Hilda sat on the bed, her legs to her chest and her arms holding herself, watching Hilbert at the bathroom sink. For the last two days, Hilda could only think of what had happened after the two came back from the gym. She thought everything had been fine, but then Hilbert broke the mirror with his fist. She couldn't help but worry, seeing her brother do something so crazy.
Hilbert looked into a non-cracked section of the mirror, after he finished replacing the bandage on his hand. He saw his sister looking at him, a disturbed expression on her face. Sighing, he turned to face her.
"My hand's alright, okay?" said Hilbert as he flexed his fingers. "No need to be so scared about it."
"I know..." said Hilda. "But...I would prefer you to not do something like that."
"It was the heat of the moment, I wasn't thinking."
"Do you ever think?"
"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be able to have a conversation with you."
"Kinda wish you never think then."
"Aw shut up," said Hilbert with a fake rude tone, making Hilda giggle to herself. Hilbert smiled as well, seeing his sister not be so down always cheered him up. Trying to keep her from going back to discussing the other night, Hilbert changed the subject.
"You think Cress is gonna have something for us today?"
"Probably not, given what happened the other day. If he does, we'll likely just have to make another delivery."
"I'm getting tired of those. Most of the time, the person we have to meet up with just complains about us."
"They're always so ungrateful. Oh, hey, did we get paid for our last job?"
Hilbert thought for a moment. "I think...did we?"
"I thought we did. But, other than getting Cubchoo and Pidove, I don't think we got anything else."
"Goddamn it."
The twins sat on the bed while thinking about how they forgot to ask for payment and watched TV in silence. After some time, the two talked about what they wanted to do for today. Hilbert wanted to go out to train their pokemon. Hilda wanted to spend a day relaxing and not worry about anything. The two went on discussing their plans, when a knock came from the door.
However, it wasn't the regular rhythmic knocking from Cress that they were accustomed too. Whoever was knocking, it wasn't Cress, and they were banging the door with such force that it seemed as though the door was about to come flying off its hinges. After a few knocks, the banging stopped. By now, Hilbert had jumped from the bed and was gripping a pokeball tightly, while Hilda was still staring at the door with wide eyes.
Sending Houndour out behind him, Hilbert approached the door. Once he was close enough to reach out to the doorknob, he could hear a voice on the other side.
"They're taking forever. Sawk, use Brick Break on the door."
"Saw!"
Before Hilbert could process the words he just heard, the solid door in front of him was suddenly smashed to pieces. Chunks of wood flew past Hilbert. Though an extraordinarily sharp piece stuck itself into his exposed forearm, causing him to scream out in pain.
"Hilbert!" Hilda cried from the other side of the bed (She had rolled off the side when the door had smashed).
In the now door-less doorway, stood a blue skinned pokemon, which looked as though it was wearing a karate gi. Behind it, was a man wearing a pair of slack blue pants and a puffy green vest with a brown belt tied around his waist.
The man stepped inside the motel room. He was at least half a foot taller than Hilbert.
"Who...the fuck...are you?" Hilbert asked with pain in his voice.
"You two stole from Ral. I'm here to get the stuff back," the man said in a booming voice.
'Ral?' thought Hilda. 'This guy is dressed like Marshal. If you take out the M, A, S, and H in Marshal, then you're left with Ral. No way. The guy Hilbert stole from, the guy he got killed, could he have worked for Marshal?!'
"We...didn't steal...anything," said Hilbert gripping his injured arm tight.
'Hilbert! Shut up!' Hilda thought.
"Sawk, use Superpower on the boy."
The sawk, obeying its trainer, began to ready up an attack. After a second, the sawk rushed forward and stopped in front of Hilbert. The moment it stopped, it swung its arm, attempting to hit Hilbert with the side of its fist. Before the attack could land however, Houndour had jumped forward and taken the hit. Houndour was sent flying into the TV, breaking the screen and knocking causing it to fall beside Houndour on the floor.
The cry Houndour let out was enough to let everyone in the room know he wasn't going to get up. Hilbert looked from Houndour, to Sawk, to the man.
"I'll give you one more chance. Now, where's the twenty thousand?"
"I-is, that all y-you're here f-for?" Hilda stammered.
"Where is it?"
"H-hold on, the m-money i-is r-right here," said Hilda. She jumped up and went to the bedside nightstand.
Hastily pulling open the drawer, Hilda grabbed all that was in there, and ran back to the man. After emptying the contents of her arms into the man's hand, she stepped back, staring at the man nervously. She could feel a sweat drop drip down the back of her neck.
The man felt the weight of the money in his hand, let out a hmpf, then stuffed them in his large pockets. He brought out a pokeball and returned the sawk. Turning to the open doorway, he took his leave, but not before stopping and turning to Hilbert.
"You're lucky I was only sent for the money," said the man. He then aimed his eyes at Houndour for a moment, then left.
Hilda and Hilbert didn't move until they were sure the man was gone. When they were finally able to control themselves, Hilda ran to Houndour while Hilbert ran to the bathroom.
Crouched over Houndour, Hilda ran her hand over his side, letting out a sigh of relief when she felt him breathing. He was only knocked out. When she let go of Houndour, a red light engulfed him and made him disappear. Looking to her brother, who had Houndour's pokeball in one hand and a bandage draped over his other arm, she hurried to him and began to shakily wrap the bandage around Hilbert's forearm.
"Fuck..." said Hilbert. "Fuck fuck fuck, fuck!"
"What are we gonna do?!" said Hilda when she finished wrapping the bandage. It was clear they would need to redo it later.
"I don't know!"
"We're so screwed!"
"Fuck...we need to go to the gym."
"What? But, we've only ever gone there when Cress brought us."
"We have to! He's the only one we can trust."
"...You're right. We need to go, now."
Without wasting any more time, the two ran out of the motel room, then out the parking lot, and then started running away from the motel. When they felt their legs were burning too much to run, they stopped for a second before hailing down a taxi.
As they climbed in the back, the driver looked at them in the rear view mirror.
"So, uh, where to?"
"Take us to the gym," said Hilda, her voice still unsteady.
"Are you sure?" the driver eyed Hilbert's bandages. "You look like you need the hospital, kid."
"Please, just take us to the gym!"
The man hesitated. "Alright, I will."
The drive to the gym was a silent one. When the cab parked in front of the building that served both as an official gym and restaurant, the driver tried to tell the two their fare, however, Hilbert was already out and running up the steps. Hilda handed the driver a single hundred dollar bill, which she knew was way more than she needed to, but she was in a rush. Without saying anything else, Hilda got out, nearly slammed the door, and went to catch up to her brother.
Pushing open the front doors, Hilbert and Hilda stopped dead in their tracks when they saw most of the tables were filled with people eating lunch. The restaurant went quiet, for the patrons took notice of the two teenagers in dirty street clothes, one of which had a bloody bandage badly wrapped around his arm.
Ignoring the strangers' stares, Hilbert approached the hostess.
"Where's Cress?"
"Um, he's with a trainer in the gym area."
"Where's Cilan, or Chili?"
"I think they're both in the kitchen-hey! You can't go back there!" the hostess cried out to Hilbert and Hilda who ran past her. The two ducked under a waiter's tray and entered the kitchen. Immediately, the two saw Chili and Cilan's hair in the back and ran to them.
"What are you two doing here?!" said Chili through gritted teeth. "We told you to only come when Cress gets you!"
"It's important," said Hilda despairingly. "Please, can you get Cress?"
"He's with a trainer right now," said Cilan as he changed his gaze from being aimed at the twins to behind them. "What are you guys looking at?"
The cooks and wait-staff, who were eyeing Hilda and Hilbert ever since they ran in to the kitchen, looked away when Cilan called them out. Cilan let out an annoyed sigh.
"Follow me," he ordered the twins. They did as he said and were led to a backroom. Upon entering the room, they saw it was a small office, with a couple filing cabinets, a desk with a computer resting on it, and a few leather chairs.
"I'll let Cress know you're here when he's done," said Cilan. "So, just wait here."
No clock hung anywhere in the room, so Hilda and Hilbert had no idea how long it was until they heard the doorknob rattle. Cress was the one who opened the door, with a kid behind him who wore a proud, almost smug smile. For a second, the kid and Hilbert locked eyes before Hilbert looked to Cress.
"Why are you two here?"
"Cress, we need your help," Hilda spoke with desperation in her voice.
"With what?"
"The, um, reason can wait," said Hilbert as he looked at the kid.
"Hm?" Cress looked in the direction of Hilbert's stare. "Oh, right. Hold on, Cheren."
'So his name is Cheren,' thought Hilbert.
Cress walked over to the desk and rummaged through a drawer. He then pulled out a small black case that had a square shaped pokeball with the words Pokemon League on it. Cress then went up to the kid and handed him the box.
"I'm assuming you didn't already have a badge case," said Cress. "And the Trio Badge is already in there."
"Thank you. I look forward to filling it with the other badges," said Cheren.
Both Hilda and Hilbert said nothing, but Hilbert spoke with his eyes. He stared at Cheren with disdain. Something about this random guy just ticked him off. The way he smiled, the way he talked, even the way he walked into the room.
"Sorry for cutting this short, Cheren. But, you should go talk to my brothers. I have to help these two with something."
"Alright. It was a pleasure battling you and getting my first badge," with that, Cheren left the room.
"What did you two need me for?" asked Cress.
"We need a new place to stay," Hilda said, still no sign of her normally goofy attitude.
"Why? What's wrong with the motel?"
"We got robbed!"
"What? By who?!"
"We don't know, but it was some guy who was dressed kinda like Marshal, the Elite Four member. He said he was ordered by some guy named Ral to take our money. Do you think by Ral he was talking about Marshal?"
"I don't think so. From what I know, Marshal is clean, now. When he was younger he was involved with Pinwheels. I'm guessing the guy who robbed you worked for them. They tend to wear stuff like Marshal."
"Pinwheels?"
"They're a gang out of Nacrene City, though they tend to hang out mostly in Pinwheel Forest, hence the name," Cress explained. "They all dress in those vests and loose pants. Marshal has gone on record denouncing his affiliation with them and that he wears the outfit as a reminder of his past. Says it helps him to remain disciplined or something."
"Do you know who the leader is?"
"No, I don't. How much did the guy take?"
"Almost everything we had. The only money we have left is what's in our pockets."
"I doubt they'll go back. Though they might if you piss them off again."
"That's why we need your help."
"Did the guy say anything specific about why he was there?"
"No," Hilbert said quickly.
"Can you please help us?" begged Hilda.
"Just use whatever money you have to get a hotel or something, then wait until I get a job for you."
"But between the two of us, we don't even have five hundred bucks."
"Then I guess you're gonna have to stay somewhere shitty tonight."
"Can't you help us?"
"I don't know what you want me to do. Plus, I'm kind of busy here."
Without warning, Hilda went forward and grabbed Cress's waistcoat with both hands. Cress looked down at Hilda, surprised by her actions. Hilda looked down and took a breath. Looking up to Cress, she showed her eyes were filled with tears.
"Please," she implored. "You're the only one who can help us."
Cress looked into her eyes. The tears looked genuine, nothing like her artificial tears she used to get something she wanted. He would be able to tell if she was lying. After all, he was the one who told her how to fake cry.
Hilda blinked through her tears, and could see something in Cress' ice cold eyes. Where was normally a chilling pit of apathy for anyone and anything who wasn't his brothers, was something else. Something more, human. It wasn't quite compassion, but to Hilda, it looked as though Cress was feeling a sense of condolence towards her and Hilbert. When Hilda thought that she was about to see Cress' face clearly, his eyes went back to being frozen.
"Alright alright," he said as he patted her hands away. "I'll set you guys up at the hotel near here. Lucky for you, I hated having to go all the way over to that cheap ass motel."
Cress left the room, Hilda wiped her eyes, and Hilbert finally said something again.
"Are you okay?"
"Well, it's just," Hilda thought about her next words carefully. "I was worried he wasn't gonna help us."
"Yeah, that would've sucked," Hilbert took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Something wrong with you?"
"Nothing. I'm just, annoyed I guess."
"Why?"
"Something about that kid who was here, the one who beat Cress and got his badge, pisses me off."
"How?"
"I don't know," Hilbert said as he put his hat back on. "I just never want to see him again."
"You two are taking forever," the twins looked to the doorway to see Cress standing there, in an annoyed stance. "You want my help or not?"
The hotel Cress had mentioned was much closer than the motel. So close in fact, that the three didn't even take the limo to get there. They only had to walk a little over a block before they made it. Standing in front of the building, staring at the rows of windows, the twins were entranced. Despite the size of the building, it looked as if it was cleaned just before they arrived, each window was clear and sparkling and the bricks looked brand new. Just above the front doors was a black sign reading the hotel's name in gold lettering.
The Milotic Hotel
On either side of the sign, were outlines of some pokemon both Hilbert and Hilda didn't know. One had a blue outline around it while the other had a color that matched the signs letters.
"Can you two hurry up?" said Cress holding open one of front doors.
Stepping through the doorway after Cress, who was wearing a hoodie and sunglasses, the twins were just as fascinated by the interior as they were with the outside. Everything looked as though it was bought yesterday. The twins thought they couldn't find any imperfections with the hotel if they tried. Everything seemed flawless.
The chairs in the lobby were arranged in orderly circles, with round coffee tables between them. A few chairs were occupied by men and women who wore expensive looking clothing. Most of which wore suits and looked as if they had hotshot jobs at large companies.
The floor's tiles seemed to shine, illuminated by the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Hilda looked down and was able to see her face.
Hilbert and Hilda were so distracted by everything else in the lobby that when they made it up to the counter, they didn't notice what was definitely the hotel's main attraction. Just behind the clerk's desk, where there should be a normal wall, was a window of glass. From what the twins could tell, the other side of the glass seemed to be just water.
As Cress talked to the man behind the counter, Hilbert and Hilda continued watching the tank, despite the water being at a standstill. Just as the two thought that the hotel might've just had an empty tank on display, they noticed something coming from the side. Shocking them, a serpentine pokemon came into full display of the glass. It stayed in view, swimming in a spiral so its long, cream colored body will fit into frame.
Hilda and Hilbert had never seen something that held their attention for so long. It was as if the pokemon's beauty took a hold of them and forced them to pay attention. Not that they would complain. Everything about the pokemon radiated elegance. From its long and curled red eyebrows which complimented its eyes well, to its fan-like tail that donned various shades of magenta and blue. After a few moments of showing off, the pokemon swam away.
Looking back to Cress, they saw he was now done talking with the clerk and started walking towards an elevator, the two quickly followed. Stepping into the elevator, Cress pressed a button, and they began to go up. Cress didn't say anything while in the elevator. He didn't say anything as they walked down the hall. It took until they stopped in front of a door for Cress to break the silence.
"This is your room, and it will be your room, for the next six nights. After that, you'll have to pay for it again, and it was four hundred and twenty dollars, per night. So, I'll try to get you a job soon to pay for it."
Hilda and Hilbert let Cress go in the room first, then followed him. Once more, the two were speechless. The room was huge. The walls looked as if they were made of marble, white with blue-ish grey lines running through them. The floor's carpeting felt soft and lush beneath them. The first thing not built in to the room Hilbert and Hilda saw was the large TV on the wall. It looked almost as long as they were tall. Despite it's size, it looked paper thin, aside from a small section on the back side of the bottom, but even that was still a fraction of the size their motel's box TV was.
Directly beneath the TV was a large dresser. It was so big that Hilbert and Hilda felt it would've been able to hold a whole family's wardrobe, not just the two outfits the twins had. Across from the TV was a nightstand which separated the room's two queen beds. Each bed was equipped with a thick comforter to keep whoever rested in them nice and warm, two fluffy pillows with a third smaller pillow in front of them, and a smaller blanket folded at the end of the bed, in case the occupant needed another layer to be comfortable. In a corner of the room, was a desk and office chair. Above which had an open wall safe, with a painting hanging next to it, to cover it to up when closed.
There were also two doors, one of which the twins presumed to be a bathroom, the other led somewhere unknown. Hilbert and Hilda looked to the beds, walking to one each, and pressed a hand into the mattresses. Their hands left impressions before rising. It was the kind of mattress they had seen hundreds of times in commercials. The kind of mattress they never thought they would ever feel or see in person. It was more comfortable than anything they ever felt. To Hilbert, it was like pushing his hand into a cloud.
Still silent, Hilda sat onto her new bed, sinking into it with a sigh. Hilbert did the same and stared to the carpet. Cress scratched the back of his head before speaking.
"Well, that's that, I guess," he said. "I'm going back to the gym. I'll let you guys do what you want for the next day or two, after that I'm putting you back to work."
Once Cress closed the room's door, there was almost no sound at all. Only thing that could be heard were Hilda and Hilbert's light breathing. Hilda continued to look around the room, as if she was trying to familiarize herself with everything. But Hilbert knew something else was on her mind, her tightly sealed lips were evident of that. Hilbert wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence. To make his sister feel better.
"So..." said Hilbert.
He wanted to say more, but nothing else came out. Instead they sat there, muffled by the reticence of the room. Letting out a sigh, Hilda pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms. Hilbert looked down at his arm, the bandage was almost falling off, and blood was dripping onto the sheets. Getting up, he trudged towards one of the doors. The room he expected to hold the bathroom was the right one.
Despite everything else he's seen at the hotel, Hilbert was still impressed by the bathroom. Though this time, instead of trying to take in every detail and aspect of the of it, Hilbert just went to the sink. Taking out the roll of gauze, Hilbert set it on the marble counter top and began unwrapping the bandage on his arm. He wasn't bleeding much, just a bit of blood dripping out and rolling down his arm and the cut wasn't more than an inch and half.
Hilbert used the sink to clean the dried blood off, then began unrolling the clean bandages. Gripping the hand attached to his cut arm as tight as he could, he began trying to wrap the bandage around his forearm, swearing under his breath when the wrap fell. After the bandage fell a couple more times, Hilbert was ready to punch the mirror in front of him.
He probably would've too, if it wasn't for the two soft hands that took the bandage from him. Without moving his head, he turned his eyes up the arms and met his sister's stare. Without saying anything, Hilda began wrapping the bandage around her brother's arm, much tighter than how Hilbert was doing it.
"I really wish you would stop getting hurt..." Hilda said as she finished.
Hilbert smiled to himself. Just having Hilda talking again was enough to make him feel better.
"It's fine," Hilbert said, still smiling.
"How is you getting hurt fine?"
"I have you, don't I?"
Chapter six done! Don't really have anything to say for this. So peace!
~~~Sikahdik