Unity

Chapter 8

"Are you okay Hop?" She asked him in a sweet voice.

A shiver went down the tall boy's neck when she said his name out loud. Hop's lips curled up in a smile. With a nod he stood up straight. He slapped his cheeks softly and took a deep breath. Gloria took back her hand and started to wander around the room. She stood still in the middle and stared at the large scroll with a wave painted on it that was hanging at one of the walls. She turned her head towards Hop and started to smile sweetly at him. He walked up the scroll too and came to a halt next to her, tilting his head in curiosity.

"Ain't this the scroll which made Kubfoo evolve into Urshifu?" He asked her just to be sure.

"Yep!" Gloria responded with a proud, puffed out chest.

She had been the first trainer to complete Master Mustard's training at the Dojo. As a reward she received the legendary Pokémon Kubfoo. After creating a strong bond with Kubfoo she had to climb this tower, defeating each trainer on each floor with just Kubfoo! She did it with ease and eventually evolved Kubfoo into Urshifu. Now Urshifu was one if her strongest Pokémon! She kept him in her box at the moment, but she often took him along to a battle or camping for fun!

"Ah, let's check out those boxes mate!"  Hop said as he pointed towards a couple of boxes standing around in the corner, behind the staircase.

They both walked over to the cramped up space. There was a large cloth lying on top of them, the whole cloth was covered with dust except for one spot. Gloria and Hop shared a glance with each other before the purple haired boy carefully removed the cloth. Gloria covered up her eyes for the dust that was flying around them. Three of the four boxes were open and empty, nothing but dust was to be seen! Hop removed the lid of the final box. He grabbed it tightly and nearly tripped again! He put too much force into opening the lid, making him lose his balance once again. Gloria giggled at his clumsiness and gave his shoulder a soft yet playful push. She dived with her arm into the box to grab the scrolls that were laying at the bottom. She walked over the the middle of the room again with the scrolls in her arms. The brown haired girl gently placed the scrolls on the ground. Hop spread them out for her, there were three scrolls in total. The two rivals sat down on their knees to get a closer look.

"So, how 'bout the first one?" Hop asked at her with a flick of curiosity in his eyes.

"It's a painting of Kubfu! So cute!" She chuckled in response. "The last one?"

Hop shook his head. "Also a painting of Kubfoo."

They both moved over to the scroll in the middle. The flanks of their bodies were pressed together, both bended over to read the text that was written on the large piece of cloth. Their fingers accidentally touched. Gloria and Hop looked at each other in surprise, to find out that their faces were only millimeters apart from touching each other. They froze in this position. Hop could feel his face slowly burn up from how close he was sitting next to her. His nose was almost touching her forehead, and if he moved just a little bit her nose would be able to touch his lips. Her warm yet sweet breath was tickling his chin. Hop glanced down to look into Gloria's big brown eyes. Her cheeks were flushing red, did she perhaps feel the same as he did? A sudden rush of impulse overthrew Hop. He let go of the ancient scroll and grabbed both of his rivals hands, his fingers were intertwining with hers. He moved in closer to Gloria and pushed her down to the wooden floor. Their hands were above Gloria's head now as she was laying defenseless on the floor with Hop hovering above her. The weak lights of the lanterns hanging above them gave her chestnut colored eyes a soft red glow. Her hair was shining healthily and her face seemed to glow.

"You look stunning..." Hop whispered out loud.

Gloria stared at him with big eyes. She was staring at him with a speechless gaze, not knowing what to do or say to him. She didn't dislike what was happening now, neither did Hop. The brown haired girl could feel him breathing nervously. The strange tension had taken over their bodies, so it seemed.