Connecting Heartstrings | Gladion

>>Chapter 6<<

The beach was completely empty. (Y/N) liked it that way. No one could interrupt her training. She took out Milotic and Umbreon and they all started training. (Y/N) would yell out orders and both her Pokémon executed them flawlessly. Both Umbreon and Milotic were giving it their all, not to win, but to become stronger.

Milotic, a big, majestic Pokémon, left everyone soaking wet when using Surf. (Y/N) started laughing as Umbreon furiously shook its body trying to get the water out of its fur. She commanded for Umbreon to use Dark Pulse and for Milotic to dodge and counter with Scald while getting out of the way to avoid getting burned with hot water. Umbreon took this moment as an opportunity to get revenge and let out the strongest Dark Pulse he could muster at the time. Milotic dodged and the move hit some bushes. The bushes screamed in pain. Wait...the bushes what?!

(Y/N) got on a defensive stance, ready to fight and both Milotic and Umbreon turned towards the bush, waiting for whomever was in there to come out.

— "I heard you. Come out already." — (Y/N) said firmly, not showing any fear. She had her Pokémon with her and was ready for anything that might come out of that bush.

A Zubat flew out of the bush and (Y/N) lowered her stance only to hear someone shout.

— "Zubat use Sludge Bomb!" — Zubat flew towards (Y/N)'s Pokémon and readied its attack. (Y/N) quickly gave her Pokémon orders to avoid them getting hurt.

— "Milotic use Blizzard, Umbreon get out of the way!" — Her Pokémon once more followed her instructions without blinking. Zubat got hit dead on by Blizzard and plummeted down to the ground.

A guy came out from the bushes and worked towards his Zubat, who was out cold. He growled angrily and took a pokéball out, probably to call Zubat back. The guy was wearing an all-black outfit with some with details. His face was covered by a skull bandanna and he had blue hair. He looked like a hobo. Or at least (Y/N) thought so.

— "Yo, that was totally not cool. Give me your Pokémon before you get what you deserve!" — The boy yelled while making A LOT of hand gestures.

— "Are you okay? Are you having a stroke?" — (Y/N) replied with humour. Amused by the histrionic personality standing before her. This only angered the guy even further.

— "Yo, you're gonna regret that!" — The guy screamed angrily.

— "You sure? Your Pokémon's out, you can't do anything." — (Y/N) replied simply. She was not scared at all. Whoever this guy was could not do much harm, not even if Zubat was conscious.

— "Your Pokémon will belong to Team Skull. You should remember that." — The guy said and ran off with his pokéball in hand.

"Team blahblah" (Y/N) thought. Whatever that was, it did not scare her in the slightest. She had trained hard and nearly became champion back in Galar. She had full trust in her Pokémon and their abilities so a Pokémon fight with some grunt was not good enough to take away her sleep at night.

(Y/N) decided to take a swim with Milotic so she went towards Umbreon and pet him before calling him back to his pokéball. She then turned towards Milotic.

— "Are you ready, girl?" — She said to her Pokémon, who cried happily signalling it was ready to go into the water.

(Y/N) went into the ocean and Milotic followed. They swam a distance away from the shore and then dived in to look at the wonders found under the sea. (Y/N) got on Milotic's back and let her Pokémon swim through the ocean to its heart's desire. They got to see a lot of Pokémon exclusive to Alola. (Y/N) didn't know any of their names but made a mental note to research about water types in Alola when she got back home.

They swam around for hours, periodically going back to the surface so (Y/N) could breathe. The water was warmer than in Galar, even with the cold weather. (Y/N) liked the warmth, it was relaxing.

Once they sky started turning a few shades darker and the stars started to shine, (Y/N) decided to swim back to shore. She got on Milotic's back and let her Pokémon take her back safely. The temperature started dropping and (Y/N) began to regret not bringing a change of clothes. Shaking her thoughts away she focused on the shoreline getting closer and closer and then realised there was someone sitting on a rock next to the water. She could not make out their face, until Milotic got closer and she realised it was Gladion. Was this a habit of his? After all, the first time she saw him, he was on the same beach staring at the water. When the sand was close enough that she could stand without drowning, she gestured for Milotic to stop and got down from its back. She called her Pokémon back to its pokéball and got out of the water to walk towards the figure staring into the ocean.

— "Hey there" — She said to Gladion but was met with silence. She didn't know if she should keep trying or leave him alone. Did he ignore her or simply not notice her presence? — "Gladion?" — She tried again, unsure as to what she would say if he decided to reply this time. She was once again greeted by a deafening silence. (Y/N) reached out to touch his shoulder and Gladion violently pulled back, scaring (Y/N) for the second time that day.

He turned to look at her. (Y/N) expected for him to calm down once he saw her, but he furrowed his brows and got up without saying anything. He started walking away.

— "Wait! Gladion" — (Y/N) didn't know what was wrong but felt worried for him. He did not care for this. Gladion continued to walk away without even turning back to meet her worried eyes. He slowly disappeared from (Y/N)'s view and she just stood there, wondering if she did something wrong.

A/N: Second update of the day! Please don't forget to comment and vote!