Yo!

Not a ton to say. We're wrapping up the Cheren Arc, and prepping for the final arc of the story!

Start Chapter 37

Cynthia rushed over towards her immediately, and wrapped her arms around her with a joyful laugh. Bianca could really only bring herself to mirror the motion, even as, across the field, Cheren started making his way over as well.

"You did it!" Cynthia cried out.

"I did it!" Bianca echoed.

It was pretty much just that for about five minutes. Salamence joined in at one point, coming up and nuzzling against her. She scratched under its chin and around its fins, which was evidently appreciated by the way her Pokémon's leg began to thump on the dirt in response to the petting.

"Congratulations, Bianca." Cheren spoke as they finally settled down, and he held the final gym badge of her journey out towards her. "This is for you; the Basic Badge. Although, given you did fight my actual team, you're probably entitled to a bit more than that."

"And what is it I'm entitled to exactly?" She laughed.

"Oh, you're not actually getting anything else. I just thought you should have been."

She snorted. "Thanks, Cheren. Very helpful."

"I do my best." He smiled. "So, I hear you're off to Alola for the World Championships?"

"Yeah." Bianca was somewhat flustered when she thought of the fact that this was all actually happening, that this was all actually real. "I… I am. Or we are, I should say."

"And here I was thinking I had been forgotten for a moment." Cynthia quipped, and Bianca lightly smacked her on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "It's been good seeing you, Cheren. I take it by your question that you're not going to the World Championships?"

Bianca's eyes widened, having not expected such at all, but sure enough, Cheren nodded his head. "I'm afraid I've been far too busy with the gym and the trainer school lately to have time to collect eight badges this year. Plus, I don't have the benefit of ever being a champion to fall back on to get a ticket in. I'd have had to go in the hard way, and I simply don't have the time."

"I'm sure you could ask for an invitation, and you'd receive one."

"Maybe," Cheren shrugged, but he was clearly nonplussed about the whole affair. "I guess I just… have other things I want to focus on right now. For me… well, I think this was my World Championships. This battle against Bianca."

Bianca flushed yet again at that, not at all believing Cheren could be serious. And yet, when she looked him in the eye, she saw that he was not acting.

"You mean that?"

"Yep." Cheren smirked. "After all, I lost a narrow battle to the eventual champion of the world, right?"

Bianca went bright red that time, and smacked Cheren on the shoulder a lot harder than she had Cynthia. Not actually hard, but with some force behind it. "Cheren! Don't tease me like that!"

"Who said I was teasing?" Cheren laughed. "But I do think you have the potential to go quite far, Bianca. Don't undersell yourself. I think against anyone but me, that battle would've been a cakewalk for you. It was clear you got in your head there when you sent out Chandelure instead of Shellgon. Shellgon would've countered Simipour, and still left you the flexibility to switch if I brought in Serperior. The only reason I had a chance after you started the battle so strongly was because you messed yourself up."

It was a rather honest indictment of Bianca's faults in that particular battle, and hearing it from Cheren… well, Bianca couldn't exactly disagree. She'd been careless, distracted, and it had nearly cost her.

Still, nearly had was not the same as had. She'd taken victory, even through her own now very obvious mistakes.

She wouldn't be making such mistakes again.

And when she thought about it from that perspective…

"Cheren's right." Cynthia told her, "You hesitated, but you're not going to do it again. This was your last test, and you passed it."

"By the skin of my teeth." Bianca muttered out, feeling a bit awkward to be getting so much praise.

"Nonsense, you had him."

"I don't want to hear it from you, Ms. Cynthia." Cheren, with his hands on his hips, commented. "After all, you're supposed to be an unbiased observer, and yet you called out to her when she was caught in her head; brought her out of it and had her focus back in in time to win."

Bianca's eyes widened. She… she'd almost thought that she'd imagined that, but…

So, it had been Cynthia, huh?

Cynthia laughed. "I've no idea what you're talking about, Cheren."

"I'm sure." He rolled his eyes. "Alright, you two. I've loved talking with you, but I've still got work to be doing this evening. Shandra's going to kill me if I don't help her with it."

Bianca nodded her head. "Then… I suppose I'll see you when I see you, Cheren.'

"Mm. Well, I'll see you sooner than you'll see me."

"What do you mean?"

"The World Championships. Once the preliminaries are over, the whole thing is being broadcasted on TV."

Bianca ran a hand up and down her neck. "Well… I could get knocked out in the preliminaries."

"You won't, and you know it." Cheren told her without a hint of doubt. "You're stronger than just about any trainer going into this other than the current and former champions and gym leaders; I've no doubt about that. You'll make it deep. Now go on."

Bianca smiled at the curt manner of dismissal from Cheren. It was very… him. He'd never really had all that much patience for things he saw as a waste of his time, and now that Bianca had accomplished her goal in being there, it was clear he wanted to get back to work.

Yet unexpectedly, as Bianca began to make her way out of the arena, Cheren called out to her.

"Bianca?"

She looked back, surprised to see the normally unflappable Cheren looking quite so. He had an uncertain look upon his features, like he was doubting himself.

Perhaps he was.

"I'm sorry. About what I said, all those years ago. You were more than cut out for this; I was just too much of a fool to see it."

Her eyes widened; her breath caught. It…

It was odd. It hadn't seemed like too much of a big deal all that time ago, when she'd first heard it. She hadn't really attributed her decision to stay a Pokémon researcher as having anything to do with the offhanded comment from her friend, and yet…

It had stuck with her so long.

And here Cheren was, retracting it, admitting that he'd been wrong.

Perhaps she'd have dreamed of something like this, once upon a time, had she been a more foolish person.

It had seemed too good to be true.

Yet here she was, she supposed.

"I think, in a way, you were right." She answered, running a hand up and down the back of her neck. "My heart wasn't in it back then. Not in the same way it was when I was ready to try again a few years later, before Emboar passed, and certainly not as it is now."

"Even so, I was wrong to say as I did." Cheren bowed his head. "I was going through a period of great personal stress and pain; realizing that I myself lacked the capabilities at that time to become Champion. I took those feelings out on you to feel better about myself, and that wasn't fair."

Bianca gaped.

"You…"

"I've been seeing a therapist recently." Cheren said as he brought his head back up, and smiled over at her. "And I think I've been making some good progress."

"That's… I'm happy for you."

"I'd recommend you do the same, in all honesty." Cheren told her. "It's nice to have a neutral figure in your life. Someone trying to help you help yourself." Funnily enough, Bianca thought she might know what that was like. "But enough about that." He placed his hand on Bianca's shoulder, and smiled. "Go, Bianca. Win. You've got people behind you, spurring you on."

"Mm."

And with that, she and Cheren parted.

But Bianca, for once, had her head held high.

She was going to go to the Pokémon World Championships…

And she was going to give everything she had to win.

/

By the time Bianca was back on the plane, she was beginning to feel nervous again.

"Yes, I know," Cynthia chuckled. "I don't exactly want you to have to meet my grandmother, either, but she's asked me to come stay with her a few days, and in all fairness, it's been a while since I last saw her."

Bianca couldn't argue against that. "I suppose. I guess I just…"

"Does she bother you?"

"No!" Bianca rushed to assure Cynthia. She honestly wasn't sure why she was feeling like this. If she were asked, she didn't think she'd have been able to identify the reasoning behind such. "It's more…"

Oh. Never mind. She'd just figured out the reason, actually.

It was not one she really wanted to admit out loud.

"Bianca, you can tell me." Cynthia said gently, seemingly amused. "What's up?"

"Okay… promise you won't laugh?"

Cynthia scoffed. "When have I ever laughed at something you said?"

"You laugh at the things I say all the time."

"That's–" Cynthia rolled her eyes. "I meant serious things, not your average comments."

Bianca smiled. "I know. I'm just… it's embarrassing, really."

"Hm?"

"I guess I just wanted to spend some more time with you." Bianca admitted, unable to continue meeting Cynthia's eyes. "Just the two of us, without anyone else around."

It was awkward after that, and Bianca knew that was her fault. She hadn't actually looked up to see how it was Cynthia had reacted, but from the total silence, she gathered it wasn't good.

Gods, but she felt like an idiot. Why was she incapable of just keeping stupid thoughts to herself, in her own head, where they couldn't bother other people?

"That… I see…"

Bianca… her eyebrows drew together.

That didn't sound like Cynthia was mad.

She looked up, and saw her mentor looking much the same as her, red in the face and not meeting Bianca's gaze.

…Surely that meant nothing at all. She was just getting secondhand embarrassment from Bianca making a fool out of herself.

Yes. That had to be it.

"A-Anyways," Cynthia stood, coughed into one fist, and then smiled down at Bianca. It was a wobbly thing. "I'm going to go grab drinks. Would you like anything?"

"Oh uh… maybe a Piña Colada?"

"Well, I figured you'd want a water, but…" Cynthia's face is still red. "Perhaps some alcohol wouldn't be too bad, either?"

And that was how the two of them ended up drinking a good twelve or so shots split between them over the course of the next hour. Bianca would be the first to admit that such was perhaps not terribly intelligent, but she was in a celebratory mood. She'd beaten Cheren, hadn't she?

So, she deserved to party it up a little. She deserved to sit down next to Cynthia, and hug the woman against her, and laugh as they joked about nonsensical things that only made sense to those lost in a haze of moderate drunkenness.

And yet, there was a moment, there, as the two of them swayed back and forth, loudly singing some song that Bianca knew the words to by heart, that the two of them accidentally pitched to the side, and fell to the floor.

Bianca's back hit the floor of Cynthia's private jet, and the woman herself landed atop Bianca half a second later with an "oof".

For a moment, Bianca didn't say anything. She actually just giggled, still lost in stupor.

But then Cynthia pushed herself up off of the ground, but only enough so that she hovered above Bianca, her face maybe a foot from her own.

And then…

Time just sort of stopped.

Cynthia hovered there, her face flushed – assuredly from the drink coursing through her, and for no other reasons – and her chest heaving. Bianca was, in that moment, conscious of an awful lot of things that she'd never really thought of before.

She was conscious of the fact that her heart was hammering in her chest, beating so hard and fast that she briefly wondered if there was something wrong with her in a medical sense. At the same time, she didn't think she'd ever felt righter than she did in this moment.

She was conscious of the fact that Cynthia's lips seemed to glisten. Of the fact that her eyes shone, lidded as they were. Of the fact that her hair fell down like rivulets, tickling the sides of Bianca's own rosy cheeks. She was especially conscious of the fact – whether she was proud of herself for it or not – that Cynthia's breasts swelled with every breath she took.

"Bianca…" Cynthia murmured below her breath, so very quietly. "I need… I need to know if I've read this wrong. If I'm misconstruing your…"

Bianca had been drunk what felt like moments ago, but she was suddenly very sober.

"I…" She swallowed. Her throat was impossibly dry. "I don't think you've misconstrued anything."

"Oh." Was all Cynthia said after that.

There was a sort of apprehension visible upon Cynthia's face to Bianca.

She leaned forward. Not much. A centimeter, if that.

Bianca did the same, pushing her head up off the ground, fighting the pull of gravity, just that little bit.

All other things faded away. It was just the two of them, floating in a liminal space. Cynthia grew closer, her eyes slowly fluttering shut. Bianca pushed further, on instinct licking her lips to wet them.

The distance was so small, so miniscule, with just a little more pushing, they–

"Excuse me, ma'am, I– Woah–"

The magic that had been spun about them was broken in an instant, and Cynthia practically rocketed off the floor. Such was sudden and fast enough that she slammed the back of her head into the seat behind her, and whether or not it was cushioned, she winced, and massaged the spot as she bit down on her bottom lip.

"Er… sorry, ma'am, I didn't realize I was interrupting–"

"What!?" Cynthia growled out, and Bianca didn't think she'd ever heard Cynthia sound like that.

"Er, right, Eterna airport is saying they're snowed in at the moment, so I wanted to ask if you'd like to fly into Hearthome or Veilstone City."

Cynthia took a breath, seemingly both to ease the pain likely wracking her skull, and to calm herself down from her earlier outburst. "Hearthome is fine. I think we'd rather brave the longer journey than travel through the marshland outside Veilstone."

"Yes, ma'am." The pilot nodded his head. "My apologies about–"

"Just–" Cynthia bit down on whatever she'd been about to say, sighed out, and then said. "Go."

The man evidently didn't need to be told twice. He disappeared back into the pilot's cabin, and suddenly, it was just Bianca and Cynthia again.

But neither of them could even look at the other. Bianca pointedly avoided Cynthia's gaze, and she had a feeling the other woman was doing the same.

They didn't say a thing. Not when the announcement came on that they'd soon be landing in Hearthome, not when the plane touched down, and not when they got out, and started for Celestic Town.

They were entirely silent.

/

To say things were weird between she and Cynthia during the few days they were hiking to Celestic was perhaps a bit of an understatement.

Things were unbearable.

It was to the point that they couldn't really exchange glances without one of them looking the other way. Simple conversations had become a bit of a thing of the past between them, and Bianca was down in the dumps, given she'd expressed her desire to spend more one-on-one time with Cynthia.

Now that they finally had the chance, of course, they weren't even speaking to one another.

They made, in all fairness, far better time than they ever had before. They'd made it to Solaceon in half a day, which was twice as fast as they normally would've on account that they had nothing better to do but hike. It was clear they were both thinking about hoofing it the rest of the way to Celestic to avoid any more awkwardness, where neither of them could really get any space, but cooler heads – despite the fact that neither of them possessed one at the moment – prevailed, and they decided to stop for both a meal and a bed in Solaceon.

It was a quiet town. Small, rural, and covered head to toe in farmland. There were Rapidash and Ponytas, Miltanks and Tauros, and even a few Lechonk, which must've been imported in, not being native to the area.

It was easy to distract herself with meaningless thoughts like that. Mostly because she was doing everything in her power to distract herself.

She and Cynthia sort of both decided all at once to go their separate ways for the night. Bianca decided to get some training in on the southern route that led from Hearthome to Solaceon.

Nothing happened.

Or, well, nothing of note happened. She coasted through about ten trainer battles that lasted for six or seven hours – that time frame accounting for her heading back to town and healing her Pokémon between battles – until the sun had fully set, and there was no longer anyone out and about to battle.

If there had been, Bianca would've probably found the excuse to stay out.

It was just… easy to lose herself in the battling. She could force her mind onto other things; onto victory. And she'd not lost a match today. That meant that she hadn't lost to anyone – other than when training Ralts and Kirlia on their own, which she didn't really feel counted – since Norman.

Probably a good thirty or so battles in a row without defeat.

It was… odd.

She'd never thought of herself as the kind of trainer that could pull something like that off. Hilda had, from what she'd heard about her, held some kind of crazy streak by the time she'd made it to the Pokémon League, having only lost something like two battles – one of which had been to her – during her entire journey, and having assuredly fought in several hundred.

It was thoughts like that that put into perspective just how obscene champion-level trainers truly were, in all honesty. Just how far ahead someone like Hilda had been to the Bianca of old.

The Bianca of now…

Well, she didn't think she was quite on Hilda's level, but she wasn't trying to be Hilda. That was the entire point of what she and Janine had discussed; not becoming the people they looked up to, but learning from them, utilizing them for motivation in their own lives.

And maybe she could really do something spectacular.

It was funny that she almost believed it.

Of course, the moment she started smiling, she remembered that instant on the plane; Cynthia's face close enough to her own that she'd felt the woman's breath on her skin.

Gods, but the memory had goosebumps running up Bianca's arms. She shivered in place, even as she decided that she'd call it a night for the time being. She made her way back to the hotel they'd decided to rent for the night – separate rooms, which was probably a good thing – and pushed her way into her hotel room.

It was… quiet. Empty.

Bianca's heart whined inside her chest.

/

They woke up early the next morning, and were on the road to Celestic before long, having eaten a modest breakfast just to get them to their destination.

Again, neither of them said anything substantial, although, in fairness, they were both a little calmer now that a day had passed.

"How much further, do you think?"

"About an hour and a half, give or take a little depending on the weather. It can be foggy this time of year. We'll have to see."

Of course, neither of them brought up the incident, as Bianca had taken to referring to it mentally, but that was to be expected. They were both counting on this upcoming tryst in Celestic to allow them some time to separate, and get their thoughts in order.

Before that could happen, they would be eating dinner together with Cynthia's grandmother.

Bianca wasn't dreading the experience, it was just…

Ugh. Life was complicated.

They did arrive in Celestic a little over an hour and a half later, the fog having not been out in full force that day, already beginning to dissipate with the midday sun. Looking back, they could have fairly reasonably made the journey the previous day, given it had only taken them around six or so hours, but they'd have arrived at maybe eight in the evening after a day straight of travel.

This way, they entered into the town fresh faced, and ready to handle anything – other than their own complicated feelings – that the world could throw at them.

And then Cynthia's grandmother annihilated that thought when she walked up, spotted Bianca by Cynthia's side, and loudly proclaimed. "Ah, she's the one you were telling me about, correct? The one you're crazy about?"

All rational thought sort of left Bianca's head as she went red in the face with embarrassment, and Cynthia went red in the face from rage.

She moved towards her grandmother, and the two exchanged… well, terse words felt like an understatement, but it was how Bianca was going to put it.

Bianca didn't approach them until around twenty seconds later, when they'd finished their discussion, and Cynthia cleared her throat. "My apologies about that, Bianca. My grandmother can say the damndest things."

Bianca nodded, still crimson.

They entered into Cynthia's Grandmothers' home – "Call me Martha, dear." – and Bianca caught a whiff of a delicious scent wafting out from her kitchen. She was delighted to see that the woman had prepared quite a feast for them. There was roast duck, potatoes, corn, and many other items.

Even if Bianca was still awkward around Cynthia, the dinner was nice.

They ate for thirty minutes, during which time only the barest hints of conversation passed between them. Cynthia and Martha talked between one another, and Bianca just ate of her meal.

It was, as the smell had promised, delicious.

By the time they'd finished, Bianca was starting to go somewhat stir crazy, however. She hadn't had any time to herself to work out her own thoughts on Cynthia – outside of when she'd laid down to sleep the previous night – and she needed some now more than ever.

So, she decided to at least get herself some air. She walked out the back door into a small, quaint yard. It was fenced in, and had a vegetable patch with withering plants that didn't seem to have born harvest in quite some time.

It was as Bianca was letting out a sigh, running a hand down her face, that she heard the door behind her open and close once more.

She thought it Cynthia at first, and found she didn't so much mind the idea, but then…

"Ah, here you are."

Bianca turned her head to see Martha standing there, her weathered face pulled into a flat expression. She looked neither happy nor angry. Perhaps amused, but only just.

"Oh, hello, ma'am." Bianca bowed her head shallowly. "You've a wonderful garden."

"Pah, no need to lie." The woman stepped forward. "It withered and died a long time ago, and I haven't had the patience – or the back, for that matter – to get in and do the work required to save it. But I'm not here to talk about my garden." She looked up, so that she was meeting Bianca's eyes. "I'm here to talk about my granddaughter."

Bianca felt a small kernel of surprise explode within her chest, but she did her best to stay steady, and not outwardly react. "Oh?"

"Hah. You've been avoiding each other's eyes all night, honestly, it's not that hard to tell that something's going on with the both of you."

Bianca supposed that was true.

"I've known that girl for forty-odd years now, and do you want to know something? I don't think I've ever seen her like this. This jumpy and unfocused; prone to overreaction. I'm not going to get myself involved in her business; she'd not forgive me if I did, but…"

Martha turned toward her, and Bianca fought to meet her eyes, to not shy away.

"She cares an awful lot about you. I'm sure you can tell." She said, sighing. "I've never approved of her… leanings, but the look in her eye when she stares at you… well, it reminds me of how my Brandon used to look at me."

Bianca swallowed; her throat was dry.

"That…"

"Ah, but I've already said so much more than I should've, haven't I?" The woman chuckled beneath her breath, even as she turned herself around, and started walking back towards the house. "You be good to her, understand?"

Bianca wasn't sure that she of all people deserved to be asked that about Cynthia. She was just… just so much cooler, and better, and brighter than Bianca was.

But…

"I need to know if I've read this wrong. If I'm misconstruing your…"

She swallowed.

"I will be, ma'am." Bianca told her.

"Hmph." Martha harrumphed, and then, with a grunt, and without another word, she made her way back inside.

And she left Bianca alone, in her garden, with her thoughts a veritable typhoon.

End Chapter 37

Alright, that's that!

Bianca and Cynthia's feelings finally show themselves obviously, and neither one of them can misconstrue them anymore. What will they do? Well, knowing these dorks, likely dance around each other for a while without acknowledging anything has changed. Yeah. That sounds about right.

Not a ton to say, except for shilling!

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