Hey, guys! I just realized I forgot to put the disclaimer up! Sorry! Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon series, and I make no profit from it in any way! Thank you!

Hilda's POV

Tepig waited next to Hilda while she sat looking over the map her mom gave her. "Okay, Accumula Town is about... 5 miles away from we are." She glanced over at Cheren, who was scrolling through his Pokedex. He was completely mesmerized by his National Pokedex, and had been looking at it for a while.

He called out his Chimchar not long ago, and Hilda and Cheren had a quick battle. Not a full on battle, were one Pokemon knocked out the other Pokemon, but a small one, were each trainer tried out their moves. No serious injuries; Cheren pointed out there where no Pokemon Centers anywhere for a couple of miles.

"Hey, Cheren!" Hilda called. Cheren didn't respond. Chimchar tugged on his vest and pointed at Hilda, saying something quietly. Cheren's eyes followed Chimchar's arm until he was looking at Hilda.

"Did you want me, Hilda?" He asked.

Hilda nodded, slightly annoyed. "Yeah. Did you want to join the Battle Club?" She pointed at the map with her pen. "Remember? It's in Accumula Town."

Cheren nodded. "I remember." He adjusted his glasses. "And I don't think so." He glanced at his Pokedex again. "I think I'll need more Pokemon before I do any competitions."

Hilda looked back down at her map. "Okay, then..." She bit the end of her pen. "I sorta want to enter, but it doesn't start for another week." She looked back up at Cheren. "If you want to go to Striaton City to get a gym badge, then you either have to go by yourself while I join the Battle Club, or wait for a week with me before in starts. Do you just want to go ahead of me?"

Cheren nodded slowly. "Okay, it's fine with me." He put down his Pokedex. "We should start moving again." He stood up. "By the way, where's Hilbert and Bianca? They left a little after we did, and with our battle and small break, they should have caught up with us by now."

Hilda shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe something held them back." She started scratching Tepig's ear. Tepig squealed happily and rubbed his head against Hilda's leg. Her love for the Fire Pig Pokemon had gotten really strong really fast.

"Well, either way, we should get to Accumula Town as soon as possible." Cheren picked up his Pokedex and put it in his pocket. Hilda nodded in agreement. She started to put her map and pen away, but stopped suddenly. Tepig also stiffened, his eyes flickering back and forth.

"Hilda?" Cheren started to say. "Is something-?" Hilda held up her hand to quiet him.

"I think I hear something." Hilda said. "I'm going to check it out." She finished putting her pen and map away. "Come on, Tepig." She said. Tepig jumped up and followed his trainer through the trees.

"It's probably something you shouldn't worry about!" Cheren called after them.

"Just wait there a minute!" Hilda responded. She stopped and listened. The sound they heard started again. She and Tepig nodded at each other before taking off in that direction.

Her gaze wandered around the clearing, before stopping on a small green shape. It was moving slowly around in a circle. Quickly, she ducked behind a bush with Tepig.

"I think that's a Pokemon." She whispered. "I wonder who it is..." She pulled her Pokedex out of her bag.

"Petilil." The Pokedex said. "The Bulb Pokemon. Since they prefer moist, nutrient-rich soil, the area where Petilil live are known to be good for growing plants." Hilda looked back up at the Petilil.

It was happily singing in the glade, dancing around some flowers very gracefully.

"She's so cute!" Hilda gasped quietly. "We just have to catch her!"

Tepig nodded in agreement and jumped out from behind the bush, yelling loudly. The Petilil stopped singing and dancing, surprised at Tepig for interrupting her song.

Hilda also jumped out from behind the bush. "Petilil, we want to challenge you to a battle!" The Petilil looked up at her. "You see, Tepig and I just started our journey, and we need a strong partner on our team." Hilda explained. Tepig shouted in agreement. A defensive look crossed Petilil's eyes and she said something to Tepig. Tepig nodded and stomped his foot, ready for the battle.

"Alright!" Hilda started. "Use tackle!" Tepig ran forward and cannoned into Petilil, hard. She flipped backwards and landed on her back.

"Good job, Tepig!" Hilda cheered. "This is going to be easy!" She smiled to herself. "Use tackle again!" Tepig sprinted forward again, but Petilil managed to get out of the way before Tepig slammed into her. Tepig stopped running in surprise, turning his head as the leafs on Petilil's head started glowing. Her body grew a little bit, and she almost seemed older than before.

"What move is that?" Hilda wondered out loud. She shook her head. "Never mind. Tepig, use tackle!" Tepig hurried forward again. Petilil swung her head around, and a red beam flew towards Tepig. Tepig stopped running and started panting loudly before falling over. The red beam disappeared and Petilil's own body glowed, some of her injuries healed on the spot.

"Tepig, are you okay?" Hilda asked. Tepig stood up and shook himself, determined to keep going.

"Alright!" Hilda exclaimed. "Use Tail Whip!" Tepig turned his back to the Petilil and wagged his tail back and forth cutely. Petilil stared at the tail, almost seeming hypnotized.

"Use tackle!" Hilda commanded. Tepig rushed forward and slammed into Petilil. Petilil flew across the clearing and landed a few feet away.

"Yes!" Hilda cheered. "That's the way!" She grabbed an empty Pokeball from her pocket. "Go, Pokeball!" She flung the ball at the Petilil. It hit her on the head, and she vanished inside of the Pokeball.

It shook once... Hilda stared hopefully.

Twice... Tepig muttered something under his breath.

A third time... Hilda crossed her fingers.

It stopped. The center of the Pokeball turned white again.

Hilda couldn't move. "...Did we catch it?"

Tepig crept forward and investigated the ball. He turned around again, with the Pokeball balanced on the end of his nose.

Hilda giggled. "Oh, Tepig, give me that!" She couldn't stop smiling as she lifted the Pokeball from Tepig's snout.

"Did we really do it?" She wondered. She held up her Pokeball. "Come out, Petilil!"

Petilil stood up and looked up at Hilda. Relief flooded through Hilda. "Well, Petilil, you're part of our team now."

Petilil nodded, her amber eyes sparkling. Hilda reached into one of the side pockets of her bag and pulled out two Oran berries.

"I saw these on the side of the road not long ago, and they will heal some of your injuries." Hilda handed one to Tepig, who ate all of it quickly.

"And one for you, Petilil." Hilda placed one in front the Bulb Pokemon. She studied it for a moment, uncertain if she should eat it or not.

Tepig walked over to her and said something. Petilil looked at the Oran berry suspiciously. Tepig sighed and took a small bite of it. He grinned at her, his mouth full of the blue fruit.

She hesitated before raising the fruit to her face. She stopped and snapped at Tepig. Tepig blushed and turned around. She glared at Hilda and said something loudly, almost sounding annoyed.

Hilda tilted her head in confusion. "D-do you want something?" Petilil nodded and pointed, with her head, behind Hilda. She turned around. Nothing was there, so she turned back to Petilil, confused.

"Do you want me to turn around?" Petilil nodded. "...Why?" Petilil frowned at her. "Okay, okay!" Hilda said, turning her body around. "Calm down."

Hilda organized her bag while listening to Petilil chew her food. A thought crossed her mind. "Petilil has no mouth. How does she eat her food?"

Hilda was tempted to turn around. "If you want her to trust you, listen to her simple command." Returning to her organizing, Hilda listened to Petilil's soft chewing, thinking of all the ways Petilil could possibly eat with out the use of a mouth.

Once Petilil was done eating, the three wandered around until they found the path. Cheren was waiting for them, leaning against a tree.

"What took you so long?" He called. "You said-" He cut himself off. "Is that a Petilil?"

Hilda nodded proudly. "Isn't it just the best?" She crouched down next to Petilil. "This is my friend, Cheren." She told Petilil. Petilil nodded. She must have felt uncomfortable, because she hid behind Hilda's leg.

Hilda reached down to pick up the plant-like Pokemon. "It's alright, Petilil." She held Petilil in her arms and Tepig jumped onto Hilda's head. "We'd better get going." She said.

Cheren nodded in agreement. "Right. Let's go."

They walked in silence for a long time. Petilil must have gotten bored of being carried, because she jumped out of Hilda's arms and began walking. Tepig even fell asleep onto of her head. Hilda was also getting bored of the non-stop walking. Cheren asked every once in a while how far away Accumula Town was. Suddenly, they came to a fork in the road.

"Which way, Hilda?" Cheren asked. She lifted the sleeping Tepig off of her head, careful not to wake him.

"Let's see..." She studied the map. "We can get to Accumula Town by taking either path, but if we go left, we'll get there faster." Cheren looked down the path.

"Okay." He said. "We'll go left."

After about ten minutes of walking, Cheren stopped her. "Look." He said. A sign was stapled to a tree a couple of yards away. "'Road closed.'" He read.

"What?!" Hilda cried. The Tepig she was holding stirred, and raised his head sleepily. Hilda stroked his back as she continued. "But- but if we turn around and go the other way, it will take much longer!" She complained.

Cheren shrugged. "We have no other choice. We have to turn around." He started to turn, but Hilda grabbed his arm. He stopped and looked at her.

"We could go off of the road." She said, the idea crossing her mind.

Cheren looked over Hilda's shoulder into the forest. "It's not safe." He said, not looking for an argument.

"Come on, Cheren! The other way will take a whole day to travel!" She said. "If we go off, we-"

Cheren cut her off. "Hilda, I want to get to Accumula town as much as you do, but-"

This time Hilda cut him off. "Good! Then let's go!" She took off running to the forest. Hilda heard him calling for her to come back, but she knew Cheren would follow her after a while. So she ran deeper into the wilderness, until the closed road was far behind her.

Author's note:

So, Hilda wants to stray off of the road into the unknown forest. Is that really a good idea? Getting to Accumula Town is at the top of her list of thing to do. How will she get along with her newly caught Petilil? And what ever happened to Bianca's Snivy? Find out in the next chapter!

(Also, have some pity on me! I noticed halfway through the chapter that Petilil has no mouth, so I have no idea how she managed to eat that berry!)

Please leave a review! I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible!