(Pokemon Fanfic) Corbeau and Champion Leon with an Injured Reader (GN Reader)
Note: First off, I want to apologize to @coffee-noirne because I literally just sent you an ask with this exact scenario, and I still definitely want to read your take on it, but I figured that I’d try to use this prompt to get back into fanfic writing too, while I’m at it. Also, even though I was just complaining about how rusty I am at fiction writing, I guess the spirit of hyperfixation itself possessed me because this actually came out quickly and relatively painlessly, which I can only attribute as a miracle from the gods tbh. I hope you guys enjoy this either way!
TW: Blood and Injury, Minor Spoilers for Pokemon Legends ZA and Pokemon Sword and Shield (maybe?? not really) and also some light cursing. Corbeau is just a very passionate man, okay?/j
He could seem to stop muttering curses as he bolted towards the alleyway his men had tracked you down in. He knew that you’d get yourself in trouble again, you always do!! Why did he let you out of his sight? Seriously, he should really put a tracker in your phone by now, given how long it took to track you down tonight. It’s like 10 PM now, by the time the Rust Syndicate actually found you! And it was big trouble too, this time. His men hadn’t even been able to reach you at firsy, given how many wild Pokemon had flooded the area you were stuck in. Even though he could practically feel the scolding he was going to give you bubbling up in his throat, he couldn’t stop that icy, sinking feeling in hit gut. It felt like he had swallowed a lead ball, and it was slowly tearing through his lower abdomen. Corbeau was doing everything he could to ignore it, to just get to you already, but nothing was working.
Luckily, by the time he managed to reach you, his men had seemingly managed to clear out most of the Pokemon, but Corbeau still kept Scolipede beside him, just in case. His beloved bug type loved you just as much as he did, after all, and was hauling ass on it’s stubby little legs to reach you. His men yelled at him as soon as he drew nearer to the alleyway.
“I’m already coming, Philippe!” He growled.
He skidded on his heels as he rounded the corner, but almost fell on his face, seeing your current, and very sorry, state.
You looked like you had just barely managed to stand up, still teetering a little from side to side. And there was blood. A lot of blood, all over you. From the looks of it, your team had gotten overwhelmed by the sheer amount of wild Pokemon that had attacked you, and you had gotten quite a few nicks in the process. But even then, your strength as a trainer remained – your team was dutifully guarding you, though they softened as soon as they saw Corbeau. They knew they could trust him, just like you did. But you still looked at him with glassy, guilty-looking eyes.
“I’m so sorry…” You managed to mumble, “I didn’t m-mean to worry you.”
The tone of your voice alone made his heart squeeze uncomfortably in his chest. It was so shaky and scared. Hopefully from the adrenaline of the situation, but he could still detect a layer of guilt underneath it. It was like you were afraid that he’d be angry with you – which, yeah, he was, but the last thing Corbeau wanted was for you to be scared of him. The scolding he had prepped seemed to die in his throat right then and there.
Despite his own fear, he still tried to keep up appearances. He willed his face to relax, to return to that cool, collected expression he had always prided himself on, but his eyes still told an entirely different story. Still portrayed how scared he was of losing you.
“N-no matter!” He tried to say calmly, but the shiver in his voice gave him away, “A-are you okay?”
He felt like an idiot just for saying that. Of freaking course you weren’t okay, look at you! Yet, you did your best to put on a brave façade of your own. It didn’t exactly go as planned, though.
You managed to shuffle, or more accurately, limp, towards him a little bit, and forced your mouth into an uneasy smile.
“Y-yeah! I’m good…” Your voice faded, mumbling almost incoherently, and your next words came out as nothing more than a whisper, “I’m… I’m…”
Corbeau was running to you before you even actually fell, noticing the wobble in your step, the way you couldn’t seem to form words anymore. He caught you before you actually hit the ground, and stayed there for a minute, seemingly paralyzed in shock. Very unbecoming for the boss of the Rust Syndicate, but he couldn’t help himself. You had fainted. In his lap. And even though he rolled you over and shook you frantically by the shoulders, you didn’t seem to be waking up. He whipped his head around just as Philippe was calling to him.
“Everyone, I need you to guard us as I get (Y/N) to safety, NOW! If anything even moves towards us, you are to stop it immediately!” He yelled, eyes wild and frantic.
The rest of his team dutifully nodded and took their positions, guarding the area against any possible interference. But Philippe, who had never seen Corbeau act like this before in his life, shakily asked what he was going to do.
Without another word, Corbeau picked you up and, as soon as he managed to secure his hold on you, sprinted towards the nearest hospital as fast as he could go – with Scolipede and your own partner Pokemon in hot pursuit, of course. His arms were shaking a little, given how short he was – and frankly, he was a little surprised that he had managed to pick you up at all – but none of that mattered now.
He’s fairly certain that he scared the nurses half to death with the way he slammed the hospital doors open, but they quickly sobered up, seeing your current state and the very scared looking man holding you.
“I need a room for this trainer, now!” He screamed.
“B-but sir, we need to check them in first-!”
Corbeau’s eyes darkened, taking on the distinctive ‘terrifying mob boss’ persona he had so expertly crafted.
“Do you even know who I am?” He said menacingly, “I am the boss of the entire Rust Syndicate, and if you don’t take (Y/N) to a room and fix them up immediately, I’ll have our entire force on your backs before sunrise!”
That seemed to do the trick. They immediately took you to a room, despite Corbeau’s hesitance to actually let go of you, and had you hooked up to about a dozen different machines and all bandaged up, probably faster than any of them had ever worked before. Within the next couple of hours, the rest of his team slowly shuffled in – terrifying the nurses, mind you, as they realized that his threat was anything but empty – and awkwardly crowded around your room. None of them said anything, though. Corbeau might bite their heads off if they did.
So he just sat there at your bedside, expression blank and eyes seemingly looking a hundred miles away, even in the cramped hospital room. He wanted to hold your hand, but he tried to restrain himself. He had to be the poised, unbothered boss that he had always tried to be, to put on the persona that he had so carefully maintained. Like that would do anything anyway, though. Everyone had already caught wind of his feelings for you, and after tonight, the entire Rust Syndicate would probably be placing bets on how soon the two of you would hook up. Little did he know that they had been doing that since your third meeting with him, but none of them would be caught dead saying that.
As the night wore on, the rest of his team seemed to leave one by one, either to go get some food, a nap, or both. It was pretty much just the two of you in there now. The nurses assured him that you just needed rest, and that you would probably wake up any minute now, but Corbeau couldn’t help but wonder if they were just saying that to save their own hides. Not that he’d actually do anything to them, but you know. It’s not like they knew that.
Despite his best efforts, he had even started to doze off by the time you finally stirred. How long had he been awake, anyway? Since about seven in the morning, he guessed. Even after a long day of work, he had stayed up late into the night in a state of utter paranoia as soon as he heard of your disappearance, and had run himself ragged searching for you. It was basically dawn now, and Corbeau was too tired to even estimate the number of hours he had been awake. He even managed to get an hour or two of sleep in, before your faint voice shocked him back to reality.
The way he sprung up was almost concerning, honestly. Especially given how he was slouched over in the chair at your bedside, you worried for his back a little bit. But that was quickly forgotten, as you became rather flustered at the way he sprang up to hover over you, eyes fixed on yours. He sure was close right now… but you better not think too hard about it, or you might end up passing out again. Or at least getting a nosebleed, which would probably be even more embarrassing.
“Don’t you ever scare me like that again, do you hear me! You really can’t go an hour without nearly getting yourself killed, can you? Always causing trouble, always putting yourself in harm’s way! And you wonder why I focus on you so much – you’d die within the first ten minutes if I didn’t!”
Finally, the scolding that he had been rehearsing in his head for the entire night had started to come out, but it died down quickly as soon as Corbeau heard you sniffle a little. Turning around, he saw that your eyes had filled with tears and your mouth was quivering. Shit. He’d really done it now.
“I…I didn’t mean to scare you.” You whimpered, “I’m really sorry.”
Corbeau panicked a bit as a tear or two slid down your face, waving his hands around as he tried to console you, even if he had been angry before.
“I-I didn’t-! You didn’t-! Ugh! Please don’t cry, (Y/N), I swear I didn’t mean anything by it. You just… really scared me back there.”
With a final, dying sniffle, you lowered your eyes from his, not having the courage to look into his annoyingly pretty golden eyes.
“Stop saying that.” Corbeau said as he calmly took the seat next to you again.
After a brief but undeniably awkward pause, you finally met his eyes again.
“Thank you so much, Corbeau. You really saved my butt tonight.”
Your smile made his heart pick up, like a stampede of Tauros was running inside his chest.
“Think nothing of it. Besides, it’s the least I could do for all the errands I send you on, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” You laughed a little, “I guess so… not that I mind those errands, though. By the way.”
Of crap. His face was definitely red by now. There was no way you didn’t notice it. Shit, shit, shit-
“Tell Philippe that I’m grateful too, by the way.”
“Why? What did Philippe do?”
“Wasn’t he the one who carried me here? Or maybe Scolipede?” You tilted your head a little, adorably confused.
Corbeau huffed indignantly.
“No!I was the one who carried you here!”
You blinked at him like a startled Hoothoot.
“Y-yes!” Corbeau huffed, turning away from you a little so you didn’t notice how red his face was becoming, “Of course I did! I had no choice, given your sorry state!”
The two of you sat there for a little bit, both in your own unique states of mortification. Corbeau had never been more embarrassed in his life, whereas you were still trying to process that your crush had carried you to the hospital, without letting your face explode. You both swore that you could hear the nurses giggling a little outside of your hospital room, given that your faces looked like flustered little Fletchlings at the moment. The two of you recognized that there was no better moment to confess than now, but neither of you were quite brave enough to take that step. Until you got rather frustrated and decided to do it yourself.
“Corbeau, I just want to say that I’m really thankful for you. You, uh.. mean a lot to me.”
Corbeau seemed to whip around, face practically on fire, and eyes wide as he tried to believe that this was actually happening. Still, you couldn’t quite look him in the eye right now.
“I don’t know what you plan to do with me after tonight, especially given all the trouble I’ve caused you, but I just.. wanted you to know that. Wherever this goes. Wherever we go.”
As soon as Corbeau reached over to take your hand, you sprung up, amazed that what you had just said actually seemed to work. In spite of his red face, Corbeau seemed to compose himself enough to remain relatively suave.
“You’re not too much trouble, (Y/N). And whatever kind of trouble you are anyway… it’s trouble that I do want in my life. If you’ll have me, of course.”
“Yes.” The words slipped past your mouth before you even registered them. Corbeau chuckled a little at how quickly you agreed, but it’s not like that’s what mattered right now. You two were finally a thing.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, I’ll have you know.”
“I’m pretty sure everyone has, honestly, including me. The rest of the Rust Syndicate might tease us for this, you know?”
“Let them. They know who the boss is anyway. And, now, who the boss’ second-in-command is, too.”
As soon as that damn, stupidly charming smile appeared on Corbeau’s face, you suddenly became very shy again, much to his delight. It’s funny how what felt like the worst night of his life had very suddenly turned into the best. You really were a special kind of trouble, weren’t you? But now, you’re his trouble.
You’d think that he would’ve thought of this sooner, honestly. Leon, for all that his title of “World Champion” meant, did have one glaring flaw – his sense of direction was god awful. Sometimes he wondered if it would be better to just stay glued to your side at all times, so he never lost you, but that would also mean you’d get swarmed by the paparazzi, and Leon didn’t want you to deal with that. Still, it did mean that he was in the middle of nowhere in a random wild area now, right as he was supposed to be joining you for a picnic date.
He would’ve have felt like a complete idiot – which, in all fairness, he absolutely did – but he at least had the bright idea to bring Charizard out and have him fly around and find him for you. Why hadn’t he thought of that before? You think for someone who was so synonymous with Charizard that he would remember that it can actually fly, right? That didn’t seem to be serving him very well though, given how long Charizard had been gone. Long enough that Leon was starting to get antsy, and a little hungry. He almost feared that his terrible sense of direction had somehow inflicted Charizard as well and now they were both lost, until his faithful fiery companion finally returned. Though, it wasn’t exactly what he had expected…
Charizard flew back to Leon quickly, nearly crashing into him, clearly in a state of panic. Its chest was heaving like it had been breathing fire too, small puffs of smoke escaping from its mouth. Leon had only ever seen it do that after really tough battles where it had used all of its energy fighting something, so immediately he knew that something must be going very wrong.
“What is it, boy? What happened?”
Bending its head down slightly, Charizard urged Leon to climb onto its back, which he did without hesitation. It flew across the wild area so quickly that Leon had to hold on to his cap, gaudy cape rustling in the wind, before the two of them finally touched down. Leon was still in a state of confusion as he dismounted, but that soon turned to utter panic as he spotted you.
You were propped up against a tree, your partner Pokemon surrounding you, clearly terrified themselves. You were bleeding, bruised, and your eyes seemed foggy, just barely managing to register that he was even there. Around you were masses of wild Pokemon, fainted and slightly charred, as Charizard had clearly used all of its power to fight the last of them off before frantically returning to bring his owner back to you.
Without missing a beat, Leon all but flung himself to the ground beside you, grabbing your face in his hands and looking deep into your eyes, though they only seemed to gaze at him with a far away, blank expression. Usually you got flustered whenever he held your face like this, but with the throbbing headache and very obvious concussion you were dealing with, it was hard to make much of anything out. Leon, meanwhile, was shouting at you, even though you only managed to catch bits and pieces of it. Something about if you were okay, if you could hear him, and all that. Weakly, you managed to balance your head on your neck just long enough to mumble to him about how you got lost, before you lost consciousness, sending your lover into a state of utter panic.
Immediately, Leon scooped you up in his arms, but he whipped his head around, completely lost about what he should do. Should he try to have Charizard fly you to the hospital? But how would your partner Pokemon come then? There was no way he would make it there on his own. Should he call a Corvinight taxi? Start screaming for help?
Thankfully, your partner Pokemon seemed to know better, and caught Leon’s attention with a loud cry. They signaled for him to follow them, and Leon realized that they probably remembered the route you had taken to get here, which would no doubt lead you back to town. With a quick nod, Leon followed them as they all sprinted through the brush, desperate to save you, with Charizard in hot pursuit. The entire time, Leon’s eyes filled with tears as he kept thinking about how this might have happened, ruminating on it. You had been looking for him. His dumb ass had gotten lost again, and you had gotten seriously injured trying to find him. While your safety was at the forefront of his mind, like always, Leon knew that he would never be able to forgive himself for this.
Their little squad was running so quickly that passersby couldn’t even really make everything out, but they saw enough to gasp in fear and concern. Plus, the light trail of blood that followed them, pouring slowly from your wounds, told everyone all they needed to know anyway.
Your partner Pokemon all but burst through the hospital doors, standing by them to hold them open so Leon could rush in. The nurses were already shocked to see the champion of all people enter their facility, but they were even more worried as they saw you in his arms, bloody and beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Leon didn’t even have to beg for them to immediately lead him back to a room, half out of concern and pity, and half because they surely couldn’t deny someone of his status anyway. One of the things that Leon loved most about you was how unconcerned you were with his title, but in times like these, he was honestly kind of thankful for it.
But even then, it still took a bit of coaxing from the nurses to convince him to actually let you go – Leon was too scared of the possibility that he might never get to hold you again to let the doctors get to work, as counter-intuitive as that seems. The emotions were so high that they basically clouded every other thought he might’ve had right now. Thankfully, Raihan burst on to the scene soon after, and managed to convince Leon to at least let them take you back to bandage you up. Apparently the news had already spread so quickly that he had already learned about it, with photos of Leon holding your unconscious body already starting to cloud social media. Given how he was always online, and those awfully long legs of his, it wasn’t too surprising that Raihan had immediately made a beeline straight to the hospital you were in. Especially given how much he adored both Leon and you.
Because of his quickly the word had gotten out, the press and paparazzi started streaming into the hospital soon enough, but even they felt too sorry for Leon to really intervene. They did manage to snap a few photos of the champion at your bedside, head in his hands and long purple hair hanging down, obscuring his face. Luckily the other gym leaders showed up in time to muscle them out of the hospital, given that they absolutely adored you as well. They did their best to console Leon, though most of their words seemed to fly in one ear and right out the other.
“(Y/N) is such a strong fighter, I have no doubt that they, of all people, will pull through, Leon.” Kabu reasoned.
“You kidding? Most stubborn person I’ve ever met, honestly. Does anyone seriously think that they won’t make it?” Sighed Piers.
“They’re right, Leon.” Nessa said, gently rubbing the champion’s back, “If anyone can handle this, it’s (Y/N). I just know it.”
But even though Leon already knew that, he still couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. He knew how strong you were – not just in terms of Pokemon training, but in your personality, your spirit, your everything! It was one of the things he loved most about you. But even if he managed to entertain the possibility that you would be okay somehow, his guilt still ate him up inside. You had gotten hurt because of him, because he was too stupid to even stay on the same path for five freaking minutes. And now you’re here, bloodied and hospitalized, and there’s nothing he can do about it. It’s all. his. fault.
Eventually, one by one, the other gym leaders left, mostly just to get food or make some phone calls, considering that they’d all basically abandoned their gyms to get here. Leon sat by your beside for what felt like an eternity, drowning in regret, until the hospital room doors burst open, so hard that even Leon raised his head. In stormed Hop, who immediately ran up to his older brother, asking for any answers he could possibly get. Sonia was also just outside the room, pestering the nurses for any updates on your condition.
Hop seemed to be spitting a hundred words at once, but they all died down as soon as he saw the tears pouring from Leon’s eyes. Immediately, Leon could see the horror and fear overtake his little brother’s face, driving him even deeper into agony.
“They’re going to be okay… right, Leon?” He asked, quietly and shakily.
No matter how hard it was, Leon tried to compose himself. To put on the brave façade he had always kept up for his family, to not let Hop see how scared he actually was. He forced a shaky smile onto his face, but it’s not like it would actually convince anyone, especially not Hop.
“Yeah, they’re going to be okay bud! I’m just a little.. in shock about it. That’s all.”
After a moment of silence, Hop quietly put a hand on Leon’s shoulder, his knowing eyes bearing down on the powerful champion.
It was such a simple question, it should have had this kind of effect on him Leon thought, but he couldn’t stop the dam from finally bursting. He looked down, fresh tears running down his face, even after the previous one’s tracks had dried. He sobbed. It all happened so fast, he said. You were hurt because of him, because you were trying to find him after he got lost, like he always did! As the evening drew closer, Hop and Leon ended up hugging one another, crying until their sobs finally reduced into small sniffles.
Sonia eventually managed to convince Hop to at least go get some food, but Leon would not be swayed. He had to stay by you. He had to be there when you woke up. You needed him, he said, even though in the back of his mind he still felt like he had failed you.
Thankfully, his instincts turned out to be right, as you finally opened your eyes shortly after Hop and Sonia left. He didn’t notice immediately though, until he heard a light moan as you finally came back to the waking world. You immediately felt a pang of panic yourself as soon as you saw the state that Leon was in, but he was already holding you in a (slightly crushing) hug before you could even ask what was wrong.
Still a little delirious and quite confused, you rubbed your boyfriend’s back, trying to figure out what was actually going on. Leon, meanwhile, buried his face in your shoulder, breathing in your scent and mumbling apologies. They were so quiet that you only barely managed to make out what he was saying, but once you pieced it together you pulled back and looked at his bloodshot eyes, feeling your heart squeeze at his sad, terrified state.
“What do you mean you’re sorry, love?”
Leon looked down guiltily, not having the courage to look you in the eyes as he started telling you about how sorry he was.
“I-it’s my fault that you got hurt! You were trying to find me, right? It’s my fault, I always get lost and you got seriously hurt because of me! I-I’m so so sorry, (Y/N), I-!”
You stopped his rambling my gently pressing your fingertips to his lips, looking at him with soft and loving eyes.
“Please, my love, don’t say that. Don’t even think that. It doesn’t matter how I got injured – you’re the one who saved me, aren’t you?”
Leon’s face shifted into a surprised, and then slightly more relieved, expression. Especially as your adoring eyes seemed to bear into his soul, in the best way possible. Your fingers shifted from his lips to gently grab his chin, your thumb caressing his beard as a warm smile came over your face.
“Won’t you just kiss me, Leon? That’s all I really want right now.”
The tears seemed to dissipate from Leon’s eyes on the spot, finally smiling as your pure love made his heart swell. You never failed to impress him with how soft and genuine your love is, and this was no different. He gently brought his large hand up to cup your cheek, all of his fear fading away as your love for him calmed him down.
“Nothing would bring me greater pleasure, sweetheart.”
