Men and women in business suits from all over the globe sit around a large table in a sterile, white, room. Their eyes are fixed on a tall, slender young man, dressed in all white at the head of the table. In his hand, a long stick, circling graphs and pointing at numbers. He turns down the lights and presents a hologram of 3d blue prints for a sophisticated device.

"Any further questions before we end the meeting?" Gladion asks the powerful people in front of him.

There is a long pause before he nods and says, "You are free to leave then, thank you for your consideration."

Gladion waits for the room to clear, smiling, nodding, and shaking hands as people filter out. He grabs his brief case and turns the lights off behind him before heading through the bustling lobby. Despite his charming smile and friendly demeanor, he feels incredibly empty inside. He quickly dodges the view of his assistant, slipping into the breakroom for a desperately needed coffee break.

A genuine smile forms on his face when he notices the back of Mohn's head, his sun-bleached hair pokes out just above the high-backed sofa. Gladion pours himself a cup of coffee and takes a seat next to his father.

Mohn turns to Gladion. His eyes narrow as he watches the seemingly arrogant president carefully sip the steaming hot coffee.

"I'm waiting!" Mohn snaps.

"Soon. I promise..."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, but I want a date!" Mohn says, nearly shouting.

"Okay. How about the winter solstice?" Gladion asks, trying to hold back the rush of feelings swelling inside.

"That's next week!" Mohn exclaims happily.

"It is," Gladion chirps happily as he blows the steam from his cup, "I know it's taking longer than you had hoped, but I'm very excited to introduce you to your family...they are ready now."

"Thank you. Thank you!" Mohn cries.

"That's odd..." says a nearby office worker as he turns up the volume of the TV.

"We have a confirmed sighting of Tapu Koko at the base of Mount Lanakila, a rare event considering it's never been seen outside of Melemele Island. Locals were astonished to see the guardian show itself so blatantly in broad daylight...this is truly a once in a lifetime experience."

Gladion shutters as he watches the captured footage of Tapu Koko. Could it possibly be the sign he had pleaded for? His eyes glisten as it shoots off towards the top of the mountain and out of sight.

"...you know, Alola's new Champion is from Melemele island! Let's show that exclusive interview we had the pleasure of taking part in last night at the Champion's dinner."

The office worker mutes the TV as Ms. Wicke announces details of a staff meeting over the intercom system.

Gladion leans in closer to the TV, focusing on Moon's face displayed on the screen.

The reporters mouth is moving and Moon is turned towards her, she cocks her head and laughs. The camera zooms in, Moon's lips move inaudibly. Her large, round, eyes are shining, full of light from the afternoon sun. She looks so beautiful on screen; his heart begins to beat a little faster.

As his eyes refocus, he can now see the reflection of his face next hers on the screen, a bit of color appears on his pointy face.

"What are you doing Gladion?" Mohn sighs.

Gladion glances sheepishly at his father, "I don't even know anymore..."

"Go talk to her. Please, it's killing me." Mohn groans.

"What if she doesn't want-" Gladion whimpers.

"Show her how much you love her. Climb that mountain and challenge the Pokemon League!"

Mohn wraps his arm around Gladion and offers him his Porygon Z. Gladion takes the scuffed up old Ultraball in his trembling hands. Taking a long, ragged breath, he hugs his father tight before springing to his feet.

Mohn smiles as the breakroom doors swing shut behind the smitten young president.

________________________

Gladion presses his palm against the keypad of the terrarium. The monitor flashes green and the plexiglass doors slide open. He dashes into the space and looks up at the artificial sky. The synthetic moon is full and the stars are twinkling bright, a cool breeze blows through the trees.

"I need you to fight at my side once again!" he calls out into the synthetic darkness, "Prepare yourselves, we are going to challenge the Pokemon League!"

The sky instantly turns to day at the sound of his voice. Crobat flutters down from the sky and quickly returns itself to its Pokeball. Weavile climbs down from its perch and looks at Gladion curiously, it screeches in excitement as Gladion pages it back into its dusk ball. Lucario pushes its way through the brush and punches its arms, limbering itself for battle. Type: Null coos as it slinks to Gladion's side.

"We're going to give them our all. I'd rather die on that mountain than accept defeat!"

With all his Pokemon back in their balls, he rips open the front doors of his mansion and runs down the drive. He really meant what he said to his Pokemon. He would rather throw himself over a cliff than be denied a chance to battle Moon. If he can't see her one last time, what's the point of going on. His love for her has driven him to the point of recklessness.

Gladion bursts through the back exit of the Aether building. An office worker is so startled that she drops a whole folder of papers. Everyone in the lobby gasps as the young president dashes by in his tattered, black, clothing.

An Aether advisor cocks his head and turns to Ms. Wicke, "What do you suppose has gotten into him?" he asks.

"He's going to the Pokemon League," she sighs as a smile grows on her face.

Gladion steps on the elevator platform and calls to Ms. Wicke, "Be a dear and cancel all of my appointments until further notice!" he yells as the lift gates rise and he is lowered down to the docks.

Gladion peers out into the open waters as he drives his yacht at full speed. The sun is low in the sky, but he should make it to land by sunset. He calls type: Null out of its ball and it stands by his side as he steers them towards the League.

Gladion pages Charizard from the deck and stares into the blaze of the sun, remembering how beautiful Moon looks with an Alolan sunset sparkling against her skin. He wishes for a moment he could go back in time and kiss her once again.

He had so many chances to tell her how he really felt, but instead he chose to push her away.

He was the one who chose to keep cutting her out of the picture, even though he wanted her to stay so badly.

His heart swells with sorrow.

Even if he gets a chance to battle her, how could he even think of asking for her forgiveness? A sliver of hope remains in his heart that she may find it in her heart to forgive him for his horrible mistakes.

But what has he ever done to be worthy of anyone's love?

_________________

It is night by the time Gladion touches down at the base of Mount Lanakila.

He steps on to the lift platform, snowflakes begin to fall out of the gloomy, overcast sky. The lift shakes violently as it lifts him up towards the edge of the mountain. He clutches the rails, almost losing his balance, as he watches the ground disappear into darkness below him.

When he reaches the top, he is almost blown over by the icy wind, howling over the desolate landscape. His feet crunch in the fresh snow as he takes his first steps onto the mountain.

A black figure creeps out from behind the fearsome pines, a nasty grin appears out of the man's long red beard. His forehead wrinkles as he opens his trench coat, revealing a row of six, shiny, Ultraballs.

"I've been training Pokemon for over twenty years!" the man bellows from the depth of his gut, "My team will tear your Pokemon apart, limb for limb!"

The sound of his maniacal laughter fills the mountain air, causing snow to fall from the pines.

Gladion manages to beat the veteran trainer, but his team is badly injured.
He seeks shelter inside a cave, where he calls out his team to treat their injuries.

He's battled Pokémon for years, but he begins to wonder if it's even worth it anymore. They wouldn't be in such bad shape if it wasn't for his foolish decisions. If he could have just made smarter choices, they would be safe and sound inside their terrarium, instead of laying on a cave floor in agony.

Gladion puts his hand over his face and begins to weep bitterly. He crawls out of the cave, leaving his Pokemon behind. The icy wind pierces his thin, tattered, clothes and he prays that he just freezes to death on this mountain.

Suddenly, a Golem falls from above him and lands on a bolder, sending large rocks flying in all directions.

It attacks in a blind rage.

Gladion closes his eyes tight, welcoming his violent death.

He hears an earth-shattering crack echo through the thin, crisp air. He opens his eyes to see type: Null lying still in the snow.

The Golem flees in full retreat, returning to its rocky inhabitance.

Gladion quickly rises and stumbles as fast as his wobbly, weak, legs can take him towards type: Null's seemingly lifeless body. He collapses on the ground next to its limp body and buries his face in the creature's chest.

He doesn't look up until he feels Weevils claws digging into his back. The creature wraps its gangly arms around its trainer's neck and screeches in sorrow. He looks up to see Lucario angrily punching the boulder until it collapses to the ground. Slowly, he lowers himself back into Nulls chest. He feels a steady rise and fall coming from inside its ribs.

Gladion quickly sits up, pressing his fingers into the creature's neck, a faint pulse thumps against his fingertips. He looks over type: Nulls body, feeling for broken bones. Gladion lifts the beasts head, noticing a large crack in the restrictive helmet.

He moves the Pokémon's body into position, then slips his fingers between the gaping crack. He lets out a grunt as he pulls with all his might, but nothing happens.

He takes a deep breath and tries again, he lets out a wild scream as blood begins to trickle from his hands.

The helmet bursts open, and Gladion tosses the awful contraption with all his might into the darkness. The Pokemon lifts its head for the first time, locking eyes with its beloved trainer.

It gently nudges the bewildered young man and begins to carefully lick the deep wounds left on its trainer's hands.

Gladion struggles to breathe, he is consumed with feelings of love and disbelief. After a few moments, he clings to the blood stained Pokemon, pulling its head to his chest.

"I'm going to call you Silvally from now on," he whispers, "I should have given you a name a long time ago...Please, forgive me.

Gladion crudely bandages his torn hands, the bleeding seems to have slowed down, but blood still leaks when he flexes them. A new sort of energy surrounds him and his Pokemon. Silvally impatiently claws the ground as Gladion syncs his model Z to his phone.

"Porygon, please find a vantage point," he says to the synthetic Pokemon.

The tech Pokemon zips up into the sky and the data is downloaded to Gladion's screen. He reviews the information about the landscape and mountain caverns Porygon is collecting and turns it into a map of Mount Lanakila. With a clear head and new hope, Gladion plans his strategy.

"Looking good Porygon," he says, speaking into his phone, "Please return."

Porygon descends from the sky and hovers over the ground. Gladion returns it to the Pokeball. He huddles with his Pokemon in the cave, looking over the map Porygon has created. He plots the quickest route and calls the Pokemon back into their balls, all except Silvally.

Gladion and Silvally descend deep into the deep frosty caverns of Mount Lanakila, the damp air is eerily still. Silvally is on edge, the hypersensitive Pokemon makes every step with hesitation. It seems to sense a looming danger ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gladion sees a hooded figure darting into a deep cavern.

His heart skips a beat and he commands Silvally to attention. The pair cautiously peer into the dark cavern. The silhouette of a hooded figure and a large Pokemon shimmer at the back of the cave.

"Show yourselves!" Gladion bellows into the cavern, his voice echoes deep into the mountain.

The figure and the Pokemon remain silent, unmoving.

"Show yourselves cowards! I won't ascend to the Pokemon League until I have beaten every trainer on this mountain!" he shouts again at the figures.

Again, silence.

Gladion and Silvally rush the figures, ready for battle. As they grow near, Gladion sees his own eyes staring back at him. The figures were only Silvally and his reflection in a strange, mirror like rock.

He runs his finger across the strange bolder, the warmth of his body leaves a fog on the slick surface. Silvally looks curiously at its own reflection, this is the first time the tormented Pokemon has ever seen its own face.

Gladion lets Silvally gaze for a while, while he strokes the white fur and feathers on the beast's neck.

Inspecting the strange bolder more carefully, Gladion notices its odd shape. It almost looks like a huge egg.

He reaches out and touches the object once again, feeling its cool metallic surface, his hand leaves a streak as he removes it. Silvally lets out a loud screech and it presses the side of its face to the strange rock.

Suddenly, a large crack forms along the surface of object, a thick black substance oozes from the fissure. The pair slowly back away from the egg as cracks spider along the surface.

Silvally growls as the egg twitches, black liquid begins pouring from a large hole that has formed in the center.

Gladion watches in horror as a set of huge, black, claws force its way through the surface of the egg, sending a shower of shell shards and black amnion fluid towards them.

Gladion panics and runs to the opening of the cavern.

He turns to see Silvally is still engaged with the hatching monster. He calls for his Pokemon, but it disobeys him, growling viciously at the beast as it burst forth from its shell.

The black, crystal titan lets out a paralyzing, metallic, screech as it levitates into the air.

Silvally dashes up on a ledge, attacking the beast with a powerful air slash, barely damaging the horrid, black, Pokemon.

The black-crystal Pokemon attacks Silvally in a fit of rage, sending powerful, prismatic, lasers through the air.

Silvally dodges the laser attack, it's speed has greatly improved since the helmet has been removed. It attempts to strike back at the beast with a double-edge charge attack, but the black beast counters with a psychic attack, sending Silvally flying backwards, it hits the ground with a violent thud.

The terrifying Pokemon begins to blindly attack, smashing its huge, black, claws against the cave walls, and firing its laser attack at random.

Gladion watches in horror as the cavern begins to cave in around them. He lets out one last, despairing, scream for Silvally as it desperately tries to claw its way out of the collapsing chamber.

Dust obscures Gladion's vision as he hopelessly digs through the rubble, searching for any sign of his beloved Pokemon. He angrily bangs his bloody fists against the rocks and cries out once again for Silvally. His cries stop abruptly when he feels a lick on the back of his head.

He collapses in relief as the large Pokemon nibbles on his pale blonde fringe, laughing himself to tears as he pulls his wet, slobbery, hair out of the goofy Pokémon's mouth.

Gladion reaches into his backpack, pulling out a can of Pokemon food for Silvally and carefully cuts the top open with his switchblade knife. He dumps some of the food into his hand and Silvally sloppily laps it up with its long, slobbery, tongue.

Dawn is breaking as the duo exit the cave.

Through the veil of thick, wet, snowflakes, Gladion can see a Pokemon Center. They have made it to the Pokemon League.