Chapter 11 – The Actress of the Waters

When the group separated and left Castellia City, Professor Juniper's team headed straight for the town of Nacrene. Narcrene City was a quaint and cultured little rural town just across Skyarrow Bridge. It was established just over one hundred years ago, with the entire town made from restored warehouses, providing it a more unique and creative flare than any other city in Unova. It was also a town filled with historic knowledge, with the national museum its most valuable tourist gem.

The Narcrene Museum also doubled as an official Unova Pokémon gym, owned by the strong and knowledgeable museum director, Lenora. She was a dark-skinned woman with a mind as large as her bust, and teal afro hair that matched the colour of her confident intelligent eyes. She was an Archeologist with backbone, and proved this to be so during her fiery encounters with Team Plasma those months ago.

Professor Juniper had asked for Lenora's permission to use the library inside her gym behind the museum. If there were a collection of knowledge on Kyurem and the legendary Pokémon anywhere within this region, it would be within Lenora's library. The gym leader was happy to allow them access, and even offered to lend them a hand in finding the academic materials they seek.

Those who accompanied Professor Juniper in the gathering of research were a collection of the brightest minds within the group. There was obviously Professor Oak and his grandson Gary, along with his legendary partner Uxie. Then there were Marina and Kamon, with their legendary companions Celebi and Entei. May's little brother Max and his friend Jirachi continued to scan for books along with Lucas and Palkia, while Cynthia and Mesprit sat a desk reading a book they already found.

Bianca was also with this group, using her intellectual strength to aid Professor Juniper. But at the moment, it seemed Bianca was not using her common sense as she staggered along the floor, trying to balance a tower of books within her shaky hands. As expected, she finally tripped over with her collection of academia flying through the air and crashing to the floor.

"Miss Bianca, are you alright?" Jirachi asked, heading over to her aid.

"Oh, I'm alright," she answered the helpful little Being. She and Jirachi began to pick up the books. With half of the collection of her hands and the other half in Jirachi's, they placed the books on the table. Having Jirachi help carry the books over was indeed much easier than handling them herself. "Thanks for the help, Jirachi."

The Being of Wishes smiled. "You're welcome. But, I should really warn you not to do that again in the future. You shouldn't try and overwhelm yourself; there's only so much a human body can handle you know… you should know your limitations. Not only that, but you already seem clumsy on your feet…"

"I know, I'm such a klutz!" Bianca giggled. "I should know better! I'm guess I'm just excited. I'm finally using my strengths to help people. I'm not a strong trainer as I thought I would be… that realization hit really hard during my journey. I'm nothing compared to Cheren and Hilda; they're awesome trainers. Since then, I've been rather undecided on what I should do. I'm a thinker, not a fighter… something that I learned the hard way."

"You shouldn't doubt yourself as trainer," Cynthia then said, pausing from her reading to consult Bianca. "You're an amazing trainer; I can see that from here. Believe me, I have an eye for seeing this type of thing. And it is not all about being strong – yes, being strong helps, but that is not what Pokémon battles are all about."

Kamon agreed. "That's right." As one of the current World Elite Four, Kamon felt it was his responsibility to add his two cents. "Pokémon battles also take planning and organization. With the right strategy and combination, even the weakest side can win. Even I once thought that being strong was the only way to win… but I learned the hard way that this was very untrue. It was a hard… very hard lesson."

Bianca sighed. She still doubted herself. "I know all this to be true… but still…"

Kamon then smirked, closing the book he was reading before. "How about we see just how good you actually are then? Perhaps after I see what you can do, we can determine if being a trainer is right for you." He handed his book to Marina beside him, and pulled out a Poke ball from his long black coat. "To be honest, I was starting to get bored with all this reading… a Pokémon battle would be a nice break, wouldn't you say?"

After a moment of decision whether or not to accept his challenge, Bianca finally nodded. "Alright."

Gary seemed excited with the just organized pre-lunchtime entertainment. "Alright, a Pokémon battle! The Unova newbie against one of the World's Elite Four. This should be interesting!"

"What? A world ranked Elite Four?" Bianca did not know that about Kamon; if she did, she would have immediately declined his offer of challenge.

Kamon snickered. "Too late to back out now; once you accept a challenge, you cannot go back! This should be enlightening for you; this will prove just how good you really are. Get ready!"

Gary cheered. "Alright, let's get this show started! The loser has to buy lunch!"

"You want us to star in your drama production?"

"Yes… if you could…" Back in Nimbasa City inside the Musical Theater, Victini, Hilda, Dawn and the others had just been requested to replace a handful of actors in a large budget drama production due to open in a few days. The original lead actors had an unfortunate accident whist the tech crew were testing a large prop on stage. The injuries had left them temporally immobile and unable to perform. The director was just about to cancel the production until he saw how energetic and passionate they were trying to catch that Pokémon earlier.

The drama production was a retelling of the legend of the first Unova hero and his powerful Pokémon friend. This play is supposed to be a dramatic retelling of their adventures as they worked together, forming a bond of friendship that could never by broken. When they were told of the play's premise, Victini became quite intrigued; this was basically a play about Sir Huge and Kyurem.

But still, Victini could not let his curiosity get in the way of their current mission. "As much as we would like to help you, I'm afraid we'll have to decline," he eventually replied. "We're on an important quest and we just don't have the time to indulge ourselves in recreational activities… no matter how intriguing…"

"That, and we're not actors!" Hilda added. "None of us would have a single clue about… improvisation and all that stuff!"

"I can help you in that department," the director replied. He seemed to be pleading. "With my quick tutelage and direction, your energy and passion will be more than enough to pull this off! Please help me! If you do… I will introduce you to that Pokémon you were chasing earlier."

Victini was startled by the director's last comment. "What… you know Keldeo?"

The director nodded. "I'll take you to her now, if you like?"

"Does this mean you know about her human form?"

"… Yes." The director seemed rather taken aback by their knowledge of knowing Keldeo possessing a human form. "How do you know that? Just who are you people and what kind of quest are you on?"

"We'll explain that while you lead us to Keldeo. You may as well know, since you know about her…"

The Pokémon battle between Kamon and Bianca seemed to have attracted a growing audience, as the gym trainers began to watch along with the others. Kamon and Bianca's choice in Pokémon seemed equal, with each having a ghost, psychic, and a water type within their parties. Because of this, their strength balanced each other, resulting in a great and wonderful battle challenging each other's force and intelligence.

Another thing that made this battle equal was the challenging forces in strategy by each competitor. Kamon's old strategy of strength and power hadn't changed much since his younger arrogant days… however he had learned to also be agile, merciful and to never soulfully rely on brute force. Bianca seemed more passive with her strategy, using more defensive maneuvers and status changing attacks, which left Kamon's Pokémon either paralyzed, slowly weakening through poison and burns, and even hurting themselves in confusion. This tactic of subliminally hurting her opponents made Kamon realize just how ruthless Bianca actually was… even if she didn't want to admit that herself.

Experience trumped over everything in the end, leaving Kamon and his Feraligator praising themselves in overall victory. For the on looking spectators inside the library, it was not a surprise that Kamon would win; he was one of the world's elite after all. Still, Bianca put up an amazing fight; she even had Kamon on the ropes for a while, with those burn and poison maneuvers.

It was not a question that Bianca was a strong and intelligent trainer, and now with Kamon having seen that he began to question why Bianca was so hard on herself. She should really give herself more credit.

He then shrugged with a proud smirk on his lips. "Meh; I guess you're pretty good for a newbie." Marina immediately slapped him on his arm, unimpressed by his snarky comment. "What!? What else can I say; nothing else will seem to make her feel any better… I mean, look at her!"

They looked upon Bianca, who had her green burette pulled over her face, trying to hide her tears. She felt ashamed at another loss. It was one more defeat she could add among her long list of defeats.

Kamon sighed. "Bianca, you're beating yourself up too much about your loss. You got serious talent, considering you have been a trainer for only a short while. You even held your own against me! Stop being so hard on yourself!"

"S-s-sorry," she replied, trying to hide back her tears. "I know I did a great job considering the circumstances… it's just that I have lost so many times that it's just beginning to become too stressful for me to bare. This is why I decided to dedicate my life in becoming a researcher, because I couldn't handle losing all the time anymore. It took so many defeats to realize the truth that I'm not that good trainer like Hilda and Cheren are. I can never compare to them! It was hard lesson for me to learn, and it still is!"

Cynthia approached and placed a consoling hand softly upon Bianca's shoulder. "But even so, you continue to fight. That just shows how strong willed you really are… even if you yet to realize that yourself. You never give up despite the truths you have learned. Also remember this: your Pokémon are the reflection of you. They're the result of yourself as a human being, your experiences, and the lessons you have learned. And from that battle, I saw that they have as much of an iron will as you do."

"… You really think so?"

Cynthia nodded, kindly smiling upon the troubled trainer. "As Kamon said: stop being so hard on yourself. Take a step back and look upon your achievements as a trainer and less on the failures. Perhaps then you will finally realize just how good you really are, and truly begin transcending as a trainer."

Bianca smiled, wiping away her tears. "Thanks, miss Cynthia."

"And with that said, I think it's time to get some lunch," Gary said, enlightening the mood. "Remember the loser has to buy lunch, so get going Bianca! I'm hungry! Besides, you could probably use the walk to calm down…"

"It's rather surprising to realize that you can be such an ass and yet thoughtful at the same time, Gary…" Uxie said.

Gary smiled. "I know; it's a gift."

As they walked down the corridor towards the dressing room, the director explained of how he came by Keldeo. He and his company were travelling around Unova, performing an outdoor production that promoted Pokémon companionship. It was his way of protesting against the ideals of Team Plasma, who wanted people to basically abandon Pokémon by casting them away.

One day along the road to the next town he found Keldeo, who appeared to be almost lifeless within a forest clearing. She had been severely beaten, the infliction done by something very strong. Perhaps another legendary… or a few?

At the time, he didn't know that she was the legendary Pokémon of Lakes and Rivers. He came to her aid and healed her back to health, promising to protect her until she was strong enough to move on. Since then, Keldeo has offered her time to the director and his company as thanks, performing on stage and becoming one of his greatest actors.

"She never realized she had such talent until her first performance," the director continued. "After all those centuries of existing, she never knew what a niche she had for the stage and how right at home she felt. But when she finally opened up and told me of her past, I began to wonder that perhaps she was just happy pretending to be someone else. When she is on stage she is a character – someone else who is not her. It may be her way of dealing with her past… or perhaps running away from it."

"The ones who may had beaten her and left her to suffer that day, may have very well been Cobalion and her other siblings," Victini said.

"After finding out she had been cast out by her brethren, I thought the same too."

"Damn, that Cobalion! When I see him again, I'm gonna burn him to a crisp!"

"So, you're on a journey to gather the other Unova Legendary Pokémon, are you? That will be quite a fleeting task to achieve indeed. At least you got a good start with yourself and lady Meloetta over there… hopefully Keldeo will be happy to join you as well. But I must warn you: it may take a lot of persuasion to remove Keldeo from her comfort zone; she feels very safe here."

"I know. I'm hoping that when she finally understands what we're doing, she'll find the courage and strength to join our fight."

"Yes. It is hard to believe that the glorious Pokémon who once fought by Sir Huge's side to save this land, now wants to destroy it. Now knowing this seems to render the message of this production redundant. But it's one of the greatest legends Unova boasts!"

"The present actions of the catalyst should not overshadow the greatness of his past. What Kyurem and Huge accomplished was remarkable. I should know, for I was also there. This story is still important as it had always been, despite what Kyurem is doing now."

"I hope you Victini, can finally bring him back to his senses."

"… I hope so too."

They finally arrived at Keldeo's dressing room. Before the director opened the door, he made sure to let them know to be considerate of her nervous anxiety when speaking with her. When the door finally opened, there was a young maiden sitting at her dressing table inside. She had long dark red feathery hair, and beautiful blue eyes that sparked like water glistening under the sun. But within those eyes hid a deep sadness, as seen by the somber expression upon her soft round face. This was Keldeo's human form.

The director spoke up. "Keldeo… you have visitors."

Keldeo looked back to see Victini and the others behind the director. When she spotted Victini, she immediately stood up from her cushioned stool to flee. She looked terrified.

"No, no, Keldeo, they're not here to hurt you… they wish to only speak with you."

"Please… we just want to talk," Vicitini said.

"No!" Keldeo exclaimed. Her voice was sweet but reserved. "Go away! I want nothing to do with you or Kyurem!"

"I'm not with Kyurem! I've had nothing to do with him for a couple hundred years now. I hate what he has become and he needs to be stopped. That's why I have come today."

Keldeo began to calm down. "… So, you're not with Kyurem then?"

"No, I'm not. And from what I hear, it sounds like you already know the situation…?"

"… Not all… but enough. Perhaps you can fill me in on what I've missed."

Bianca left the Café warehouse holding two bags of take away orders as requested by her fellow researchers back at the museum. The food at that establishment was indeed wonderful, and would be a great way for the others to experience Unova cuisine. After dining on the Café Warehouse's culinary delights, they should feel more than enthusiastic to research some more, content and energized.

After that intense Pokémon battle against Kamon, the short walk and change in scenery was just what Bianca needed. It was a nice change of pace, as she began to soak in the rural scenery, and the carefree lifestyle of the people living within. It was along this stroll where she used Cynthia's advice and began to properly reflect on just how far she had actually come as a trainer.

She had to admit that the former world champion's words were true: she was a great trainer. However she also realized her great passion for the study of Pokémon themselves. Deciding on which road to take was harder than she thought it would be… and it will take all of her willpower to choose one, whist discarding the other.

Amongst all her questions, there were two that seemed to stick out more than the rest: "What do my Pokémon think… or want for that matter? Do they want to continue fighting, or will they'll be just happy enough assisting me?"

She was soon left startled from her thoughts, when a manly figure draped within cobalt blue leathers leapt out in front of her path. The mysterious male looked up, piercing his cold golden eyes upon the frightened Bianca, who was now catching her breath calming herself from this sudden development. His appearance reminded her of the ninjas of myth, with his face hidden by cloth and a katana equipped beside his hip. A cobalt ninja with cold golden eyes… this had to be Cobalion; he is as what Hilda described to her.

"You are Bianca, correct?" he asked.

Bianca stuttered. "U-u-uh… yes."

He charged for her, leaping into her air and landing right in front of her. He unsheathed his sword and held its glimmering blade to her neck.

"Where is Hilda White?" he demanded.

"H-H-Hilda…?" She was surprised that she was even able to speak a single word, as she remained petrified by even the blade's slight touch.

"You are her friend, are you not… which means as a friend, you should know where she is. So… where is Hilda White? And if you know the whereabouts of N Harmonia that will be appreciated as well."

Victini continued to explain the situation to Keldeo, as they and the others occupied her dressing room. It was clear to see that she enjoyed her craft with countless costumes hung around the room, stage make-up scattered all over the dressing table, and scripts from past, present and future productions littered upon the variety of surfaces. She was indeed well taken care of here; this made more evident by the photos placed around her dressing mirror of good times with the rest of the crew. It was within these photos they discovered the beauty of Keldeo's true smile. When she was happy, she was truly beautiful.

At the moment her smile could not be seen, as she began to feel guilt for not keeping up with the news. She was a legendary being; she had a responsibility as an immortal representative of Unova to keep up with that was going on. She had ignored her fate and her position for far too long. She felt her fears had made her irresponsible.

"I shouldn't have been as careless and ignorant as I have been these past few centuries," she said. "If I was just a little more informed, I would have known what was really happening within our circle of Arceus' ambassadors. We were not born from his flesh, but his influence indeed gave rise to us. I should have known this was happening, and should have known that you were no longer fighting alongside Kyurem. You've been his enemy for a couple hundred years now, and I was none the wiser. It just goes to show how out of touch I am. Please forgive me, Victini."

The boy smiled. "You needn't be sorry. I know why you have been keeping your distance from us; the last you knew I was close to Kyurem and Cobalion, working with them as an ally. Anything to do with Cobalion you want nothing of, right?" Keldeo nodded slowly. "So, Keldeo… how do you know what's going on?"

"Cobalion told me." When they heard that it was Cobalion who told her they became confused. She was trying to keep her distance from him and the others, right? Keldeo began to explain. "Well, he didn't tell me exactly… more like offered a chance of redemption by working alongside him and others, assisting Kyurem achieve his destructive goals."

"They tried recruiting you?"

"Yes. They tried every manipulative thing they could: saying that we could be a family again working together to cleanse the world. As you already know, my siblings hate humans for what they did during the second Unova war. Because of my objections then, I was cast away. I still object to their hateful reasoning, so when I refused… they beat me all at once and left me defenseless within a forest clearing. That's when the director found me."

"So it was Cobalion and your brethren who beat you that day!"

"Yes. Victini, I am prepared to fight alongside you. As long as I am not alone, I can fight against my brothers and sister. Ideally, I should be able to stand on my own… but…"

"Don't worry; you can count on us!"

"Very well, I will join you. However, there is one condition you must fulfill before I journey along with you."

"And what's what?"

Keldeo then smiled. "You must save this production and perform along with me!"