A/N: Thank you for clicking on this story! I found it… rather difficult and a bit disturbing to write this, but I did like it. It was definitely a challenge haha. I hope you somewhat enjoy it anyway :)

This story was written for formalin's the lowercase challenge on the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The challenge was to write an ElectricBlackShipping story between 100 and 1000 words, with the title in lowercase and with lowercase itself as a major theme as well, and the prompts escalating, egregious and extemporaneous.

And come check out the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum for fun, tips, competitions and challenges! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

rosa

"So this was the Mad Champion's cell…" the newly recruited police officer murmured more to himself than his colleague as he stared into the dark room.

"Hm-hm," his colleague hummed, and the light flickered on.

The new officer's eyes widened. "What-"

"Truly shows that he was mad, eh?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice, but mostly he sounded disturbed.

"Who's-" the new one started to ask, but the other had his answer ready.

"The girl who defeated him."

The situation had been escalating, he had known that. He had just pretended not to see, had allowed it to grow, because this was just a game, a game whose outcome was already decided.

No one could defeat him. They were nothing compared to him- He was excellent, egregious, eminent- He was everything. He was a capital, and they were nothing but lowercases, only meant to emphasize his greatness.

Hilbert grinned widely at the boy in front of him.

"Alright, I'll admit," he spoke, watching how the bloodied boy straightened up at his words. Hilbert made a wide gesture to the ruined rocky field between them, the blood and mangled bodies scattering the ruins of what once had been a magnificent battlefield. "This was the most entertaining thing I've done in my years as a Champion."

Besides entertaining, the attack had also been a surprise. A very exciting surprise. Hilbert had jumped right into it, accepting their challenges without further thought, exhilarated, extemporaneous, enraptured by this turn of events.

"Such a shame it's over," he drawled. Yes, a true shame, he had enjoyed watching his old friends struggle to dethrone him. Bianca had cried during the battle and had begged him to give it up, while Cheren had simply been cold and detached – he had known that Hilbert would not return.

The taste of power was just simply intoxicating. Hilbert had only felt euphoria as their lifeless bodies were dragged away.

Power. Might. Strength. Capital, all of those words were capital. Just like he was. And just like they weren't, their defeats showing that they were nothing but mere lowercases. They were not worthy to share his power.

And then there had been this Hugh. Hilbert had had high expectations of him, of this so-called ace of the rebellion, but here he was, trembling and pressing a hand to his bleeding side. How disappointing.

"Is it?" Hugh croaked, trying to sound strong but his voice breaking. His face was growing paler with every passing second.

"Yes," Hilbert said, almost gently as Hugh fell on one knee with a painful grimace. "I think it is."

"No." A voice, cold and clear, echoed through the room. A plain girl entered, striding towards the fallen boy with purpose in her steps.

Hilbert raised an eyebrow but otherwise did not show his surprise. He didn't remember her from the gathered intelligence, so she could not be of much importance.

With what could be considered morbid intrigue, he watched how the girl knelt next to Hugh, her harsh features melting into a gentle smile. She was whispering something, reassuring words perhaps, holding the boy until life's light left his eyes.

Then, she turned to him, her eyes like ice. Unconsciously, Hilbert straightened up and met her glare head-on.

He smirked. "So, no one, have you come to challenge me?"

This should be easy. He could see her hesitance, her fear. Her eyes swept over the battlefield, over the many broken, burnt, mangled bodies of the fallen Pokémon, and then to Hugh, whose eyes had been closed by the pitiful girl.

"Yes." Her blue eyes turned back to him, and an enlarged Pokéball was in her hand. "I have come here to defeat you."

Oh, this was definitely amusing. "We shall see," he humored her.

It was anti-climactic, how his last Pokémon fell to the ground with a soft thud. It took Hilbert a moment to process it, and he stood rooted to the spot, frozen, even before the vines of the girl's Pokémon wrapped around his body and prevented an escape.

As if he would have tried, anyway. A mad grin made its way onto his face when the girl strode across the field to him. Her face was completely emotionless.

A hidden capital. How could he not have seen it? The rebellion had played him, had made him think that he knew everything, that he was still in control, but somehow, those stupid lowercases had managed to hide this girl.

This girl… This plain girl, brown-haired and blue-eyed, who couldn't be that much younger than himself…

"Congratulations." Hilbert laughed, an edge of hysteria creeping in. "I underestimated you. You're worthy to be a capital. You're the new Champion. Now get over it and kill me."

She stared at him for long moments, an emotion in her eyes he couldn't place. When she shook her head, he realized it was pity.

"I could never be Champion. It destroyed you." A strange smile crept up on her face. "I don't want to be a capital. Why would I? So lonely… I'd much rather be a lowercase. After all, there's strength in numbers, not?"

Yes, he guessed that was right. He tried for a strange shrug despite the tight vines. He was a capital, had been a capital, and several lowercases had still managed to overwhelm him. This girl, this nobody, had managed to defeat him.

"What's your name?"

Once again that empty stare. "Rosa. My name is Rosa." Without another word, she turned around, and Hilbert watched her retreating form until it disappeared from view.

All over the walls, all over the ceiling and the floor, letters were scribbled. Just four, and all lowercase, because that was how she would have wanted it.

His nails dug in an empty space of the concrete wall of his cell, repeating the form of the r over and over again until it would be engraved into the material as it had been so many times before.

Hilbert smiled.

A/N: Woo, okay, thank you for reading this little piece. I had some real difficulty incorporating the prompts and sticking to the word limit, it was too long haha. And I thought it was just creepy writing it, but for some strange reason I still liked it, so here it is. It's definitely very different, much darker, than what I'm used to writing. I hope you enjoyed it despite everything :)

Anyway, of course this story is open to interpretation, but for those who want to read my take on this… I'd say that Hilbert became Champion, couldn't handle all the power and went mad, people started to oppose him, and he let them, because he liked the challenge, but he was just too strong and kept beating them. Until Cheren, Bianca and Hugh came, with Rosa as their secret weapon – Hilbert underestimated them, his arrogance was his downfall, and in the end he had peace with it, because his whole Championship he kept searching for someone strong enough to match him, and then, finally, there was someone. I think he was lonely. Referring back to the lowercase and capitals theme, which could be considered a product of his madness: there are a lot of lowercase letters, but just a few capitals. So, yeah… I hope this cleared up some things, and I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks a lot for reading, and comments are of course very appreciated :D