Gladion laughs under his breath as I run my finger over the soft skin of his bare chest. I can feel our body heat radiating up from under the blankets, I don't think we've moved since we fell asleep. I spot a twinkle of happiness in his eyes as he runs his fingers over a wisp of my hair. Seeing him happy fills me with a sense of peace.

I'm falling even harder for him as he opens himself up to me. I have always suspected he had a sensitive side, and he has always shown that he is a caring person, despite being misguided at times.

"Your hair is so soft," he whispers, "I love the way it smells."

"I could just lay here all day!" I sigh, poking my toes underneath his warm leg.

Gladion smirks and pulls me close, his long arms wrap themselves around my body. A slight rush comes over me as our naked bodies touch, I can feel my face growing hotter as he nuzzles my neck.

"I could too, but the staff might be disappointed if we skip breakfast."

"The staff?"

"Yes, I decided to fully staff the ship for our stay. I know it's probably not necessary, but truth be told, I really miss them! Most of them have been working for our family since I was little. We should probably get dressed and head out to the deck now, I'd hate to keep them waiting."

I spend a bit of time in the bathroom freshening up, part of me doesn't want to wash the smell of him off.

I'm awestruck at the sight of Gladion when I finally emerge from the bathroom. The dark, navy blue slacks cling tightly to his long, thin legs. A pinstriped, white and navy oxford style shirt peeks out of the wide neck of his grey cardigan.

My admiration is interrupted when I spot my journal open in his hands, he is quickly flipping through the pages. I open my mouth and try to speak, but I find myself stumbling over my words. I'm so embarrassed at the thought of him reading my journal that I forget how to talk.

Gladion quickly shuts it and places it back on the desk. His nervous eyes dart back and forth between my mine as he assesses my anger level.

"That's your journal, isn't it?" he asks, cautiously.

"Yup," I say, too angry to say much more. My journal has always been very private to me.

"I'm so sorry, I should have realized when I saw the handwriting. It was just laying here so I picked it up."

"It's private, don't look at it again," I mutter, mindlessly snapping my finger knuckles.

"Don't worry, I didn't read anything. I couldn't, even if I wanted too."

I feel a bit relieved when it dawns on me that it's all written in Kantonese. I shouldn't be so mad, it was very careless of me to leave it out in the open.

"I'm sorry," he says, nervously reaching out to me.

I walk past him and grab my old journal. I open the beat-up book and pull out a few of the old pictures I keep tucked inside.

"Can you believe Arcanine used to be so tiny!" I say, showing him the picture.

Gladion breathes a sigh of relief and takes the picture for a moment, "I don't know who's cuter in this picture, you or him! Is that your dad?"

"Yes, it's one of my favorite pictures of him. He gave me this journal and Arcanine that day."

"You are about 10 in this picture? That's a very old journal!" he chuckles.

"Yeah, I don't write in it every day or anything, but sometimes it feels good to write my feelings down. I was supposed to start my Pokemon journey soon after that picture was taken, he gave it to me so I could track my progress. I ended up staying at home instead, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving my mother after he passed. But, I'm finally taking it now, so I'm sure he would be very proud."

"Proud would be an understatement. You are incredible! I hope you know that," Gladion says as he rubs my shoulder.

___________________

The floors of the ship bustle with maids and staff tiding up the resurrected ship, the fresh smell of lemon and cleaners hang in the air.

"Careful Miss, the floors might still be wet!" chimes a cheery janitor.

Gladion leans in the doorway of the kitchen, chatting away to one of the cooks. The two of them seem to know each other well, I can tell that the staff is genuinely happy to see Gladion.

"This is unreal! What did we get ourselves into?" Hau whispers into my ear as he squeezes my shoulder tightly.

"You guys coming?!" shouts Lillie from the upper deck.

Gladion puts his hand on my lower back as he leads me up the narrow metal stare case to the upper deck.

Light pop music plays softly through the sound system. The bar keeper nods and smiles at me as he wipes down one of many glasses scattered across the curved, stylish bar top. I take a seat next to Gladion and Lillie at the round table.

The waiter takes our empty plates and leaves us a heaping platter of fresh fruit to share. Lillie looks over at Hau, she seems to be irritated by his greediness as he shovels another large helping of fruit onto his plate.

Hau, noticing her sour face, playfully offers her a bite, pressing it against her frown. She hesitates for a moment before grabbing Hau's wrist. She shocks us all by accepting the fruit, but most of all, by licking the juice off of Hau's fingers.

Gladion groans and covers his face.

"I didn't need to see that," he mutters.

The morning sun sparkles over the rippling ocean water and the wind whips my hair as I hang my head over the side of the massive ship. Gladion watches as I look through the telescope over the island, I can barely contain my excitement.

"This is the island I've been looking forward to exploring the most!" I chime, pulling up the map on Rotem.

"Why is that?"

"Do I really have to explain why? It's so wild, and rugged. Nothing to distract me from my training!"

"Are you sure about that?" he chuckles.

"Why do you say that?"

Gladion just smirks and taps his finger against his lip.

I grab my bag from the chair next to him, "What are we waiting for anyway?"

The waves lap under the docks as we navigate the strange village. Lillie shrieks when her shoe gets stuck in a loose board, the locals seem to be very suspicious of us. I'm sure they are wondering who we are, and why we are here. It doesn't help the we showed up in an oversized yacht, maybe this is what being a celebrity feels like.

"Ugh, these people are staring at us!" Lillie complains under her breath.

"I know! It's weird," I mutter. "What are our plans for the day, my friend, besides getting eye balled."

Lillie scoffs, "I was planning on going to the ruins, they aren't too far from here."

"Good idea, Gladion and I can tag along, I'm sure the trainers out here won't take no for an answer. It could take you all day to get out there if they all want to battle."

Lillie glances over at Gladion, she seems to be looking for a reaction.

"You know, I think we can handle it. Spend some time alone with Gladion!" she says, playfully nudging my arm.

Hau gives me an awkward wave goodbye before tripping over a tree root. He jogs behind Lillie until he catches up with her. There seems to be a bit of commotion coming from behind a cluster of trees, so Gladion and I go to check it out.

The overwhelming smell of barbeque smoke tickles my nose, the chatter of several dozen trainers churns in the background. I'm distracted by the clinking of glasses as a group makes a toast at the outdoor bar.

In the crowd, a spunky looking girl is riding piggy back on a guy's shoulders, she almost falls off as she reaches for his megaphone.

"Okay guys! Last chance to sign up for the double battle tournament! Follow us if you want to sign up."

Gladion's eye brow raises as he peeks at me from the corner of his eye, my heart flutters as I write my name next to his on the bracket.

I feel myself blushing as I stand at Gladion's side, our first match is about to begin. Gladion adjusts the tight cuffs of his sleeves before sending out Null. The crowd ooos and aaahs at the sight of the powerful beast and Gladion cracks a slight grin, his hand naturally gravitates to his face.

Mismageus zips wildly around the battle field, showing off to the crowd. What a show off! How did I end up with such vain Pokemon?

Synchronized from the start, we easily pick off all our challengers, making our way to the first-place match. Feeling confident, and perhaps a bit cocky, we both finish the match with Z moves.

The crowd roars as the fire from Arcanine's Inferno Overdrive is blasted out of Crobat's Black Hole Eclipse. A few responsible trainers rush to put out the small fires caused by the move combo and fluffy white ashes rain down around us.

"That was quite the spectacle!" says the person behind us as he wraps his warm arm around my shoulder.

Gladion's expression turns from shocked to furious when he watches Green's hand trail to my waist.

"You really killed it girl, we're going to have to battle one of these days," he continues in his high pitched and nasally voice.

"Say, do you guys know anything about that huge yacht anchored at the docks? I bet they could throw one hell of a party up there!"

Before I can answer, Gladion defensively puts his arm around me, causing the Kanto superstar to take a step back.

"We know as much as you do buddy," he murmurs, glaring at Green.

"Just asking Gladion! No need to sharpen your claws," Green moans.

A large group of girls shriek when they notice Green, he watches blankly as they stampede towards him.

"Looks like the ladies found me!" he groans, "Let me know if you change your mind about the yacht party!" he says, winking at Gladion before he becomes completely surrounded by obsessive females.

Gladion hands me the envelope of prize money, he seems rather irritated after the Green incident.

"We should split this," I say, pulling several bills out of the envelope.

"Just keep it," he mutters.

It dawns on me how silly it is to hand, quite possibly the richest guy in the world, a fistful of prize money. It still hasn't quite sunk in that he is wildly wealthy, I still see him as the edgy street kid I knew him as before. Yet, I do feel a bit uncomfortable keeping it all to myself.

He watches curiously as I divide up the earnings, and reluctantly follows me to the nearby bar. I place his half on the counter in front of the bar tender.

My fistful of cash catches his attention immediately, and he grins as I order as many shots as Gladion's half can buy.

The trainers cheer behind me as the bartenders pass out the free drinks. Gladion sighs, something seems to be bothering him.

"You have nothing to worry about! I'm-"

"I know, it's obvious you like me and not Green. I just don't like the way he touched you, that's all," he huffs.

I snicker a bit as I recall our encounter with Green.

"What?" he mutters.

"I was going to say, I'm pretty sure Green is gay, but what you said definitely works too!"

Gladion covers his face with his hand, "Seriously?"

"Well, It's always been rumored that Green and Red are more than just good friends, but I guess nobody really knows for sure. They like to stay out of the public eye for the most part."

"I must live under a rock!" he chuckles, as he takes my hand.

"He knows about the yacht too," Gladion adds, "Honestly, I'm a little worried about all of the attention it's causing."

"Well duh! Did you notice the way people stared at us in the village today? It's not surprising they have already figured out who owns it. Are you worried you may become popular?" I snicker.

"With everything going on with my family right now, yes. The last thing we need is rumors of Lillie and I celebrating after our mother's assumed death! Especially after all the controversy."

"I guess I never thought of it that way."

"The press doesn't know that I have returned. As far as the public knows I'm either missing or dead. I'm going to have to come out eventually. It's...going to change things."

"I suppose you're right," I say, kicking a small stone down the path.

Gladion stops and grabs my arms firmly. His bright green eyes, swim deeply into mine, "When that time comes, whatever happens. I want you to know right now that I love you."