Yo! Back from break!

My vacation ultimately turned out to be a nightmare, given we got stranded at our destination for three days after our initial flight back home was cancelled, so yeah, I ended up not really relaxing very much. On the bright side, I'm back now, and am going to be uploading this weekly again!

Thank you for your patience, now, here's the week's chapter!


Chapter 17


Icirrus was one of those towns that didn't change at all in the fourteen years since Bianca had last been there.

It was the same place, with the same people. The same small town, the same quiet attitude. It was nice, in Bianca's eyes, even if it wasn't exactly the kind of place she'd have chosen to live.

Although, when she thought about it, it did have some similarities with Nuvema.

They weren't going to be there for very long, but while they stopped in and enjoyed some local delicacies – and some less local delicacies like fries – Bianca couldn't help but observe that they had a Contest Hall here in Icirrus as well.

She admittedly should've just ignored it, because they were making fantastic time despite the fact that they'd had a scare in Twist Mountain, but…

"You're sure you don't mind?"

"I'm sure." Cynthia laughed. "Seriously, if you want to enter a contest, then do so. I'm more than happy to support that."

Bianca smiled. "Thank you. I uhm… I guess I'll go get registered, then!"

Icirrus was a smaller Contest Hall, and it attracted far less people than the ones she'd seen in Nimbasa and Driftveil. It hosted only smaller competitions, mostly playing host to the same faces every few days, competing over and over again. The building held only one-day contests once a week. Luckily, Bianca would only need to wait until tomorrow to compete, and given they had planned on stopping anyways – especially now with all that had happened with Cynthia back in Twist Mountain – they would have the time for Bianca to enter into the contest tomorrow morning, and then make their way to Opelucid in the evening.

The two of them made their way to the contest hall, and Bianca got herself registered for the events tomorrow. A few of the staff asked her questions about why they were in Icirrus, because it seemed a lot of people avoided the town nowadays.

Bianca gave a truthful answer, and was wished well by the few people there. It felt nice, and she was smiling as they booked a one-night stay in Icirrus' largest hotel – still rather small by the standards that Bianca had, whether earned or not, been getting used to – and got their affairs in order.

The next day, Bianca showed up for the contest on time. She was a bit less prepared than she'd been for the last few contests she'd attended, and yet, just as she had the last two times, she won the contest. It was… odd, really. For the first time in her life, Bianca was simply good at something.

"Well," Cynthia sought to explain as they hit the road sometime in the afternoon. "I'd say that while you're not a people person, you're empathetic. You have an ability to get along with others which you gained from your time as a researcher, and you have a level of creativity – mixed with realism – that allows you to both think outside the box in terms of ideas, whilst know when to cut back on them and not dream too big."

Bianca hummed. "That… makes it sound a lot more complicated than it feels."

"Hah, then perhaps it truly is just instinct for you. But I suspect it is a plethora of skills that you are using that you may not have even realized you possessed. The ability to think on the ball is something you'd surely develop while working as a researcher, and while the ability to perform is not as natural to you, you make up for it by being able to coordinate well with your Pokémon, something you gained during your time as a trainer – and, if I'm right, whilst trying to make Pokémon that you were researching behave?"

Bianca laughed. "Actually, yes, you're not incorrect on that front. I spent what had to be a full year of my life attempting to wrangle Luvdisc, which was… well, an experience, to say the least."

"It sounds it. I've never wrangled a Luvdisc, but I've – or rather, I've seen others attempt to do as such with dragon-type Pokémon. Your Bagon is a rather relaxed beast compared to some of them that I have seen."

Bianca tilted her head to one side. "I didn't… really know that. Are Dragon type Pokémon normally seen as more energetic?"

"I suppose so. It comes with their physiology, really. They have so much energy in such tiny bodies as children, meant for once they've grown into Garchomp's or Hydreigon's or Kommo-o's. For the first few years of their life, they're a lot like young Lilipup's."

Bianca felt herself smiling. As much as she'd distanced herself from it recently, she hadn't exactly stayed a researcher for fourteen years of her life for no reason at all. She found the innate physiology and nature of Pokémon to be a fascinating subject. She was simply surprised that Cynthia did as well.

"Where did you learn such things?"

"Ah…" Cynthia thought a moment, perhaps trying to remember. "Well, Iris was one of many from whom I saw such things. Claire, Drake, and Lance, Dragon-Type Gym Leaders, Elite Four Members, and Champions."

"I've heard of Claire and Lance, but who is Drake?"

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense." Cynthia smiled, but the expression was tinged with some small sadness. "Drake was an Elite Four Member in Hoenn. He passed away about… Gods, half a decade ago, now. He was a good man. A bit feisty, and a tad ornery, but good at heart."

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss."

"I didn't know him too terribly well, to be fair." Cynthia explained, even as they made their way into the wetlands beyond Icirrus proper. "But I had a few friends who were much closer to him. His passing wasn't too much of a shock, of course, he was going on eighty years old at the time. Still, it's never easy, saying goodbye to someone you care for."

"No…" Bianca spoke in a quiet voice, beneath her breath, as the two of them trudged along through the mud.

"No, it isn't."

/

They came up on Opelucid later in the day, and by that time, both Bianca and Cynthia were both well and truly tired.

The marshes of Icirrus hadn't been horrible, but they'd been far from good as well. Trudging through them in gear not built for such a passage had been…

Exhausting was a word for it. Annoying as all hell was another.

Bianca's feet were soaked. Her pant-legs were soaked. She felt well and truly disgusting.

It was a miserable feeling, one which wasn't helped by the way Cynthia told her, repeatedly, that she had specifically wanted more of this.

She knew that, of course. She had no one to blame but herself for this decision. They could've been in Opelucid already a few days ago had they called in another jet and simply flown.

But well… Bianca had liked the travelling once upon a time.

And in truth, she had this time, as well.

It wasn't all bad, of course. Along the way, they'd run into a few other Pokémon trainers. Bianca had even been challenged to a battle or two. She'd won them both, and with room to spare, it felt.

Cynthia at least had been pleased.

During both battles, she'd used her Bagon, the first Pokémon she'd been given on her newest journey. It was odd, but even if they'd met before the others, she was probably the least knowledgeable, or close, with Bagon itself.

And that was something she would need to rectify. After all, they were headed towards one of the premier Dragon-Type trainers' doors.

And that meant having a dragon of her own would be a boon.

They entered into the city proper with their feet dragging and their minds wandering. Immediately, Cynthia suggested that the two of them retire to a hotel for the evening, and Bianca didn't even pretend like she had the energy to do anything otherwise.

As they entered the nearest one, however, and Bianca expected them to get a room and crash immediately…

They were instead met by a familiar face.

"Bianca?" The red-haired woman tilted her head to one side.

"Mars?" She felt some energy, albeit muted, return to her form as the both of them smiled at one another.

Their reintroduction didn't take very long, and luckily, Mars and Cynthia knew each other rather well.

"So, what are you doing here in Opelucid, Mars?" Cynthia questioned, and Bianca could admit she was curious as well.

"Ah, well, I was actually coming here to continue my research into Dialga." Mars explained. "Iris is one of the foremost Dragon-Type masters on the planet, perhaps the foremost, and one of the only experts in the world on the Pokémon Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. As I already spoke to Cynthia… -'s friend about Dialga!" Mars course corrected mid-sentence, which Bianca raised an eyebrow at but eventually let go. "There really wasn't anyone else to speak to regarding the Pokémon. Thusly, I came here."

"I suppose that makes sense." Cynthia nodded her head. "And as for your findings in Celestic – were you able to glean anything?"

"Nothing particular, though I do have some ideas as to my next moves, and those largely involve the Johto region." Mars explained, before shaking her head. "Although I should probably stick to talking to Iris first, seeing as how I haven't even done that yet."

"We're here to see Iris as well!" Bianca said, and Mars seemed intrigued. "She was one of the Gym Leaders who helped me to recover my Pokémon from Team Plasma forever ago. Honestly… it's probably in part because of her that I'm able to be here right now."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Cynthia stated assuredly, with her arms crossed over her breasts. "I'm sure you'd have managed just fine."

Bianca shook her head. "I… I wasn't always… That was before I met Elesa, before I really started to even come close to believing in myself. I think without Burgh, or Iris' help, I wouldn't have amounted to anything at all."

Cynthia went to speak again, but it was ultimately Mars who responded.

"I understand that. When I was younger, I was a bit of an aimless person. I fell in with a group that… well, I'm sure you know my story." Mars chuckled, but it was a dark thing. "I had my own idols, those who helped me to become a real… not person, but member of adult life. I think… I'm just thankful that you still have the opportunity to see and interact with them, y'know?"

Bianca understood what Mars was trying to say in her own roundabout way. Bianca had experienced it herself rather recently.

She was jealous, but trying not to show it.

It was the same emotions that Bianca had felt, speaking with Elesa and Cynthia, as the former had said she'd never lost a Pokémon of hers before. It was the same emotions she'd felt seeing Barry be so close with his own, still having his starter Pokémon, his Torterra, right there alongside him.

It was the same emotion on Mars' face, albeit harder to identify than it must've been on Bianca's own. She'd never been very good at hiding her own emotions, and she imagined jealousy was no exception.

But she also wasn't going to judge the woman. Not for feeling something she had. Not for being like her, no matter how much that should've been a damning indictment of anyone.

Mars sighed after a moment, rubbing her hand up and down the back of her neck.

"Well, I'm exhausted, and I'm sure you guys are as well judging from the uh…" Mars trailed off, but Bianca gathered that she likely meant the fact that they looked and probably smelled like absolute crap. "Maybe we can talk more in the morning?"

"I'd like that." Bianca said.

"I see no reason why we can't." Cynthia stated, and that, it seemed, was that.

/

Iris' gym had changed an awful lot in the years since Bianca had been there.

Gone were the perilous drops, the dragon-shaped platforms that guided one towards the gym leader at the very end. Bianca felt that probably made sense, that gym had always been a walking death trap, but she couldn't quite deny that the current gym did lack a little… pizazz.

It was a straight hall, with sconces that were dragon heads, breathing fire up into the air to illuminate the room. On the walls were huge banners, colored a deep crimson, that were inscribed with a design that resembled dragon wings.

It was cool, if a little more down-to-earth than the last design had been.

Well, Bianca wasn't going to complain given how much simpler it was to traverse it.

Iris was, it seemed, going to be the first of the people they'd visited since Wallace that was actively accepting challengers. That… was definitely a good thing, in Bianca's eyes. She'd loved helping Elesa, and had gotten a lot out of that experience, and even helping Burgh to find closure had, in the end, probably been a good thing.

But she was also very much not in the mood to go running about Opelucid searching for Iris, either.

And speaking of Iris…

My, how she'd grown. Bianca supposed that made sense. She'd been their age when Bianca, Cheren, and Hilda had been traveling Unova, so of course, in the interim 14 or so years, she'd have grown as much as them.

Still… Iris had been such a small, feisty young woman when she'd last met her. Yet here, she was taller, broader, more filled out. Bianca wasn't trying to be crass, but Iris certainly had some uhm… shape to her body, now. And because of that, she had an almost entirely different air to her.

…One which was quickly dashed the second that Iris spotted the three of them, and her face lit up like a birthday cake.

"Cynthiaaaaa!" She shouted, running down the steps of her pedestal as gym leader and leaping towards Bianca's mentor.

Cynthia, not missing a beat, caught her and spun her around, laughing all the while. "You know, I'm getting far too old for you to be doing that. A few years from now I'm just going to crumple on the floor beneath you."

"Bah, you're ageless and you know it!" Iris argued, giggling beneath her breath as she gazed at the others. "And you two are… hold on, don't tell me, I think I know…"

Bianca had been about to introduce herself, but she decided to let Iris do her thing.

"Hmmm…." Iris hummed beneath her breath, rubbing at her chin and puckering her lips like she was deep in contemplation. "…Are you… no, it can't be…"

Bianca rubbed her hand up and down the back of her neck with a little laugh. "Uhm… you might not remember me very well, it's been a long time, and–"

"It is, you're Bianca!" Iris laughed, and this time, it was her who had to extend herself to catch the overly excitable woman.

My, but Iris was heavy. She wasn't going to voice that, of course, but she was not the four-foot-tall girl she'd been anymore. Now, she was a fully grown woman.

And Bianca was not very strong, either.

Luckily, Mars seemed to recognize that Bianca was about a second away from total collapse, and helped Bianca to let Iris down gently.

"I… don't think I know you," Iris pondered as she peered up at Mars. "But maybe you're familiar, too?"

"Probably not, ma'am." Mars bowed her head somewhat, whether out of respect or politeness Bianca did not know. "My name is Mars. I was a former member of Team Galactic, and now a Pokémon researcher specializing in Dialga."

Iris' eyes widened considerably, even as she smiled, and placed both hands on her hips.

"Well, huh." She laughed. "That's pretty cool, too! You've got quite the group with you, ey, Cyn?"

Cynthia – or Cyn, as Iris had referred to her – nodded her head with a knowing grin. "I do. Being a businesswoman has its perks."

Iris seemed oddly confused a moment, but shrugged in the next, before turning towards her gym's aide, and saying, "Donnelly, I'll be back in a bit, okay!? I'm going to get lunch with some friends!"

/

Bianca wasn't sure any of them had technically agreed to getting lunch with Iris, but then, it seemed like turning Iris down wasn't something anyone really did. She was far too enthusiastic, far too pure.

Just as Elesa had said, where so many people had changed, become different people in the interim period since Bianca had shut herself away in Nuvema town, Iris was the sole constant.

She hadn't changed.

They ordered, and ate, and talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. It was a nice dinner – not that Bianca had expected it to be anything otherwise – that ended with the four of them talking about why they were all here.

Mars started with her goal.

"I've come to learn more about the Pokémon Dialga. I've already spoken to almost all the experts – or as close as anyone can be to an expert on a Pokémon that's only shown its face on a few occasions in our lifetimes – but I haven't really gotten anywhere." Mars explained. "So, I thought I might as well speak to the champion who was renowned for her focus on Dragon-Type Pokémon."

Iris nodded along to Mars' words, thinking about them. "Well, I don't see why I wouldn't offer my help, even if I'm not sure exactly what help I can really be." She scratched the side of her head awkwardly. "Zekrom, Kyurem, and Reshiram I might be able to lend a bit more aid on, but even they I haven't seen in a decade and a half. I've never once encountered Dialga. I really wouldn't know where to start."

Mars frowned, but nodded her head. "That's fine. I'd like to ask you a few more questions in a more private setting. Not that I have anything to hide, it's more that I wouldn't want to bore Cynthia and Bianca here with the minutia of some of my discoveries."

Bianca herself was actually fairly certain she'd be able to follow whatever minutia Mars possessed, but she didn't want to impose on Mars. Cynthia seemed to feel similarly, given her interest in Pokémon, even if she wasn't a trainer.

"Okay, will do. We can make that happen later tonight, if you'd like?"

"That sounds great."

"Okay!" Iris turned towards Bianca. "Now, Bianca, what are you here for?"

She explained a bit of her motivation, of her and Cynthia's journey across the world. Of her collection of three or so Gym Badges, and how she'd been doing thus far.

Iris smiled throughout it. Her expression was odd, however. She seemed somewhat melancholic, as if she were thinking of a time long gone by.

Bianca didn't think it was a thing that fit upon her visage. Not at all. Iris was supposed to be cheery, and bright, and ever-enthusiastic. She wasn't supposed to be like this.

But… Bianca brought her spiel to a close, regardless.

Who was she to govern what Iris did or did not feel?

"So, in a nutshell, you decided to try being a trainer again?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, I guess?"

"That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you." Iris giggled. "I'm sure Cheren is, too. And Hilda as well, wherever she is."

There was a silence, then, that seemed to encompass them all at that. Bianca found herself wondering just what it was she was supposed to say, how she was supposed to get through such a thing.

It was their waiter, in the end, who broke it, coming to give them the check. Iris paid – Bianca supposed that being a former champion and a Gym Leader meant she probably did have quite a bit of mullah sitting around – and they stepped back onto the street a few minutes later.

"Alright, Bianca." Iris stated, turning towards her and lightly punching her arm. "I accept your challenge."

"That's… just like that?"

"Of course. Why would you have to wait?"

It was probably the fact that she'd had to go through so much the last two times to get Elesa and Burgh to face off against her, but when she thought about it, she supposed that Wallace had accepted her challenge immediately. Maybe that was how Gym Leaders were supposed to be.

Honestly, when she thought about it, the only times they'd had to wait when she'd been younger had been when Team Plasma was up to their antics… which had been fairly often, actually.

But they weren't now. And Iris was clearly in a stable position that neither Elesa nor Burgh had found themselves in.

"I guess that makes sense?" Bianca half-asked, half-stated, which had Cynthia rolling her eyes in amusement.

"Yeah! I'll accept your challenge tomorrow. Talking with you has got me thinking about the past." Iris chuckled. "I'll speak with Mars tonight, and then we can battle tomorrow. Does that work for everyone?"

It seemed to, and with that, they each went their separate ways.

Yet Bianca couldn't help focusing on the last expression she saw on Iris' face.

A twinge of sorrow haunted that otherwise sunny veneer.

And Bianca… she didn't know what to make of that.


End Chapter 17


Technically this chapter was two days early, but eh, I felt I'd already made you guys wait long enough. Next week's chapter might come out on Saturday, though, so the break til then might be a while.

Not much to say atm. Starting Iris' arc, and focusing in on Bagon, finally! Bagon's going to be an interesting Pokemon for this fic, although I'll hold off from saying anything else here. For now, I'll see you guys next week!