A/N: If you're squeamish, or don't like reading violent material, I suggest you avoid this chapter! If you're like most, however, and blatantly ignore this kind of warning...Don't say I didn't warn you!

She had to get away. She had to get as far away from the man as possible. She needed to find someone, ANYONE. It was her only chance...

Rain was falling in sheets, the wind was howling mightily and thunder rumbled across the sleeping city of Luminose. The central skyline, which also served as the city Pokemon Gym, was having difficulty sustaining its lighting, due in large part to the gale-force winds slamming into the tower itself. With it being so late, and nearly every citizen living within the city having already fallen asleep, most of the weather outside went unnoticed.

For two individuals, one a young man, the other, a pokemon, the storm outside brought back painful memories of a day that happened more than three years prior...

Kevin's POV

"Doppler Radar is indicating incredibly strong mid-level updraft within the cell. Taking a look at the velocity readings, you can clearly see a well-defined..."

The weather report being aired on the television had garnered my attention almost immediately. Having experienced what Mother Nature could do firsthand, I felt it was my duty to ensure I kept Braixen safe during times like these. I never wanted to go through that ordeal again, not when I had something he wanted to protect. As I turned my gaze back onto the slumbering form of my lover, I started smiling warmly as I saw Braixens' chest rise gently with his breathing. Even now, nearly a full week since we had consummated our love for each other in the most wonderful of ways, it still felt surreal to me.

It had been very real, everything that had happened to both me and Braixen the last three years. The battle scars I had underneath my hairline was proof positive that it had all been tangible, I could still feel the sting of the baseball-sized hailstone that could have, and probably should have, killed me. There had been so many things that went wrong, getting caught in the storm was the first. In the end though, I attributed it to both sheer luck and, according to Braixen, my Guardian Angel.

Apparently, as the storm was winding down, several lightning strikes had come dangerously close to my prone form. Braixen had told me, in his language, of course, Zapdos, the Kalos incarnation of lightning, had absorbed the fatal bolts before they had reached my body. It was a story so fantastical I almost didn't believe it. Then again, considering I was now sleeping with Braixen, the fantastical could, more than likely, be true.

My thoughts were interrupted when a close lightning strike shook the hotel we were in. I cursed under my breath at the intensity of the wind that followed the thunderclap. This was becoming far too reminiscent of that day in the quagmire. I was about to turn the volume up on the television when I felt a pair of soft hands wrap around my waist.

I tilted my head down and, using my left hand, gently pulled Braixens' hands towards my face. Once they were close enough, I began kissing his silky skin, generating pleased moans from Braixen.

"Brai Brai?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Xe...Brai Xen?"

"It reminds me of the day I found you in the quagmire north of here..."

"Braixen...Xen..."

"I don't know, Braixen, I truly don't know if he is still here, in Luminose. If he is, and we run into him, I will deal with him personally..."

"Brai Brai..."

Braixens' former trainer, the man who had beaten him to within an inch of his life, then left him to die in a storm like the one raging outside our window, was still at-large. There was a small part of my conscious that hoped he would change his ways. Sadly, this was not an assumption but statistical truth; pokemon trainers with a lengthy history of mistreating, abusing and, in the some cases, killing their pokemon, almost never changed their ways.

My thoughts slowly began to drift towards the issue of local law enforcement, as well as the Pokemon Ranger Society, and as to why they had not even a clue to his whereabouts. Somehow, with both the Pokemon Ranger Society and the Kalos Police Department having searched for three years for the guy, they had come up empty-handed.

Truth be told, I suspected the two organizations knew more than what they were willing to show are. Pokemon abuse, regardless of the city or region, was one of the most frowned-upon crimes a person could be charged with. How a man with such an extensive history of abusing pokemon and, in some cases, killing them could get away after all this time smelled of a coverup. With nothing to base my accusations on though, I would be shooting blanks at an enraged Tauros.

"Brai Brai?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

I always enjoyed the reactions Braixen would give me when I called him by something other then his name. Normally it would net a kiss or affectionate nuzzle. This time, however, it failed to draw him out of the mood he was in.

"Brai Brai...Xen Xen Braixen Brai?"

"I would sooner challenge a Machamp to an arm-wrestling contest, Braixen, then to let that man lay a single finger on you."

"Xen?"

"Promise."

Braixen walked in front of my field of vision, tilted his head up and closed his eyes, a fluttering sigh leaving his lips.

"Xe Xe, Brai Brai~"

How could I say no to such a beautiful face? Tilting my head down, I pressed my lips against Braixens' own. A delicate, girly whimper escaped his mouth, something he knew drove me wild. I gently picked Braixen up and, using my body, pinned him to the hotel wall closest to the bed. Our tongues began their furious duel, swirling and lapping at the other in a sensual tango of flesh. I felt Braixen wrap his legs around my body, pressing firmly into my back with the possessiveness of a puppy with a new squeaky toy.

Things were definitely getting heated in the small room. Unfortunately, fate had other plans for the two of us...

A loud banging shattered the haze of passion that had built up between us, my annoyance being overshadowed by the look of concern Braixen was suddenly giving me. Did he know something I didn't? I knew his powers as a Psychic-type were beginning to bud, so it wasn't out of the question. Deciding to entertain the unannounced guest, as well as calm down the raging erection I was now sporting, I cleared my throat and stared through the peephole of our hotel room door.

There was a pokemon outside of our room, and not just any pokemon.

Swiftly I opened the door to let them inside, my mate looking over my left shoulder with both curiosity and suspicion, if the intimidating growl was any indication. The pokemon was absolutely drenched; had they braved the violent storm outside to get here? Did they not have a place to stay? What other reason could they have to just go to a strangers' hotel room at three-thirty in the morning?

"Gard...Gardevoir..."

Braixen came out from behind me, pulled the twig from his thick, yellow tail and created a small flame at the top of it before using the heat generated by the flame to dry the pokemon off. It was clearly a Gardevoir, one of the most popular choices for many male and, in some cases, female trainers due, in large part, to their incredible psychic powers.

Gardevoir, in addition to possessing incredible amounts of latent psychic energy, boasted an outward appearance most closely associated with a human being. This trait, along with the pokemon having a propensity to create an intimately powerful bond with their trainer, made it a highly attractive choice for all. I had only ever seen a Gardevoir once, about six years ago. The circumstances surrounding it brought back memories that were both painful and delightful. The memories also brought a troubling quandary to light.

Gardevoir were incredibly rare to find in the wild, nor were they usually found far from their trainer. Those that did appear in the wild tended to stay away from human settlements, opting to using its psychic powers to first detect the mental stimuli of everything around it to alert the pokemon of potential danger. If that applied here, had this Gardevoir picked up on the emotions going through myself and Braixen? If not, then why had it come here, to my hotel room, in the first place? Was its trainer in trouble?

I tried picturing a scenario in which Gardevoir would be better off looking for help and, simultaneously, creating distance from its distraught trainer. I could come up with nothing. That left one other possibility I had left out...

It was fleeing from something, or someone. Whatever it was, it was bad enough to bring Gardevoir here, to the door of a person it didn't even know. I tightened my grip on Braixens' left paw, fearing we may be assailed by whomever or whatever had been after the Gardevoir. It was at this point the Gardevoir turned its attention to Braixen, ruby red eyes looking drained of their normal energy.

"Gard...Gardevoir!"

I looked at Braixen, hoping he would be able to translate what was being said.

"Brai Xe Xe..."

I narrowed my eyes, did Braixen really just say "Save my mate."

"Gardevoir...Gard...Voir..."

"Braixen Brai Braixen..."

This was turning into a deadly serious situation. I could only pray that it didn't get worse...

"Her mate is in Luminose City right now?"

It was a prayer that went unheeded.

"Gardevoir! Gard Gardevoir! Voir...Voir!"

Braixen turned to me with absolute fear plastered on his face. All I knew, at his point, was that this Gardevoir had a mate and, apparentely, her mate was in serious danger somewhere in Luminose City. For her to have travelled through this dangerous storm just to tell me this, disregarding WHY she had chosen us in the first place, told me that her mate, whoever it was, needed assistance that even a pokemon as powerful as Gardevoir couldn't resolve on her own.

"Brai Brai~...Brai Braixen...Braixen Brai..."

It felt like I had just slammed into a wall made entirely of bricks. First there was the storm, then the conversation with Braixen and, now, this Gardevoir revealing that her mate was being flogged in the Rogue District of Luminose City. There were too many pieces falling in place, too much happening at once for it to be pure coincidence...

I had absolutely no doubt that Gardevoirs' mate was being tortured by the same man who had nearly killed Braixen. The very same man that had eluded police and the pokemon Rangers for over three years. He was still in Luminose City, committing heinous acts as we speak.

I had to act, now! This was not me trying to a hero, rather, this was payback for what he did to Braixen and countless other pokemon before him. I would put an end to this wicked mans' ways so that Braixen would never have nightmares about him ever again. With a sigh of resignation I grabbed ahold of the Gardevoirs' left hand and looked her in the eyes, trying to put on as serious an expression as I could to prove I would help her.

"I need you to take me to where your mate is being held...My name is Kevin, a pokemon trainer with a score to settle with the man who is hurting your mate."

Gardevoir must have already delved into my thoughts, her eyes shimmering with tears about to be shed. Looking back at Braixen, and contemplating what to do about him, I finally decided he should stay in the hotel where it was safe.

It was a notion that was swiftly, and unapologetically, denied by the fox pokemon.

"BRAI BRAI! Xen Xen Brai! Xe Xe Brai Xe Brai Brai Xen!"

"Braixen, I don't want that man laying a finger on you! I am only asking you to stay here until the situation is resolved-"

"XEN BRAI! XEN BRAI, XEN BRAI, XEN BRAI! BRAI BRAI XE BRAI BRAI! XEN XEN XE BRAI BRAI!l"

"Yes, I love you Braixen! That is not the issue here! The issue is if that man hurts you...if I lose you to him, after all that we've endured together...shared together...I...I...I!"

I was biting back tears at this point, I did not want to get Braixen involved in this whatsoever. It wasn't that I didn't trust my own abilities, or that of Braixen himself, I couldn't explain why I felt so apprehensive about it, I just couldn't. If I did not do something about this man now, when he was less than a stones' throw from our hotel room, with the chance to finally end his abuse, I would be the biggest hypocrite this side of Kalos. I just couldn't explain to Braixen that I would sooner die if I lost him.

I had bared my entire soul to him a week ago, given him my ultimate form of love and listened to the promise he made to me, claiming he would never abandon me, just like I never abandoned him at the quagmire. With time running out, and the storm increasing in intensity and damage potential, I made an on-the-spot call...

"GAL...ADE!"

"Harder, Weavile! Teach this idiot a lesson!"

Weavile could only grit its teeth and offer its most apologetic look to the Gallade it was being forced to punish. It wasn't that Weavile feared its trainer, far from it, it simply feared being abandoned in the torrential downpour happening outside of the warehouse they were in. As it reared its claws back for another slash at Gallades' legs, a deafening thunderclap shook the building, causing Weavile to miss and connect with the steel beam Gallade was currently shackled to.

Its' trainer was not amused.

"ARCEUS ABOVE! You are fucking useless, Weavile! Get out of the way!"

The man pushed his pokemon aside, as though it were a nuisance, reached down with his right hand and picked up a crowbar from one of the knocked over supply boxes. The man had a downright evil glint in his eyes, his right hand smacking the bludgeoning tool hard against his open left hand in a show of intimidation. Gallade could only spit up its own blood while trying its best to stand upright.

"You think you can just IGNORE my orders?"

The emphasis on 'ignore' was followed by a bone-crushing hit from the deadly weapon in the mans right hand. Gallade collapsed under the weight of the blow, coughing up more blood in the process.

"You are supposed to be the BEST at hand-to-hand combat, yet you LOST to a fucking HITMONCHAN!"

Three unforgiving blows, two directed at the pokemons head, with the third deliberately aiming for Gallades' right leg, sent Gallade flying back several feet from the force of the blows alone.

"G-GAL...A...ADE..."

"FUCK you, useless POKEMON! That was your LAST. FUCKING. MISTAKE!"

The sound of bone being broken, along with the anguished cries of the pokemon being flogged, echoed through the empty warehouse, the outside of the building being none the wiser due to the terrible storm battering the rusty foundation.

"When I'm FINISHED with you, that BITCH of yours is NEXT!"

"GALLADE! GAL-"

Gallades defiant cry, generated by the treat to his mate, was swiftly silenced by another whack of the crowbar, which was quickly becoming caked in the pokemons blood.

"Did I give you permission to SPEAK? DID. I. GIVE. YOU. PERMISSION. TO. SPEAK. YOU-"

"ENOUGH!"

The man slowly turned around, a wad of spit being expelled from his mouth as he finished.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Kevin, at long last, could get an up-close and personal look at the man responsible for so much pain and heartache, most of which was inflicted on the pokemon. He was an absolute giant, appearing not to be around six feet, seven-inches tall, and weighing no less than two-hundred and seventy-five pounds. While the man was gifted with height and broad shoulders, he lacked the physicality of Kevin who, despite being almost an entire foot shorter, was more defined with muscle.

In spite of the sudden intrusion, the man cracked his neck casually and continued to size up the boy, who was now a mere twenty feet from him. It was at that point the man spotted two pokemon at the entrance to the warehouse. One was a Gardevoir, the other was a Braixen.

"Nevermind...I don't really want to know who you are. How did you even find this place, kid? Did that green-haired bitch put you up to it?"

"I take it you mean the Gardevoir that was pounding on my hotel room door, begging for assistance in saving her mate?"

"Typical of her, all talk but, when it came time to produce, she folded like a worthless lawn chair. She never listens to a word I say, always too busy tending to that useless boyfriend of hers."

Kevin was absolutely livid at the derogatory slang being hurled at the mans' own pokemon. There was absolutely no doubt about it; this WAS the man responsible for nearly killing Braixen.

"If I were a pokemon, and you treated me like you do your own partners, I wouldn't need listen to you, either. Brute strength isn't the end-all, be-all, you know."

"Bullshit! That is the logic of a weakling! I shouldn't be surprised that it came from your mouth, though. I mean, for fucks sake, kid, is that an Everstone hanging around that Braixens' neck? Why haven't you evolved it, yet?"

"This Braixen is incredibly special to me. I owe everything I am to him, and he to me. I would give him anything, just as he would give me anything." At this, Braixen reached over with its right paw and entwined it with in Kevins' fingers.

The mans' reaction was one of general disgust.

"Oh, spare me! You're one of those pokephiles, aren't you? Human beings just aren't cutting it, so you're going for animal pussy, right?" The man forced a gag before spitting on the warehouse floor in disgust. Braixen, to his credit, forced himself to maintain his composure. The fact he had been referred to as an 'animal' cut far deeper than he had expected it to.

"From what I've seen, and heard, you're an abuser of pokemon. You discard pokemon that don't fit your mold, sometimes killing them in the process.

The man gripped the crowbar even harder, a vein popping on his forehead. He could not believe the gall of this boy! Once he did enough damage to the kid to ensure he would be in a permanent vegetative state, his pokemon would soon follow. As these thoughts finished, new ones began circulating in his mind, his gaze switching back and forth between the boy and the Braixen. There was something odd about it, the Braixen...

The man, again, felt a sensation very similar to nostalgia, albeit much less innocent. The only pokemon he had ever owned, that would have evolved into a Braixen, was a Fennekin. That pokemon died in the storm that destroyed the park north of Luminose City, though. If that was the case, then why did it feel like this was the same pokemon...

Braixen, to his credit, stood next to Kevin while Gardevoir, who's crimson eyes were constantly darting towards her fallen mate, took position on the other side. The eerie silence within the warehouse was broken up by the man, along with the pained groaning of his Gallade.

"Now that I think about it, I had a Fennekin, some three or four years ago. Fuck if I could be bothered to remember the actual timetable, though. That Braixen of yours is giving off some very familiar vibes, as if I know that pokemon already."

Kevin took position infront of Braixen, shielding the pokemon from the mans' line-of-sight.

"If by vibes you mean absolute contempt for what they see in front of them then, yes, I'm sure the vibes would come across as familiar. How can you blatantly mistreat pokemon, going so far as to leave them dying in a field, or a swamp even!"

"Did you just say...a swamp?"

The mans' eyes began to widen, taking another long look at Braixen. Something had just clicked in his mind, and it had to do with that pokemon.

A swamp...

The storm...

Fennekin...

The look on the mans' face was almost unreadable; anger, mixed with joy and, perhaps, contempt all mingled into one expression. It was the creepiest sight Kevin had ever seen, one he was becoming increasingly defensive of since the man continued to gaze at Braixen the entire time.

"How did you survive, you bitch?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not talking to you, boy, the pokemon! That Braixen."

Kevin was doing his best to shield his mate from the insane man who, at one point, had been Braixens' trainer. The mans' sadistic grin only widened, as the realization dawned on him that he would be killing two birds with one stone, literally.

"I must thank you, truly, I must! Not only did you save a pokemon I once considered worth my time to train, but you've delivered it to back to me of your own accord! Heh, heh...now I will know for certain when its life is snuffed out."

A piece of debris, blown around by the swirling winds outside of the warehouse, pierced through the second-story window, sending shards of broken glass directly at the prone form of Gallade. The man, further proving his despicable nature, merely watched as three large pieces sliced into Gallades' body, one in his left arm and the other two just missing his vital organs.

"GARDEVOIR!"

A panicked cry left Gardevoirs' lips, her instincts taking control of the reins, as she teleported over to where her fallen mate was lying. She attempted to pull the shards of glass out from Gallade, using her psychic powers to do so, but her efforts had attracted the attention of the mans' Weavile. It stood behind Gardevoir, its lethal claws rearing back as it prepared to slash Gardevoirs' blind side.

"Gardevoir! Watch out!"

Kevin's warning came too late, however. The sheer speed of Weaviles' movements left virtually no time to avoid what happened next...

Gardevoir was sent hurling through the warehouse, her much frailer body snapping like a twig when she made contact with a steel support beam. The anguished cry that left her lips only served as fodder for the rage that was boiling over inside of Kevin. That fury would be let loose moments later, as Gardevoir, despite having broken her left leg and arm in the collision with the support fixture, was attempting to crawl back over towards her fallen mate.

The laughter echoing around the warehouse was sinister...

The laughter, coming from the man that had started it all, was filled with amusement...

...amusement at the suffering of his own pokemon...

It would be the final sin the man committed, Kevin swore to himself, as he propelled his body forward with his right foot. In the span of less than two seconds, Kevin was directly infront of the insane man. The speed in which it all happened caught the other by surprise, as did the stomach-churning impact of Kevins' skull against the mans' chin.

The force of the headbutt, though weakened somewhat by the fact Kevin had to leap up just to reach him, had the man staggering. A slightly yellow object had been launched out of his mouth, quite obviously a chunk of tooth. While the impact had been brutal, it only disoriented the man for a few brief moments.

It was still enough time for Kevin to begin thinking of his next strategy, however.

"Fuck you, pokephile! You're gonna regret doing that!"

The man had blood trickling down his upper lip, verifying it had, indeed, been a tooth of his that was knocked out. A fierce roar left the mans lungs as he charged at Kevin, the crowbar being waved erratically by the much larger fighter. Kevin back-pedaled several feet before his progress was halted by one of the warehouse walls. With no other avenue of direction available to him, Kevin lunged forward and met the mans charge head-on.

The man, though not as physically fit as Kevin, per-say, had more than six inches in height to his advantage. In a straight one-on-one, he would have the absolute advantage over Kevin, a fact the latter was all too aware of. If he was going to come out on top in a confrontation with the enraged man, Kevin would have to play it very smart, as well as have an extraordinary amount of luck on his side.

That luck was not currently favoring him now, however.

The man, using his much larger body as a bartering ram, was able to completely overwhelm Kevins' head-on offensive. The momentum that had been built up between the two men carried a force that sent both brawlers crashing through a weakened section of the warehouse wall. Now they were outside, in the elements, with unsteady, slippery ground and the wrath of Mother Nature battering their bodies with blinding rain, wind and small chunks of debris.

"You should never have come here, boy! This soft ground will serve as your grave!"

With the man on top of his smaller form, Kevin knew he was in serious trouble. He had to get off of his back as quickly as possible, before he could be hit by a barrage of fists.

Digging his fingers into the mud, Kevin used his hands to propel his body back, sliding along the rain-soaked ground, leaving only his knees pressed under the weight of the other man. Displaying lightning reflexes, Kevin lifted his right leg up from its pinned position, showing incredible lower body strength in the process, and connected the tip of his mud-caked sneaker with the mans' chin. The second impact to the mans already-sore jaw was enough to send him scampering away from Kevin, roaring in pain all the while. With the advantage back in his end of the court, Kevin grabbed the crowbar that had been dropped earlier and began wailing away at the mans' legs.

"Gardevoir! GARDEVOIR!"

Braixen could only watch, tears flowing down his crimson eyes, as Gallade was not responding to any verbal or motional stimulation from his mate. Gardevoir was transferring her energy into Gallade, a potentially suicidal tactic but, given the circumstances, it was the only viable opportunity left to save his life.

Gardevoir pressed the tip of her chest spike, considered by many to be the source of its incredible psychic abilities, against Gallades' similarly shaped protrusion. Braixen saw tendrils of purple and blue light flow from Gardevoirs' body directly into Gallade, a painful series of wheezes and heavy breathing, most of them coming from Gardevoir, heralding the successful transferring of her energy into the other.

Would this end up doing Gardevoir in? Would she be able to sustain her life if she continued to give her mate the very energy she needed to live? More importantly, however, where had the Weavile gone?

As if waiting for the thought to cross Braixens' mind, a sharp cry pierced through the torrential downpour of rain, wind and thunder. Braixen whipped around to find the Weavile in question cheering on its trainer, who was currently having a fight to the death with Kevin. It wasn't clear who was winning but, if Weaviles' energetic pitch was any indication, Kevin was losing.

With a sudden pain in his chest Braixen ran out to the very edge of the warehouse, just close enough so he could see what was going on, but not close enough that he was in danger of being hit by the rain. Braixen narrowed his eyes and, for the first time, saw Kevin stagger back after narrowly missing being plastered with a two-by-four. The man he was fighting, his forehead caked with moist blood and rain, lunged forward, tackling Kevin to the ground and pinning his arms with his knees.

"Now, you will DIE!"

The impact of fist-to-bone was sickening, it, Braixen could only watch as his mate was being absolutely pulverized by his former trainer. A tiny voice sprang up inside of Braixens' heart, begging him, pleading with him to cheer his lover on, as Weavile was currently doing with its trainer.

'What good would moral encouragement do at this point, though?! It isn't like this is a sports match! I could lose the love of my life here!'

Braixen realized, at that very moment, he had answered his own stupid question. The man reached into his pockets and pulled out a metallic object of some kind. A bolt of lightning lit up the surrounding areas, revealing the metal to have an incredibly jagged edge, almost like a...

"BRAI BRAI!"

It was the loudest Braixen had ever screamed in his life, yet, when it mattered the most, his high-pitched, girlish tone did its job in distracting the man. It was only for a brief moment, but that precious couple of seconds bought Kevin enough time to use his lower body to vault his attacker over him. The trajectory was spot-on, there was absolutely no way the man would avoid what he was heading towards. A sickening 'SPLERGH!' was the only sound the man made before his face collided with a piece of industrial equipment that looked like a bulldozer. If the blood splatter along the front corner of the trough was a sign, then the fact that the man was completely motionless, his own blood pooling beneath his face, told Braixen all he needed to know.

The storm continued its viscous maelstrom of fury, lightning beginning to arc from east-to-west across the sky in a spectacular display of Mother Natures' fury. Braixen cared not for the light-show, however, only the limping form of his mate, his bloodied body slowly making its way over towards the warehouse entrance.

Braixen had been so happy that Kevin had won his fight that he missed a glaring oversight; the spot where the man had just been laying down was now vacant. Not only that, there was someone approaching Kevin from behind...

"B-B-BRAI BR-"

Braixens' warning was cut off by Weavile, who used its Throat Chop skill to silence Braixen. Moments later, a heavy weight descended upon Kevin, taking the form of a crowbar. With an unceremonious 'thunk' Kevin was laying motionless on the muddy ground, his attacker bending down to pick him up by the back of the neck.

Braixen could only watch, crimson eyes filled with terror at the disfigured face of his former trainer, the man who had nearly killed him three years ago. Now, with no way of stopping what was about to happen, Braixen cried out a voiceless scream, lightning filling the sky and the rain blowing harder than ever before. The mans face, bloodied and grotesque from colliding with the bulldozer, bore the same look Braixen had seen before.

It was desperation.

It was rage.

It was unbridled joy at the prospect of killing something.

It had been the very last look given to Braixen while he was still a Fennekin, and in the company of the man choking the life out of Kevin. Braixen had to stop the man, before he took away the one shining ray of hope in his life. There had to be something he could do, something that would ignore the heavy pressure wrapped around his throat.

The man suddenly lifted Kevin higher into the air, his left hand still wrapped around his neck, the other hand raising the crowbar up menacingly until it was aligned with Kevins' skull.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the area, giving Braixen a momentarily complete view of Kevins' face. He wasn't moving at all, blood was trickling down his face just like that night in the hailstorm., it was simply too much for Braixen to handle emotionally. With a determined, yet, silent cry, Braixen dashed out into the rain and wind, ignoring the stinging pain the water had on his skin. He had to save Kevin, just as he had saved him three years ago.

The man was so preoccupied with his prey he failed to notice the charging Braixen. When a blur of yellow and white finally did register into his addled brain, it was already too late. Pain erupted in the mans body as Braixen latched onto his leg and bit down as hard as he could. Braixens two front fangs began to dig into the mans skin, creating puncture wounds but, more importantly, causing him to drop Kevin.

Kevin fell like a rag doll, his head woozy and every muscle in his body hurt whenever he tried to move. Bleary, dirt-caked eyes happened to glance up to see his love, Braixen, holding his former trainer at bay. The sight was enough to create a surge of adrenaline Kevin didn't even know he had. That sensation was only amplified when he saw the man recover from the sneak attack, raise his crowbar into the air, and prepare to flog Braixen across the skull.

"BRAIXEN!"

Kevin made one last, desperate lunge at the man who had caused both him and Braixen no small amount of heartache and strife, tackling him to the ground and wrapping his legs around the mans' neck. With angry, unpredictable jerking motions, Kevin went at attempting to snap the mans neck. The pain coursing through Kevin was unbearable, just breathing was beginning to hurt but, see down inside, the intestinal fortitude to keep his promise to Braixen, to not allow that vile man to lay a finger on his beautiful body, was the driving factor in giving Kevin a surge of vigor.

Braixen was his, he would sooner lose an extremity then to allow any harm to befall his love.

Grotesque gurgling sounds began emanating from the frantically flailing form of the man beneath them, A wide-eyed, blood-soaked death stare was given towards the pokemon that, for all intent and purposes, was just watching as its trainer was being overpowered.

"We...VILE! Y...YOU...T...TRAI...TOR!"

Weavile looked back at the unconscious forms of Gardevoir and Gallade, then back at its trainer. Moments earlier it had been cheering him on yet, as the sight of Kevin and Braixen working as a team played itself over and over in its mind, the budding knowledge that its own trainer completely ignored its own efforts to spur him on rang loudest. The man was incredibly harsh to his pokemon, that was not a debate. Weavile had always figured, with it being the very first pokemon its trainer ever owned, that it would be immune to depreciation. It had been with him for years but now, as tears started to roll down its eyes, the truth was painfully clear.

Its trainer would never appreciate it, nor did the man ever consider time they had spent together. As the man continued to struggle against the tag-team of Braixen and Kevin, Weavile cast its gaze at Gardevoir. She was still unconscious, slumped ontop of Gallade. How could it even begin to make amends for what it had done to them? Would they even fully recover? These thoughts swirled around Weaviles' mind, all the while its trainer continued shouting abuse at it.

That man did not deserve its loyalty, Weavile decided. It would do its best to help the ones it had hurt, instead. With its mind made up, Weavile sprinted over towards Gardevoir and Gallade, rummaging through its trainers...FORMER trainers' belongings, hoping to find anything that could help the pair.

Kevin, meanwhile, was beginning to lose the adrenaline surge. The protests of his body, along with the immense amount of pain he was in, was overshadowed only by the fear that the man would get up and finish what he started. This knowledge kept both Braixen and Kevin from relenting. After nearly two minutes of violent struggling, as well as numerous curses hurled at Braixen and Kevin, the man, who was once Braixens' trainer, fell silent.

Lightning arced across the sky and the rain, for the briefest of moments, began to lighten. The howling wind was the only moving entity within the Rogue District, everybody was either too exhausted to move, or simply too frightened that the nightmare would continue if they did. After another minute of no commotion from the man beneath them, Braixen and Kevin broke apart from his motionless body. With the threat finally over, the two finally took a moment to embrace each other happily.

Braixen, even though he could still taste his former trainers' blood in his mouth, knew the rain water would wash it away. He began kissing Kevins' face, neck and howling with both sadness and joy that they had made it through the ordeal alive. Kevin, still showing the chivalrous side he never lost, attempted to shield Braixen from the rain. Being exposed to a downpour like this, even briefly, could cause significant damage to Braixens' internal organs. Kevin hastily picked his mate up and, after several unscrupulous attempts at walking, managed to maintain a standing posture.

It was just long enough for an enraged, desperate scream to fill the air.

"YOU...YOU...YOU...ARE..."

The man, against all form of logic or understanding, was standing once again.

Braixen could not believe what he was seeing with his own two eyes. He and Kevin had ended his life! How in the name of Arceus was he still breathing?! Was it all pointless? Was his fate always to be killed by this man? Why wouldn't he just stay dead?

"YOU. ARE. MEAT!"

The man began stumbling or, to be precise, shambling his way over towards the pair, who were too terrified to do anything other than back away from the man.

"YOU. YOU. YOU~!"

The man, as if he was being filled with an unholy energy, made a mad dash towards Braixen. The lightning illuminated the area once more, giving his bloodstained crowbar a sinister glow. The man held it high and, as he closed to within twenty feet of his target, was already preparing his downswing. Kevin, acting on his protective instincts, along with his undying love for Braixen, stood infront of the pokemon and prepared to use his body as a shield.

A deafening clap of thunder was immediately preceded by the brightest flash of light they had ever seen. With the man having held his metal crowbar up above him, he had turned himself into the perfect lightning rod. That a bolt of lightning would pick that moment to choose that particular direction seemed like too good of a thing to be true.

The roar that echoed through the skies proved that to be false, however.

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOH~!"

Kevin and Braixen looked up and saw Zapdos, the Kalos incarnation of lightning, hovering several hundred feet above them and channeling the energy from the lightning strike directly into their attackers body. There was no blood-curdling scream from the man, nor were there any parting words directed at anyone in particular. The sheer force of one-hundred-thousand volts of electricity had, quite simply, fried the mans' brain.

An unceremonious 'thud' heralded the mans' final breath having left his lips. Braixen took another moment to look at Zapdos and, to his great joy, it was giving them an approving nod. It brought back memories of the time he had talked to Kevin about how he had been saved by a Guardian Angel, who prevented lightning from reaching Kevins' prone body after they had escaped the quagmire.

This time, Zapdos had put an end to the life of a true terror, in Braixens' eyes. The specter that had haunted him was no more. He would never hurt another soul.

Braixen tilted his head to the side, feeling his drenched face land along the crook of Kevins' neck. The rain had weakened to a light drizzle and, amazingly, the first rays of sunshine began to creep over the horizon. It was the perfect analogy to what they had just experienced, Braixen realized.

Kevin had kept his promise. Though he was unsure of the toll it had taken on his body. In the end, he figured, it was worth it and, if he had to make the choice again, he still would have chosen to protect Braixen. Sirens began to blare in he distance, no doubt word had reached the police department of foul play happening in the Rogue District. Too weak to move, put up any resistance or say anything, Braixen and Kevin simply waited to see what the new day had in store for them.

With the specter of the past a memory that could be forgotten, they were certain the future would become much, much clearer, now that the storm had passed...

"Brai Brai Xe..."

"I love you, too, Braixen...always."

Closure for Braixen! I had, originally, wanted to keep this as a two-shot, withthe second chapter being the final chapter. After thinking about the central premise I had originally intended for this story, Fennekin being saved from his abusive trainer, I realized that completely ignoring closure for Fennekin/Braixen was downright unacceptable. I am not merely speaking about the contents of this story, either.

There are far too many instances of abuse going unreported or unresolved, many of which end tragically for the victim(s). I felt that, by NOT putting this in, it would have reflected badly on me, as well as further prove my point that abuse is resolved so rarely these days. It can happen to anyone, that isn't a cliche, it is the truth.

One final serious note before I close the book on this story- if you are ever the victim of abuse, it does not matter how insignificant it may seem to you or what the effects of it are at the onset. Do not wait until "if it gets worse" because NOTHING is worse than letting abusive behavior go unpunished and ignored.