As a young boy Gladion smiled often for his friends and family. Though, as time went on, the smile seemed to disappear. Which is understandable given
everything that happened in the young boys life.
Even as time went on and Gladion was safe to reunite with his sister and mother, he hardly smiled. He loves his family and would do anything for them but his smile remained absent. Lillie and Lusamine knew this and were fine with it. It was who he was.
So, you can imagine Lillie's surprise when she caught her brother with a warm smile on his face.
"Gladion?" Lillie sounded.
Gladion jumped and turned to her. His smile was replaced with a look of surprise.
"Lillie? What do you need?" Gladion asked, back to his usual blank face. Lillie squinted at him suspiciously and Gladion raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"What were you smiling about just now?" Lillie questioned.
Gladion's eyes widened in shock. He was caught but no way would he admit it to his sister.
"Nothing." Gladion crossed his arms.
"Oh come on. Are you ready not going to tell me?" Lillie grumbled.
"No." Gladion replied.
Lillie frowned. She saw that smile and was determined to know the cause.
"Why won't you tell me?" Lillie questioned. "I'm your sister. You can tell me anything. Especially if it makes you happy enough to smile like that." Gladion didn't respond. "Is it too embarrassing for you?"
Gladion averted his gaze, giving Lillie her answer. Lillie pressed her lips together in thought. There weren't many things that embarrassed Gladion. So it was perplexing that Lillie couldn't figure it out. Then an idea came to her but it didn't seem plausible. It was worth a try though.
"Do you have a crush?" Lillie asked. Lillie watched as a rosy shade of red dusted along his cheeks. "Oh my goodness! You do! Who is it?"
"No one." Gladion muttered. "I'm going to go train."
He then walked away from his sister. Lillie watched him leave but was still determined to find out who this was. She went back to her room and started her own little investigation.
"Hmmm...who could it be?" Lillie hummed in thought.
"Vul?" Snowy chirped as she jumped on Lillie's lap.
"Hi snowy." Lillie smiled. "Want to help me find Gladion's crush?" Lillie didn't wait for a response and just continued. "Ok, so why wouldn't he want to tell me? That has to be a clue, right?" Lillie tapped her chin in thought. "Oh! It has to be someone I know. That explains why he wouldn't say. He doesn't want to risk me giving it away. But who could it be?"
That question rang in her mind for the longest time. Her curious mind putting together a list of potential girls. Though none of them struck her as Gladion's type. Then again, she wasn't really sure what Gladion's type was but she bound to fine out now. After all, they had school tomorrow.
The next day, before the class even started, Lillie began her plan.
"Hey Lana. Can I ask a favor?" Lillie asked.
"Sure." Lana replied. "What do you need?"
"When Gladion gets here can you try to make him smile?" Lillie asked.
"Why?" Lana questioned.
"It's kind of an experiment of mine." Lillie replied.
"Ok. I'll do it." Lana agreed.
"Great. Let me know how it goes." Lillie remarked.
Lana nodded. So, Lillie went into the school and waited by a window to see what would happen. Gladion arrived shortly after and approached the school.
"Hi Gladion." Lana suddenly appeared next to him.
"Hello." Gladion replied.
"So, what are you up to?" Lana asked.
"Going into school. Like everyone else." Gladion answered wearily.
Though he didn't stop in his stride. He walked right past her into the school.
"Right." Lana muttered.
"Hey Lana, can we talk?" Hau asked.
"Sure." Lana turned to him.
Not long after, Gladion came in with the same usual blank expression. Though Lana came in with the biggest smile, with Hau not far behind her. Lana took a seat next to Lillie just as the class started.
"What happened with Gladion?" Lillie whispered to Lana.
"Nothing. But as soon as Gladion walked away, Hau asked me out and I said yes." Lana chirped happily.
That means it definitely isn't Lana. The only other girl here today is Mallow, seeing that Moon is absent. All that's left is to ask Mallow.
So, Lillie waited for lunch and scooted over to Mallow.
"Hey Mallow. Can I ask you a weird favor?" Lillie asked.
"Ok? What are you trying to ask?" Mallow questioned.
"Can you try to make Gladion smile?" Lillie asked.
"What? But...but..." Mallow stuttered. "You know I like someone." She whispered.
"I know but it's just part of a little experiment of mine. I'm trying to figure out who is the one to make him smile. So, I thought I'd start with our classmates." Lillie explained.
"Fine. But I'm still against this." Mallow grumbled.
She stood up and went over to Gladion. She tried to her best to looks like her chipper self but she didn't want to worry about breaking his heart. Gladion had been through enough already.
"Hi Gladion." Mallow greeted.
"Hey." Gladion replied.
"What are you doing?" Mallow asked.
"Eating lunch. Like everyone else." Gladion raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Oh, well...you see..." Mallow fumbled for a reason.
As Mallow struggled for a response Gladion noticed two particular classmates eyeing him and Mallow. It quickly clicked in his mind and he smirked.
"You know Mallow, I think I know what's going on." Gladion stood up.
Mallow stepped back as he stepped towards her.
"W-what are you doing?" Mallow squeaked in surprise as Gladion placed his hand against wall behind her.
"I'm helping you." Gladion whispered in her ear. "Look to your left and you'll know what I mean." Mallow looked and saw a fuming Kiawe. "Now I'm going to walk away before he threatens to clobber me. Enjoy."
Gladion stepped back and walked out of the school. Lillie followed him quickly after.
"Gladion!" Lillie called after him.
"You really are relentless aren't you?" Gladion chuckled. "You know, by trying to figure out who has my heart, you helped two of your friends with their's."
"Can you please just tell me who it is? I promise I won't say anything. I just want to know of the one that can make you smile like you did before all this crazy stuff happened." Lillie reasoned.
Gladion stared at her for a moment, deep in thought. Maybe it was finally time to get it off his chest and not have to worry.
"Ask Moon." Gladion stated before heading off.
"Moon." Lillie repeated in surprise.
For the rest of the day, Lillie wondered what Gladion meant about Moon. Was it someone Moon knew? But then he wouldn't really try to keep it from her. Unless she said something to Moon and he worried that Moon would tell them. Though, that idea did seem pretty far fetched. But would Gladion suddenly be so bold to tell his little sister the truth when he avoided it so hard before. It was quite perplexing.
"Alright class. See you tomorrow and Lillie, would you mind giving Moon and Sun your notes from today?" Kukui asked.
"Sure. I'd be happy to." Lillie replied.
She was going to talk to Moon anyway and now she had a good enough excuse without it being to suspicious.
After a short search, Lillie finally found Moon, who was out training her Pokémon. The champion has to stay sharp.
"Hey Moon, can we talk for a second?" Lillie questioned as she ran up to her friend.
"Sure." Moon remarked and returned her Pokémon. "What do you needed?"
"Well, you missed quite a lesson today and I wanted to lend you my notes. But I have a bit of an odd question." Lillie explained.
"Thank you for the notes but what's the question?" Moon asked.
"Do you know someone who can make Gladion smile?" Lillie questioned.
"Well, whenever I'm with him, he is smiling, but I'm sure I'm not the only one." Moon replied.
Lillie just stared at Moon with her mouth hanging open in shock. So Moon really is the one to make her brother smile. Lillie never would have guessed her day going like this but she was happy.
"You ok Lillie?" Moon asked, breaking Lillie from her train of thought.
"Yes, but I have two more questions. It's actually more of a question and a favor." Lillie laughed to herself.
"Ok?" Moon gave a weird smile.
"How do you feel about Gladion?" Lillie asked.
"What?" Moon blushed. "I...um...what kind of a question is that?"
"Ok, now for the favor. Can you make Gladion smile?" Lillie grinned.
Moon gave her an odd look but Lillie was able to convince her.
"Hi Gladion." Moon greeted bashfully.
"Hello Moon." Gladion smiled. "What brings you here?"
In reality, Gladion was well aware of what was going on and was going to take advantage of the opportunity Lillie had help give him.
"This is going to sound a bit strange." Moon remarked.
"I doubt it." Gladion said under his breath.
It was only weird this morning, when he didn't know what was going on.
Moon stared up at him with her lips pressed together. This whole thing was completely weird and it didn't make sense. So, she decided to come clean.
"Ok, so I was supposed to ask you to smile for me but you are already smiling so that is pretty pointless if you ask me. But you know, I really like your smile. I actually like a lot of things about you. There is just so much more to you and I have really liked getting to know the real you and I love you." Moon admitted.
However, she quickly covered her mouth. The was a lot more than she meant to say out loud. She looked away, clearly embarrassed and horrified.
Gladion's smile only grew. He will have to thank Lillie for whatever she told Moon. Because this was perfect.
"Hey Moon." Gladion stepped into view.
"...Yes..." Moon muttered.
"Can you smile for me?" Gladion asked.
Moon looked up to him with complete surprise and Gladion couldn't take another moment of her adorableness. He kissed her. Though Moon was even more surprised, the happiness that bubbled in her over too her. She pulled him closer and kissed him back.
It was from that moment on, that these two were constantly smiling and the question of can you smile for me turned into something more than just a simple question. It was so much more.
THE END!!!