[ 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.
When it came to breaking Æther Foundation regulations, you had gone as far as infiltrating Lillie's private quarters at night, where you and the two blonde siblings would hold pajama parties from time to time. Silent ones, since no one wanted to face the wrath of Wicke, had she ever caught you in the act.
There had been far too many opportunities that could have driven you to confess your concealed feelings to the young master, but you always ended up lacking the courage for the last step. It was one of the few things you still regretted to this very day.
Although you and Gladion may not have been the most obedient teens, you had never overstepped certain boundaries. Like entering the underground floor, for example. But a certain incident fed your curiosity like fuel would fire which in turn drove the two of you to cross a point of no return.
It was supposed to be a regular day of you and the blond male escaping from your duties to bask in the joy of regular life when suddenly most of the Æther personnel began leaving their assigned posts. You had initially ignored the ruckus, figuring something unexpected had happened on one of the four main islands. But the instant you noticed that nobody was leaving the Æther Paradise, it had become nearly impossible to turn a blind eye to the situation.
Neither Lusamine, Wicke nor Faba were anywhere to be seen as the chaos unfolded, so you had no possibility of investigating the occurrence by asking the big three directly. Without thinking too deeply about the matter, you and Gladion collectively decided to trail behind the next member of staff that would pass by you.
Which you ended up doing, until you encountered the first dead end: the elevator in the main hall on the first floor.
Everyone seemed to be heading to the bottom-most floor, one that was generally unavailable to grunts. They seemed to have been given a specific, four-digit code that they needed to type in upon sliding their badge over the scanner.
Once there was no one to spot you mounting the platform, you cleared the first step of what could have been labelled your top secret operation. The tricky part was figuring out the numbers that were meant to be inputted afterwards, seeing as neither of you could have possibly caught even a glimpse of the combination from your prior spot.
After what seemed like an eternity of trial and error, the small screen flashed green before the elevator led you to a place that you didn't even know existed.
You had no idea that there was still so much space beneath the docks on B1F, seeing as you had always assumed that the island had been constructed using only the minimal amount of resources as to spare the environment. The corridors of the second basement floor gave off an intimidating aura, what with them being lit by a small amount of ominous-looking led lamps that flickered from time to time.
"Should we head back? I doubt your mother will be happy if she catches us sneaking around like this..." You would have been lying if you said that your words weren't just an excuse to mask your getting cold feet. Not necessarily because you feared the chairwoman's reaction, but rather because this basement was making your stomach twist and turn.
"Let's not. I don't know why, but I don't have a good feeling about this." Gladion retorted, a deep sense of worry mixed in his nervous tone. He may have been the man among the two of you, but even he wasn't as brave as to venture these dark floors by himself. So you swallowed your anxiousness and followed the blond's steps, almost sticking to his back.
The two of you flinched visibly when a shrill sound of a roar echoed across the corridors, you instinctively grabbing hold of the hem of his shirt. That seemed a lot like the cry of a Pokémon, more specifically one that was in pain.
With his own heart racing miles per hour, Gladion shook off your hand, only to envelope it in his own. His fingers interlocking with yours was supposed to be a gesture of safety, both for you and himself.
The two of you approached the root of the recurring roars until a door to a seemingly spacious room loomed before you. To your dismay, it hadn't been closed properly by the last staff member who had hurried inside, so the noises that originated from its interior weren't filtered. It was almost painful to simply listen to them, let alone see what was going on.
Gladion bravely expanded the gap just enough for the two of you to gain a visual, only for it to force your eyes to widen. You were just in time to cover your mouth with your free hand in order to prevent what could have been a very audible gasp from escaping your throat.
Unlike in the rest of the second basement floor, the white lights in this chamber were blinding, even when seen from the outside. The Æther personnel that you had seen rushing down here from the entrance was encircling a creature that neither of you had ever laid eyes upon before. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, had only that been the case, but they were restraining it. Forcefully by electrocuting it multiple times with devices or even with attacks of their own Pokémon.
Despite the creature's endless pleas and cries of agony, none of them were showing signs of remorse or halting their torturous actions. And the Cheri berry on top was that Lusamine was watching the whole scene unfold from the front rows, Faba whispering something to her.
Gladion was just as frozen in place as you were, if not more, but neither of you could risk getting spotted here — especially not after witnessing what had gone down in that room.
You took it upon yourself to pull the young master away from the scene, running towards the elevator as quickly as you could whilst making as little noise as possible. Getting back to the surface didn't require you to input any particular codes, but the relief was short-lived as you were caught red-handed the instant you stepped off of the elevator.
You didn't know whether you were supposed to be comforted or even more on edge once you recognized the witness to be none other than Lillie.
Even weeks later, no one had learned of your traumatic trip to the basement, nor of the additional visits you paid it after the incident. Ever since learning that the Æther Foundation was secretly mistreating a Pokémon, you could no longer sleep soundly at night. Neither could Gladion for that matter, which was why you descended to the underground floor numerous more times to ascertain whether or not that day had only been a nightmare. Unfortunately, that was far from the case.
Aside from that chimeric creature you had seen the first time, there was a different chamber holding a cloud-like Pokémon captive and another room containing by far the most gruesome display you had ever come across:
It was a strictly confidential area that reminded you of a small museum, but instead of hosting beautiful antiquities, the items that were showcased were big icicles — or in other words, ice statues of Pokémon that had most likely been frozen alive and now no longer had a pulse.
The fact that the Æther Foundation, who was supposed to encourage the well-being of Pokémon, was experimenting on them like this made you sick to the stomach. You came to the conclusion that if no one was going to take action, then you would have to be the real rebel this time.
Gladion was the first who told you that he would support your act of retaliation, and even Lillie — whom you ended up disclosing the secret to as an equivalent exchange for her silence in regards to that first incident — agreed to lend you a hand.
And so, the three of you devised a plan to escape this artificial island along with the two pocket monsters that were being abused. Had it been under more peaceful circumstances, you would have even joked about it and labelled it as eloping whilst taking Lillie along.
Of course, almost nothing had gone according to that plan, ultimately leading to your being caught in the midst of the act.
The instant that Faba had noticed that something was amiss with your and the two siblings' coordinated movements and behavior, he had told his direct subordinates to keep an eye on each of you. You couldn't afford that kind of supervision under any state of affairs though, seeing as you had successfully managed to sneak both Type:Null and Cosmog out of the underground laboratories without alerting anyone, and had no choice but to make a run for the docks.
That was the suspicious reaction the Æther personnel had been waiting for, as it granted them permission to seize you.
It had been a spontaneous decision on your end, one whose consequences you hadn't thought through properly at that time and yet you were willing to risk it all for the two siblings' safety.
In the midst of the chaos you told Lillie and Gladion that they should run ahead and leave the artificial island on a speedboat without you, adding that you would join them on a second one right afterwards. Being as naïve and innocent as she was, Lillie bought your lie without second-guesses, though Gladion was having none of it. He knew exactly that the two of them would be the only ones making it to one of the four mainlands safely. Or at all, even.
You insisted until the bitter end though, saying that someone had to take the two rare species of Pokémon to a safe place, and that all of your efforts would have been for naught, should the both of you be stopped here.
There was no time left for arguing about the urgent matter, seeing as the Æther Foundation staff had almost caught up to your positions. You weren't planning on going down without a proper fight, but you still threw your arms around Gladion's neck, holding him tight in case you would never see him again. "I'll meet you on Ula'ula."
Unfortunately, you couldn't exactly present a proper fight to Lusamine's lackeys as you didn't have your own Pokémon yet, so restraining you wasn't that challenging of a feat for them. Thankfully, both Gladion and Lillie were long gone by the time your arms were secured firmly behind your back as you were brought to your knees.
As though getting stared down like a piece of dirt on their spotless pavement through lime-green goggles by Faba wasn't humiliating enough, the chairwoman herself decided to curse you with her intimidating presence. Intimidating was a clear understatement — if looks could kill, then it would have only taken an instant for her icy glare to slay you.
"Oh, my dear [Name]... I hope you're ready to be the replacement for the test subjects that you helped get away."
That incident was the reason behind your currently being confined in a cell like a prisoner, stripped of your capabilities to move or eat freely.
You had lost track of time, not having the slightest clue of how many days, weeks even, had passed. Your notably thinner body could tell that it had been too long for comfort and the soreness of your back only proved that you were in desperate need for a more comfortable accommodation.
The room you were being kept in was located on the second basement floor, as one would expect, and consequentially barely heated, so aside from low temperatures, you hadn't been exposed to anything drastic despite Lusamine's threats. Unlike most other chambers, the door of yours consisted of metallic bars that at least granted you vision beyond its interior. Though your vision generally included an Æther Foundation employee that had been stationed here as a guard, and them only.
Speaking of supervisors, it was time for the current one's shift change, so your attention was grabbed by the momentary rustling outside. You peeked between the bars, only to be met by the same sight as always: a member of personnel, dressed in white from head to toe. Æther Foundation staff that descended to the laboratories frequently even wore full-face helmets, their golden visors making it impossible to identify them. Not that their names or faces even mattered anymore, they were all traitors in your eyes.
Other than the new guard putting down a bag of a questionably large size, there was nothing out of the ordinary, which was why you decided to go back to minding your own business. The Æther Foundation employee didn't seem like they intended to let you do as you pleased though, given the fact that you soon heard the sounds of a key unlocking your cell's door.
Reflexively, you shot your eyes in their direction, not following at all. Had they come to pick you up and finally lead you to the demise that Lusamine had orchestrated for you in advance? Those bars had not been lifted once since the day you were thrown into this cell, so this could definitely be a rare chance to escape. Not that your weakened feet could even carry you far — you could also imagine Wicke having sharpened the security systems.
Instead of pulling you out of the room, the guard invited themselves inside, perplexing you even more. You couldn't afford getting lost in thought though, because they were approaching you swiftly and you didn't know what to brace yourself for.
With a wall hindering you from stepping back any further, you soon found yourself in the strong embrace of this person, causing your blood to run cold, just to boil once realization struck you.
So because you were considered as the Æther Foundation's prisoner and new guinea pig, this guy thought he could slack off on duty and have his way with you? You begged to differ.
"You think you're so slick, huh? Get your nasty hands off of me!" Your voice came out a tad hoarse since you hadn't spoken in so long, and you were soon forced to notice that you had lost a great amount of strength over the past weeks along with your overall weight as you struggled to free yourself from the pervert's grip.
"Wait, don't raise your voice, someone's gonna hear." The young man whisper-yelled, causing you to furrow your eyes at his comment — so you were right about his intentions. He lessened his hold on you, likely in attempt to calm you down a tad, though his hands still secured your shoulders. The adrenaline prevented you from recognizing the person's voice as one belonging to someone you knew.
"I said, let go of me!" You persevered, trying hard to shake him off but failing miserably when it actually came down to a duel of brute strength. Your slightly raised voice must have flustered the guard because he was swift to cover your mouth with his clothed hand.
The instant you were pressed against the wall behind you was the trigger for you to genuinely panic, your heart kicking into overdrive. If you weren't going to do anything now, you didn't want to imagine what would happen to you and how long it would take for someone to notice. Overridden by nervousness, you sank your teeth into the male's gloves, drawing a groan of pain out of him.
Would anyone even come to your aid if you screamed for help? You would rather find out as you tried instead of getting molested in a smelly lab room. You inhaled as much as your weakened lungs allowed you to, but just as you were about to yell, your mouth had been covered again, though not by hands this time.
It was a pair of soft lips that crashed against your own, swallowing all sounds of urgency that had been supposed to roll off of them.
The individual had lifted his visor, revealing a cute, unmistakable fringe that reminded you so much of a bundle of Nanab berries. His eyes were closed in that moment, but you knew that an emerald glow would meet your shocked gaze as soon as he were to open them again.
The abrupt kiss soon came to a close, Gladion distancing his face from yours slowly. He was unexpectedly hesitant when it came to looking you in the eyes again, but the moment you leaped into his arms, all of his worries evaporated and relief washed over him. "Gladion, what are you doing here?!"
"Nothing much. I just came back to get something precious that obviously doesn't belong here or anywhere near my mother." The blonde obviously intended to play it off smugly, but his genuine smile betrayed his attitude. "I'm so glad that you're all right. Or well, mostly."
"Coming down here was way too risky of you! And where did you even get the key from?" The adrenaline had subsided by then, making space for your usual worry-wart nature. Gladion almost visibly flinched at the sound of your voice cracking as a result of not having spoken in so long, and he couldn't take his eyes off of your skinny figure. But getting you off of the Æther Paradise was his topmost priority.
"I can fill you in on all the details on our way home. I have to ask you to change into these for a short while." Skillfully dodging your question as usual, Gladion went to grab the spacious bag that you had taken notice of earlier and pulled out a uniform you were most familiar with: it was the same as his disguise, full-face helmet and visor included.
You never thought that slipping out of the laboratories could have been this easy when provided with the necessary equipment. Although you had briefly lectured him about it, Gladion had returned to this island fully prepared with a back-up plan, should his first option lead to failure.
Watching the artificial island disappearing into the distance as you sat in the motorboat that your savior had organized in advance felt so unrealistic. The salty breeze was such a refreshing change of pace from the suffocating air that was permanently stained by chemicals and the sunlight felt so rejuvenating to the skin.
Before you knew it, you had docked at the port in Malie City on Ula'ula island, where it was finally safe to change out of those despicable Æther Foundation get-ups.
"There's been so many things going on at the same time, I haven't had the time to look for motels. I'm staying at a gang's hideout at the moment..." Gladion had purposefully sugar-coated his words, knowing that you wouldn't be fond of them. At one point, he wasn't even sure of where to take this conversation anymore, so you intervened. "A gang? You mean Team Skull, don't you?"
You took his silence and faint nod as a yes and heaved a sigh. In all honesty, anything seemed better than Lusamine's jurisdiction and you weren't about to accept the blonde's proposal of letting you stay at a fancy hotel on your own overnight. Especially not after being apart for so long.
"Have you learned to cook without Wicke's help, young master? And for the record, chopping carrots doesn't count." With a playful grin plastered across your face, you waited for the young man's normally bashful retort. It came, as expected, with a bold red color painting his cheeks. "Naturally. I wasn't that bad at it to begin with."
"So you won't mind cooking up something for me? I've missed eating your self-made salads."
* * *
After getting teased for bringing "home" a girl so soon by his fellow teammates, Gladion discreetly excused himself to his private quarters. He had told you to get comfortable — or as comfortable as you could get in an abandoned villa in the outskirts of Po Town.
Gladion had always been on the gentlemanly side, but it was still slightly odd to see him act so generously, especially after having witnessed his persona with the Team Skull grunts. The blonde had given you some of his clean clothes to change into for the moment and told you to stay in the room if you didn't feel at ease with the others downstairs yet, seeing as Plumeria had given him permission to use the kitchen.
You accepted his offer gratefully and laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and contemplating deep questions. It was still hard to grasp that you were safe now, out of Lusamine's reach. But what had you worked so hard for this entire time? The Æther Foundation was far from a safe haven for Pokémon — actually, it was more like the root of all abuse.
The sound of the door opening and closing again was what brought you back to the present. Your gaze soon rested lovingly on Gladion's figure as a delicious smell of a freshly made, warm meal invaded the room. He took a seat next to you and joined you in eating, albeit barely.
The chamber fell silent and once the adrenaline was entirely out of your systems, you couldn't help but grow conscious of the blonde's presence. All things considered, Gladion had still kissed you back at the Æther Paradise, despite the fact that he had done so to silence you in the quickest, most harmless way. Physically harmless way at least.
It was true that there had always been quite a mutual yet unofficial bond between the two of you, but neither of you had ever voiced your feelings to the other. It had unmistakably been an action taken in the heat of the moment, but one part of yourself was still desperate for some sort of confirmation. "Say, Gladion, about what happened at the laboratories—"
"Oh yeah I wanted to apologize about... that. I couldn't exactly risk you getting any unwanted attention, but it still wasn't really OK for me to force that onto you... I won't do it again." The young man was quick to interject, averting his gaze once you settled your eyes on his troubled expression. You had expected a response along those lines, and despite that, you felt your heart sink just a little. "I'm sorry if it was unpleasant."
"I-I didn't find it unpleasant! I mean, I wouldn't even know properly, it was really short..." You waved your hands frantically in a dismissive manner the instant you felt that Gladion was starting to blame himself for something he wasn't at fault for. It was only after you had blurted all of that out that you realized how silly you sounded and decided to make a run for it with playfulness. "You really caught me off-guard. I didn't remember you being so aggressive."
"Ha ha, keep poking fun at me and you'll see when I actually get aggressive. I won't give you special treatment just because you're special to me." The blonde pouted almost childishly, a furrowed brow accentuating his expression. Your smile was soon wiped away momentarily when a sudden thought decided to resurface in your mind. "On another note, how is Type: Null? And Lillie, where is she?"
"I had Lillie stay with a professor called Kukui on Mele'mele island — I think you can imagine her fainting if I'd taken her here with me." The both of you chuckled at that thought, knowing full well about the girl's reserved nature. An environment full of "brutes" like those who were affiliated with Team Skull would probably be a bit too much for her. "I've been taking care of Type: Null. It'll take some time until it starts trusting me, but I have faith."
"More than anything, you had me so worried. I never should have left you there alone in the first place." His eyebrows folded into a frown, a hateful glow emanating from his green eyes at the mere memory of his mother and her subordinates. "I knew you would have acted as the decoy and never rendezvoused with us, but I'm indescribably thankful for what you did for Lillie and me."
"Still, please don't ever put yourself in danger like that again, especially if it's for someone else's sake." His expression finally softened when he placed his warm hand gently on top of yours, squeezing it faintly as a gesture of reassurance.
"I didn't do that for just anyone, I did that for you." Wanting to make yourself clear and rid the situation of any possible misunderstandings, you flipped your hand beneath his and slipped your fingers into the spaces between his.
"You say some really straightforward things. Then again, it's better than being all secretive. It's one of the things I like so much about you." Baffled by your directness, Gladion gave up on whatever battle he had been having with himself and let his body drop against yours, resting his forehead against your own. You giggled and brought your hand up to his face, caressing it affectionately. "Says you."
"On second thought, please let me do that again." He may have avoided phrasing it directly, but the bright red color of his cheeks was more than enough to give him away. The blonde's nervousness was almost enough to infect you too, but you couldn't pass up this rare opportunity and persevered with the teasing. "Do what exactly, young master?"
"Didn't I tell you to quit making fun of me? All right, I'll just do as I please then." As if to prove himself, he gave your hand another firm squeeze before lowering his face to yours, reintroducing his lips to your own.
The kiss was much slower, much gentler and void of uncomfortable desperateness — it allowed you to relish this long-awaited sensation to the fullest. Both of you were supposed to be inexperienced in this field, and yet your movements were just right, completing one another.
Indeed, how far were you willing to go for someone you loved? It may sounded cheesy and unrealistic, but as long as you had Gladion right by your side, you didn't mind if the road ahead would be an even rockier one.
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