(Eclipse's PoV)
My eyes widen, and I take a step back instinctively. An arm is put protectively in front of me and pulls me behind- Gladion?! At the same time Braviary stands up, weakly but quickly, and moves to protect me as well. He holds a wing up, and the beam from the gem disperses quickly after hitting it. Brave lets out a screech in pain, immediately pulling his wing back to his side.
"Braviary!" I scream.
Gladion moves his arm, so I can move forward to Brave's side. I fall on my knees, tearing up at the sight of Brave's pained face. Everything else seems to have stopped, mainly the battle. My pokemon quickly come closer, worried, but they know to give us some space. This isn't exactly the first time one of my pokemon has been in this much pain. Banette, who floated over immediately after hearing Brave, curses to himself, taking all of the blame even though it's not his fault. He reverts out of his mega-evolution. Our friends run through the dust cloud, which is slowly dissipating, coughing and waving it out of their faces. Selene's Nihilego floats next to her, making panicked sounds. Braviary's wing droops slightly, and he turns, not letting me see it.
"Brave!" I shout. "Let me see it."
"Ary!" He shouts right back.
"I know you aren't weak, so you don't need to keep an injury from me!" I shout again.
Brave stays stubborn. I huff, giving up and sitting there in a sad puddle. Tears continue to pour down my face. Nihilego moves forward, making some sounds like a panicked apology. Gladion steps forward, his hair covering his face in shadows. His mouth is turned in an unemotional line, and he's looking down some.
He holds up a hand, shushing the pokemon. "I get it was an accident. I get that had to be an apology. But, I was already on edge before, and this didn't help." He lifts his head up, revealing his eyes.
They're pretty unemotional. I guess he's had practice making them that way. But, there's also something else... Fear maybe? ... Worry? Maybe I'm just seeing things.
He speaks again. "Selene, I request that you refrain from using Nihilego in battle against people I care about. It's just a temporary request, but not one you have to comply to."
Selene rubs her arm awkwardly, frowning slightly. Gladion turns to me, gently taking my hands and pulling me to my feet suddenly. I'm weak from my sadness; as a result, I tumble slightly, face planting into his chest.
"S-sorry..." I stutter meekly, pulling away.
He shakes his head slightly. "Magius, Banette, would you-" He starts, turning his head to look at them.
They nod, already knowing his request. They float Braviary, much to the bird's protest.
"Come on. We have a pokemon health center in the main building." Gladion says, taking my hand and leading towards the giant building.
Yena stands weakly, following along with the others. Our friends stand there, somewhat solemnly, watching us go. I stare at the ground as we walk, a few tears still trickling down my face.
I know Brave will be ok. He always turns out fine in the end. I don't understand why I'm crying really. I always cry if they get hurt like this... But, they're strong enough to pull through, so I just don't understand why...
"Apologies..." Gladion says suddenly.
I look up at him. "F-for what?" I question quietly.
"For my reaction..." He states, glancing off to the side, as he releases my hand to put both of his in his labcoat pockets. "Nurse Joy!" He shouts, as we enter a room that looks mainly like a poke-center.
As expected after hearing the name, a nurse with bright pink hair and light blue eyes emerges from a back room. She looks a bit different from the Hoenn Nurse Joy, but the same nonetheless.
"President Aether," She bows her head, then looks back up at him. "How can I help?"
"This is my friend Eclipse, from Hoenn. Her pokemon are all injured from battle, apart from her Mismagius. Her Braviary, in particular, injured his wing badly while protecting her from a misfire." Gladion explains.
"Oh my!" Joy reacts, holding the bottom of her face temporarily. "I'll see what I can do."
My pokemon follow her, some of them reluctant, to the back. Gladion sighs, sitting on a front and back bench in what I assume is the waiting area. Magius returns from the back, having not really battled and therefore not being injured.
"Magius mis." He says, earning a nod from me.
He floats out of the room.
"Where's he going?" Gladion questions.
"To get my backpack." I state, still quiet.
The blonds nods, before leaning on his arms in his lap. He stares down at his hands, going silent on me. I go and sit next to him on the same side of the bench, rubbing the tears from my eyes and taking a deep breath to calm down.
I continue the conversation from earlier. "Why should you apologize for your reaction? You weren't rude; you didn't yell."
"I felt rude..." He comments.
I notice his hands are shaking some. "So, I wasn't imagining things..." I mumble. "The ultra beasts really put you on edge, don't they?"
He doesn't respond. I frown, taking his shaky hands into my still sort of weak ones. He looks up at me, startled slightly.
My frown deepens, and I glare slightly. "Don't ever do that again." I say, suddenly harsh.
His face twists into confusion.
"If Braviary hadn't gotten up, then you would have gotten hit. What were you thinking?" I ask, raising my voice slightly.
He glares slightly in return now. "That I didn't invite my best friend to Alola, so she could get killed." He responds.
A pang of guilt shoots through me. I look down at our hands and run my thumbs across his knuckles.
"Am I interrupting something?" Selene's voice cuts through the silence.
My face catches fire, and I release Gladion's hands, crossing my arms and facing away from him. Gladion glances in the opposite direction from me, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His face is a light pink.
"Not really. Just us getting onto each other for almost dying." Gladion explains.
"Getting onto each other~?" Selene asks, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
"Not like that!" I shout. "What is it with you and thinking we're going to make out?" I half mumble.
Gladion shrugs. "She's that friend. She makes jokes towards Lillie and Elio all the time."
She chuckles, her smirk dropping to a small smile. "I'm sorry for earlier... Nihi is too..."
I look back down at the floor, my embarrassment dropping at the change in conversation.
"It was a great battle. Well, up until the last two rounds... It was really cool, the way your whole atmosphere changed. You went from calm and quiet to completely badass." She compliments.
But, I'm sort of off in my own world now. I'm listening, but I'm also worried about Brave. Well, worried is kind of an understatement.
Selene sighs. "You're lucky, Gladion. You get to be close friends with someone completely awesome. ... A-anyways, I told Hau I'd help him with some trial go-ers today. I'll see you guys around."
There are footsteps, signalling that she left the room. Gladion sighs.
"You're not mad at her, are you?" He asks.
"What? No~." I say, looking up at him. "She reminded me that Braviary is hurt..."
He pats me on the head and smiles slightly. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
I nod.
"In the meantime," He goes around to the other side of the bench and pulls my messy hair out from behind me. "I believe, I promised your 'dad' that I'd brush your hair."
My face boils with embarrassment, as Gladion runs the brush, that he confiscated earlier, through my hair. He doesn't yank it; he pulls gently, taking his time.
Kind of... lovingly... Agh! What am I talking about?! What the hell?! I barely know the guy! Well, actually, I know the guy, but I've hardly spent any time with him! I mean, I've spent time with him, but never face to face! Oh~! You know what I mean!
My face feels like I've stuck it in a volcano. Magius floats into the room, smirking upon seeing my red face and the cause. My blue backpack floats in behind him, getting set on the bench next to me.
"Magius." He thanks Gladion.
"Ah, young love." Nurse Joy comments, as she enters the room, my pokemon following behind her.
"Eh?! W-we aren't in love!" Me and Gladion both shout embarrassed.
The nurse simply giggles. "Anyways, all your pokemon are good to go. Though, Braviary injured his wing quite badly. Please keep him from using it for a while."
I nod, and she leaves the room. We sit there in silence for a while, while Gladion continues brushing my hair. My pokemon snicker amongst themselves. Braviary approaches me, his wing wrapped in a bandage.
"Hey buddy, how are you doing?" I ask.
"Bravi, viary." He says, holding his head high.
I sigh. "Don't get cocky now. And, I wouldn't be tooting my horn, if I were you. I mean, you aren't allowed to fly for a good while." I scold.
He huffs, annoyed now. I smirk a little in victory.
"What do you do with all this hair?" Gladion asks. "And, follow up question, how do you usually brush all of it?"
"Oh, well um, Banette usually brushes it for me, because a certain ghost type pulls too hard." I answer, glaring at Magius for a moment. "And, I don't know. Put it in a ponytail? Pretend it doesn't exist? Whatever." I shrug.
Gladion fluffs my hair before seeming to hide his face in it. My face boils, and I freeze in embarrassment.
"G-gladion! What are you doing?" I shout.
"It's soft." He says, muffled.
"S-so? Stop it. My pokemon are assholes. They'll start calling you my boyfriend, if you do crap like this." I explain flustered.
"Mightyena." My wolf pokemon comments, rolling his eyes.
"W-what do you mean, 'It's too late for that'?!" I shout.
I feel the warm air hit the back of my neck, as Gladion sighs in annoyed embarrassment, making my shoulders tense. He moves, leaning over the back of the seat next to me, so he can glare at Yena. His face is a bright pink. My pokemon all have a mischievous teasing atmosphere about them.
I cross my arms. "I-i'm not going to stand for this teasing. I am your trainer; you guys should be a bit more respectful."
"Nette nette." Banette muffled-ly comments, chuckling afterwards.
"I am well aware that I'm not standing, thank you!" I shout. "You know what?" I pull their poke-balls out of my bag, trapping each of them except Brave. "You all get a timeout."
"Braviary." The bird says, shaking his head before tapping the button on his poke-ball and getting pulled in.
I put them in my backpack before folding over my knees and sighing heavily.
"How do you put up with them?" Gladion questions, coming back around to the side of the bench I'm on and standing in front of me.
"They aren't usually this bad." I comment sitting up and leaning back.
He hands me the hairbrush, which I shove into my backpack. He takes my hands and pulls me up again. I gain my balance quickly this time and keep myself from falling into his chest again. I put my backpack over one shoulder.
"Alright, Mr. Aether, where to in Alola?" I ask.
He rolls his eyes. "Well, I'd give you a grand tour, but someone's afraid of heights." He teases.
"I can't help it~." I whine.
He chuckles, patting me on the head. "So, instead I'll show you around Ula'ula today. It's probably the coolest of the islands."
He turns, and I follow him out to the docks. He starts to talk to someone, and his Silvally runs up to me suddenly, holding a red pouch with a piece of paper sticking out of it.
I take the piece of paper, reading it outloud, as Gladion walks back over to me, looking over my shoulder. " 'Dear brother, I found Silvally scratching at your door, so I opened it for him. He came back out with the pouch your other pokemon are in. Then it dawned on me that you're a dumbass,' " Gladion sighs, as I continue. " 'and that you were planning to go on some adventure without your pokemon. So, I sent Silvally to where I assume you'll be at one point, the docks. You're a dumbass. Don't get yourself killed. -Lillie' " I finish.
Gladion takes the note, crumbling it, while frowning, before shoving it in his pocket. He takes the pouch from Silvally, moving his labcoat to clip it to the side of his belt.
"I'm going to kill her later." He grumbles. "Sil." He says simply, holding up a poke-ball.
The pokemon retreats into it with no arguments, and Gladion puts it away.
I frown. "My pokemon don't do that for me."
Gladion smiles a bit, giving a small laugh. "Come on." He says, heading towards a boat.
We get on, sitting down as it leaves the dock. I sigh as a silence falls.
"So, uh-" We both start, glancing away from each other.
We both awkwardly laugh, before looking at each other.
"You go ahead." Gladion says.
"Well, actually, I don't have any idea of what to talk about. I just didn't want there to be an awkward silence." I say awkwardly.
Gladion scratches the back of his neck, chuckling. "Yeah, I'm actually in the same boat." His eyes widen slightly in horror. "Arceus, I did not mean to make that joke. I am so sorry to put you through that."
I start laughing, my gut hurting.
His face! That joke! Arceus, we're so lame!
Gladion starts to laugh with me. I calm down enough to take it in.
His laugh is... Comforting... And... That smile... Arceus... I get why I melted when I first saw him. I mean, I barely processed it was him. But... Why am I melting right now?
"So, um..." I start, as we calm down. "I, uh, honestly didn't expect to hang out with you today."
He raises an eyebrow. "Why not? It's a weekend."
"I just thought that, because you had to work last Sunday." I explain.
He scratches his neck awkwardly. "Well, I had kinda put off a lot of work, so I had a lot to do."
I shake my head. "You're such a slacker."
A silence settles again, before we both interrupt it again. "You know-"
"Oh, uh..."
"Again? Heh..."
"You go ahead."
"No, it's fine. You can speak."
I chuckle some, glancing in one direction; Gladion glances in the other direction. I wait for a bit, pressing my lips together in a thin line.
"You know, I thought we'd have so much to talk about when we met in pearson." I say after a while.
He nods. "Me too, but... I mean, I guess it's not that surprising. We've pretty much told eachother everything."
I nod.
"So, what about the past few weeks?" We both ask awkwardly. "Oh, uh-" We both say, looking at each other surprised.
After some silence, I decide to answer. "Well, when I disappeared on you... I just sort of... Broke down..." I fiddle with my hands, looking down at them in my lap. "The funeral was... confusing... I only knew two people there, and not that well... There were lots of flowers... But, I didn't water them...I felt too weak to... I watched them all slowly die around me the first week... The second week, I cried and slept a lot... And, last week I tied up loose ends to come here..."
"And, I... Put off work for the first two weeks... I literally felt sick..." Gladion says suddenly and gently. "Guess... I kind of felt... I don't know. Useless?"
I look at him, sad and confused. He's looking at me sort of sadly.
"Guess I just wanted to be there for you. Silly, right?" He asks, smiling ever so slightly and leaning back with a hand on the back of his neck.
I wrap my arms around his torso suddenly, hugging him. "Maybe, but it means a lot to me." I mumble, almost incoherently.