A Day with Hilda

Hey, Player! Can I ask you a favor?

[Option 1]: What’s up?

Well, there’s something that’s bothering me.

[Option 2]: A favor?

Yeah, there’s something that’s bothering me.

Apparently, my face gets really angry whenever I battle.

And sometimes—just sometimes!—the other Trainer and their Pokémon get a little scared of me.

[Option 1]: Oh, I see.

So, let’s try this out. Look close!

[Option 2]: I gotta see this!

OK, let’s try this out. Look close!

... ... ...

What do you think, Player? Was my face a little off-putting?

[Option 1]: Uh, well...

You don’t have to say it... I get it. But it’s a habit, you know?

It’s not something I can just stop doing that easily!

[Option 2]: No, of course not...

Really? Oh, thank goodness!

But if that’s the case, I wonder what those Trainers and Pokémon were so scared of...

Then again, I don’t think putting on your game face during a battle is necessarily a bad thing.

You have to get serious during battles, or you’ll lose.

Besides...

I have a lot riding on my battles.

I know Tepig understands that as we’re battling together.

The relationship between Trainers and their Pokémon is hard to define.

Arguably, the one and only thing that defines our relationship with our Pokémon is their Poké Ball.

It can seem one-sided and fickle.

[Option 1]: Yeah, but...

I know. I don’t think our relationship with our Pokémon is as cold as that, either.

[Option 2]: That’s wrong, though.

I know. I don’t think our relationship with our Pokémon is as cold as that, either.

But I remembered these guys who called themselves Team Plasma back in the Unova region.

They would make a fuss about how we should liberate the Pokémon from their Poké Balls.

I guess they saw it as us enslaving the Pokémon using Poké Balls.

So if we were able to form a bond so strong that neither Trainers nor Pokémon would be bothered by the Poké Balls...

Maybe if we could do that, we wouldn’t have blockheads like them jumping to the wrong conclusion.

[Option 2]: That’d be a big undertaking... wouldn’t it?

All in all, Trainers and Pokémon have their own wants, desires, and goals.

As long as they overlap and coincide, that means the two of you are strongly connected.

And if that’s the case, you can work together whether or not there’s a Poké Ball, right?

So I sat down and got to thinking about what makes a really strong bond.

I like Pokémon battles, and Tepig likes Pokémon battles.

That’s why we don’t want to lose—and why we try our darndest to make sure we win.

Wouldn’t you say that’s a strong connection?

If we’re that in sync, that should mean that we both want to win the PML the same way, right?

I’m sure that Tepig would choose the right move even if I didn’t give the instruction!

Right, Tepig? If you were to use a move right this moment, you’d choose Flame Charge, right?

[Option 1]: Totally in sync!

I know, right?! I’m so glad we’re partners.

[Option 2]: Tepig looks really happy!

I know, right?! I’m so glad we’re partners.

I bet seeing how in sync we are makes you even more excited to battle with us, huh!

I would know—because I’m really excited to battle you, too!

You and your Pokémon are of the same mind, just like Tepig and me.

I couldn’t ask for a better opponent!

So when we do battle, show me just how synchronized you and your Pokémon are!