Yo!

Shorter chapter this week, but I have been very busy schoolwise recently! Next chapter will be much longer.

Chapter 35

They ended up heading to Cheren's personal training field, which was located just a little farther out from the training school than any of the others.

To say that some parts of Bianca were anxious would have made for perhaps the greatest understatement of her life. She was quite literally shaking as Cheren led her out onto the dirt field, and handed her the bag he'd stored her old Pokémon within.

It was rather analog compared to a Pokémon Center, but Bianca wasn't about to blame him.

Not when she had far more important things on her mind.

Her mind was, in all actuality, pondering just how it was her Pokémon would respond to her. It had been a decade, nearly 10 full years since she'd last seen them. What would they have to say to her, if they could talk?

Would they hate her? Bianca wouldn't have been able to blame them if they did. She'd been the one to abandon them, after all.

"Are you alright?" Cheren asked, stepping towards her gingerly.

Idly, she noticed that Cynthia had migrated towards the side of the training area, leaning on the fence. It seemed she was content to let Bianca handle this.

"I'm fine, just thinking about a lot."

"Yeah, I guess you would be."

"…What should I do if they–"

"Haven't you stalled for long enough, Bianca?"

It could have been considered a rather rude thing to say, but in all actuality, Bianca appreciated Cheren's bluntness in this instance.

"You're right." She chuckled weakly. "They've waited for me this long. They don't deserve to have to wait another moment."

She took up each of the Pokéballs there, and threw them out all at once. It would be easier that way, so that instead of breaking down on each individual one, Bianca could instead get her crying out all at once.

And yet, when all five of them touched down, and popped back up, releasing those within them, Bianca did not find herself wanting to curl into a ball and cry.

No…

She felt a profound joy within her heart as she charged forward; her Pokémon still adjusting to being released from their balls. They probably didn't even have a chance to notice her before she tackled the lot of them, and wrapped her arms – or tried to – around the clump of them.

"You're all…" Make no mistake, Bianca was definitely close to crying. She was just holding together a lot better than she'd thought she would, and feeling a lot better as well. "You're all here! All of you!"

It took her Pokémon another second to realize who it was, and then, after that…

Well, Bianca sort of got (lovingly) mauled for the next ten to fifteen minutes.

Stoutland jumped up and down, its weight and heavy coat not slowing it down a bit as it bounded about, doing its absolute best to knock her onto the ground so it could lick all over her face. It succeeded fairly early on.

Simisage jumped on her back, howled happily, before taking her beret and running around the training field, then a minute or two later coming back with the beret now filled with leaves, and shoving it atop her head again.

Musharna was the most muted of all of them, but even it cuddled up against Bianca's face, and nuzzled against her. Bianca nuzzled back, and it was a tender moment shared between the two of them.

Mienshao was agile, and immediately competed against Simisage for the spot on Bianca's head. That spot seemed to hold less value once Bianca was knocked down, and thusly Mienshao took to standing on top of Stoutland, happily bouncing up and down.

And then there was Chandelure.

Her final Pokémon was perhaps the most animated in its excitement. The flames within the glass encasing of its face burned far brighter than she'd ever seen them before. It was hot enough that even at a distance, Bianca and the others all leaned away from Chandelure until they'd calmed down.

By the time all of them had had their fill, she had slobber on her face, leaves all over her, dirt covering her entire backside, and probably some burns on her outfit from where Chandelure had, in its excitement, pressed its whole self against her however briefly.

Despite all of it, she felt happier than she had in a long, long time, then.

"So?" Cheren called out to her after she'd finished meeting back up with her Pokémon for the first time in so very long. "Do you want to face off against me right now? I have the time."

She shook her head. "Not now. I haven't fought with any of my old team in a decade." She pushed herself off the ground – which was made slightly difficult by the fact that Stoutland was sitting on her torso, so she had to push him off to do so. "I want to at least get some quality time in, and then some training with my new fifth member, before we face off against you."

Cheren smirked. "I can't wait. Alright, well, go on, then. I have better things to do then watch you get licked for an hour."

Stoutland seemed to take Cheren's words as an invitation to lick her face yet again, and though Bianca rolled her eyes…

She was about as far as could be from upset.

/

"So?"

Bianca sat down on the bed of the hotel they'd stayed within the previous night, and turned towards Cynthia, who was shooting her a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

Cynthia breathed out a laugh. "So, how does it feel?"

"Oh." Bianca supposed that made sense. "…Kind of unreal?"

"That adds up, yes." Cynthia said as she brought a comb through her golden hair. "I can't imagine what it must feel like to right a wrong you made so long ago. I assume it would feel somewhat like a dream."

Bianca nodded slowly. "It does feel kind of like a dream, I guess? I don't really know how to describe it other than that."

"Hm." Cynthia paused in her combing. "You've already decided who the fifth member of your team will be, haven't you?"

"I have."

"And you're not filling two slots with your old team members?"

"I'm not."

"And the reasoning behind that?"

"Honestly, because I want to have the option to flex my roster around a bit." Bianca admitted. "This way, I'll have five from my original journey, and five from this journey. Combined, that leaves me ten. During the World Championships, I'll only be allowed to bring six to any battle."

Cynthia nodded. "The qualifiers will be 3 on 3."

Bianca hadn't known that. "I'll have to be stringent with my selections, then."

"Mm. You're allowed to bring six, and then both trainers involved in the match show off their teams to their opponents. From there, based on what you think the enemy will bring, you take three of the six with you into the actual battle."

Bianca nodded. "…I suppose I shouldn't worry about these kinds of things until I've won here, should I?"

Cynthia chuckled. "Bianca, the fact that you're thinking ahead has me wanting to laugh. It's a good look on you; confidence, that is."

Bianca blushed, looking away. "That… thank you, Cynthia."

"Mm." Her mentor hummed lightly below her breath, even as she finished brushing her hair, and then put the item away into a bag. "I'll be going to sleep, then."

"I will as well."

"Goodnight, Bianca. We can go out training tomorrow morning."

"That sounds good. Goodnight."

/

With nine Pokémon right in front of her, all staring at Bianca expectantly, she couldn't quite help but feel somewhat overwhelmed.

She'd been growing a lot steadier of late, but it was still enough to leave her briefly flummoxed.

"A-Alright, guys!" She shouted, and her Pokémon all grew excited. "Today, we're going to be doing some training! It's been a long time for some of you," Who exactly she was talking to did not need to be said. "So, we're going to do light warm ups first before we get onto anything heavier. We'll go and spar with other trainers in the evening once we've finished, alright?"

There was a chorus of agreement at that, and then they began.

It was a slow-going process, reacclimating to her old team. She had memories of what it was like to work with them, and more than one it felt like she could jump right back into it without having missed a beat. But then, she also had the exact opposite happen, moments where her team would expect something of her that she had no idea what to respond with.

Still, five or so hours later, and completely exhausted, Bianca and her team decided to break off for lunch.

It was nothing special; they'd decided to order what was essentially catering from a sandwich shop within Aspertia. They delivered a bunch of subs – Bianca's being a BLT – for both her and Cynthia, and then subs that were apparently meant for Pokémon consumption as well.

That wasn't to say Pokémon couldn't eat human food; they very much could, and some Pokémon honestly preferred human food. But meals that were made specifically for Pokémon often had health benefits, like preventing plaque buildup and strengthening muscle growth and bone density.

So, they spent the next hour or so eating, and then decided to head on towards the nearby route to test themselves against other trainers. Many were just starting their journeys, but a few were like her, elder trainers in the area to challenge for a gym badge, or just sightseers.

Bianca tried out a number of different combinations. As the day stretched on, and the sun gradually set in the sky, however, Bianca discovered that her original theoretical lineup, the one she'd planned on challenging Cheren with, was looking by far the best out of all of them.

So, she decided that was the roster she'd run for their duel.

And that that duel would commence the very next day.

She couldn't deny it; she was nervous. Despite her newfound confidence, she'd never once taken victory against Cheren, not in her entire life.

It was hard to picture that changing now.

But…

No.

She would win.

She had to.

/

That next day, she and Cynthia left their hotel early. They decided not to book the hotel for another day. After all…

After all, Bianca was going to win. There would be no need for them to stay in town.

After their time here in Aspertia, they were going to make one final stop in Celestic to see Cynthia's grandmother again, and then they were headed off to Alola, where they would stay for the next while until the World Championships kicked off.

It sounded wasteful, to simply sit there and allow time to pass, but that wasn't Bianca's plan at all. The best of the best in the Pokémon world would be doing the very same things that Bianca was; heading off to Alola as early as they could in order to fit in as much training as they could amongst other competitions.

It would be the battling equivalent of cram school.

But she still had to win today against Cheren before they could kick that off.

"So?" Cynthia asked her again as they made their way towards Cheren's trainer school/gym. "Thoughts?"

"Nothing. Or, well, nothing major. A lot of little things."

"Do you have a strategy?"

"Other than to make the correct calls and adapt well?" Bianca chuckled. "No, not really. I've been realizing lately that sometimes you just have to be willing to wing it."

Cynthia nodded her head. "Battles among the highest echelon are like that. Preplanning falls away in favor of being able to intuit your opponent's moves and maneuvers in the moment. It's good that you've realized that. But at the same time, having an opening strategy is never bad."

"You mean knowing how I'm going to lead?"

Cynthia nodded. "Who will your first Pokémon be?"

She considered that a moment. "Leavanny. With U-Turn, I can pivot easily if they end up in an unwinnable matchup, and if it is winnable, I can simply force Cheren to switch, or defeat him outright."

Cynthia nodded. "Good. I like it."

They arrived, and the two of them headed in. Cheren was expecting them, and so the receptionist simply waved them on back towards Cheren's personal training field.

Bianca took a breath, then, as she stepped out into the open air. It was growing colder and colder, fall nearing winter. Only a few more months, and the World Championships would officially kick off.

But for now…

"Glad to see you, Bianca." Cheren smirked at her from his spot at the other end of the arena, seemingly already prepared to accept her challenge.

"You too, Cheren." She spoke, turning back towards Cynthia and nodding her way.

Her mentor understood, going off to stand around the middle of the arena off to one side. She'd be officiating their match.

Bianca turned back towards Cheren. "So, are you ready?"

"I am. Are you?"

She was, and she said as much.

"Then let's not waste time." Cheren, ever in a hurry, reached up, straightened his tie, and took one of the Pokéballs off of his waste. "Come at me with everything you have, Bianca."

Bianca reached down towards her first Pokémon, Leavanny, and nodded her head. At the same time, both of them threw out their Pokéballs, and Bianca began postulating what the first few minutes of combat might be like.

Cheren was a normal type gym leader, and as such, he would likely be limiting himself to normal typed Pokémon. Also, given he was in Unova, he was likely going to be using a lineup of mostly Unovan Pokémon.

That meant that he had only a few options, and in terms of a lead, Bianca had two likely candidates.

Watchog and Stoutland.

The former seemed more likely in an average scenario, but Cheren had always preferred his Pokémon to be able to dish out damage. Watchog was fast, but not particularly impressive on the damage front.

Stoutland was slow, but hit like a truck when it did.

Then she'd bet on the latter.

Leavanny hit the field a moment before its opponent did, taking a stance as it prepared itself just as Bianca had instructed it to. Her Pokémon looked excited, almost antsy as it waited for its opponent to touch down, and when it did–

Bianca reacted.

Because standing there, emerging from out of Cheren's Pokéball, wasn't a normal typed Pokémon at all.

Instead, it was…

She saw the way Cheren's glasses reflected the light in that moment as he reached up and pushed them up his nose. He had a small grin in place as well, liked her reaction was everything he'd been hoping for.

And Bianca realized what it was Cheren was doing.

"I thought you gym leaders had to hold yourself to a single type!?" Bianca called out, and despite everything, she couldn't help but feel excitement and apprehension building within her in equal measure.

"Most do declare a single type for themselves, but not all of them. I myself never particularly subscribed to that ideal, but being a gym leader that most trainers approach at low levels, I'm simply used to facing off against others with weaker Pokémon. But with you…"

He shook his head, chuckling under his breath.

"With you, Bianca, I figured I could shelve all of those restrictions. I'm not going to fight you with the gym's Pokémon. What would be the point of that? No… no, you and I haven't truly battled one another in fourteen years, Bianca. I think we both owe it to ourselves to see just how much we've changed over that time, and what better way to do that is there than for both of us to go all out?"

Bianca supposed she couldn't argue against that; not truly. Even still, there was a thrill in her heart as she stared across the field of battle, and saw Cheren's Liepard standing there, licking casually at one of its paws.

"Well, Bianca?" Cheren called out. "Are you ready, then?"

She nodded her head, then nodded again to Cynthia. After all, it had been her to suddenly freeze up, even after the match had already begun.

It was time, then. No more training, no more preparing.

She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

It was time to win.

"Then, if you're ready…" Cynthia cleared her throat.

"Let this match…"

"Begin!"

End Chapter 35

Welp, that's that. I am boring this week, so that's it.

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