Sorry for this really late update, life's been hectic lately.
Oh, and it seems we have GenVI on the way. As a guy who's been around since GenI, I'm starting to feel old.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Hilbert examined the interior carefully. Just like Striaton Gym being a restaurant, there was little signs that this museum, supposedly Nacrene Gym, was actually a Gym at all. Instead of seeing trainers and challengers, the museum was swamped with people looking at the exhibits, and the occasional security guard enforcing the 'no touching' rule for the exhibits. He did not want to look like a fool, so he hoped to discreetly ask someone working here about what this building was. So long as Bianca cooperated, he could determine if there was a Gym here or not without anyone leering at him.
Going around and blatantly asking if this was a Gym or not, however, clearly was not something Bianca was interested in right now. The displays captured her undivided attention. She made sounds of approval and confusion at the things she saw. Fossils, old rocks, and other obviously ancient things. She had probably, and in just seconds, forgotten the entire reason they had come into the building in the first place.
She stood near one exhibit, a large fossilized skeleton, which, based on position, was probably the museum's main exhibit. The skeleton, one could not deny, was a powerful sight. Clearly it had been the bones hidden under the flesh of something horrifically powerful. Something that Hilbert, and his Snivy and Pawniard, likely couldn't dream of even scratching.
Snivy, still sitting on Hilbert's hat since the fight with N from only ten minutes ago, glared at the skeleton like it was about to attack. The same observations Hilbert had had gone through Snivy's mind, and it disliked the idea of something being too much for him to handle on his own. He crossed his arms, almost looking like he was sulking.
Hilbert had paused momentarily at the skeleton, but then moved to Bianca, who was still enraptured by the sight, and came up right beside her.
"We didn't come here to admire corpses." Hilbert said, a tone of chiding creeping into his voice, but he kept his eyes on the skeleton. "We can go to a crypt if we want to do that." He suddenly felt Bianca elbow his side.
"You are such a killjoy." Bianca answered Hilbert's words. "I haven't forgotten the Gym battle, but as long as we're in a museum, we should see the exhibits." She looked away from Hilbert and back to the skeleton. "Imagine what it would have been like if this thing was our Pokemon when it was alive."
The suggestion seemed to completely envelop Bianca. Hilbert paused to reflect, it would have been impressive, he was forced to admit. If a Dragon like this was by his side, no one would challenge him, or even dare to disagree with him. Changing the world would be as simple as just wanting it to be changed.
As he continued to look, he felt a strange sensation build up in him. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he suddenly felt like something was scratching at the back of his head. Looking at the skeleton, he felt like something was suddenly moving. He blinked, then shook his head. He was still in the museum, standing right beside Bianca, had he just spaced out for a moment? The scratching sensation was gone, that one odd moment had apparently left.
"Amazing." A voice right next to Hilbert and Bianca spoke. They both turned, right next to them was what Hilbert assumed was the museum's curator. Dressed in a white coat that made him look like a scientist, he seemed to be thinking out loud as he looked at the fossil of a dragon that had Hilbert and Bianca's attention. Despite the fact that he probably saw it every day, something about it seemed to really grab his attention. "No matter how many times I look at it… it really is such a powerful display. To think that…" His eyes started to pan away, and he noticed Hilbert and Bianca standing not far from him. He blinked at the glances he was getting, then cleared his throat. "Ah." He recovered from his surprise at being stared at by unfamiliar faces. "You must not be from Nacrene. I know all of the regulars by face."
"We're from Nuvema." Hilbert said quickly. "We, um… we-" He tried to speak the question he wanted to ask, but the man suddenly started speaking again.
"Well, I'm the vice-curator, Hawes." He said plainly. Hilbert blinked. So this was the vice-curator, not the curator. He turned to look at the skeleton looming above them. "This Dragon type… we don't know how it died. Best hypothesis we have is just that it ran into some trouble while it was flying around the world."
"How… specific." Hilbert said, he didn't notice Bianca giving him a look. "Anyway, I want to ask-"
"I can show you the other exhibits." Hawes continued as if he hadn't heard Hilbert's somewhat snide comment or the question Hilbert was trying to ask. He walked off, Hilbert was debating whether or not to follow, when Bianca suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him along.
The first thing they came to was a large chunk of rock under glass. Hawes turned to them. "This is a meteorite." He leaned in, looking enthusiastically at the space minerals. "They say it has mystical space powers contained inside it, and…"
Hawes didn't notice that Hilbert had stopped paying attention. Instead, he was busy wresting his hand free of Bianca's grip. "Bianca, please." He got his hand free, turning away from the girl, and seeming unwilling to make eye contact.
"Hilbert?" Bianca tilted her head.
"Just…" Hilbert continued to look away, but Bianca could see the corner of his face. Was it her imagination, or had he turned red? "Please don't… hold hands with me in public."
She failed to understand what Hilbert was saying. They both turned back to Hawes, who was only just wrapping up the abridged version of the explanation of the meteorite. Hilbert opened his mouth to speak, but then Hawes suddenly started walking off to the next exhibit. Hilbert held back from the sigh, then started to move with Bianca.
"This is, this is…" Hawes looked at the third thing he was trying to show them. "Oh, yeah, this is just a rock." He shrugged, then looked at the predictably quizzical looks he was getting. "It's only value is its age. People seemed to like it, so we put it on display." A smile crept across his face. "I suppose it is a pretty rock, but anyway… let me show you what's at the back of the museum."
Hilbert wondered if he would ever get to ask the question as to whether there was a Gym here or not. Hawes led them away, Hilbert did feel a prickle of curiosity as to what was at the back of the museum. They moved to the back, and Hawes turned and looked at them triumphantly.
"Back here, the museum becomes a Pokemon Gym. The Gym Leader is the curator of this museum. A strong but kind Gym Leader who's been with me since before we started this museum. There is no one more dependable or reliable then her. The Leader also happens to be my wife."
He smiled, then looked at Hilbert. "Oh, by the way, you looked like you wanted to ask me something."
Hilbert blinked, then looked at the entrance to the Gym proper, then back at Hawes. "No." He shook his head, wondering why it had to take this long to just find out where the Gym proper was. "Well, I'm a Trainer. I should get to challenging the Gym now."
"Oh, of course, of course." Hawes nodded. "Once you're done, I can show you the rest of the exhibits."
Hilbert smiled at that, for the first time he felt honestly interested in the museum's sights. "Sure. There shouldn't be anything to keep me from seeing the rest of the museum." He turned to Bianca and tilted his head to ask her to follow. The two left.
Hawes twisted his lips briefly. "I hope Lenora goes easy on them. They looked pretty puny."
The Gym proper seemed to be a library. Hilbert glanced around, very tall bookcases were all around the large room he was in. There were a few people at the bookcases, but they all collectively stopped and glanced at Hilbert, who felt his heart quicken slightly. Yes, despite appearances, this couldn't have been anything but a Gym. The people who had turned to look at him were obviously trainers. A fact Hilbert seemed to just… sense.
"So, where's the Gym Leader?" Hilbert asked out loud. The others in the Gym turned away, looking like they were trying to stifle chuckles. Hilbert felt a rise in annoyance.
"It would be nice if someone could explain the Gym for us." Bianca said quietly. She thought for a moment, and then perked up as an idea struck. "Hey, what if there was this one guy in every Gym we visited, and he could explain the Gyms for us?"
Hilbert looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "You want us to have a stalker?" He shook his head. "I could really do without that. We can figure this out on our own."
Things started slow. It took some time for the pair of Nuvema trainers to understand the way the Gym was structured. It was about solving a few basic logic problems involving sentences and books, and engaging in a few Trainer battles. The latter was welcome, and it gave Snivy and Pawniard a chance to stretch for a bit. They'd need to be loose for the battle against the Gym Leader.
The former was a little harder. Hilbert wasn't an unintelligent person, and the solving came easy. Still, he found it a pain, and he could have gone without Bianca's highly, questionable… input as to what the answers could have been. It was only made more annoying by little messages left by the Gym Leader. Lenora, she called herself, and she left various notes throughout the bookshelves. The messages were encouraging, but somewhat cheeky at the same time.
Eventually, everything was solved, it felt like it had taken hours, but Hilbert knew he had most likely gotten impatient and was mentally exaggerating. He was just happy that it was finally over, and all that was left was the final battle of the Gym.
With the click of a button hidden under a book, an entire bookshelf just slid away. There had been stairs behind the bookcase that descended down. Hilbert glanced at Bianca. "My second Gym Badge awaits." Snivy and Pawniard were back in their Pokeballs at this point, and Hilbert turned to Bianca. "We going?"
Bianca swallowed audibly. "Y-you first."
"You're scared of a dark corridor?" Hilbert looked at Bianca, who was just staring transfixed at the passage.
"W-well…" She turned to Hilbert. "What if there's, you know, Ghost-types."
Hilbert flinched. "That… was low, Bianca." He looked at the corridor and felt a new, nameless spike of anxiety. He tried his best to dismiss it, there couldn't be ghosts down there. This was a well maintained museum, not some old structure fallen to ruin. There was no reason for there to be any ghosts. "Just stay close to me if it's that big of a deal."
They descended down the stairs. It was dark only for a short time, and the two entered into a lit room. At a glance, it looked like an office, a work desk surrounded by shelves and shelves of books. It didn't look anything like an area to host Pokemon battles, but then, perhaps the curator simply wanted to take care of Gym duties and museum duties at the same time.
Hilbert looked ahead, there was indeed someone here. He saw a dark-skinned woman, who was just standing there, looking at him with an odd smile on her face. Not intimidated by the confident look, Hilbert stepped forward defiantly. "I'm here for my badge… Lenora."
Lenora continued to smile, and crossed her arms. "I heard a clever pair of trainers were making their way through the Gym. Though I understand that only one of you will be challenging me."
"Bianca is a valued friend that I'm traveling with. But the only challenger is me."
Bianca flushed at being called 'valued', but said nothing as Hilbert took another step forward.
"Now, Lenora. If you're expecting to win, then you're going to be disappointed."
"Cheeky. I like that." Lenora chuckled as she examined Hilbert closely. "As the curator of this museum, I'll see just how you fight with the Pokemon you're carefully raising."
Hilbert smirked, then something occurred to him. He had made a deal in Striaton, and he very much intended to honor it. "Before we begin, Lenora, I want to ask you a question."
Lenora tilted her head slightly, then nodded her permission to speak.
"What's your take on the Striaton Gym Leaders?"
"The Element Brothers?" Lenora's eyes widened at the question, but then she shook her head. "Those three have stubbornly refused to attend any gathering of Gym Leaders, and they don't even respond when a reason for their absence is requested. It smacks as arrogance. I do not have a positive 'take' on them."
Hilbert was bothered by the tone the words came in. "They… have to run their restaurant, every day of the week. I think you're being a little harsh on them. You can't really judge someone until you meet them in person."
"It's not like they give me or the others a chance to meet them in person."
Hilbert tapped a finger on his chin and thought for a moment. "Well, I did meet them, and I think that they're good people. So…" He continued to think, then suddenly smirked with a realization. "Then here's a deal. If I win, you have to rethink your opinion of those three."
Lenora put a hand to her chin and thought for a moment. "Okay, fine. I'm not planning on losing, though."
"Then I suppose I'll just have to disappoint you." Hilbert chuckled with an arrogant expression. "Because you losing is the only thing that's going to happen today."
Lenora's face twisted in offense, but then she smiled. "I don't mind confidence, but I'll be making this more difficult for you then you probably expect it to be." She took a Pokeball out of her apron and opened it.
A canine appeared and stretched briefly, then lowered itself, looking like it was ready to pounce on something. Hilbert smirked, then revealed one of his own Pokeballs. Out came Pawniard, who briefly let his blades scrape against each other.
"That's not a native Pokemon." Lenora said in reaction to seeing Pawniard. "Curious. Are the Bisharp moving their herds, or is this one an outcast?" She looked at the Pokemon that was standing across from her Herdier. The Pokemon were staring each other down, and while Herdier postured and growled and tried to threaten, the Pawniard was saving all of his energy for the fight.
"I suppose we might as well get started." Hilbert looked at Pawniard, who sunk into a fighting stance. Every fiber of the Pokemon's body was dedicated to victory. The Herdier across was trying to intimidate Pawniard, but Pawniard seemed very far from impressed. "Pawniard. Use Fury Cutter."
Pawniard took to the order enthusiastically, rushing ahead, one arm swinging forcefully by his side, the other stretched out, the blade ready to rend the foe.
"Herdier. Use Leer!" Lenora commanded. Herdier growled, and narrowed and then widened its eyes threateningly. Pawniard saw it, but just continued on, utterly unimpressed. Lenora suddenly ordered Herdier to evade upon seeing that Leer had had no effect. The canine leapt to the side, but Pawniard followed it and ripped into Herdier.
"Take Down!" Lenora said, Herdier fought off the pain and charged, crashing its head straight into Pawniard, knocking Hilbert's Pokemon back. "Again!" Herdier continued to move forward, striking Pawniard over and over, and then finally desisted with the attack.
As Herdier jumped back and was attentive to any small movement its enemy might have made. Pawniard had been knocked onto the ground, but slowly got up to his knees, one arm of his was shaking, Hilbert was certain that the shaking came far more from rage then pain. Pawniard suddenly swung the arm threateningly and snapped his head in Herdier's direction.
"Alright. Try Faint Attack." Pawniard started to move again, picking up speed. Herdier started to move evasively, fleeing from Pawniard's new attack, but Pawniard quickly outpaced his enemy and scored a powerful direct blow. The strike from Pawniard's arm sent Herdier flying through the air, and impacting hard on the wall.
Herdier trembled on the ground, then started to stand back up. It clearly still had a good deal of fight left in it, and-
"Herdier. Enough is enough." Lenora said, recalling the Pokemon before turning to Hilbert. "I'm beginning to see the sort of trainer you are. However, I still plan to analyze and find a winning strategy."
"We'll see about that." Hilbert smirked. "Pawniard, let's let Snivy take it from here." Pawniard glanced at Hilbert, he didn't want to let the Grass type have any opportunity to continue to speak well of himself, but nodded.
Hilbert took his other Pokeball out and released the grass snake. Snivy's tail swished and it looked out, awaiting an enemy's appearance. Lenora smirked, she had been put into a corner, but her second and final Pokemon would be all she needed to turn this around. She threw the Pokeball…
…And out came Watchog. The Pokemon crossed its arms, standing quite a bit taller then Snivy. It looked down in a way that really made it seem to be, looking down, on Snivy. Snivy noticed the arrogant expression and tensed in annoyance. The Grass type would have been all too happy to reestablish the pecking order.
"Watchog." Lenora said triumphantly. "Use Retaliate." Watchog uncrossed his arms and charged forward. Snivy's eyes widened at Watchog's unexpected speed, and it wasn't able to move before the larger Pokemon crashed into it, sending Snivy hurtling across the room. Rather then crash and lay sprawled upon the floor, Snivy managed to spin through the air and land on his feet.
Snivy breathed heavily, the force of that blow was completely overwhelming. It swore that the Watchog would not manage an attack like that again. Hilbert looked at the sight, and attempted to think of a strategy.
"Crunch." Lenora ordered. Watchog obeyed, leaping forward with an attack that might have ended the fight right there. Hilbert commanded for Vine Whip. The vine sprung from Snivy and snapped forward, and by some miracle it managed to trip Watchog.
The Normal type slammed hard on the ground, but got up before Snivy could even begin to retract the vine. Rather then attack, it waited, almost seeming to be telling Snivy that it could have ended the fight right there.
Snivy pulled his vine back and glared. Hilbert was impressed at Snivy's resolve, but wasn't sure how long he could realistically last against this Watchog. This strong Normal type just seemed to be in a different league from every other Pokemon he had fought so far on this journey. As he looked, Hilbert paused. It looked… it looked like Snivy was starting to glow.
For a moment, Hilbert forgot about the battle, and was panicking over what that strange glow could have meant. Only he seemed to notice, Bianca, Lenora, and the Watchog didn't seem to see it, but Hilbert knew what he was seeing, and the glow was slowly becoming brighter.
"Watchog. Let's get the Pawniard back out." Lenora said, then ordered an attack. Watchog sprang forward, Hilbert managed to order a Tackle. Snivy rushed ahead and leapt up, and managed to ram his head into Watchog's chest, and Watchog immediately countered, striking Snivy with enough force to hurtle him into a wall.
Snivy groaned, almost looking sick, but slowly got back onto its feet. No matter how terrible it felt, he could not allow himself to lose. He could not. He refused to let that happen. He was still glowing.
"This will finish it." Lenora announced. Watchog started to charge again, but then Snivy, feeling consumed by his desire to not have his pride wounded, started to shine. Watchog stopped, leaping back and watching carefully, contemplating if this was some sort of hidden ability.
"Snivy!?" Hilbert yelled, a touch of real fear in his voice. Snivy was now pure white, no longer various shades of green, and then it seemed as though Snivy… morphed, and became something taller, before the glow died down.
Snivy… didn't look like Snivy anymore. It stood taller, prouder, and it didn't seem to be as injured as it had been previously.
"Snivy, what…?" Hilbert looked in confusion at his starter.
"What happened?" Bianca asked from right beside Hilbert. The thing that had previously been Snivy turned and looked at Hilbert with a smirk, then turned back to the Watchog, they were now roughly the same height. The Watchog's eyes narrowed, it understood just as well as the Grass type. There had been an upset, in the balance of their power.
"Your Snivy just evolved." Lenora said matter-of-factly. "Look at your Pokedex for more information."
Hilbert blinked, then took out the small device. He checked it briefly, then glanced at his Pokemon. "Servine."
"Serv." Servine said, continuing to look only at the Watchog.
The anxiety over what might have happened disappeared from Hilbert. "Alright, Servine. Let's try something fancier. Leaf Tornado."
"No-Watchog, do not let Servine attack!" Watchog sprang forward, but it wasn't fast enough. Servine summoned countless sharp leaves that started to whip around Watchog. The leaves cut at Watchog even as the wind circulating by the movement of the leaves carried Watchog up into the air.
Eventually the attack ended, and Watchog fell, it crashed down onto the desk in the room, smashing the wood into two with its weight. Lenora shook her head, that had been her primary work desk.
"I had so many theories as to how I could have turned the fight around." Lenora said, then looked at Hilbert. None of the scenarios she considered accounted for that Snivy suddenly evolving mid-battle. "None of them worked, but I proved my own theory about you. You're not just a talented trainer, you're a motivated one as well, and your Pokemon fought for the trainer they believe in. I believe… you and your Pokemon will go great distances."
Hilbert smiled, then turned to Bianca. He wondered if just a look would let her understand how relieved he was. He had no idea what had been happening to Snivy, now Servine. Next he turned to Servine, who had just approached him.
"I was worried for your safety for a moment there Sniv-ah, Servine. Is there anything you want right now?"
Servine tilted his head up, then leapt up into the air, trying to return to its favorite spot on Hilbert's hat. Unfortunately, Servine's new weight was far, far more then Hilbert expected, and he landed on his face.
"Ugh… S-Servine…" Hilbert took in some desperate gulps after the air was suddenly forced out of him. Servine, oblivious to his trainer's discomfort, settled onto Hilbert's hat. "You're… too heavy, to be up there, now." Hilbert suddenly heard laughter, and looked ahead to see Lenora walking up to him.
"You and your Pokemon really are charming. Anyway, for defeating me, I award you with the Balance Badge." She took out a small piece of metal and placed it on the ground near Hilbert. Hilbert reached a hand out and grabbed it, then tried to reach for the case he kept the badges in.
Bianca grabbed the case, offering to put the badge in for Hilbert. Hilbert allowed her to do so, letting Bianca put the Balance Badge in the case with the Trio Badge. Hilbert started to stand up, Servine still on his head. Hilbert could only manage to get up to a hunched position.
"Since I won, you also have to honor our deal about the Striaton Gym Leaders."
Lenora paused, then sighed. "Yes. I'll be more understanding of them. If someone like you thinks I should be more patient with them, then they probably are good people, through and through."
Hilbert smiled, and then Servine finally, mercifully, leapt off of Hilbert's head. He managed to straighten up and he planned to turn and leave, maybe humor Hawes' invitation to see the rest of the exhibits. He also needed to determine where the next Gym was. There should have been a map handy… a part of him wished he could speak to Shauntal again, but he imagined it would be a long while before he would meet her a second time.
Then suddenly the entire room they were in shook, and a sound resonated, something that sounded like an explosion. Hilbert almost lost his footing, and when the shaking ended he immediately turned to Bianca, the girl was okay, just rattled somewhat.
"What happened?" Hilbert asked aloud. He looked at Lenora, at Servine, and then back at Bianca. A nameless feeling awoke in his chest, and he felt that he absolutely had to get out of the Gym and back to the museum, because something was happening.
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