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a-land-lacking-sleep · 1 year

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Submas/BW Fic: Railroad Lilies Ch. 2: Battle from the Heart

The second and final chapter of Railroad Lilies is live! Thank you for checking out my little side story while I work on Electric Trains in proper. I originally said I’d be back with a chapter next Tuesday, but due to some real life events popping up, I’m going to postpone is one more week to March 7th!

Chapter Summary: Emmet needs more trainers and Depot Agents, and Hilda needs to learn how to hire. Meanwhile, Rosa tries not to crush when she is caught off guard. Chapter Word Count: 4596

I might also eventually make a third chapter to this, if it strikes my fancy. Basically a night out on town with the focus being Hilda/Rosa and Hilbert/N. Don’t quote me on this.

Anyway, you can read the chapter below, or over on AO3 with additional comments! Reblogs and comments appreciated as always!

Rosa cannot stop fidgeting with her grumpigtails as she waits in the waiting lobby at Gear Station. She has been waiting for 30 minutes now, and now her leg is beginning to bounce as she listens to the interview happening through the door.

She can’t hear what is being said, just the low voice of Emmet barely permeating through the door and the interviewee doing his best to sound proper. She had listened to the guy while waiting, and he had been bragging about making it to Emmet and being the perfect choice because of it. Nevermind the fact he lost where Rosa had won several times against both twins.

Finally, the voices stop and the guy walks out of the room, flashing Rosa a grin. “They said you’re next! Though I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” he says slyly, glancing back at the room. “Emmet couldn’t hide his smile, I’m sure that he can’t wait to hire me on!” Rosa just watches him walk away in disbelief at his idiocy, before shaking her head and walking into the office.

“Ah, yes, Sturdy Rosa,” Emmet says as she closes the door, drawing her attention. Rosa can’t help but smiling a little at the nickname, earned from Ingo when she first managed to defeat him on the Singles line despite nearly having her team wiped. “I am Emmet. Go ahead and sit while I finish the last applicant’s paperwork.” He picks up said paper, and drops it into the trash can by his desk.

“Emmet!” A voice calls out from behind Rosa, causing her to jump slightly and turn to see Hilda in the opposite desk. “We still have to call him for a follow up, even if it’s to reject him.” Emmet groans and tries to argue otherwise, while Rosa still just stares at, no, looks at, respectively, Hilda in shock. She wasn’t in Depot Agent green today, but wearing a crisp white dress shirt with a blue tie, her ponytail still wild behind her head. She looks a little tired, but her stare at Emmet was still intense.

Obviously, she’s been staring too long because Hilda clears her throat. “Sorry!” Rosa basically shouts as she goes to her chair and sits down.

“No need, Rosa,” Hilda says with a shake of her head, causing her ponytail to sway behind her. “You’re not the first person to be surprised by a second Subway Boss today.” Rosa sees her lips quirk slightly, trying to stay in the slight frown she must be trying to hold to mirror Emmet. Rosa has to hold her own smile back, ecstatic that her friend was now a Subway Boss!

“That is right, yup,” Emmet says, nodding his head. “The last applicant blew her off, though. That was rude.”

Rosa huffs, crossing her arms and glaring at the closed door. “Yeah, he was egotistical. Said that because he fought you once, that he was set to be the next Subway Boss.” She had no qualms airing out his dirty laundry if he had been rude to Hilda, especially since she was now a Subway Boss.

Emmet’s frown drops, and he looks over at Hilda. “Well. Our new Subway Master has beaten me three times, so that makes her six times better than him. I’m calling to reject him after this interview.”

“Go ahead if you want to, Emmet,” Hilda says with a giggle as she continues to work on her paperwork.

Emmet nods, and pulls out the paperwork and application for Eosa, reading from it out loud. “Rosa Whitaker, 19. From Aspertia Town, you applied for a battle position on each line.” He marks a check on the margin of the paper before continuing. “A veteran of the Battle Subway, yup, just like many of the recent applicants. Though you’ve consistently won, verrry impressive.”

“The challenge is what kept me battling,” Rosa says with a smile. “After doing the Gym Challenge, there wasn’t a good outlet for battling outside of the occasional PWT match.”

Emmet’s smile brightens and he nods. “Which you didn’t list, such a shame. Good thing I’ve heard from my partner about your battles against her there.” Oh right, Emmet was dating Elesa, so he probably did get to hear about her battles against the Gym Leader. “Additionally, you defeated Shauntal and Grimsley of the Elite Four, and fought against Team Plasma alongside your cousin Nate Rivers and his friend Hugh Palidena.” He hums happily as he continues to read through her application. “So, what do you know of trains?”

Rosa breathes in deeply as she wracks her brain for the bits she does know. “So, uh, Hilda told me a bit since she got hired. I don’t know a lot about maintenance, but I know a good amount about the actual fleet now.” Emmet nods, motioning for her to continue. “Each commuter car has a capacity of 42 sitting and 196 standing or 45 sitting and 202 standing, depending on if it’s a Singles 62 or a Doubles and Multi 160.”

Emmet’s eyes shine as she says that, nodding along enthusiastically. “Yes, almost! It’s 42/198 and 44/202 for capacity. Verrrry good on getting that close, yup!” He glances back at Hilda, and Rosa has to try not to blush when she hears her giggle in amusement. “And while we simply use reinforced versions of those trains in the Battle Lines, in the actual Battle Cars, we limit it to 6 people.”

“2 to 4 battlers, an attendant for points, and an attendant for healing,” Hilda cut in, causing Rosa to freeze momentarily and attempt (and fail) to hide a blush as she continues to face Emmet. “Either attendant is to also ensure the paying Battler has a clean and safe exit. The only time this rule is allowed to be broken is for security risks, such as a rampaging Pokémon, a gang attack, or a violent commuter.”

Emmet stares at Rosa for a moment before continuing. “You are one of three battlers who applied today, and the one I am most excited about. You are a fantastic Doubles battler, yup!” He flips to the second page of the application, apparently done with the first page. “It says you are available to work 8am-9pm, are you looking for double shifts or just twelve hour shifts?”

“I’m good with whatever,” Rosa says quickly, nodding with what she hopes is enthusiasm and not the nervousness she is starting to be overwhelmed by. “I know you do both types of shifts, and I’m not sure which you prefer to have people working.”

Emmet opens his mouth to speak, but Hilda intercepts. “A lot of regular battlers work double shifts, the 12 hour is mostly for the Depot Agents.” Rosa nods, unable to turn to face her, and Emmet just falls into a cheeky grin. “Agents get paid more, and I think you’d enjoy it better than being a straight Battler. More days off, too.”

“You’re very talkative, Hilda,” Emmet says with a playful huff.

“You’re not explaining things well,” Hilda says, her tone making it sound like she’s shrugging.

“I want her for the Doubles line.”

Rosa opens her mouth to argue that, when Hilda argues instead. “And if I wanted her for Singles? That’s her preferred Format, and I know her well enough to make sure she fits in right.”

“And you got the Battler this morning,” Emmet says, his eyes narrowing at the other Subway Boss. “The only other one we got was disrespectful. I want a Battler.”

The two continued to stare at each other, past a progressively redder Rosa. She felt like she was going to explode, with Hilda wanting her for her Line. Hilda wanted her! That would be fantastic, being able to work with Hilda all the time, being able to actually spend time with-

“Ok, you win,” Hilda says with a huff as she puts her pen down. “You get Rosa for the Double Line.” Oh.

“Verrrry good!” Emmet says with a grin, his eyes narrowing in glee. “Then how about a Battle Test? Rosa is our last applicant, and the one from earlier said he wouldn’t be available until later.”

A battle test? Was Rosa going to fight Emmet and see how he thought of her strategy? “Am I facing you, Boss?”

“Oh, no,” Emmet says, shaking his head. “You’ll be fighting Hilda. I’ll judge your skills that way.”

Oh. Oh no.

“I gotta go find Cincinno, then. She snuck off awhile ago,” Hilda says as she stands, grabs her coat and hat, and heads out of the office, Rosa managing to still look away from her. “I’ll meet you in the practice room.” With that, she swings the coat around her and disappears into the hallway.

It was quiet for a few moments before Emmet spoke up. “Ask her out if you win.”

It took all of Rosa’s willpower not to scream into her hands at max volume, instead squeaking loudly at Emmet with fear on her face. “No! I can’t do that! She’ll say no! I’m not cool enough for her to date! That isn’t gonna hap-“

“Useless lesbian.” Emmet’s smile doesn’t drop and the mirth doesn’t leave his eyes as he calls Rosa out. “You’re acting like Elesa did with Skyla, yup. Verrrry sure it was impossible, very scared. Now they’re married.”

Rosa flounders mentally for a moment, wildly flailing her arms like she’s talking before just spouting, “But they were both Gym Leaders! Hilda is a Subway Boss, she’s basically a Champion!”

“And you defeated two of the Elite Four,” Emmet says with a nod, as though this was sage advice. “I am your boss. If you win, ask her out.”

“You’re not my boss yet, you don’t pay me!” Rosa thought she had a winning argument before Emmet immediately reached across the desk with 20 Pokedollars. “… Ok, fine.” She sheepishly takes the money and deflates in her chair. “Was it that obvious?”

Emmet hums as he taps his finger against his arm. “Probably? I only caught it because Elesa was the same. I think Hilda missed it, you hid it well.” He yups softly as he stands up and puts his coat and hat on. Rosa was very sure she hadn’t hid it well, but Hilda also didn’t bring it up. “Be confident. I think you can win. It’s why I wanted you on my Line.”

The pair walk through the hallways for a few moments silently before Rosa speaks up. “Isn’t fraternization against the rules?”

“Technically yes,” Emmet says as they approach the practice room, where Cameron was finishing up some training and heading into the locker rooms. “But she is not your direct supervisor, since you are under my Line and the Multi Line is considered to be under the Authority rather than either Subway Boss.” The current Head of the Authority gives her a wink before continuing. “And since she’s not in your line of command, I think you’re fiiiiiine.”

Rosa nods silently as Emmet goes to the side of the room, sitting in one of the chairs that people can spectate from. She looks down at the Pokémon on her belt, trying to decide who to use. Kinaia, her starting Serperior, was definitely in the team, partially because she knows Hilda has a Samurott of her own. She doubts that she’ll use her Cincinno, so she can give her Meinshao, Sappho, a break.

Up next was Presley and Nobunaga, her Unfeazent and Kingambit. She had gone through a lot of effort to evolve Nobunaga, taking a trip to Paldea and everything, so she wants him to have a good debut. For now, Presley will have to sit in the side lines and sing his pain away.

And finally, Don Quixote the Stoutland and El Cid the Mudsdale. While El Cid would do well to help stall out and whittle down the opponents, Don Quixote is still equipped with Retaliation, so if he is sent in second, he can deal a good blow immediately. Double checking the items, Rosa confirms that El Cid still has her Leftovers and Don Quixote has his Choice Scarf. After waffling between the two, she puts the Don on her left hip with Preston and Sappho. Her team would be Kinaia, El Cid, and then Nobunaga in the rear.

Now just to wait for Hilda. Should she throw the fight? It’s not like she has a chance of actually getting a yes from Hilda, so why bother trying? But Emmet is also judging how she fights with this, so if she throws it, she’ll lose the job that she came in to get. She can feel her face heating up, and quickly looks over to Emmet, barking out, “Am I blushing?!”

Emmet smiles wider and nods. “Like a Tamato Berry.” Rosa puts her hands over her face and quickly smacks her cheeks several times to clear her head.

“I see someone’s psyching herself up,” Hilda says as she passes by Rosa to the other side of the field. Turning to face Rosa, she grips her hat and smiles. “You got your team together?” Rosa simply nods, afraid her voice would betray her in the moment.

“Perfect,” Hilda says as she pulls the brim of her hat down. “My name is Hilda. I may be new at being a Subway Boss, but I’ve ridden these trains for years, and battle is my blood.” Emmet perks up and leans forward, being sure to listen close to her opening monologue. Rosa couldn’t help but smile and do her best to not bite her lower lip in anticipation. “Can you bring our battle to a boil, or will you be burned by your own passion?” I wish I could burn you with my passion quickly crosses Rosa’s mind before she stamps it down.

Hilda reaches across her body with her left hand and grabs a Pokeball, lifting her hat to look directly at her opponent. “Hope you’re ready to be rocked, Rosa!” She whips her arm up, sending her Pokeball out to release her Samurott, the large blue armored otter landing with a thud on the floor. Hilda assumes the trademark Subway Boss pose, her left arm to her side pointing down while her right arm is pointing at Rosa. “ALL ABOARD!”

Rosa sends out her Serperior, the light shimmering off of the blue scales on its back. “Kinaia, Coil!” Kinaia tightens herself into a stacked circle, and tenses herself to lunge at her opponent with the next command.

“Samurott, use Avalanche!” Samurott tightens its shoulders before roaring out, causing ice to form above it and fall outwards onto Serperior, burying it deep. Rosa cringes slightly, though as the snow and ice melts away, unsustained after the attack fades, Kinaia is still holding strong, listening for Rosa’s next call.

“Leaf Blade!” Kinaia leaps forward from her coiled position, launching herself past the Samurott, her tail glowing and slicing into her opponent’s side. The Samurott turns around and roars in pain, and opens its mouth in anticipation of its Trainer’s command.

“Hold that thought, use X-Scissor while they’re close!” It is a good call, and one Samurott is happy to comply with as it slides a blade off of its arm into its paw and slashes across Kinaia’s body twice, leaving gashes on her front. The Samurott then sheathes the blade and attempts to jump back to make distance.

“Keep close and Giga Drain, they’re almost down!” Kinaia opens her mouth and sucks in Samurott’s essence, the gash on her front healing over. The Samurott tries to stay on its legs before finally collapsing to the ground with a groan.

“Come on back, Samurott!” Hilda slots the ball back in place and with her other hand, grabs a second ball and whips it onto the field. “Autotomize, then hit it with a Signal Beam!” As the Klinklang appears on the field, its gears click together and spin, sparks flying from them as the Pokemon makes itself more compact, and then whips around to face Kinaia, who was trying to slither away. With a loud whining sound, energy gathers in front of its center face and shoots out, slamming into the Serperior’s retreating form.

Kinaia cries out and slumps to the ground, and Rosa bites her lip as she calls her starter back. “Thanks for the help, Kinaia!” She breathes in deep and lets it out in a huff as she throws out her second Pokemon. “El Cid, you’re up!” As the Mudsdale lands with a loud bang onto the battlefield, Rosa goes over her options. Klinklang just doubled its Speed, and reduced its weight pretty steeply, and while Speed doesn’t matter for El Cid, the only way that she could’ve taken advantage of the weight change is a move that’s resisted.

They are both now down a Pokemon, and both of them are relatively fresh. Rosa and Hilda stare each other down for a moment, same as their Pokemon, and after a few moments they call their attacks together.

“Klinklang, Gear Grind!” “El Cid, Earthquake!” If either girl were to be paying attention to their spectator, Emmet’s face pales heavily as Rosa calls her command.

Klinklang predictably moves first, separating and slamming into El Cid’s sides, grinding together as though they were interlocked. El Cid throws his head back and snorts loudly, flexing his haunches as Stamina activates, knocking his opponent loose. As the gears come down for their second strike, they find the skin on the Mudsdale has hardened from the first hit, and then harden further with the second.

Meanwhile, as the gears attempt to dig into his body, El Cid lifts his front legs from the ground, and comes down heavily to unleash Earthquake. The initial movement knocks his opponent loose onto the ground, and the earth beneath the two shatters upwards into the gear, cracking the outer layer of the Pokemon’s metal body.

“Klinklang, make some distance and Magnet Rise!” The Gear Pokemon quickly comes together and floats back towards its trainer, warbling slightly as it rises higher into the air.

“El Cid, Body Press!” At a speed surprising for such a large creature, the Mudsdale rumbles down the battlefield and leaps into the air, slamming its side into the rising Klinklang. The two fall out of the air, the entire weight of El Cid falling into the Klinklang and pinning it to the ground, the damage heightened by the tougher skin from Stamina. As Mudsdale climbs back to his feet and ambles back towards Rosa, Hilda recalls her Klinklang.

“Using an ability to passively raise its Defense and then following with an attack that uses Defense. Clever, verrrry clever,” Emmet says from the sidelines, clapping to himself. “We don’t see many Mudsdale. I’ll have to consult with you later on strategies.”

Rosa smiles, balling her fists and dancing in glee at the praise before turning to face Hilda again. “Ok, ready!” Hilda smiles and raises her last Pokeball, nodding.

“So am I. Go, Goodra!” With a flash, the large, slimy Dragon takes to the field, shaking itself as it looks around. “Goodra, stop that Mudsdale in its tracks with Ice Beam!” With a cry, it forms the cold energy in its mouth, and fires it forth at El Cid, the beam slamming into his chest. El Cid lets out a loud whinny, and stumbles backwards before falling to the ground.

“Good job El Cid, I have you!” Rosa recalls him, and places his Pokeball on her belt. She grabs Nobunaga’s ball, and feels it shake in her grip. It continues to shake as she places it against her chin, and whispers to the ball. “Clinch this for them.” The ball stops shaking instantly, and she throws it forward.

Hilda and Emmet both lean forward a little as the Kingambit arrives on the field, standing tall and staring down Goodra with a look of disdain. Without making a noise, the Supreme Overlord brings its gauntlets up and drags them across his bladed moustache to sharpen them, and double his Attack.

Rather than make the first move, Nobunaga falls back into a sitting position on his hair and beckons to the Goodra. “Goodra, Fire Punch!” The call comes, and the Dragon comes in close and slams its fist, covered in flame, into the chest cavity of the Kingambit, causing it to bark out in pain.

“Return the favor with Iron Head!” As Goodra begins to pull back from its target, Nobunaga springs up from his seat, slamming the front of his helmet into his opponent’s chin. Rosa smirks as she sees her opponent’s Pokemon reeling from the hit, and swings her arm forward. “Now, hit it with a Kowtow Cleave!”

Nobunaga’s eyes widen slightly, and it moves forward into a kneeling position, before bowing down in front of Goodra. As it does so, the massive blade atop his head comes down on the Dragon, slicing a line down its front. From this angle, Rosa can tell they scored a critical hit, the blade digging deep into the opponent, who stumbles back.

“Goodra, can you keep going?” Hilda calls from her end, and to her Pokemon’s credit, it does try to turn around before fainting in front of Nobuanaga, who is coming to a stand. Hilda breathes in deeply as she recalls Goodra, then releases her breath with a smile.

“Congratulations, Rosa! You not only made it to fight a Subway Boss, but you took her down.” It takes a moment for Rosa to realize that Hilda was reading from a mental script, saying what she would to every successful challenger on the Singles Line. “Not many can claim that feat. Through Abilities, Items, and Typing, you found an amazing strategy, one that eclipsed my own. I just hope I can be a stepping stone as you climb to greater heights!”

“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t mind some climbing,” Rosa says very quietly before she could stop herself as she recalls Nobunaga. Clearing her throat, she says louder, “You did wonderfully too, Hilda!”

“I am Emmet, and I know a serious battle when I see one.” Emmet was walking towards the center of the now empty arena, and Rosa made sure to start walking to the center as well. “Mudsdale, the Draft Horse Pokemon. Verrrry slow, but high defense. Body Press was a very good call there.”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen that or your final Pokemon before,” Hilda says with a smile as she approaches the center of the arena. “I’ve heard of Mudsdale, at least. Alolan, right? And whatever that last Pokemon was, it looked like a Bisharp!”

Rosa opens her mouth to tell Hilda what it was when, once again, Emmet cuts in. “Kingambit, the Big Blade Pokemon, and an evolution of Bisharp primarily seen in Paldea, yup,” Emmet says with closed eyes and a nod. “They use broken crests of old Pladean generals as signs of leadership. The more Bisharp clans they defeat, the stronger they grow, and then they evolve!”

“They also care about those under their command,” Rosa cuts in. “They can have a unique ability, where the more Pokemon on their team that faint before they’re sent out, they boost their Attack.” Emmet’s eyes widen in delight at that information, and Hilda looks like she wants to groan at the knowledge. “And Mudsdale have the Stamina ability, which raises their defense with each hit.”

“Rosa, sweetie,” Hilda says with a faux admonishing tone, one she often adopts with the younger trainer whenever they would meet up. “You need to stop running off to other regions alone. You’re gonna be scary. Next time, take me with you so I can nab some new Pokemon.”

Rosa had frozen up slightly with that, and Emmet just crinkles his eyes into a sly smile instead of the delighted one he had before. “So, Rosa, you won. You had something to do, yup.” With Hilda so close, Rosa can’t hide the nervous fear that she sends at Emmet, and the younger Subway Boss turns to give him a suspicious glare. “This is the perfect time. You heard what she said.”

Hilda holds her glare on Emmet, then shifts her attention to Rosa’s nervous face, then wheels around to fully face her fellow Subway Boss. “Ok, Emmet, you’re up to something. Spill it,” she says, poking her finger at his chest, “before you break my friend and I break your commemorative Magnet Train model.”

Emmet gasps loudly, his smile disappearing into a perfect circle of shock. “That is uncalled for! The Magnet Train is a limited release from 2009, which we got when visiting my grandparents! All I did was offer her relationship advice!” He steps back and clears his throat, then nods several times. “Yup, yup! I simply told her to stop dragging her feet if she won!” The smile returns to his face as he looks at Rosa and hums loudly to himself.

Hilda’s eyebrows come together in confusion as she slowly looks over at Rosa, whose face is now a bright red. Hilda waves her hand in front of her face to no response, and opens her mouth to say something when Rosa manages to squeak some words out. “Hilda! Doyouwannagoonadate?!” There was a lot of energy in the words, and though they were nigh unintelligible, the meaning came across.

Hilda stands there for a second before letting out nervous laughter, putting a hand up so she can properly catch her breath. “Wait, wait.” She swallows and takes a deep breath so she can refocus on Rosa. “You have a crush on me, and decided to ask me after I become your boss? Which, holy fuck Rosa, is a huuuuge,” Hilda raises her hands and shakes them in a jazz hands motion, “ethics issue? Fraternization, you know?”

“Not her boss,” Emmet says with a sly smile. “She’s a Doubles employee, and Multi Line is under the Authority to keep it open to both Lines workers.” His smile rises, almost forcing his eyes closed. “And as the Head of the Authority, I think this would be a fine exception to make. I trust you both.”

“Bad call, Train Man,” Hilda says as she pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’ve known Rosa for years, and knowing her, she’ll derail half of the lines if you let her loose.” She puts her hand up to cut off Emmet’s response, ignoring his indignant huff as she looks up at Rosa. “Sure! I’d love to go on a date. You’re probably the best girl to ask me out in a few years, so…” She kinda shrugs and grimaces slightly.

Rosa and Emmet both grimace and nod. It wasn’t exactly secret that Hilda had either a type or just bad luck with women, as Rosa has seen the several high maintenance girlfriends Hilda has had the last few years, and Emmet remembers having to scold one for trying to sneak through active battle cars to see the at-the-time Agent. “I am Emmet. Even I know that is a low bar to clear.”

Both of the young women laugh at that as Emmet coughs into his fist. “Though, we have something else to do right now.” He thrusts his left hand out to Rosa, smiling so widely that his eyes are basically closed. “That was a well fought battle. I would love to see you battling again and again!”

With the rush of victory, both in the battle and in Hilda’s choice, Rosa quickly grabs the outstretched hand as Emmet finishes his thought.

“Welcome Aboard.”

#submas #pokemon black and white #pokemon black 2 and white 2 #submas fic #pokemon black and white fic #pokemon emmet #subway boss emmet #emmet #pokemon hilda #pokemon trainer hilda #hilda #pokemon rosa #pokemon trainer rosa #rosa #this was all written without an outline over the course of a few days and you can tell #i'm sorry

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