards him before wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his back. He smiled as he placed his hands over hers.
"Gardevoir." She spoke quietly.
"I love you, you know that?" Brennan asked, continuing to look over his shoulder.
"Voir." Her response was soft, yet serious. Brennan turned around to face her, forcing her to loosen her grip on his waist. He wrapped his arms around her waist, before pulling her close to him. Her arms slid up his stomach before wrapping around his neck.
"Thank you, Gardevoir. I know I told you this already but I'm grateful for everything you've done for me over the past few days. You just don't know how much it means to me." He stared deeply into her beautiful, red eyes as he spoke. A small smile once again curled onto Gardevoir's lips as she responded.
"Gardevoir. Garde. Garde-Voir." After, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. She had been waiting to do that all day. Brennan's hold on her tightened as their kiss deepened. They held it for a few more seconds before finally separating. They rested their foreheads together, trying to re-catch their breath. They could feel the deep layer of passion that resided in one another as they stared into each other's eyes.
Eventually Brennan felt the need to break the silence that had formed, even though he didn't want to. "If I don't look away from your beauty, I'll never get that shower." He joked. Gardevoir let out a soft giggle as he did. He leaned in and kissed her once again, before breaking his hold on her. She wasn't too fond of that. "I shouldn't be long. Go get comfortable. You deserve it." He continued, before grabbing some clean clothes and heading towards the door. Gardevoir watched as he headed out of the room, leaving her standing there. She looked towards the bed before letting out a sigh.
•••
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•••
Brennan had headed into the bathroom to take his shower. He began messing with the knobs before anything else. Today had gone so amazingly, he wanted to finish it off with a nice, warm shower to get him ready for bed. As he finished getting the water just how he liked it, there was a soft knock on the door. Brennan grew somewhat confused by this. He headed back over to the door, before opening it. Standing before him was Gardevoir with her sleeping clothes in her hands.
"Gardevoir, what's wrong?" Brennan asked. She looked a little embarrassed. Her cheeks were somewhat red as she stared down at the floor. He was somewhat curious as to what the problem was.
"G-Gardevoir. Gardevoir. G-Garde?" Her question flushed Brennan. She had asked him if she could take a shower with him. He had no clue where that would have come from.
"W-what? I-Uh..." he began to stammer on his words as he continued to try and take in the question she had just asked. Sure, they were together. And they had been as intimate as two lovers can be. It was just kinda surprising. Gardevoir began to grow even more embarrassed the longer Brennan stood there without giving her an answer, and he could feel it. "Yeah, yeah. Uh... come on." He replied stepping out of the way so she could enter the room. She stood in the same spot for several more seconds, before finally entering the bathroom. Once she was in, Brennan closed and locked the door behind him, making sure no one accidentally walked in on them while they were in there.
Gardevoir sat her pajamas down on the counter next to Brennan's clothes. She was still pretty embarrassed that she had even decided to do this. Brennan turned to face her, once again able to feel her embarrassment.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed. It's okay, really." He was trying to reassure that it was okay. The surprise had pretty vanished from his mind at this point, so he had to help make sure the embarrassment disappeared from hers. Gardevoir slowly built up the courage to once again look at him.
"Gardevoir?" She said curiously. Brennan nodded.
"Really." His response really helped calm her down some. He could tell and was very much glad about it. Once things were calmed down, he grabbed his shirt and pulled it off over his head, before discarding it to the bathroom floor. Gardevoir watched him as he did. She bit her bottom lip as he grabbed the sides of his pants and boxers and got ready to push them down to the floor. That's when he stopped. The embarrassed blush forced its way back onto his face when he saw Gardevoir was watching him. "Y-you can't take a shower in your dress." He said adding a little chuckle afterwards. He was trying to sway her attention so he didn't feel as embarrassed. Again, sure they had already seen all of each other, but he just felt weird when people watched him undress. Even if it was his girlfriend. The feeling was kind of dumb though.
Gardevoir finally looked away from him, grabbing the shoulders of her dress as she did. She slowly pushed them down, allowing her dress to fall to the floor. This time it was Brennan's turn to stare. She still had panties on, but she wasn't wearing a bra. She was just so beautiful. He couldn't help himself. Gardevoir looked away in embarrassment as he stared.
"I'm sorry... I'm just..." he started, before trailing off as he walked towards her. He gently grabbed ahold of her waist before pulling her into a kiss. This somewhat surprised her, but her surprise quickly wore off as she joined him. They held the kiss for several seconds before breaking it. Gardevoir timidly looked into his eyes as he stared at her. "You're so beautiful..." he continued softly. A small smile forced its way onto her face as she looked away from him.
He backed up and dropped his pants so Gardevoir wouldn't feel so alone standing there with no clothes on. After seeing that, she grabbed the sides of her panties and pushed them down, letting them slide down her legs before hitting the floor with the rest of their discarded clothes.
Once they were both undressed, Brennan spoke. "It's a little chilly in here." He joked as he rubbed his arms. Gardevoir's embarrassed smile turned into a more loving one as she gently took hold of Brennan's hand and pulled him towards the shower. Gardevoir entered first, pulling Brennan in right behind her. The pair stood there allowing the warm water to rain down on their heads.
Gardevoir tilted her head back and closed her eyes, letting out a soft moan as the water soaked her face. Brennan stood in front of her, watching, a smile on his face. He gently grabbed her hips once again, causing her to look back at him. He gently pulled her towards him, hugging her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his chest. The couple stood there enjoying the moment. Just letting the water run off of them. It was relaxing. And there was no one either of them would rather be doing it with than the one in their arms at that moment.
Brennan leaned down allowing their lips to meet once again. They only held the kiss for a few seconds before they broke it. After they did, he motioned for her to turn around, she listened. Once she did, he grabbed the soap and slowly began washing her back for her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands slowly moving around her. He moved the soap up to her shoulders, before gently running it down her right arm. As he did, that's when he finally noticed all the bruises and marks on her arms from Team Scavenge's "experiments". He softly ran his hands down her arms, shaking his head as he did. He knew they were pretty caught up in what they were doing the previous night, but he honestly didn't know how he had missed this. He really didn't.
Gardevoir stood in silence, before looking down towards the floor of the tub. Brennan quickly wrapped his arms around her body pulling her against him, and resting his lips on her right shoulder. "I'm so... sorry, Gardevoir. I'm so sorry." He apologized quietly as he lifted his lips. Gardevoir shook her head as she reached around and clutched the hair on the back of his head. "I told you I would protect you... and I let this happen to you. I'm sorry." Hearing him say this broke her heart. She could feel his sadness—his remorse for what had happened returning.
She turned around and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly. She didn't blame him for anything. She never had. She never would. "Gardevoir. Gardevoir." She told him she loved him. She still believed that he would protect her. Just like she would him. Nothing would change that... ever.
The two stood in silence, sharing each other's embraces, as they continued to allow the water to run off of them. They needed each other. They were going to be there for each other.
Gardevoir rested her head against Brennan's chest as he tightened his hold on her. "That won't happen again. I promise you. With my life, I promise you." Gardevoir took the seriousness in his tone as truth. She looked up at him before once again kissing him.
"Gardevoir... Garde." She said as they broke the kiss. "And with my life, I promise YOU."