Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or their respective plotlines in Pokemon.

Change

The paths were long and worn through the cities, and Pokémon jumped out of the sand and bushes at any chance they got. Hilda looked around at the buildings with a smile. The world looked really different though the eyes of a champion. It wasn't really that big of a deal, but she wasn't going to say that she didn't like the admirers and fans.

As she took to the side path Hilda wondered why everyone made such a big fuss over trainers. They were just people, after all. They just chose to spend their time training Pokémon instead of sitting in an office doing paperwork.

That was the thing about people, though. People were weird. They changed their minds and certain things they liked one day then hated the next. Pokémon were so much easier to understand to her.

She took a look down at my belt, with her main team's pokéballs attached neatly on the side, then moved her hands from walking my bike to jumping on and steering it right, rolling down the route into a street in Castelia City.

She smiled at her surroundings. Castelia always looked the prettiest at sunset. That was probably why the Royal Unova went out at evenings. The view was exquisite when the sun was coming down.

She grinned as a small child stared at her and he smiled back. He must have recognized the champion from tv or the news. Then she made a huge mistake. Hilda waved, and while she wasn't looking, hit the end of the street and she and her bike were throw towards the pier.

"Whoa, there!" a male voice shouted in front of her as she fell. The young man caught Hilda in his arms before she could fall in the water. She looked up at her savior.

"Still getting yourself into a mess every turn, Hilda?" Cheren grinned at her.

She threw her arms around him and he held her back. She laughed. "It's good to know things haven't changed much, after all."

They both laughed, and went over to one of the benches on the pier.

"So how's life as the champion?" Cheren asked. He knew most of her time was spent traveling, teaching trainers how to battle and make connections with my Pokémon. It always killed her that she never had enough time to talk to her old friends.

"Good, good. A little tiring, of course, with all the lessons and trainers and fans... and looking, of course." She gave Cheren a small smile, and he knew what she meant.

"How's your family? And Bianca?" Hilda was always a little desperate to know about her old, simple hometown.

"Oh, you know Bianca, she's alright. A little too peppy, if you ask me. She hangs out with Iris a lot. They seem pretty close." He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Mom and Dad are doing okay, they're keeping on just as before."

She smiled at him. "That's good."

They lay back on the bench and looked into the water for a while, not really talking. It wasn't often the champion had a chance to just enjoy herself anymore.

After a while, Cheren turned to her, and she looked over to see him tipping his head to side slightly. He was thinking about something.

"What is it?"

He just looked at her then shook his head. "It's just- you know it could always be like this, Hilda." He looked at her with a hint of pleading in his eyes. "You could come back and live with us in Nuvema Town again, and we could start lives... families."

He said the last part while looking directly in her eyes, and she looked down. "I can't. I have responsibilities, and things I want to do, need to do." She looked back at him. "I'm not ready to give that up."

Cheren smiled half-heartedly and shook his head. "I understand, Hilda."

She looked down and laughed sheepishly. Cheren looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's just, eight years ago when I started my journey, I had no idea what my future was going to be. I thought that I was going to live in Nuvema Town forever, get married, have kids, and grow old. Die there. Now, I don't know what I want, or even what I need."

Cheren took her hand and squeezed it gently. "If you ever want to come back, our arms will be wide open for you." He smiled at her and she loosened up enough to smile back.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder, and they sat enjoying the sunset together, until-

"My bike!" Hilda shouted as she remembered what had happened, and scrambled over to the side to look down and sea it at the bottom of the pier. Cheren chuckled as he watched her frantically ask for help trying to pull it up.

It was good to know things hadn't changed much after all.