DISCLAIMER: SLYBILL DOESN'T OWN POKEMON.
Underground Plasma Castle, Unova Region,
It'd been two days since Terra had dragged his battered body back to base and Aqua still couldn't stop giggling each time she caught sight of the still-fresh shoe-print that stubbornly clung to his face even after being doused in water and antiseptic.
"I told you so…" Alphinia dragged as she passed by the traumatised knight and sat on the marble round table. Currently, all four knights were having a light discussion on their progress and Terra's had been, by far, the most hilarious.
"Damn, Alphinia's boyfriend really did a number on you," Draco scoffed in his sing-song voice and received a hard blow to the forehead from his lightly-pissed baby-sister. "I only wish I could've seen you when you first got back."
"M-monsters…." Was all the chattering indian could blurt out. Still, it was enough to set Aqua off again and the entire room reverberated with her bell-like laughter.
"Now I have to meet the guys who did him in!" she exclaimed. "I'll first thank them for humiliating Mr Hard-ass here before I kill them."
"Yeah right…" Alphinia slurred as she rubbed her tired, blue eyes. "By the way, our base in Nimbasa got busted."
Upon hearing that, the rest perked up suddenly.
"That's strange…" the brunette murmured in thought. "How?"
"Apparently," the blonde started and yawned. "Someone walked in and for no reason, beat up every grunt and destroyed half the entire building. The grunts kept saying that they saw a cowboy."
"Cowboy…COWBOY!" Terra screamed, suddenly remembering that humiliating ordeal three days ago. Ignoring him, Draco twirled Alphinia's curly hair as he fell silent in thought.
"Sounds like a hero complex…" he muttered. "Did they get a name?"
Tapping her chin as she wracked her memories, the blonde stared for a second before snapping her fingers.
"He spray-painted the walls. It read LIGHTNING'S STRUCK- DE ARIMASU," she replied and turned to face her ash-skinned brother. "Should I kill him?"
"No…" Draco replied and tapped her nose. "Let me meet him…"
Aqua huffed and crossed her arms. "Give me a break; we all know that that's overkill."
"Awwww c'mon…" the man whined as he began walking out the door. "At least let me have some fun once in a while!"
"Last time you said that, that abomination of a dragon-pokemon annihilated all the ranger bases in Sinnoh…" Terra muttered and Draco spun to face him with his slice-of-melon smile.
"Abomination? Then what should I call that herp-a-derp who's still in the recovery room?"
Terra fumed, Aqua cracked up and Alphinia just yawned as her older brother beckoned to her.
"Let's go Alphy, I promised you a view of Charizard Bridge and the rain's lovely around this time of year."
"Shut up," the blonde replied and followed. Looking at the two, Aqua sighed dreamily.
"They look and act nothing alike, but they're still the best of siblings," she remarked. "Wouldn't you agree, Terra- Hey! Where'd you go?"
Driftveil City, Unova Region.
"A-choo!"
White sniffled as she dragged her muddy self in the direction of the hotel nearby. On either side, two equally muddy ravenettes walked beside her and an even muddier pokemon shivered in her arms.
"If you catch a cold, I'll twist your nose..." the younger ravenette growled and she held back another sneeze. To her left, the older ravenette inspected his clothes with disdain and sighed deeply. In the past 30 minutes, that simple mud-fight had devolved into an all-out war and before the guys knew it, Battle White had taken over, slinging mud in several angles with the help of her Sandile and with enough power to destroy stone fountains and ruin several statues.
"Luckily, the mayor decided not to press charges for vandalism. I hope we all learnt something from this," Cheren stated and White nodded.
"She started it anyway..." Scarlet muttered childishly and shivered. Expecting the rain the wash of all the mud started to sound like a bad idea now. "I so need a bath."
"By the way Cheren, where's Bianca?" White asked, suddenly remembering the blonde trainer-turned-professor. Cheren froze.
"I left her back at the hotel..." he muttered, looking horrified and Scarlet raised an eyebrow.
"Sooo..." he trailed off as the older ravenette smacked his forehead.
"You don't understand," he continued. "I gave her a cup of coffee to warm herself up..."
Scarlet was just about to ask what the big deal was when.
"!"
BAM!
Three humans and one pokemon flew into the air as Scarlet felt a force akin to a speeding truck ram into his back. A moment later, the group found themselves in a fountain 10 meters away and the hunter hissed in pain as he felt a scar on his arm open up. Grabbing the edge of the fountain ( and inadvertently crushing it in his rage) the teen stumbled to his feet and was just about proclaiming the culprit's death when he did a double take and bit his tongue.
First thing he saw was a belly. A very big belly. Belonging to a medium-heighted woman with neck-length blonde hair who at the moment was apologizing profusely at the dazed trio.
"B-B-Bianca!" Cheren spluttered and painfully pulled himself up. "Naturally, I blame myself for giving you the coffee but after eleven years, this just has to stop."
"Bianca?" White stammered as she stepped on Cheren (sending him face-first back into the water) and threw herself at the pregnant blonde who caught her with relative ease. Laughing, the females embraced tightly before pulling apart to stare at each other in joy. "...What happened to your belly?"
Anime drop by the males.
"I don't really know! I woke up one day and found my tummy like this," Bianca replied, genuinely puzzled.
An even louder drop by males.
"You're pregnant, ditz!" both Cheren and Scarlet yelled.
"Oh..." the girls nodded in amazement before the blonde suddenly perked up again.
"I'M PREGNANT!" the blonde exclaimed happily pumping the air with her small fists...and simultaneously punching the passer-by behind her.
"SHE'S PREGNANT!" White echoed joyously and mirrored the action, getting Scarlet right in the sucker and sending him back into the fountain with a loud SPLASH.
"You've been pregnant for eight months now. I know because I remind you every single day," the older ravenette grumbled as he picked Scarlet out of the now-reddish water. Spotting the dazed boy, Bianca let go of White and waddled up to him.
"Is this your new boyfriend, White?" she asked and a big, fat, pulsing tick mark appeared on the hunter's wet forehead. "You should really get that tick mark checked. Cheren says it's a sign of premature high blood pressure-"
"Let's get out of this rain," her husband interjected and dragged the smouldering teen into the hotel and up to their room.
"Why're you guys so muddy?" Bianca asked as Cheren went straight for the bathroom with Scarlet in tow.
"We had a mud-fight!" White replied and giggled as Jolteon began to shake off the mud and water from his fur.
"What'd I say about shaking on the carpet, fuzzball!" his master called out and the lightning pokemon huffed impatiently. "Come over here and take a bath!"
"Is that a Jolteon?" the blonde asked, eyeing Jolteon with interest as he trotted over to the bathroom door on the far end. Taking out an old-looking pokedex from her pocket, she pointed it at the pokemon.
"Jolteon, the Lightning Pokémon. When angered or frightened, the hairs on Jolteon's body become like needles that are fired at its opponents. It absorbs charged atoms and can produce 10,000 volts of electricity," beeped the device in a girl-like voice.
"Amazing, I should catch one," she exclaimed, pocketing the device and sitting herself down on the nearest armchair. "Strange...why do I feel so tired...?"
"Because you're pregnant, remember?" her clean-as-a-Mincinno husband replied as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Geez, I hope our kid doesn't grow up to be like you..."
"I wonder if it's a girl?" White asked and put her head to the woman's stomach. "I hope I get pregnant soon..."
Putting a hand to her shoulder, the blonde smiled. "Don't worry White, keep travelling with that boyfriend of yours and you'll be pregnant in no time!"
Cheren choked on the water he was drinking and a loud CRASH could be heard from the bathroom. Turning, they watched as the door flung open and a panting, naked teen (along with his sweatdropping Jolteon) jumped out.
"O-Oi! J-J-Jokes l-like that aren't f-funny!" he cried, pointing a shaky finger at Bianca whose green eyes dropped to his waist and widened.
"Correction, he just might rip you apart with that!" she exclaimed while Cheren had his hands jammed to his mouth in horror. Looking down, Scarlet sweatdropped as he realized what he had just done.
"PERVERTS!" he screamed girlishly and quickly slammed the door behind him. Within seconds, he came out again, red-faced and fully dressed with a puffed-up Jolteon behind him. "Let's forget that that ever happened."
"Um...what was that thing dangling between Ginger's legs?" White whispered not-so-quietly to her blonde mentor.
"Don't know. Maybe it's a pokemon..." Bianca whispered back.
"I SAID FORGET IT!" the hunter screamed in frustration.
...
Having washed and dried off, the group went for some food at the hotel's restaurant and made small talk as they waited for their orders to arrive.
"So what're you two doing here?" White asked. "Ever since you got married and moved away from Nuvema, I rarely heard from you. I wanna know just what you've been doing for two years now."
"Well, we're actually on our way to Aspertia City all the way in Eastern Unova. The Pokemon League want Cheren to transfer there and take up a job as a gym leader there," Bianca replied puffing her chest in pride.
"I heard you've gotta pass some crazy-hard test to become a gym leader. You must be a pretty tough trainer," Scarlet analysed and Cheren shook his head.
"Thank you, but I'm not all that tough..." he mumbled humbly and both Bianca and White giggled at his modesty.
"Says the one who beat the elite four thrice in a row..." Bianca started.
"...And gave Black a run for his money," White finished, nudging the young man coyly.
Wow, that's strong... the hunter remarked in awe. Waving the girls off, Cheren rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Come on, that was years ago..." he chuckled and faced White. "Your turn. How's training?"
"Great! I've got a Pignite, a Sandile named Sandy, a Scraggy and Black's Beartic too!"
"Black's Beartic?" Bianca asked and Cheren cocked an eyebrow.
"Don't worry, I only used him in emergencies. Never a gym battle," the trainer quickly added. Nodding, Cheren leaned back in his chair.
"I see. That's good. It'd be lazy if you ploughed through all your battles with a champion's pokem-" Stopping himself, he leaned in closer to White. "Does he...?" he whispered pointing at Scarlet.
"I know she's the champion's little sister if that's what you're asking," the hunter stated flatly as he leafed through a menu with Jolteon on his lap.
"Oh," the older ravenette chirped and relaxed. "So, how many badges, White?"
Taking out her pink and black badge case, White proudly showed off her four fairly-shiny badges and Bianca whistled, impressed.
"And it's thanks to Ginger's-OW-Scarlet's training that I got the last two."
At that moment, their food arrived and the boys watched as the girls gobbled on their plates sending bits of food everywhere.
"Piloswine..." Scarlet muttered lowly.
"I concur..." Cheren whispered and started on his food. In two minutes, people and pokemon finished their food and the group stepped up to the window walls to see that the rain had died down to show rays of orange light splitting through the clouds.
"Five already?" Scarlet murmured as he checked his watch. Time sure flies. Beckoning to Jolteon and White, he turned and headed for the door. "Let's find a Pokemon Center for the night guys."
Bianca pouted. "Why not stay here?" she asked, clinging stubbornly to White's arm.
"This hotel looks fancy. And fancy means expensive," the hunter replied.
"We can get you rooms!" the blonde pressed on and Cheren swallowed hard. He couldn't say no to Bianca if she heckled him into paying for the rooms and all though he had more than enough to pay, he still had a small problem with letting go of money.
The younger ravenette shook his head and his older counterpart released the breath he had been unconsciously holding.
"Thanks but we don't want to trouble you. Besides, White's got training to do for her gym battle and we mightn't be back until way later." Slowly, Bianca let go of White's arm and nodded.
"Okay..." she mumbled and waved as White started after her companions. "Don't stay up too late! There's this awful biker gang that race around the city at night!"
"Thanks for the info, Bianca!" White called and waved back before running after Scarlet. Cheren stepped up to his wife and put a hand on her head.
"That last statement of yours made you sound like a mom," he remarked and she crossed her arms.
"As if! I can't be a mom if I don't have any kids...and why is my tummy so big again?"
Cheren anime drops beside his clueless wife and wondered how she got that world-renowned award for discovering ways of utilizing Pokerus to its full potential.
"Oh I forgot to to tell White something!" she exclaimed and smacked her forehead.
"That's not surprising, what was it anyway?" her husband asked curiously.
"Her best friend's coming to Driftveil!"
9:00PM, Driftveil Docks.
"Let's stop for now," White suggested. Beside her, Pignite, Sandy and Scraggy panted heavily while Jolteon had barely broken a sweat.
"Fine," Scarlet huffed and looked up to see the endless dark-blue painting the skies. "We'll continue tomorrow and see if you can find any pokemon types super-effective against ground types since all we found today were normal and fighting pokemon."
"I can just wing it with my own pokemon," the trainer chirped as she withdrew her tired pokemon and walked up to her coach. "I've done well so far. I mean, I didn't need a ground-type to beat Elesa's Eelektross after all."
"Whatever happened to that Gotta Catch'em All motto that you trainers follow?" he remarked, turning and starting to walk away with Jolteon right behind him. White followed beside him while scratching her head in thought.
"I actually don't want to catch every pokemon in the world," she blurted after a while. "It's enough for me to just see them, wild and free and playing around without a care in the world."
"Not when I'm around..." Scarlet muttered very quietly with his greed-face on and Jolteon sighed.
"What was that, Ginger?" White asked and the ravenette coughed uncomfortably before deciding to change the subject.
"There's supposed to be an ice-cream-looking pokemon around here," he said as they passed the warehouses on either side of the street and White looked around before shaking her head.
"It's called a Vanillite, I think. Besides, I don't want one," she huffed and kept walking leaving Scarlet to frown a little in curiosity.
"Why wouldn't you catch a pokemon that's obviously gonna help you in your gym battle?" he inquired and stopped as White turned around to face him with a smirk.
"Because," she started and put on sunglasses before striking a pose, "...they ain't coooooool!" Scarlet and Jolteon stared blankly at the girl frozen in her pose as if waiting for something to happen.
"Was that supposed to be a pun...?" the hunter deadpanned and White laughed loudly.
"Of course! That was just one of my many rib-cracking jokes from my prestigious handbook of stand-up comedy!" she declared and pointed at the sweatdropping duo. "You...should be dying of laughter right now!"
Sighing, teen and pokemon passed their painfully-hopeless-at-comedy-yet-still-laughing-anyway companion and continued on their way to the Pokemon Center. Concluding that her coach was a humorless android with the heart of an old man, the disappointed White trudged silently behind and sulked away before finally noticing something.
"Can't see anybody on the street..." she noted.
"If you were paying attention, Bianca said there's some gang fooling around at night. Perhaps people are scared to get spotted by them and curfewed themselves or something..." Scarlet replied, still in front.
"What'll happen if we meet'em?"
"Walk away, duh," he replied. "And if they cause trouble, I'll let'em rape you and be on my merry way." he continued flatly and Jolteon gave him the biggest shock of his life. "What? I was serious!"
ZAP
Luckily, White hadn't caught that last statement so she continued behind her bickering companions, happily thinking of how her gym battle would go. A small sound caught her ears though and she spun around to see just empty warehouses. For all cheesy reasons, the street was eerily illuminated by the tall street lights and Scarlet scowled as a small sense of foreboding clung stubbornly to the back of his mind.
"Well well, whaddo we 'ave 'ere?" came a gruff sneer and the trio looked ahead to see a couple of biker-looking thugs on big cruisers with ridiculously long handlebars. In a moment, the teens found themselves surrounded by ten of the metal monsters and Scarlet facepalmed.
"This is so cliché, it's almost scripted" he groaned as the leader, a tall, lanky man with a big sunglasses and a mohawk stepped off his bike and strutted up to them. A Scraggy hung from his shoulder while a Krokorok trudged beside him with its arms folded and a cocky grin adorning its face.
Bending down to face Scarlet, the roughneck grinned creepily and our teen cringed at the sight of his missing teeth. "Ya know, kids like you shouldn't be out on a date this time 'a' night. Ya never know when bad guys are having their fun," he drawled, eliciting cackles of approval from his gang of cue balls.
Putting on a completely innocent expression, the ravenette tilted his head in mock wonder and said "Sorry sir, but you smell like Stunky on heat. Might I ask why?"
White began to giggle while all the roughneck's lackeys gasped in shock. Does this guy know who he's talking to? they thought in unison.
"What was that ya little piece of shit?" the roughneck growled, getting in the teen's face.
Scarlet pretended to look puzzled. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You listen to me ya little-" WHAK!
Scarlet slammed his forehead into the unsuspecting biker's with enough force to smash a brick. Falling down, the man clutched the smoking 6 inch bump sticking out from his forehead and screamed in pain.
"Enough with the cheesiness already," the hunter boomed in a voice filled to the brim with acid. "If you ain't taking a breathmint then get outta my face. I'm tired right now and your stink is driving me crazy, so just fight me, get your ass kicked and go home like every normal bad guy already!"
Stumbling, the biker glared at the boy and prepared to give his gang an order when suddenly...
"YOU VILE VILLAINS, UNHAND THOSE KIDS AT ONCE-DE ARIMASU!"
As one, everybody turned to see a...cowboy...posing heroically on the top of a warehouse before losing his balance, tumbling down the roof and landing butt-first into the hard concrete.
"I wish I hadn't skipped gym class so often," he grumbled and staggered up to face the sweatdropping group. "Do not fear innocent citizens for Nuvema's Lightning is here to save the day once again!"
Silence...
Silence...
"Hey, roughneck. New Plan. Kill the cowboy and get on with our fight later, deal?" Scarlet asked.
"Sounds legit," the biker stated.
"What kinda ingratitude is that-de arimasuka?" said cowboy screamed.
"Filbert...?" White asked, squinting at the face hidden under the enormous wide-brimmed hat. Looking towards her, the boy's lime green eyes widened in surprise.
"White..." he murmured before getting red-faced. "IT'S HILBERT NOT FILBERT-DE ARIMASU!"
"You know this weirdo?" Scarlet asked. Granted, White knew a lot of weirdos but this one topped the cake.
"Of course I do, he's my childhood friend from Nuvema-"
"Sorry ta interrupt this 'ere reunion," the biker cut in sharply, "...but we had some beatin' ta do! Get' em boys!"
All at once, the bikers sent out their pokemon, mainly some Scraggy, Krokorok and the odd Mincinno here and there.
"Don't worry White-de arimasu," the cowboy stated as he drew out his pokeballs. "Let the hero do his-"
"Jolteon, Double Kick!" Scarlet cut in and Jolteon kicked away the two Scraggy aiming for the cowboy from above. "Get a move on Dilbert! You're getting in my way!"
A tick mark flashed across the boy's face. "I am called Lightning and you will refer to me as such-de arimasu!" and he threw his pokeballs in the air. "Go! Haxorus and Bouffalant!"
With a burst of light, Lightning's pokemon, one resembling a dinosaur with axe-like tusks and the other a huge horned-bull with an afro exploded onto the scene and stood tall over their opponents.
"Haxorus, the Axe Jaw Pokémon. Their sturdy tusks will stay sharp even if used to cut steel beams. These Pokémon are covered in hard armor," White's Pokedex beeped.
"Bouffalant, the Bash Buffalo Pokémon. Bouffalant is powerful and destructive, wildly charging and headbutting everything in its path," Scarlet's Pokedex beeped simulataeneously.
"Wow Gilbert, you've got such strong pokemon," the trainer cooed and Lightning puffed up his chest in pride before getting red again. "And that's why I tell everyone to call me Lightning-de arimasu!"
"Don't show'em any mercy!" the head biker cried and the Krokorok gathered together before shooting Stone Edges at the teens.
"Watch 'n' learn!" the cowboy declared. "Haxorus, Dragon Tail!"
With a roar, the golden dragon pokemon swung its glowing red tail at the incoming rocks and batted them back at the bikers' pokemon. Hit by their own attack, the group of Krokorok fainted and some cue balls gulped in fear. Undeterred, the Scraggy all jumped in with Focus Punches, aiming for Bouffalant.
"Head Charge!" Lightning called and the Bash Buffalo's afro got enveloped in a bright yellow light. Charging straight for the Scraggy, Bouffalant bashed into them sending them to the stars. Still going strong, the pokemon rammed into the other bikers allowing them to follow their pokemon into the sky.
"Not bad, Albert" Scarlet remarked as Jolteon zapped the remaining Scraggy and Mincinno. "Not bad at all."
"H.I.L.B.E.R.T! HILBERT-DE ARIMASU!" the cowboy screeched in exasperation and pulled on the sides of his hat.
"You think your pokemon're all that but they ain't worth shit compared to these guys!" the gangleader cried and flung three pokeballs. A Krookodile, a Scrafty and a Cincinno burst from their balls and faced the boys defiantly. "Get'em with your best attacks!"
Krookodile went for Jolteon with its huge jaws opening for a Crunch attack while Scrafty jumped in the air and concentrated all its power in its knee for a Hi Jump Kick on Bouffalant.
"Iron Tail," Scarlet stated casually.
"Hyper Beam!" Lightning called.
Jolteon crouched just as Krookodile came close and sprung up, bringing its tail hard against the Intimidation Pokemon's lower jaw and sending it flying into the water in the distance. Bouffalant followed through with a Hyper Beam that swallowed the incoming Scrafty and exploded upon contact. The tiny Cincinno took one look at the giant Haxorus and peacefully followed its cohorts into the lake, knowing that that was the best way to avoid a whole lot of hell.
"That was easy," the hunter remarked as he rubbed Jolteon's head.
"Too easy- de arimasu," Lightning chipped in cautiously.
"Don't move suckers!" Looking behind them, the boys spotted the smirking gangleader holding a knife to White's neck. "That's some nice pokemon ya got there. I suggest you give'em to me or else your girlfriend's gonna need a new set of vocal chords."
The cowboy bit his lip while Scarlet arched an eyebrow. White herself was, however, remotely unaware of the situation she was in as she was too busy counting the number of stars in the sky.
"If that's the case then you're free to kill her," the ravenette suggested casually and both Lightning's and the biker's jaws dropped.
"W-What-De arimasuka?"
Scarlet smirked and started towards the biker. "That is, if you can anyway."
Something about the ravenette's attitude rattled the biker. "D-Don't screw with me, and stop right there. I'll really kill her, ya know!"
"Do it then," the teen stated and continued towards them with that smirk on his face. "I don't think you can though. It's obvious that you've never killed anyone before."
Sweat ran down the biker's face as he watched the defiant boy coming closer and closer.
"I-I s-s-said-"
"Stop? I won't actually, it's more like I can't," Scarlet cut in slowly and matched his gaze with the gangster's. "I can tell you've never even cut anyone before. Your hands are trembling,"
STEP
"...You're breathing too hard."
STEP
"...And you're sweating like a Torchic on Christmas Day."
The street lamps flickered and Scarlet's face took on a ghostly pale shade in the moonlight as his eyes went half-lidded. The way his lips fell from grin to devilish frown brought about a raw fear in the nervous biker. The worst however was when he took in his whole face in full. It was exactly what a cold-blooded murderer's face looked like. Before the man knew it, blue eyes drilled into his very frame as Scarlet was now right in front of him.
"If you ain't got enough guts to run a knife through your own arm then don't even dream about killing someone else with it. That's a bad guy's policy," he muttered venomously and pulled off the man's glasses before smashing them under his boot. "Now. Drop. The. Knife."
Teeth chattering, the man gulped and lowered the knife. Satisfied, Scarlet's expression changed as he looked towards the still-distracted White. "Go on ahead rookie. I've got some Casteliacones waiting at the PC."
"Really! Yay!" the trainer cried happily, pumping her fist in the air...and right into the biker's nose. Just as Scarlet had planned.
As the girl skipped towards the PC with Lightning frantically following after her, Scarlet looked down on the fallen biker who was clutching his bloodied nose. Stooping down and facing the man, he picked up the knife and toyed with it slowly.
"O-Oi...w-w-who are ya...?" the biker groaned and Scarlet stopped abruptly. Smiling sadly, the teen slid the knife gently and slowly across the man's cheek, drawing blood.
"I don't know, ask the scientist who found me..." he whispered and got up. "You were nice to kill time with," he remarked and shoved his hands in his pockets before starting to walk away. "Oh and by the way," he added, without turning around. "Leave this city and never come back."
Or Else I'll show you what a real bad guy looks like.
Author's Corner. Side Story: Meet Dilbert! (IT'S HILBERT- DE ARIMASU!"
Slybill: I'd like to introduce our newest colleague. Everyone, this is Norbert!
Lightning: HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT! HILBERT-DE ARIMASU!
Slybill: Or Lightning as we'll call him from now on.
Boss: Why does Alberto say 'de arimasu' at the end of his lines?
Lightning: Hilbert-de arimasu!
White: Filbert moved in from Johto when he was younger and you know how japanese they can be. The kids pretty much have their own unique way of speech.
Lightning: HILbert-de arimasu!
Scarlet: So he probably refused to grow out of that phase. What a baby.
Alphinia: Yeah, grow up Gilbert...Zzzzz
Lightning: HILBERT-DE ARIMASU!
Violet: Don't worry Hilbert. Our studio often have quirky actors but you'll get used to it.
Lightning: HIL- oh you got it!
Burgh: It's just our way of saying welcome to this chrysalis of story and art, my good friend Hilda!
Lightning: Thanks! Bad guys better watch out cos lightning's gonna strike when they least expect it! AND IT'S HILBERT...DE ARIMASU!