Chapter 5: There's a Syncopated Beat
Thankfully, it didn't take Hilbert too long to catch up to the Plasma Grunts. Turtle's guidance really helped out, and she proved to be a pretty efficient battler too. Merlot had helped out some too, knocking out any of the Grunt's Pokemon that weren't Dark-types.
Merlot had defeated the final Grunt's Patrat, and the Grunt started to seethe.
"Alright, fine! You want the skull so badly, you can have it!" With that, he all but shoved the Skull into Hilbert's hands, causing him to wobble and nearly lose his balance from the force. Thankfully he kept his balance, and once he caught his breath he shot the Grunt a dirty look.
"Oi, what the hell! If you had broken this-!"
"It doesn't matter! If our king's dream - if our dream - doesn't come true-!"
It was then that both heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat. The sound had come from behind Hilbert, so he turned around to find someone in rather tacky robes. Instantly, he was reminded of Accumula Town. Was he there, or did the guy's robes just remind him of that speaker?
The robed man seemed to ignore Hilbert completely, walking past him to greet the Grunt. "Fellow subject of our king, how are you faring?"
The Grunt seemed to straighten up and bow immediately. "Gorm of the Seven Sages! I'm sorry to inform you - the skull, which we worked so hard to steal, has been taken from us so easily. I take full responsibility and will accept whatever punishment you seek to bestow."
It was only then that Gorm seemed to acknowledge Hilbert - but perhaps it was more accurate to say that he acknowledged the skull in his arms.
"I see...I simply came to tell you that it's not important. We can afford to leave the Dragon Skull behind," the Sage stated. "Our research has revealed that it is not connected to the legendary Pokemon whatsoever. You need not worry."
The Grunt immediately seemed to deflate with relief. After a moment or two, he straightened himself up and said, "But my lord...what about the trainer? If the description I was given is correct, this same trainer has interfered with our plans before."
Gorm hummed before turning his attention back to Hilbert. "Is that so...well, we can't allow anyone to interfere and get away with it. I'm sure we can fix it so that he never interferes again."
Before Hilbert could respond - he heard another voice behind him. "Oh, there you are! The bug-types were getting riled up, so I came. And just in time too, from the look of things!"
It was Burgh! And he had come from the log behind Hilbert...which meant-!
He went the long way anyway! Hilbert realized. If he seemed annoyed at Burgh, that's because he was.
Before Hilbert could voice his displeasure, Lenora had come along too. "Hilbert! Burgh! The others didn't have it. And is this guy the big boss?"
Gorm shook his head. "I am one of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma. Ghetsis will liberate Pokemon with words alone, while the rest of the Sages have ordered their comrades to take Pokemon by force. But since the odds are against us now..."
He took a moment to glance between Hilbert and the two Gym Leaders before continuing his monologue. Honestly, Hilbert wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to what he was saying - something about knowing yourself and knowing your opponents? And how Team Plasma was willing to steal Pokemon from Trainers. Hilbert couldn't really listen if he wanted to - the Dragon Skull was heavy, and he felt like it was in his best interest to not drop the thing.
Soon enough, Gorm and the Grunt ran off.
"Geez, they're quick," Lenora muttered, glancing at Burgh. "What are you gonna do? Are you going to chase after them?"
"Well, we got the skull back. I say our job is done for now," Burgh responded, glancing over at Hilbert (who had enlisted Merlot's help to keep from dropping the Dragon Skull - this thing was heavy!). "I think I'll head back to Castelia City. I'm looking forward to your challenge, Hilbert!"
As Burgh left, Lenora went over to Hilbet and carefully took the skull from his grasp. After taking a moment to look it over, she beamed at him.
"Thanks for your help, Hilbert. I'm sure your Pokemon are happy with you. Here, take this as a token of my gratitude."
She dug into her pocket to take out a grayish-black stone. It took a few moments for Hilbert to recognize it.
"Is that a Moon Stone?"
"You got good eyes! Your Munna might want to make use of that in the future."
Hilbert glanced over at Merlot, who had been eyeing the stone in his hands with interest. While he probably wasn't ready to evolve just yet, it would definitely be beneficial to keep it in his bag.
"Well, I'm gonna take this back to the museum. Take care of yourself!"
Bianca's Munna had been stolen, and Merlot was furious.
Hilbert didn't know the Munna for that long, but he knew enough to tell that it was very uncharacteristic for him to just zoom off in the direction where they heard that a Team Plasma Grunt had gone after taking Caroline. He was usually a little more picky when it comes to taking action.
"Merlot, wait up!" The movement was so sudden that Hilbert chased after Merlot without returning the rest of his team to their PokeBalls. Burgh went after them, with Iris and Bianca following him.
So, the citizens of Castelia City were treated to the sight of two trainers, two Gym Leaders, and five Pokemon chasing after a single Munna that looked ready for war.
As he chased his Munna, Hilbert had come to realize two things.
The first was that the Munna had taken a shine to Bianca (the same one that those Plasma Grunts had abused) was most likely his sister. Or at the very least, they were close friends. Burgh had said as much as they ran; "If a Pokemon reacts that strongly to hearing about another of the same species in danger, it's usually because they're either siblings or close friends while they were in the wild!"
The second was that Merlot was terrifying when he's mad, and maybe just a little reckless. The Plasma Grunt they had encountered had two Sandiles on his team, so Merlot couldn't do anything against them. That duty fell to Michelle, once she was able to catch up and use Razor Shell on them.
...That battle was rather short, so they were able to find out where they had been hiding rather quickly.
Burgh's theory about Merlot turned out to be right - when Caroline had been returned to Bianca, Merlot went right over to check up on her and make sure she was unharmed. The two Munnas seemed so relieved to see each other. Whether they were siblings or best friends in the wild, it could really go either way. Maybe he should ask?
The sight warmed Hilbert's heart, honestly. He could definitely see why Merlot was so adamant on taking charge to see his sister safe; he probably would have done the same thing. Still, what that Ghetsis guy said before ordering the Grunts to release Bianca's Munna gave him pause. He said something about a black dragon Pokemon that chose heroes who are seeking the ideal way to bring the region together.
Didn't N say something like that? It was hard to forget him mentioning Zekrom all the way back in Nacrene. Unless, Zekrom was the white dragon in the legend?
Wait, no...he knew that there were two dragons in the legend. Weren't there? Which was the black dragon, and which was the white...?
Maybe he should ask Cheren about that. He probably knew more about this than he did.
And anyway, worrying about this was only going to prolong the inevitable...he still had to face Castelia's Gym. However, he didn't want to do that before making some new captures - he knew there were Darumaka in the area, and he really wanted to up his chances of getting through the Gym as fast as possible.
Hilbert thanked every one of his lucky stars when he tripped over a Darumaka shortly after going into the sands of Route 4.
As he got a chance to know Peter, he found that the Darumaka was a shy little guy - not nearly as shy as Matt, but definitely not a boastful type either. Hilbert could have sworn that the Darumaka was blushing as he saw Hilbert's excitement upon meeting him, at least. Bashful-natured, maybe?
The little guy did have a big appetite, though - he ate almost every one of the little pastries Hilbert had in his bag! He had those in case he or any of his Pokemon were hungry, and he had enough to last for the next few days.
Roger wasn't happy about the development; the Herdier moped and pouted once he heard the news. The rest of the team seemed to handle the situation with stride, though.
As they started to train, Hilbert could only hope that Peter's attacking strength was as large as his appetite. He would have to find out as they went on - he may have caught a Darumaka, but while they were in the area...it couldn't hurt to check out the Desert Resort, right?
Hopefully a Sigilyph. Because if he was going to essentially speed-run a whole Gym, he needed every single type advantage he could get.
It didn't take Hilbert very long to decide that he didn't like the desert. Going to the beach was one thing, but this place was in a perpetual sandstorm. Add that to the fact that there was no speck of water anywhere and you have a frustrated Hilbert. It crossed his mind that he might want to head to Relic Castle while he was here - if only because he probably would never go back if he could help it.
Was he even going to find anything in this sand? He wasn't sure - to keep the sand from getting into his eyes, he had to hold his arm up to his face. He still couldn't see the something he tripped over. The object in this case didn't quite matter - he found himself rolling down a hill of sand, only stopping once he reached the bottom.
As he tried to recover and made sure that sand hadn't gotten into his eyes, he heard someone saying, "That was funny! Do it again!"
Hilbert looked around once he set himself up, trying to look for the voice. He did hear a voice, right? He wasn't having a mirage already, right? There wasn't a human nearby, which was not a good sign.
There wasn't a human nearby, but there was a Maractus. Hilbert knew that they were fairly rare here (even if it wasn't exactly what he was hoping to encounter). Maybe it had seen someone passing by? It wasn't like it had actually said that, right?
He dusted himself off and faced the Grass-type. "Hey, there. Have you seen anyone else around here?"
Maractus shook her head, a wide smile still on her face. The Grass-type's actions puzzled Hilbert even more. "Are you pulling my leg? I know I heard someone say something just now. Unless you expect me to believe you're the one that said it."
There isn't much to expect when a Pokemon opens their mouth - other than eating, their battle cries, and repeated renditions of their name. Hilbert had been expecting some kind of 'Maractus, ma!' as a response to his question, and maybe laughter because what a stupid thing to say.
What he didn't expect when the Maractus opened her mouth was actual words: "Actually, I'm exactly who said it!"
If it were physically possible, Hilbert's jaw would have hit the floor. "Y-You can actually talk?!"
Now he knew this was a mirage. There could literally be no other explanation for seeing a talking Maractus (of all things, a Maractus!). Maybe he needed to lie down on this soft bed (of sand) and think things over.
He did just that, and closed his eyes. Moments later, he could hear something rustling through his bag. After another moment or two, he felt something cold splash onto his face.
"What the fu-" Hilbert jolted into a sitting position, and his flailing was met with several giggles. The Maractus was holding an empty bottle of Fresh Water. That explains the cold splash. At least that came with the realization that he still had those.
"You're really funny!" And the Maractus was still talking. So, either this was real or this mirage was really something else. He'd take either at this point, but he just wanted to get out of here.
"Well…I don't often meet Pokemon that can actually…you know, talk."
"Oh, that? I learned how through sing-songs!"
"Sing…songs? Like, music?"
"Yeah! Singing songs!"
"But…we're in a desert. How do you have access to music?"
That question was met with silence. The smile stayed on the Maractus' face as she said nothing.
During the silence, Maractus seemed to notice the PokeBalls on his belt and she instantly brightened.
"Ooh! Are you a trainer?!"
This was getting more confusing by the minute. "Uh…yeah, I am."
"Can I come with you? This desert's really boring, and you're funny!"
Hilbert was floored. She wanted to go with him? Well…that was an interesting development. As wild as the last few minutes were, he didn't see a downside; if she was able to talk, would that mean she could translate things between him and his Pokemon?
"Uh…sure, I think I have a Great Ball here-"
The Maractus cheered (even dancing around in place in her joy). She then stopped, as if she had just remembered something.
"Wait, wait, wait! Don't catch me yet!"
"You ask to come with me, and then tell me not to catch you? Make up your mind."
"I said not yet! I got a friend in that castle over there that I want you to meet! I want him to come with us!"
Well…that could be a predicament. He was planning on going to Relic Castle anyway, but what if this friend of hers wasn't the first encounter he had? Could he afford to make a misstep in the bet just to ensure that their friendship stay intact?
"Well…we'll look, but I don't-" Maractus cheered again, grabbing Hilbert by the hand and leading him over to Relic Castle. As she did, Hilbert could only watch as she kept talking; about what kind of music she liked ("I always really liked the name Carmen, you can call me that!"), how her friend usually lived in the first floor of the castle, and how much fun they were all going to have on their adventure.
New Captures
Peter / Darumaka / Male / Bashful / Loves to eat / Hustle / Met in Route 4
Carmen / Maractus / Female / Bold / Strong willed / Chlorophyll / Met in the Desert Resort