I don't really plan to finish this chapter so soon. I came back to my home like, last Monday and I have to chase the lessons in the school, it's driving me nuts. Then in the last Friday in my magazine extraculicular, I was chosen randomly as the new leader since the third grader's exam is coming up. Holy –
Enough babble. Why did I update this quicker? Well, I was replaying Platinum, on Sunday, I finished up Mt. Coronet, goes to Distortion World(stuck for an hour doing the puzzle, hah), kick Cyrus' butt and… caught Giratina with 2 Pokeballs.
2 freaking Pokeballs.
Needless to say I shouted of joy and laughter. Last try had me retry like three times, all using Dusk Balls and Ultra Balls, and Giratina kept eventually killed himself(it's genderless, but who's keeping track?). Now, once with only two Pokeballs. HAHAHAHAHA!
Darn, enough about that, but I'm also happy because I got a new reviewer. Yaay!
You know what? I retract my word for only reviewing once in chapter two. Keep reviewing so I know you're still reading it. Please with the cherry on the top?
Okay, enough. To the story!
Disclaimer : I own Pokemon. Maybe in the next life. So, until then, I don't own Pokemon.
~ Subway Trouble ~
Chapter 5 : Two Battles and Tag Battles
"You have a Bolt Badge, I have a Bolt Badge. Let's see who's stronger now!"
Hilda frowned in annoyance, her blue eyes glared at the boy standing in front of her, wearing a white shirt with red lines behind a blue blazer and a tight black pants. She put her hands in her hips, face deadpanned. "We're not going through this in the morning, Cheren."
Said trainer raised his eyebrows, curiousity all over his face. "Why not?"
The brunette Pokemon Trainer groaned in exasparation. "Why not? It's still freaking 9 AM, for Arceus' sake!" she scowled at the jet-haired boy, stomping her feet repeatedly.
Cheren blinked before he responded to her. "Well, I've been up since 6 AM this morning, so I don't see anything that could go wrong with this" he said while shrugging.
"Such a childhood friend you are, Cheren," she sneered at him. "You of all people should've known that I'm not an exactly early bird." Hell, it's a miracle she woke up at 8 AM today.
He put his left hand below his chin. "Well, you can consider it as a morning warm-up. We didn't get a chance to battle everyday, you know," he reasoned, his right hand reaching for a Pokeball in his belt.
Hilda rolled her eyes, once again in annoyance. "Almost everytime we catch up with each other, all you requested is a battle, you know," she stated flatly. "Are you trying to break my winning streak against you?" she teased.
A vein literally popped out in Cheren's forehead. "That, and I've been wondering how you kept winning on me everytime!" he admitted, glaring at the brunette trainer.
"You won the first match we had in Nuvema, my room to be exact" she pointed out, remembering how messy did her room get – save for the Wii, somehow unscratched.
"Look, Bianca did the most destroying with your room, though I do admit I did play a small part in it. Are you still holding me against it?" the black-haired boy asked. "And my vast knowledge about Pokemon helped" he stated that one with a smirk.
"That, probably yeah. But well…" Hilda contemplated for a moment. She could use the cash prize if she won against him, she kinda needed it. She did gain some from the Gym challenge and few of the Gym trainers (who bizzarely enough paid if not the same, more money than Elesa herself), but…
"Allright then, it's on. Just don't expect to get the upper hand of me because I just woke up an hour ago" Hilda confidently said, taking a Pokeball hanging from her belt and clicked the button in the middle, expanding the ball.
Cheren's mouth turned into a smirk as he expanded the Pokeball in his hand. "I don't expect less from you, Hilda" he calmly stated, using his finger to relocate his glasses. "Whoever loses three Pokemon first is declared the loser, no substitution allowed. Good with that?"
"That's good."
How did she get here?
Here's the summary of the story. Hilda woke up late yesterday morning, and when the brunette's having a quick(Yeah, quick!) breakfast, her blonde, clumsy airhead childhood friend Bianca greeted her. When she finished her pancake, the blonde dragged Hilda to a nearby shopping street, buying a wide amount of random goods – at least Bianca is.
Then Bianca's short-tempered-and-overprotecive dad comes out and gave Hilda a –beep- slap on the face, after the Pokemon Trainer gave him a quick scolding. Though in the end, Hilbert and Elesa ended up interfering, avoiding a fight in the middle of Nimbasa City (though Hilda couldn't care less at the time). A pep talk from the model and Gym Leader, Bianca's Dad lets her daughter continue her journey.
A quick talk within the Pokemon Trainers after Elesa went for her TV gig, and Bianca eventually left because she has something to do. Hilbert and Hilda had a conversation as the former tends the latter's swollen cheek (and triggering you-know-what at her). Then they had a bet on who eats the faster.
And Hilda, who ate a pancake sizing twice the normal in a gulp, actually loses against the brunet Pokemon Trainer. Of course, on Hilda's defense, the boy stated that he didn't ate too much in the morning. But who knows what is Hilbert's value of "too much", like how Hilda's means of quick breakfast is five stacks of oversized pancake. Needless to say, she lost quite the money.
Then she had a trip to Nimbasa's Gym. Which is a roller coaster. Model with a roller coaster as her Gym. She did netted a good amount of money from the Gym Trainers, but Elesa gave her a hard intense fight (since almost all of her Pokemon has a weakness against the Gym Leader's Pokemon). The Pokemon Trainer won nonetheless, earning herself the Bolt Badge. The next few hours, she trained some of her Pokemon, who learned themselves a few new moves.
Oops, look how long did the time flies without us knowing. Cheren's second Pokemon is almost down, same can be said to Hilda's first, the former being hit by a Leech Seed.
"Pansage!" the black jet haired trainer cried out to the Grass-type Pokemon. "Seed Bomb!"
The Grass Monkey Pokemon immediately jumped and spitted a tennisball sized seed from it's mouth, aimed at Hilda's Musharna. It made a direct hit and exploded at the Drowsing Pokemon.
"Muu!" the psychic type squaked slightly from the hit. She wobbled slightly for a few moments before regaining her balance.
Hilda calmed herself down. Speed was never Musharna's field, so she didn't bother ordering a dodge, relying on the psychic type's big stamina. But that Seed Bomb was quite powerful, another of those and Musharna's out.
Cheren inwardly smirked at the brunette's face. "Now, Fury Swipes!" he ordered again.
Hilda quickly snapped from her thought as the grass-type is closing in to her Musharna. "Hit Pansage with Thunder Wave!" she quickly countered.
As Pansage made the first slash, the psychic tapir sent out a wave of electric shock from her body, making contact with the grass-type and paralyzed it, stopping the Fury Swipes attack. Before Cheren could react, Hilda already shouted another order.
"Psybeam!"
"Bite!"
The Grass Monkey Pokemon leaned it for a quick bite, but the paralysis stopped it's track, giving Musharna enough time to sent out a colorful waves of Psychic power from her nose. It quickly made a contact with Pansage, square in the face, sending it flying back few feets. It landed with a loud thud, face first, and it's eyes turned into X.
"Way to go, Musharna!" Hilda beamed, pumping a fist into the air.
"Mu! Musharna!" the Pokemon chirped in happiness… when suddenly it fell into the ground with a loud thud.
Hilda's smiling face quickly turned into a frown as she groaned. "It was the Leech Seed…" the brunette muttered. "Sorry Musharna. Take a good rest!" that said, she quickly returned the Musharna into her Pokeball back.
Cheren readjusted his glasses as he retrieved back his Pansage. "Good job. Return." He then looked at his childhood friend. "This might be 2 on 1, but I promise you I'm not done yet." He took another Pokeball from his belt. "Go, Liepard!"
Hilda nodded to Cheren as she took out her Pokeball. "Let's go, Tranquill!" she cried.
Two Pokeballs are thrown into the air, both releasing a white beam that landed on opposite sides. At Cheren's side appeared a slender feline with purple as it's dominant fur color. It has yellow rosettes on it's fur, and it's tail is shaped like a sickle. And of course, at Hilda's side, appeared the gray colored pigeon who flapped her wings, ready to battle.
"What's with you and speedy Pokemons…" she muttered loud enough for Cheren to hear her. Cheren raised his eyebrows at this.
"Here I thought, speed would be your best. You probably had them in a race against yourself as the training…" he commented while snickering at the thought, slipping his hands on his pockets.
Hilda's frowning face turned into a grin. "Right on the nail. Nice guess, Cheren. Now it's your turn to move first." He nodded.
"Liepard! Fake Out!" Cheren ordered. The Cruel Pokemon quickly closed in onto the flying-type Pokemon, and using it's paws, quickly hit Tranquill's face, flinching the gray pigeon.
"Quill!" the flying type spat out, shooking her head to regain focus.
"Hone Claws, then use Assurance!" he quickly added.
While Hilda's Tranquill is still flinching, the dark-type quickly sharpens it's claw. Oh boy, Hilda thought. This is not going to be good…
As the dark-type finished , it quickly charged into the Wild Pigeon Pokemon, ready to strike her with it's sharpened claws. Hilda quickly reacted to this.
"Detect!" she ordered. On the last second, a glint appeared on the flying type's eyes as she quickly stepsided from the dark type's attack, causing said Pokemon to crash into the ground, cracking it slightly.
Without missing a beat, she continued. "Now use Taunt!" she knew she had to do something about Hone Claws.
The pigeon smirked before glaring at her enemy, and eventually stuck it's tounge out. "Quil~" she chirped with a singsong voice. Liepard took the pigeon's taunt as angry marks appeared on it's head. Cruel Pokemon getting taunted… It's kind of ironic… Hilda snickered inside.
"Calm down, Liep—"
"Paaard!" it screeched, dashing towards the flying type Pokemon, claws ready to dug in.
"Air Cutter!" the brunette ordered.
"Traanquil!" the gray Pokemon chirped, flipping her wings, sending invisible razor-like wind blades, hitting the Cruel Pokemon hard in the face, stopping it's tracks.
"Liepard, snap out of it!" Cheren cried, but said Pokemon didn't make a move to listen, still over the Taunt, and now, Air Cutter.
"Pluck!"
The pigeon flew toward the feline again and struck her beak against the purple fur, causing it to fell into the ground, though not yet fainted. It shook it's head for awhile before finally, it snapped out of the taunt.
"Assurance!"
"Aerial Ace!"
The feline dashed quickly, but before it's claws can make contact with Tranquill, said flying Pokemon suddenly disappeared, and another second she appeared in front of the feline, hitting the dark type Pokemon hard. It was thrown a few feets away before it stopped, eyes turned into a swirl.
"Liepard… is unable to battle." Cheren deadpanned as he saw his fainted Pokemon on the ground. He then gave Hilda her winning money without a word.
Hilda jumped in joy before rushing to her Tranquill, pulling her into a hug. "Great job, buddy! You're awesome!" she praised the flying type, patting her head. The pigeon returned the pat with snuggling over her trainer.
Cheren walked towards his fainted Liepard and knelt next to it. He checked it's condition, and after deeming his dark type Pokemon will be allright, the black haired trainer returned it back to it's ball before facing the brunette. "Nice battle… Hilda." He spoke with a frown.
The girl turned towards him, still holding her Tranquill. "Oh come on, Cheren. Winning isn't that important, you know. And yeah, nice battle too!" she lightly teased him, eventually letting her Tranquill go, reaching her bag and picked up a Potion.
"Your Liepard gonna be allright?" the brunette asked, spraying the medicine over her Tranquill's wound, causing the flying type to wince slightly.
"Yeah, he'll got better. But I still don't get it! We both have – "
"Yeah right, we're not going through that in the morning, Cheren," Hilda quickly cut, knowing what will they went through if she let that slip, then turning back to her Tranquill, holding her Pokeball in her hand.
"A rest?"
"Quill! Tranquill!" the pigeon nodded.
"Okay, take a good rest!" she chirped, returning Tranquill back to her ball. She then turned to Cheren, hands on her hip. "Okay Cheren, actually I've been wanting to ask you something…" she trailed off, her voice emitting a dangerous tone.
Cheren raised his eyebrows, but a few seconds after, he seemed to get Hilda's grip as her face went redder and angrier. Still, he decided to play dumb. "And what would that be?" he asked casually, slipping back his hands to his pockets.
Hilda approached the black haired trainer, took a deep breath. Before she shouted. "The HELL did you tell Bianca about a certain part of THAT! And it does NOT have anything to DO with freaking MOO MOO MILKS!"
The boy had his ears ringing, but he started to chuckle in amusement. "It's not?" he asked playfully. "I was quite sure of it, since – "
"Bianca of all people!" she roared, flailing her arms in anger. "Oh boy, how I wish Bianca's dad is still here, he'll give you quite the shot!"
He gulped nervously at the mentioning of that dad of Bianca's, remembering a few incident with said man. "Well, the fact that you're angry over it means that I am correct, am I not?"
"Am NOT you little…" she angrily muttered, trying to find the suitable word. "You… Right! A Nerd who is perverted, at that! Shame on you!" she finished, starting to turn her hands into a fist.
"Not! But anyway, I've got to go. I'm smartily nerd enough to avoid another black eye coming from you…." He quickly spoke, sweating bullets, before he ran off to the Pokemon Center.
"Get back here, you pussy perverted nerd!" she shouted in anger. "I doubt you even understand what is this 'smartily nerd' you're talking about!" she continued, airquoting some certain words.
A round of loud laughter roared through her surroundings. She looked around, blue eyes blinking dumbfoundedly. "What?" she managed to stutter, her fingers start locking with each other in front of her chest.
The crowd's laughter got even more bigger. It was then she noticed it.
A big crowd of spectactors has been watching her and Cheren's battle. And THAT. More reasons to kill Cheren even more. She dropped her jaws in disbelief, nervously glancing at the scene. Some started to clap, joined by the whole crowd. They were either complimenting the battle, or something else…
"Cheren… you twit…" the brunette muttered weakly, eyes twitching in nervousness, her vision became blurry. She made a mental note to make Cheren pay, big time. He surely know about her weakness towards big crowds yet he –
"Hilda!"
Her daydream was cut short when she was slapped hard in the back. "Great match!" a familiar voice of a boy's ringed in her ears. Snapped, she quickly turned around, finding herself face to face to the not-so-surprising fellow red-and-white capped brunet grinning widely at her.
"Hilbert! That hurts you know!" she groaned, rubbing her back.
The boy started to chuckle before he commented. "It won't hurt that much, would it?" he responded, winking at the pissed off girl.
Said brunette rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yeah it doesn't hurt, it might gave a heart attack," she stated sarcastically, crossing her arms with a huff.
"That's exaggerating…" he muttered.
As déjà vu can the situation gets, both brown haired Pokemon Trainers started to bicker with each other, complaining about all the random stuffs get into their minds. And again, the whole spectactors stared at both teenagers, almost all of them chuckling and giggling for (not-so) odd reason.
"Young 'uns these days…"
"Isn't that cute?"
"Mommy… Are they going to be mommy and poppy?"
"Oh sheez, and that girl's pretty hot too…"
It was another few minutes until the teenagers noticed the stares from many. Hilbert coughed awkwardly and Hilda just stared at her feet, shuffling it uncomfortably, twitching ever so slightly.
"In all seriousness…" the brunet boy broke the silence, "That was one awesome battle! You never told me anything about it!" he praised, but also raising his eyebrows.
Hilda blushed slighty, also raising her eyebrows. "Thanks, but haven't we had a tag battle with those goons in the Subway?" she asked back, tilting her head.
"Oh, THAT doesn't count… Since, you know. Yeah." He answered, rubbing the back of his head. She finds that sort of behavior quite cute. Boy, that face he's making and – Arceus! Not again, Hilda!
"Well…" Hilda started to change the topic. "How long have you been watching?" she questioned. "And how?"
"Hmm… When your Musharna is about to knock that boy's Pignite out?" the brunet responded, putting his hand below his chin. "And well, your battle already attracts quite the crowd, so yeah…" he continued. "But anyway! I know you're good but I never know how much! Let's have a quick one-on-one!" he suddenly offered, taking a Pokeball from his belt.
"Well… Wait what?" the brunette stuttered, fidgeting with her cap's beak.
"Why not? You surely had two more Pokemon still ready to go! And since we're going to the Battle Subway sometime today, we need to learn each other's style!" Hilbert reasoned. "Whaddya say?"
"Yeah, do it!"
"Are they going to do that pokemon thingy again, mommy?"
"Don't keep us waiting!"
We're going to the Battle Subway? Not that I'll refuse, but yeah, Hilda thought. "Well… I…" she muttered, blue eyes locked at ground. A battle with Hilbert? Oh she sure would! She haven't seen much of him, because the subway goons isn't actually as good as the grunts says. But the crowd…
Hilbert's warm brown eyes glared at her in confusion. She tilted her heads up slightly, locking her blue ones against brown of his. He observed the girl trainer as she keeps fidgeting with her cap, glancing nervously at the surrounding every so often. Though he didn't noticed the blush crept on her face. Thirty seconds passed with constant yelling from the crowd, until he sighed.
He took Hilda's arms before he yelled into the crowd. "Sorry folks, doesn't seem like she's in mood to battle at the moment. Now, if you'll excuse us!" he spoke, before running off somewhere with Hilda in tow.
"He – hey! What in the!"
"Pokemon Center! Now, just shut it!" he quickly cut.
The crowds looked in disappointment as both teenagers went to the corner, out of sight.
"You know… five bucks they're going steady in this month."
"Make that ten, dude."
"Agrophobia was it? Small dose?" Hilbert suddenly thought out loud, snapping Hilda from her (yet another) daydream.
"Afro-what-phobia?" she asked back, raising her eyebrows in confusion.
"Nu-uh. Agrophobia. You know, fear of stuffs like big crowds, though you doesn't seem to suffer a big of those…" he responded, staring at the confused brunette girl.
"Oh, sorry for not using fancy words. Umm, I think my mom said something about that when I was little. She did say I got better… Not much" the girl trailed off.
"Cool. Explains that weird habit 'o yours… You're kind of making it obvious though…" the boy said with a wide grin on his face.
She blinked her eyes in annoyance. "Well sorry. Where are we going again? This isn't the way to the Pokemon Center…" she questioned while looking at her surroundings. To her knowledge, they're going even more far away from the Pokemon Center…
"Well, no. We're going to the Small Court. There's a wide field of grass we're free to use since today's not being uses for match. Few actually goes there in the morning, so we can have our match there. Less spectactors, the better, right?" he asked the girl with a smile plastered on his face.
Hilda didn't know what to say about that. Bianca and obviously Cheren hardly does that. Yeah, especially the latter, who challenges her not caring where did they meet (except indoors). She usually didn't notices crowds in a battle, but still can be nerve-wracking whenever it happens.
"Oh… Thanks, Hilbert." Hilda responded softly.
He waved his hands. "Don't mention it. Let's get going, shall we?"
"Umm, Hilbert…" the brunette Pokemon Triner muttered with a dangerous tone, hands on her hips, blue eyes filled with angry fires, like a bomb who could explode at any minute.
"Yes, Hilda?" the boy responded, feigning innocence, playfully shot her a teasing grin.
"Didn't you say that the less spectactors, the better?"
"I did, guilty as charged."
"And if my primary school's math taught me right, there's like, nine peoples in here."
"Yuh-uh."
"You call this less spectactors?"
Hilda's face was practically on fire. They're now standing on opposite sides in the Small Court's grassy fields. Hilbert blinked his eyes a few moments, before he finally responded to the girl.
"Yeah, it is." He answered casually.
The brunette trainer slapped her forehead, trying to calm herself down. Hilda, calm yourself down. Think straight. You are not mad… you are not fuming… you are not angry… you are not enraged… you are not –
"THE HELL, HILBERT! I, FOR ONE – "
"Oh quit it. They're waiting for us to go." Hilbert quickly cut, knowing Hilda will go frenzy again.
What happened, you may ask? Darn, let's go back to five minutes before this…
"Whoa…" Hilda stuttered out. When they entered the Small Court's field, all they saw is green blades of grasses, with seats circling around it. The seat only had four levels, unlike Big Stadium's. "You sure we can just have a battle here?"
"Sure we can!" Hilbert responded, putting his hands below his heads. "They wouldn't mind. I did this often" he continued as he faced the door where they entered the field.
"That's good to know… Wait who?"
"Hey guys! We're going to have a battle, if you don't mind!" Hilbert yelled all of the sudden. Just a few seconds after, some people started to flew out from the entrace. Some janitors, cheerleaders, and baseball player.
"You're on this again, brat? I'm fine as hell with that, just make sure you're embarrassing no one." One of the janitor responded. He had a hoarse voice, and judging from his height, he's probably around his forties.
"Uh-uh, hope you're picking someone who actually can battle, unlike that stuck-up striker you had few months ago…" the baseball player commented playfully, snickering.
"Or it won't be worth cleaning this whole field, y'know!" another janitor added teasingly.
"Oh, I assure you. My friend Hilda here is good. I've never had a battle with her, but I'm extremely sure of that. We'll give you a good battle to watch" Hilbert assured them, smiling widely while grabbing Hilda's shoulder.
"Oh, your name is Hilda? Nice to meet you! I'm Amy!" one of the cheerleader shouted.
"Hey, Hilda? They're all my friends, so don't worry about anything. And don't mind the words about embarrassing ourselves, let's just…"
Hilda didn't heard it. Nope. Nuh-uh. She was staring blankly before suddenly she faced Hilbert, hands on hips. "Umm… Hilbert?"
Yeah, clear enough? Let's go back…
"Well, I thought you know – "
"Aaw, suck it! If you wanna get rid of your fears, face it head on!" Hilbert quickly cut, expanding a Pokeball in his right hands as he backed off, making a space between the two of us. "It's a quick one-on-one, got it?"
"Okay, one-on – who says I wanna get rid of – "
"Go, Excadrill!" he ignored the brunette, sending a Pokeball into the air. Bright light shot from the ball, revealing a big, brown bipedal mole-like Pokemon, with sharp steels at it's hand and head. When the Pokemon landed, it caused a slight tremor as the ground type roared.
Hilda gulped from the loud roar the Pokemon let out, before she started frowing again. "Why do I keep getting interrupt – "
"Send out your Pokemon, Hilda. Now!" Hilbert groaned from the opposite side, obviously getting impatient over the whole thing, as the crowd started to move to the sidelines.
"Oh, boy…" the brunette muttered grumpily before she took out her pink remote-like Pokedex and pointed it at the big Pokemon in front of her.
Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokemon, the evolved form of Drilbur. Ground and Steel type. Excadrill build their mazelike nests more than 300 feets below the surface, which may be destructive to subway tunnels.
"Seriously? You've never seen an Excadrill before?" Hilbert asked, jerking his eyebrows up. "You know what? Nevermind! Just quickly send out your Pokemon or whatever!"
"Fine…" she groaned as she moved her hands to her belt, about to take one of the Pokeballs before Hilbert interrupted her, again.
"If I may, mind using your last Pokemon? I mean, I've seen Panpour, Musharna, and Tranquill. You have four with you, don't you?" he suddenly asked, tilting his heads.
"What? Hold on…" Hilda spoke out loud, before she lets the Klinks and Klanks in her brain to start spinnings. Thirty seconds before she opened her mouth. "You just don't want me to use my Panpour over the type advantage don't you?" she finally asked with a smirk.
Hilbert jerked back. "What? I wasn't gonna – "
"That's lame, Hilbert. Toughen up and be a man!" the janitor from before spoke.
"Ignore him, Hilda! He's a pussy!" Amy shouted, raising her pompoms out.
"Pussy, my ass!" Hilbert shouted back, slapping his… butt, as his Excadrill let out a snort of it's own.
Meanwhile, Hilda was just trying to calm herself down. You will NOT freak out, you will NOT freak out, EVER. Take a deep breath… take a deep breath… she closed her eyes, hands clenched in front of her as she took deep breaths.
"Hilda?" the brunet boy snapped her from her thoughts. "Oh come on! Get over it already! We're not starting if this keeps up!"
Hilda slowly opened her eyes. It's just like normal battles in the routes. No specs, no nothing, no Cheren, no – okay, I'm good. "Sorry about that. Well, I do love challenges, so… Servine! Let's show them!" she exclaimed as she threw a Pokeball into the air.
The bright light shot from the Pokeball dissolves, revealing the Grass Snake Pokemon hissing at the mole Pokemon, immediately knowing that she's on a battle.
"Grass type! But Excadrill's part Steel…"
"At least it still can hit Steels at normal power, thanks to being part of Ground…"
"Tranquill, Panpour, Musharna, and now Servine! Way cool, Hilda, so you have the first move!" the boy exclaimed, snapping his fingers while grinning from ear to ear.
Hilda rolled her eyes. "That doesn't makes too much sense… Fine. Servine! Coil!" she ordered.
The grass snake coiled herself as vivid orange light emmited from her. "Now, Leaf Blade!" came another order from Hilda.
Servine unwrapped herself and swinged her tail, that started to expand longer and glowed bright green. She quickly dashed towards the Subterrene Pokemon, readying her tail to strike.
"Guard with Metal Claw!" Hilbert ordered the ground type Pokemon. Excadrill's already steely claws went sharper and harder. It moved it's claws in front of it's face, and Servine's Leaf Blade clanged into it in a flash. Both Pokemon went into a brawl of brute strength – and it's not going good for Servine, and both trainer knew it.
"Servine, keep the Leaf Blade, jump and roll to the front!" came the odd command from the brunette. The grass type, already used to her crazy tactics, jumped without hestitation, with the Metal Claw almost hitting her, as she wrapped her body and spun forwards. She literally turned into a bright green wheel as she hit the Excadrill's head, causing it to lose it's balance.
A few more rolls before Servine landed on her feets, and quickly turned back to her opponent. To both her and her trainer's surprise, despite being hit directly, the ground type mole doesn't seemed to be affected that much from the attack.
"It only hit it's head, but still, what the?" Hilda spoke in confusion.
Hilbert smirked at this. "That's some fancy trick you pulled off. Not that something like that will bring the big guy down." Hilda cursed the Excadrill's big stamina, but then again, so is her Musharna. "Excadrill, Rapid Spin!"
The ground type clenched it's claws forward, as it started to spun like a drill towards Servine. Dodging something that fast is risky, so even though Hilda is confident of the grass type's speed, she tried another plan. "Servine, Vine Whip!" she quickly commanded. The Grass Snake Pokemon used her whips to cleverly changed the drill's direction slightly, causing the mole to went past through her left, almost hitting her side.
"Leech Seed!" Hilda cried out as the grass type send seeds flying to Excadrill.
"Please. Dig!" Hilbert ordered. The Subterrene Pokemon immediately went dug through the ground, dodging the seeds aimed at it. Just before Hilda was about to send another order, Excadrill already appeared before Servine. The unknowing Pokemon was hit hard in the back.
"Vinee!" she cried out as she flew feets away, before she landed in the grassy field.
"Poison Jab!" the brunet trainer send another order. Just as fast, his Excadrill lunged onto Servine it's claws glowed purple, raised to attack the grass type as its opponent starting to stand up.
Oh shoot! Hilda, think, think, think! Hilda quickly thought about the training she had last night when something hit her. "Servine, A-Aerial Ace!" she ordered in panic.
"What?" the order caused Hilbert to raise his eyebrows, but as his Excadrill was about to hit her Servine, said grass type suddenly disappeared before the Poison Jab hit her. The Grass Snake Pokemon reappeared just as fast to hit the Subterrene Pokemon in the face, causing it to lower it's guard as the Aerial Ace hit it in it's eyes.
Hilda suddenly felt grateful for teaching some random moves from the TM stocks she had. "Leaf Tornado, quick! And back off after you do!" she ordered again. Her Servine spun her tails, sending out a tornado of leaves that hit her opponents, causing it to be pushed back slightly. Then the snake quickly used her Vine Whip to make a space between both of them.
Okay, that Dig was quick because it was supported by Rapid Spin's speed… He must've planned it all along… Dammit, he's good, and he doesn't looked like he's finished yet… Hilda thought, trying to calm herself down.
"I'd never thought a grass-type would know Aerial Ace, so that was a surprise. Quick thinking, Hilda. But just to tell you, I still had tricks in my sleeves, so don't lose before I showed them." Hilbert calmly stated, though one can see his brown eyes flickered in excitement.
I figured that out, Hilbert, and I don't plan to lose quickly, Hilda muttered to herself. A short-range battle seems like a no-go, since that Excadrill hits fast and hard…
"Daydreaming again? Excadrill, Double Team!"
Excadrill creates illusory copies of itself, surrouding Servine in a circle, startling the Grass Snake Pokemon.
"Rock Tomb!"
The illusory copies of Excadrill started to create a big boulder and threw them at the grass type Pokemon in the middle. Hilda, now totally snapped from her thoughts, quickly reacted when she saw rocks flew at her Pokemon.
"Servine! Protect!"
Just before the rocks made contact with the green snake, the Pokemon already protected herself with light blue barrier surrounding her, blocking the incoming rocks.
"Sword Dance, and Poison Jab!" Hilbert threw another order.
Hilda's face palmed at that. Arceus, Excadrill's already strong as it is, now with Sword Dance? Hilda groaned internally as the Excadrills started sharpening their attacks. When the Protect subsided, Hilda quickly gave her Servine a command, as the Excadrills started to charge at her.
Your Excadrill might be fast, Hilbert… But my Servine won't lose when it comes to speed. "Servine, spin and use Vine Whip!" the brunette exclaimed.
The Grass Snake Pokemon took out her Vine Whip and spun full speed, the spinning vine immediately made contact with the illusory Excadrills, one by one started to disappear.
But Hilda's eyes started to widen when she noticed Hilbert was smirking. She focused back on the battle – the last Excadrill was hit, and it also disappeared. She immediately thought for the worse when she noticed a hole was near where the Excadrills were.
I've been had! I shouldn't daydream at times like this! Hilda thought in realization, when she noticed the ground around Servine started to shake. "The ground, Servine!" she shouted.
"Poison Jab."
Again, Hilbert, my Servine won't lose when it comes to speed! Hilda braced herself.
It happened in a matter of seconds. Excadrill's claws started to appear from the ground below Servine, glowing purple poison. If Servine got one direct hit from that will be fatal. If.
Servine, listened to Hilda's shout before, quickly stopped her spinning and aimed her whip at the ground, now slamming against Excadrill's Poison Jab.
"Nice speed, Hilda." Hilbert commented, putting his hands below his chin. "I'm quite confident of my Excadrill's speed, too."
"Thanks," Hilda quickly murmured. She had no time to answer him properly right now, as Servine won't last long with her Vine Whip. What to do… Ah! "Now, Sunny Day!"
The Grass Snake Pokemon closed her eyes, and in a few seconds after, she released a bright yellow orb from her mouth. It was shining so brightly, Excadrill was blinded by it and let it's claws go as the yellow orb started to rose, warming the battle field.
"Excadrill, dig away!" Hilbert ordered.
"Don't let it! Solarbeam, full power!" Hilda countered, her hand turned into a ball of fist.
The Subterrene Pokemon was about to dive in, when Servine's body started to glow, absorbing sunlight. Thanks to Sunny Day, it's much quicker to charge power, and the grass type let out a powerful Solarbeam from her mouth, hitting the ground mole directly.
When the coast is clear, a slight shake can be felt as Excadrill finally dug out from the hole, with quite the wound thanks to the close-range Solarbeam, but it was still be able to stood up.
Servine, on the other hand, is losing her stamina, and Hilda knew it. "Oh, Arceus…" she groaned. She knew Hilbert was a great trainer, but she never imagined he'll be this tough. She didn't get to attack much often, instead has been in the defensive side.
"I'll say this again, Hilda, your Servine has quite the speed…" Hilbert spoke again, bringing Hilda back to reality. "It's too fast compared to a normal Servine probably would, and she'll certainly be faster when she evolves…"
"Well, yeah, I had my training methods…" she answered.
"So, I have to do something about that. Excadrill, Round!"
The ground type let out a high pitched note, causing Servine to use her hands to cover her ears. "Bulldoze!" Excadrill stopped it's Round attack and stomps down several times, causing a tremor, before dashing towards the grass type.
"Ser-Servine!" the brunette cried out, slightly shaky because of the tremor. "D-dodge it!"
Unfortunately for her, the snake Pokemon wasn't ready to move. Already being distracted by the Round attack from before, now the tremor made her guard down. It was hit by Excadrill's attack directly, causing it to flew feets away, hitting the ground several times before landing.
"Slash!" Hilbert commanded.
"Knock it away with Vine Whip!" Hilda quickly ordered.
The ground mole dashes towards the grass snake, who is lying on the ground, as she quickly let her Vine Whip out. But, somehow, Excadrill managed to land it's claws on Servine, sending it flying.
Hilda raised her eyebrows, face filled with confusion. "Wait, but –"
"Surprised?" Hilbert asked with a teasing tone. "Bulldoze causes anyone hit by it to go slower, you know."
"Oh…" Hilda gritted her teeth. Servine won't be able to take any sort of those attacks anymore, thanks to the Sword Dance before.
"Don't give in, Hilda! The Excadrill's almost down, you can do it!" Amy suddenly cheered from the sidelines, raising her pompoms.
Hilbert annoyedly turned to the cheering girl. "Hey, who's sides are you on!"
"I'm on girls!" she answered, stucking her tounge out.
Hilda's face suddenly changed. She has sweats all over her face, breathes heavily, and the most obvious is her face. Panic. Fear. Uneasy. All mixed in her face. Shakily, she tried to focus on the battle field, hoping it would calm herself.
"Go, brunette lass! You're almost there!"
"You can do it!"
"Yeah, I'm sick of Hilbert's smug face whenever he won against pussy trainers!"
"What was that about!" Hilbert snapped.
"Oh, because we're your friends! And friends… teases each other! Bwahahaha!"
"Dammit you guys," Hilbert turned back into Hilda, unaware of her condition at the moment.
"Allright, let's get this over with! Poison Jab!"
"Go, go, go!"
And that was when the Klinks and Klanks in Hilda's brain stopped spinning, said brunette is now blankly staring at the grassy field, unknowing that the Subterrene Pokemon has gotten it's poisonus claws against her Servine, causing her to faint.
"Is she okay?"
"Hey, Landorus on you, brunette lass!"
"Oh my Arceus… What happened to her?"
"Hilda! What's wrong? Hey!"
"…da. Hilda. Say something." Hilda heard someone spoke. She felt someone's hand on her cheek, shaking her head. So, she slowly opened her blue eyes, immediately locking with brown ones filled with concern. "Oh, thank goodness…. You okay, Hilda?" Hilbert asked in a low voice, his hand still in the girl's cheek.
"Umm…" Hilda softly spoke, trying to lift her head but failing miserably. Hilbert notices this, so he helped her to sit, with his other hand supporting her back. It was then she noticed, she was in the boy's lap. Usually she would freak out, but she's way too tired to do just that.
"…What happened?" she asked weakly, her hands clinging to Hilbert's blue jacket.
"I wish I knew," Hilbert stated. "When your Servine fainted, you didn't even make any movement. When I saw your face, colors are already drained and you're just… blankly stared at the field. And then you started to collapse, so…"
"My Servine what? Fainted? Is it okay?" the brunette immediately snapped, her eyes widened. "What happened to it?"
Hilbert's eyes changed into of that confusion. "Huh? The Poison Jab is quite powerful, but she wasn't inflicted by poison, I already sprayed some potions. We had a battle, remember?" he asked back.
"…We did? Wait… give me a moment, please?" she pleaded.
"Sure, take your time." He then rubbed the sweats on the girl's forehead, taking of her cap and placed it beside him. She took the opportunity to look around. They seemed to be in a lobby or something, and now are sitting on the cushions provided. Then, she saw a grassy field from the window.
"Small Court… Battle… Peoples… Servine… That big mole thing…" Hilda slowly stuttered, recollecting her thoughts.
"Excadrill." Hilbert corrected. "And yes, we had a battle, and we're in the Small Court."
"Did we… had a one on one?" Hilda asked again.
"Yup."
"O… oof…" Hilda ended up feeling wobbly again, as she felt like fainting. She'd fall, if Hilbert didn't reacted quick and catched her, wrapping her waist with a hand, another on her back neck.
"Easy there, Hilda. Did you remembered?" Hilbert questioned with a worried tone.
"Uh… Yes… Most of it, I guess…" Hilda muttered. "Let me gather the pieces up… Can give me some space for a minute?"
"Oh, sure." Hilbert then helped her to lean against the wall, and after he's sure she's feeling comfortable, he took off his jacket and placed it on Hilda's shoulders. "I'll be back real quick."
Hilda gave a weak nod as the brunet walked somewhere else. She decided to put the puzzle pieces to it's place. Let's see… I was battling Cheren… I won, I think. He stormed off somewhere… Then Hilbert appeared out of nowhere. Was there a crowd? Yes, I think. He took off with me… Then we went to this place… We battled, I guess. And he had his friends… Oh… And then –
She was cut when Hilbert sat next to her, a glass of water in his hands. He turned his face towards her. "Water?" he offered with a smile.
"Yes, please." Hilda answered, raising her hands. He carefully put the glass between her weak hands. She immediately drank from it, leaving only a few drops of water when she finished. Hilbert took the empty glass away from her hands.
"So, do you already know what happened?" Hilbert asked again, his hands placed on Hilda's shoulder.
"I think… It's probably my phobia…" Hilda thought out loud.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, when I'm panicked, scared, or something like that, then I had to handle a big crowd, I'd lose my consciousness. I never really listened to what the doctors said, so, yeah…" she softly explained.
"Man… Should've told me about that before… You don't know how worried did you make me…" Hilbert stated.
"Sorry… But then again, I don't regret it. I wouldn't miss a chance battling you over that sort of stuff." She spoke with a weak grin, which was quickly returned.
"Oh, yes. Nevertheless, you're really good! I haven't had a battle such as fun as that in these past months! My guesses were right, after all." He stated brightly, his browns eyes showed a glint of excitement.
"And I don't think I've ever been backed in a corner like that. You gave me more than I could chew, you know…" Hilda stated, looking straight at his face. "You've literally read through my mind and uses it to your advantage…" she continued, remembering the whole Rapid Spin-Dig combo.
"Well, I guess I'm good at that. Though, you're a quick thinker, managing to think up a way even in a pinch." Hilbert stated back, smiling at her.
"But you know, I don't think I could win even if I don't faint mid battle. And Servine was my strongest, too!"
"Now, don't say that. You're probably one of the best trainer I've ever battled with" Hilbert said.
"But still…" Hilda trailed off. Truth to be told, her loss can be counted by one hand's fingers, and all those loss are before she even got a badge. She's on a winning streak since Trio Badge.
"Okay, moving on, most of your Pokemon excels in speed, no?" Hilbert suddenly asked.
"Oh, yes. Except my Musharna, all of them can be quite speedy."
"Then, let's think of some strategy for the Multi Train challenge!" Hilbert exclaimed.
"Multi what now?" Hilda asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Oh, you don't know? It's one of the facilities in the Gear Station. They had some trains which purpose is to held Pokemon battles. Four subways for such purpose so far. It's Single, Double, Triple or Rotation, and lastly Multi, the one we're taking." Hilbert paused before continuing. "The Multi Train's rules is a Tag Battle, where two Trainers teaming up against another two trainers in the train. If we win seven times consecutively, we'll win BP, which we can trade for stuffs."
"Wow, I don't really know that sort of subways…" Hilda muttered. "Anything else?"
"Hmm, except some Pokemons aren't allowed to be used there, if we had a 20 consecutive win, we'll be eglible to challenge the Subway Bosses. They're strong trainers."
"Have you ever fought them?" Hilda asked out of curiousity.
"Oh, only Ingo, since I only took on the Single Trains so far. He's quite skillful, but I still win, of course." He answered.
"Well, if you say so, I think this whole battle subway thing is going to be fun! Count me in!" Hilda perked, grinning from ear to ear.
"Sure thing, it'll be fun! Oh, you sure you'll be allright with your condition right now?" Hilbert voiced his concerns.
Hilda blinked her eyes, thinking for a moment. "Oh, I'll get better real quick. Approximately one hour, so no need to worry!" she assured her brunet companion with a smile.
"Great! Okay then, since you're good in speed…"
It was around half an hour. Hilbert and Hilda has been discussing the strategies can be used in battles. Hilda also learned that Hilbert's last Pokemon is a Fraxure, a dragon type Pokemon. When Hilda felt better and can actually stand up, Hilbert went somewhere else to get her Servine, as Hilda just sat in the cushion, waiting.
"Hilda!" Amy, the blonde cheerleader, called suddenly, running towards the brunette.
"Oh… Amy, was it? Something the matter?" Hilda asked, raising her eyebrows.
"No. I just want to say, you're great! Really, really great trainer!" she chirped loudly with a smile.
"Uhh?"
"Well, we've known Hilbert for awhile. He's sometimes get challenged by random snotty rainers around here, and let me tell you, he's never lost. Not even once. He didn't get serious often, and when he did, it'll traumatize the stupid snotty trainers!"
"Snotty… trainers?" Hilda asked with uncertainity, tilting her head.
"Yeah, many of those good for nothing folks from the Big Stadium and thinks they're the best. Yeah, let me say this again, you're great! His battles don't last long so often, so yeah, I have my reasons to be extremely excited!"
"Umm, thanks…" the brunette trainer stuttered, out of ideas what to say.
"Buuut~" Amy started in a sing-song voice. "What were you doing just now~?"
Hilda blinked her eyes in confusion. "Uh, what?"
"Aaw, come on! You know, Hilbert literally had a heart attack when you started collapsing! Sorry 'bout this, but we peeked through the window when Hilbert woke you up. You're sitting on his lap and everything! Then you two went so close to each other. And that's his jacket right? How cuuuute!" Amy squealed in excitement.
That froze Hilda. Sitting on his lap? Wait, she did. Jacket? Oh yeah, Hilbert himself put it on her shoulders. And when the Klanks started spinning, she also remembered sitting real close to Hilbert, their faces probably only few inches away from each other. But then again, she was too tired to object anything back then… Hilda ended up blushing from her thoughts. Arceus, what am I thinking? Surely he's just plain worried! What's with me –
"Aaw, you're blushing, Hilda!" Amy squealed even louder as Hilda's face turned into a Tamato Berry. "I'll tell you this, Hilbert's still single! So if you had any feelings, just grab him, tiger!"
"What in the world are you talking about, Amy!" Hilbert shouted from the distance angrily, quickly sped up to approach the girls.
"Whoops! Gotta go, see ya later, Hilda!" Amy quickly ran off somewhere else, leaving Hilda alone with Hilbert who just catched up with the brunette Pokemon Trainer.
"Geez, that girl…" the brunet muttered in annoyance. "Did she told you anything strange?"
"Umm, no?" Hilda half-lied nervously, scratching her cheek with her index finger. No, not strange. Just strangely embarrassing…
"Oh, good. She enjoys teasing people around, so don't mind her very much… By the way, sure you're feeling better now?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
But Hilda is in her dreamland again. Again, it feels weird to just see him in his shirt, I'm too used to his jacket? …How the hell did I not mind it just moments before? Well, I guess he really is kind of cute. And… HILDA! WHAT IS WRONG WITH –
Hilbert snapped his fingers in front of the brunette's face, causing her to yelp. "Eep!"
"I should've been used to it by now…" Hilbert said while shrugging. "So I'll repeat myself : Sure you're feeling better now?"
"Oh!" Hilda sheepishly grinned, taking her cap on the cushion, and slipped it into her head. "Yeah, I'm better," she stood up and stretched to prove her point. She then took Hilbert's jacket off. "Here, thanks."
"You're welcome" Hilbert said with a smile plastered on his face, taking his jacket and putting it on. "Feeling like moving right now?"
Hilda beamed brightly. "Sure!"
"Hmm, next Multi Train will be ready in… around ten minutes. Let's just wait at the benches, Hilda." Hilbert suggested after he finished looking through the subway's timeboard.
"Sure thing." Hilda answered.
Both brunets walked to a nearby bench, sitting next to each other. They're on the Gear Station, Multi-Train battle subway's line, waiting for the subway to arrive. The station wasn't much different than the one's to Anville Town.
Hilda dug through her pink slingbag, when she noticed she had a couple batch of MooMoo milk. She took both bottles, then she handed one to Hilbert. "Milks?" she offered.
Hilbert's brown eyes blinked for a moments before he accepted it, smiling. "Thanks" he simply said. Hilda smiled back at him, and both trainers opened the bottle, starting to slurp the contents.
"This thing is my favorite, it's so fresh and sweet!" Hilda spoke as she finished drinking half of the bottle.
"True. I think this kind of drinks originated from the Johto region…" Hilbert thought out loud.
"Yeah, I think it was produced by a Pokemon named Miltank. Nevertheless, it's really good, so, yeah."
"Say, Hilda?"
"Hmm?"
"Since we've got time to burn, why don't you tell me about Nuvema?" came the sudden unusual question from the brunet trainer, causing the other brunette to slap a confused face. "That's your hometown right?"
Hilda was silent for a few moments before she opened her mouth. "Well… it's a really quiet town, still mostly untouched with the moderns, especially the buildings. Unlike Accumula, you can't really find buildings taller than two stories. It's still surrounded by trees, with a river on the south. There's not much to see. No Pokemon Center obviously, if there's any traveling trainer stopped by, most residence have an extra room in their houses, so they can stay for awhile. You can say it's secluded, but it's really peaceful there…" Hilda explained, trailing off at the end.
Hilbert put his hand below his chin. "I can't really imagine a place like that. Even the far away Anville Town is planning to have a Pokemon Center build in it…"
"Well, thanks to the new subway, many trainers are going to visit there, right? I also heard there's this big turntable to show off some locomotives, so it'll be a tourist spot real quick." Hilda tried to reason, taking a sip of her milk.
"True, and it won't be long until they're be able to establish a network between Anville and main Unova. That'll be real cool…" he spoke with excitement.
Hilda saw that face of his, and for some reasons, she felt something pumping in her body. Tried to shrug it off, she started speaking again. "Anything else you'd like to know about Nuvema?"
Hilbert was drinking the rest of the milk when she asked that. "Hmm? I'd leave it out for now, better if I could see it myself, you know." He said with a grin.
"Huh? You really want to visit?" Hilda asked, surprised. Well, Nuvema isn't exactly a tourist hotspot, but it's a good place if you're searching for a quiet and peaceful life.
"Well, duh. You can't really find a relaxing places in Nuvema nowadays. Maybe White Forest, but you know, I've never been in the southmost of Unova."
Hilda smiled at the thought of Hilbert visiting her hometown. "Well, tell me whenever you want to go. I know many places you should visit if you're in Nuvema Town.
"What? You said that there's not much to see there… I'm just longing to breathe real fresh air near the waters, away from Black City…" Hilbert asked in confusion.
Hilda drank the rest of her MooMoo milk before opening her mouth. "Well, not that. Not much, actually, but there's this few spots where you can see the best sights of Nuvema, unknown to most people. Me and my friends always plays around outside the town if we have the time to," she explained.
"Well, then – "
"Attention Multi Train challengers! The Multi Train has arrived, and are waiting for the passengers! Please sign up in the counter with your partner beside you! Once again, the…"
"Oh boy, it's arrived already? Well, let's move it." Hilbert stood up, stretching his hands.
"Well, that's good! I can barely wait to try this train thing!" Hilda said with a grin, playing with her hair.
"Okay, then let's go quickly, before the crowd got bigger."
"Gothita, Confusion at Fraxure!"
"Servine, intercept with Vine Whip!"
"Pansear, stop Servine! Flamethrower!"
"Fraxure, Dragon Claw!"
As Gothita was about to use it's psychic attack, Hilda's Servine used Vine Whip to send Gothita flying at Pansear, who send out a Flamethrower. Of course, the attack accidently hit Gothita, fainting the Fixation Pokemon out. Pansear, still shocked over the mess-up, didn't noticed Fraxure's Dragon Claw coming, and it was directly hit by the attack. Pansear fainted, joining Gothita.
"Yes! We did it!" Hilda exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Sixth streak… We'll make it to the last one" her brunet companion simply said. "Good job. Return, Fraxure." Hilbert returned his Pokemon back to it's ball, and Hilda quickly did the same.
"Nice going, Servine. Return!" she spoke, returning the grass snake to it's ball.
"Hey, why the hell did you attack my Gothita!" the psychic type's trainer angrily shouted to his partner.
"What! It was in the way! You're blaming me?"
"Yeah! You're really aren't as good as you say!"
"Really? Well, YOU didn't do any good in the whole fight!"
Both of them started to glare at each other angrily, flames in their eyes igniting with hate. Hilda sweatdropped while Hilbert just rolled his eyes.
"Let's move to the next cab. I'd not be in a middle of some childish, pointless fight." Hilbert plainly stated, grabbing Hilda's arms and walked through the steel door.
"Childish? Why, you brat!"
"Don't get cocky you – "
Hilbert already slammed the door shut before the guy even finished. Hilda stared at him, confusion clearly in her face. "Hey, that was quite harsh, you know…" she commented, hands on her hips.
"Oh, yeah. I've been in this line before, and not surprisingly, there's many of those kind of trainers, who simply blames each other for their loss. They usually came here without a partner, so they had to pick someone on the spot. I'm simply sick of those." Hilbert explained, walking to the healing machine. He glanced at Hilda, who quickly handed her Servine's Pokeball. He then healed both Pokemon in the machine.
"Well, did you challenge this line often?" Hilda asked, tilting her head.
"Not so much. Mostly because we can challenge both Emmet and Ingo, the subway bosses, in a tag battle. But I find it hard to do it without a reliable partner," he send a smile to Hilda at this, who blushed. "There's one time I teamed up with some Rich Boy who couldn't care less about the battle. I ended up teaching him some manners… Wait, let's not go into that."
Hilda quietly giggled. Hilbert did always ramble about his annoyance during the subway challenge. It's been fun, since they're in their six winning streak without a hitch. Though, there's this problem, which Hilbert always complains about –
The subway suddenly made a sharp turns, still in full speed. This, obviously, caused quite a shock for the subway, obviously in Hilda's case.
"Eeep!" Hilda yelped, losing her footing from the sudden movement.
"Hilda!" the brunet called out, grabbing Hilda's arm and waist before she fell down.
"Oh, thanks a – "
Another sharp turns was made. Hilbert lose some of his balance, causing him to slide towards the subway's wall, though his grip of Hilda is still strong. Hilda, though, is another different story. Wasn't ready for it, her hand reached something close – Hilbert's jacket. Also losing her balance, her face is now against Hilbert's chest.
And this is exactly the reason why Hilbert didn't allow her to join the challenge yesterday, with her swollen cheek. For some reasons and another, the subway made a sharp turns real often, causing a shake in the subway. Hilbert, who has been challenging the Single Line, is quite used to it. Hilda, on the other hand, kept losing her balance, usually if not saved by Hilbert, fell down to the floor, to her embarrassment and the brunet's amusement.
Enough of that. Realizing they're now hugging each other, literally, caused Hilda's face to turn into a Tamato Berry. She can felt Hilbert's steady heartbeat, his grip of her waist still tight. She also notices how he's taller than she is, her head is just about his chin. Oddly enough, however awkward the situation might get, Hilda felt a bit… comfortable? Both of them stayed like that for a few minutes, enfulged in silence, only the subway's noise heard.
"Hilda… you okay there?" Hilbert broke the silence, sounding his concern.
Brought back to reality by his voice, Hilda immediately let her grip of his jacket go. "Oh, sorry! I was… you know, the shock, it made me kinda surprised! Yeah, sorry…"
"Oh… Actually, no big deal. Forget about it," he stated, letting his grip go.
Hilda, noticed that she's blushing, quickly looked on something else. She glanced at the door behind her. "I wonder what happened if someone's still battling there…" she trailed off.
The hell is wrong with me? I've been acting sort of strange, lately! And it's always concerning Hilbert, oddly enough. He's been nice, helping me like that even though he's kind of amused by it, but the hug was – Arceus! Help me! Hilda groaned from her thought.
Though, if she gave a glance on the brunet Pokemon Trainer, she'll notice that his face is almost as red as her's.
"Well anyway. No time worrying about that… The last trainers will appear sooner or later. And from my experiences, the last one is always tough. I don't know how, but it always is. So, get ready." Hilbert stated, taking his Fraxure's Pokeball back, handing Hilda her's. "There."
Hilda quickly took it, putting it on her belt. "Thanks. Though I do wonder what's taking it so long…"
Just as it's on cue, the door on the opposite side opened, as two spiky-haired blondes entered. They're dressed similar, the only difference is the color scheme, one green, one blue.
"It wasn't my fault! How am I supposed to know that your Scolipede had poison in it's claws?" the green clothed boy complained to his companion.
The blue one rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Common sense. Why do you think Scolipedes are deemed dangerous wild Pokemon in the forest?" he stated while shrugging, looking at his partner like he's stupid.
"But still…" he pouted. Then both of them started to look at their opponents, and both pair of black eyes' widened when they saw the brunet trainers, the green boy's one literally popped out. Actually, more on the sight of Hilda. Hilda also gave them a glance, and she almost dropped her jaw when she realizes who they are.
"C-Ceano? Oreste?" she finally spoke, her blue eyes still blinking rapidly.
"Hilda! That's you?" Oreste blurted out, trying to compose himself.
Hilbert's glance went to Hilda and the twins back and forth several times. "You guys know each other?" he asked.
Oreste opened his mouth to respond, but the younger twin beat him to it. "We've met on Route 4. I'm Ceano, and he's my twin, Oreste. We're from Driftveil." He answered while glancing at the green twin, who gave him a glare.
"I see. I'm Hilbert, nice to meet you. I'm from Lacunosa" Hilbert introduced himself, walking towards the twin and offered a handshake. Ceano gave him a normal handshake, but Oreste's shaking them up and down rapidly.
"Nice to meet you! I'm Oreste! We're the…"
"Leena's not here," Ceano cut him before he could embarrass himself.
"Oh yeah, I forgot…" he mumbled, glaring at his twin.
"Say, how's Leena doing?" Hilda asked.
"Oh, she's been doing – "
"You know what?" Ceano cut his twin brother again. "We can talk after this fight. We can't let the other trainers wait for us."
"True." Hilbert commented, a hand below his chin. "We might piss those guys, so let's battle first. Those guys can be annoying."
"That, much is true." Ceano commented.
Hilda glanced between Hilbert and Ceano. At situations like these, they'll make a good pair. Despite being happy-go-lucky, Hilbert is also a collected person, who got easily pissed off from one's stupid habit.
"Well, then let's heal our Pokemon first! After that, let's show em how it's done, Ceano!" Oreste pumped his fist.
"Yeah, whatever…" he mumbled in response, walking towards the healing machine.
"Say," Hilda heard Hilbert whispered to her. "Anything you know about those three? Battling wise, I mean."
"Not much since we've only met once, and we only had a talk…" Hilda tried to recollect her memories. "Oreste had a Boldore, a Herdier, and a Blitzle. Ceano… a Scolipede and a Sigilyph."
"Hmm, any of them had something… unique?" he asked again.
"Well actually, both of them. Oreste is, what you call, a Feeling Rater. Accurate one. And Ceano can guess the natures and the moves known by my Pokemon…"
"Say what?" Hilbert raised his eyebrows, as Hilda nodded. "Well, if that might be, things may get tough."
"True… Plus the fact that they're twins."
"But that's what makes these challenges fun, right?" Hilbert perked. Hilda took notice of his brown eyes. The whole six fight, he had the same usual aphatetic glare. But now, it seemed to be flickering with excitement. She wondered, did his eyes shone the same way when he battled her? Somehow, deep inside, she wished he did.
"Allright!" Oreste exclaimed, a Net Ball in his hand. "Let's go, shall we?"
Ceano only nodded in response, holding a Pokeball between his fingers until he expanded it. "I can tell this is going to be tough, so don't do anything stupid for me."
"Hey!" Oreste pouted again.
Hilbert took out his Pokeball from his belt. Glancing at Hilda, he smiled. "This'll be fun. You ready?"
Hilda returned the smile brightly, taking out a Pokeball of her own. "Sure thing. Let's do this!"
FINISHED! Sorry it took so long… I hate homeworks, especially Biology… Eew. I hope the Chess-shipping moments is enough to satisfy you, and I had tons of fun doing the battle, I kind of went overboard with the move selection. Yeah, whatever. It's twice the usual length, so I hope you're happy!
N's real name is… Natural Harmonia Gropius? WTF? Way to go, Game Freak! I can (abit) understand the natural part, and I sort of being told for the Gropius part, but the hell? Eew… You had an awful parents, N.
Yeah… I know Hilda's fainting all of the sudden is out of the logic, but… Fine! I can't think of good excuse to create some Chess-shipping moment! Yeah you win, I hope you're happy! Waaaah! (hides below a table)
Yeah, you might also question Hilda's and Hilbert's battling skill difference. Hey, Hilbert already won 4 badges, backtracking from Mistaltron. And if I were to make a sequel, I'll make him the one chosen by Reshiram. Why Reshiram and not Zekrom? Well… Reshiram looked plain cool, and beautiful too. XD
Okay… should I do the next chapter with a bit of Hilbert's perspective? Hmm… I wonder how it'll work out? Since I kind of planned a chapter where Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca teaming up for the Triple Line… It might be fun!
Okay, am responding to my new reviewer :
NadiaMiki – Yay, thanks for reviewing! And yes, I enjoy writing how Hilda kept blushing with Hilbert. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too, and sorry for updating late!
I hate you school.
Okay, review please? Reviews are one wrtier's steroids to continue a story, after all.