When The Sun Sets (Moon X Gladion)

Ghost Town

The rain eventually cleared up, but not before Green used it to wash the rice pot. His cooking was good, Gladion thought, but it was dry and left much to be desired. Or maybe Gladion's overwhelming saltiness had found its way into the dish. The world may never know.

"As good as that was, I think I prefer doing the cooking," Hau placed a hand on the back of his neck.

"Yeah, Hau's a great cook," Moon agreed as she packed her things. "No offense, Green."

Green brushed it off with a wave of his hand, "None taken. I just didn't want to interrupt the love birds."

Moon gulped. Had Green really noticed her silent glances in the rain? The way she fidgeted whenever Gladion leaned towards her? The butterflies? The anger? The confusion? The thoughts of "why-is-he-here?" Was Moon's semi-indifferent facade really that see-through?

That's when Moon realized Green was referring to Hau. Hau blushed and stuffed his phone into his oversized pockets. "Well, I wouldn't say love birds."

Moon let out a laugh, shaking off her own uneasiness. "Sure, whatever you say."

The four teens left the damp cave, making their way through the rest of the jagged mountains. The air was overflowing with fog, and the rain certainly didn't help. The friends clung to one another, desperate not to get lost in the curtain of grey. Moon didn't find this too annoying, though. As irritated as she was with Gladion's recent actions, she wasn't angry with him. She had grown to admire Gladion over the years, and so when he decided to cling to her during their walk, Moon couldn't help but blush. Gladion wasn't aware of this, however. After all, Moon could hardly see Hau, who was directly in front of her.

By the time they had finally stepped foot into Lavender Town, the fog had cleared enough for everyone to see the basics of what the place had to offer. There were the standards; markets, PCs, and neighboring houses, but they noticed a large structure in the distance: Pokémon Tower. With dying trees (autumn certainly didn't help), browning grass, nearly empty streets, and the still ever-present fog, the town was as eerie as Hau imagined it to be.

"Okay, we saw it. Now, let's get out of here," Hau laughed nervously, quickly realizing that they had no where to go but through.

Moon disregarded his stammering statement. "It won't hurt us to stay for a little while. As long as we don't enter Pokémon Tower, then we should be fine."

"That's the graveyard," Green whispered into Hau's already-unnerved ear, who gulped apprehensively. Green then proceeded to laugh. "I'm just kidding. Pokémon Tower was transformed into a radio tower a couple years back. All the graves should've been moved into the House of Memories by now."

"All I know is that I could use a sit-down," Gladion asserted, walking ahead of the group as he pulled his hood closer to his hair, which had been matted down due to the surplus of moisture in the air. "We've been trekking caves and mountains since sunrise."

"Yeah, I guess we should find a place to crash," Hau replied.

Gladion was still trotting along, though his head had turned to catch what Hau was saying. Sadly, this was not the best time for Gladion to be off guard because a moment later, he was knocked to the floor.

An older, Frankenstein-esk man looked down upon him, a toothpick tucked between his cracked, bleeding lips. He wore a plaid, green lumberjack shirt and dirt-stained, baggy, faded blue jeans. A rusty ring of keys were hooked to his waist that jangled whenever he moved. Overall, his demeanor was enough to make the teens gasp and gawk in surprise. His visage, however, seemed friendly enough for Moon to speak up.

"Oh, sorry sir. We never meant to run into you." She purposely started off by shifting the blame from Gladion. Even through the fog, she could make out the sight of his reddened ears. Quickly after, she rushed in to help him off the ground.

"It's okay, miss." His voice was low and gruff, like that of a chainsaw. "I overheard you kids saying that you need a place to stay, and well, I thought I'd provide."

"Oh, thank you!" Moon exclaimed, not expecting him to be so generous. "We'd be happy to-"

"No." Hau interrupted.

"Hau, a second ago, you were all for that idea." Green raised an eyebrow.

"I-I think we'd be better off passing through. This town doesn't seem that big, but it's scarier than Gladion on one of his bad days." His last statement turned into laugher, a clear sign that he was joking. Though, that didn't stop Gladion from shooting back a look that read "try me."

"Well, maybe this town isn't so bad," Gladion disagreed. "Besides, I really want a cup of tea."

The old man spun around, the jangle of keys following his every turn. "It's settled then! Follow me, I believe you'll find your rooms... thrilling."

————————————————————————

It's almost Halloween, so I figured I'd wait to post these chapters. ACTUALLY, that's a lie. I've been distracted by my Romanogers fanfic for awhile. But, this chapter is perfect timing, am I right?

Also, it has come to my attention that "Family Reunion" has more reads than "Green = Envy." "Green = Envy" is a SUPER important chapter, btw. If you skipped it, I'd recommend reading it.