Last edited: 07/01/2020

★👑★

White~

"White! Emergency in Nimbasa City! Don't have time for details! Just get over here as soon as you can—no wait! Right now! We don't have time to waste!"

Knowing Bianca, she was probably exaggerating. However, we were friends and I needed to be sure it wasn't anything dangerous. She had gotten herself in a crisis with Team Plasma last time, so this time I would be the one to help her.

Reshiram took me and Lucario to Nimbasa City. It had been a long time since I was here. There were many people here, as usual. Lucario and I were walking towards the amusement park.

I stopped and turned to my right, recalling a particular moment two years ago.

"Oh! A strong-looking Trainer! Please help me!"

Yeah... I recalled the moment where I helped the Daycare Man from the Team Plasma members who tried to take his Pokémon. He recognized the Riolu who walked with me at the time and told me to take good care of him.

Lucario remembered too, as he smiled and nudged my shoulder. I smiled and nudged him back, as I turned to the Ferris wheel where I heard the screams of joy. My eyes followed the seats' circular turning motion.

"I remember being in one of those seats..." I muttered to myself.

"They're not here. Let's ride the Ferris wheel and see if we can spot them. I love Ferris wheels. The circular motion... The mechanics... They're like collections of elegant formulas."

I wondered if that's the reason why I enjoyed riding Ferris wheels whenever carnivals appeared in other regions. There was the millennium festival in Hoenn and I had dragged Lucario with me so that we can ride the Ferris wheel together. Those were the good times, but the one here was my favourite.

"First, I must tell you... I am the king of Team Plasma. Ghetsis asked me to work with him to save Pokémon. I wonder how many Pokémon exist in this world..."

That confession had gotten me back then. I was surprised at how he had confessed his involvement in Team Plasma without a hint of stuttering. He had not regretted what he said to me, where he had battled me which allowed the Team Plasma grunts to escape.

'I know what to get myself out of the mood,' I thought to myself.

"Lucario, let's go ride the Ferris wheel," I suggested.

Lucario agreed and allowed me to lead the way. I ended up racing him to where the Ferris wheel was located. It wasn't a serious competition, as Lucario was very fast, but it was fun nonetheless.

Although, people were lining up for the Ferris wheel. Now that I've mentioned it, there were a lot of people in Nimbasa City... Oh right! Bianca! 

I wondered if the large number of people here in Nimbasa was connected with Bianca's plea for help. It's probably an event that's happening, but I was sure riding the Ferris wheel wouldn't cause too much harm. Besides, the Ferris wheel here was special...

Lucario and I were able to get in one of the carts. We across from each other, our elbows propped on the edges, as the Ferris wheel began turning. I remembered this feeling... it was pleasant.

"Remember this, Lucario? We rode a lot of these... but this one takes it back," I commented.

'I remembered. You were mesmerized by the view and how much you could see from the top,' Lucario replied, smiling and pointing to the distance.

"Oh yeah... the Musical! I remembered how Gardevoir was excited to participate in one of those shows—"

'—while I was appalled,' Lucario finished for me.

We chuckled at the memory. Lucario had been serious when he shook his head in refusal to participate alongside Gardevoir. However, Lucario did participate in one and vowed to never dress up like that ever again. I sighed in happiness and stared at the Musical Theater again.

I noticed Bianca waiting outside, searching for something or someone...—I guess me, in this case. When Bianca looked up at the Ferris wheel, I gave a small wave towards her direction, thinking she hadn't spotted me yet. Then, Bianca began scratching her head with trembling hands.

"I think she spotted us," I mentioned to Lucario.

Lucario nodded, after noticing Bianca. 'She sure did.'

The next thing I noticed, Bianca hastily ran—I mean, actually hustling quickly—towards where the Ferris wheel was located. I wondered if Bianca was exercising because she arrived in front of the Ferris wheel in around a minute. She was screaming something at us, but the glass from the seat prevented us from hearing a thing.

I found what she did funny, my hand brought to my lip to stop my laughter. Lucario joined me as well, as Bianca huffed and crossed her arms. She sent me a glare—not a serious one; from the years I had known her, she had never shown raw anger towards me or Cheren.

I sent another wave to her, but then I also noticed the other people waving back, as they screamed something towards my direction. They all smiled as they yelled, which I assumed was a good sign.

After the Ferris wheel halted, the other riders got off, group by group, person by person. Lucario and I were the last people to get off of our seats. We were welcomed by some of the people who were walking by the Ferris wheel.

"White! Honestly, I told you it was an emergency and you should've found me—oh why would you ignore it and go on a Ferris wheel!?" Bianca exclaimed, flailing her arms around for a minute.

"My bad, Bianca. What's the emergency?" I asked, raising my hands in the air.

"Hmph! I was expecting you to come and find me at the Musical Theater. Anyways~ I need your help with something, but I can't speak it here!" Bianca informed me, whispering the last part in a hushed tone.

"Alright," I sighed in an amused mood, as I allowed Bianca to drag me to the Musical Theater while Lucario followed without a sweat.

After Bianca brought us inside the Theater, I reunited with Elesa who had a different appearance, compared to how she appeared two years ago.

Her blonde hair was dyed to a pure black shade and she wore blue and yellow clothing that revealed more of her flawless skin, which was all under a yellow, oversized coat. On the top of her dyed hair was a headphone, red and white on one side, blue and white on the other. I hadn't seen her in a while, and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to if Bianca hadn't reminded me.

"Hey White, sorry for the short notice. I was the one who asked Bianca to contact you. You see, we're going to plan a fashion show for the festival planned, but one of the models injured her foot and Bianca just happened to mention you were in Unova at the moment," Elesa explained.

"I remembered two years ago where you, Lucario, and Gardevoir participated in the Musical! Too bad it's just people this time..." Bianca pouted.

'Thank goodness,' Lucario sighed in relief, in which I scoffed and elbowed him.

"As much as we would love Pokémon to participate as well, the theme of what I'm trying to show don't match...—think of it this way: I want people to see the true beauty that lies underneath," Elesa furtherly explained.

'True beauty... what lies behind the mask of false truth...' I concluded in my head.

I nodded. "Alright, and I have no problem doing a bit of modelling."

"Wonderful! Thank you so much for your help, White! Let's head over to the changing rooms to prepare your outfit!" Elesa replied ecstatically.

She grabbed my hand and rushed me over, while the sight of Lucario and Bianca grew smaller and smaller. When we arrived at the changing room, a few women were holding different sets of outfits; one of them headed towards us.

"Nikola, pass the outfit here. This is White. She's going to be modelling that outfit," Elesa informed her.

The woman, Nikola, was holding a light cerise dress with long sleeves that loosens near the end. There was also a white see-through sheet that wrapped around the torso of the dress, along with simple matching heels. On the bottom of the dress were designs made with sequins.

"I'm sure you'll look great with her hair in a high, wavy ponytail—maybe your hair down would look better..." Elesa suggested.

"I recommend we put a flower crown on her head," Nikola also suggested.

"That would look nice; do we have any flower crowns with us right now—preferably some red or pink ones?" Elesa asked.

"I think one of the other models is wearing the flower crown we have..." one of the other women responded.

"Wait right here," Elesa informed me, as she scurried off in a different direction.

After a minute, she arrived back with a rose flower crown in her hands. Elesa had me loosen my hair, which allowed Nikola to brush and iron my hair into waves. Afterwards, Elesa placed the flower crown on top of my head, moving a few strands of hair to make them even.

"I think this suits you perfectly. Good timing too; the fashion show is about to start," Elesa commented.

Nikola led me backstage where the other models were. They were dressed in various styles, from simple dresses to ball gowns, from casual to chic. The models varied from female to male.

"You should wait here for a bit until someone calls you up," Nikola suggested.

After we waved goodbye, I took the time to breathe and sighed to myself. Thankfully, I had my bag with me, but I was sure I wasn't supposed to go out with it. I brought out Gardevoir for some company and to secure my bag, as Lucario was somewhere in the crowd.

"We're doing a fashion show, Gardevoir. What do you think?" I asked, giving her a little twirl.

Gardevoir nodded with a smile. 'Looks great, suits you well.'

"Thanks. I'm a bit hesitant though, not that I don't look pretty, but I'm sure I'll do just fine."

'Of course, you will.'

The fashion show was about to start. There were backstage crew members that brought a few of the models to the front, which I assumed were the models that were heading out first. I took off my bag and handed it to Gardevoir.

"Take care of my bag, okay?"

Gardevoir nodded. Just as the first set of models were coming back, I heard Bianca's voice calling out to me. I turned around, as she grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"White! I saw him—ugh! What was his name again!? White, you know who I'm talking about! I saw him entering this building as we speak!" Bianca spoke rapidly.

"White? You're up, so please line up behind Ampère," a crew member called to me.

"We'll talk later, Bianca," I informed her before heading over to where the other models were. "Actually, how did you come backstage anyways?"

Bianca's eyes widened, hastily covering my mouth in an instant. "Hush, White! I snuck in, you get it? I saw him, White; the man you had spent years searching for! It's like you were gone for nothing—well technically yeah, but that's not the point—"

N's here? As much as I loved to believe Bianca's hushed words, I had to focus on helping Elesa first. I discarded the thought of N and focused on the modelling Elesa wanted me to do.

I wasn't going to back out of this because of N, even though I wanted to see him again.

"Bianca... you should leave before security catches you. We can talk about N after the show," I informed her as calm as I could be.

"But—"

"Don't," I interrupted her, placing my hand in front of her face. I noticed Ampère nodding at me before she walked past me and allowed me to take the stage. With that signal, I shook Bianca's hand off my arm and walked the runway.

There were a lot of flashes, and it was loud too, but it didn't bother me at all. When I reached the middle of the runway, I posed, where the flashes increased. After a few seconds, I continued to walk until I'm at the end.

I stopped to do a few poses for a minute. As I was doing so, I spotted Lucario, but he wasn't facing me. Instead, he was facing someone else. I took my time to examine the figure who caught Lucario's attention.

When I recognized him, Bianca's words replayed in my head.

★👑★

Be sure to vote and comment on the story. Also, correct me on any mistakes during the story.

Hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next chapter~

~Lisa