My old Beta Reader had to drop me since our time tables aren't able to match. I need a new one who can suit my needs to work on my fanfic. Here's what I'm working on and what I expect a Beta Reader to help me with:
Pokemon: The Black & White Adventures is my adaptation of the games, Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2 obviously. The storyline for the first series basically follows Hilda, a 14 year old Pokemon Trainer, journeying Unova to enter the League, complete the Pokedex and stop Team Plasma with the mysterious young man named N.
If you have any doubts of this, I guarantee that the actual stories will NOT be carbon copies of the games' storylines and characters. In fact, I hope my Beta Reader will help me on that. I need someone who's a very frequent regular here with plenty of time to kill when discussing and brainstorming with me via PMs. If you're busy with personal issues at a particular moment, I'll understand and wait for your return if it's very important. You should be willing and interested to work with me and help me with my characters, stories and ideas. Maybe even make your suggestions. Of course, they must be a fan of Generation V and Unova with enough knowledge on it but you probably knew that.
They also must be flexible with dark, light and thrillingly epic tones as well as many different types of stories (action, adventure, mystery, Sci-Fi, etc) since my Trainer fic isn't mature in the sense of nudity, sex and extreme violence or light in the sense of the Pokemon Anime but on the level of epicness like Pokemon Special or Digimon more or less. And I don't just limit it to just those kinds of stories. It's pretty young adultish like Harry Potter or Molly Moon and I plan to give it a sense of an action cartoon with a storyline and standalone stories for the characters as well as elements so older readers can have fun. The characters are written to be gray (hence, the title's meaning) where they're not perfect in the sense that they makes mistakes like any person would. It's less cliched and shabby than you'd believe but I'll let you be the judge.
And example would be the Knights of Team Plasma act like they're the good guys and believe that they are so they aren't like evil mooks from Team Plasma or chaotically evil like the bad guys from Power Rangers. They believe they're like a band of rebels or a resistance trying to set the world the way it should (or rather the way they believe in). This is keeping up with the theme for characterizations: Black, White and Gray.
Anyways, my Beta needs to be imaginative for this and not take things too seriously. A fun and understanding person who doesn't treat this as an obligation. I also have Aspergers Syndrome so if I say something I shouldn't have by accident, please address this so I may apologize. I live in New Rochelle, New York so if you're able to be online when I am too, that'd be great.
So, any volunteers?
Sorry to bump this but I still need a Beta and I'm desperate as hell. Here's an outline of Chapter 1 if anybody's interested.
[SPOIL]Chapter 1: Little White Lies
Upon reaching Hilda’s bedroom door, her mother, Helga, knocks on the door and tells Hilda to wake up. She opens the door to go inside and ask again but Hilda groggily responds to have five more minutes. Even on a day like this, her 14-year-old daughter was not at all a morning person and before 8 AM at the very least, she was lost in Snoozeville, Population: her. Helga and Minnie, their pet Minccino, exchange smirks over such an obvious lie and get a mischievous idea to really get Hilda up and at ’em. Helga whispers in Minnie’s ear and the Chinchilla Pokemon quietly make her way to Hilda’s bed. Her daughter is in her pink pajamas with her long brown hair let down, laying on her left side with the covers partially over her and her body nearing the bed’s edge for tossing and turning.
Helga winks mischievously at Minnie who gets the idea. Minnie leaps onto the lower-end of the bed where Hilda’s feet were exposed and used her fluffy tail to tickle the soles, giggling in delight. Feeling the sensation, Hilda’s eyes shoot open and she spazes out, accidentally kicking Minnie off the bed and rolling off the bed’s edge herself. Helga tries to stifle her giggles as she says good morning to Hilda getting up from the floor, wide-awake. Hilda, frowning over her rude awakening and red in the face, steps up to chastise her mother and Minnie for tickling her awake when they promised not to anymore since she was ten. Helga says she’s sorry, claiming she couldn’t help herself with Minnie admitting she deserved that kick. Hilda merely pouts in response. Her mother could be more of a best friend than a parent but she could be a little too playful sometimes.
Helga takes the gift box out and presents it to Hilda, hoping it serves as a better apology. Hilda’s eyes widen as she gasps in amazement and takes the box, shocked that the Pokemon already came earlier than expected. Opening the box’s lid, she finds three Poke Balls in it as expected and her smile widens. Hilda embraces her mother in a hug out of sheer joy, saying how she’s finally a Pokemon Trainer. She simmers down to say how she would’ve got up if her mother said so in the first place. Helga claims that she wanted to have a little fun before her little girl leave home on her journey. Hilda sees her mother’s face becoming slightly somber so she tries to cheer her by saying how Minnie will keep her company and she herself be the best Trainer for her Pokemon team. After all, she learned from the best, which really makes Helga smile. Not wanting things to get so mushy, Hilda changes the subject by asking when Cheren and Bianca will arrive just as the doorbell rings. Helga says she’ll show their guests in while Hilda gets dressed and her daughter agrees to this, starting to look for clothes to wear.
Helga makes her way downstairs with Minnie to open the front door and let in Bianca Whitley and Cheren Blakely, Hilda’s best friends. Minnie tells them to remove any and all footwear before entering and the two houseguests do so, knowing how mad the Minccino could get. Helga comments on how early they are and Bianca chipperly says they got up early because they just couldn’t wait until she got her Pokemon. Cheren calls her out on her lie as he and her father had to practically drag Bianca out of bed kicking and screaming and they were lucky he got up early. Bianca defensively says she would’ve gotten up in five minutes and she hates how they carried her to which Cheren says he highly doubts. He turns to ask Helga where Hilda is. Helga says she’s getting dressed and the starter Pokemon are already here. Cheren is amazed at how everyone’s so early today. Helga asks about Bianca’s father, Bennet, and Cheren’s father, Nigel. Bianca explains how her dad was so emotional as he saw his daughter off, not that she blames him entirely. Cheren says how he couldn’t catch his dad in time since he had to go to a meeting at Aspertia City’s Pokemon Trainer School. His mother at least helped him pack though.
Bianca eagerly asks if they can pick a starter Pokemon already just as Hilda makes her way downstairs with the gift box, all dressed at last. Hilda and Bianca hug each other affectionately while Cheren merely say “hi” not one to be all touchy, feely. He also asks Hilda if she’s really going to wear such short daisy dukes since it’s not that hot out. Hilda teases him by asking if they’re not short enough but Cheren, seeing her trick, warns her, “don’t even start!” Wanting to cut to the chase already, Hilda leads everybody to the living room where she sits on the couch with Bianca and Cheren sitting beside her. Helga says she’ll go make breakfast as she heads to the kitchen while Minnie stays with the Trainers to decontaminate the new arrivals if need be. Bianca decides to go ahead and opens the box to select a Poke Ball. She finally settles on the one that’s labeled “Tepig” and presses the white button that has the Poke Ball grow and unlock itself. Gulping hard, Bianca calls out for Tepig to come out and the Poke Ball opens up in half to let out blue-white energy that leaps down to the floor, becoming Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokemon.
Hilda compliments on Bianca’s choice but Cheren says he’s not big on fire-types. The Starter Pokemon takes a look at his new surroundings when Minnie, being the neat freak she is, inspects Tepig for any griminess or germs (much to his bewilderment) and he checks out. Bianca get off the couch to moves in closer to see her starter curiously, squatting down to make eye contact. Smiling, he asks in his species’ language if Bianca is his Trainer. He gets his answer in the form of Bianca scooping him up to hug his warm body up to her chest, squealing how cute he is. Tepig, though surprised, is appreciative of the affection and says it’s nice to meet her too, liking her already. Cheren stifles a laugh to quip how that’s one way to make a first impression as he takes a Poke Ball for himself. The one that’s labeled “Snivy” is enlarged so Cheren can call for his Pokemon. The blue-white energy is unleashed and it forms into Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokemon, who stands on the table. Minnie is quick to lash out at Snivy for standing on the table she recently cleaned but the snooty Pokemon retorts, saying she can always clean it again. Minnie grits her teeth while Snivy turns to Hilda and Cheren, asking as to which one of them is his Trainer.
Cheren says he is but Snivy finds it hard to believe, given how “pale” and “scrawny” he looks. Cheren isn’t sure what he said but can tell it wasn’t very kind. Hilda says it was blunt and awfully judgmental but optimistically says how they have something common already. Cheren doesn’t share her sense of humor and brushes it off. With one Poke Ball left, Hilda takes the one labeled “Oshawott” as her own and lets the Sea Otter Pokemon out to see for all to see. Oshawott looks around himself with a look of unsureness as Hilda goes over to introduce herself to the little guy with a smile. She says it’s nice to meet him at last and hopes he had a safe trip. Oshawott bows instinctively, saying it’s nice to finally meet his Trainer and Hilda compliments him on his cute courtesy, making him blush and smile.
Minnie gives Oshawott a mean look, making him feel uncomfortable, and says that she’ll have her eyes on him before tiptoeing away. Hilda tells Oshawott not to mind her as she can be a bit on-edge with cleanliness. She reaches out her hand for Oshawott to shake as a sign of their new friendship, looking forward to working with him along with other Pokemon. Oshawott puts out his digit-less arm to shake on it, having a very good feeling about this girl. Helga tells the gang that breakfast will be almost ready and suggests that they get to know their starters by practicing moves in the backyard. The three Trainers and their Pokemon decide to do just that.
*Outside in the backyard, Hilda (now wearing black shoes with pink laces) has set up three targets for the starters to each display their moves. Bianca and Tepig go first as the bubbly blonde encourages her Pokemon to show off whatever move he has to surprise her. Not wanting to disappoint his Trainer, Tepig concentrates to amplify his fire-type power in his body and dashes off like a fiery comet (literally too) to hit the target, putting a big, smoking dent in the bull’s-eye. Hilda and Cheren are blown away while Oshawott cheers on Tepig with Snivy sniffing at it, having seen it plenty of times. Bianca congratulates Tepig on a great Flame Charge and tells him to keep it up. Tepig snorts in through his nostrils to gather power and shoots fiery snot at the target, charring it some more. Cheren’s put off by the “snot” aspect of the Ember attack while Hilda says they’re not always boogers. To finish things off, Tepig runs back and charges forth to Tackle the target, snapping it off the post. Bianca apologizes but Hilda says they’re pretty much disposable.
Snivy, itching to get a move on, tells Cheren to watch as he goes to the second target on the left so he can display his moves. Snivy has two vines reveal themselves from his shoulders and whips the target many times (Vine Whip) hard to create multiple dents in them with a hole in the bull’s-eye. He then goes for the “coup de grace” and jumps high in the air over the target to spin in the air, creating a small green cyclone, known as Leaf Tornado, to wreck the target even more. Cheren praises Snivy who smugly acts all high and mighty much to Tepig and Oshawott’s chagrin. Hilda gets pumped up and tells Oshawott to show his stuff. Oshawott gulps and begins to step forth with Snivy telling him to break a leg with a hint of snide.
Oshawott breathes in to gather power and blast a column of water from his mouth, known as Water Gun, at the target, hitting the bull’s-eye with a major dent and bending the post a bit. He follows up with a Tackle and hits the target with his body, making the post bend only for it to bend back into place with Oshawott falling to the ground. Everyone laughs at such slapstick but Oshawott gets upset at his embarrassment and takes his Scalchop from bellybutton. Concentrating his water-type power, he forms an Aqua Saber and charges at the target with a loud battle cry. With a single clean vertical slash, Oshawott makes the saber disappear as the target splits in half and returns the Scalchop to his bellybutton. Everyone is impressed, including Snivy even if he doesn’t admit it, and Hilda goes up to Oshawott to praise him on such a cool execution of her Razor Shell attack.
Oshawott bashfully smiles, saying it was nothing. Hilda says that if he’s this good now, she can only imagine what he’d do in real battle. Oshawott freezes slightly upon hearing this and makes a worried look on his face, prompting Hilda to ask what’s wrong. Not wanting to set off any alarms, he says he’s okay and looks forward to really showing his stuff in their first battle. Snivy rolls his eyes at such a blatantly transparent lie with Tepig feeling a bit concerned for his fellow starter. Though sensing something a tad amiss, Hilda shrugs it off as Helga calls for them all for breakfast in the Kitchen. With stomachs to fill, the Trainers and their Pokemon make haste but not before Minnie gives them a good washdown.
*Hilda, Helga, Cheren and Bianca sit at the table to eat their food and talk while Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott sit on the floor to eat special Pokemon food out of their bowls. Tepig says energetically how they sure lucked out on some cool Trainers and says how he already likes Bianca a lot. Snivy says that Cheren is good so far but less than he had expected in a deadpan tone. Oshawott, in high spirits, says that Hilda seems like a great person and can’t wait to see how great a Trainer she really is. Snivy sniffs and says how she won’t with Oshawott’s never-ending losing streak when Oshawott begins to protest. Snivy says he knows it’s true and once Hilda finds out in due time, Oshawott will be discarded like common trash for their own good. Oshawott insists that Hilda would never do such a thing but Snivy points out how he and her only knew each other for an hour at most. Oshawott tries to say something back but sees that Snivy has a good point.
Hilda seems very psyched to become a Trainer and is in it to win battles clearly. With his persistent losing streak, who was to say that after six losses in a row Hilda wouldn’t realize how Oshawott is ill suited for battle and let him go as soon as possible? He could easily imagine her saying, “Sorry Oshawott, I’m afraid it’d be pointless to keep you when you lose every battle. You’re on your own, pal. It’s for the best of both of us.” Scary thing was that it seemed very likely to happen. Snivy says he told him so but Tepig tells the Grass Snake that enough is enough. Minnie asks with concern if this is a regular occurrence with Tepig saying it is but it’s nothing that can’t be handled. Hilda, on the other hand, was too into a conversation to notice the starter’s squabbling.
Helga checks her X-Transceiver to see that they have at least an hour or so before they’re expected at the lab so they better hurry up. Hilda hears this and remembers something important; cursing how little time there is as of now. She tells Oshawott to eat whatever food he has left and fast before doing so herself. Cheren and Bianca try to tell her there’s no real need to rush but Hilda is in too much of a rush to listen. After she cleans up her plate, she can leave the table in haste with Oshawott right behind her and go out through the front door. Oshawott asks where they are going as Hilda takes a small square container from her left pocket, saying that he’ll see soon enough. Opening the container, she select a “Size H, Serial No. 738” Capsule from ten other capsules and pushes a button on top of it before tossing it to the ground. It bursts into a cloud of smoke that lifts to reveal a bicycle in its place.
Hilda takes Oshawott to put him in the basket and gets on, warning him to hang on tight before riding off. She goes around the corner and heads down the street straight to the entrance leading into the West Wood of Nuvema. Hilda rides her bike onto the dirt path as Oshawott asks why they are in the woods. Hilda insists that it’s a surprise as she turns onto a smaller path. She checks her X-Transceiver to see that there’s still enough time as she stops the bike in a small but wide clearing. She disembarks as she puts the kickstand up and takes Oshawott out of the basket. The Sea Otter Pokemon, still in the dark, asks if Hilda will now tell him why they’re here when Hilda yells at the top of her lungs, “HEY, YOU GUYS!!!!!” to seemingly no one in particular. Oshawott jumps at this and Hilda turns to tell him that he’s about to get his answer in a very chipper tone.
After a few seconds of silence, a rustling sound is heard, as it gets closer until a wild Watchog leaps from the trees to tackle Hilda as she turns to face him in time. She’s pinned down to the ground but isn’t too hurt while Oshawott is taken completely by surprise, his mouth agape. He goes to see if his Trainer is alright as Hilda pushes off the Watchog to get up and insist that she’s friends with the wild Pokemon. Watcher the Watchog introduces himself to the squirt and asks if Oshawott is Hilda’s first Pokemon. Oshawott says he is and bows, saying it’s nice to meet a friend of his Trainer’s. Hilda says that Watcher’s not the only forest friend of her’s just as Herdier comes charging straight out of the bushes to tackle her as well. Oshawott, once more, is shocked by this and nearly jumps out of his skin. Pinned to the ground again, Hilda is given affectionate but slobbery licks to the face as the Herdier expresses how happy he is to see her.
Watcher helps get Herdy off of Hilda so he doesn’t get too friendly but Herdy takes offense to that remark, asking what he’s implying. Oshawott calms down and introduces himself to the new arrival. Herdy does the same and is glad to finally meet the very first Pokemon Hilda chose. Oshawott asks if Hilda’s hurt at all but she insists that she’s use to it and they hold back for her sake. She gets back up only to be pushed back down by a Lillipup and a Patrat who then proceed to bounce up and down excitedly on her backside while cheering that Hilda’s here. Watcher and Herdy get their little brother, Patrick, and sister, Lilly, off of Hilda who gets up to say that’ll be enough surprise attacks for the day.
Just then, two Sewaddle swing on a String Shot from trees on opposite sides in attempt to slam into Hilda. She swiftly moves out of the way to let Sue and Addle smack into each other before they drop to the ground comically. Everyone laughs at the Sewaddle sisters who both complain to Hilda for embarrassing them. Hilda apologizes and introduces them to her starter Pokemon, Oshawott. Everyone gathers around with Oshawott as the center of attention, making him slightly nervous. Hilda formally introduces Oshawott to her pals from the woods, Watcher, Herdy, their siblings, Patrick and Lilly, and the Sewaddle sisters, Sue and Addle. She asks where Pidove is but Watcher assumes he’s running behind or over sleeping again. Lilly and Patrick ask where Bianca and Cheren, whom they’re fond of the most, are but Hilda says she left in such a rush so they’ll be here in a few minutes at least.
Oshawott notices their banter and pops the question as to how she can talk with them. Hilda had spoken to him before but he figured that she was guessing what he was saying. Watcher surprised that he just caught on and explains that Hilda has the ability to understand what Pokemon say as though they’re all speaking the exact same language. Hilda confirms this, saying it’s like have an automatic translator in her head and she was able to make friends with a lot of woodland Pokemon even since she was ten years old. Her mother, Helga, has this ability too. Oshawott is speechless for lack of a better term. Hilda adds how she’d live in town but whenever she could, she’d go to the woods to play with her friends. They were almost like her second family in a way and Cheren and Bianca would sometimes join too as well as her mother.
Wide-eyed and curious about the newcomer, Lilly and Patrick go over to probe Oshawott with questions: How tough he is, how many battles he won and what it’s like to live in a laboratory. Oshawott stumbles over his words as they come in all at once before Hilda tells the two tykes to not swarm the little guy as he’ll answer when ready. Herdy says that he too is curious as to how tough Lab Pokemon are but Watcher sniffs and says that it can’t beat the great outdoors. Oshawott is provoked by this to tell Watcher that he himself is plenty strong for a Lab Pokemon if that’s what he’s implying. Watcher asks how many battles he won and Oshawott hesitates before stating he won fifteen in a row, wanting to make a good first impression. This impresses Hilda, Watcher and everyone else, making Oshawott feel good from the praise he’s receiving.
He goes onto say that he and the other starters stage battles with the Professors and other lab workers. He’d make sure to put effort into his moves even if it was just practice and it’d all pay off handsomely. Lilly and Patrick are especially in awe, being the impressionable youngsters they were. Hilda is glad to know she picked a real go-getter but warns Oshawott not to let it go to his head too much. Oshawott smiles upon receiving Hilda’s approval but feels a tad bad for lying. Watcher says that he’d like to take a crack at Oshawott who gulps and says that he’d like to some other time. Luckily, Hilda agrees as she’s saving their first battle for the laboratory.
Just then, everyone hears footsteps approaching and turn to see Helga, Cheren and Bianca along with Minccino arriving at last (Snivy and Tepig are resting in their Poke Balls). Lilly and Patrick scamper off to see Bianca and Cheren, their close friends, respectively while Minccino greets her old friends from when she lived in the forest. In the midst of the various chatter and interactions, Helga tells her daughter that she’d like to battle her so she can be reassured that Hilda’s truly ready to be a Trainer. Hilda is more than happy to grant her mother such a request but Oshawott is unable to share the feeling, gulping and going blue in the face. He tries to persuade his Trainer against it by reminding her of their check-up battle at the lab but to no avail.
Hilda says that she has decided that her first battle will be with the one who raised her and helped her become a Trainer immensely. She states that she owes it to her mother at the very least but hopes that Oshawott doesn’t have too much of a problem with it. Not wanting his Trainer to worry, Oshawott says he’s okay with it if Hilda’s okay with it with a smile while hiding the immense feeling of anxiety welling up within him. He had dug his own grave and all that was left to do was to bury himself with his own dirty lies. It would’ve happened sooner or later but he would’ve preferred later if anything.
*In a matter of minutes, Helga and Minnie stand on one side of the battlefield opposite of Hilda and Oshawott while Bianca, Cheren and the woodland Pokemon sit on the sidelines to spectate. Snivy and Tepig are out of their Poke Balls so they can watch as well. Hilda is super pumped for her first ever Pokemon battle and tells Oshawott to get ready to win. Trying to hide his anxiety the best he can, Oshawott fakes enthusiasm and says he’ll do his very best. When not facing Hilda, he gulped harder than ever and sweats like a Tepig. He rationalizes that maybe since Minnie hates griminess, she won’t be so great of a battler, giving him a chance to win. Or so he desperately prays is the case.
Tepig hopes that Oshawott can win this but Snivy sneers snootily and says he doubts it but either way, it’s something he has to see, anticipating the inevitable failure. Helga courteously allows Hilda to have the first move and accepting it, Hilda takes a deep breath to compose herself the best she can and asks Oshawott if he’s ready. Knowing it’s crunch time, Oshawott takes a deep breath like her and tries his best to be as stoic as possible, saying he is ready. She orders Oshawott to blast Minnie with a Water Gun attack, hoping to strike quick from long-range. Oshawott takes in a deep breath while building up power before finally spewing out a concentrated column of water at Minnie.
Helga tells Minnie to jump and use her Swift attack during the build up. The Chinchilla Pokemon makes good on that order and leaps into the air just before the blast of water can hit her, letting it pass beneath her. While in the air, she powers up her tail for an attack and makes a backflip to whip her tail, launching a bunch of energized star-shaped projectiles. Oshawott instinctively reacts to this by holding his strong Scalchop in front of him but the stars hit his head dead on, causing him to drop his shell. Helga then tells Minnie to Tickle Oshawott and upon hearing this, Hilda gets frantic in ordering Oshawott to use Razor Shell. Oshawott hurries to get his Scalchop from a few feet away but with his back turned, Minnie takes this opportunity to run at him and latch onto him from behind.
Oshawott’s bare belly is tickled by Minnie’s tail, making him giggle and drop his defenses. Hilda puts her palm up her face in embarrassment but tells Oshawott to try and shake Minnie off when Helga then tells Minnie to Tailslap Oshawott. Minnie gets off Oshawott who’s panting from laughing so much and uses her tail like a whip to repeatedly strike her foe until he’s unable to battle. Oshawott falls front first to the ground hurt all over much to Hilda and the spectators’ shock at such a fast loss. Only Snivy sniffs and says that he called it. Helga apologizes sincerely for going overboard as her last battle was so long ago and offers to give Hilda a rematch. Hilda says that she’d rather not due to the time when she sees Oshawott up and solemnly placing his Scalchop back on his belly.
She goes over to kneel down to Oshawott who feels worse than ever and too sad to face her. Hilda tries to comfort him by saying that there’s still room for improvement and always next time. Oshawott is reminded of Snivy’s words back in the kitchen, causing his eyes to well up with tears he can’t hold back. Hilda is shocked by this and insists that he doesn’t have to cry over losing this one match. Sniffing and crying, Oshawott says that this wasn’t just one match, confessing that he never won a single battle before and that he lied to not upset her. He goes on to claim how he’ll never ever improve because he’s a pathetic weakling and always will be as he sobbed on.
Everyone exchanges looks of discomfort and unsureness due to the sudden heavy atmosphere. Even Snivy holds his tongue out of a rare instance of decency. Seeing he needs to cry it out alone, Hilda tells Oshawott to return to his Poke Ball and after wiping some tears of his face, he does so. The return beam changes him into energy and pulls him back into the ball. Feeling responsible, Minnie apologizes insistently but Hilda says it wasn’t at all her fault as she hadn’t had a clue. Helga expresses her condolences and hopes that Oshawott will be okay in no time. Hilda, gazing at the Poke Ball solemnly, hopes so too.
*After bidding a fond farewell to her Pokemon friends of the woods, Hilda, her mother and her friends returned to her house where Helga offered to drive them to the laboratory. They soon take off but Hilda says nothing on the way as she stares into space, deep in thought. Normally, she wouldn’t have been able to contain herself with excitement but now she is pre-occupied by Oshawott’s breakdown and wondering what to do. Leaving her well enough alone, Cheren asks Bianca if her brother contacted her recently. Bianca says she did last night but it was a brief call as though he was in a rush to do something. She goes onto say how he can be a pain in the neck and a jerk but she worries about him, not knowing what he’s been doing at this work for two years. Helga tries to reassure her that he’s probably doing something important whatever it may be and he’ll hopefully turn up.
Just the new station on the radio begins to report on the increase of Trainers having their Pokemon stolen or almost stolen by unknown culprits in the last month or two. It goes onto say that INTERPOL is assessing the situation with a recommendation for Trainers to keep their Pokemon close by and be very cautious of suspicious characters. Bianca shivers and says how scary this all is and Cheren agrees, saying that’s putting it mildly. Helga also scowls with discomfort when she hears Hilda ask to let her off at the playground up ahead. Figuring it has to do with Oshawott, Helga agrees to this and stops at the playground. Before Hilda gets out, Helga gives her daughter a baseball cap from the compartment as a memento on her journey. Hilda thanks her as she puts it on and leaves the car. Cheren and Bianca wish her luck as Helga drives off with them to the laboratory.
Hilda sees an ice cream vendor nearby and figures that it could possibly cheer up Oshawott. She goes over to greet the vendor who recognizes Hilda from a few years back and asks what she’ll have. Hilda tells him to hold on a second as she calls for Oshawott to come out from his Poke Ball. The Sea Otter Pokemon does so and shows that he isn’t crying anymore but is still in low spirits, as he says nothing, fearing what his Trainer has in store for him. Hilda tells Oshawott that she thought some ice cream would do them both some good and that he can have any flavor. Oshawott makes a face of bewilderment, as he wasn’t expecting something like this and wonders if he’s even in any trouble at all.
Hilda tells the vendor that she’ll have a chocolate cone and asks Oshawott what he’ll have. Oshawott is unsure as to why Hilda doesn’t seen upset at him but says that he’ll have a vanilla cone anyways. The vendor serves them both up what they ordered and decides to move onto some children playing nearby. Hilda leads Oshawott to a bench where they sit down to rest (Oshawott having to jump up onto it) and she hands him his vanilla cone so they can dig in. Oshawott gets a brain freeze and yelps as he holds his head in agony. Finishing her cone, Hilda tells him to calm down and wait until it goes away as panicking makes it worse, putting her hand on his head. Eventually, it dissipates and Oshawott sighs in relief before laughing that little escapade off with Hilda.
Hilda says how she’s glad that he’s perking up more, which gets Oshawott to ask if she really isn’t upset at him since he did lie and confess to be weak. Surprised by this, Hilda asks why he would think she’d punish him for that as she knows Oshawott never meant to hurt anyone and didn’t. She adds that she’d not at all so uptight that she’d be majorly ticked off by something like that. She then says that she’d like to know why Oshawott was sobbing so much and claiming that he’d never improve. Oshawott is hesitant to explain but Hilda reassures him that she will not be mean to him and just want to help as his Trainer.
Oshawott decides to spill the beans and start from the beginning. He explains how during training, Snivy and Tepig would defeat him almost about every time. Tepig was easier but lost to him more than he could win and Snivy was a whole other story. He could refine his moves outside the battlefield but could hardly win during sparring. Plus, Snivy always had a snide comment or two to kick him while he was down and out. He says that he didn’t mean to lie but he wanted to make a good first impression and even if it wasn’t true, he liked being praised for his battles.
When Hilda asks why he was crying and claiming that he’d never improve in battle, he blurts out that it’s true. He explains has never even won a handful of battles and at this rate, he won’t even evolve into Dewott. He was so sad because Hilda would soon get fed up with his losing streak and let him go. Hilda asks him as to what makes him so sure that he can never improve when she’s barely been his Trainer. Oshawott repeats how he was a screw-up in battles at the lab and trying to train him could very well be a waste. Hilda however says that it could very well be worth every second but they’ll never know until they try. After all, Oshawott’s still young and she’s just a beginner so they can’t be the very best from the get-go.
She says how she intends to conquer the Pokemon League and she doesn’t plan on giving up on any Pokemon on her team. As far as she’s concerned, any Pokemon can go from weak to powerful if given the chance and a Trainer willing to help them get there. Oshawott, bewildered by such determination, asks if she really means every word she said. Hilda confirms this and goes onto say that she likes Oshawott and they could be great friends. Even if he’s not able to become champion material, she wouldn’t hate him at all for such. Hilda apologizes for sounding so sappy but couldn’t find any other way of putting it.
Oshawott, still having his doubts, asks if she really can make him into a skilled Pokemon worthy of a Champion. Hilda says that she’s confident enough to try but will do so only if Oshawott’s willing to give it a shot, putting out her hand to shake on it while beaming her brightest smile. Oshawott hesitates for a second, still unsure, but when he remembers what Hilda said, he feels like she really means every word. He may’ve only known this girl for a short while but it seemed like he could truly trust her. With all that, he plucks up enough courage to smile and put ‘er there.
He says that he’s now more than willing to try and trusts Hilda that she’ll help him become a great battler like he always wanted. Hilda says she most certainly will but adds that there’ll be five more Pokemon on their teams so he won’t be alone. Hilda gets up from the bench and says that it’s fine time that they head to lab as soon as possible when she remembers something. She asks Oshawott as to what his fourth move is since they’ll be battling soon, making him blush and says that he’d rather not. Hilda asks why as she really wants to know to plan for their battle. Oshawott decides to show her only if she doesn’t laugh and shows it to her. Hilda tries to stifle a laugh, which Oshawott then calls her out on. She apologizes as she couldn’t help it but then gets an idea for the battle…[/SPOIL]
If this got your attention, then PM me if your interested.
) be able to help you.
