A/N: Thank you for the constructive comments Angel_lost_all_hope and KellyHome for voting on every part of this story so far.
—Chrys
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Death and destruction reign in chaos
The cold clutches of insanity welcome me
Darkness is a pool of lava and I'm...
I'M DROWNING, I'M DROWNING
I'M D-R-O-W-N-I-N-G!
Gladion let the rough, jarring tones of the blasting heavy metal music blasting from his earphones seize his attention and keep it.
Life with Lusamine hadn't always been that way. But Gladion tried not to think about it. Because whenever he did, he felt sad. Then he would feel angry for feeling sad. Then he would feel sadness leaking into his anger, stealing him back to the moment, leaving tears burning in his eyes. Then the entire process would start up again.
What a mess.
The past two weeks, Gladion had started his unofficial Island Challenge. He spent day and night training and training, but hadn't battled anybody or taken on a trial yet. He wasn't ready.
Gladion had mainly stayed in a small one-bedroom studio apartment since his grand escape from Aether Paradise, and had plenty of funding thanks to Lusamine, who had made him a closed-off account for his Island Challenge years before. She'd kept on adding to it since. Pretty much the only good thing she'd ever done for him.
Right after fleeing, escaping or rescuing Type: Null from Aether Paradise (whichever way you looked at it) he'd stocked up on Potions, PokéBalls, Max Heals and everything he'd possibly need for his journey, all shrunk and kept in his Challenger's Bag, which could store an almost limitless amount of things for both Pokémon and Trainers.
Pokémon in plural, yes, that was what Gladion had.
He'd travelled to Melemele Island by boat after getting supplies, and had caught a Zubat in a cave and a Zorua in the grass by the Pokémon School he and Lillie had attended for three days before Lusamine pulled them out after she spotted a typo on the curriculum.
Ah, good times.
Not.
**********
It was raining, and raining hard, with thick drops of water that were as large and shiny as coins pelting down in thick sheets, peppering anybody unfortunate enough to stay outdoors for more than a few seconds. A total downpour.
Still, Gladion walked, needing to think, not sure of where he was going, feeling bitter and resentful at all of the world.
He wasn't in a very pleasant mood when he encountered two thugs, probably from one of those bicycle gangs every town seemed to have that terrorized passers-by. They challenged him to a battle, but he just wasn't in the mood.
Still, they were even more relentless and aggressive than the attacking water surrounding them. Flashing the ugly necklaces, with the thick silver chains and S-shaped logo; and pointing at their black and white uniforms, demanding, "Do you know who we are?!"
So, Gladion snapped. And the battle began.
The two grunts from 'Team Skull' (whatever that was) were all brute force and no finesse, and it was obvious that they had hardly ever trained with their Pokémon. They were used to bullying their opponents into submission.
Gladion gave a slightly sinister smile. Good thing that won't work on me.
"Give it up, pretty boy! Just hand over your Pokémon and we'll let you go unharmed!"
Yeah, right. Not gonna happen.
The ragtag duo of misfits had a Garbodor, and a Zubat, just like him.
Type: Null and Zubat were sent out.
Zubat squared off against the other Zubat.
"Zubat! Use Air Slash!" Gladion shouted over the pounding rain.
His Pokémon flapped its wide wings together, faster and faster with more force, sending a large ripple of rapidly-moving air spiralling towards its opponent, which was just too slow and took the hit fully. The other Zubat feebly stayed up in the air for a few more seconds before attempting an Air Slash of its own at the Team Skull Grunt's command. Gladion's Zubat teeth shone menacingly in response, before it swooped down, circled the other Pokémon, and finished it off with an exemplary Steel Wing.
Type: Null's match was not nearly so exciting. It just pounced and bit into the Garbodor, which was enough to weaken it. The other Team Skull Grunt immediately return it.
Pathetic effort, Gladion thought, smirking. Just a little.
**********
A little cleaning wouldn't kill this place.
Gladion felt like puking when he entered the seedy café where Team Skull's leader, Guzma, had asked him to meet in. Gladion was being offered a job by him, and against his will, he was intrigued.
The café, though, was terrible. Dilapidated and out of the way, he wouldn't have set foot in there otherwise just based on its appearance.
Unhelpful staff that glared at you as you came in, an acrid stink that lingered everywhere, grease shining nauseatingly on every shakily standing table and thick layers of dust on everything. The service, too, was terrible like everything. There wasn't any service at all, actually. The idea that this place was still somehow operating with all this scaring away potential customers was just laughable.
None of that mattered. It didn't affect why Gladion was here.
"So, Gladion," said Guzma eerily, his eyes glinting. "I've heard you're good with those Pokémon you have there. You could do a lot for Team Skull. We're not all weak Grunts, slimy meeting areas and nicking your Pokémon, you know. We'd like to hire you. Not as a part of our actual team, but as an Enforcer. You know what that means. You interested?"
Guzma was one to get straight to the point, then. That was well. Pleasantries would get them nowhere besides Boredom City and Pointlessville.
Gladion looked around, not the café, but his life. In a matter of a few weeks, he'd lost pretty much it all (not that he'd ever had much), and gained so little.
Did he even have a choice here?
"Yeah," Gladion responded simply. "I'm in. I'm interested."
YOU ARE READING
His Onyx ~ Gladion X Reader
FanfictionHe's dark. She's dramatic. He's angry. She's sad. He's explosive. She's cold. He's fiercely protective of everyone he loves. She doesn't want to be someone he loves. He's traumatized. She is, too. He battles. She wins. He loves. She rejects. But how...
