Yo!
Early chapter! No particular reason, I just felt like it.
So here's that!
Chapter 5
Bianca, first and foremost, did her best not to panic.
This didn't really work all that well, but she felt the fact that she tried said something positive about her as a person.
"What do I do!?" Bianca asked Cynthia, for lack of anyone else to ask.
"Well…"
Bianca felt the fact that not even Cynthia had an answer for her didn't bode particularly well.
"Oh, I'm going to go out there and make a fool of myself!" Bianca ran her hands down her face, groaning horrendously.
"Don't be too hasty, Bianca. There's still time for us to come up with something."
"We have maybe three hours." Bianca answered in deadpan.
Cynthia opened her mouth, then closed it.
"Okay, yeah, when you put it like that–"
Bianca whined rather helplessly.
"But even still, you can't simply throw in the towel."
"It feels like throwing in the towel at this point would be an incredibly smart decision!"
Cynthia sighed. "I can't argue with you on that particular point. This isn't exactly an unheard-of scenario. Most of the time coordinators have more than one routine in their back pocket that they can fall back on in case of emergency, or of an injury. If they don't, however, most simply drop out of the competition altogether."
"So why shouldn't I just drop out?"
Cynthia frowned. "I suppose you could. I was just looking forward to seeing you perform is all."
Bianca felt a bit stunned at how honest of an admission Cynthia provided her, then. "I don't… it's not like I don't want to compete, it's just… okay, perhaps I don't want to compete. Perhaps… perhaps I'm looking for an excuse not to, but this feels like a fairly apt excuse, as far as excuses go."
Cynthia smiled, despite it all. "Yes, it does feel fairly apt. I just… I felt you'd come a long way in this past week. And I was hoping we could continue along on that path. That you could go up there, and knock 'em dead, and realize that all of this is something you're totally capable of."
Admittedly, Bianca had been feeling much the same. To give up – even if her reasons were totally sound – at what felt like the last hurdle… it didn't sit entirely right with Bianca either. As Cynthia had said, even over the course of just this last week, she'd grown by leaps and bounds.
Or perhaps it was more that she'd regained some of who she'd once been.
Who she used to be.
She wasn't truly sure.
But… she did want to go out there. Of course, she was terrified, and of course, a part of her wanted nothing more than to run away. But if she could go out there and perform, then…
Perhaps she'd be able to prove something not to those people, and not to Cynthia, but to herself.
"I…" Bianca swallowed. "I still want to go out there."
Cynthia smiled. "That's good."
"I just… don't know how."
"Mm. I know what you mean. I'm trying to think up what we could do, and aside from copying someone else's routine, I don't see what we could do."
It was a bit of an underhanded thing for Cynthia to suggest in that moment; to copy someone else's routine. But the moment she heard it, a lightbulb flicked on in Bianca's head.
Because… well…
Things just so happened to line up in a brilliant way.
"M-Ma'am!" Bianca turned towards Cynthia, feeling her nerves reactivating inside her. "When does Wallace go on to perform?"
"Well, in theory, he's going to be going on right after you."
Bianca felt a surge of hope in her chest, then, as she moved right over to her now evolved Milotic, and said…
"Then… I think we might just be able to pull something off, after all!"
/
So far, Wallace had had a rather uneventful Saturday.
That wasn't to say it had been bad, or especially boring. But for the majority of the morning, he'd simply been waiting for the contest that would take place later in the day.
It was no secret that he was quite the coordinator; these days he almost preferred contests to Pokémon battling, and he knew for a fact that his trusty Milotic felt that way. Still, for now, he did and enjoyed both.
As he made his way to his gym, he took a moment to sign autographs and chat with some of his fans. It was something that stayed humbling, no matter how many years he had held such an illustrious position as a Master Coordinator, and as a Pokémon master and one-time champion.
His mind, however, was elsewhere.
Funnily enough, it was on that woman who'd come to see him the other day.
On her own she was intriguing. It wasn't often that trainers so old came in to challenge him for a gym badge, and he could count the number of times a trainer her age had come in to get their first gym badge on one hand. Still, perhaps the thing that had truly made Bianca stand out was who had walked in alongside her.
Cynthia was an enigma, as she had always been.
And for some reason, she'd chosen to take on Bianca as a student.
He might've simply assumed that she'd done such on a whim; without thinking. But he'd seen the look in Bianca's eyes just as well as Cynthia had. The fear that had lurked within her. The way that she hadn't had a lick of confidence in herself, and in her own ability.
It was what he'd wanted to tell her before Cynthia had stopped him.
He knew why Cynthia had stopped him. Or perhaps he knew the base reason behind Cynthia's actions, even if he didn't necessarily agree with them. He'd wanted to try simply giving Bianca all the relevant information.
Whereas Cynthia had wanted her to figure it out for herself.
The jury was out on whether or not the woman's methods would work.
Still, she'd asked Wallace for help in getting Bianca a chance to compete in today's contest, and Wallace would've been remiss to turn her down. So, he'd called in a few favors, and gotten Bianca a spot, just as Cynthia had asked.
And now, back behind the stage, in the dressing room, Wallace was face to face with Bianca yet again.
She looked… significantly more put together than she had when he'd last seen her. She still felt smaller than her stature would've suggested, and she still crossed her arms in front of her, or placed her hands in her pockets whenever she walked around. But even so, there was a life to her that there had not been just a week prior.
It seemed that there might just have been a method to Cynthia's madness after all.
"Bianca!" He called to her as he stepped into the dressing room, realizing a bit too late that by doing so, he'd drawn a lot of added attention to the woman that he hadn't really meant to. "It's been a few days. How have you been doing?"
"Oh, u-uhm…" Bianca trailed off, looking around at the multitude of coordinators trying very hard to pretend that they were not eavesdropping. "I'm okay."
"You look it." Wallace smiled. "It's good to see you looking more confident. Your steps carry gravitas; I imagine you have prepared a routine you believe could defeat even myself?"
Bianca laughed a bit awkwardly. "Not… necessarily. It's… well, it's a bit of a gamble. I think… if it goes well, though… it might just be capable of matching your own routine, Wallace."
Now his interest was most certainly piqued, if it hadn't been already. He let back his head and guffawed boisterously, glad to hear such a different tone from Bianca.
"Good, good! Let us hope you do well, then. I look forward to going up against you if we meet in the finals."
Bianca nodded her head, and away they went.
The next twenty or so minutes passed by in relative calm for Wallace. He himself had a team dedicated to helping him apply make-up and doll up his outfit to make sure it was ready for the stage. Each of the other contestants could request a similar treatment, but Wallace was the only one with his own personally selected retinue.
Bianca herself seemed to react quite surprisedly to being given such a treatment. As a woman a touch younger than her stepped up and began to dab foundation onto her cheeks, she let out a 'meep' and half-cowered away from her. It was almost enough for Wallace to chuckle under his breath, although such would not have been terribly kind, so he did his best to keep such emotions within himself.
Finally, it was time for the first few performers to go onstage.
None of them Wallace knew by name. Contests were, unfortunately or fortunately, competitions of fame as much as skill. The audience wanted to see familiar figures and familiar acts, and whether or not that was fair to those trying to break onto the scene… well, Wallace wasn't sure he was the person to be commenting on such.
As it was, those without experience in the contest scene were the first to perform, usually succeeding only in exciting the crowd so that the bigger and more ostentatious performances slated at the end of the card could come in and wow.
Bianca, by virtue of Wallace getting her in on a personal request, had been given a spot just before Wallace himself, at the back of the card.
That meant she had a natural advantage in this particular competition, although personally, Wallace wasn't entirely sure how much of an advantage it was.
Because he could see in the way that Bianca's hands vibrated on her lap that she'd likely rather have gone on first, done her routine, lost, and left. She likely wanted to do this for her own reasons, but that didn't mean she felt like being here longer than she had to be, or suffering through her nerves any longer than was absolutely necessary.
Wallace did feel pity for her; it was hard not to. And yet, he couldn't help feeling that Bianca likely didn't want his pity. It wasn't as if such a feeling did anything for her.
Still, eventually, it was Bianca's time to go up and perform her routine. None of the other performances had done much to wow the audience that night; which wasn't to say they'd been bad, simply uninspiring. Nothing groundbreaking had been performed yet.
Not to worry, people of Sootopolis. Wallace remarked mentally. Your savior, Wallace, will soon take the stage!
Speaking of taking the stage, an attendant of the contest came into the dressing room and let Bianca know that it was time for her to go up. She fidgeted in place briefly, before standing in an incredibly robotic fashion, and following along behind the woman.
Wallace couldn't help but say a small prayer that Bianca's performance was, at the very least, not a disaster. He'd seen a few people entirely flub their routine's before; it happened every once in a while, and while most recovered graciously, well…
Sometimes a disaster was just a disaster, plain and simple.
So as Bianca took the stage – to a light smattering of applause, and one particularly enthusiastic fan whose identity Wallace was fairly certain of – Wallace would not deny that he was nervous.
It was funny. He hadn't been nervous at a competition as small as this one in nearly a decade.
He watched as Bianca sent out her own Pokémon – a shiny Milotic which glimmered in the stage lights, and drew a gasp from the audience – and took her first position.
Wallace wasn't quite sure why, but he found himself sliding forward in his chair, sitting on the edge of his seat.
And then Bianca began.
…
It was a good routine.
That was the first thing Wallace thought. A quick routine, too, which he'd always appreciated. There was something to be said for performing what one had come to, and then removing themselves from the stage.
However, there was just one small problem.
It was a rather familiar routine.
In fact, it was a very familiar routine.
Wallace watched as the Milotic arced out of the water, sending a halo of water out at all angles. As it leapt into the air, it undulated its body so as to create a cylindrical shape that a person could dive through – which was exactly what Bianca did. She leapt from off of a diving board, straight through her Milotic's coils, and into the water. Milotic fell into the pool beneath her a moment later.
There was a brief second of tension before the two burst out again, Bianca balanced atop Milotic's head, with her arms out above her, taking one final pose.
The audience roared.
It was an incredible routine; Wallace couldn't help thinking. In fact, it was the routine of a master coordinator.
Wallace would know.
Given it was his routine.
The routine that Wallace had been planning on performing in roughly five minutes.
She stole my routine. Wallace chuckled beneath his breath. I almost can't believe it… and yet, somehow, I can.
After all, Bianca was a student of Cynthia.
And that woman was, in a word, crafty.
He laughed as he shook his head, and stood from his spot. He almost wanted to be angry, but there was something about Bianca's earnestness that prevented such an action.
Even if he still planned on beating her.
Oh, she'd performed his routine quite well. Almost as well as he himself would have. But Wallace was a master coordinator. He had been in more contests than most Pokémon trainers had been in battles.
And he had more than one routine under his belt.
So, he cracked his neck from one side to the other, rolled his shoulders, and stepped out onto the stage.
/
Bianca still wasn't entirely sure how she'd pulled it all off, really.
As she'd stood there on the podium after the contest, stood beside Wallace himself as the audience cheered for her, she'd been unable to feel much of anything besides a warmth inside of herself; a pride in herself that felt…
That felt good.
She changed back out of her coordinator outfit – an orange ensemble that complemented her shiny Milotic's blue and orange scales quite well – and made her way out into the main hallway of the contest hall. There, several fans and audience members called out to numerous performers, and then…
Then they called out to her, too.
It was a cacophony of sounds that Bianca couldn't really process; and honestly, she wasn't really in an emotional state capable of processing it, either. It was all she could do, really, to smile and wave at those who spoke to her as she stepped past and around them.
And then she was practically barreled into by someone. She looked up and was suddenly face to face with Cynthia, who looked more overjoyed than she'd ever seen her.
"You nailed it!" She exclaimed, and that little flame in Bianca's heart grew warmer. "Hah! You did amazing out there!"
"I… didn't win." Bianca muttered a bit awkwardly, rubbing at the back of her neck.
"Bianca, you came in second in your first ever contest! Do you understand how incredible that is?"
She didn't, really.
"Uhm–"
"Do you ladies mind if I cut in?"
Bianca and Cynthia both turned to see Wallace stepping up towards them, smiling widely.
"I wanted to congratulate you on your performance today, Bianca." Wallace stated. "You did wonderfully out there, even if your routine was suspiciously familiar."
Bianca laughed quite awkwardly, and didn't meet Wallace's eyes.
"And, uhm… congratulations on winning the contest, sir." Bianca answered, bowing her head.
"Thank you, Bianca. You're a quick study; a rather useful talent in a world as spontaneous as ours. You picked up my routine from seeing it, what, once?"
Bianca nodded embarrassedly, still feeling ashamed that she'd had to resort to stealing Wallace's own routine in order to actually have a routine at all to perform after her Feebas' unplanned evolution.
"I must say, I'm not certain I would've been capable of such in my first contest." Wallace spoke, smiling all the while. "You're sure you don't want to attend more contests? I think you may just have a knack for them."
"Ah, well… maybe." Bianca conceded, because even if she had been gangly, awkward, and a total mess… the contest had been fun, in the end.
"That'll do, I suppose." Wallace stated, chuckling. "I also wanted to let you know that as of tomorrow, this place will officially be a Pokémon Gym once more. Any and all trainers are more than welcome to challenge me for a gym badge once again."
…It was almost funny. A week ago, Bianca had cowered inside of a bathroom stall, and nearly cried when she'd lost to Wallace. She'd felt helpless, and confused, and in over her head. And now…
Now a lot of that was still there. She still felt in over her head. She was perhaps even more confused than she'd been.
But… she didn't feel quite so helpless. She didn't feel quite so useless.
There was a part of her, however small, that believed that she might just be able to beat Wallace.
…No…
No. She…
"Okay." Bianca spoke, meeting Wallace's eyes for the first time in a few minutes. "I-I'll be there."
"I'm quite pleased to hear it." Wallace answered her. "Well, I'll leave the both of you to it. Have a good night, ladies!"
And with that, Wallace made his way through the crowds around them, signing autographs and taking pictures with audience members and fellow contestants alike.
Bianca wasn't really sure what she was supposed to be feeling as the attention gradually shifted away from them, and away from the contest hall in general. Already, more and more people were beginning to filter out, until it was only Bianca, Cynthia, and a handful of others remaining.
At that point, Cynthia spoke again.
"You really did do so well, Bianca." Cynthia repeated, and Bianca felt a blush coming to her cheeks.
"I… thank you."
"You should be proud of yourself. In a week, you've already come this far. Think about how much further you'll be able to go!"
It was a humbling thing to hear out of someone else's mouth, even if Bianca felt like such words perhaps should've gone to her head. Perhaps they would have to someone else's, but Bianca had a habit of being… not necessarily grounded, but pessimistic.
She wasn't really the type to give herself credit for anything, least of all so quickly.
"We'll see." She answered. "So, uhm… I guess we'll just relax for the rest of the day?"
"That sounds good." Cynthia said with a smile. "You've certainly earned a break."
Bianca was glad they were in agreement on that particular front.
Just then, however, Bianca heard a nearby pair of younger girls whispering towards one another.
"Wait a minute… that blonde woman…"
"Yeah… you too?"
"I feel like I've seen her before somewhere…"
Near instantly, Cynthia's hand clamped down on Bianca's arm. She was smiling just a bit too widely as she pulled Bianca along, right past the pair of women, and out of the venue entirely.
"And on that note," Cynthia stated as she marched along. "I believe it's time we left!"
Bianca couldn't quite help laughing as Cynthia dragged the two of them past the outside crowds, and back into Sootopolis proper.
/
Bianca woke up the next morning feeling… well, pretty normal, actually, but that was a definite improvement over how defeated she'd been feeling a week ago. Now, she wasn't exactly holding her head high, but there was a certain height to it that had not been there prior.
Cynthia seemed to be able to see it, too, because she wouldn't stop smiling at her whenever Bianca looked her way. It was… it was nice. Really nice. It was a feeling somewhat familiar to her.
It was like Professor Juniper was still there beside her.
She'd been there for Bianca for years and years, and throughout it all, Bianca hadn't even really realized just how alleviating constantly having someone in her corner really was. During the two weeks she'd spent making her way out of Nuvema, she'd had no one to rely on; only herself.
It hadn't been good for Bianca, she didn't think. As much as she wanted to pretend otherwise, she needed someone to lean on, at least for the time being.
She didn't like that fact about herself very much, but that didn't make it false.
They made their way down towards the Sootopolis gym – now once again a Pokémon gym and not a contest hall – at a brisk pace. As they had last week when they'd been doing the same, they briefly stopped to get some flavored shaved ice. Bianca went for a cherri berry flavor this time, which she enjoyed about as much as she had the razz that she'd gotten last week.
Finally, after a twenty or so minute walk, they arrived at Sootopolis gym.
"Bianca, Cynthia!" Wallace shouted towards the two of them as they entered. "Just the duo I was hoping to see!"
"Wallace." Cynthia nodded his way. "Were you waiting for us?"
"Hah, indeed I was. I had a feeling you wouldn't be wasting any time in coming to challenge me. Am I correct in assuming you are ready to begin now, Bianca?"
Bianca felt a thrill of nerves shoot through her, even as she swallowed down on the spittle within her mouth, and nodded her head.
"I am. I'm… I'm going to win!"
Wallace chuckled. "What confidence. I like to hear it."
Wallace led her inside to the arena; the same place that she'd performed the man's own routine to take second place in the contest not even twenty-four hours ago. It was strange that it felt like an almost comfortable venue for her now.
"I assume you will be using two Pokémon today, Bianca?"
"I will." She said, nodding her head.
"Then I will respond in kind." Wallace said, smiling. "I've already taken the liberty of preparing my team. We can begin whenever you're ready."
Bianca nodded her head. "Then… we can begin now."
Cynthia smiled, before making her way over to the center of the pool off to one side. She raised her hand, and called out to both of them.
"Are both trainers ready to begin?"
"I am." Wallace said without an ounce of doubt.
"I am." Bianca called out as well, some fear still lacing her voice, but notably muted compared to how it had once been.
"Then… Begin!"
Bianca reached back towards her Bagon, and sent it out first. Wallace had used a Luvdisc at the beginning of the battle last time she'd faced him, and while she wasn't entirely certain he'd be doing the same here, she knew that if he did, things weren't going to go the same as they had the last.
She was different now. She knew that.
"Go, Bagon!"
"Go, Luvdisc!"
So, it was the same. Bianca took a moment to drink that in. She didn't doubt that Wallace had done such a thing for her own sake, giving her a chance to re-do their first battle in earnest, now with a secondary section given her second Pokémon.
It brought back Cynthia's words from a few days back. That it wasn't a gym leader's job to be an insurmountable wall. Rather, it was their job to test the trainers that approach them.
Seemingly, it was also their job to help the trainers they faced grow, for that was what Wallace had helped her to do. Certainly not as much as Cynthia had, but she wasn't the type to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth.
"Luvdisc, open things with an Aqua Ring!"
So it had begun. Bianca knew now that Wallace was content to either wait her out, or take the offensive, even with his aqua ring to provide passive recovery. She wouldn't allow him the time to choose, however. Not this time.
"Bagon, hit it with a Dragon Rage!"
This time, her Bagon responded to her immediately. Purple and yellow flames glowed within its maw, and it spewed them out across the water, arcing straight for Luvdisc.
"Dodge, Luvdisc!"
Luvdisc was not an easy Pokémon to pin down. It was agile and quick; lightning fast even at its slowest. She had studied them once a few years back, and seen just how much trouble they gave her fellow researchers when the time came to try and send them back into their Pokéball's.
If a Luvdisc did not wish to return to it's Pokéball, then it wouldn't. It was fast enough to avoid the red beam that recalled a Pokémon back to its ball.
Often, a reward had been required in order to get the Luvdisc they'd been researching back into their Pokéball's. Bait, in another word.
And that was precisely Bianca's plan, here.
"Bagon, catch it with a Rock Tomb!"
It was an unusual move for a Bagon to learn, and so she had a feeling Wallace wouldn't be expecting it. She'd purchased the TM at the department store the previous day while she and Cynthia had been preparing for the battle today, and while it had been expensive…
Bianca had no doubt it would be more than worth the price.
And, well… Cynthia had bought it for her, despite her protests.
Stones rocketed from Bagon's position, and Luvdisc was too busy attempting to dodge the initial Dragon Rage to be able to avoid the collection of stones that now pinned it in place. The rock's fell upon it, and immediately, its singular advantage, its overwhelming speed, was taken from it.
"Water Gun, Luvdisc!" Wallace called, clear-headed despite a not-so-favorable scenario.
"Counter that with a Dragon Rage of your own, Bagon!"
The two Pokémon each fired out their abilities, and they collided around the center of the pool. Her Bagon, however, had yet to take a hit in this battle, and ultimately, that lack of exertion was what won the brief stalemate. Bagon's flames turned Luvdisc's Water Gun to steam, and washed over Luvdisc a moment later.
When they cleared, Luvdisc was left floating atop the water, clearly knocked out.
"Come on back, Luvdisc, you did wonderfully." Wallace spoke, enveloping the KO'd Pokémon in a red light as it returned to its Pokéball. "Well, well, well, Bianca, I can see you've come in with quite the plan. I must say, I'm again impressed. Using Rock Tomb to take away Luvdisc's speed advantage was incredibly intelligent."
Bianca went a bit red. "Oh, uhm… t-thank you, sir!"
"But don't think I'm throwing in the towel just yet!" Wallace exclaimed, grabbing ahold of the second Pokéball on his waist. "I've still got one Pokémon left. Go, Sealeo!"
It wasn't exactly the Pokémon she'd expected, but when she thought about it, Sealeo made a great deal of sense for Wallace to choose against her. After all, even if it wasn't a fully evolved Pokémon – Wallace likely possessed a Walrein, but chose not to use it as Bianca was not quite at such a level herself – it still possessed an Ice typing.
That meant it held a natural advantage over her Bagon.
And that meant her Bagon would be switching out itself.
"Return, Bagon." She spoke a tad bit robotically, placing the ball back on her waist as the Pokémon was called back. "Go, Milotic!"
Her Milotic sprung from its ball with a wondrous cry; it's shiny orange and yellow scales glittering in the white, artificial light of the room.
"What a beautiful Pokémon." Wallace remarked, a light and easy smile on his face. "My, truly gorgeous."
Bianca chuckled under her breath, even as she called out, "Ready?"
"Indeed I am." Wallace answered.
"Resume!" Cynthia called.
"Milotic, Ice Beam!"
"Sealeo, Go for an Ice Beam yourself!"
The twin beams, again, collided in the middle of the arena. Bianca watched as the crystals of ice formed a makeshift iceberg in the center, one that would likely serve as an obstacle for the remainder of this battle.
Bianca found herself mentally noting down Ice Beam's ability to create an obstacle, but set the thought aside for later.
"Milotic, Water Pulse!"
Her Pokémon breathed out rings of water that shot out towards her opponent's Pokémon. Sealeo, in almost complete contrast to Luvdisc, was an incredibly slow Pokémon. It was quite bulky, however, which meant a few hits weren't going to be enough to end this in Bianca's favor.
Just as she'd suspected, Sealeo took the hit on its body, but emerged from the created smoke looking no worse for wear.
Bianca knew that they were in for the long haul, then.
They traded blows back and forth for a while after that. Bianca's Milotic bobbed and weaved while Sealeo largely remained stationary, keeping to one spot and trading blows with Milotic when it could. Her Milotic, while fully evolved, was clearly lacking in terms of power, not at all a highly experienced Pokémon. It had only hatched a week ago.
"Sealeo, Aurora Beam!" Wallace called out, unveiling a new move he must have thought would give his Pokémon the edge.
Wallace's Sealeo fired off a blast of icy particles that created a shrill sound in the air.
And for some reason… Bianca couldn't help but see something yet again.
She saw Wallace, leaping through the center of Milotic's form, as it created a ring around him for him to leap through. She saw herself performing the same maneuver, the way that Milotic had contorted itself almost effortlessly to keep up.
And she found herself keying into her finishing move then and there.
"Milotic, ride that Aurora Beam forward!"
Her Milotic seemed to sync up with her in that moment; its own thoughts linking with hers and following her exact idea to the letter. Just as they had managed to do with minimal practice, almost on the spot, her Milotic jumped forward, curling to create a gap that Sealeo's Aurora Beam sailed straight through.
Wallace's eyes widened.
And Bianca knew it was over.
"Milotic, Iron Tail!"
Her Milotic's orange and yellow scales glowed silver, and her Pokémon slammed its tail down on her opponent's Pokémon. It kicked up a cloud of dust and particles that briefly spread around the arena, cloaking the result of the attack from view.
For a moment, the entire arena hung in silence.
And then Sealeo was revealed, entirely conked out from the hit it had just taken.
"Gym Leader Wallace is out of usable Pokémon!" Cynthia shouted, with obvious excitement in her voice. "Thusly, the winner is the Challenger, Bianca!"
It took Bianca a moment to realize she'd won. It didn't really set in, truth be told, until five or six seconds later, when Cynthia collided with her at top speed and tackled her into a hug.
"You did it!" She exclaimed, laughing all the while.
And Bianca couldn't help but echo the sentiment, albeit with a bit more disbelief.
"I… I did it."
"You did it!"
"I did it!" She responded this time, laughing beneath her breath. "I did it!"
She hugged Cynthia back, unsure of what to even do with herself. Off to one side, she saw the way that her Milotic seemed to be looking for a pat on the back, or to be told that it had done a good job.
Bianca's mouth opened to do just that…
Her voice caught.
…
She recalled the Pokémon back into its ball, still smiling from ear to ear, but with that mood significantly dampened.
"A marvelous performance!" Wallace called out as he made his way towards them. "Truly, you've done remarkably, Bianca."
"Thank you, sir." She bowed; this time ready to accept the compliment he'd tried to pay her earlier. "I… I couldn't have done it without–"
"None of that," Wallace shook his head, "This is your moment, Bianca. Bask in it. Do not deflect."
Bianca opened her mouth to retort…
And then shut it.
"I'll try." She laughed.
Wallace smiled. "That's good enough for me."
/
The next day or so was a bit of a blur for Bianca.
She and Cynthia went out to dinner to celebrate – or, well, they were going to go out to dinner, but then Cynthia nearly got recognized as they entered the restaurant, and so they'd ordered a pizza to be delivered to Phoebe's condo instead – and just in general had a great time.
She knew, though, that their time in Sootopolis wasn't going to last forever. She was honestly sort of expecting Cynthia to just be gone in the morning when she woke up, all of this having been some strange fever dream, but instead, she found the woman pacing back and forth in the main living area of the condo, seemingly doing her best to wear a hole into the floor.
"Cynthia?" She called.
The woman flinched somewhat, which was Bianca's first hint that maybe something was going on.
"Ah, Bianca, I needed to talk with you," Cynthia stated, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry to cut our time in Sootopolis short, but I've actually been called back to Sinnoh for something."
That explained that, then. "Oh? Are you from Sinnoh?"
"Huh?" Cynthia seemed surprised she'd asked, before seemingly remembering that Bianca had no idea who she was. "Oh. Yes. I am. A little town called Celestic. You probably haven't heard of it."
Bianca hadn't.
"Well, I've been called back because a recent colleague of mine found something related to the Pokémon Dialga, and… well, suffice it to say it's a field of study that the both of us have been interested in for a long time."
"You take interest in legendary Pokémon?"
"More in mythos and mythology relating to Pokémon." Cynthia explained.
"So, are you like… sponsoring them, or?"
Again, Cynthia's eyes widened.
"Yes. I've been paying to have a scientist investigate some ruins that are in the center of Celestic. She just called to let me know they think they have something."
"Then… I suppose that's where we're going?"
Cynthia seemed surprised. "Are you sure you want to come? It's not going to be the most entertaining trip. You could always just stay here. I know Phoebe wouldn't mind if you stayed for a few days until I got back."
"You did so much for me," Bianca said, smiling a bit bashfully despite the assuredness of her voice. "The least I can do is accompany you to your hometown. I'm sure it'll be fun, regardless."
Cynthia let out a little laugh at that, rubbing at the back of her head a tad bit awkwardly. Eventually, however, she nodded her head, and said, "We'll need to be heading to Celestic first thing tomorrow morning. It's a rather lengthy flight to Sinnoh, and Celestic doesn't have their own airport, so we'll need to hike a way's from Eterna City through Mt. Coronet."
"That's fine." Bianca assured her. "Honestly, I expected to do a lot more hiking during this trip then riding in private jets anyways."
Cynthia laughed. "Alright, then. That settles it. I'll stop trying to convince you not to accompany me."
Bianca laughed. "I'd appreciate that."
/
The next morning, Cynthia and Bianca got up bright and early and grabbed their prepacked bags. They left the way-too-fancy condo behind – Bianca would remember it until the end of her days – and headed towards the private airport that Cynthia had her plane docked at.
…Thinking that statement felt so weird for Bianca.
Still, as they made their way up towards the airport, they were intercepted by a certain figure, who waved at them from the entrance to the airport.
"I thought I'd see the two of you off." Wallace spoke. "It's been good to catch up with you again, Cynthia. We really should talk more. Perhaps over dinner?"
Cynthia laughed. "I admire your persistence in this particular matter, Wallace, but I'm afraid I'll have to pass."
If the man was overly hurt by such a refusal, then he hid it well. Really, Bianca felt like it was more of an inside joke between the two of them rather than a serious proposition.
"I wish we had longer to exchange pleasantries," Cynthia said as she walked right by Wallace, and the man rolled his eyes in response. "But we must be going."
"Yes, yes, you two have fun now."
Cynthia headed towards the jet, and Bianca watched her go with some small trepidation in her heart.
"Bianca?"
She turned towards Wallace, who seemed confused as to why she wasn't following him.
"Are you not going with Cynthia?"
"Oh, I am." She clarified, smiling. "I just wanted to thank you, first."
"Hah, think nothing of it." Wallace shook his head. "I did as any gym leader is supposed to."
"N-No, not for that," She shook her head. "For the Feebas egg. Thank you for gifting that to me. That was incredibly generous of you."
Wallace's eyes briefly widened, before he gave a quiet chuckle beneath his breath.
"I wish I could take credit for such a generous donation… but I'm afraid that Feebas egg wasn't mine."
"What?"
"It wasn't mine." Wallace repeated, a smug sort of smirk on his face.
"Then… whose was it?"
Wallace seemed to be getting a great deal of enjoyment out of this as he closed his eyes, leaned back with his hands behind his head, and simply said, "I don't believe I'm at liberty to tell you. But I'm sure you'll figure it out, someday."
Bianca's brow furrowed, even as she let out an, "Uh… okay."
Wallace laughed. "Don't fret. It's no sinister mystery. Let's just say… you have someone looking out for you."
"But… You're the only Pokémon trainer that I know."
Wallace's smug smile only grew.
"Quite the mystery indeed."
And with that, the man turned himself around, and marched back down the path towards Sootopolis.
"You two have fun, now. Give Cynthia's grandmother my regards!"
And that, it seemed, was that. Bianca still had a good thousand and one questions she wanted to ask Wallace about just who this mysterious benefactor of hers was, but instead, she just let out a petulant sigh, and headed towards the plane that was revving its engines.
As she boarded, and took her seat alongside Cynthia, she found herself thinking back on her time in Sootopolis. From her initial failures, to her surprising successes.
And she wondered just what else she might find as she continued her journey.
Out in the wide world of Pokémon.
End Chapter 5
Alright, that's that!
Slightly earlier chapter this week, but the next chapter will still come out next Saturday (not this Saturday, to be clear). I just felt like uploading this today.
Anyways, next chapter, we get some insight on current happenings in Celestic Town, and then the next Arc begins!
See you all then!