Chapter 8: Prickly Pair

Bianca was just as flabbergasted to meet Carmen as Cheren had been. The only difference was that once the initial shock faded, it was replaced with sheer delight.

"Hilbert, she's adorable!" Bianca gushed. "And she can talk too?! You're so lucky!"

"Uh-huh!" Carmen chirped. "I can sing and dance too! Hilbert says I could be a beard if I wanted to!"

"Bard. The word you're looking for is bard," Hilbert interjected. Carmen blinked as she processed what Hilbert said.

"...Ohhhh. Bard, then!" It didn't take long for her to bounce back, though. Bianca giggled as she watched the exchange.

"You two seem to get along pretty well already," she said, an almost mischievous grin on her face. "I guess you two make a...prickly pair?"

Hilbert groaned at the pun, but Carmen was flabbergasted.

"What?!" she shouted. "How do we make a prickly pear?! I'm a prickly pear all on my own!"

Silence. Bianca and Hilbert stared at the Maractus, and it was a moment before they burst into peals of laughter. This confused Carmen even further, and she pouted.

Once the laughter died down, Bianca got to explaining what she wanted to ask Hilbert about in the first place; "I thought it'd be fun to go to the Pokemon Musical while we're here!"

"Pokemon Musical?" Carmen questioned, tilting her head to the side. "What's that?"

"It's a show where Pokemon can dress up and put on shows! Apparently there's a big stage! Even if there aren't any shows scheduled for today, Pokemon can still get dressed up!"

As Bianca explained the place to her, Carmen seemed to get more and more excited.

"That sounds like fun!" she exclaimed, turned towards Hilbert. "Can we go?! Route 5 isn't gonna go anywhere, I wanna dress up!"

Oh no. Hilbert knew that Carmen liked singing, so this was gonna be a tough situation. "Well..."

"Pleeeease?" Oh Arceus, no. Carmen already seemed to have mastered the art of Deerling eyes, because she and Bianca were using them on Hilbert now! He already had a hard time saying no to Bianca for some reason, how is he supposed to refuse when both of them are giving him that pleading look?!

The simple answer to that was he couldn't.

He huffed, as if admitting defeat. "Okay, fine. Fine. One-"

Hilbert didn't get to finish his sentence. Carmen had cheered and grabbed his hand, dragging him along to follow Bianca into the Musical Building.

As much fun as the Pokemon Musical had been - and it was pretty funny seeing Carmen prance around in a grass skirt and top hat - the confrontation with Bianca's dad had kind of negated that. Thank Arceus Elesa had been there to diffuse the situation - he didn't know what he would have done if not.

Still, something about what she said earlier stuck with him; "There are many people in this world. There are people whose ways of thinking maybe completely different from yours. Sometimes, that means you get hurt. But it's important to keep trying, to learn about the differences between yourself and others...to learn that being different is OK."

It was unsettling how it reminded him of how different he felt after the move from Black City to Nuvema Town. Really, he didn't know why his parents had decided on that move. He felt uprooted from the only home he knew to a location that couldn't have been more different. He did eventually make friends in Cheren and Bianca, but that took time.

It also reminded him of N. It was clear they didn't agree when it came to Pokemon and people. Was that really okay, though?

In order to clear his head, he decided to finally reach Route 5 to get his wild encounter.

The Gothita wasn't too hard to catch, but it was a bit of a surprise when Hilbert checked its vital stats on the PokeDex.

"Wait...Gothita isn't an exclusively female line?" He glanced down at the Gothita, the vital stats, and then at the Gothita again. "You're a guy? Really? No offense meant, I just didn't know."

Gothita gave Hilbert a deadpan stare, sighed, and then glanced over at Carmen.

(You can talk with him, right?) the Gothita questioned, clearly addressing the Maractus.

"You could tell just by lookin' at me?"

(A Pokemon that can speak with humans does stand out. I don't have a full grasp on telepathy yet, so please do me a favor and tell him that I'm not offended. Humans always seem to think that my line is exclusively female for some reason.)

"Okay! Anythin' else?"

Gothita paused for a moment. Then he said, (I noticed that your human gives his Pokemon nicknames, is that correct? In that case, I'd like the name Sage. Unless that name's already been taken...?)

"I don't think it is! Hang on a sec." Carmen then looked up at Hilbert. "Hill Bird, Gothita's not offended. Apparently that's a common mis-perception people make."

"You mean misconception?"

"I think so?" Carmen took a moment to mull the word over before continuing, "Also! You didn't name anyone Sage yet, right? Gothita wants to be called that."

"Sage?" Hilbert repeated, taking out his notebook and leafing through it. "Uhh...nope. I haven't named anyone that, so he gets it."

Gothita - now Sage - seemed pleased by this answer.

Hilbert would be lying if he said he expected the battle to turn out like this.

Jude did a good job taking down the Emolgas (easy enough with his newly evolved form and Rock Tomb). However, there was Zebstrika to deal with. Elesa's Zebstrika stuck fast and struck hard - even if Jude was immune to her electric moves, Flame Charge still packed a punch. And Jude seemed to be winded already from dealing with the Emolgas, so Hilbert had no choice but to return him to his PokeBall.

So, what did he do?

He sent out the only other Pokemon that couldn't be affected by her Electric moves - Matt.

It was a long battle of wills (and Flame Charges) between Zebstrikas - both trainers watched the fight with bated breath, anxious to see who would come out on top.

Eventually, one of them fainted. The Zebstrika that was standing seemed winded, taking a moment or two to catch its breath. Once the dust settled, the victor went right over to their trainer - Hilbert.

It took Hilbert a moment to realize what had happened. Matt. Matt had won them the victory. Holy shit, Matt won out against Elesa's Zebstrika-!

Hilbert wrapped his arms around Matt's neck in a great big hug as Elesa recalled her own Zebstrika into her PokeBall.

Jude had been part of this team for a little while, and he still didn't know what to make of his teammates. It was definitely an odd mix, that was for sure. He knew for certain that Hilbert was cool, and Carmen was his very best friend. He was glad that she was in the team with him for right now. But the other four? Trust wasn't something that came easily to the now-Krokorok, so he contented himself to watch the others for now.

(How long are we gonna have to waaaait?) Michelle whined. She nearly fell off of her position on Matt's back in her attempt at being dramatic, which caused Merlot to roll his eyes.

(Just be patient, will you?)

(Easy for you to say! You're a Psychic type, you probably already know what Hilbert's up to!)

The Munna did what could only be interpreted as a shrug. Jude snorted as he observed that it wasn't a denial in the slightest.

(Ah agree wit' Merlot,) Roger interjected. (Yer complainin' is no' gonna make Hilber' come back any sooner, lass.)

(But look at all this! So many sweets and games, and Hilbert's taking forever to get back!) Michelle said, gesturing towards the crowds and stands lining the streets of Nimbasa. Apparently there was some kind of festival going on now, so what better opportunity to celebrate their most recent victory, right? (He said we were gonna be celebrating, so what the heck could be taking so long?)

Something about that bothered Jude, so he took the moment to speak up.

(What are we even celebrating, anyway?) Jude questioned, crossing his arms. (Carmen and I are kinda new to this whole thing. I get that we beat that flashy lady, but is that really such a big accomplishment?)

"Well, Hilbert did sing somethin' about being halfway there when he got the badge..." Carmen mused.

(It's exactly that,) Merlot responded. (That was the fourth Gym Leader we as a team have beaten. I understand that's like a halfway point for trainers. Four more, and he'll have reached his goal. I believe he knows that he couldn't have accomplished it alone, which is why he's including all of us.)

Jude took a moment to think about this. Sure, those two Emolgas were pretty tough contenders - little assholes were fast too. Jude would have been lying if he said he wasn't worried about losing stamina between those two. He had been a little too exhausted to face Zebstrika, which kind of soured his mood (even though he knew those two Emolgas had been more than enough for him).

Almost as if he could read Jude's mind, Matt admitted, (That other Zebstrika was pretty tough. We were pretty evenly matched, and he made me fight for that win. After a fight like that, it's nice to have moments like this.)

Jude was about to say something in response, but he saw Michelle perk up and jump off Matt's back. Almost immediately, he saw Hilbert come over, holding what looked to be differently colored treats. Three yellow, two pink and one blue?

"Sorry for the wait, guys," Hilbert said as he handed out the treats. "The line got long really quickly, so I had to wait. You don't often see people selling Poffins, so that stand got really popular."

"Oh boy!" Carmen exclaimed as she was handed one of the yellow pastries. "These smell great!"

Hilbert handed Michelle a pink pastry, and then one of the other yellow pastries to Roger. Merlot somehow managed to get a hold of the blue pastry, and then Hilbert handed the final yellow pastry to Jude.

"Jude, Carmen told me you like sour things like her," Hilbert said with a smile. "Thanks for your help with beating Elesa. We couldn't have done it without you taking down those Emolgas."

If Hilbert could understand Pokemon, Jude could have countered - he was too exhausted to have faced the Gym Leader's ace, so what could he have done that was so important? As he thought about it though...he was the one to have beaten those Emolgas by himself, right? Matt had a hell of a fight with that Zebstrika, was there anyone else in the team who could've beaten those Emolgas?

That was a contribution by itself, he realized. If Matt had gone up against either of them, he might've been too exhausted for Zebstrika, right? Jude didn't know the answer to that question, so he just chewed on the pastry.

Jude still wasn't entirely sure if he could trust his teammates, but he knew he could trust Carmen. He supposed he could at least trust Hilbert. That would have to be a start.

When the Shadow Triad had informed him of N's orders to follow a certain trainer, Ghetsis had to make an effort to hide his anger. He told N to keep himself uninvolved with humans as much as possible while they looked for ways to awaken Zekrom. To mingle with the common folk, not to interact with them. Clearly he couldn't handle one simple order.

He recognized the trainer N wanted to keep tabs on, too. It was hard not to, seeing as he had interfered in a number of their affairs before. A few small operations were inconsequential - as long as the whelp didn't get it in his head to interfere with his plans regarding Zekrom, Ghetsis couldn't care less what he did. He didn't even care to learn the trainer's name because he didn't think the subject would come up again.

Ghetsis didn't like being wrong. So seeing the boy's face again - even if it was in a sickening picture of him having fun with his friends and their Pokemon - already had him frustrated.

"He asked you to keep an eye on this trainer?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Did he say why?"

There was silence between the Shadow Triad, but only for a moment. Then one spoke up; "He didn't say much...but he did mention the story of the two heroes. He seems to believe that this trainer has potential as a Hero."

Ghetsis knew what that meant, and the knowledge made him seethe. N was always an idealist, that he knew for sure. He made sure of it himself. If Zekrom chose N as their Hero of Ideals, then there would be nothing stopping Team Plasma - stopping him - from achieving their ultimate goal.

Aside from Reshiram. Zekrom wasn't the only dragon in the legend, and they both knew that. Reshiram and the Hero of Truth were the only ones that stood against Zekrom and the Hero of Ideals two thousand years ago. The final battle between the two was catastrophic for both sides, and their surroundings.

The Desert Resort was a testimony of that. The lush greenery that marked it could no longer grow after Zekrom and Reshiram's final clash, and it eventually became nothing more than a desert. The only thing resembling a plant that could be found there were the wild Maractus.

...Now that he thought about it, this could actually work in his favor. While it wasn't ideal for Reshiram to awaken, he could start taking measures now for the possibility of it happening. He could ensure that Team Plasma would survive and build a new world from the ashes, just as the royal knights did all those years ago.

"...I'll allow it," Ghetsis finally said. "And while you're at it, see if you can follow those other two he hangs around. There are three of you, so each of you choose a trainer to follow. You're to report back to me if you find anything of import, is that understood?"

"Yes, milord."

"You may go."

The Shadow Triad disappeared, leaving Ghetsis alone to his thoughts.

It annoyed him to indulge N's silly fantasy of having someone to clash with. But if it meant that he would play his part as the leader of Team Plasma, then Ghetsis was willing to allow it for now.

New Captures

Sage / Gothita / Male / Serious / Scatters things often / Frisk / Met in Route 5