Friends Forever

I was walking around Opelucid City, looking at the ever-changing architecture. I was just about to sit down on a bench when my Xtransceiver belted out a tune.

Thinking it was my Mom, I said, “What do you want now?” in an overly bored tone.

Instead of seeing Mom on the screen, it was one of my best friends, Bianca.  She almost jumped back in shock. “I..Is now a bad time?” she asked, concern evident in her green eyes.

I shook my head. “No, it isn’t. I just thought you were my mother.”

Bianca laughed and straightened her green hat. “Oh, that’s okay! Even I make that mistake sometimes. Listen, can I ask you something?”

I nodded. My day was mostly going to be pretty boring, unless my Mom called and told me to get groceries or finish another chore. Truthfully, I really loved my Mom, but she could be really annoying sometimes...

Bianca grinned awkwardly, which set me on edge for some reason. Then she began saying, “ Hilda, I really need to talk to you about your Volcarona. Professor Juniper wants  to study it... but since there are no wild ones left and it is really hard to raise from an Egg, I need you to come over and show me yours. Pretty please? I’ll meet you at my house.”

Bianca sounded so desperate, and plus, I knew her job was important to her. I felt like it would only be right if I agreed.  I smiled at her reassuringly. “Okay, I’ll get there as soon as possible.”

Bianca whooped and put her fist in the air. She almost yelled, “Yes! Oh, yes! Thank you, Hilda! I’ll be waiting!” After Bianca’s cheering session, she abruptly hung up. So typical of her...

I got up off the bench and called Zekrom out of its Pokeball.  The Deep Black Pokemon stared at me with curious red eyes.  “Lady Hilda, why do you call me?” it asked.

I patted Zekrom on the leg. “I’m sorry, Zekrom, but I need to get to Nuvema Town fast to help my friend. Can you take me there?” I asked.

Zekrom roared, and it almost sounded like a guttural laugh.  “Of course, Lady Hilda. I will take you anywhere you desire.”  However, the black dragon gave me a look that said, Brush me later.

I sighed and got on Zekrom. When we were up in the sky, away from most people’s hearing ranges, I screamed, “I don’t want to brush you!”
When we landed in Nuvema Town, I returned Zekrom to its Pokeball. However, on the walk to Bianca’s House, a peculiar thing happened to me.

A particularly friendly Unfezant flew over to me and landed on the ground. It flapped its wings excitedly and waited to be petted. When I gave it a quick pat, it didn’t fly away.

I gave it an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, little guy, but I have somewhere to go. If I didn’t, I’d play with you more.”

The Unfezant looked crestfallen as it stepped a few paces away from me. As I walked into the front door of the house, I wondered why that Pokemon would be so friendly to me.

The truth was, I only knew two people with Unfezant. One of them, named Hilbert, hadn’t returned from his journey yet. Plus, he had replaced Unfezant in his active party with a Mandibuzz a long time ago.

The other person was Cheren, who I had only seen one time since returning to the Unova Region.  He was one of my best friends.The first thing I did when I came home was to find out what my old friends were doing.

Bianca was easy to find, since she was Professor Juniper’s new assistant, but it was harder to find Cheren. He wasn’t at his house, and when I tried to ask his parents where he was, they told me to respect his privacy.

After looking in random places for him, I finally got told that he was the new Aspertia Gym Leader. When I came to the Gym, Cheren was teaching a class.  he gave me a dark look and told me to talk to him in another room.

When we were alone, Cheren looked at me square in the eyes and said, “ Two years ago, I would be glad that you made this much of an effort to talk to me. Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late. I don’t ever want to see you again. Get out of here.”

Cheren had said it in the same emotionless tone, but I could see that his blue eyes brimmed with pain. He straightened his black hair and wiped a lone tear from his eyes as he fled the room.

I had stayed there for about five minutes, stupefied, when I heard Cheren yell, “Are you leaving or not?”

I slowly ambled out of the room and walked towards the door, but before I left, I snuck another look at Cheren. His face was red and he was struggling to hold back tears.

Without looking where I was going, I ran into a student who was on the way to the bathroom.  He looked at me quizzingly. “Lady, before today, I didn’t even know our teacher HAD emotions. It looks like you did a real number on him. Who ARE you?” he asked.

I held back my anger and replied, “ Cher- I mean, your teacher, has the same emotions like all of us do. He’s a normal human being. Get a life!” Without giving the student time to reply, I left.

I suddenly went back to the present. Now, walking through the hallways of Bianca’s house, I realized that I remembered what happened on that day and held it close to my heart.

I wished to Arceus that the situation had turned out differently. I thought that Cheren would be happy to see me, and that we would act like old friends. I didn’t anticipate...that.

Someday, I would have to jump over that hurdle, but not today. I was here to help one of my best friends!

I slowly opened the door to the living room, and what I saw made my eyes pop out.

We saw each other at the same time. Before I had walked into the room, he was looking at his watch impatiently, and stamping his foot on the floor.

It almost made me smile. I remembered the good old times...and one of my best friends, Cheren. Now, he was here in the room with me in one of my most awkward experiences to date.

He talked first. “Hilda, what on earth are you doing here? Where is Bianca?”

Before I could answer his warranted question, both of our Xtransceivers rang. When Bianca’s face appeared on the screen, we both screamed, “BIANCA!”

Bianca looked rightfully sheepish. Sweat was dripping down her face and her blond hair was getting wet.  “S...So you’re both there?” she muttered.

We still kept glaring at her, and so Bianca continued, “I...It wasn’t my idea! Rosa made me do this!”

Cheren and I’s eyes widened. “Rosa?” we both asked at the same time.

Bianca held up her hands like she was surrendering to the police. Her green eyes were wide and she looked genuinely scared. The fact that her glasses had almost fallen off her face just added to the picture.
Bianca sighed and explained, “Yeah, it was Rosa. She kept bothering me about how you two weren’t talking, and she told me about your confrontation at the Gym and how sad you both felt. Rosa said that you guys should talk again, and deep down..I agreed. I hate seeing my friends so sad!”

I saw her point, but Cheren said, “So you felt it was okay to interfere in our situation? I was doing quite fine, thank you very much, and as far as I know, so was Hilda. There’s nothing...to talk about. Our friendship is over!”

Little did he know that I had dreams about our lost friendship every night, and all of the happy memories we had shared... My pillow was wet, but I didn’t tell anyone, even my mother, why.

Bianca sighed for a second time and said, “Why don’t you guys just talk about it? Hilda doesn’t know why she isn’t your friend anymore, and neither do I. Work it out. Good luck, guys! I hope to hear good news!” She then hung up.

Almost immediately, Cheren headed for the door. “This was a complete and total waste of time. I’m out of here.” he muttered.

I ran as fast as I could and grabbed Cheren on the shoulder. “Can’t we just spend a few minutes to talk?” I asked him.

Cheren tried to shake me off, but the attempts were half-hearted. After a few seconds of him shaking his shoulder and me hanging on, he finally gave in. “Fine, three minutes, tops.” he said as he walked towards one of the easy chairs.

When I sat down on the sofa across from him, Cheren muttered, “You go first, Hilda. Tell me why it was so important for you to leave in the first place.”

I looked Cheren in the eyes and replied, “I needed to check up on N one more time. I wanted to see if he was okay, and if he found his way in the world.”

Cheren looked incredulous. “Why did you spend two whole years...just looking for one person?” he asked.

I laughed. “You know, N was really hard to find. He was always one step ahead of me, and eventually, I had to come back home and give in!”

Cheren looked at me, emotion clouding his eyes. “Hilda, how didn’t you find the thing you were looking for...right here?”

I was confused by Cheren’s question. “ N had left the Unova Region after our big battle. I couldn’t search for him here, because he was gone!”

Cheren shook his head. “That’s not what I meant...”
I looked at Cheren confusingly. “Really, than what did you mean?” I asked.

Cheren sighed and messed with his black hair. “You really don’t know? Well, let me lay it out for you. Hilda, you left the region without taking into account how your best friends felt. You didn’t care if we were saddened, or even angry about your decision. You just did it anyway. To be honest, I liked that you were so impulsive. I just didn’t know  the aspect I enjoyed the most could hurt me so much...”

I was shocked. I thought I had told my friends about my decision well beforehand.  Now that I thought about it, though, I didn’t ask for their opinion.  It was the story of my life, really...

It was a stupid question, but I had to ask it. “Cheren...You cared about me that much as a friend?”

To my surprise, Cheren shook his head. “No, I didn’t care for you just on that level, I-” he stopped himself half sentence before he could say anything else.

I gravitated on the words he didn’t say.  He didn’t care for me just as his friend, but even more? How is that possible?

Then, a rush of memories came into my head.  Ever since the ‘glasses’ incident, Cheren had acted oddly around me. His face turned red whenever I was nearby, and he got flustered when he tried to talk to me.  Cheren could hide these traits more as he got older, but once in a while, they still showed...until I left, that is.

I slapped my forehead. How could I not see the signs? Sure, it was excusable when I was a child.  However, when I got older, people always talked about how it was like to be in love. The red face, not being able to talk clearly, and your heart pumping so fast that it could burst out of your chest were all things people expressed or felt when they were in love.

My body was shaking, and I could barely look Cheren in the eyes. “So...I understand now, Cheren. When I left, you just didn’t see it as a good friend leaving, you saw it as the love of your life going away and never coming back.”

Cheren looked away from me, his eyes downcast on the floor. “Yeah...exactly what you said. I know it sounds kind of foolish now, but do you know what I thought?”

“What was it?” I asked, concern evident in my blue eyes.

Still looking downward, Cheren mumbled, “I thought that my love for you would keep you from leaving. I believed that you’d stay here and be with me. It just..didn’t make sense. Our ordeal with Team Plasma was over and done with. I didn’t think that anything needed to be pursued any further.”

I put my hand on Cheren’s back. He shuddered, but he didn’t try to get away. “I understand. Listen, Cheren, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Cheren asked, breathing deeply.

I sighed. “For a lot of things. I’m sorry that I left without asking how you felt about it. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize how you felt towards me. Most of all though, I’m sorry for our lost friendship.”

Cheren slowly got up and gently moved my hand off his back.  He had a small smile on his face. “When it comes down to it, I have to apologize, too. When you came and talked to me, I should have told you how I felt. I know it may not have changed anything, but it should have been done.”

Cheren gave me a light hug. “Friends?” he asked.

I smiled and replied. “Friends.”

As we got out of the hug, I looked at the clock on the wall and saw how much time had passed. Cheren also looked at his watch.

“Wow, we’ve been here a half hour!” I exclaimed.

Cheren smiled. “Really? I didn’t notice. Should we walk over to the Pokemon Lab and tell Bianca the good news?” he asked.

I nodded.”Bianca won’t believe her eyes! She’ll be so happy!”

As we walked all the way out the door, laughing all the while, I began to believe that friends really could be forever...