Chapter 6: Make Some Music and Dance

"Your name's Heal Bell? That's a funny name!"

"You're close. It's Hilbert."

"Oh...so it's Hail Beard?"

"Hilbert."

"Hell Bit?"

"Hilbert."

"Halberd?"

"HIL. BERT."

"Ohhhh, I get it now! Hill Bird!"

It was during this conversation that Hilbert realized that Carmen would be mispronouncing his name for the foreseeable future.

As Carmen and Hilbert entered Relic Castle, Hilbert decided to hang around the entrance. Since he wasn't about to break the rules of the bet, hopefully they could find Carmen's friend faster if he just stood still. Apparently her friend lived on the first floor anyway. It would definitely be ideal if this friend of hers was the first encounter here - he really wanted to avoid an argument with a sentient cactus about why he couldn't catch her friend.

Carmen noticed Hilbert lagging behind and asked, "Hey, why are you standin' over there?"

"I'm thinking it'll be easier like this. It's a long story."

Carmen seemed to accept that answer and took a deep breath. "HEEEY JUDE! I FOUND A GUY! WHERE ARE YOU, FRIEND? COME ON, LET'S GET OUTTA HERE~!"

Hilbert sat down as Carmen called for her friend. It was unbelievable enough that she could talk, but apparently she could sing? Could that even be called singing?

He wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, so he was caught very off-guard when he felt what seemed like claws scraping against his leg.

"Ow!" He looked down at what had scratched him and almost regretted it.

It was a Sandile, and it couldn't have been any larger than Hilbert's forearm. Were Sandiles always this small, or was this one a baby? If it was the latter, he was screwed unless this happened to be Carmen's friend. He didn't know a whole lot about baby Pokemon, but he did know that they imprint on the first living thing they see on hatching.

Which would be worse, denying Carmen a chance to travel with her friend or depriving a newly-hatched Pokemon of its mother-figure?

Thankfully, Hilbert's inner crisis didn't last long. Carmen had heard Hilbert's yelp and turned around. Once she saw what the cause of the ruckus was - more notably, the Sandile trying his darndest to climb onto Hilbert's leg - she let out a sigh and hopped over.

"There you are! I didn't think you'd hang by the entrance today!"

Looks like this was Carmen's friend. That was such a relief.

Sandile finally managed to hoist himself up onto Hilbert's leg and got a good look at him. He glanced over at Carmen and said, (I could hear you shoutin' from outside. This the guy?)

Carmen nodded. "Yup! His name's Hill Bird-"

"Hilbert." Hilbert didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but he also didn't want to imagine his entire roster calling him 'Hill Bird'.

"What he said." Carmen giggled. "I dunno what his other Pokemon are like, but he's really funny!"

(Trust you to judge a human based on how hard they can make you laugh,) Sandile sighed. He looked Hilbert over again and gave a short nod. (Still, he seems good enough. In any case, it's better than staying in this stuffy castle the rest of my life.)

Being privy to only one side of the conversation between them, Hilbert just sat there awkwardly.

Maybe five minutes passed with them conversing before Carmen finally gave Hilbert the okay to officially catch them both.

Since he had a full party, they were both sent to the PC. That left Hilbert sitting there and trying to process the events of the past half hour.

One thing's for sure, his journey probably just got a whole lot more interesting.

Once the realization set in that he was not as prepared for the Bug Gym as he would have liked, Hilbert was not a happy camper.

While it was awesome that he was able to befriend a talking Maractus and make sure that she and her friend would stay together, neither of them would help in his venture to basically speed-run the Castelia Gym. All he could do now was go in with what he had and hope for the best.

Thankfully, it turned out he didn't need anyone more than Turtle and Peter - the two basically dominated the Gym, allowing him to plow through with few issues. There was the occasional Dwebble, but Michelle was always sent out against those.

This was a chain of events that had Hilbert thanking every one of his lucky stars. The sooner he got this Gym over with, the better.

The honey was a pain to wash off, though.

And, hey...once he actually got the badge, he realized that catching a Grass type and a Ground type meant that he was more prepared for the next Gym! He didn't get a chance to properly meet Carmen and Jude anyway, so this was just about as good an opportunity as any.

It didn't take very long for Hilbert to conclude that Carmen and Jude were just about the strangest duo he had ever come across. Honestly, the strangest thing about the two was how well they seemed to complement one another.

Carmen was loud and never hesitated to ask questions. She was almost like a child in that respect (which was fair, given that she lived in a desert her whole life), but nobody can deny that she was pretty strong-willed. She would have to be if she was able to teach herself how to talk, right?

On the contrary, Jude was about as chill as Roger and Kirby. Hilbert thought that nothing would faze him, but he was proven wrong when a trainer they had been fighting commented on how small he was. That set him off instantly, and he proceeded to sweep the opponent's whole team by himself.

Hilbert had no idea why that was what set Jude off, but to be fair...he initially thought Jude was a baby when they first met. Maybe it was something he had been made fun of for in the wild?

When he asked Carmen, she shook her head. "M' not supposed to say. I promised Jude I wouldn't."

That was fair, he supposed. Hilbert didn't press much after that; as small as he was, Jude was also fast and surprisingly strong. He'd be a pretty solid member of the team with just a little bit of training, Hilbert concluded.

It was unbelievably rare for a Pokemon to be able to learn to talk (some have argued that it's just as rare - if not rarer than - finding a shiny in the wild), and Hilbert quickly learned that walking with a talking Pokemon was a surefire way to get attention.

It was after their battle in Route 4 that Hilbert got the idea to introduce Carmen to Cheren. Mostly because it would be hilarious watching the look on his face. If Hilbert thought she was a mirage when they met, how would Cheren respond?

Cheren didn't disappoint. When Carmen cheerfully greeted him and introduced herself, Cheren's jaw dropped. If this were a cartoon, Hilbert was sure that his eyes would have popped out of his glasses.

"You found a Pokemon that can actually talk?!"

"Yup! Although I guess technically, she found me."

"And she was seriously your first encounter?"

"Yup! Not like I could see much with the sand getting in my eyes!"

A moment of silence passed as Cheren processed this information. During the silence, Carmen had watched the exchange and decided to speak up again.

"So...I still don't know your name, Hill Bird's Friend! Tell me, tell me!"

"Uh...Cheren."

"So, it's Cherry? Like the berry?"

"What? No!"

Hilbert tried very hard not to laugh as Cheren went through the same name-mangling as Hilbert had undergone. It was hard, though - Hilbert used to call him that too.

New Captures

Jude / Sandile / Male / Lax / Likes to thrash about / Moxie / Met in Relic Castle