-
Damn, whoever can actually understood that gets a cookie.
YES! AT LAST! I'VE BEEN WANTING TO UPDATE THIS STORY SINCE WHAT FEELS LIKE FOREVER!
Yeah, I seriously apologize for the long pause, but school has been killing me since the last chapter finished. I have to chase many homeworks – mostly Biology – and not to mention other hard tests I have to study, doing late tests I didn't attend because of my vacation to Australia.
Not only that, I also suffered from a bit of writer's block. I was stuck with Ceano and Oreste's battle see, so it ended up like… Well, not gonna spoil.
Lastly, thanks to a certain awesome writer who told me about The World Ends With You, I find myself playing that non-stop. Even though after I finished the freaking story and the Secret Reports, I still find myself playing it nonetheless. Damn you Squeenix for making that awesome game. And thanks a lot to a certain writer for finally convincing me to try out that game.
Enough babbles…
Disclaimer : No, of course I don't own Pokemon! My name is NOT Satoshi Tajiri. And I won't be complaining about schoolworks if I owned it.
~ Subway Trouble ~
Chapter 6 : Went Far, Then Went Close
"Aaargh, that's it!"
Hilda and Hilbert both spun their heads from the battlefield towards the owner of the voice's – Ceano? The sudden outbreak caused the former to made a face, while the latter's trying to digest what made the calmer twin spat out like that out of nowhere.
Oreste, the older and less-composed twin, squeaked silently when his little twin flew his fist into the air after the outbreak. Five blinks of his black orbs before he started groaning. "Oh, no, Ceano…" he huffed, approaching his twin. "Chill down before – "
"Hoo-yah! C'mon buddy! Throw the gloves and lets kick in!" came the excited shout from the boy, black eyes shone with excitement.
"Cea – "
"Scolipede! Nonstopsteamroller!" Ceano cried out, cutting his twin, gesturing to the poison type centipede with his pointer finger.
Hilda swore that the Megapede Pokemon actually frowned before it started curling it's own body. Normally, she would respond by shouting another order to her Pokemon. And so would Hilbert, she believed. But if your typical calm-and-collected boy started being high, you wouldn't call the situation normal, would you?
Grinning nonstop, the blue twin jumped several times before curling his palms again. "Three, two, one, blast off!"
As the last word comes out from the trainer's mouth, his Scolipede started rolling. Not at Fraxure. Not at Servine. Just… rolled. Everywhere it wanted to. THAT, including the poor wall, or maybe it's partner Blitzle.
The trainers themselves also counts. Of course.
Hilda just failed to realize this sooner as the centipede went past her with full speed, almost hitting her right side. "What in the name of Arce – "
She failed to finish her sentence, since the Scolipede managed to hit the wall behind her, first. All they heard after that is a loud 'BANG', signaling that the Steamroller attacked the wall instead. Not that it wasn't obvious.
And, few seconds after, said wall is revealed to be intact (somehow), and Scolipede, still curled up, started to spun to regain speed. The trainers and their Pokemons puts two and two together before they started grimacing, save for Ceano and his Scolipede.
"Okay, time for round two!" the blue twin spoke – a bit loudly for his standard – after the silence. "Ready to roll, guys!"
"Eeek! Leave me outta this!" Hilda did the only thing that's possibly sane at the moment. Climbing the pole near the train's seats sounds sane enough, at least for now.
Oreste was frantic, trying to snap his crazed twin brother out of it. "Knock it off, Ceano! You're ruining our whole winning streak! Hello? Oh c'mon! We're on our 14th, remember?"
Hilbert's brown eyes went from Hilda, clinging on the pole for her dear life, Ceano, who started running to his Scolipede, and lastly Oreste after trying to 'calm' his brother down.
"Geez," he spoke, groaning. "You'd think you'll save your dear lives from getting steamrolled first, rather than caring for your winning streak.,," he flatly stated to the older twin's general direction, despite knowing full well that he won't get a response.
Hilda did heard him though. "Geez," she whispered, hands gripping to the pole tight enough to break a Pokeball. "You'd think you'll save your dear lives by protecting yourself first, rather than pointing out that..."
This doesn't went unnoticed. "Hmm?" Hilbert spun his head towards the brunette, raising his eyebrows. "Did you say something?"
"No. Nothing."
"I told you we shouldn't have went for the second round. This is your fault, Oreste." Ceano muttered, hands in his pockets.
"What?" Oreste groaned. "Oh, so it's MY fault? This coming from the one started ordering his Scolipede to literally roll the whole train flat!"
The younger twin's eyes twitched, before fixing it's gaze into the older twin. "It was your whining that I have to keep up with you in the first place. Wouldn't started that if we didn't join up the train again."
"Greaat, stop blaming everything on me!"
"Umm, guys?" Hilda raised a hand, trying to get their attention. "Do you mind?"
The twins jerked their heads towards the brunette. They're at the Subway Station, after the whole ordeal was noticed by the camera (who knows why it took ten minutes to realize the whole craziness) and the battle was stopped, with Hilda and Hilbert declared the winner because apparently, Ceano broke the rules. Sort of.
It was going well at first, with the brunets team using Servine and Fraxure, and the twins goes with Scolipede and Blitzle. They managed to put up a good fight, when suddenly Ceano just… started… that. You know.
Though, thanks to the fifteen-minute-madness-including-steamroller, the trainers and their Pokemon just trying to focus to not get hit – since the Scolipede is a bit too fast for their tastes – resulting some scratches all over their clothes. Not to mention the energy wasted.
Ceano is the one with least damage, well it was obvious why. Oreste, on the other hand, got his clothes tattered with minor scratches here and there. Hilbert's pants has a few scratch mark and some of Hilda's black vest's material came off.
"Just what the hell happened there?" Hilda asked, blinking her eyes in disbelief. Well, not that she's not pissed about her ruined vest, but she can always ask her mom to send her new ones. The whole thing with Ceano grinning widely like a madman sounds much… disturbing, to be honest.
"What happened?" Oreste asked back in annoyance. "Ceano's being high, that's all. Luckily he's not on sugar rush."
"You know, that doesn't explain anything…" Hilda muttered under her breath, earning a silent nod of agreement from her partner.
"Hmm…" Oreste hummed, eyebrows furrowing before he glanced at Ceano. Seeing that he won't get any help from his younger twin (much to his exasparation), he huffed, crossing his arms with a pout. He actually looked like he's thinking before his mouth opened.
"Well… how do I put this? Ceano isn't usually high," the statement earned Oreste a dirty look from his twin, but he shrugged nonchalantly and continued on. "Umm, yeah, I was speaking about sugar rush? Oh, caffeine!" he snapped his fingers when his inspiration struck. "Say, one gets like real crazy because of caffeine overdose, and they started, you know. And in this case, switch the caffeine into overexcitement, and you have Ceano." He finished, sending a teasing grin to his brother.
The teenagers is swept by a quick, fleeting awkward silence. Hilda and Hilbert shared a glance, trying to decide who's going to comment on that.
"…Well… that was… erm…" Hilda smiled awkwardly, rubbing her cheek with her finger. "I don't know, I mean, I don't really expect it." She tried, blue eyes wandered off until it locked into Ceano's own blacks. "Not that I don't understand how annoying those can get, Ceano."
A moment of quick, mutual understanding passed. Of course Hilda would say something to that effect. She had an Agrophobia, which will make her faint if she's being a center of a crowd. She can more or less relate to Ceano's quirky fits in battling. The similarity? It made their Pokemon Battles somewhat much difficult at times.
Ceano's thin lips curled up into a small smile. "I know. You probably had a similar problem, hmm?" he commented, fingers below his chin.
The brunette rolled her blue orbs, grimacing. "Once resulted in me postponing my Gym battle because there's just too many spectactors around, I have to make a private appointment with Burgh." Hilda responded as her eyes twitched at the memories back in Castelia City.
"I'll say," he responded, nodding in agreement.
The twins and Hilda might not notice this, but the whole warm-happy-friendly chat between Ceano and Hilda is starting to grate on Hilbert's nerves. Not that the brunet Pokemon Trainer had any inkling why he does.
His brown eyes lazily scanned over the area, and suddenly those eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. Mumbling something about noticing someone familiar, he quickly but silently jogged away. Ceano and Hilda are too drowned in their conversations, but Oreste managed to reply a quick 'okay' to him.
When the three Pokemon Trainers left the Multi-Train railway back to the main Gear Station, they're quickly approached by a familiar girl with a wavy brown hair. Her eyes widened before she quickly ran towards Hilda.
"Whee! Hilda! Nice to see you here!" Leena chirped, her green eyes tinkling in excitement as she pulled her friend into a big Beartic hug for a full sixty seconds.
"M –Me-Medic!" Hilda yelped, struggling from the lack of air in her lungs.
"C'mon, Leena! Give her some air, would you?" Oreste called out, trying to pry her hands off the suffocated brunette, while Ceano just rolled his eyes, exasparation written all over his face.
The excited girl blinked a few times before her cheek is dusted with a slight red, eventually letting Hilda off her hug. "Sorry! I just got a teeny bit delighted! You okay?"
It took Hilda around ten seconds to regain her breath, slapping a smile before facing her friend. "I'll be. How's your Desert Resort trip?" she asked.
"Well… It was great! We even explored the Relic Castle a little bit, and one of the nice man inside gave us a Plume Fossil!" came the a-bit-too-loud answer from the girl, though her bright smile is quickly changed into a frown. "It was, at least until Oreste decided to get himself bitten by a wild Sandile. Party crasher…" she gave the older twin a combination of a glare and a pout.
"Hey! That wasn't my fault! You couldn't really see anything on the sands in the middle of a sandstorm!" Oreste shot back in an attempt to defend himself.
"That's why you shouldn't have broken your goggles—"
"Oh, shut up, Oreste! Which sides are you on?"
Hilda internally sweatdropped when both Leena and Ceano decided to gang up on Oreste's so-called-stupidity, silently wishing she didn't bring the whole thing up. Casting a quick glance to her surrounding, and that's when she noticed her subway partner is missing.
She coughed several times, gaining curious glances from the bickering trainers. "Hey, any idea where Hilbert has gone to? I didn't noticed he slipped somewhere…" she trailed off at the end, blue eyes trying to spot the taller brunet.
"Oh! He said he saw someone familiar, I think he went somewhere to catch up… Though I don't know where." Oreste answered.
"Geez, wonder where he went…"
"Hilbert?" Leena questioned, tilting her head.
"My subway challenge partner for the Multi-Train," Hilda simply answered.
"Childhood friend?"
"No, just met him a few days ago. The next day after the whole Route 4 thing, actually."
"Wow, you're partnered up with some guy you've known less than a week?"
"Well, why not? He's good natured, and is much better than me at Pokemon Battles. And our style isn't so much different, couldn't have picked a better partner…"
A foreign mischievous glint appeared at the corner of Leena's green orbs, went unnoticed by Hilda but Ceano and Oreste. "Hmm…" she mumbled with a lilt, "What's he's like?" she continued with a slight hint of amusement.
"Brown hair, blue jacket, red-and-white cap. Seen someone like him?"
Leena's mind screeched into a halt, Oreste sweatdropped, and Ceano is trying hard to contain his laughter. Hilda totally missed Leena's point.
Hilda blinked innocently, Klinks and Klanks in her mind trying to figure out why is Leena gaping, and what on Arceus happened to the twins. "Did I say something funny? Leena? Oreste? Ceano?"
Leena is still trying to put her mind together, Ceano just started snickering – as if what she asked just made the situation even more hilarious – and Oreste shrugged awkwardly. "Okay guys, you're creeping me out…" she muttered.
"Erm! No!" Leena managed, waving her hands. "No, nothings wrong! Well actually, it is – mm, I mean, I think I saw someone like him – eep!" the girl cried out, closing her mouth.
It was obvious to Ceano and Oreste that Leena is just making the last line up in panic, but Hilda didn't know. "Really?" she asked, blue eyes perked up. "Where? He musn't have gone far away…"
"Mmm… Mmm…" the girl glanced her surroundings, deciding from Hilda's tone, she expected her to really know where did her (boy)friendhas gone to. Pointing to a random direction, she opened her mouth. "Over there, it was! Not sure he's still there…"
Looking towards the direction Leena showed, meters away, both Hilda and the twins actually noticed a brunet familiar cap and blue jacket. Hilbert is talking to two adults, one dressed in black, another in white.
Chanseys bless you, Leena, was what inside both twins' head at the moment. After noticing her partner, Hilda's mouth twitched into a wide grin. "Oh, that's him, allright! Thanks Leena!" she exclaimed, giving the girl a quick hug. "I'm going to talk to him for a minute!"
With that, Hilda dashed off towards said direction, leaving the Driftveil trainers behind. The twins shared a glance when Leena's green orbs is blinking madly, trying to digest what is actually happening. "Oreste? Ceano?" she finally asked. "Hint?"
Both boys gave out exaggerated sighs, with Ceano eventually shrugged and turned towards his friend. "Let's just say all's well that ends well. Lucky guess."
"Umm… I guess?"
Hilda picked up the pace when Hilbert and the adults is walking towards somewhere else. When she finally caught up, she heard a piece of their conversation.
"…That's lame. I was looking towards it. Get it finished sooner, will you?" Hilbert stated flatly while crossing his arms, brown eyes narrowed in disappointment.
"Sorry 'bout that, kid. But didn't you said you got a fossil to revive? Heard there's a guy from Nacrene in the Pokemon Center, offering fossil reviving service," the one dressed in white answered with a shrug.
"Really?"
"Hey, Hilbert!"
Three of them turned to face a panting Hilda, trying to catch her breath as she approached them. Wiping sweats from her forehead, she turned to the brunet boy with a questioning look. "What's wrong? Why you didn't tell me you're running off?"
"I did. You didn't heard?" Hilbert asked back.
"Oh," was Hilda's simple reply, silently reminding herself of Oreste's words. "Well, at least you could've told me where are you going…" she trailed off, fidgeting with her cap.
Ignoring Hilda's statement, Hilbert asked again. "Well? Where's Ceano and Oreste?" came the question from the boy, eyebrows raised while glancing at her.
"Oh, well, they're somewhere back there," Hilda's hand waved somewhere at her back. "I'm just coming here to – "
"Well, why not talk with them instead?"
He probably didn't mean it, but the statement came more like of a scowl, and he immediately regret letting his mixed emotions in charge of his mind. Hilda's face, from confusion slowly turned gloomy, if not sad altogether.
Both adults recognized the situation, and it's not exactly too friendly. Hilbert must've in a bad mood, they thought. The one dressed in black was about to interfere, but decided against it. The white one shared a glance with him, and let out a silent sigh.
"…Well…" Hilda managed, voice stirred if not croacky, hands fidgeting with her cap, and she's shifting her feets nonstop. Suddenly, she felt the ground is so interesting, she kept staring at it. "…I'll see you later, then?"
Hilbert, still busy with his own mind, only managed a unintelligible murmur that sounds like 'hmm'. Noticing wets in her eyes, she did a quick nod before shuffled quickly, half jogged towards the exit, hoping no one saw her tears.
And a few moments later, when Hilda was out from hearing, both adults are surprised with an outburst from Hilbert.
"Stupid, stupid, hell is wrong with me!" was the shout from the brunet trainer, slightly hitting his own head.
"Seriously, Hilbert," the adult in white spoke, crossing his arms, "You could've been a bit nicer, not that I know your problems…"
"Yeah, she's a girl, you know…" the black one added, with a little hint of tease and amusement.
"Oh quit it, Emmet, Ingo…" he mumbled in annoyance.
What did I do wrong?
That's what in Hilda's head at the moment, other than replaying her quick conversation with Hilbert an hour ago in the Gear Station. She quickly left him due to shock, managed to said a quick (yet shaky) 'later' to Leena and the twins, then speeding off to the Pokemon Center.
Slurping her MooMoo Milk, she tried to name a few reason of why would Hilbert act so… distant? Maybe. Yeah, maybe it's because she's ignoring him with the whole conversation with Ceano? Or because she didn't heard him when he said he's going, then accuse him for not telling her anything? Or both?
She slumped her head flat on the cafetaria's table, her pink-and-white cap just beside her head, her brown hair untied, covering her face. She's never really good with this kind of problems in general. Nuvema townfolks always says that she can be so slow sometimes, is this what they meant?
Another few minutes of sulking before she slammed her hands into the table.
"Okay… No use mumbling about the past!" she whispered to herself. "You're in Nimbasa now, Hilda. Don't spend your valuable time over these kind of things…"
Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, she slapped her cheeks lightly with her hands. "I'll apologize to him later, if we bumped to each other. Hopefully…" she placed her hands in front of her chest. "Okay, for now, I'll just go sightseeing."
Opening the brochures she took from the entrance, she looked over the places she could visit. Gear Station, check. Shopping Street, check. Small Court and Big Stadium? Pass. Pokemon Musical? Good idea, but it's quite far away from here. "Geez… Where to go…"
Her blue eyes wandered and eventually fell into a picture of a bright ferris wheel in the night. Amusement Park, just next to Elesa's Roller Coaster Gym. She clapped her hands in delight. "That's it! I'll go over there! It's just a few blocks away from here, too."
Satisfied with her choice, she quickly folds the brochures, quickly putting them into her pink slingbag, followed with a few bottles of the fresh bought MooMoo Milk. Yeah, she bought more than one, obviously! She slinged her bag over her shoulder, and quickly knots her hair into a ponytail and slipped her cap back on.
After making sure the table is tidy enough, she quickly skipped to the exit. Before she left the Pokemon Center, she still managed to look at the clock. Just few minutes past eight. Perfect timing for a Ferris Wheel ride, she thought before she went past the sliding doors.
There's not much people around, but she'll bet the last of her money that the Amusement Park is still crowded. It was already quite dark, but the streetlamps are on, giving Hilda and the other residents more than enough light to explore the city. Squinting her eyes, she can spot the bright ferris wheel in the distance. "Great, now I won't even need a map," she commented brightly, and started jogging.
She wouldn't have stopped, if she didn't heard something… suspicious.
"What business would you two have with me, now?"
The sound came with a hint of tough and intimidating, but with a slightest of fear mixed in it. It came from an old man, backed to a corner by two young couple dressed in a weird similar uniform, consisted of black tights covered with white robes with an emblem written 'P' and a few lines in the back, colored blue with black and white background, and blue gloves, hoods, and boots to complete it.
"Gramps," the male one snarled at the old man, turquoise eyes flashed dangerously. "We know you run the daycare. Now just, give us some slack and listen."
The old man stiffened visibly, but trying to regain his cool and placing his tough man façade. "How would you know?"
The female's thin lips twitched into a chesire cat grin. "Of course we know, we're Team Plasma," she answered, stating it like it would explains everything. "We're trying to free all Pokemon from selfish humans. Daycares, of course, are one kind of confinement of Pokemon. Now, would you please hand us over the Pokemons?" she finished, smug-sly grin still placed on her face.
"What kind of nonsense are you thugs pulling?"
"Nonsense? Thugs? I believe you're misleaded, grandpa. We're doing this for Pokemon liberation. Hand them over, gramps, or we'll get… uncivil." The woman finished, taking a Pokeball from her belt, gesturing her companion to do the same.
The daycare man panicked, glancing at his surrounding. It's a bad thing he encountered them in a street without any people walking by – but then again, that's the point of this outrageous behavior. Still, there's no way he's giving any Pokemon to this twisted, shady couple. But they have threatened to use force, have they?
"Hey, pops, how – "
Something flew from the streets in their backs, immediately connected into the man's head and caused a loud 'thump' before any of them could notice, let alone react. The man lose his balance, kneeling to the ground while rubbing the aching spot in his head.
"The hell! What was that!" he yelled with a hoarse voice, gritting his teeth. The woman's similar turquoise eyes locked into whatever that hit her companion's head. It was a bottle, made of special plastic, filled with white liquid with a cow-like mark in it's cap.
"MooMoo Milk?" she mused in confusion, a hand below her chin. Too focused putting the two into two, she didn't notice another similar bottle was sent flying. And a few seconds later, said bottle struck right on the woman's face.
"Argh! Who the hell is doing this?" she scowled, a hand covering her fuming face.
"What the hell is wrong with you, hypocrites? Don't have anything better to do than mess with other people and spat your wacky, meaningless liberation stuff?"
The voice came from a girl approaching them, with long brown hair tied into a ponytail, wearing a white-and-pink cap. Her blue eyes flashed in resentment, glaring daggers at both Plasma members, hands curled into a fists.
Gathering her wits, the woman retorted back. "Hypocrites? Meaningless? Well, of course young girls like you won't understand. Back off, missy, or we'll be taking your Pokemon too!" she spat back, venom lacing her threatening words while taking out her own Pokeball.
"There you said it, taking? You've got to be kidding me," Hilda answered back, a hand reaching her belt. "You really are hypocrites…" she stated flatly, but said flat tone betrayed by the mocking glare she shot.
"That's – "
"I don't care whatever oh-so-noble reasons you might have, but a crime is a crime, so you back off the old man or we'll get uncivil!" she cut the woman angrily, taking two Pokeballs from her belt and expanded it.
The male plasma grunt eventually stood up, Pokeball gripped tightly in his hand, irritation and anger written all over his facial features. "If that's what you ask, brat!"
"Water Gun! Leaf Tornado!"
The Spray Pokemon shot a streaming jet of water towards the grunts' Trubbish and Watchog, and soon after, a flock of leaves flew from the Grass Snake Pokemon, colliding with the water jet, causing the water to split into several smaller yet still as powerful jets, most of them hitting to their enemies, eventually knocking them out.
Hilda said nothing, instead giving both grunts a death glare, as her Pokemon readied themselves for another battle, even though they knew the grunts are out of usable Pokemon. Said grunts, confidence seeping out from their minds, considering brute force but immediately dismissed the thought after reminding themselves the girl has her Pokemon.
"Umm…" the male grunts spoke to his companion. "This went downhill so fast…"
Twitching her eyes in annoyance, she eventually shrugs. "I know… I guess… We'd better run!"
That said, both oddly-dressed adults rushed past Hilda, towards the deeper part of the city.
"Let's hide out in the Amusement Park!"
"Bastards!" Hilda cried out in anger, hands balled into a fist. She was about to gave chase when she was grabbed by the shoulder. She turned around to see the old man, with a grateful smile, spoke to her.
"Young lady, thanks for helping me. I don't know what they would've done if…"
Anger eventually leaving her momentarily, she nodded, smiling back. "Don't mention it. You okay, mister?" she asked politely with a concern tone.
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks to you."
"That's a relief…" she muttered with a content sigh, taking out her Pokeballs. "Panpour, Servine, return!" she called out, returning her trusted Pokemon back to their respective balls, and clipped them in her belt.
"But, seriously, those good-for-nothing plasmids! Daycares aren't confinements! If anything, they're doing Pokemon good! Excuse me, mister, but I'm going after them!"
Before the old man could respond, Hilda turned on her heels, quickly pacing towards the Amusement Park. Deciding he won't be able to catch up with the young trainer, he didn't gave chase. Instead, he quickly is lost in thought.
"I saw her before, hmm…" he pondered for a few minutes, closing his eyes in thought. "That trainer… Ah!" he immediately clapped his hand. "It's the same trainer from the Subway jack!"
A smile was plastered all over his face. "No wonder she looked so familiar… I should follow her, have to say thanks for your savior, would you?" he told himself, moving his way towards the Amusement Park, when a light tap on his shoulder caught his attention.
"Excuse me, mister? Who were you talking about?"
Stomping her feet angrily to the white pavement of the Amusement Park, her head spun everywhere, blue eyes trying to spot the Plasma grunts she encountered earlier.
"Tch, where could those criminals have gone to…" she murmured to herself, disgusted tone all over her voice.
Walking past the big Pikachu statue on her left, still trying to spot the Plasma members, she didn't notice someone approaching her. It was until he was just a feet away from her, did she pay attention to her front.
And saw a familiar green-haired man in front of her face.
"Eeep!" she yelped, jumping back a few feets away. Finally taking a good look of the person in front of her, she put on a polite smile and greeted him. "Ah, sorry. N, right?" she spoke as calm as she could.
"You're looking for Team Plasma, right?" the green eyed trainer simply questioned, cutting right to the main point.
"Oh! You saw those crooks? Where did they ran off to?"
N's hand twitched from a part of Hilda's sentences, but said nothing towards it. Instead, he gestured towards his back. "They ran off somewhere that way. Come here."
"Okay."
Without hesitation, Hilda silently followed N, her head glancing to her left and right most of the time, trying to look for the criminals. N didn't said another word either, just paying attention to the road. After passing through Elesa's Gym and most of the facilities the Amusement Park provided, they ended up in a dead end, the ferris wheel just next to them.
"I can't find them…" Hilda mused, crossing her arms. "Where did they go?" she asked, more like to herself.
"They doesn't seem to be around here," N suddenly spoke, his green eyes locked at the ferris wheel. "We could try ride the ferris wheel and see if we could spot them," he offered, glancing to Hilda.
"Hmm…" she trailed off, putting her hand below her chin, another hand in her hips. "Sounds like a plan... Wait. We?" she replied with a questioning tone, eyebrows raised.
"The ferris wheel is for two people. You'll need someone else if you want to ride it."
"Oh. Well, if you have the time…"
It will be quite awkward, Hilda told herself. She wasn't exactly N's friend, just acquaintances with a few Pokemon Battles they had. She's never fond of his Pokemon-love speech, either. But she got criminals to chase, and since he offered, well…
"I love ferris wheels," came the response from the taller man. "The circular motions… the mechanics… They're like a collection of elegant formulas…" he muttered softly, his green eyes tinkled of a childlike excitement.
"Well, you seemed like you want to go. Sure, then."
At least he'll have something better to do that bother her inside. And she got MooMoo Milk ammunition to throw at him in case he's doing anything funny. And she can always protect herself.
The waiting line wasn't too much, since it's already night, but they got in the last cab. Quickly seating herself in one of the chairs and ignoring the peculiar wink from the ferris wheel staff, she examined the cab as N took a seat on the opposite side. The cab wasn't so big… but the window is made of glass. There's even a binocular on her seat, neat!
She took the binocular as the ferris wheel started to move, and as she can see the outside view, she gaped. The dark night is decorated with countless lights from the city, and as her cab went higher, the view just went even more breathtaking and beautiful. After succumbing to it's beauty for a few minutes, she snapped out of it.
"Okay…" she muttered. "I could go for a ride another time… Now, to look for those crooks…"
Noticing N is doing pretty much the same thing she did, she let him be, taking a pair of binoculars, and started to scan through the Amusement Park. She didn't spot the ridiculous-clothed criminals when they're almost at the peak, until N suddenly snapped her from her concentration.
"Hilda?"
"…Yes?" came the late response, blue eyes still on the binoculars, paying no attention her companion.
N didn't continue whatever he was about to say, so Hilda shrugged, focusing back at the binoculars. After going past the peak, on the way down, was when N continued.
"First… I must tell you something…" he took a deep breath, before he opened her mouth to speak again.
"I am the king of Team Plasma."
A simple sentence. Seven words. That's all he need to say to snap Hilda from her deep focus, widened blue eyes thrown off from the binocular, to glare at the man in front of her.
"Wha..?"
"Ghetsis asked me to work with him to save the Pokemon."
…King? …Ghetsis? …Save Pokemon?
"…I wonder how many Pokemon exist in this world…"
Did he said…. King?
Hilda is still lost in her thought, despite her body moved into a defensive stances, which was paid no mind by the Plasma leader.
Still had the blank look on her eyes, she caused a confusion from the staff who winked at her earlier. Wordlessly leaving the ferris wheel building, she faced N, who also stared blankly at her. After most of the people had left the area, N started to speak again.
"Now, Hilda, do you follow my logic?"
This asshole. Their leader? Those hypocrites, good-for-nothing's king?
Her eyes came into a realization. She quickly approached the taller, green haired man.
And her balled fist came into a contact with said man's jaw. Hard.
N is obviously shocked from the brunette's outrageous action. He stumbled a few steps back, losing his balance a little bit, hand reaching his soon-to-be-swollen wound. His sight is quickly locked at the furious brunette, who's giving him a death glare.
If a glare could kill, N would probably had died ten times over.
"Logic…?" she spat the word like it was poisonus. "Logic, my ass!" she swore loudly, still glaring daggers at the Plasma's leader. "So, this 'we're going to liberate Pokemon so we can do whatever we like' I've been hearing the whole time is what you call logic? Is that what you meant?" she demanded, towering the man in front of her.
N was about to retort when Hilda cut him. "I knew you weren't exactly normal, but from what I can get from your random speech, I gather that you liked Pokemon, deep down… So I thought you couldn't be so bad," she paused, gathering her breath.
"Hell, I'm dead wrong!" she yelled out. "No, you're much worse! You're actually their leader! Oh, what a sick joke! That's just as low you can get, N!"
Few moments of silence passed before N stood, glaring down at the shorter brunette angrily. He was going to spat back, if it weren't for a few people approaching them.
They revealed to be five Plasma grunts, including the two Hilda was looking for.
"Lord N!" the female grunt from before spoke as she approached him. "We heard the girl's yell –" she stopped her sentence with a gasp when she noticed his wounded jaw, courtesy from the brunette trainer in front of him.
"You, child! What have you done to our lord?" she demanded, stepping in front of her king, taking out another Pokeball (she must've healed her Pokemon… or got another one, considering the team).
"You've gone over your limit, brat!" the male grunt screeched towards Hilda, also taking out another Pokeball. "It's five against one, you're going to pay what you've done!" The gesture was eventually followed by the other three, all of them stared in disbelief. This little girl has punched their king? The nerve!
Hilda didn't flinch – the fire was splashed with oils – and glared at them, taking out the Pokeballs of her own. "I don't care, get the hell out of my sight!" she commanded with an angry scowl, waving her hand. "My business is with your so-called leader!"
Flash of lights, two Watchogs, a Purrloin, a Krokorok, and a Trubbish was sent out by the grunts. Hilda reacted by sending out her Servine and her Musharna out, both immediately tensed when they noticed there's five, and their trainer blazing in fury. Knowing the situation, they readied a battle stance.
"Confuse Ray!"
"Safeguard!"
"Bite!"
"Pursuit!"
"Take Down!"
"Vine Whip!"
Both Watchog sent out a flash of yellow light, which was stopped when a blue barrier appeared, surrounding both Servine and Musharna. The other three Pokemon leaned in for an attack, but was intercepted with Servine's Vine Whip. If Hilda notices the situation is quite grim, she didn't show anything.
"Uurgh! Okay, aim at that Musharna, guys!" one of them cried out, knowing it's slower than the Servine. Both Krokorok and Purrloin leaned in towards Musharna, and the other three ran towards Servine.
"Okay, use – "
"Psychic, Reuniclus!"
The Watchogs and the Trubbish was suddenly enfulged by a thin, pale blue light, and suddenly shot a few feets from the ground, and was slammed down quickly, causing the ground below them to crack. Three of them immediately fainted from the psychic type attack.
"What the – "
Hilda know that trainer's voice all too well, but still focusing at the battlefield, she shouted. "Servine, block those two with Leaf Tornado!"
It was a close call, but the dark type Pokemons belonged to the grunts was quickly driven away by the grass-type attack, sending them a good few feets away from the psychic tapir. The Krokorok fainted, while the Purrloin is barely standing.
"Hilda!" her helper cried out, quickly ran past the grunts, followed by his Reuniclus, going to her left side. "You okay?" he quickly asked, brown eyes on her, looking at the brunette worriedly.
"I'm… fine." Hilda managed with a gulp, her mind still cloudy.
And of course Hilbert didn't buy that. He could heard her angry tantrums from the park's entrance, and from his knowledge about the brunette, she has a bad emotion control. He turned over to the grunts in front of him.
"Five against two? That's low. And you said you want to save Pokemon, what a load." He flatly stated, crossing his arms with a frown on his face. "Or am I the one to talk? It's one against three now, after all…" he taunted with a mocking smirk on his face, eyeing the only Pokemon standing – Purrloin.
The grunts gritted their teeth, sweating bullets after witnessing their Pokemon got knocked out so quickly, when a cough gained their attention as their leader managed to stood up, having recovering his wits from Hilda's punch and outburst. Hilbert blinked a few times when he saw N's jaw, and can barely hold a snicker while eyeing Hilda. Violence, much? He thought playfully.
"I'm fine, fellow Plasma members," N addressed his underlings, "Worry not. Though I would like all of you to leave this area, and take care of our wounded friends." He finished, eyeing the grunts' Pokemon.
"But, sire –"
"You're part of the people we brought to help us save the Pokemon, so you're under my protection as well." He eyed all of the grunts. "Leave, and let my battle cover your retreat."
Knowing there's no room to argue, the grunts was left with no choice but to quickly nod and salute, before quickly leaving the scene.
"Hey, come back here!" Hilda shouted, quickly ran off to gave chase. N was about to block her path, when Hilbert quickly grabbed his hands, with a bit too much force.
"You're dealing with me, N. Oh, excuse me, should I address you as the King?" he spat coldly, brown eyes hardened in resentment.
The cold tone quickly gained Hilda's attention. She quickly looked over at her friend, holding N's wrist. Hilbert quickly gave her a nod. A silent understanding was shared between them. Hilda managed a quick smile before she ran off, chasing the escaping Plasma grunts.
After Hilda was far enough, Hilbert loosened his grip of N, letting blood circulate to it once more. N stared blankly at the brunet Pokemon Trainer.
"Ah… Now, the future I envisioned…" he murmured to himself, before his green eyes locked into Hilbert's icy brown ones. "I am not sure I can outdo your friend, let alone you… Perhaps I won't be able to beat you here and now, but I'll battle you anyway."
A smirk made it's way towards Hilbert's face. "Hmm," was all he said.
Hilda was panting, needless to say she was tired. Well, she would still run to chase those crooks, but they went through to Route 4, and by the time she found her goggles, they were already too far to chase. And she can't get herself lost in the desert.
Her mind was quickly set on someone else. Hilbert! He's battling N… Damn! Gotta get to him, real quick! She told herself as she ran back towards the Amusement Park. I hope – no. He'll be allright.
And it was proven true – by the time she caught up, N's last Pokemon – Sigilyph – is already on the ground, fainted, with Hilbert's Tirtouga still standing. Wait, Tirtouga? He must've revived it… When she's in the earshot, she can only heard the last bit of (probably) N's little speech.
"…Try and stop me there, if you dare! If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never be able to defeat me."
Hilbert rolled his eyes in irritation, arms still crossed. He eventually shrugged after both of them returned their Pokemon back to their balls. "Say what you will, N. I pretty much don't care."
They exchanged a glance, green locked into brown, before N turned away, going past Hilda, to the Amusement Park's exit. Both brunet trainers stood in silence, and when N was out of sight, Hilda quickly approached Hilbert.
"…How was it?" she asked, uncertain about what would she say to him.
He shrugged to her question. "He wasn't so good, despite the last bit of his speech. Talk about overconfident." He placed his hand on Hilda's shoulder for assurance. "And you?"
Hilda frowned silently, bitting her lower lip, blue eyes locked into her black boots. "Sorry… Those crooks got away. Went to Route 4… They're out of sight by the time I got my goggles…" she explained with a disappointed tone in her voice.
Noticing Hilda's discomfort, he rubbed circles on her back. "Hey, it's cool. If they're good at anything, it's running away. Or being a load of hypocrites, it just ran through their 'families'…" he spoke, airquoting his last word in an attempt to cheer the brunette up.
Hilda giggled a little bit, before her face turned into a melancholy smile. "True… All of them."
Now that the whole Team Plasma is over by today, both of them are enfulged in uncomfortable, awkward silence as they slowly walked side-by-side to the exit. After the not-so-friendly conversation they had back at the Gear Station, of course…
"Umm… so you know N?" she asked, trying to break the awkward silence.
"Ah… We've met. Several times. Can't say I'm friend with him… And not after the whole confession."
"Me neither…"
Another awkward silence. Hilda groaned internally.
"How did you find me?" she tried another topic.
"…Ah? Oh, it's the old man you helped from those grunts. He told me you helped him and you went after them to here… And he also said thanks."
"I see…"
Another awkward silence. Hilda groaned loudly, internally.
"By the way, where did you get that Tirtouga?" she asked, hopefully this time, it would break the ice between them.
"…Oh. There's this guy from Nacrene, he's offering fossil reviving services, so with his help, I revived the Cover Fossil I got from Anville."
"Is it a he or a she?"
"He."
Another awkward silence. Hilda groaned loudly, internally in exasparation. It seems that it's time to set the whole things right over their conversation few hours ago.
Okay, this is it, Hilda! Stop being a chicken already! Just call him, and say you're sorry for ignoring him and such! She told herself in her mind. Okay… one… two… three…
"Umm, Hilbert?"
"Say, Hilda?"
Both brunets blinked their eyes when they noticed they're calling each other at the same time.
"Oh, you want to say something? Go on…" she muttered softly.
"Nah, you called me first. What is it?" he asked instead.
"Well, it doesn't matter. You can tell me first."
"Just go on first, I don't mind."
"But – "
"Oh, go on!"
Bitting her lower lip again, she gathered all courages inside her before she opened her mouth. "You know… I'm… sorry about the thing at the Gear Station…" she said softly, trying to avoid Hilbert's brown eyes. "I mean, you've probably pissed because I kind of ignored you with Ceano and Oreste – "
"What? You're apologizing? No, Hilda. Don't." Hilbert suddenly cut in, looking at her in disbelief. "I was gonna talk about that… Sorry for snapping at you all of the sudden like that… I was in a bad mood, sorry I let it out on you…" he said instead, gripping Hilda's shoulder.
"Well, I must've caused your bad mood… I got too carried away with the twins… so I'm at the fault…" she said again, trying to look away.
"You're not. I let my mixed moods get the better of me."
"But – "
"Geez, you're not! Look at me, Hilda!"
Reluctantly, she raised her head, looking straight at Hilbert's face as he put his hands on her shoulders.
"Look, you didn't do anything wrong. If anything, I'm sorry for snapping at you. No, you're not causing me any bad mood, I don't know what've gotten under my skin back then. Now, quit apologizing okay?"
Hilda was silent – she heard Hilbert's sentences completely. But her mind was quickly on something else. It was just now she notices how close are their faces against each other, with she can actually felt Hilbert's breath on her face. It caused her heart to pump slightly faster, and she could felt a shade of pink crept onto her face.
Hilda, get a grip! Say something!
"Umm…" she stuttered out after a long silence, still hoping inside that Hilbert didn't notice the blush on her cheek. "I don't think you're at the fault either…"
"Well, I'm quite sure you're not at the fault, and that's it."
Hilda ended up laughing weakly, but still looking at his face. "Umm… Okay… So okay, I think I'm wrong and you think you're wrong. Let's just make a deal and forget over the whole thing?" she tried. No, Hilbert was not at the fault. But it'll be endless if we keep this up…
Hilbert pondered at her words for a few moments, eyebrows furrowing. His face slowly broke into a warm grin. "Deal, let's not brought it up?"
She smiled back, just as warm. "Better. We're cool?"
"Cool."
She felt like a heavy weight is lifted from her shoulders, and felt like she can breath easily. Both brunets stayed in that position after a while, seemingly comfortable with each other's warmth and company.
And suddenly, Hilbert wrapped her back, pulling her into a hug.
Surprised by the sudden gesture, Hilda almost yelped, but she was stopped when her face collided to his shoulder. She inhaled his scent, which isn't exactly easy to explain. She could smell grasses, with a hint of a soap from the Pokemon Center, but the strongest smell, she can explain. All she can say, it just smelled like him.
Slowly but surely, she lifted her arms, and eventually hugged him back. He made her feel… comfortable. And she liked his odd scent. Warmth spreads all over her thin body, and she rested her head in his shoulder, smiling. He eventually did the same.
They stood still for awhile, until both of them are started to aware of a few snickers coming from the passerbys. Eventually, Hilbert loosened his grip, and Hilda quickly followed suit, her face painted all red. Hilbert coughed a few times, and there's a dust of pink on his cheek – just unnoticeable thanks to the dark surroundings.
"Hilda… Anything to do tommorow?" he asked her after he regained his composure.
"Umm, nothing, actually… Why?" she questioned, still trying to get the Klinks and Klanks to start to work.
"Ehm, remember those two I talked to back in Gear Station? They're Emmet and Ingo, Subway Bosses… And they said they can't accept challengers at the moment, because they're developing a new subway line," he paused, waiting for Hilda to digest the information. She eventually nods.
"That's a shame… What are they developing?"
"To be honest? I don't really know. They just said it'll be thrilling, fun, or whatever. It's going to be another challenge line, something about exciting stuff at the end of the line. So, they invited me to try this new line, and I can get a friend to join…" He paused for awhile. "If you have time, do you want to come with me?"
Hilda's face was lit up with a smile. New lines? Way cool! Okay, that might make her happy, but spending more time with Hilbert sounds even more exciting. "Sure, I'm game! When?"
Hilbert rubbed his chin with his finger. "About one o'clock in the afternoon… But hey, we could just chill until then… You're staying at the Pokemon Center, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Ditto. What's your room number?"
"59."
"Mine's 32… Ah well, no point thinking about it. Let's head back for a rest? Almost 11 PM…"
Just after the words left Hilbert's mouth, Hilda felt all of her energy faded. She would've fell down to the pavement if Hilbert didn't quickly caught her.
"Hilda? What's wrong?" he asked, eyes filled with concern as he tried to keep her steady.
"Ahaha…" she muttered a weak laugh, trying to get back on her feet, to no avail. "Sorry… After all those runnings and all, you know…" she explained softly, hands gripping on the brunet's shoulder.
"Ah, of course…" he lifted her, helping her to stand up. Still holding her shoulders, he asked again. "Can you walk?"
"I'll try."
Hilbert cautiously removed his grip of the brunette trainer, still afraid she might've fall. She tried to walk, lifting her left feet, when she suddenly felt like she would fell down, quickly stomped it to the ground, causing her to walk wobbly like a drunk.
Hilbert chuckled slightly, brown eyes glinted with amusement. "Doesn't seems so…" he muttered. Walking in front of her, he offered her a hand. "Here, I'll help out."
Weakly, Hilda reached the brunet's hand with her own slim, pale hand. Smiling to each other, both of them slowly walked towards the Pokemon Center, holding hands with Hilbert's other hand protectively wrapped over Hilda, making sure nothing happened to her.
I'm awesome at making title.
(you noticed it was a sarcasm right?)
Yeah, some FerrisWheel? I hardly think so. Hilda's pretty much pissed of N. I mean, Natural Harmonia Gropius. XD
I favor ChessShipping anyway... No offense!
I'm trying to slap dramas... Hence the whole ferris wheel incident. And I feel like adding that one up.
'Chanseys bless you' : Well, Chansey's Japanese name is Lucky, so, I sorta made that one up.
Yes, the battle with Oreste and Ceano is a bit… cracky. Because I had absolutely no idea what should I do with them. So came the thought of Ceano being crazy, and that's what I got.
I finished this thing at 10 PM, working from about 3 PM. I was in a writing mood and my DS ran out battery, so I can focus on this. Sorry if you find too many typos.
If you noticed a teeny-weeny bit difference in my writing style, well… In school, whenever I could, I tried to expand my writing vocabulary by reading random stories from my cellphone. There's too much, I can't remember any of them after the exam… Oh well. Some other time.
And now… to answer my reviewers :
NadiaMiki – Thanks for reviewing, again! *squeals* I don't know, Cheren just strikes as a smarty nerd with a knack of pulling people's leg, especially Hilda's. Heehee, I'm glad I put the part with Hilbert blushing, then!
YiPrincess – Thanks for reviewing, really! LOL, you did? It was more or less based on mine, but I swaped Gothielle to Musharna. Best? I don't know, but thanks for the compliment, I'll try harder to meet everyone's exceptations!
MagicFeline – Yaay, thanks for reviewing again! Yes, he blushed, he blushed! Bwahahaha! I would've love to write more, but thanks to schoolwork I don't really have the time, and I prefer to finish one before moving to another.
Fuzzedbywrackspurts – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked my stories, I hope you'll keep reading. Even though sometimes I update like snail. And thanks again!
Seirin-chan – Thanks for reviewing, whoo! I'm glad you're loving my stories, I hope this chapter is good enough! And yeah, that catch was… Wow.
Grammar freaks are extremely welcomed, because I suck at those. I'm glad you're pointing those out, I'll try avoid the same mistakes!
Valkyria422 – Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, fanfics of B/W pairings are extremely on low numbers, hardly find any myself. Thanks, anyway! XD
Whoop!
(coughs) I got some good news and bad news. I'll go with bad ones first.
I just bought myself The Sims 3 Pets, so I'll be pretty much playing that, OR playing The World Ends With You, even though I almost did 100% completion on that, minus the ESP rank.
Your good news?
THIS SEMESTER IS FINA-FREAKING-LY OVER! I DID THE EXAMS and sorta passed with flying colors screwed up some certain subjects I really can't. Like Civil studies. Or Biology. And I can't believe I just scored 7 out of 10 in English… I was expecting 8.
Okay, to make me stop playing random games and actually get my butt working on this story, review please? It's my personal steroids. Hee hee.
Okay what the hell… I played too much TWEWY, if you know what I mean. I'm out.