In order to avoid receiving comments/messages that point out something that I already covered a long, LONG time ago, I have compiled all the covered information and posted it on my profile. As such, it is STRONGLY recommended that everyone read the compiled information prior to further reading any of S-EARLY. This message will appear in the beginning of the updates of all of S-EARLY.

Also, update on the Age Relations to Edition V. Check profile for details (MISC – Age Relations, Edition V).

And… (WARNING: BW2 SPOILER) No attire shift this time. BW2 player characters are separate characters from Black and White, named Rakutsu and Faitsu respectively (END SPOILER). Meaning, in SY, Black and White will revert to their actual clothes at a certain point in the story, but in a way that makes sense. Since it's too late, White's home will still be Aspertia, even though the real home is unknown. This message will be posted in stories that apply.

I did post a trial run of Rakutsu & Faitsu in SE #040: The Start of Something. Check that out if you wish.

Chapter 4: The Lady

Mistralton City, 6:30 am…

Black stared at the private jet parked in the distance, waiting for Skyla's copilots to complete the diagnostics. The Gym Leaders had scattered to recover and track reported sightings of Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. Nothing came up since the "battle" in the previous day. But that would probably change soon.

A set of footsteps from behind snapped Black out of his thoughts. He glanced back and spotted Cheren and Bianca running over. Seeing his childhood friends, Black forced his half-burnt and terribly sore body to stand up and meet them.

"Hey guys," he said with a painful wave.

Bianca waved back while Cheren simply nodded.

"Wow Black," Bianca said as she looked at her friend from head to toe. "You look terrible."

Black stared at her and blinked a few times. "… Gee, thanks," he started. "I feel so much better now. So good that I hardly feel the damn burns all over my body!"

"But considering how you took a Fusion Flare and Fusion Bolt, you should consider yourself lucky," Cheren said. "Those two attacks could've caused a lot more damage than some minor burns."

Black shook his head. "Minor, huh? Sure. Luck. That's what it was. I can barely walk, but sure. Luck…" He let out a sigh and looked back and forth between his friends. "What do you want?"

"We heard that you were going away from Unova," Bianca said. "And we just wanted to wish you good luck. I know we need help to rescue White and beat the bad guys. So… good luck!"

"And be sure to keep us posted," Cheren said. "We'll give you routine updates on our progress too."

Within a few minutes, the private jet's initial diagnostics were completed and Curtis and Black boarded. Bianca and Cheren watched the plane take off before going their separate ways to deal with the Unova Dragons.

…

4 hours later…

…

Black got off the private jet and took his first step in the new region. He didn't know what region he was in, as he forgot to ask. He was quite busy taking a nap inside the plane in an attempt to speed up his recovery. It didn't help. Curtis followed him out of the plane and took a look around.

"So this is Sinnoh, huh?"

"So… who are we looking for?" Black asked.

Curtis checked his notes. "We are looking for the research assistant to Professor Rowan. She is also the daughter of the richest man in Sinnoh."

"So we're trying to recruit some ridiculously rich and probably spoiled girl? How's she supposed to be of any help? It's not like having a boatload of money is going to get Miss President back. And it's not like this girl is going to give a complete stranger a ridiculous amount of cash."

"No, no. We are recruiting her because of her talents. 7 years ago, she helped quell the rise of Team Galactic in their attempts to create a new world using the powers of Dialga and Palkia. 5 years ago, she helped stop the Team Galactic Resurrection. 3 years ago, she helped repel the Team Rocket Invasion. And a month ago, she single-handedly stopped the Bidoof Rebellion."

Black slowly nodded in approval. "Alright. So what's her name?"

"I don't know. Her name is not written anywhere in the articles. She's only referred to as Lady Berlitz."

"Great…" Black looked into the distance and spotted a giant mansion. "I guess she lives over there?"

"Perhaps. You go and ask. I will head over to Professor Rowan's lab and ask there."

Black shrugged and proceeded to walk towards the giant mansion. While walking, he took some time to look around. Maybe it was just this city or town, but things looked quite calm compared to Unova. Maybe this city or town was like Nuvema Town. He wondered what the Castelia City of Sinnoh looked like. Would there be as many skyscrapers?

A few minutes later, he spotted a girl exiting the Pokémon Mart. So it seemed that in Sinnoh, the stores were separate from the Pokémon Centers, unlike in Unova.

"Hey, excuse me!" he said as he quickly walked over to the girl, who looked about as old as he was. Maybe she was a little bit older. He couldn't tell. She looked at him and he temporarily froze. Were all girls in Sinnoh this pretty? It was a good thing White wasn't here. And she would never know. The Sinnoh girl here had long dark hair that reached to her waist, bright mix of gold and silver eyes, and perfect… curves. Black tried to focus on her eyes. The thin black vest and short pink skirt the girl was wearing wasn't helping him here. "Uh… do you know where the Berlitz family lives?" he finally managed to ask. But he couldn't help but notice that this girl was really attractive. And she looked so elegant too. That short, short skirt and the tight vest looked so soft and expensive, like silk. And the white dress underneath was… 'No! No, focus! Think of what Miss President will do to you if she finds out!'

"Why do you wish to know?" the girl asked. She didn't appear to have noticed him staring at her. And her voice was amazingly beautiful. Quite the contrast with White's voice. White's voice was cute, but this girl's was beautiful. Again, Black thanked the fact that White wasn't there. She would give him hell (and then some) if she found out about this. But she never will. Unless she suddenly became psychic. Damn. … Well, as long as Caitlin (or any other psychic human) didn't involve herself, things would work out.

"There's something I need to ask that family," Black answered.

The girl turned away. "I apologize, but I cannot tell you where they live."

"What? Why?" Black asked as he ran in front of the girl again.

"Informing random strangers any detail regarding the wealthiest family in Sinnoh may have serious repercussions."

The girl walked past him before he could say anything. Black stared at her for a few seconds before he headed towards the Pokémon Center. He thought about what that girl had said and understood a little. A very rich family would have to be a little paranoid in order to avoid things like burglary and kidnapping.

Inside the Pokémon Center, Black asked the nurse about the big mansion and found out that it was the Berlitz Mansion. He thanked the nurse and headed towards the giant mansion. As he approached, he could only guess exactly how wealthy the family really was. That mansion was enormous. It looked as wide as the shopping mall in Route 9 of Unova while being as tall as an apartment building. There couldn't possibly be enough family members to occupy this whole building.

Black approached the front gate and immediately spotted two guards who approached him.

"Can I help you?" one of the guards asked.

"Yeah, I'm from the region of Unova, and I came here to get help from the Berlitz family," Black answered.

The guards glanced at each other and one of them knocked on the front door. The other kept his eyes on Black, just in case. But a few seconds later, the Unova Dex Holder was allowed entry into the colossal mansion.

Black was led by a couple of servants into the guest room that was as big as his whole house. It seemed a bit excessive, but it would be a little understandable if the Berlitz family had lots of visitors frequently. The Unova Dex Holder took a seat and waited. A minute later, he spotted a girl carrying an empty plate walk into the guest room. Black immediately recognized her as that beautiful cold girl he met outside the Pokémon Mart. Seeing how she was carrying a plate, Black figured that she was a servant of the massive mansion.

"Hey!" he yelled out. "What the hell! So you knew about the Berlitz family! You're a servant here! You could've told me, and I would've told you the exact reason why I came here."

The girl made a hand signal to calm down. Black glanced to his left and right and saw the servants taking a step backwards. So this girl was a higher ranking servant, apparently.

"Why are you here?" the girl asked.

"I came here from the region of Unova so that I could get help from the Berlitz family. More specifically, I'm looking for the research assistant of Professor… Rowan, was it? Anyways, she's supposedly a Sinnoh Pokédex Holder, and is known as Lady Berlitz."

The girl stared at him for a few seconds before she nodded. "Very well then. Please follow me."

Black did as told and followed the girl as she led him towards the 3rd floor of the giant mansion. The girl remained quiet and Black did as well, as he was busy looking at the fancy, expensive decorations littered around everywhere.

Several minutes of walking and climbing the stairs, the servant girl stopped in front of a door.

"Please wait here," she said to Black before she entered the room.

Again, Black did as told. He spent the time by checking over the bandages wrapped around his arms. Those damn burns still hurt like hell. He put his hands to his face and felt the band-aids on it. He must look like crap right now. It was not the impression he had hoped to give to the previous Dex Holders. But surely this Lady Berlitz would understand his situation if he explained it to her.

Black had to wait several minutes before the door opened again. A different servant was there, and she let him into the room. He immediately spotted the beautiful servant girl sitting on a large comfortable looking chair with her hands on her lap.

"My Lady, your guest is here," the current servant said to the girl.

Black stared at the seated girl and realized that she wasn't actually a servant. She was the girl he was looking for. She was the Sinnoh Dex Holder and the daughter of the richest man in Sinnoh. And he called her a servant. Crap. She didn't seem particularly upset, but her expression was ice cold.

"You… you're Lady Berlitz?" he asked, completely dumbfounded.

Lady Berlitz nodded. "Yes. This is the third time I see you. And your impression of me was different each time, while my impression of you has not changed once."

Black quickly dropped to his knees and bowed. It seemed like the logical thing to do. Beg for mercy. He couldn't look up at her. Even though the Lady was just sitting on a normal comfortable chair, she appeared as if she was sitting on a throne. As long as there wasn't any execution order, he'd be fine.

"I think I made the worst first impression in the history of encounters," he said. "I'm so sorry."

The Lady didn't immediately reply. She simply stared at him until he looked up at her. "I will ask you for the third time. Why are you here? What do you want with me?"

Black took a nervous gulp and proceeded to explain his situation. Mostly about how this evil guy with 3 Unova Legendary Dragons kidnapped an extremely popular girl in Unova and had mind controlled her so that he may take over Unova. He figured that Lady Berlitz wasn't the type to be swayed by emotions (given how cold she sounded), so he left out the fact that the kidnapped girl was his girlfriend.

"So you require the assistance of previous Dex Holders in order to defeat the enemy," the Lady said after Black finished.

"Yes. Will you help me?"

The Lady sighed. "I apologize, but I cannot help you."

Black blinked a few times. "… Why not?"

"… Both of my parents have been involved in an accident and are in critical conditions. I cannot leave them at a time like this. I can temporarily leave the mansion in order to purchase supplies, as I have done when you saw me for the first time. But I cannot leave them for multiple hours straight. Several doctors have already come to try to help my parents, but none have made any progress."

Black sighed in disappointment. "I understand. You can't leave for Unova when your parents are dying."

The Lady closed her eyes. "I would appreciate it if you avoided using that word."

"Sorry. But isn't there something I can do so that you can help me?" Black asked. "I know your parents are clearly important to you, but… the girl that was kidnapped in Unova is my… girlfriend. I must rescue her. I tried to do so already with all the help Unova could offer, and look what happened to me."

"I understand your situation," the Lady said. "But I cannot leave at this moment. However, there may be a solution to this dilemma."

Black perked up. "What is it?"

"In the northeastern corner of Sinnoh, there is a large island known as the Battle Zone. In that island, there is a location known as the Battle Frontier. There is a very talented doctor who resides inside the Battle Frontier, who will only accept help requests after a satisfactory battle. He is very strong. I have sent several people to try to convince him to help, but none have yet to succeed. I would have challenged him myself, but I cannot leave my parents for more than a couple of hours. You say that you are a Dex Holder. Then prove your worth to me by convincing the doctor to come and help my parents. If you do so, I will be able to help you in Unova."

Black nodded. "I'm on it."

The Lady pulled out her own Pokédex and stared at it. "My two friends would have helped me. But they are in a very important comedy event in another region. I would have joined them if my parents were not in this situation." She then looked at Black with her beautiful yet ice-cold eyes. "If you are truly a Dex Holder, you will not have issues at the Battle Frontier. And if you succeed in bringing the doctor here, I will ignore the insult you have given me by addressing me a servant."

The Unova Dex Holder soon left to send a message to Curtis about what happened. Once Black had left, the Lady headed over to the room where her parents were staying.

"Mother? Father? I wish to enter," she declared outside the room.

The door opened after a short moment and the Lady entered. She quickly walked up to her parents beds, which were placed close to each other. Both of her parents had bandages wrapped up all over the place and had lots of medical equipment attached to them.

"Platinum," her mother spoke. "I heard you had a guest."

Platinum knelt in between the two beds and nodded. "Yes."

"What did that guest want?" her father asked.

"He requested my assistance to fight evil in the region of Unova," the heiress answered truthfully. "The enemy had supposedly kidnapped a very important figure of Unova using the region's Legendary Pokémon and aims to dominate the whole region."

"And did you accept the request?" her mother asked.

Platinum shook her head. "No. I will not leave you, mother. It is my duty to stand by and assist in your recovery."

"I thought we taught you well," her father said. "You should know that fighting evil is… also your duty. And it is more important than taking care of your parents. Back when you first left for Mt. Coronet, you had no obligation to fight evil, which was why I wanted you to stay away from the danger. But now, as a Pokédex owner, you have a responsibility."

"Yes. It is not possible to fulfill your public and familial duties at once," said the mother. "And in those cases, you must fulfill your public duties first. Go and help that guest in defeating evil."

"But mother," Platinum started. "I… cannot leave you like this."

"Be strong, Platinum," her mother said. "You can take care of yourself very well. You will have no trouble against this evil. And you will be able to return to us quickly. Do not worry about us."

Platinum lowered her head and wiped away the forming tears. "… Mother, father… I will do as you wish. But I cannot leave quite yet. I have sent the guest to the Battle Frontier so that he may be able to convince the skilled doctor there. Once the doctor arrives, I… I will leave for Unova. But I will return soon. Please stay well…"

After bowing to her parents, the heiress left the room and headed upstairs. She needed time to gather her thoughts, so she went up to her favorite place to think: the balcony on the 7th floor. Since Diamond wasn't around to comfort her, she'd have to stick with the cool breeze and the great view the balcony provided.

…

Few hours later, 4 pm…

…

Black gingerly got off of his Braviary and landed in front of the Berlitz Mansion once again. Behind him, a large eagle/hawk Pokémon known as Staraptor landed and a doctor jumped off. Black had managed to convince him in the Battle Frontier. It was much easier than expected. No battle was involved. There would have been one, but someone called the Castle Valet Darach had stepped in, saying that Caitlin demanded the doctor help Black. And even the battle-crazy doctor couldn't ignore the orders of Caitlin, apparently. Ah, the advantages of having powerful allies… even if it was temporary. There were no guarantees that Caitlin would help him once the Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem incident was over. But at least he'd have the other Dex Holders. And his alliance/bond with them would hopefully be a lot stronger than his with the crazy psychic lady.

Outside the Berlitz Mansion, Black spotted Curtis walking over.

"I see you succeeded in your task," Curtis said. "That's good. So we can be confident that we successfully recruited Lady Berlitz."

Black nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully, anyways. So who's next?"

Curtis checked his notes. "Lady Berlitz has two friends who are also Sinnoh Dex Holders. We should recruit them next."

"According to the Lady, that's not going to happen," Black said. "She said they're in a different region. And I didn't ask where exactly."

"… Okay then," Curtis muttered. "… In that case, we should head towards Hoenn next. We'll recruit the research assistant of Professor Birch, who happens to be his daughter."

"Another research assistant?" Black asked.

Curtis nodded. "Yes, but this one is quite different than Lady Berlitz. According to the reports, she was involved in an attempted kidnapping 5 years ago when a group of 12 men attacked her in an alley. She wasn't harmed at all and all 12 men ended up in the hospital, with the least injured one suffering from a shattered jaw and 9 broken ribs. And she wasn't using her Pokémon."

"… Wow."

"Pokémon-wise, she was involved in the famous Groudon and Kyogre incident 14 years ago, the fake-Kyogre incident in the Battle Frontier 13 years ago, the Lunatone and Solrock Invasion 10 years ago, and the infamous Spinda Crisis 7 years ago. Of course, her close friend-and-neighbor was also involved in every single one of those. We'll try to recruit him as well."

"Would that work as planned?" Black asked. "Right now, we only have 1 out of 3 Sinnoh Dex Holders with no more expected."

"Don't worry," Curtis assured. "According to the reports, these two are inseparable. If you find one, the other is usually nearby."

"That's good. Hopefully that'll work out better," Black muttered. "What are their na-"

"If you don't mind," a guard of the Berlitz Mansion interrupted. "The Lady is still waiting for you. This is very important to her, so get up there ASAP."

"Right."

Black quickly headed inside the Berlitz Mansion, where a servant led him towards the room where Lady Berlitz was currently staying. He found her standing on a balcony in the 7th floor, looking far ahead.

Upon declaration from the servant, the Lady turned to face Black.

"Oh? You have returned already?" she asked. She hadn't seen his Braviary as the balcony was facing the opposite direction of the Battle Frontier. "How did it go?"

Black smiled in pride. "The doctor is here," he said. "With the help of Caitlin, it was easy to convince him."

The Lady let out a sigh of relief as she placed her hands over her heart. She then bowed to him in gratitude.

"Thank you very much," she said. "I am in your debt."

Black simply looked at her, as he had no idea how to respond. Upon receiving fierce glares from the Berlitz Mansion guards, he quickly bowed in return.

"So," Black said. "Can you help me now?"

The Lady nodded. "Yes. But please give me a few minutes so I may talk to my parents one last time before I leave."

"Of course. I'll wait outside."

…

Black snapped out of his thoughts when the front gate to the Berlitz Mansion opened. He looked back and spotted the Lady standing behind him with her bag in hand. Her attire hasn't really changed from inside the mansion. But she now had a soft looking white hat and a long pink scarf. And Black could see the 8 Sinnoh Gym Badges pinned on the scarf.

"Are you ready, Lady?" Black asked.

"Yes," the Lady replied. "I, Platinum Berlitz, shall now join you in your efforts to save Unova."

No, the "wonder medic" in the Battle Frontier does not really exist in the manga or the games. Well, in the games, there is someone similar in Cianwood City, who you need to visit to cure Jasmine's Ampharos in the GSC and HGSS games. But you don't need to battle him to prove your worth, as you only need to have beaten Chuck.