Unity

Chapter 8

Gloria started to push open the old, wooden doors of the tall tower of darkness. Accompanied by her best friend she stepped into the dark room. Without saying anything, Hop grabbed a pokeball out of his bag and threw it up in the air. The purple haired boy walked further into the room and came to a halt next to his Cinderace. He held up his hand to Gloria, telling her that she should wait before closing the doors yet.

"Ah, there are lots of candles around here! Two on each floor, to be precise." Gloria told him.

Hop nodded at his Pokémon. "You know what ya gotta do mate." He grinned.

With a nod the tall Pokémon lit up all the candles on the first floor with the heat coming from its feet. Gloria closed the front doors once Cinderace was done. Without Hop having to say anything his Pokémon jumped up the stairs already to light up all the other floors too. Gloria came to a halt next to Hop, their shoulders were touching.

"He just can't sit still, can he?" She chuckled softly.

Hop shook his head with a smile. They glanced around the lit up room, but it was empty except for a large bong that was standing in the middle of the room. Gloria grinned and grabbed the stick that was leaning against it.

"Oi Hop, wanna know how loud this thing can get?" She asked him playfully.

Hop laughed and wanted to play along, but froze when he realized that loud sounds could make the Tauros around them turn aggressive towards other wild Pokémon. Without thinking he grabbed Gloria's hand in which she was holding the stick. Gloria turned her head to him in confusion. They both started to blush when they realised how close they were standing near each other. Hop's breathing started to quicken up. There was a strange tension in the room which send a pleasant shiver down his neck. He opened up his mouth to say something so he could do something about this tension, but was interrupted by Cinderace nearly tripping on the stairs. The two teens turned around with worry. Cinderace was fine, but clearly was feeling very embarrassed. Gloria did her best to hold back her laughter. Hop awkwardly scratched the back of his head and walked towards his Pokémon, reaching out his hand to pet it.

"There there mate. It's okay! Thanks for helping us out here!" He said in a kind voice as he put him back in his pokeball.

Gloria walked towards the stairs and stepped up the first few steps already. She leaned over the balcony and grinned at her best friend.

"Such a klutz!" The briwn haired girl said with a laugh. "Just like it's trainer." She added in a quiet voice that was loud enough for Hop to hear.

Hop's eyebrows frowned, although his lips were smiling. "Why you..." He mumbled as he started to walk towards her.

Gloria let out a chuckle and started to run up the stairs. With a big smile on his face he started to chase her all the way to the highest floor. Before reaching the final step of the staircase Hop managed to catch up with her. He grabbed her wrist, but he got pulled along with her since she was still running. She came to a halt when the was on the flat surface again and turned around, surprised that Hop actually caught up on her. The purple haired boy tripped due to the sudden change of pace.

"Oi!" Gloria said out loud as she stretched out his arms to him.

She caught him in her arms just in time. A strange tension started to rise up in the room as Gloria was holding Hop tightly in her arms. His face was at the resting above her chest. He started to turn beet red when he realised what exactly was pressing against his neck and upperchest. He jumped backwards. His cheeks were  flushing red from shame, but Gloria didn't seem to notice what was going on. She tilted her head and reached out her hand to him with a worried look on her face.