Moon's POV
As Moon admired her reflection in the mirror, preparing for her date with Gladion, Bewear made its way over to her, nudging her with its head as it got down on all fours.
"How do I look?" Moon asked the Pokémon playfully, knowing full well that it wouldn't respond.
Her Bewear cocked its head to the side and let out a small whine, nudging into Moon further.
"I'm going on a date with Gladion, you know?" Moon asked, running her hand through Bewear's soft fur, smiling as the Bewear began purring like a Purugly, "And then I'm going out with Lillie."
Moon could've sworn that the Bewear was staring at her judgmentally as it immediately stopped purring.
"What?" Moon frowned, "I'm not trying to lead them both on. I'm trying to see who I have more of a connection with, you know?"
The Bewear continued to look at her with the same look on its face, and Moon sighed. She supposed that there were some things that only a human could understand.
Gladion's POV
"I'm not freaking out Silvally, honest!" Gladion murmured, almost to himself as he paced back and forth in his humble abode, "There is a perfectly logical explanation for why I'm pacing."
As Gladion turned to stare at his beloved Pokémon, he imagined that the Pokémon was giving him a questioning look that said "oh yeah, what's that reason, idiot?"
"Don't give me that look, Silvally!" Gladion hissed, kneeling down to the Pokémon's height. He could practically feel the warm air coming from Silvally as it breathed, "This is the most important day of my life and I –"
Gladion was cut off by one of Silvally's front legs, which had decided that Gladion's head was fertile ground for kicking.
"Ow!" Gladion cried out, clutching his head as he recoiled from the impact, "What the hell was that for?"
Silvally only huffed in response, and it looked as if it were narrowing its eyes.
"You think I've gone mad, don't you?" Gladion breathed, "I haven't. I'm just nervous."
As soon as Gladion admitted that to himself, a small chuckle escaped his lips. The chuckle grew in volume and before he realized it, he had erupted into full-blown laughter.
"It's just a date." Gladion reasoned to himself, "With Moon. There's no reason for me to be nervous, right?"
The responding lick Silvally gave to Gladion's face told him that it agreed with him.
"You look b-beautiful tonight." Gladion stuttered as he took in Moon's appearance, having just arrived at Moon's house to pick her up for their date. He immediately cursed himself for sounding so nervous.
So much for the pep talk he had to give himself on the way there.
"Not too bad yourself, charmer." Moon replied cheekily, causing Gladion's face to warm, "Ready to go?"
Gladion raised an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't I say goodbye to your mom too?"
At Gladion's question, Moon's eyes widened and she shook her head rapidly.
"She'll hound us for pictures, and I'm not going through that." Moon explained, leaning closer to whisper in Gladion's ear, "I told her you were picking me up an hour later than you actually are. She's in the shower now."
Gladion felt his nerves dissipate as he smirked at her.
"Someone has a bad side."
Moon let out a dark chuckle that Gladion didn't know she was capable of.
He'd do just about anything to hear it again.
"You have no idea."
So much for Gladion's nerves being gone.
As he and Moon arrived at the restaurant Gladion had reservations for, Midnight Delight, Gladion thought he'd be fine. He'd managed to handle the reservations properly, he didn't trip over his own feet, and he made it to their table without any grievous injury. The only problem was that when they got to the table, Gladion completely froze up. Moon was staring at him questioningly, and Gladion was rooted to the spot. The pokéball he kept with him at all times – the one containing his Silvally – was shaking in its holder, but Gladion's nerves prevented him from doing anything about it.
"Something wrong Gladion?" Even Moon's voice wasn't enough to break Gladion out of his trance.
Before Gladion could even respond, his pokéball broke open, revealing Silvally to the other patrons of the restaurant. The customers gasped in disbelief; even Moon's eyes were widened in shock.
"Silvally!" Gladion hissed, holding the still intact pokéball in his hand, "Get back inside…now!"
Silvally let out what seemed to be a snort, and moved over to Moon, nudging her towards the seat until she was sitting down, pushing her towards the table. Then, and only then, did Silvally get back into its pokéball.
Gladion gaped at the area where Silvally had previously occupied before sitting down across from Moon.
"I didn't know Silvally was such a gentle Pokémon." Moon's amused voice brought Gladion out of his reverie.
Gladion let out a small smile.
"He gets it from me, you know?"
"I always figured you were part Pokémon, Gladion."
"That's not what I –" Gladion started before he noticed the smirk on Moon's face, "You're really something, you know?"
Moon shrugged, but said nothing. Not long after a waiter took their orders, there was a silence between the two.
"So how long have you known that you liked me?" Moon was direct, and Gladion appreciated that she didn't beat around the bush.
"Honestly, I don't really know." Gladion admitted, cringing internally at his lame response, "I guess I first realized it around the time you first became champion. You've always had your head on your shoulders, always had a goal in mind, and you didn't stop until you accomplished it."
Gladion paused.
"I never knew what it was like to really reach for the stars until I met you."
A half smile graced Moon's face, and Gladion knew that he'd said the right thing. Before he could say anything else, their meals had arrived, the waiter giving an apologetic glance at Gladion – as if he knew that he was trying to talk – before leaving the two alone once more.
"Let's eat, shall we?" Moon grinned.
With a sigh, Gladion nodded.
"Let's."
Gladion managed to get through the rest of the dinner without making a fool of himself, which, for him, was a great accomplishment. Ignoring the beginning of their date, Gladion thought that he did pretty well for himself.
As they approached Moon's house, Gladion felt the telltale sign of butterflies in his stomach. At the end of every stereotypical date, there was a kiss. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to go for it, or let Moon make that first move? Kiss her on the cheek, or go for the lips? Kiss her hand, or –
"Gladion." Moon's voice brought his thoughts to a screeching halt, and he felt himself go red at the thought of being caught off guard yet again.
"Hm?" Gladion cursed himself. Was hm really the best he could come up with?
"I had a really nice time tonight." Moon was moving closer to him, and Gladion – just as he had at the beginning of their evening together – froze.
This was it! This was the moment that he had seen in all the movies. The big kiss was upon him. And yet, he couldn't move. Oh, he hoped that she wouldn't be too hard on –
The feeling of Moon's soft lips on his cheek brought a dopey grin to Gladion's face. Before he could revel in the sensation, the abrupt sound of camera clicks brought him out of it, prompting him to scowl.
"Mom!" Moon whined.
Moon's mother – Aurora – stood at the door, camera in hand and smirk on her face. Neither Gladion nor Moon had heard when the door opened.
"That's what you get for tricking me about the time of your date." Aurora crossed her arms, the amused twinkle in her eyes belying the fact that she wasn't truly upset, "This is for posterity. Goodnight Gladion."
With that, Aurora ushered Moon inside and shut the door, leaving Gladion alone on the doorstep. Raising a tentative hand to his cheek, Gladion felt the spot where Moon's lips previously were. A sharp smack to the back of his head caused Gladion's head to snap back.
What the hell?
Turning around, Gladion was face to face with his mother, Lusamine.
"What the hell, mom?" Gladion frowned, wincing again as Lusamine struck his once more.
"Don't speak to me in that manner!" Lusamine huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance, "Now tell me all about your little date before you get lost in your fantasy."
Rather than getting into a verbal argument with Lusamine, Gladion sighed. It wasn't worth getting riled up about anyways.
Lillie's POV
"I'm not stressing." Lillie insisted, as she made the trek to Moon's house, "Seriously. I'm not stressing."
Lillie ignored the fact that she was talking to herself.
"You've got this Lillie." She tried to give herself a pep talk, but it was doing very little to calm her nerves, "It's a very casual night with a very casual girl."
Lillie snorted to herself in disbelief.
"Yeah, right." Lillie rolled her eyes at her own words as she approached Moon's house, "Keep telling yourself that, Lills."
She knocked swiftly on Moon's front door before she could talk herself out of it. She was the Kanto champion, damnit! Nothing should make her nervous anymore.
The flash of a camera broke her train of thought, momentarily blinding her.
"Mom!" Lillie could vaguely make out Moon's voice amidst the stars that were now slowly clearing out of her vision.
"Sorry, hun." Moon's mother pulled her in for a hug, one that Lillie returned blindly, "Your brother was a bit trickier and left an hour earlier for his date, so I had to make sure I'd get a picture of you."
Lillie only nodded dumbfoundedly. Gladion had told her nothing about his date with Moon, and she didn't ask. This was still a competition, after all.
"You look great, Lillie."
The voice came from Moon and as the blonde turned to look at her, a blush gathered in her cheeks. Lillie had always felt an attraction towards Moon, but wow did she look lovely tonight.
"You too." Lillie's voice was soft, and the tone definitely lower than usual.
"We should go before my mom decides to make a whole photo album based on tonight." Moon pulled Lillie out of her house, ignoring her mother's shouts behind them.
Lillie couldn't even focus on that. Her mind was only on the feeling of Moon's hand in her own.
"So where to, Lills?" Lillie didn't think she'd ever heard anyone pronounce her nickname in such a pleasant manner.
Lillie shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts.
"My house."
Moon's smirk caused Lillie to flush even deeper, suddenly realizing how what she said sounded.
"Why Lillie, at least take me on that date first." Moon purred.
At the sound of Moon's purr, Lillie wanted to sink into the ground. She settled for shaking her head desperately.
"No, no." Lillie denied hastily, "I just thought it would be nicer if instead of going out to a restaurant –"
Lillie was silenced immediately by Moon placing a single finger on her lips. Lillie refrained from pressing a kiss to said finger.
"I'm just bothering you, Lills. Take it easy." Moon's smile was gentle now as she swung Lillie's hand playfully, "Lead the way."
Spaghetti and meatballs is a rather simple dish to prepare. The sauce wasn't difficult to make, and the spaghetti could be primed while half asleep.
What Lillie didn't count on, however, was leaving the noodles on for too long.
"No, no, no!" Lillie cried out, turning out the flame that rested mockingly under her noodles.
She hesitantly lifted the pot cover off of the noodles and prodded them with a fork, her heart sinking as they broke without much pressure.
"Something wrong?"
Lillie startled at the proximity of Moon's voice, raising a hand to her chest to stop the intense throbbing of her heart from getting the best of her.
"N-nothing." Lillie murmured quietly, "It's just – I had this all planned out, you know? I was gonna make us spaghetti and meatballs. I had smoothies that I made in the fridge to complement it. I've had a crush on you ever since we met and I've been dreaming of having the opportunity to take you for dinner and now it's all ruin –"
Lillie was cut off by Moon leaning into her from behind, taking the fork out of her hand and steadying herself with a hand on Lillie's waist. If Lillie was blushing before, she was going to die of a heat stroke by the end of the night.
"This is salvageable." Lillie could sense that Moon was grinning without looking at her, "How about I help you to make it, hm? I'm a great cook."
Moon was quiet for a moment.
"This could be romantic."
Lillie bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling goofily, but was wholly unsuccessful.
Take that Gladion!
"I'd love that."
As Lillie reflected on her date later that night while in bed, she sighed happily to herself, bringing her fingers to the corner of her mouth. She couldn't tell whether Moon had been trying to kiss her cheek, or her lips, but Lillie was too content to really care.
Sure, dinner had almost been a disaster, but Moon had managed to save the day, just like she'd saved Alola five years ago.
Now all she had to do was wait for Moon's decision – her or Gladion.
Lusamine's POV
Lusamine sat at a table across from Moon, her children on either side of her. Hau was currently pacing back and forth, biting his nails in anxiousness. She hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of either of her children about how their respective dates with Moon had gone, and at this point, Lusamine didn't care about their prudishness. She only had one question for Moon.
"You've had your time to think, Moon.' Lusamine stated bluntly, leaning across the table towards Moon, "Now which one of my children is it gonna be? Gladion or Lillie?"