Chapter 23 Hurts to be Human

"Anything?"

"No… Pignite can't seem to scratch it," Cheren huffed. He glanced back at Hil and Bianca remorsefully. "He's melting it, alright, but it's just turning into a pile of goo, now." He sighed and rubbed his temple at the sight of the gelatinous, white mess at the front of the cave entrance. He knew this to be Chargestone Cave's entryway and they had to pass through here in order to move on to Mistralton City. The stall in their progress was frustrating him. He and Hil had earned five badges now, and he was eager to get a move on for more. It had been hard enough to convince Hil and Bianca to move out of Driftveil, and as time dragged on, he was worried Bianca would begin to whine for them to simply turn back to the city for another night or two… or week, if her and Hil's knack for getting distracted was anything to go by.

Hil scratched the back of his head and uncertainly called, "Uh, Cheren? Why don't we give it a rest for a little while and wait for it to be… uh… not so much of a mess?"

"Yeah… I don't really want to walk through that," Bianca complained with a nervous chuckle.

Cheren was about to admit defeat when he noticed Clay in the distance. He gestured toward him. "Wonder what he's doing way out here?" he offered to Hil and Bianca like a waiter trying to upsell something on a menu, hoping they'd forget Hil's suggestion to wait. To further bolster his efforts, he stepped toward Bianca and touched his hand to hers. She melted into his touch and leaned against him. It was still difficult for him to not blanch and freeze at her affections. Not that he didn't enjoy them; rather, they sent a warm wave through his body that pulled a grin at his lips, but for someone who so rarely made his emotions known to others, it put him at a strange, internal crossroads. He had always dealt with his feelings on his own, away from Hil and Bianca, and now with Bianca, he was forced to share certain ones with her. It felt nice to do so, and still somehow so, very unnatural…

"Dunno," Hil muttered in response to Cheren's question. He averted his gaze from Cheren and Bianca. That was another reason he floundered at Bianca's attention. Cheren had become less ignorant of Hil's thoughts on their relationship as of late and although he could tell Hil didn't truly have an issue with them being together, he knew Hil ached for companionship of his own. Yet, Hil was also someone that lavished the fringes; he didn't put himself out there to make friends with just anyone he met. He usually waited for someone else to make the first move, or for Bianca or Cheren to drag him to meet others. Frustratingly, he also seemed to have a talent for obsessing over people who showed disinterest in him, for those that judged him prematurely, and he would toss himself again and again at them like a tennis ball against a racket. The habit had been exacerbated by Vince's accident. Cheren had tried to snap him out of it, but his offhanded jibes over Hil's tendency for it always went ignored as playful banter… and Cheren didn't have the courage to sit down with Hil and converse at length about it.

"Heard there was a Galvantula nest blockin' the entrance to Chargestone," Clay blustered as he marched past Cheren, Hil, and Bianca. He released his Krokorok and the pokémon crossed its arms and observed its surroundings disinterestedly. "I see y'all tried yer hands at getting' rid of it, though… Krokorok, dig away that mess, would ya?"

Krokorok growled in acknowledgment and then began to claw and nose away at the ground just ahead of the mess at the front of the cave. It dug a pit beneath it and then nosed it in, kicking the dirt back on top once it was done. With a deep breath following that work, it crossed its arms again and leaned back against the stony wall. Cheren could have sworn it flashed them a cocky grin.

"That's enough showin' off, you," Clay patted it on its muzzle and laughed. He hummed something to himself as he recalled the Krokorok and then planted his hands on his hips. He surveyed Cheren and his friends with pursed lips. "I reckon I owe you two an apology," he said at last as he flicked his brooding gaze between Cheren and Hil.

Cheren glanced at Hil as if hoping for an answer, but Hil only shrugged. "For what, Gym Leader Clay?"

Clay had opened the briefcase he carried with him and rummaged in its contents for a few seconds. He retrieved two disks from its interior and then shut it with an audible click. He handed one to Cheren and then to Hil. The case was gritty and scratched from repeated jostling in Clay's briefcase, but beneath the marred surface, he could see the disk inside was deep brown and read 'Bulldoze.'

"For not givin' that to y'all back there at my gym. That's the TM for Bulldoze. It slows down any pokémon it hits. Ground-types tend to move a lot slower than you'd like," he offered at Cheren and Hil's dual puzzled stares. "I didn't think it was worth givin' to either of ya back at the gym 'cause neither of ya seemed too keen on Ground-types to begin with. But I realized that was pretty nearsighted of me." He paused. "Nobody should limit how far y'all go. Least of all me. However far y'all wanna go, y'all chase that dream, ya hear?" He eyed them both intensely. "Decide yer own limits."

"Yes, sir," Cheren answered quizzically.

Hil responded with a more certain nod of his head. "Thank you, Gym Leader Clay."

"Hope to see y'all again someday," Clay said respectfully as he tipped his hat at them, and then walked off. Cheren appreciated his kind words even if he didn't think he needed them to keep working at his goal.

"He's so cool!" Bianca gushed. "And so nice!"

"Once you get past the tough cowboy act, anyway." Hil smirked and then comically adopted a stereotypical cowboy pose, his legs spread apart and arms jutting from his torso at awkward 90-degree angles. He spat at the ground despite producing none of the requisite saliva. "After you, Miss. Inta that there cave!"

Cheren groaned. Hil was mocking a gym leader! "Hil, please, can you not…"

"Sorry," Hil apologized despite his simper.

Cheren decided to not give him the satisfaction of a reaction and led the trio into Chargestone Cave. Bianca glued herself to his side again, but he found it hard to react as he stepped into what felt like a totally different world. Inside, the cave glowed a beautiful shade of blue reminiscent of sapphire, and condensation gathered on the rock surfaces caused it to glitter and gleam. Large crystals jutted form the floor and walls. Some rocks were even floating, lazily rotating in midair! Dull buzzing of electricity gave the air a strangely calming ambience.

Tugging at his arm, Bianca sighed in delight at it all and whispered to him, "This place is beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Cheren breathed distractedly. He had read about Chargestone Cave and had seen the odd photograph in a dingy textbook, but seeing it in person was something else. Stunned by the sights, he and Bianca had slowed to a stop, but Hil raced ahead of them and touched one of the floating rocks. His hair began to stand on end right away and Noodle, wedged in his hood, hissed angrily at the levitating stone. They all giggled when the stone wafted away from Hil and he nearly fell over onto his hands and knees.

"This place is awesome!" Hil beamed back at them. "Did you see that? That rock just MOVED!"

Cheren and Bianca clutched each other more tightly as they broke into fits of ugly laughter. "Hil, your hair," Bianca finally managed to splutter.

Hil touched a forefinger to some and it shocked him at his touch. He whooped in surprise and shook his head violently. "Whoo, maybe don't touch those unless you have to!"

"I see you three are enjoying yourselves," Professor Juniper's voice carried to them from across the cave. The three friends looked around curiously until they spotted her descending from higher ground, carefully picking her way down a slope, while a Klink followed her. She came to stop in front of them all and waved at them. "Welcome to Chargestone, you three! It's wonderful to see you here, even if unexpected. I take it you've beaten Gym Leader Clay, then?"

"Oh, yeah!" Hil threw himself between Cheren, Bianca, and the professor, his hair still sticking out at odd ends while he attempted to surreptitiously straighten it back out. The occasional odd static spark jolted his fingertips. He cracked a lopsided, goofy smirk as he spoke to her. "I beat him on my second try! I mean, Cheren took him out on his first, as usual, but I did it on my second!"

Professor Juniper, who undoubtedly knew little of Hil's struggles as a trainer, smiled back at him brightly despite her lack of context. "That's great news, Hil!" She tilted her head at Cheren and Bianca. "Anything else you two have accomplished?" she asked coyly.

At first, Cheren thought she might be referencing the Pokédex, and he had fully intended to give a speech about all the progress he had made. But then Cheren became acutely aware of how Bianca essentially was clinging to him in a standing, full-body hug. He blushed and resisted the urge to push her off.

"W-well," Bianca stuttered clumsily, "I'm still thinking about what I want to do… but seeing the rest of Unova has been great! The big cities had so much to look at! And, e-even if I haven't really found what I want to do in life yet… I've found something I really like." At that, she pecked Cheren on the cheek. He felt his knees weaken and he thought he might melt then and there. He almost wished he would so he could get away from the amused expression on Professor Juniper and Hil's faces.

"Might not have found anything to do yet, but she's found someone to do," Hil pretended to cough and hack. Cheren glared at him murderously and he felt Bianca convulse with internalized laughter at his remark. He brought his hands up in surrender. "Hey, what? You hear something, Cheren?"

Professor Juniper rolled her eyes at them. "Well, you three have a safe trip. I'm afraid I'll be staying up about this way. I'm studying the Klink in here. Did you know that Ancient Unova developed the idea behind the gear from studying Klink?" She pointed a finger at the hovering Steel-type and giggled to herself. "Safe travels, you three!" She turned away from them and went like she was going to ascend the same slope she had come from moments earlier.

Suddenly, the warmth of Bianca's hold was gone, though. In fact, the entire scene around him changed, and he got the feeling he was falling, like the sensation one got just before they jerked themselves out of a terrible nightmare. He hit his knees and waves of nausea swept over his core. Cheren had his elbows pressed to the dampened cave floor below him and despite his best efforts to contain it, he vomited and struggled to move away so as not to make a mess of himself. He managed to sit back without marring his clothes and blinked fervently to try to bring the imagery around him in focus.

"Give him space!" someone barked. They moved in front of his vision and waved a hand at him. The image cleared in time for him to respond. Once he recognized the new person in front of him, his abdomen clenched in fright as well as anger. Or maybe it was another wave of nausea. Oh, he hoped not…

"N!" Cheren spat, wincing as pain shot through his ruined throat (no doubt thanks to him being ill moments earlier), "What do you want? What just happened? Where's Bianca? Where are they?"

"Shh, please calm down. I didn't mean to make you sick," N pleaded as he knelt next to Cheren. His stormy eyes were wide in concern. "I just wanted to talk."

In an instant, the playful atmosphere of their venture into the cave was gone. Cheren had vanished into thin air like a phantom. Bianca had squealed and fell over at the loss of his support, which had drawn Hil and Professor Juniper's attention back. At the realization of his disappearance, Bianca had trembled and screamed his name, and her voice ricocheted off the walls like nails on a chalkboard, digging into Hil's ears. But he wasn't concerned with that. He briefly held his head at the pain in his eardrums, but as soon as it began to subside, he frantically joined Bianca's side and searched the cavern desperately with his eyes. "Where'd he go?" Hil asked stupidly.

"I don't know!" Bianca wailed as her voice warbled. "He was here and then he just… gone!"

Professor Juniper had scrambled back down to join them. She clasped a hand to each of their shoulders and dug her fingers in slightly. "Careful, there are ledges and so on in this cave, did he fall?"

Hil shook his head, panicked now, "No! There's no ledges around, everything around here's flat, what the hell just happened?"

Bianca began to sob in fright and latched her arms around Hil. She buried her head into his shoulder and dug her nails into his arm. "We have to find him, Hil!" she said. He swallowed hard and helplessly looked at Professor Juniper. He was scared, just as Bianca was, just as Professor Juniper was based on the quivering of her lips, but it was clear to him that feeding further into his anxiety would devolve the situation into sheer hysterics. He felt Noodle press against his neck to offer him sympathy. Hil leaned back against the touch.

"Okay," Hil said breathlessly and stroked Bianca's back awkwardly, "there's got to be a reasonable explanation. Let's call him, and see if he answers, okay?" It was difficult for him to think logically when his mind felt like an office building on fire but calling Cheren on the Xtransceiver seemed like the most logical first step. He could hold it together for just a little longer, surely…

He just hoped like hell Cheren picked up.

"Talk?" Cheren choked on saliva. His face contorted as it stung his throat. "You—what did you even do to me to get me over here to just talk?" Cheren fleetingly glanced around himself. This part of the cave looked totally unfamiliar. It was a tall, raised platform of stone and only he and N stood there. Once he had his bearings, Cheren glowered at N. "Where's Bianca? What did you do? Answer me, damn it!"

"I had two of the Shadow Triad bring you to me," N explained softly. He was still knelt at Cheren's side. "I apologize for the, ah, trip… their teleportation can be really rough on the body the first few times."

"Yeah, you could say that—teleportation? Shadow Triad?" Cheren blinked disbelievingly at N and his jaw fell open. "Did you just—"

"Yes, they can teleport," N muttered impatiently. He crossed his arms. "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, though."

And so that was how their discussion went. Cheren angrily demanded answers from N and the King of Team Plasma impatiently answered each one of them, but made it clear to Cheren that every minute they spent in discourse was another his friends spent in panic. Eventually, they came to a tense understanding of one another, aided by Hil's previous confiding to Cheren over his encounter with N at the Nimbasa City Ferris wheel. Cheren had a hard time wrapping his head around it but came to understand that N was the leader of Team Plasma and that he intended to liberate pokémon from Unovans through intimidation as the new Champion.

"Since in this world power through the abuse of pokémon is all that matters," N had said sadly, "that's how it must be. But I don't want to do it under the radar. I want to give the world a chance to prove to me that I am doing the right thing. That's where you come in!" N had said that last part so gleefully, grabbing Cheren's wrists in his hands, grinning up at him widely. "You are a neutral force. You are a strong trainer. I've watched you and your friends. You want to protect your friends, don't you? Just as I want to protect mine, which are pokémon. You must be the opposing Hero!"

"You're confused," Cheren said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Whatever it is you believe, N, whatever it is Team Plasma has you believing… it's wrong." Cheren was finally able to stand at this point. For a moment, he eyed the tall, lanky man with an almost apologetic slate gaze. He looked so fair and innocent, suddenly, in the moody backdrop of Chargestone Cave. He had a smile and brightness to his demeanor Cheren couldn't quite place. But he didn't need to. Unlike Hil, Cheren understood exactly where he stood with N, and that was as enemies. If N was chasing the title of Champion, more so than just his laughable dream of liberating pokémon, then he was an adversary. Someone for Cheren to prove wrong by defeating. "And I'll face you believing that. Believing that you're wrong. I won't let you take that title so easily."

"Just what I wanted to hear," N joyously nodded. He raised his right hand and called, "Shadow Triad, come to me!"

Two men, dressed in black against pale skin and salty hair, appeared on either side of Cheren.

"I apologize for upsetting your friends," N murmured mournfully. "And for how unpleasant the Shadow Triad's teleporting can be… and, well… I set up many Team Plasma footmen throughout Chargestone Cave to test your will. I am sorry." He fidgeted his hands. "It's hard for me to trust your words directly. I want to believe you, but I hope you can further prove to me your place as the Hero by battling them throughout the cave."

N never did explain how the Shadow Triad's teleportation had worked. Vaguely, he wondered why they were called the Triad when he only saw two, but the thought was lost as the weight of N's words settled in. "Wait, Team Plasma what—" his question was cut short when the two Shadow Triad gripped his arms and he was abruptly doubled over against the floor again, stomach somersaulting, only this time shrieking voices assailed his senses as well. He felt pressure on his sides, and he gagged. He was glad when that was the worst of it, and he didn't fall ill again… He discerned Bianca's voice from the pandemonium and weakly hugged her back. "Hey," he slurred at her as he rubbed his eyes to still the wobbling dual vision.

"Cheren! What just happened?" she half-wailed, half-begged.

Cheren scanned the surroundings and was satisfied to find he was truly back where he had been prior to speaking with N. Hil stood next to Professor Juniper a mere few feet away, white as a sheet, like he'd seen a ghost. Cheren hoarsely laughed. "I don't think you'd believe me even if I said the truth," he puffed breathlessly, "because I'm not entirely sure I believe what just happened…"

"You just vanished into thin air and then reappeared out of nowhere," Hil scoffed sarcastically even though he had a haunted expression, no smile to speak of. "I think whatever you've got to explain it will be just fine."

"Well, firstly," Cheren groaned as he struggled to sit upright. The world swam and Bianca clung even tighter to him as she chose to sit on the floor with him instead. He appreciated the comfort and gave up on his quest to stand. "I was… teleported. Don't ask me how, but these… men, dressed in black, they teleported me somewhere else in the cave and N was there. He spoke to me."

"N?" Hil asked oddly perkily. At the strange looks from his friends, because really, Cheren didn't think that was the most remarkable detail of what he was saying, he cleared his throat. Lamely, he said, "Sorry, voice crack…"

"And he told me what he told Hil," Cheren told Bianca at her worried look, "that he wants to face me at the Pokémon League, fight me as the Champion."

"What did you say?" Bianca pressed right away.

"Well, I said, 'yes,' of course."

"I'm sorry, you were teleported?" Hil interrupted as his brain seemed to catch up with what Cheren had said. Cheren scowled at him. He wasn't blind to how Hil seemed to falter, become a mess on legs, every time N came up. Wearily, he understood it was because N had made that damned declaration back in Accumula Town that he and Hil could never be friends, and now Hil wanted to prove him wrong. Cheren knew no scathing remark or amount of idle talk could convince Hil to knock that sort of desperate behavior off, but he had no idea how to change his friend's mind, either. So, he just made his discontent with Hil's actions known, and hoped Hil would make the right choice in the end. The choice to let his attachment to the enigmatic man from Team Plasma go.

"Yes, keep up," Cheren dryly joked at Hil. Or at least, he made it sound like a joke. He was admittedly more annoyed than he would have liked. "By these people he called the Shadow Triad."

"So, he thinks you're capable of taking him on?" Hil pursued, all but forgetting the questions over teleportation, "Like, he called you the other Hero or whatever?"

"Yeah. But he also said he wants to test me further," Cheren sighed. "There's going to be Team Plasma in this cave, he said. Not sure how they intend to test me…"

Hil decidedly fell silent. Cheren didn't have time to wonder about why as Bianca squeezed him tightly and Professor Juniper offered her confused two cents on the scenario.

"Well, certain pokémon can learn the move Teleport, they likely used that and just had the pokémon hidden somewhere…" Professor Juniper frowned at Cheren and his friends. "But what's all this about Team Plasma? About N?"

"It's a long story…" Bianca answered for him. She took a deep breath and Cheren became keenly aware that she was fighting off stronger emotions as she looked up at him. He wanted to ask her what was wrong but knew this was not the time nor the place, and he had no idea how he would have phrased it anyway. She turned away from him as Hil began to explain the situation to Professor Juniper. Unsurprisingly, the scientist found it difficult to accept what she was being told. In fact, she utterly reeled at their explanation. All she could seem to offer them was uncertain words and a reminder that they had her Xtransceiver number if they ran into trouble further in the cave. She explained that she'd be in Chargestone Cave for the next day or two, so if they needed any assistance, to just call.

Eventually hauling himself clear of the floor, Cheren persevered deeper into the beautiful depths of the cave, Hil and Bianca following nervously. Bianca seemed intent to keep him from dissipating on her again as she clenched his hand more tightly by the second. Cheren, in the end, had to sheepishly pull his hand from her grasp because it was beginning to turn from an endearing, snug hold to a painful vice grip. Before she had a chance to whine to him about it, ahead Cheren spotted a trio of Team Plasma grunts. They seemed unaware of he and his friends' presence, however, as they were gathered around what appeared to be a Joltik and were cooing at it, talking to it.

"Guess they're some of the ones I'm supposed to be talking to," Cheren shrugged and started to go speak with them. To his surprise, Bianca lashed a hand out and grabbed him by his forearm.

"Cheren…" she whimpered and looked down. "Why? Why not just leave them alone? Why not… just… leave this all alone?"

Cheren's heart began to pound. He already knew wherever this conversation was heading, it wasn't going to be ending prettily.

Hil paused as Bianca gripped Cheren's arm and nervously questioned him. He suddenly had a very bad feeling and he took a step back, sharing an anxious look with Noodle. The Servine whined and tried to contort his awkwardly thick body so that his tail was curled around Hil's neck. It was uncomfortable, and Hil had no idea how Noodle found it comforting, but he enjoyed the pressure against his skin nonetheless and rubbed the smooth flesh of Noodle's tail, idly flicking the leaves. Anything to not focus on the exchange happening ahead of him between Cheren and Bianca.

"Bianca, we've told you. N is the—"

"I know he's the king, or something," Bianca frustratedly groaned. "And I know, they've been violent sometimes, but what if they're right? What if they're right, Cheren? If they're right, then is them doing a few bad things to get to the end goal really that big of a deal?"

"I… you actually believe them?" Cheren sounded so hurt and taken aback. Hil closed his eyes. He felt so useless… why was he just standing idly by? As much as seeing them together dully pricked at his lonely heart, hearing them argue created such a sense of pure helplessness. But as he starved his eyes of visual stimulus, Hil didn't realize he was just worsening his own predicament by making hearing his primary input.

"Well!" He heard Bianca stamp her foot. "I… if I were a good trainer, would Munny have been stolen from me? If not everyone can be an equally good trainer, then maybe pokémon don't deserve to be owned by people. Maybe he's right and they suffer with us and they'd be better off without us…"

"B-but you kept Munny when they gave her back," Cheren rasped against a hoarse throat, "I don't understand… if you felt this way, wouldn't you have just let them take her? Told us to stop? You were distraught!"

Hil breathed in, breathed out, breathed in, breathed out… Except it didn't seem to help. With his eyes closed to the world, their voices magnified, and suddenly they didn't sound like Cheren and Bianca anymore. They sounded like white noise over the line of an Xtransceiver occasionally interjected with a male voice and like a shrieking, upset woman on her last straw. The air seemed to smell less like the damp, earthiness of Chargestone Cave and more like a twinge of charcoal from a stove and faint women's perfume… and he felt so small… Such a familiar, small sensation…

"Because I was attached to her! Yeah, I was upset, but…" his mom—no, Bianca, Hil corrected himself inwardly, alarmed—complained. "Cheren, I don't think you're even going after this because you're worried about pokémon, anyway. I just think you already wanted to be Champion and now you feel like you have something else to prove. Like you're protecting us again. Well, what if you're protecting the wrong thing? How can we be sure pokémon really are happy with us? That we're even worthy of them if we can't… can't keep them safe?"

Cheren's pained shout back at her made Hil cringe and he wished he could have melted into his shoes. "Do you really think that of me?" Cheren demanded, languished. He was panting. "I… I… I… Is that what you think of me? That I'm just doing this for selfish reasons? For the sake of it?"

"I never said that," Bianca irritably defended herself, "but I'm just—I'm worried, Cheren! I'm worried you're driving yourself crazy trying to protect us again and you don't even know if you're doing the right thing!"

"No, you don't know if I'm doing the right thing, and you're wrong!" Cheren bristled.

Everything was falling apart all over again, and he was still doing nothing… Hil's knees crumpled beneath his weight and he staggered, sinking to the ground at last. Only dimly aware of it, Noodle shot a couple of vines that slowed his fall and brought him gently to the ground. The Servine scooted out from around of Hil's neck so his trainer could properly lean against the rough, dank surface of the cave wall. Nosing at Hil's hands, he curled up in his lap and lightly trilled. Hil shakily stroked the Servine down his side. He finally had opened his eyes but was staring directly at Noodle and only Noodle. His ticket to freedom, his one true friend… Noodle was his friend… He could help Noodle… and Noodle helped him… He smiled at the thought.

"So, that's it?" Bianca's voice cracked with emotion. Hil was sure she was crying. "I say something that challenges what you think, and you just shut me down?"

"Bianca, it's not like that, I—"

"Clearly it is!" she snapped back, cutting him off. "I'm tired of you two treating me like a tagalong! Like I'm just your accessory! I'm here, too! I am part of this! I get to have a say! Your views aren't the only ones that matter! But nobody ever thought to ask me what I thought! You were just going to drag me along on this plot to fight Team Plasma, never once thinking that maybe, just maybe, I thought differently!"

There was a long silence, and then a huff. Some footsteps that faded. Hil remained on the floor cradling Noodle. He jumped when he felt someone touch his left leg and he dared to look up. His blood ran cold when he thought he saw square, wide-brimmed glasses, and a yellow-amber gaze boring into him. He thought he saw tan, feathery hair blow in the slight breeze of the cavern and a wide, wacky grin. He blinked frantically and exhaled loudly when reality settled in again and it was instead Cheren knelt at his side. Watery slate eyes beneath rimless, round glasses connected by a red bridge instead eyed him regretfully. Hil nervously reached a hand to touch Cheren's shoulder as if needing confirmation he was actually there.

"I'm sorry," Hil began to apologize right away, petting Noodle faster, "I'm sorry I just sat by, I didn't try to say anything, I should have done something, I was being useless again just like always, and now you guys are having issues and I didn—"

"Hil, stop," Cheren shook his head, "just… stop." He sat down next to Hil, not too close, but close enough to give Hil some comfort during the throes of his anxiety attack. Briefly, Hil managed to look up and notice that Bianca had wandered over to speak to the three Team Plasma grunts. They animatedly discussed the Joltik with her but he couldn't pick out anything they were saying. Chancing a peek at Cheren, Hil noticed he was watching her as well. For a few minutes, nobody said anything and Hil just kept petting Noodle… the Servine just kept trilling under his touch… Such a comforting little noise… Hil didn't know what he'd do without it nowadays…

Cheren finally broke the emptiness of the air with a quiet, quivering, "She's just… she's right. We never even talked to her about it other than to tell her what happened at the Ferris wheel." He paused. "But I still know Team Plasma's wrong. And now they've come between me and Bianca," Cheren growled. "Now, they've made it personal. I just… wish I could help Bianca understand…"

Yeah, me too… Hil thought with a shuddering breath. Noodle curled up even closer to Hil's abdomen and buried his face between Hil's right thigh and his draped arm. He would never have said it out loud, but having Noodle there to hug as the tidal wave of anxiety ebbed was priceless to him. Poignant memories of nights spent fearing the nightfall in his bed following Vince's accident had come flooding back, a time where he had nothing to comfort him, and he was abruptly so, so grateful for Noodle in a whole new way.

Guiltily, he realized he hadn't even had a chance to think about Bianca's admission of somewhat siding with Team Plasma. Even more glumly, he realized he couldn't think about it. In the aftermath of such vivid memories and crippling anxiety, he didn't have the energy to form any thoughts about her attraction to them.

He just hoped they could make it to Mistralton City still as a group of three… They left Nuvema together. He wanted to stay together for the remainder of their journey…