Hilda's POV
Well, it was finally time. Brendan, Wally, May, and I ascended Prism Tower, solving the puzzles we needed to in order to reach Clemont.
"So, who's gonna be the first to battle him?" Wally asked.
"Um," May hummed.
"I'll go first," Brendan smiled.
Sounds good to me," I replied. We had come in just as a battle ended. We saw a young trainer with dark hair receive his badge, and he was followed out by a small entourage, with one kid dancing as he left. The last to leave was a blonde-haired girl, who had the gym's badge already pinned to her shirt.
"Hello, new trainers," Clemont greeted. "Are you all here to battle?"
Brendan nodded. "I'll be going first, if you're ready."
Clemont grabbed his pokeballs from a machine that looked similar to the one that Nurses Joy used. "I am. Step in, and let the battle begin."
Brendan grabbed one of his pokeballs, the stepped out onto the platform. Out came his stunfisk. Good choice, I thought, watching the battle begin. I loved watching battles almost as much as I loved battling. The back and forth dance between the trainers and their Pokémon, the dust and flashes of light that came from the Pokémon moves, and the shouts of the trainers and the cries of the Pokémon. I heard Brendan call his stunfisk back to him, and watched as he brought out his leafeon. Battles were like poetry in motion. Brendan's battle with Clemont was an intense one, with both trainers sweating, the Pokémon huffing from all the exercise. Despite that, though, you could see a smile on both of the trainer's faces, and could see the gleam of happiness in the Pokémons' eyes from a mile away. Brendan was one hit away from winning. He'd had to switch out to his blaziken midway through fighting with his leafeon, so he shouted out one last command. It landed heavily on Clemont's heliolisk, who fell backwards as he fainted, getting gathered into his pokeball before he could hit the floor.
May started clapping, and Wally and I followed suit. "Awesome job, sweetie!' she called. He waved at her and grinned. Shaking Clemont's hand, he took the badge and walked off the stage.
"So, which one of you would like to go next?" Clemont asked. Wally volunteered, and the rest of us relaxed and cheered him on. Unlike Brendan, he had a rather easy battle. Brendan's had lasted around 25 minutes, and Wally's only lasted around ten.
"Okay ladies, which of you would like to go first?"
May and I looked at each other. "Do you mind if I go first?" I asked her.
"Sure, no problem," she replied, a grin on her face.
So, with it being my turn, I walked down to the stage. I could feel my adrenalin beginning to build. I took a deep breath, stepping onto the spot to begin my battle. "GO, UMBREON!" I shouted, just as Clemont sent out his emolga.
"Emolga, use aerial ace!" he cried. It hit umbreon, but just barely.
"Umbreon! Use confuse ray!" my beautiful umbreon jumped into the air, rings beginning to glow as he powered up his confuse ray. It hit, right as Clemont was telling emolga to use volt switch. His attack missed umbreon, who I then commanded to use dark pulse. The energy from the attack spread out in all directions, and Clemont and I ducked as it went over our heads.
"Nice move, trainer," Clemont yelled over the noise of the battle. "Too bad I'm still going to win!"
"You keep thinking that, gadget boy," I replied. He told his emolga to use quick attack, which missed, causing him to hit the floor. Poor emolga hit it so hard, he damaged himself. I was about to get umbreon to use toxic, but emolga was able to get in a successful volt switch before I could. Out came magneton. Umbreon was panting, so I got him to use moonlight. His health restored, but I realized his attacks wouldn't really affect magneton. So I order him to use confuse ray once more, which hit, just as magneton's mirror shot hit him. I called umbreon back, sending out krokorok. "Krokorok, use earthquake!" I yelled, frantically watching magneton trying to attack. Earthquake hit, causing a one hit KO for magneton. Emolga came back out, still confused, trying to use volt switch again. It hit krokorok, but left no damage. Heliolisk came out as emolga returned to his pokeball.
"Heliolisk, use grass knot!" I winced as the attack hit krokorok, who almost fainted from it.
"Krokorok, use earthquake one more time!" he did. It hit heliolisk, who also dropped low on his hit points. The screen changed as I sent out boldore, with the red health bar changing to a green one. Heliolisk tried attacking, but I was able to command boldore to doge it just in time. "Use mud slap!" I cried, and boldore happily obeyed my request.
Emolga came out of his pokeball once more. "Emolga, aerial ace!" the attack hit boldore, but the health bar on the screen didn't change to yellow, staying a steady green.
"Boldore, smack down!" and with that, emolga returned to his pokeball one final time.
"That was a great battle, my friend," Clemont said, taking a deep breath, putting emolga's pokeball into the machine to heal him. From another spot, he pulled out a badge, which he handed to me. I noticed him staring at my necklace with an inquisitive look on his face.
"Thanks," I replied, taking the badge. "And yes, the battle was amazing," I added, breathing in deeply and letting it out slowly, smiling as I did so. I went and sat down, ignoring his expression and checking my battle time. Fifteen minutes. Not too bad. I sat down, watching may as she battled. She had a certain grace about her as she did so.
"She's amazing, right?"
I startled slightly when I heard Brendan speak. "Oh, yes. I was just noticing how at ease she looks. She looks graceful, like the kimono dancers I met back in Jhoto."
"Well, May was champion of Hoenn for a while. But after a few battles as champion, she decided that it just wasn't for her. She would rather travel around Hoenn, and travel to different lands, too. Oh, and just so you know, you have a similar grace to your battling. Not as polished as May's, but that could be my bias speaking," he grinned.
"Yeah, it's definitely your bias speaking," Wally said. "I noticed how well you held yourself during battle, and you make it look as effortless as May does. Were you champion of Unova?"
Blushing, I replied, "well, I could have been, but I refused it right away. Hall of Fame was good enough for me. I wanted to travel more, find out more about the legends of Unova, along with my old friends and Natural. But Natural left soon afterwards, so I wasn't able to do that, obviously."
Wally nodded. "That's pretty cool. Sounds like you have a really interesting story, but you only gave use the bare bones of your story last night."
Brendan flicked Wally's ear. "God, Wally. Don't be so insensitive. She was upset and tired, and she barely knows us. Of course she wouldn't got into extreme detail." He rolled his eyes.
"It's alright," I replied. "I'll add more details in later, I promise." I smiled. Just then, May joined us. She had the shortest battle time, coming in at just under ten minutes.
"That was super fun," May puffed, taking in a deep breath.
"I was," I said, turning my head as Clemont called out to us.
"Hey!" he waved, running towards us in an uncomfortable-looking run. Just as I was afraid he was going to sprain an ankle, he stopped. "What's your necklace supposed to be?"
"Um. I honestly don't know; it was given to me by someone special, and he left before he told me what it was." On a whim, I pulled out the picture I had of Natural and me. "This is what he looks like. If you see him, tell him that Hilda is staying in room 210 in the Southern Lumiose Pokecenter." He nodded, saying he would, and I carefully replaced the photo in its proper spot. I waved goodbye to Clemont as we walked out of the arena area of the gym, getting on the elevator that would take us back down.
"So, what do y'all want to do next?" I asked as we stepped off the elevator.
"Honestly, I think I wanna stay here for another week or so," May said. "I know you want to find your friend, and I do really want to help you. But touring Lumiose would be cool, too."
"You know, it actually might be a good idea to stay here for at least a few more days. It would be nice to relax some, check out all of the cafés," I said.
"And the boutiques," Wally added. "Kalos is famous for its fashion industry, I would love to see what they have, and see what advertising strategies they use."
"Don't lie Wally, you're just a fashionista."
"God, Brendan. You act like that's a bad thing."
"It's not, it's just annoying when you get overzealous."
I giggled, listening to their back and forth. I think a few days of relaxation might be good for me, despite my urge to run straight to Laverre. I had already been through Shalour, Geosenge, Cyllage, and Camphrier cities. No real signs of Natural, just guesses. And all the hints I had been getting had led me to Wally, not Natural. I sighed inwardly. I would find him; I knew I would. It was just the 'when' that was bothering me.
N's POV
I awoke with a start, hearing the bumping of suitcases and cries of Pokémon in the rooms next to me. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and looked out my little porthole window. We had finally arrived in Kalos. I threw together what little I had out back into my bag, deciding to not change clothes, since the ones I had on weren't all that wrinkly. I got off the boat as fast as I could. Hilda had to have been here for about a week, so I didn't know how difficult or easy it would be to find her. We landed in a town called Coumarine, which was home to a popular resort. Or that's what I gathered from the snippets of conversation I heard on my way to the rail station that connected our docking location the inland portion of the city. I was heading straight to Lumoise, because it seemed like the most logical place to start looking for Hilda. The train ride was a quick one, lasting only about thirty minutes. I saw that there was a gym in this part of the town, so I stopped by it. I was finally able to convince the trainers that all I wanted to do was talk to the gym leader, and he told me that he had seen Hilda when I showed him the picture. So with that information, I headed to Route 13. Lumiose, here I come.
Route 13 wasn't that long; I was able to reach the northern half of Lumiose by nightfall. I wanted to go straight to the gym and ask the leader about Hilda, but I was too tired to do so. Instead, I checked into the Northern Pokecenter, and went to sleep for the night.
I stretched out as I woke up, trying to remember the dream I'd had last night, but the details were fading quickly, like the colors of a sunset melting into dusk. The only thing I remembered from the dream was Hilda's beautiful face, and even that was fading to all the shades of grey she had taught me about. I sat up and picked up the picture I had of Hilda and me together on the Ferris wheel. Our faces took up most of it, but behind us, the view stretched on and on, lights blazing up close, and a few shining way in the background. What I had seen here in this city, nicknamed "The City of Lights", just couldn't measure up to the background of this picture, in my mind. Maybe if I took another picture with Hilda, my opinion would change. But for now, the lights in this picture were the most beautiful.
I sat the picture back down on the bedside table, then went to take a shower. Washing my hair felt weird, since this was the first time I had done so since I chopped my ponytail off. And you could tell I had done a terrible job at cutting it—lots of uneven ends, and it tapered some in the back. Oh well. I didn't do it with my looks in mind; I was just chopping it off because I felt I needed to honor tradition.
I got dressed for the day, then headed downstairs. I picked up a brochure for Lumoise, and a map of the country. Opening the brochure, I saw a long list of cafés as part of the city attractions. Prism Tower was the gym. Standing up, I headed to one of the cafés.
Once I was there, I ordered some breakfast. On the map, I crossed out Coumarine. No Hilda there. I studied the rest of the map, wondering where she could be. I got up, paid for my breakfast, and headed to the gym.
It was much harder to convince these trainers to let me see Clemont, the leader, without fighting them. I managed to get up with only having to fight one of them. When I got to the arena, the gym leader was the only one that was there. He turned when he heard me walk in.
"Hello. How are you? You must be very eager to battle, getting here this early."
"Actually, I'm not here to battle. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. You see, I'm looking for someone, and I feel like you might have seen her." I pulled the picture out of my pocket. "This is what she looks like." He squinted at the picture for a few seconds.
"Oh yeah, I've seen her. In fact, she was here just yesterday, asking about whether you had been spotted here in the gym or not. She said she's staying in the Southern Pokecenter; she gave me a room number, but I can't remember what it is. Something that ends with 'ten'."
"Thank you, sir," I said, and then almost ran out of the room. I was so close, and I hadn't even known it. So when I got outside, I really did start running. All the way to the Pokecenter. When I got there, I was gasping for breath. After a few deep breaths, I went up to the Nurse Joy and asked her if Hilda was there, and if so she was, what her room number was.
"Oh, yes. She's here, in a quad room. Room 210."
"Room 210, got it. Thank you, Nurse." I turned towards the stairs, and started walking up them, looking forward to getting to room 210, hoping like hell she was there. When I got there, I knocked on the door. Lightly at first, but then harder a second time. The door cracked open a moment later, and a groggy kid with green hair opened the door, face to the floor.
"God, Brendan. I know you forgot your key; why didn't you just use May's?" he asked, finally looking up. I was shocked to see his face when he did. He was almost like a mirror image of me. His face still had a slight boyish quality to it, and his eyes were a grey-blue, but those were the only differences. He looked confused for a moment. Then, suddenly, his features relaxed into a smile. "You must be Natural. You do know that Hilda's been looking for you for a long time now, right?"
Ignoring the shock, I asked if she was there.
"No, her and my friends went to a café for breakfast. But you can come in here and wait for them to get back, if you'd like."
"Yes, I would greatly appreciate that."
"Then come on in."
We sat down, and as I sat on the couch in the common area, I saw an old, beaten-up bag that I recognized as Hilda's. I almost went to grab it to look through it, to see if she kept our picture with her always, but refrained from doing so. Couldn't look like a creepy stalker guy in front of this kid.
"So, how do you know Hilda?" I asked him.
"Oh, she showed up at our door the other day, and practically tackled me because she thought I was you. But hey, can't blame her there. We could totally be twins. Anyway, she told us the story of how you two met, became friends, and how you left. And that she's been looking for you ever since. And now, I can't wait to see her face when she sees that you're actually here. If she tackled me, I can't imagine what she'll do to you." At that, he smiled, a dreamy look crossing his face. "I love to see people get reunited. And it's even better if they're in love," he sighed happily.
"How could she be in love me after all I've done to her, leaving her like I did? It could just be that she feels like she owes me or something."
"Nah, man. It's definitely that she loves you." He gave me a thumbs up. "Anyway, they should be getting here soon; they've been gone for an hour now. And we have plans to go to a boutique later today," he grinned.
I couldn't help it; I grinned back. "I hope you're right, man. I hope you're right." About ten minutes later, we heard some noise at the door. Not the kind people make when they pass the door, the kind that's actually at the door. I froze, almost afraid to take my eyes away from the screen. I ripped them away, anyways, so that I could look at the door as it opened. First, in came a girl I didn't know, followed by a boy holding her hand, and finally, finally, I saw Hilda. For the first time in two years, I saw her beautiful face again, in real life, close enough to touch. I immediately realized a few small changes. Her hair was longer, like she hadn't cut it at all these past two years. Her skin was a few shades darker, and her eyes looked deeper than the ocean, like they were full of ideas I'd never understand and mysteries I'd never solve.
When she saw me, the smile dropped from her face. Her face drained slightly of color, and she looked at me like she had seen a ghost. "N-natural? Is that you?" she whispered, sounding like she was about to cry.
I walked over to her, pulling her into a hug. "Yes. And I'm so, so happy to have found you again," I told her, pulling back and twisting one of the tendrils of her hair that was always hanging by her face. I felt something that was round, but still felt like it had edges, between us. My necklace.
She pulled back a little, lifting it up. She cradled it in her hand. "I haven't taken it off since the day you left. Not to sleep, not to shower. It's always with me."
"What about the picture?" I asked. "I always have mine with me, in my pocket," I said, pulling it out like it was proof that it was on me 24/7. She just grinned, and pulled her copy out.
That's when we remembered that we weren't alone. I turned around towards the others, blushing, and saw the other girl, hold her hand over her heart, with the same dreamy expression Wally had worn earlier (and which had now returned).
"So," said the guy holding the girl's hand, "nice to meet you. I'm Brendan, and this is May. And I'm guess Wally's already introduced himself?"
Wally shot Brendan a look. "Yes, I have, you ass. Jeeze."
May just laughed. "You would think they hate each other, wouldn't you? I swear to god, it's like they're brothers." She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "but you and Walls really look like you could be brothers. Are your parents of any relation to his?"
"I don't know my biological parents," I replied. "I was raised in an... unorthodox way before my adopted dad found me. So it's likely that I either was abandoned or kidnapped. It's also possible that I wandered off and got lost and couldn't be found, but it's whatever."
"Interesting," she replied. "Maybe the two of y'all are long-lost relations of some kind. Or it's just coincidence. Either way, it's still shocking how much the two of you look alike. And hey, the two of y'all should go and catch up some; we can go shopping later."
I looked at Hilda. "Do you wanna sit down and talk? Or would you rather explore a new place with me and explain what's been going on in that head of yours since we've been separated?"
"I've always been fond of exploring," I grinned.
"Alright then. Looks like we can go ahead and shop, then," Hilda grinned.
Hilda's POV
The first thing I noticed about him was his hair. It was now at his shoulders and looked all choppy, like someone had cut his hair with quilting scissors. His eyes had changed, too. The happiness that had been in them those last few days together had deepened, like he had finally come to peace with himself. He carried himself in a different way, too. As if he had more confidence. It was even more obvious now, since we were out and about. So far, we had gone to two different cafés (only one for Wally), and had peeked into the window of a restaurant that had you doing battles between each course of the meal. We had just visited the herbal shop, and we were now on our way to the stone emporium.
"After this, we totally have to go to see Boutique Couture," Wally said.
"Always worried about what's in style, aren't you, Wally?" Brendan grinned, mussing Wally's hair.
"You know it," he said, poking at Brendan's beanie, but not completely messing it up. I had noticed that both him and May seemed to not bother it. It's like it was his trademark or something.
Anyway, when we got to the store, we all saw that they had mega stones here. "Oh wow. I thought these were supposed to be hard to find!"
"Some are," replied the shopkeep. "Others, not too much. For example, you don't have to look too hard to find one for pidgey. However, finding one for someone like charizard is almost impossible."
"Ohhh, okay," I nodded. I still didn't know much about mega evolution; I had only heard of it when I traveled through Hoenn. All I really knew is it was something that happened mid-battle.
Next, we finally granted Wally's request to go to the boutique. I decided that it was time to at least slightly change my wardrobe, since it had been pretty much the same for the past few years. Women's clothing was on first floor; men's clothing on second. So we all split. May and I dug around the in the clearance section, not looking for anything in particular. I found a cool pair of socks, a black parka paired with a short white tank, and some cool lace-up boots. I tried all of them on, then emerged for the dressing room stall at the same time as May.
"Pretty fashionable, right?" she asked. She had on a pair of black skinnies, red high tops, and her normal shirt and bandana.
"Definitely." I struck a pose. "What about me?"
"I'll give you an A+," she replied.
"Well, I actually really like it, so I think I'll actually buy it."
"Same here," she replied.
We were about to go change back into our normal clothes, but before we could, the attendant asked us if we would like to buy it and wear it out. I liked the idea of that, so I handed over the money I owed her and walked out. May did the same. Just as we were walking towards the stairs to go find the boys, they walked on down. wally had radically changed his look; Brendan was right when he picked at Wally about being a fashionista. Brendan has just switched out pants and shoes, like May, and Natural had switched out his long-sleeved button up for a black V-neck tee and a pair of damaged jeans that reminded me of my shorts. The look suited him well.
After leaving the boutique, we all decided it was time to eat. So we went to another café, because the battle restaurants that actually looked good wouldn't let us in. that's when Natural and I decided to split from the other three so we could catch up. As I sat down, I could tell this was gonna be a long talk. So I made sure I was comfortable, then leaned in as he started to speak.
