"Ash! Ash, wake up!" The trainer jolted awake when he heard Bianca banging on his door early in the morning. He quickly went to unlock it and as soon as he opened it Bianca was in his arms, sobbing as she collapsed into him in her green pajamas with lemons dotting the outfit.

"Bianca, what's wrong?! He tried asking her, but she was too much of an incoherent mess to really get anything out of her, but he did see her holding a piece of paper, so he led her to the bed to cry herself emotions out while he took and read the note.

Ash, Bianca.

I'm sorry it has to be like this. After watching you struggle against Burgh like that when I had an easier time, I realized that you guys were slowing me down with your inability to keep up to my skill and sentimentality. Don't worry, I still consider you two to be my best friends, but from now on I'm on my own. Don't come looking for me, for I'll have already passed the desert resort already with new Pokémon. We may meet every so often, but I won't let anything stand between me and my goal of becoming champion. I'll even catch every Pokémon for the Pokedex as well for even more notoriety. It's better this way for the both of us, since I'll likely just be a third wheel with you guys. Take care.

"What the hell?" Ash asked, dumbfounded by his friend's lone wolf course of action. He already knew he was borderline obsessed, but this was just inexcusable. Crumpling the paper, he stood up and started preparing himself.

"A-Ash? Wh-what are y-you doing?" The distraught girl asked, confused by his serious behavior.

"We're going to get Cheren and talk some sense into him."

"But h-how? He's already far ahead of us."

"He didn't have that much time since he left while we were sleeping. Since he's on the same path as us, it's just a matter of traveling faster than him. After checking his Pokedex, he even noticed that it showed activity last night. "Dang it, he even used our Pokedexes! Probably transferred all our combined data into his so he'd have the most entries. Get ready Bianca, for we're going on some friend hunting."

After they got their stuff ready, Ash was just about to leave the Pokémon Center when he literally bumped into Burgh.

"Oh! My humblest apologies, Ash. Good morning. Say, you looked pretty miffed about something. Something problematic?" He asked with a yawn.

"Yeah, our friend ditched us. His note said we were slowing him down so he's going to try and become Pokémon Champion without us." The trainer answered darkly.

"How terrible! You must fetch him! I'm the best guy to tell you, it's the little things that count."

"That's what I tried telling him, but he's focused on being as strong as he can be. We need to stop him and knock some sense to him."

"Well, here's a helpful hint. I noted his surprise about my Leavanny knowing Leaf Blade and X-scissor, and the thing is I used TM's. Given that bugs aren't the most powerful type, arguably the weakest of the type table but that doesn't matter to me. The point is, my team needs to adaptable with each challenge, and if I can see how they battle, I can plan accordingly.

"So he beat you at a tougher level" Bianca inquired.

"Marginally, but yes. Now go, don't me hold you up. Find your friend. Also look for the department store on Route 9, you can't miss it."

"Thank you so much. Goodbye." The blonde girl said before they left. As they were leaving the city, thus allowing Bianca to no longer need to wear her headphones, she turned to her boyfriend.

"Ash?"

"Yes?" His eyes shifted to her. Her hands started to twirl and her head began to shake around, letting her hair flap around.

"I'm scared for Cheren. I don't know why he's doing this, and the fact he thinks we're weak is really demoralizing."

"I don't think it's that we're weak, but just that we're not up to his level yet. Know it all jerk." Ash grumbled.

"But...even if I never become as strong as you or Cheren or even fail at this Pokémon challenge, the best part is being with you guys. Ever since we left Nuvema Town, I've met a lot of people and experienced a lot of great things. I've also been thinking about what to do with my life. It's helping me figure out who I want to be since I've learned a whole lot of things."

"And have you figured that out yet?" He asked curiously.

"Not yet, but it's coming to me. I can just feel it." She answered. He smiled, so he took her hand causing her to stop shaking. She then leaned into him. "I'm so glad I'm having this adventure with you Ash. I love you so much."

"I love you too." Ash replied back wholeheartedly. It was just then that their Xtranciever started ringing. Answering, it was Professor Juniper.

"Hello there! Ash, Bianca where's Cheren? I'm trying to call him too but he's offline for some reason!"

"It's because he's abandoned us." Ash replied. She seemed horrified hearing this news.

"What?! Oh this is most terrible! Come meet me in the Relic Castle at the Desert Resort! It's west of Route 4! It's something important!"

"Alright. We'll meet you there!" Bianca agreed to before Ash hung up the call. While they walked through Route 4, they fought both a lot of trainers and caught several Pokémon. Ash caught a sandile, basically a small brown and black crocodile, and a scraggy, a yellow bipedal lizard like Pokémon with a big head with big eyes and visible upper teeth supported by a thin body. It appears to be constantly holding up loose yellow skin that look like trousers even leading to a tail. Bianca also caught a darumaka, a red round fire type creature with a smiley face and yellow markings on its body and tiny and legs, along with a maractus, a living cactus with maraca arms. But the most confusing of them all was when Ash caught a Sigilyph, something that looked like it was from mythology. Multi-colored, spherical, stringy wings and tail yet it still floated in the air, and had one eye at top.

Once they reached the relics, they spotted Professor Juniper with a female scientist looking person.

"Hello younglings. So sorry about Cheren. I hope things patch up between you guys." She expressed sympathetically.

"Thanks." Bianca said with a nod.

"Well, onto important business, meet a close friend of mine in the field of archeology, Dr. Sandra Hill." She wore a brown t-shirt and tan kakis along with a flashlight helmet. Her skin is tan and had dirty blonde hair put up in a low bun.

"Greetings Ash and Bianca. I hear that you two and another are working on completing the pokedex." Sandra stated, holding her arm out in greeting. They each shook her hand.

"That is correct. We're doing good so far."

"Well, here I found a couple of things you'll be very interested in." Sandra spoke with hype as she brought out two fossils. One looked like a turtle and the other something like a prehistoric chicken. "Fossils of the ancient past. Tirtouga and Archen."

"When we found them, the first thing that came to mind is if you wanted them." Juniper offered. "Back in Nacrene City is a lab where fossils can be brought back to life."

"That's so cool!" Bianca marveled. Juniper smiled.

"I figured you'd say that. So who wants what?"

"Bianca, how about you have Archen? I need something to balance out my team and I bet his Tranquill will easily beat Pansage."

"Alright, so you get Tirtouga then." The blonde girl agreed.

"Excellent. Now that that's done with, you may go on your journey, and maybe fine Cheren again. I'll send you your Pokémon once they're revived.

"Thank you Professor Juniper." Both teens thanked before leaving the relics, though before then Ash was able to catch a yamask as well, a living shadow with red eyes holding a golden mask with its tail. The Pokémon also floats in the air. The rest of the day from approximately 9 AM to approximately 6:30 PM was spent moving through the desert resort and route 4 until they finally reached their destination, the entertainment city of the region, Nimbasa City. Like Castelia before, the couple were amazed by the sights they saw. Unlike Castelia that looked like a metropolis for business and economics, this was a place for fun, leisure and no worries about anything except your budget for how much fun you can buy. There's a musical theater, a battle arena that was an actual miniature arena that looks like it's for hundreds of watchers, not tens of thousands. A sign says it's called the Battle Institute Arena, and it looks like sign ups are weekly. There also happens to be a couple of sport fields, a ferris wheel and a roller coaster. There's no sign of the gym but that's probably just hidden behind everything else.

"Wow! This is the best city ever! I want to ride them all!" She was about to run off but Ash grabbed her hand.

"Bianca, wait! As much as I want to do it all too, we don't have the time. We just need out gym badges, and then get back to finding Cheren."

"But Ash! I've always wanted to ride at least one of these!" But before they could argue for much longer, an old man cried out for help. They rushed to see that said old balding man in a brown shirt and red pants was being harassed by two Team Plasma knights.

"Alright gramps, we know you run the Pokémon day care! How do we know? Because we're Team Plasma!" The first knight boasted.

"It's our duty to liberate Pokémon from foolish humans!" The second one added. "Since you run the joint, you must have a bunch, especially in a city like this! Hand them over!"

"What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?!" The old man objected.

"Stop right there!" Ash yelled, distracting the knights, allowing the man to escape.

"Now, see what you did?! You've obstructed our mighty justice! Since you've interfered, we'll liberate your Pokémon too!"

"Bring it on!" Both the teenagers challenged. "Pignite, I choose you!/Come on out, Drilbur!"

"Watchog, go!/Trubbish, go!"

"Watchog, use Super Fang!" The first knight commanded.

"Trubbish, use Sludge!" The other ordered. While the normal type pounced for the attack, the Trash Bag Pokémon threw up dark brown gunk.

"Pignite, counter with Arm Thrust!/Drilbur, use Dig!" Bianca's Mole Pokémon dug underneath the ground, avoiding the sludge while Pignite effortlessly used his strength to punch Watchog's mouth shut before thrusting his arm into the normal type's side super hard. It wheezed before it was pushed back by the fire pig. Trubbish was in trouble, not sure where Drilbur went until he burst from the ground, attacking from underneath and sending it flying right back into the second knight. They were both defeated with one move.

"Ah! This went downhill fast! Run!" They were about to escape when two officers cut them off, letting their herdiers take them down.

"Oh, thank you young ones!" The old man said to them from behind, having watched the whole thing. "You sure saved my keister."

"Aw shucks, it's nothing." Ash shrugged. Bianca smiled from his modesty.

"No, I mean it. Follow me." Wondering what this was for, they followed the man to his house, and to the side was what looked like a new red bike, shining bright and ready to go. The man frowned upon seeing it. "I bought that for my wife so we could ride together, but she passed before we got the chance."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Bianca said in an empathetic tone, looking sad. He gently smiled from her words.

"It's okay. I didn't want to scrap it, and yet I don't have room for it. So I figure you youngin's have earned it. What do you say?"

"Oh, this will help us so much mister. Thank you." Ash said with extreme gratefulness.

"I'm glad I could be of help. Oh, and be sure to ride one of the rides first. They're a must do for first timers." He suggested.

"Oh yes! We definitely will! Thanks again!" Bianca cheered before Ash could say anything and pulled him towards the amusement park.

"Bianca, we have a mission! We have to find Cheren!" Ash complained with concern. Bianca turned to him.

"I know Ash, I'm concerned for him too! But he can handle himself and besides, what's the harm in having fun for at least half an hour? Please Ash, pleeeeeaaase?" She pouted, making a form of puppy eyes. Ash groaned. She rarely had to pull that move, but that just made it more effective.

"Ugh, fine. We at least got a new bike so what's half an hour?"

"Yay! Thank you so much Ash! Let's go on the roller coaster!" Pulling him by the arm, the couple went to the amusement park and got in line of the roller coaster. It was called the "Thunder Rider" After paying, they sat at the front row. Their clipped their safety belts and a padded safety bar was lowered down to their laps.

"Let's sit on our hats so that they don't fly off." Ash suggested, and she nodded in agreement and removed their hats to sit on them.

"Thank you for riding the Thunder Rider." The person at the controls spoke into a speaker, his voice echoing through the station hall. "Please keep your arms and hands within the cars at all times except straight up if you wish. Enjoy the ride." Everyone behind the couple cheered as the train started to move up the hill.

"Oh man, isn't this exciting?!" Bianca asked her boyfriend, extreme joy in her eyes.

"I don't know. How is this exciting for you? We've never been this high-up before, or gone as fast as we're going to now." Ash inquired, not sure if the tension in his chest was good or not.

"Oh don't be a baby! Oh, here's the slope!" Once they reached the top, the several seconds they looked around the sights were breath taking. They could see the entire city, even the gym in the far Northwest. But once the head car started facing downwards, they went from excited or nervous to outright horrified. "Oh sh-" Bianca didn't get to finish her curse as everyone screamed, plummeting to the bottom before riding into a rising right bank, pushing them into the left of their seats. They fell again after that only to go into a left back going almost horizontal while they entered a short tunnel. They were able to get a few short breaths going up a hill until they went down again into another right bank that went a whole downward 360 degrees before going onto a rising left back that sloped down for a few seconds. And then they went up another smaller hill before falling downwards again that entered an actual loop-de-loop. After a few more turns and rises and falls, and after the final right bank, they returned to the station, slowly pulling up. Despite the ride lasting about 1 minute and 50 seconds, they thought it felt like an eternity has already passed. Both were shaking from experiencing something so extreme. They slowly turned to each other, their eyes dilated and their faces pale, it took a few seconds before smiles crept up their faces.

"Heh. Hehe. HehehehahahaHAHAHA!" Both started to laugh into a riot, having actually enjoyed the rollercoaster despite feeling like a near death experience. Once they got off and put on their mushed hats, they carefully walked away from the ride, holding a guard railing so they didn't fall over.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Bianca celebrated, jumping up and down. "That was way more than anything I could've ever thought I'd experience! It was like, whoosh, zoom, she-blam! What did you think Ash?! Ash?" She looked over him to see that instead of excited or thrilled, he kept his face away with a big blush.

"Uh...Bianca? Your..." He pointed downward, so she did so. Turns out the ride was so extreme, her breasts slipped from under her bra and were bouncing without her noticing since she just went through a rollercoaster. Yelping in surprise, she ran and hugged herself tight against Ash, making him even blush even more. "Uh, uhh...Bianca, this isn't hel-"

"Can we just walk to the bathroom please?" She begged, not wanting to talk about it while she was mortified. Nodding, they awkwardly side walked to the bathroom, and Ash patiently waited for his friend to... readjust herself. Once she left, they looked at each other for a second before looking away, like they were nude.

"Sooooo...want to just-"

"Ash, do you like my boobs?" Bianca asked quickly, cutting her boyfriend off. He sputtered in shock.

"Wha-wha-what?"

"Ash, my autism has made me exceptionally observant of my environment. Even though you try to be discreet, I can tell when you look at them. Even I know, despite my autism, that boys like boobs, and most to a sexist degree. But what I want to know is...do you like them? Be honest with me, please." She requested, looking completely serious. Never once has he lied to his friend. While that unfortunately meant that Bianca was terrible at detecting lies when anyone else lied , it at least meant that she believed that if she needed an honest opinion, she always went to either or mom, or him if she wasn't available. Figuring why start dishonesty now, he sighed.

"The truth is...I do. Whenever we hug, whenever I see your straps or the edges of your cups, I get excited. I try to keep myself under control because I respect you. I didn't want to do anything that would damage or even ruin our relationship." Closing his eyes, he waited for her to slap him or yell at him or something, only for her to kiss his cheek. His eyes opened to see a smiling Bianca and teary eyes. "Bianca."

"Oh thank goodness. With how little you showed interest I thought my body wasn't attractive to you. I mean, when I was told what puberty was, how was I supposed to think that I'd have orbs of fat bulging and bouncing around my chest? I mean, at first thought it was gross!" She grabbed and shook her own bosom around to aggravate her point. "But like when you said you weren't opposed to dating me, I can see now that you like me both personally and physically. Oh Ash!" She hugged him while laughing, and Ash couldn't help but giggle too. She tightened her hug around his body, squishing her boobs into his chest. Then she moved her mouth close to his ear and whispered, "Anytime you'd like to touch them or squeeze me good with a hug, don't hesitate, okay?" She felt him quiver from the idea and heard him gulp, resulting in her giggling.

"O-okay." He agreed with a slow nod. She grinned as she separated from the hug and led him to the next attraction. After getting a shaved ice flavored with pineapple along with Ash pulling their new bike along with them, this was a fun evening despite Cheren not being with them. That is until N approached them, wearing a white dragon face painting, and carried a cone of blue cotton candy and a balloon saying 'I 💖 Nimbasa'.

"Ash Ketchum. So we meet again. Enjoying your time?" He asked, his eyes and smile now looking unnatural with the white face paint, creeping the couple out and putting them more on guard despite his carnival festive look. "So I hear your hunting Team Plasma, yes? Because they took your Patrat?" He asked, surprising the teens that he knew that information.

"How do you know?" Ash inquired.

"Come with me." N instead said as he turned the other direction, prompting the two to follow him. Something that they noticed is that unlike everything else, the Ferris Wheel had no line, ready to accept anyone at the bottom. This felt...wrong. "I love the Ferris Wheel. The circular motion, the mechanics...they're like collections of elegant formulas." As they passed the person who worked at the controls, they spotted that the person had a Team Plasma patch on his shirt, smirking that they discovered they were in a trap. Gulping, they looked around and spotted a couple sitting at a bench, staring at them with nods that yes, they were surrounded. "Please, join me." N requested. Seeing as they had no choice, they stepped into the car followed by N. Once the wheel started to turn, the three teenagers sat in uncomfortable silence until they stopped at the peak, nowhere to go. Taking a piece of cotton candy and plopping it into his mouth, the green haired boy began to speak. "I must tell you-mm! This Cotton Candy is tasty! Want some?" He asked, offering some of his treat to them, mostly to Ash, but they shook their head. "Huh, okay then. More for me then." As he continued to eat the cotton candy like he hadn't just abducted two Pokémon trainers, he finally got back on track. "Ah, so good. As I was saying, I must tell you something. Are you familiar with the legend of Unova's founding?" After they shook their heads, he looked down in contemplation.

"The truth is this. There was a white dragon. This white dragon appeared before the hero who sought the true way to knit together a world full of warring people. This white dragon Pokémon shared its knowledge, and bared its fangs at those who stood against it. Together, the power of this Pokémon and the hero brought unity to the hearts of everyone in the land, and that is how Unova was created."

"You mentioned something about a hero...in Nacrene City." Ash remembered. "Is this white dragon...Reshiram?"

"Yes. Here's another piece of truth. I am the king of Team Plasma." They gasped together upon this disclosure. "Ghetsis asked me to work for him to save the Pokémon. I wonder how many Pokémon exist in this world? A thousand? A million? New species are being discovered on a consistent basis." The cabin jerked as they started moving down the wheel again. "It seems our time is up. There's just one final thing I need to say. The world is not just about truth though. There's also ideals, about what we think things should be even if they're not true. I see what Pokémon trainers as they really are. Slave masters. But you hold the ideal that we are equal on the level of Pokémon and that we're friends on that kind of level already. What you said in Accumula Town and Nacrene City...you are truly fascinating Ash. Which is why I want to battle you again." Taking the last bite of his cotton candy before throwing the cone away, he stepped out and let his balloon go, letting it float into the endless sky. Ash and Bianca got out as well, various knights surrounding them. "The future I envision...perhaps I can't beat you now, but I'll learn more about you with this duel. You can't refuse."

"Since I have no choice..." Ash grumbled, taking out a Pokeball.

"Ash?" She asked, worried.

"Have no fear, girl. Neither of you shall be harmed I just want to learn more about Ash."

"If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get." The trainer issued, ready for the challenge.


A/N: Seems like a good stopping point here. So, what did you think? Thinking about Cheren's goal seemed a bit lacking of...substance. Like, why does he want to just because in the games? I know it's to be strong or whatever but that's a reason anybody could have if they just felt like it. Boring. So, to make up for his weak reason for wanting to become the champion, I decided to make him a totally obsessed rival because his strength feeds into his ego, making him arrogant. Think of it like a Sasuke and Naruto scenario, just not as edgy. I hope that conversation between Ash and Bianca wasn't unwelcome to any of you. I'm just trying to explore the romantic options of what I'm envisioning here and help them learn how to be in a romantic couple in an organic way. Did it work? Let me know in the reviews below. Oh, and to that guest reviewer who told me to be patient and that my work is good and important, thank you. You gave me the perspective to not be so impatient and just let them come if they do so. However, something that I need to point out is that autism is not a disease. It's who we are, a part of our personality. It's not something that can be cured. We adapt to it and accept that it's part of who we are. Your suggestion that Ash could 'cure' Bianca's autism offended me, and thus I had to delete your review, for it would've offended others if I didn't. I mean, I made Bianca autistic in this story to make her a more interesting character without changing her personality. Something that could easily explain why she's so clumsy and a bit air-headed in the game. To cure her would defeat the point. Please, respect people with autism as who they are, not someone who is mentally diseased. Thank you.