Deception - Gladion x Reader. [UNDER CO.]

Moving In

Reader's POV

"Well, that's all the boxes moved from the truck into the house," my mom announced, sighing as she placed her hands on her hips and scanned the living room which was now filled with stacks of boxes and random belongings. She thanked the delivery men as they made their way back to their truck and waved them off, closing the door before turning to face me with with a huge smile. "So. . . what do you think?"

"It's a really nice house." It was, in all honesty; not as big as our one back in Kanto, but still very spacious for just the two of us.

"It is! And what do you think of the neighbourhood?"

"Um. . ." I shrugged, unsure what to say. "I don't know. We have only just got here, mom."

"Oh, right, sorry." She awkwardly chuckled, and I soon joined in. "I'm just really excited. We're in a whole new region with new people and new Pokémon!" Her excitement was obvious given she was practically jumping up and down on the spot, though after a moment she'd managed to calm down and skimmed her hands through her hair. "I think you should rest up once you're done packing your things away in your room. It's been a long journey, and you need your sleep."

I quirked an eyebrow, glancing around at the towers of boxes that surrounded us both. "Don't you want some help sorting the rest of this out?"

"No honey, I'll be fine. I've got Meowth to help me out."

"Mrowr mrowrr!" Meowth leapt up and down at my feet, giving as close to a thumbs up as he could with his little paws. It was precious.

"And besides, you've got enough stuff to pack away yourself and I know you haven't slept since that five minute nap yesterday."

"What? I slept last night—" My mom gave me a knowing stare which made it clear she didn't believe me, causing me to pause and bite my lip. "Okay, you caught me. . . sometimes I wonder how you know all these things."

"Sweetheart, I'm your mom. It would be weird if I didn't know them." An arm slipped around my shoulder and she gave me a warm, comforting squeeze. "I know everything, especially about you. It's just a mom thing." She paused. "Also, I heard the floorboards going crazy last night so it was kind of obvious."

"Wait, what?" My shocked expression caused her to laugh, though I couldn't say I was surprised; I was pretty much going round in circles in my room all night and the floorboards in that house were quite old.

A few moments passed, and the mood gradually changed from joyful to serious.

"Y/n, are you worried about living here in Alola?" I quickly glanced down at the floor, shuffling my feet as I thought about how bad my last lying attempt went. It was pointless. "I know it's difficult moving to a new town let alone a whole new region, and I know you loved it back in Kanto and all. . . but I promise you, you'll love it just as much here. You just have to get to know the place and the people."

"I guess. . ."

All of a sudden, I was taken into her arms and pulled into a hug before she whispered, "Do you trust me?" I nodded against her chest. "Then I promise you, you have nothing to worry about. Everything will be okay." She slowly pulled back, placing her hands firmly on my shoulders. "Tell you what — put your things away and get some rest and then tomorrow, when you're awake and refreshed, you can go out and explore the island, meet everyone and hopefully make some new friends! Sound good to you?"

I took some time to think, then smiled and nodded in agreement which seemed to please my mom; after giving me one more hug, she sent me off to my room so we could both get to work turning the new house into a home.

Deciding to get the hardest part out of the way first, I spent some time opening up boxes and taking out clothes to put into my closet, sorting it out until it was as tidy as it could be. Then I moved onto the rest, placing my Ditto beanbag beside my closet and lining up my assorted figurines and teddies on my desk, bed or on the shelves around the room. It didn't take long for all the boxes to be emptied, especially since for the most part, I arranged things as they were in my old room which definitely helped it feel more comfortable and homely.

Once everything was done and dusted, I crawled onto my bed and looked out the window, catching a small glimpse of the bright, sunny paradise outside. Slowly but surely, I was believing what my mom had said; everything was going to be okay. There was no reason to look at this as a bad thing, especially since this was basically how life started out in Kanto and that turned out great. Not only did I meet a lot of amazing people and Pokémon, but I made a ton of awesome friends. . . things could be exactly the same in Alola. All it takes is positivity and effort.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day.