The Lucia Incident (TG, Possession) (Patreon)

Reader discretion is advised.

Gladion was used to staying at motels. When your mother was… her, it was best to cut one’s losses. Especially in the case of this one. Between the massive swathes of paint that looked like someone ripped it straight off the walls and the cracks across said surface, one could not rule out the possibility of ghost pokemon and or other trickster pokemon causing trouble. All the more reason to stay on his toes and hope they would understand.

“Home sweet, home.” Gladion muttered as he slid the key into the knob. Giving it a twist and a push, he managed to get the door open. Stepping through, the interior looked just as trashed as the exterior. If not more so. The carpets looked to be all ripped off, patches of blue and pink fur scattered about as some kind of hat for the floor. Which was on top of the blood that had been spilled from a struggle or a possible mauling. No signs of pokeballs or even apricorns, though. So it couldn't be the previous resident. But that wasn't where Gladion found his gaze drawn too. No, that would be a bed. More specifically, a white top that looked to come just above the belly button. Emblazoned with a red 'R' in the center, that didn't explain why the top had a slit eight beneath the 'R'. A black sleeveless undershirt sat beside it, just calling to be worn over the top. Even if both articles of clothing looked to be intended for girls rather than guys.

"Weird…" Gladion thought and closed the door behind him. While normally something that would require calling the cleaning people, that was putting him out in the open. The last thing he needed at this hour. Sitting down on the bed, he tried to ignore the outfit. But all that accomplished was making him more curious about the attire. It looked to be around his size, even if his chest area was bound to leave something to be desired. “I don’t need to put on those strange clothes. The clothes I have on are more than good enough.”

Yet, his gaze remained on the accursed clothes. What was the worst that could happen? Getting caught by his mother’s goons and getting punished. Throwing his hoodie off, the shirt underneath follows suit. Throwing them off to the side, Gladion started with the undershirt. Sliding it down with ease, his fears were confirmed. His chest very much lacked the cushioning that whoever last wore this had. A shame he didn’t have anything in the way of padding or something similar.

Shoving that thought away, Gladion slipped the white top on. Smoothing it out, he stared down at his new garments. While nice, something felt like it was missing. Yet, that could wait till tomorrow. Yes, that was probably for the best. Throwing his shoes off, Gladion slipped under the covers.

“Goodnight, I guess?” he announced and let slumber take him in.

.

In his dreams, the sound of waves echoed about. Try as Gladion might to find the source of such noise, all he could see was darkness.

“Is there someone here?” Gladion called out, only to be assaulted by pink eyes. Gazing upon them, the light fades from their pupils.

Try as the runaway might to focus on one eye in particular, they refused to meet. Instead, purple light erupted forth under his feet. Blinding his vision, it was just one more thing to disorient him in the face of the answers he seeked.  What could be the meaning of this?

‘You’re hurting me.’ a voice announced, Gladion finally focusing on one set of eyes. Light still remained, but it was struggling to hang on. An image of a land he did not recognize was reflected back. Oddly, a red dotted line had been set in the middle. An oversized scale one would expect to find in a courtroom as a decoration had been set in the middle of the line, a large guillotine blade set up at the apex of its swing, perfect for killing one of the two damsels on the scales proper. One on the left was a girl with long pink hair. Unfazed by this, she looked to be angled frighteningly close to the blade.

As for the right side, a woman was patiently sitting. Locks of gray hair hung down, haunting pink eyes stared out. The sound of footsteps echoed in the distance, bringing with it a crucial decision.

Throwing caution to the wind, Gladion headed for the left side. He couldn’t say for certain what drove him towards the left side. Jumping up to the best of his abilities, the runaway managed to get on the scale.

“I’m here for you.” Gladion whispered, the pink girl remaining silent. Staring out in the distance, he could make out a boy with messy black hair. Dressed in the typical garb of the trainer, he was blissfully unaware of the giant scale and the dotted line. No, his attention was on that of the journey ahead. How the heck was he supposed to know that the ripple effect of actions hundreds, if not thousands of miles away would cause this? His mind would be on other things, thunder raining down.

Gladion watched as the boy crossed the dotted line. Heart beating a mile a minute, he could feel the scale shift. Before the result could be made known, Gladion’s vision was engulfed in light..

.

Opening his eyes, Gladion tossed the covers aside. Staring down to his chest, he found no change. Had he gone through the trouble of lifting his top up, perhaps he would’ve noticed the redness of his upper chest.

Getting out of bed, Gladion stared down at his pants. Unchanged from his night’s rest, it was all the more reason to find the matching lower half of the attire. If nothing else, perhaps it would clue him in on what was going on.

“Probably should make the bed, if nothing else.” Gladion thought and got to work making the bed back up. Doing his best to ignore the clumps of hair, the runaway made a mental note to clean up the clumps of fur. That could come once he had gotten dressed in the lower half of the outfit. “Perfect.”

Looking in the direction of the bathroom, Gladion headed over. Much like everything else in this room, it too looked absolutely trashed. A tile floor covered in a mix of blood and fur were the first things that awaited Gladion. Followed up with pieces of bone, someone very much hated the victim. It was honestly frightening to think about. He had wished death on his mother on many occasions, but that paled in comparison to this.

Taking a moment to calm himself, Gladion stared in. Near the toilet, a white pencil skirt laid on the tiles. A pair of black knee-high boots sat beside it, heels just visible from this angle. Heading over, Gladion took care to avoid the mess. While a challenge to clean up, it was in his best interest for an extended stay. Wouldn’t want to rack up a fee on account of just leaving the room worse than when it was supposedly cleaned.

Shoving the thought to the back of his mind, Gladion got his lower half undressed. Throwing that stuff off in the corner, he picked the skirt up. Relatively clean for where he had found it, he slid it up his legs. Getting it right, he moved onto the heeled boots. Taking a seat on the toilet, Gladion slipped them on. Walking over to the mirror, the runaway stared in.

His appearance looked normal. Yet, that doesn’t explain the flash of a girl with pink hair and purple eyes in the mirror. Were these her clothes? If they were, she was perhaps not particularly happy to have someone else be wearing her stuff. Unless that was the point.

“Whatever. I look quite good.” Gladion announced and rubbed a hand through his hair. While feeling the same as it always did, perhaps he could get some moisturizer and other hair care products. Yeah. That and maybe some groceries. He hadn’t eaten anything since leaving Aether Paradise. Such a stupid name for a stupid place. If it actually was a paradise, why exactly could one hear the screams of people in the bowels of the facility.

Shoving that thought away, Gladion took the time to pull out his one and only pokeball. A shame he didn’t have anything in the way of pockets to keep the pokeballs from being visible. Which just left the one going in the bust area.

“Please forgive me, Null.” Gladion thought and placed the pokeball in his left breast. Turning back to the mirror, he found the effect to not quite work as intended. The left breast was noticeable, but looked odd without something on the right side. On the bright side, this attempt revealed a pair of black latex gloves. Looking to stretch up his arms, Gladion walked over and picked them up. Sliding his hands in, he smoothed them out. Then it was time to pull out his pokeball.

Feeling the ball open up, Type: Null appeared. Slightly confused by its new surroundings, their attention turned to Gladion. Gladion waved, only to be treated to his partner doing a small circle around him. Stopping back where he started, that was the runaway's cue to pet him. Accepting the gesture, Type: Null leaned into the gloves. While they felt odd, it was something the synthetic pokemon could get used too.

“I’m going to go to the store to get some stuff, Null. As much as I would love to take you out for a walk, you would likely attract too much attention.” Gladion explained, his tone becoming feminine for just a moment. Not long enough for the runaway to notice, his attention already on returning Type: Null. Reluctantly shoving the pokeball back into his chest compartment, he looked over to the toilet. Grabbing some toilet paper. He shoved that into the other cup. Getting it all smoothed out and uniform, it’s back to the mirror. Staring in that was heck of a lot better. “Perfect.”

Exiting the bathroom, Gladion grabbed his motel room key and wallet (that he totally remembered to pull out before). Shoving those into the compartment as well, thoughts of a purse flooded his mind. If he was going to pretend to be a girl, he was going to need one to maintain his cover. Makeup too. Nearly all the girls in Aether Foundation wore makeup. While normally reserved looks, his would have to be closer to that of the guests they sometimes brought on board. Yes. That would work perfectly. Beyond that, the hair care products, groceries and maybe a broom. Considering how hit or miss the shopping districts here in Alola. Sometimes you can easily find what you’re looking for. Other times, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Hopefully this would be the former rather than the latter.

“Here goes nothing.” Gladion told himself, taking care to walk in his heeled boots. While his mother had forced him to wear heels for some god forsaken reason, it had never been something that he did on a daily basis. Yet the knowledge of how to do it hung tightly in his mind. Perhaps that was why these boots didn’t bother in the slightest.

Exiting his room, Gladion took a moment to take in his surroundings. Somehow, he hadn’t noticed the peaceful sound of the rain beginning to come down. In the distance, the shopping district awaited.

“Come and get me now, mother.” Gladion thought and puffed his chest out. Ignoring the feeling of everything he had stuffed down in his bra, he stepped out in the rain. Taking care to maintain as low of a profile as possible, he could feel the gazes of the townspeople on him. No doubt thought he was one of those Team Skull creeps. He honestly didn’t blame them for thinking that. Mother was very much using them as a distraction and for her own personal use.

Shoving that thought away, Gladion reached the clothing shop. Putting his hand on the handle, he gave it a push and stepped through.

Inside, things looked nice enough. A variety of tops, bottoms and everything in between awaited being picked up and possibly being worn. Normally not stuff he would ever touch, today was an exception.

“Hello!” a voice announced and Gladion looked around. Eventually settling on the far end of the store, a woman was manning the counter. The kind, elderly sort, it brought a touch of ease to Gladion’s mind. “Do you need help with anything, miss?”

Gladion stared down at the floor. Taking a moment to calm himself, he nodded and cleared his thoughts. Heading over, the runaway looked around for anyone else who might be watching him here. While he found nothing in the way of stalkers, his mother had a tendency to embed spies damn near everywhere. If he wasn’t careful, he could be dragged and likely used for nasty experiments.

Shoving that thought away with the other one, Gladion stopped in front of the counter.

“Yes. I’m looking for a purse and maybe some new clothes. Could you help me here?” Gladion inquired and got a nod from the woman. Walking out from behind the counter, she grabbed his hand. Getting pulled away, Gladion found himself drawn back over to the purses. Done up in a variety of colors and materials, he honestly didn’t know which one to pick out. Perhaps the sparkly purple one? That looked to have tons of storage. On the other hand, the white one with red accents was kind of cute. Did fit with the uniform though. There was also a rather plain pink one. Why did that one call out the loudest to him? Pink wasn’t even his color. Yet, that was one his eyes hung onto.

“Do you see one that you want?” the woman inquired and Gladion nodded. Pointing to the pink purse, he took care to pull out everything he had shoved into his secret compartment. Waiting a moment to see if the woman would react to him pulling a bunch of stuff out. When she didn’t, Gladion breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there anything else that you need help with?" the woman inquired and Gladion shook his head. Accepting the purse, he took the time to put his stuff in. Staring in, it felt right. Now, he probably needed a couple dresses, tops, bottoms and shoes. Or at least, one additional set so he didn't look like a lazy person. At the same time, he needed to keep a low profile.

"Why is this such a hard decision to make?" Gladion thought as he tried to calm his mind. Staring down at his gloves, the runaway swore he caught a glimpse of pink. But that was probably a trick of his eyes.

Pulling his gaze up, Gladion scanned the store for anything else he wanted. Eventually settling on a contact case, the runaway headed over. While relatively small, the designer of it managed to fit a variety of contacts in. Especially when combined with the makeup kit right beside it.

"There we go." Gladion told himself as he picked both items up. Heading over to the counter, Gladion took a moment to look around for anyone watching. Finding no one of the sort, his focus returned to the woman. Heading over, he shoved the negative thoughts away.

"Is that everything?" she inquired and Gladion nodded. Setting the purse on the counter, the contact case and makeup kit are right behind it. Grabbing his wallet, the runaway took care to pull out a couple bills. Setting them on the counter, the woman accepted the currency.

"Aren't you the cut-" she started, only for strange particles to appear across her face. Gladion waved his hand in front of her face, but got no reaction. What could've gotten into her here? Nothing about what he did made any sense for that to be the response. “I haven’t seen a rocket grunt in years. I honestly thought that you all got captured.”

Gladion raised an eyebrow. What could that even mean? Who the heck even was Team Rocket? Oh well. It probably didn’t matter.

“Well, they didn’t get all of us.” Gladion answered, his voice taking on a more feminine tone than he was used too here. Not that the runaway minded. It was one less thing that someone could figure him out by.

“Best of luck, miss rocket grunt. It’s a dangerous world out there.” the woman answered as she pushed the purse back. Gladion accepted the gift, taking the time to stuff everything within. Once that was done, he headed to the door. That was one task done.

Exiting back into the shopping district, Gladion took a moment to calm himself. His next destination was thankfully not that far away. As long as he didn’t run into anyone he knew, then thi-

“Gladion?” a voice called out, bringing with it the sound of a familiar person - Ash Ketchum. Except, there was something different about him. For a brief moment, Gladion swore he could make out a girl with purple hair and green eyes. Dressed in a uniform much like his, it didn’t last long to make a comment about it.

“Yes?” Gladion called out and waited a moment for Ash to walk up. Shoving the strange thoughts away, he met his friend’s gaze.

“What happened? Lillie is freaked out and your mom is turning Aether Paradise upside down. She’s even threatened to take out both of my moms.” ‘Ash’ explained, his tone not quite matching the voice that was coming out. Sounding closer to those two meddlesome brats that followed Ash around, there was no sign of Pikachu. That damn thing never left Ash’s sight.

“Did my mother take your partner?” Gladion remarked and Ash shook his head. That was one less thing to wor-

Before Ash could even elaborate, Gladion felt a pair of paws grab hold of his leg. Staring down, he was met with that of a mawile. Accepting the gesture to the best of his abilities,

“No, She’s hidden. Just in case. Though, I also have Mawile to help.” Ash explained as Mawile turned their attention over to Mawile. Getting a hug as well, that was followed up by an attempt to climb up. “Mawile, we’ve been over this! You’re half my size. I get that you want to be on my shoulder. Maybe when I’m older. Okay?”

Mawile nodded, choosing to stay at Ash’s side for now. Not that it stopped them from looking in Gladion’s direction.

“Could you come with me to the grocery store?” Gladion announced and Ash nodded. Reaching out to the runaway’s hand, he carefully grabbed hold. Taking care to not pull his companion along, Gladion felt a strange feeling echo across his body. Love? No. This was closer to affection. While it could lead to that, he wasn’t quite certain if it would. Shoving that thought away for now, he let his focus hang onto Ash. Once more, he swore he saw that girl. But as he opened his mouth to comment on it, Ash returned to normal. The oddest occurrence in a series of odd occurrences.

“Are you certain you can’t stay at my parent’s home?” Ash inquired and Gladion looked away. Staring down at the pavement, he tried to push away the tears. All that accomplished was making more tears fall down.

“That just paints a bigger target on their back and that’s the last thing your moms need here.” Gladion answered and caught a smile from Ash. While cute, Gladion swore he could make out a touch of lipstick. A shade of purple, it looked cute. It made him want to put his own lips on them and taste them. “Wait. Why am I even thinking that?”

Shoving that thought away, Gladion wiped away his tears. Squeezing Ash’s hand, he was treated to a squeeze back as they entered the grocery store. Compared to the clothing store that Gladion just left, this place was far larger and somehow even more colorful. A variety of products awaited purchasing, bringing with it a strange anxiety. There was bound to be a handful of Aether Foundation Employees wandering about, likely on the lookout for him. If he was seen, that was game over. There was no going back. Mother would fry him aliv-

“Gladion, it’ll be okay.” Ash cooed, the girl appearing for just a moment. Disappearing as quickly as she appeared, Gladion reluctantly nodded. Turning his attention back to the store proper, the runaway grabbed a cart. “Can I ride in the seat?”

Gladion raised an eyebrow. Leave it to Ash to look like a kid.

“No and you know why, Jamie.” he blurted out, not at all registering the name that had escaped his lips here. Neither had Ash for that matter. Definitely for the best as they headed into the grocery proper. “I only need a couple things, so this should be quick.”

Ash/Jamie nodded, taking the time to set Mawile down in the cart. Once he had done that, his attention returned to Gladion. Even as he was assaulted by visions of people cocooned in webs. Floating above the shelves, what was it trying to tell him here? Or was this some kind of warning? He had seen quite a huge number of Araquanid in Aether Paradise, far more than their current environment could handle. Bringing a hand in front of his eyes, Gladion took a moment to rub them. Once he had done that, the cocoons disappeared. Perhaps this was just the result of his paranoia. Yeah. Entirely possible.

Shoving that thought away, Gladion got to pushing. The first thing on his list was fresh fruit. While the motel room was limited when it came to actual stuff to use in the cooking process, fruit was usually something that could be consumed without any prep work. That, and Type Null generally liked the extras on his pokemon food.

“Oh yeah. Pokemon food.” Gladion thought, making a mental note to grab that as well. For now, he set his purse in the cart’s upper basket. Joining Mawile here, it took everything in the deceiver pokemon’s power to not rifle through it. Not that Gladion was keeping anything in there that would give away his identity.

“Apples or bananas?” Ash announced, pulling Gladion’s gaze away from the cart. At the moment, his companion was holding the titular fruit. The apple in the left hand and a bunch of bananas in the right hand. Looking between his options, he eventually settled on the apple.

“Apples. A couple apples, if you would be so kind?” Gladion cooed, his voice settling into the feminine tone for just a moment. More than long enough for Ash to notice. Opening his mouth, he closed it right after. Just in time for his brown eyes to give way to that of bright green eyes. Absolutely gorgeous, Gladion swore he could drown in their radiance. But not right now. No, that could come at a time when things were peaceful. If such a time even existed. Probably didn’t if his mother had her way.

Shoving yet more intrusive thoughts from his mind, Gladion took the time to grab the apples. Bagging them up, he set them down in the cart. Breathing a sigh of relief, he was met with Ash’s warm smile. Done up perfectly, it made him want to do his own makeup. Or at least, wait until they get out of here. Yeah. That was probably for the best. Especially as they headed for the pokemon food aisle. Why they needed to be so close to the produce section, was beyond him. Not that he was really thinking about it here. No, he needed to grab the pokemon food and then maybe some crackers. Perhaps some bread as well.

“So how have you and your friends been?” Gladion inquired and Ash brought a hand to his chin. Taking a moment to think the question over, a chuckle escaped his lips.

“Quite well. It’s been so long since my moms have gotten a chance to actually relax and not worry about things going wrong for one reason or another. It’s actually kind of nice.” Ash answered, his voice taking on a feminine tone as well. Not as noticeable as Gladion’s, but the runaway had very much noticed. Not enough to be worth bringing up, but something to keep in the back of his mind.

“Uh… I’m happy to hear that.” Gladion answered, hiding as much of the jealousy as he could for the sake of his friendship with Ash. Ash was so lucky. His parents cared about him. Unlike Lusamine. Heck, a corpse would be a better mother than she had currently.

“Care to tell me what happened?” Ash cooed, watching Gladion pick out a bag of pokemon food. Setting it down in the cart, Mawile’s gaze shot over. Lasting only a moment, it got them a chuckle from their trainer.

“I didn’t want to be her perfect little angel and I may have told her to stop fucking with my sister.” Gladion answered, blissfully unaware of hair getting longer in the back. No, his focus was more on the look that he was getting from Ash here. Absolutely justified at the moment.

“I’m guessing she didn’t take too kindly to that?” Ash inquired as they headed to the end of the aisle. Exiting out into the produce section, the cracker and candy aisles were likely not that far behind.

“You could say that.” Gladion answered and calmed himself. Everything was going to be alright. No matter what happened, he would get to the bottom of this mystery. If that even was achievable in the first place. If not, he was more than willing to settle for just having a better understanding of this situation. That was bound to be a better help here.

“If anything comes up, call me. My mothers and I will do our best to help.” Ash cooed and Gladion looked away. Why did Ash have to be so kind here? Made it quite a shame that he couldn’t reciprocate those feelings. One day. Yeah. He would very much repay such kindness in full. Shoving those thoughts among others to the back of his mind, he turned the cart into the cracker and candy aisle.

Staring over the selection, half of these options were stuff that his mother would never approve of. Which was all the more reason to grab them. If she had a reason for banning it, then maybe Gladion would understand why. But no, his mother banned a bunch of stuff and never said why. Not even when he asked her for a reason why he couldn’t have stuff like saltines and/or gummi teddiursa. Now, the runaway would get a chance to indulge himself. Grabbing a box of saltines, he took care to throw them in with some wheat square crackers. Shifting his attention over to the candy side of the aisle, Gladion grabbed some bags of gummi teddiursa and gummy orthworm. That was more than enough.

“Would you like a summer sausage to go with your crackers, Lucia?” Ash cooed and Gladion spun around. Meeting his companion’s gaze, his mind hadn’t registered the alternate name he had just been given. Even if it had, it was such a small thing in the grand scheme of things that it didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“Yeah. Put it in the cart.” Gladion answered and watched Ash set it in the cart. Mawile looked over to the tube of meat, but was unable to actually reach out and grab it. Probably for the best. Knowing the deceiver pokemon, they would probably use it to get their attention. Cute as they were, such behavior was best avoided. For now, Gladion shifted his attention back to Ash. Purple lipsticks ever so calling to be kissed, he resisted the temptation right in front of him. Another time. “Anything else you think that I should get?”

Ash raised a hand to his chin. Looking over the contents of the cart, this was clearly only enough food to last a single day. At the same time, the motel room that Gladion was staying at likely didn’t have a fridge, so that was understandable.

“Yes, but it’s all refrigerated stuff that wouldn’t hold well. So you should be good.” Ash answered and Gladion cracked a smile. Scanning this particular aisle one more time for good measure, he breathed a sigh of relief. While he was no doubt forgetting to grab something important, it probably didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Knowing his luck, things would work out. At least, that was what Gladion told himself as he directed the cart to the checkout area. Taking a moment to hand Mawile back to Ash, it was a rather simple matter to set everything on the belt and watch it end up at the scanner. There, a cashier took the time to scan the objects and bag them up. Gladion of course took the time to pay. While a runaway, he was by no means a thief.

“There you go.” the cashier explained as they held the bag out. Gladion accepted it, taking a moment to look in. Instead of finding his groceries, he was instead treated to discard locks of pink hair. Attempting to reach in, his vision went dark…

.

In his dreams, Gladion found himself treated to the sound of waves echoing about. Try as the runaway might to seek out the source, he found himself at a loss. Why couldn’t something as water moving about at least have the decency to show itself where it was coming. Or was that asking a touch too much here? Probably was.

Before Gladion had a chance to ask where he was and what he did to deserve such a punishment, his body was shaken about. Threatening to shake him apart, it eventually stopped.

“Uh… what exactly have I done wrong here?” Gladion called out, his voice taking on a feminine tone. Ignoring it for now, the eyes from the previous dream stared back. Except now, a couple of them were now purple. Gladion was able to stare at a couple for a moment, but not enough to actually do anything about it.

‘Do you not know what you’ve unleashed?!’ the voice screeched, Gladion doing his best to maintain his balance. Knocked to his feet, locks of bright pink hair move about. Reaching up to feel it, Gladion caught a glimpse of pink nail polish. Lovingly applied, it fit perfectly on his fingers. Looking over to his other hand, Gladion found it to be in a similar state. “I hope you’re happy. Nothing good will occur.”

The words echo about, Gladion not quite understanding what was going on. Even as his body was thrown back by the waves. Standing back up, an image of a large blue whale flooded his vision. Rubbing his eyes in the hopes of  flushing the image out, all that accomplished was the image being further ingrained in his vision and in turn, his mind.

“Please, give me respite.” Gladion whispered as he stepped forward. But all that accomplished was screaming echoing across his ears as everything went white.

.

When Gladion opened his eyes once more, he found himself not standing at the checkout. Instead, he was back in the motel room. Still wearing the Team Rocket uniform, Type: Null now laid beside him.

“Good morning, bud.” Gladion cooed, the feminine tone having now taken over for his regular voice. Not that the runaway noticed or even minded for that matter. If anything, this made it less likely that Aether would figure out it was him. “How did you sleep?”

Type: Null moved their head to the left. Had their master not noticed the strange things on their chest? They were making the top look far tighter than it actually was. Or had those mounds always been there to begin with?

“Null.” Type: Null announced and Gladion cracked a smile. While the events of the previous day were a blur, it would seem that things had worked out just fine.

Getting out of bed, Gladion took a moment to look over the room. The patches of blood and fur appeared to be gone. Had he cleaned the room last night? That seemed to be the case. Yet, why couldn’t he remember doing that. Oh well. That was one less thing to worry about right now. Instead, Gladion headed for the bathroom. Shoving away any negative thoughts that might be holding him down, he made his entrance.

Compared to the last time Gladion had entered this part of the room, things were relatively the same. Minus the large pink duffle bag that now sat right by the tub. Filled with clothes and what little belongings Gladion had on him, this was more than enough for the runaway to live comfortably. But that wasn’t where his eyes were drawn too. No, that would be the mirror. Staring in, a girl with shoulder-length pink hair and purple eyes stared back. Normally a cause for concern, Gladion put a hand on the mirror.

“I look so cute.” Gladion thought as he finally looked over to the duffle bag. There had to be a spare clean uniform within. Yeah. Jamie would not approve of her wearing the same uniform two days in a row. In a way, she was a far better grunt in that case. In other ways, she - Lucia was better. In a way, they covered each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Like a team should. Perhaps that was why they were so attracted to each other.

Shoving that thought out of her head for now, Lucia stripped out of her uniform. By no means her intention to spend the night in it, she was likely very tired and didn’t want to change into her pajamas. Yeah, that sounded right in her mi-

“Hat!”

Spinning around, a hatterene now stood in front of her. Quite happy to see her, that didn’t change the fact that they should be a pile of hair clumps. What exactly had changed? Try as Lucia might to grasp the reasons, she found herself still out of reach. Absolutely frustrating. But no matter. She would roll with the punches.

“Hatterene.” Hatterene added and opened up their hat hand. Inside, a bright pink disk drive awaited. Scooping it out of partner’s hand, Lucia held it up in the light. Looking to be solid, this looked to be perfect for Type: Null. If they were willing to accept it, of course. That would make or break this plan.

“Thank you, Hatterene.” Lucia answered, wasting little time in getting changed. While finding her other pokemon was nice, that didn’t change the fact she didn’t understand what was going on in the slightest. While Jamie could be her saving grace, this is likely a bigger mess than either of them had faced before. Could they rise to the occasion and fix it? Only one way to find out.

Exiting the bathroom in her clean uniform, Lucia made a beeline over to Type: Null. Still laying in the same spot as before, they craned their neck to meet Lucia and Hatterene’s gaze.

“Type: Null, I have a drive for you.” Lucia cooed and showed the pink drive to her partner. Accepting the gift, it didn’t do anything. Yet, at least. Perhaps there was one more step that needed to be done before they could go about changing Type: Null’s type. What that step was and how to go about achieving it, remained to be seen. Letting out a deep breath, Lucia’s gaze shifted to the door.

Grabbing her purse, Lucia took a moment to stare inside. At the moment, what looked to be a room key, her wallet and a couple extra pokeballs stared back. Perfect for any situation that might come up and/or pokemon that needed to be stolen. If she needed anything else, Jamie was bound to have some stuff on her. Or her mothers. They were always so kind to her. She tried to ask if there was anything she could do for them, but that idea was always shot down. There was likely a reason for that, not that Lucia could actually think of what it was. Instead, the grunt motioned for her pokemon to follow behind. Hatterene and Type: Null complied, walking up to the door with Lucia.

Outside, the rains from the previous day had intensified. If one didn’t know any better, they would probably think that someone wanted to drown Alola and start again.

“Lucia?” a voice called out and Lucia looked to her right. Jamie was heading over to her, a cautious yet happy smile hanging to her face. Now dressed in the same white uniform as her, she looked absolutely gorgeous. Locks of purple hair cut short, combined with the beautiful purple lips, she wasn’t going to waste her opportunity here. “There you are! I was worried about you!”

Running over to Jamie, their lips met. While the embrace was short, it was more than worth it. Breaking away right after, that was Mawile’s cue to give Lucia’s leg a hug. Once that was done, she moved onto Type: Null and Hatterene.

“How are you holding up?” Lucia inquired and Jamie looked away. Looking in the direction of the water, the waves had very much picked up. Something was not happy here. Whether that be human or pokemon, neither girl wished to find out. Knowing their luck, they very much were going too.

“The waves kept me up. How about you?” Jamie answered as she focused back on her girlfriend. For something that was supposed to be a vacation, something like this was bound to happen. But not on this level.

“I slept… alright.” Lucia answered, the rain deciding that it needed to come down even harder. Staring up at the sky, she was met with dark clouds. “Is there anything that you want to do today? I know we’re limited in our options, but I want to return the favor from yesterday.”

Jamie nodded and Lucia brought a hand up to her chin. What exactly could she do for her girlfriend to balance out Jamie helping her shop at the grocery store? While taking her girlfriend to a store she wanted to go to was the obvious option, that felt too on the nose. Perhaps taking her out for a meal would be a good idea. Yeah. That could work.

“Want to grab a bite to eat?” Lucia suggested and watched her girlfriend perk up. Yep. That would work perfectly. Unless the Aether Foundation or whatever the source of these waves were.

“That works for me.” Jamie answered and motioned for Mawile to come over. Mawile complied with the order, taking the time to get on Jamie’s shoulder. Once Jamie was certain the deceiver pokemon was comfortable, her attention shifted to Lucia. Reaching out, Lucia grabbed hold. Squeezing the scientist’s hand, she was met with a squeeze back. Even in the face of everything that had occurred in the last couple days, they would make it thro-

“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice called out and the couple froze. A woman dressed in a short sleeveless white and yellow dress with a strange green jewel in the bust area walked up. White and black stockings snaked up her legs, leading right into a pair of yellow and black pointed-toe slingback heels. Locks of blonde hair hung down all the way down to her knees, styled to almost look like part of an egg. Greenish yellow eyes filled with rage gazed over them, but nothing in the way of makeup.

“To have a meal, miss.” Jamie barked and got an eye roll from their opponent. The nerve of this woman. Somehow on the same level of Jessibelle, if not worse.

"Hand the girl over and maybe I won't leave you for your friend to ruin you. How does that sound?" the woman announced and Lucia froze. This was clearly her fault. Yet, that didn't give this woman the right to decide what she could do. Let alone who she hung out with.

"What makes you think I would just hand my girlfriend over?!" Jamie screeched and Mawile jumped off of her shoulder. Charging at her target, that was Hatterene and Type: Null's cue to charge at the woman. "Mawile, Bite!"

Mawile’s back jaws grabbed hold of the woman’s leg. Chomping down with all their might, they couldn't even pierce through the skin. That should have been more than enough to accomplish such a feat.

"Hatterene, Hyper Beam! Type: Null, Giga Impact!” Lucia ordered, her pokemon complying. Hatterene skidded to a stop, letting forth a massive beam of energy. Slamming right into their target, Type: Null was already charging for this woman. Managing to knock her back, nothing in the way of damage.

“Pathetic.” the woman announced as the waves rose up. Easily coming over the ground, she picked Lucia up with ease.

“Lucia!” Jamie screeched and charged for the woman. Jumping on her, Mawile was not that far behind. Landing on Jamie’s shoulder, she tried her best to meet the woman’s gaze. But that accomplished nothing here.

“What makes you think that you’ll accomplish anything? Go ahead, tell that stupid rat one last move.” the woman announced and cracked a smile. Jamie let out a deep breath. By all accounts “Mawile, Payback on me and Lucia. Trust me on this one, okay?”

Mawile nodded, charging up dark energy. Slamming it to the best of their abilities into its partner and their beloved, all it accomplished was knocking Mawile into the water. Trying their best to remain above the water, they could make out a large wave crashing over. Then… white. Far more pure than that brought forth by evolution, it was as if the details of the world had been wiped away. The sound of a pained scream echoed forth

“Maw?”

.

When Mawile was able to open their eyes, they found themselves not drowning to their death by way of an overzealous kyogre. Instead, they were treated to a boat. A Yveltal of all legendaries was trying their hardest to row with the long stick, which doesn’t explain the gray haired woman.

“Mighty big mess that girl of yours made.” Yvetal announced, the woman’s pink eyes flicking over to Mawile. Lasting only a moment, the deceiver pokemon could feel the sadness. At the same time, a sense of frustration.

“Uh… Where am I and can I get back to Jamie?” Mawile countered, slightly confused by why her words were coherent for all audiences here.

“Little one, that’s the thing. You’re in the afterlife and secondly, you can’t. There is no world to go back too.” the destruction pokemon announced, craning their head to get a better look at their audience. Easier said than done with their unique proportions. “Your master made a hard choice and you’re going to have to live with the consequences.”

Mawile raised an eyebrow. Tempting as it would be to bite Yveltal right now, it would do little good in a place like thhis. Would likely ruin their chance at revival. Probably give Jamie an aron rather than a mawile. Shoving that thought out of their mind, Mawile wiped away their tears to the best of their abilities.

“If you want someone to hate, hate me.” the woman announced and Mawile’s attention shifted over to them. Staring up to the best of their abilities, the deceiver pokemon found the woman’s face just out of view. They could see her just fine a second ago.

“Why?” Mawile answered, only to get tears. Attempting to reach out to catch one, all that accomplished was the tear going out of its way to remain out of reach. Oddly annoying here. Couldn’t the afterlife at least see the suffering she had gone through? Or was there something else in play here that they just couldn’t see? Literally, in this case.

But the woman doesn’t not answer. Instead, her thoughts turn to other things. What those thoughts were and how they could help in this situation were, would remain unsaid and unexplored.

“We’ve arrived at our destination.” Yveltal announced as the boat stopped. Looking over to Mawile, they reluctantly head to the boat’s edge. Staring over, they try to look in the woman’s direction. But all that accomplished is her pushing the deceiver pokemon off. Not even waiting to see that part of the tapestry light up, she was not that far behind…