From: Cheren
To: Bianca
Dear Bianca, I hope this letter finds you. It seems once again, to my most shameful disappointment, I must ask for your help.
As you know, Colress finally disbanded what little remained of the twice defeated team plasma, a new champion has been crowned, and Ghetsis has seemingly gone mad and disappeared.
Then, after saving the world and returning the region to normalcy, the new champion, as well as the past champions, left Unova to pursue the next step on their journey...and that's where Grimsley entered the picture.
He took advantage of the ensuing confusion, rounded up the remnants of team plasma that sided with Ghetsis, and declared himself their new leader, in what seemed to be a mischievous ploy to get himself an army of aimless hoodlums that could act as his personal minions; nothing but an imprudent and dangerous joke, or so I thought.
I went to his lair on the pokemon league to try to reason with him, to talk him out of such childish machinations and, well, it seems my negotiation skills could use some improvement because, not only did he refuse to drop his revolting act, he has also taken me in as his prisoner and refuses to let me go. That is the reason behind this desperate attempt to ask you, and only you, for help.
You know I don't like to ask people for help. I prefer to try to solve my problems on my own until it is painfully obvious that I can't do it by myself. Things have calmed down enough in order for me to write you this letter, hoping that you'll save me, but make no mistake, I fear for my future.
Even if I were to get out of this situation alive (a part of me would rather die here), who knows how my reputation will fare. People already think of me as an inexperienced weakling, and novice trainers come to me expecting an easy fight and a free badge. Of course this won't change their minds about me for the better. That's why I don't feel comfortable asking anyone for help, anyone but you, and only you.
If by some miracle this letter manages to reach you, please act accordingly, that is, get me out of here. If you can save me without telling anybody else about my ignominious situation, that would be swell. It is humiliating enough for me as it is, but I'll understand if you can't make due without a bit of noise.
I know you can do this, please be swift, and discreet.
With love, Cheren.
Bianca finished reading the letter, she was horrified. She raised sharply from her chair with the intention of storming out of the laboratory and run to Cheren's rescue, but the desk in front of her, which she suddenly forgot was there, got in her way and Bianca fell butt first on the floor, right after making a rather loud guttural noise, of the kind that comes out of one's mouth only to make a situation more embarrassing for them. The fall hurt her rear and her pride, but she was partially thankful because her glasses had fallen off her face, that way she couldn't identify the expressions on everyone's faces. Professor Juniper was out, sadly every single one of her assistants was present, and they all saw her fall; as if she needed to add another embarrassing scene to her already numerous list. One of the professor's assistants helped her get up and handed her her intact glasses. Bianca hid Cheren's letter behind her back and looked to the ground as she put her glasses back on,
"where are you going in such a hurry?" The assistant asked with a discernibly snobbish tone.
Bianca opened her mouth to answer him at the exact moment she realized she had no idea of where she was heading, nor of how she would start her new mission. The assistant became tired of waiting for her answer and promptly left her, and Bianca went back to her desk in silence and sat on her chair, fully immersed in a contemplative state. Meanwhile the rest of the assistants rolled their eyes at her.
Grimsley was an elusive figure, Bianca realized she didn't really know anything about him, and she couldn't think of anyone who could broaden her knowledge of such a hidden character. Perhaps Bianca herself knew more about him than anyone else, with the little information she possessed. Besides, if she started asking too many questions, she would not only risk exposing her mission, but everyone would find out that Cheren, a recently appointed gym leader, was taken prisoner by Grimsley, although she was more than willing to risk his reputation and his pride to save him, unlike Cheren himself.
However, if her fall had taught her anything, it was that she tended to rush into things, and she needed to be sure she would't fail her mission. Bianca needed to be sure she'd be able to save her best friend and make Grimsley pay for what he did to him. Because for Bianca one thing was absolutely certain: anyone who dared to mess with her friends would become an irredeemable enemy of hers, forever. She was willing to wait and suffer for it, just to make sure she had everything she needed to take her new enemy down.
Bianca firmly raised from her chair once more. She put on her vibrant green hat and grabbed her small purse of the same color from the desk. She took Cheren's letter with her and headed for the door, while the rest of the assistants stared at her in disbelief and with envy in their eyes; she seemed to always do whatever she wanted and never took anything seriously, it was inconceivable to them how the professor had let such a selfish and irresponsible brat work for her.
Working for professor Juniper was a dream come true for Bianca, she spent most of her time outdoors hanging out with many different pokemon, working toward making their lives better. However, the time not spent outside was spent on endless routines and paperwork, which were slowly turning her dream into a nightmare, so she was rather keen on going out. It's a shame it had to be under such a distressing circumstance.
She decided to head to Driftveil City, where Rood's house was located. Rood used to be one of team plasma's seven sages, but after the team was defeated the first time around, he and a group of grunts loyal to N changed their ways and actively helped defeat team plasma the second time around, seemingly for good. And now Grimsley wanted to ruin everything.
After a rather boring and uneventful trip, Bianca reached Rood's modest house, located atop a hill full of green. She knocked three times on his front door and waited patiently for someone to answer, but nobody did. She knocked again, harder this, time, but it was of no use whatsoever, and at that moment she became certain that the house was empty. However Bianca had no other leads, Rood was the only one who could tell her what happened to the rest of team plasma when they were defeated, so she was forced to wait until somebody arrived.
Bianca laid down on the grass beneath her, she put her hands behind her head and crossed her legs while a faint breeze gently caressed her face, then she gazed at the sky filled with clouds. It was still quite early in the morning and the sun was on its way up from the horizon, it turned everything on her sight bright orange. Gazing at the scenery above her, she made out the silhouette of a pair of eyes on the clouds, looking right at her, alone and powerless on her quest. Bianca suddenly wished it was night again, the moon and the stars surrounded by darkness were a sight just as beautiful to behold as anything the sun had to offer. The eyes kept looking at Bianca, they unnerved her, so she got up and tried to ignore them.
Then she tried looking through the window next to the door of the house. She stuck her face in front of the glass and used her hands to get a better view. She identified a dirty couch with holes in it, a pair of boxing gloves and a punching bag. Bianca couldn't help but feel as if her actions were an invasion of Rood's privacy and quickly moved away from the window, only to notice the silhouette of a person standing behind her on the glass.