Unity

Chapter 13

Gloria and Hop were standing around a fountain together. Gloria was staring into it with both her hands pressed firmly on the edge for balance, wondering how the water wasn't frozen yet in this freezing weather. The hailstorm had quieted down during the night. When they woke up there was a very awkward silence in between them. Both remembering and being ashamed of what happened the night before. It didn't take long until Hop broke off the awkwardness with a couple of jokes. Thanks to that, it almost seemed as if nothing has happened. Gloria lifted herself up and grabbed Hop's arm tightly, pulling it to gain his attention.

"I'm thinking of letting Eternatus out for a bit, mind going to route 9 before heading back?" She asked him.

"Sure mate!" He nodded.

They headed out towards route 9 together. It was quiet outside. The people of Circhester were probably still cautious of the weather.

"Alright Eternatus, come on' out!" The brunette girl commanded her Pokémon cheerfully.

The 20 meter big Pokémon came out of its pokeball with a roar. It flew a couple of rounds in the air to stretch out and came to a halt in front of its trainer. Gloria let out a soft chuckle and held out her hand. Eternatus rested it's large head against it carefully, letting out a soft yet satisfied roar. Hop clapped his hands two times and looked in amazement at his best friend.

"You really trained him well! Can't believe a year ago it tried to kill us!"

Gloria proudly puffed out her chest. "We're practically besties now, right Eternatus?" She jokingly said as she gave the strange Pokémon a few pats on his head.

Hop grinned. "Seems like I have some competition then!"

Gloria fell quiet again. How much she longed to be more than best friends with him. She reached for her chest and grasped it tightly. Eternatus twirled around in the air and started to nibble at  it trainers backpack.

"Oi oi, what is it?" She asked him while pulling her backpack away from him.

It let out a soft cry and he started to chase the backpack. Of course, he wanted the apples she took from the royal garden! Gloria suddenly face-palmed herself. How could she forget? She placed the backpack on the ground and started to search for the apples. Hop took a few steps closer and shared a glance with the legendary Pokémon. The young girl pulled out a small bag and stood up straight again. She grabbed one apple out of the bag and handed it over to Hop.

"Here, I got these back in Hammerlocke! You liked these so much last time, so..." Her voice started to trail off. She was afraid if she was sounding too creepy perhaps.

Hops eyes started to sparkle. He grabbed the apple from her hands and took a big bite out of it. Gloria turned to Eternatus  to give him the other apple. She only brought two, since she didn't expect Eternatus to be this hungry. Eternatus carefully grabbed the apple between its beak, but instead of eating it whole he broke it in two pieces, leaving half of the red fruit for its trainer.

Gloria looked at her Pokémon with admiration.

"Thanks Eternatus!" She said in a sweet tune.

Hop started to chuckle. "When you pulled out the apples I really thought you'd give me an Applin confession, ya know?"

Gloria nudged his arm with her elbow as she jokingly answered him. "That's what you would've wanted, isn't it?"

Hop looked into her eyes. "Maybe it is."

The two teens stared at each other for a few seconds. Both blushing from their nose to their ears. Eternatus broke the awkward moment with a strange growl. The two friends turned around to see what was wrong. The energy sphere in its body started to shine brightly. The ground started shaking and a bright visible light was beaming into the sky at the place where Circhester Stadium was. Gloria wanted to grab her pokeball so she could safely put back Eternatus, but fell down on her knees due to another strange headache.