AN: Got nothing to say, so enjoy!
Route 4. The route that connected the heart of business and economy that was the metropolis Castelia City to the heart of entertainment and leisure, Nimbasa City, what would be Hilbert's next destination, until he won his third gym badge first, that is. In here, Hilbert had Excadrill and Victini practice a newly learned Focus Blast, which he taught them with the TM he had obtained in the past.
"Excadrill, Victini, Focus Blast!" Hilbert commanded.
In the desert terrain, both Excadrill and Victini charged energy in their arms and formed an orb of energy. In front of them, two target boards about a few yards from them was positioned. The two Pokémon aimed carefully at the target board and unleashed their attack. While Victini's blast made a bull's-eye on the target, Excadrill's blast hit the right side of the board.
"-Gah! Not again!-" Excadrill growled in irritation, while looking a little tired and beaten.
"-Hehe! Not as easy as it looks, is it?-" Victini commented.
As Excadrill growled at Victini, Hillbert was overseeing the training, while Dewott and Archen were watching the whole training session.
"-Looks like Excadrill's having trouble aiming that energy thingy,-" Archen said.
"-Well he'll need to learn how to aim it fast,-" Dewott muttered. "-At this point, Excadrill didn't have any usable projectiles to use against Hilda and her army of overpowered assholes...-"
"-I'm not sure if having a shooting thingy is gonna help that much...-" Archen replied.
"-Yeah, but outside this, Excadrill didn't have any means to shoot down enemies,-" Dewott explained. "-I mean, I have my Water Pulse, you have your Ancient Power, and Victini's pretty much a flying flamethrower with huge eyes.-"
"-Your point?-" Archen asked, relatively confused.
"-Even if he evolved,-" Dewott answered. "-If he can't even touch the enemy, then he's no different from when he was a drilbur. So he needs a long-range attack. I mean, what happens if that goddamn Power Ranger rip-off spams the hell out of Focus Blast?-"
"-That would be annoying...-" Archen muttered. "-By the way, why're you shielding yourself with yourself?-"
"-Oh why you ask?-" Dewott replied. "-...because this goddamn sandstorm is GETTING ON MY NERVES!-"
Dewott was indeed shielding himself with his two shells as the sandstorm raged on, pelting the poor, angry and irritable otter with sand, pebbles and an occasional newspaper that seemed to comically fly into his face.
"-GAH! Why the hell do we have to train in a goddamn desert!?-" Dewott growled. "-All we actually did was train those two to use that move and get pelted by random shit!-"
"-What's your problem?-" Archen asked. "-I feel just fine.-"
"-Of course you are!-" Dewott yelled hysterically. "-You're a rock type, and apparently for whatever logic applies in this world, rock-types, ground-types, and steel-types are fine in a sandstorm!-"
"-So me and Excadrill are fine?-" Archen asked.
"-Oh, don't even get me started!-" Dewott growled. "-The overgrown mole was already a Ground-type so he was fine to begin with, but NOOOOOOOO...when he evolved, he just had to become a Steel-type too just to rub it in our faces!-"
"Yo, what's wrong with you?" Hilbert asked, noticing Dewott's anger once again.
Dewott then pointed at Excadrill in pure anger.
"-YOU! Why the hell is a mole a Steel-type, anyway!?-" Dewott growled.
"-How the hell should I know,-" Excadrill retorted. "-Anyway, shut up. I can't concentrate.-"
"-Why don't you make me, eh boy!?-" Dewott yelled. "-C'mon, use that dual typing of yours to make me shut up!-"
"-Yo, calm down,-" Archen cawed.
"-Shut it! You don't know the pain that I'm feeling now, in the inside and the outside!-" Dewott yelled.
"-Sheesh, you get pissed about everything, don't you...-" Archen sighed.
While they were arguing, Hilbert scanned Dewott with the pokédex.
"Dewott, the discipline Pokémon," it read. "Scalchop techniques differ from one Dewott to another. It never neglects maintaining its scalchops."
He scrolled through the data and found Dewott's status page.
"Naughty nature. Quick tempered. Torrent for an ability. Knows the moves Razor Shell, Water Pulse, Revenge, and Focus Energy," Hilbert read off. "Well, that explains something."
Hilbert only sighed as Dewott continued his angry ramble at Excadrill, where Victini was watching them.
'-Everyone's getting along real fine...plus they were all really strong...being able to take on that weird old guy and his giant eel monster...-' Victini thought to himself. '-I need to get stronger so I can keep up with them! Even if I am a legen...whatever! I ended up having to get saved by Hilbert back at the island...-"
As Victini focused his attack at the target board, a pebble flew into his eye.
"-GYAAA! MY EYE!-" Victini screamed as he lost control of his attack and launched it, where it flew to Hilbert's direction.
"Heh?" Hilbert asked as he turned around, only to get blasted by said attack.
"-Hilbert!-" they cried as he fainted.
"-Heh?-" Victini asked, rubbing his eyes. "-Oh no!-"
"-What the hell was that!?-" Dewott yelled.
"-It's not my fault! Something got in my eye!-" Victini yelled.
They all gathered around Hilbert, who was unconscious.
"-As expected of a mythical Pokémon...-" Dewott commented. "-Knocks out the trainer in one shot.-"
"-Is that really the best thing to say right now!?-" Excadrill growled.
They all looked at their defeated trainer.
"-So...what do we do?-" Archen asked.
"-Let's try to wake him up at least...-" Excadrill suggested.
"-How?-" Archen asked.
"-I got an idea!-" Dewott exclaimed. "-Lift him up.-"
The others looked confused, but did as they were told and lifted Hilbert up so that his backside was facing Dewott.
"-So, what're you gonna do?-" Archen asked.
"-I saw this on TV once, and I always thought this was funny as hell,-" Dewott grinned. "-And there's no way he won't wake up after this.-"
"-Get on with it already,-" Excadrill grumbled, worried about his trainer's welfare.
Dewott readied one of his shells and created his blue blade, where he held it up in a thrusting position.
"-Wait...NO DON'T–!-" Excadrill yelled.
Dewott had a rather dangerous grin as he lunged his blade forward before Excadrill could finish his sentence. An unspeakable pain surged through Hilbert's body, quickly snapping him back to reality as an ear-piercing scream echoed the desert.
He would never be the same again.
At the Resort Desert, Hilda teleported to the desert with an elgyum. She looked around the seemingly endless sea of sand.
"Where are they?" she asked. "If Lord N regrouped with them, surely they would've reported back to us. And that report bothers me..."
...We have not heard from the search party ever since.
She remembered what the grunt had told her earlier. The chance that something happened to them during their scouting mission was high. And if that's the case, then Lord N would be in danger of the same threat.
"I must find them and Lord N at all cost!" Hilda declared to herself.
Little did she know, however, is that N had already fell to danger. She released Shiny Dewott and Bisharp into the terrain, as he shielded his eyesight.
"-The hell? A desert?-" Bisharp asked.
"-What's going on?-" Shiny Dewott asked.
"You two," Hilda said. "We're looking for Lord N a search party here. We haven't heard from them ever since they embarked on the area, so who knows what could've happened to them."
"-Understood,-" Dewott nodded.
"-Got it,-" Bisharp nodded.
With that, they embarked on their quest to find their allies. But the harsh sandstorm didn't do them any favors, as they were pelted by sand, interfering with their vision.
"-Damn it! This sandstorm is starting to piss me off...-" Shiny Dewott grumbled.
"-Quit whining and focus,-" Bisharp muttered. "-Lord N's life could be in stake here.-"
"-I know that,-" Shiny Dewott shot back. "-But what use is there to finding him if we can't even see what's in front of us?-"
As the two continued to tread through the sand, Hilda looked around for her lord, but to no avail.
"Lord N!" Hilda called out to the horizon. "Where are you!? If you can hear me, please respond!"
But no matter how much she called out, no response was heard.
"Lord N..." Hilda muttered sadly. "Please...where are you...?"
"-Hilda...-" Shiny Dewott muttered sadly.
Bisharp said nothing, but slumped his head. But he soon lifted it back up, as something caught his attention as he looked up to the sky.
"? Bisharp?" Hilda asked.
Shiny Dewott looked confused, but suddenly looked back up, sensing what Bisharp sensed. From the sky, something dropped down and landed right in front of them. The figure was wearing a cloak that covered his body, only revealing his eyes under a large hood. As Bisharp and Shiny Dewott took a fighting stance, the figure glared at them, but turned his back to them, and motioned forward.
"-Huh...?-" Shiny Dewott asked.
"-The hell're you doing?-" Bisharp asked.
The figure said nothing, but then turned to them, rummaged through his cloak, and flung a worn out black hat to them.
"!? This is Lord N's hat!" Hilda gasped. 'Why do you have it!?"
The figure said nothing, but turned around and moved on ahead.
"-Don't tell me...he's leading us to Lord N?-" Shiny Dewott asked.
"-It's better than wandering around...-" Bisharp said.
The two nodded, then followed the figure. Hilda, seeing no other option, followed the three. After several hours of treading through the desert, they finally reached an old building submerged in the sand, and found the grunts and a fallen N and the Pokémon that traveled with him.
"Lord N!" Hilda cried.
Hilda and her Pokémon rushed over to help up their lord up, leaving the figure behind.
"Lord N! Are you alright!?" Hilda cried. "Lord N!"
"Ugh...ugh...H-Hilda...?" N groaned. "Is that you?"
"Yes, it is!" Hilda exclaimed, relieved that N was conscious. "What happened!?"
"S...Something attacked us..." N struggled to say. "He took us by surprise..."
"Who!?" Hilda yelled.
As N struggled to get back up, the cloaked figure caught N's sight as it filled his expression with fear.
"You're–!" N gasped.
"!? Is that the one who hurt you!?" Hilda yelled.
The figure glared at them, as Shiny Dewott and Bisharp got in front of them.
"Well!? Did you attack Lord N or not!?" Hilda growled.
The figure didn't respond at all. In her anger, Hilda didn't notice the figure's eyes glinting for a moment as Shiny Dewott reached for his shells.
"...So you won't deny it..." Hilda said. "I am grateful that you led us to Lord N and our fallen comrades, but you are the one who injured them. You shall PAY!"
As Shiny Dewott grabbed his shells, the figure formed two blue blades from his arms and lunged towards Shiny Dewott at blinding speed. The figure jabbed at Shiny Dewott rapidly, giving the otter little to no time to block it, eventually allowing the figure to slash Shiny Dewott up into the air, then slam him to the ground. As Shiny Dewott tried to get back up, the figure grabbed his head and lifted him up. The figure's arm started to glow green, as Shiny Dewott cried in pain as green static sparked from Shiny Dewott to the figure. After a while, the figure dropped Shiny Dewott when his arm stopped glowing, the otter now looking drained.
"Was that...Giga Drain!?" Hilda gasped.
The figure's eyes glinted once more, as Bisharp lunged forward. As Bisharp was about to strike, the figure formed long blades from his arms and slashed Bisharp before he could.
"-Wha–!?-" Bisharp blurted, but as he turned around, the figure held an orb of energy in front of him, and released it, blasting the humanoid at point-blank range.
"Focus Blast?!" Hilda gasped. "What is he!?"
"He's definitely a Pokémon...that's for sure..." N said.
"Tirtouga! Timburr! Get him!" Hilda yelled as she released her other Pokémon.
As the two attacked the figure, the figure lifted his arms.
"Oh no–Hilda cover your ears!" N suddenly shouted as he covered his ears.
"Huh!?"
As soon as Hilda looked back, an ear-piercing noise filled the air, forcing the two Pokémon to stop. They all cringed in pain as the noise practically shattered their minds, eventually knocking them out. N, covering his ears right before the figure let out the noise, managed to save himself, but barely.
"What are you? What do you want!?" N asked.
The figure glared at N. Although nothing could be heard audibly outside, N had seemed to hear something, as his eyes suddenly widened.
"W-What...?" N asked.
As N stepped back a little, the figure jumped out of the area.
"!? Wait!" N cried.
But the figure had soon disappeared before N could stop him. He was left speechless for some reason as he fell to his knees.
"...What does that mean...?" N asked himself.
Hilbert stepped out of the pokécenter and headed for the Castelia City Gym, eyes now hollow like an empty shell while rubbing his 'backside'. Dewott had a rather guilty look on his face, while everyone else was glaring at him in a disappointed matter.
"I'll never be the same again..." Hilbert moaned.
"-Ahahaha...-" Dewott laughed nervously.
"-Okay next time, tell us what you're going to do,-" Excadrill deadpanned.
"-I wonder if he's alright...-" Archen said.
"-I feel this is my fault...-" Victini sulked.
"-It's not your fault,-" Excadrill assured the legendary. "-It's alright to mess up on something you just learned. It's not alright, however, to shove a water sword like a Kancho up the trainer's ass to wake them up. Literally.-"
"-Hey it worked, didn't it!?-" Dewott argued.
"-And now he feels violated,-" Excadrill grumbled. "-Way to go. Aren't you supposed to be his partner? Thank God you didn't go at it too deep, or else that would've been irreversible.-"
"-Sh-Shut up!-" Dewott growled.
As the two argued, they stopped as Hilbert faced the Castelia City Gym.
"-Huh?-" Dewott asked. "-Oh we're here.-"
"-The third gym, huh...-" Excadrill commented. "-I'm raring for some action!-"
"Alright then, let's go!" Hilbert exclaimed, recalling his team to their respective pokéballs.
But as he was about to enter, he ran into Cheren and Bianca who were exiting the gym. As he ran into them however, Hilbert felt something sticky on them.
"Gah!? What the–?" Hilbert asked. "Cheren? Bianca? Eww...you're sticky..."
"Don't remind us..." Cheren grumbled, clearly annoyed by the fact that he was in fact sticky.
"The gym is weird, Hilbert," Bianca whined. "There're walls made of honey that you need to pass through!"
"Walls of...honey?" Hilbert asked. "What kind of installment is that?"
"I agree, I find the logic of having such obstacles rather unnecessary," Cheren commented. "But at least we both got our badges."
"'Both'?" Hilbert asked.
"Yep! I won my third badge too!" Bianca exclaimed with pride.
"Seriously?" Hilbert asked. "You're aiming to become a trainer?"
"Well, I want to get stronger so that I can help you and Cheren," Bianca said nervously. "But, I do need some work..."
"Don't worry about it," Cheren said, patting Bianca on the head.
"Well, nice job, Bianca!" Hilbert congratulated.
"Thanks..." Bianca said, blushing. "So, Hilbert. Are you gonna challenge the gym leader?"
"Yep," Hilbert said. "I'm sure we'll do fine."
"Alright then," Bianca cheered. "Good luck!"
"Yeah, yeah," Hilbert said.
"...Hilbert..." Cheren said. "Once you're done with the gym battle, face me in a battle at Route 4."
"Heh? Sure...I guess..." Hilbert said.
"Alright then," Cheren said, then left.
"Wait up, Cheren!" Bianca cried, following Cheren.
"What was that about?" Hilbert asked himself, but shrugged it off and entered the gym for his challenge.
And indeed, it was peculiar at best. There were literally walls made out of honey.
"My god...they weren't lying..." Hilbert said with a sigh.
He touched the honey wall, where his finger sunk in. He took a step back and ran into the wall, but the wall ended up sucking him in, and shooting him back.
"Goddamn!" Hilbert muttered. "Let's try a little harder."
He took a few more steps back, and rushed at the wall with all his strength. After pushing against the wall with all his strength he managed to push through the wall.
"Success!" Hilbert cheered, but realized that he was covered in honey. "Ewww..."
Hilbert powered through the walls of honey as he unlocked the gates that stood in his way while fighting several trainers that were oddly enough hiding in some of the switches he needed to push. After several hours of treading through honey of all things, he finally reached the gym leader.
"So you made it," a familiar voice said.
As Hilbert reached the room, he found Burgh, waiting for him in a battle arena decorated with dazzling lights and decorations.
"Yo, Burgh," Hilbert said. "You ready to get beat a third time?"
"How enthusiastic," Burgh chuckled. "So you met with your friends, I presume?"
"They walked out in honey...literally..." Hilbert commented, trying to clean off the honey on his own clothes. "You really need to reconsider the design of the gym."
"Maybe I will," Burgh said. "But now, let's get to the real business. Your gym battle. A 3 VS 3 single battle. You can substitute your Pokémon whenever you wish, but you may only use up to three members of your party. Whoever faints the opponents Pokémon first wins. Sounds fair?"
"Alright then," Hilbert said.
"My bug Pokémon are scurrying with excitement about getting to battle you," Burgh said. "Let's get straight to it!"
"Let's start it off! Whirlipede!"
Burgh released a gray purplish hard-shelled, curled tire-like Pokémon.
"What's that?" Hilbert asked, scanning the Pokémon with the pokédex.
"Whirlipede, the curlipede Pokémon," it read. "It is usually motionless, but when attacked, it rotates at high speed and then crashes into its opponent."
"Better watch out for that speed..." Hilbert said. "If that's the case...Archen!"
Hilbert in response released Archen, who flapped into battle.
"-What the hell is that?-" Archen cawed.
"-Puny bird,-" Whirlipede taunted. "-I'll crush you in a minute.-"
"You can have the first move," Burg insisted.
"Alright!" Hilbert exclaimed. "Archen, AncientPower!"
Archen pointed at Whirlipede, where a cluster of rocks from the ground emerged and shot at it.
"Use Rollout to evade the attack!" Burgh commanded.
Whirlipede started to roll like a wheel and avoided the rocks that shot at it, and headed for Archen at great speed.
"Fly into the air and use Acrobatics!" Hilbert commanded.
Archen ascended to the air to avoid Whirlipede, and nimbly struck down and rammed Whirlipede. The bug flew back as Archen descended down.
"Alright, a clean hit!" Hilbert exclaimed. "This is going to a good start!"
"Or so you think," Burgh smirked. "Look at your Pokémon."
"Huh!?" Hulbert blurted.
He checked Archen, who was starting to limp around and breathe heavily.
"-What's happening...?-" Archen exhaled. "-I don't feel so good...-"
"What!? Is he poisoned!?" Hilbert gasped. "But how!?"
"Poison Point," Burgh explained. "If Whirlipede gets hit with a move that does direct contact, there's a good chance the opponent will get poisoned."
"Seriously!?" Hilbert gasped. 'Great! At this rate, Archen's energy'll be drained, and he won't be able to fight! I'll have to get him take a rest.'
Hilbert held out his pokéball to recall Archen, where Burgh smirked.
"Return, Archen!"
"Whirlipede, Pursuit!"
As Archen was about to retreat, Whirlipede quickly rammed Archen before he could retreat, practically shooting him back into the pokéball.
"What the–!?" Hilbert blurted.
"Pursuit is a move that does double damage when it's being used on a Pokémon who's retreating," Burgh explained.
Hilbert quickly checked Archen's status, and was relieved to see that Archen was still active, albeit weak from the strong attack.
"Great, this isn't a good start..." Hilbert muttered. "If I can't touch him...then..."
He took out another pokéball.
"Victini, you're up!"
He released Victini, as he flew to the stage.
"Oh, isn't this a rare sight," Burgh said.
"-What's going on?-" Victini asked, turning to Hilbert curiously.
"This is your first battle, Victini," Hilbert told him. "You ready for your début?"
"-Alright!-" Victini cheered, then faced Whirlipede.
"Incinerate!"
Victini took a deep breath and spewed a huge breath of fire at Whirlipede.
"Rollout!"
Whirlipede began to roll like a wheel once more and evaded the fire, where it headed straight for Victini.
"Stop it with Confusion!" Hilbert commanded.
Victini waved his hands, where Whirlipede began to levitate against its will.
"Now smash him to the wall!" Hilbert commanded.
Victini waved his hands to the wall, where the whirlipede smashed into it several times.
"Retaliate with Struggle Bug!" Burgh commanded.
As Whirlipede smashed into the wall, he resisted the attack and shot several red aura streams at Victini, causing him to release Whirlipede.
"Now, Sludge Bomb!"
"Intercept it with Focus Blast!"
Whirlipede spewed filthy sludge at Victini, who quickly created an energy orb and launched it at the sludge. The sludge shot through the Focus Blast and at Victini, where Victini quickly dodged it.
"That should've at least cancelled each other out..." Hilbert said.
"Struggle Bug lowers the target's special attack once it hits," Burgh explained. "So all your special moves outta be weaker now."
"Damn...this isn't getting to a good start..." Hilbert muttered.
"Now, let's finish it with Rollout!" Burgh commanded.
Whirlipede began to roll like wheel once more and charged at Victini.
"Not like that's gonna stop us!" Hilbert yelled.
Victini looked a bit scared as Whirlipede got closer and closer, waiting for his master's next command.
"Wait for it," Hilbert said. "Wait for it...and...NOW! Incinerate!"
Once Whirlipede got as close to Victini as possible, Victini quickly spewed fire at point-blank range, scorching the bug away. Soon enough, the bug was defeated.
"Wasn't that a gutsy move," Burgh said as he recalled Whirlipede.
"I've used a similar strategy to yours," Hilbert commented as he switched out Victini for Archen, then immediately went to heal his wounds and poison. "One down, two to go."
"Alright then," Burgh said, taking out another pokéball. "Now, Crustle!"
From his pokéball, an orange crustacean with a humongous shell that resembled a cut-away block of sediment entered the field, the shell towering over Archen.
"...Let me guess, this thing evolved during your last two gym battles too, right?" Hilbert asked.
"How did you know?" Burgh asked surprised.
"...So I was right..." Hilbert muttered. "You ready, Archen?"
"-Bring it on!-" Archen roared.
Meanwhile, back at the pokécenter, Cheren and Bianca exited it, their teams fully healed and ready for action.
"Well then," Cheren said. "Let's head out to Route 4 and wait for Hilbert."
"Alright," Bianca said. "But why do you want to fight Hilbert?"
"...I need to see just how strong he became ever since then," Cheren explained. "Ever since he saved us from those sages..."
"Oh...right..." Bianca said, remembering what happened just a few hours ago.
Cheren gripped the pokéball in his hand.
"...My dream is to become the champion..." Cheren said. "For that dream to become a reality...I need to become stronger than everyone...including Hilbert..."
"Cheren..." Bianca said.
Cheren narrowed his eyes at his pokéball.
"...Let's go," Cheren said as he made his way to Route 4.
"Huh!? Wait up, Cheren!" Bianca called out, following Cheren.
"Rock Wrecker!"
"Agility, then Acrobatics!
Crustle created a huge boulder and launched it at Archen. Archen raised his speed tremendously and avoided the boulder, then struck nimbly at Crustle. The force knocked the already weakened Crustle back, eventually knocking him out.
"Two down, one left," Hilbert said.
"You're really impressive you know that?" Burgh asked, recalling his Pokémon. "Being able to take out two of my Pokémon, while you have all yours."
"...Thanks..." Hilbert said.
"But...I wonder how you can deal with him!" Burgh yelled, releasing his last Pokémon; his ace, Leavanny.
"Wondered when you would use that one," Hilbert said.
"Leavanny is my best Pokémon," Burgh said. "You won't be able to beat him so easily."
"You still up for another battle?" Hilbert asked Archen.
Archen nodded in response.
"Alright then," Hilbert said. "Let's finish this quickly! Acrobatics!"
Archen bulleted towards Leavanny and nimbly struck at him, but Leavanny twirled around, dodging the attack as if he was dancing.
"Wha–!?" Hilbert blurted.
"Counter with Leaf Blade."
Using the opening, Leavanny created a long green blade and slashed Archen from behind. The slash finished off Archen, fainting him.
"Archen!" Hilbert cried.
"One down," Burgh grinned.
"Tch!" Hilbert muttered as he recalled Archen, then quickly released his next Pokémon. "Victini! Incinerate!"
Victini sprung out and spewed a huge breath of fire at Leavanny.
"String Shot at the ceiling," Burgh calmly commanded.
Leavanny spewed sticky silk to the ceiling, then sucked it back in to propel his way up, avoiding the flames.
"Now, Shadow Claw from behind!"
Leavanny dropped down from behind Victini while creating a sharp blade made from shadows, and slashed Victini from behind. The tyke fell to the ground, knocked out.
"Must have been a critical hit," Burgh said. "That's two."
Hilbert started to become worried and infuriated as he recalled Victini.
"Now then," Burgh said. "Who's your last Pokémon? I'm curious to see how you'll try to turn this situation around."
Hilbert took out his third pokéball and released Excadrill.
"Debut match, buddy," Hilbert said. "He's the last Pokémon. Beat him, and we win our third badge."
Excadrill nodded in response, and faced Leavanny.
"Oh, an excadrill," Burgh said. "Let's see how this turns out."
"Excadrill, Metal Claw!" Excadrill sharpened his claws and lunged at Leavanny.
"Dodge it!" Burgh commanded.
As Excadirll lashed out at Leavanny with his claws, Leavanny dodged all his attacks as if he was dancing gracefully.
"Intercept with Leaf Blade!"
Leavanny created two long green blades and slashed Excadrill with an opening.
"-Kh! This one's fast!-" Excadrill muttered.
"String Shot!"
Leavanny suddenly shot the silk that he sucked back up at Excadrill's feet.
"-Crap!-" Excadrill yelled as he tried to free himself.
"Leaf Blade!"
Leavanny lunged towards Excadrill and slashed him strongly, sending him back, while freeing him from the silk.
"Excadrill!" Hilbert cried as his Pokémon fell back.
Excadrill managed to get back on his feet.
"You're alright!" Hilbert said with relief.
"-This won't take me down,-" Excadrill grunted. "-But...this won't last longer either...-"
"Now then, what will you do now?" Burgh asked.
Excadrill turned to Hilbert, who surprisingly grinned.
"Don't count me out just yet!" Hilbert yelled.
"Oh?" Burgh asked.
"Sandstorm!"
Excadrill grinned, and spun around quickly, whipping up a powerful sandstorm. Soon enough, the room was filled with violent winds of sand.
"So you're going to rely on this sandstorm to help you," Burgh said. "It won't matter though, if you fall before the storm wears out Leavanny!"
At response, Leavanny lunged towards Excadrill to finish the battle, but Hilbert and Excadrill only grinned.
"Counter it!" Hilbert boomed.
Excadrill practically vanished in front of Leavanny and slashed him from behind.
"What!?" Burgh blurted. "How did it become so fast!? Unless..."
"Sand Rush," Hilbert explained. "It's Excadrill's ability. In a sandstorm, his speed doubles, now making him faster than your ace."
Excadrill continued his swift hit-and-away strikes, which along with the pain that the sandstorm added on, eventually weakening Leavanny.
"Let's finish this, Exadrill!" Hilbert yelled. "Metal Claw!"
"If that's the case," Burgh said. "Let's settle this with one last strike! Leaf Blade!"
Excadrill went for one last Metal Claw attack, while Leavanny went for one last Leaf Blade attack. They both took one last swing, where they slashed each other. The sandstorm subsided, where after a moment, Leavanny fainted.
"Alright!" Hilbert boomed. "We won!"
Excadrill smirked with pride.
"Well done, Hilbert," Burgh said, recalling Leavanny to his pokéball. "That was really fun."
"Thanks," Hilbert said, recalling Excadrill.
"Losing three times in one day, huh..." Burgh said. "Ah that doesn't bug me though, you were amazingly strong! You definitely earned this!"
Burgh presented him a badge and a TM disk.
"The Insect Badge," Burgh said. "It's insectible-I mean incredible! That's the third badge you need to qualify for the Pokémon League. And the TM is Struggle Bug. I hope it helps you out on your journey."
"Thanks," Hilbert said, accepting his prizes.
"So where will you head to next?" Burgh asked.
"To the next gym," Hilbert said.
"Then Nimbasa City is your next destination," Burgh said. "There, the fourth gym awaits."
"Thank you, Burgh," Hilbert said. "Also, I was wondering..."
"You need help to defeat Team Plasma?" Burgh asked.
"!? How did you–!?" Hilbert gasped.
"After what happened today, it's pretty obvious that would be on your mind," Burgh said. "...If we leave them be, they'll no doubt continue their 'liberation' and steal more Pokémon from more innocent trainers...we need to stop them!"
"What will you do then?" Hilbert asked.
"For now, I'll inform the other gym leaders about Team Plasma," Burgh said. "With their help, we can surely track down their whereabouts."
"Thank you," Hilbert said.
Now that he had no other business with Burgh, he exited the gym and headed back to the pokécenter to heal his team.
"Now to deal with Cheren..." he muttered to himself.
"Ugh...huh!?"
Hilda sprang back up from a bed after finally waking up.
"What...?" she asked as she looking around to see where she was.
"You woke up," a familiar voice said.
She turned to see N sitting next to her bed.
"Lord N..." Hilda said. "Where am I?"
"At the infirmary," N explained.
"What...happened...?" she asked.
"We were ambushed..." N explained. "Fortunately, you didn't suffer anything fatal, and we were able to flee."
"What happened to that person!?" Hilda asked, referring to the mysterious hooded figure that guided her to N.
"I'm not sure that was a 'person', but a Pokémon," N said. "But he fled the scene shortly after."
"That was a Pokémon?" Hilda asked.
"From what it did to your party, that's the most logical answer..." N said. "The problem is, though, what Pokémon that was. And why it attacked us to begin with."
"Then let me go and capture it!" Hilda offered. "If it is a Pokémon, then that should be possible!"
"How do you plan to find it?" N asked.
"Well, that Pokémon was definitely obstructing our efforts, so its target must be us," Hilda explained. "If we were to attract attention to ourselves, then this mystery Pokémon would show itself."
"...That does make sense," N said. "But, will you be able to face it if it shows again?"
"Do not worry, my lord," Hilda assured him. "I will be prepared this time."
"Okay then," N said. "But do that once you feel better."
As soon as N got back up, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Hilda asked.
"It's Ghetsis," a voice from behind the door called out.
"...You may enter," Hilda said.
The door entered, as Ghetsis entered the room.
"Are you feeling better, Hilda?" Ghetsis asked.
"Yes, thank you," Hilda said.
"Good. Now then..." Ghetsis said. "What exactly did this to you?"
"I'm not quite sure..." Hilda answered. "It was definitely a Pokémon, but I'm not sure what kind of Pokémon it was."
"I see..." Ghetsis said. "This is very problematic...this outside force will definitely get in our way...Lord N. Were you able to, by any chance, communicate with this Pokémon?"
"Huh?" N asked.
"If you were able to communication with the Pokémon," Ghetsis said. "Then you should be able to recognize what it was."
"Well, yes," N said.
"So? Did you communicate with the Pokémon?" Ghetsis asked politely, yet commanding.
N was about to answer, but something on his mind stopped him. The thing that the hooded Pokémon told him before leaving.
"...No, the Pokémon fled before I could even stop him," N answered.
"...I see..." Ghetsis said, narrowing his eyes at N. "Very well, my lord. All that matters, though is that you and Hilda are safe."
"Thank you, Lord Ghetsis," Hilda said.
"Now, Hilda, I leave the case to you," Ghetsis said.
"Of course," Hilda said.
"Very well..." Ghetsis said. "We are counting on you."
Hilda nodded in acknowledgment, as Ghetsis made his way out.
"Oh, by the way, Ghetsis," N said. "I was planning to head for Nimbasa City."
"? Nimbasa City?" Ghetsis asked. "Why would you want to go there all of a sudden?"
"...I need to check out something," N simply answered.
"As you wish," Ghetsis said.
As Ghetsis left, N had his eyes narrowed at him.
'...Something's not right...' N thought.
Ghetsis closed the doors behind him and headed down the hall.
"A hooded Pokémon that attacked our members..." Ghetsis said. "Hm...is it perhaps...no...it's too early for assumptions..."
As he walked down the hall, he found himself deep in thought.
"...Shadow Triad," Ghetsis called out.
"...Yes, my lord?" a voice suddenly replied.
From the shadows of the halls, the three identical trio that were the Shadow Triad appeared out of nowhere.
"Report," Ghetsis ordered.
"Sir, the target is currently heading for Nimbasa City to obtain his fourth gym badge," one of them reported.
"Nimbasa...eh..." Ghetsis said. "Anything else?"
"Sir, the Castelia City gym leader is informing the other gym leaders about our presence," another one of them reported. "At this rate, they will all know of us and will most likely plot their next move to oppress us."
"Is that so..." Ghetsis said. "...Continue your current mission. The target will head for Nimbasa City, so if they are still there, escort Lord N. Hilda will most likely be by his side, so aid her when necessary."
"As you wish," the three said before disappearing.
Ghetsis continued to walk down the hallway, smirking to himself.
"Now then..." Ghetsis said to himself. "Let's see how this plays out."
To be continued
AN: Kancho. A game played by Japanese school children under the age of 12 where they poke their finger(s) in an unsuspecting ass. Or in this case, a game played by an aggressive bipedal sea otter where they stab their water blade in an unsuspecting (or unconscious) ass of their trainer. Sorry, had to get that out there.
And the OC is a Pokémon! A Pokémon that just mopped the floor with Hilda and her team. What is it? And what does it have to do with Team Plasma? That's for you to find out in the future. And as you can see, the plot is told by mainly two points of view; Hilbert's point of view and Hilda's point of view, while everyone else's point of view is mixed between the two. All I needed to say.
Hoped you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading, and tell me what you think. See ya!
