The Seventh Squadron receive their next set of instructions to... kick back and relax? Not that they're complaining but what's really going on?

Chapter 3: Fair Feathered Friends

[Yo, Hilda!] Pidove called out, panting from frantically flapping his wings. [I know you're out there!] He felt his thirst grow when he found the Juniper Research Center still in the distance beyond a menagerie of trees.

The thought of Oshawott kept him going across the vastness of the north west wood but flying for him was like running for humans. There was only so far they could go before they needed a break. The best he could hope for was that Hilda had ventured into the woods beyond the laboratory.

[No way Hilda wouldn't have just let them get away without a fight,] Pidove told himself, darting around towards the ground. [Now if she'd just give me a sign or...]

"WHOOOOOOA!" a high-pitched scream let out following a low snap of a broken tree branch.

Pidove slowed to a stop to pinpoint where the all too familiar sound of Hilda getting in over her head again came from. [That girl just can't say hello, can't she?] he sighed in disbelief, veering to the left for a swift turn. [Let's see what it is this time.]

Pidove hovered past only a few tree before he found Hilda hanging upside down from the remnant of a tree branch that clearly had broken off. Both of her legs were braced around the stump but struggling to keep consistently clenched. Both her shirt had fallen down to expose her naval while both her arms and ponytail where dangling below.

[Well, points for originality,] Pidove quipped in bemusement when he closed in on her face. [Give her that much.]

Hilda was panting from a combo of the shock of nearly falling down and of catching herself by near reflex. However, the icing on the cake was how strained her legs felt from having to support her all of a sudden after her mad dash on top of her big climb. Her little save was just delaying the inevitable unless...

"Hilda, are you there?" Aurea's voice called out from the X-Transceiver frantically. "Are you... upside down?!"

"Hanging in there, kid?" Cedric couldn't help to joke, knowing his granddaughter enough to assume her situation.

"I think I'll take a break from climbing trees," Hilda heaved, trying to save off panicking. "You remembered to pack the futon, Auntie?"

"It's... drying in the backyard..." Aurea slowly groaned in hindsight. "Minnie's insistence."

[You picked quite a spot to practice Swoobat impersonations,] Pidove chirped nonchalantly, floating up to Hilda's face. [This how humans celebrate making Trainer?]

Hilda's panic morphed into surprise when she saw her feathered friend in her sights. "Pidove?" she asked, smiling in growing delight. "I thought I missed you at the picnic."

[I... might've tried too hard looking for a perfect going-away gift,] Pidove sheepishly admitted, landing on Hilda's right big toe to roost. [Do human girls still like rocks if they're not all shiny and sparkly?]

"I'll tell you once I've gotten down without splitting my head open," the young lady bemoaned, feeling the strain in her legs grow. "Don't tell Auntie Aurea but I miiiiight've forgotten to kinda, sorta properly distribute my weight." She glanced down and gulped hard at the sight of such a long drop.

"You can tell me all about it," Aurea's fussy tone called out from her X-Transceiver, "assuming you can make landfall." She paused before realizing. "Alive preferably."

"That won't be a problem now with Pidove," Hilda replied with a more confident tone of voice.

[I'm flattered but we all remember how well it went teaching me Fly,] Pidove claimed, going red over the awkward memory. [And flying all over the forest does leave a bird pooped.]

"Just follow my lead," Hilda asked, lifting her head to give her feathered friend a knowing look. "Quick Attack followed by Gust and I'll have a full bottle of Fresh Water in return."

[Uh oh,] Pidove replied, intrigued by his friend's implications. [I don't think I like this plan.]

"I do," Hilda quipped before unfolding her legs to drop into free fall.

[Now I know I hate this plan,] Pidove squawked, flying off in time before diving in after her.

Screaming her head off, Aurea had just looked up to have a proverbial heart attack over the sight of Hilda nosediving towards the ground. She scrambled to get directly underneath her goddaughter and prayed that she was in her landing site to break her fall.

However, Pidove caught Aurea's attention by suddenly zooming past Hilda at a breakneck speed and stopping cold just over her face. The Professor jumped back in surprise, a feeling that only grew when the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon began flapping his wings steadily but strongly.

"Clever girl..." Aurea muttered begrudgingly.

Clenching her teeth anxiously, Hilda was more than halfway down the tree when a Gust of wind hit her like fell into invisible water. She smiled broadly when the strong current slowed her descent from a falling to a borderline floating. It was hard for her not to imagined herself holding an open umbrella but the moment had passed.

"Uh, girls?" Cedric called out from the X-Transceiver's in confusion. "I don't got the best seats in the house so a little play-by-play would be nice."

However, Aurea was too busy running up to Hilda once her goddaughter was only a foot away from the ground. His friend now about to land, Pidove finally burnt out his Flying-type Energy before falling to the ground. The Professor thankfully avoid stepping on him while he laid on his back to catch his breath.

[Really... hate... plan...] Pidove gasped, feeling like he circled the globe hundred times over.

Hilda never felt more relieved when her feet touched the ground and leaned onto her knees to breath from how intense that was. "Another happy landing..." she wheezed out, laughing from how exhilarating it all was. "Sorry to-" She was wheezing a lot more when Aurea grabbed her into a hug with the grip of a Serperior's Wrap.

"Is there any part of 'Don't scare me like that' that doesn't go over your head?" the Professor groaned in kitbash of relief and aggravation.

"Not... for lack... of trying..." Hilda managed to wheeze out, feeling the air squeezed out of her.

"Let her have this, Hilda," Cedric sighed wistfully through the X-Transceiver. "It's been a day as it is."

Hilda quickly caught sight of Pidove just barely getting up on his talons and hastily pinched Aurea to loosen her grip. "Sorry," she swore to the wincing Professor while getting out of the near constriction. "Fresh Water, Fresh Water, Fresh Water..." The young Trainer sifted through her Personal Computer's file for something to drink.

Pidove was still catching his breath with every "roo" when a big bowl of crystal clear mineral water was placed in front of him. "Never forget to hydrate," he heard Hilda gratefully advise, looking up to find her kneeling to his live. "Rule Number One in Pokemon Training."

Pidove smiled back at her as thanks before fluttering onto the bowl's edge and drinking away one massive gulp at a time. All the while, Aurea walked over with her far more serious expression making a reprisal.

"I think Pidove might actually be able to help us," Aurea posited, stroking her chin like her father always did. "More than he already has."

"The little guy's strong but I don't know if he's that strong," Cedric replied.

"I'm talking about proper reconnaissance," Aurea corrected. "Pidoves are all over Unova and are generic enough to just blend in with the background." She started to pace around in collecting her thoughts. "Hilda's friend here could fly onto the campsite and spy without causing suspicion."

"And they don't even know she can talk to Pidove," Cedric finished, slowly smiling at how it was all coming together.

"Well, look who's deciding to get reckless all of a sudden," Hilda wryly teased, strutting up smugly towards the Professor. "What happened to playing it safe?"

"Those four phonies robbed my family blind and hurt my father," Aurea replied with a glare aimed towards the campsite's general direction. "They just made it personal."

"I'll do my best on my end," Cedric promised. "I know a few folks in town that don't take Pokemon thieves lying down."

Hilda was taken aback by her godmother being like, well, her until the Professor reached into her pocket and held out a Scalchop. "Let's bring them home together," Aurea declared strongly. "I could use an expert when it comes to this neck of the woods."

Hilda felt seen when she smiled back and took the Scalchop. "Thank you..." she softly replied with only a small tear, holding her godmother's hand to shake on it.

"That's my girls..." Cedric warmly praised with a nod of approval.

"Did you get that Pidove?" Hilda asked while turned towards her feathered friend. "Sorry to ask more of you but-"

A small yet crass burp interrupted the young Trainer before Pidove hovered out of the water bowl with renewed stamina and a quenched thirst.

[A promise is a promise,] the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon vowed, fluttering closer to his friend. [We'll get Oshawott back in no time.]

"Then we'll start by-" Aurea began before Hilda cut in almost too hastily.

"Wait, how did you know I got an Oshawott?" the rookie asked Pidove in confusion, piquing the Professor's curiosity in turn. "And what's this about a promise?"

Aurea eyed Hilda oddly when she answer a question only she could hear while Pidove's eyes shot wide with realization.

[Guess seeing you upside down distracted me,] the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon exclaimed. [I meet the little guy after those flying humans nearly knocked me out of the sky and followed them.] He landed on the wrist band on Hilda's outstretch right arm. [I heard him cry for you when I followed them to their stomping grounds.]

Hilda swallowed hard in dread at the sound of it. "Is... he okay?" she pleaded, fearing the worst but hoping for the best. "What's happening to him?"

[They're not hurting him but... he's real down in the mouth,] Pidove explained, remembering how the Sea Otter Pokemon seemed to just give up. [He just gave up and let them put him in a cage.] He frowned at the awful memory. [I'm sorry there wasn't a thing I could do.]

"You stuck your neck out to comfort a virtual stranger," Hilda reassured, scritching Pidove's neck in gratitude. "So far, you've helped him more that I could've."

[I've known him for only a few minutes but he's already my wingman,] Pidove swore, cheering up. [We Flying-type always look out for each other.]

"So.. is this a private affair?" Hilda and Pidove heard Aurea ask awkwardly. "You forgot to put up the subtitles." The two besties went red in the face over being too caught up in each other and forgetting that not every human can talk to Pokemon.

"I really need to invest in that Pokemon Translator," Cedric hmmmed. "Remind me to contact Fennel."

Hilda cleared her throat to change the subject to something less awkward. "Pidove, could you start from the beginning so I can interpret?" she hastily asked.

[I might be able to help better if you can explain, well, how got here?] the Tiny Pigeon Pokemon asked. [I feel like I'm missing something here.]

"Join the club..." Hilda groaned before recapping everything relevant up until now.

If you're tumbling down and your spirit falls
Help's on the way, we hear your call
On a mission, we're united as one
Friends forever, yeah

It was still an odd experience for Vanessa. Laying about with a roof over her head and listening to her favorite O-Town album without fear of being kicked out by a landlord or cop. Even now, she was waiting for an other shoe that would never drop.

It also didn't help that her brother was trying to make nice with their captive.

"C'mon, squirt," a squatting Bright insisted, russling a bag of Oran flavored chips. "You gotta at least eat something."

Up on the cabin's second floor under the roof, Oshawott sat in his cage with only silence as his answer. He had his back to Bright while sitting amongst a mess of snacks that the Knight had slipped through the bars.

"Look, I get that this is a lot to take in," Bright tried to empathize, "but you'll thank us later." He rested his legs by seating himself on the wooden floorboards.

Hungry as he admittedly was, the Sea Otter Pokemon frowned in defiance the way he knew Hilda would. Whatever these Team Plasma creeps wanted with him, Oshawott imagined the kind of strength his Trainer gave off and stood his ground.

Though the slight gurgle from his stomach implied otherwise. He shut his eyes to

"Give him seven minutes without the snacks," Vanessa called out to her adopted brother. "Twerps always crack sooner or later when you starve them out."

Bright looked back to cast a dirty look towards his adopted sister and found her flat on her back on one of the futons. She was already taking it easy with her hand behind her head and ear buds connected to her P.C. Her plains clothes were barely washed baggy jeans and a grey sweater over her black T-shirt.

"This isn't an interrogation in the sewers, Vanessa," Bright chided back, adjusting the waistline on his cargo shorts. "We joined Team Plasma to be better than that."

"No, we joined when Kent's cronies nearly threw us off the Skyarrow Bridge," Vanessa retorted irately, listening to the songs she pirated thanks to Sammy. "Now spare me the 'bigger person' spiel and toss me a cupcake, Mr. Bright Idea." She turned up the volume when her jam came on.

Bright groaned over his sister refusing to let go of his failed attempt at playing nice. He found a chocolate cupcake amongst their other junk scattered across the floor and took it out. In a fit of frustration, he threw it at Vanessa's face only for her left hand to catch it just in time.

"Um... nice to see your reflexes are still sharp," Bright stammered to save face. "Save half for me."

Cracking an eye open Oshawott couldn't help but overhear his captors talking with each other and how... casual they sounded. Whoever these Team Plasma thieves were, their initial menace was becoming more and more watered down.

"Don't let her scare you," Bright whispered towards Oshawott. "Living on the streets either makes you crazy or crabby." He glanced over to make sure Vanessa didn't over hear. "I personally think she's both."

Oshawott was just pondering what exactly to make of them when footsteps caught his attention, breaking his hungry strike. He turned towards the stairway where Cheren and Bianca stepped into the bedroom with a surprising change of clothes.

"I see Vanessa's making herself at home," Bright heard his leader remark to his surprise.

Cheren wore a loose blue jacket opened to show a red stripe down his white shirt and black slacks below. Bianca had the more colorful outfit with a green beret over a white dress with an orange vest over the top.

"Oh, uh, I insist that I take first watch while she caught up on rest," Bright quickly lied, standing up to meet his bosses eye to eye. "Sorry if we bailed on your call to the big boss, erm, boss."

"Well, you lucked out," Cheren responded rather roughly. "The "big boss' as you put it instructed us to just kick up our feet and rest until the Shadow Triad pick us up." He adjusted his glasses with a groan. "Apparently, the king is concerned with how much sleep we may be missing."

Bright's confused eyes met Bianca's own look of concern for a second. "And that's bad... how?" he asked Cheren earnestly.

"The boss is a workaholic who can't relax for crap," Vanessa bluntly put out without a hint of shame. "But at least he leads by example."

"Vanessa..." Bright firmly bemoaned, knowing how she can be too off-the-clock.

"Cheren wanted to check in on any odds and ends they might've missed," Bianca clarified, hoping to keep a lid on things. "But Ghetsis wasn't convinced."

"What's odd or end about it?" Vanessa asked again. "We came, we saw, we robbed them in broad daylight." She tried to close her eyes while listening to a more mellow song. "Unless we forgot the raid the pantry, I didn't, I think we'll be cool."

"And you didn't notice anything strange about Hilda?" Cheren sharply questioned back, strolling over towards Vanessa. "How she was talking to her Pokemon?"

Vanessa's eyes snapped open with Bright aiming the same gaze of incredulousness towards their leader. Bianca hung her head and sighed wearily, knowing how this was going to play out.

However, Oshawott kept his ear out for this out of curiosity. Namely as to how would they have come to their little deduction. He only caught onto Hilda's secret nearly half a day after meeting her.

"Um... yeah?" Vanessa indignantly replied. "She sweet talks to her Pokemon like any other Trainer deluded enough." She lifted up her Personal Computer to find a song to center herself. "Probably brainstormed nicknames like Ollie."

"You know what I'm talking about," Cheren indignantly declared, snatching the P.C. from a most offended Vanessa. "I saw her communicate with her Oshawott and even with Snivy during battle." He looked towards Bianca for some semblance of support. "There's no way it was just reading 'body language'."

Bianca blinked and darted around anxiously. "It did seem weirdly personal between her and the Grass-type," she conceded, hoping to back him up a bit. "And the way she was conversing was a lot like the demonstrations."

"Then why would Ghetsis shoot you down?" Bright questioned. "Assuming you're onto something."

"Because he's not," Vanessa snapped, snatching her P.C. back from Cheren. "Did I say workaholic?" She glared at her boss with major offense. "Try conspiracy nut."

"Or..." Cheren asserted, more intimidated by Vanessa than he let on, "Black Ops missed a spot."

"It would be nice to take those elites down a peg," Bright admitted. "But this is too big off a leap."

"And it's not like we can ask Hilda," Bianca reasoned with her partner. "Even without Pokemon, the Junipers wouldn't take this robbery lying down with the Pokemon we didn't get."

"We can still try to isolate Hilda," Cheren suggested, still trying to sell his pitch. "Perhaps promise to exchange her Starter for her secret and take her straight to Ghetsis."

Oshawott gasped at the suggestion. He wouldn't wish being caged on even Snivy.

"One problem with that, chief," Vanessa irritably retorted before yawning in Cheren's face spitefully.

"Hey!" Cheren cringed, waving away the bad breath.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say we're running on fumes here," Vanessa declared before free-falling back onto her futon. "If Ghetsis wants us to catch up on rest, hey, consider me employee of the month." She ever pretended to snore if only to make the point.

Cheren just stared incredulously as Vanessa resumed her playlist and shut her eyes to a soothing number by Blessid Union of Souls. "Can you believe this-?" he began before yawning himself, his field agent's drowsiness catching on.

"Sorry, boss," Bright swore up and down. "But for once, I'm with sis." He laid down on the bed with his head just in front of the window. "I like big schemes as the next hire muscle but I've been in enough to know something always go belly up."

"Maybe..." Bianca put forth gently, "we can make our case to His Majesty after we've caught up on rest." She grabbed Cheren by the arms and winked up at her partner.

The Seventh Squadron's leader blushed while his glasses fell askew. "I... guess we could brainstorm our pitch on the couch..." he managed to put out, glancing to see if Bright or Vanessa were watching.

Oshawott kept a close eye on Bianca pulling Cheren towards the stairs and trembling anxiously like never before. Even if Team Plasma was turning in, he knew that Pidove was still leading Hilda into a potential trap. The Sea Otter Pokemon felt a pit in his stomach for being made into bait.

RRRRRRRRR!

Said pit turned out to be hunger pangs that growled from the belly up and disturbed Oshawott's depressive spiral. The blushing Water-type looked around at the snacks Bright littered around the cage and felt far less inclined to stick it to Team Plasma.

[Fine,] Oshawott groaned in defeat before starting on the soft-baked sugar cookies. [But only to help Hilda...] He hoped that the sugar rush would get his brain to think of something.

"So what Pidove's saying is that this force-field isn't invulnerable," Cedric surmised over the X-Transceiver. "That might work to our favor..." His transmission was starting to glitch, dipping in an out in a borderline dead zone.

"And it seems like these thieves take themselves for charity," Hilda added, careful of her footing with so many roots. "The way Pidove says it, they were trying to 'save' Oshawott from me?"

"One of the girls that... did say some... -ike that..." Cedric mused, his signal starting to waver.

Hilda looked up to find Pidove hovering over head, keeping pace with her and Aurea. She had asked Pidove to direct them west while each of them hashed out their sides of the story and filled in the blanks the other missed. It was this part of the forest that had the less clearings and a few more trees clumped together.

"I know the Pokemon League hasn't always approved of how my family does this," Aurea began, stumbling over a root she missed, "but this has gone too far."

"No, it sounds like these zealots have it out for the League too," Hilda corrected, jumping over a bigger root. "And the mere concept of Trainers too."

"I know the lifestyle isn't for everyone and that plenty can't stomach battling but... stealing Pokemon?" Aurea asked exasperatedly. "How is playing Team Rocket a solution to, well, anything?" She nearly tripped when her foot got stuck under a root and nearly blew a gasket trying to pull it out.

"We can beat it out of them when we've rallied the troops," Hilda declared vengefully, stopping to wait for the Professor. "Pidove, I need you to zip back to the campsite and update us on what those creeps are doing before they think of skipping town." She looked up at her feathered friend. "Sound the alarm to the whole wood."

Pidove stopped to grin back at his best friend. [Consider the cavalry called,] he promised with gusto before revving up his Normal-type Energy. [My old man's got connection out Northeast.]

The Tiny Pigeon Pokemon flew off in the opposite direction at breakneck speed, weaving around the trees and disappearing from Hilda's sight.

Aurea had only just pried her foot out of the root when she looked up before cringing at the sight and the smell simultaneously. A firm faced Hilda was holding up two of her smelly sock right in her face.

"Auntie, I need you to take these socks with you down southwest," the rookie commanded. "My scent will let any friend of mine there know that I need them."

"O... kay..." Aurea winced, taking the dirty pair with the tips of her fingers. "What exactly are you planning?"

"Raising an army," Hilda declared with a triumphant smirk. "If those creeps did their research, they'd know that this is my turf." She spread out her arms to bring attention to the vast woodland around them.

Aurea's eyes went wide in growing realization. "We've got the home field advantage," she murmured with a growing grin.

"And my friends play to win," Hilda vowed, holding up a fist.

To Be Continued...

Team Plasma has caught onto one of Hilda's secrets but not all of them. Something that will cost them when they find themselves in a war they have unknowingly kicked off.

Hilda will get all the help she needs when the news spreads like Wildfire.

Thank you for reading my fanfiction.

Write up a comment or a full blown review about what you liked or loathed about my work. I can roll with the punches so let me have it.