When The Sun Sets (Moon X Gladion)

Fuschias

It had been a long, tedious, and awkward day of traveling. Between the general lacking of conversation, Green's overly-happy, giddy behavior, the fact that Gladion kept shooting glares at anyone who dared to speak to him, and the looming threat that Mewtwo's prophecy posed, Moon wanted nothing more than to head back to her father's house and crawl under the covers of her childhood bed for the next few months. Telling Lucario about her fears had certainly put her in a better mood, that's for sure. No matter what she did though, she couldn't convince herself that things were going to be alright, especially considering that Gladion was no longer standing with her.

Other than all of that, however, the day was pretty unamusing. It wasn't until 5:27 a.m. the next morning that Moon received the urgent message that woke her from her slumber:

Lillie: CALL ME.

Groaning, Moon sat up and looked around. She was lying farther away from everyone this time, Lucario being the only one anywhere near her. She couldn't afford another fluke like the night prior.

They had made a lot of ground since the previous morning, leaving them 5 miles east of Fuchsia City. In the distance, Moon could even spot the city's faint, but warm, glow. Looking up at the sky and finding only the early signs of dusk, she shivered. Winter was in a couple months, and the browning grass they were lying in only proved the point.

Wiping the exhaustion from her eyes, Moon gave Lillie a call. It hardly rang once before her friend picked up the other end.

"Moon! It's so good to talk to you again!"

"You too, Lillie, but it's 5 in the morning here. Is everything okay?" Lillie, being the respectful person that she was, always checked the time zone difference before calling Moon. Whatever Lillie needed, it must've been important.

"Well... Hau told me about what happened yesterday."

Of course he did.

Sighing, Moon stood up and glanced at the boys. All three of them were sleeping. Nevertheless, she still felt the need to search for a more private location. Wandering off, she told Lillie: "If you think I'm crushing on Green, then you're wrong. The guy is like a brother to me."

"Have you tried telling Gladion that?"

"No," Moon admitted. "Every time I open my mouth, he glares at me."

"Do you want me to yell at him for you?"

"No, please don't meddle," Moon begged as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Things are fine, Lillie. I'll fix it, okay?"

"Well, okay... But, text me if you need anything!"

Moon smiled at her friend's caring nature. "I will."

They said their goodbyes before Moon hung up. Then, shoving her phone back into her pocket, she groaned. A TED talk on fixing relationships was the last thing she wanted to listen to that morning.

Still, the conversation did bring up an interesting point: how was Moon going to fix it? She wasn't sure but as she walked back towards camp she concluded that she could figure out a plan once they reached Fuchsia City.

Hau was just beginning to stir when Moon arrived. Yawning profusely, he groggily tied his green hair into a lazy bun, failing to catch many of the strands that continued to fall into his brown eyes. When he saw Moon, he smiled softly. "Hey, I was just going to look for you. What made you wake up?"

"Lillie called me," Moon started simply, nearing her backpack to grab a water bottle. "She wanted to discuss... my little problem."

Hau glanced at Gladion, who was still snoozing beside the faintly-smoldering embers of the campfire. "It'll blow over," he murmured, smoothing back the hair still blocking his vision. "Did you know that the fuschia flower is supposed to symbolize 'humble love' or something? I'm not sure what that means, but maybe you and Gladion can find out." He winked at her and flashed a toothy smirk.