Pokémon Oneshots

[o25] - Gladion x Reader

[ Eloping, Urgently ]
requested by Teamskull_Rules

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Sometimes you found yourself questioning the power that love truly held. In your case, it had driven you to go too far for the person you harbored romantic feelings for, to the point that it likely wouldn't be considered normal affection by other people anymore. Then again, you never actively allowed outsiders' opinions to influence your behavior in the first place.

The Æther Foundation was known for its righteous acts not only all over Alola, but in various regions across the globe. Its employees devoted their professional lives to giving abandoned or abused Pokémon new homes and all the care they lacked or were never given. But that was all just on the surface, propaganda, the image Lusamine wanted to project to the general public.

In truth, the woman was horrifyingly ruthless. She was, but her nature had always been kept under covers. Most of the Æther Foundation personnel probably didn't know the true colors of the blonde. Sometimes you wondered whether Faba and Wicke were aware of them and simply disregarded them, following her twisted principles nonetheless.

You had been one of the many oblivious lower-rank employees as well for the longest time, until the harshness of reality came crashing down on you on a fateful day.

Not having had the necessary qualifications to enroll in the local Pokémon Ranger Academy, you chose to remain on a similar path that involved saving and helping pocket monsters, so you filed an application with the Æther Paradise instead. At the time, you had been proud to announce to your friends and family that you had been accepted, but now your only wish was to get out of this mental facility.

Although it was hard to claim at the moment, your time with the firm hadn't only brought you unhappiness. There was a young man who you had met during your stay on the artificial island, one that had grown onto you more than you liked to admit. Gladion, in fact, happened to be the eldest son of the organization's chairwoman, the young master in title only as Lusamine had no intention of handing over her business to someone of such righteous nature.

Both him and his little sister Lillie were very attached to their mother and consequentially lodged at the Æther Paradise more often than not. You later found out that they had lost their father to an Ultra Beast when they were both very little, which in turn made you think that maybe they were expressing their regrets of not spending enough time with him by doing everything and anything for their mother instead. You understood their feelings wholeheartedly; it must have been so difficult and heartbreaking at their age.

Although he was a bit reserved, Gladion fancied interacting with the entirety of the Æther personnel and was very talkative once he got out of his shell a little. There was a considerable lack of younger people who were members of the staff, so with the two of you coincidentally being around the same age, you hit it off swimmingly.

At least, you had been fairly certain in the past that what the two of you shared was simply a somewhat deeper friendship.

But romanticism began getting involved quite early on. Thinking back to it now, the countless times you had sneaked away and slacked off during your work hours just to go play catch with Gladion and a few Pokémon weren't things you would have done for just anyone.

There had also been occurrences which suggested that your slight infatuation might not have been all that one-sided. Taking the canteen meals that staff was granted for example: They were by no means unpleasant, but still quite bland, as stereotypes often suggested it. That was where Gladion's first acts of rebellion surfaced in the form of him sharing his classy nutriments with you in secret.