Chapter 4: Bianca
Today was hot. She knew all artist had to suffer for their work, but baking under the sun all morning wasn't worth it. She loved working outside, the city just inspired her to no end. However, the temperature was usually comfortable unlike today.
Being located in the middle of the sea, fresh sea breezes would normally blow through the city. She loved being able to work outside everyday, surrounded by the beauty of city's architecture and the serenity of the water's flow.
She would normally paint within the walls of the secret garden, one could paint for an eternity of every endless angle of the garden. However, today she felt like painting the courtyard of her favorite plaza. It was only a bonus that her favorite ice cream store was located there.
Her mind drift back to her painting, she long decided to add people into her scene, after all she wanted show the emotions of her beloved city. Even though the plaza was beginning to fill with people, she didn't mind, she simply loved it here.
Just recently her grandfather had convinced her to hang some of her artwork at the museum, some already called her one of the top young artist to look out for. The one everyone seem to love was her painting of a pikachu under a water fountain; his pikachu.
It seems recently her mind always came back to him. When ever she brought him up in conversation, Latias would get mad at her. Almost as if Latias was jealous. Was it right to fight your best friend over a guy?
Latias had been emotional ever since Latios died, and now it seemed she was growing more and more distant from Bianca. Latias had been spending more time by herself wondering the city lately. Sure she was happy, even more so when she met the new family of Latios and Latias. Yet nothing could cure losing a sibling so soon.
For Bianca it was easy to forget, she knew Latios was watching over them through the Soul Dew. And whenever she got depressed, she would force her to lose herself in her painting.
It was getting close to noon, she knew she couldn't continue working under the Tuscan sun any longer and she had promised Latias they would try out the new cafe for lunch. Of course Latias would be in human form, she had recently taken the form of a tourist girl she had once saw.
The cafe was across the city and the only way there was taking a gondola. She didn't mind this so much as she loved watching life go by in Alto Mare as she slowly travelled down the main canal.
She had waved down an oncoming gondola and gotten on, something that had become second nature to the locals, not giving a second thought to falling.
"My name is Ross and where can I take a beauty such as yourself on this fine day?" asked the gondolier.
She hated when gondoliers tried to flirt with her, which seemed to be every male gondolier in Alto Mare, "Cortile di serena bellezza please, I'm in a hurry."
"As the lady wishes," travelling by gondola certainly wasn't the quickest way to get across town, but it was one of the cheapest, especially for a ten year old girl and an aspiring artist.
"And there you see the famous thetre di acqua," the gondolier was treating her as a tourist, but over the years she learnt to tune them out and just enjoy the beauty of the city. Her mind again travelled back to Ash. She had so many questions, where was he now, had he gotten himself into another adventure, and whether he was travelling with some other girl now?
Her hands nearly slip while supporting her head, when did she ever care if Ash was travelling with some other girl. In fact, why did she care so much about Ash at all, it seemed she just couldn't get the boy out of her mind lately. And it was irritating her how her mind should be focused on her paintings and not some boy she would ever see again.
"And here we are miss," as easily as she boarded the gondola, she stepped on to land without so much as acknowledging the poor boy.
She always loved coming to the old part of town, some of the most beautiful buildings and private gardens were located here. She made her way to the quaint little cafe which recently just opened, knowing Latias was probably mad that she was late.
Latias was already sitting out in the patio sipping on juice when Bianca spotted her. Through the years Latias had learned to use a number of human gestures and finger pointing to get what she wanted.
"I'm sorry I'm late, the new piece is totally making me forget about everything else," somehow Latias saw through her excuse, she gave her a raised eyebrow, "Okay okay, my mind might have wondered to him again."
Even though she knew Latias had a crush on the exact same boy, it was Latias that always facilitated any hope that she had with the boy. It was Latias that had given him her painting before he left, even though she was too scared. And it was Latias who was always there to lend her a hand when she need someone to talk to.
"Occa tea and a Tamato berry sandwich please," she instructed the waiter, this was a blessing to stop Latias from digging any deeper.
Yet again Latias gave her that look. Sometimes Latias' inability to speak irritated her, Latias would just give you a facial expression and one would automatic become an open book.
As a desperate means to get out of having to deal with Latias, she quickly grabbed a newspaper lying on the table next to them. This being a cafe it wasn't uncommon to find such items especially during the morning rush. Bianca quickly turned to a random page so that she couldn't see Latias' face.
What she found was shocking, a series of pictures of Latios. This wasn't suppose to happen, Latios and Latias had the nature to stay hidden from humans. The new family that recently came to Alto Mare did the same, they stayed hidden. And when they did want to go out, they would transform into a human just as Latias had been doing for years. So how was it possible that a Latios was photographed?
She turned to the headline, "New Champion uses Rare Pokemon." She continue to look over the pictures, this just wasn't possible. What she found next shocked her even further, a series of photos had shown action shots of Latios fighting a Pikachu. And the every last picture had the mysterious trainer shaking hands with Ash.
She knew the boy had a nose for trouble or atleast trouble always found him. The first time they met, she thought he was just some strange stocker who had fallen in love with her at first sight. It was just plain creepy how he had tried to follow her all over Alto Mare. Her grandfather even said Ash had a lovelorn eyes and nearly fell heads of heels on to the DMA when he first sighted her in the museum. However, she soon changed her mind when they met a second time in the secret garden.
"Latias look at this," she showed Latias the spread of Ash and his battle against Latios. Latias was shocked to say the least, but she knew others like her existed outside of Alto Mare. She was more shocked to see the boy her bestfriend had a crush on.
Latias herself had moved on, even though Bianca didn't seem to believe it. She knew a human and a pokemon weren't meant for each other, plus the kiss was just a simple way to say thank you. She had been emotional at the time because she had just lost her brother, someone whom had taken care of her ever since she could remember.
Bianca then decided to read the article out loud for Latias, "Former Kanto Battle Frontier winner loses to mysterious trainer holding a Darkrai and Latios. Trainer Ash of Pallet Town becomes the first trainer during this year's Shinn'oh Conference to defeat the mysterious Takato's Darkrai. However trainer Ash was unable to beat Takato's next pokemon, Latios. Trainer Ash used all six of his Pokemon but was unable to beat Takato as his last pokemon, Pikachu drew with Latios. Takato continues on to become the new Shinn'oh Conference champion and will be given a chance to battle the Elite Four."
Latias responded with a smile, then went back to giving Bianca the look again. Bianca knew that Latias wouldn't stop giving her the look today unless she confessed her feelings to her best friend.
"Look Latias, I have a crush on Ash okay, but it's not like I'll be leaving Alto Mare anytime soon and Ash wouldn't be visiting Alto Mare either. So let's just leave it at that!"
Latias seemed to be happy with that answer, it wasn't everyday you would get your best friend to say she liked a boy. Especially a friend who loved to hide her feels all the time.
Bianca was also happy with that answer, she knew that even if Ash knew her feelings, they were simply too busy with their dreams. He was traveling to become a Pokemon Master and she loved her city too much to even think about leaving.
"Come on, after lunch I'll take you cloth shopping, then I'll show you my new painting," which she neglected to mention it was based on a boy and his Pikachu. She would soon realize her mistake as Latias would never let her live it down.
