[ON INDEFINITE HIATUS] Alolan Adventures: An Original Pokémon Story

38. Aether

Gladion's POV

     Gladion's phone rang. Groaning, he turned around and reached for the phone on his desk, the darkness of his motel room turning the place into a room of shadows. The time on the motel clock read 8:01 A.M.

     "Wake up, sleepyhead," a familiar voice said. He smiled to himself instinctively and brushed his hair out of his eyes for a second, before the fringe fell back into its usual position. He mashed the smile down and nodded into the phone, forgetting that Snow couldn't see him.

     Snow. Their late-night phone conversations, good-mornings and good-nights exchanged through texts, and their discussions about the upcoming Manalo Conference had changed Gladion in a way. The Team Skull Enforcer Gladion would have thought he was growing too soft to this girl. But instead, Gladion embraced the change.

     "Good morning," he said. The crackly voice of Snow, distorted by the connection, made a laughing sound.

     "It's eight already. Or did you spend a long time awake last night?" she asked, with a devilish grin on her face that Gladion couldn't see. "Oh, doesn't matter. Anyways, we're all going to Aether Paradise today!"

     At the words of Aether Paradise, Gladion recoiled. He didn't want to see his mother. The last time they had spoken was when he was training for his match with Ash last year. And Lillie...the memories brought from his sister: leaving her for two years, then coming back, and then leaving again were too painful. But at the voice of the girl he liked, maybe loved, his resolve crumbled.

     "Okay," he said tentatively. Snow, who could hear Gladion's uncertainty through his voice, furrowed her eyebrows.

     "You're scared, aren't you," she said softly. Gladion stayed silent. "We'll all be there. I'll be there for you. Cynthia, and maybe even Axol too. But you don't have to be afraid. And if I'm pressuring you too much, you don't have to go." Her voice was sincere. Gladion shook his head into the phone.

     "It's all right. I'll go," he said. "Meet you at your house, maybe in 30 minutes." He could almost hear Snow's grin in her response.

     "Perfect. Axol's going to be so excited," she said, and she hung up. Gladion put down his phone and shrugged on his clothes, not bothering to open his dusty curtains while making himself breakfast.

     Almost exactly 30 minutes later, Gladion knocked on the brown front door of Axol's and Snow's house. He could hear excited skittering inside the house, as Snow's Midday Form Lycanroc ran to the door, and seemed to pounce on it, shaking the frame of the door and causing the blond Trainer to jump backwards. Loud footsteps ensued, with Snow scolding the Pokémon and opening the door with a smile, her hair as perfectly messy as always.

     "Made it just in time," she said. "The ferry leaves in fifteen minutes, which gives Axol, the slowpoke, to finish up with his breakfast." Her grin morphed into something else entirely, as she yelled back into the dining room. "HURRY UP, DUMMY! GLADION'S ALREADY HERE!" 

     A muffled voice, possible due to the food in Axol's mouth, responded with a "okay." Snow beckoned Gladion over the threshold and into the bright living room, walls painted white with skylights letting the bright morning sun filter in. Cynthia was on the couch, hard at work with a crossword puzzle.

     "Today's is easy," she said with a smile at Snow. "Oh, hi, Gladion." Gladion nodded back at the Champion and sat down in the couch perpendicular to where she was sitting, Umbreon curling up next to him. Snow's Glaceon padded to Umbreon in welcome. Umbreon hopped lightly off of the couch as Glaceon offered it some Pokémon food, the two Eeveelutions sharing a breakfast.

     "All right, I'm done!" Axol said, cheeks puffed up with food. "Man, that cereal was good. Thanks, Dragonite!" Axol's Dragonite, which had just finished cleaning up, let out a happy noise and walked out of the kitchen, taking off its puffy chef's hat and apron and hanging them on two hooks embedded in the wall.

     "Well, looks like we're all ready," Snow said, putting on her side bag. Axol, who had slung his own black backpack over his shoulders, nodded and patted his stomach. Both Gladion and Cynthia got up, their bags on as they all left the house, the door jingling as it closed. Snow locked it from the outside and grinned. "Off to the ferry we go!"

      On the ferry, Snow and Gladion leaned onto the railing, looking out to the wide expanse of sea, while Axol and Cynthia were conspiring in the back, probably making a new plan to bother Gladion. Snow pointed outwards, telling Glaceon the names of each Pokémon she saw in the clear waters, smiling to herself as Glaceon made noises of delight.

     Gladion smiled to himself as well, the corners of his mouth just slightly tweaking upwards as he watched his girlfriend, so full of wonder and joy, laugh with her Pokémon partner. Her Alolan Sandslash and Axol's newly evolved Gyarados seemed to be speaking with each other, while Silvally and Dragonite were conversing. 

     Soon, Aether Paradise was in sight. The familiar fear coiled in Gladion's chest, constricting him like a snake. Snow, who had detected Gladion's uncertainty, placed a comforting hand on his arm as they stepped off of the ferry and into the artificial island of the Aether Foundation.