Hilda flipped through the TV channels. The fact she was staying in a ritzy hotel room was so surreal, it was almost overwhelming. She needed something to get her mind off of it. The TV wasn't much help. The crisp and colorful image on the screen was new to Hilda. She remembers watching her family's square CRT TV, its poor image giving off a slight fuzziness to everything.
As Hilda began going through the channels for a third time, a knock came from the room's door. Recognizing the familiar banging, Hilda jumped from her bed and bustled to the door. Opening it revealed the knocker to be Cress, her boss, wearing his hoodie and sunglasses.
"What are you doing here?" asked Hilda.
"Yeah, it's good to see you guys too," Cress replied.
"No, I mean, you said you wouldn't be here for a couple days."
"Something's come up, so I needed to talk to both of you. Where's what's-his-name?"
"He passed out about an hour ago," Hilda said as she stepped aside and let Cress in.
Walking to Hilbert's bed, Cress looked down at the sleeping teen. Curling his middle finger and holding his thumb over it, Cress positioned his hand in front of Hilbert's face before letting go. The flick made Hilbert sit up abruptly clutching his nose.
"AH, YOU BIT-Oh, it's you," Hilbert said when he saw who actually woke him up. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you two," Cress said while walking to the other side of the room. Stopping at the desk, he pulled out the office chair and moved it back to the bed. Looking at the TV, Cress spoke up again. "First of all, turn that off."
Hilda sighed as she turned the TV off and mumbled under her breath.
"There's an event for gym leaders coming up in a few days that I need to go to Castelia for. And I'm bringing you two with me."
"What? Why us?" asked Hilda as she sat down next to her brother.
"Yeah, why doesn't Cilan or Chili go with you?" Hilbert added.
"Well none of us wanted to go, but I drew the short straw. And we need someone to watch the gym and restaurant. Since two pairs of eyes are better than one, I have to go alone unless I had someone else to go with. Therefore, I'm taking you two."
"What if we don't want to go?"
"I wasn't asking," said Cress with finality. The twins have yet to challenge Cress' orders, but they felt as though this wasn't the right time for that, so they said nothing. When he was sure the two weren't gonna say anything more, Cress got up and stretched. "Anyway, meet me outside."
After Cress left the room, Hilda and Hilbert just stared at the doorway. Despite having done multiple jobs for him and knowing him for almost two weeks, they still weren't sure how he felt about them. Sometimes it felt as though they were working a normal job and Cress was like their manager. Other times it felt like they were just two pawns of his he bossed around.
The two stared at the doorway after Cress left. They've known him for almost two whole weeks, yet they weren't sure if they should stay following him. While the money was nice, anytime they do a job for him they could be arrested. Not like they had much of a choice.
Regardless of their relationship, they still found themselves getting in a limo with Cress once they got outside. Even if they were just being duped, it's way better than being on the streets.
"Where we going?"
"You'll see," said Cress without even looking up to see who asked.
As Hilda looked out the window during the ride, Hilbert leaned back and closed his eyes. Right when he felt himself beginning to drift off, the car came to a sudden stop. The abrupt braking causing Hilbert to fall on the floor. He could hear Hilda laughing at him.
After giving her a dirty look, Hilbert turned to Cress getting out of the limo. The twins were quick to follow. Being outside, they could see they were at the entrance for the Dreamyard.
"What are we doing here?" asked Hilda.
"Can't you just wait to find out instead of bugging me with questions?" said Cress.
"How about you tell us stuff before hand so we won't ask later."
"Yeah, yeah. Follow me."
Cress led the twins, plus the limo driver, through the main path of the Dreamyard, through an area only trainers were allowed into, and through a spot obviously unused by the public. While most of the Dreamyard was ruined and crumbling, efforts had been made to restore some of it. At least to the point of not having to worry about people getting hurt from debris. But where they were now had not been given this treatment.
Where once stood a small structure, there were instead single standing walls and piles of rubble. Grass reaching up to a person's ankles had grown through cracks in the foregone flooring. Of the few walls still up, they looked as though they would crumble at any time.
Hilda and Hilbert stood still, staring at their surroundings, and the driver walked past them without saying anything.
"What's he doing here?" asked Hilbert to Hilda, as quietly as he could. His sister just shrugged, having no more idea than him.
"Alright, this seems like a good spot," said Cress to himself. "Hey, you two. Get over here."
"You gonna tell us why we're here now?" asked Hilda as they walked to Cress.
"I brought you out here for a couple reasons. The main reason, is to see how good of trainers you are."
Hearing no responses, Cress turned around to see Hilbert and Hilda looking at him with a questioning look. Sighing, he looked towards the driver and nodded. After nodding back, the driver threw out a pokeball. High in the air, the ball opened and out came the red light which switched to white before taking a form. Standing in the middle of the field was a small light brown pokemon with dark blue fur on its body and tail. The pokemon let out a small bark.
"Herd!"
"Aw, it's a herdier!" said Hilda.
"You two are going to battle him," said Cress.
"Like, right now?" asked Hilbert.
"No shit."
"Alright..."
Hilbert pulled Houndour's ball out from his pocket and enlarged it. Releasing his pokemon, Houndour took his time to stretch himself. When he was done, he yawned and turned to his owner. It was obvious Houndour was still resting from being knocked out earlier.
"Hound..."
"Oh, sorry!" Hilbert said as he returned his first pokemon. Pulling out his other pokemon's ball, Pidove, he tossed it high into the air. Upon being released, Pidove flew in a circle a few times before diving down to Hilbert and perching himself on his head. After seeing the herdier, Pidove quickly realized it was in a battle and flew down in front of his opponent.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Cress. Hilda realized he was talking to her when no one else said anything.
"Huh?"
"I said, you two are going to battle, so hurry up and send something out."
"Wait, we're gonna battle at the same time?"
"Obviously. Like the other day at the gym, if you get into a battle at the same time, it'd be useful to have good coordination."
Nodding in understanding, Hilda pulled out both of her pokeballs, unsure of who to bring out. It took almost a full minute, much to everyone else's annoyance, for her to decide on Venipede to battle. After being sent out, Venipede was quick to realize she was supposed to battle. Once Venipede scuttled up to Pidove, everyone was ready.
"Alright, you ready?" Cress asked the driver, to which he received a nod. Cress turned to Hilda and Hilbert. "You two ready?"
"Yeah," said Hilbert. "We are."
"Okay, begin!"
"Herdier, use Work Up!" called the driver. His pokemon barked in acknowledgement and begun its move. A light red aura began to develop around the herdier as it dipped down and up a few times. After a couple seconds, the aura faded and the herdier let out a small self empowering cry.
"Pidove, Air Cutter!" Hilbert ordered.
Pidove flew several feet in the air and began flapping his little wings with all his might. With each flap, a slice of wind was sent towards Herdier.
"Herdier, dodge it!"
Though Pidove was close, the rival Herdier dodged each slice of wind and even gained ground. Pidove stopped his attack when Herdier stood directly under him.
"Take down!" ordered the driver. Herdier jumped up towards Pidove despite height advantage.
"Use Growl!" Hilbert quickly shouted.
Pidove shrieked, which did next to nothing to keep Herdier from crashing into him. Hilbert witnessed his pokemon tumble to the ground and roll towards him, stopping a few feet away. The small bird laid motionless. After a moment, Cress raised his hand and began to announce Pidove's defeat.
"Pidove is no longer able- oh?"
One of Pidove's wings twitched. Cress raised his eyebrows, surprised the little pokemon wasn't unconscious. Then the wing twitched more, harder and faster. Soon both wings flapped at the ground. Sure enough, Pidove pushed it's fluffy feathery body up, ready to battle once more.
"Never mind, looks like he can still fight," said Cress. "Normally a pokemon has to be completely fainted to be declared unbattleable. But the trainer can choose to withdraw the pokemon if they wish."
Hilbert looked to Pidove. Pidove stared at Herdier. While he didn't like the idea of sending his pokemon to battle after it took a massive hit, Hilbert didn't exactly have another pokemon to take his place. He reached for Pidove's ball, wanting to return him. However, before he could, Pidove jumped up and flew back next to Venipede. Hilbert let out the breath he held. If Pidove still felt fit for battle, then Hilbert wasn't about to deny his chance to prove himself.
"Venipede, use Screech!" shouted Hilda. Venipede was quick to do as she commanded. Venipede's loud cries reached Herdier's ears, making it cower. "Now, Rollout!"
Venipede curled into a wheel and rolled towards Herdier, picking up loose rubble along the way, adding damage to the move. Despite the speed, Herdier dodged when his trainer called for it and Venipede forced herself to quickly turn back, losing much of her momentum. Herdier dodged the next attack without any input from his trainer.
"Herdier, use Crunch!"
Herdier charged Venipede with an open mouth. As it ran, it's teeth began to glow white until they weren't visible and the light grew, giving Herdier the appearance of having much larger fangs than it did. When Venipede had slowed down too much to keep rolling, she stopped and uncurled herself. As she began to turn to her opponent, Herdier caught up with her and bit her side with it's large light teeth.
Venipede let out an ear piercing cry as Herdier tossed her to the side, where she rolled before landing coming to a stop on her side. Hilda called out to her pokemon, to which Venipede struggled as she got up. Hilda let out a sigh of relief.
"Use Screech and run to Herdier!"
Venipede opened her mouth and her Screech caused Herdier to cower again. Screeching the whole way, Venipede ran up to Herdier.
"Use Bug Bite!" Hilda called. Venipede stopped her screech, but Herdier immediately regained its composure.
"Leer!" called the driver. Herdier locked eyes with Venipede and gave her a peer of intimidation. Venipede pulled back. "Now use Take Down!"
Herdier ran into Venipede headfirst, knocking the bug pokemon into the ground and making her roll several feet, kicking up dust as she went. When her grunts of pain were no more, and the dust began to settle, Venipede laid motionless.
"Venipede is unable to battle," said Cress. "Either withdraw her and send out your next pokemon or forfeit the battle."
Hilda ran to Venipede and picked her up gently. Holding her in her arms, Hilda sighed in relief when Venipede's breathing was still normal. Hopefully all she needed was some rest to be as good as new.
'Man, pokemon are tough,' Hilda thought as she returned Venipede and went back to standing next to Hilbert.
"You alright?" Hilbert asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Hilda who and a second pokeball out now.
Without a word, she tossed the ball and out came her second pokemon, Cubchoo. Being just over a foot tall, Cubchoo looked quite tiny next to Herdier, who was almost three feet tall at the shoulders. When Cubchoo decided to sit down, he looked even smaller. "Aw! He's so cute!"
"We're in a battle. Remember?"
"Oh, right! Cubchoo, use Powder Snow!"
The little pokemon stood up on its short stubby legs and raised it's paws into the air. Above and around Herdier, moisture in the air formed together and began to freeze, turning into snow, before slowly falling towards Herdier. The snow was going slow enough that it would be easy to dodge, if it was only coming from above. But snow was falling all around it, so any attempt to evade would just lead to getting hit anyway.
Herdier was forced to take the attack head on. Once a single flake of snow landed on herdier, the rest of the snow all fell at once, covering Herdier in slush. The attack was strong enough to cause Herdier to cringe, but it was obvious it didn't do much damage.
"Herdier, Work Up!"
Pounding its paws, Herdier summoned the same aura from earlier. When it disappeared the driver followed up with Take Down and Herdier charged Cubchoo. Hilda tried to order her pokemon to dodge, but it's little legs weren't fast enough to out speed the enemy's pokemon. Herdier slammed into Cubchoo with its full weight. Hilda watched in distraught as Cubchoo skidded across the ground and came to a stop at Hilda's feet.
"Cubchoo can no longer fight. Since you don't have any other pokemon that can battle, you lost. Oscar's the winner," said Cress.
"Who?" asked Hilda.
"The driver..."
"Oh."
"Wait, hold on," said Hilbert. "I still have Pidove. Shouldn't the fight continue until either he faints or Herdier faints?"
"Well, in an official battle you fight until your last pokemon. But this is only training. Not to mention your pidove isn't looking as good as it did earlier."
Hilbert looked up to where Pidove was hovering. At first he didn't understand what Cress meant. But after paying close attention, Hilbert could see it. With every flap of his wings, Pidove was wincing. The hit from Herdier earlier did more damage than Hilbert thought and by not withdrawing his pokemon, Pidove continued to be in pain. Realizing his mistake, Hilbert sighed before returning Pidove.
"All in all," Cress talked while he walked towards the twins. "You guys didn't do as bad as I thought. You didn't do good, but I was expecting worse."
"In what way did exceed your expectations?" asked Hilbert.
"Well first, I was thinking the battle would end a lot faster. Like, three minutes tops," said Cress. No hint of sarcasm or jesting anywhere in his voice. "Now, onto the bad. It was a two on one, yet you guys acted as if it was a tag team match. You waited until Pidove took a hit to do anything and you were going to wait until after Cubchoo fainted to attack again."
Cress looked from Hilda to Hilbert as he made his points. The twins said nothing, only looked away in one part shame and another part of being intimidated by Cress. Something about getting criticized by someone who can easily point out their flaws made it hard for them to look him in the eyes.
"I'm guessing you two don't really know that much about status moves?" asked Cress. Having neither teen say anything confirmed his suspicions. "Well do you know about the three move categories?"
"No..." Hilda admitted in order to not deal with an awkward silence.
"I'm a gym leader, not a fucking teacher," Cress said under his breath as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay, quick explanation. So there are three categories, physical, special, and status. Status is the only one that doesn't inflict direct damage to an opponent. Instead, it has an immediate effect and an after effect. An example, would be Venipede's Screech. It's immediate effect is that it'll make a pokemon cower from the harsh noise. The after effect, is that for the rest of the battle, whatever pokemon Screech is used on, will have a lowered defense. Meaning, it'll be weaker to physical type moves."
"Really?"
"You didn't know about the after effect, huh?"
"No, I always used Screech thinking it would make a pokemon cower for a bit. Then I would take that time to make an attack."
"You two aren't complete idiots, I'll give you that."
"Somehow, that doesn't sound like a compliment," said Hilbert.
"Good. Now, I have some other business to get to. Some of it involves you two, so we're going back."
"What kind of business?" asked Hilda.
"The kind where you wait to find out about instead of annoying me," Cress said as he began to walk towards the entrance of the clearing. Hilda and Hilbert walked side by side a few feet behind Cress, and Oscar the Driver followed behind them.
"Maybe I wouldn't ask so many questions if you didn't leave out details."
"I already know that's a lie," said Cress. Hilbert chuckled at Cress's jokey but true statement.
"So you can laugh," said Cress.
"What was that?" said Hilbert.
"Nothing. I just don't think I've ever seen you so much as smile. Normally you just look really pissed off."
"That's because he's void of most emotions- ow!" said Hilda. She rubbed the spot Hilbert had punched her.
"The same could be said about you."
"How so?"
"For one, you're pretty much always scowling at us."
"Or you just look emotionless," added Hilda.
"You guys have any idea how exhausting you two are?"
"I- that's rude," said Hilda while pouting.
Aside from Hilbert laughing again, no one else said anything until they arrived to the limo. Only thing said then was Cress telling the driver an address to drive them to. Hilbert and Hilda got in and sat beside each other. Staring out the window and making idle chit chat. Cress ignored them, just tapped away at his xtransceiver while thinking about what he has to do before the three of them go to Castelia.