Mistakes - A Kalos/XY AU

How to Confront the Mate of the Friend You Put in the Hospital

The last thing Charizard thought he'd be doing right now was sitting in the waiting room of a Pokémon Center, twiddling his thumbs, waiting anxiously for any updates on Greninja's condition.

It had been days since Greninja's near fatal "incident." Charizard never intended at all to kill Greninja, so it was chalked up to a freak accident.

Alain offered to stay with Ash and the group until both the trainer and his partner were better. Charizard saw this as both a good thing, and a bad thing. A VERY bad thing.

On one hand, Ash had gotten lucky. Despite feeling the same excruciating pain Greninja had felt when he was punched, all the boy needed was time to recover. He'd be back to normal in a week or so.

On the other hand, he'd have to wake up to the news that either his partner had died while he was recovering, or he'd have to wake up and see his partner in such a horrible state.

Not to mention what Charizard would have to do.

He didn't want to, but he told himself that he'd need to apologize eventually. To Ash, for brutalizing his partner, and to Pikachu, for harming his trainer, even if it was just a side effect.

The two he'd dreaded the most were Braixen and... Greninja himself. That was, if he ever even wakes up.

The dragon didn't know how Braixen was handling all this. Based on small bits of conversations he'd caught from Serena's other team members, the fox hadn't left Greninja's room for any reason. She practically lived in there, often requiring her trainer to bring her meals just so she'd have something to eat.

The only times she'd leave his side were when she'd needed to use the restroom, or if Serena forced her to. Even then, she usually wasn't out for long before going right back to Greninja's side.

Charizard grimaced, remembering what Serena's Pancham had told him before going to check on Braixen one night. "You broke her, man. I've never seen her this torn up over something before."

The lizard decided to finally confront her about it. If he didn't, then it would just continue to eat him up inside. He already felt bad as is, so no use in delaying the inevitable.

A few minutes later, he softly knocked on the door to Greninja's room. He had a gut feeling Braixen would be in there.

"Braixen? You... you in there?"

No response.

"It's Charizard... I just want to talk."

Still no response. Charizard sighed. Part of him knew she wouldn't even want to talk to him, and he understood why. He was the reason that her mate was in critical condition, knowing full well that he could die at any moment.

Then he heard a soft click from the door.

"Come in."

Charizard's breath hitched, but he eventually opened the door and entered the room. It was tricky due to his large body, but he managed.

What he saw upon entering the room was... disheartening, at the very least.

Braixen was sitting in a singular chair next to Greninja's bed. The poor fox looked terrible. Her fur, usually well kept and groomed to perfection, was unkempt and ragged. The fur under her eyes was matted down, seemingly from the amount of time she'd been crying her eyes out.

The ninja frog wasn't looking any better. In fact, he was looking significantly worse. His skin had grown slightly paler than the deep blue it usually was. His torso was heavily bandaged, especially around the chest area. If not for the machinery he was hooked up to helping to keep him alive, he'd almost look peaceful. Almost.

Eventually Braixen spoke, her voice soft and a bit scratchy. She hadn't said much in the past few days.

"You've got some nerve, showing up here."

Though her voice was soft, Charizard could feel the venom lacing the fox's words.

Charizard said nothing. Braixen didn't care, and continued on.

"Because of you, he may not wake up. He'll never see his friends again. His family, his trainer..."

A choked sob escaped her muzzle.

"...he'll never see me again."

Charizard didn't know what to say at this point. She was on the brink of losing the love of her life, and he was the one who caused it. He knew that her bond with Serena was as strong as Greninja's bond with Ash, but when Braixen was with Greninja... she felt complete. Even someone like him could tell how happy and content she was around him.

And he'd cruelly ripped that happiness away from her.

"I... I-I'm.."

Braixen glared at him.

"What? You're sorry? You're SORRY?!"

Charizard winced at the rage that had suddenly appeared in her voice. It was clear she'd been bottling this up for a while.

"BECAUSE OF YOU I MAY NEVER SEE MY MATE AGAIN! HE MIGHT DIE HERE, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR IT IS SORRY?!"

Charizard had had enough.

"WELL I AM!"

Silence overtook the room.

Braixen seemed taken aback from his sudden outburst.

"You think I WANTED to maim your oh-so-precious boyfriend?! Well guess what foxy, I didn't!  I just wanted us to put everything we had into that battle! I wanted him to go all out! Was that so much to ask?!"

Tears then began to softly spill from the dragon's eyes.

"You think you're the only one suffering..? I've only gotten a few hours of sleep TOTAL in the past four days. Greninja was more than my rival... he was my friend. You think I feel any better knowing my friend is on the brink of DEATH, knowing it was MY FAULT?!"

Braixen sat in silence. Whether it was in disbelief or fury, Charizard couldn't tell.

"I... I'm sorry. I'll just go."

Charizard began to leave, defeated. Braixen didn't try to stop him.

Once he'd left, Braixen just sat there, still conflicted. Even with him gone, she still didn't know whether to scream at him or to apologize for losing her temper.

She knew he wasn't at fault. It was just an accident. Charizard was a good guy, and would never willingly try to kill someone. But... that part of her. The ugly side of her which was extremely overprotective of Greninja. She wanted to just rip his tail off and ram it down his throat for doing this to her mate.

She knew what she'd needed to do.

Later that night, Charizard lied on the roof of the Pokémon Center. He'd been isolating himself ever since the.. "incident".

He knew Alain was growing worried for him, but he didn't care. He needed to be alone for a while.

"Well, time to try and get some sleep... again.."

As he closed his eyes and attempted to get some shut-eye, he felt a small tingling sensation in the back of his mind. He grunted, knowing some Psychic-Type was trying to talk to him telepathically. Just what he needed.

Then he heard Braixen.

' I forgive you.'

Charizard slept soundly that night, finally lifting a weight from his heart.