Chapter 4 | Enforcer

"...I'm Gladion," he said.

[Name] let out a not so quiet gasp, he was the one who took one of the Type:Null.

Gladion took notice of her sudden change in behavior, and examined her until he saw her pullover. It had strikingly similiar traits as the Æther Foundation uniform, which could be a sign that she's associated with the foundation.

'I shouldn't have revealed my name...,' Gladion thought. He clicked his tongue, he shouldn't have done that but still chose to introduce himself further.

"I battle for my partner, Null, to make it strong. Though most of our time gets used up doing small jobs for Team Skull," He explained, putting his hands on his hips. "Battle me, Sun. I won't take no as an answer."

"What? Uh, [Name]? Could I borrow an Ether?" Sun asked, immediately regretting declining her offer of healing his team. [Name] rummaged through her backpack to search for an Ether, but unfortunately, the Poké Ball of Faux fell out, causing it to come out.

"Roar!" it cried, happy to see its new owner and snuggled its head against her cheek. "Whoa [Name]! That's such a cool Pokémon! Can I pet it?" Hau exclaimed, excited to see a new Pokémon.

Gladion's eyes widened, where did she get it? It broke his heart to see another Type:Null, but at least it's in a safer place than in the secret lab.

"You...Where did you find a Pokémon like this?"

[Name] got startled by his sudden question, she turned her head to the ground and didn't look up. "I-I got it from the...," She slightly hesitated, "From the secret lab...," [Name] said the last part a little too quiet. Thankfully Hau and Sun didn't hear it, they were too busy reading the Rotom Pokédex and petting Faux.

Gladion on the other hand heard it and widened his eyes. 'So she's associated with the foundation... She doesn't look like the ordinary employees...," he tried to figure out who she was, without questioning her.

[Name] suddenly felt uncomfortable under Gladion's gaze, he watched every move she made as she got the Ether from her backpack.

"U-Uhm, Sun, here's the Ether...," [Name] gave the Ether to Sun with a small smile and returned Faux to its Poké Ball.

-

After a long intense fight, Sun was the winner. Gladion couldn't believe it, but still somehow held his posture. "Hmph...It's not like me to slip up like that. I've got to keep fighting stronger opponents. Looks like I'm still not ready..."

"Congrats Sun! You're so strong!" Hau cheered, jumping around. [Name] smiled and took some Revives and potions from her bag. She slowly approached Gladion, offering the medical stuffs.

(SHHHH I know that there's a Pokémon Center right ahead but shhhh)

"H-Here, for your Pokémon...," [Name] said with her quiet voice. A smile spread on her face. "T-Take good care of Type:Null, he d-deserves to be loved and not to be experimented o-on..."

"How do you know?" Gladion huffed out.

"I-I read the protocols," [Name] shoved the stuff into his arms and returned to the Melemele duo.

"Awww, look at you, little Gladion! Aren't you just a real cool guy? Heh heh heh...," a grumpy voice mocked, walking towards them in a swag way. "I guess it's no surprise a homeless kid would turn out spineless, too, huh?" a female said, walking up to her partner. "No worries! We've got enough backbone to cover for you!"

The male and the female both had uniforms on, in which 'X' was the center. Both wore a skull shaped necklace. The grunt A walked towards the trio in his trademark swag way.

"Just give it up already," Gladion said, "You know you can't beat me. You'll just get your Pokémon hurt for no reason. They're good Pokémon."

"We came all this way, and for what? For a big fat waste of our time, thanks to you. If you hadn't gotten in our way, we could've stolen the Totem Pokémon from Brooklet Hill! Let's get out of here," Grunt B said as she walked away, not even bothering to wait for her fellow member.

"Listen up good, Gladion. The boss does like you. That's true. But you're just some hired help we keep around for when we need you. You aren't part of Team Skull, not really. And you never will be. Got it? You better get it," Grunt A said as Gladion sent a glare to him. The grunt left, Gladion let out a sigh and left too, not before looking back and threatening:

"I'm watching you, [Name]."