Another chapter with your boy, Guzma! And his champion daughter. And yeah, the chapters are titled after something a dad would say whenever their kid is in trouble or doing something they're not suppose to. Except the first chapter. It's hard to dumb myself down to take on Guzma's character. I got to remind myself that his grammar is off like using double negatives and that he uses a simpler vocabulary.
Moon had gotten back into a good relationship with her mom but, she ignored Guzma for most of the time. She didn't act mean if Kalani was around but if she encounters Guzma outside of the house, she rarely has a kind word to say. However, Moon had never seen her mom so happy before and couldn't bring herself to try and get between her and Guzma. So she just didn't bother much with Guzma other than dealing with him in passing. Moon was glad he didn't have much stuff so her house still felt like her house though with the occasional boxer shorts or random tank top lying around. Despite the lack of stuff, Guzma was pretty much moved in with them. It was his home, too. He battled with other trainers to keep an income. However, Kalani was bothered with Moon not being able to socialize with Guzma. It's like they weren't really family and this bothered her. Of course, Guzma being ever the doting lover, picks up on this. When his woman wants something, he will do his best to get whatever she wants... even if it's something as impossible as somehow befriending Moon.
So he decided to go look for her to try and spend some time with her. He bought some pinap berry filled malasadas for lunch. According to Kalani, they were one of Moon's favorite flavors. If he could at least give her some lunch, then it would be a start. Once again, using his connections, he hears that she's at the battle tree. So Guzma goes to the battle tree to find her petting her silvally and feeding it an oran berry. They had just gotten out of an easy battle. Guzma approached her and she noticed. She, of course, looks at him in annoyance.
"What do you want, old man?" She asked.
"Pfft! I'm 28, kiddo. I'm not that old yet." He said.
The ten year old champion stuck her tongue out at him.
"Anyway, how have battles been? Giving everyone a good beating?" He asked.
Moon raised an eyebrow at him. He's curious to know what she's been up to? What game is the old boss playing here? Silvally also looked on in confusion. She didn't know what to do with Guzma. Attack him? Be nice to him? He was mates with Moon's mom after all but at the same time, Moon gets tense around this guy. Even a bit afraid but the young champion would never tell that to anyone.
"Fine." She answered, a little tense.
He then heard something about double battles starting and an idea popped into Guzma's head. It was crazy but it might just work.
"Double battles? Are you going to enter them?" Guzma asked.
"I don't have a partner today. Hau is busy and Gladion is off doing his own thing. Everyone else here seems to only want me as a partner because I am the champion." She said.
"Well, if you want to beat everyone down in a double battle, you need a strong partner. The Alola champion would definitely be a smart choice." Guzma said.
"Yeah but the last time I battled, my pokemon and I did all the work. We barely won." She said.
"Then you just need to find a good partner that can keep up." Guzma said.
"...You're asking me to team up with you, aren't you?" She asked.
Guzma scratched his head sheepishly.
"Well, if you don't mind." Guzma said.
Moon looked at him thoughtfully. Though she did beat him on several occasions, he was a very formidable opponent. His golisopod was really tough and probably one of the strongest bug types Moon had ever encountered. No, Guzma was by no means weak. So her answer surprised him.
"Sure, if you think you can keep up." She said.
He was surprised but then smirked.
"I know I can keep up. If it's you and me, we can beat anyone down!" He said confidently.
However, the first battle was difficult because Moon was not willing to work with Guzma. She just did her own thing while Guzma did his best to keep golisopod from not getting hurt or letting silvally get hurt. Silvally didn't like golisopod either and often shoved him around. Golisopod didn't take this personally though. For such a tough pokemon, he's actually pretty mellow. But that didn't mean the pokemon wasn't a little worried. Uncooperative partners can get very dangerous in double battles and it didn't help that they were against a lucario and a bewear both of which have a type advantage over silvally. Luckily, golisopod knew a few effective moves. But the trainers on the other side communicated well and seemed to know how to work together. Their first order of business was to take down the champion, thinking that Guzma was just in for the ride. That was their mistake. Still, the opposing team's ignorance wasn't anything compared to how dumb Moon was being.
"What are you doing, kid?! You're going to make us lose if you don't work with me here." Guzma said.
"What, afraid to lose?" She asked with a glare.
"Do you even hear yourself right now?!" Guzma asked in disbelief.
However, Moon's stubbornness caused her to misjudge a move.
"Dodge and use crush claw on Lucario!" Moon called.
"Got her! Bewear, use hammer arm!" The other trainer called.
"Aura sphere, Lucario!" The other trainer called.
No one could have done anything to stop the attack as the hammer arm cracked right down on silvally's back and the aura sphere hitting her in the face. She cried out in pain, the sound shaking Moon to the very core. She hadn't seen her pokemon get injured like that in so long. She forgot why losing a pokemon battle can be hard: losing means your pokemon get hurt. Moon fell to her knees as she could do nothing but watch her silvally scream in pain. However, both the pokemon on the other team were lined up perfectly and Guzma was pissed. No one messes with his baby! That did it!
"Golisopod, use liquidation on both of them!" He roared.
Golisopod unleashed the attack, directly hitting bewear and knocking it back into lucario, effectively knocking both pokemon out. Moon rushed over to Silvally when the judge called the battle, announcing them as the winners. Silvally was whimpering in pain. Her spine took the brunt of the damage but the aura sphere to the face didn't help. Silvally tried to stand but she yelped before falling back down. Guzma walked over, offering a lum berry to her. She turned her head away, not wanting anything from Guzma. Guzma glared at both of them.
"You may be the champion but you sure as heck have a lot of learning to do. Do you realize how dangerous that was for silvally?! Just because you're champion doesn't mean you're invincible nor does it mean you have to do all the work! Are you trying to get your pokemon killed?! Listen, if you don't want to work with me, then call it quits! But I rather not risk our pokemon just because of your stupidity!" He snarled.
Moon's face fell and she hugged silvally. Silvally let out a shameful sigh, knowing that Guzma was right. Moon started crying while Guzma cringed, not liking the sight of a sad Moon.
"I'm sorry, girl." She sobbed.
"Tch! Save the crying for later! Let's get her off the field and see if anything can be done. But don't push it. If she can't fight, then she's out." Guzma said.
Moon returned silvally and Guzma returned golisopod. They walked off the field and then went into the waiting area. Moon released silvally whom was still in pain. Guzma then offered her a lum berry again and she sniffed it before turning her face away in disgust.
"She doesn't like bitter things." Moon said.
"Lum berries can help with the pain. She will have to decide between hurting or having to eat something gross." Guzma said.
Silvally looked at him skeptically but grabbed the berry from him, deciding that the pain was much worse than her distaste for lum berries. She chewed it up a little bit, grimacing from the bad taste. Lum berries are popular if you like bitter tasting things but, Silvally absolutely hated lum berries. She swallowed it quickly before the bitterness made her gag. She stuck out her tongue in disgust. Moon then proceeded to use a hyper potion on Silvally's face where the aura sphere hit her and then sprayed the rest where she got hit by the hammer arm. Moon finished up and prayed that would be enough to help silvally recover. Moon's stomach then growled and she blushed in embarrassment. Guzma, remembering he had food, then reached into his back.
"I brought some lunch by the way. Here." He said, shoving it into Moon's arms so to not give her the option to refuse.
She looked into the paper bag and found a few pinap berry malasadas and she smiled brightly. She gets nearly as excited about these things about Hau but she's not nearly as obsessed.
"Yay! Malasadas! Do they have pinap berry filling?!" She asked, excitedly.
"You bet, kid." He chuckled, taking out his own cherry berry jelly filled ones.
Guzma was glad he got something right. Moon cheered and sat next to her silvally. She offered one to silvally first.
"Here, girl. This will make you forget all about that nasty lum berry." Moon said.
Silvally gratefully took it. The duo released their select double battle pokemon to feed them. It was a little tense at first, considering Moon's team and his team used to be bitter enemies. However, the teams seemed to briefly acknowledge each other, some of them exchanging a few words, and then the tension died down, settling into a relaxing silence. Moon has Silvally, Primarina, Salazzle, and an Alolan Ninetails while Guzma had Golisopod, ariados, pinsir, and scizor. Both teams agreed to a temporary peace unless told otherwise. Silvally was even chatting with golisopod and, surprisingly, they got along. All eight pokemon went about fairly peacefully. They finished their meal soon and then they were called to the battlefield.
"Can you stand, girl?" Moon asked silvally.
She stood up. She grimaced in pain but she seemed alright.
"Don't use her just yet. Here, try this." Guzma said, offering the pokemon an open bottle of moo moo milk.
Silvally took it into her mouth and drank it, tilting her head back, some of it dripping out of her mouth and down her neck. Guzma chuckled as Moon complained about silvally making a mess. The synthetic pokemon gave the empty bottle back to Guzma and chirped a thank you. He patted the side of the pokemon's neck before Moon returned her. Guzma being good with pokemon was definitely not something she expected, especially after all the others he had stolen. He seemed to read her look.
"Just because I stole pokemon didn't mean that they got hurt. Not unless they just got out of battle. Don't look so shocked, kid. I'm not that heartless. Now let's go beat the next team down." He said.
"...Yeah." She said, following him.
They cooperated together for the rest of the double battle matches and ultimately won. Silvally, though still weak, saved their butts in the final round. Moon hugged Guzma when they won and he was a little awkward but then Moon realized what she was doing and quickly let go of him. He jokingly offered her another hug but she declined, embarrassed at what she did. They took their pokemon to a pokemon center on the way back home. Moon sat at a table, her head resting on the table. Guzma ordered some food from the cafe. Luckily, Kalani talks about Moon all the time or else he wouldn't know what her favorite food was. He came back with some food and set a plate down in front of her. She let out a delighted gasp, thanked him before digging in. It was hard for Guzma to remember sometimes that she was just a kid but in that moment, her age was painfully obvious. She may be a strong trainer but at the end of the day, she was still only ten.
"So... when did you meet my mom anyway?" Moon asked, her mouth full of food.
"I knew her before you guys moved here. She and I dated in college a little over ten years ago." he said.
Guzma didn't want to tell her too much. He wasn't ready to tell her who he was yet. Kalani went into all the romantic details to Moon of how they met. Of course she told Moon of him before he 'died'. Kalani made him sound like such a good guy at the time and maybe he wasn't all that bad then. But, he still wanted to get stronger and the only way he knew that was to beat people down, squash them like bugs. He left Kalani, knowing better than to drag her into his resolve to become a captain at his home region. It was going to be messy. He meant to keep in touch with her but then, he failed to become a trial captain when he went back to Hala for more training. He fell into a deep depression and then he became angry at everything, at the world. So he wanted to bring down the whole system and have the rules of you beat others down or be beaten down. But, he knew Kalani wouldn't take a criminal if he tried to take her back. So he didn't bother trying to get back in touch with her.
"So what happened?" Moon asked.
"I left her to come be a trial captain but I failed. Honestly, I was happy I found her again. I don't think I'd have kept this trainer thing up for long if it wasn't for her. I probably would have went back to being the boss of Team Skull. I was shocked when I found out you were her kid." Guzma said, chuckling after the last sentence.
"How on earth did she go for you back then?" Moon asked.
"Heh! I wasn't always big bad Guzma, ya know." He laughed.
"So why start Team Skull? And there's your idea of beating people down? I don't get it." Moon said.
"Kid, I was bullied for most of my life when I was your age. My home life wasn't much better either. My dad was even nastier than I could ever be. If I didn't beat anyone down, I was the one who got beaten. My ma eventually came to her senses and divorced my old man. But he'd follow us. So we came here and got a restraining order against him. The house you and your mom live in now used to be mine at one point. Mama was nice and all but a little soft spoken. Too much of a push over. To be honest, she let me get away with more than I should have. When I was fifteen, Hala took me under his wing and taught me how to battle with pokemon. My first pokemon was golisopod when he was just a little wimpy wimpod. But that lil' guy always pulled through in the end. I eventually went through my own island challenge and learned under Hala to become a trial captain. But I wanted nothing more than to destroy the trainers that would come to challenge me rather than help them grow. In the end, because of that, I didn't make the cut. Instead of try to get better so I could, I got mad. So mad that I gave up on trying to be a trial captain and for the next ten years, I made it my mission to take down the island challenge all together." Guzma said.
"Oh..." Moon said, surprised.
She was lost in thought. So all this time, he wasn't kidding when he said that beating people down was all he knew. It sounded like for him, it was how he survived. And then there was the fact that he and her mother had dated once. Why didn't her mother tell her of this? She could have sworn that her dad was the only person she loved at the time. It was confusing but, Moon shrugged it off, figuring that it was probably something she wouldn't get right now as a kid. Guzma wasn't done talking to her though.
"I don't get how you have gotten so strong, kid. It's like every time I came across you, you had somehow gotten so strong. I could never crush you if I even tried my hardest." Guzma said.
I couldn't crush you even if I could. Not anymore. Guzma thought.
"Aren't battles about fun though?" She asked.
"Yeah... Pokemon battles are suppose to be fun. I had it hammered in my head that they were what I knew with my fists. I missed what they were suppose to mean to people and pokemon. Winning or beating anyone never mattered. Battles are supposed to help a trainer grow with their team. It's about fun as well as learning about life. Losing is just part of it just as much as winning is." He said.
"See? You get it!" Moon said clapping.
Guzma rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Sometimes, I forget you're like ten and then you do something like that." Guzma said.
Moon giggled in response. They finished their food and their pokemon got healed. Silvally was recommended to keep rested for awhile: part of her spine was popped out of place during the battle. Injuries like that during battles are inevitable and unavoidable. Certain mega evolutions can even cause a pokemon to be temporarily retired from the team. Moon will keep silvally at Poke Pelago to rest. Mohn had no problem taking care of pokemon for her. But right now, it was time to go home. Night had fallen and they walked back home together after taking a charizard back to Melemele island. They walked silently side by side. Moon slowed down, feeling tired. The double battle tournament had worn her out. Guzma noticed and walked back to her, grabbing her hand.
"Don't fall asleep on me now. Your mom will kill me if I let you fall asleep out here." He said, pulling her along.
She walked a little faster to keep up. Guzma kept her hand in his. Moon looked at Guzma and decided that she agreed with her mom: he really was just a big stufful. She decided to let go of his hand and cling onto his arm. Guzma paused, surprised at this sudden action. She leaned against his arm tiredly. He chuckled and patted her head with his other hand. His old followers are going to know he's gone soft but he didn't care. Maybe he could gain back the life that he should have lived a long time ago. They got to the house. Kalani was already in bed, used to having both Moon and Guzma out traveling. Guzma silently walked Moon to her room and made sure she got to be properly. He then went back into the kitchen, took off his shoes and looked to find some nightwear while taking off his day clothes. He got into some loose basketball shorts before turning in for the night. He got into bed with Kalani. She stirred, noticed that Guzma was with her and then snuggled against him. He smiled and put an arm around her. He was happy that he finally managed to get Moon to like him.
That's it for tonight! laters!... I'm seriously considering changing the humor genre though. I don't know if it's fitting for this. I picked it mostly because I think the concept of Guzma being Moon's daddy is funny.