Gladion (Pokémon)

Gladion (Japanese: グラジオ Glazio) is a character introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon. He works as Team Skull's enforcer who hopes to stop the Aether Foundation's plan. He is Lillie's brother and Lusamine's son. His partner Pokémon is Type: Null.
==Appearance==
Gladion is a young boy with light blonde hair and green eyes. His hair is shaved on the sides with a ripped design carved into it, with long tousled bangs that cover his right eye. He wears a gray hooded shirt with a red slash resembling a scar on it, a black undershirt with ripped sleeves, ripped black pants and red shoes with gray soles and black laces. He also has a red rectangular bag around his waist.
==Overview==
Gladion was born as the son of Lusamine, the Aether Foundation's president, and Mohn. Both of his parents were researching about the Ultra Beasts that were rumored to exist in another dimension. The foundation eventually created their own Pokémon known as Type: Null, which was intended to be an anti-Ultra Beast fighting beast.
All was well when one day, his father Mohn suddenly disappeared while researching the Ultra Beasts. This leads her mother on a desperate search for him. She eventually encountered the Ultra Beast known as Nihilego. The Ultra Beast corrupted Lusamine, which made her obsessed with the Ultra Beasts, and made her love Nihilego more than her own children.
No longer able to withstand Lusamine's abusive behavior, Gladion stole one of the Type: Null and fled the foundation. He was eventually hired as an enforcer for Team Skull.
==History==
===Games===
The player first encounters Gladion in Route 5 where he just defeated the player's friend Hau in battle. Gladion criticizes Hau for seemingly not taking the battle seriously and seemingly enjoys his loss. He then challenges the player to a battle. After being defeated, Team Skull shows up and scolds Gladion for messing up their chance to steal the Totem Pokémon of Brooks Hills. Team Skull attempts to battle the player, but is stopped by Gladion. Before leaving, the grunts says that even though Guzma likes him, he is not and never will be a member of Team Skull. Gladion himself then leaves.
After his defeat, he later heads to the Battle Royal Dome. Originally attended to "bury his sorrow in the crowd", he was invited to take part in a Battle Royal match along with the player, Hau, and the Masked Royal. After the battle, Hau asked Gladion as to why he's here, to which Gladion responds by saying he was trying to get him and Type: Null stronger. He then promptly leaves.
Later, in Route 13, Gladion appears before the player and Hau and ask if they know anything about Cosmog. Surprised by the question, Hau acts coy, but this only makes Gladion realize they do know. He explains that Team Skull is after Cosmog because, although not a strong Pokémon itself, it can summon a powerful Pokémon which could cause destruction. He urges them to protect Cosmog, and then leaves, commenting how he has no idea how Team Skull was aware of its existence.
When Lillie is kidnapped by Team Skull at the Aether Paradise, Gladion overhears that Lillie had Cosmog all along. Both shocked and angry that player was unable to protect Lillie and Cosmog, he challenges them to a battle. After his defeat, he apologizes to the player for his actions. He then reveals that Team Skull has taken Lillie to Aether Paradise. He then takes you and Hau to there in order to rescue Lillie.
Gladion assists the player in battling the Aether Employees. He suggests searching the secret laboratories that are in the basement, but realizes the lift won't go down. In order to have access to the basement, Gladion instead takes the lift up, and is forced to battle alongside the player against Faba.
After Faba's defeat, Wicke appears and calls Gladion master, revealing that he has a history with the Aether Foundation. They then go down to the secret laboratories, with Gladion searching Secret Laboratory A while the player and Hau search Secret Laboratory B. Unfortunately, they find nothing.
They take the lift back up, and are later ambushed by Faba and numerous Aether Foundation Employees. The trio battles and defeats the Aether Foundation employees, with Gladion assisting the player during their battle with Faba. A defeated Faba gives the trio a key to further their search, then runs off.
Upon further investigating Aether Paradise, the trio discovered a line of Team Skull grunts along with their leader Guzma. Gladion rushes through the grunts and challenges Guzma to a battle. By the time the player got to them, however, Gladion is defeated, feeling like his efforts were for nothing. Guzma condenses him before turning his attention to the player and challenging them to a battle.
After Guzma was defeated, Gladion barges in and tried to convince Lusamine to stop her plans. During the conversion, it is revealed that Gladion, Lillie, and Lusamine are actually a family. Lusamine express anger at his children for "rejecting her love". She then forces Cosmog to create an Ultra Wormhole, which summons Nihilego before them. Several other wormholes appear throughout the Alola region in the process.
Gladion then comes up with a plan and attempts to stop them. Gladion takes on Nihilego while Hau takes on Guzma, leaving the player to battle Lusamine. After her defeat, however, Lusamine then disappears into the wormhole, with Guzma chasing after her.
Afterwards, Gladion gives the player a Master Ball and the Moon Flute/Sun flute so the player can find Solgaleo (Sun)/Lunala (Moon) in order to bring Lusamine home. He then takes the player and Lillie to Poni Island to look for the kahuna for assistance.
After Lusamine is finally stopped and brought home, Gladion appears at Mount Lanakila, graceful for the player's help. He once again challenges the player to a battle, and after being defeated, tells them he understands why Lillie thinks they are the best trainer.
After defeating the league, Gladion can be found at Aether Paradise, where he gives the player a Type: Null as thanks. He can also appear as one of the challenges for the Alola Champion title.
===Manga===
Gladion first appears in the Sun & Moon chapter, where he seen as a participant in a festival tournament being held in Iki Town. He was initially absent while the placement of the participants was being determined, but comes back when the tournament starts, and reveals he was absent because he was investigating a crack in the sky (an Ultra Wormhole) that was sensed by his Type: Null.
In the first round's second match, Gladion's opponent is Hau, Island Kahuna Hala's grandson. During the battle, Gladion asks Hau why he chose to participate in the tournament, and assumes it was because he wants to surpass his grandfather. When Hau answers that he participated because he thought it would be fun, he tells him off and calls him weak. He eventually manages to defeat Hau, advancing him to the next round.
In the second round's second match, Gladion is up against Moon, who reveals that she saw the same kind of crack in the sky Gladion did, and asks him to tell her about it, to which he agrees on the condition that Moon can defeat him but wondered why Moon chose Poison-type Pokémon to fight with. Moon claimed she had to know more about poison as a herbalist, which made Gladion see she studied Poison-type Pokémon. Moon also admitted she was a fan of Poison-type Pokémon, which startled Gladion.
Gladion's Porygon was grappled by Moon's Grimer. Moon was confused at Gladion, since this gave him to have a good shot to attack her Grimer. Gladion thought she needed information, and told that Grimer was a Dark/Poison-type Pokémon, and Psybeam had no effect. Samson confirmed this, as Grimer was a regional variant and had differences with the other Grimer. Moon offered Gladion to surrender the match, but Gladion was unamused, since his Porygon didn't need to breathe. Thus, Porygon used Discharge, which defeated Grimer. Moon sent Mareanie, who circled around Porygon. Gladion knew Moon wanted Mareanie to dodge his Porygon's Psybeam attack, but claimed his Porygon would find a pattern in Mareanie's movement. Moon asked if Gladion did like his artificial Pokémon. Gladion refused to answer that, while Moon pointed out she did show her Poison-type Pokémon before the match. Gladion eyed her, forcing Moon to apologize herself. She still noted Gladion was a scientific type of person, sensing this as she was hailing from a family of scholars. Gladion's Porygon fired Psybeam, but missed, making Moon grin at that. Since he had little time left, and that Porygon was poisoned by Grimer, Gladion had Porygon successfully launch Zap Cannon on her Mareanie. Moon was in shock such a move did hit, as Gladion explained in the match between trainers that have an equal amount of skill and knowledge, the victory is determined to the one that has more burden. Moon didn't understand what he was saying, as Gladion advanced to the finals. Hala offered him a break, but Gladion didn't want that, as he and Sun wanted to settle the fight. Gladion sent Type: Null against Sun's Cent, who used Night Slash. Type: Null was unharmed, and when Sun was distracted, his Cent was defeated by Type: Null's X-Scissor. Sun was in shock, and sent Dollar, who failed to hit Type: Null with Ember. Dollar tried to sneak behind Type: Null to attack it with Ember, but failed and Type: Null shook it away. Gladion was annoyed at this, stating he believed Sun was a good trainer, but saw that he was just goofing around. Sun swore that he did have a burden to collect one million dollars. Suddenly, his bandages came off and a power passed onto Dollar, who fired a burning attack that defeated Type: Null. Gladion left, seeing he failed the chance to meet with the Tapu Pokémon. Regardless, he swore he wouldn't just wait for *that time*, and would train himself further until he was able to face the Ultra Beasts.
Gladion came to Ruins of Conflict, where Guzma awaited him, looking for Tapu Koko. Guzma reminded Gladion they both participated in the tournament, and wondered why he let Sun win, since he could've sent Porygon out. Gladion cut the talk, and Guzma offered him the position as Team Skull's bodyguard. Gladion started to think about it, as Guzma claimed he needed something to straighten up his grunts, calling them "idiots". After Gladion accepted, he recalled Guzma said there was a person whom he served before he left. Guzma played dumb, questioning if he really had said that. Regardless, he and Gladion went to show the latter where Team Skull's base was located. Seeing the crack in the sky, from which tentacles emerged to attack Tapu Lele, Moon remembered Gladion and his Type: Null, who had reported to have seen such crack before. Kiawe was assaulted by Team Skull grunts, led by Gladion. Kiawe was overwhelmed by the latter, who asked of him to take them to the Ruins of Life. Kiawe barely managed to call Mallow, who heard the fighting, before collapsing. Gladion, however, left a note, saying "Great work guiding me.
Gladion eventually captured Tapu Lele, and came to the Ruins of Life. There, Gladion confronted Sun, Moon and Kiawe. Sun was enraged, seeing Gladion was the Team Skull enforcer. Moon recalled Tapu Lele fought the creature from the crack of the sky, which made Gladion see that is why capturing it was easier than he had thought, as part of his mission to capture all Tapu Pokémon. Moon exclaimed the Tapu Pokémon were angry, due to the appearances of strange creatures from the crack of the sky. Sun interrupted her, claiming he would never side with a villain from Team Skull. He went to obtain Kiawe's Z-Ring, but the item was shattered by Type: Null's attack. Sun turned to Gladion, who reminded Sun during the Full Force Festival, he did have Porygon he could've used against Sun, if they took some rest, yet Hala declared Sun as the winner for having the Sparkling Stone. Gladion swore to defeat Sun with or without the Z-Ring, but a voice called out to Gladion he destroyed Kiawe's Z-Ring, knowing he would lose against it. The voice was Kahili's, who sent Toucannon to fight Gladion's Type: Null, and sent Oricorio to give Sun the Z-Ring that Hala sent her to deliver to him. Sun pointed out Gladion feared the power of the Z-Moves, and passed the Z-Power to En, preparing it to execute Inferno Overdrive against Gladion.
Gladion was blown away by the Z-Move, and his Type: Null suffered severe damage, making its mask cracked. Gladion swapped Type: Null with Porygon, so Sun had Dollar use the Z-Move once more. However, Dollar failed and breathed smoke out, and Gladion belittled Sun. He acknowledged Sun did not fall down this time, who pointed out Gladion was the one that called Type: Null back. Gladion claimed they would be shocked to see what is beneath Type: Null's mask, and confirmed Moon's words that it could not control its powers without the mask. Moon asked Gladion to at least heal Tapu Lele. Gladion asked her about the creature that fought Tapu Lele, and was told it was a bunch of cables emitting electrical attacks that nearly defeated the guardian deity. Gladion noted this, and let go of Tapu Lele, since he had no use of it anymore. He pointed out Tapu Lele was worthless, as it was quite weak that Gladion managed to kidnap it. He explained the crack in the sky was not a "door" but actually an "exit", from which creatures could come out, but nobody could enter through. Sun pointed out those were synonyms, but Gladion called him an idiot, since he did use two different terms. He believed this portal could be severed, but from the creatures' world. Without further ado, Gladion bid everyone farewell and walked away.
Gladion came to a ghost town, occupied by Team Skull grunts. Suddenly, he and Type: Null were attacked by a Salazzle, who used Venom Drench. Gladion evaded the attack and had Type: Null retaliate with Air Slash. Plumeria, Salazzle's trainer, faced Gladion, seeing he was the new enforcer whom Guzma had hired. Plumeria introduced herself as Team Skull's admin, but Gladion remained silent. The Team Skull grunts started yelling at Gladion, but were silenced by Plumeria, and Gladion compared her to Salazzle. He noted Salazzle emitted pheromones to attract male Salandit, and admitted a woman as a leader slightly intimidated him. Plumeria's Salazzle used Dragon Tail on Type: Null, and she explained Gladion was no member of Team Skull, and was in no position to make these "stunts". Regardless, she let him follow her and defend their territory. Gladion sensed something behind him and looked around, until the grunts yelled at him to keep pace. Once Guzma unleashed the mysterious creatures, the Ultra Beasts, to attack the Trial Captains, Gladion questioned him from whom he got them. Guzma avoided the question, though Gladion assumed Guzma was being controlled by someone and forced to do their work. This infuriated Guzma, who sent Golisopod to attack Gladion, declaring nobody was controlling him. Gladion evaded Golisopod's attack and came down to where Sun and Hau were, and told Guzma he joined Team Skull to fight the Ultra Beasts.
Gladion approached the Ultra Beast, but the tall Ultra Beast fired an attack at him. Gladion sent out his Type: Null, who stopped the attack and battled the Ultra Beast. Gladion believed that the Aether President, Lusamine, had been using Guzma to open up Ultra Wormholes that would bring the Ultra Beasts into Alola. The Trial Captains didn't believe him, since Aether Foundation had helped them and saved many Pokémon. Moon arrived, wishing to know more from Gladion, who declared this was a battle for his family. The Ultra Beasts continued attacking, and one of them attacked Guzma, who was blown away. Gladion confronted the latter, not surprised that the Ultra Beast had attacked him. Gladion reminded Guzma that he said that the Ultra Beast would do what they want once they appear, and wondered what Lusamine actually told him. Guzma laughed, claiming he didn't know anything. Just as he was to shed the truth, Guzma was grabbed by the tentacled Ultra Beast and taken through the Ultra Wormhole. With the Ultra Beasts out of Po Town, Gladion ignored the Trial Captains and pursued the Ultra Beasts on Type: Null. Sun, however, believed Gladion that a human had unleashed the Ultra Beasts into the world, hence why the Guardian Deities of Alola were angry.
Later, Gladion and Type: Null, alongside Professor Kukui, Molayne, Acerola, and Sophocles chased two of the escaped Ultra Beasts at Route 10. Gladion and Type: Null easily defeated the tall Ultra Beast, Celesteela, much to Kukui and Molayne's surprise. Though Gladion reminded them that there was still one more Ultra Beast left, Lillie called Gladion, who turned around to see his sister. With Gladion distracted, the large Ultra Beast tried to attack Lillie, but he and Type: Null managed to save her. While doing so, Type: Null broke free from its mask and evolved, and toppled down Guzzlord. Lillie was surprised to see that Type: Null evolved to save her, and was happy to be reunited with her long-lost brother. They told everyone that they were siblings, and that Aether Foundation President, Lusamine, was their mother, much to everyone's surprise. Lillie also informed him that Nebby has changed form and became unresponsive, and she took a flute before running away. Gazing at the flute, Gladion decided that they should head to the Altar next.
Lillie and Gladion rode on Silvally, and passed by Poni Wilds. Lillie showed Gladion her Nebby, Cosmoem, and the two believed it was storing energy in its cocoon-like state and would release it soon. Gladion told Lillie about the entities of sun and moon, for he saw a document with the two entities, along with Lillie's flute and the picture of the altar. He wanted to summon them so they would help him in battling the Ultra Beasts. Lillie feared Gladion would have to fight Nebby, too, since the latter was also an Ultra Beast. Gladion simply reminded the duty they had to stop their mother, whose fanaticism with the Ultra Beasts caused many problems. Lillie tried to remind Gladion about all the allies they had, but Gladion admitted he would've preferred if Lillie stayed home and out of harm. Lillie, however, believed that Gladion wanted to resolve problems in secret, so nobody found out their mother was a villain. Gladion simply stated that he didn't want anyone hindering them, if they didn't know the problem their mother posed. Lillie wanted to convince her brother that asking for others' help was not harmful. Suddenly, the two were attacked by Lighting, and as Silvally fought the Ultra Beast, Gladion lost Nebby, who flew away.
==Pokémon==
*Type: Null → Silvally
*Zubat → Golbat → Crobat
*Sneasel → Weavile
*Lucario
*Porygon-Z
==External Links==
*Gladion on the Pokémon Wiki
*Gladion at Bulbapedia
*Gladion on the Villains Wiki
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