When We Were Younger. |Gladion X Moon|Pokemon Romance Novel|

-18-

The bells on the door jingle as I enter the lobby. Hau, Lillie, and Gordon look up at me briefly, before returning to their conversation. Rosie grabs a cup from the buffet and pours me some coffee.

I hear a loud pew coming from above me.

"Lillie!" I whisper loudly, pointing towards the ceiling.

"Nebby..." Lillie moans, half yawning.

"What a strange, beautiful creature!" Rosie says cheerfully, she seems to be the only one of us who is well rested.

Nebby makes a poopy face at Lillie and begins floating around Rosie, pewing joyfully.

"Get back in the...whatever." Lillie groans.

Gordon chuckles at Lillie, he watches curiously as Nebby drifts around the room.

"So, do you think you're getting close to figuring out where your little buddy came from?" Gordon asks Lillie.

"Well, my friend Acerola is going to bring me to The Ruins of Abundance today. Maybe, we will find some answers there," Lillie replies, mindlessly stirring her coffee with a spoon.

"Wanna come with us?" she asks me halfheartedly, "No pressure! Honestly, I'm dreading it."

"I think I'll hang back and do some more training if you don't mind. I've been there already and it's as crappy there as you would expect it to be. Bring goggles," I answer, honestly.

Hau and Lillie moan at my remark, everyone seems to be in a cranky mood, except Gordon and Rosie.

The long string of bells jingle on the door behind me. Lillie and Hau weakly wave at the person who entered. I can't summon the energy to turn around, but I assume it's Acerola.

The girl pulls up the chair next to me, I can smell incense wafting from her fluffy, greyish-purple hair.

She straightens her strange, tattered dress before turning to me.

"You must be Moon! Lillie has told me all about you," she says in a sweet, quiet voice. Her stunning, violet eyes shimmer with interest.

"Yup! That's me. It's nice to finally meet you, we will have to get to know each other one of these days. I'm so glad Lillie has a friend who can help her with Nebby," I reply, trying my hardest not to sound crabby. I really don't want to give her the wrong impression.

"Not coming with us today?" she asks, pulling out a container of Mimikyu cookies from her bag.

"No, scorching heat and sand really isn't my cup of tea. Plus, I'm trying to get some training in before I do my Island Trials."

"Well, that's a smart idea! The trials are much harder on this island," she shoots back, grinning a bit.

"I look forward to your challenge!" I say, winking as I gather my things to leave.

I wait out on the deck by myself for several minutes, thinking. Part of me feels selfish for skipping out on Lillie and Hau.

Perhaps, I'm a bit jealous of their relationship, even though I don't want to believe that. My frustration with Gladion has been building lately. I know he cares for me, but the situation is less than desirable.

Sometimes, I feel as though I know nothing about him. The stress of this beautiful mess eats away at me more than I'd like to admit.

Charizard's shadow dances across the parking lot as it circles down from the sky. I fasten the chest clips on my backpack and mount the creatures warm, scaly back. I dig my heels into poor Charizard's sides a little harder than I should.