Chapter 4: Picture the Possibility

As Hilbert entered the grass just outside Pinwheel Forest, he found himself hoping that he would find a Fighting type. While Michelle could learn Rock Smash, that didn't mean he was completely at ease going into the Gym. He had heard so many horror stories about Lenora's Watchog, and wanted to be absolutely prepared.

As luck would have it, the very first Pokemon he saw was a Timburr.

The ensuing encounter was a little too close for comfort - Timburr were strong Pokemon as it was, but this one nearly killed Michelle! Thankfully Merlot was there to pacify the Timburr with Yawn before Hilbert made the capture.

The Timburr (from then on named Gabriel) had a bit of a naughty streak, but Hilbert knew how to work around that - for some reason, mentioning the Nacrene City Gym always seemed to light a fire in the little guy. He could only guess why; maybe Lenora's Gym was so notorious that even wild Pokemon wanted a chance to fight it?

Gabriel turned out to be a huge help; he knocked out a Gym Trainer's Pokemon with relative ease. He had been looking a little worse for wear after the first fight, so Hilbert had sent Zero out to battle for the second. He needed the experience, after all. And besides, Zero didn't seem willing to let Gabriel have all the fun - he seemed just as adamant on training as Gabriel was.

Looking back on it, Hilbert wouldn't have been able to tell what exactly happened - he knew that the Gym Trainer hadn't told Herdier to work itself up. She had used an X Defense, which gave Zero the opportunity to use Incinerate. Then Herdier used Tackle, and sent Zero flying. Anyone with eyes could have been able to tell that Herdier's attack was a critical hit - there was no way a mere Tackle would have that much force otherwise.

Gabriel had come out to confront Herdier while Hilbert tried to heal his Pansear. The keyword here was tried - nothing he tried worked. It was similar to how he couldn't heal Jay, just before she...

...

Gabriel may have taken out the Herdier with ease, but Hilbert needed some time before moving on. Thankfully the option was there - Trainers can fall back to stock up on supplies (or grieve a sudden loss) and return whenever it was needed. Hilbert definitely needed some time after this.

An ordinary stone, the director had called it. It was found near the desert, and all that they knew about it was that it was old. Other than that, and the fact that it was pretty to look at, there wasn't a much of reason for it to be in the museum in the first place.

The first time he saw it, Hilbert accepted the explanation and moved on. Maybe he noticed a glimmer of something there, but he passed it up as a trick of the light and moved into the next gym as easily as he did the last.

This time, however…he wasn't sure. He still had yet to face Lenora, but after Zero's death he figured it couldn't hurt take a break here before training a little more.

Passing by the white stone again…his head felt oddly warm. Like something was trying to reach into his mind. It felt like those moments where his mother would search Hilbert's face for any trace of mischief - like someone (or something) was studying him.

What's more, he could have sworn he heard something - he almost didn't catch it, it was so faint. But maybe, just maybe, he heard a soft whisper of, 'Not yet.'

Nobody else seemed to notice the odd phenomena- not even Michelle, who had been perched on Hilbert's shoulder when he suddenly stopped. She poked him twice on the cheek, making a questioning noise.

That finally brought him back to reality, and he glanced over at his starter with a small smile.

"Huh? Oh, uh…I don't know. Sorry, I must've spaced out. C'mon, let's get going."

To his credit, Hilbert didn't challenge Lenora right after that odd moment - he trained his Pokemon for a few more hours, and only challenged Lenora after Michelle and Roger had evolved.

And it seemed like a good idea - Gabriel and Roger had to work together to take down Lenora's Herdier (Hilbert had sent Roger out first in case Herdier had Intimidate, and switched into Gabriel the first chance he could), but then Watchog came into the scene. Hilbert knew that Gabriel's defenses weren't the best, and he also knew that Michelle had decent enough defenses. So, he sent her out to take on Watchog.

It was a decision he would soon come to regret. Watchog immediately used Retaliate, knocking Michelle right into the wall. For a few moments, everything was quiet. Michelle didn't seem to be moving, and Hilbert feared the worst. Of course he didn't want to lose another Pokemon after losing Zero, but the fact that this was his starter made him panic.

It happened so fast - a shell suddenly came flying at Watchog. It hit the Normal type on the arm and, like a boomerang, flew right back to the one that tossed it. And there was Michelle, beaten up and bloodied from the blow, but somehow still standing. She caught the shell and trudged her way back into the battlefield, determined as ever to win.

"Michelle!" Hilbert shouted, rushing right over to her to give her a Fresh Water. Lenora watched the scene quietly, as if trying to figure out what had happened. Retaliate had doubled in strength after Herdier had fainted, a blow that should have taken the Dewott down. While Lenora wasn't exactly proud of the reputation she had gained due to this strategy, it served very well in teaching young trainers how important it is to be prepared in a battle. If a trainer wasn't prepared, Watchog's Retaliate could very well be a fatal blow to some poor Pokemon...unless they were lucky.

While Hilbert didn't seem completely unprepared, it was clear that he and Michelle were caught off-guard by Retaliate. So how...?

Then she remembered - didn't someone in the Kalos region claim that something like this could happen? Even if the blow would have otherwise been a mortal one, the Pokemon will push through and cling to life if there was a strong enough bond between Pokemon and trainer. What was the phrase...'living on one'? If that was the case here, then that meant Hilbert and Michelle had a strong enough bond for her to accomplish that already.

She had a feeling that those two were going to go far, but they would have to earn her badge first.

Hilbert had promised himself (and his entire team) that he would get some rest after winning the Basic Badge. He had a pretty eventful day, all things considered, so he figured it would have been best to get the Gym battle out of the way before doing that.

The problem was, Hilbert had no opportunity to rest. Immediately after he won the Badge, Hawes had rushed in to say that Team Plasma had stolen one of the museum's exhibits. One thing led to another, and Hilbert found himself not resting in the Pokemon Center, but traversing through a bug-infested Pinwheel Forest in hot pursuit of the thieves.

One important thing to remember about Hilbert is his aversion to said bugs.

He never really had an explanation for why he disliked bug-types, he just did. It was like a fact of life; the sky is blue, the grass is green, and Hilbert didn't like bug-types.

As he made his way through Pinwheel Forest, it crossed his mind that he may have to find some way to deal with this aversion sooner or later. If not now, then definitely in the future. Seeing as the bet was as limiting as it was, he couldn't deny the possibility of it happening.

Victini would spare Hilbert for this one time at least, because the first Pokemon he saw inside the forest was a Pidove.

It nearly gave him a heart attack with how she seemed to appear so suddenly, but he was able to make the capture easily enough. It was only after he caught and named her that he was struck with an idea - maybe Turtle could lead him through the forest? Burgh had said that the path was surprisingly straightforward, but he didn't want to risk anything.

So after he let Turtle out, he explained, "Hey, I'm actually looking for some suspicious people. Think you can show me around so I can find them?"

Turtle nodded and took off, with Hilbert following her. As he did, he made a mental note to keep her in the team for now - after all, Burgh's Gym was full of bugs. Better to be very, very prepared for that Gym.

New Additions

Gabriel / Timburr / Male / Naughty / Often dozes off / Guts / Met in Outer Pinwheel Forest

Turtle / Pidove / Female / Lonely / Often lost in thought / Super Luck / Met in Inner Pinwheel Forest

R.I.P

Zero the Pansear
(lvl 10 - lvl 15)

Author's Note

Michelle survived that powered-up Retaliate on 1 HP like an actual badass. In-game, I brought her out against Watchog because she had the best Defense stat in the team at that time and came so close to regretting it.