The stars are out by the time Gladion's Charizard touches down. He feeds the Pokemon a hand full of berries and thanks it. The large creature gazes into his eyes and steam rolls from its nostrils. Suddenly, it takes off into the night sky.

Gladion digs his hands deep into his pocket and pulls out a motel key. He quickly slips into his dimly lit room without a sound.

Once inside he flips the AC on and collapses onto the bed. Taking a look at his phone, he reads once again, the horrible messages he received earlier. His jaw clenches and he runs his fingers through his hair nervously.

Remembering the day he decided to leave home, Gladion's hand levitates to his face. He remembers the sound of his bones breaking under his mother's foot when sees his twisted, disfigured fingers.

Suddenly, footsteps echo from the porch outside. Gladion grabs a Pokeball from the night stand and clutches it.

He creeps over to his open window and peeks outside. Quickly, he drops the floor and holds his breath. Moon walks past the window. She fumbles for her keys and drops them on the deck. Once he hears the door shut behind her, he lets out a sigh of relief.

He stands up and quickly pulls the curtains shut. Flicking on the light off, he removes his shirt and crawls into bed.

He sits for a minute, listening to the sounds of Moon rummaging around in the room next to him. He hears a muffled crash and Moon lets out a curse.

He laughs quietly.

My perfect little Moon cursing? Maybe she's not so innocent after all.

The pipes creak and the sounds of a shower begin. He can hear the rings of the shower curtain slide back and forth, letting him know she is in there, naked.

He closes his eyes and bites his lower lip. His pants grow tight with the thought of sweet smelling lather running though her short, black hair and down to her naked back half. His fantasy is interrupted by song.

A love song at that.

Her voice is so happy, but horribly off key.

"Well, she can't be good at everything," he whispers.

A smile grows on his face. I think I love her, but unfortunately, it could never work.

The smile fades. He rolls over and clutches the blanks, letting Moon sing him to sleep.

_______________________________

Gladion awakes at sunrise as he hears type: Null stirring. He stands for a moment to crack the window just a bit, hoping to catch a glimpse of Moon.

Sitting there with type: Null, he watches the small patch of sunlight move slowly across the floor until the girl next door emerges.

He crawls to the window and peeks out.

Moon is talking on the phone and she has her Arcanine out of its ball. After ending the call, she twists around and places her phone in the backpack. Something appears to fall out as she struggles to zip the pocket shut. She takes a big look around and sighs, seeming very discontent. Signaling Arcanine to follow, she walks down Route 5 until she disappears behind a hill.

When the coast is clear, he leaves his room, walking to where Moon was standing. On the ground, he finds her red hat. He clutches it in his hand and slowly brings it too his face, the smell of her shampoo lingers in the fabric.

Type: Null nudges his side and lets out a pur. Gladion sets his hand on the creature's helmet and crouches down so that he is face to face with the beast.

"Yuck! Put that thing back in its Pokeball!" growls a familiar voice. It's Plumeria, along with a few grunts.

"I've got work for you little brother."

He turns to her with a scowl on his face. She forces a pair of ferry tickets into his hand and points to a grunt.

"We need you in Ula'ula. Take her with you," she commands.

A pink haired grunt eagerly rushes to his side and grabs his elbow, he brushes her off immediately.

Plumeria turns to leave without another word. Gladion puts his hand over his face, the grunt notices the hat and pries it out of his grasp.

"Cool hat! I'm going to wear it," she giggles, batting her eye lashes at Gladion.

His face turns bright red as he rips it out of her hands.

"It's not yours!" he yells, clutching the hat in his hands.

Type: null scratches the dirt beside him. The grunt frowns and turns away, nothing she does seems to work on him. He is, unreachable, and frankly, awkward at times.

Gladion pages Null back into its Pokeball and pulls out his phone. He hides the screen from her view and quickly types a message to Ms. Wicke.

"Please have my yacht sent to Mallie City Harbor, take all the time you need. Rename it if you must."

He slips the hat and phone into his pocket before reluctantly following the grunt down the path to Haehea City

_________________

Gladion glances at his phone as his ferry docks at the harbor, his heart starts to pound. He has 15 mins to get to High Roller Sushi. Shoving his way through the crowd, he quickly climbs the long flight of stairs leading up to the edge of the city.

This is it.

Gladion knows that if he goes through with this job, there's no turning back.

Pulling his hood over his face, he trudges through the dark, cluttered, alleys towards the glittering building, passing a group of Team Skull grunts on his way. They flash their sign at him as he briskly walks past.

Weaving around some overturned garbage cans, he comes face to face with a Grimer. It moans at him, protecting its coveted pile of trash. He slips into the back door of High Roller Sushi and is immediately met by a Team Skull grunt.

"Yo, put this on quick! They're going to be here soon," she says as she shoves a pile of clothing in his face.

Gladion changes into the valet uniform behind a pile of boxes and slicks his hair back completely. He hands his old cloths back to the grunt. She nods at him and pulls her bandana over her face, slipping out the back door.

Gladion doesn't have time to think about what he's about to do. Keeping his head pointed at the floor, he quickly strides through the kitchen. He covers his face slightly as he walks through the bustling dining area and out the front door. Just as he exits the building, an expensive car rolls up to the curb.

Opera music blares as the driver steps out of the vehicle. He opens the passenger side door, lending a hand to a lavishly dressed woman. The diamonds in her necklace sparkle like fireworks, he almost forgets to greet the couple.

"Be careful with her, she's my one and only love!" the driver says as he hands Gladion the keys. The woman rolls her eyes at his remark.

"Yes sir," Gladion replies. He takes the keys and heads to the driver's seat.

Once inside, Gladion puts the keys into the ignition. The dash lights up and the opera music returns. He nervously runs his fingers through his hair as he puts the car into drive. Once around the block, he turns the station. Hip-hop music begins thumping through the speakers.

Sweat pours down his forehead as he drives down the glittering, wet, streets. Nothing he's ever done could have prepared him for the rush of stealing a car.

Pulling up to a stop light he chokes. Lillie dashes out into the middle of the street, followed by Hau and Moon. He hunkers down in his seat, hoping they don't look his way.

Once they get across the street, he puts his foot on the gas and blows through the red light. He speeds down the street and pulls into an alley, stopping in front of a large garage. Blue and pink skull graffiti cover the surface of the flimsy, metal hatch. He honks the horn three times and the door rolls up. Slowly, he drives the car into the large shop.

Hands trembling, Gladion turns the engine off. He steps out of the car and hands the keys to Plumeria, taking a look around the shop.

There are several expensive cars up on the lifts. Sparks fly from the grinder as a punk girl works a piece of metal. Gladion shields his eyes from the blinding flickers of light, coming from behind a welding booth.

A whoosh of compressed air hisses as he walks toward a big, white haired man.

He's about 6'2 with a large muscly build, his gold skull chain glistens in the light as he turns toward Gladion. A big grin grows on the man's face and he grabs a brown paper bag off the work bench.

"Yo! You must be Gladion. I have to say, you've made me a really proud guy today, no bones about it!"

He lets out a laugh as he crosses his arms, "Plumeria didn't think you had it in you, but your bad to the bone son! How does it feel to be rolling with the big skulls?"

Gladion says nothing in reply.

"Not a big talker are ya?" he says, handing over the brown bag full of cash.

He lets out a chuckle as he signals for the pink haired grunt. "Hey, get this kid his clothes back. Oh, and bring 'em by Chucky's, he can stay there for a while."

The pink haired grunt grabs a backpack off a chair. Swinging her hips in a sensual way, she slowly walks toward Gladion. She winks at him as she places the bag in his arm.

His eyes dart to the floor and he slides the backpack over his shoulders.

Guzma reaches up and pulls a large glass bottle off a shelf, handing it over to Gladion. He accepts it, taking a quick glance at the label.

"A little something to celebrate tonight, there's gonna be a big party at Chucky's tonight. Us Skullz like to live it up!" Guzma says, crossing his arms.

"Anything else Guzma can do ya for tonight, Bad Bonez?"

Gladion pauses for a minute. He points at a shiny, black motorcycle in the corner.

"I need a ride," he says with a shrug.

Guzma lets out a chuckle, "You have good taste, but it's going to cost you."

Gladion reaches into his brown paper bag and pulls out a roll of cash, tossing it Guzma's way.