Chapter Text
All of Unova knew that Hilbert had only settled for being the Champion.
It was obvious in everything that he did. Even ignoring the fact that he’d initially turned down the title and left the region entirely for two years, Hilbert’s mind always seemed… elsewhere. He gave his all to the trainers who challenged him, sure, but the moment the challenger’s last Pokémon fainted, his eyes would shift, growing distant and aloof.
There were rumors about what had happened, sure. Some people said he was scared of Team Plasma, what little remained of them, coming after him to seek revenge. Others said he was running from something he’d encountered on his travels. A not insignificant number of people even believed that he wasn’t Hilbert at all, but rather some Zoroark or Ditto disguising itself as him.
It wasn’t until five years after Hilbert returned that the people of Unova learned what was distracting their Champion.
Hilbert stood patiently outside the door to Professor Juniper’s research lab. He was used to waiting on this doorstep by now (Bianca had always been the type to be fashionably late). It was getting to be the time of year where it was too cold to wait outside for this long, but ever since the time he’d entered in the middle of a dissection and promptly passed out at the sight of blood, he opted to not go in.
He’d only been waiting 10 minutes when Bianca exited the lab, which might just be a new record for her. She squealed in excitement when she saw Hilbert and drew him into a rib-crushing hug.
“Hey, Bianca,” Hilbert wheezed out.
“Omigosh, I’m so sorry I’m late,” Bianca said once she’d released Hilbert. “A lab in Sinnoh just sent us this weird looking Samurott they found and I got so distracted I completely forgot we were supposed to be getting lunch until Professor Juniper saw you waiting outside and-”
“It’s fine, Bianca,” Hilbert chuckled, struggling to catch his breath again. “I get it. It’s not like I have anywhere better to be, anyways. There was a cave-in on Victory Road, so the entire league’s closed until they can fix it.”
“Come on, you’re the Champion!” Bianca scoffed, smacking Hilbert’s arm lightly. “I’m sure you can find better things to do than sit around like a lost puppy waiting for me.”
For a moment, Hilbert’s mind wandered. There was only one thing he ever did with his free time, and while his current leads were running low, there weren’t zero. Emmet had said he might have seen someone just south of Anville Town while he was out looking for Ingo. He could check with Looker to see if anyone from Neo Team Plasma had spilled anything. An aerial search of the region with Zekrom couldn’t hurt, even if…
Bianca’s hand on his shoulder brought Hilbert back to reality. Her smile had dropped, and she was looking up at him with these big, sad eyes that pierced guilt straight through Hilbert’s heart.
“Sorry,” Hilbert muttered, unable to meet Bianca’s gaze. “Got distracted.”
“Were you thinking about him?” she asked quietly. When Hilbert slowly nodded, Bianca squeezed his shoulder, reassuring. “I worry about him, too,” she said. Hilbert looked up and gave her a tense smile. Deep down, he knew he should probably just move on. He’d barely known N before he disappeared, and they’d been enemies for most of the time they did know each other.
Or, at least, Hilbert was pretty sure they’d been enemies. That ride on the Ferris Wheel still kept him up some nights.
Hilbert sighed and shook his head. He turned to Bianca, giving her the biggest smile he could manage.
“So, what was this cafe you were telling me about?” he asked. Bianca hesitated, but thankfully, she returned Hilbert’s smile and accepted the change in topic.
“Iris was telling me about it the other day,” she said, leading Hilbert towards Route 1. “Apparently, some guys from Galar came all the way over here to open it. And- get this- they had to close temporarily after being open for, like, a week because it got so popular that they couldn’t handle all the demand. Iris said she hadn’t tried it yet because she can never go when it’s quiet, but…” Hilbert really did try to listen to what Bianca was saying, he truly did, but, again, despite his efforts to give his friend the respect she deserved, something else caught his attention.
A small crowd had formed deeper into Nuvema Town. People were whispering to each other and glancing around nervously. Hilbert couldn’t see what everyone was looking at, but he paused to try and catch a glimpse. Bianca must have noticed, because she stopped and turned to follow Hilbert’s gaze.
“What’s going on over there?” she asked, frowning. “I don’t remember hearing about anything important.” Just then, the crowd thinned enough for Hilbert to see what was on the other side.
His breath caught in his throat.
He looked different. Of course he did, they hadn’t seen each other in over seven years. And yet, at just a glance Hilbert knew without question that it was him. There was no mistaking those long, flowing locks of green hair, the wide emerald eyes that glanced around the town nervously.
“N!” Hilbert called out, rushing towards the man as every other thought left his mind. N turned towards him, surprised, just in time for Hilbert to catch him in a hug so tight it might have rivaled Bianca’s.
“Hilbert,” N greeted, stilted, like he wasn’t sure of how to respond. Hilbert, for his part, didn’t care. What mattered was that N was here, was okay, was alive.
“It’s you,” Hilbert sighed into N’s shoulder. A pair of thin arms wrapped around Hilbert, gripping him just as tightly, and for the first time in a long time, Hilbert felt like all of the past seven years had been worth it. All of the struggle, all of the heartache, all of the maddening maze of leads and dead ends, all of it had led up to this moment, when he could finally have N safe and sound in his arms.
“It’s me,” N answered. Distantly, Hilbert was aware of the mutterings of the crowd, but at that moment, they couldn’t have felt further away. Hilbert’s whole world was just him and N, reunited at last.
“N!” Bianca’s voice finally broke through to Hilbert, and he stepped back from N (though he kept a hand firmly on N’s shoulder) to turn to her.
“Hello,” N said. Hilbert tried not to be jealous that he sounded a bit more warm when greeting Bianca. “...Bianca, was it?” Bianca beamed brighter than the Sun and nodded.
“It’s great to see you again!” she said. “I know we only met once or twice, but Hilbert’s told me so much about you that it feels like I know you, too!” At that, N glanced over at Hilbert, and Hilbert could feel his face heating up under N's curious gaze.
“He talked to you about me?” N asked. Hilbert felt about ready to sink into the floor when Bianca nodded.
“You were pretty much all he would talk about for a while,” she said. “I mean, he spent two years trying to chase after you, and-”
“That’s enough!” Hilbert interrupted quickly. If his face had been heated before, it was on fire now. He could feel N staring at him, his gaze boring into him, and he desperately searched for a way to change the topic now.
“Hey, Hilbert and I were actually going to go grab lunch together,” Bianca piped up. “Why don’t you come with us? We can all catch up.” N bit his lip and glanced to the side.
“I’m not sure…” he hesitated, his brow furrowing as he thought. Hilbert squeezed his shoulder as he turned to him, hoping that he could will his blush away before N noticed it.
“Come on, why not?” he pressed. “I want to know what you’ve been up to these last few years.”
“It’ll be fun!” Bianca added. “I promise to tell you the most embarrassing stories about Hilbert I can think of.”
“Wha- Bianca!” Hilbert protested, turning to her with a silent plea for mercy. The mischievous glint in her eyes told him he would receive none. N looked between the two of them for a moment, before smiling with a soft sigh.
“Alright,” he agreed. Bianca grinned her 3,000-Megawatt smile again and took N by the arm to drag him off with her, already launching into one of the promised embarrassing stories. Hilbert took a moment to breathe before following them with a smile that wouldn’t fade away.