Sorry it took so long for me to update again. I was busy with other projects, and I couldn't quite figure out where this one should go. But now I've found some new inspiration, so I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Well of Good Advice

Going back to the building across the Gym a few days after the event was a bit harrowing. It wasn't an easy task to return to a place where something frightening happened. But Hilda found it necessary to go back. That was where the raichu was last seen. If she was to find it again, she had to track it down. All she wanted was to see it. Just to confirm the suspicion she had upon seeing it before.

She let Herdier and Pikachu out of their Poke Balls, allowing them to lead the way. If Pikachu caught a familiar scent, she would know where to go. And Herdier had proven himself to be quite the fearsome fighter. If they ran into any trouble, he was sure to keep them safe.

Hilda's feet wavered with every step the closer they got. Was it really such a good idea to go back? At the very least, she could have asked Cheren to come along. It couldn't possibly be wise to return somewhere that Team Plasma had been. That old man had told her to expect more from them. Suppose they went to attack her and take her Pokemon?

Then again, would they really try something so soon after a disaster like this?

Hilda steeled her resolve, and kept going.

By this time, the damage of the crash was mostly gone. City maintenance had taken the truck away, and some scorch marks on the pavement indicated its existence. Yellow tape sat in a few select places, barring entry for pedestrians. A normal citizen walking through there would be tried for trespassing. Unfortunately, the suspected sewer grate was encircled by the yellow tape. There would be no way they could get to it without getting into trouble.

Hilda grabbed for Pikachu, holding her firmly. The electric Pokemon thrashed in her grasp, red cheeks sparking angrily. Maybe Hilda would be subjected to a shock from the pikachu- she'd heard it was a common problem for pikachu owners. But she couldn't simply lose hold of her Pokemon and risk trouble with the law.

She felt one of her Poke Balls open up at her belt. Pikachu paused in her thrashing, distracted by the noise. Hilda followed her gaze, discovering that Larvesta had made her way out. It was an action she'd expect more from Herdier than the shy bug Pokemon. But apparently the alley way seemed exciting enough for her.

Luckily Larvesta didn't test her trainer's patience by crossing the yellow tape. Instead she slithered back the way they came, almost seeming possessed. Herdier barked at something at the entrance of the alley way, and ran up to Larvesta's side to guard her. Hilda looked at Pikachu, making sure she wouldn't try to escape again. Deciding that she had calmed down, Hilda placed her on her shoulder and went after her two wayward Pokemon. Pikachu didn't make a move to escape for the sewer grate.

Larvesta and Herdier arrived back on the main street, and Hilda swiftly caught up to them. She quickly figured out what had grabbed their attention so strongly.

A bouffalant stood on the sidewalk, waiting by a bench at the bus stop. The creature was quite large, taking up a lot of space on the sidewalk. Usually people didn't leave large Pokemon out in crowded city spaces like this- as much as they might want to, it was more courteous to allow other people and Pokemon the space to move. This sidewalk did seem pretty empty, though. Maybe the bouffalant had caused it.

Whatever the bouffalant was doing there, Larvesta seemed quite interested in it.

Hilda picked up Larvesta, sighing as she had to deal with her wriggling as well. She would have to deal with it, though, because she didn't want such a massive Pokemon to hurt the little bug. Hilda slowly stepped toward the bouffalant, worried that sudden movements might spook the massive creature. It seemed, however, that the Pokemon was unbothered by their presence. Hilda tentatively placed her hand on the thick, dark brown fur on its head. It was quite coarse and curly, and… were there round things in it. Hilda pulled her hand out, finding small red berries in her grasp. Larvesta launched herself at Hilda's hand, quickly munching down on the berries. Hilda caught a whiff of their spicy scent before the berries vanished forever.

Those were cheri berries, right? They were known to be spicy. That must have been what attracted Larvesta so strongly.

Hilda quickly lost her grasp on Larvesta, and the bug crawled into the bouffalant's thick, curly hair. In another moment, she disappeared completely into it. Hilda gasped in alarm, plunging her arms into the thick fur. She dug through as much as she could, finding it difficult to shift around. Sometimes she could reach the bouffalant's neck, but she couldn't feel Larvesta anywhere in there. Hilda yelped when she bumped her elbow against the creature's horn, pausing in alarm to look at it. That horn was certainly big, almost the length of her arm. It could cause some serious injury, right?

"Amazed by my bouffalant, are you?"

Hilda jumped, pulling her arms out of the creature's fur. She whipped her head around to find the source of the voice. She spotted an older man walking out of a sweets shop, red hair and poncho flying out as he went along. He looked at her with a smirk, apparently finding her presence quite amusing. Was he the bouffalant's trainer? Was he used to people gawking at his Pokemon like that?

Oh, to have the experience to be so relaxed like that.

Hilda pointed toward the bouffalant. "Y-Your Pokemon?" she stammered awkwardly.

The older man nodded with a chuckle, walking over with a brown bag in hand. He pulled out a small cake, feeding it to the bouffalant.

"Yeah, everyone's always surprised when they find this guy so patient," the older man explained, patting the curly-haired creature. "They always expect bouffalants to charge straight at them in red rage. But any Pokemon can be nice if you understand them well enough."

Hilda nodded, tapping the creature's hair. "My-My Pokemon got lost in there," she added.

The older man blinked at her in surprise. He then plunged his hands into the creature's fur, apparently understanding what she meant. In another moment, he pulled out Larvesta, some curly fur, and several cheri berries. The two trainers watched as the berries fell to the ground. The bouffalant dipped its head slightly to look at the falling berries, but otherwise didn't react too strongly.

"Shoot, I thought I brushed him more thoroughly than that," the older man huffed.

"How long does Bouffalant's grooming take?" Hilda asked. "Just from one glance, it seems like it would take a while."

The older man took a seat on the bench, untangling curly hair tied on Larvesta's spines. "It takes three hours to thoroughly comb through his head fur," he explained. "The rest of his fur is much thinner, so I usually comb through that first. I'd imagine if the rest was as thick, it would take two days, and I'd have to comb through previous sections."

Hilda grimaced. "Two days…," she muttered.

The older man finished plucking the brown fur out of Larvesta's spines, and started running his fingers through her white fuzz. Larvesta cooed, apparently enjoying the action. Herdier ran up and bumped into the man's leg, letting out a low groan. The older man looked at him, then back at Hilda.

"I've got a well of good advice, if you want to stick around and hear it," he insisted.

It certainly couldn't hurt to hear it. And maybe Hilda could ask him for assistance… if he was willing. Hilda walked over and took a seat on the other end of the bench, calling Herdier over. Herdier padded up to her side, refusing to stop looking at the older man. Pikachu made her way into Hilda's lap, making herself comfortable.

"You're doing the Gym Challenge, right?" the older man asked.

"Th-That's right," Hilda nodded, stroking along Pikachu's back. "My friends and I all have the first two Badges, and we're working on getting the third one here."

"That's pretty exciting, right?"

"Certainly."

"My talk on Pokemon grooming must be pretty boring to you, then."

Hilda shook her head. "Oh no, I want to know everything I can about taking care of Pokemon. You need a good balance between work and comfort for them, don't you?"

The older man smiled, glancing back down at Larvesta. Hilda almost thought she could see a dampness in his eyes.

"You don't hear that too much from such new trainers," the man wondered. "Usually it takes years to develop such a strong bond with your Pokemon."

"But you know what I mean," Hilda insisted. "Why don't you tell me a little more about grooming?"

The older man glanced down at the stern Herdier, smirking, "You'll definitely need a thick brush and wide-tooth comb for him. He'll be a stoutland before you know it, and that means having to comb thick fur all over."

Hilda grimaced. "Can't wait."

"Shouldn't take more than two hours, though. Good news is that stoutland fur is straight. Bouffalant's fancy hairdo takes so long because of how curly it is."

Herdier huffed in indignation.

"And you'll probably only need to run your fingers through your Pikachu's fur occasionally. I'd also recommend getting a shock blanket, to help drag out some extra electric charge it might carry."

Hilda looked down at Pikachu. "What for?"

"Sometimes electric-type Pokemon build too much of a charge, and they can become sick if they don't release it."

Hilda nodded. She'd have to figure out where to find one, though. Not just for Pikachu, but in the event they found her lost family.

"Speaking of which, where did you find yours?"

Hilda gulped. There it was.

Should she really divulge so much to an older person with more authority? Especially to a stranger like this? It was always possible that he could get her in trouble, no matter the intent. Although, perhaps he could still help her.

"I just ran across her one day," Hilda muttered, skirting through the rest of the facts. "It was quite the surprise to me. You don't really find pikachus in Unova. And I talked with my friends a while back, and they mentioned how they found strange Pokemon around, as well."

The man set an arm behind his head, still stroking Larvesta. "Yeah, I've been hearing some of that in the news, lately," he nodded. "People mention sightings of Pokemon from outside of the region, hanging out in the wilds. Normally you only see exotic Pokemon through trades or around foreigners."

"...That's why it seemed strange to us."

"It makes me kind of worried. For those Pokemon, I mean. You can't just plant foreign creatures into a strange place without there being consequences. The native species could be pushed away, or more likely, the foreign species will be endangered. How could a pikachu survive in a wild area they don't understand, fighting Pokemon they're not used to fighting?"

Hilda decided to go for it. "I wanted to try and catch as many of those exotic Pokemon as I could find," she explained. "They're safer in the Pokemon Lab than out there."

"So you're a future preservationist, then?"

"M...Maybe. I just thought it would be nice. Anyway, the other day, I thought I saw some exotic Pokemon around here?"

The older man sat up in surprise. "In the city? This definitely isn't a place for Pokemon to run wild. Too many cars, too much traffic."

"I tried chasing down what looked like rattatas, but I lost them at a sewer grate."

The man jumped up from the bench, cradling Larvesta in one arm and grabbing Bouffalant's horn with the other. His eyes lit up with a spark of determination. Hilda was taken aback by it. She'd never seen such a strong look on anyone else in her life.

"Well, if they went down the sewer grate, then that means we'll have to go down into the sewers!" he announced. "If you want those rattatas, I'm more than willing to help!"

Hilda slowly got up, nodding in response. She didn't like the idea of going down into the sewers, especially alone. Luckily she wasn't going alone, then. She'd gotten her wish for help.

Even if he didn't know that she was looking for a raichu.

"Thank you for your help, sir," Hilda nodded, pointing. "Um, but could you…?"

The older man looked down at Larvesta, nodding in understanding. He handed her back to Hilda, the mist returning to his eyes. But even the mist couldn't chase away the spark of determination.