Beware of red-haired pilots.
It wasn't a total waste.
After all, Hilda got new Pokémon on her team, capturing the Litwick that led them to the bell and evolving her Blitzle into Zebstrika. Of course, the Litwick had convinced his friends to battle to toughen his new teammates up, and those friends were merciless, especially on Erika and Swadloon. Fire-types were, naturally, the enemy of both, but a nurse had come at Skyla's insistence and offered to heal the Pokémon at any time they needed it.
Hilbert, on the other hand, had taken to using Tommy, Liepard and Krokorok as a barrier to protect himself from the forest gods, using Patrat as a teddy bear, and though Litwick and his friends tried to get him to battle, only Pidove took that option.
The two healed their Pokémon at the Center, before searching for anything capable of being called a TARDIS. There were a lot of planes everywhere, so which one was Skyla's?
"The Doctor's TARDIS is blue," Hilbert said, staring them down. "So maybe hers is, too?"
"But all the planes here are gray!" Hilda whined, not bothering to tell him that Skyla had said her plane wasn't a TARDIS. "And they're in front of a lot of buildings."
Tommy sat down on the cold ground. Summer was almost over, and the chill in the air already promised a freezing winter. He wondered how that would affect the food...
The sound of Skyla's voice caught their attention, and they found her talking over a phone to someone. It sounded like she was speaking to Cress, from Striaton City, but they couldn't be sure. When she noticed she had challengers, she ended her call, and waved them forward into the Gym.
"I was wondering where you were," Skyla laughed when they were close enough to understand what she was saying. "I've been preparing."
The light snapped on as they entered the building, and the twins realized right away that she hadn't been lying. There were cannons, cannons everywhere, with little landing pads to catch those brave (or dumb) enough to shoot themselves out of cannons in the first place.
"We have to shoot ourselves out of cannons?" Hilbert gasped, and raced over to the nearest one. "All right! I'm going first!"
"Hilbert, you'll die," Hilda tried to protest, but Hilbert just waved it off.
"How about a bet, then?" he suggested. "If I survive the whole Gym, you owe me a pizza." And, with a loud bang, he was gone.
A helpful Elgyem sighed as it levitated him down onto the landing pad, shaking his head at this idiot. The girls, however, took a shortcut to the top, and immediately began the battle without the male cheerleader.
Skyla was a Flying-type specialist, naturally, and so Hilda sent out Litwick, just to play with her a bit. He'd taken out Swoobat easily, and was replaced with Lillipup for Unfezant before she was defeated and he was called back out, but the Water-type Swanna took him out pretty easily. That was when Hilda stopped playing, and out came the Zebstrika.
Zebstrika, now that he was bigger and more powerful than before, was ready for whatever Skyla could throw at him. He had the double advantage, but Hilda knew that type alone didn't win the battle.
"Shock Wave!" Hilda commanded, knowing the always-accurate move was ultra-effective. Obviously, this was another one-hit KO waiting to happen.
Except it didn't. Swanna was damaged, sure. Perhaps even barely still capable. But it was still in the game, and as such it could still pull off an Aqua Ring and recover a bit.
That didn't stop Zebstrika. One last Spark attack and Swanna was down, and Hilda was holding her brand-new Jet Badge in her hand.
There was a loud, disturbing smack as Hilbert's body connected with the wall, and he slid down to the ground, in obvious pain.
"Are you ok?" Hilda asked him, and his finger twitched in response.
"I think I broke my face," he groaned, attempting to stand up but failing. Pidove popped out of his ball to fly his trainer to a human doctor, as Skyla and Hilda stared at the tiny pigeon carrying a teenager.
"You're a Time Lord, Skyla!" Hilbert called. "Can't you go back in time and warn me?"
"Of course not," the redhead called back. "That would involve getting tangled in a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. And anyway, I can't cross my own timeline. It's against the rules."
Hilbert pouted as Pidove carted him to safety. Skyla shook her head. "He honestly believes I'm a Time Lord?"
"He also believes that a guy we keep bumping into is a werewolf and forest gods are out to eat our spleens."
"Well, the spleen is a delicious organ," Skyla said, nodding as if she knew what she was talking about.
Hilda didn't even flinch, often saying things like that herself. "So, yeah, he thinks you're a real Time Lord."
"Awesome! Best. Companion. Ever!"
No sooner had Hilda stepped outside than she saw N, speaking to Hilbert, who had apparently recovered, and his Pidove and Patrat.
"Your Patrat is tired of battling," N was saying. "She likes you, but she wants to take a break."
Hilbert looked down at Patrat, who nodded once. He smiled, perfectly willing to part with her if that's what she wanted. "All right. I'm sure Mom or Professor Juniper would take you."
"What's going on here?"
Hilda's arrival seemed to catch them both off guard, and Hilbert lifted Patrat off the ground. "Just in time to say goodbye to Patrat," he said, holding out the rodent as if he was waiting for Hilda to give her an inspection. "N says she doesn't want to battle anymore."
"Does he, now?" Hilbert couldn't understand why Hilda was glaring at the green-haired boy, or why N had that half-victorious, half-embarrassed smile on his face, but that didn't seem to matter to him as he came to terms with the fact that he'd have to let one of his dearest friends go. "Wouldn't that be awfully convenient for Team Plasma, then, if you released a Pokémon that has been your friend since you first started out on your journey?"
"Well, yeah, I guess. But I was planning on sending her home to keep Mom company, not releasing her out in the wild. Especially not around here, where I know she'll get annihilated if she was going to battle by herself."
Neither of them was paying attention. Hilda kept glaring, N kept grinning, and Hilbert was once again confused beyond any hope. Finally, the older boy straightened to his full height, towering over Hilda, and stuck out his tongue like a child as he realized that he'd just won the silent argument.
Hilda rolled her eyes. "How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen."
"And how long have you been seventeen?"
It came as a shock to her when N, of all people, caught the Twilight reference and jumped at the chance to avoid continuing it. "Four months and eleven days, but that's not important. What I want to know is, do you want to release your Pokémon?"
"What do you think?"
N shrugged. "It was worth a shot," he replied, turning to leave. "But if you don't let Lillipup out of her ball for more than food, I'd recommend sending her to your mother as well. She and Patrat can be playmates."
And he was gone. Hilbert waited until he was out of sight, before making a quiet noise not unlike a werewolf howl.
"I'll take good care of them both, don't worry," their mother was saying. "And if you ever want to come and get them, just stop by Nuvema Town."
"Thanks, Mom," Hilda said, waving goodbye to her little puppy as she and Patrat were sent home. Professor Juniper had enough Pokémon to look after back at her lab, the twins had decided, and their mother was all alone. But not anymore.
"Take care of yourselves," their mother said happily, before disconnecting to stop the Pokémon from annihilating her house.
"You think she can handle them?" Hilbert asked.
"Didn't you ever listen to her stories about her childhood? She was a trainer once, too." Hilda adjusted her bag and smiled. "They'll all be fine, don't worry."
"All right." He hung his head, missing Patrat already, but jumped back to excitement. "Come on, Hilda! You're only missing two badges before you can face the Elite Four...and meet that Grimsley character you idolize so much."
"So what are we waiting for?" Hilda laughed, grabbing Hilbert by the sleeve and all but racing from the Pokémon Center. "Grimsley awaits!"