I can make you laugh

Thursday Part 1- Where are we going this time?

Gladion and Lillie, along with Umbreon and Snowy, waited patiently as their town car pulled to a stop in front of the school gate.

"Here we are," the driver said cheerfully as Gladion opened the door. "Have a good day, Master Gladion and Miss Lillie."

"Thank you," they both said as they got out of the car.

"What do you think is going to happen today?" Gladion asked as they walked into the campus courtyard.

"I'm not sure," Lillie shrugged. "It was pretty cool visiting another region yesterday but having Ash's friends visit here like Iris did was a lot of fun too. So- "

Gladion jumped as Lillie gave an excited squeak.

"What?!"

"Look!"

Gladion looked to where Lillie was pointing in excitement. On the grassy island in the middle of the track section, Kiawe and Sophocles were turning a skipping rope with Mallow, Lana, Popplio and Tsareena taking turns jumping.

"Come on!" Lillie said happily, grabbing her brother's arm before pulling. "Let's go!"

Bewildered by his sister's enthusiasm, Gladion said nothing as his little sister eagerly dragged him towards their friends as fast as she could.

"Alola!" Lillie called, reaching the edge of the grass just as Mallow jumped in with Tsareena.

"Alola Lillie and Snowy!" Mallow cried happily as she and Tsareena jumped together. "Alola Gladion and Umbreon!"

"Alola!" Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles beamed at the siblings. Gladion gave a shy wave as Lillie released Gladion's arm before taking off her bag and hat.

"Gladion, will you hold these for me please?" Lillie asked, holding her bag and hat out to Gladion.

"Okay?" Gladion said in confusion.

"Thanks. You ready Snowy?" Lillie grinned down at the white fox by her ankles, her face full of excitement.

"Vul!" Snowy squealed as she got into a running position.

"Okay," Lillie said, carefully counting the cracking noises the rope made with each spin. "One, two, three...Go!"

Lillie and Snowy ran forward and jumped in, jumping about clumsily a couple of times before setting a steady rhythm. Gladion smiled tenderly at Lillie and Mallow's giggles.

"What are you all doing, aside from the obvious?" he asked, walking closer to get a better view of the activity.

"We got here a little early so we thought we'd pass the time by jumping rope," Lana smiled after taking a sip of water. "Hey, how about you give it a try?"

"Me?"

"Yeah," Kiawe smiled as he and Sophocles slowed the spinning down so Mallow, Lillie, Snowy and Tsareena could stop jumping. "You, Umbreon, Lycanroc and Silvally. Let's see how in sync you four are with each other."

"Give it a try big brother," Lillie grinned, walking over to collect her hat and bag from Gladion's hands. "It's a challenge but it's so much fun!"

"And if you want a harder challenge, we can always increase the speed," Sophocles added. "Or increase how many Pokémon you skip with."

Gladion looked at the group before eyeing the rope wearily.

"What do you think?" he asked Umbreon. Umbreon looked between him and the rope before stretching elegantly and nodding.

"Alright," Gladion nodded, pulling out Silvally's and Lycanroc's Pokéballs. He held out the balls, allowing them to open. In blue flashes, the two Pokémon appeared with affectionate growls before looking at Gladion with curiosity.

"You two want to try the jump rope with Umbreon and me?" he asked, pointing to the rope Kiawe and Sophocles were holding. The two Pokémon looked at each other before giving Gladion a confused look.

"Uh, maybe you guys should show Lycanroc and Silvally what to do. I've never done "skipping" with them," Gladion explained, using his fingers to put quotation marks around the word 'skipping'.

Once he did that, Kiawe and Sophocles started to turn the rope again at an even pace.

"Watch Popplio and me," Lana told the two Pokémon. "One, two, three."

Lycanroc and Silvally watched the two run into the rope before jumping smoothly, Popplio alternating between her tail and flippers with each skip. As they watched, Gladion pulled off his hoodie, revealing his long-sleeved undershirt. After unclipping his bag, he placed both the bag and hoodie on the ground before turning his attention back to the group.

"There," Lana smiled as she and Popplio stopped with a final jump. "See, Lycanroc and Silvally? Just get a feel for the beat and jump in on three."

Gladion nodded as Umbreon, Lycanroc and Silvally took their positions beside him. After Lana and Popplio moved out of the way, Gladion carefully studied the skipping rope, counting the cracks it was making with each swing.

"You three ready?" he asked his Pokémon. The three gave grunts of agreement as they got into running positions.

"Okay, one, two, three!"

Gladion ran forward with his Pokémon and started jumping clumsily until he found a simple rhythm with his Pokémon, much to his relief.

"I thought I was going to mess it up," he admitted breathlessly with each jump.

"Well, as long as you don't trip like Ash does, you'll be fine," Lana teased, making Gladion roll his eyes in response. As he jumped, Lillie watched quietly, a grin slowly growing on his face.

"Mallow, would you?" she asked, holding her hat and bag out.

"Sure," Mallow nodded, taking the items.

"Thanks," Lillie smiled gratefully before moving closer to the rope. "Gladion? Snowy and I are joining you!

"Is there enough room?" Gladion panted.

"Sure!" Lillie nodded, clenching her fists. "You ready, Snowy?"

"Vul!" Snowy squeaked, crouching.

"Okay, then one and two and three!" Lillie squealed, running the second she said three. After taking a spot next to Gladion, Lillie happily hopped back and forth on each foot while Snowy jumped with Umbreon. As they jumped, Gladion beamed, remembering how they used to play together.

"I don't think we've played like this since we were little," Gladion grinned.

"This is so much fun!" Lillie giggled.

Everyone smiled at the siblings skipping together with their Pokémon partners.

"PIKA!"

Everyone looked up at the sound of Pikachu's happy cry in time to see Pikachu running as fast as he could towards the group. Once he was close enough, he jumped in between Lillie and Gladion's legs, squealing happily as they skipped together.

"Hi, Pikachu!" Lillie squealed happily as Kiawe and Sophocles started to slow the turning before coming to a stop. Pikachu jumped to Lillie's shoulder to nuzzle her before doing the same to Gladion. Gladion smiled at the electric type's affection as he gave Pikachu's cheek a gentle pat.

"You guys look like you're all having fun," Ash grinned as he approached the group.

Everyone smiled and started to walk over to Ash, Kukui, Burnet and Rotom. As they approached, Gladion noticed Ash had a band-aid on one of his fingers and his arm looked a little red, which Ash was scratching. He also looked tired and there were dark, puffy circles under his eyes.

"We were just passing time waiting for our lesson to start," Kiawe grinned.

"Are you alright?" Gladion asked as Pikachu jumped from his shoulder back to Ash's. "Why are you scratching your arm?"

Wincing, Ash quickly hid his arms behind his back before giving an embarrassed smile.

"It's nothing," Ash said. "I just had an accident this morning. I'm fine."

"What happened?" Mallow asked.

"It's not important," Ash said again. Everyone gave Ash an incredulous look before nodding.

"Okay," Lillie said, eager to start the lesson. "So, what are we doing today, Ash?"

"Well, before we start our lesson," Ash grinned as he pulled out three Pokeballs. "There's some Pokémon I want you all to meet. Okay everyone come on out!"

Ash threw the Pokeballs in the air, where they released a Talonflame, a Hawlucha and a Noivern in flashes. Everyone gasped with delight as Rotom eagerly took pictures.

"You have a Talonflame?!" Kiawe cried in excitement, his eyes shining.

"And a Noivern as well?" Gladion grinned.

Ash smiled proudly.

"I caught Talonflame as a Fletchling and I hatched Noivern," Ash explained.

"So, who's this one?" Lana asked, her face glowing as she admired Hawlucha, who was striking different poses. "It's so strong looking. It's so cool!"

"This is Hawlucha," Ash smiled as Hawlucha bowed to Lana.

"Hawlucha, the wrestling Pokémon," Rotom said. "A fighting and flying type. Hawlucha presents moves artistically and they take great pride in their elegance. It's a Pokémon you can find in the Kalos region."

"So quick question," Ash said. "What do these three have in common?"

"They're all flying types," Sophocles answered immediately.

"That is correct," Ash smiled. "But the answer I was looking for."

Everyone thought about what Ash said.

"Well, we do have Fletchling and Noibat in Alola," Lillie said thoughtfully. "But I read in a book that they originally come from the Kalos region. And Rotom said you find Hawlucha in Kalos. Wait, these are Pokémon you caught when you were in the Kalos region, aren't they?"

"That's right," Ash grinned as he pulled out his pendant. "That's our lesson today. We're going to Lumiose City in the Kalos region."

"Another new region?" Kiawe asked in excitement before his face fell. "Oh, Mimo's going to be so disappointed. She really wanted to come with us today."

"I'll buy her a souvenir," Ash said as he squeezed his pendant. After a few minutes, a ring opened and Hoopa flew through.

"Alola!" it cried happily. "Are you all ready?"

Everyone nodded eagerly as they quickly returned their Pokémon to their Pokeballs.

"One second," Ash said quickly as he pulled out a T-shirt. "Kiawe."

"Seriously, again?" Kiawe groaned, taking one of the shirts with two fingers.

"It's Autumn in Kalos," Ash shrugged. "It's going to be a little cool so you should wear it. I told you; the other regions aren't like Alola. Anyway, Professor Kukui is wearing one."
At Ash's words, everyone looked at Kukui. Ash was right. He was wearing a yellow shirt under his lab coat and sweating a little. Kiawe sighed before pulling on the shirt.

"Why can't all the regions be like Alola?" he complained.

"Because then every region would be boring and pointless to visit," Ash answered in a blank tone, making the girls and Hoopa giggle. Kiawe glared at Ash briefly before shrugging.

"Yeah, good point," he nodded.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Hoopa asked. After getting nods, Hoopa raised its arms, activating the ring dangling from its horn.

"ALLEYHOOPARING!"

Once the ring activated, everyone eagerly stepped towards the portal, except Gladion.

"Hey Ash," he said, gently taking the Kanto boy's wrist in his hand. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Ash nodded. "Hey, Pikachu. Could you go to Lillie, please?"

Pikachu gave Ash a funny look before obediently jumping to Lillie's shoulder.

"Thanks buddy," Ash smiled. "I won't be long."

Pikachu nodded, giving Gladion a look that said "be nice to my friend." Gladion smiled at the electric mouse before gently taking Ash's hand.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked after Gladion lead them a few feet away from the portal.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Gladion asked worriedly. "You look exhausted and your eyes are puffy."

Then Gladion looked down at the arm he had seen Ash scratch earlier. His forearm was red and it looked like there was some sort of rash on it. Gladion immediately pulled the arm closer before sighing in relief. No, it wasn't a rash. It was petechiae. Ash had scratched his arm to the point that the capillaries had burst, making it look like a rash had formed. But thankfully, Gladion had scratched his arms and legs raw enough in the past to recognise it up close.

"What happened to your arm? Why is it like that? And what happened to your finger?"

Ash pulled his arm away out of Gladion's grasp.

"I had an accident," he repeated.

"What happened?" Gladion prodded.

"It's not a big deal," Ash smiled, scratching his arm again. "I'm fine, really. I'm just a little itchy."

"Ash," Gladion said, grabbing Ash's hands. "Stop. You're hurting yourself. Look."

Gladion carefully turned Ash's arm around so Ash could see the circular cluster of tiny red spots decorating a section of his forearm. Ash blinked.

"How did that happen?" he asked in bewilderment.

"You scratched yourself to the point that you're bleeding but you haven't broken the skin," Gladion answered.

"Oh."

"Ash," Gladion said gently. "What's going on? You know you can tell me."

"I know," Ash sighed. "I'm just... I'm not ready to talk about it. Not now. Maybe later? Without the others around?"

Gladion looked at Ash before looking over to where the others were. Everyone had gone through the portal except Professor Kukui and Hoopa. He was standing there, watching them patiently. After seeing the professor making the universal okay sign with his hand, Gladion nodded before turning his attention back to Ash.

"You promise you'll talk with me later?" Gladion asked hopefully. "When it's just us?"

"I promise," Ash nodded before giving a shy smile. "You do still owe me a walk on the beach."

"I do," Gladion smiled, giving Ash's hands a small squeeze. "Okay. We'll talk properly later."

"Okay," Ash whispered before leading Gladion to the portal that would teleport them to the heart of Lumiose City's train station.