#((so he put Hilbert through another hoop to get the badge so to speak))

[luckynatured]

HC Dump - Clay

Out of all the Gym Leaders that Hilbert took on for the duration of the Black Nuzlocke, Clay was the only one that he actually lost a Pokemon to - his  Ducklett had been killed by Excadrill’s Rock Slide. 

It was a reckless move on Hilbert’s part, really - Merlot had put it to sleep, he figured Derek could use the experience, and Excadrill woke up than Hilbert anticipated and used Rock Slide. Looking back on it now, he would readily admit that the fault was his there.

That didn’t make the scolding from Clay sting any less. He was pretty harsh in what he said - about how Team Plasma may have been right if they were talking about trainers like him. 

Not only that, he refused to give Hilbert the Quake Badge at first; “Don’t get me wrong; ya got potential and ya did beat me, but I ain’t completely convinced yet. If ya can make it t’ Chargestone Cave without causin’ another death, maybe I’ll give it to ya there. I gotta head there anyways, so I’ll be seein’ ya.”

In truth, Clay did intend to give him the badge there - the entire point of refusing to give him the Badge right away was to get Hilbert to really consider his actions going forward. He had a feeling that Hilbert would take the lesson to heart, and he was proven right when he noted that there were no other casualties - just an addition of a Deerling in his party.