What he really wanted to say…

A few days had passed since the Ultra Beast event with Lusamine. Lillie had taken off with her mother to Kanto to see if a man named Bill could cure her, Hau went off to train with his grandfather and you had gained the title of first ever Champion of Alola.
And just when you wanted to rest a bit and settle down again after your journey to take on the Island trials of Alola, a strange, yet very friendly, detective named Looked showed up in the motel on route 2 with a request for you: Secure the Ultra Beasts that had escaped through the wormhole when you had passed through it with Lillie and Lusamine.

Now you thought back to that moment, Guzma had been there with you guys too, how would he be doing nowadays? Truth was, after meeting him a few times and getting to know more about him little by little, Guzma didn't really seem to be the 'big bad boss' he said he was. He just needed some validation and love that he had never really gotten from his parents…

So when you had finished the trouble with the Ultra Beasts and Looker, you thought it might be a good idea to check on the white haired 'villain'.

When you arrived at Po Town with your Charizard, you thanked the Pokémon for bringing you here and pulled on the hood of your jacket for protection from the heavy rain that always seemed to be falling in this particular area of the Alola region.
You walked through the glooming town and greeted some of the team skull members that were hanging around; and when you finally reached the big mansion at the back of the town, you headed straight for the room where Guzma would be.
But to your surprise, team Skulls' boss was nowhere to be seen.

Just as you were about to leave, Plumeria walked into the room. She looked surprised, clearly not expecting the champion of Alola here in the mansion. "Oh, what are you doing here?" she asked and you told her "I actually came here for Guzma, do you have any idea where he might be?". Plumeria shook her head and told the girl sadly "No. Ever since he disbanded team skull, we haven't heard anything of him…"
She really seemed to be sad about it. Had Guzma really abandoned Team Skull like that. He had seemed to like his gang of thugs so much before too…

You walked out of the mansion again, feeling a bit down that you didn't get the chance to meet Guzma again. Where could you go to look for him now? Alola was a pretty big region and you had no single clue where to start.
Then you suddenly got an idea. Kukui seemed to know Guzma quite well, maybe he had an idea of where to start searching for the guy.
So you called your Charizard back and flew back to Melemele island to ask Kukui if he might perhaps know something.

When you reached his house/lab, you practically stormed inside. Inside, Kukui was playing with his Rockruff, and in the one moment he looked up to see who had stormed inside like that, the Rockruff jumped up to get the treat in his hand, but miscalculated his jumped and bit into Kukui's hand instead.

While professor Burnet treated her husband's hand, Kukui sat down with you to talk. "So y/n, what did you come for today? You need some help with your pokédex?" Kukui asked but you shook your head as an answer. "No, my pokédex is filling up just fine professor. I wanted to ask you something different today," you said and Kukui looked questioning now.
"I wanted to know if you perhaps knew where I could find Guzma somewhere. He apparentely disbanded Team Skull and went his own way; but no one there knows where he went…"
Kukui listened to what y/n had to say, but couldn't help but become a bit curious about her motivation for searching for the thug named Guzma.

"Can I ask you why you want to find Guzma so desperately?" Kukui asked and you nodded, a slight blush painting your cheeks. "I just wanted to check up on him to see if everything is all right after what happened at the ultra-wormhole thing with Lunala and the Ultra Beasts; he seemed quite shook back then…"

Kukui nodded in understanding "Well, I can't say this a hundred percent sure, but why don't you check his house? Or have you been there as well?" Kukui asked.
You were the one looking questioning now "Guzma's house?" you asked
"Yeah, well. His parents' house actually. He might have returned there if he has no other place to go to," Kukui proposed "You can find it on route 2, next to the motel. I could escort you if you'd like."

You shook her head "That won't be necessary professor. I can find it on my own." You then got up and left the lab again, on your way to route 2 this time.

You ran the whole way, but you could finally see the motel where you had been summoned for the Ultra Beast matter with Looker. And just as Kukui had said, on the other side of the road, there was a single house. 'That should be Guzma's house!' you thought excited. But as you came to a stop, you suddenly felt nervous. 'Can I just go inside and talk to him? won't Guzma think I'm weird? And what should I tell him when I see him?
So many questions flew through your mind and you almost chickened out. But you knew you had to do this, otherwise you might never do this. You just had to walk up to that door and knock.

And so you did.

You heard shuffling indoors and an elderly woman with white hair just like Guzma opened the door "Well hello there. Can I help you?" the elderly woman cheerily said and you were surprised by how sweet she was, was she really Guzma's mother?
"I actually came for Guzma, does he live here?" you asked and the woman in the door looked a bit surprised. "Yeah, he does. Come on in, I'll go get him," she said as she stepped away and let you inside. Once you were inside, you spotted an elderly man on the couch watching TV. He noticed the new person in his house and looked behind him. "Did my wife let you in?" he asked and you nodded "What are you here for?" he suddenly asked. It sounded rude, but you didn't dare to speak back, was this where Guzma had his personality from? "I'm here for your son, sir."

"Son, I ain't got no son," the man told you and you looked surprised, you had honestly thought that Guzma would be their son. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought Guzma was your son," you apologised and he just huffed "I don't want to have anything to do with that brat, and you should better stay away from him too. He doesn't deserve any love."
You were taken back by this. Apparently Guzma's relationship with his father was not so great.

Soon, the elderly woman came back from a room in the back with the tall white haired male walking behind her. Guzma had honestly been surprised when his mother had barged into his room and told him there was a cute girl asking for him. He had thought it would have been Plumeria at first, but now he saw you standing in his living room and you were honestly the last person he had expected to come after him.
"I don't know what you think you're doing here, but it's okay. I needed to talk to you anyway. So haul your ass over to Hau'oli beach. I'll be waiting for ya," Guzma said and he left.
A light blush painted your cheeks, just what did Guzma want to talk about that he couldn't discuss while his parents where there with them? Then again, it seemed like Guzma's relation with his parents wasn't all too great…
She left the house in a hurry, thanking Guzma's mother for helping her and ran towards the Hau'oli beach, just like Guzma had asked her too.

"Ah, they grow up so fast, don't they. I still remember when Guzma first left as a Pokémon trainer and came back with a Wimpod. Now it looks like he's gonna leave and come back with a girlfriend," Guzma's mother said as she watched the girl run off after her son.

When y/n arrived at the beach in Hau'oli city, she found Guzma on the far end of the beach. He was looking around as if he was waiting to spot you and nervously fidgeting with something in the pocket of his pants. You were getting nervous now, your heart was beating rapidly in your chest as you made your way towards him. When you went down the hill and he spotted you, a smile was seen on his face and you felt your face heating up as a blush crept towards your cheeks.

"So you actually showed up…" he said and you defended yourself "Of course I did! Why wouldn't I come if you asked me to?"
"I don't know, I've been let down by nice people all throughout my life, why would it change now?" he told you and you felt bad for the guy. You had now seen how his parents acted towards him and something had happened between him and Kukui as well. Maybe that was the main reason for Team Skull, a gang of fellow misfits all together so no one would let them down and hurt them anymore.

"Well anyway, y/n, it's time to battle your boy. I'll let you see what destruction looks like in human form. It's your boy Guzma!" he yelled and engaged in a Pokémon battle with you.

It took a while, and your Pokémon had all fainted but two, of which one was severely hurt and poisoned and the other one had taken some serious damage as well. You handed your poisoned Ninetales a Pecha berry and made a note in your head to go to a Pokémon center as quickly as possible.

Guzma sighed and you looked up at the white haired male in front of you. Then he suddenly yelled "Guzma! What is wrong with you!?"
You wanted to reach out to him when suddenly, Kahuna Hala interrupted you.
"Guzma, you can't win if you don't respect the strength of your opponent," the kahuna told the male in front of you. Guzma huffed and just told Hala "I don't care what you say to me, yo. Beating down people is all I know!"
Hala sighed and shook his head "Guzma, I know you always say that you only know how to crush your opponent. But while you were trying to crush this girl, I sensed a desire to defeat y/n deep in your hear. There was more to it than just wanting to crush her, wasn't there?" Hala asked the tall male in front of you.

Guzma just huffed and turned away from Hala and you when a blush crept onto his face as well. You were blushing too as what Hala had said was being processed in your brain. Had Guzma not only called you here to have a Pokémon battle? Did he want to say something else too?

Hala invited Guzma to come with him to train his Pokémon and himself as well, and Guzma started following the Kahuna back to Iki Town. But when he walked past you, you grabbed his hand so he turned around. "What do ya need brat?" he asked and you looked up into his eyes with determination. "Guzma, what Hala said… Was there something you wanted to tell me?" you asked.

Guzma looked around and saw that Hala was nowhere to be seen already. He knew the way to Iki town so he wouldn't have to find Hala to get there. With little other people on the beach as well, he locked his grey eyes onto yours as he said "I've liked you since we met at Malie garden; the way you looked so determined to do the right thing and the way you fought. I thought it was amazing. But I could never say something since you were so determined to do the right things while I was just the villain in your eyes. But, can you at least try to accept me for who I am. I even disbanded Team Skull. I'm not a bad guy anymore. So-" You cut him off "Listen Guzma. You don't have to change for me. I liked the big bad Guzma too. I've always seen the nice side of you… In my heart, you've always been my boy."

Guzma looked so Happy, you had never seen him with a smile like this and you liked seeing him this happy. He leaned down and kissed you, his hands going to your lower back to hug you.
What both of you didn't know though, was that Hala had returned to see what Guzma was still doing since he wasn't following him and had seen the whole event play in front of him. He smiled and walked off again. It might take a while for Guzma to come to Iki town after all…