He lay there, silent.
"This is… Definitely weird."
How'd he get here, again?
A Mid-Sinnoh Night's Dream - XI - Venn Diagram
Nothing else of interest really happened. It wasn't even a tournament, really, so there wasn't some crazy arc-ending fight in the finals. It was just another day at the beach.
After their brief, albeit enjoyable vacation, they headed the rest of the way to Pastoria, the more swampy part of Sinnoh.
It was rural, but large and concentrated regardless.
They all went off to the Great Marsh, which was explicitly not called a Safari Zone, to catch some cool Pokemon.
Lucas was off catching everything in sight, filling in his Pokedex, and probably already on his way back to the start to buy more Safari Balls.
The trees next to the rest of them shivered, and a Tropius walked out, bananas hanging from its neck as usual.
Prinplup saw this, and because of its healthy appreciation of fruit, heavily encouraged Barry to catch it. Well, the Water-type was still in its ball, as was required, but the sentiment carried over
So he did.
A few minutes later, a Shroomish wandered out of the undergrowth with a pipe in its mouth. Considering it didn't have arms, that must have been quite the accomplishment.
Cheryl wanted a Breloom, apparently, so she caught the Grass-type.
They started getting bugged, heh, by a strangely fast Yanma. It wasn't fast enough though, as Marley beaned it in the face with a Pokeball.
About an hour afterward, and wasting a lot of time looking for Pokemon, they spotted a Marill frantically running over the water, being chased by a weirdly joyful Carvanha.
Hilbert sighed and caught Marill, while at the same time, Marley whipped out a ball and captured the other Water-type. That girl was fast when she wanted to be.
They were doing pretty good on catches, until they started noticing trees falling over.
A tiny little mammal was running on two weak legs, being chased by a pair of Drapion. Not being allowed to use his Pokemon, Hilbert did the sensible thing.
Use his aura to jump in between the victim and its chasers, and punched one of the Drapion in the face. His aura exploded outwards in a blast of air, sending it careening backward.
He shielded the tiny Pokemon behind him with his body, while staring out the other Dark-type, who was raising its stinger.
He felt it suddenly impact his shoulder, ripping through his jacket.
So he punched that Drapion too.
He nonchalantly pulled out the stinger, and got Shaymin to heal it.
He finally realized what had been knocking down the trees, as he looked back to see a Kangaskhan stampeding towards him.
"Hey, wait, wait!"
"Give me back my child!"
"They're fine, I took down those Drapion!" He quickly stepped aside, revealing Cheryl who was cradling the tiny Pokemon while it was shivering in fear. She walked up to the Kangaskhan and carefully handed the child to its mother.
Kangaskhan grinned, somehow, and pointed at Cheryl's Pokeball bag. She nodded and caught the Normal-type.
"Why can Kangaskhan share their Pokeball with their children? Isn't that not how it works?"
Lucas said, "It's the DNA signature, most likely; I'm not an expert, of course. The child and mother have similar enough genetics that they can compress and fit all the data inside a single ball."
"Huh. Cool."
The Pastoria gym's arena was a swimming pool with floating discs on it. No challenge, though Crasher Wake recommended they be acclimated to water beforehand.
Barry went first, naturally. In his limitless intelligence, his first Pokemon was Prinplup, up against Wake's Gyarados.
He led with a Withdraw, lessening the damage of Gyarados's Bite. Prinplup stood solitary, letting the pseudo-dragon knock it around the arena. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Gyardos dove into the water beneath Prinplup's disk.
"Now, Bide!"
"Wait- Is Barry doing something smart?" Hilbert's question was drowned out by the disc exploding, Prinplup doubling the damage he'd taken and throwing it back towards Gyarados, spraying water all over the arena. A knocked-out Gyarados floated to the top a few seconds later.
Wake's next Pokemon was a Quagsire, so Barry sent out his recently-caught Tropius.
Quagmire, though powerful, are not known for being 'completely there', as they say, and the Water-type only tilted its head before being blown away by an onslaught of Magical Leaf.
A Floatzel, the last of Wake's Pokemon, was up against Barry's Pikachu.
The Electric-type looked at the arena, turned to the Floatzel and said, "You know, maybe Water-types knockout Pokemon without looking 'em in the eye, but me? I ain't a fink, dig?"
Pikachu pulled out a gun. Again.
"Put that away!" Barry yelled, trying to give some relief to the audience.
"You ain't no fun, boss." The mouse's gun disappeared in a puff of smoke, before throwing a Thundershock Floatzel's way.
It hit, but only just barely, as it managed to dodge at the last second.
"Rock Tomb!"
"Quick Attack!"
The disk Pikachu had been standing on was quickly shattered and sunk by a pile of rocks.
Floatzel stumbled back, after Pikachu jumped on its face, headbutting it, then poking it in the eyes.
"I didn't teach him that!" Barry yelled, as the Water-type stumbled.
"It gets da job done, boss."
"I can't speak Pokemon, I don't know what you're saying!"
Pikachu shrugged, then snapped, sending a final shock towards Floatzel, unceremoniously knocking it out.
"Hey, Barry just swept! Nice one!" Hilbert shouted as he left the arena.
"Thanks! Me and Pikachu are gonna have words about sportsmanship though."
Hilbert blinked, then turned to Lucas. "Is it just me, or is Barry getting smarter?"
"It's a move called Learning. You might have forgotten, since you barely use your brain."
"Oh, that's just uncalled for!"
Lucas was up next, time to see what rules he could exploit this time.
"...When did his Luxio evolve?" Hilbert asked, as Wake's Gyarados fell over, quite literally, shocked.
"Dunno. Probably one of those times he went off training on his own."
A Roserade was his response to a Quagsire.
"Okay, when did he get a Shiny Stone?"
"Probably bought it in Veilstone."
Wake's final Pokemon faced down… Monferno?
"Wait, is he seriously-"
Lucas cut across them, pulling a blue candy out of his pocket. "Hey, Monferno, catch."
The Fire-type did, and started glowing. Seconds later, it was an Infernape.
"Now, Infernape, with your new power- Thunder Punch!"
He won, suffice to say. The evolutionary boost of energy was what let him manage to knock out the Water-type, as he was nearly fainting himself.
Hilbert's fingers itched as he thought about which Pokemon to lead with, before settling on Abra.
The Psychic-type was immediately dwarfed by Gyarados.
"Thunder Punch!"
"Crunch, Gyarados!"
Abra landed a hit, but it barely did any damage to the Water-type, who whipped around, nearly hitting him before he could Teleport.
Abra landed on another disc. It was quickly smashed into uneven quarters by Gyarados's tail.
"Boss, I think we might have a problem."
"Hypnosis!"
The sleep-inducing glow bounced off of Gyarados, and Abra once again had to Teleport.
"I think he's too pissed off."
"Don't swear- Wait, not the point- Trick Room!"
The move actually seemed to work, slowing down Gyarados as if it was floating in syrup. Abra was slower as well, but because he could teleport, well, that's obvious.
Another Thunder Punch landed, and quickly, Gyarados started glowing red.
"That's Outrage! Teleport-"
The Trick Room fell, as the Water-type roared. It rammed into Abra, who had been unable to readjust in time, and he was thrown across the gym.
Hilbert returned him to the Pokeball before he could hit the wall.
Wake gave a hearty laugh. "I've heard about you from Maylene! Don't expect me to go easy on you like I did those other two, you hear?"
Hilbert, slightly miffed that he would have to deal with that, used Shaymin against Quagmire.
Harsh light was brought through the skylight as Shaymin used Sunny Day.
Quagmire tilted his head, before disappearing and avoiding the Solar Beam.
Shaymin was suddenly in the air, looking down at the dopey Quagmire who was holding an outstretched icy fist.
"That things fast! Stay in the air and use Solar Beam!"
Shaymin quickly charged and shot off another one, which was also dodged. Quagmire appeared right below where they were going to land.
"Endure!"
Shaymin curled into a ball, before being rocketed back into the air by another Ice Punch.
"Quagmire might look dopey, but he packs a punch!" Wake laughed.
"Ergh… Bullet Seed!"
The Grass-type shot a stream of seeds, some hitting, but with most missing. Quagmire barely noticed.
"Shaymin, how do you feel about a gambit?"
"I think we're running out of options!" They used Endure again, before being hit back into the air like a volleyball."
"Alright! Use Toxic on yourself! It'll feel terrible, but it won't knock you out!"
Sickly purple bubbles floated through the air, trailing behind Shaymin, as it fell towards Quagmire.
"Facade!"
Shaymin shattered the ice around Quagmire's fist, throwing it flat on its back.
It nearly got up, but Shaymin shot it with a Solar Beam, knocking it out for sure, before falling over themselves after stepping on a chip of ice.
"Tie-breaker round! Get ready, kid!" Floatzel appeared on the scene, as Hilbert chose his ace. Yes, Golett was at a disadvantage, but it was the best choice he had.
"Phantom Force!"
"Aqua Jet!"
Before Golett could fully disappear, Floatzel shot forward, rocketing him through the air in a burst of water. The disc he'd been standing on flipped over from the force.
"Pursuit, Floatzel!"
"Phantom-"
Golett was smacked down by Floatzel, who'd surged upwards off the water.
Hilbert bit his thumb. "Damn. Earthquake!"
Golett didn't appear out of the water, and a few seconds later, the floor shook. Water whipped out of the pool, unbalancing Floatzel. But soon, it receded.
Golett didn't reappear.
Hilbert pulled his hat low over his eyes, as he recalled the Ground-type.
"Sorry, kid. Better luck next-"
Hilbert whispered, "One more..."
"What was that?"
"ONE MORE!" Hilbert yelled, his breath holding up in his throat. He threw off his jacket, letting it fall on the soaked floors behind him.
"One more round! Just one!" Water trailed down his face, and it wasn't from the pool. "I'll win!"
Wake sighed. "I'm sorry, but you're only allowed three Pokemon for this challenge-"
"Then I'll fight myself!" Hilbert threw off his hat, wiping his face and covering his eyes. "I don't care! I'll win right here!"
"Hilby…" Dawn sighed, watching the boy's anger unfold. It wasn't against Wake, or even his Pokemon… It was against himself.
Lucas was studying the scene, his hands clasped under his nose, eyes closed. Barry clenched his fists around his knees. Cheryl was holding her hands together, almost like she was praying. Marley looked as tense as everyone else, even without the obvious signs.
Wake shook his head. "Maylene told me about you. You can use aura? That's a nice trick, but it's not going to get you far."
"I don't give a damn! Let me fight!" Hilbert cried. "Who the hell- Just who the hell do you think I am!"
"You're a kid. You lost. Feel free to rechallenge after you get stronger."
He stood there, shivering, fists clenching and unclenching. Suddenly, he turned on his heel and ran, snagging his jacket and running out the door.
"Hilbert!" They shouted, getting out of their seats and running after him.
Wake watched after them, sighing. He'd seen it enough times before. He felt bad about doing that to a kid, but he'd had to do it before. It was never fun to kill someone's self-confidence like that, especially when they'd gone off without a hitch before his challenge.
The kid was strong, too. He could see it. He couldn't have gotten that far with a bunch of first-stages without power. But you needed more than raw power to be truly strong.
That was his opinion, anyway.
It burned him, it burned him deeply. He thought he could be their best, their ace, but he'd been the only one to lose. He should've done better, trained harder, instead of expecting the same results every time.
So, he ran.
He hadn't lost a match before. Not once. It hurt. It hurt… A lot, actually. Him and Golett were partners, and he couldn't do anything for his partner before or after he was wiped the floor with. He'd been relying on Abra's teleportation to get in close then avoid damage, and never truly trained him.
Shaymin wasn't even his. He had nothing to do with them being strong, they just were, and he didn't factor in. Them winning a match wasn't a surprise, it was a given. They weren't partners, they just decided to fight on his side.
Tyranitar and Garchomp, they made a decision, a very foolish one, and came along with him, when he couldn't even use them. They weren't his, he didn't raise them.
Riolu was ultimately sticking around for the same reason he was, to get stronger, and there wasn't anything besides that.
Aura? Who gives a damn.
None of that strength was his.
There was an explosion inside the Great Marsh as he passed. Smoke was rising from the inside, and a squad of Galactic grunts ran out of the entrance.
Hilbert had turquoise spirals in his pupils.
"Hey! The hell did you just do?" He yelled, and they temporarily paused. He'd chased them past the beach, and they were approaching Lake Valor.
"What do you think, brat? We're saving the world!"
"By blowing up the Safari Zone?"
"I just pushed the button. It's all for the greater-" The grunt was cut off, as he suddenly found he had an inability to speak, via a punch to the diaphragm that was quickly followed by a two-handed smash over the back of his head.
"Pokemon live there, you bastards!" He stepped on the grunt's head, pushing into the marshy dirt, before turning onto the rest of the squad. "Oh, I know you're supposed to battle with Pokemon first, but to be honest? I couldn't care less right now." He charged aura into his right hand, and dashed into a grunt that was reaching for his belt, slamming his fist into the minion's stomach. He shot an Aura Sphere at another, throwing them backward in a blast of light, before turning on his heel and punching the last one in the jaw.
He heaved heavily from the exhaustion. None of them were getting up anytime soon. He supposed he needed to go find another target.
The sound of footsteps traveled behind him. A blonde woman in black approached.
"...This is an interesting scene. Would you mind explaining it to me?" She said, putting a hand on her hip.
Hilbert shook his head, not in denial, but in slight confusion. "Have we met before?"
She seemed only slightly taken aback, raising her eyebrow. "Eterna City? The beach two weeks ago?"
He put a fist on top of his open palm after his realization. "Oh, so that's why you were familiar. Yeah, sorry, I don't think you introduced yourself." Though, he did remember how great she looked in a swimsuit- What do you mean that's not important?
She seemed a bit more surprised by that question. "Hm. My name is Cynthia. Ring any bells?"
Hilbert tapped his temple, thinking. "Uh… Nope, sorry. Nice to meet you though, to get that out of the way. It's a pleasure, regardless of the, um, circumstances." Of which, he was standing in the middle of four knocked-out members of Team Galactic.
"Yes, those circumstances. I know of Team Galactic. And I have received a call about an explosion at the Great Marsh; Truth be told, I was around to visit the lake and see if I could find any clues about the Lake Trio, but… This now is of more import."
"Are you a part of the International Police?"
"I work with them on occasion. Are you?"
Hilbert shook his head. "I'm just some kid that ends up in these situations. Though, it was more voluntary on my part this time."
"Huh… You're an interesting kid, Black, I'll give you that. I'll deal with this mess, you go on… Aren't you missing a few teammates?"
He averted his eyes, feeling shame. "I'm… Taking a break. I need to get stronger before I can go back."
"I see… I assume that means you'll be headed north?"
He shrugged. "Maybe."
"Hm… Well then, I suggest you take this." She handed him a strange blue potion. "There's a barrier of Psyduck on the route north of Solaceon. If you're heading to Snowpoint, you'll need to pass through there. This will fix up their headache."
He took the potion, nodding, and slipped it into his bag. "Thanks, Cynthia. I'll see you later."
"No problem."
She watched him stumble off northward, seeing the tiredness of not just his body, but also his soul.
"Interesting. Certainly interesting."
"Where are you-"
"I'm taking time off. Lucas is in charge. I'm sorry. I need to get strong enough to stand by you all. Goodbye."
"Hilby, wait-"
He clicked off his cross-transceiver and sighed. Even just hearing Dawn's voice hurt him, because he thought he wasn't good enough. He was a cheat in his mind.
"You're pathetic."
He looked back at Riolu, who'd appeared behind him, keeping pace as he walked slowly.
"Yeah, I'm not good enough for them, I know."
"That's not what I meant. You're acting like a child. You lose one time and you think you're weak? White Claw didn't train you for this."
"Well, that just goes to show that I need to get better. If you don't like it," he held out a Great Ball, "Break it, and go do what you want."
She pushed his hand aside.
"You can't get better on your own. You need people around you to make yourself stronger."
"Really? Who taught you that?"
"You."
That stopped him in his tracks.
"Really, do you think everything that happens to you is just luck?"
"It definitely seems like it."
"Let's review. I wasn't there, but let's get this straight. You saved Tyranitar and Garchomp from some nasty people. Why?"
"Because… Well, no, that's not what happened. Golett just stopped them from rampaging."
"But you fought the studio after, didn't you? You wanted them to be safe."
"Wanting something to happen and making it happen are very different things."
"Moving on, Abra. He's a psychopath, sure, but Golett told me he's mellowed."
"Sure, that's what he'd want you to think."
"Justify why Shaymin has joined you."
"I'm not doing anything, they just-"
"Why?"
"Because… They thought I was good."
"Not their words. You're a noble person, even if you've got weird ways of showing it."
"But that's-"
"Are you seriously about to doubt a Legendary Pokemon?"
"..."
"That brings us to why I joined you."
"I still don't know why you did that. You could have gotten stronger on your own."
"I could have, but I didn't. You wanna know why?"
He scoffed.
"You're strong. You might not know, but people generally equate trainers who are partnered with Riolu and Lucario to being good."
"But-"
"Don't try to self-loathe your way out of this one. All of your partners, my friends- They chose you, not the other way around. You keep that offer open, the one that lets them leave whenever they want. Why?"
"Because eventually, like now, I'm not going to be good enough for them."
"Would a weak person do that? Let their strongest Pokemon just walk away?"
"Well, clearly."
"You've started lying to yourself. The answer is 'no', and you know that. You lost. So what? Are you going to let that keep you down? You're afraid of rejection, I can see it. That's what it was. You were convinced your Pokemon would leave you, that your friends would leave you. That's why you constantly acted like the badass leader of Team Black, isn't it?"
"..."
"I should've expected that from you, to be honest. You acted confident, brash, and never let anything get you down. The perfect errant hero in a whole new world."
"Where are you getting this from?"
"It's obvious to anyone who sees you like this."
"Huh. Guess you're right." He weakly laughed. "I really don't know what to say."
"I think you do know." She held up a fist, not touching but pointing at his heart. "Go back to your team. If you don't have the confidence, you'll have mine, and Golett's, and Abra's and everyone else's! If you can't believe in yourself, believe in the US that believes in you!"
They stood there, silently, as Riolu shined a brilliant light, and doubled in height. Her fist was now directly against his chest, and their height gap had lessened. Lucario nodded at him.
"Get going. You've got the rest of your friends waiting for you."
"...Thanks."
She didn't respond, only returning herself to her Pokeball.
HIlbert sighed, and looked back to the way he came.
"Well, there's no point in running anymore."
He stumbled into the Pokemon Center late into the evening, when the moon was high in the sky.
He was promptly glomped by Dawn, followed (in a more restrained manner) by Barry, Cheryl, Lucas, and eventually Marley, in that order. The last addition caused the group hug to end in a dog pile, with Hilbert at the bottom.
"I was worried about you!"
"Where were you, man?"
"Are you feeling better?"
"Don't beat yourself up if you lose like that."
"...It was very scary when we couldn't find you…"
Hilbert gasped for breath, the combined weight of over five-hundred pounds pushing the air out of his lungs. "Can't… Breathe? Sorry…"
After a bit of a scuffle, everyone managed to get off of him.
"You idiot! Running off like that!" Dawn yelled, still wrapped around his chest. He looked up awkwardly at his male teammates. They just shrugged, not helping in the slightest.
"Yeah, my bad. Ri- Lucario helped me out though, I'm feeling better."
"We were pretty worried. Why'd you run off like that?" Barry asked.
"I… I felt like I wasn't good enough. Everyone works so hard, and I've not been keeping up." He nodded resolutely. "But that's not what I'm going to do anymore. I'm going to get stronger."
"Man, it doesn't matter how strong you are." Barry walked up and put a hand on his shoulder, maneuvering over Dawn. "You're our friend, teammate, and leader, no matter what. In order of importance."
Hilbert couldn't help but laugh, diffusing the tension in the room. He patted Dawn on the shoulder, and she slowly but surely let him go, face lit up red.
"Your mother sent this over, through the PC." Dawn held up an odd envelope, still averting her gaze. He took it, and seeing his name addressed, flicked open the seal and pulled out the letter.
'Dear Hilby,'
'I'm glad you and your friends are doing so well. Though, it was a bit worrying to see you getting kicked around in Veilstone… But, I'm sure you're dealing with that just fine.'
'Happy birthday! Remember, sleep in separate rooms, and if you can't manage that, clean underwear and protection. Dawn's a nice girl, so if she offers-'
Hilbert crumpled the paper in his hands, his face as red as the girl in question's jacket.
"Hilby? Are you alright?"
"Yeah! Just, uh- What's the date?"
She blinked. "It's May thirtieth."
'Huh. Guess it is nearly my birthday."
A sudden whoop echoed through the Pokemon Center, quickly shushed by the Joy on night-duty. Barry was ecstatic. "Well then, we should go celebrate! Why are we still around here?"
"Because it's nearly twelve at night?" Lucas said, being the one guy out of the three with enough common sense.
"We should go to one of those inns! You know, the ones with hot springs-"
"Pastoria's in the middle of a marsh, that's not how hot springs work."
"Aw, man… So, how old are you turning, Hilby?"
"Uh… Sixteen."
"What?" Barry fell over in shock. "We're older than you?"
"Are you?"
"Well, Lucas's birthday was back in the mountains, March fifth.-"
"I remember, still sorry we couldn't get the cake."
"Mine was in August, the sixth."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Oh, my next one is July 29th!"
I'll definitely keep that in mind.
"September 20th," said Cheryl from the back.
"...I was born on…" Marley's voice trailed off inaudibly.
"Good to know, everyone." Hilbert nodded. "Now… Can I heal up my Pokemon? I never really got an opportunity…"
They managed to get back to their rooms at the tiny local inn. Aside from gym challengers, most visitors were already staying at the resort nearby, so everyone got their own rooms.
He was laying on his bed, changed into his (name-fitting) pajamas and staring at the ceiling with his arms behind his head.
And so, when there was a knock at the door, he groggily got up to reply without much thought.
It was Dawn, similarly dressed, but in pink.
"...Evening?" He said, tilting his head.
"...Can I come in?"
"Uh… Sure." He opened the door wider, letting her walk into the small room and sit on the bed.
Then he was hit by a sudden, terrifying bout of self-awareness. Luckily, he had managed a shower, despite how tired he was, so- Wait, what?
Not wanting to look even more awkward, he walked over and sat a body's width away from her.
"So, uh, what did you need?"
She folded her hands in her lap. "I just wanted to know… What happened?"
Hilbert leaned back and kicked his legs. "You mean, after the gym?"
She nodded.
"I was… Angry. Or sad, or disappointed- I'm not really sure- I just… I didn't want you to see me like that," he said, restating what he'd told them earlier. "It's lame, I know, it's not going to happen again."
One of her hands inched its way towards his, barely touching his pinky. "Are you sure? You… You really scared me. We were looking all over, Lucas got soaked when he went looking on the route to Hearthome. Barry was looking in the Marsh before there was that weird explosion, Cheryl was at the Pokemon Center, seeing if you would be there, Arcanine was running around with Marley, and- I couldn't do anything. You didn't come back, Hilby. It scared me. I've never felt that scared before, and I don't know why."
Hilbert had an inkling of an idea, but didn't have the confidence to believe it, so he just awkwardly laughed. "Sorry about that."
There was a beat of silence. The clock on the wall ticked its hour hand, and all three hands passed XII.
"I also wanted to say, officially, happy birthday… Before anyone else," she said, looking away, but not turning her head.
"Thanks. You too." He said. Then he punched himself in the face for messing that up.
She laughed, watching him fall back on the bed. "You're early, but I appreciate the thought."
"Ugh…" He groaned, wiping his face off in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it, everyone messes up sometimes."
He felt the space next to him sink. Without looking, he could tell Dawn had imitated him.
"...Are we still talking about birthdays?"
She shrugged. "Maybe. You don't need to be strong. It doesn't matter if you are or not. You're you, right, Hilby?"
"Who else would I be?"
"I don't suppose you could be anyone else," she giggled, as that was still a politically correct thing for girls to do in 2009- Wait, huh? She turned on her side, facing him.
He could see her out of the corner of his eye. Internally, he was freaking out, because he was alone with a girl he was kinda maybe crushing on.
So, he didn't do anything, only looking up at the ceiling, blushing, while she was looking intently at his face.
Arceus, I am so glad I don't have acne.
That's not a swear around here, Hilby.
Get out of my head, inner-Dawn. The real you is a lot cuter.
"...I think you're really… Cool, Hilby. I'm very glad I could meet you," she whispered, her breath ghosting across his ear.
"Um- Me too… I mean, I'm glad I got to meet you too," he quickly corrected, turning his head slightly. "I think you're a really nice person, and I'm happy to be friends with you."
A beat passed.
"...Just friends?" She asked, biting her lip.
Hilbert sighed inaudibly. "I… really don't know. I've never, uh, had so many great people around me, who stuck by me. Back in Unova, it was me, Golett, and my mom. I talked to people at school, sure, but… I never really connected with anyone, y'know?"
Dawn nodded. "You did seem like the loner type when I first met you."
He shrugged. "That was how I dealt with it. Make myself the 'cool' kind of loner, instead of the 'weird' kind."
"That makes sense."
"What I'm saying is… I don't really know what I'm feeling. We're friends for sure, but…" He shrugged again. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. So until I'm sure… I don't know."
Dawn sighed, "That… Might be for the best…"
They lay there in silence, their hands barely overlapping.
"It's getting pretty late… Before I go, can you… Close your eyes for a second?"
He blinked- Well, obviously, but then obliged.
He felt the mattress unsink beside him, and a soft, but narrow pressure on his cheek.
When he opened his eyes, the door had clicked shut, and Dawn was gone.
That was where he fell asleep, the slightest smudge of lip gloss on his cheek.
AN:
About the 'inconsistency' of the Pokemon strength. Shaymin beat Kyogre because they could use their finisher and weren't being directly attacked. Golett is a Ground-type, and hasn't gone up against a Water-type that powerful before. Power levels are starting to even out, and Hilbert is going to have to fight harder and get stronger.
The pairing is semi-canon now, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna happen, but when is a different story.
Hilby's got the good ol' 'can't tell apart romantic and platonic relationships', and instead of making mistakes on the wrong end of the spectrum, he restrains himself to only friendships. Ash in the anime probably has the same thing, but because that's the anime, nothing would ever happen anyway.
Oh, yeah, Team Black is all sixteen now. Figure out the birthdays if you want, they are references. It's a good age to line up with anything down the line, like a return to Unova, but I dunno.
Reviews:
Repenexus- "there's always the Kamehameha", in the words of a really dumb scene;
"After all this time?"
"Always."