Bradlew looked at the view before him as the sun began rise. Sitting on top of his small brick hut in just his shorts, his chest was covered in scars while his legs had been cut off at the knees, which were now capped with metal plates. He had the perfect view of the rising sun and the clear waters of the beach down below his cliffside house. It felt nice to have the sun warm his skin in the mornings, but it was even nicer to know that he wouldn't be bothered out here in the middle nowhere, in a place where the war could no longer touch him.

Having been drafted into the war a year earlier for his vast knowledge of cybernetics, Bradlew was shipped out thinking that he could help out and save lives. Not even two weeks on site at a MASH where he was busy trying to implement some new weaponized cybernetic arms and legs onto pre-selected soldiers, his unit came under by a rebel ambush team using chemical weapons. The new viral agent was devastating eating away at the flesh of everyone there except the rock and steel types that were guards for the unit. The release of the viral agent was quickly followed up by a heavy artillery bombardment however. Bradlew had been one of the few survivors of the attack though, but only by luck. He had been in the supply room going over what parts he had left for his cybernetic limbs when the first viral rocket had hit. He had been thrown off his feet into one of the cold storage units and locked in side for a few minutes. He could hear the battle outside, but he struggled to open the door to the unit he had been trapped in. His fear of enclosed spaces far outweighed his fear of battle, but no matter what he did, he couldn't open the door the cold storage unit. Bradlew had no idea how much time had passed as the muffled sounds of gunshots and explosions continued to rage on. Suddenly, the storage unit he had been in was thrown around as Bradlew was tossed all over. At last, the unit came to stand still and the door was cracked enough to let some light in. The sounds of combat had died off and from little he could see, there was no one around. It took some effort, but at last, Bradlew and freed himself and looked around. Most of the area was filled with craters from the artillery fire and dead bodies, many of which were not only torn and battered, but looked as though they had been eaten alive by acid or something. As Bradlew stepped out of the container, he couldn't believe what had happened. He took a few steps before a hand grabbed his foot and he fell over. The twisted remains of what appeared to be a child was lying next to him. Most of it's flesh had been removed, exposing muscle and bone and the lower half of the body was missing as well. Bradlew quickly scooted backwards as the thing, whatever it was whether human or pokemon, raised a broken knife above it's exposed skull, some sort of twisted smile on it's face as it tried to reach him. Bradlew barely had anytime to realize what was going as the thing pulled out a small device that had been lying next to it. The last conscious thought Bradlew had that day was realizing that the thing had a grenade in its bony hand.

Bradlew had woken up days later to find that he had made it back home to the Hoenn region, but he had lost his legs from the knees down. It was thanks to his friendship with the boss of the company he had worked for and even help build that he now had his new set of legs, top of the line cybernetic replacements. To help with his recovery and to learn how to use his new legs, Bradlew had chosen to take up kickboxing so that he could defend himself. His friend had even gone so far as to recruit him a caretaker, a gardevoir to help watch over him just incase at the word of his psychologist. While the psychologist saw no reason at all that he would ever take his own life since he seemed so determined to stay alive, there was the chance that someone else could get hurt around him if he was not watched over.

Even though so much time had passed since the attack, Bradlew was never the same cheerful, over achiever he had been. While the last few month's had been going smoothly and he was slowly getting better returning to his old self, a news report last night on the latest attack made this rebel group had hit the news and they were once again using their chemical weapons. A single image of what the virus did to people had been shown before anyone could stop the news crew from getting their picture of one of the infected. Bradlew had been up all night, every time he closed his eyes to try and get some sleep, the images of the destroyed MASH unit always found their way into his head.

Finally, just as the sun had now risen completely above the ocean, Bradlew heard the sounds of someone moving around the house quickly opening and closing doors as if searching for something. Reaching over, Bradlew reconnected his artificial limbs back to the stumps of what were once his legs. Looking very similar to that of a human foot aside the from the obvious fact that they were made of metal, the robotic limbs also spring loaded soles, an added feature that Bradlew found very useful. It took a few seconds for all the parts to line up and connect themselves to his body, but once they were on, Bradlew got up. Like every time he put them before, they needed a few minutes to adjust to his body, but Bradlew didn't care. He took the first few steps easily enough before one of locking clamps on his left leg sprung back open and started to come loose. Bradlew started to fall over, but caught himself before the leg collapsed and he really did fell over with a surprised yell. He landed rather hard on his side in a pile of unused tarps, which only did so much to cushion his landing. Upon hearing his yell however, the gardevoir came rushing out of the side door of the house.

'Bradlew? Bradlew, are you okay?' A voice asked in his head as Bradlew pulled one of the tarps off his face. She quickly ran over to him forgetting that her oversized nightshirt was still on. As she stands over Bradlew, she doesn't realize the view that she is giving him. After a quick undiscovered peak under her shirt, he looks straight up and sees her face full of concern and worry as she looks at the poorly locked clamps on his one leg. After her examination of what had happened, she quickly looks down to meet Bradlew's gaze. 'Bradlew, how many times to I have to tell you that I can help you put your legs back on if you need it. Seriously, how can you be so stubborn even after you keep messing up putting the locking clamps on? Didn't you help design them? And just what are you doing outside without a shirt, you know how cold it can get in the fall.'

"I told you, I'm fine Janet. I just need to get used to the new set up; I've only had these exact legs for a week now. I'm still used to the old ones. And no, I didn't design this line of cybernetics." Bradlew countered.

'You need to be more careful, the company can only give you so many spare parts before they have to start charging you.' Janet stated as she helped Bradlew into a sitting position and begins to undo all of the locking clamps on his left leg. It took her a few seconds before they were all undone and she realigned the leg and began putting all the clamps on properly while Bradlew just sat there, his mind wandering a bit. Using the chance she had, she peered into his mind knowing that once they were in town and moving about, she may not get the chance to until they got home. Bradlew always had this habit of shielding his thoughts when in crowds or when he was nervous, but Janet could never tell if he did it on purpose or if was a subconscious action. As she looked into his thoughts, she could quickly tell that he was troubled. 'Bradlew, what's up?' She asked this time with a much softer tone.

"Huh?" Bradlew looked down to see her worried face once more knowing what she had done. "Oh, it's nothing. Just last night's news report..." Janet quickly learned everything see needed to know with a glance of his mind now that his thoughts were organized.

'Have you had breakfast yet? We have a long day today and it's a long drive to the city.' Janet stated knowing that the day was going to be a slow one at best. With his currents thoughts of times best forgotten now once again fresh in his head, she knew that he would be a bit slower today and would have to keep him on track.

"I'm not hungry." Bradlew replied.

'It's not good for you skip meals.' Janet stated.

"I'll eat when I get hungry, it's not like there aren't any places to grab a bite to eat in town." Bradlew countered know that logic was the best way to convince her that he was going to be all right.

'Some how, I don't see us dining at a restaurant.' Janet replied.

"Ever heard of a drive through. Besides, today is payday and an extra big one at that. Once we get dressed we can leave." Bradlew finished walking back to the house leaving Janet with a slightly worried look on her face wondering how he could always be so stubborn.

--

After changing out of their night clothing and into something for public, they were off to town in Bradlew's truck. There first stop was of course to the medical company Lunar Corp, to pick up his latest check for one of his cybernetic limb designs that was supposed to be going into production soon. After collecting his check, it was off to the bank to put most of it away since it did have to last the next three months when he would get his next check, this time based on how his new of cybernetics had sold. Once they were done at the bank, it was off to local clothing store.

In an effort to help Bradlew recover and get use to working with others again, his psychologist had recommended that he show up for a medical reward ceremony of some kind at a medical convention or something for his latest style of cybernetic limbs that implemented a brand new nerve adapter that allowed for quicker, more accurate use of the limbs. His psychologist had made it a point to tell that all he had to do was attend, he didn't even need to go up and get the award. Bradlew hadn't really paid attention that much during that session though; he had been preoccupied with other thoughts and that was about all he could remember.

'Bradlew, you really need to learn to pay attention to what your psychologist tells you. He's trying to help.' Janet told him as she picked up on his thoughts. 'Its formal wear, so you'll need to get a tuxedo. I've already got something back at the house. You may also want to consider getting a new tie and business suit while we are, we do have an upcoming meeting with some Kanto representatives during the next Lunar Corp board meeting.' Bradlew just nodded as they pulled up to the store. It took a while to get a tux that fit him given the fact that locking clamps tried to tear nearly ever pair of pants he tried on, but at last, he had his tux. He also had a new suit as well. From there, it was off to the mall to pick a few things and possible to a bit of additional shopping. Janet knew that this was going to be the hardest part of the day.

"Okay, so we need to pick up a new cybernetics tool kit, I've got a few books on reserve, and we need some more thread." Bradlew stated going over the list he had compiled the day before.

'We also require some more liter fluid or matches, a new set of stamps and envelopes, and I could personally use some more shampoo.' Janet added.

"Well, let's get this over this." Bradlew stated as he got of the vehicle. It was short walk up the mall's main entrance from their parking spot and Janet could already feel her connection with Bradlew fading a bit as he began to shield his thoughts again. All around them, humans and pokemon of all sizes walked through the mall, each shop full of customers. It looked as though the mall was more then just packed today. Bradlew knew his first stop though, to get a new cybernetics toolkit to adjust his new legs a bit. His old set was out of date and didn't include the full range of tools needed to completely modify certain parts to his exact measurements given that he had grown a bit over the last year when he first got his cybernetic limbs. From there, it was over to the department store to pick up their household odds and ends.

Things continued to move slowly as Bradlew and Janet moved from one place to the next collecting what they needed. Janet could occasionally read Bradlew's mind and knew that he was getting hungry, but she also knew that he wouldn't suggest getting something to eat while they were in the mall with so many people around them.

Having already gotten most of the things that they needed, Janet was starting to feel hungry herself. 'Bradlew, I'm going to get us a snack to last us until we get out of here.' Janet stated as they stopped to rest at one of the benches on the second floor over looking the food court. 'I'll be back in a few.' With a quick flash, Janet had teleported herself down to the floor below where she got in line at one of the many fast food places.

Bradlew just leaned back taking a moment to relax. Despite being a bit loud with food court down below, there weren't that many people up on the second floor to bother him. Seeing that he had a few minutes to spend since the food court was so busy, Bradlew pulled out his new toolkit and opened it up. Taking out the set of hex keys, Bradlew found the one he needed and lifted his left pants leg to begin tightening up the loose locking clamp. Just as he finished that task and was putting the last screw back in place, he nearly fell out of his seat. One of the windows next to him belonged to the mall's video rental shop and had started the next video with a partially loud, but very sudden explosion catching Bradlew completely off guard. He gave a sigh of relief realizing that there was nothing to worry about and closed his eyes. He failed to notice when Janet had teleported up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder causing him to shift quickly falling out of his seat. 'Bradlew? What's wrong?' Janet asked.

"Nothing, just didn't hear you teleport back." Bradlew replied while Janet read his mind to get the full story. "Let's just get back to our shopping." Handing Bradlew the small sandwich she got him, Janet watched as he put it away into one of his bags with a worried look on her face. She knew that he would eat it later, but she still couldn't help but to worry about him at times. Overall, it did look like he was recovering to her, but then there were just days like this one where it almost looked like all the work Bradlew had put into returning to his old life just faded away.

It wasn't long before they had reach the bookstore and Janet was pleased to feel that the barrier Bradlew had put up in his mind dimmed when he entered the room which showed he was slowly relaxing, or at least trying to even with the tension he felt. Bradlew's first stop was over in the sci-fi section as usual and Janet was headed off to find herself a nice romance novel. Even as they walked through separate sections of the store though, Janet made it a point to keep an eye on his mind.

The two of them spent a good half an hour there just looking through the books before they each had a few and Bradlew paid for them while collecting the ones he had on hold. On their way out, they could clearly see a large crowd gathering down the hallway for some big promotional stunt one of the other stores was starting. Rather then fight their way through the crowd despite being the quick way to get back to Bradlew's truck, Bradlew starting walking down one of the other halls planning to circle around.

Just as they rounded the corner, a large group of people and pokemon all seemed to start flowing down the hall as an announcement was made over the mall's loud speakers. Forced to move to opposite sides of the hallway, Bradlew and Janet were quickly separated as Bradlew went back around the corner to avoid be locked into the space with the large crowd.

'Bradlew? Where are you?' Janet asked as she tried to find a way through the crowd. There were just too many people around her and she didn't want to risk teleporting next to Bradlew knowing that crowd was headed towards him. After all, teleporting right into a moving crowd often proved to be a bad idea.

"Janet; just head towards the truck, I'll work my way around, the main hall is clearing up anyway." Bradlew stated knowing that she would pick it up. "I'll be fine for a few minutes and it's not like you let that psychic leash of yours up much anyway."

'You know that it's for you own good.' Janet replied with a bit of an annoyed tone by Bradlew's comment. 'Just let me know if you get into any trouble.'

As Bradlew turned to begin walking down the main hall, he heard a voice behind him. "Bradlew, is that you?" The female voice asked, just barely heard over the large crowd. Bradlew turned to see who had called his name and met the source quickly rushing up to greet him. "Bradlew, it is you." A lady in her late twenties was waved to him as he stopped. Dressed in a white tank top and denim shorts, Bradlew could already see some eyes following her, but none seemed willing to approach with the machamp that was with her carrying several bags.

"Sonia?" Bradlew looked at the lady as she finally caught up with him.

"It's been ages since I last saw you Bradlew. When did you get back? How have you been? " Sonia smiled as she gave him a big hug before partially dragging him into a small café they had been next to. Bradlew could only guess that she had been walking around all day judging by the way she seemed to be exhausted.

"Just calm down Sonia. You haven't changed at all, getting excited from even the smallest things." Bradlew stated.

"Small? I haven't seen you since before you left for the war. You should have called me when you got back. Hey, why don't go out hiking like we used to. I know this perfect this canyon not too far from the city." Sonia countered as her machamp set the bags he had been caring down before heading up the counter where an alakazam stood ready to takes his order.

'So, you can make friends mister anti-social. I'll be there in a second.' Janet's voice entered Bradlew's head and before he had a chance to answer, Janet was standing there next to them.

"Bradlew, you never told me you were a trainer, and to have a gardevoir at that. You always said it was a waste of time. What's her name?" Sonia asked still as curious as the day Bradlew had met her.

"I'm not a trainer." Bradlew stated.

"Huh?" Sonia looked up to Janet a bit confused.

'I can speak for myself and my name is Janet. I'm Bradlew's 'caretaker' so to speak.' Janet explained.

Sonia was still very much confused and looked to Bradlew for answers. He merely just pointed to his legs and Sonia slid her chair over just a bit finally noticing his cybernetic replacements.

"Oh Bradlew, I'm sorry. I didn't notice. I guess that hiking trip was a bad idea then. I must look so stupid for suggesting it." Sonia had a slightly pained expression on her face. "What happened?" No sooner then Sonia had asked that, the sound of small blasts filled the halls as the store across the hall had began setting off a few fire works for their customers to see, mostly just to impress the children, a number of psychic types keeping the blasts in check making sure no one got hurt.

Bradlew quickly turned to see what was going, his mind once again closing up. He gave another sigh of relief seeing that nothing was happened, but still the noise was getting to be too much as more small fire works were set off. "Can we go somewhere else?" Bradlew asked as the machamp returned with his master's usual order.

"Bradlew, what's going on?" Sonia asks as Bradlew gets up.

'You'll have to forgive him. He's been like this ever since the MASH unit he was in was attacked. He witnessed first hand the effects of that viral weapon those rebels in Sinnoh were using when they first introduced it. He was shipped back days later.' Janet explained as they quickly followed Bradlew away from the crowds into a much quieter section of the mall.

"Wait, you mean that he was there when the first viral attack was launched!? But that was over a year ago, why didn't he contact me?" Sonia demanded. She had lost contact with Bradlew just a few days after he had been shipped out, but his name never appeared on the lists of deceased soldiers or doctors, so she had always assumed that he was still there helping in the fight

'I'm sensing some very strong emotions from you. How exactly do you know Bradlew?' Janet asked as they continued to walked behind Bradlew who seemed to be moving at a slightly fast pace trying to find a calm and quiet place to stop, but without much success. It seemed the most of the mall was busy with all sorts of new promotions and sales.

"We tried dating a few times back in college, but it didn't work out entirely. Still, we were quite close." Janet replied. "But, why didn't he contact me when he got back?"

'I don't know, he never really mentioned much of anything about his life to me. I was chosen to watch over him about a month after he got back and moved away from the city. His boss was worried about him though and that's when I was brought in to keep an eye on him and help him recover. They decided that it would be best if a psychic type like me looked over him since there was no other real way to keep track of him or tell what he was thinking, he kept to himself too much.' Janet explained. 'I've helped him make a lot of progress though over the last few months though.'

"Oh, I see." Sonia stated. Finally, the group stumbled upon a quiet section of the mall. Once again, Janet struck up conversation, but Bradlew was still a bit stressed out. It took some effort to quietly break into Bradlew's mind without really alarming him and she could see that part of his mind was once again reliving the moments that he had been trapped in the cold storage unit. Bradlew still tried talking with Sonia, but Bradlew just couldn't seem to stay with it. Even with the lack of people around him, Bradlew still felt a bit crowded in the mall. Janet knew that it was again time for her to step in when Bradlew got up and started to pace just a bit.

'Sonia, do you live anywhere in the area?' Janet asked.

"I live in Slateport, just a few hours drive from here." Sonia replied.

'I can sense a small part of Bradlew trying to reach out right now, but given his current state of mind, he's just not getting to that point. Do you how get to the Twinmist Falls beach a short ride south of the city?' Janet asked.

"Yea, I've been there a few times." Sonia replied.

'If you follow the road a few miles south past the beach entrance, you'll notice a lone drive on the right side of the road just past the Pelipper's Nest gas station. We live at the end of that drive. Perhaps you could come over this weekend.' Janet explained. 'I know for a fact that Bradlew doesn't have anything planned and he prefers to stay at home on his free days.' Janet wrote down a number on the small notepad she always carried and then handed it to Sonia. 'This is the number to Bradlew's house phone; he never saw reason to carry a cell-phone. I'm sorry he couldn't talk with you more, but he was never good in places like this since I've met him. To be honest though, you're the first friend I've met of his or even heard of outside of his Lunar Corp and they are few in number. I think he could really use the some time with friends, but none of them seem to really come by anymore and I fear a few have given up hope on him.'

"I just can't see what had happened to make him like this. I'll try to come over this Sunday then." Sonia said, a bit of sadness in her voice for seeing just how much her friend had changed.

'Come on Bradlew, let's get out of here.' Janet walked over and grabbed that bag Bradlew has set down before heading for the door.

--

Bradlew made sure it was a quick walk back to his truck and then from there, a quick ride back to his place. Bradlew quickly took a seat on the back porch relaxing while Janet made him some tea to help calm him down. Janet went about taking care of a few of her chores such as putting her laundry into the dryer. Bradlew's time spent relaxing though was cut short when Janet pointed out that they should start getting ready to leave again. It took Bradlew a few minutes to change into his rented tuxedo thanks to his cybernetic legs, but at last he was done and walked out of his bedroom to find Janet waiting for him.

Bradlew was very much surprised to say the least. Dressed in a soft red dress that matched the color of her horns. While it did look similar to her natural dress, this one was of a much more elegant design, hugging her body a bit more then usual and was just a bit shorter. Janet could already pick up on his thoughts as well. 'You forget that before I was assigned to help you, I was the secretary for one of the Lunar Corp co-founders. I was often required to attend a number of formal events before my previous owner saw fit to get rid of me.' Janet explained. 'Now come on or we may be late.'

xXx

It was a longer drive from Bradlew's house since they had to drive to a different town a short ways inland. From there, it was off to the town's local cybernetics college that was equipped with large media conference room, which had been set up for the coming event.

Janet could feel Bradlew's closing up yet again as they began to enter the building, although there were some noticeable differences this time. Although Bradlew was nervous, there was the definitive feeling that he was, at least on a subconscious level, a little glad to be here. Everything had already been set so that Bradlew and Janet had a been seated in the back as close to door as possible just in case things got a little out of hand. It was just lucky that they had arrived when they did though. Just seconds after they had sat down, the head of the Lunar Corp, Mr. Jacob Gates got up and started the event. Outside, the rain started to pour.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming. Once again it is an honor to host this event for the greatest minds among the cybernetics community. Without you, many men, women, and pokemon would have surely been crippled for life." Jacob started, his voice echoing through the speakers in the room to make sure that everyone had heard him. "These past sixty-five years of research and development have been some of the hardest and most laboring years of research there have been, and each one you know well what I'm talking. Although many may not fully understand just how much of an art crafting cybernetics really is, those of us here understand just how much work goes into it."

Although it was in fact Jacob who had paid for Bradlew's cybernetics limbs and even hired Janet to watch over him, Bradlew couldn't bring himself to give the man his full attention for some reason, he just couldn't help but feel out of place.

"If not for the men, woman, and pokemon in this room, there would thousands of people out there without anyway to work to support themselves, our work has given them a second chance." Jacob continued. Try as Bradlew might though, being around so many people, his eyes kept darting around. He had thought before leaving that he had been ready for this, doubly so since he knew most of the people who going to be here. Jacob still continued talking though and Bradlew continued to try and listen. After a few more minutes of talking though, Jacob surrendered the stage to one of the younger scientists, this one having a cybernetic arm herself.

She began talking about how much the science of cybernetics had advanced as a small group of other scientists walked up with a small assortment of new cybernetic limbs, which the current speaker had claimed to be the next generation of cybernetics. As they continued to talk the storm outside got worse with bolts of lighting now flying across the sky and Bradlew's attention was diverted to watch them. As the event continued to go on, the lights began to flicker a few times causing everyone to look up as they went out entirely. Janet could quickly feel Bradlew closing up as he began to feel over crowded in the darkness with only the occasionally flash of lighting and the tail of a charmander to light up the room. A minute passed with everyone talking amongst themselves tying to figure out what had happened before a loud voice broke the silence. "Ladies and gentlemen, calm down. I've just been informed that a car crashed into the telephone pole that carried the power line for this building. The driver is okay and power will be restored shortly."

Satisfied with this response to the sudden lack of light, many of the people seemed content talk amongst themselves while power was being restored. A few people even tried moving around, occasionally bumping into other people and the tables. Bradlew was bumped into more then once already in just the first five minutes without the lights when someone finally came over and tried to strike up a conversation.

"Bradlew, it's been nearly nine months since I last saw you. All I keep getting are design specs modifications and blue prints." The man stated as he took a seat next to Janet. It took Bradlew a few seconds to recognize the voice, but the next flash of lighting confirmed him as the head of Lunar Corp's cybernetics department, Dr. Beckett.

"Oh, hello." Bradlew quietly replied. With so much going on right now, Bradlew had once again retreated into his mind for the most part. Janet could already tell that coming here might not have been in Bradlew's best interests. "Yea, sorry. I don't get out much."

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked. "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Beckett gave off a small quiet laugh. Janet gave him a quizzical look as Bradlew turned again and Beckett slowly crept a bit closer. Bradlew turned right as around, the lighting flashed again, Bradlew's face was mere inches from Beckett's. Bradlew quickly jumped back in his seat out of surprise, his mind nearly closing off completely in the effect. Janet quickly took action giving a massive jolt to Beckett's mind as well as a warning. She quickly turned to look back at Bradlew leaving Beckett holding his head only to find that Bradlew wasn't sitting with her anymore. It didn't take long for her to track his mind down walking away from the ceremony slowly.

'Bradlew, where are you going? We haven't been here that long.' Janet asked.

"I'm going home, I don't need recognition for what I do." Bradlew stated as he walking back on what he had hoped was the same way he had taken to reach the conference room.

'Recognition?' Janet asked.

"The life I once had is over. I doubt I'll ever be the same again. I always did my best with the team I worked with, but I can't even step into cybernetics lab anymore." Bradlew stated. With that, Bradlew opened the door and walked outside into the rain.

'Bradlew, your tuxedo, it's rented.' Janet half shouted into his head.

Still, Bradlew ignored her turning head to the sky letting the rain fall over him. "Let's just go home."

Using her psychic abilities to shield herself from the rain, Janet walked out into the rain after Bradlew. Once back in the truck, Bradlew and Janet began their long ride home. The rain wasn't helping issues though greatly limiting their field of view as they returned to country road that led them out of the city. Just as they were a little over half way home turning around a bend, a blur shot across the road and Bradlew slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting whatever had decided to cross the road at the most inopportune time.

The truck stopped quickly, but not without a hitting something while it was at it. Bradlew and Janet both sat in the cabin breathing heavily. "Can you sense anything?" Bradlew asked Janet his head still leaning back.

'No, I couldn't sense anything at all, not even before you hit the brakes.' Janet replied.

"Still, I'd better check it out." Bradlew stated pulling a flash light out of the glove box and opened the door. Janet quickly did the same before Bradlew had a chance to argue and once again used her powers to create a barrier that protected both of them from the rain. Moving to look to the sides of the truck, Bradlew didn't see anything, but after a quick look behind the truck, he knew what that bump was that they had hit while stopping. "Janet, we're good." Bradlew informed her shining the light on a downed road sign indicating a sharp left turn ahead that had been lying in the road. "I was beginning to wonder why I didn't see the sign." Picking up the road sign setting it off to the side where no one else would run over it, he knew that he would call the city to let them know about it in the morning.

'Uh, Bradlew...' Janet's voice seemed to be a bit worried as he turned around to look back in her direction. There, right next to the passenger door to his truck, a mightyena was pawing at the door trying to get in. Bradlew could already tell that it was agitated by something and now seemed to have its mind set on getting into his truck for some reason. Janet slowly approached it, but it quickly barked at her warning her to back off causing her to drop her psychic barrier for a few seconds, but that was all it took for her get wet. 'It's immune to my current selection of attacks. I haven't learned anything but psychic type moves and they are useless on it.' Janet explained. 'I was never trained for much combat.'

"I see. Well, either way, it's trying to get into my truck and I don't approve." Bradlew started to move around to the driver's side, but just like with Janet, once it saw Bradlew closer, it barked at him too in much more threatening manner then it did Janet. Bradlew ignored it at first, but that only seemed to make it mad and it started to charge Bradlew before he quickly backed off. "Hey, back off. This is my truck." Bradlew shouted as it went back to trying to force it's way into the vehicle. "Any idea what's its so desperately after?"

'It's a dark type, I can't read its mind.' Janet replied as the rain continued to pour down hard.

"Well, can't you understand it even without reading its mind?" Bradlew asked.

'What little it did say isn't making much sense, it keep yelling at us to leave it be and get out here. It sort of acts like it's confused, but I can't tell for sure.' Janet explained. She wrapped her hands around herself as she was quickly getting cold and that few seconds of heavy rain soaking her dress didn't help.

Looking closely, the dog had already started to scratch the paint off the door. "Oh that's it." Bradlew moved back towards where he had moved the broken road sign. Just as he stepped away though, Janet once again called his name, but this time, there was more then just a bit of worry in her voice. Turning back around, Bradlew could see that the mightyena had not turned to Janet obviously fed up with trying to get into the truck. It's licked it lips giving Bradlew and Janet and pretty good idea what it was after now.

Knowing her offensive attacks were useless against the dark type, Janet began backing up. In a normal case, she would have just teleported herself out of danger, but with Bradlew still her out in the open, she knew that she had to stay. Cold, hungry, and obvious confused, the mightyena continued to move towards Janet knowing that it had the advantage. Bradlew forgot about the signpost he was going to grab and try to use as a means of scaring off the canine and charged back over to Janet. Just before he could reach her, the mightyena leapt forward claws and fangs both ready to try and get Janet. Janet managed to side step just in time to avoid most of the attack, although in the process, she slipped in the mud and fell over cutting her hand on a something. The mightyena turned around and once again licked its lips and it now saw that it had even more of an advantage. Before it could attack though, Bradlew made his move. Without a powerful roundhouse kick, Bradlew's metallic heel caught the side of the mightyena's head slamming it into the back end of his truck. Now dazed in addition to everything else it felt, it leaned against truck unaware that Bradlew was right there.

"Janet, get in the truck." Bradlew ordered as he firmly grabbed the mightyena by it's tail, a surprised yelp bursting from the mightyena. Not taking any chances, Bradlew gave a hard pull dragging the mightyena off of his truck and the road into the ditch nearby. He quickly turned around and started heading for the driver side door. The mightyena was quick to recover though and charged after Bradlew. Just as he took a seat in the truck, the mightyena trying jumping him, its fangs and claws once again showing.

'Bradlew!' Janet called out in fear seeing the attack coming. Bradlew was quick to respond grabbing onto the door and slamming it hard on the mightyena's snout as it tried it get in. There was another massive yelp of pain before it took off running back into the forest realizing this its supposedly easy meal wasn't going to be so easy to get.

"Seriously, what the hell was wrong with that thing?" Bradlew asked, more annoyed then anything else at the moment. "Are you okay?" Bradlew asked turning to face Janet.

Janet just held up her hand with a small cut on it covered in mud. 'Other than this, I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?'

"I'm alright." Bradlew replied. His tuxedo on the other hand wasn't. In the process of fighting, one of the locking clamps had once again come loose tearing his pants. Rather then try to deal with it properly right then, Bradlew undid the other clamps and just slid the leg out of the pants before setting it down on the seat next to Janet.

'Bradlew, what are you doing?' Janet asked.

"I'd much rather not be here with one leg if that thing comes back. Besides, I can drive with just the one leg for now, we can put it back on at the house." Bradlew countered. It was quite ride home from then out.

--

Now that they were back at the house, Janet helped Bradlew get inside since he didn't bring any crutches with him. The rain continued to come down harder, but for the most part, at leas the lighting and thunder had calmed down considerably. Once inside, the first thing they did was change out of their wet clothes. 'Bradlew, can you come here?' Janet's voice sounded in his mind as he finished getting out of tuxedo and put on a pair of shorts after drying off. 'I'm in the backroom.'

Bradlew quickly made his way to the back room where he found Janet, wrapped up in the largest towel she could find, but it hand an unfortunate rip in the side and Bradlew could quickly see that she wasn't anything beneath it. "What's up? Something wrong?" He asked.

'This is what's wrong.' Janet help up a pair of plain white panties, but they were still wet despite her having pulled them out of the dryer. 'I put them in the dryer before we left, but they're not dry.' She complained. 'The problem is that all of my undergarments minus the ones I was wearing to the ceremony were in this load and the ones I had on got soaked when I fell over into the ditch by the side of the road.'

"Let me guess. You had more then just your undergarments in there." Bradlew stated. Janet; although a bit embarrassed, nodded her head. "Come on." Bradlew lead her down the spare bedroom in the house and unlocked the room. "You should be my sister's size, I'm sure she wouldn't mind for a day. After all, she's still on the two year trip studying abroad in Johto. You'll have to search her dresser to see what all she left that will fit you though, but I'm pretty sure you both are the same size."

'Bradlew, why did you sister leave you anyway?' Janet asked as Bradlew left the room.

"I told her to go six months before I was drafted. Figured it was win-win at the time. She always wanted to study there and at the time, I had the money to make it happen. With the rebels attacking our coasts and Sinnoh, but leaving everyone else alone, the chances of her getting attacked became non-existent." Bradlew explained. Janet had always knows that Bradlew had a sister, he still received letters now and then, but she never really had time to return back home. "Then I got drafted. But as you know, things didn't work out. She showed back up to help me move and even volunteered to move in with me again and give up her studies, but no, I wouldn't have it. I wasn't going to drag anyone else down." Bradlew finished as he entered the kitchen to start a late meal since they had skipped out on the meal at the ceremony. "Besides, her last letter told me had met someone."

'I see.' Janet was quickly beginning to understand his choices in life. Over the past few days, she had really seen him try to become as independent as possible, even though today was a rough day for him. Not really seeing anything work making though, Bradlew settled on simply making some omelets. No sooner then he had finished making them, he heard a loud thud coming from his sister's room. Leaving the omelets on the stove after quickly turning it off, he rushed over and opened the door worried that something had happened. He quick found Janet laying on the floor, and although she had found a bra, her lower body was completely exposed as she used her mind to try and lift the large mirror that had once been on the back of the dresser off her. Bradlew couldn't help but look for a second, but his thoughts were enough to make Janet aware of him and her current condition. She quickly lowered both her hand to try and cover herself, but that resulted in her starting the drop the mirror on herself again. She quickly threw her hands back up as Bradlew rushed over to stop the mirror from falling over as well. Once the mirror was moved to now slide into a space between the dresser and the wall, Bradlew looked back over at Janet only realize that she still wasn't any panties yet, her flower still in view. Janet once again realized the same truth and quickly used her hands to cover herself again. Bradlew quickly handed her the towel she had been wearing before he walked out of the room.

Janet came out of the room a few seconds later wearing a small shirt and pair of shorts, both purple in color. Neither of them seemed to speak for a while, both embarrassed by what just happened. Janet walked out to the kitchen to find Bradlew finishing the omelets and pulling out a pair of plates. Their late dinner passed in near silence, the only sound being the heavy rain hitting the house. Bradlew excused himself and quickly went to work on fixing the dryer while Janet headed off to her room.

Try as she might though, she just couldn't get to sleep. She tried to pass it off as just a rough day for everyone. but something started to make her question whether she could just pass it off as such. In truth, these past eleven months had been the best months for her even with having to act as Bradlew's caretaker. Most of the time, the men she found herself acting under usually tried to get into bed at least once within the first three months, but Bradlew never seemed to care for such things. It was her nerve to stand up to them that kept getting her into bits of trouble, but Jacob Gate's always liked her for that. When she had first accepted the role of being Bradlew's caretaker, she always thought that his lack of interest in a passionate relationship was due to what had happened to him, but even after he had recovered so much, she never found the slightest trace of such thoughts in his head. Puzzled as she was, she figured that maybe should just take another look into his mind. What she saw quickly surprised her, namely his trying his best to deny what had happened.

A few hours passed and it was now past midnight, but Janet' just couldn't get to sleep. Looking around for Bradlew, she could still detect that he was working on the dryer, but not having much luck as to why it wouldn't stay running. Deciding to take a chance, she got up and walked towards the back room.

Bradlew had pulled the dryer out of its usual spot and into the open so that he could work on it. Currently, he had the back panel off of it and was looking over the wires and anything else he could possibly think to correct to the problem. "I just can't figure this out. Looks like I'm going to replace it." Bradlew's head dropped as he remembered how much this one cost him, and even then, he still had to pay for the tuxedo he ruined. And that was just the tip of the iceberg for him. His thoughts went through the day remembering how he had treated Sonia, even if it wasn't exactly intentional. But no matter what he thought about, his thoughts kept coming to Janet. He just sat there figuring that she was asleep by now. "Why can't I shake her from my thoughts?"

Janet remained quite for a short while longer and Bradlew back up against the wall thinking to himself. Finally, she decided to make her move.

'Bradlew? Can we talk about what happened earlier?' Janet asked softly causing him to look up.

"Janet?" Bradlew looked at her with a bit of shock.

'I couldn't sleep. Like you, my thoughts kept turning to what happened.' She explained.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked if you were okay before just barging in like that. It was my fault, I just hope this doesn't hurt our friendship." Bradlew stated.

'Actually, that is part of what I wanted to talk to you about.' Janet explained. A powerful bang of thunder shook the house, the first bang that had been heard in quiet a while. The storm outside was once again gaining strength. 'Come; let's talk in my room. It is the quietest room in the house.' Bradlew could only expect the worst as they walked into Janet's room and she took a seat on the bed. 'Bradlew, come here.'

"I should just go. I don't want to make things worse." Bradlew stated trying to find an easy way to end the conversation worried where it was going to go.

'Please, come here. We need to talk.' Janet urged him to come and join her. Seeing that she wasn't going to give up like he had hoped, he joined her on the bed. 'Bradlew, I can tell how feel about that happened in your sisters room when you walked in trying to help me.'

"I'm sorry, I just don't know what I was thinking." Bradlew responded

'I'm not upset, just a bit surprised. How long have you known me.' Janet asked.

"For a little over eleven months now." Bradlew replied.

'And aside from tonight, how many times before tonight have you had thoughts like you were having while you were trying to fix the dryer?' Janet asked.

"None, this is the first time I've ever thought of things like that." Bradlew quickly replied.

'Exactly. Most men I've worked with would have been trying to get me into bed with them in the first few months, you've never tried and for that, I feel honored that you see me as something other then possible plaything.' Janet stated.

"Plaything? You mean that's all that your previous master thought about you?" Bradlew asked.

'Sadly, yes. When I refused to give in to him, he started to spread some lies since I was under his service as part of his contract with Lunar Corp. Jacob gave his job as a favor.' Janet explained. 'But that's beside the point. I know how you feel about me right now...'

Bradlew knew that she could detect all of his thoughts right now, even those unwanted ones he was fighting off while trying to salvage what he could because of what he thought was happening. "Janet, look I said I'm sorry, I just can't stop some of those thoughts from forming. I know its not like me, but after all this time, I'm seeing you more then just as my caretaker as you put it."

'I know, but like I was saying before you interrupted, I wanted to you to know something. I...I kind of feel the same way about you now. When we first started, I only say you as a way to keep my job, a patient that needed to be watched. But recently, you've improved, you're slowly becoming the man you once were, and...' Janet paused a bit as her face began to turn red. Thanks to being what she was, she could tell how Bradlew was really beginning to feel about her, but she also that he would take to it unless she told him that she felt the same way first. The very thought of though embarrassed her more then the unfortunate incident that had taken place earlier. 'Bradlew, I feel the same way about you.' Janet half shouted into his head turning away. Now was the moment of truth for her. If he tried to take advantage of her, then maybe Bradlew wasn't what she had thought him to be, there was after that one piece of his mind that she could never peak into.

Bradlew just sat there, a look of partial shock and partial confusion on his face. "Do... do you mean that you've fallen in love with me?" Bradlew asked. Trying to figure out just what she meant. He wasn't entirely sure himself at first how he felt about her, but now that she had said, he was positive for himself. Gently he reach over and turned Janet back to face him, this time with a small smile on his face. "Ya know what, I think your right." Bradlew placed his arms over her shoulders getting her to lean on him.

The two of them stayed like that for a few seconds before the cold started to take a small hold. 'Yea, I agree. But, why is it so cold?' Janet asked.

"While I was checking out the dryer, the furnace also went out." Bradlew stated thinking about possible ways to heat up the house that night.

'Actually, I was thinking of a different way that we could keep warm.' Janet smiled, the blush on her face, growing a bit. 'That is, if you'd like to.'

"That's a bit direct, especially for you." Bradlew stated recalling how she had just told him about her previous masters.

'Well, you see...' Janet started to say something.

"What, its not like you go into heat or anything, right?" Bradlew asked.

'Not exactly into heat, but there are times of the year when we Gardevoir do have stronger urges then usual. Normally, I'd just deal with them myself when they arose, but I was hoping, maybe you could help me this time.' Janet asked moving a bit closer to him. Reaching up and placing an arm around his head to bring it down to her level, she kissed him softly. Shocked as he was, it took Bradlew a little to realize that this was really happening before he closed arms around her and joined her actions.

As they broke apart from their kiss, Janet smiled again. 'Yes, I think I would enjoy that.' Pulling Bradlew further up into the bed, she sat him down with his back against the headboard before taking a seat in this lap. Feeling a few bits of doubt in him about whether or not she was actually toying with him, she picked up his hands and gently placed them on her breasts. Although small in size, they still fit nicely in Bradlew's hands. From his new vantage point, he could easily see into her shirt, the horn between her breasts holding the shirt out just enough to give him a nice view of what was hidden beneath.

"Did you ask me to let you borrow some of my sisters undergarments?" Bradlew asked as he gently flexed his fingers feeling the soft mounds he now held.

'I couldn't find any undergarments in her dresser, so I assume that she took them all.' Janet replied as a soft moan escaped her mouth. Bradlew puzzled by this, reached down with one hand gently pulled her shorts down just a bit, sticking a single finger beneath them. His finger gently slid across her soft skin down towards her inner thigh. Sure enough, there was only skin beneath her shorts. Moving his finger just a bit towards the center, he barely touched her clit causing her to arch in a bit with a pleasant gasp.

"Well, I guess we really are rather sensitive today." Bradlew smiled before removing his hand from her shorts and returning to massage her breasts. This caused a bit of disappointment fro Janet, but he seemed to enjoy teasing her a bit. Still, she had to admit, his gentle approach was quiet nice to feel compared the many others who had tried to take her before, always being rough in their failed attempts. Bradlew continued to flex his fingers, gently grabbing and squeezing Janet's breasts, moving them up and down just a tad. Moving forward just a bit, Janet raised her hands into the air and used her mind to pull off her shirt, as well as Bradlew's exposing a bit more of their bodies to the cold. Janet's nipples were already rather stiff, just asking to be held. Lightly grabbing between his thumb and index finger, Bradlew rolled it around a bit making Janet arch forward just a bit.

Bradlew continued to spend some time playing as he did, Janet could quickly feel the bulge in his shorts pressing against her backside as he played with and decided that his was time to return the favor. As she moved again, her foot rubbed up against his metal one, the metal already rather cold catching her by surprise. "Uh, Janet, I could still use those." She quickly undid the locking clamps despite Bradlew's claims.

'I doubt we'll be leaving the bed.' Janet informed him as she set them down beside the bed. She placed a hand on the growing tent on Bradlew's shorts feeling that he was ready to make love to her. As she reached in to kiss him again, her hand gripped around the top of his concealed rod a few times before the zipper came undone. Bradlew found himself lifted up just a bit as Janet broke the kiss removing his shorts revealing his silver boxers. Slightly disappointed, she worked to fix her problem removing the last obstacle between her and the current item of her desire.

Having been a few years since she had shared her bed with someone, occasionally pleasing herself when her urges got stronger then usual, she was extremely pleased to find that Bradlew had been well gifted. Although, not as big as the Machamp she had once offered herself to, she knew that Bradlew would easily please her with what he had.

Janet's hair fell to the side of her head as she looked down. Using one hand to lift her hair out of her face, she leaned down and gave Bradlew a slow, gentle kiss on top of his manhood. She raised her head up one more time and smiled again as she lowered her back down with her tongue hanging out just a bit to lick the head of his penis before slowly taking it into her mouth.

While similar to Janet, Bradlew felt great pleasure in this act as Janet's warm, wet mouth engulfed him. He hadn't so much as even touched himself since weeks before he had lost his legs, having never even felt the slightest urge to, but this sensation was a welcome one. As Janet worked her head up a down, bit by bit slowly take more of his member into her mouth each time, swirling her tongue around his head each time she backed up. Her free hand slowly rubbed what she couldn't fit into her mouth. It had been so long though, and Janet could tell by the thoughts in his head. It didn't take long for him to come close to cumming, but she wasn't ready for him to finish just yet. Leaning back on the bed, she pulled him up a bit.

Bradlew knew that it was once again his turn to please her as he did his best to balance on the stumps that here his knees. Janet's head rested over the edge of the bed and used a hand to hold him up over her shorts. Running his free hand over Janet's shorts, just above her folds enticing a small moan from the gardevoir. Deciding to get a better look at what he had seen earlier, Bradlew tugged lightly at her shorts revealing her sex. Bradlew could already see a few of her juices gathering around her folds. Bradlew slowly opened up her folds just a bit to see that she was indeed very excited. He moved his thumb up barely brushing her clit, but even the slightest touch of the small nub proved to be extremely sensitive, a loud gasp escaping Janet's mouth. Deciding to take his time, Bradlew just barely grazed the small nub again with a similar result before leaving it be to rub her folds with his finger gathering a small amount of her juices upon it. Bradlew continued to tease her like this, just starting to push a finger into her or grazing her clit, but never quiet actually doing it. Janet looked up at him with a look begging him to continue and not just tease her. Bradlew smiled complying with her wish quickly pushing a pair of fingers past her folds and into her sex. Janet's back arched at the sudden intrusion, a welcome feeling starting to flow through her body. Scooting back just a bit, Bradlew laid down on his stomach propping himself up with one of arms as he continued to probe Janet's depths.

A quick entered into Bradlew's mind and just as he was going to rub his thumb over her anus, a hand grabbed onto his. Looking up wondering if he had done something wrong, Janet just nodded her head. 'No, not there please. Just here.' She slid Bradlew's hand deeper into her before releasing his hand.

"Very well. I'll leave that hole alone." Bradlew whispered withdrawing his hand before pushing his fingers back in. Bradlew continued to play with Janet a bit more before he couldn't go anymore. Janet sensed this as well, slowly pushing herself further back onto the bed, her legs spreading around Bradlew's own. Propping himself back up into a standing position on his knees, he leaned over Janet again. While he used his free hand to hold open her folds, she used her own hand, gripping him firmly a few times to guide him into her. Bradlew went to say something, but she placed her other hand over his mouth before pulling down into her.

Both of the moaned in pleasure, Janet proving to be very tight for his large member, it was very warm and wet, Bradlew feeling her sex tightly gripping him with each flex of the muscles. Janet was also pleased, even if he wasn't the biggest she had taken, he still filled her up, reach deep into her into, hilting with his tip pressing lightly against her cervix. Reaching up to kiss him, Janet began moving her hips knowing that with his handicap, Bradlew could use the help in setting a steady pace. It did take a bit of effort having to stand on his knees and lift her backside up a bit, but they quickly reached a nice rhythm with Janet wrapping her legs around his waist. Each time Bradlew would pull back, Janet loosen her grip with her legs falling down just a bit, and whenever he pushed back in, she would tighten her grip effectively pulling herself back up helping his efforts. Having already worked to please each other before hand, it didn't take too long for either of them to lose control. Janet was the first to go, her already tight sex gripping down even harder milking Bradlew for all that he had. It became hard to Bradlew to even thrust anymore between Janet's vice like pussy and how hard she held her legs around his waist, Bradlew began to shoot off his load inside of her.

A massive crack of thunder shook the house as they finally calmed down, but neither of them cared. Bradlew leaned back pulling Janet up with him before falling back, his head landing on the pillows behind them, his softening member still deep inside Janet. Using her mind, Janet grabbed a pair of heavy quilts knowing that without the furnace tonight, they would need them and covered the two of them up. 'Bradlew, I want to thank you for caring about me so much. You really did your best to make sure that I enjoyed myself tonight.' Janet kissed him once last time. 'I can't think of a better person to share myself with.' A yawn escaped her lips as she leaned into Bradlew again.

"It was thanks to you that I'm learning to live life again. It's the least I could do for you." Bradlew replied. "Good night Janet, sweet dreams." It wasn't long before both of them fell asleep in each other's arms, each dreaming of what the next day would bring.