A/N: This is my first fanfic in a long, long time. I'll spare you readers the disclaimers, but here's a bit of info for this fic:

This takes place in the USUM canon.

I call the protagonists "Selene" and "Elio". This is simply what I prefer.

Selene and Elio are step-siblings. I'd rather not go into detail.

This takes place in a universe where Selene, Hau, Lillie, etc were 13-14 during the events of the game, and this fic takes place 3 years after that, so they would be 16-18 here.

Enjoy!

The sun was shining. Beams stretched past the windows and into her room, stroking the back of her neck.

Selene leaned back in her small office chair. She grabbed her can of lemonade and drank it rather loudly, the noise transferring to Elio's speakers.

"Jeez, you're such a slob sometimes!" Her step-brother cackled, covering his mouth. He sighed. "So, you're not coming along? What a shame."

Her face went a little red from his crude tease. "Yeah, yeah. It's not like I wanted to come back to your frozen side of the world." Selene crushed her can and slammed it down on her desk. "And Dad doesn't seem like the coolest dude."

Elio scratched the back of his head and inhaled through his teeth. "You're right…" The room suddenly became very tense.

The silence was broken by Selene's Incineroar dropping a heavy case on his foot. He roared, the noise nearly ear-splitting. His trainer countered with a scream of her own. The boy on the screen burst into a fit of laughter, masking the noise with his bucket hat.

"Shut up, sunbaby." Selene hissed.

That was when her mother slammed open the door, multiple small boxes being squeezed in her arm. "Hi Elio!" She waved at the computer before rushing over to help Incineroar with the box.

"Hey, who told you you could come in?" Selene yelled in a joking manner, head drooping backwards over her chair. "What are those boxes for?"

"Help me, Selene!" Her mother begged in a forceful way, completely ignoring the question.

Looking back at the computer, she saw that Elio was no longer at his desk. She could hear raucous chatter from the other side, so she clenched her teeth and disconnected.

Mom and Incineroar hoisted up the object and began leaving. "Nevermind, then." She grumbled.

Selene rose up from her chair and grabbed a pair of sunglasses. The sun was so damn bright that it was hard to see, even with the blinds down. She grabbed her "special" notes and left the safe confinement of her own room.

"So, Selene…" The blonde girl immediately asked once Selene stepped onto the porch. "What's Kanto like?" Her green eyes were full of curiosity, she was clearly excited for this trip.

"Cold." The other girl retorted with a giggle. "Well, in the winter it is. The summer weather isn't much different than here."

Lillie nodded, holding onto her bag tightly. "And your brother? Is he like you?"

Selene took a moment to think. She had been in contact with him for about, say, a few months? All she knew is that he had a bizarre relationship with Dad, and that he cried somewhat easily. But what good would come from telling Lillie that?

"Step-brother, and yeah, in a way. I think you two will get along!" She let out a worried laugh that Lillie somehow didn't catch onto.

The two of them watched their mothers pack cases upon cases of luggage into the trunk of the car. Lusamine didn't really do much, she just stood there, in her pitch-black sunglasses, her bizarre hair tied into a ponytail, rummaging through her purse.

"...Are you sure you trust your mom?" It was a stupid question, since it had been years since the whole shebang went down, and ever since then Lusamine had been recovering from the events, and simultaneously trying to prove that she's a decent mother to Lillie, but even so, Selene didn't trust the old woman one bit.

Lillie sighed and kicked at the porch floor. "Not entirely...I still would've preferred you come along with us, really." The blonde really never stopped with her persistent pleas, despite the fact that Selene had already told her she was staying in the region hundreds of times.

Incineroar stepped out of the house and stretched. He chirruped at Selene, pointing at the notebook in her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, we're doing it today." She said in a rushed whisper.

He looked disappointed.

"Okay, I'll get you a snack too." Her partner cheered up at the sound of this, exasperated expression morphing into a grin.

He suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up in a Bewear hug. Selene squirmed as she heard Lillie's muffled chortles.

Incineroar put her down when Lusamine called out to Lillie. The car was packed, and her and Selene's Mom were already in the front.

"Coming!" Lillie shouted back, jogging to the door. Before she opened the door, she waved goodbye to her friend and the Pokémon. "It's only a few months, remember!" She reassured, her smile bright.

Selene waved back, Incineroar mimicking her. "I know!"

The car's old engines revved, and it got started rather quickly. Before Selene could say a second goodbye, they were gone. For all summer, she was going to be alone.

"I can handle it." She said to her Pokémon. "Don't you think so?"

He rolled his eyes.

She could tell what he wanted. "Okay. Come on."

The loud crunching of malasada didn't distract her from the schedule. Her eyes scanned over and over the words, trying to calculate a location.

"It's about noon, but he's probably already at Aether Paradise because of Lusamine leaving…" She looked up at Incineroar, looking for some kind of agreement. He just stared at her, enjoying his treat.

Selene took her snack and ate along with him. "We should go quickly," her words were muffled by the food. "I don't know if he'll suddenly change his routine or something!" She tapped the paper with her red pen.

Incineroar groan-growled as Selene held the notebook to her chest and sighed blissfully. This was going to be a long three months.

She smoothed out her sundress and stood up. Her partner, without her saying something, went back into his ball after scarfing down the rest of his malasada.

The Champion was out the door faster than a Weavile. Warm air brushed her skin as she made her way towards the terminal.

Selene had been doing these "unwanted rendezvous" ever since he had returned from training. Her schedule was mostly accurate of his daily activities, and she had her own ways of predicting where he was. Almost every day had been her spending a good chunk of her freetime jumping from place to place, while simultaneously making sure he didn't realize that she was doing these things on purpose.

The only people who knew about the rendezvous were her Pokémon and Dulse. Dulse didn't seem to care, so he was always a nice subject to rant to. He seemed like the only person who wouldn't call her a "stalker".

'It isn't stalking…' She would think to herself. 'He needs someone to look out for him. Make sure he doesn't hurt himself.'

As she entered the building, she remembered the first time she talked about her activities to the alien man.

"Does Gladion know you're doing this?" He had asked when she had finished talking about everything. Her face would heat up as she answered.

"Well…" She began, looking away from him. "No. But I'm sure he doesn't mind it!"

And after that, Dulse didn't ask anything else about that. It was bizarre how good she was at hiding her "actions" from people. Surely some folks wondered why the Champion of all people would skip out on important events and ignore people who tried to talk to her, just to show up in an entirely different area?

Someone could confront her about it any day now. It would probably be a good idea to start coming up with excuses.

Maybe another day.

Aether Paradise had been rioting ever since Lusamine had temporarily given her status to Wicke, the woman who barely does anything except buy malasada for any child visitors of the V.L.F.S. Employees were panicking, except for the ones assigned to the Conservation Area. They seemed fine.

Selene listened to the peaceful noise of her sandals tapping against the gleaming floor. It seemed to be in sync with the beating of her heart, since what was occupying her mind was him.

An employee bumping into her, freezing in place once he realized who he saw. He turned around instantaneously and repeated "I'm sorry!" for what seemed to be a thousand times. She just gave a 1-2 wave and walked on. She had "better things to do."

She gave a graceful tap to the elevator buttons and swayed left-to-right as it rose. He was always on the top floor, for whatever reason. It made sense, it was the most pleasant and non-haunting area.

Seeing the structure resurrected the memory of when Selene's"obsession" with him peaked for the first time. For some reason, it pained her every time it came back.

It was when her, him, and Hau came to the Paradise to rescue Lillie. The shock of how corrupt Aether actually was didn't deter her from acting passionate in battle at all. And passionate when it came to a lot of other things, it seemed.

Two golden-masked employees had approached the two of them. Selene's Incineroar was out of his ball and had his claws brandished, but the trainer herself couldn't help but watch Gladion's right hand, as it began to twitch and convulse.

Moments after that, he was grasping his wrist, his eyes small. "We don't have time for this. Help me out here, Selene." He growled, not bothering to look at her.

Hearing those words activated something in Selene's mind, as she immediately jumped up, a joyous grin plastered on her face, heart beating out of control.

What happened next seemed to have stuck with her for a while. Her arms lunged out, as she grasped his quaking hand, with the strength the most skilled Machamp wished to have. "Of course!" She had shouted while connected with him.

She remembered how cold it was. The twitching became worse once she touched him, tense, chartreuse eyes snapping towards her direction. He pulled away in a blink. Neither of them said anything, just a few seconds of silence as the employees watched on.

She remembered looking back at her closest partner, who shook his head. A strong feeling of remorse washed over her, but it was soon forgotten once the battle commenced.

Selene hadn't thought about that in a while. Only now did she realize how humiliating the interaction was.

The elevator stopped, the cry of a Pikipek being heard in the distance. She strolled past Wicke, who gave her a wave that she ignored. She ignored every person she bumped into, grey eyes focused on finding him.

Selene remembered many, many things. She remembered the time they were staying in the Aether bunks, and she got up, stalked over to the place he was sleeping, and just...looking at him. She remembered when she saw him again for the first time in years, 8 months ago, and almost fainting in the Champion's room from how weak her breathing was.

She saw an inky figure in-between the indoor trees. Her fast walking slowed into a silent trot, hugging the edges of the fence.

He was staring out into the the ocean, arms crossed. Selene heard him sigh, and held back the tempting act of repeating it.

Why are you like this? Selene thought to herself, smiling slightly. Why do you have to be like this? Why am I like this?

She couldn't help but take a step closer. She couldn't help but giggle a bit. She couldn't help but watch him standing there, too afraid to say anything. She couldn't help but simply adore him...

"Selene."

The name came out, absolutely monotonous. A match suddenly lit and was being held to her heart, as she yelped quietly.

"I know you're there."

He sounded absolutely poisonous, as he turned around to face her.

She stepped out from her hiding place, her chest on fire. The fire was spreading to her head. She refused to look at him.

Something was tapping.

"Why are you like this?" Gladion put his face in his hand. "What are you even doing? How long…" He didn't seem able to finish his question, ending himself with a subtle groan.

Something had impacted.

He took one step forward. "You've been doing this for a while, haven't you? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

The sun was already setting. It seemed like it was shining bright in the middle of the sky only minutes ago.

"It's bizarre. You scare me sometimes. Stalker."

Something inside Selene had shattered into tiny pieces.

That evening, the Champion rushed into her empty home as fast as she possibly could. Her eyes were on fire, only being relieved when she collapsed onto her knees in her home, the boiling tears nearly flooding her palms as she wailed into them.

Oh, how she wished this was all just a nightmare. She wished she would just wake up, get out of her warm bed, and go around without a care, blind from the world.

What kind of person has she become? What kind of psycho has she turned into? Did people really still admire her? Was she still really the most well respected trainer in the entire region?

Her black mop was sprawled in front of her face, undone and damp with tears and sweat. A hand came down and struck the wooden floor of her own home, as she bawled, her cries silenced by the "comforting" walls.

Somehow, she got herself to stand up and stride to her bed. The comforter was a shield that hid her pathetic self from everyone, a place where she wished she could hide forever.

Her tears had created a round puddle on her bedsheet. She didn't even notice.

Selene's crying was now silent, her face stung from all the held-back pity she didn't want to release. She didn't deserve her title. She didn't deserve the people who cared. She didn't deserve the ground she walked on.

But above everything else, she didn't deserve him.

Hours went by, and Selene eventually fell asleep, only to be woken up by something in the middle of the night.

Tears stained her cheeks. She sat up, unraveling the blanket off of her. Something led her to open the blinds for whatever reason.

She saw the full moon, in all it's elegance, in the pitch-black sky. It shone down on her, giving her a sense of longing that was hard to describe.

Absolutely beautiful. Selene extended her arm towards the window, pale fingers looking as if they were desperately reaching for it, like something that she couldn't live without. She tried to make it look as if she were holding the moon between her fingertips, but that wasn't enough.

No matter how hard she tried, the moon would never be hers.

A/N: Well, that escalated quickly. I know this first chapter seems rushed, I'll try and work on it. I'm not the best at pacing.