Unusual Hang-out (Hau X Gladion)

Early Morning's Meeting

Gazing at the faintly glowing horizon of Alola on a particular morning, Hau sipped on a coconut water, still quite sleepy. Everything in the world seemed quiet, and he enjoyed the unusual silence very much. Usually, Alola region was bustling with a thousand different activities-pokémon battles, appearances of Ultra Beasts, and adventures of young trainers like himself. When he was conjuring up yesterday's exciting events, a person's footsteps echoed on an empty earth behind him, making him startle.

"You're up pretty early, Hau."

A voice, coarse yet kind, called out his name. Whipping his head around, Hau widened his eyes in surprise.

"Gladion!"

"Hey."

The boy with platinum blonde hair nodded his head curtly in acknowledgement. Slightly blushing, Hau observed his hair shining quietly in the morning sunlight. In a few steps, he approached Hau and sat next to him, looking on to the sea, and he spoke:

"I was wondering about you, Hau. After everything ended that way."

"Ahaha, that's unusually nice of you. That you were wondering about me...I didn't expect that coming."

"...Hmph. Anyway, you look blue these days. What happened?"

Hau sat silent. From his eyes, Gladion could read a deep sadness and longing toward something, a look he had not seen from him before. Just about when Gladion thought of speaking again, Hau replied in a wistful tone:

"I just miss my friend a little bit."

"Oh. You mean Lillie?"

"Well, yeah, she left right after our adventure ended. So suddenly, so abruptly, without any pre-warnings... It was really sad, because I'm really bad at goodbyes!"

Noticing Hau's tears pooling in his pure eyes, Gladion contemplated about her sister. A long, flowing hair, pretty emerald eyes identical to his own, her small figure, and her lively gestures were all very encouraging and friendly. It would be impossible not to miss such a friend, especially if you were very close.

Turning toward Hau, Gladion extended a hand and lightly patted his shoulders. Surprised, Hau faced Gladion as well, because as far as he know Gladion was not this kind of a person. He must have morphed through all those adventures, Hau thought inside, and he blushed a little more at his soft touch of hand.

Soon, the day brightened, and the surroundings were filled with light and people.

"I must go now, Hau. I'll see you again very soon. And..."

Gladion pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it to Hau.

"This is my phone number. So, if you want to talk about anything, call me...okay?"

"Oh...sure."

Gazing at his figure distancing gradually, Hau sat in a daze, replaying their short encounter in his head. His mind was buzzing with infinite questions-what was his motive? How had he become such a kind person all of a sudden? Did something that transformative happen in a time he didn't see Gladion? But, for the time, he silenced himself of those thoughts and doubts, because he quite liked how he had transformed over time.

'I should probably call him soon.'

Thinking so, he tightly clutched the piece of paper in his hand, not wanting to lose a precious connection between him and Gladion in the large Alola region.

-

"Silvally, Multi-Attack!!"

While training, he abruptly had to stop a wild pokémon battle due to a call that came to him. It was three days after a short meeting with Hau, and he had been training very intensely in an aim to surpass Sun, who was the champion of Alola region. When Gladion's phone rang loudly in his pocket, he picked it up instantly.

"Hello?"

"Alola, Gladion! This is Hau. Do you happen to have free time? I would love to hang out with you now!"

"Now? Um...sure."

"Great! Let's meet in front of the Hau'oli city pokémon center! See ya, bye!"

After that, the call ended. Gladion stood there, holding his phone, thinking about the arrangement that was just made-soon afterwards, he thought: a little break from his training would not be that bad.

-

Walking toward the Hau'oli city, Gladion thought of Hau. Initially, Gladion had considered him an overly lively child, looking at his flattery attitude and overactive gesticulations. But, soon enough he realized that was not the case-he was a genuine worker, who endeavored every day to surpass his grandfather, a Kahuna of Melemele Island. After Gladion knew that, he regarded Hau as one of the most hardworking trainers in Alola and respected Hau's remarkable efforts. Gladion certainly wanted to know more about him.

When Gladion got to the location, he found Hau gazing up at the purely blue sky with a smily face. He certainly did not want to disrupt his peaceful state, but at the same time, he could not wait to found out more about him.

"It's a nice day, huh?"

"Woah! Gladion! Hey, nice to see you again!"

Noticing Hau's much brighter spirit, Gladion smiled gently.

"Yeah, it is. There isn't a single cloud in the sky, it's really amazing."

"I agree. It's really beautiful out here. Do you want to watch the sea for a while?"

"Yeah! Can we stop by a malasada shop first, though? Apparently, there's a new flavor in the local shop!"

"Sure. I'd love to try that."

Gladion noticed another thing, this time about himself. He absolutely loved seeing Hau smile. When he realized that about himself, he could not prevent a flush of pink appearing on his face-so noticeably. Brushing off his face with his hands, he just told Hau stupidly:

"Ahaha, today's a little hot. My face turned all red because of the heat."

"Is that so? Then, we should all the more go to the malasada shop! They have good air-conditioning, so it's really convenient when you want to just cool off."

Hau led the way toward the malasada shop, while Gladion followed behind. But, they never knew this was the very beginning of their long and eventful day.