The first meeting
It had been a particularly long week and I was feeling really tired. At times like these, I envied Sun for being home-schooled, even though it was my decision to go to school. As I trudged home—not that it was raining or anything—I continued making up sequels to my favourite stories in my head, like I'd done during maths and English.
And then I saw Team Skull. I couldn't tell if they were some of the real beefy-looking thugs that robbed people or just the regular graffitiing grunts. But anyway, the drill was to hide when you saw them, even if they were on the other side of the street. I ducked behind a nearby bush.
It looked like they were just your everyday grunts, but only two of them looked like that. The third person was being pushed by the male grunt he was with. They of course were all teenagers, but the boy the grunt was pushing looked younger than the other two, probably only a year older than me.
"Come on!" the female pink-haired grunt said impatiently form the lead of the group. "We haven't got all night!"
"Yeah," said the male grunt. "Stop resisting! Guzma wants to see you!" He then addressed the female when the other person didn't respond. "I told you he didn't have real loyalty!" he said.
"We all knew that when he refused to wear uniform!" the female grunt told him.
A pause.
"Oh, come on, Little Glad!" the male grunt cried irritably.
Suddenly, the younger boy had broken free of the male grunts grip, pushed them in front of him, and twisted his arm behind his back.
The grunt yelped in pain and shock.
I myself was incredibly startled by the boy's reflex speed, still trying to register what had happened.
"Don't. Call me that. Again," he said, his voice deeper than I expected, and full of hatred. He released the grunt, causing him to fall onto the road, and continued walking.
The female grunt waited for the male to stand up and then both continued, keeping a cautious metre or so away from the younger teen.
And so, I decided to follow them. It was the only logical-illogical thing for someone who was half-asleep. Keeping to the walls and occasional trees, and as silent as possible, I crept along, determined to find out where they were going.
A little while later, the teenagers took a sharp turn down a sketchy-looking alleyway. And I followed. Probably not the smartest move.
"What are you doing following us?" the boy said. I jumped. He was leaning against the brick wall, arms crossed, staring at me with an impossibly bright green eye. His pale blonde hair covered half of his face and one eye completely. He wore a black hoodie that looked deliberately ripped and a red belt with a bag attached to it and heavy eyeliner.
"Nothing," I said, noting that the grunts had continued down the alley and were now out of sight.
"Really?" he said sceptically, glaring at me. "Well, I suggest that 'nothing' better go find its way away from here before it gets into a mess with Team Skull."
"What are you doing with Team Skull?" I shot at him. He looked like he was going to give me some rude comment, but voices began to be heard up the alleyway.
"Leave," he told me in a voice that suggested strongly not to argue.
I hid outside of the alley, pressing myself against the bricks so I could still hear what was being said.
"Guzma," the boy said icily. "What do you want?"
"Drop the attitude," demanded a man's voice.
"Yeah!" yelled the female grunts voice.
"Shut it!" said a woman's voice.
"Listen, Gladion," said the man, "I've had enough of your little outbursts."
"What 'outbursts?'" the boy—presumably Gladion—said.
"Don't pretend. You know what I'm talking about. And if you don't stop, I'll stop paying you."
A moment of silence passed.
Gladion walked out of the alleyway, rolling his eyes. As he walked past me, he grabbed my wrist roughly and dragged me into another alley. I had to bite my lip to stop myself from crying out in pain. I opened my mouth to ask him what the Arceus was that all about, but he shushed me before I could speak.
Gladion looked out of the alleyway, peeking cautiously around the corner just as the two grunts from before came out of the alley they'd been in previously been in.
"Where'd he go?" the male grunt asked.
"Rrr! Lost him again?!" the female growled.
"I'm tellin' ya, bro, as soon as I get my hands on that Gladion jerk, Guzma will be the last of his problems!"
"Come on! Let's go get Zipp!" And the two ran off. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
Gladion walked out of the alley fairly casually, and so I followed.
"What is it?" he asked irritably.
"Nothing," I replied. "Just… thank you I guess?"
"For?"
"Saving me from those grunts."
"Oh."
A pause then unfolded awkwardly.
"Do you know your way back through the streets?" Gladion asked me.
"Of course I do!" I rushed, not wanting him to think I was incompetent, then realised that I had no idea where we were.
"Ok, well that alley is a quick shortcut to the Pokémon School," he said, pointing across the road. "Just avoid the Meowths. And don't follow Team Skull members or associates again, you don't want to get into a fight with them. Terrible Trainers, but they don't do anything fairly."
"I knew that!" I said, flustered.
"Sure you did, I didn't doubt you," Gladion told me sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Fine then!"
I turned to go into the alley he'd pointed out to me, then looked over my shoulder. "Thank you," I said, a little more sincerely.
"Just don't get into trouble."
The second meeting
At school the following Monday, I checked my timetable, and, seeing I had maths first up, decided not to rush off the second the bell rang. Would I fail maths? Maybe.
I stretched my arms up tiredly, not really looking where I was going, and resulted in me tripping over someone's bag that they were taking books out of and putting in their locker.
I nearly face-planted, actually.
"Ouch," I said.
"Whoa, you okay?" came a voice. A hand extended down towards me. I took it gratefully and the boy standing over me helped me up.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," I said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The boy looked oddly familiar. His icy blonde hair was pinned out of his face and he wore a pair of red glasses. His uniform was very tidy. He was probably in the year above mine.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Oh, Moon," I said. "Yours?"
"Gladio," he replied.
"Gladion?" I asked, sounding surprised.
"No, Gladio. Know someone named Gladion?"
"Yeah, well, not really. Just some edgy kid who hangs around Team Skull."
"Ah, yes," Gladio said. He had an odd sort of smile on his face. "Well, see you around then."
He closed his locker, picked up his bag, and headed off, presumably to class. And for the remaining two classes I had, I couldn't stop thinking about Gladio. He… he did remind me of Gladion… but couldn't be. Gladio seemed too kind to be a total edgelord.
After school, I walked out of the front gate and had only gone a couple steps when Hau called me.
"Moon!" he cried. "Wait uuuuuup!"
I turned with an amused expression as he caught up to me.
"So, how was class?" he asked casually, then said in laughter, "Get it? Hau was class? Eh?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah, it was fine I guess. Nothing much going on. You?"
"Same here, same here."
We walked together for a little before Hau turned down another street to get to his place, and I was left to walk the remainder of the way home.
And then I spotted Gladion walked on the opposite side of the road to me. I waved to him. I wasn't sure if he'd seen me. Edgy teenagers were so annoying. But… I, for some reason, wanted him to acknowledge me, even though I knew he wouldn't.
It was getting dark now, so I hurried the rest of the way home, not wanting to get caught in the storm that was well on its way, based on the look of the clouds.
The third meeting
In art class the following day, Mina, the teacher, was talking about how lighting and tone effects paintings, blah blah blah. Art was the elective I chose, but Mina can sometimes go on a rant about her favourite art and class gets pretty boring pretty quickly.
At lunch, I sat with Hau, Kiawe, Sophocles, Lana, and Mallow.
"So," Mallow said. "Any tea? Gossip? Anything?"
"My dad's taking me fishing on the weekend," Lana said.
"I'm doing double Moomoo Milk deliveries tomorrow," said Kiawe.
"I'm getting a new computer," said Sophocles.
"My gramps is going to show me how to referee a Grand Trial," said Hau.
"Not stuff like that…" Mallow complained. "Moon? You always have something. Anything?"
"Um," I said, unsure whether or not to tell them about Team Skull. "Well… I saw Team Skull on Friday."
"Really?" Hau said, surprised. "What happened?"
"Nothing," I told them. A slight lie, but. "I just saw them sneaking down an alleyway with some edgy looking kid."
"Oh," my friends said together.
"Would that 'edgy looking kid' happen to look nearly identical to the guy a year up from us?" Hau asked.
"Ye-es," I said.
"Oh yeah, I know that guy. Seen him around Team Skull often. Never actually doing anything other than battling."
I was a little relived that Hau didn't know too much about Gladion, though I wasn't sure why.
Anyway, after school Hau asked me again about the edgelord.
"Moon?"
"Yah?"
"The edgy guy… you don't actually know him, do you?"
"Whyyyyyy?" I asked suspiciously.
"Because I've heard some interesting stories about him," Hau explained. "They say he carries a very rare Legendary with him."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. I mean, I've never actually met the guy, but you know."
"Oh okay. Well, see you tomorrow then," I said as Hau waved and headed to his place.
I then noticed Gladio walking a few paces ahead of me, so I ran to catch up to him.
"Hey, Gladio," I said.
"Oh, hi Moon. You heading home?" he asked.
"Yeah. You?"
"I'm going to train with my Pokémon a bit beforehand," Gladio told me.
"You're a Trainer?" He nodded.
"Yeah. Well, I mean, technically I'm not, I don't have a Starter or anything, but I do train Pokémon, yes."
"Huh," I said, not really sure what else to say. "What kind of Pokémon do you have?"
"An Umbreon and a Lycanroc," he said. My mouth fell open.
"A Lycanroc?!" I squealed, suddenly very interested. "What kind? How strong is it? Arceus, give me moooore!"
Gladio laughed at my enthusiasm.
"Lycanroc's a Midnight Form, quite powerful, if I do say so myself," he stated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"A Midnight Form Lycanroc! How?!"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, in my opinion, Midnights are rare because most Trainers don't evolve their Pokémon at night, and you must be a really strong Trainer to have one plus and Umbreon on top of school."
"Oh. Well, okay then," he said. "Well, this is me. See you later, I guess."
"Bye." I watched as Gladio turned into a park before continuing along the street to my place.
At midnight, I was sitting in bed reading. Mum had told me to go to sleep two hours ago, but in my defence, this was a really good book.
And then my phone buzzed. And buzzed. Persistently, until I would pick it up. Annoyed that I hadn't finished the page yet, I picked the thing up, ready to hang up, when I saw that it was Sun. My twin brother.
"What?" I demanded in a whisper upon answering the FaceTime.
"Just seeing what you're doing," he said innocently. Yeah, I wasn't buying it.
"Pppfffttt, yeah, whatever," I said, sounding sarcastic.
"You could try to be a little nicer, maybe you'll get more boys after—"
"ExCUSE me?!"
"Ssshhhh!" he hissed through the phone. "Do you want to get both of us caught?"
I pondered over this for a moment, then smirked. "I think I just might. Mum will believe me when I say I was sleeping."
Sun hung up instantly, then immediately called back.
"So what are you doing?" he pressed.
"Reading like a civilised human being, if you must know," I said. "I'm assuming you're playing video games."
"No, I was actually spying on the Team Skull guys that were outside," he told me, sticking out his tongue.
I got up and walked over to the window.
"They're gone now, idiot."
I snorted and sat back down. "Were they saying anything of interest?" I asked.
"No," Sun said, squinting. "I mean, I think they were arguing over money or losing a battle or something. The name 'Gladion' kept coming up though."
I frowned before I could stop myself.
"Who is he, your boyfriend or something?" Sun teased.
"No," I said, relived to find I wasn't blushing. "He's just some edgy teenager that hangs around Team Skull. I don't know him personally or anything like that."
"Oh," Sun said, apparently annoyed he wasn't able to irritate me further. "Well, goodnight then." And the phone went black.
I sighed. Who knows what the grunts had against Gladion? I didn't care. Well, at least I didn't want to.
The following day, I was on my way to school. Sun was home schooled, but I didn't like the idea of being stuck with him day in and day out. I tiredly rubbed my eyes, not getting much sleep, dreading maths class first up. And then—
"Yo, kid!" came a voice from behind me. I turned and saw two Team Skull thugs approaching. "Give us your money and maybe we'll let you go!"
"I… what? I don't have any money on me," I said, my brain fog clearing slightly to the newly posed threat.
"Then give us your phone!" they demanded.
"Um… no?" I tried unsuccessfully.
"'No'?" one echoed. "Bro, you hear that?"
"Yeah, this kid's trying to be brave," said the other.
"No, I'm not," I said, getting angry. "I'm just walking to school. I don't want any trouble.
"'School'? Ooo, so she's a goodie-two-shoes too, is she?"
"Knock it off," came a new voice.
It was Gladion, with an Umbreon staying close to his feet.
"Excuse me?" one of the grunts said.
"Oh, look, it's Little Glad," said the other. "How 'bout you go mind your own business?"
"How about you leave right now, so that you can keep all of your limbs intact?" Gladion shot at them, standing between them and me. I noticed that he was toying with a Pokéball with one hand, throwing it up a few inches then catching it. "I would hate for things to get… well, it's better if you didn't know."
Gladion's voice was pure hatred, which scared me a little
"Okay, okay, no need for any violence," the second grunt said nervously.
"Yeah, we don't want any trouble," the first said and the two ran off.
Gladion sighed and slipped the Pokéball into the red bag he kept around his waist.
"Sorry about them," he said, turning to face me. "Did they hurt you at all?" He looked just as hostile as ever, but his voice was kind.
"No, thanks to you," I said. "What kind of Pokémon do you have?"
"That's none of your business," he snapped.
"Sorry, geesh. My best friend just told me that he thought you had a Legendary. I was only curious."
Gladion lifted one eyebrow—well, I assumed he did, considering I could only see one. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.
"Hau just said that people had told him that you had some super rare Pokémon with you," I said, shrugging. "People talk, you know?"
"Yeah, okay," Gladion said.
"You're not denying it?"
A pause.
"No," he decided finally. "But I won't say further."
"Okaaay," I whined, glancing at the time. "Oh, Arceus I'm gonna be late!"
"Okay. Well, see you, I guess."
"Can we meet after school? At the park maybe?" I rushed. Gladion turned to leave.
"Sure," he said, surprising me. I… hadn't expected him to just be, like, 'yes, okay, whatever.' "See you then, Moon."
It was only when I was at school that I realised I'd never told him my name.
The fourth meeting
I met Gladion at the park around four, having to walk there after a conversation with my mother about how I was going to be a little late home.
I eventually did get there, though, and he was there, like he'd said. Gladion was sitting on one of those wooden-fence-railing things that overlooked the ocean from a steep hill, leaning against the tree. And as I neared, I could hear him humming softly to himself.
"Hey Gladion," I said.
"Hey Moon." Okay, so he definitely had said my name. I decided to let it slide. For now.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I was waiting for you," he replied.
As I neared where Gladion was sitting, I began to smell the salty, fish-smell of the sea. The rushing and crashing of the waves was pretty intense too.
"It's soothing, itsn't it?" Gladion mused suddenly. "The sound of the ocean. Calming."
"Yeah…" I'd never really thought about it. But he wasn't wrong. It was nice. "I guess it has a different effect on everyone though, right?"
"Yes, it definitely does. What does it do to you?"
"It makes me think of the time when my mother took my brother and me to the beach back when we were living in Kanto," I said. "What about you?"
"It keeps my mind off… a lot of things," Gladion said, a little sadly, it seemed.
"Are you okay?" I asked, sensing something was off.
"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" He frowned at me, but I couldn't tell if he was laying it on or was actually fine.
"I dunno, you just seem kinda lost, that's all."
"What makes you say that?"
I shrugged and said, "I've just worn that face a lot. Whenever I try to hide how upset I am."
Gladion looked at me with something like sympathy for a split second, then it was back to emotionless. "You don't really seem like the character to be hiding something," he murmured.
He didn't ask if I wanted to talk about it.
He didn't ask what it was.
Arceus, he didn't even ask why I would want to hide something.
Why didn't he?
"You're not asking if I want to talk about it?" I said, surprised.
"No," he said. "Why would I? If you're hiding something, you clearly don't want to talk about it unless you're the one to bring it into a conversation."
I smiled. No one had ever talked like that actually understood me like that before. Gladion must be going through something as well maybe. I mean, it is pretty obvious, just the general behaviour and all.
"So what did you want to come here for?" Gladion asked after a minute.
"Oh, I just wanted to be able to talk to you properly," I said. "You're always rushing off."
"Okay."
A pause.
"Why are you always rushing off?" I asked. "You know, when I'm trying to be friendly?"
He thought for a minute before saying, "Because I try not to get attached to anyone."
His words baffled me. "What? Why?"
"So no one figures me out. So I don't have an excuse not to achieve my goals. So no one gets hurt." Gladion paused for a second. "So I don't have to escape again," he said.
I didn't know what to say. What did he mean?
Then my phone vibrated from inside my pocket. I pulled it out.
Elio:
Heeeey, how's it going you better get back soon otherwise mums gonna BLOW
"Holy Magikarp, um, sorry, I'm gonna have to go," I apologised.
"No, no, it's okay," Gladion said.
"My mum's so paranoid all the time… can I get your phone number?"
"Sure." Gladion handed me his phone and I quickly added his number to my contacts.
"Bye!"
"See you."
The fifth meeting
"Where have you been?!" my mum demanded as soon as I walked in the door.
"I told you," I groaned. "I was just meeting a friend at the park."
"Who exactly?" Oh, my Arceus, is it really that bad?
"A new friend I made today. It was just an exchange of phone numbers, that's all," I said, exasperated. "Is it really that bad? I even told you over the phone!"
"You said you'd be back by dark," Mum said, taking deep breaths. "I was worried sick! Look, I know you may not realise it, but mothers worry a lot about their children's safety."
"I know, Mum. I was just walking slow because my legs were sore from P.E today."
My mum sighed. "I'm just glad your safe," she said. "Now go have a shower, your hair is a mess! Dinner will be on the table in ten."
After dinner, I flopped down onto my bed, exhausted. I was ready for sleep, but first…
I grabbed my phone and texted my friends.
Moon:
What's up y'all?
Hau:
Gramps nearly killed me with lectures
Kiawe:
I've heard that there is gonna be a school play
Mallow:
Really?
Moon:
What of?
Kiawe:
They haven't decided yet
Sophocles:
I heard that it'll probs be Romeo and Juliet… who's thinking of auditioning
Mallow:
I think I'll give it a go
Kiawe:
I'll try out for the main part, even if it is Romeo and Juliet
Lana:
I'll be cheering you on
Mallow:
Can someone help me pls
Moon:
Yeh, ok
Mallow:
Thank you! :)
I smiled. Kiawe and Lana started talking about the Pokébase match happening currently, so I switched off the notifications on the group chat and texted Hau individually.
Moon:
Here comes the rant… :|
Hau:
:D haha, yes. What are you up to?
Moon:
Nuh'ng much
Hau:
Do you mean nothing
Moon:
Yeh, lazy typing here
Hau:
Ok
I flicked through my contacts, not sure who to bug next. My finger hovered over Gladion's contact for a second, and I clicked the message button.
Moon:
Hey whats up
Gladion:
Not much. Doing homework. _
Moon:
So are you a Trainer or what
Gladion:
Yeah why
Moon:
Just wondering what kinda Pokémon you got
Gladion:
Oh
Moon:
You gonna tell me or
Gladion:
I can show you tomorrow if you like
Moon:
Yes do that! After school or
Moon:
Wait do u even go to school?
Gladion:
Yes why
Moon:
Which school
Gladion:
Same as u
Moon:
Really? Never seen u 'round. Wait did you skip school today
Gladion:
Maybe
Moon:
:|
Moon:
What year r u in
Gladion:
10
Moon:
O, cool I'm in yr 9
Moon:
Seriously how have I not seen u around
Gladion:
I normally go as Gladio at school
Moon:
:O gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasp
He what. I'm sorry, but WHAT? Oh wait, so thaaaat's how he knew my name!
Moon:
HAHA I KNEW IT BOW TO ME I AM ARCEUS
Gladion:
Oh, you did not
Moon:
Yeah I totally did!
Gladion:
*Sceptically reads message*
Gladion:
If you knew, "arceus," you would've said so
Moon:
Yeah okay well but I thought you looked like the same person remember
Moon:
But yes keep referring to me as arceus
Gladion:
Um, no.
Moon:
You're no fun
I was mind-blown. How? What? I'm so confused…
Gladion was Gladio. A complete edgelord was also the goody-goody-kind-of-aesthetic nice kid.
What?
As I tried to wrap my head around it, the phone pinged again.
Gladion:
Meet me at the park after school. Also are you auditioning for Romeo and Juliet? It's just been confirmed that's the play the school is doing
Moon:
Okay I will and no but I'm helping Mallow audition because shes really good at acting but can't do it in front of people
Moon:
Wait are you gonna do it
Gladion:
No way in hell
The following day, after school, I met Gladion in the park like I'd said. He looked like he had been at school, but I didn't see him at all.
"Hey Gladion," I called as I neared him. It looked like he was training Umbreon and Lycanroc, pitting them against each other in a battle.
"Hi Moon," he said, turning to face me. He was still in his uniform, but his hair was over his face, and he wasn't wearing his glasses—or eyeliner, I realised.
"Oh my Arceus, your Lycanroc is so cool!" I said, my voice going slightly high-pitched with my fangirling.
"Lycanroc!" Lycanroc said cheerfully.
"Is it powerful?" I asked, dropping my bag on a nearby bench and kneeling down to pet the Lycanroc.
"Yes, very," Gladion said, sounding proud but, again, portraying no emotion.
"Nice, can I see?"
"Yeah, when my opponents get here."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I know Team Skull will be here to annoy me," Gladion explained.
"Why do you even hang around Team Skull if they annoy you?" I asked.
Gladion stiffened. I got the gist that he didn't want to talk about it much. "Don't you have anywhere else to go?" I said instead.
"No," he said. "I ran away from home when I was twelve. Not that it felt like home. I've been living on my own ever since. The deputy at school worked for my mother and she offered me a place when she learned I'd left."
A moment passed. "Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"That must've been some pretty rough home conditions then," I said, still shaken a bit.
"Yo, look who it is!" came a voice. Three Team Skull grunts sauntered up to us.
"Tupp," Gladion said dryly, addressing the apparent leader of the group. "What do you want?" I noticed how much venom Gladion put into his voice when talking to Team Skull—and the way he glared at them made me feel sorry for them. Them, Team Skull!
"Oh, forgive us, we didn't want to interrupt anything between you and your little girlfriend!" Tupp laughed.
Gladion scowled and said, "Last time I checked, it was you that was angry when Ilima stole your fangirls, not me."
"Why you—Rapp, Zipp, ready to teach this little punk a lesson?" Tupp yelled.
"I'm the punk? Really?" Gladion muttered.
Apparently not having heard him, Tupp, Rapp, and Zipp threw a Pokéball each and a Salandit, Zubat, and Garbodor came spiralling out, hissing at Gladions Pokémon.
"Three on one? That's hardly fair!" I found myself saying. I think I caught a look of amusement from Gladion but wasn't sure.
"Alright, Lycanroc, show your crimson glare!" Gladion cried. Lycanroc jumped forward, growling and smiling menacingly.
"Salandit, use Venom Shot!" Tupp yelled.
"Zubat, Leech Life!" Rapp called.
"Garbodor, Sludge Bomb!" Zipp said.
Their Pokémon dived forward, attacks readying.
"Stone Edge… now!" Gladion told Lycanroc. It sent fourth a chain of glowing blue rocks that was Stone Edge, which catapulted the three attacking Pokémon away. Not even Zubat, who could fly, was able to dodge the attack it was so fast.
Zubat fainted.
"No, Zubat!" Rapp cried, running forward to catch her beloved Pokemon.
"Garbodor, Sludge Bomb again!" Zipp half-screamed, now panicking.
"Go, Golbat!" Rapp said, sending fourth her next Pokémon.
"Lycanroc, use Counter!" Gladion called. The Midnight Form neatly dodged Sludge Bomb and landed several attacks on Salandit, which fainted.
The battle went on until Gladion had defeated each grunt's three Pokémon that they were carrying. I was amazed at how strong Lycanroc was, barely taking any damage at all. At the end of it, Tupp swore that he would defeat Gladion someday, and then him, Rapp, and Zipp scampered away.
"Wow," I breathed.
"Well done, Lycanroc," Gladion said, Umbreon also seeming to congratulate the Rock Type.
"How did you train Lycanroc so well?" I asked, smiling broadly, unable to help it.
"It's not that hard if you're obsessive about it," he said. "Though, in this particular case, I didn't need to push, Lycanroc would push for me. Since it was a Rockruff it's always had a thing for getting stronger."
Umbreon rubbed its Trainers legs affectionately, and I giggled a little bit.
"Are Umbreon and Lycanroc your only Pokémon?" I asked.
"…No," Gladion admitted slowly.
"What's your other Pokemon?"
"Um, you wouldn't know it."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it? I think I'll surprise you."
"You really won't, but okay." Gladion took out the Premier Ball I'd seen him use to threaten Team Skull yesterday and said, "You may want to stand back."
I shuffled back a few steps as Gladion released his other Pokémon.
The beast was huge, that's all I was sure of. Its front legs extended into metal-like claws, the greenish colour erupting from black fur. The fur, however, faded into black skin along its back. A fin-like blue and grey tail was attached to it a little limply and it had purple scales on its back legs. The head of it was entirely encased in a massive helmet, with a mane of greying neck feathers sticking out from underneath it.
I found myself taking a few steps backwards, even though it wasn't that close to me.
The creature went to lunge forward, the grey eyes burning from the holes in the mask, but Gladion stood in front of it, pushing against its headgear.
"Null, it's okay! Calm down!" Gladion said, yelling a little over the loud growls the creature was making.
When it did eventually calm down, Gladion turned to me, my mouth hanging open.
"What… is… that?" I asked, my mind officially blown.
"This is Null," he said.
"Why would you nickname something that?"
"It's not a nickname. Type: Null was one of three creatures created by the Aether Foundation to take down Ultra Beasts."
"The Aether Foundation!" I said enthusiastically. President Lusimine had been my idol for a couple of years now. "How did they create it? Wait, why did they create it?"
"Because of my mother's ridiculous obsession with Ultra Beasts, Pokémon from other dimensions," Gladion said, his voice growing colder. "My mother wanted to get her hands on them so badly, ever since my father disappeared through an Ultra Wormhole. So, she needed a way on taking the powerful creatures down. Type: Full was her idea to make that dream come true. Four years ago, it was classified a failure and renamed Type: Null. They were going to cryogenically freeze the Nulls. I ran away with this one." He placed his hand on the chimera Pokémon's back. "I have no idea what happened to the other two. I can only hope they're still alive."
"Oh," I said. For the first time ever of me seeing him, Gladion looked completely lost. Saddened. "Who, if you don't mind me asking, is your mother?"
Gladion locked his blazing green eyes with my own grey ones. "President Lusimine," he said, his voice faltering slightly.
What?!
Thank you for reading! Like I've said, I've been multi-tasking between fanfics, so hopefully I'll be victorious in getting EVERYTHING finished! (can u tell I'm in Slytherin?)
-U. Cutie