Redemption

Chapter 20

        Silver rolled out of bed, hair sticking absolutely everywhere and sleep still clinging to him. Why was he waking up so early again? "The Tapu Festival!" he realized in panic. He was actually supposed to have woken up earlier! Now he remembered. His alarm had gone off and he had decided that a few more minutes to rest his eyes wouldn't cause any harm. Professor Kukui was with his wife on Akala island, so there hadn't been any one to wake him.

        By the time he had arrived in Iki Town, the festivities had already begun. The crowd was visible even before he reached the town. There was no way he could find (y/n) among all of these people. Most of them were gathered with one another and talking to catch up on old times. The actual event taking place at the moment was the storytelling. People were gathered around the center of Iki Town listening to a woman relay stories to everyone. He heard her announce that she was about to tell the legend of Nanaue the Sharpedo Man, but he was too busy looking for (y/n) to hear anything else.

        After getting tired of searching through the people, he decided to check (y/n)'s home although he doubted she would be there. She had told him herself that she was a main part of the day's proceedings, so he  already figured she wouldn't be home.

        "She's not there," a familiar voice behind him spoke just before he knocked on the door. Silver turned back to see Gladion there, but a girl Silver had never seen before was with him. "(Y/n)'s not going to be out here until after her performance. No one is allowed to see her before then," Gladion explained.

        "You can hang out with us until then," the girl next to him offered. Gladion obviously hadn't planned for that to happen, but there was nothing he could do against the girl's expectant stare. "I'm Moon. It's nice to finally meet you!" Silver returned her greeting and reluctantly join the two to travel the area until the afternoon. "I heard you're from Kanto," Moon said just loud enough for Silver and Gladion to hear. "I am too."

        Silver was actually from Johto, which Gladion knew meaning that the blonde hadn't really told Moon anything about him. It was somewhat of a relief to know that Gladion still kept those secrets to himself. "Yeah, I am. Alola is kind of different from Kanto. It's much hotter here and the pokémon are really brightly colored."

        "Oh, you noticed that too! I was really surprised when I saw the Meowth type here in Alola. That was the first time I had seen a regional variant," Moon said.

        Silver nodded, agreeing that seeing the regional variants surprised him. "I'm still not quite used to it," he admitted.

        The three of them ended up listening to a few of the stories being told before moving on to get snacks. "Gladion, there's shaved ice!" Moon pointed at the vendor set up not too far from them.

        "You go ahead. I don't want one," Gladion told her. She made a questioning expression, but the two exchanged some sort of nonverbal communication before she went off on her own without another word. It suddenly became very uncomfortable to be around Gladion now that they were alone. "If you liked someone, but you didn't want to tell them because you knew it would change your friendship, would you tell them anyway?"

        "Huh??" Silver blinked at the boy next to him. He thought Gladion somehow knew about yesterday's incident and was about to murder him in broad daylight. "What???"

        Gladion still kept a plain expression, but the color rising to his face was certain still visible. "I don't know if I should tell her. I'm asking you if I should," he mumbled.

        "Me? Why me??" Silver had no clue about these types of situations either. What could he possibly tell Gladion? He couldn't mention the answer he gave (y/n) much less come up with an answer that would actually be helpful or make sense.

        "Who else am I supposed to ask?! Lillie and (y/n) are girls, so I can't ask them. They probably don't even know. They don't even understand what it's like to wonder if the very next thing you say or do could be the last thing you ever say or do. Lillie has Hau, and the guy didn't even hesitate to tell her everything. (Y/n) hasn't ever tried to date anyone. Girls are always expecting the guy to make the first move. It's irritating and confusing." Gladion now frowned as he watched Moon wait in line. "Moon is the champion of the entire region. There's always someone waiting for the chance to take her away. If I say the wrong thing, I lose her just like that."

        "What makes you think I know any better?" Silver truly wanted to know.

        "Because you and I are more similar than I sometimes want to admit." Gladion sighed. "Plus, you're...actually a good friend." He muttered that last part so lowly that Silver barely heard him. "Just wanted your opinion. I'm definitely not asking Hau again. Last time he tried to call Moon with my cellphone and tell her himself."

        "How long have you been waiting?"

        "I don't know. When you start looking at someone in a different way, time never passes the same ever again. You get lost in it and it makes you question if there's actually just something wrong with you."

        Silver considered what had been said. If (y/n) was well known throught the island, wouldn't that make her the same as Moon? Wouldn't there be other people waiting for the opportunity to make a pass at her too? And Silver had asked that she wait? Now he was beginning to regret his decision even though he knew the reasoning behind why he picked the choice he'd made.

        "Nevermind, forget it. I wasn't trying to stress you out." Gladion noticed his panicking, but it was misinterpreted.

        "If you don't tell her, then isn't that the same thing as saying you think it's okay for other people to have a chance to tell her first?" Gladion couldn't find the words to say to counter his argument. "What makes us different is that you haven't said anything because you're worried of losing Moon's friendship. I haven't accepted because I'm worried I may end up losing (y/n) entirely."

        "Wait what?" Gladion looked at Silver who stared back with even more panic. "Since when has..." Gladion finally realized what he had meant. "And you didn't tell me?!"

        "Was I supposed to? Wouldn't you have killed me?" Silver pointed out.

        "That was one time, and you deserved it." Silver shot him a deadpan. "Okay, yes. I would have killed you, but I still have the right to know!" Gladion didn't actually seem too upset about it though which came as a relief. "When did this even happen? I just talked to you last night. You haven't ever mentioned anything like that." Silver stayed quiet. "Silver, I swear to Arceus..."

        "Hm? What happened?" Moon had returned, effectively ending their conversation for the time being.

        "Nothing," both Silver and Gladion answered.

        "Liars," Moon pouted. "It's fine. I got what I wanted, you got what you wanted. No need for me to go making any complaints. We should go find out what Lillie and Hau are up to before it's time for (y/n)'s perfomance."

        "Her performance isn't for another three and a half hours. I'm pretty sure that's plenty of time," Gladion said.

        Moon grinned at him. "Then let's go!"

        Though they were no longer talking about it, Silver couldn't get the thoughts and new questions out of his mind. He wanted to see (y/n) now more than ever to be sure that he hadn't made a mistake, but all he could do now was be patient.
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I'm just gonna...go on to the next chapter so until next time you magnificent readers!