Boring. That was the worst thing about this whole situation. Guzma could handle the pain, the nausea, the too bright light and the piercing noise. He considered himself tough after all. But being confined to the downstairs couch by Kukui without even a CD to entertain himself was growing dry very quickly, and it had only been a day. He peered over at the coffee table beside him; Kukui had left him some water, berries and books to keep himself occupied, but he felt far too sick to eat or read. Instead he descended further under his blanket and pulled out his phone to text Plumeria.

Yo

Oh great you're still alive, :P. How are you feeling?

Like five loudreds shouted in my ears

Shit G… I'm sorry I can't be there.

Not ur fault, just focus on your work and all that
Kukui has me on the couch hes bein a doting nurse

Are you sure you're gonna be alright?

Doc said i gotta do nothin for 2 weeks and then go see him again then MAYBE i can go back to work

How much nothing does he mean?

?

Should you be on your phone right now?

…

Get the fuck off your phone before I block you.

Fiiiiiiiiine, cya later

Peace. \ /

Clearly that went nowhere. Guzma absentmindedly chucked his phone onto the coffee table, wincing at the clattering noise, and decided that sleeping was probably the best option. He drifted in and out of the waking world, occasionally his eyes fluttered open to meet the gaze of Kukui's concerned Pokemon, but even that wasn't enough to startle him into consciousness. However, the loud slamming of the front door was. The young man shot straight into a sitting position, and looked around confused only to see Keahi locking the door from the inside. Kukui must not be home yet, otherwise he would've come running.

Guzma held the side of his head, feeling it begin to ache.

Keahi bounded over and took a seat at the couch across from him, hugging a small bag close to her chest. "Hey! Sorry if I'm barging in I know you're probably really sick but I needed to talk to you, also I have stuff!" she exclaimed, unloading her bag onto the table.

Guzma blinked slowly, trying to maintain focus on exactly what he was looking at. "Uh… What's all this? Also, volume…"

Keahi covered her mouth and instead whisper yelled, "oh! Oops sorry I didn't mean to yell i'm just loud! And it's gifts, for you, from everyone." The young girl rocked back and forth in her seat as she watched him pick up and open a get-well card.

It was full of signatures from everyone bar one student, even the principal signed it. There was also a mug, gifted from Asuka; there was a stylized Golisopod painted on it, reading "Anything but a wimp!" It was corny, yet cute.

Keahi bit her lip and spoke up, "I know you're all busy recovering and all that but I had to come by and see how you were doing! Last I saw you you got your head smashed against the wall and there was blood and then the raticate stopped me from running out to help and-"

"Hey slow down-"

She didn't hear him. "-and then you got dragged off in the ambulance and everyone at school was so worried when they heard you got hurt I put it in the group chat immediately so I just had to come in person to see if you were ok!"

Guzma scratched his head a little. "I'm barely registering anything you're saying Keahi… But... " He glanced down at the card. "It's nice to know y'all give a crap about me…"

"Of course! You're like, the best! Really!"

He covered his ears and grumbled, "and you have the talking volume of an exploud kid…"

She then whispered, "sorry… I just got really excited and-" her lip began to wobble, "and I had to come and say… and say…" She put her face in her hands to hide her tears. "I am so, so sorry teacher!"

Guzma flinched at the noice, but then quieted his voice and said, "hey, hey it's not your-"

Keahi cut in, "yes it is! It really is my fault! It was our stupid idea to catch those beasts so we went there when a warning was issued out when we shouldn't have and they were just too strong! And then you showed up and Nathan didn't let me help you or the raticate and then you got hurt! Maku Maku and I could've done something! It was our fault and now i don't even get to make it right!"

The young man held his hands up. "Calm down, look, the fact that you're safe is what matters. I'll shape up in a few weeks. Asuka had something nasty in store for you right?"

"No! She didn't! Because I said it was our fault but that we didn't mean it but Nathan said it wasn't my fault but it was so he got suspended and I just got a warning! He's lucky he didn't get expelled but first you get hurt because of me and now I can't even own up to my stupid stupid mistake!"

Guzma held his head and gritted his teeth. "Oh my god shut up with the 'woe is me' crap. You are owning up to it. You came here and apologized to me, I don't see that other little prick with you…"

Keahi sniffled and wiped her eyes. "He said you told him to go away."

"Yeah, I did, cuz sorry won't cut it from him." He waved a hand dismissively. "I'll figure out what to do with him later. For now though, no offense, but I've got a headache…"

She perked up and smiled. "Oh, that's ok, but, full offense, there's a really angry teenager outside and I should probably protect you in this weakened state!" She slammed her fist into her palm.

This hit a nerve. "Screw you I don't need protecting! And who the hell is out there!?"

"I dunno but he was weird, his clothes were all ripped and he looked like a dangerous punk so I punched him in the stomach, ran inside and locked the door!"

Guzma was astonished. "What the fuck?! You don't get to decide that! Let him in!"

Keahi stood and walked backwards towards the door. "The Blazing Camilia will stand by, just in case." She opened the door and stood inside.

A very grouchy blonde teenager walked in, gritting his teeth and glaring at Keahi. Gladion looked like he wanted to swat her with the thick roll of paper he was holding. The boy then turned his head and stared at Guzma with a look that was hard to place.

Guzma's stomach dropped. This was the last thing he expected or wanted. "Keahi, go home."

"But-"

He scowled at her.

Keahi swallowed and said, "ok ok! I get it you can take care of yourself! Bye teacher, see you later!" She then rushed out the door, leaving the two of them alone.

There was a silence between them, Guzma felt dizzy, and not just from the pain.

Gladion crossed his arms. "You look like shit."

Guzma groaned slightly. "Don't remind me." He then gestured to the couch in front of him.

Gladion decided to lean over the top of it and stare rather than sit down. They didn't talk for a while longer, Guzma was beginning to feel annoyed.

He tilted his head. "You just gonna stare at me or are ya gonna tell me why you're here?

"I'm here because your latest stunt got on the news, positively for once." He threw the newspaper he was holding down onto the coffee table, the headline read "EX GANG BOSS SAVES LOCAL KIDS". Guzma skimmed it briefly, they were… hailing him as a hero…?

He stared at it with wide eyed. "I just… Did what I thought was right."

Gladion shook his head. "Oh I don't care about that. Because of that story I finally managed to find you, so I'm just here to catch up on a few things."

Guzma had a sinking feeling. "Like what?:

The boy tilted his head. "You know, casual things, like how you've been doing?"

That was a complete and utter lie. "Good… You?"

"Busy, I'm the President of Aether Paradise now."

Guzma did a double take. "Seriously?!"

The tiniest flash of a smirk crossed Gladion's face. "Yeah, if your little contract was still valid you'd be answering to me."

"That'd be a change of pace…" He looked away awkwardly. "Um… How's uh…"

"My mother? She's in the Kanto region with Lillie being treated considering her cells were apparently merged with a pokemon."

Guzma didn't know how to feel about that. "Yeah yeah whatever… Hey can we get to the point already? I would go on a real big spiel over what I've been doin over the past few months but I feel like you already know. So what are you really doing here?"

Gladion's expression turned dark. "What am I really doing? Trying to find any semblance of a person I once looked up to… I thought that maybe since you actually did something good that you'd give me an explanation for the knife in my back!"

Guzma sat there in silence.

"Seriously, how deep do your lies run? Seems pretty fitting that your boss's kid just shows up on your doorstep one day! Did you put a roof over my head because you could relate to a kid that struggled for years on his own, or was I just a spoiled brat that turned out to be all too convenient for you?"

He wanted to run away, he really did, but there was nowhere he could've gone. Gladion clearly knew what he wanted, and how to get it. Giving him an answer was probably the best move, even if it was the one that sucked the most. "You're forgetting that I never once told Lusamine that you were in team skull. I didn't even make you a real member cuz I'd have to update her grunts on who's working for me. Didn't you ever realize those jobs I sent you on lined up perfectly well with Aether's little visits to Po Town?"

He couldn't read the look on Gladion's face.

Guzma leaned in further. "I followed your mother because I didn't realize how bad she really was, got a nice wakeup call in ultra space I'll tell you that much. But either way, comin' here while you know I'm injured and cornering me into givin' you an answer is a pretty scummy move kid."

Gladion shrugged. "I learned from the best.'

He couldn't argue with that. "Point taken. Anyway, you have your answer, satisfied?"

Gladion stood up straight. "Enough. Don't expect to ever see me again."

"One thing before you go?"

He let out a sigh. "Fine."

"Is Aether Paradise open to the public now?"

"We do tours."

Guzma nodded. "Cool, good enough… seeya kid."

Gladion promptly walked out of the door, and out of Guzma's life, without saying goodbye.

….

Keahi stood strongly in front of Nathan's seaside house as the sun began to set. The glow of the Lumineon was just becoming visible from under the orange sea. She gave the door a hard knock. No response. His parents were probably still at work, however, she knew better than to assume he wasn't there either. She entered their yard through the side gate and knocked on their back door. Still no response. Time for drastic measures. Keahi made her way over to Nathan's window and peered inside, no one was there but there was clear signs of recent life. There was a half eaten meal on his desk, with care taken not to displace any of the superhero figurines that cluttered it. Pokemon tournament and cartoon posters littered the walls, hand drawn comics and pencils were scattered over the floor. Usually he kept his room clean, so clearly he was home and was just ignoring her!

Keahi pushed hard against his window, it was tough but eventually it managed to budge. She slid it upwards and quietly shimmied her way into his room and over his unmade bed. Her hand hovered over the doorknob, but it moved just as she was about to open it. Keahi stepped back as Nathan entered the room holding a glass of water, which he almost dropped upon seeing her. She internally noted that boy's right hand was wrapped up tight, and that there was a bad bruise on his lower arm.

Nathan gawked at her with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Keahi huffed and stomped her foot. "Trying to talk to you! Why didn't you answer the door?!"

Nathan put the glass aside and eyed the open window. "Maybe I didn't want to talk to anyone, is that a bad thing? And seriously? You break into my room like some kind of criminal?"

"My phone is smashed! And we need to have a talk!"

He looked away from her and stated, "I'm not in the mood for this Cammy-"

She pointed at him. "You don't get to call me that right now! In fact you don't even get to call me friend until you apologize to our teacher!"

Nathan was now very frustrated. "Well what am I supposed to do?! I tried and he told me to fuck off!"

"Do it again! Or do something to make it up to him!"

He took a step towards her and shouted. "No and no! In case you haven't noticed the guy's still a crook, one incident and the papers suddenly forget everything he did? Bullshit. In case you haven't noticed, people like that don't change Keahi, not really! And if I gotta keep reminding them of that then I will!"

Keahi stormed up to him, reared her arm back, curled her fist tight and punched him in the face, hard. Nathan was sent crashing into the wall, collapsing to the ground. "YOU'D BE DEAD IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM! WE BOTH WOULD BE! DON'T YOU GET THAT?!" She kneeled down over him and pulled him up by his shirt collar. Nathan was both dazed and shocked. "HE COULDN'T HANDLE FOUR, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK WE COULD?!"

Nathan suddenly shoved her off of him and tried to stand. Keahi lunged in and grabbed his injured hand tightly. "OW OW OW OW!" Nathan was forced back down against the wall. He retaliated by yanking her hair, causing her to shriek. Keahi kicked him in the stomach. The pair ended up tumbling to the floor, yelling and kicking and scratching and hitting each other until Keahi managed to pin Nathan to the wall with tears in her eyes.

"Why are you like this?! You keep thinking you're the good guy but all you do is hurt people you don't like! It's not like i don't want to be your friend, but if you keep hurting people I can't be Nathan!"

Nathan struggled to look her in the eye and muttered, "I just want to protect people like you…"

"I don't need you to do that for me! You're just a kid Nathan! We're both just kids! You shouldn't be worried about that! You should be worried about when we're gonna make our next costumes together or when your next assignment is due! Not some dumb vigilante persona you made up in your head! So when you actually get it through your stupid head and apologize you can talk to me, but don't bother until you do!"

Keahi let go of him, stood and raced out the front door, leaving Nathan in a daze. After a few minutes he pulled himself to a sitting position, feeling new bruises form and his old ones becoming exceptionally worse. But by far, even including the ultra beasts, that was the worst experience of his entire life. Nathan brought his knees to his chest, stewing in anger, and wondered if Keahi really did have a point. He peered up at the posters lining his walls; he always idolized them, heroes, police, rangers, and the work they did to protect both people and Pokemon. Seeing them be rewarded with praise and admiration always made his heart skip a beat, made him feel noble. So when he finally found a nemesis… But was Guzma really a nemesis? He's a bad person, by far, but he'd been doing good things since Nathan had known him. So, if a person who's bad inside, does good things, does that really make them bad? Similarly vice versa, can a truly good person do bad things to achieve a good goal? Nathan frowned, reminiscing over watching numerous villains think their goals were noble, or the best for everyone. He knew this train of thought was going to keep him up at night, along with the pain. And it did, for once in his life, Nathan couldn't sleep soundly.