It was the first day of preschool when his mom told Wicke to cram Gladion in a way too proper suit.

"I don't want to wear this," he murmurs as he pulls at the tucked in fabric, but all he gets in response is an apologetic look out of Wicke as she refocuses on his 'creatively' cut hair (courtesy of kitchen scissors he got a hold of the night before).

A couple of minutes and globs of gel later she steps back to observe her handiwork when she notices that Gladion had been completely silent. She squats down to his eye level and sees a frown so embedded onto his face that the Aether employee could've sworn it was a bitter 80 year old man in the body of her boss's 4 year old son.

"You're nervous about school aren't you, Master?" Wicke's voice was calm and nurturing to which Gladion finally meets her eyes, nodding slowly in response.

"You'll be okay, trust me. You'll make friends that can actually play with you, unlike Lillie who's too little, and you won't want to come back afterwards" Wicke gives him a smile and places a reassuring hand on his shoulder as his nerves suddenly are replaced with excitement.

"A friend?"

"Yes, all you have to do is be nice to them," Wicke says as she stands up and extends her hand towards his much smaller one. He grabs on excitedly as he follows her out the Aether mansion.

A new friend! Maybe his mom would let him invite the boy over to play, and maybe Wicke could help them look for Pokemon together and…

"This is Moon, your deskmate for the year," the teacher announces with a smile as Gladion stares at the kid standing next to the teacher's legs. She was shifting her weight between the balls of her feet and heels as if waiting for permission to move. Her clothing seemed comfortable, unlike his, and her hair was pulled into two messy braids that were covered by a hat that was way too big. Her eyes were wide and the shimmered in the classroom's natural lighting, and he could just feel the energy wanting to escape her tiny body.

Nope.

He didn't like her.

He tries to hide behind Wicke, but she steps a little further back much to his dismay.

"Now Master, remember what I said about making friends?"

Gladion looks at Wicke with complete distraught, but then he feels a tug on his shirt. He looks behind him, eyes blown wide.

It was the girl, smiling brightly at him.

"Everyone says boys have cooties, but do you want to be friends anyways?"

It was in fourth grade when Gladion proclaimed that Moon was his rival.

Long gone were the days of having to hold hands during field trips. And Arceus forbid that they had to share a desk for any longer. No, they were big kids now, and with that it meant they could play real games that tested intelligence, strength, and skill.

"You're only saying that cause you know I'm going to beat you at dodgeball," Moon says as she sticks out her tongue playfully.

Gladion brings the dodgeball closer to him as his eyes narrow at girl, "I AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO, SHORTY," Moon yells back as she reaches forward to yank the ball out of his hands.

Gladion stumbles slightly as the ball leaves him, but he has to tilt his head up to look at her smug expression.

"Watch out, Moon cause I'm going to beat you in everything we do!" Gladion says quietly, in an attempt to be menacing, but all Moon does is giggle.

"Tell me that when you're taller, Glady~"

It was in 8th grade when Moon and Gladion found themselves studying for their finals.

Their rivalry now extending past silly games and taunts, made testing season all the more intensive. The goal went beyond wanting to just pass, no, that was for everyone else. These two were tied for the number one spot on the honor roll and their competitive nature did nothing to ease the stress.

A couple of hours pass when suddenly Moon lifts her arms and stretches, her hair cascades all around her face as she props her chin on the palm of her hand. Her eyes watch Gladion carefully.

"Have you decided what high school you're going yet?"

The blonde lets out a quick tsk, clearly annoyed at the flow she was interrupting. "No," he mumbles as he continues scribbling some notes.

"Must be nice, huh" Moon says wistfully, "to pick whatever school you want to."

Gladion scoffs in reaction. "You're not the one dealing with my mom," he places his pen down as he lifts his fingers in air quotes, "you're an Aether kid and you only deserve the best."

It was funny how easily he could mimic his mother's eccentric ways, but the dejected sigh that leaves him makes it obvious that her care was overbearing.

"It's fine though. You'll probably graduate valedictorian without me around," Gladion says flippantly, but when Moon doesn't giggle he knew something was wrong. He lifts his eyes from the pages and sees Moon pouting.

"People will miss you, you know?"

He rolls his eyes, "Moon, please. No one likes me."

And that's when Moon looks at him completely seriously.

"But I like you."

A few seconds of heavy silence surround them. His head wraps itself around the confession, as his heart clamours strangely in his chest. That's when he feels an object hit his face. He looks down and sees a tiny owl eraser and when he looks back up he's met with Moon's mischievous smirk as she gestures for him to go back to work.

And while the action did break the tension, he wasn't able to focus the same way (and his slightly lower marks proved it.)

Years passed and the quiet declaration was never brought up again as the two fell into the most unbreakable friendship anyone has ever seen. It was in 12th grade, however, when Gladion finally had enough.

Moon without a doubt was his best friend.

His longest friend (and rival).

The friend he was absolutely not in love with.

Or at least that's what he told himself until their typical walk to her house was interrupted by a fellow classmate: Hau.

He was cheerful guy who Gladion didn't hate per say, but there was something about him that irked him. Maybe it was the way he always smiled, or the way Moon constantly talked fondly of his kindness, but regardless of the reason he always dismissed him with a shrug until today.

He watches them across the school gate, feeling his stomach churning and twisting in all sorts of ways. And as hard as he tried he couldn't pull his gaze away from the two because he noticed the flower behind Hau's back. He noticed his nervous and flustered smile and he knew Moon, no doubtedly, wouldn't see it coming as she looked at him with curious eyes.

He could hear Hau nervously chuckling, beating around the bush, and taking a deep breath before Gladion scowled and walked further down the road.

He props himself against a nearby tree, honestly looking like a teen up to no good, as he waits for Moon to show up.

As seconds turned to minutes however, the sinking feeling continued to grow.

What would happen if Moon started dating someone?

Would they still be friends?

Would they have to hang out less?

Would they-

"Psst, Gladion are you there?"'

Gladion turns his head almost immediately as he sees Moon waving a hand across his face. Their height difference really being substantial from the way she was tip toeing to get closer. "You okay there, bud?" Moon says with a small laugh as Gladion grabs her hand gently and lowers it.

He finds himself hesitating to let go.

"What was that about?" Gladion murmurs as Moon starts walking away from him, his own reaction to follow her lagging.

"Oh, Hau was just asking me to Prom."

Gladion swears time stops as Moon keeps walking forward. He finds himself clearing his throat in an attempt to force the question out.

"Well...what did you say?"

Moon turns around as she simply shrugs and takes a few, much slower, steps behind her, "I kindly told him no."

A quick wave of relief hit Gladion all at once. It was just Prom, nothing less, nothing more. And Moon turned him down! He quickly stops his train of thought as a small hint of guilt was added into the wave. Hau was a genuinely nice guy.

"There's only one person I want to go with, but he hasn't asked yet," Moon says as she continues to walk backwards. Her eyes were now watching him carefully, as if waiting for the proper response.

Who was she talking about?

But before he could even ask Moon decides to walk forward, closing the gap that had been forming between them. And when he still doesn't ask a clarifying question she lets out a huff of air that moves her bangs every so slightly before lifting her chin to look at him properly.

"You, silly," Moon says playfully as she watches Gladion's expression shift from confusion to realization and soon complete embarrassment.

"You really need to stop being so casual about that..." he murmurs, hoping Moon couldn't see the blush that was rising to his cheeks.

But she did and he soon saw Moon's trademark grin graces her features. "It's not casual if it's true," Moon says as she taps his cheek lightly with her hand before pulling away. "We've been friends for 13 years Gladion, pretty sure I would've dated someone by now if I didn't like you."

Then she laughs as she walks ahead of him again.

He takes a deep breath in as he tries to forget the feeling of her hand on his face.

Maybe he did like Moon.

As more than friend and rival, that is.