A/N: Hi people!

It's been a while! Sorry for taking so long, I'm still terribly busy and probably will take some time to write the next chapter. (and I need to continue my Skyrim story too XD)

To Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Lance is a sweetie, isn't he? XD Oh, and Ghetsis story will pop up along the way. ;)

And answering that guest review: Don't worry, Ghetsis still has his long hair, Hilda just trimmed it down a bit. ^^

Once again, thanks for the reviews and I hope you like the new chapter.

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak

Chapter 5 – Friends

It was a rather peaceful afternoon; it wasn't so cold now so there was lots of people walking around as they looked at the already beautifully decorated shops. They were almost a week from Christmas.

Hilda was strolling around Opelucid carrying a few bags. Among them was new set of clothes, some remedies and a few presents for her mother and her friends. It felt good to do something normal for once like shopping after all that mess with a certain ill-tempered sage. However, it was a bit strange to be away from home during those festivities again.

When she first departed on her journey it was also a cold winter morning, just one day after completing 18 years carrying only a bag and the little Sammy, still a fluffy Oshawott. Time practically flew by on her adventure around Unova, and after finally reaching her dream of becoming a true pokemon trainer she returned home with her friends, a whole year had passed.

"You know… maybe I should buy something for that guy too…" the girl wondered as she passed by a bunch of kids running around at the entrance of a large bookstore. "I bet he likes reading… but then, what exactly Ghetsis likes?!" In truth, she didn't know a thing about the man. Hilda had tons of questions she wanted to ask, things about N, Team Plasma and even about himself. The problem is: he simply won't talk!

She stopped right in front of the gym and wondered if she could go take a look at how Iris was doing in there. She noticed that the number of new challengers increased considerably that year. When she arrived at Opelucid for the first time on her journey, Hilda was the third trainer to battle for the badge that month, the other two being Cheren and N.

The girl was still thinking what to do when she heard a strange commotion not very far. People around were chatting animatedly while other were just laughing. Her curiosity made her take a better look at the source of all the noise.

Apparently, a man was running in circles right in the middle of the crowded street.

"Come back here you little devil!" he shouted while trying not to stumble on his long lab coat. "You can't run from me the whole day!" he panted almost breathless. Judging by the looks of it, he had been running for a quite a while.

As she got closer, Hilda noticed what exactly he was chasing. At first she didn't understand what a washing machine was doing running around on its own but then she realized it was actually a pokemon. She heard about them before, but it was the first time she saw a Rotom.

The man didn't look like a local resident. Actually, his whole appearance looked different and slightly out of place. "And what is that blue strand sticking out of his hair?" Somehow he seemed oblivious to that entire crowd staring at his antics. When that Rotom did a slight miscalculated turn as he run it was enough for his pursuer to catch up with him.

"Got you!" he said victoriously as he almost tackled the pokemon down with him, snatching it with both arms. "Now, give me back that-" before he could even finish, a jet of water hit straight into his face, knocking him on his back.

"That must have hurt." the girl thought when she decided to approach him while the people around laughed again. His glasses bounced around and landed near her feet. The Rotom now free skipped around once more with a strange chirping sound. It looked like he was laughing too.

"That was unexpected; I have to give him that." The man stated to himself as he wiped his face clean. His bright golden eyes then landed on her with an unfocused curious expression.

"Are you ok?" she asked the man as he sat there trying to recollect what just happened.

"I think so, thanks for your concern." He flashed a bright smile as he got up and dusted his clothes. "I just can't find my… oh there they are!" she handed him his glasses. "Thank you very much." He stopped and then extended a gloved hand. "Dr. Colress. Or just Colress, I'm a researcher."

"You're welcome. Oh, and my name is Hilda." She said after shaking his hand and he looked around, probably searching for his Rotom again. It was not every day that she met such an odd scientist, in Opelucid of all places. "If you don't mind me asking, do you want some help with that pokemon?"

"Oh, that's very kind of you. Really!" his expression changed from worried to absolutely ecstatic. "That little prankster just took my case and run with it like there was no tomorrow He has been acting like that all morning since we arrived." he laughed a bit but then a second squirt of cold water splashed across his face, messing his hair even more. "Sounds absolutely lame, doesn't it?"

"Believe me, I've seen worse." She replied as the man tried to keep his blond strands from falling over his eyes while he twisted his already drenched scarf. "Try giving a bath to a moody Hydreigon that chased a wild Garbodor, it's a never ending battle with three biting heads. You'll be lucky to have both hands still attached to your body in the end."

The girl saw a glimpse of astonishment in his expression for a few seconds before he started laughing. "What's up with this guy? He seems pretty nice but maybe just a bit… eccentric."It was then that she noticed the pokemon beside them doing that chirping sound again. As she looked to both of them she finally understood what was happening.

"So, when was the last time you played with him?"

"Played?" he looked surprised with that word. "Well, actually we were working on field all morning but then a whole gang appeared out of nowhere and challenged me to battle them. We managed to win quite easily but you see, they just called me a nerd, pushed me over the road and then here I am with my ruined lab coat." He concluded with a resigned shrug. Now that he mentioned it, she noticed how not only the white fabric was covered with mud stains all over, his clothes were in a similar state too.

"That's absolutely awful!" Hilda exclaimed a bit shocked. "You didn't get hurt?" If he was referring to the road at Route 9, that would have been quite a mighty fall.

"Oh no, it takes way more than that to take me down." Colress had a confident smile while striking a pose. He didn't look that tough but Hilda felt there was something rather strange about him. Suddenly, a strange zapping sound followed by flash of light made her jump back as he was knocked on the ground again. It all indicated that his Rotom now decided to rely on electricity instead of water. "…Like being hit by his Discharge..." He finished his argument with a painful tone.

"Ok, I think it's time to solve this." Hilda told the man as she helped him to get up. She motioned to the closest bench. "Can you sit over there and watch my things while I take care of him?" She watched as he gingerly took her bags in his hands and promptly sat down looking more like an overgrown child eagerly waiting for a show to start. He even waved a few times in what looked his way of saying good luck.

"Hi little guy!" she said to the pokemon that now stared intently at the girl as if considering running again. "That man over there is your trainer, right?" The Rotom made quirky sound that sounded like he had agreed with her question. They were a bit far so Colress probably couldn't hear what she was saying. "You were worried with him and did all this to cheer him up, didn't you?"

He looked at her with his bright round eyes and seemed to smile. It skipped around her a few times like he was celebrating something. She was reminded of her own Lucario, how Lance was always doing something to keep his trainer happy when she was feeling down. And that always got him in trouble. Every time. Like chopping down a huge Durant nest… just thinking about that made her feet hurt at the memory of how much she ran that day. She may have set a new national record for crossing the Victory Road.

Colress seemed to be really gentle and looked like a good trainer, but she had the sinking feeling that he was the kind of person that could be extremely oblivious to his own wellbeing, the kind that could step on a nail and only notice a week later when his foot was almost falling off.

"So, I have an idea. If you give me what you took from him I promise we can all play together. What do you say?" she asked the ghost prankster.

20 minutes later, at the pokemon center

Iris exited the pokemon center with a big smile and a mischievous look on her face. She had to cancel the rest of the matches at the gym because her Druddigon got hurt after battling almost nonstop that day. She barely crossed the imposing dragons statues at the entrance of the gym when she almost trampled Hilda and her new friend as they were entering.

"Ok, everyone is looking brand new but that's enough work for today." She gave them both a thumbs up. "Now, where to go?" asked the girl apparently unfazed by the cold weather.

"Actually I thought we could use the backyard of your house, it has plenty of space and no one besides us will be there." Hilda scratched her head looking a bit uncertain if that was a good idea.

"Oh, that's a fine place!" Iris cheered. "So, Mr. Colress, are you coming with us?"

"Well since I will have to wait for tomorrow anyway, if it's interesting count me in." He answered looking almost as thrilled as the girls. Now he was carrying his Rotom around in his arms to prevent any other incident.

When Hilda managed to recover the small case from the rebellious ghost she was able to see its content, six shiny badges rattled inside of it. That was unexpected, though not as much as Colress's reaction as she handed them back to him. For a moment she feared he was going to jump around like a kid with a new toy.

"I was afraid I had lost them! Just the thought of gathering them all over again… " He shivered at the thought as he told the girl once he finally stopped thanking her. "Besides it would delay my promise even more."

That bit of information was new.

"Promise?" Hilda repeated as the scientist stored the case back into one of his pockets.

"Correct, a promise indeed." He said with a bright look in his face. "It's so close now, I can't wait to tell Rosa!" Colress added proudly, his amber eyes almost glinted behind his glasses. "Now that reminds me…" he leaned down to her level, his tone was softer and more serious than before. "You look a bit like her." He concluded with a smile before straightening up again.

For some unknown reason, the girl felt her face turning red at an alarming rate.

"What the hell brain?! I just got to know the guy, he's cute but can you please get a hold on that circulatory system? Thank you."At first she thought that Rosa was probably some friend of his but that name it also rang something in her mind. "Wasn't that the name of the current champion of the league?"Iris told her about the girl once but Hilda never had the chance to actually meet her. Maybe when things calmed a bit she would pay a visit to the Elite Four and talk with her.

Soon they arrived at the imposing mayor's house. By now it was probably empty as Drayden was outside talking with some cheerful looking residents. Iris ran straight up to him and in few seconds she was already perched up on his shoulders.

The dragon master relaxed a bit his serious attitude as he asked her how she was doing at the gym with all those challengers. After Colress was done presenting himself and apologizing for his less than presentable appearance, Drayden asked them what they were doing. Both girls sheepishly looked at each other before Iris whispered something to him while motioning to them, Colress and then to the backyard. He eyed them for a few seconds while twisting his beard as he pondered.

"I see. Since we had to close the gym earlier, it may be a good way to repay for his trouble." The older man chuckled a bit as the group passed by him. "Just take care to not catch a cold out there." He then looked at Hilda, he seemed worried. "Can you two see me in the meeting room after you're done?"

"Yes sir, no problem!" Somehow, she knew what he wanted to say. If she guessed right, Drayden was worried about Ghetsis staying there, they couldn't hide the man forever. She kinda thought a way to solve that, it wasn't the most brilliant of the solutions and it was also risky but it could work. "So here we are." Hilda looked around at the wide yard before them. The ground was covered with a thick layer of snow. She put her bags over the bench located under a really tall tree, stretched her arms and clapped her hands together. "Now I'm ready."

Iris cheerfully skipped to one side and pointed to the other directly in front of her. "Can you stay over there Mr. Colress?"

"Over here?" he asked with a curious expression as the girl nodded. He set his Rotom down on the ground again; it promptly started exploring the new area. "You can call me just Colress, I'm not much older than you two, you know." He laughed a bit as he passed his hand through his blond hair looking a bit embarrassed.

Hilda, who had now joined Iris, raised her eyebrows. "Then how old are you?"

"I'm currently 25." Colress replied while adjusting his glasses over his nose.

"Wow, then we're almost the same age. That's cool." Then she added. "Well, I think we are almost set. Iris, can you start?"

"Ok." The girl made a pose as she took a deep breath. "Here shall stand the almighty dragon fort! Sadly, our pokemon match was not possible today so now we kindly invite our new challenger to a snowball fight!"

Colress just stared at them for a while; they could almost see his brain processing what he just heard. And then he moved, tilting his head to the side as if trying to adjust to the new information. Realization finally dawned on him; an almost shy smile crept into his face.

"Oh, I got it now. It's been so long that I did something like this…" he crouched and seized a handful of snow. For a moment they feared that he didn't like the idea. "Two against one is a bit unfair, isn't it?" he asked playfully.

"Indeed, so you're allowed to use one of your pokemon." Hilda explained to him. "Once we start each team will have 5 minutes to build the forts, two hits and you're out."

His smile grew wider at the oncoming challenge. He pulled a pokeball out of his belt and tossed it up, catching it still in midair.

"Ok, I was going to use Rotom but to due to his lack of material arms, this one may show some more interesting results." As he activated the pokeball, a Beheeyem soon appeared and floated silently beside him.

"This is it then. Is everybody ready?" Hilda asked as they all got in position. "Go!"

The aftermath

Hilda let out a joyful sigh as she changed into a new set of warm clothes. She never laughed so much in a snowball fight like that one, even her face muscles were sore because of that.

It started as an equilibrated battle, but Iris was no match for Beheeyem outwardly precision, Hilda managed to take him out though. Colress was a bit slower than her but his aim was deadly accurate as Hilda soon discovered.

In the end, he managed to win when the girl made a small mistake in her timing, though the researcher really didn't have much time to celebrate as his own fort crumbled down over him right after his confused exclamation of "Did I win?", thanks to his Rotom. It was quite a comical sight the way how he went down screaming and that only his legs were sticking out of the massive pile of snow as they tried to rescue the poor man.

He thanked them for their company and looked almost sad when he had to go. They wished him good luck on his match against Drayden on the next day and Iris even invited him to visit them again when he had the chance. Colress was eccentric to say the least, but also was also very kind and light hearted, so both the girls were happy to have made a new friend.

It was already dark when they were ready to see Drayden. Iris suggested they should see how Ghetsis was doing before they went to the meeting room and maybe give him at least a cup of tea or something like that, to what Hilda agreed. She wanted to see how Sammy was dealing with his new companion.

"Hello again!" Hilda said as she ventured in with Iris right behind her, as she was quite used now to his dry retorts. "How are you two doing? We brought some tea and a few cookies we found, I hope you don't mind that they're shaped like pokemon." This time, Ghetsis was sitting on the armchair by the window, one of his blankets was folded over his legs and there was a book in his hands, he looked quite absorbed in it as he barely looked up at them when they entered. But what really surprised the girl was her pokemon resting spot. "Oh Sammy, you big spoiled baby! Did you squeeze Ghetsis out of his bed?" she asked him with a hint of laughter in her tone as he slowly raised his head and gazed at her with squinted eyes and proceeded to yawn innocently.

"But he looks so cute sleeping there." Iris observed as she got closer and patted Sammy on the head after putting the small tray she was carrying on the closest table.

"That's a good point." Hilda thought, that and the fact she was partially guilty about that particular habit of her pokemon. She always let him do that at home. However, they were dealing with the former Team Plasma leader here, cute things should be far down on his list of relevant issues.

Before she could even do something to move him out, a calm stern voice interrupted her.

"He was already there when I woke." It was Ghetsis. Realizing that his reading time was probably over, the man turned his gaze to the two girls. Surprisingly enough, he didn't look angry just slightly annoyed. He probably fell asleep out of boredom and sometime later found a rather big and heavy Samurott nested up with him. Truth be told, Hilda kinda wished she could have seen that scene; it must have been beyond hysteric.

"Well, that means he must have liked you." Iris told the man while hugging the said pokemon by the neck. "Sammy's fur is so warm and fluffy." At that observation, Ghetsis only raised a single eyebrow in disbelief and returned to his book.

"I know you're quite comfortable there Sammy but it's time to leave Ghetsis rest a bit on his bed." Her pokemon lazily stretched his legs but did as he was told and Iris followed him outside. Once again, she was alone with him. Hilda tried one more time to establish friendly conversation with the silent man. "I see you found something you like on that cabinet." On the corner of that room there was an old cabinet, she didn't remember exactly what was inside of it but she guessed it was some old collection of books that Drayden or Iris stored long ago judging by the one that Ghetsis was now reading.

"Yes." He replied without looking at her. It was really awkward seeing him so quiet, it seemed that Ghetsis was closing himself even more as each day passed.

"I always thought you looked like the reading type." She tried again, sitting on the chair closer to him after setting the mug of tea somewhere he could reach. "There's a really good bookstore here in Opelucid, I even thought about bringing something for you to pass the time but I didn't know what genre you liked."

He moved a bit. Slowly at first, but soon she was staring into his lone crimson eye. Then, he suddenly averted his gaze. "You don't need to trouble yourself with such things." Ghetsis replied after some time, which was probably one of the longest phrases she heard from him that day.

"Oh, that's no trouble at all. I love books as well, got a small collection myself." Actually she also needed a new shelf at her room, as the others were desperately close to the point of giving up the task of holding all her books together. As she got no further answer, the girl remarked. "Your tea will get cold if you don't drink it soon."

"…" he sighed, closed his eyes, slid a hand through his long hair, now free of knots and carefully brushed (thanks to her valiant efforts earlier that day), every gesture looked somewhat tense.

"Ok, this man didn't build a wall like Mom said; he has walled himself inside a whole freaking dungeon with deadly traps all around!"she thought a bit frustrated as she got up in defeat. As she prepared to leave the room she heard a very audible sigh behind her. Turning around, the girl was able to see the man reaching for his cup of tea with a clearly annoyed look. "I guess he's trying to change too, in his own overly complicated way."

He glared down at the mug in his hand before sipping a bit. His frowning face changed into an intrigued expression. Hilda was a well know disaster with anything remotely related to the kitchen, fortunately making a good tea was one of her last redeeming qualities. Sometimes she really wondered how she survived a whole year on her own.

"You should try some of those cookies too. I know they look funny but they're good." And to prove her point, she took one shaped like a Vanillish, and prepared to leave again. Then something happened.

"Wait." Without any previous warning, Ghetsis snapped his book shut which made her flinch at the sudden noise.

"Did I say something wrong?"she though while glancing at him with a questioning look. What she saw before her was an even weirder sight.

Ghetsis had stood from his armchair, reminding her of how tall he really was, but now he had a puzzled expression, as if confused with his own actions. It looked like in his haste to keep her there he seemed to not have thought thoroughly what he intended to say. He blinked a few times and tried to regain his lost composure, currently on a free fall after being so unceremoniously thrown out of the window.

"Tomorrow, if it's not too much of a troublesome burden I would be… glad... if you could find me a new one…" His tone was so low she had to strain her ears to understand what he had said. Her intrigued face made him say a bit louder. "A book, I mean." He concluded a bit too harshly.

It took a few painfully long seconds until she realized what exactly he was talking about. Did he really need all those words just to say that?

"Oh, I got it!" Hilda giggled a bit at his slightly flushed face. The sage was certainly struggling to adjust himself to asking things kindly instead of just ordering people around. Now Ghetsis was staring at the ground so intently that it could almost burn a hole through it. "Don't worry, I will try to find something nice for you." She gave him an assuring smile.

He didn't react immediately; raising his gaze until it met hers. There was something in his expression that was a strange mix of embarrassment and gratitude that she didn't see before.

"Thank you."

"That's too risky." Drayden stated while crossing his arms over his chest. "I can barely think of how many things can go wrong with that plan."

"Grandpa is right!" Iris joined him. "What if something happens to you, Hilda?"

"I know it's a shot in the dark, but it can work." Hilda tried to defend her point. "Besides, they found me once; they can do it again if they want to."

The dragon master remained silent, weighting the possible outcomes, and Iris was still dreading the idea of being unable to help her friend.

"Then, how do you plan to do this?"

"We can wait until next week, Ghetsis is strong and Dr Kaji said he's recovering faster than he thought." She explained while she walked to the closest window and pointed to the world outside with a determined expression. "We are going home."

A/N: And that's the beginning of a new crazy journey. XD

Next chapter: It's Christmas time! Hilda tries to deal with a sudden call from her friends, Colress shows up again and Ghetsis gets a surprise.

See you there! =)