Chapter 2: Place Your Bets

While Hilbert wasn't too enthusiastic about capturing a Patrat, he liked Purrloin even less. He was just not a cat person, plus he just had a bad history with a Purrloin trying to steal his stuff. He supposed this could be the lesser of the two evils, considering the other wild Pokemon that could be found in Route 2 was Lillipup (a Pokemon he already had).

These self-imposed rules were going to make things a little tougher than Hilbert had anticipated.

Still, the bet had its perks; with only three Pokemon so far, it gave him more time to get to know each one he met.

Jay, for example. She seemed to enjoy teasing Michelle and watching her reactions. Roger seemed more unaffected by her quips and pranks, but that never stopped Jay from trying.

In the more peaceful moments (between training sessions), there were moments that she would simply watch the sky with a faraway look on her face. Daydreaming, maybe? He didn't know that Patrat could...well, daydream. He always assumed they were all very alert and attentive to whatever they were doing; Patrat's entry in the PokeDex even confirmed that.

But no. Jay had a tendency to daydream. Who knew?

You learn something new every day, he supposed.

The Dreamyard was a decent enough place to train. While he couldn't go into the tall grass just yet (not without Striaton's Gym Badge, anyway), there were a few Trainers that he could go up against.

"Hey! Excuse me!"

Hilbert glanced over as the older woman approached him. There was a Pansear in her arms, and he did not seem happy.

"Sorry to bother you," she said. "But I saw you battling some of the other trainers here. I noticed you have an Oshawott! I'm thinking this Pansear could be a really big help for you! You know, since Oshawott doesn't do well against Grass-types. You want him?"

A Pansear was a Fire-type. A Fire-type would complement Michelle beautifully, because they could take down one of her biggest weaknesses. But...Pansear's attitude did give cause for concern.

"Are you sure?" he questioned. "I mean. If he's fine with it, I'm cool with it too. But do you always hand your Pokemon over to strangers, or...?"

"I see where you're going with this. Believe me, it's not like what you're thinking," she responded. "My companion Pokemon is a Simipour, and this is one of his kids. I can't take care of him and his brothers in my apartment, so I need to give the young ones new homes. You'd really be helping me out by taking him."

"Uh..." Well, Hilbert hadn't expected that. Having grown up surrounded by several kinds of Pokemon, he had a tough time imagining what life was like with only one. Then again, not everyone had a large apartment to run around in growing up. If where she lived was as small as she said it was...

"Uh...fine, I'll take him. Did you find homes for his brothers yet? Because I got some friends that might be interested in adopting them, too." Pansear seemed to perk up at Hilbert's offer. Huh...was his previous attitude because he didn't want to be separated from his brothers?

"That's wonderful, thank you so much! Here you go," the woman said, handing Pansear over to Hilbert. "All you have to do is let the Nurse working at the Center that you met me - my name's Eliza, by the way - and she'll set you up on officially adopting him! Be sure to tell your friends, those three are really close. I'd hate for them to be separated."

It was only when Hilbert accepted Pansear that it occurred to him: would this count as his first encounter in the Dreamyard? He wanted to assume no, because he didn't outright catch him. At the same time…a Pokemon is a Pokemon, no matter how you end up getting it.

Well, he needed to find Cheren to let him know about Pansear's brothers, anyway. May as well ask him while he was at it. He turned around and headed back to Striaton - and that's when Pansear took the opportunity to squirm out of Hilbert's arms. Once he balanced himself on his feet, he seemed content to simply walk alongside Hilbert. Oh...so he didn't like being carried like that?

Hilbert would later find out that Pansear (who Hilbert named Zero) wasn't one to mess around - he always got straight to the point, be it in battle or making sure Hilbert would keep things moving. The only other member of the team that he seemed to approve of was Roger, having deemed Michelle too childish and Jay too harsh.

"Hey, Cheren! Check this out!"

Cheren was pulled from his studying to find Hilbert approaching him, with a Pansear walking by his side. He knew that one of the Gym Leaders here had a Pansear, but why was it following Hilbert around? Unless Hilbert suddenly found one?

"...A Pansear? You don't find those in the wild around here."

"Yeah, and I didn't," Hilbert admitted, shaking his head. "This lady in the Dreamyard gave me this little guy to complement Michelle. She said that she was looking for trainers for him and his brothers, so I figured I'd let you and Bianca know."

Prime example of Hilbert's luck at work, Cheren thought. Striaton's Gym was notorious for exploiting the type weaknesses of the challenger's starter, so Hilbert would need a Fire-type to counteract that. What were the odds that there was someone willing to give him a Pansear, right then and there?

Still, it was nice of Hilbert to share that fortune with him and Bianca. If that lady was still there and had a Panpour she was willing to part with, that could complement Andrew's grass-typing beautifully.

"Oh, really? That's really cool. Thank you. I'll definitely let Bianca know, she should still be in the area," Cheren said. "Anything else?"

"Well...the thing is...I didn't outright catch Zero."

"Let me guess; you're wondering if he'd count towards the rules of our bet?"

Hilbert nodded as he took the seat opposite of his. "Well, yeah. We went over shinies and duplicates, but we never got into what would happen if someone outright gave us a Pokemon."

"I was going to, Hilbert," Cheren deadpanned. "I was cut off by Bianca arriving when we agreed on the bet and never got a chance."

"...Oh. Really?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that. I guess we were all a little excited to get going." At least Hilbert looked somewhat embarrassed, and the sight caused Cheren to snort.

"It's fine. I can't blame you, really." He had been excited too; the bet aside, he was excited to finally go on this path to being a trainer. And he had to admit, the rules made it a little more challenging. As much as he was dreading going up someone with Hilbert's luck, it was nice having a rival. "That said, it wouldn't be very fair to enforce a gift rule at this point, so you can still catch something in that route."

Hilbert seemed really happy with this answer, but Cheren held a hand up to indicate he wasn't done. "Now, do you know if that lady's still there?"

"She should be. I went straight here after she gave me Zero." Hilbert examined his face for a few moments. "You're really hoping for a Panpour to complement your Snivy, aren't you?"

Cheren really needed to remember how sharp Hilbert could be sometimes. "Hush."

When all was said and done, getting the Trio Badge was a piece of cake. Zero got right down to business with the Pansage - immediately starting the fight with Incinerate. Between Zero incinerating the berries his opponents held and Jay's use of Bide, Hilbert's victory was all but assured.

This would prove to be a much bigger challenge.

He knew that there were people out there who didn't care for the welfare of Pokemon; Professor Juniper had told them about how people would try to use Pokemon for their own benefit. That rally in Accumula Town had something to do with that (if memory served) but Hilbert never saw that he would see anything like it this soon in his journey.

And the uniforms they wore - they were the same outfits as the people in that rally! Team Plasma, wasn't it? How do you go from rallying for 'Pokemon liberation' to kicking a Munna for Dream Mist?

Bianca may be yelling at those Team Plasma Grunts for kicking the Munna, but Hilbert had a better idea. After all, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to reason with them. He recognized their outfits: after that weird rally he caught in Accumula, how could he not? While he couldn't say it these two were part of that rally specifically, to him that didn't matter.

If they were willing to be the exact kind of people that this 'Team Plasma' claimed to oppose, then what was the point of talking things through? That would just be a waste of time and energy!

"Unlike you two, we're fighting for the freedom of Pokemon! And if that means winning Pokemon battles and taking them by-?!" As the Grunt talked, he failed to notice Hilbert walking over to him until it was too late.

Hilbert used Sucker Punch!
It's super effective?!

Plasma Boy had clearly not been expecting to get punched out like that, because he fell to the ground almost instantly. Hilbert was aware of surprised stammers coming from the Grunt's companion and Bianca screeching his name. It didn't take long for things to escalate to a Pokemon battle.

Hilbert knew he was going to get a talking-to for resorting to violence, but it was so worth it.

The Munna that got hurt by those Team Plasma goons had taken a shine to Bianca, and Hilbert couldn't help feeling just a little jealous. Munna were amazing Pokemon, but he knew that they were somewhat rarer than other wild Pokemon here. And since all he could see were Patrat and Purrloins, Hilbert had to resign himself to having to deal with one of those wretched cat Pokemon.

However, luck would be on Hilbert's side today. Not a moment after he walked into the grass, he felt a nudge on his back. A sensation that he would call odd, because he didn't feel anything crawling up his back or anything like that. Did that mean something floated over here...?

He turned around, and was overjoyed to see a Munna! He immediately tossed a PokeBall at it, and thankfully the Munna was caught without any trouble.

Grinning, he let the Munna out of its PokeBall. It was odd how Munna seemed happy already - as if it wanted things to turn out this way. Hilbert had to wonder if Munna bumped into Hilbert on purpose.

Later on in his journey, Hilbert would find that this was exactly the case. After all, going with Hilbert meant the possibility of looking out for his best friend (who, as it turned out, was the Munna that took a shine to Bianca). Of course no other possibility would do.

Not to mention, Merlot really appreciated Hilbert punching the Plasma Grunt.

New Additions

Jay / Patrat / Female / Sassy / Often lost in thought / Keen Eye / Met in Route 2

Zero / Pansear / Male / Serious / Good perseverance / Gluttony / Met in the Dreamyard (Gift Clause)

Merlot / Munna / Male / Modest / Very finicky / Synchronize / Met in the Dreamyard (Capture)