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Later, Gladion would be hard pressed to say exactly what caused his epiphany. There would be nothing he could point to and say “that’s it”. Nothing that had not already been done dozens of times before: a regular day at Aether with Lillie and Hau cheering them on as they had a battle. At that moment, though, it was as if she had written it on her face.
For Arceus’s sale, it was just a smile .
Even when he had considered her his enemy, facing her across the battlefield, that same smile had graced her face. It appeared even brighter now that she was a friend. There should have been nothing special in seeing it. And yet ...
It was as if he’d never seen her before. Gladion watched as she praised her Decidueye as Lucario finally fell, unable to continue against the onslaught of Leaf Blades he’d been subjected to.
He’d have been tempted to say he had finally lost it, that it was his imagination, but it made sense. Little things, things he had always dismissed as coincidence or quirks, were suddenly cast in a different light.
The way she always seemed so happy to see him. The sheer joy she displayed when they battled. How she always tried to include him in her activities or joined him when he invited her. The way she kept showing up on his doorstep, back when he’d been a runaway living in that motel room, despite being told time and time away to go away.
The fact that she seemed to take extra care when speaking to or near him, going so far as to speaking normally to her team instead of her normal chirps and thrills, something she apparently never did with others.
He had to know.
He waited until she had mounted Charizard, apologies for having to leave having been waived away. They knew she tried her best but her duties as Champion would sometimes make her have to cut their outings short. As it was, she would barely make it back to the League in time with Charizard flying like Giratina was after him.
It would have normally signalled the end of his involvement as well, leaving Lillie and Hau to entertain themselves. Now though, he waited.
Once he saw them fly away from Aether, Gladion rounded on his companions. Hau was giving Lillie a rather enthusiastic play-by-play retelling of the battle, as if she hadn’t seen it, while Lillie busied herself with healing Lucario. The rest of his team lounged around them, having already been taken care of.
“And did you see when-”
“I think Moon has a crush me.”
The deafening silence that met his statement lasted for all of five seconds. Lycanroc tried to smother his snickering as Lucario facepalmed. Zoroark didn't even bother hiding it, falling on his back as he laughed.
Silvally and Umbreon simply gave him a look that seemed to say “there’s no way you’re that stupid.” Which Lillie, Hau and their teams seemed to be mirroring. Honestly, it was a little insulting. Even Crobat, who’d spent most of the day sleeping, managed to rouse himself enough to chirp that yes, his master was an oblivious idiot.
He could feel himself start turning red.
“You- you all knew?! Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Dude, it's not like she's tried to hide it,'' Hau said sheepishly. “We ahh… we all kinda thought you just didn't wanna tell her. Ya know, that you weren't interested.”
He nearly facepalmed himself when he saw all the Pokemon nodding in agreement. Well, fuck.
***
One week later
‘For the millionth time, it's not going to explode.’
He knew that. Still, Gladion couldn’t resist laying a hand on his backpack, sure that it was about to burst into flames. Or explode. Or do something to draw attention to the little white box he had tucked away inside.
“You ok?”
Or he could just tattoo “I’m hiding something” on his face to get it over with. He never had been good at keeping secrets.
Forcing himself not to react, he turned his focus back to the others as Lillie and Hau debated their next move. A quick look at the board told him they probably shouldn't bother.
If it weren't for the fact that Lillie was his sister, he'd have been tempted to tell them that they were going to lose no matter what they did. Granted, he wasn't really sure they weren't losing on purpose; no one could possibly be that bad at Pokemon Duel. At least, he really hoped not.
“'Dion?”
Right, he still hadn't answered. Moon was starting to look rather worried. And to top it off, he was starting to blush. Great.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hau make his move on the Duel board. Gladion managed to stammer out a quick “fine” as he panicked and reached over to make a move. Only to stop when Moon grabbed his wrist.
After what felt like an eternity, nervous green met concerned blue. For a moment, he felt like he was drowning. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think. As if from miles away, he heard a voice reassuring her. Surely it wasn't him. It couldn't be. Did it sound as fake to her as it did to him?
Apparently so.
“Ok.” Moon murmured, a flash of something racing across her face. Concern faded into something more guarded as the grip on his wrist slackened before reluctantly retreating to move one of their tokens, winning the game.
Was he imagining it, or did the spot feel oddly… colder? Lonely? He only had a few seconds to ponder the sensation; a soft thump behind him announced Charizards’ arrival. Moon rose to leave.
“Moon, w-wait.”
Her piercing eyes studied him for a moment before settling on the box he’d thrust into her hands. Curiosity replaced the carefully blank expression as it opened to reveal… a Love Ball. Across the table, Lillie let out a small gasp.
The tiny click the pokeball made as it opened sounded unnaturally loud. Familiar music began playing as the top half was raised; the happy upbeat music they had played when celebrating Moon’s newfound Championship had seemed an oddly appropriate choice. As had the picture he’d requested be put inside: the one Rotomdex had taken of them and their Pokemon when they had defeated Champions Red and Blue at the Battle Tree. The music cut off moments later as Moon lowered the top part of the ‘ball.
No reaction. She didn’t even look at him, eyes seemingly glued to the bright pink design.
Gladion swore his heart seemed to be trying to beat out of his chest. He started to break out in a nervous sweat as his face burned. Why wasn't she answering? What was she thinking? Did she like it? Hate it?
Heck, did she even know what it meant? He was sure that Lillie had mentioned the tradition, granted that had been with the Friend Balls they had exchanged months ago. Had she only explained the meaning for those, or all the different Poke Balls?
Just as Gladion was sure that he was going to have either a heart attack or a nervous breakdown, he found himself wrapped up in a warm embrace. Her arms squeezed a little tighter as Gladion hugged her back.
“Moon, what’s going on? We have to go NOW or you’re going to be late.” Rotoms’ slightly muffled voice grew louder as it managed to struggle its way out of Moons’ bag.
And just like that, the moment is gone.
“Can stay, if you want…?” Those words, spoken so softly he almost missed them, were said with such want he wished he could have said yes. But he couldn't. And they both knew that. They slowly broke apart.
Gladion had to restrain himself from simply grabbing Rotomdex and chucking it across the courtyard; despite everything, Moon was rather fond of the ‘Dex and probably wouldn't like it coming to harm. Lillie wasn’t, glaring at it with a look that promised bloody murder in the near future. Or in this case, component-shattering damage.
Moon let out an exasperated huff, but allowed herself to be quietly maneuvered towards her patient Charizard by the oblivious Ghost-type. Gladion accompanied her, closely followed by Lillie and Hau. They crowded around her, goodbyes and well wishes given between hugs. When it was his turn to say goodbye, she lingered.
As she drew away, he swore the imprint of her kiss had been seared onto his cheek.