Bankruptcy:
Classified location, Unova, 12 pm…
White groaned as she stared at the graphs on her computer monitor. Things… were not looking great.
For the past few years, her companies were doing horribly. And it wasn't because they weren't getting enough income. The expenses were just way too high. And they weren't exactly from operations expenses either.
Black got sealed in the Light Stone and flew off somewhere. And for 2 years since that incident, White had spent tremendous amount of time and effort looking for him. She sent hundreds of scouts all across Unova to find any traces of the Light Stone. She even expanded into Pokéstar Studios a little prematurely for the sake of increased scouts and income. All of her money had gone straight into those scouts, and this lasted for 2 years, which had understandably consumed all of her income and then some.
Even after Black was found, the money White had to borrow to pay the scouts was haunting her. And despite her best efforts, her company's stocks had plummeted. In about a week or so, she would have to close her company, or get bought out.
White couldn't borrow any more money from the banks. The interest was one thing, but her credit scores were non-existent at the moment. The only solution was to borrow money from the other Dex Holders. But that was way too risky. White didn't want Black to find out, as it would hurt him a lot. If he found out that she was on the verge of bankruptcy just because he went missing, he would just feel terrible, and he'd probably be afraid to look at her. White definitely didn't want that to happen.
Asking Platinum for help made the most sense, since she probably had more money than all of the other Dex Holders combined and squared. But honestly, the heiress… scared her. White didn't know why, but talking to Platinum made her incredibly nervous. The heiress just looked so cold… She was really kind, yes, but White still felt too nervous. Maybe time would change that, as it hadn't been too long since they met.
White could ask Gold for some assistance, but she didn't think that he was the type to hold secrets all that effectively.
… Maybe Y? The Kalos Dex Holder was supposedly quite wealthy. And since White was her senior, she would probably agree.
White sighed and called Y. This was an emergency, after all. The shame of asking a junior for financial assistance could come AFTER she got saved.
"Hello?" came Y's voice from the Xtransceiver a short while later.
"Hi, Y," White said after clearing her throat. "How's it going?"
"Oh, hi, White!" Y said cheerfully. "Everything's fine here. How's it on your end?"
White rubbed the back of her neck. "Um… terrible. I need help…"
"What's wrong?" Y asked.
"I'm kind of… broke," White started. "… Really badly broke, I mean. … Can you lend me some money?"
"Oh. Okay. I might be able to help," Y said. "But I don't know if I'll be of that much help. How much do you need?"
White checked her laptop. "I think… 75 million PKD would help me pay most of my debts, and I can pay off the rest."
Y suddenly began to choke. "Whoa, whoa! How many million?! I don't have that kind of money!"
"You don't?"
"No! Of course not! I'm not made of money! Why don't you ask Miss Platinum to help you? She probably has like a billion in her bag alone. She won't go bankrupt just by trying to help you."
"I know, but… … Lady Platinum is kind of… scary. You know?"
"What? Come on! Miss Platinum's really nice! She's not… scary! Just give her a call and ask for her help."
White let out a sigh. "… Look, Lady Platinum just scares me, alright? She's just so… cold looking. I know she's really nice, but she just… scares me. Why don't you call her then? Ask if she can help me."
Y's voice suddenly started to shake just a little. "Um… I'll pass. Ask her yourself."
"I thought she wasn't scary to you."
"She's not, but… I just can't ask her this kind of thing!"
"… Just admit it."
"… Fine. Miss Platinum scares me a bit too. Are you happy?" Y said at last. "… I think we need to spend much more time with her… Maybe you can invite her to your place and just chat."
White suddenly shuddered at the thought of Platinum knocking on her door. It was a scary thought, only because of the high likelihood that her simple home and total lack of fancy stuff would severely disappoint her senior.
"I think a gradual transition is necessary," she muttered. "You know, she's super rich. She needs to visit a not-as-rich person first, before she visits a financially-broke person such as myself."
"Wait… are you suggesting…" Y muttered in horror.
"Yeah! I think Lady Platinum should visit you first! So invite her to your place!"
"But… my place is…"
"Besides, isn't Kalos fancier than Unova overall?"
Y let out a long groan. "Ohh… that… sucks…"
White was about to get back to the topic of financial assistance when someone knocked on her door. She walked towards the door and peeked through the peephole. To her surprise and horror, she saw Platinum standing on the other side with a stranger carrying a briefcase behind her.
"Oh no!" White muttered as she backed away.
"What? What's going on?" Y asked.
"She's here! Lady Platinum is here!"
"Oh. Well then… good luck!" Y said cheerfully. "And you're on your own!"
The call soon ended and White shut off her Xtransceiver. She rapidly straightened out her clothes and checked over herself to make sure she looked perfect. An odd thing to do right now, but she didn't want to 'disappoint' her senior. She took several deep rapid breaths to calm herself down and opened the door.
"Oh! Lady Platinum!" she said with a feigned surprise. "It's so great to see you again!"
"Hello, White," Platinum said in her scary calm tone. But she did have a bright smile on her face.
"What brings you all the way here? And without calling me first?"
"There is something important I wish to discuss with you, in person," Platinum said in her scary calm tone yet again. "May I come in?"
White nervously gulped and nodded. She stepped aside from the doorway and her senior entered along with the stranger. The stranger didn't look like a bodyguard, as he wasn't… big. He looked more like a lawyer, actually. Or an accountant.
"Um… who is he?" White asked as she shut the door.
"He is a lawyer," Platinum replied.
"Wh – Why do you need a lawyer here?" White asked as she led her senior towards the dinner table, where her laptop was currently placed.
"You will see."
White took a seat and noticed that she was actually trembling. This was absolutely nerve wrecking. Just talking to her senior in a friendly situation was a little scary. But… a sudden visit, where something important would be discussed, that required a lawyer? If Platinum wasn't looking at her right now, White had a high probability of just breaking down.
Platinum took a seat on the opposite side of the table from her junior, and the lawyer sat next to the heiress. White shut off her laptop and put it aside. Again, she took a nervous gulp and clasped her hands together, if only to prevent them from shaking too much.
Platinum's lawyer took out a document from the briefcase and slid it across the table to White. The Unova girl took the document and quickly read it. She gasped and froze upon realizing the contents.
"You're… you're trying to…" she stammered, unable to finish her sentence.
"I heard that your BW Agency is on the verge of bankruptcy," Platinum said. "I wish to assist you."
"… You're buying my company?" White asked, her voice shaking quite badly. "My… my agency? You're… buying me out?"
"It is my understanding that it is a matter of time before someone else purchases your company," Platinum said. "I believe it would be better for you if I purchase it first." She took out a cheque from her bag and handed it to her junior. "I believe the price would be very agreeable with you."
White took the cheque and gasped again at the sheer number of digits. It was at least 10 times more than what her company was worth. She could understand her senior's intention. And accepting her offer was infinitely better than being bought out by someone else. Right now, Platinum was offering much more money than was necessary. No one else would do such a thing. Platinum was only offering this much money because she was White's senior, as a fellow Dex Holder. And if the heiress bought the BW Agency, she would still get White to run the company and do everything. Again, no one else would be doing such.
"Are you going to refuse my generous offer?" Platinum asked, her tone seemingly ice cold, despite having a kind expression on her face. "If I purchase your company, I promise you that 90% of the company's income will go to you. You will still be operating everything within the company, and you will still have complete control. I understand that if someone else purchases your company, you will have no control over what happens."
White slowly nodded in agreement. But she soon shook her head. "… Lady Platinum… I'm really sorry, but I can't accept your offer."
"Oh? Why not?" Platinum asked. "Would you prefer bankruptcy?"
"No… not at all, but…" White took a shuddering breath. "The BW Agency… … it's my dream. I started it many years ago so I could work towards it. Using Pokémon potential and abilities to create dazzling performances instead of pure battling, utilizing various Pokémon types and styles for the purpose of entertainment… it's my dream. Over the years, I spent countless hours and tremendous amount of effort to make it a reality. The BW Agency… is my life. I… can't sell it to anyone. I won't. If the company struggles, I will do everything in my power to get it back on track. If it ends, my life basically ends with it. No matter what happens, I won't sell it. I'm sorry."
Platinum didn't say anything and instead, stared into her junior's eyes. White gulped again and desperately hoped that her senior wouldn't press the issue. If the heiress tried to purchase the BW Agency again, and White refused once more, the relationship with her senior would become horrid. It would be abysmal. But White was never going to sell her company, ever. Although Platinum said that she'd let her run the company, there was a monumental difference between "White's BW Agency" and "Berlitz family's BW Agency".
Platinum suddenly smiled. "I understand. Your decision is admirable. You wish to hold onto your dreams despite the situation." She took back the cheque and tore it in half. But she immediately took out another cheque and a pen. "But you still have a problem. Your company will be filing for bankruptcy pretty soon, no?"
White slowly nodded.
Platinum gave her another smile. "I still wish to assist you." She soon wrote down another figure on the cheque and slid it towards White. "I believe you will find this more agreeable than the last one."
White glanced down at the cheque and saw the same massive number as last time. She looked up at her senior, wondering what was more agreeable about it.
"I wish to invest into the BW Agency," Platinum said, maintaining her bright smile. "I believe in you. I know you can make your company even bigger. I wish to see it happen. I wish to see you live your dreams and achieve your goals. And in order to assist you in reaching your dreams, I shall invest in your company. You will still own your company, and I will not try to purchase it from you. And if I own the vast majority of your stock, your company cannot be purchased by anyone else. Is this acceptable?"
White's mouth opened in shock again. "Um… Lady Platinum… A – Are you sure?"
"Yes. As I said, I wish to see your dreams come to fruition. Will you accept?"
White quickly nodded. "Thank you so much! I promise I won't let you down! And in time, I can even pay you back for your help!"
Platinum giggled a little at White's sudden outburst of enthusiasm. "Once your company is back to its feet, I will sell your stocks back to you, but little bit at a time. That way, your company will still do great, and you will not owe me anything. And remember, White. If you ever require assistance, feel free to ask me. I will gladly help you."
White gave her senior a polite bow. "Thank you so much!"
Platinum took the buy-out documents and returned it to her lawyer. "Now, the lawyer is here to ensure that this investment will go off without any complications. Once we sign all the documents he says we must sign, we will leave."
White decided to take a chance. Her senior was scary, but there was no reason to be scared, as she was really, really nice. So it was perhaps time to overcome her unnecessary fear of the heiress. "You came all the way here to Unova, Lady Platinum. Why don't you stay for a while? I can give you a tour of Unova."
"I thought you would be busy," Platinum said. "If you are busy with your company, I will not disturb you. But if you are free, I will accept your offer."
"With your investments, I only need to make a handful of calls. After that, I'll be free for almost a whole week! So if you'd wait for me, I'll gladly give you a tour."
"Very well then. After we sign all the required documents, I shall wait for you outside."
White started up her laptop so that she could print off the necessary documents. She let out a long sigh of relief. Her company was saved, she would not go bankrupt, and she felt that her relationship with her senior was looking great. Now to spread to joy to her junior…
"Lady Platinum, after the tour of Unova, why don't we visit Y in Kalos?"
"I would like to visit Kalos as well," Platinum said with a nod. "It will certainly be interesting. If you are able, then yes. I would like to visit Y with you. I hear Lumiose City is a very popular location for tourists."
"Yeah. I'd like to tour there too," White said. "So that's that, then! Next week, let's give Y a surprise visit!"
"I heard that Y is a little afraid of me," Platinum started. "I do not know why, but I wish to show her that there is no reason to be afraid."
White flinched a little, as she was more scared than her junior. "Oh, that's silly," she said rather awkwardly. "You're super nice! There's no reason to be afraid!"
Platinum looked a little bit hurt. "Yes, but… I am aware that some of my juniors are afraid of me. And I do not know why."
"Maybe it's just because you look cold? I know you're really kind, but from afar, you just look a little cold."
Platinum let out a sigh. "Yes… Diamond had said that as well. I am trying to change. I shall try to smile a lot more frequently. … Are you afraid of me?"
White gave her a bright smile. "… Not anymore!"
Something to note: whenever the location says "classified location, Unova", it just means White's house. It's "classified" because we don't know where White lives… yet. Or at least I don't. Maybe I'm behind.
Next up: White and Y infiltrate Platinum's mansion while disguised as maids. Their objective? Just see what it's like behind the scenes of a super rich family, and see the daily routines of Platinum Berlitz without her knowing.