The group had made it to the Slateport train station and were now on their way towards Route 9. They had decided to ride the train most of the way there, then walk the rest of the way to the beach. They knew it was going to be somewhat late by the time they got there, so they were hoping to find a somewhat decent Pokémon Center to bunker down in for the night. They had brought sleeping bags as a back up plan just in case that didn't happen.
Now they were onto waiting for about forty-five minutes after they got there before it was time to board, so it wasn't too bad. After they loaded all of their luggage, they got their tickets punched and headed aboard.
They ended up getting ten tickets. Which sure, it cost Brennan a decent amount of money, but he wanted to make sure his Pokémon enjoyed the trip, too. He would have felt bad if Blaziken and Gardevoir got to enjoy the ride, but the others had to spend it in their Poké balls.
The seats they ended up getting were two booths right next to each other. Blaziken, Delphox, Machamp, Sandlash, and Roserade squeezed into one, with Pichu deciding Delphox's lap was where he wanted to sit. Brennan, Gardevoir, Mightyena, Luna, and Lane sat in the other one.
Mightyena seemed so entranced with watching the scenery pass by, that it was almost as if the others weren't there. Brennan couldn't help but smile though. His paws rested on the back of the seat as he propped himself up on his hind legs, tail slightly swooshing back and forth as he did.
"I'm glad he's enjoying it." Brennan finally spoke up as he brushed his hand through his Pokémon's thick fur. Not even the rub diverged his attention.
"Me too!" Luna quickly agreed with him, smiling brightly as she did. She seemed pretty excited about their out-of-nowhere vacation. She knew that after everything they had been through, Brennan and his Pokémon definitely deserved this.
"So, uh... Frankie didn't want to come?" Brennan questioned. They hadn't seen him hardly any over the past month. He seemed to have distanced himself from them. Lane shook his head.
"Said he didn't want to miss the work." He replied. Brennan nodded in understanding.
"Is he alright?" He asked.
"He says he is, but after what happened, he just... thinks we'd rather not have anything to do with him." Lane replied. Both Brennan and Luna could easily tell how much that bothered Lane. Frankie was one of his best friends, and it felt like he was trying to push him away just because of something he unknowingly and regretfully did in his past.
The revelation came as a shock to all of them in the moment. But he was clearly very remorseful for what happened. None of the others hated him for it. It happened, and they couldn't change that. But it's over now and they just wanted to move on from it.
"So... Mom and Dad are excited to see you guys." Brennan spoke up again, trying to change the subject seeing how much it bothered Lane.
"I'm excited to see them, too! It's been so long!" Luna said, her usual excited demeanor present as she did.
"Yeah, it has been awhile." Lane added. Brennan nodded as he did. "So just out of curiosity, do they know everything that happened at the mountains?" He asked. Brennan didn't answer this right away. The mountain incident had been all over the news, so of course they knew that it had happened. But they didn't know the full story behind it.
Obviously they called him right away when they saw his, Lane, Luna, and Frankie's pictures on the news. Again, he didn't get into full detail about what had led them to that point, but he did have to tell them about Blaziken. They seemed pretty upset about the news, that's why they were so relieved to hear about him showing back up.
"Uh... they don't know everything." He answered, honestly. Both Luna and Lane were somewhat surprised by this.
"What do they know?" Luna asked.
"Well, they know what they saw on the news about it, and they know about Blaziken. I didn't tell them about anything else because I didn't want them to worry anymore than they already were." Brennan replied. He hadn't even told them about Gardevoir yet. So telling them that he and his friends risked their lives, got held up at gun point, and almost died trying to save her was just something he felt could be left off. It was bad enough with Blaziken.
"Even though they didn't talk about EVERYTHING that happened on the news, even with what they did cover, I think that's more than enough reason to worry already." Luna said. Both Brennan and Lane nodded in agreement.
"That's why we're going to try and avoid talking about it with them. I'm sure they'll probably end up bringing it up, but if we can avoid that, then great." Brennan said. "Besides, I think they're going to be pretty focused on meeting the newest members of my team." He continued with a smile as he glanced over at Gardevoir, who had remained pretty silent so far. She looked over at him, a smile forcing its way onto her face as she did.
She was pretty nervous about this whole thing. She was worried about what Brennan's parents would think about her. What if they didn't like her? Would that sway Brennan's opinions of her? No way. He wouldn't dump her if they didn't like her... would he?
Gardevoir shook her head at the preposterous thoughts. From the way he's talked about them, Brennan's parents sound nice. They're going to like both her and Pichu. Well, at least she hoped they were.
"So, Gardevoir, this is your first time on a train, right? Are you enjoying it so far?" Luna asked, getting her attention as she did. She felt like they were unintentionally leaving her out of their conversation and wanted to get her involved.
"Voir. Gardevoir." She replied, forcing the smile back onto her face. She had to admit, regardless of the way she was currently feeling, the train ride was pretty nice.
"That's good! I've always loved train rides. I think it's so relaxing to just sit here and watch the world pass you by on the outside. There's definitely so much to see." Luna said, her child-like glee very apparent in her response.
"Rides like this are good for just sitting and thinking. Really easy to get lost in your thoughts, ya know?" Brennan said curiously, looking out the window as he did.
It was the truth. When Brennan would travel before, and it would come time to take a train ride, sitting in quiet, staring out the window, and just thinking was something he did a lot.
Gardevoir looked over at him. He seemed to be lost in thought now, and even though she knew it was wrong, she was genuinely curious what he was thinking about.
Trying not to make it too obvious what she was doing, she closed her eyes and focused in on his mind. He was thinking about how happy he was. How he had arguably the greatest friends in the world. An amazing girlfriend. Just... a family that he never wanted to lose. A smile formed on Gardevoir's face as she gently placed her hand on his leg. This got his attention. He looked over at her, before looking down at her hand. He returned the smile, before very discretely taking her hand into his.
After he felt her intertwine her fingers between his, he very gently began rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. She liked that. Luckily for them, with the table in their booth, Luna and Lane couldn't see this.
"The others seem to be having a good time." Luna said with a giggle as she looked past Brennan and Gardevoir at the booth containing the rest of their Pokémon companions. Machamp and Blaziken were currently in the middle of an arm wrestling match. Now Blaziken was strong, but you could tell he was beginning to struggle against Machamp's own strength. Clearly he didn't want to loose, not in front of Delphox and Pichu. He wanted to impress them. Not look like a wimp.
Brennan and Gardevoir looked back towards them, deciding to watch the match, themselves. Now, those two have gotten pretty competitive with stuff like this before. That's just how they were. But he was hoping it didn't escalate beyond the simple arm wrestling contest.
"Pichu! Pichu!" Pichu cried happily, cheering on Blaziken. Delphox smiled down at the small mouse Pokémon as he did. Blaziken glanced over at him. He really didn't want to lose in front of him. Losing in arm wrestling to Machamp when his girlfriend and their adopted mouse son weren't there was one thing, but when they were... it was completely different.
Machamp saw just how much Blaziken was beginning to struggle as the back of his hand neared the table. He was getting ready to finish him off when he noticed how disappointed Pichu began to look. That's when he eased up. Blaziken began forcing his hand back up, now taking the advantage over Machamp. Brennan's smile returned knowing exactly what Machamp was doing.
Pichu's excited cheering picked back up as Blaziken slammed Machamp's hand against the table. Both Roserade and Sandslash were shocked at this. Blaziken seemed pretty surprised himself. Pichu cried happily as he jumped on him. Blaziken looked up at Machamp, who offered him a small smile and a shrug.
"Machamp." He said. "You beat me." Is what he told him. He thought the shine in the young Pichu's eyes seeing Blaziken win was worth it.
"How sweet." Luna spoke up. Brennan nodded, continuing to stare at his Pokémon. Pichu was definitely excited about Blaziken winning that match.
"Yeah. Yeah, it was." He said. Gardevoir glanced over at him, and seeing just how content he looked, that made her happier than anything else could.
•••
•••
•••
The group were now a few hours into their train ride. Most of them were passed out at this point, including Lane and Luna. That left Brennan and Gardevoir to get their first bit of time to themselves since they set out.
"You okay?" Brennan asked quietly as he looked over towards the Pokémon as she sat with her head resting on his shoulder.
"Voir." She replied, giving him some what of a small nod as she replied.
Before saying anything else, Brennan slid his left hand between Gardevoir's back and the back of the sit, moving all the way down to her right side, gently pulling her closer to him as he came to a rest. She was somewhat surprised by this at first, but quickly repositioned herself against him to get more comfortable.
"Gardevoir. Garde?" She asked quietly. "What about the people?" Is what she had asked. She was surprised he did that in a sense that they were still in a train car full of other passengers. Sure they were all either sleeping or doing their own thing, but still.
"I'm not worried about them. It'll be fine." He replied just as quietly. Gardevoir took his word for it and decided not to worry about it. If he didn't mind being this close in public, she didn't either.
After, the two sat in silence, just relaxing and enjoying the ride. But, that silence did get Gardevoir thinking. Why her? Why out of everyone else in the world would Brennan want to be with her? He was cute, funny, loving, caring, selfless, why would he want to be with someone like her? A Pokémon no less.
Her large magenta eyes rolled up to look at his face. He seemed like he was thinking about something, too. She thought he was so cute. Regardless of why, she felt like she was really lucky to have him. Lucky that he wanted to be with someone like her.
"Garde. Voir?" She asked quietly, still not taking her eyes off of him. Brennan glanced down, locking eyes with her.
"Huh?" He huh'd in confusion.
"Garde. Voir. Gardevoir. Garde?" She asked. She had asked him why he wanted to be with her over anyone else. Once she started thinking about, she knew she wasn't going to be able to stop until she got an answer.
Brennan seemed somewhat taken aback by her sudden question. Why would he want to be with her over anyone else? He could give her a million answers. But just as he was about to give her a response, the conductor came over the intercom.
"Attention, ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at Hoenn's Route 109 train station in twenty-five minutes. Please have all of you belongings gathered up so you don't forget anything upon arrival." His voice announced over the intercom. The sudden loud noise jolted Lane awake, causing Luna to tiredly wake up too, wondering what was going on. As they woke up, Gardevoir had sat back up and Brennan removed his hand from her side.
"Wha...?" Luna looked around as she sat back up. Lane's eyes were wide. He frantically looked around for several seconds before he finally began to settle down.
"Calm down, man, was just a conductor announcement." Brennan said, trying to calm his frantic friend down. Lane tiredly shook his head, before dropping back into his seat.
"Man, that was rough." He said once he had settled down. Brennan got a good chuckle out of this.
"I could tell." He said.
"W-we're almost there already?" Luna asked before stretching and letting out a yawn. Brennan nodded.
"Almost. The ride seemed to have gone a lot faster than I thought it would." He replied.
"Wish it would have gone on a little longer so I could have gotten some more sleep." Lane said, slightly unhappy that the train ride coming to an end meant he had to wake up.
"Don't worry. Once we get off, we'll see about finding a Pokémon Center we can get some rooms in. Then you'll be able to sleep all you want." Luna said. There was still a tad bit of tiredness in her voice, but she seemed more awake than Lane currently was.
What was left of the ride honestly didn't seem like it even took twenty-five minutes. It seemed like it was more like fifteen. But regardless, they did finally reach the train station.
After gathering all of their things, the large group began making their exit. Unlike Lane, Pichu was actually still getting some sleep. Delphox was cradling him like a baby as she made her way off of the train with Blaziken not too far behind her.
Mightyena seemed pretty excited about them reaching their first destination. He ran circles around the group as he looked around, his tail wagging like crazy as he did.
"Okay, now, what do you guys want to do first: grab a bite to eat, or try and find a Pokémon Center?" Brennan asked.
"Why not both? We can find a Pokémon center, and grab a bite to eat there." Lane replied.
"I mean, we could do that, but I was thinking we sit down at an actual restaurant and enjoy a nice meal." Brennan said. Luna nodded at this.
"I like that idea." She said. "I think after that train ride, it would be nice to sit down and eat something good." She continued. Lane sighed knowing he had been out-voted. His sleep would have to wait just a little bit longer.
"Fine. Fine. You guys win." He said. Luna gave him a smile, before she began walking ahead of the group.
"I know we do." She replied. Lane watched her, a small frown on his face, knowing he was never EVER going to win any sort of disagreement with his girlfriend.
"C'mon, champ. I commend you for trying." Brennan said, patting Lane on the back as he walked past, with Gardevoir not far behind him.
Lane stood there for several more seconds as the rest of the Pokémon passed him, before finally following behind them at the very back.
•••
•••
•••
For the area they were in, there weren't too many restaurant choices. Most of them ended up being seafood, which made sense considering they were pretty much on the water at this point. But unfortunately for the group, none of them would allow more than three Pokémon out with a party. That was obviously a no go for them.
But they did end up finding a place that would let them all in. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was a neat little diner that was decorated on the inside to look like the bottom of the ocean. They thought that was neat. The food could have been better, though.
Either way, the group ate before heading off back enroute to find the nearest Pokémon center. It was pretty late by the time they got finished eating, so they knew they had to hurry and find it if they didn't want to be wandering around in the dark.
Luna and Lane were currently leading the charge as they made their way down the path that supposedly led to the Pokémon center they were searching for. At least that's what the friendly waitress told them at the diner they had visited.
Now it was Brennan and Gardevoir trailing behind. Brennan glanced over at his girlfriend, who was gliding alongside him. She was staring ahead, but seemed to be focused on something other than the path in front of them.
"Hey, you okay?" He said curiously. This got her to look over at him. She nodded.
"Voir." She replied. Brennan offered her a smile before putting his arm around her waste and pulling her close to him. Just like on the train, this seemed to have caught her off guard considering all's one of the others had to do to catch them was look back. "Gardevoir. Garde?" She said curiously.
"It's okay, trust me. They're focused on finding that Pokémon center." Brennan replied. Gardevoir wasn't so much focused on Brennan's other Pokémon finding out about their relationship as she was Lane and Luna. She didn't know what they would say, or think. What if they completely turned on Brennan and turned him into the police? He would not only lose all of his Pokémon, including her, but they would throw him in prison. She didn't want that.
Brennan glanced over at his girlfriend once again, having sensed she was worried about something.
"Hey, what's on your mind?" He asked her. Gardevoir looked down towards the ground for several seconds, before finally looking back up at him.
"Gardevoir. Garde. Voir. Garde?" She replied. Brennan shook his head before saying anything.
"I don't want you worrying about something like that happening. Luna and Lane, even if they did find out, they'd understand." He said sounding pretty confident that he knew how it would play out if it ever came down to that. Luna and Lane wouldn't turn him into the police and get his Pokémon taken away. They weren't like that. But regardless of what he had said, Gardevoir still seemed pretty worried.
He offered her a smile, before glancing ahead towards the rest of the group ahead of them. They're full attention was still on finding the Pokémon Center. Once he saw it was clear, he gently grabbed ahold of Gardevoir's chin and brought her face towards his. They're lips met for a somewhat quick kiss. This really caught her off guard.
"I love you." He said quietly as their lips parted. Gardevoir stared at him in silence for several seconds, before leaning into him.
"Gardevoir. Garde." She replied, telling him she loved him back. She did love him. Regardless of the worry that continued to linger in the back of her mind about them getting caught, she wasn't going to turn away any affection he was trying to give her. She loved that stuff too much to do that.
"C'mon, that Pokémon Center has to be close at this point." Lane said, clearly annoyed at this point. Brennan, as little as it bothered him at this point, could understand why he was getting upset at least. It was starting to get dark out. And they knew it was already pretty late to try and find somewhere to camp out for the night if they couldn't find the Pokémon center. So Lane's frustrations were pretty valid.
"Calm down. I'm sure we're almost there. The waitress did say it was a decent walk from the diner." Luna replied, trying to get her boyfriend to stop complaining.
"Machamp. Ma. Champ." Machamp offered, getting Brennan to let out a laugh. Lane seemed to have heard that.
"What is it?" He said curiously, looking back towards him as he did. Gardevoir slightly backed off of him just enough to where he wouldn't question anything.
"Machamp there is offering to carry you if it'll get you to stop complaining." Brennan replied. Lane looked from him, over to Machamp, he seemed slightly unamused by that, but at the same time, was actually thinking about taking him up on his offer.
"Delphox. Delphox." Delphox spoke up. She said she was actually enjoying their walk. Blaziken nodded in agreement. It was actually pretty nice out. The sun was setting, the wind was cool, it was quiet, it was relaxing.
"See, everyone else is enjoying it, Mr. Moody-Pants." Luna said, looking over at her boyfriend as she did. Lane rolled his eyes, before crossing his arms.
The trail they were currently walking down seemed pretty barren at first. Lacking any sort of living presence other than that of the group currently walking along it. But, as they got further into their walk, it got better. There were trees and grass on one side, but on the other, a cliff side view of the ocean surrounding the region. The glimmer it gave off as the sun was setting behind it was one of the most beautiful things that the group had ever seen.
Gardevoir stared out at it, her own eyes sparkling in amazement at just how gorgeous it was. She saw a lot of what the world could do while she was living on her own. She also saw a lot of beautiful sunsets. But none of them compared to this. It was something else.
"Ah haha! Finally!" Lane exclaimed from the front. Brennan looked back in his direction, but Gardevoir kept her focus on the view.
Lane had became extra excited due to the fact that they were finally coming upon the Pokémon Center. He was ready to go and get checked in, then go to the room and crash. He WANTED the sleep.
"Alright, Alright, calm down now. We see it." Luna said. She was somewhat amused by her boyfriend's behavior, but at the same time, a little annoyed. She wished he would have enjoyed the walk as much as the others had.
The group finally reached the front entrance of the Pokémon Center, most of them slightly disappointed that the amazing walk was over. But it was getting dark, so maybe it was a good thing.
Lane excitedly grabbed the door, pulling it open and holding it as the group made their way inside. Once they were in, he quickly followed behind as they made their way towards the front desk.
"Welcome to the Route 9 Pokémon Center! How may I help you this evening?" The slightly older woman working the desk asked in a very cheery tone.
"We'd like to get a couple of rooms for the night." Luna replied, speaking for the group. She figured with how many of them there were, they could use two rooms. The woman began typing on her computer as Gardevoir began looking around the lobby. It was set up almost exactly like the one back in Slateport. She honestly wasn't sure what she was expecting.
But out of everything, the thing that did catch her eye was the blonde Spikey haired trainer in a black sleeveless shirt and a blue sleeveless vest and his Gallade sitting at a table in the back corner. The Gallade seemed to have noticed her too, giving her a pretty rude smirk that made her feel really uncomfortable. She grabbed onto Brennan's arm, before looking away.
"Oh, I apologize, but we only have one available room tonight. The rest of them are already booked." The woman finally said. Luna looked at Brennan wanting to know what he thought. "But, the room we do have available does have two queen sized beds in it." She continued.
Brennan knew that would at least take care of most of them, but what about the rest? He really didn't want to have to force any of them to sleep on the floor while everyone else got to sleep in a bed.
"Does it have a couch?" He asked. The woman nodded in response. "Alright, we'll take that one." He said. He knew they really didn't have too many options at that point. It was either all of them squeeze into one room, or they don't get a room at all. Besides, no one was arguing about it. So it seemed like they were all just in agreement that they wanted to get a room.
•••
•••
•••
After getting everything filled out and paid for, the group headed towards their room. Gardevoir tried her best to ignore the Gallade, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire time they were standing there, as they walked past and towards their room.
Brennan observed the long hallway as they walked down it, looking for room "13".
"Man, it's been awhile since I've stayed in one of these." He commented, thinking back to his time as an active Pokémon Trainer.
"Blaziken." Blaziken said, nodding along with his trainer as he did.
"Rose. Roserade." Roserade spoke up. She had brought up the first time she stayed in one with Brennan's group.
He thought back to that day. It was Roserade's first night with the group. It was late and they stopped at a Pokémon Center in Dewford Town to get a room and a bite to eat. They managed to do that, but their room only had one bed. So, some decisions had to be made. It eventually lead down to Brennan, Blaziken, and Mightyena awkwardly sharing the bed, Machamp sleeping in the chair that was in the room, and Sandslash and Roserade sharing the small couch.
They had to do stuff like that a lot when they were traveling. Taking turns swapping between beds, chairs, couches, or sometimes even a sleeping bag on the floor. But Brennan always made sure none of his Pokémon had to sleep in their Pokéballs.
"It looks like this is our room." Luna spoke up, breaking Brennan from his thoughts. His focus immediately shifted to the gold numbers on the door.
"13. Yep." He said as if it wasn't obvious already. After, Luna unlocked the door, before pushing it open. Brennan stepped in first, flicking the light on as he did. He walked further into the room with the others railing behind him.
Just like the rooms in most Pokémon Centers, it was basic. But for what it was, it got the job done. Besides, they had everything they were going to need for the short amount of time they actually planned on being there.
"Finally!" Lane said before making his way over to one of the beds and diving into it. "Ahhhhh..." was the sound he made as he lay there on the surprisingly soft blankets.
"Lane! We JUST got here. You're going to mess the bed up!" Luna scolded her boyfriend, who didn't seem at all bothered by it.
"Baby, I'm too comfortable to care." Lane replied, continuing to lay there as he did. Luna shook her head and rolled her eyes at his response. Brennan seemed to get a good chuckle out of this.
He had walked over to the other bed and sat his bags down, before taking a seat on the edge. Gardevoir followed behind him, taking a seat next to him.
"This isn't bad." He said, looking towards Luna, who nodded in agreement.
"Well, besides him messing up the bed already, no, it's not." She said.
"Blaziken. Blazi. Ken?" Blaziken asked, getting both Brennan and Luna's attention. He had asked about the sleeping arrangements. Obviously there wasn't going to be enough bed room for everybody, so they had to figure something out.
"Lane, what do-" Luna started, before stopping when she turned to face her boyfriend and saw him fast asleep already.
"I mean, he did say he was tired." Brennan spoke up, getting Luna to look at him once again. She didn't seem too impressed, this got him get back to the subject at hand quick. "Okay, okay. So, uh, I guess you and Lane will get that bed." He said, starting with the obvious one, before looking around at the Pokémon who still needed a designated place to sleep. "Sandslash, Roserade, do the two of you mind sharing the couch?" He asked, looking towards his two Pokémon as he did. They shook their heads.
"Slash." Sandslash spoke up, answering for the pair. They were close friends. They shared a bedroom at home, and used to share couches all the time back when they were still traveling, so they didn't mind doing it again. Brennan nodded.
"Okay, and, uh..." he started again, before stopping as he looked up towards Delphox, who was once again cradling a sleeping Pichu. "Champ, if you don't mind taking a sleeping bag, Delphox, Blaziken, and Pichu can take this bed. Gardevoir and i will take the floor." He looked towards Machamp as he finished.
"Champ." Machamp replied, not hesitating as he did. He didn't mind sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor. He figured there were plenty of reasons why the other three should get the bed.
"Delphox. Del..." Delphox said. She told Brennan he didn't have to do that.
"Blaziken. Blaziken." Blaziken agreed with her. Brennan quickly waved them off.
"No, no. I insist. You guys need the bed way more than I do." He replied.
"Brennan, are you sure you want to do that? I can't imagine that floor is going to be too comfortable... for any of you." Luna said. Brennan nodded.
"Yeah, it's not a big deal." He replied, before looking towards Gardevoir. "You don't mind sleeping on the floor, do you?" He asked, realizing he probably should have asked her first before jumping right to conclusions. Gardevoir shook her head.
"Gardevoir." She replied. She didn't care where she slept as long as she was with Brennan. He offered her a smile, before looking back towards Luna.
"Then it's settled." He said. Luna nodded in response.
"I guess it is." She replied.
"Welp, if everyone wants to get situated, I'm going to get my sleeping bag ready for bed." Brennan said as he picked up his bag, ready to grab his sleeping bag.
"Since he's already out, I'm going to take a shower before bed. That ALWAYS helps me sleep." Luna said. After, she grabbed her own bag and began digging through it for her night time essentials.
Gardevoir watched her, before turning her attention to Brennan, who was currently in the middle of setting up his sleeping bag. She knew it wasn't going to happen, but she wouldn't have minded sharing Brennan's sleeping bag with him. She knew he brought enough of them so they'd all be able to get a good night sleep if they had to camp out, but still.
As Luna headed into the bathroom, everyone else began to get situated. Delphox had taken a set on the edge of the bed her and Blaziken were going to be sleeping in, and was sitting there staring down lovingly at the sleeping Pichu in her arms. Blaziken took a seat next to her, smiling down at the little mouse Pokémon, before looking up at her. They smiled at each other, before Delphox leaned into him and he rested his cheek on the top of her head.
Brennan had noticed this as he finished setting up the sleeping bags. A smile of his own formed on his face as he did. Blaziken seemed very content with things at this point. He was clearly a lot more happy than he was before.
Gardevoir finally turned her attention to what he was looking at and saw the couple. They seriously were like a family at this point. And they really did look happy. That's... that's what she wanted. She wanted that with Brennan. She didn't know if it would ever happen, but it would make her life complete if it did.
The pair's attention was finally broken away from the happy couple when Machamp walked up and threw his large arms around their shoulders, pulling them into him.
"Champ. Machamp. Champ." He said happily. He joked that they were going to be ''floor mates'' tonight. His sense of humor was definitely... different.
Both Brennan and Gardevoir glanced up at him as he continued to hold onto them.
•••
•••
•••
After getting out of the shower, Luna headed to bed. By that point, most of the others were already dozing, too. Even Machamp, who seemed wide awake just a few minutes ago.
Brennan and Gardevoir were currently sitting on their sleeping bags watching the random game show that was playing on the tv. They weren't really paying too much attention to it, they really just wanted something to look at. Once Luna appeared from the bathroom though, Brennan grabbed the remote and flipped the tv off.
"Guess it's time to call it a night then." Brennan said, looking towards Gardevoir as he did. She nodded.
"I've got my alarm set for eight-thirty. Don't want to hit the road too late." Luna said. Brennan could understand that.
"Eight-thirty sounds... great." He replied in a somewhat forced, happy tone. He could understand it, didn't mean he would like getting up that early. But, either way, they were spending tomorrow at the beach. It was something to be excited for.
"Good night you guys. Don't let the bed bugs bite." Luna said happily as she went to flick the small desk lamp off that was on the nightstand by the bed. Just as she was about to, she stopped when she saw Mightyena making his way towards the foot of Brennan's sleeping bag.
"Mightyena, I know you like sleeping on the foot of the bed. You're welcome to sleep up here with us." Luna offered. Mightyena shook his head, before walking around in a circle and planting himself at his trainer's feet. Brennan couldn't help but smile at this. He rubbed his head a few times, before laying down, himself. Luna thought it was cute, too. She smiled herself, before finally shutting the light off, making the room go dark.
Gardevoir and Brennan laid there in silence for several minutes until they thought everyone was asleep.
Gardevoir had been laying on her side looking over at him. She could just barley make him out in the dark. She just... wasn't going to be able to sleep if she wasn't in his arms.
Brennan couldn't put their sleeping bags together so they could make one big one because he thought the others would find that weird. But he also didn't put them too far apart from one another. They were only about a foot and a half apart.
"Gardevoir. Gardevoir." Gardevoir spoke in a quiet whisper. She told him she couldn't sleep.
"Me neither." Brennan replied. "I know why I can't, though." He continued. Gardevoir nodded even though he couldn't see it.
"Gardevoir." She replied. After, the silence picked back up for several more seconds until she heard the shifting of his sleeping bag. She waited several seconds before she finally felt him wrap his arms around her the best that he could. She cuddled into him, draping her arm over his chest. Once they got situated again, Brennan spoke.
"That is so much better." He said.
"Voir." Gardevoir replied contently, before looking up at him. Now that he was closer, she could make him out a little better than before. She craned her head up just high enough to where she could press her lips against his. He immediately responded back. They held the kiss for a good few seconds, before they finally separated.
"You're going to get tired of me saying it, but I love you so much." Brennan said. Gardevoir shook her head.
"Gardevoir. Garde. Gardevoir." She replied. "I'm NEVER going to get tired of you saying it. I love you, too."
And with that, Brennan gave her one last gentle kiss to the top of her head, before the pair laid there until they drifted off to sleep, ready for tomorrow's day at the beach.
Nows all they had to do was wake up before the others so they could reposition themselves...