Yees! I'm back, biatches! Wait, what? You were expecting some boring author's note? The stupid statement filled with a bunch of complaints about life and school?

Sorry, I lied.

For a long time, I wanted to make a statement that I'm still working on this story, you know… But just posting a chapter about all author's note wouldn't do, so I have to hold myself until the chapter's length are decent enough to be posted.

Noo, no way I'm going to stop writing this little fic of mine! But yeah, school wasn't being so cooperative lately, so I also lied about how I'm going to update each week. Might start being bi-weekly now… Or would still be weekly, just shorter. I'll make a poll about it.

Alright, I'm very, very, VERY sorry about the long delay. *insert exaggerated statements filled with a bunch of complaints about life and school.* I just finally got rid of that annoying writer's block, when I was attacked by loads and loads of homeworks! Thanks, Biology teacher, you really made my day bright every week. /sarcasm.

And I'm sorry this chapter wasn't as long as the usual. This is how much I could manage in mid-exam. I really wanted to assure you guys that no, I'm not discontinuing or put this story on hiatus (all talk…), so I decided to post it early. And because I haven't thought a good cliffhanger, yet. Don't shoot me.

Enough expository banter!

Disclaimer : Own Pokemon? Pfft. I have something better to do than owning Pokemon, that is, making crosswords for my homeworks.

~ Subway Trouble ~
Chapter 8 a : Breather

"What's Electric-type's ultimate weakness?"

Hilda sighed. "Ground."

"What is the Pokémon you can find all over the tall grass in Unova?"

Hilbert groaned. "Audino."

"Which town is famous for its massive number of skyscrapers, just after Skyarrow Bridge?"

Both brunets rolled their eyes. "Castelia!"

"Last question! Elesa, Nimbasa's Gym Leader, specializes in?"

"For the love of… Electric-type!"

"DING-DONG! All correct, you two are so smart!"

"Riiight…"

There's really no reason for both Hilda and Hilbert to be pissed right now. They had managed answering every questions the attendant gave them. Well, except for the fact, said attendant kept boasting about how hard the questions would be and urged them to read some books stashed at the bookcase nearby. They eventually gave in and gave a quick glance to said bookcase, which filled with random books about anything but Pokémon or Unova. Deciding to just try their luck, they eventually realized the questions given are nothing more than a common-knowledge-for-trainers thing.

The attendant, a young man in his late thirties, seemed to notice the trainers' distaste. "Why the long face, trainers? Light it up, you're getting double points for no mistakes, you know!" he laughed slightly, that if anything, just infuriated the brunets even more.

"What was the point of reading that anatomy book, then?" Hilda murmured under her breath, slightly remembering the headache she got after reading a book titled "Anatomy for Dummy".

"Don't tell me it was just distraction…" Hilbert replied, eyes still narrowing. "But, then again, it probably is… What the hell are Emmet and Ingo thinking with these games again?"

"Hey, don't say that, dude…" the older man cut in, rubbing his head. "It's not quite easy to think up something everyone can like… And this is just a beta test, you know? Give those bosses some slack."

Hilbert looked like he's about to complain – what do you expect from him? Hilda let out a quiet giggle before she shrugged. "I suppose that's true... But seriously, some orde – quizzes are overboard," she stated with a flat gaze. "While I'm interested with the hit-the-target missions, but I'm sure as hell don't enjoy the run-for-your-live ones."

"Yeah, not everyone can run at ten meters per seconds…" the brunet boy grimaced, remembering the first paper they got before he crossed his arms in annoyance.

"I don't know about that one… Probably the staffs are feeling a bit sadistic at the moment…" He scribbled something on a piece of paper, before he handed it back to Hilbert. "Well, there you go. Back to your cab."

"Well, thanks" the brunet flatly said with a deadpanning tone, and with a nod, he grabbed Hilda's wrist and sauntered off to their cab's general direction.

After making a distance with the older man, Hilbert huffed, slipping his hands to his pockets. Hilda caught his irritation – which was clearly written all over his face, and giggled slightly in response. "You know, you don't have to be so… serious all the time. Take it down a notch!" she chirped lightly.

The brunet gave her a withering glare, groaning in process. "No… I just didn't really expect these. I mean, most of these aren't really questions! And they call these quizzes?" he complained, still glaring at his friend. "And say, are most quizzes really had to do anything with subways in general? Nope, and I seriously wonder what's inside their heads…"

"Hey now…" Hilda spoke awkwardly, attempting to calm her fuming partner down – sweatdropping in process.

"What? It's true. This whole thing is starting to grate on my nerves, and…"

The brunette ignored Hilbert's ramblings, lost in her own little thought. For a few days she knew the brunet boy, she could make out some of his habit and personality. He's overall a friendly person, with a slight knack of getting under people's skin. Oddly enough, he also had a snarky side, with a thick dictionary of common senses attached on his head. It seems like he already planned most of the things ahead of time, and he tends to assumes things. It's not like assuming things are bad, but…

"Well, yeah, but…" Hilda rubbed her forehead, trying to weave words that (hopefully) would make sense on Hilbert. Clichés aren't really her thing. "What's the proverb? Don't judge a book by it's' cover?" she questioned more to herself, a finger on her cheek. "Yeah, everything isn't always like it seemed to be. Stuffs in life aren't always a textbook procedure, so you might get yourself in a middle of… you know… the unpredictable? Everyone's different, after all!" she continued

Hilbert gave her an odd look, a look that one might interpret as surprise, amazement, annoyance, or a good mixture of all. Uneasy with the odd silence, Hilda fidgeted with her cap. "You know what? Nevermind I say anything – "

"No… I suppose…" he suddenly spoke, head towards the ceiling but gaze up to the sky. "There might be some truth on it… Just…"

Awkward. And there you have it; the simplified version of Hilda's muddled thoughts.

Shouldn't have attempted that one. I knew I'm not great with clichés… And now what do I –

"Yo, brown haired couple!"

"You two! Over here!"

Hilda and Hilbert turned their heads towards the voice (Hilda internally sighed in relief) to see a familiar black haired girl and a blonde spiky boy. Smile quickly washed over both brunets' faces over the sight of the trainers approaching them.

"Leena! Oreste!"

"I don't know you guys are joining!" said Oreste as he caught his breath and offered them a friendly grin. "Big surprise!"

"You should've told us!" Leena added before she glanced at Hilbert. "Erm… Uhh… What… Oh, you are…" she rubbed her head sheepishly before snapping her fingers. "Ah! Ceano and Oreste told me! You must be Hilda's boyfriend!"

Silence.

"WH-WHAAAAAT!" was Hilda's immediate reaction. She tried to rub the bright crimson on her face, to no avail. "No, we're not! How did you get the idea?" she squeaked. Hilbert shifted uncomfortably, putting a hand on his face in an attempt to hide his blush.

"Leena!" Oreste yelled loudly in exasperation. "We didn't say that!"

"No way! I mean – "

"You read too much cheesy romantic novels! We said he's her partner for the subway challenge, not as in – "

"Oh come on! You're just jea – "

"I did not – "

"Ssh!" Hilda called out. "You guys are making a scene!"

True to the brunette's words, the other participants are staring – heck, glaring – at the bickering trainers with mostly disapproving frown pointed at them. Leena fidgeted the slightest bit, and even though Oreste looked like he could hardly give a damn, he decides indulge in silence.

"So… yeah. Sorry, got carried away," the black haired girl giggled quietly, offering her hand to the oddly-quiet brunet. "My name is Leena! Oreste's and Ceano's childhood friend. Nice to meet you!"

Hilbert snapped out of his trance just in time to catch on with the gesture. "Oh…" he murmured, smile returning to his lips. "Hilbert. Hilda's friend. Nice to meet you too."

They decided to walk together to their starting cabs, because it's next to each other. Leena seemed a little bit too happy meeting with both Hilda and Hilbert She keeps asking embarrassing questions, which either leads Oreste to chastise her (yeah, that Oreste is scolding her) or leaving the brunets to exchange glances before promptly turning their heads to the other way.

"So, what's your first mission?" Hilda finally tried in an attempt to put Leena out of her trails.

It worked, at least for now. Leena's grinning expression suddenly turned pale, and Oreste responded with a scrunched nose before glancing at Hilda. "You don't want to know," was the boy's reluctant answer, irritation clear in his tone. "They're out of their minds."

"Oh my… Do elaborate what's their brilliant idea," Hilbert sarcastically mumbled.

The green-clothed trainer tapped his left foot several times, slightly not liking the conversation but then again, he needed to vent. "They're in for sick amusements," the comment earned him a pair of grimacing nods. "It goes like," a cough, and, "You young 'uns are supposed to be fit, ye? And no idea would you 'ave about me job. You, do a handstand and walk around th' cab and back again," he finished his sentences with an exaggerated cowboy accent.

Hilda blinked a few times before the ridiculousness of the whole thing dawned on her mind. "Gee, that's bright alright. It's not the least bit funny," she responded.

"Yep, these are just no quizzes alright. Not that ours are any better…" said Hilbert.

"Uh… wait…" the brunette trainer paused, blue orbs blinking before glancing at Leena. "Did they ask you to do that too?"

Leena tugged the end of her ebony skirt, shifting her legs uncomfortably before she poked her head. "Here comes the dreaded question…" she laughed humorlessly. Reaching for her Audino bandana, she spoke sheepishly. "No, I couldn't do sports to save my life. So… he asked me to… uhh… to…"

Now Hilda felt a pang of guilt for even bringing that up. "You know, if it's that bad, you don't have to say anything – "

"No!" the black haired girl shook her head. "It's not bad, actually. He just asked me to… ummm…"

Oreste sighed. Might as well tell them now, he thought. "She was ordered to sing My Milkshake out loud."

Pairs of shocked eyes, one blue and one brown, quickly stared at the older twin like he'd grown another head. Leena frowned in defeat, rubbing her temples. "He asked you to sing… What?" Hilda was the one who spoke first, a pitch higher than her usual tone.

"Eew, My Milkshake as in… that kind-of-the-gay song?" Hilbert queried.

"I might as well whip out my Audino at him…" Leena murmured dangerously, still feeling peeved at the whole incident. "You have no idea how much people questioned my preferences afterwards."

"That's sick, alright," Hilda felt herself twitching.

"Yeah, ours wasn't that humiliating…" the brunet boy responded.

Oreste raised his eyebrows. "What's your first… erm… quiz, anyway?"

Hilda smiled, though the annoyed glint in her eyes betrayed the expression. "Nothing much. We're just asked to run from the second to the tenth cab in five minutes."

"And then we're asked to run back to our home cab in less our record time," was Hilbert's grimacing comment.

Leena's eyes dubiously stared at the brown-haired trainers, raising an eyebrow. She tilted her head over her shoulders and back again, silently measuring the length between the doors. Oreste's black eyes did the same, sweatdropping in the process. "Seriously?"

"And you guys made it?"

"Well… sort of."

Leena suddenly had a newfound respect of both Hilda and Hilbert, watching them intently with a pair of impressed orbs. Oreste's eyes were wide for a few seconds before he coughed.

"That's some stamina you got there."

"No shit."

They walked to their own home cabs, and after getting their points from the quizzes, they were told it's now break time and they could wander around the subway for around thirty minutes. They wasted no time and rushed to a nearby canteen to get some drinks. Especially Hilda and Hilbert.

"You guys just go seize a table or something, I'll get our orders. What do you guys want?" Hilda declared as they approached the food stall.

"Mmm… Strawberry milkshake for me! With pineapples as the toppings!" Leena jumped.

"Uh, pineapples?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh well…" the spiky-haired blonde spoke. "Frappe then."

"Okay," Hilda turned to her partner. "And you…?"

"Me?" Hilbert asked back. "Oh, I don't know… Hot chocolate would do, I suppose…"

"Got it," the brunette nodded. "So it'll be hot chocolate, frappe, and strawberry milkshake with – "

"Blueberry toppings!" Leena interrupted.

"Uh?" Hilda raised her eyebrows. "I thought you said pineapples?"

Leena stuck out her tongue sheepishly. "Yeah, I changed my mind… Make it blueberry – no, wait… I also felt like mangos… Cookies, too…"

Hilbert chuckled slightly at the dark-haired girl's indecision, while Oreste groaned in response, seemingly already used to this kind if incidents. "Forget it, Hilda. Get her the normal strawberry milkshake. This'll be endless if you listen to her."

"Hey!" Leena puffed her cheeks, glaring daggers at her partner.

Hilda internally sweatdropped. "Okay then, just wait a sec…" With that, she left her friends on their search for a table and made her way to the vendor. Luckily, the line wasn't too crowded, so she only waited for a few minutes before she could place an order. She bought a (you guessed it,) glass of MooMoo milk, her friend's drinks, and a bag of chips.

"Okay, there you go. It'll be… 1000P," the cashier smiled, pushing a tray with four tall cups and the chips she ordered.

Hilda nodded, handing over enough money to pay for the meal. She was about to take the tray when a blur of blue grabbed it before she could. She resisted the tempting urge to roll her eyeballs, only turning her head over her shoulders, sending Hilbert a blank stare. She sighed in resignation.

"Good Arceus, what would I do without you…?" said Hilda, with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Hilbert blinked his brown orbs several times before he sent her a lewd wink and turned his back against her, making his way to the table they had chose to sit on. It wasn't all that far from the counter, and Hilda found herself wondering why he would bother grabbing the tray for her.

Or maybe, that's not the point, Hilda thought to herself. Consider it a help, Hilda. Don't burst into an unnecessary obnecities. She crossed her arms and fastens her pace to catch up with the brunet Pokémon Trainer.

"Thanks," she murmured when she was right behind him. Her voice was soft, but she was positive he could hear her anyway. She only smiled when he shrugged slightly in response, before she skipped to where Leena and Ceano were sitting.

" – then my Blitzle got badly poisoned! And Ceano never told me anything about it!" Oreste was saying, irritation lacing his tone.

Leena only giggled in response. "But Ceano had his Scolipede for like, who knows? You never knew? Even I knew!" The boy was about to retort when Leena noticed the familiar brunette skipped on their direction, her partner behind her carrying a tray. "Hilda! Sit next to me!"

She skidded into a halt when they're just few feet nearby. "Of course!" she chirped in agreement. Leena then pulled the chair beside her, motioning her to sit down. Hilda blinked several times, finding the usually friendly gesture odd. Before Leena could question her expression, Hilbert suddenly pushed her in the back playfully.

"Whoa!" she stumbled slightly before turning towards him with a questioning gaze. He gave her a knowing smile before settling the tray on the table.

'Stop acting like an alien and just sit down,' was what she could make out from his smile.

She stuck out her tongue childishly, which was promptly ignored.

"Uh… what's with you two?" asked Oreste.

Hilda grinned after she took the seat. "Nothing."

I'm still superduper awesome with titles.

Yep, no twists so far… saving them for the last moment. Heheheh.

I liked the alien part myself… for some reasons.

I'll change the chapter's name after a few days. For now, the trolling title shall stay like it is. Now, I'm going to answer you steroids distributor – I mean, lovely reviewers.

YiPrincess - Why, it's not just you! It's a DualRival (that's the name?) and Bianca is a ChessShipper! I guess... Electric Gyms are pain in the ass... Can't argue. I don't hate FerrisWheel, too. Just prefer Chess more. :) Thanks for reviewing!

alees-sa – I know right! Just put Hilda and N on the search filter… Whoa, loads of them. I'm pro-Chess! We need moar! ._. Thanks for the compliment, though! I hope I got Cheren's personality right… Thanks for reviewing and reading!

NadiaMiki – I'm a sucker for fluffy moments. :P. I suppose I'm not so creative… I made up the element cab thing. Hope you'll still be reading this story!

StarEternal – Maybe I should offer some cookies for reviewing in this chapter… I'm glad you decided to review! And good lord, the manga! The scenes made me all aaw when reading them. Regular and long? I hope I can keep that up in next chapters… School is killing me! Hilbert's personality? You know what, I think he's starting to miss my mark. I tried to make him slightly flirty, but oh, now I feel ashamed… Thanks for reviewing though!

TG-turntechGodhead – Natural Harmonia Gropius? Yeah, awesome name. Right? /sarcasm. I'm very glad you liked my story! And it's always good to meet moar ChessShippers… Thanks for reviewing!

Darkofficer – Thanks for reviewing, reading, and adding my story to your favorite! I suppose, since Hilda goes with Hilbert, naturally I became CherenxBelle shipper too!

Jetzul – Thanks for the review! I'll try continuing!

Falsetta-Arias – Yay for ChessShipping! *offers cookies* And you don't know how you said 'Hilbert wins over Natural Harmonia Gropius any day in any way, starting with their names' cracked me up. I'm so glad you liked my story! As you see… I don't update regulary due to some… Mmm…
I'm sorry about my horrible grammar… I just couldn't bring myself to learn them because they made my head dizzy. I'm still not sure over the whole Beta Reader thing…

Here I am, updating the story. Nothing will stop me! Even if it'll take me months! No, I'll try to go back to my weekly basis, or bi-weekly.

I feel ashamed now. I should've updated this thing sooner! I really appreciate the warm reviews! Just wait till the exam ends, I'm going to hit the keyboard 'till it drop!

*puts on puppy eyes* Review, pleease? I'll give you a batch of cookies and cheesecakes, so… pleease? XD
And I'm going to put a poll about updating preferences. Hope you'll take your pick.