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Welcome to the world of Beyblade!
Where the passionate spirits of Bladers and their metallic Beys collide in the stadium!
Now after a rebirth and the appearance of the next generation of Bladers, the sport has accelerated to a new high since its inception!
With the horizon dawning on a new clash between that generation and the legends from seven years ago, the tale continues to unravel on that generation and more.
As we continue to follow those from their last achievements, a new journey into that world for an individual beyond our recognition and understanding is about to begin.
What lies ahead for this person's own desires and how will it shake the foundation of Beyblade itself? That will be decided as it always has!
Are you ready Bladers?! Launchers set!
? (silhouetted): 3! *clicks an unknown Bey onto the launcher's prongs* 2! *twists the Bey to the left once to secure it* 1! *grips the ripcord and pulls back on in it a hard motion* Let it rip!
(The silhouetted female Blader launches her unknown Bey out into battle, whatever it may be.)
Beyblade: Shogun Ironcross
Reforge 1: The Unfulfilled Desire
Thunder and lightning flashed everywhere in a desolate spot with the lone land mass that stood within the abyss of a craggy chasm with only a single occupant that stood at the very top of it. She was very bewildered and rather frightened by the rather creepy appearance that the land around her had displayed with the dark night sky above her not helping the mood nor her composure in the slightest at all. The girl in question had a large round green hat on top of her blonde hair, she wore an orange dress over a white vest and a matching long skirt in addition to carrying a small, but compact loose bag on her shoulder. Her green eyes for the present however were littered with terror as she wasn't even sure how she had gotten to this place in the first place, let alone knowing where she even was.
In the exact middle of the formation she stood at the top of a large circular area that dipped downwards like a crater stood in front of her feet with a black shadowy mist covering over a small object that was in the center of the dish like shape. Although the girl wished she could make out whatever shape she could see from the distance she was at, she could not help but ponder if maybe the cause of the storm around her earlier was to do with whatever the shadows had been covering up in that formation. Before she could consider stepping inside for curiosity's sake, part of her could not help but worry elsewhere. She turned her attention to her bag and opened it up before peeking her head inside and suddenly having panic set into her face as she realized that despite the items inside that she could recognize, she knew that something or a few objects were missing.
This had her greatly concerned from what her worried expression could show to anyone if they were present to see her in this situation. Before she could let her troubles get the better of her, she began to hear a strange noise coming from inside the crater in front of her, grabbing her attention back to it once more. It sounded like it was something spinning at a very high speed to her ear, but she couldn't figure out why. The girl then decided to jump into the dish like area and slide down it to meet the object that was covered in darkness, wondering if this was the source of her reason for even finding herself in this unknown place. Before she could get in close and kneel down to grab ahold of it, a violent wind then suddenly erupted from the obscured object, sending her crashing into the wall of the curved ground on her back.
As she cringed in pain from the sudden impact, a radiant glow burst through the darkness and nearly blinded the girl as she was forced to shield her face, seeing that she wasn't going to get a closer look at what the source of the earlier sound she heard was nor the object that was now blocked by the light this time. A giant silhouetted figure rose up from the center of the crater with a yellowish aura enveloping it, stretching its arms and legs as it appeared into view. She looked up at it, too awestruck by shock to question what it was that was before her as time seemed to slow down around the two as the figure gazed down upon her.
"Is strength what you truly desire?" a female voice echoed from it.
"Huh?"
As the girl could only breath in confusion to the question that been posed before her, another sound suddenly caught her attention as she felt the ground beneath her suddenly shake. She then looked down in horror to see that cracks were appearing in the crater she was sitting in. Panicking, she hopped onto her feet and tried to escape her current predicament, but before she could leap to safety, the ground beneath her fell apart and she soon began plummeting into the abyss below, screaming as she did so. She tried to keep her eyes open, but the earlier panic from the sudden fall and the whirling from the speed of her descent made her feel sick. She fell faster and faster into the darkness until…
THUD!
Upon hearing that sound and feeling her head hit the solid ground with much less of an impact than she was expecting, the girl opened her eyes as she winced in pain from the sudden fall she had. Gazing at the ground she had landed on, she saw that it was a wooden floor and not the rocky ground like she had been expecting, much to her relief as she sighed and slowly got up onto her feet, a bed sheet falling from her as this happened.
"It's that same dream again?" she muttered before yawning loudly.
She then looked to the far side of the room and saw on a table in the middle of the room a small creature that had some features resembling that of an otter. Teal coloured fur covered the majority of its lower body and adorned on it was a yellow coloured seashell shaped scalchop. Both of its dark blue feet and tail resembled that of flippers and rudders respectively in shape, its ears were also of that same bluish shade and its arms shared the white colour that made up its head. Freckles adorned its somewhat curious face as it gazed at the girl with almost a hint of concern as it blinked once. Realizing that was indeed laden in its expression, she walked over to it and knelt slightly to meet its gaze.
"Did I worry you Oshawott?" she pondered aloud, causing the creature to nod once to confirm her suspicions, "I see… Sorry if I freaked you out, those dreams I've been having keep getting weirder."
As soon as Oshawott had recieved the confirmation that his owner was feeling much better compared to whatever it was that had unfolded in the night, he smiled and let out a happy cry of "Osha!" in response. This had made the girl feel much better from her earlier ordeal in that she had a companion like the creature to confide in and caused her to dig into her bag, feeling a sigh of relief that an object that was absent in there from her dream was all present and correct. The sphere in question was coloured in both red and white on each side with a single white line and black outlines following it to divide the two and had a small circular botton at the front where the line split off slightly around it. Opening it up, the object summoned a beam of light to the table beside her Oshawott and summoned a smaller creature to her side.
This time, it did not possess any legs, yet seemed to resemble an object that looked like a large candle with a pair of small stubby arms along with yellow eyes and a small purple flame that gently flickered above its head.
"Good morning Litwick," she said with a cheerful smile, "Did you sleep well?"
The candle-like creature nodded gently with a smile and made a small cry to tell her that it was doing well for herself for the duration of night inside the sphere that she had summoned it from. As the girl looked out to the open window and saw the morning sky now dawning over the small town that lay outside, both Litwick and Oshawott greeted each other good morning and shared happy memories of the previous day among one another from the language only the creatures themselves among all those that weren't human could understand. That was when the otter began to talk about something to its companion and after a few moments, it reacted with a small hint of concern, grabbing the girl's attention and soon realizing that the candle-like creature was understanding from the other that it was about her outward reactions during the night to the dreams she was having.
"It's all good Litwick, it's just another dream," she replied, rubbing its head gently to reassure it the best she could.
Litwick wasn't entirely certain if that was truly the case and looked up at her along with Oshawott to see if something was indeed the matter with their friend about what had been happening with her as of late. Eventually, even she was unconvinced with her overall state given what had been happening with her over the last few nights she had been spending back in her home after returning there on an account beyond her control.
"Am I really losing it?" she pondered worryingly to herself, "I've seen that figure lots of times in my last few dreams… but that's the first time she spoke to me. Gah, I wish Black's Murshana was here so I could..."
"Bianca, breakfast is ready!"
Snapped out of her daze by the voice that had called out to her, Bianca shook her head to recollect her composure. She had already been thrown off by whatever these images were over the last few nights and she felt she needed to get a grip of herself if she wanted to find out why this was happening to her.
"I'm coming mom!" she replied back before hurrying back to the table and looking at her two companions with a smile "Don't worry! Even if we can't leave Nuvema Town, you two are still more than just my Pokémon. You're some of my closest friends I've made before coming back here."
Seeing that their friend appeared to have finally cheered up, Oshawott and Litwick cried out happily in response as the three of them cheered together to the hope of a successful day ahead, whatever that may be.
Within the not-so lively but peaceful and small Nuvema Town, Bianca had been on the path to a destination she had in mind for one purpose or another. As much as she wanted to move a little quicker towards there to prove something to one or another, she knew better to keep her pace to avoid angering the person that slowly trudged behind, keeping a very close minded watch upon her, much to Oshawott's discomfort as it looked back at him whilst riding atop her hat. He had grey coloured hair and was dressed in a rather smart attire, bearing a rather notable mustache above his lips. The man in question had a stern gaze which whilst primarily directed at the girl in front of him, had shifted entirely to the Pokémon that was with her.
"Don't even feed her any unnecessary ideas," he muttered with disdain "Be thankful that you and her can go to and from wherever I can see."
Bianca resisted the urge to sigh slightly, knowing that despite how much of a nuisance that he could be perceived as, she could never hold it within herself to hold anything against what he believed in, let alone his somewhat rude demeanor.
"It's alright dad, it's only Professor Juniper's lab and back home for me after the day as usual," she replied, managing to keep her composure together, "Just don't be harsh on Oshawott or Litwick for what they are, alright?"
"Hmph," her father huffed, "And to think, you're now working with the one that even allowed you to step forth into a world too dangerous for the likes of you to understand. You would be wise to remember that."
Choosing to ignore how much of a sting the comment left on her heart despite the choice she made to return to where she started, Bianca bit her lip slightly and pressed onwards to her aforementioned destination, the lab of Professor Juniper which they eventually stopped in front of. After walking up to the door and knocking upon it, she stepped back to allow it to open up and into sight came the person that she came to meet with for the day. Juniper herself came outside in her usual attire of a long greyish teal lab coat over her white tank top and short green skirt and smiled as she looked at the person she had expected to meet with her. She had light brown hair bundled up and wore a pair of red circular earrings, one for each ear.
"Hello Bianca," she greeted kindly "I trust you've had a good morning so far?"
"Eheh… I had a bit of a rough start from another one of those dreams from last night, but I'm all good Professor!" Bianca replied with high spirits.
"That's good to hear," the Pokémon Professor said, keeping her smile as she looked to the girl's father whose expression had not changed in the slightest.
"Make sure she doesn't wander outside of town, no matter what," he instructed gruffly before turning around, "I have my eye on all of you."
"Of course," she answered back, not bothered by his rough tone in the slightest, "You have my word."
And with that, Bianca's father left the premises of the laboratory for home, leaving the two of them alone as Oshawott sighed in relief from the lack of his presence and hopped off of his owner's hat onto the grass beside them. Juniper then glanced down at the otter Pokémon and noticed its happier expression upon meeting with her at last today, sensing there was satisfaction within its heart since Bianca had chosen it as her first Pokémon.
"I'm glad to see that you've done well to take care of the Oshawott Black managed to get to you all those months ago," she said, turning her attention to Bianca.
"Thank you," the girl replied before bringing out the Poké Ball that contained Litwick and opened it, summoning it to her side beside Oshawott, "Oshawott and Litwick have both been not just great Pokémon partners, but they've felt like some of the best friends and family I could have."
"Well then, how about we talk over some tea after we sort out some more files for this morning, alright?" the Professor asked.
"Yeah!"
And with that, the four of them entered the lab together to assist her with whatever task for the morning that was set for them. The back room of the lab was filled to the brim with dozens of paperwork on Pokémon Research along with several files littered across the large table in heaps. Some were already filled whilst many more were still empty, needing the proper information to be stored within them correctly. Wasting no time, both Bianca and Juniper decided to get to work in sorting out the proper information and placing them in the cabinets to the left and right walls of the room. Oshawott had eventually managed to sort itself out with carrying smaller piles of files after a near averted accident involved it dropping too many of them it couldn't carry at once onto Litwick's head and almost setting them alight as a result. It took a long while but eventually, everything was in their proper places and the room had also looked a lot more neater as a result.
Having returned back to the main room of the lab afterwards and taking a seat at a table, Bianca had glanced out of the window to the path of tall grass that had led out of Nuvema Town, reflecting on past memories of months past and recent from the moment she took her first steps in the world outside of her home alongside her friends to the moment when she had eventually returned. Although she knew the reason why she had come home sooner than she had wanted to, she chose not to complain about it and make the best of what she could back in her home and finding time to work with Juniper had helped to ease some of the pain. As she was thinking about all that had happened, the Pokémon Professor in question had eventually returned back to the room with a tray holding two cups of tea whilst Oshawott and Litwick walked beside her..
When they noticed how much how much her recent assistant had been lost in thought, more so compared to previous occasions, she grew worried and suspected that she knew a little of why this was the case. Even the two Pokémon couldn't help but feel worried as well.
"Is everything alright Bianca?" she asked, snapping the girl out of her stupor in a frantic manner.
"S… Sorry there!" gasped Bianca as she looked around hurriedly before finding Juniper looking at her and calming down, smiling sheepishly as best as she could, "Just a little distracted, that's all!"
She however wasn't convinced in the slightest that it was merely a minor distraction that her put her in such a mood. It was clear to her, Oshawott and Litwick that some of her smiles today in conversation had been somewhat forced for one reason or another and she intended to get to the bottom of it. Both the otter and candle-like Pokémon hurried over to her with concern and hopped up onto the table, finally causing their friend to drop her nervous smile once she realized she had worried them again. Juniper then walked over to the table and placed down one cup to her assistant before moving over to the other side of the table and taking her own seat there.
"I have greatly appreciated your help today and I thank you for it as much as any other day," she began, "However, it's become clear to me that something has been on your mind for a while and bothering you greatly. Would you be willing to tell me is there's something wrong?"
"Um… It's that dream again," Bianca answered nervously, "I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle, though part of me wishes I could see Black and the others soon so I can have his Musharna work its magic and help me get to the bottom of it."
"I see," Juniper said, "Is there anything you can remember seeing from it?"
"It's a little bit different from the last few I had," she explained, gazing down at her reflection off her tea, "This time, I found in a creepy looking place and that figure I keep seeing in each of my dreams actually spoke to me this time. She asked… if strength was what I really wanted."
Despite gaining some understanding from what the girl had been telling her, the Professor could not help but feel a little grim at the mention of the question that her assistant had been supposedly asked within her most recent dream. She knew full well of the circumstances that led to Bianca being unable to join her friends for the remainder of their journey and being the one that normally had given or delivered to trainers their first Pokémon in one way or another, even the girl in front of her being no exception to that rule. And yet despite holding no outward grudge to the person that Bianca had arrived with earlier, even she couldn't help but feel inwardly frustrated that she could not grow not just as an average trainer but a person herself because of him.
"D… Don't get me wrong," the girl said hurriedly, "I made my choice to return to Nuvema Town and I love helping out here, but…"
"You feel unsatisfied?" Juniper questioned, causing her to nod once reluctantly, "I don't harbor ill doubt at you for thinking that way, given how far Black and Cheren have gone on since you came back here, albeit somewhat unwillingly."
"It's alright!" Bianca replied, waving her hands in front to make her point before calming down eventually, "It's just… even if I can't be as strong as them, I just wished we could have finished our journey together and gotten to know White in person a little better."
"She's the one you gave your repaired Pokédex to before coming back here, correct?"
"Yes."
Bianca couldn't help but feel a little happier mentioning White, knowing it was her that she entrusted the dream she couldn't fulfil and cheered heselfr up when telling her that coming back to Nuvema Town wouldn't be the end, that someday, she could find and fulfil her own purpose. Though she had not found that yet, she wasn't looking to give up on that and she felt that working as Juniper's assistant would help her get one step closer to discovering that. She then took a sip of her mildly warm tea and gently patted Oshawott and Litwick on their foreheads, feeling like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders at the very least from talking on the topics with the Professor herself who seemed a little happier now that the person opposite her was opening up a little more. Her two Pokémon cheered up from their concern upon seeing that their friend was now feeling much better.
"There's just one more question I want to ask," the professor said.
"Sure, ask away," Bianca replied, feeling a little happier.
"You said you've been experiencing dreams like this for a while," Juniper began, "Could you tell me when exactly these started?"
"Hmm… if I think about it," the girl pondered, "About ten days ago and it's been like that every night since the first."
Upon hearing that specific time frame etched into her mind, Juniper's expression suddenly became one of slight bewilderment, much to the confusion of Bianca and her two Pokémon who had turned around to face the Professor upon hearing her reaction.
"Something wrong Professor?" asked Bianca.
"Osha?" Oshawott murmured in ponder.
"Hmm… I'm not certain whether I can call this coincidence now if this is true," she said, "Around that time whenever you weren't busy helping me, I've been getting some reports from Cosmologists all the way over from Sinnoh that they've been detecting spacial distortions as of late over that same period."
"Distortions? What exactly are those?" the girl pondered, also bringing in curiosity from Oshawott and Litwick who seemed just as confused.
"Spacial distortions are sort of like rips and tears within our space-time," the professor answered, "So far, there's been no major effects from what I've known… but it sounds a little disturbing if your recent recurring dreams began at the point I received those reports from that region."
Bianca could not help but silently share her exact thoughts as she thought back to the words that the figure in her most recent dream spoke to her, wondering why exactly this was happening to her if these distortions were seemingly not affecting anyone else. There was a lot to think about from her conversation with Juniper, but at the very least, she felt much less burdened than before now that her dissatisfaction at not being able to join Black, Cheren and White at their journey to the Pokémon League was now off her mind and she felt a little more happier for that. The thought of there being rips in space-time around them had also made her ponder, if there was something beyond the world of Pokémon that they knew as little as they did, about what could possibly lie within that vast space.
Later that evening, Bianca was watching the sun set in the distance from the large open field that was behind the lab itself, knowing that in less than an hour from this moment, she would have to go back home to both of her parents. Yet despite being finished for the day and having the opportunity to go home if she wanted, she chose to stay for as long as she could experience peaceful moments such as this to calm herself from any of her insecurities and sunsets such as this always felt like the perfect time for her to do this and to interact with her two Pokémon as well. For the present, she, Oshawott and Litwick were relaxing in the evening breeze and looking up at the beautiful sky that lay above and before them. As the colour of it began to turn from dark orange to blackish blue, her thoughts turned to her friends who were no doubt busy with preparing themselves for the biggest challenge of their lives and although she couldn't be there to support them, she knew deep down they weren't ones to go down so easily and that they would give it their all when it was their turn to fight it out with their Pokémon against all odds.
"Strength…" she murmured quietly to herself, pondering back once again to the words in her dream the previous night "I never thought anything about wanting to get strong… did I?"
That was when Oshawott shot up from its back and hopped out in front, picking up his scalchop from its chest and began jumping and swinging it around in slashing motions being careful to not rebound and accidentally hit Bianca or Litwick in the process. Landing on the ground, he then created and launched several bubbles from its mouth which floated high into the air before leaping up at one of them and slashing at it with his 'weapon' of choice. As soon as it burst, both the Pokémon and a heap of water from where the bubble once were landed on the ground before the otter then did the same manoeuvres with the remaining, catching the girl's attention. Despite not being allowed to engage in a battle ever since she returned home, she had no idea that Oshawott had gone out of its way to improvise from its lack of fighting in months just to cheer her up. Even Litwick couldn't help but be somewhat amazed by the moves that its Pokémon companion was proving to be capable of.
Seeing that his retired trainer was now paying attention to its moves, Oshawott confidently smiled before landing on the ground right beneath the last bubble and shot up towards it, directly striking right through it with the aid of the scalchop it wielded. After it burst, the otter then twirled for a bit before landing on its feet. He bowed once before the water from the bubble then splashed down upon it, knocking it over much to its sudden surprise. Bianca then hurried over to check on it as Litwick slowly followed suit, picking up the now embarrassed otter who felt rather sheepish for not seeing it coming.
"Cheer up Oshawott, that was great!" she said happily, "If only I'd thought to have a use for whatever moves you learned outside of battle like that for entertainment."
Oshawott then smiled brightly at the compliment as his friend gently returned it to the ground where even Litwick congratulated it on the performance, feeling a little better now that it had gotten that sudden rush of energy out of it. Then…
FZZ!Z!
"AGH!"
A sudden static like noise pierced right through Bianca's line of hearing as she cried out in pain, clutching her head immediately as she fell to her knees, causing her two Pokémon to suddenly panic and hurry over to her side, wondering what exactly was wrong with her. Struggling through the sharp pain, she first looked up to Litwick and Oshawott before noticing that something was odd with the sky above them. Instead of the sun setting against the evening sky from earlier, it was a large mess of black warped in with dark colours that swirled around that gave a rather creepy outlook to those who would look up at it. Upon hearing the girl's earlier cry, Juniper hurried through the door outside to where she was and knelt down to look at her.
"Bianca, what's wrong?!" she cried.
"M… My head…!" Bianca groaned as she looked out to the warped sky she was seeing, "Juniper…! Are you seeing this...?!"
"What do you mean?" asked the Professor.
"The sky…!" she replied, fighting her way through the pain, "It looks all twisted!"
"I don't see anything," Juniper murmured as she looked up at the sky, seemingly normal from her vision, "Does anything else appear strange to you?"
The moment Bianca shook her head, her eyes then caught the attention of something in the sky behind the Pokémon Professor and upon a closer squint, she soon realized that there was something falling from the sky that was soaring across from high above. To her eyes, the warped sky somehow made contact with the object which shattered it apart like glass and moved on unimpeded, restoring her vision of the night sky.
"There's something up in the sky!" she cried pointing upwards.
This time, Juniper turned around and looked up to where she was pointing, her eyes suddenly widening upon seeing what was there. Upon a closer glance from the group, they could see that the object in question appeared to look like a small shooting star streaking across the nearly dark backdrop that seemed to get bigger as it descended further and further from the sky itself.
"What is that?" the girl breathed.
Before anyone could answer her question, the star itself suddenly changed direction and came soaring right towards their position to their utter shock and horror. As Bianca instinctively tried to get up and run away with her Pokémon as the fast falling object was almost upon the ground and them, Juniper suddenly ran out in front of her in an attempt to try and shield both the girl and her partners from as much harm the impact could cause as possible. However, as if it once again had a mind of its own, the shining white object changed paths again and shot over the Professor and into Bianca who expected to be in pain, yet the impact from the collision never came. Instead, the crash had enveloped both her and her Pokémon in a shining white light that eventually grew brighter and brighter until all in the lab were completely blinded.
When Bianca eventually found that she could open up her eyes without losing her eyesight, she searched frantically around wherever it was she was now for any sign of Oshawott and Litwick praying they hadn't been hurt from whatever it was that had just collided with them. Before she could call out either of their names, she looked up to see a faint yellow glow as the figure from her dreams now appeared before her once again, only this time she was no longer completely silhouetted. This figure appeared to be a female human like herself, clad in armor and wielding two spiked gauntlets with a blade mounted on each end. With the exception of them, she was covered in a number of yellow and brownish shades in colour with her eyes being no exception to that rule.
"W… What are you?" gasped Bianca.
The figure did not speak, only returning a seemingly blank glance back at her before stretching out one of her hands towards her. This was the being that had appeared in her dreams time and again and yet, she chose not to speak after asking her the very question that had been on her mind? The girl did not know what to expect at the moment, but right now, her concerns lay with both her seemingly absent Pokémon and Professor Juniper and she knew the longer she hesitated, the more that they could possibly be in harm's way. She then reached out her right hand towards the figure's stretched one, moving closer and closer until they finally touched one another. As soon as this happened, the light that had blinded her once again, did so in full force, this time heavily affecting her consciousness as she slowly drifted away from her eyesight until she fell backwards into the light and eventually disappeared.
Back at the laboratory, Juniper hurried towards the light that her assistant along with her Pokémon had been enveloped in before it sent her flying back a little with a strong force of wind until shone in a blinding large bright light once again before immediately shattering into particles of the same colour. They then shortly faded away leaving in their place nothing from where it once was. No Bianca, no Oshawott and no Litwick. The three of them had now somehow disappeared in that mysterious cosmic light without any trace.
"Bianca?!" she called out in worry "Oshawott?! Litwick?!"
But still, there was no voice, voice nor any kind of answer, but the wind that howled along with the echo of her voice shortly afterwards.
…
"Oer…"
Slowly, Bianca began to stir awake from the aftermath of her most recent experience from whatever it was that had previously blinded her. As she rubbed her eyes to regain her vision with her right hand, she had found herself gazing up at the vast blue sky above her. The bright sun and the few white clouds that inhabited the backdrop this way appeared to indicate to her that this was morning and that she appeared to have been unconscious and by extension, asleep, throughout the entire night. Then, the sound of the ocean entered her ears to indicate that she was now nearby some kind of coastline. Nuvema Town was nowhere near any of the Unova Region's coastlines to her knowledge and that only worried her about where she could have possibly ended up.
"W… Where am I?" she pondered to herself.
As she found the strength in her weary limbs to sit up, she finally noticed a strange slightly cold sensation in the palm of her left hand as it felt like she was carrying something from the moment she had ended up in this place, but she did not know why. Sitting up at last, she brought the object that was in her left hand towards her, the sight of which had left her bewildered. From a glance off the top, the small object had a metal wheel that had several grooves carved into the shape along with four spiky protrusions resembling the tips of blades and armored boots respectively and between the pairs of shapes, the lower half a small hole filled by a purple colour whilst the top half had a tiny dome like shape that was the same width as the filled hole, implying that whatever was beneath the wheel was connecting it with something else. Finally in the center stood a cross like shape with a strange red emblem emblazoned upon it, depicting the side of what appeared to look like the side of a human female's head with flames sprouting wildly around the helmet that she wore.
Turning it onto its side, Bianca saw that a second wheel, this time not made out of metal was the translucent purple coloured portion that had been connected with the hole in the metal wheel with four protruding outward shapes as well with two of them being wider than the others. In addition further down, she could see a smaller wheel attached to a short hexagonal shaped column which then had a circular object attached with a much smaller cylinder shaped tip being the very bottom of whatever it was she had now been holding since waking up.
"What is this thing?" she pondered, studying it closely with her eyes, "I don't remember holding this, let alone when…"
Upon recalling the time that had passed when everything had happened at once, the girl suddenly realized she hadn't accounted for her two missing Pokémon companions and struggled back onto her feet, throwing the object she previously held into her bag before looking everywhere in worry for them. Luckily for her, she didn't have to look far as she could make out both Oshawott and Litwick from their shapes in the distance at the bottom of the hill she was at and wasted no time in immediately running as fast as she could down to them. With how much speed she had gone downhill from that, she slipped and tripped to the ground when she had tried to stop at the bottom. Getting up immediately, she then hurried over to her two unconscious Pokémon.
"Oshawott! Litwick!" she called out in worry as she knelt down and attended to them "Talk to me!"
Slowly, the otter and candle-like creatures began to stir from their current state and looked up at their concerned trainer who was beginning to feel relieved that they had not seen as badly hurt as they thought. Without thinking, she had immediately thurst forwards and embraced her two Pokémon with her arms, much to their sudden surprise at first.
"Thank goodness…" she said to them in relief, smiling that her Pokémon had not been harmed by whatever it was that had summoned them to this place, "I really thought I'd lost you somehow.."
Oshawott smiled back and nuzzled against her cheek in the midst of her embrace, leaving the two together for quite some time as they shared the comfort of the knowledge that wherever it was they were now, at least they were all together as not just Pokémon and partners, but family. Soon after Bianca had calmed down eventually, she got up from the grassy ground and then turned her attention to the next course of action. Professor Juniper nor any of her friends or family for that matter had likely any idea of wherever it was she had ended up in, to which that was still a mystery even to her. She then held up her right wrist which had a device that seemed to resemble that of a digital wristwatch as it even displayed the time on there which appeared to at least seem proportional to the time of day that it looked like around her. However, the earlier optimistic smile she had faded when she noticed a large cross over several dimmed bars of varying height in ascending order in the top right corner of the screen.
"No… signal…" she breathed, slowly letting the reality sink in, "That's not good."
As Oshawott and Litwick looked on at her worryingly, she immediately shook her head and decided that instead of moping, it would be best for her to recap the situation to get a better understanding of her circumstances.
"Okay," she muttered to herself, breathing deeply to calm herself "I end up on this hill with something I don't recognize in my hand, my Xtranciever isn't working and I have no idea where we are."
"Osha!"
Upon hearing Oshawott's cry for her attention, Bianca then noticed him pointing upwards towards the top of another hill where a path of stones seemed to lie from what little foresight they had. Walking together to the top of it, all three of them came to a path that then turned to pavement a little further down winding alongside a road.
"Nice work Oshawott!" she said in a congratulatory tone "Looks like we're not far from civilization if that road isn't too long!"
Then she noticed that by the time Litwick joined her at the path, it along with Oshawott were both tired out more than she was from their recent ordeal and it seemed like it was now beginning to take its toll upon them, with the candle like Pokémon having beared the worst of their fall into this strange area compared to the sea otter. She then dug back into her bag for each of their respective Poké Balls and brought them out.
"Get some rest Litwick, you don't look so good," she spoke, recalling it with a red beam that summoned it back inside of the spherical object that was designated for it. Then she held the other to Oshawott. "You too okay? We've been through a lot now and you're not holding up so well. I'll get you back out later and let Litwick rest for a while once we're in a town or village, if that's what that road leads to hopefully."
The otter smiled in response to the promise she made before willingly allowing himself to be returned inside the Poké Ball as it was then put back into the bag. Bianca looked at the road up to the furthest point that she could make out in the distance. It seemed once the path turned from stone to concrete, it would also begin running alongside the coastline, making her feel hopeful that if she was going in the right direction, then she would hopefully find some kind of settlement by a beach or port. One way or another, she had to get to the bottom of this mystery. How did she arrive here? What was the meaning behind both her dreams and the shooting star that had seemingly collided with her earlier? Right now, she didn't have all the answers and now was the time for her to make a start.
"Alright world, here I come!" she announced with determination before setting off down the beaten path, inwardly hoping she was prepared for anything that lay ahead.
As Bianca continued walking down the pavement path across the coastline road, she couldn't help but think of fonder memories from more familiar surroundings that she would have preferred to have been within. The last couple of minutes walking up the edge of a steep incline had taken a bit of a toll on her stamina as she panted, wondering if the top would ever come. It seemed less longer than it did when she began her new journey. But eventually, after wiping her head clear of sweat, she had finally reached the top and there in the far distance for the bottom, lay the largest city that she had ever seen. This awe wasn't just from what she could make out of the sheer size, but also had finally brought something to her since arriving in this mysterious place.
"We… we made it…!" she panted happily, now seeing that her journey to find civilization in parts unknown was now almost at its conclusion.
As much as she wanted to call out Oshawott to celebrate the good news, she knew it was better to let it rest first before her feet would eventually carry her there. Before she could start her journey down the incline now, her attention turned to the right to see a sign that read out:
Metal Bey City
8 Miles
"Metal Bey City…?" the girl pondered in wonder, "I'm no good at maps, but even I don't remember that name in Unova's locations."
Deciding to ponder on the unfamiliarity later, Bianca then threw caution to the wind and went down the incline at a much steadier pace, now feeling less of a weight on her legs now that she was going downhill. On her way down, she saw several seagulls fly by her which caught her attention. They didn't seem to resemble any Flying Type Pokémon that she was familiar with on how little she had progressed in Unova, let alone from what she saw in Juniper's research for Pokémon in other regions.
"I've never seen Wingull like that before…" she pondered, partly wishing that the Pokédex she passed on to White was here for this one time occasion of curiosity.
Deciding to press onwards to the city at the bottom of the incline, she continued onwards down the coastside road for several more miles until she eventually reached the bottom of the incline, reaching the entrance to the large area as it broke away from the coastline. Smiling that she finally made it, she then brought out one of her Poké Balls and called out Oshawott who appeared to have recovered a little from the previous rough experience. She wanted to call out Litwick as well, but felt it still needed more of a rest to recover from the strange experience that brought them to this area.
"Civilization," she said to her sea otter companion, causing the two to look to Metal Bey City before them in amazement, if only for the sheer size alone.
As they gazed around, Bianca looked at her Xtranciever once more to check for any signal, but to her disappointment, despite being in range of a large city, that wasn't enough to even give her one means of contact back to the people she knew well.
"Oh come on!" she pouted, feeling slightly annoyed at this prospect before shaking her head again "No worries. At least we can now find some idea on where exactly were are."
Oshawott cheered loudly in response to her statement, getting her to cheer up from that frustration almost immediately and that they would finally figure out just where in the world they had ended up in.
"Oshawott," she began, "Let's see what this Metal Bey City has in store for us."
The sea otter then let out gentle cries of his own to say they were ready to step forth into Metal Bey City alongside their friend as they all looked forward together. Initially, she imagined the tall grass that made up the entrance of Route 1 exiting out of Nuvema Town being in front of her like it was all those years ago when she only wanted to see what it was like beyond that as a child. Although she was now all alone with only her Pokémon alongside her, it felt like taking the first step all over again into territory she didn't know and this time, as much as she didn't want to think of it like that, her somewhat overprotective father wasn't there to stop her.
Taking the first steps into the giant metropolis that lay before them, Bianca's journey into a whole new city... or rather a whole new world of competitive and passionate spirits, had only just begun.
When Bianca along with Oshawott had set foot into Metal Bey City, the sheer size of it had finally caught up and nearly overwhelmed them as they continued onwards deeper into its heart. Although she had passed by several people, she felt hesitant to ask any of them, especially since some of them had shared curious and strange glances towards the Sea Otter Pokémon, like it was something out of place from any other kind of creatures that they had encountered. This led to him feeling a little glum as if its kind was out of place in the metropolis that they were in now. The girl patted his head which made him reassured that she wasn't going to leave his side and he felt a little better for that.
"Don't worry about it," she said with a small smile "We've probably ended up in a region that doesn't recognize you and Oshawott."
Although that had caused Oshawott to stop worrying too much, this whole situation was beginning to make Bianca more puzzled than she already was. It seemed that not only did the the people she passed by see at least one of her Pokémon in a different light compared to what she was initially expecting, but from some of their reactions that she both saw and heard, it felt like they didn't know what a Pokémon even was in the first place. This had put much on her mind about what kind of place they might have ended up in and if everyone in this city would see both Oshawott and Litwick in the same manner. She didn't have time to process those thoughts when a loud SHING! broke her stupor, causing her and the sea otter to stop in their footsteps. Then that noise rung through their ears again and again and again.
Wasting no time, the two of them hurried to the source of the noise, wondering what was going on to cause that noise. When they reached an open square, Bianca and her Pokémon could then see a group of children and teenagers surrounding eight small circular dishes with sparks flying out of them at different intervals each time the noise she heard ealier rang out. Moving in closer, her eyes widened as she remembered seeing something like this.
"That shape… it almost looks like the hole shaped thing in my dream," she breathed, shocked that something that previously unfamiliar within her previous dream was here in this strange and just as unfamiliar city.
Then the sound of high speed whirring through the air had also caught her eyes and ears as well and two circular objects of respectively red and green colours within the dish she could see nearest to were spinning at rapid speed, looking like they were about to collide with one another. The two of them smacked into each other head on in a fierce clash, sparks flying out between them as they did before eventually, the one in green was forced back and sent flying out of the dish. A boy with dark brown hair could only stare in shock upon seeing this as it flew upwards in his direction before dropping down to the pavement behind him. When it had stopped spinning by then, Bianca glanced at it, knowing that despite some differences, it seemed to resemble the object she had in her hand when she had woken up outside of the city.
Suspecting that it belonged to the boy, she did not move in to examine it to avoid a misunderstanding, though it did not stop Oshawott from stepping a little in front of her legs and glancing at it from a distance. The remaining object that had still been spinning in the dish before it flew up to the other side of the dish and into the hand of his opponent who looked a little younger compared to him with a messy yellowish brown colour to his hair and a victorious smile on his face.
"How'd you like that?!" he proclaimed "Now that the Synchrome system is being made more available to the public, everyone with the old system's really gonna have to step it up!"
"Aw nuts, I was sure that performance tip I added would have been enough to get at your crystal wheel," the first boy sighed before smiling "Ah well, just shows I need to get used to facing that new generation of Beys."
"So that's what they're called?" Bianca pondered to herself, watching the crowd leave and digging her 'Bey' out from her bag, bringing it into her hand and causing Oshawott to look at it in wonder, intrigued by the design of both the metal wheel and the emblem in the middle of it "Bey... Kinda sounds catchy when you think about it."
Seeing her Pokémon was interested in having a closer look for himself, she gently passed it down to the Sea Otter who caught it with his flippers easily having expected it to be slightly heavier than he expected thanks to the metal wheel it had. Recalling that the beys that his human companion had seen in battle earlier were spinning in the now empty dishes, he gently lowered it to the ground and with all of his might spun it out clockwise as fast as it could. It could only maintain a rather short burst of energy from the arms alone and within ten seconds of spinning in a wobbly fashion, it stopped and fell on one side, much to the sea otter Pokémon's disappointment.
"There's gotta be a different way to make it spin," she murmured, kneeling down to pick the Bey back up "Throwing it out with my hands would just make it go as slow as it did now."
"You got that right," said a voice from behind "A hand launch isn't exactly going to win you a battle."
Bianca then turned around to find a very petite girl who was no higher than her thighs and dressed in a pair of pink shorts, a pink long sleeved shirt and wore a pair of goggles that were laid on top of her large brown hat. At first, she was bewildered a little by the appearance of the little girl who simply smiled back by closing her blue eyes.
"Don't worry if you're thinking like that," she said, "I may be really short, but I never take it personally."
"Right," Bianca muttered, getting that information racked through her brain as Oshawott came up to the new arrival "Who are you?"
"I'm Maru, apprentice mechanic and official data analyzer for the WBBA," the small girl greeted before looking at the Pokémon that approached her "That's a cute otter, never seen one like this. What's your name?"
"I'm Bianca," she greeted with a smile as she watched the apprentice mechanic pet the Sea Otter gently to which it replied with a relaxed 'Osha…' "That's one of my Pokémon Oshawott."
"Never thought I'd hear a name like that for a pet," Maru replied, confusing Bianca initially as out of the reactions she had gotten from previous passerbys, this was the first to say directly that she didn't know anything about Pokémon, let alone what they were called "I couldn't help but be interested in that Bey you had."
The girl then looked at the Bey that she held in her hand, now seeing that this was a good chance to get some answers on what it might actually be and maybe answer why she had it upon waking up outside of Metal Bey City.
"I'm guessing you're not from around here," Maru pondered.
"No, I've actually only just got here today," Bianca answered "I don't suppose you've heard of the Unova region."
"Can't say I have. Is something wrong?" she asked with a curious expression.
"Um… nothing at all, I guess," the girl replied with a nervous smile, unable to hide some of her worry before she handed the Bey to her.
Maru put on her googles and examined it closely whilst Bianca and Oshawott watched in curiosity. If the short girl in front of her said she was an apprentice mechanic like she claimed, perhaps there was some details that would come in handy for understanding this object properly.
"Let's see…" she muttered amidst her concentration "Element Wheel is Gladiator, Spin Track is D125 and the Performance Tip is a Flat. Hmm… Can't say I recognize the Warrior Wheel and the Shogun Face. I'm guessing by your reactions you don't know what the names of those parts are either."
"Sorry if this is going past my head… but what does any of that mean?" asked Bianca, confused by what had just been listed to her.
"Oh, you thought about how to spin a Bey so it must make sense if you don't know much about it," Maru said before coughing and smiling proudly, "There are five parts to a Bey that is used in the sport of Beyblade. Sometimes they vary depending on the type of system, but yours appears to be a newer model that has been around since the new generation of Bladers have emerged. In your case, your Bey is made up of a Shogun Face, a Warrior Wheel, a Element Wheel, a Spin Track and a Performance Tip. By utilizing different combinations of these parts, that changes the overall behaviour of your Bey in battle."
"Right… I might forget some of their names," the girl replied "But it sounds like the Bey I have can do some things because of the parts it has. Sounds pretty cool."
"That's a rough translation for a new person, but pretty much on the mark," she answered, "I'm guessing this is your first time ever hearing about Beyblade right?"
"Beyblade?"
Bianca wasn't quite sure what it was that she and her two Pokémon had stepped into since that fateful night but it seemed like the object that was in her hand since the morning, her Bey, was meant to be used in some sort of competition that involved them and what she had witnessed earlier before meeting Maru had to have been one of those kinds of battles. She then looked back at her just in time to see two objects along with her Bey thrown towards to which she then clumsily, but eventually caught with her right hand. One of the objects had a long bar attached to it and a set of prongs was present at the bottom of it whilst the other was a long plastic cord with a hoop shape at one end and a set of teeth leading from it down to just a little short of the far end engraved into one side of it.
"Come with me to that empty dish," the apprentice mechanic said, pointing to an unoccupied dish, now seeing a new group of young Bladers take up battles around several of the others "Since you don't know anything about a Bey Battle, why not put that Bey to good use for practice?"
"If it helps me figure out what this Bey is all about, I'm down for it."
The girl happily nodded in agreement as she hurried over to the edge of the empty dish with Oshawott following in tow, him also excited somewhat to see what his friend could with whatever it was that Maru was provided with. As she let down her bag to the ground, her other Poké Ball rolled out and opened, releasing her only other Pokémon. Litwick then moved out looking a little better compared to earlier in the day, surprising the apprentice mechanic a little from the shape of it along with the flame above its head.
"Oh right, I haven't introduced you to Litwick yet," Bianca said before turning to the Pokémon in question "Litwick, this is Maru. She's our first friend here in this city."
"Wait, isn't it dangerous to have fire on top of this one's head?!" Maru exclaimed, worried that the flame atop the Ghost Type Pokémon's head was dangerous to it.
"It's alright," the girl replied with a smile "If anything, the flame, when Litwick chooses to bring it out shows how healthy it is."
"I see," the apprentice mechanic said, bewildered but otherwise now feeling a little more comfortable around the candle-like Pokémon. She then decided to return back to the topic at hand. "Alright then, first place your ripcord into the launcher I just gave you."
"Like this?" Bianca asked as she held up the ripcord to the front of her launcher.
"From the back with the teeth to the left," Maru corrected for her, to which the girl hastily rectified her error and nearly dropped the launcher in her rush "Now attach your Bey to the prongs and click it to the left once.
Deciding to take the slow approach this time, Bianca picked up her Bey and gently clicked it into place in her launcher. Once she was sure it was secured properly, she held her left arm on the attached grip and turned to the apprentice mechanic.
"Good! Now on the count of three, let it rip Bianca!" she instructed happily.
"Let it rip…?" the girl pondered in confusion with Oshawott and Litwick sharing similar confused expressions "What does that…?"
"3!"
"Wait a min…!"
"2!"
Seeing that she was going to have to learn the hard way in a crash course of Beyblade, Bianca gave up on further questions and turned her attention back to the dish in front of her with a shaky finger gripping the loop in the ripcord as hard as she could manage.
"1!"
"... L… Let's rip it!" she shouted out as she hastily pulled back on the ripcord and let her launcher do the rest of the work.
Maru sweatdropped a little at the way the girl had misworded the phrase used at the end of every countdown for a Beyblade launch, but her eyes however were keeping watch on the Bey that had been launched into the dish as time seemed to slow down around them for that moment. Eventually when it did land, it hopped from the spot it touched the dish due to the angle from the launch and slammed both its Warrior Wheel and Element Wheel into the ground, smacking it upwards before it eventually landed upright, much to everyone's relief as it eventually moved up and started circling around the area, ascending the structure and widening its circle slowly but surely.
"Phew… I thought it would just stop when it did that," Bianca sighed in relief as her two Pokémon shared that expression as well.
"Well… it's pretty rough for a first launch, but at least it didn't crash into a self Stadium Out," said Maru "Good job on getting your Bey spinning up."
"Thanks Maru," the girl replied with a relieved smile before turning back to the dish and watching her Bey circle around it, still spinning at a reasonable speed.
Although it was rougher than she had expected it to be, Bianca was happy that she had not completely messed up her first ever attempt at launching a Bey, the object that had somehow been brought into her life when she came to wherever it was that Metal Bey City was located. Although a part of her eventually began to ponder how it was she would get it to make a move for her, for the present, it did not matter to her at all. Looking at the simple but clean movement of her launched Bey, despite it not being in battle as per its intended purpose, she could not help but admire the smooth motions it was making unimpeded and it was giving her a feeling she always knew of in the back of her heart, but was never outwardly expressed until this moment.
For the first time in her entire life, she almost felt free. Free from the doubt and ensuing events that had chained her down throughout her short lived journey that led back to home. However, when her thoughts drifted to that word...
"Home…" she pondered aloud, getting Maru to glance up at her as the girl's expression of happiness slowly faded into one of sadness.
Even with all of her efforts going deeper into the city, her Xtranciever still had not picked up any kind of signal meaning that unless a miracle was bound to happen, there was no chance of her ever contacting Professor Juniper, her friends nor her family. As if on cue, her Bey suddenly began decreasing in speed as its circle around the dish began shrinking and shrinking until it came to the center point and wobbled to a complete stop.
"Is something wrong Bianca?" the apprentice mechanic asked worriedly.
Bianca did not answer and slowly walked down into the dish to pick up her motionless Bey, with Oshawott and Litwick looking worried when they saw her conflicted face. In the midst of exploring Metal Bey City and experiencing Beyblade for the very first time, even if for only a short while, her heart ached when she remembered that she was still far away from home with no understanding of the very region or wherever it was that the large metropolis lay.
"This Unova you said earlier..." Maru began "Are you saying for whatever reason that you can't go back there?"
"I… I don't know!" she cried out aloud, punching the center of the dish with her right fist as she was hunched over "How can I know?!"
The apprentice mechanic could only walk up to the edge and join her two Pokémon, looking over her with worry that she had suddenly gone into this state after her potential as a Blader was seemingly now possible. Seeing both of her Pokémon sharing the same concern she did for her new friend, she gently put a hand each over Litwick and Oshawott's shoulders, sharing their pain somewhat even if their reasons were different. Before they had time to properly confide in this moment of despair and talk with Bianca any further…
"STOP! Please!" cried a voice.
Snapping out of her stupor, Maru could only stare towards the sight of terrible battles unfolding both behind her and to her right of the empty dish as one by one, multiple Beys flew out of each of them with shards of metal and plastic falling off each of their unique parts. Their respective Bladers could only cry out in horror as theirs dropped to the ground in pieces whilst multiple characters that were responsible for the immense and intentional damage cause sneered in relief as they recalled their own Beys back to their hands with satisfaction that they accomplished their missions of chaos. One battle however had not been concluded as a young Blader could only watch in horror as his was about to suffer the same fate as his was bashed around by a ruthless barrage of attacks from his opponents.
"Bianca, you've got to get out of here!" the apprentice mechanic cried out "Akuya and his gang are here and if they find you…!"
But Bianca remained motionless and still internally conflicted, the screams from the remaining Blader continued to grow as the tall black haired, purple eyed and tattooed individual known as Akuya sneered with crazed eyes and teeth as his Bey continued to deliver heavy attacks of its own onto his opponent before knocking it into the wall of the dish which caused its spin to slow down even more.
"No!" the young Blader cried.
"This farce of a battle has now concluded!" the crazed young man announced "Go Archer Gargoyle, smash it!"
The Bey that he referred to as Archer Gargoyle then soared to the other end of the dish to take aim at its helpless opponent before accelerating towards the opposing Bey, the Blader of which screamed loudly and closed his eyes, unable to watch. Then just as Akuya's Bey was about to deal the brutal hit…
"Bianca?!" gasped Maru.
In that moment when everyone was distracted by the cry of the apprentice mechanic, Bianca's Bey soared towards the dish and got right in between the two Beys, causing a large collision to occur which knocked out the young Blader's own along with the girl's. Although he was relieved that this action had gotten his Bey out of the dish unharmed, he didn't feel any easier with the angry expression that Akuya had now adorned on his face as he looked in the direction of Bianca who had climbed out in midst of her internal conflict and launched her Bey into the ring to save the one that would have been utterly destroyed by Gargoyle's attack.
"Hey you!" he snarled "Why did you have to ruin my fun?!"
"And why did you wanna to break that kid's Bey?" she questioned back to him, stepping towards the dish the rough young man was next to, picking up both her Bey and the boy's own from the edge and handing his back to him, causing Akuya's accomplices to growl in her direction.
"T… thanks for the save," he stuttered in bewilderment as he looked down at it with relief before looking back up to her.
"I don't know anything about this whole Beyblade thing, but I'm sure breaking Beys is not in the rulebook," Bianca said with a relieved look that the worst her interference had caused was a few small scratches to the metal wheel of the young boy's Bey "Leave this jerk to me."
"Hold up… you're new and you're still going to take on Akuya?!" the boy gasped "Can you at least launch?!"
Before the girl could answer back to him, Akuya's earlier frown had turned into a deep sneer which resulted in both of her Pokémon feeling a little scared and huddling up to Maru out of worry for whatever was going to happen next.
"So the newbie wants her first battle to be against my strength," he said with gruff interest, recalling his Bey Archer Gargoyle from the stadium as it spun back into his open hand, "You got yourself a deal for getting in my way! I was gonna save you for last anyway, but this makes me happy! Watch closely everyone, this a reminder that the future of Beyblade and everything that comes with it belongs to Akuya Onizaki, you understand?!"
"Bianca, don't do this!" the apprentice mechanic cried out "You've only learned how to launch your Bey somewhat properly! Akuya will just…!"
"I've got this Maru!" she interrupted, readying her launcher and attaching her Bey to it, accepting the rough Blader's challenge without any further hesitation and walking over to the dish to face him.
"As you wish," Akuya replied with a confident sneer, moving back to his side of the dish and readying his launcher with Archer Gargolye attached to it.
As the two stared off with one another, Bianca tried to keep her nerves under control with a forced stern gaze as she held up her launcher out towards the dish, but her hand holding the grip shook nervously, only resulting in everyone becoming concerned for her mental state, save for Akuya and his group who merely sneered at the sight, believing that the victory for them was going to be a quick one. As Oshawott and Litwick could only watch her in concern, Maru knew that she couldn't stop her new friend from battling now and had to do something quickly before her opponent could overwhelm her. Bringing out a strange long device from her jacket, she pulled it apart to form a screen, making the two Pokémon gaze at it in wonder.
"Hello Maru," a female voice spoke from the monitor before pausing for a moment "What's wrong? You look worried."
"We've got trouble!" she cried out "You've gotta send everyone here before that new Blader's Bey gets smashed by Akuya's lot!"
"Akuya again? And he's challenging someone you've just introduced to the sport?" the voice replied in concern.
"Just hurry Madoka!" Maru replied "I don't know how long she could hold out with that much inexperience!"
"... I got it. I'll get in touch with Zyro and the others right away," said Madoka.
"Thanks chief, I'll keep you posted on the battle."
As the call ended, Oshawott hopped up several times to have a look at the many graphics that had been present on the apprentice mechanic's device, intrigued by what was on there. Noticing the sea otter's curiosity and the fact she had a battle to observe, she pointed it to Bianca's Bey for a few seconds before she lowered it down for both the Pokémon and Litwick to see as well with an image of the Bey appearing onto her screen. Soon several labels appeared and sprouted lines to each of the respective parts by name with the two unknown names of the Warrior Wheel and Shogun Face now appearing, much to her surprise.
"So Bianca's Bey… is Gladiator Virgo," she breathed, getting Oshawott and Litwick to look at her in wonder for the kind of name their friend's Bey was named, "Bianca! Your Bey's name is Gladiator Virgo! Don't forget that and help's on the way!"
"Virgo…" Bianca quietly murmured to herself, briefly eying her Bey "So that's what you're called."
She then looked once more at Akuya before her vision changed to something else entirely, something within her heart that she felt reflected on one of the many scenarios she was going through in life. In front of her, silhouettes of the friends she made in Nuvema Town and what little progress she had made on her journey throughout the Unova Region were walking away from where she was standing with their backs turned to her the whole time.
"I'm not gonna fall behind again! This time, one way or another, I'm not gonna surrender and go forward!"
Taking a deep breath and opening her eyes, she looked at Akuya who merely kept his sinister grin and deepened his sneer.
"Well then amateur," he said coldly "Let's begin!"
And in that instant, the crowd around them, save for Maru and the Pokémon beside her chanted…
"3! 2! 1!"
"Let it rip!" both combatants called out aloud, pulling back their ripcords as fast as they could and their two Beys spun out and soared towards the dish, ready for battle.
Bey of the Chapter:
Gladiator Virgo D125F (Balance)
Shogun Face - Virgo
Warrior Wheel - Virgo
Element Wheel - Gladiator
Spin Track - Defense 125
Performance Tip - Flat