Minific: The Striaton Brothers as the Shadow Triad.
(I haven't gotten B2W2 yet, so I don't want to know yet whether this theory is supported or denied, but I wrote this like two years ago, so I'm just presenting it for your consideration…) (Headcanon: the Shadow Triad are alternate personalities the boys have had since they were young and are getting more dominant as they grow older.) (Cilan's POV.)
Most kids grow out of being scared of the dark. I grew into it.
As a little kid, there was nothing I liked more than going to the Pinwheel Forest to play with my brothers and our Pokemon, and the later we stayed out, the better. Wandering the woods at night was forbidden, scary, dangerous; and the thrill of playing tag or hide-and-seek while cloaked in shadows was unmatched by anything we did in the sun. Before we became Gym Leaders, that was our element.
Lately, though, I've started to feel a different thrill. It's that feeling of being watched when you're all alone, when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up even though you're perfectly safe; I can't say why. Rationally I know there's nothing worse than a tripping hazard lurking in a dark bedroom, but that doesn't change anything in my head. I still bolt up the stairs and dive into bed every night, like I'm always being chased. I was relieved when Cress and Chili said they felt the same. Honestly, we had all laughed that day when I suggested we start closing the restaurant earlier so we could leave before sunset, but that night we started cleaning up before the customers even left. We hadn't wanted to be left alone. Now the three of us sleep together like little kids, as if to make sure none of us disappear in the middle of the night. It's unspoken.
I can't remember what happened to me last weekend.
I don't know why there's someone else's hair on my uniform, or why our Pokemon have injuries none of us can remember them getting.
My head's confused; I fumble easy battles, I lose my train of thought when I'm talking, I forget where I've put things more and more. I feel like there's a back corner of my head that I can't get to, using up all the space I need to think with, and it's so frustrating. I must look really stupid, but I can't explain what's wrong. Just like I can't explain what happens sometimes when I forget what I've been doing for hours on end. I'm missing out on my own life. I'm going to pieces and I don't know why.