Chapter 2

Of Music, a Speech, and Changing the World

The next morning, the sun was blatantly heating things up to beyond acceptable summer temperatures, and I found that, despite the awkward feeling of grass along my thighs, I was truly grateful for my shorts. I was really curious as to how Cheren must be feeling: he was always wearing long sleeves and pants. He was probably melting at this very moment. Maybe, he was sensible enough to at least take off his jacket.

I continued along, happily thinking of Cheren (without his jacket on, of course). I would occasionally see some pokémon, but I tried to avoid them. All I saw were lillipups and patrats, which I already had in my collection. I'd see some pidoves in trees, but any time I even began to approach them, they would fly off. My two captured pokémon were probably enough for now anyway.

When I felt like I was getting to the end of the route, I did start fighting a few more pokémon— if only so I could get used to my current ones. It wouldn't be smart to rush into any battles without get used to my pokémon first. That may have worked during my first two fights in my room, but out here, if I ran into any trainers, they, unlike Bianca, Cheren, and I, would have experience working together with their pokémon.

Snivy was my most dedicated pokémon. Lillipup may have been more eager (Patrat didn't even seem to care; she just did whatever I said), but Snivy was carefully focused on the battle and every order I gave. There was only one time he acted without me telling him to, and it was probably for the best, honestly. It was against a lillipup that had a strong tackle—Snivy had been really weakened, and the lillipup was running at him to get another tackle. I knew if I ordered tackle, they would just hit each other, and Snivy would faint from the collision, yet I doubted Snivy would be able to dodge. So, I could only stare dumbly as the lillipup got closer and closer… and was knocked back with a vine whip. So Snivy knew vine whip. I hadn't even thought of that.

With just one more smack from the vine whip, the lillipup was down. I gave Snivy another hug after that, but this time, I knew better than to pet his head. I may not know everything, but I can at least try to learn what I can. My pokémon were trying their hardest, so I had to too.

When I felt like I had trained enough—which wasn't much, it was just learning the basics—I continued on to Accumula Town. A glance at my cross-transceiver told me it was 10:12. That's still morning, isn't it? Close enough.

At the end of the route, I stepped out of the tall grass, and the first person I saw was Cheren. I self-consciously brushed some dirt off my clothes and hoped my hair didn't look too bad or that my knees didn't look too nasty from where they were scraped after I tripped on Patrat. It wasn't like I could take a shower out here. Well, hopefully Cheren was one of those guys who could look past physical appearance and see a girl for who she was on the inside.

And come to think of it, he probably wouldn't even care. He knew me since we were little kids. We played in the mud together back then. I couldn't possibly look worse than I did then.

I approached him, and he noticed me long before I got into talking range, but he waited until I was closer to say, "Hilda, are you going to compare yourself with Bianca? Both Bianca and I have two pokémon with us."

Well, that turned out to be an effective method of figuring out who won, and I hadn't even talked to Bianca yet. But if she and Cheren both only caught one… I had the most because I caught the only two I could even find on this route. Somehow that seemed almost anticlimactic, but what was I to expect? That, just because we were starting out, some super awesome pokémon would pop out? Just for us? If only life could be like that. Maybe in that alternate reality, Cheren would actually date me. Or at least be interested me. What a great life that would be.

Cheren didn't say anything more, and I realized I was just standing awkwardly in front of him, so I walked past and continued to where I saw Bianca waiting. I noted happily that Cheren hadn't seemed bothered by my appearance. That was cheering. I did notice, though, that he was still wearing his jacket. What did he think it was—autumn or winter? Well, there were still three months until September, so he hopefully wasn't thinking that.

Bianca smiled brightly at me. She looked like she was even enjoying being out in the summer heat. Bianca always seemed to be the happiest among us—just because of that, I wouldn't be surprised if she became the strongest trainer in our trio. Just because she had the uplifting spirits that Cheren and I had a tendency to lack.

"How about it, Hilda?" she prompted. "Do you want to compare which one of us has the most pokémon with them?"

I nodded and returned her bright smile as well as I could. "Yeah. I'm ready." And of course, Cheren already pretty much spilled that I won. As the said boy stepped closer, I pulled out my three pokéballs: Snivy, Lillipup, and Patrat.

"Wow!" Bianca exclaimed. "Three? That's awesome! Both Cheren and I only captured one pokémon. Are you excited to have that many pokémon with you?"

"Mmhmm!" I confirmed with a laugh as I put my pokéballs back into the pocket of my bag.

"Well," Cheren started as he looked out towards the buildings of the town they were now next to, "this is only the start of our journey. We still have a long way to go. I'm off to Accumula Town! The professor is waiting, and I'm sure she has a busy schedule to maintain."

Just as he was taking his first step away, each of our cross-receivers started ringing. We all looked at each other before simultaneously clicking the green "accept call" button. Each of us appeared on the others' screen along with a fourth figure: Professor Juniper.

"Oh! Professor!" Bianca exclaimed.

"Hello!" Professor Juniper greeted, wiping sweat off her brow. "How is everybody doing? I see you all survived the night, but the question now is… can you handle the heat?" She laughed and continued, "You and your pokémon are getting along great now, right? I'm sure you've been bonding and battling with your pokemon a lot, so we should probably at least do something about your pokemons' injuries. Right now, I'm in front of Accumula Town's Pokémon Center! I'd like to show you around, so hurry on over, everyone! It'll be a nice air-conditioned break for you guys, and your pokemon will love you for it."

"Okay!" Bianca agreed, apparently speaking for us all. "The Pokémon Center, right!"

"Okay! See you!" Professor Juniper was cut off the screen, and shortly, everyone else was too. We looked up at each other.

Cheren was the first to speak. "Well, I'm going on ahead."

As he left, Bianca turned to follow him, but I said, "Hey, Bianca, wait." As she turned to me, I told her, "I'm going to be a bit late. There's some people I want to meet in Accumula Town first. So… I might be a bit delayed."

She gave me a curious look but then smiled at me anyway. "Of course, Hilda. Just don't take too long, okay?" Bianca followed where Cheren had gone into town. I stayed behind a bit longer to make a quick, brief entry in my journal. I was only going to Accumula Town, and nothing life changing would probably happen there, but I didn't want to forget anything.

As soon as I finished my rather short journal entry, I continued into town. It was larger than Nuvema Town—probably three times larger. Not that that was saying much. The only true feature of Nuvema was that it had the Juniper Pokémon Lab. And since it was a lab that was meant to have a bunch of pokémon, it was intentionally put in a place where few people lived.

Over some buildings, I could see where the Pokémon Center was, but I temporarily ignored it for something else I saw in the distance—a large concrete stairway leading up to a small plateau with a house on top.

The interviewer for the musicians said that they lived up high in Accumula Town, right? I wanted to go by there before learning about the Pokémon Center. Bianca would tell the professor that I'd be a bit late, so I'd probably be fine… Maybe, I should have been acting more like Cheren when he said the professor had things to do, but I wanted to meet the musicians first. What if I forgot later?

Plus, I wanted to see if their music really did carry on the wind.

It was only once I got closer that I realized it might be a bad idea to go up to the house. Not because I was wasting time, but because of the stairs. The top was pretty high, and the stairs didn't even have a railing. Who made stairs going that high and didn't put up a railing? I swallowed forcefully and started walking up anyway. One side of the stairs had a "wall" from being bordered by the plateau, and I stayed as close to that wall as possible. I didn't make a fool out of myself and cling to it or anything, but I was pretty obviously staying away from the edge.

If there was one thing that terrified me to no end, it was heights. There were lesser fears like going really fast speeds or things like that, but nothing was as common as heights. Whenever we played hide and seek as kids, it could always be taken for granted I'd be behind a bush or something. I could never be the one hiding at the top of a tree like Cheren or Bianca could.

The only time I was okay with heights was when there was a definite barrier between me and the drop-off. But in this situation, there wasn't one.

When I got to the top, I forced myself not to look over the edge. It was at least a bit better up here since there was a railing circling the top of the plateau, but I still didn't feel like risking it. My stomach still felt a bit nauseous from the walk up here.

Still, when I turned around the corner of the house to get from the back to the side, I couldn't help but gasp. This definitely was the highest I had ever been. From my standpoint, I could see out over the town onto the roofs of buildings, and I could see the entire perimeter of the town itself. It admittedly seemed smaller from above, but it was still larger than Nuvema Town.

I felt more comfortable looking over the height since it was yards away, but the house didn't have a side door, so I'd have to get closer to go around to the front. I sighed and continued forward. Was it really this important to visit anyway? What if they didn't even like visitors?

By the time I got to the door, I was feeling kind of sick from having to get close to the edge, but at least it wasn't as close as the edge on the stairs had been. And this place had a railing. It could definitely be worse. Forcing the fact from my mind that there was a steep drop behind me, I knocked on the door.

The visit went exceptionally well. They played for me, and even as I left, they continued playing. Hearing the piano and drums was a mild comfort as I forced myself back down the stairs. The windows were left open to the house, and I found that the music really did carry on the wind. Even as I was walking farther away, the music didn't stop.

On the way to the Pokémon Center, I passed Cheren who was standing idly in the center of the town at the plaza. He was looking around the city idly as if wondering what to do, and I smiled at him as he noticed me.

"You're not getting the tour of the Pokémon Center?" I asked curiously. Of course, maybe he had already gotten one. How long had I stalled anyway? It didn't seem that long, but I could have been wrong.

He shrugged. "I know what Pokémon Centers are like already, so I figured I don't need the tour. I can't move on to the next route though because there are some people blocking it. They insist they're getting ready for something, but with absurd outfits like the ones they're wearing…" He sighed. "Bianca's still at the Pokémon Center, I think." I accepted that as an answer, and with a simple unreturned farewell I gave, I left to go to the Pokémon Center.

Professor Juniper was waiting outside for me, and she greeted, "Ah, Hilda! There you are!" As she turned to go inside, she said, "Please follow me. Traveling with your pokémon is truly one of the joys of being a trainer! I'd like to show you the most important place for a trainer to know!" As we stepped inside, she continued, "This is a Pokémon Center." She breathed in deeply. "Don't you feel better as soon as you step through the door?"

I followed her example and breathed in deeply. I think that was just the air-conditioning…

The tour was pretty basic, and although most of it was new to me, it didn't seem like it was anything difficult to learn. The most important thing to keep in mind was that the Poké Marts were inside the Pokémon Center too. I would have to come back and get more pokéballs sometime. And probably quite a few potions. When the tour was done, Bianca stayed behind to look at the shop, but after Professor Juniper left, I did too.

Outside, the hot air almost felt good for a moment since I had been in the air-conditioning so long, but I knew the temperatures would soon get unbearable. Just for amusement, I took out Snivy's pokéball and released him. He stared at me after looking around to see if he was supposed to battle something, but all I could do was smile hopelessly at him. "Sorry, I just wanted some company. Are you ready to go on a journey?"

He simply gave me one of his cool and collected looks and said, "Sniii." Well, he didn't sound upset, at least…

With Snivy close in tow, I began walking, and I noticed people were starting to gather near the plaza where Cheren had been earlier. Indeed, I saw Cheren running in my direction. He stopped once he saw me—which was understandable. Any reason to stop running in the summer is a good one.

"Hilda, come here a sec!" he called. Even without me, he began walking quickly back to the plaza. I hurried, and on my way, I passed people who were also beginning to notice what was going on. I could hear them murmuring about the crowd that was gathering.

"Looks like something's going on at the plaza!" a child declared excitedly.

His father nodded and said, "Well, let's have a little look-see."

I managed to force my way through the crowd to stand behind Cheren. I tried my hardest to ignore that I was behind my love interest and focus instead on what was going on. I felt Snivy climbing up my entire body to rest sprawled across my shoulders and behind my neck. Feeling him climb up me was kind of awkward, but his body was surprisingly cool, so I accepted his presence without putting him back in his pokéball, and I focused again on what was going on.

My first thought: doesn't anyone realize that it's summer? On the plaza, there were seven people standing in a perfectly straight line, and they were covered in clothes from head to foot. They even wore really poorly fashioned hoods that had random, thick, crossed string across the top, and I couldn't decide if the hoods looked more like simply awkward hats or like they were wearing bags on their heads. Their clothing almost resembled armor except that it was clearly made out of cloth. I was entirely befuddled as to how they could take the heat with such straight faces. Were these the people Cheren had mentioned were blocking the next route earlier?

Still, none of them could hold a candle to the man standing in front. The green haired man was wearing thick robes that looked like at least one more person could have fit comfortably inside, and there was some additional collared cape overcoat that could hardly be called a cape even. All around the edges except in the very front, it had blunt edges sticking up that had a large blue kind of rock studded on. In the very front, it had something hanging down with some sort of a logo fashioned on. A capital P with… a backwards Z? Maybe that was just supposed to be a cool background for the P.

And if it wasn't enough how his outfit didn't match the weather, it was flat out creepy, too. On both sides of the cape, the colors were inverted with the same design—huge eyes with jagged lines, not quite as sharp as lightning, coming out. Furthermore, looking at his face (he didn't look phased at all by the heat) he had a huge, bizarre, red eyepiece over his right eye. His one eye that could actually be seen, though, did look as though it had an intelligent gleam. I knew that look well enough from staring at Cheren so often.

"Thank you for coming to our presentation. My name is Ghetsis," he announced in a kindly voice. And yep, he had the knowledgeable tone of voice, too, that Cheren always did. "I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about pokémon liberation."

Murmurs of "Huh?" and "What?" traveled through the crowd, and even my eyebrows furrowed a bit in confusion. This definitely wasn't a topic I had heard of before.

Ghetsis paced over to the left to address the right side of the crowd and make sure they were hearing everything too. "I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However…" He had a dramatic pause. "Is that really the truth? Have you even considered that perhaps we humans… only assume that this is the truth?"

He walked back to the center. "Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers…" He paused. "They get pushed around when they are our "partners" at work…" He put in another pause. He almost looked pained by the subject of what he was saying. "Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"

The crowd shuffled around as everybody looked at each other. More murmurs went around.

"Yikes!"

"I don't know…"

"No way."

I wanted to reach out to Cheren and ask his opinion, but the crowd silenced and focused back on Ghetsis as he walked to the left side of the crowd—almost directly in front of Cheren and I— and continued, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called pokémon?" I swear he looked right at me and Cheren, but then again, I noticed, he was looking at everyone. His gaze traveled through the crowd, seeming to meet everyone's eyes.

"What could it be?" someone whispered fretfully.

"Liberation?" someone else wondered, remembering what had been said earlier.

"That's right!" Ghetsis declared, somehow hearing that soft word as he moved back to the center of the plaza. "We must liberate the pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and pokémon… and the correct way to proceed."

To be honest, I felt cold chills run down my arms as he said that, and it was simple enough to know that it wasn't from the temperature out here. Maybe it had to do with his downright scary robes or eyepiece, but something seemed weird about this guy. He seemed nice enough, but…

"We sincerely appreciate your attention," he finished, and the people behind him did something—I don't even know how to describe it. With massive organization skills, they grabbed the two flags with the capital P they had at each end of the plaza, created two lines with a single man in front to make a protective formation around Ghetsis, and walked him off the side of the plaza. In seconds, it was empty. As if no one had been up there in the first place.

The crowd began dispersing, and as it did, I could hear the confused people asking, "About that speech… What do you think we should do?"

A younger man skeptically said, "Liberate pokémon? That's not even possible!"

In less than a minute, the crowd was entirely gone except for me, Cheren, and some guy standing a little bit away. It was as if no one wanted to be seen at the place where that speech had just happened. Cheren turned and saw me, though I expected he knew I'd be there.

"Pokémon…" he started skeptically, "don't like being around people?"

I shrugged, and Snivy let out a few sounds consisting of hisses and "Sniiivy." Maybe I shouldn't have shrugged. It probably bothered him since he was on my shoulders.

The person who had been standing away approached us. The first thing I noticed was his green hair. Was he related to Ghetsis? No, I was probably just jumping to conclusions. If he was related to Ghetsis, he probably would have left with him.

He pulled his dark baseball cap further down as he stood in front of us. He was probably trying to block out the sun as much as possible, which was definitely understandable. Watching him mess with his hat made me want to the same with mine, but I kept my hands down at my side. He was looking right in my direction, and I didn't want to risk looking stupid in front of someone I didn't know.

"Your pokémon…" The guy said quickly with a confused look as he stared at Snivy. "Just now, it was saying…"

"Slow down," Cheren requested, giving the newcomer a strange look. "You talk too fast."

I rolled my eyes with a laugh. "Maybe we just talk slow, Cheren."

Cheren didn't seem to pay attention to what I said, and he continued, "And what's this about pokémon… talking? That's an odd thing to say."

"Yes, they're talking," the guy confirmed, now giving Cheren a weird look as if he should have known that from the start. Then, he merely said, "Oh. Then, you two can't hear it, either… How sad." Though, he sounded almost disdainful. Like, now he shouldn't even be talking to us anymore. And his speaking didn't slow down at all. I didn't mind, but I was sure Cheren didn't approve of it. Still, he continued, "My name is N."

Cheren spoke for us both and said, "My name is Cheren, and this is Hilda. We were asked to complete the pokédex, and we just left on our journey. My main goal is to become the Champion, though."

If N wasn't looking at us with distain before, he was now. "The pokédex, eh? So… You're going to confine many, many pokémon in pokéballs for that, then. I'm a trainer, too, but I can't help wondering… Are pokémon really happy that way?"

He took a moment to look away at where the man who had given the speech stood. Even if they weren't related by blood, they definitely seemed to be related in thought. Then, he abruptly looked back—right at me.

He walked closer until he was right in front of me. I had to look up even higher than I normally would have so that the rim of my hat wouldn't be in the way as I met his eyes. The combination of his hat and my hat blocked out the sun entirely between us. Then, he looked at Snivy before looking back at me. He was a few inches taller, but he was so confident that he seemed even taller. Almost intimidating. I tried to ignore that my heart was picking up in pace.

"Well, Hilda, is it? Let me hear your pokémon's voice again!" He walked backwards and pulled out a pokéball. He released it, and a purple cat with large, odd, pink eyebrows emerged from the light. It looked almost as collected as Snivy except that Snivy looked less conniving.

Snivy took up the challenge without even waiting for me to say anything. He jumped to the ground and took a defensive stance in front of the cat. I called for a vine whip, and Snivy immediately responded to sent out whips that made the cat hiss from the stinging and take a few steps back out of a natural instinct to get away.

"More!" N called to me. "Let me hear the voice of your pokémon! Purrloin, growl!"

I could have sworn I saw him wince when his pokémon got hit, yet he wanted more? Well, if he asked, I'd deliver. "Snivy, show him what you're got! Vine whip that cat again!" Err, he called it a purrloin? Yeah, I should have remembered that. I mean, even if he didn't say it, it wasn't a pokémon I was totally unfamiliar with. I had grown up in a small town, yes, but it wasn't like we were total recluses from society. There was television, and travelers would occasionally come by and—

I was broken out of my distracting thoughts when I heard N say, "Purrloin, tackle it now."

As Snivy's vine whip shot towards it, the purrloin got the full hit of the attack, but it recovered by sinking its claws into the vine, yanking Snivy forward, and then tackling it back full force. Snivy let out a pitiful cry since it hadn't been expecting the attack like that, but it gained a sudden determination in its eyes. Snivy was able to yank the purrloin into the air through a sudden force in the vines because the cat's claws were still latched onto them. Snivy let out a battle cry through the pain of the move and then slammed Purrloin down from the air onto the ground.

I was shocked by that move, and if the purrloin hadn't clearly fainted and been defeat by it, I might have called off the battle entirely. Or at least brought Snivy back closer to give it a potion. There were long, red scratches streaking down Snivy's vines from where the force of the move had made the cat's claws be pulled farther down the vine. The vines were now free of the claws, but those scratches didn't look good.

N had a shocked expression too, but his was almost a mixture of awe and horrification. "I never expected pokémon to say such things…" he murmured.

He recalled his fainted purrloin, and I recalled Snivy—but not before spraying an entire potion on its scratches. I'd be taking it to the Pokémon Center as soon as possible, but I hardly wanted to leave Snivy injured until then, so the potion was all I had to offer. This wasn't entirely me being caring though, I must admit. Pokémon are injured all the time in battles until they faint, so that was something to get accustomed to. The difference here was that, without even me asking, Snivy made his injuries worse all for the sake of winning a battle for me. I kind of owed it to him.

N sighed. "Pokémon will never become perfect beings. Not the way they are now. I have to change the world for pokémon because they're my friends." He looked almost remorsefully at his purrloin's pokéball.

"Well, no one's perfect," I protested. "But trainers do try to be friends with pokémon, and they try to help each other be the best they can. What more can be done?"

He scoffed. "That's what you've been told, isn't it? But do you wonder how the pokemon themsleves think? Trainers battling pokémon… using them for competition… not caring what the pokémon themselves feel… Pokémon will never be able to rise to their true potential with people holding them back like this."

Without giving time for another objection, he began walking in the direction of the next route.

And he planned to change the world? He had high aspirations, no doubt. But he did seem intent on his convictions. It was almost… admirable.

"Huh…" Cheren commented, turning to me. "Strange guy. But I'm not going to worry about it, and I suggest you don't either. Trainers and pokémon help each other out!" He looked like he thoroughly believed that, and after watching Snivy's performance, I would agree. Still, the words from N and from Ghetsis's speech echoed in my head. Just how much are trainers assuming?

"Listen, I'm going on ahead," Cheren told me. "I want to battle the gym leader in the next town—Striaton City. The best way for a trainer to become stronger is to challenge the gym leaders in each area." Without even saying good bye, he walked off in the same direction N had gone.

I couldn't help but stand still and watch him as he left. Cheren… When would I see him again? We were both going to Striaton, so maybe we'd at least see each other there even if we didn't have time to talk. And why wouldn't we have time? It's not like Professor Juniper gave us a time limit to complete the pokédex. Speaking of Professor Juniper, she had told Bianca and me during the tour that we were supposed to meet someone in Striaton City. Someone named Fennel, if I'm remembering correctly.

Then I remembered with painful force. Not a time limit or a person to meet, but I had an injured pokémon with me. And not just any pokémon—Snivy. It was probably wrong to play favorites on my team, but I had to admit that Snivy was becoming my preferred pokémon.

Without any more thoughts, I ignored the summer heat and made a mad sprint to the Pokémon Center with Snivy's pokéball grasped in my hand.

In the distance, I could still hear the faint duet of the piano and drums that continued as if nothing had happened.

/-/-/-/-

A/N: Chapter 2 is completed! And it's about half the length of the first chapter. Much better length, eh? Haha!

I've had to edit this chapter down so many times, so if there are any mistakes, I'd be glad to know them! One more edit can't hurt... I still haven't corrected the first chapter, but I'll get to that. I read the first chapter so many times that I can hardly even bear to look at it. But I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! Hopefully, you enjoyed this chapter too! (Edit: Both chapters have now had the mistakes fixed, so if you see any that were missed, be sure to point them out!)

Feel free to review! The reviews really did make my day last time, and I know they will again if you choose to do so! All your support makes me feel so honored and loved!