When The Sun Sets (Moon X Gladion)

Return of The Malasada

Gladion arose the next morning when Silvally decided to unlawfully shove his trainer out of bed. For the first time in years, such an inadequate surprise failed to cast Gladion into a bad mood. Instead, as Silvally curiously glanced down at the floor where the sleepy teen now lay, all Gladion could manage was a dreamy simper.

Without missing a beat, Gladion began to ramble. "You should've seen us, Silv... I had my arm around Moon the entire time and she didn't even flinch. Then she put her head on my shoulder and... Did I mention her hair smells like watermelon? I never would've guessed! Oh man, you should've seen the look on Green's face... if that punk was any greener, he'd be a leprechaun."

Clueless as to what Gladion was droning on about, Silvally yawned, hopping off the bed and nudging his trainer even further. Obviously, Silvally had grown tired of their cozy rental room and was itching to explore the rest of the inn.

However, Gladion wouldn't budge. A giddy feeling rooted in his bones, he ran his fingers through his long, blond, knotted hair and laughed– an activity that he was almost a stranger to. Silvally took the hint and went towards the door himself, rolling his steely eyes.

"Judge me all you want, bud," Gladion sighed heavily. "But, I think I'm in love." Slightly lowering his eyes, he caught Silvally's head cocking towards him in an ever-so puzzled manner. Fueling his previous statement, Gladion joyfully added: "I don't know... Moon is just so kind and adventurous... She's just..." His face broke into a grin once more and he covered his head with his forearm to hide a set of reddening ears.

Then, once his gleeful fit had waned, he lifted himself from the black carpet. He watched his impatient partner claw at the door and finally realized what the Pokémon wanted. "Okay, Silv. As soon as I get dressed, we can leave."

.....

To Moon's satisfaction, she awoke from a peaceful, dreamless sleep. No nightmares, no Mewtwo, no prophecy. Just sleep, sleep, and more sleep, which she certainly appreciated. Yet, she still couldn't shake the events of her nightmare, or the fact that it was most definitely real. Should she tell the others? What would they do? How would they react? Moon wasn't sure, and she wasn't convinced that she ever wanted to find out.

Lifting her head, she spotted Lucario. He sat on a chair next to the wardrobe, awake but unmoving. In his stubbornness, he had declined to return to his pokéball the previous night. Considering Lucario's knack for sensing danger, she doubted that her loyal partner would leave her side for awhile. Moon almost found it nostalgic, accounting for the fact that when she first met the fighting type, he had also refused to be apart from her then.

At the sound of someone rapping on her door. Moon untangled herself from her messy sheets and walked towards the noise. Behind her, Lucario hopped off the chair and approached, ready to greet whoever had knocked. Then, smoothing her wrinkled pajamas, Moon opened the wooden barricade that lead into the hallway.

His green hair messy and absent of a hair tie, Hau's disheveled form stood in the doorframe. His bangs hung in his face and his long locks brushed his shoulders. He held a crazed look in his brown eyes– not unlike that of an insane man, and his golden brown skin was painted with splotches of white, powdery dust. Upon inspection, Moon realized that his black and orange floral shirt was also dirty. His expression and tone dead serious, he simply said, "Malasadas."

Moon looked at him skeptically, realizing that it'd been well over two weeks since Hau had consumed the sickly-sweet fried dough that was his favorite food. "A-are you experiencing withdrawal symptoms or something?"

He continued his stare for a mere moment before throwing his head back and retorting to a light-hearted chortle. "No, silly! Dale let me make breakfast so I'm making malasadas!"

It was only then that Moon realized that, not only was he holding a hair net, but the white splotches on his face and clothing must've been bread dough.

"C'mon! I'm making everyone a plate, and there's gonna be loads of extras for the road!" The more eager he became, it seemed, the more octaves his voice elevated to.

Moon loved seeing him so happy, especially considering where they were. She knew that he wasn't keen on ghost Pokémon, and she understood that he probably wanted to reach the next town more than anyone. Thus, watching him prance around like a sugar-hyped child brought warmth to the places where her nightmares had left frost. And soon enough, she found herself laughing as well. "Okay, I'll come out in a few minutes. Just let me get dressed first."

.....

Gladion entered the kitchen, Silvally on his tail. Everyone had already made themselves a spot on the many tables that Dale had (Hau never knocked on Gladion's door because Gladion was usually grumpy in he morning). And by "everyone," he literally means everyone. Every Pokémon in every party was running around, eating Hau's malasadas. Even the larger Pokémon such as Crabominable and Necrozma were there, although they were so large that they all had to sit outside and be given breakfast through the large window stationed in the center of the wall. Without a second thought, Gladion released all of his Pokémon out so they too could be in on the "party." At one of the corner tables, Moon and Green sat. Moon looked astonishing that morning. Her hair spindled into a loose braid, she was wearing black skinny jeans and a rose red, hooded bomber jacket. When she saw him, her face immediately formed a wide grin as she waved him over. Green, who was wearing the same attire he usually adorned, sat to her right. Clashing against Moon's delighted aura, he gave Gladion a slight scowl before returning to his towering plate of fried dough.

Hobbling around with trays of malsadas in his hands, Dale almost had tears in his eyes. Handing people and Pokémon alike serving after serving, he spotted Gladion and immediately bounded over. Handing the teen a plate, he gave a toothy smile and declared, "I've never had so much company before! Please, help yourself and stay as long as you'd like!"

Taking the rather large plate, Gladion sat down next to Moon. "'Morning," he said, a soft glitter in his green eyes.

"'Morning to you, too!" She replied, her grey eyes shining.

For a moment, they seemed to be in the eye of the storm. As everyones' Pokémon, Hau, and Dale, hustled around the kitchen in a food-fueled hurry, the two of them were in a state of calm. It seemed that, although Moon hadn't really given much thought to her moment with Gladion the previous night, the mood that was brought about by her placing her head on his shoulder was still present. And, though the moment was brief, Gladion thought (and hoped) that this feeling would never end.

Hau, who was now sporting a hairnet, snapped them back to reality. Plopping a giant plate on the table, he announced, "Okay, I think I've officially made too many. Eat up, everyone, because I don't think my backpack can hold this much food!"

.....

It took them the majority of the day to clean the kitchen. Hau made so many malasadas that by the end of breakfast, he was covered head to toe in dough. Eventually, however, the kitchen was spotless. Hau (not surprisingly) had more than enough leftovers to pack in his bag, which he promised he'd share over the next few weeks... if the malasadas even lasted that long, that is.

After packing, they stood outside of Haunter Hallow as they prepared to leave. Dale was with them, thanking them for their company and telling them they could visit at any time. He even apologized for dragging them out to the middle of the woods for the sake of a couple stories, which the teens immediately assured him that it was alright. Moon even promised to tell others about Dale's service, guaranteeing that, within no time, he'd have more customers than he could count. After some final goodbyes, they were off, heading out towards the docks that paved the road towards Fuchsia City.

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I REALLY wanted to make this longer and leave it on a cliffhanger, but their next destination is a bit too far for me to have them "run" to it. So, I guess I'll put my intended cliffhanger in the next chapter. Of course, it won't be as fun that way, but oh well. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. I figured I'd make a fun, lighthearted chapter considering the last few have been dark.