SL is back to the Black & White segment. Even though I said that you will need to wait quite a bit for further development on this storyline, that is no longer true. Why? Because I noticed a flaw in trying to go with that idea, and it will be explained later. SL does NOT have an outline like SA and I didn't plan far ahead. So quite a few conflicts in SL so far have no planned solutions (uh oh).

And for additional clarification: each segment/storyline is called Dex Holder 1 & Dex Holder 2 (example, Diamond & Platinum) because that storyline will feature the pairing between them. Any other pairing that involves Dex Holder 1 or 2 but not the other (example, Pearl & Platinum) are viewed merely as obstacles. That Red & Blue thing from last chapter is just one BIG obstacle as it interferes with two pairings at once.

And to add further clarity when reading previous chapters, each SL chapter will have a "segment" listed before the chapter begins that shows what storyline is being focused on. Similar to the "category" of SR and "primary" of SE. The change has been implemented in all previous SL chapters and will be applied to future chapters as they come.

Also, updated Age Relations has been posted on my profile page for quick access. Ignore any and all inconsistencies this may present in all of S-EARL so far. The detailed explanation for all of the determined Age Relations will be posted on the bottom of the newest chapters of all of S-EARL. Therefore, SE #037, SA #026, SR #019, and SL #007.

Segment: Black & White.

Chapter 7: New Life

April 21, Nuvema Town, 8 pm…

Upon arriving at his hometown, Black got his Braviary to steadily lower its altitude right in front of his house. Once he wasn't too far above the ground, Black simply got his Braviary to release him. The Braviary then carefully landed on the ground.

Black opened the door to his house before turning his attention to White, who was still fast asleep on top of the Valiant Pokémon. He carefully and gently lifted her onto his arms and headed inside his house. But as he held her in his arms, he noticed that White was a lot lighter than he remembered. The last time he carried her in his arms was in Nimbasa City a year ago, after White's incident in the Ferris Wheel. She was pretty light back then, but now that she starved herself for over a week, she felt unnaturally light. Her skin was quite sickly pale and her frame overall was a lot thinner than before.

Black felt terrible for his close friend and promised again that he would help her get back to normal. To start, he was going to provide White a comfortable home and feed her proper and good meals so that she may physically recover.

Upon arriving at his bedroom, Black gently put White on his bed and tucked her in. The girl was still fast asleep so he quietly closed the door behind him and headed to the living room where he'd sleep. He was still quite tired from searching all over Unova and his head still hurt from that impromptu Psychic.

…

Next day, April 22, 5:30 am…

…

Black woke up from his sleep and let out a long yawn. He opened his eyes and tried to remember why exactly he was sleeping on the couch. Suddenly remembering the events of the previous day, he quickly sat up. He ran upstairs to his bedroom as fast as he could, but also as quiet as he could muster in case White was still asleep.

Black reached his bedroom within a couple of seconds and gently knocked on the door. He knocked again when he received no response. After a minute of silence, he quietly opened the door and peeked inside. White wasn't in the room, however. The bed was neatly made and it appeared as if no one had ever entered the room in the past week. Everything was perfectly neat, as if the girl had woken up earlier, cleaned up everything and…

'Oh, no… did she leave again?'

Black hastily ran downstairs and prepared to look for White all over Unova once more. But the moment he left his house and reached for Braviary's Pokéball, he could see someone sitting on the grassy hill roughly 100 meters away. Hoping that the person was White, Black quickly ran over.

But as he approached, he realized that the person (a girl, as he noticed) was unfamiliar. Black stopped running and was about to send out his Braviary when he noticed something. The unfamiliar girl was staring blankly ahead into the distance and had the similar expression as White. Black carefully looked at her as he walked closer.

Hearing him approach, the girl turned to look at him. She examined the desperate look on his face and understood everything.

"Were you… worried about me?" she asked quietly.

Black stared at her for a second before he realized who he was looking at. "… Miss President?" He looked at the new clothes she was wearing. "… What did you do to yourself?"

White looked away from Black and stared into the distance again. "I don't want people to recognize me. My face was all over the news for a few days. It's possible that people will notice me if I wear the same clothes."

Black examined his friend's new clothes again. White was now wearing long black skintight spandex-like pants/leggings, beige skirt-like shorts, tight white shirt with elbow-length blue sleeves, a pink ribbon that reached inside her shirt, and she now had her hair tied into two long side tails. A cheerful new look, if her expression wasn't so damn crestfallen. White turned to look at his expression again.

"I can see that you were worried that I left again. I told you I can't run anymore. Didn't you trust me?"

"I trust you," Black said. "But what are you doing all the way out here?"

White took a deep breath. "The cool wind… it feels so refreshing. And looking at this peaceful town is just… comforting."

Black glanced at her new attire one more time before he sat beside her. The girl's new clothes did make her look cuter than before (he admit, White was pretty cute), but she would look a lot better if her expression wasn't so dark. Her expression was a lot lighter than the previous day, but it was still very dark.

"Miss President, do you want to eat breakfast?" Black asked.

White shook her head. "Not yet. I'm not hungry. Besides, it's not even 6 in the morning. It's not the time for breakfast."

"Oh…"

White looked over at him and smiled. Black was relieved to know that the smile wasn't forced, but was genuine. "If you don't mind, would you like to watch the sunrise with me?"

Black nodded. "Sure. I'll watch it with you."

The two Unova Dex Holders sat on the grass and stared into the distance. The sky was starting to brighten as the sun steadily rose half an hour later. While Black was lost in thought about what he was going to make for breakfast, White stared the sky. She could just see the edge of the sun on the horizon…

"Beautiful…" she muttered.

"Huh?" Black said as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Did you say something?"

"The sunrise," White said. "It's beautiful."

Black looked at the slowly rising star (the sun is a star, after all) but… couldn't really see why it was beautiful. "Uh… yeah."

"You don't think it's beautiful?" White asked.

"Honestly… no. It's bright, but I don't see why it's beautiful," Black answered.

White sighed and shook her head. "I just don't understand guys… not at all."

"I heard that once before," Black said with a smile.

White smiled as well. "I guess you have."

"Do you want to eat breakfast now?" Black asked.

White nodded. Black jumped to his feet and offered a hand to White. The girl looked a little embarrassed, but accepted the offer and got her feet. She then followed Black as he led her back to his house.

Back in Black's house, White washed her hands and spent a few minutes to convince herself to remain bright and hope for the best.

In the kitchen, Black washed his hands as he thought of what to make. He was originally going to make a couple of sandwiches, but then he remembered that White didn't really eat anything for almost a whole week. There was no way that she would be able to eat a sandwich without any repercussions. As such, Black prepared some 'soft' food, namely soup.

Soon, the two Unova Dex Holders sat at the dinner table with their breakfast. Black carefully observed White, hoping that she would accept the soup. To his relief, White did accept and ate the soup. She didn't finish the whole bowl, but she still ate, which was the important thing.

"So Miss President, how'd you sleep?" Black asked once White was finished.

"Pretty good," White answered. "It was the best sleep I had in a long while."

"So you feel good now, right?"

White nodded. "I'm feeling a lot better, that's for sure." She suddenly looked a little embarrassed as she looked into Black's eyes. "Listen, Black…"

"What is it?"

"… Thank you for taking care of me," she said with a timid smile. "You really are a great friend, and I really appreciate it."

Black smiled at her. He felt a little embarrassed at her sudden express in gratitude. "Don't mention it, Miss President. You're my friend. It's only natural for me to help you when you need it."

The girl appeared apologetic and a little ashamed. "… Sorry for attacking you yesterday, though. I'm sorry I didn't trust you earlier too. I'm sorry for trying to evade you and getting you to chase me all over Unova."

"It's okay," Black said nicely. "I understand why you did what you did. But that's in the past now. As long as you promise that you'll stay with me and let me help you, I'll be perfectly fine."

White nodded and smiled again. "I promise."

As the two Unova Dex Holders talked, Black noticed that White's expression was becoming brighter and brighter. He was quite happy that she was smiling so much now, and he was now certain that she was so depressed because no one was trying to comfort her.

Black finished with his breakfast and White helped him in cleaning the dishes. Since Black was taking care of her so much, she felt it was her responsibility to help her friend whenever and wherever possible.

Once the two Unova Dex Holders finished, they sat on the couch in the living room and began to talk about what they did since they last met. Black was the one doing all the talking, as he knew that White wasn't going to talk about what she did in her company. The two Dex Holders continued to talk for an hour.

Black tried his best to add some humor in his story so that he could make White laugh. But before he managed, someone rang the doorbell. White gasped and quickly hid herself behind the couch, afraid that someone had come to look for her. Black tried to comfort her, but she looked too scared for his efforts to have any effect.

Once again, Black felt overwhelming sympathy for his friend. It was clear that she had received a lot of 'visitors' who demanded full refund with a threat of a lawsuit in the past few days seeing how terrified she was of someone ringing the doorbell.

After making sure that White wasn't visible from the front door, Black went to answer it. When he opened the door, he could see his childhood friends Cheren and Bianca waiting in the doorway.

"Hi, Black!" Bianca said cheerfully.

"Oh, hey," Black said with a wave. He let out a short sigh of relief.

"Hey Black, where were you yesterday or the day before?" Cheren asked. "You didn't answer any of our calls and you weren't home either."

"I was… quite busy yesterday and the day before," Black answered.

"So where were you?" Bianca asked.

"All over the place," Black answered truthfully. He didn't want to say why he was all over the place, as he didn't know if White wanted anyone other than him to know of her location.

Cheren and Bianca appeared a little suspicious, as they wondered why their friend wasn't answering them properly. Cheren was about to ask something when he saw something from inside the house. There was a girl who had peeked around a wall at them for a split second before quickly hiding.

"Who was that?" he asked as he peeked over Black's shoulder.

Black quickly glanced back into his house before he turned to look at his friends again. He let out a long sigh. "… Come on in, guys."

Black turned away and walked deeper into his house, looking around here and there. Quite concerned with their friend's unusual behavior, Cheren and Bianca entered the house and quietly closed the door behind them.

"Miss President?" Black called as he took a thorough look around his house.

"Miss President?" Bianca muttered in surprise. "Does that mean…"

"She's here?" Cheren said in equal surprise. He did recall reading the news about White's company, but he had no idea that the girl was in Nuvema…

The two Unova trainers saw Black open a closet door. The Dex Holder quickly crouched and began to talk quietly. Cheren and Bianca could hear a softer, quieter, and higher pitched voice talking for a few seconds before Black stood back up. From the closet, a fearful looking girl came out, essentially hiding behind Black. She glanced at the two visitors and appeared a little relieved. Black led her towards the dinner table and Cheren and Bianca followed.

"So… White," Cheren started as he looked at the girl. "I heard what happened on the news. But how did you get here?"

White didn't respond but her expression darkened. Black gently put an arm around her to comfort her.

"Miss President, do you mind if I tell them?" he asked. "They're my childhood friends and I trust them. They'll only help you. Do you trust them?"

White still kept her head down but slowly nodded. Black looked at Cheren and Bianca and filled them in on what happened to White. He then explained what he did in the past two days and what he intended on doing by having White stay at his house. The two Unova trainers nodded in understanding and agreed to keep everything a secret.

"Well, I hope you find Nuvema to be very comforting," Cheren said as he looked at White.

"But hey, what brings you two here?" Black asked. "Cheren, you said that you were trying to pass the Gym Leader Qualification Tests, right?"

"I came to see Professor Juniper," Cheren answered. "I figured she might know a few things about the tests but she told me to talk to you since you had more experience with Gym Leaders."

"I bought some tools from the store yesterday," Bianca started. "But they were kind of… broken, so I'm on my way to go get a refund…" She held her tongue a bit too late. White's expression darkened significantly at the word "refund", and Bianca felt terrible. "I – I mean… though I'm working for…" Again, Bianca noticed her friend's darkening expression. "I – I – I mean… um… the tools were worth a lot of money, and…" Cheren and Black gave her menacing warnings with their eyes. "… I'll just be quiet now."

White buried her face in her arms and started to tremble. Understandably, she was quite sensitive to words like "work", "refund", and "money". Bianca started to panic as Black tried his best to comfort his fellow Dex Holder. Cheren put a hand to his face and shook his head.

"Sorry Black, White," he said in a comforting tone. "I think it'd be best if Bianca and I left."

Cheren rose to his feet but Bianca remained seated. She kept her eyes at White, wondering how she could help her.

"Come on, Bianca," Cheren said.

"But… shouldn't we help her?" Bianca asked.

"You won't be of any help," Cheren replied. "We should just let Black comfort her. We'll help her if Black says we're needed."

Once Cheren and Bianca left, White took a shuddering breath as she tried to calm down. She didn't look anywhere near as happy as she was before the two Unova trainers visited, and Black couldn't help but notice how quickly his friend's mood could be ruined. She looked quite happy earlier that day when he sat beside her watching the sunrise. Then someone said some wrong things and White now looked the same as the day before when she was trying to escape from him.

"Are you okay, Miss President?" Black asked nicely.

White flashed him a rather bitter smile and slightly shook her head. "It's odd how things work, don't you think?" she said quietly after a sigh. "Good things and bad things seem to happen at random but yet, some are repeating like a pattern."

"What do you mean?" Black asked.

White let out another long sigh. "First… at Nimbasa City, I… got my hopes and dreams crushed. Then once I got over it and we met up again in the Pokémon League, you got your hopes and dreams crushed. And now, once you've gotten better, my hopes and dreams have been crushed yet again."

'Oh… right… that event when Musha… left me…' Black thought as he sighed as well. "But… you already got over your troubles once, so I know you can get over this one. Come on, Miss President. As you said to me once before: you came this far. You can't give up now."

"It's not the same, Black," White said slowly. "My situation would be understandable to you if you managed to get all the way to the Pokémon League, get your Gym Badges confiscated, sent back home, and all of the Gym Leaders, Elite Four members, and the Pokémon League champion hate you." She looked down at the floor and sighed again. "Face it, Black. It's over for me. I lost my company, so I'm basically back to where I was before I started to work towards my dream. But this time, everyone everywhere hates me and my reputation is completely ruined. There is no second start."

"So what then, huh?" Black asked, starting to become a little frustrated seeing how all of his attempts to cheer up the girl failed so miserably. "You can't stay here forever, you know."

"Of… of course not," White said rather quickly. She sounded quite surprised… She was about to say something but abruptly closed her mouth and simply buried her face into her arms.

Black looked at her for a second, wondering why she was reacting like this. Then he realized his mistake. 'Oh crap… I sounded as if I was going to kick her out…' "N – No, I didn't mean it like that, Miss President," he said hastily. "I meant… you can't stay like this forever. You're more than welcome to stay in my house for as long as you'd like."

White looked up at him from her arms and wiped away the tears that were forming in her eyes. "No… you're right… I can't stay here forever. There are people out there who are looking for me. They'll find me here eventually…"

Before White finished, someone rang the doorbell. The chime was immediately followed by a series of loud knocks, which was followed by some barely audible arguing. White whimpered as she buried her face into her arms again. She started to sob and Black desperately tried to calm her down.

"It's okay, Miss President," he said as he rubbed her on the back.

"They… they found me," the girl sobbed out. "There's nowhere I can go now…"

"There's no way anyone followed us here," Black said. "I'm sure this is someone else. And besides," he said as he took out his Pokéballs. "Even if they're here for you, I won't let them get anywhere near you. I'll fight to keep you away from them."

Black put the Pokéballs in his pocket and went to open the door with one hand in his pocket for quick access to his Pokémon. When he opened the door, he could see an unfamiliar boy and a girl talking/arguing with each other. They saw him and stopped bickering immediately. The boy had a white hat, had black hair and red eyes. The girl had a blue bandana with a white Pokéball logo on it and had brown hair and blue eyes… and sharp teeth.

"Hello," the boy said. "My name is Ruby, and this is Sapphire. We are here to ask you if you know the whereabouts of the president of the BW Agency."

Black clenched his Pokéballs in his pocket. So they were after White… But as long as he was there, they weren't getting anywhere near her…

SL needed another dose of the Black & White segment so that it may 'unlock' the Ruby & Sapphire storyline. Due to the proximity of the Ruby & Sapphire storyline and the Black & White storyline, the former could only start after a major cameo in the latter. The Gold & Crystal segment has already been unlocked in SL #005 (Crystal's appearance), so it can come up any time. Now that all 5 storylines have been unlocked, any can occur at any time.

Now, SL #008 is… up to the faithful reviewers. 6 options now. 1) Green & Blue. Red kissed Blue? What the hell! 2) Gold & Crystal. Explain how Crystal sees Gold regularly despite her schedule! 3) Ruby & Sapphire. They really need an explanation as to why they're in Unova! 4) Diamond & Platinum. How is Diamond doing, damn it?! 5) Black & White. How will Ruby and Sapphire change Black and White's lives? 6) Original Plan/No Vote. By 'original plan', this means I get to pick whatever I want.