"You're really leaving, aren't you?"
Touko frowned, looking up at her best friend, Hilbert. He was dressed in a new trainer's outfit, and there was a cap on his brown hair. There was a pokemon in his arms, a reddish-orange coloured, pig-like one. Tepig, he'd called it. This is my new pokemon, tepig. It was cute, she'd admit, and looked quite strong, but at that moment she hated it. Hated it, because it was the reason that her best friend was leaving.
This morning she had woken up to hear from her mother that Hilbert was leaving. Touko had known for a while that he was going to leave sometime soon, but she hadn't known it would've been today. She'd immediately dressed and ran outside to say her goodbyes before he'd left.
Now, Hilbert leaned over and hugged her, smiling sadly. "I'm really sorry I'm leaving without you and Bianca and Cheren - "
"It's not your fault," she said quickly. And it really wasn't. He was fourteen (he'd just celebrated his birthday a few months ago), and she and her other two friends were thirteen. When a kid turned thirteen, they were allowed to write a short test, which would determine if they were prepared for a pokemon journey. Professor Juniper would then select the three kids that she felt were most prepared, based on their test results, and give them starter pokemon.
Hilbert had taken the test when he was thirteen, but had to wait a few months or so for the professor to decide and prepare everything. He had been selected, but a day before he was supposed to set off on his journey, he came down with a sickness. He'd been sick for ages, and had only recently gotten better. Touko remembered how afraid she had been when he was sick. It scared her, thinking that he was going to die.
"Besides, we're going to be able to take our tests soon," Touko added brightly. "Then we can join you! Maybe we could travel together!"
"Definitely," he responded, grinning. They both knew that it would be at least a few months until Touko and Bianca and Cheren would be able to leave Nuvema Town, assuming they even got selected. By then, Hilbert could've already reached the third, or even fourth gym. They wouldn't be able to catch up to him, unless he waited for them. But neither of them voiced it.
"Hilbert!" a voice cried. Touko turned around to see Bianca running towards them, Cheren following. The blonde girl stopped in front of them and said with a sniffle, "We'll miss you a lot, Hilbert."
"Don't look so down," the brunet boy responded, smiling at her. "I'll come back to visit if you guys don't end up getting selected. But I'm sure you will."
"I certainly hope I've done enough research," Cheren added, coming up to them. "I think I know everything we need to know."
Hilbert laughed lightly, along with Touko. "I'm sure you do, Cheren. You're the smartest out of the four of us."
There was no denying that, and Touko managed to grin at her friend. "Yeah, Cheren. There's no chance you won't get selected."
They laughed and joked for a while, before the tepig in Hilbert's arms started to get impatient. It started snorting out fire from its nose, and said, "Te, tepig!" Then it started to wriggle around.
"Whoa, buddy," Hilbert laughed, gently stroking the pokemon. "I promise we'll set out soon, okay?"
"You shouldn't be delayed because of us," Touko said quietly. "Have fun on your journey."
"Yeah, explore lots!" Bianca chirped, looking excited.
"Good luck," Cheren finished simply.
Hilbert looked like he didn't know what to say for a few moments, but then the boy grinned widely. "I will. I'll write to you guys if I get the chance, I promise. And you guys promise me you'll get selected!"
"We will!" Bianca said determinedly.
Touko forced a smile on her face, and said, "See ya later, Hilbert." She hated how sad she was feeling. She still had Bianca and Cheren, didn't she? And she really appreciated their company. Besides, Hilbert was excited and wanted to leave, so what was she doing by making him feel bad about it? That wasn't how friends were supposed to treat each other. I have to learn to be able to let go of things, Touko thought to herself.
"Alright guys, I'll see you later too," Hilbert said, leaning over. He hugged each of them tightly, and stepped back, adjusting the cap on his head with a grin. He let tepig jump down from his arms to follow him, and as the small pokemon snorted its goodbye, Touko smiled softly.
"Come on, tepig! We've got a long way to go!" came Hilbert's voice, near the exit to Route 1. He was standing by the large sign that read "Welcome to Nuvema Town", and was waving over at them. "Bye, guys!"
Touko gently stroked his tepig one last time, and stood up as it ran over to where Hilbert was standing. He didn't turn back as he ran through the exit, his tepig following him. Soon his figure had faded away, and a heavy silence fell upon the three.
"I'll miss him," Bianca spoke up. She was sniffling again, and Cheren shot her an uncomfortable glance. Touko could tell from his look that he didn't know what he could do to comfort her, though he wanted to. A slight smirk appeared on her face, but it quickly melted away as the truth sank in.
Hilbert had left. He wouldn't be back for a very, very long time. This wasn't like the times when they would sneak out to Route 1 to pretend they were trainers, and then sneak back into Nuvema Town. But now, one of them wasn't coming back.
This time, it was for real.
A hand on Touko's shoulder brought her back to the present. She looked up to see Professor Juniper, who was smiling softly down at her. "He'll be fine," the professor said gently, eyes looking kind. Touko wanted to believe her, but she was afraid that something would happen to Hilbert out there, and they wouldn't know. Maybe she was just being too paranoid. Hilbert was more than capable of managing himself.
"Thanks," was all she could say, as she smiled back at Professor Juniper in gratitude.
"No problem," the professor responded, winking. "You'll be taking your tests before you know it." She turned to leave, nodding to Cheren and Bianca as she passed.
Touko's heart felt lighter, and she turned for one last look at Route 1. Hang in there, Hilbert. We'll catch up to you soon, she vowed silently.
AN: One of my biggest issues with writing long, multiple chapter stories is that I end up losing interest in them. (As you can notice in one of my other pokemon fanfics.) So for this story I pre-wrote some chapters to see if I stayed interested, and I am so far! :) Pokemon White was the first pokemon game I've ever played through, therefore I'm more familiar with the region, pokemon, and plot. (Though this story will be based off Black, not White.) So I decided to give a novelization another try.
I used the name Touko instead of Hilda, because I don't really like the name Hilda, sorry. Hilbert, Cheren, and Bianca are still the same since I don't usually use the Japanese names (and Cheren doesn't have a Japanese name). Like the summary mentions, there will be hints of shippings, but I'll try not to center it all around romance. Constructive criticism is welcome! ~
