Chapter Three.

Moon's POV
I was finally home after the… truthful day. Hau had left Gladions place after me, I think, and I was pondering whether to text him or not.

Ah, whatever.

I lay in bed, thinking about the events of the day.

For some SUPER ANNOYING REASON, my heart skipped an INCREDIBLY CRUCIAL beat whenever I DEFINITELY DID NOT THINK ABOUT A CERTAIN SOMEONE.

Gladion… he was something else—and I don't mean that he's technically not human.

Why do I think he looks… absolutely adorable when he's shocked?

Do I…

No.

I couldn't have.

Do… Do I have a crush on—

NO. YOU DO NOT, MOON.

Gladion's POV
I finally flopped onto my bed, relief hitting me.

I told her.

THEM, Gladion. Not 'her.'

But for some stupidly irritating reason, my heart gave a little shudder every time I thought about her. And I couldn't stop it. She kept floating back into my mind.

Why did Arceus have to make a girl so—

DO NOT EVEN GO THERE, GLADION.

But when she looked at me today, she didn't seem to see a disastrous mistake of a broken person.

My first instinct was to never see her again until she eventually faded from memory.

But my first instinct was wrong today…

Maybe I should stop listening to it.

And, you know what? Maybe I do have a slight crush on her.

Moon's POV
It had been a week since the whole Team Skull event, and Moon and Hau had travelled to Ula'Ula Island to meet Haus friend, Acerola.

When they were still at the docks upon arriving, Hau was challenged to a Pokémon battle, in which case resulted in needing a Pokémon Centre for Decidueye and Raichu.

"Nurse Joy?" Hau called when there was no one at the counter.

"Just a sec!" a voice said from one of the Pokémon hospital rooms. "No, stop moving! Can you hold down your Lycanroc, please? Thanks!"

"Lycanroc, calm down, it's okay!" a familiar voice said.

I peeked through the doorway into the hospital. Nurse Joy was struggling to treat a Lycanroc that wouldn't stop moving, even though its trainer was doing the best he could to hold it down.

Gladion?

My heart rate sped up as I saw him. I rushed over to help him with Lycanroc.

"Moon?" he said, startled.

I pinned Lycanrocs back legs down so it couldn't kick the nurse, Gladion already having pinned its front legs.

"Lycanroc, look at me!" Gladion tried. "It's okay, calm down! You're going to be alright!"

But Lycanroc wasn't having it. It snapped its jaws whenever the nurse tried to get close, snarling continuously.

Then, without any warning at all, it moved its head sharply to the side and bit down on Gladions arm hard.

"Oh my Arceus, are you okay?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah," Gladion told me, wincing slightly. Lycanroc didn't let go at all. My own arm started itching as I watched. Slowly, Lycanroc seemed to relax, having been soothed by holding its trainers arm the way it did.

Finally, Nurse Joy was able to cream and cover Lycanrocs side, which was deeply cut. Only then did it release Gladion from its tight grip, and his arm immediately started bleeding heavily.

"Oh my Arceus!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, only just having noticed what had happened. "Hold on—I'll be right back!"

After bandaging Gladions arm, Nurse Joy then treated Decidueye and Raichu. Haus mouth did drop open when Moon and Gladion emerged from the hospital.

"Gladion!" he said, surprised, before his gaze drifted to the bloodied bandage underneath Gladions sleeve, which was now even more torn. "What happened to you?"

Gladion glanced at Lycanroc before answering. "It doesn't matter now, we're all good."

"Okay…"

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you," Gladion said, turning to me. "Do you know anything about Cosmog?"

I hesitated.

"If you do know anything, keep it safe!" he urged suddenly. "Please, Team Skull's looking for it and that thing has the power to destroy all of Alola."

I nodded. "Your sister has it, actually."

Moon's POV
Three days later…

"Hey Moon!" Hau called.

"What is it?" I asked as he came running up towards me.

"It's those kids that Acerola was looking after! They were attacked by Team Skull, who stole their Yungoos," Hau explained. I didn't know what to say. "I need to go look after

them, can you please go to their base and rescue Yungoos? Acerola will kill me!"

I nodded, obviously worried and prepared to do anything to get those poor kids their beloved Pokémon back AND WAS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT NOT LAYING IT THICK AND SECRETLY REALLY WANTING TO SEE A CERTAIN SOMEONE AGAIN.

So, I headed to Po Town, the abandoned town in which Team Skull uses as a base. The grunts that were guarding it were all easily defeated by my newly evolved Primarina, and it made me wonder.

Why did Gladion hang around with a completely useless team when it came to battling if he wanted to become stronger?

Anyway, I soon reached Guzma. He sat on a graffitied chair in the centre of the room with a woman with a tattoo across her bare stomach next to him, and a grunt sitting on some sort of chest.

"Give me the Yungoos you stole from those kids!" I demanded upon entry.

"Or what, little girl?" Guzma asked. He was a lot scarier when he was talking to you.

"I'll make you sorry you ever wanted to hurt it—or Cosmog!" I said, getting WAY ahead of myself.

Very smooth, Moon, well done.

Guzma frowned. "How do you know about that?" The woman narrowed her eyes.

"I… um, one of your followers—er, grunts told me!" I said quickly.

"Gladion!" Guzma suddenly yelled aggressively.

"What?" came a voice, presumably from the next room.

"Get in here!"

The dark teenager entered the room. His eyes widened slightly upon seeing me, but that was his only reaction.

"What do you want?" he asked Guzma.

"Haven't I told you to drop the attitude?" Guzma asked him, glaring.

"And?"

Guzma bared his teeth at Gladion, his fist shaking.

"Why did you call me I here? Does the 'undefeated' grand mighty Guzma need a fourteen-year-olds help?" Gladion asked.

He's only fourteen?! Able to stand up to the leader of Alolas biggest trouble-making gang?!

"No," Guzma growled. "This girl here says she knows you. Care to tell us what that's all about?" He pointed at me as he spoke. Gladions gaze shifted across to me in a glare.

"Yeah, I think I might've battled her once," he said, looking back to his boss.

"I know her!" the blue-haired grunt next to Guzma declared. "Gladion was being all heroic around her, you know, back when he stopped me from having any fun!"

"Haven't I warned you about that?!" Guzma asked, grabbing Gladion by his hood, bringing him close to his face.

"Haven't you already punished me for it?!" Gladion shot back, somehow easily breaking free of the man's strong grip.

"Hm," Guzma said. Then he suddenly spun around, posed to slap me.

"Don't hurt her!" Gladion cried out. Guzma smirked.

"So. You do know her." Gladion shut his mouth immediately, realising what he'd said.

"What if I do?" he replied after a small, paused moment.

"So you admit that you've been conspiring about Team Skulls plans?"

"No. I don't even know most of Team Skulls plans."

"Really? I seem to recall telling you about Cosmog."

Gladion froze at Guzmas statement.

"Would you like me to stop paying you altogether?" Guzma asked.

"Would you like me to get… defensive? I don't really care if anyone else is present," Gladion said slyly. It looked like Guzma knew what he meant.

"You know you wouldn't."

"Do I?"

Silence.

Gladion's POV
Guzmas bottom lip quivered, and his frown grew deeper. Finally, a threat had hit home. I stared at the man coldly. I knew he was afraid of me and what I could do.

"Fine," he said, looking back to Moon. The corner of my mouth twitched into a smile.

I turned and walked out of the room, leaving Guzma to battle with Moon. I don't know whether I should have stayed and helped her battle him. It's not like I wanted to leave, but Guzma was right; I couldn't really survive without him, unless I honestly wanted to be a Pokémon for the rest of my life.

I walked down the stairs of the old mansion and leaned against the wall, careful not to touch any of the graffiti. I was surprised this place was still standing; Team Skull didn't exactly look after it.

In the next room, I could hear Tupp talking to someone, presumably Rapp and Zipp.

"I don't like that Gladion kid, he's trying to take my place at the boss' side!" Tupp said, having come downstairs after me.

Puh-leez, like I'd ever want to do that.

"Yeah, that guy's such a jerk!" Zipp said.

"And a goodie-two-shoes!" Rapp agreed.

If only you knew Lillie.

"He just manipulated the boss like it was nothing," Tupp told his companions.

"What! No way!" Rapp said.

"I just saw it happen, with my own two eyes! Plus, he's been conspiring with stinkin' outsiders!"

"Bro, no way!"

"That's crazy!" Zipp said.

Conspiring? Please, you would have done the same if YOUR sister was being hunted by a bunch of punks.

"Bro, I think it's time we teach that kid a lesson—for good this time!" Rapp suggested.

"That's what I was about to say!" Tupp said.

Typical, manipulating your followers, very classic for you.

"That's why you're our bro!" Rapp and Zipp said together.

I heard footsteps and the door a metre away from me opened. I closed my eyes, crossing my arms like I'd been there for ages.

"Awww, look, it's little Gladion, such a cool guy," Rapp snickered. One of the three of them always greeted me like this.

"What do you want?" I asked, venom in my voice, without moving or opening my eyes.

"You're such a tough guy, Gladion, but we're here to teach you a lesson!" Tupp said.

There was a pause.

"Hello? I'm talking to you!" Tupp yelled when I didn't respond.

"Sorry I don't pay attention to idiots," I said without the smallest amount of emotion on my face.

"What was that now?!"

"You heard me."

"Someone has a big mouth," Rapp said.

"Anyone who ignores—" Zipp started.

"'Us is a little too big for their britches,' yeah, I got it the first time," I finished, still in the same position.

"Excuse me!" Zipp yelled.

"Did you just talk back to—" Tupp was broken off by a new voice.

"What do you three think you're doing?" Only then did I open my eyes. Plumeria was standing on the stairs, glaring at Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp.

"Er—Big Sis!" Tupp yelped, realising who'd spoken.

"Leave Gladion alone," Plumeria said, descending down the staircase. "You don't want Guzmas pet being harmed, do you?"

I am NOT a pet!

"Um—O-of course not!" Rapp said.

"Yeah, we didn't mean any trouble!" Zipp told her.

After that, the three scampered away.

"Listen Gladion," Plumeria said, only inches away from my face. "I don't like you either. Just because you're the boss' favourite doesn't mean you're everyone's favourite."

"Weren't you there the numerous times he's told me off?" I asked her, stepping away from the wall. "Even if Guzma does favour me—and I doubt it—doesn't mean it's my fault or that I have to like it."

"I was there, yes, even just then when he easily backed down to you," Plumeria said. "He obviously likes you more than the rest of us."

"He doesn't like me; he's scared of me." I immediately wanted to slap myself after I said that.

"Please. Guzma? Afraid of a child?"

"Just ask him. You'll see it in his face."

"Maybe I will."

"Okay," I said, shrugging. "You do that. See you around." I pulled my hood over my head and proceeded to the exit of the mansion.

Plumeria's POV
I watched Gladion leave the mansion, walking out into the rain. The girl that had been upstairs with Guzma ran after him, clutching an injured Pokémon to her chest.

The words Gladion had said stuck with me.

How was Guzma afraid of a child?

I decided I needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Plumeria!" Guzma called from the balcony of the top floor that looked down into the foyer. "Where is Gladion?!"

"He just left!" I yelled back to him.

"What?! Rrrrgghhh…!"

I quickly ran up the stairs to Guzmas room, which he had disappeared to, finding that Tupp and Rapp had snuck back up there.

"Find him," Guzma was telling them. "Just tell him to come straight here."

"Boss?" I asked from the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Gladion has just drawn the last straw," he muttered threateningly.

"Let me go instead of them," I said, gesturing to the grunts. "He'll listen to me more then he will them."

Guzma paused, pondering over this.

"Fine," he snarled. "And kidnap the Cosmog girl while you're at it. But you're still taking Tupp."

I nodded and went to gather my small amount of stuff from my room. I knew I would have to go to Mele Mele to accomplish both tasks, maybe with slightly more annoyance with Tupp tagging along, but.

Gladion's POV
A day later, I was back on Mele Mele. But I wasn't expecting Plumeria to show.

"Gladion," she said, stepping out from a side alley, throwing me off guard.

"What?" I asked, careless about how rude I sounded.

"Guzma asked to see you."

"And?"

"Do you not care about your payment?"

"I'm having a bad day."

"You always are, it seems. Don't use it as an excuse."

"And your gonna try and stop me, are you?"

"I wouldn't dare harm Guzmas precious pet."

"DO NOT. Ever. Call me that again." Plumeria was stunned at my tone.

Plumeria's POV
I stopped for a minute. Gladion had spoken so harshly, with so much hatred, I was shocked.

"I… I'm sorry," I said. He shouldn't have gotten so defensive like that. There must be something behind it.

Gladion shook his head. "It's not your fault," he told me with—surprisingly—kindness. His face hadn't moved from its deep scowl, though.

After a moment of silence, I said, "Why don't you take being Guzmas favourite as a compliment?"

"Being a first pick has only ever caused me pain," Gladion replied carefully. "Now why are you really here? Guzma would've sent one of the grunts after me, not his second-in-command."

"Oh, um… what you said yesterday. About Guzma being afraid of you. It stuck to my mind."

"Um, never mind," Gladion said, turning around, but I grabbed his shoulder.

"Gladion, please. I know Guzma would never be scared of a fourteen-year-old boy. I know you two are keeping something to yourselves, I saw how easily you stopped Guzma from threatening you further. I know that you're stronger than him, and I know you don't want anyone else to see something, and I want to know why."

Gladion sighed and turned around. "I can't tell you, my secret's already been spilled enough," he said and walked away.

I wanted to follow him, to find out the answers to my questions, but there was something about him that stopped me. I realised something, only there and then.

He's fourteen. Why does Guzma speak to him like he's older than the rest of Team Skull when he's the youngest?

Fourteen. The youngest. Yet the only one of us living alone on barely anything.

He didn't get paid enough as it was before Guzma reduced his payment to only once a week. What… how is he surviving? Doesn't he have family?

What about his defence? He always seems to have an emotional guard on himself… what is he hiding that he's so protective of? And what about his Pokémon? The one he never tells anyone about? Didn't he say once that he stole it? From where and whom?

Defence.

Why is he so defensive being called the boss' pet? Was… was that how he was treated?

Thank you so much for getting this far into the story! (Sorry I forgot to mention Cosmog in previous chapters)

Reviews are welcome!

-U. Cutie