Segment: Black & White.

Chapter 2: Regional Chase

April 21, Village Bridge, 12 pm…

"B – Black…"

"… Miss President…"

The two Unova Dex Holders simply stared each other at the unexpected encounter. Black looked at the waitress clothes White was wearing, realizing then why he was unsuccessful with his queries. White changed her clothes therefore Black's description of her attire was incorrect. The girl seems to have noticed and looked even more embarrassed and ashamed.

"D – Don't look at me!" she cried out as she used her apron to cover her face. She started to tremble as tears fell from her eyes. She had tried so hard to avoid being seen, avoid people she knew, and hide somewhere where she wouldn't be judged. But now, she couldn't stay anymore.

"Miss President, I came to s-"

"Stop calling me that!"

Black approached her and tried to lower the apron so that he could see her face. But White turned away and started to flee.

"Miss President, wait!" Black yelled as he ran after her.

Black chased White out of the café and away from the bridge. Maybe it was because of the shoes she was wearing, or maybe because of some other factors, White couldn't really run. Black caught up with her within a minute.

"Please, Black… just leave me alone," White begged quietly. She still refused to look at him and kept her head down.

"Come on, Miss President. You c-"

"And stop calling me that…"

"You're the one who insisted that I call you that when we first met, remember?" Black said nicely. He slowly led her towards the river and sat on the grass next to it.

White reluctantly sat beside him. She hugged her knees and buried her face into her arms. "Times change…" she mumbled quietly.

"Okay then, Miss Pr… I mean, White, why didn't you tell me what was happening?"

White started to tremble as she fought off the urge to cry. But she soon lost the battle and burst into tears. Black started to panic and put a hand on her shoulder to try to get her to stop. But White turned away from him completely.

"Just… just leave me be…"

But Black didn't give up so easily. He moved around her and crouched directly in front of her. He rubbed her shoulders gently with both hands. Noticing that White wasn't crying as much now, Black gently lifted her chin so that he could finally look into her eyes. Their eyes met for a split second before White looked away again. In that split second, Black saw enough.

"Miss Pr… White, when was the last time you slept?" The girl didn't reply, so Black asked again. "And when was the last time you ate a proper meal?"

"I – I… had 8 hours of sleep in total since the first lawsuit," White muttered. "And I've been eating… a single slice of bread since then."

'No wonder you couldn't run…' "But… why?"

White buried her face into her arms again. "I can't sleep… and I don't feel like eating anything."

Black sat beside her again. "I understand. I guess it won't make much sense if you're able to sleep properly with all this stuff going on."

"Black… I really don't want to talk," White muttered quietly. "I just want to be left alone."

"Miss President, this is for your own good," Black said resolutely. "I spent all of yesterday searching just about every city in Unova looking for you. And as your friend, I am not going to stop until you're back to normal!"

White sighed as she rose to her feet. "… You really are a great friend, Black…" She suddenly turned to face him and Black could see that she had a Pokéball in her hand. "But I don't deserve to have you as a friend."

Before Black could even jump to his feet, White had already sent out her Solosis. "Miss President, what are you doing?!"

White closed her eyes and looked away. "I'm so sorry, Black… Yunibo, Psychic…"

The Cell Pokémon hesitated slightly but did as told. Black tried to withstand the power of Psychic seemingly tearing through his head but couldn't and soon passed out. Once the Unova Dex Holder hit the ground, White returned her Solosis. She wiped away her tears and kneeled in front of Black.

"I'm really sorry, Black… I know you're only trying to help," she sobbed out. "But I can't have you waste your time on me any more than you already have. You have your dream to fulfill. I don't have any dreams or goals anymore. There's no point in trying." White leaned forward and hugged her friend's unconscious body. "I'm sorry I had to hurt you. But maybe now you'll stop looking for me and let me vanish from the world quietly…" She didn't bother wiping away her tears as she rose to her feet. "Good bye, Black. And please take care of yourself."

White then sent out her Vullaby and held onto it as it flew up. But because of her distress, she failed to notice that she dropped something important when she pulled out the Pokéball containing the Solosis.

Black woke up several hours later in a daze. He put a hand on his head and groaned.

"What… where…" he muttered as he slowly sat up. His memories came back little by little and he was wide awake. "Did… did Miss President really attack me?" As he thought, he could remember what White was saying to him when he was still barely conscious.

Black jumped up to his feet and shook away the drowsiness. "Miss President," he said quietly. "I don't believe that you lost all of your dreams. I'll always be your friend and as such, I will never allow you to vanish from the world. I will set everything right!"

He reached into his bag and pulled out his Braviary's Pokéball. He was about to send his Pokémon out when he saw something on the ground. He crouched in front and observed it. It appeared to be a plane ticket of some sort… Black examined the ticket and soon realized that it was White's. It seemed that the girl was trying to leave Unova, and would have been successful if she had not dropped her ticket.

Black pocketed the ticket and sent out his Braviary. "Brav, let's go to Mistralton City."

…

Mistralton City, 6:00 pm…

…

It was raining hard in Mistralton, and it made Black wish that he had an umbrella. But at the same time, he became more worried about White. She didn't have an umbrella. She didn't have enough rest and she was undernourished from starving herself. And given how she would probably be avoiding buildings as much as possible, she would be exposed to the rain, and most likely end up getting a cold.

In the city, Black did what he did all day yesterday: ask around the entire city for White. This time, he focused on the airport and the Gym directly beside it. But again, his search yielded no results. But his efforts weren't entirely in vain.

As Black stood by the airport with a blank look, Skyla approached him from the landing strip, after completing a delivery.

"Black, I think I saw your friend walking in Route 7," said the Mistralton Gym Leader.

"Really?"

"I'm pretty sure. The rain kind of hindered my sight, but I'm pretty sure that it was White walking there."

"Well, thank you. I'll go check it out," Black said as he hastily ran towards Route 7.

He arrived at the route a couple of minutes later and began looking around. But finding White was easier said than done thanks to the tall (very tall) grass. Perhaps the raised walkways all over the route would provide better vi… wait…

Black stared at one of the raised walkways. He could see White walking on the narrow walkway, with her arms stretched out to maintain balance. She had ditched her waitress attire, which was why Black's inquiries have failed once again. Black quickly and silently approached her from below. He was soon directly beneath her and he could see her expression. White was staring directly ahead with a blank look and she appeared as if she had absolutely no worries or cares in the world. But at the same time, it appeared that she had nothing to live for either.

"Miss President!" Black yelled from below, trying his best not to surprise her. He would not be helping White at all if he surprised her so much that she fell off the 3-meter high walkway.

White sighed. She still stared blankly ahead as she carelessly balanced herself. "So… you found me again…" she muttered quietly, barely audible through the pounding rain.

"What are you doing up there?" Black asked.

"The cool wind," White muttered. "And no ground beneath my feet… It feels so… refreshing. It's as if I'm all alone in the world. It's… relieving…" She took a deep breath. She appeared so sad… "Stop looking for me, Black, and just… go away…"

"Miss President, I will never stop looking for you until you're back to normal!" Black yelled.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that."

"The truth is the truth, Miss President. You were once the president of the BW Agency and thereby my boss, and you will always remain as such in my perspective."

"… You were always stubborn, Black…" White said after another sigh. "Because of you, I have to stay in this region…"

"Even if you managed to leave Unova, I'll still follow you," Black said without hesitation.

"Why are you doing this?" White asked almost in a whimper. "I told you I want to be left alone. I want to forget about the world and for the world to forget me. But what do you want from me?"

"I want the cheerful and happy Miss President that I first met," Black answered. "I want the Miss President who always did her absolute best to maintain her company's good reputation, even if it meant she lost money. I want the same Miss President who devoted all of her time and effort into achieving her dreams, not the girl who wants to hide from everyone and everything that has happened!"

"That White is dead, Black!" White yelled rather angrily. "She's dead! The people who she spent her entire life helping killed her!"

"What do you mean?"

"I… I saw the news articles," White said with a sob. "They took out all the stuff that happened after the fourth lawsuit… The four lawsuits aren't what bankrupted me, Black… After the lawsuits, I… I tried to find some filming clients to get the company back on track. But every city I visited, I couldn't find any clients at all. Instead, every city had a large group of people who wanted full refunds for participating in some of the programs a long time ago. They threatened to sue if they didn't get the refund. I had to borrow money from the bank to pay for the lawsuits… there was no way I could handle the refunds. But they didn't care…"

"What about the Pokémon Musical?" Black asked. "Don't you receive constant payments from those?"

White wiped away the mix of tears and rainwater from her eyes. "Haven't you been to Nimbasa City? The Musical is no more."

Black looked surprised. The Musical Hall was awfully quiet when he visited the city of entertainment, but he just figured that the Musical wasn't active that day. He didn't realize that it was closed permanently…

"So… that café in Village Bridge," Black started. "Were you…"

"I had to close the BW Agency completely. I didn't have any money left and going into a city to find another job wasn't going to help me. But I still needed another job to pay off my debts. So I went to the quietest place in all of Unova where no one would judge me or demand a refund…"

"And that plane ticket?"

"I had to get out of Unova…" White muttered. She suddenly looked at Black and screamed at him. "Do you know how degrading it was for me to work there?! Do you know how embarrassing and humiliating it is to fall from being the president of a well known agency to a mere waitress in a quiet bridge?!"

Black looked at her face and saw the tears streaming from her eyes. He then realized exactly how much shock and emotional pain White had received in the past few days. He could understand why she wanted to disappear completely.

"But… Miss President, why didn't you tell me all of this before?" Black asked. "I mean… I am your friend. If you needed any support, I would've gladly helped out."

White looked away from him. "I – I didn't want you to see me like this. I didn't want you to see how much I've fallen. But… you found me in Village Bridge. You have no idea how ashamed I was when you saw me dressed as a waitress…"

"You know I'd never treat you differently just because you're having a hard time nowadays. I mean… we're friends, right?"

White started to tremble even more than she did before. "E – Even right now… I can't stand it… I – I can't stand it! Please, stop looking at me!"

This time, Black did as she wished. He looked away from her in hopes that she'll feel less ashamed. "I think I understand why you feel so ashamed, but… there's really no need to. You'll always be my friend, and friends should always treat each other as they have since they first met, regardless of their status."

"Black… please. If… if you care about me at all, you'll just… let me go…"

"I do care about you," Black said as he turned to look at her again. "Which is why I can't let you go like this. I'm going to help you get back to your feet."

"It's too late," White sobbed out. "Please… don't waste any more time on me like this. Go fulfill your dreams and forget about me. The more time you waste on me instead of using them for your goals, more ashamed I'm going to be. My life is already ruined. I don't want to ruin yours as well."

Before Black could say anything, White purposely tilted her body to one side so she would fall off the elevated walkway. Black quickly dashed forward to catch her, but she disappeared into the thick, tall grass before he reached her.

"Miss President!" Black yelled as he ran into the thick grass that was taller than he was. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

Suddenly, something big shot out of the tall grass in front of him and knocked him off his feet. Black quickly rolled back up to his feet and looked at where the object went. He realized that the object was actually a Vullaby and… White was holding onto it.

Black started to run through the thick grass to get out into the open again. He had to chase White once again. But just before he could get out of the thick grass, a wild Pokémon jumped at him. A wild Foongus, it seemed.

"Get out of the way, you stupid mushroom!" Black yelled angrily. "I don't have time for this!" The Foongus seemed highly offended by the remark and looked very upset. It tried to use Stun Spore and Black had to jump backwards to avoid. The Unova Dex Holder sent out his Emboar. "Heat Crash!"

Once the Foongus was turned into a flattened burnt crisp (not literally), Black sent out his Braviary. But in that brief fight (in which the Foongus wasn't really contributing), White and her Vullaby were long gone. Black didn't give up and got his Braviary to carry him and head towards the general direction of where White had gone.

…

Castelia City, 7:00 pm…

…

Black landed on the roof of a tall building. White was sitting on the ledge, staring blankly ahead. The wind was strong, but neither Unova Dex Holder seemed to care. Black approached White and carefully sat beside her.

"You stopped running away," he said after a sigh of relief.

"I'm tired, Black," White muttered quietly. "I can't run anymore. Barbara's too tired too. It can't carry me to another city."

"Miss President, come with me to Nuvema Town," Black offered. "We'll figure something out together. But you need to rest up and start eating again. And trust me, no one in Nuvema Town will judge you or demand a refund. It's very quiet and you'll like it there."

White sighed. "I don't know…"

"And besides. You do need a shoulder to cry on, right?" Black said almost in a taunting manner. He quickly rephrased his statement, realizing his mistake. "You feel you're alone and you think that you want to be left alone, but deep inside, I'm sure you want company. And I'll stay with you and I'll never leave you. You'll never feel alone, I promise." Black offered a hand. White looked at it hesitantly. "What do you say, Miss President?"

"I don't really have a choice, now do I?" White asked after another sigh. "I can't run away anymore. Even if I could, you'll still chase me all over Unova. There's no way I could evade you."

"Does that mean you'll come to Nuvema with me?" Black asked hopefully.

White slowly nodded. "Yes…" She put her hand on Black's and looked at him for a split second. "I will…"

"Great! Let's get going, then!" Black exclaimed happily.

He carefully moved off of the ledge and pulled White back to safety. He then sent out his Braviary once again. Black got his Braviary to carry him while White simply got onto it, as her Vullaby wasn't able to carry her to another town. The Braviary soon took off and headed towards Nuvema Town.

As they flew, Black spotted a green dinosaur like Pokémon with a long neck and four wings, carrying two people.

'Huh… I never saw a Pokémon like that before,' Black thought as he eyed the Pokémon and the two people (a boy and a girl) riding it. 'I wonder where it came from…'

Black shook the thought away, as it wasn't important. He glanced up at White to ensure that she was doing okay. The girl had her eyes closed and was resting her head against the Braviary. Black let out a long sigh of relief. Everything was going to be okay now.

From on top of the Braviary, White had a similar thought. For the first time in a long while, she actually felt hope that everything will turn out okay. She even felt a little stupid for evading Black for all this time when she knew that he would comfort her. Despite still having the heavy burden of the debt and the nightmarish memories of losing her company, due to the newfound comfort and hope, White fell asleep for the first time in days…

Okay… the first two SL chapters were based around Black and White, so… the next chapter will be the start of another segment featuring a different batch of Dex Holders. Perhaps this'll be a nice change of mood from the depressing BW segment, although the depressing part seems to be over already. Expect another quick update as the next chapter is almost complete.