Topic - Sinnoh - Indiv Trainers - Hilbert Kuroiwa

NeonGengarEvangastlyon: So, did anyone else catch Kuroiwa's Machamp treating Paul Ikari's Garchomp like a discus?

AverageFuecocoEnjoyer: FUEGO ESTÁ NÚMERO UNO!

AmitySquareGarden: Just saw the tourney live with front row seats and I thought there might be posts on here about Kuroiwa and his teammate. Nothing on the latter, she doesn't seem to be running the gym circuit so there's no thread about her. Uh, there's something I noticed, Kuroiwa speaks Sinjohan-Japanese. I heard him loud and clear, but on all of the recordings, he's speaking Galarian. Am I crazy?

GarbodorPosting101: Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room. A rubber room. A rubber room with Rattata. And Rattata make me crazy. Crazy?

xXx_DragonSlayer_xXx: Babe, it's four p.m., time for your gym challenge.

HelloSwellow (Mod): No shitposting in Indiv Trainers threads. Cool it.

MuddiestWaters: Kuroiwa's strats are all anime Ponyta shit. The worst part is that they work.

FiveForFightingTypes: That Ghost-type Machamp is rather strong, even for a Machamp.

MuddiestWaters: But he's a Ground-type specialist, we promise!

TinkatonSolosYourVerse: The Fire-type is a Paldean Pokémon called Ceruledge, but when it changes color it looks more like an Armarouge. I've never heard of the species being able to do anything like that before. But, uh, yeah, Fuego esta numero uno or whatever the other guy said.

TheAllSeeingXatu (Original Poster): I did not predict this turn of events.

UmHaxorully: So, the plant's a gym inspector?

NeonGengarEvangastlyon: Nah, and even if he was, he's totally going to lose against Fantina. It's not even worth talking about. Like, Kuroiwa is, to quote DuraDuraludon, fucking crazy, but the odds are basically zero of anything like his battle against Gardenia happening again.

DuraDuraludon: I have been summoned. And yes, lightning striking your Pokémon and making it stronger is still total Ponyta shit, especially when Rain Dance doesn't. Work. Like. That. But, you know, there's a ceiling this time and it's a full battle.

UmHaxorully: Gardenia was shouting something about Kuroiwa not using his ace during the battle. Anybody know what's up with that?

FiveForFightingTypes: As someone who watched Kuroiwa's battle against Roark in-person, I believe his ace is a Ground-type Pokémon called Golett. It is likely also Ghost-type. I will admit that the recordings are a bit odd, but I did well enough in my Galarian classes that I might have just translated it without thinking about it.

UmHaxorully: TheAllSeeingXatu, your thoughts?

TheAllSeeingXatu (Original Poster): I can't make any predictions right now. I'll wait until the stage is set to get into the thick of things. I will say, don't write Kuroiwa off yet. He seems like the sort of guy to try anything he can to win.

The Lights in the Sky Are Thunderbolts - XXV - A Praise Chorus

After scanning the business card he had received from Paul into a GTS terminal and sending it along to Professor Rowan with a short explanatory email, Hilbert and Marley (plus Shaymin, regrettably) hiked out into the wooded wilderness south of Hearthome so that he could practice his workshopping without being disturbed.

Disturbed more than normal, that is. Even if the hedge hedgehog dialed back the smell at his request, the aroma's strength always made him want to plug his nose.

The route was rather humid, with bits of soaked mud remaining on the road despite a lack of rain in recent days. In the distance, he saw a mansion poking up over the tree line, though it looked to be in good repair and Hilbert vaguely recalled something like it in the sightseeing pamphlets. It was nothing like Yuki's situation, of that he was certain. He took a turn down an alternate path for the route closer to the foothills and Marley followed.

"Are you certain that it is wise to leave Sinistea alone for so long?" Marley asked. He could hear her making a face even if he couldn't see it. Undoubtedly, she was thinking of whether the Pokémon would be grateful or not.

"They're going to be fine," Hilbert said, eyes scanning over the underbrush. He dropped into a crouch to press his fingertips into the earth, sending his spirit through it as the mud squelched satisfyingly at the pressure. "At this point, they need to build their spirit up on their own. Their… what's the word, self-concept? Their self-concept was broken too, if that makes sense, and that'll take longer to recover from. I've been gathering materials to make them a new cup."

"But do they not feed off of your spiritual energy?" Marley asked.

"Not a whole lot. It's more like moral support." He shrugged and shook the mud off of his hand before continuing onwards. Still too much local activity. "Sinistea needs to start figuring things out for themselves or they'll never recover. A big burst of spiritual energy could help them get physically better, but if it's focused on them, their self-concept will get more damaged."

"Is that truly the best way to do things?"

"Dunno, but it's my way." Hilbert put his hands behind his head and screwed his eyes up in thought as he walked. "Some Ghost-types, they're born from just ambient spiritual energy. They don't really have a purpose other than living like what they came from and that can be rough. Like, uh… Fuego has the spirits of stuff that got trashed and thrown away and wasn't sure what they wanted, and I helped 'em figure out that they wanted a legacy. Shuppet is a little like that, too. Sinistea… Well, I found them in a cupboard in my old house. They didn't really have a purpose until they chose one. I don't think they did, at least."

"I believe all spirits are like that," Marley mused.

"Were you like that?" Hilbert said, looking over his shoulder.

The girl said nothing, only continuing to walk behind him. Her steps slowed for a brief moment, creating a bit more distance between them. Steam and smoke from burning wooden bridges filled the air.

"Ah," Hilbert said, exercising an iota of self-awareness for once as he turned away. "Not important, I guess."

The two and a half continued on in silence for a few minutes. Slowly, the foliage became thicker and the path narrower as they climbed a small hill. The mansion in the distance became more visible though only as much as the small change in elevation would allow. They came into a clearing at the top of the where no grass had grown despite the open sky above it.

Hilbert pressed his hand to the dusty earth and nodded. It had been salted at some point, whether by a Pokémon's attack (what was the move called… Brine? He couldn't remember) or human hands.

His heart pulsed. The earth suddenly compacted in a near perfect circle around him, reaching out past Marley and making her stumble. He drew a line over the thickened mineral and came up with nothing.

She didn't say anything until he set his bag down, shrugged off his jacket, and carefully pulled his tee over his head, revealing the diamond-shaped spike of stone sticking sharply out of his chest.

"You said you needed to do something with your partner." Having recovered from her missteps, she tilted her head to the side curiously. "I must object on the basis of such activity being somewhat inappropriate in this weather."

Hilbert gave her an odd look. The sky was pale blue in the late morning and had grown brighter in recent days, owing to the fading February chill. But why would that…?

"I don't know what you're thinking," he said, "But it's probably wrong." He started rooting around in his bag, pulling out the Fire Stone he had picked up at Fuego Ironworks and various other clumps of minerals, some dense with TE and some not. "I'm putting together a frame for Golett to possess during battle. I still need to see if it works. It also might blow up," he added offhandedly, gesturing at the shards of glowing rocks that had been compacted for easier storage. "That's why I took off my shirt. Golett also has a tendency of tearing through my clothes when I get too, uh, excited."

"An interesting metaphor, but an apt one," Marley said, humming in agreement.

Hilbert blinked at her and returned to rooting through his bag. He'd stored most of what Roark had given him in a single side pouch but he'd been gathering scraps of quality metal since he'd arrived in Sinnoh.

Soon enough, he was standing over a pile of ore and crystal that was just under his own body weight though somewhat more dense.

"That is quite a lot," Marley observed.

Hilbert, aware as always, said, "My bag's old, but it's new enough to have Psychic TE-infused thread. It's bigger on the inside." As far as he could tell, it fed off of ambient spiritual energy to keep the effect active, and from the way it was laced, the interior would probably shrink slowly in isolation.

"Most are," Marley said blankly.

Awkwardly scratching the back of his head, Hilbert turned around and got to work.

When Hilbert felt satisfied with the day's work, he and Marley headed back into town to pick up supplies. Not much more than the usual: microwavable meals (he'd never seen so many varieties of noodles before coming to Sinnoh), drink packets (to boost Sinistea's mood, if nothing else), and chow for Marley's Pokémon.

Arcanine and Scolipede were not small Pokémon. Shaymin ate more than them despite that. What was more bizarre was that Marley could afford the costs of feeding all three of them.

He had asked about the 'how' soon after they met those few weeks ago. She replied with the one-word answer of, "Family," and then silently stared at him until he changed the topic.

That left him carrying the heavy threaded plastic bags of Pokémon food in one arm and holding the shopping basket with the other while Marley was choosing between two brands of shell polish for Scolipede. One would make chitin grow back thicker after being damaged while the other would reduce the friction between segments of Scolipede's shell, though using both apparently wasn't an option.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar purple-haired young man almost walk past the aisle before he noticed Hilbert. "Oi, Kuroiwa," Paul said, striding towards him.

"Is it just a coincidence that you keep running into us or are you stalking me?" Hilbert asked lazily.

Marley seemed oblivious, though it was just as likely that she said nothing to make trouble for him.

"This PokéMart has the widest variety of feed for Pokémon in Hearthome City. It's natural that I would shop here," Paul said, before his brow furrowed more than usual. "I can't see the reason that you would be here, Kuroiwa."

Hilbert shrugged, barely feeling the weight of the twenty pound bags. "This is for her."

"Hm." Paul turned and considered Marley. "Is that supposed to be some kind of baby carrier?" he asked, the usual scorn fading out of his voice and becoming more neutral, though no less intense by virtue of his personality.

Marley turned to acknowledge him and gave a nod, though it was the kind of nod that committed to no specific answer.

Paul glared at Hilbert for some odd reason. "Don't think for a second that this means I'll be going easy on you during our next battle."

Hilbert shook his head and pushed his puzzlement out of his mind. "I don't have time to battle right now. I'm still getting ready to battle Fantina."

"I meant after you lose," Paul said, before crossing his arms. "I will be training under my brother for a period and then traveling to Pastoria City. The Hotel Grand Lake on Route 213 hosts tournaments over the summer. I expect-"

"Okay, okay, pause," Hilbert said, shaking his head. "I've seen this before in Cheren's anime. Why do we always have to meet in the finals? Like, we can't just have a friendly battle outside of that situation? We'd both be at our best if we weren't tired from standing around and shouting for hours." Though maybe 'tired' wasn't the correct word, considering that it implied the necessity of sleep to Hilbert, something he rejected as a concept.

Paul scoffed. "If you're truly strong, you'll be able to assert your strength even after being worn down. Everything else is a warm up for the real battle."

Hilbert considered that.

"Doesn't that make you the warm up for my battle with Fantina?" Hilbert asked, putting on a mocking grin.

Paul glared at him. "You can make jokes all you want, but it won't change the outcome. Show me your strength without holding back. You're wasting your life if you're not giving your all."

Hilbert's smile became a little more forced. "Uh-huh."

"We will meet again there," Paul said, before turning and walking away without another word.
"Strength, strength, strength," Hilbert muttered, "That guy really is compensating for something."

Hearing a couple of boxes clatter into the basket he was holding, Hilbert glanced at Marley and saw that she was rapidly writing in her notebook, almost scratching her nose with the back of her pen.

He turned his gaze towards the ceiling and sighed. "I shouldn't have expected anything else."

The darkened dance hall lit up with a myriad of spotlights like the stars in the sky. Spiritual energy filled the air like a choking cloud of dust, obscuring the ceiling like incense in a graveyard. The stage was laid out before him, stone and smooth, and just past it, he could make out the woman in purple against the wooden walls and psychic shields.

Hilbert stepped out of the tunnel and began ascending the stage proper. The energy of the audience, scattered throughout the seats, kicked up a notch. On the ground around the arena, slats folded out of the floor that would drain the field of any excess matter created throughout the battle.

"I see that you've arrived, challengeur," Fantina declared, her voice filled with mirth.

The scowl came to his face easier than rain from thunderclouds.

"Obviously," he said. He held up a Pokéball."Are we starting now or what?"

"I will allow you the right to start this dance," Fantina said, affecting a demure queen before curtseying.

Hilbert's expression tightened but he didn't say anything further. He released Shuppet from their Pokéball just in front of him, not yet within the arena's bounds or the starting position.

The quartet appeared in front of him in a blast of light. Each member immediately pushed themselves to their feet, with Teri instead rolling due to a critical lack of arms.

Hilbert kneeled with one knee so that he was a bit closer to the two feet tall plush Pokémon.

"Shuppet, it's up to you to start the show off right," Hilbert said, just low enough to avoid being caught by the microphone on his lapel. "If she's got manners, she'll start off with her less powerful Pokémon, but Fantina's a gym leader and it might still be dangerous. Are you still up for it?" They'd discussed it many times before, in a sense, and though Hilbert was certain of the spirit's reply, he wanted to give them one last out.

Sure enough, each member of the quartet nodded as one.

"Alright." Hilbert offered a smile. "Get going." He honed in, his eyes becoming like metal rivets as he stood and crossed his arms after Shuppet ran towards the starting position.

The announcer shouted something and Shuppet's photo appeared on the massive screen overhead, showing the four mascots stacked against each other as if competing for space. Even if he couldn't understand the digitized words, he could see.

"Jubilife City," Hilbert called. "That place was haunted for years and I was the first guy to notice something was wrong."

His heart pulsed.

"It took a while," he said, begrudgingly acknowledging Golett before refocusing on Fantina. "But that kind of problem shouldn't take dumb luck to be solved."

"Oh? And you befriended that spirit through your "dumb luck," garçon?"

Hilbert's eyebrow twitched both at the assumption and Golett's seeming inability to translate the gratuitous Kalosian. It appeared that she used the language as part of her gimmick with no intention of being understood, and without that intent in her spirit, there wasn't much Golett could do.

"I showed them a better way," Hilbert said. "I met them by chance, but it sounds like you didn't have a clue. I did something. You… didn't," Hilbert said slowly, his voice guttural.

"Then what is there to worry about?" Fantina asked, giving a wide shrug then throwing her head back and laughing.

Hilbert snarled before he could stop himself. "You don't have a clue what I had to- STOP LAUGHING!"

"It seems you'll have to make me, garçon," she said, snapping back into a confident stance like it had been rehearsed. Her tone was amused as she asked, "That was the point of your challenge, non?"

"I'm not a joke, this isn't a game!" Hilbert yelled. "Come on!"

"Very well," Fantina said, easily returning to her earlier state of mild amusement. "I believe that Banette would make a great partner, in that case! Let us begin!"

Hilbert's skin crawled like he was wrapped in infested bed sheets as the opposing spirit appeared on the field.

Their malevolence given form, the slumped over Pokémon grinned and rolled their neck unnaturally. Lacking any definition or structure beyond that of a doll, it seemed to hold itself up by invisible strings. It tested each of its arms with the precise twitches of a surgeon, the limbs more like clumps of cotton secured by smoky black cloth than parts of any properly living being. Its eyes were pits of red like the kind that descended on the vision of someone mad with rage, and jagged chunks had been cut out of the fabric 'flesh' around them. Their mouth was a zipper, though it looked like one that had been forced open and shut a thousand times. The most peaceful thing about its existence was the clump of loose yellow threads that protruded from its backside.

Three fourths of Shuppet flinched away except Pouty, who seemed all too eager to throw themselves into battle.
A digitized bell blared and Hilbert jolted himself back to total focus, the pounding of his pulse slowly growing louder with each passing minute.

"Zealy, use Party Trick!" Hilbert called."Teri, set up Will-O-Wisps. Tedd, Pouty, run interference with Shadow Claw!"

Zealy puffed with smoke, before reforming at more than double their earlier height and charging towards Banette, running on all fours like a rabid beast. Their mouth appeared to foam with cotton, though where it dripped on the ground it quickly faded.

"Banette, greet them with Screech," Fantina suggested.

Banette's mouth slipped open, revealing an inky darkness within them as they placed a hand to their chest like an opera singer.

The screech could have shattered Hilbert's ear drums, for how much it made him want to keel over. As much as he could reinforce his bones, he was still built like a human. Zealy raised an arm to protect themself as the air visibly rippled with sound. They slid back, though not as much as the other members of the quartet which went flying.

As soon as the sound had started, it had been silenced, leaving a deafeningly quiet arena.

"Now," Fantina said. "Immerse them in darkness with Night Shade!"

Banette raised its unused arm, the black cloth pulsing with Ghost-type energy before blots of ink began dropping into the air around it, visible to the naked eye. The blobs of liquid energy coalesced in the palm of its hand and morphed for a second before they threw it across the arena. The attack stretched lengthwise, covering the width of the entire arena though quickly dropping.

Zealy's illusion poofed under the attack, but the white and red Zorua plush seemed to recover enough from the attack to dash forwards, the image multiplying as fast as Hilbert's heart beat.

Banette advanced for a counterattack before the pack could get in close, only for the illusion to peel off and jump away at the last minute.

Courtesy of Teri, a cloud of clumped up fiery wisps struck Banette, having very little direct effect but igniting a slow-burning flame on the surface of their cloth.

Banette's howl sounded more like anger than pain, and its face twisted into a bitter, hate-filled glare. Where the wisps had made contact, the cloth had turned red like the skin burned by a cigarette.

"Shadow Claw!" Fantina said.

Banette lashed out as Tedd and Pouty jumped towards them from opposite sides, catching both of them in a wide arc that left trails of Ghost TE misting in the air.

Zealy launched forwards, putting their Zoroark illusion on again and roaring.

"Hex!" Hilbert shouted.

The illusion jumped over Banette and drew its attention upwards just as Teri let loose a gelatinous orb of Ghost TE. It splashed over Banette, making them shriek as Zealy landed behind them on all fours.

Banette stumbled back, engulfed in a roaring flame as a result of the Hex compounding their existing burn.

"Teri, Zealy, Shadow Claw!" Hilbert said.

Teri jumped towards the wildly thrashing Banette, catching fire but absorbing what remained of their spiritual energy. Their talons glowed purple as they scratched at Banette's face.

At the same time, Zealy rushed Banette's legs, cutting them out from under the marionette Pokémon with hard-light claws. The spirit fell, sure enough, like a puppet that had its strings cut.

Before Hilbert could call them off of a continued mauling, Fantina said, "I see," and recalled Banette to their Pokéball. "Your Pokémon aren't ones to be underestimated! I'm intrigued!"

Hilbert was breathing heavily, though he hadn't noticed it before. He tried to take a moment to review the field, but he was distracted as Fantina sent out her next Pokémon.

Golden bands along the spirit's body seemed to glow with an almost heavenly light. Its skin could hardly be called skin; it was too mobile to be called rock but too solid to be called flesh. The helmet it wore, along with the pauldrons that adorned its shoulders, invoked the likeness of ancient Kalosian templars. Its hands were like industrial clamps, its torso like a blast furnace that had a crooked grin as an air vent.

"Dusknoir! Show our instigateur the error of his ways!" Fantina commanded.

Dusknoir looked straight at Hilbert, the singular red eye within the void of their helmet-like head fully visible to him.

He pushed down his shudder and reviewed his Pokémon. Zealy and Teri were alright enough, though a bit scorched, but Tedd and Pouty were limping around with their stuffing pushing itself out of their chests with each movement.

"I'm retiring Shuppet," Hilbert said, holding their Pokéball out. His ears buzzed as each member of the quartet dissolved into red light and zapped away.

There is little point.

He shook his head to shake off his paranoia. Dusknoir looked tough, and he'd done enough repairs since his last serious battle for Machamp to be an option.

You should be careful.

Machamp appeared in a blast of white, slamming their fists together and sizing up the opposing spirit.

Hilbert was beginning to be unsure if he was remembering words from somewhere or if something was trying to speak to him.

It is not your time yet, Dusknoir seemed to say, the air around them dense with spiritual energy and vibrating like the surface of a pond that had just been disturbed by a falling pebble. Be wary.

"Oh, that's just great," Hilbert muttered, before raising his voice. "Machamp, kick their ass."

The spirit turned and curled an eyebrow; even if they had no pupils, their intent was clear.

"Don't try getting in my head!" Hilbert shouted, throwing his fist forwards.

Machamp exploded from their resting position, the wind whistling around them. A four punches slammed into Dusknoir all at once and led into a blitz of punches. The flurry pushed Dusknoir back, but it was less than they should have moved as a result of so much force.

Dusknoir drifted through Machamp's torso, stunning them as their spiritual energy was scattered. Their singular eye was still focused on Hilbert.

Do not draw power from the Heavens in excess. You may attract _'s notice. I have guided many humans away from that path, but it would appear that I can only warn one such as you.

His heart pulsed. What are you talking about? Are you telling me not to save people? His expression betrayed his ambivalence though his lips did not.

No. But life delivers all to the same end. Do not anger _ for eternity in death only so that you may partake in a fool's errand in life.

A lightning bolt struck the center of his mind, igniting a flame that spread out and poured through his veins.

"Machamp!" Hilbert called.

The wind shifted; Machamp drew backwards from the battle like a boxer trying to catch their breath. Their fists flew into a defensive position as their torso reformed in front of Hilbert.

Hilbert leveled his index and middle finger at Dusknoir as if directing lightning. "Cut loose!" he shouted.

Machamp disappeared and a wild wind whipped up around the arena, ruffling Hilbert's hair and making Fantina lean against the current.

Dusknoir moved like a force of nature, matching each blow and knocking Machamp's fists back. For brief moments, both Pokémon became blurs before slowing just enough to be distinguishable. They flashed throughout the arena.

Dusknoir landed a strike on Machamp's torso and tore through, scattering their energy again. They turned towards Hilbert. For a split second, the world was replaced with something deep- a smaller order within the larger. An endless series of gates to be guarded in all directions, carved from marble in a sea of stars.

Dusknoir's eye blazed like the burning sword placed in front of the sacred garden.

Do not seek that which you cannot attain.

"You can't stop me!"

Do not dare to hope

Hilbert snarled. "I'm not… GIVING UP!"

Your desire to follow Ideals will destroy you.

Hilbert's eyes spread wide and flashed as he shoved his spirit towards the Fighting-type. "MACHAMP!"

Even if you succeed, you will have nothing.

A wave of energy ripped through Machamp as they took his and Golett's essence into their own and for a split second, communed with them. They reformed bulging with muscle and looking more solid than they ever had before.

Machamp slammed into Dusknoir, sending them spinning off into the air before rising to meet them. Not just on the ground, but now in the air; their battle became fully three-dimensional, with no regard left for the rules of reality. There was no gravity. There were only spirits.

Dusknoir sank, placing themselves in front of Fantina but not lessening their focus on Hilbert.

I will warn you no longer. But know this. If you continue down this path, there will be nothing left of you when this life, the final life, ends. Nothing will.

Dusknoir allowed themselves to be recalled. As they dissolved into red light- or just before, it happened so quickly- all four of Machamp's weights cracked and fell from their wrists with an earth-shattering bang.

Hilbert let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the buzzing in his ears subsided and was replaced by the sound of his blood pumping. He considered withdrawing Machamp. Just because their weights had broken didn't mean he had to give up.

"Hm," Fantina considered. "A short dance, to be sure. You're not finished, I trust?" she asked, that damnable smile reappearing on her face.

"Of course I'm not," Hilbert said, lightning flickering in his eyes. "Just who in the hell do you think I am?"