When The Sun Sets (Moon X Gladion)

Sword and Shield Headcanon

Hello! This is a little headcanon about Pokémon Sword and Shield. It follows the plot of a fanfiction that I'd love to write, but can't because I don't have enough motivation for it beyond this. This little chapter is just me getting all of my feelings out.

...

Gloria sat in a corner chair within Hulbury's Most famous restaurant, The Captain's Table. A bowl of alfredo sat in front of her, to which she paid no mind. Instead, her gaze travelled towards the window to her right, which held the stunning view of Hulbury's stadium. Closing her eyes for a moment, she remembered how easily her and Raboot defeated Nessa, despite Gloria's partner being a fire type. Although it had been nine years since then, as the reigning Champion of Galar, she was expected to remember all of her stadium victories. Though, even back then, all she could remember thinking during the fight was how she needed to prevail. Failure was not an option, not since...

In the distance, a bell chimed. Dragging her eyes towards the front door, she spotted Hop. His purple hair, slicked back with mousse, had hardly changed since their childhood. Though he had definitely grown from the boy he used to be. Fiddling with the buttons on his grey leather jacket, Gloria could see the rounded contours of his nose and prominent jawline as he stared downward. When his fingers had given up on the top button, his honey eyes scanned the restaurant before resting on her. A grin meeting his lips, he waved at her from across the restaurant and made his way over.

"Sorry I'm late. Professor Sonia needed my help at the lab." His voice cracked slightly, though it was hardly noticeable as his chair scraped the tile flooring. He glanced down at the decorated table, where a plate of shrimp scampi was already waiting for him.

"Oh, you ordered my favorite!" He beamed and looked up at her. Gloria had changed since they were children, her facial features molding her into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her brown hair, cut shorter as the years passed, carried bangs that only slightly brushed past her earthy eyes. She was still short, which Hop was no stranger to making fun of her over, but he adored her regardless. The only reason he selfishly wished she were a just tad taller was because then he would have even more of her to love.

Gloria coughed and dug into her alfredo, a thin layer of sweat gripping her palms. "Thank you for coming. It's nice to see you." It was nice to see him. It was always nice to see him... but Gloria only wished she had a better reason to see him today.

She chewed a particularly rubbery noodle. Lately, food had begun to taste that way to her.

"I'm glad I was able to make it this time," he chuckled half-heartedly, remembering the last dinner he unfortunately had to cancel. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

There it was. The question. Gloria coughed again, wiping at her face with a napkin. There was no turning back. She had to ask him. After all these years, she needed to ask him. "Remember when we fought that beast in the Slumbering Weald?"

"I think about it all the time, yeah," Hop replied, pushing his shrimp scampi with his fork as he eyed her.

"When that beast knocked us out in the fog, did you ever have.... visions?" Gloria eyes him from across the table, her eyes tapered and brows burrowed.

Hop's mouth opened before he clamped his jaw shut. Taking a deep breath, he gripped his fork tightly. With wide eyes, she expected him to sob, to confess to years of torture and misery. She thought he would pull her outside and shakily explain the things she had already seen— the nightmares that plagued her daily.