Moon and Gladion sat on some stepped rocks in the Aether Paradise Sanctuary. Today the two were relaxing quietly in each other's company in the artificial grassy field that made up part of the sanctuary. Further away from them, they could see Pokémon frolicking and playing. Gladion sat one rock step below Moon.

"Hey Gladion, I've been wondering this for a bit, but why do you grip you hand and make it shake during battles?"

"I was wondering when you would ask that."

Gladion sighed, sweeping away the previously relaxed mood. He seemed reluctant to discuss the subject but resigned to his fate.

"Moon… I… it's a pretty deep story."

Gladion wasn't looking at Moon, but away, as if he was ashamed.

"So it's not just something to look edgier?"

Moon stood up with some concern on her face. She hadn't seen this emotion from her boyfriend before. It worried her a bit. She walked down one step and sat next to Gladion.

"Come one, you can tell me Gladion."

She gently took hold of his arm, to show her support and comfort.

"Moon, I suppose you should know the truth. Just… don't break up with me after you know okay?"

"I won't."

"We'll see," Gladion muttered vaguely.

Moon was alarmed now. Her boyfriend was always so confident and self-assured. What could this be that would suggest to his mind that she would leave him over it? She decided not to reaffirm that she wouldn't just dump him and that he should have more trust in her. It wouldn't reassure him and might just have the opposite effect. So Moon set aside the slight wound Gladion's doubt had caused and listened to his story.

"It goes like this…" Gladion was hesitant but he pressed onward.

"You know that my mother had three Pokémon created to fight the Ultra Beasts, Type: Null. Back then, they were called Type: Full. They were created using the DNA from several Pokémon, a fully artificial, organic Pokémon. Simulations suggested that it wouldn't be enough however. So there was one extra set of DNA that went into each of them as the key to make them true Beast Killers."

Gladion stopped and took a deep breath before continuing.

"The key was human DNA. My mother had heard of a scientist in Kanto that had infused some of his DNA into an enhanced Pokémon clone. My mother used the DNA from my sister, my father, and myself. I don't know where she got the DNA from my dad. Anyway, each Type: Full received one set of human DNA."

Gladion sighed, then continued.

"There was a problem that had occurred in the creation of the Kanto Pokémon. My mother believed that the scientists of Aether Paradise would be able to keep it from occurring this time. The problem is that the human began to have problems sometime after the Pokémon had been created. Unfortunately, her faith was misplaced. There were problems with Type: Full and it's named was changed to Type: Null. The problems didn't stop there. You may have wondered why the Type: Nulls were to be frozen for eternity instead of destroyed. That was due to the other problem. Killing a Null would have caused excruciating pain to the human. We were linked with the Nulls, just like the scientist from Kanto. Side effects occurred while in battle too. Usually it was involuntary motion from the part of the body where the DNA has originated. My mother didn't want to risk the Nulls possibly hurting any of her family, so they were frozen so they would never die nor battle."

"Lillie still doesn't know this this. I only found out by accident. That's part of why I took my Silvally and fled the Paradise. My mother could have punished me by killing the Null with my DNA if I'd left it behind. So that's why my hand shakes when I fight with Null—because of the DNA link."

Gladion sighed and finally looked at Moon to hear her verdict. She looked at him tenderly.

"Wow, that's quite the story behind it. I can understand why it must have been hard to tell me about it."

Moon leaned over and hugged Gladion from the side.

"I still love you though. Something like this won't change that."

Gladion looked away.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for doubting you."

He tried to hide it, but Moon saw a tear slide down his cheek. She pretended not to see it to help her boyfriend's ego, silly as it could be sometimes. She released him from the hug and gave him a few moments before she voiced a question."

"I was wondering though, isn't it risky to fight with Silvally if you could be hurt too?"

Gladion took a deep breath to steady his voice then replied.

"It was a little bit, it hurt at first to battle with Null, but I didn't have any other Pokémon when I escaped the Paradise, so I had to do it. As I trained with Null though, my symptoms started getting a bit better. Now that it's evolved, there's no more pain—during regular battles at least—but my hand still shakes during battle. I try and play it off as deliberate. Good to know it was working."

Gladion gave Moon a small smile.

Moon smiled back.

"That's good to know. Now I don't have to worry when we battle. I did want to ask… why haven't you told Lillie?"

Gladion sighed.

"I tried… but I wasn't able to get it out. It was too hard to tell her she is tied to a Pokémon like this. She's not a trainer yet either; she wouldn't be able to train her Null and I think she needs to be the one to train it to reduce the symptoms."

"I still think you should tell her."

"Maybe you're right. I know she's going to become a trainer in Kanto. Maybe I can tell her when she's stronger."

Gladion thought for a few seconds then addressed Moon.

"I could tell her after she's beaten the first gym leader in Kanto."

"You mean Brock in Pewter?" Moon interjected.

"Yeah, him. She should be strong enough to train a Null after beating a gym leader. I could send her the Null then. What do you think Moon?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea Gladion."

Gladion smiled again—a rare thing indeed.

"Thanks Moon. I'm glad I told you now. I thought of something else too. There's one more Null, the one with my father's DNA. I think you should have it."

"Really?"

Moon seemed a bit surprised.

"Yes, I don't think my old man is still alive… or at least in this world dimension. Either way, he can't train the Null and the side effects likely wouldn't harm him in another dimension. I don't like having it frozen for eternity and I don't think he'd like that either. Maybe if he is still alive somewhere and comes back at some point, having you train the Null might help him somewhat. Like I said, I'm not entirely sure if the person who has his or her DNA hosted has to train it. I just prefer to let Lillie do it herself, in either case."

Now it was Moon's turn to consider the idea for a bit.

"Alright, I'll do it. I'd like to honor what your dad would want too."

Gladion got up from the rock and helped Moon up.

"Then come with me to the lab where it's being kept."

Just as Moon thought they would begin walking to the lab, Gladion suddenly gave her a hug, surprising her.

"Thank you again Moon, for staying with me. I really mean it."

Extra gag

Gladion: You're mad at me aren't you?

Moon: *Humph* Am I?

Gladion: Yeah, you're definitely mad at me for doubting you.

[AN: This didn't really happen]