Ghetsis had never felt truly alone. He had always been surrounded by people, whether it was the abundance of grunts, sages, shadow triad or his three "children".
Now with Team Plasma disbanded he was truly alone.
He had forfeited his pokémon, his castle, his "family" and "co-workers". He had nothing left. Well, he did have his money, although not as much as he had before.
But he felt like he needed companionship. He never realised how much he took human contact for granted until he had no one left.
…
It had been years since he had his initial plan ruined by Hilda. It had been years since he had thought of her, and longer since he had last seen her. The powerful trainer with the powerful pokémon. Almost too powerful for someone so young.
But everything changed the day he saw her again.
When he saw her, it took him a second to realise it was her. She had definitely grown up. After what had happened all those years ago, he never thought that he would ever see her again. He felt his heart race. He covered his heart with his hand, looking down at his chest. He had never felt this way before. It surprised him. He looked back through the window of the shop she had been shopping in. she was talking to someone else. He couldn't quite make out who it was. He felt a bizarre pang of jealousy. Would she ever look at him and not see him as a criminal?
She turned around and he stepped out of her line of sight. His heart hammering. He quickly walked away, hoping no one has seem his 'moment of weakness'.
Back at his apartment he spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how he was feeling. Did he actually… have feelings for Hilda? He was so confused.
He went to sleep, trying not to put any more thought to those feelings. He didn't want to think about her, about the past, about anything.
…
In the next few weeks he couldn't help, but watch her. He wanted to know what she was doing, and who she was seeing. It didn't take him long to get used to seeing her in her daily routine. He was surprised that she seemed to be a normal something-teen year old. She had lunch with friends, trained her pokémon and visited her family.
He didn't even realise he was becoming so enamored with her. In fact he had no idea why he bothered himself with watching her. Other than the fact he thought he might be falling in love. A thought that disgust him. Would she ever love someone who was so much older than her?
He knew he should stop watching her before it went too far, but he felt himself falling in love with her even further.
…
It was by accident that he had run into her. Not literally, but he had turned around and she was standing there, looking confused.
"Ghetsis?" she asked, brows furrows. "What are you doing here?"
He had no idea how to answer that. How could he tell her the only reason he was there was to watch her?
"I was just looking" he replied vaguely.
She raised a perfect eyebrow, possibly not believing his slightly creepy phrasing.
"How have you been" he asked, trying for a quick recovery.
She stepped back, put off by his question. "Fine." She crossed her arms across her chest, defensive. "I thought you had been detained."
"It's been a while."
"I guess it has."
He looked at the bag she was carrying.
"I'm going" she said, turning and walking away.
He didn't want her to leave. "Hilda!"
She spun around so fast that the bag hit her. "Uff!" She blushed before regaining composure. "What?"
"Would… would you care to join me for dinner?" he asked, trying to sound polite, but feeling cautious.
Her face showed a look of pure horror. She shook her head and turned and ran.
"I guess it could have gone worse" he muttered. He was just coming on too strong.
But then he realised that her reaction was the answer he had wanted to know so badly over the last few months. Could she ever fall in love with someone so much older? No. No she couldn't. Or perhaps it was the fact that she knew very well of his criminal past. Maybe she simply hated him. That would be the most obvious explanation.
He sighed and made his way back to his apartment, feeling lonelier than ever.
…