Taking a stab at writing romance and hoping it isn't painfully cringe. Oh, who am I kidding?
Hilbert was going to summit Victory Road. Again. He was rather annoyed that Team Plasma had come in and messed everything up- N had even stolen his thunder and beaten the champion first. Of course, he totally wasn't bitter...
Of course, before he could could climb to the league he needed to go through Route 10. Well, technically he could probably fly up there… but it was the principle of the thing. He wanted the authentic Championship experience. Or at least that was what he told himself.
It wasn't like the Route was a bad place to visit or anything- the forest was nice enough, and if you were willing to do a bit of climbing (or willing to let your Pokemon do some climbing) you could relax by the river which flowed through the route, taking a bit of refuge from the sun before a grueling climb.
As Hilbert watched his Carracosta frolic (if such a word applied to such a big Pokemon) he couldn't help but smile. They needed what relaxation they could get before the climb- the Heatmor and Boldore would be vicious, Hilbert was sure.
Before he could get a move on and start working his way towards the summit, he heard the scraping sound of something on stone along with rocks tumbling over each other. Looking up, he saw a figure riding on a Zebstrika, the Pokemon hopping nimbly down to the riverbank while carrying a rider on its back.
She was dressed in the usual Ace Trainer garb, her clothes in orange and a blue so dark it was almost black, her blue hair tied up into two twin tails. With remarkable grace, she hopped off and landed on the ground, returning her Pokemon to its ball as she took a seat on the grass.
"You headed up Victory Road too?" Hilbert asked.
She gave a confident smile. "Why of course- I've been training for ages." She gave him an appraising look, and Hilbert flushed when he realized she was taller than him. "You sure you're up for this, kid? Not just anyone can march up and challenge the Elite Four."
"What makes you think I don't have badges?"
"I don't know, your height? Your age? How old are you, even?"
Hilbert's cheeks puffed out. "I'm 15!"
"Sure, sure." She cooed. "Well, I suppose it's my responsibility to keep an eye on a kid like you."
"I can look after myself, thank you very much." He stroked his chin. "Wait a minute, how old are you? I mean, you look so young…"
"Asking a lady for her age is very rude, you know."
"Well if I can't get that, can I at least have a name? I'm Hilbert."
"The name's Belle."
Their travels eventually brought them to the Badge Check gates, which separated the Route from Victory Road- and the wheat from the chaff. It was a slow, ponderous process, with eight total gates, each of which opened sluggishly, after careful checks of their badge cases.
"What's with all the security?" Belle hummed as they walked through the carefully curated rooms separating each of the gates.
"After Team Plasma, they tightened the security significantly."
"Plasma? The… Pokemon rights guys?"
"That's certainly one way of describing them…" Hilbert said. "They underwent a bit of a change recently."
Belle groaned. "Stupid Ace Trainer exchange programs… I spend a couple of years in Hoenn and I miss everything interesting. What happened?"
"Team Plasma got radical- a lot more radical. They… well, I'm not sure if you'd believe me."
"How bad could it possibly be?"
"You'll… you'll see."
"Well that's certainly menacing."
Summitting Victory Road could eventually turn out to be a multiple day affair- it required climbing steep slopes, beating Pokemon away, and quite a bit of spelunking on top of that. Maybe, if you were extremely determined (or had a good climber on your team) you could cut the time… but Victory Road was supposed to be a place for training as well. It was supposed to be a final test for you and your Pokemon, a crucible which purified you over days before reaching the summit.
That meant camping, which was a special type of joy when you had to worry about seventy pound armored Durants crawling around. Of course, both of them had brought camping supplies along for the journey, ready to camp out on some rocky precipice- of course, not before getting as far up as they reasonably could.
After nearly getting caught up in a fight between a swarm of Durant and a Heatmor that tried to hunt them, they decided to call it a night before going any further. Stumbling around in the dark certainly wouldn't make the climb any easier.
Thankfully, a fire wasn't too hard to start when you had Pokemon- all that left was cooking dinner. "Suppose it's gonna be another night of crappy packaged food, then." Belle stared at the crackling fire, her face lit up by its gentle orange glow.
"Oh, I might be able to cook something up." Hilbert said, searching through his bag.
"Really? Did mommy teach you how to cook before you left on your big adventure?"
"Yes, actually." Hilbert chuckled, pulling out what ingredients he had on him, along with berries he picked up along the way. "Did they teach you how to do that in Ace training?" Hilbert grinned.
"No," Belle admitted, "but I did get a lot out of it in other areas- not everyone can start their journey exactly like you did. Let me guess- Professor Juniper liked you for whatever reason?"
"Yep, I got my first Pokemon from Professor Juniper- a Snivy."
"So where is it now?"
"Oh, a friend of mine is taking care of him. Professor Juniper wanted some more Snivy around, so…"
"You pimped out your Serperior?"
"It's more like he volunteered- he's the vainest creature you've ever seen." Hilbert grinned as he cooked. "The idea of little versions of him running around had him jumping for joy."
"And you're fine without him?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know- he's your first Pokemon."
"I mean sure, I miss him, but I've got more than just the one, right?" He grinned and handed her a bowl of some sort of stew. She lifted a spoonful to her mouth and blew on it before eating.
"Not bad. And I suppose you're right, about the Pokemon. I mean, what's the point if you don't make bonds with them along the way?"
"Exactly what I was thinking!"
Eventually, he and Belle reached the top of the mountain, where the Pokemon League stood, the ruins of N's castle looming behind it, hundreds of broken, empty windows glaring down on them. If any place in Unova deserved a reputation of being haunted, it was that one.
"What the hell is that?" Belle stared in awe at the structure, and Hilbert couldn't help but stare as well, the castle looking striking even in a state of incredible disrepair.
"Team Plasma's castle."
"Hot damn, when did they go from protests to an entire castle?"
Hilbert shrugged. "I don't know. The whole thing still feels like a dream sometimes… it was unreal."
"Wait- you were here before?"
"Yeah, but before I could face the champion…" he waved in the direction of the castle, "that happened. So now I'm back to win for real."
"You've got to be joking."
"You know I have all the badges!"
"And all the badges do not make a champion, kid."
You wouldn't find much at the top- the league building, of course, a Pokemon center to patch yourself up before going in, and a few simple flat spaces for any final bouts of training. They weren't much more than a mostly clear expanse of stone, which was probably a good idea considering how strong Pokemon would be here.
"How about we make a deal?" Belle was looking up at the entrance to the League, knowing full well that there wasn't much more they could do to delay.
"What sort of deal?"
"Whichever one of us loses first buys the other dinner, how does that sound?"
"I'm not sure…"
"It's not like you don't have the money for it."
"And how do you know that?"
"You made it all the way to the Elite Four- surely, you're not suffering from money issues."
"...Fair. Dinner it is." With that, the two of them entered the League, the great gates slamming shut behind them- leaving with them with four separate paths to take.
"So… I suppose we split up here?" Hilbert nodded, and the two of them split up, with Belle heading in the direction of Caitlin's ethereal abode while Hilbert decided to pick his fight with Marshal first.
After beating Marshall, Hilbert didn't run into Belle, which was perfectly logical- fights could drag on or be incredibly quick, depending on the whims of fate and team composition choices, of course. He shrugged and carried on- the League weren't going to beat themselves, even if he might be able to leave Belle to it.
For a quick change in pace, he faced Shauntal next- were any two types more opposed than Fighting than Ghost? Other than Ghost and normal, possibly. Dragon and Dragon were also natural opponents, he supposed- Nevermind actually, there were lots of type matchups that were very opposed.
He crept into Shauntal's library and wondered, for a moment, how exactly they made these rooms. Did they hire someone? How often did they change out the rooms? It would be super inconvenient if they had to change out all this theming, after all.
By the time Shauntal had pulled out her own pokeballs, he started wondering what it would be like if he were to have his own Elite Four tower. Would he have to pick a type and stick to it?
After finishing up with Shauntal, he found himself in the atrium of the Pokemon League yet again, and despite him taking his sweet time to patch up his Pokemon before stepping up against Grimsley, there was no sign of Belle. Eventually, he figured he couldn't dilly dally any more, so he got going.
When he entered the room, he could immediately tell that something was off- the chandelier swayed back and forth, blown around by tremendous winds. The platform that would have normally taken him up to Grimsley stayed locked in place as roars sounded from above.
Leaning back against a nearby wall, pulled out his Pokedex, and tried to ignore the occasional gout of flame or spray of water that soared off of the platform above. The fight finally drew to a close with a shout of "Aerial Ace!" and a sound like rushing wind. Hilbert cringed, knowing just how much of a- no pun intended- sucker punch that attack could be.
Thankfully, the end of the battle meant that the platform started moving again, and soon enough he was up there with Grimsley and a thoroughly upset Belle, who had her Pokeballs cradled in her arms. She looked up at him and grinned. "Beat his ass for me, will ya?"
Hilbert did proceed to beat some ass- after Grimsley had gotten his Pokemon properly healed, of course- although it seemed to sour Belle's mood a bit. The bitterness of having your thunder stolen was painfully understandable.
"You okay?'
"Not particularly." She huffed, "I mean, what is all this training for?"
"Making bonds with your Pokemon, right?"
She sighed. "I suppose. But I feel like I've let them down, you know? They've worked so hard, and I couldn't get them there!"
"You've gotten a lot further than most, haven't you?"
"And further isn't all the way."
"I mean, there's always going to be a bigger fish." Hilbert shrugged. "Even a champion is gonna get dethroned eventually."
"Then why are you trying to become champion, huh?"
"Well, I'm just built different." He grinned at her.
"What's the actual reason?"
"I want to do it once, the way it was meant to be done. No distractions, no villains in weird outfits, no castles sprouting from the ground. Just me and my Pokemon."
The battle with Alder was a brutal one, and eventually Hilbert was forced to pull his fifth Pokemon back, leaving him with only one to finish off the battle…
"Oh no." Hilbert didn't sound the least bit disappointed. "I suppose I'll have to use my last Pokemon…" Belle could see a downright disturbing smile on his face before he threw.
She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting from that Ultra Ball… but she couldn't help but gawk at the figure that burst from the ball, something she didn't expect to see outside of story books. The air smelled like ozone and seemed to hum with electricity, the result of the creature's massive tail, which glowed a brilliant blue with every deep, heavy breath.
She could feel her jaw falling open involuntarily as she gawked at the dragon of legend, the arbiter of ideals, a beast of incredible power, tamed by a 15 year old kid. Where the hell did he get it from, even? Was it related to this whole Plasma mess?
Her train of thought seemed to come to a complete halt when Zekrom roared, a great sound, almost like thunder (ha, ha) shaking the entire building. The air was thick with electricity, and she was certain that her hair would be standing on end if she didn't have it in pigtails.
Between the electricity in the air and the waves of heat coming off Alder's Volcarona, it was getting hard to stay in the room. Still, she stayed even as Zekrom's tail began to glow a brilliant blue, arcs of electricity dancing on the dragon's skin.
After nearly short-circuiting the League electronics, Hilbert finally got his recognition as champion. It was a little underwhelming, in Belle's opinion, that they just left the building without much fanfare, back to the same barren mountaintop which they had seen at the start of the day- the same mountaintop where Belle had a made a wager she lost.
She chuckled. "A promise is a promise, Mr. Champion." She pulled out her wallet and thumbed a few bills. "Now, you better not be thinking too expensive-"
Hilbert grinned. "I know just the place!" With that, he pulled out a Pokeball and released an Unfezant, which cooed as he clambered on. "You know Striaton, right?"
She was releasing her own Swanna when that particular sentence caught up to her. "Wait, like, that Striaton? Hey, I don't have that much money!"
"They owe me a favor."
"Cilan, Cress, and Chili… owe you a favor?"
"Yes."
"It sounds like you're getting dinner for me, then."
"Oh, I'm sure I could get you a discount." He smirked at her, before making his Unfezant take to the air. "I'll race you there!"
What a kid! Belle, as the older one, should be responsible and stop such… who was she kidding?
"Really, though, if you don't get me that discount-"
"Hilbert!" A loud voice cut Belle off- turning to see who had interrupted her, she saw a brilliant shock of red hair- Chili.
"Chili!" Hilbert held out his hand to shake- Chili circled around him and swung an arm over his shoulder.
"Who's the gal, Bert?" He 'whispered' not at all subtly.
"Oh, this is Belle- I met her on the way to Victory Road. She's buying me dinner."
"No can do, Hilbert my boy!" Chili laughed. "You're getting a meal on the house! It's the least we can do!" Saying that, he leaned in close and whispered into Hilbert's ear. "You're supposed to be treating the lady, my friend!"
"But she lost a bet!" Hilbert whispered back. "And it's not like that anyway-"
Chili quickly cut him off. "I'm not going to let you ruin this for yourself, Bert! You're not gonna land a girl by bankrupting her!"
"I'm not trying to-"
"Shhhhhh. Let me help you, Bert. I'll turn these sparks into flames!"
Before he could even field another complaint, he and Belle were swept up away to a private little table overlooking a great stretch of verdant forest. Chili had gotten his Simisear to light candles and everything- it was nice, certainly, although Hilbert could feel himself going about as red as Chili's hair.
"Was this your plan all along?" Belle smirked at him over a bowl of some sort of light stew.
"No, I swear I didn't put Chili up to this-"
"Then I suppose it's just a very happy coincidence?"
"Yes?"
"If it was anyone but Chili, I wouldn't believe you."
They spent the rest of the dinner talking, mostly about the chaos that Team Plasma had caused in Belle's absence- there were several points where she clearly didn't believe him, but Chili did occasionally stop by to back Hilbert up between laying dishes in front of them.
After finishing off some sort of berry compote for desert, Chili confirmed that the meal was, in fact, on the house. The restaurateur ushered them out with a murmured "Good luck!" leaving the two of them alone under the stars.
"Technically, I didn't buy you that dinner."
"You know, it didn't have to be this meal, right?" Hilbert said.
"Oh, you sly dog!" She laughed. "I suppose that I'll just have to give you my contact info?"
He did eventually work up the nerve to make a call, leading to another meeting between the two in bustling Castelia city.
"Ice cream cones aren't dinner, you know."
"But you came anyways, didn't you?"
"I suppose I did." She conceded, giving her cone a lick as they headed towards the harbor.
"There's a pretty good cafe here, actually."
"Oh, that little place in the alley? I remember that!" She checked her watch. "Still, it's a little early for dinner…"
"I'm sure we can find something to do!" Hilbert took her free hand and started hauling her in the direction of one of the city's art galleries.
By the end of the day they did manage to get themselves dinner at that cafe- after raising all sorts of hell at the Battle Company. Perhaps it was a bit unfair to storm in there as a champion… but Hilbert liked to think he was just helping them stress test their items. (Thankfully for the city's power grid, he did refrain from using Zekrom).
Belle was relieved to see that the prices were a bit more her speed, giving her a chance kick back and relax as gentle guitar music played.
Across the table, Hilbert sipped at some soda. "Uh, thanks."
"No problem. Today was pretty fun. In fact, I wouldn't mind doing this again."
"Uhhh…."
"Is that a yes?"
It was, in fact, a yes.
The next few years were notable for a massive rash of Zekrom sightings- some people with good eyesight even said that there were two riders.
Omake: Theming
"I was thinking blue."
"But yellow is a bit more neutral, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I like blue."
"Maybe a gray or white? I mean, hopefully we're going to be using the room for a while..."
"That's awfully presumptive of you, Hilbert."
"I just like to think of myself as confident."
"Oh really?" Belle sent Hilbert a look that made Caitlin want to leave the room five minutes ago. She let out a yawn, and the two remembered that she was present. Belle cleared her throat before continuing. "Anyways, I was thinking that we should be a little sparse on décor."
"Too much and it's just distracting."
"And did you ask your mother about it?" Caitlin blinked. Why would he…?
"Oh, she said that all you really need to start with is the crib..."
"Wait, we aren't talking about your champion room anymore, are we?" Caitlin could occasionally dip out of conversations, but she didn't think she was that bad.
Hilbert and Belle looked at each other for a second and laughed. "No! We were talking about our nursery!"
Ace Trainers are mad cute, yo. If this gets a good response I might do other Aces from other regions? I've got a million WIPs what's one more right?
I was kind of iffy on this one, and there are some bits which are much older than the rest- this has been sitting on my computer for more than a year- but I figured I wanted it out. I think I took some vague inspiration from that Dating a Team Magma Grunt comic? I was almost attempted to include a Draco Meteor stargazing scene, like in that comic, but decided not to.
