Bothered (Pokémon)

Bothered

He couldn't understand why he was so bothered.

He'd met countless people since he'd left home—though, could one really call that place home?—who were good, bad, and everything in between. He'd learned he couldn't trust anybody and could only survive fending for himself.

How could he trust anyone if he couldn't trust his own mother? That was the one person in the world he should have been able to trust, but no. No. And he knew his little sister—Lillie, innocent Lillie—had gotten out, but he had no idea where she was, and he feared by leaving her behind, he'd lost her. Even if they met again, could she forgive him?

True, he'd done it to protect her. He knew what he was getting into when he became a runaway. He knew the lifestyle he was about to take on as his own. But even if he did that, he did not want his little sister to do the same.

He'd run from the only place he ever knew, from his abusive mother, and stolen a Pokémon from her. He'd joined a gang and become its enforcer. He'd taken up in a motel and had somehow been able to remain there for two years.

So why was he so bothered by a little boy who smiled too much and too brightly?

He'd seen that smile before on fools, but this boy wasn't a fool, and that confused him to no end. Somebody like that—too kind, too happy—shouldn't exist, because if there was one thing he'd learned, it was that this world was too cruel. How someone like that could survive in a world such as this one, he didn't understand.

The boy's Pokémon were well-trained too, although he'd lost to him in the end. That was another thing—why wasn't that kid bothered by losing? There were other people out there who had brains, falling to their knees because they'd tried their best and been crushed by him. And yet this child, he hadn't been disturbed by his loss at all.

At first, he was convinced the boy—he said his name was Hau, didn't he?—wasn't trying, and that was why he wasn't fazed by his loss. But looking back on it, he recognized that Hau really had been giving it his all.

How could the universe even explain this brat's existence? Why was he here? No, why was he still here?

Gladion, why the hell are you spending all your time wondering about an imbecile you just beat? It's done and over with.

It wasn't. Because Hau was a previously undiscovered species—Gladion hadn't seen anything like him before.

Knowing people like Hau lived and breathed in this world made him angry, because if people like that could survive, what had he been doing, sacrificing everything and suffering?

But as much as he hated to admit it—and he probably never would—it also gave him something to hold onto. It gave him hope, which he thought he'd never have again.

There was a reason he didn't get attached to anyone or anything. It was because he knew the truth. He knew that if you got attached to something and it got taken away from you—well, then you were nothing, right? Then you were vulnerable and bleeding on the ground, staring into space and waiting for someone, anyone, to kill you.

He knew that feeling.

So he certainly knew he couldn't get attached to anyone, certainly not a child he didn't know.

He never wanted to get attached to people, but right now, at this moment, he did.

And that bothered him.

Usually, going to the Malasada Shop erased any worries on his mind. Most of the time he wasn't worried in the first place, which made malasadas a brilliant treat for when he was simply feeling bored. But today he was bothered.

Losing Pokémon battles really didn't bother him as long as he'd tried his best, which he knew he had today with that cold, dark stranger. The stranger said he did "small jobs for Team Skull," but to him, he hadn't seemed like anyone from Team Skull. He seemed disturbed and bitter and distrusting, sure, but he didn't seem like a criminal.

The stranger's name was Gladion, and he—and Hau—tried to find friends wherever he could, so of course, upon encountering Gladion, he'd immediately introduced himself and offered to battle. People who weren't Trainers thought it was strange he made friends through fighting, but he'd learned over time it was actually a great method for getting to know people.

Hau hadn't ever found himself face to face with someone like Gladion, though. Gladion hadn't just brushed him off, but he definitely hadn't wanted to be friends either. He'd called him out on not giving it his all during battle, on insisting on acting silly because he couldn't beat his grandfather when he was serious, and he'd said it all with a piercing scowl and icy tone.

Hau had known that, almost always, treating somebody with kindness resulted in good things happening. But Gladion had acted like he was nothing more than an obstacle, something in his way that needed to be removed as soon as possible.

He knew he should have been offended, and in truth, part of him was. But more than anything, he was curious.

He wanted to know more about somebody like Gladion, because he didn't understand. And when he didn't understand something or someone, he sought an explanation.

After Gladion had left, Selene insisted he was just a jerk who didn't have anything else to do with his life other than insult perfectly good Trainers and that Hau shouldn't take him seriously. But Hau couldn't dismiss him that easily. Hau couldn't just let him go.

Gladion had not wanted to be friends. Hau was sure of that. However, Hau was also quite sure he could change his mind.

The fact that he had to try so hard to win this boy over bothered him...

But it also intrigued him.