Hero of Ideals

“Cheren has a girlfriend?” Hilbert chuckled. “You made a good choice there - he’s super smart and really loyal, even if he can be a bit of a butt. He’s probably one of the most respectable people I know.”

Black had decided against spilling all of Cheren’s embarrassing secrets. He wanted to make amends and strengthen their friendship, so he had to hold off on that until it was more acceptable for them to joke about it.

But the second they were back to normal, holy crap was May going to learn all about Cheren’ scene phase.

Now, the subway doors opened. Two people got on: a female preschooler and a hiker. Though Hilbert and May likely didn’t know it, the duo had a very, very interesting story on how they got there. But their story was for another day.

The hiker sent out an Onix, one that was only about half the size of the normal ones. It still struggled to contort its body and fit into the small subway without taking up the whole cart. The girl sent out a Shellder.

Hilbert held out a PokeBall - an old PokeBall, with faded paint. Throwing it into the air, he let out a Phantump.

The Phantump slouched over and looked at the opponent with bored eyes. It floated over to Kamina and stayed beside him.

“I’m sure you’ll do great” Black assured May. “I can tell your Pokemon is strong. And Pokemon don’t get strong without a strong and caring trainer.”

And so the battle began. Hilbert decided to try and lead in order to let may relax a bit. 

His Phantump, Woody, delivered a powerful Energy Ball right at Shellder. And of course, the enemy Pokemon fainted immediately. 

Turned out 5-year-olds weren’t exactly the paragon of trainers.

Back to May. Something was bothering him, and it was something she said. Team Rocket. Why would she worry about them? Didn’t she now they were done for?

Black didn’t particularly mind. He had his fair shares of Double Battles, though he would usually battle solo, himself. But he planned on taking it easy and working with May. Rushing would take away time to unravel the mystery she presented him.

May and Black, coupled with their Blaziken and Pancham, respectively, took a seat against a wall on the Double Line subway cart. After a moment, the subway slowly chugged forward. (Or backward? When you don’t know which end of the subway is which, it would probably be confusing.)

The speaker above the doors called out to them. A robotic, female voice said, “Attention! Your opponents will be along shortly. You have seven matches before you reach the end.”

Black turned to May and gave her a smile. Hopefully one that didn’t make him seem like he was trying to creep on her.

“If it is my attention you want, however, insulting my lifework isn’t the way to curry favor... I battle with those whom prove themselves worthy, not just in a battle, little trainer – but in manners and taste.”  

Black insulting Siebold’s food did nothing but make his sweet-sounding words feel like they’ve been filled with sour grapes. Which was good - it showed that Siebold could restrain his fury with utmost class, but he still had that intensity in the first place.

Black knew this was true: Siebold was cold, he must have a lot of control in battle. He probably had a steadfast heart, an indomitable strength of character. There’s no way that he’d lose control in a match. Truly, this man was a master at battling, miles above most trainers.

Black would have loved to battle him. But now, he realized that his plan backfired a bit. But then again, this interaction just made Black want to battle him more.

Black slowly rose from his seat. Some people turned their heads away, so as not to show they were listening in to the argument. A waiter, passing by the scene, spun around on his wheel and walked the other way.

Since Siebold showed his will, Black was going to do the same. 

“Okay,” Black said to him in a very austere tone. “Maybe I should be more nicer. In fact, how about I make you a meal of my culture?”

“Cham-Chamu!” came the voice of Pancham.

“Cheren, it’s not that I was trying to avoid you...” Black said nervously. “I...uh... I brought gifts.”

Black wasn’t really sure how to do damage control. He admitted to himself that he was in the wrong for abandoning his friends and family, but he had a good reason! It’s just that, would Cheren even consider it a good reason?

Before Black could get a word in, Cheren was quick to retort.

“And you decide to show yourself now? Why now? You had us all worried sick? Is there a method to your madness, Hilbert? What. Is. Wrong. With. You. Well? Don’t just stand there and stare at me! Explain yourself!”

Finally, Cheren seemed to stop his verbal assault. 

Black let out a small sigh. He never really considered how Cheren would react. He assumed he would have missed him. But he thought Cheren would want to catch up and have fun again, like Bianca was when he talked to her. But then again, Cheren wasn’t like Bianca.

There were many things Black wanted to respond with. Like “And what would you have done in my shoes back then?”, “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” or “Would you rather I not come back at all?” Even something like “I bet you forgot about me after a while” crossed his mind. Cheren wasn’t the only one who was angry.

And wanted to turn that anger on Cheren. But Black - Hilbert knew Cheren’s pain. He didn’t want to add to it.

“Cheren... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. But I brought a bunch of cool Pokemon to show you. You could borrow them and show your class, if you want! Bet they never saw a Wigglytuff before!”

“Uh, wouldn’t that be cheating? I mean, you have to fight everyone else on the Subway first, right? I don’t think Sunshine Dad would be too happy with me if I took you back there without permission.”

Sensing that something was not right, Black decided to roll with what she was saying, lest he risk upsetting her. 

“Yeah, I can understand,” Black responded kindly. 

Still, he wasn’t exactly happy with letting things be. Was she nervous about him meeting her father? Maybe... 

Maybe ‘Sunshine Dad’ is holding people he beats hostage, and using May to lure people to the Subway? And May was trying to protect Black by making him battle and stay away from him? That dastardly jerk probably implicating her in his crimes, bringing her down should she ever tried to bring him to justice.

Okay, no. But it was still suspicious how May reacted badly to the mention of Johto. How she seemed to pause when he asked her about going to meet the Bosses directly. Something wasn’t right, and Black didn’t want to leave her alone if something was wrong.

“I know we’ve just met, but you’re kinda fun to talk to. Since you’re... going to see him, why don’t you join me on the Battle Subway? I know Emmet does the Doubles Line, so we could battle together until we find him.” 

The goal: find out what’s wrong with May before they reached Emmet. Because if Emmet was related to her problems, he wanted to help her out before she was in his clutches. Something was rotten in the state of Driftveil.