Gladion (anime)/History

Though he did not appear in Lillie's Egg-xhilarating Challenge! in person, a younger Gladion was shown in a photo along with his mother Lusamine and sister.

He physically debuted in A Glaring Rivalry!, where he had a against Tupp, Zipp, and Rapp, and quickly defeated their Pokémon with 's. Later, he and Lycanroc had a battle against a 's and won. then asked him for a battle, but Gladion did not accept his offer until the next morning. During the battle, his Lycanroc faced Ash's Rockruff, but the battle was interrupted by 's latest scheme to steal Lycanroc and Ash's Pikachu.

After defeating Team Rocket with Lycanroc's Z-Move, he told Ash that if he wanted to obtain the Rockium Z, he would have to clear 🇮🇸's grand trial.

He appeared in a flashback in Trials and Determinations!.

Gladion reappeared in Rising from the Ruins!. After his Lycanroc heard 's howls and left to find it, he told it to return by nighttime. Later on, Gladion entered a cave and sent out his, which he had nicknamed. He then began comforting it, as Silvally felt troubled by its helmet, telling it that they couldn't go outside during the day when others would see it.

Gladion reappeared in A Dream Encounter! alongside his Pokémon, in which he was once again seen calming down Silvally. Gladion suspected that Silvally had detected something, which was the reason for its uneasiness.

In A Masked Warning!, Gladion encountered Ash at Ten Carat Hill after the latter was ed there by Nebby, which Gladion believed to be an Ultra Beast. There, Gladion revealed that the reason Lillie became unable to touch Pokémon was due to her being attacked by the Ultra Beast. Later, Ash challenged Gladion to a battle using his Lycanroc against Silvally. The battle eventually ended with Gladion as the victor. Afterward, Gladion left while telling Ash to not tell anybody about Silvally.

In Night of a Thousand Poses!, Nebby teleported Lillie over to Gladion's location. Reacting to Nebby's presence, Silvally leaped in front of Lillie, causing her to remember the incident that led to her fear of touching Pokémon. When Nebby teleported Lillie back to her friends, she realized that she lost the ability to touch any Pokémon again, even the ones she had gotten used to.

In Mission: Total Recall!, Gladion chastised Ash for letting Lillie see Silvally, holding him responsible for Nebby's actions. Angered, Gladion returned to his hotel room, only to find Faba waiting for him there. Faba attacked Gladion and put him to sleep in order to steal Silvally. Later, Gladion told Lusamine what Faba did and demanded that she tell him where Silvally was taken. Lusamine, completely unaware about the entire situation, helped Gladion search for Silvally in Faba's research room. As they searched, Gladion scolded his mother for failing to notice that Lillie's fear of touching Pokémon was caused by the Ultra Beasts that Lusamine was obsessed with meeting.

After finding Silvally's Poké Ball, Gladion and Lusamine headed outside, where they found Faba attacking Lillie and Ash. In order to save Lillie, Silvally and defeated Faba's Pokémon. With Lillie freed, she reconciled with Lusamine for her neglectful parenting and apologized to Silvally, the Pokémon that saved her from a Nihilego years ago. This allowed Lillie to get over her past trauma and regain the ability to touch Pokémon.

In Faba's Revenge!, Lillie and Ash informed Gladion that Faba had kidnapped Nebby. The three traveled to Aether Paradise, where they informed Lusamine about the situation. They headed to Faba's location, only to find that he successfully forced Nebby to summon a Nihilego from an Ultra Wormhole. The group tried to fight off Nihilego, but it proved to be too powerful and easily defeated their Pokémon. When Gladion tried to protect his family from the Ultra Beast, Lusamine pushed him out of the way and was captured instead. Nihilego then proceeded to drag Lusamine into the Ultra Wormhole.

In Family Determination!, Gladion and Lillie decided to travel to the Altar of the Sunne in order to find a way to rescue Lusamine. After making their way through the island, they found themselves in a battle with a group of and  led by a. With Lillie's knowledge of types, Gladion gave Silvally a Fairy Memory, allowing it to easily defeat Totem Kommo-o and allow the two to pass through. As they made their way to the altar, a piece of rubble began to fall on them, only to be destroyed by Pikachu's. Ash and revealed that they have decided to help Gladion and Lillie rescue Lusamine.

In Revealing the Stuff of Legend!, Gladion watched with the others as the guardian deities helped Nebby evolve into a. With Nebby's assistance, the group traveled into an Ultra Wormhole in order to find where Lusamine was taken to.

In Rescuing the Unwilling!, Gladion and the others arrived at Ultra Deep Sea, where they found that Lusamine had fused with Nihilego. Lusamine, reduced to a childlike state, claimed the Ultra Beasts as her own possessions and ran off in order to prevent the group from taking them away from her. As the group chased Lusamine down, more and more people were forced to stay behind in order to fight off Lusamine's Pokémon. Gladion was forced to stay behind in order to battle Lusamine's.

In 10,000,000 Reasons to Fight!, Gladion gave Silvally a Fire Memory to break out of the ice after it was frozen by Absol's attack. He and Lycanroc then used Continental Crush on Absol. Although Absol appeared to have been defeated by this move, Nihilego made it get back up and continue battling. Gladion then rode Silvally to get to Lusamine. Later, they crossed the poisonous pool surrounding Lusamine and Nihilego, after Gladion gave Silvally a Steel Memory to make it immune to the poison. Gladion and Silvally distracted Nihilego, while Ash and Pikachu used the Z-Move to weaken Nihilego long enough for Gladion and Lillie to free their mother from its hold. Lusamine's Pokémon were returned to normal as a result. Lusamine was then brought back to Alola through the Ultra Wormhole.

Gladion met up with Ash again in The Professors' New Adventure! and informed him that he would be taking part in the island challenge. Before leaving, he explained that he couldn't just sit and be quiet after watching him and Pikachu use their new Z-Move.

Gladion reappeared in Filling the Light with Darkness!, where he attempted to calm Silvally down after it sensed the presence of another Ultra Beast. Noticing that Silvally appeared to be scared of the presence, Gladion realized that whatever it was, it must be powerful. Later, he traveled to the Altar of the Sunne, where he joined Lillie, Ash, and their classmates as a member of the Ultra Guardians. There, Gladion, Ash,, and combined their Z-Power to fuel a device that dispersed the dark clouds covering Alola, uncovering an Ultra Wormhole in the process. Afterwards, Lusamine took the Ultra Guardians into the ruins, where she showed them a mural depicting the. Before any attempt to translate the mural could be done, the Ultra Guardians were forced to return outside, where they found the wormhole increasing in size. A moment later, a emerged from the wormhole with a  chasing after it.

In Full Moon and Many Arms!, Lusamine's group came to the conclusion that Necrozma was the cause of the Alolan adults' loss of energy. Realizing that Necrozma intended on draining Lunala's Ultra Aura in order to possess it, Lusamine sent the Ultra Guardians off to protect Lunala. The Ultra Guardians chased Necrozma to Melemele Island, where they fought alongside Lunala to drive Necrozma away. Despite their best efforts, Necrozma easily shrugged off the Ultra Guardians' attacks and eventually took over Lunala's body to become. Soon afterwards, an elite Team Rocket group known as the Matori Matrix appeared and attempted to capture Necrozma, only for it to easily break free from their electrified net.

After the Matori Matrix retreated, Nebby appeared from a wormhole and fought alongside the Ultra Guardians to free Lunala. With its, Nebby successfully knocked Necrozma off of Lunala, causing it the former to fall into the ocean below. The Matori Matrix returned in order to capture Nebby and Lunala, though the two Legendary Pokémon were freed by Ash's Pikachu and Silvally. The distraction allowed Necrozma to return and possess Nebby instead, causing it to become Dusk Mane Necrozma. Ash tried to free Nebby, but was unable to stop Necrozma from escaping into an Ultra Wormhole. With Necrozma gone, the adults of Alola were restored to their normal selves and the injured Lunala was taken to the Ultra Guardians base to recuperate. When the Ultra Guardians expressed their determination to rescue Nebby, their Z-Rings began shining a light that went into Lunala, healing it in the process.

In The Prism Between Light and Darkness!, the Ultra Guardians and Lunala traveled through an Ultra Wormhole and arrived at 's home world. While Lunala went off ahead to face Necrozma, the others stayed behind and were introduced to Poipole's friends and the leader of its hive,. With its telepathy, Naganadel revealed to everyone how Necrozma lost its light protecting the world from a meteor, causing everything to become barren and shrouded in darkness. Realizing that Necrozma is actually the Blinding One, the group wondered how to solve the crisis before the same thing happened to Alola. Gladion wanted to defeat Necrozma in order to save Nebby and Lunala, but he was immediately stopped by his teammates since they didn't want both sides to suffer. Ash and the others agreed to help Necrozma by giving it their Z-Power in the hopes that it would release Nebby, regain its true form, and bring light back to Poipole's world. After heading to where Lunala and Necrozma were fighting, Gladion, Ash, Kiawe, and Lana fired simultaneous Z-Moves at the Prism Pokémon.

In Securing the Future!, the combined Z-Moves were absorbed by Necrozma, but it wasn't enough to get it to release Nebby. After informing Lusamine's group of the situation, the Ultra Guardians learned that in the tale of Alola's creation, the people and Pokémon of Alola assisted Solgaleo and Lunala in restoring Necrozma's light by sharing their Z-Power with it. Together, the Ultra Guardians, their Pokémon, Lunala, Poipole's comrades, and everyone else back in Alola shared their Z-Power with Necrozma, causing to release Nebby. The Z-Power still wasn't enough to satiate Necrozma, who continued attacking everyone and tried to capture Nebby again. After receiving a Lunalium Z from Lunala, Gladion and Lunala performed alongside Ash and Nebby, who used. The combined Z-Moves fully restored Necrozma's light, giving it the strength to become its true form, Ultra Necrozma, and restore Poipole's home world back to its original state. Afterward, the Ultra Guardians, Nebby, and Lunala traveled back to Alola through the Ultra Wormhole as Ash said farewell to Poipole, who chose to stay behind.

Gladion reappeared in SM105, where he and his Pokémon were training on Poni Island when he was reunited with Lillie. Gladion informed Lillie about his plan to battle in order to complete Poni Island's grand trial. They discussed their father and how he passed away researching Ultra Wormholes. They went on to battle each other, but were interrupted by the arrival of Ash, who was being chased by Hapu and her. Gladion then had a battle against Ash, using his Lycanroc against Ash's own, and the match ended in his victory.