The Golden Throne

Chapter 7: King of the mountain

Four days. Hilbert had been trekking through this god-forsaken desert for four days. He was tired, hungry, thirsty and incredibly tan. Since the incident at Ris'dra, he had been getting himself into all kinds of trouble: he was almost swallowed by quicksand, attacked by a swarm of Flygon, ate the roots of diarrhea inducing plants, slept in freezing conditions during the night and got caught in a sandstorm several times. But not today. Today he was getting out. According to the map, the Molani Desert was separated from the Odaran Empire by a sierra of snow-capped mountains. In the distance, Hilbert could finally see the mountains in all its glory. They were like magnificent giants beckoning him to come closer.

After a few hours, Hilbert was finally reaching the foot of the mountains. Little streams were running on the soil now.

Wait... soil? Hilbert looked down and realized he's finally reached an environment with brown soil. No longer was he moving across desert sands. The sight of small shrubs was more common now. He looked back and saw that the Molani Desert was far behind him, and that he was officially by the foot of the mountain.

"Hahaha! Woohooo!" Hilbert cried in exultation. "We finally did it buddy! We're here!"

"Haxorr," Haxorus released a happy growl as well.

"Good job, boy. Soon we'll be at a Pokemon Center- you guys will be getting the best treatment they could possibly provide, and I'll finally sleep on a nice warm bed- After a real dinner of course! Haha!" Hilbert laughed again, reciting all the things he'd do once he reached civilization.

Hilbert finally reached a small stream that ran straight from the mountains. He stopped there to rest and released his Pokemon so that they could finally stretch their legs. Without Zekrom, Hilbert had five Pokemon with him now: Haxorus, Ego, Golurk, Cleo and Moto.

Cleo was his Cofagrigus, a sarcophagus-shaped spectral Pokemon. He's had her since she was just a little Yamask. When he found out that his Cofagrigus was a female, he named her after an ancient princess: Cleomantra. Hence, the alias 'Cleo'. As to how he found out what Cleo's gender was... well, let's say some things are better left a secret.

Hilbert's next Pokemon was Moto. Moto was his brave and loyal Bisharp, a blade-wielding Pokemon that had an uncanny resemblance to an armoured knight. Moto single-handedly defeated Caitlin's(the Psychic trainer of his region's Elite Four) Pokemon team. He got his namesake 'Moto' from the legendary Johto swordsman Migamoto Musaki for his near unparalleled skill with his blades.

Vegetation was denser here. It was still a little hot but not as bad as being cooked in the middle of the desert. Moto was looking around for any potential threats- he had always been alert by nature; while Haxorus was nibbling at some shrubs with Golurk and Cleo chasing each other in the background. It was actually quite amusing watching the two ghost Pokemon go after each other- both of them were one of the slowest Pokemon in the world. Hilbert let out a small laugh. Then he noticed something- that at this moment, he was actually happy.

***

"Sharp! Bisharp!" Moto tapped his master's shoulder.

"Ugghh," Hilbert yawned, waking up from his nap. "What is it?" He opened up his eyes and saw that it was dark all around him and that stars were already visible. "Huh, have I been asleep that long?"

"Sharpp!" Moto tapped Hilbert's shoulder again. He was pointing his finger- or whatever you call those things Bisharps have, to something at the bottom of the mountain. "Bisharp!" Moto said, running ahead of Hilbert. He stopped for a while and looked back at his master- expecting Hilbert to follow him. Hilbert looked around and saw the puzzled expressions on his other Pokemon's faces.