Your Tragic Smile: Gladion x Reader

31 - After the Battle and Hala's Knowledge

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-Your POV-

What was Gladion thinking about his defeat and my win?

Gladion walks over to me but stays still a distance away, and he sharply exhales, "So I'm not strong enough to beat you."

My gaze meets his emerald-green eyes as I wipe tears from mine and offer him a small smile. "I can't thank you enough, Gladion." I begin to run up to him, then jump his arms, "I can't believe I won! I'm so glad!"

Gladion stiffens but accepts the embrace, and I tune out the loud and insistent protests of my brother's disapproval as I wrap my arms around Gladion, completely content with the turnout.

"Listen, I enjoy this hug and all, but can you stop?" Gladion mumbles.

"Aw, why?" I pout, looking up at Gladion, who is visibly uncomfortable.

"You need to receive your prize for winning." He replies simply.

"Oh, right, sorry."

"Don't apologize. But hug me again later, promise?" He asks, and my cheeks tint pink.

"Of course!"

Kahuna Hala approaches me as I step away from Gladion, feely extraordinarily light-hearted as if I could do anything. Hala smiles, the edges of his eyes crinkling the way old people do, and he hands me a peculiar-looking charm, "This is the island challenge amulet. It holds great worth, as it is given to each trainer who wins the tournament. Though it is a replica of the real one, since we need one every four years, I hope you can know that it still holds much significance."

"Thank you so very much, Kahuna Hala!" I cry, bowing my head and accepting the charm from his tan hand. "I'll treasure it always. I'll even keep it with my mother's trial captain charm!"

"I apologize if I heard wrong, but did you by chance say trail captain?" Hala questions.

"Yes, this was my mother's." I hold up my wrist where the broken half of the ice-colored charm is tied.

"My, my." Hala says slowly, "So your mother was (M/N)?"

"Well, yeah." I shrug.

Gladion stands next to me and speaks up, "Why?"

"Urm, (M/N) has passed away now, correct?" Hala looks incredibly uncomfortable but sincere, "I knew her when she became a trial captain, before she met your father. (M/N) was a magnificently skilled trainer, much like you, (Y/N)."

"Oh, thanks." I smile slightly, sorrow lacing my voice, "I miss her very, very much."

"I see." Hala says.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gladions asks, putting a hand on my shoulders as if he thought I was being threatened.

"Uhm, there is something I think you'd like to know about your mother, (Y/N), but for now, the Full Power Festival is coming to an end. If you don't mind, please swing by sometime to visit me later this week."

"Sure," I reply with another slight bow, and Hala nods and walks away to start the preparations to close the celebration, now that the tournament has ended.

"I wonder what that was about." Gladion mutters, crossing his arms.

"I'm not sure," I say, cracking my knuckles, "But I need a stress reliever after such an intense battle. What do you want to do?"

"You're the victor, so you choose," Gladion says.

"Okie!" I responded, "Then let's have a good lunch somewhere... Nah, scratch that. How about just chilling back in the apartment? I wanna relax some before I confront my brother."

Gladion looks confused, "Sun?"

"Yep. He can be such a sore loser sometimes. And to lose to someone like you? He's probably already punched a tree or wall or something." I laugh. "And since he just got rejected as well... Heh heh."

"What do you mean, rejected?" Gladion puts his hand on his hips and asks, clearly suspicious.

I sweat drop, "Ah, well, he kinda confessed to his crush, and he was turned down. I accidentally overheard it."

"And who was it that he confessed to?" Gladion said, straight to the point.

I close my eyes and sigh in experaseration, "Lillie."

Silence.

I was expecting some kind of reaction from him, since Gladion was very overprotective of his sister sometimes, though she was getting stronger now.

I opened my eyes to see Gladion, with a blank face.

"Gladion?" I blink.

"Eh, good for him." Gladion shrugs, a smirk making its way into his face.

I roll my eyes, "Sure. Now, ready to go? I just remembered, we should head by the Pokecenter before we head home, to heal our Pokemon, who just had a huge battle."

"Sounds good to me." Gladion agreed, and we exit the festival without looking back once, but with small smiles on both of our faces

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Word count: 787 words