Hi again! This chapter is going to be short, sweet, and hopefully good. Um... yeah. That's it. Enjoy this chapter!
(Hilda's POV)
"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Tepig sat comfortably on top of Hilda's head. Hilda, Tepig, Petilil, and Jojo were standing on Route One. They had been hiking for a long time, and the sun had started to set.
"Of course it's a good idea!" Jojo exclaimed. "If you want to do good for the Battle Tournament, you need lots of Pokemon!"
That morning after breakfast, Jojo and Hilda had gone to where the Battle Tournament was being held to see what it looked like before the battling actually started. Unfortunately, didn't get to see much because there were some last minute preparations that had to be made and the whole building was closed. With their original plans canceled, Jojo decided to 'help' Hilda catch more Pokemon. Hilda claimed that she thought two Pokemon would be enough and pointed out that if she wanted more Pokemon, she could catch more without any problems.
But, the two girls ended up back on Route One, despite Hilda's complaints.
Petilil squirmed in Hilda's arms, becoming restless and bored.
"Calm down, Petilil. We'll leave soon." Above them, a small Pidove flew over their heads, probably heading back to it's nest for the night. Petilil shifted herself to a better position and jumped out of her trainer's arms.
Tepig jumped off of Hilda's head and landed next to Petilil and Jojo's Vaporeon, Vivid. He smiled at Tepig and stretched his back, his age unnoticeable in his smooth movement.
Jojo laughed. "I think your Petilil agrees with me." She winked at Hilda and placed a hand on Vivid, petting his smooth head. He smiled and nuzzled her hand with his nose. Hilda watched her heart starting to thump against her chest.
"I hope Tepig and I will be that close someday..." Hilda thought.
Vivid had been Jojo's friend since she was born. In fact, Vivid belonged to Jojo's mom when she was a trainer. Jojo's mom was well aware of her Eevee's age, but she also knows how much he loved traveling and seeing new places, so she sent him to go with her daughter on her adventures around the world. Jojo evolved her mother's Eevee into a Vaporeon a couple years ago, and they had only gotten closer since.
"Do Pokemon become closer to their trainers once they evolve?" Hilda wondered suddenly. She knew that Petilil and Tepig could evolve into Lilligant and Pignite, but thinking hard about it, she realized she didn't care very much about what her Pokemon looked like; she cared more about how much they liked her and how well they got along.
"Hey, Hilda? Are you okay?"
Hilda jumped a little and shook her head to clear it. "Huh?"
Jojo sighed. "I was trying to talk to you but you weren't responding."
"I'm fine," said Hilda. "Um... what were you trying to tell me?"
"I asked you what Pokemon you wanted to catch." She glanced at the sky, which had begun turning a bright orange. "It's getting late. We don't want to be out for very much longer."
Hilda was about to remind Jojo that she didn't need any more Pokemon because the Battle Tournament required at least two Pokemon to enter, but Tepig had started walking slowly away from the group.
"Where are you going, Tepig?" Hilda called after him.
"I think he saw something!" Jojo said. Her Vaporeon, Vivid, shook his tail and walked over to him, his steps gracefully flying across the ground.
"I wonder what they're doing..." Hilda asked out loud.
"Let's go see!" Jojo walked quickly after Vivid. Hilda followed not long after.
"Is everything all right, Tepig?" Hilda asked. Tepig's ear suddenly twitched and he hurried over to a bush, stopping a few feet away from it.
"I think he heard something!" Hilda thought. She tried to listen harder, but she only heard a couple of Pokemon cries in the distance.
Petilil joined them after a minute. She crept forward and stuck her head far into the bush. Hilda called out a warning, but Petilil ignored it. Hilda sighed quietly. She wants her Pokemon to be safe, but Petilil has a mind of her own and hardly listens to her trainer.
Suddenly, Petilil lost her balance and fell, landing in a small puddle of mud. Hilda rushed over instantly and picked up Petilil. "Are you okay?"
Petilil nodded and muttered something quietly and wiped mud out of her eyes.
"Good." Hilda said, obviously relieved. "I told you to be careful, silly!" She reached into her bag and pulled out a small rag and began wiping mud off of Petilil.
The bush shook again, and Jojo saw it this time. Hilda stopped cleaning and stared at the bush. It shook viciously, and Vivid took a steady step towards it, his eyes narrowed. He growled under his breath, his tail lashing back and forth aggressively.
All the sudden, a gray blur darted past him, knocking him to the ground. Tepig just managed to leap out of the way, his eyes widening in surprise as he watched the blur rush towards Hilda.
Jojo gasped, "watch out!" and Hilda jumped quickly to the side, hoping it would run pass her. But the gray blur just turned, kicking up dust as it ran.
Hilda knew now that it would try to hit her no matter what. The blur was small, but very fast. Hilda squeezed her eyes shut, knowing that once it hit her, she would have a huge bruise for a while.
Except nothing hit her leg.
"Oh! How cute!" Hilda opened her eyes. A cute gray mouse stood in front of her. It was standing on one foot, it's short arms stretched out above it's head as if it were reaching for something.
"Aw..." Hilda couldn't help admiring the cute little furry creature. It reached towards Hilda again, but it lost it's balance and fell back on it's tail. It blinked a couple of times, confused. Suddenly, it started whimpering, it's eyes filling with teardrops.
"Um... are you okay?" Hilda took a tiny step forward, just as the mouse started breaking down in tears.
Hilda stopped, her eyes filling with worry. "Uh oh..."
Jojo hurried over to them. "Minccino's hurt!" Vivid trotted over and rubbed his nose against the mouse's cheek. Minccino looked up at the old Vaporeon and wiped her eyes. Tepig had also walked over, studying the cute Pokemon. Hilda placed Petilil on the ground and opened her bag, searching for her Pokedex.
Once she found it, she quickly searched Minccino.
"Minccino," it said, "The Chinchilla Pokemon. These Pokemon prefer a tidy habitat. They are always sweeping and dusting, using their tails as brooms."
Hilda looked up from her Pokedex. "So you like to clean, huh?"
Jojo smiled at the Minccino. "This one is just a little baby! It must have hatched about a week ago!"
"Really?" Hilda looked at it. She was batting at Vivid's tail with her tiny paw. Petilil walked over and said something to Minccino, her bright eyes sparkling. Minccino stared at her for a minute, before hugging the Bulb Pokemon.
Petilil blinked in surprise. Minccino suddenly jumped back away from her. She sighed, her voice sounding annoyed. She turned her back to Petilil and started rubbing her tail against the plant's body. Petilil started laughing, trying to escape Minccino's tail, but she kept rubbing her tail against Petilil, the mud on Petilil's dress coming off onto Minccino's tail.
Jojo snorted. "Ha! I think Minccino's trying to clean Petilil!" She laughed. "Poor Petilil is ticklish!" Hilda couldn't but to smile. She walked over to the two Pokemon. Bending over, she picked up Petilil.
"Thanks for you help, Minccino." Hilda said, smiling. "I can finish cleaning Petilil."
Jojo nudged her. "Hey."
Hilda gave her a confused look. "Hey?"
Jojo grinned. "You can catch that Minccino, you know."
"Oh, well, I-I don't want to battle it. It's just a baby." She cringed when she remembered Minccino crying, and only because it fell over. If Minccino cries when it gets hurt, it wouldn't be a very good Pokemon to battle with, even if she caught it.
"Oh, come on!" Jojo sighed. "You don't have to battle it."
"Really?" Every book Hilda had read said otherwise when it came to catching Pokemon.
"Yeah! This one is young, so it's likely naive." She beckoned towards it with her head. "Just ask her if she wants to travel with you." She giggled. "I think she likes your Tepig."
In her arms, Petilil said something happily. Again, she was probably agreeing with Jojo.
Hilda shifted her gaze to Minccino, who was tickling Tepig's nose. He sneezed, causing flames to spray from his snout. Minccino easily dodged the flames and laughed, her small body shaking happily.
"I-I guess..." Hilda said, although she knew she'd feel bad. Minccino seemed happy living in the wild; Hilda didn't want to confine the little creature to a Pokeball.
"Well, you keep Tepig and Petilil out of their Pokeballs most of the time. Why would it be different with Minccino?" Hilda told herself. She took a step towards Minccino.
"It doesn't have to battle other Pokemon, if you don't want it to." Another step.
"Minccino can just watch either Tepig or Petilil battle." She slowly reached into her bag and took a deep breath. "It's now or never, Hilda."
"Hey, Minccino?" She tried to make her voice calm. Minccino looked up at the young trainer. Tepig and Vivid also stopped playing and waited for Hilda to speak.
Hilda felt her heart start to pound. "Um... I- you see..." Why are you so nervous? Inside, she knew exactly why. Keep it cool, Hilda! Just ask! She let out her breath and smiled at Minccino. "Do want to travel with me, and, um, Tepig and Petilil?" She blurted. "Okay, you did it." She told herself. "Now it's up to Minccino to answer." Petilil jumped out of Hilda's arms and said something eagerly to Minccino. Minccino thought for a minute, her big brown eyes looking at Tepig, then Petilil, then Hilda.
Hilda forced herself to smile and say, "What do you think, Minccino?"
Minccino tilted her head to the side. She is obviously a deep thinker for such a young Pokemon. She suddenly smiled and jumped into Hilda's arms, yelling happily.
Jojo laughed. "I think she said it's okay!"
"Um... great!" She placed minccino on the ground and held up a Pokeball. "Go Pokeball!" She released the ball and it hit Minccino's head gently. Minccino disappeared inside the Pokeball and it started shaking, just as it had when Hilda had caught Petilil. "Why didn't I feel bad or sorry then?"
The ball shook three times, then stopped, lying still on the ground. Hilda slowly bent over and picked it up. She looked at it for a moment before letting Minccino back out of her Pokeball.
She smiled at Minccino, who grinned back. "Welcome to the team, Minccino!" Minccino laughed and started bouncing around happily.
"I told you it was a good idea!" Jojo said behind Hilda. "Now you have a brand new teammate you can take care of!"
"Yeah, I- I do." Hilda decided to try and change her mind about not wanting to catch the young Pokemon, and letting it run free forever. "I'll just take care of it and raise it." She watched Petilil and Tepig greet the Chinchilla Pokemon. "Besides, somebody needs to look after her. I'm probably the best trainer she'll find." One thing still baffled Hilda, though.
Minccino usually live on Route Five. Why was this Minccino on Route One?
Hilda now officially has a new teammate, Minccino! But was catching the young Pokemon a good idea? Will the team grow stronger because of their new friend, or will they find raising Minccino too hard? And why was this Minccino in the wrong habitat? Find out next time!