Chapter Seven.

Moon's POV

"You're all unharmed," Wicke said gratefully once we'd all stepped out of the elevator. "Oh, thank Arceus for it…"

"Yeah, maybe," Gladion said. "But there is still a ton we have to do… There's the president and Guzma, who both disappeared into the Ultra Wormhole, not to mention Cosmog and why it stopped moving like that. Even if she is… like that, Lusimine is still our mother. We can't just leave her in the beast's world. We might be able to reach the other worlds if we had Alola's Legendary Pokémon on our side. I don't even know if they're real, though…"

"Of course they are!" Hau said. "After all, the beasts are real."

"Hau's right," I told Gladion determinedly.

"I have to thank you guys," Lillie said. "Thank you for coming to find me! I only wish I could have been strong enough to help you out…"

"Miss Lillie," Wicke said, "if you and your friends would like to get some rest first, I have prepared a few beds in the staff's residential quarters."

"Okay, thank you, Wicke."

"Think nothing of it!"

Gladion's POV
I was back in my bedroom, after two years.

It still didn't feel like home to me… the white and gold clashed horribly, in my opinion, but I was too tired to think about it anyway.

I released my Pokémon from their Pokéballs and lay on the bed. Looking around the room, it was exactly the same as I remembered it. Even the pencils and notebook I had left on the desk was still there, more than a little dusty. I cringed at the large claw-marks on the wall opposite me. Not that I remember making them.

Umbreon jumped up onto the pillow next to me, curling up on it the way it had always done as an Eevee. Null and Lycanroc fell asleep leaning on one another at the foot of the bed. They'd never been here before, so they were keeping abnormally close to each other. It was quite cute, actually.

Sighing, I leaned over Umbreon and opened the draw on the bedside table. Yep, my books were all still there. I pulled out one of the novels I hadn't read in a while and sat back, opening the book to the first page.

I wasn't surprised when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in, Moon," I called without looking up. In she came.

"What are you doing?"

"I am… baking a cake."

Moon snorted and said, "Sure, Mr. Sarcastic, I can see that. What are you reading, then?"

"Twilight."

"Another romance?" Moon groaned as she sat beside me. She was quiet for a bit after that, probably having noticed the claw-marks on the other side of the room. "You read a lot," she said after a while.

"Very observant," I told her, squinting at the book. "It helps me take my mind off things. Oh, my Arceus, this is such small print…" I sighed again.

"You can't read that?" Moon asked, surprised.

"Give me a sec."

Moon's POV
Gladion opened the draw on the bedside table next to him. I shrugged and lay down, looking at the ceiling.

"There we go," Gladion said after a minute. I sat up again and gasped.

Gladion had pinned back his hair and was wearing a pair of glasses.

"Oh my Arceus! Gladion!"

"What?"

"You… wear glasses?"

"I mean, I'm supposed to. Why is that so surprising?"

I paused, aware of the large smile on my face. "It just… seems so far out of your character," I said. "You do look really adorable with them on. And I don't think I've ever seen both of your eyes before, other than when you're Silvally."

"I don't think 'adorable' is the best word to describe it," Gladion said, turning back to his book.

"Have you seen yourself?"

"Not with my glasses on in two years."

"Well, it's super cute, and you cannot convince me otherwise."

Gladion laughed. "Sure, okay."

After a second, and after I summoned up enough courage, I said, "Um… if you're comfortable with me asking, what happened to your wall?"

"Oh," Gladion said. "Um, well… That happened after the chemicals spilt on me. I don't remember it… nearly at all. I just woke up back in here and started crying. It was four years ago," he quickly added, seeing the look on my face.

"Oh, okay then," I said and lay down with my head resting on his chest. "Can I sleep here?"

Gladion shrugged. "Sure."

Wicke's POV
The next day, the group met up outside of the mansion. I watched them from the window, smiling to myself.

"Wicke," Faba said from behind me. "Aren't you going to stop them?"

"No," I said. "They need to rescue Lusimine. You shouldn't've gone along with her plans. You agreed with her right from the start!"

"That—that's because—" Faba stuttered. "It—it's all Lusimine's fault, not mine!"

"Wasn't it you who suggested using human DNA to create beast-stopping creatures?"

"Y-yes, but—"

"Wasn't it you who locked a poor child up in a lab for two months straight?"

"I—but, I—"

"Save it. I don't need to hear your pathetic explanation," I said. "Face it. Those kids are doing this because of the situation you put them in. And I know some of it was Miss Lusimine, but you should've known better!"

"I only locked up Young Master Gladion because Lusimine told me to! Also, for science!"

"And look where that got him." I turned back to the window and adjusted my glasses on my face. I heard Faba leave, muttering to himself. The man could be so cruel. The things he'd done, the things we'd both seen…

I closed my eyes, remembering…

Two Aether employees entered Lab A. Faba was with them. I'd never been particularly fond of the man, but his position as Branch Chief was higher than mine, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

"Wicke," Faba addressed me. "President Lusimine has ordered we start an experiment in here. You will need to move your little chemicals to Lab B."

"What? Why?" I asked. "Are you doing a big experiment?"

"Yes."

I was suddenly excited. "Really? Can I help?"

"You wouldn't be interested," Faba said and turned to the employee with a notepad. Sulkily, I turned and started packing up my stuff, making sure I could hear what the scientist was saying.

"We're going to need a bed installed in the centre of the room, and five large cages…"

Bed? Cages? What?

I picked up my stuff and proceeded out of the lab.

A week later, I was inside Lab A once again, after Faba asked if I could assist him with something.

That 'something' being helping him prepare weird large cages. Before I could ask him though, two Aether employees came in, practically dragging a barely conscious boy with them.

"What are you doing to him?!" I cried as they strapped him to the bed in the middle of the room. On closer inspection, I realised that the boy was President Lusimine's son, Gladion. He was a polite young man, always nice to his sister, making sure she was alright, and only ten years old.

"What the president asked of us," Faba replied snootily, appearing not to care for the boy.

I watched, feeling sick as the employees hooked Gladion up to a drip and walked out of the room.

"What in Arceus' name are you doing to that poor child, you horrible man?!" I found myself yelling.

"He's going to be our test subject, if you must know," he said, my insult sliding right off him.

"Test subject?!" I was horrified. I looked at Gladion again.

He was weak, only just able to keep his green eyes open despite his laid down position and was breathing shakily.

I rushed over to him, trying to see if he was okay and checked his pulse.

"Can you hear me?"

Gladion nodded, unable to speak, just like I was unable to help him.

For the next few weeks, I watched over Gladion from the window of Lab A. The scientists there didn't care at all what happened to the poor child. He was being poked and prodded in all directions, day in and day out, with people taking large amounts of blood from him every five minutes.

He looked so sad… and I couldn't do anything.

Faba kept this up for the next month, until the experiment was a failure.

I was watching the scientist run around Gladion, just like any other day.

"Miss Wicke? Is that you spying on the experiment?" Faba asked, stepping out of Lab A.

"Um, sorry, Mr. Faba—er, Branch Chief, I was just passing."

"Hrmph. That's what I thought."

He walked away, heading in the direction of the lift, and I went back to watching the 'experiment.'

I watched for another fifteen or so minutes. I watched one of the scientists pass a vial over Gladion. I watched the other scientist knock it out of her hand. I watched the chemical fall on Gladion.

I gasp flew from my lips. Fear gripped me.

Then, slowly, I watched something extraordinary. The straps locked in place around Gladion broke as the boy slowly transformed into… the Pokémon that the scientists were creating.

My eyes widened. I covered my hand to my mouth, trying not to scream, unlike the scientists inside the room.

Then the creature started attacking. I ducked under the window, scared and not wanting to see anything further. One by one, the screams died down, each ending in a violent shudder.

The creature came out of the lab and saw me. I froze.

Oh, ARCEUS HELP.

But the creature only stared. It didn't attack. I looked into its eyes. They were the greenest, most—

WAIT.

"G-Gladion?" I asked, terrified.

The creature turned and ran.

Hesitantly, I stood up, catching a glimpse of the destruction in the lab, and followed.

I entered the mansion on Aether Paradise belonging to Lusimine and her family. I was probably not supposed to be in there, but.

Did it go in here?

I looked through a couple rooms before I finally heard sobbing coming from one of the bedrooms. Slowly, I opened the door.

All the furniture was broken, smashed brutally and deep scratches stained one of the walls. Sitting amongst it all was Gladion, hugging his legs tightly, face buried in his hands, an Eevee on his right, pawing at his side.

I walked over to the boy and sat down beside him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up, startled by the sudden presence. Tears streaked down his face as I put an arm around him.

I could never forgive Faba for what he put that poor child through without a single care. I watched the group of friends through the window of the mansion sadly and wondered if Gladion had told Moon, Hau, and Lillie.

I never saw him in such loss again. After the incident, Lusimine had declared the experiment a failure and shut it down. Gladion had returned to being the nice child he was, still caring for Lillie. But I was never sure how deep his polite bows were, was never sure if he believed what his mother told him to, and didn't know whether he actually enjoyed being at Aether. I was never sure until two years went by.

Gladion had appeared to me in the night, telling me he was leaving. I honestly thought that if he would, he would've done it sooner, so it was very sudden. He told me that he was running away. He had said this all while wearing black and red, the two colours his mother very much hated and forbad anyone at Aether wearing. And he had asked for the key to Secret Lab A, telling me he would rescue one of the Type: Nulls on his way out.

Nearly everything he'd done in the past two years was either to buy him time, cover up what he was planning, or help him gain control over what the experiment had produced.
Two years after he left, he'd returned for his sister. After everything, he still cared for her with the same fierce loyalty I'd seen on him so many times. I was happy to see him mostly unchanged. Relieved was a better word.

Still… the way he looked now… the way he held himself…

I feel like I could have prevented some of the trauma he experienced and had to work through on his own.

Thank you for making it this far into my fanfiction, it really means a lot to me! Please, tell me what you think so far!

-U. Cutie