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Pokémon Centers had started feeling like home to Bianca. As fun as camping was, it was always a relief when the sliding doors opened to the ubiquitous lemon-scented air freshener, and she saw people sharing snacks, napping with their Pokémon, taking a moment to rest and heal with old and new friends. Nobody tried to hold anyone back from their journey, or kick them out before they were ready. They all got taken care of before continuing on their paths.
Sure, she almost never knew anyone, and she didn’t get to sleep in her own bed or decorate the walls. But her bedroom had never quite felt like hers, with her most treasured possessions hidden in a shoebox beneath her bed—mementoes from adventures she had snuck off on with her friends, back when adventure meant poking around the tall grass without their own Pokémon to protect them. Back when it meant taking steps together.
As she put her feet up in Aspertia City’s Pokémon Center, her mind wandered to her reunion with Cheren. Her friends used to be the only people she wasn’t shy around. Today, she had chatted up a storm with the older gentleman at dinner, who’d told her all about the Mienshao he’d traveled with in his younger days—and when she first got to the city, she and Rosa’s mom had acted like old friends, talking about Professor Juniper and what it was like working at a Pokémon Center. But just meeting her childhood friend’s eye had made her stutter.
And what was with him? When he’d seen her, he smiled so brightly, like someone had switched a flip on his past scowl. Then, before he’d barely said ten words to her, he’d run off.
Two whole years. After the last time they’d parted, there had been a while where he’d barely called her. Every time she’d called, he’d been calmer than he was on their journey, but there was always different scenery behind him, and he seemed a little spaced out. Their calls had gotten more and more infrequent, but recently, they’d been chatting more—him showing her his new Lillipup and asking a barrage of questions about raising it, her telling him about her work for Juniper. It had made her both excited and weirdly nervous to finally visit Aspertia City.
And now here she was, sitting with her feet propped up on one of the couches, resisting watching her Xtransceiver. If she called, he’d probably be in the middle of something, right? Her one job had her running all over. Being both a Gym Leader and a teacher seemed like too much.
As lost in thought as she was, a voice startled her.
“I thought I’d find you here.”
She looked up to find Cheren standing there in his work clothes, looking a little rumpled. Hastily, she swung her legs around to sit up properly.
“Oh! Um, hi again,” she said.
“Sorry for taking so long. Hugh put up a good fight, and then some parents wanted to meet with me.”
Immediately, she felt silly for worrying. “Ooh, how grown up of you.”
“We have grown up.”
His laugh sounded a little awkward. She gathered up the notes and snack wrappers she’d scattered around the couch, wondering how tall he’d gotten. Over the Xtransceiver, she saw his hair and face change and heard his voice drop, but she hadn’t thought he’d be that different in person.
He glanced around. “Maybe I should have called, but I hoped I could see off Rosa and Hugh if I came straight here. Those two are already gone, aren’t they?”
“Yup. They raced right out. Kinda brings back memories, doesn’t it?”
Maybe he wouldn’t want to reminisce, right after he just talked about growing up, but…
“It does. It’s strange being on this side of it, that’s for sure,” he said.
“Right? I can’t believe I gave someone else their first Tepig. I should have brought Emboar with me.”
That would have been a great way to teach them about evolution. She grabbed a pen from behind her ear and jotted down half a note on it before pausing; should she let them have those discoveries on their own?
“You gave both of them Pokédexes, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“I just figured you’d make sure they took their first step together.”
Her heart jumped. She brought herself to meet his eyes again, finding them to be gentle and focused on her, not staring off into some distance she couldn’t picture.
Slowly, a smile stretched her cheeks. “Of course.”
“What are you going to do now?” he asked.
“Professor Juniper doesn’t have any more errands for me, so I was just gonna do some fieldwork. There are a lot of Pokémon around here I’ve never seen.”
“I see. Then, while you’re here, have you been to the lookout?”
“That’s where I met Rosa and Hugh! It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes…”
And there he was, frowning in the face of something chipper. Even that was weirdly reassuring.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m just being selfish. I was hoping to show it to you.”
Her heart did another little jump. It seemed like every time she got her footing, she tripped over a dip in the path.
“Well, taking a second step together is nice, too!”
That brought his smile back, and she quickly took care of her things before heading out into the city with him.
With the sun beginning to set behind the mountains, most people had gone home for dinner, leaving it a lot quieter than bigger cities. Still, it wasn’t as sleepy as Nuvema Town. A Purrloin darted out from an alley, and a family strolled past, the little girl holding onto a Riolu’s paw. The air was fresher than in Virbank and smelled like hot oil from the street vendors.
“Aspertia is such a nice city, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I like it so far, yeah. Though I’ve been too busy to really explore.”
“That’s no good! You’ve gotta get out and see the sights.”
“I guess you have a point. Since I live here now, I always figure it can wait.”
It hit her that he must have had an apartment. The thought made her giggle, but not because it was funny, exactly. It was just weird to picture him going home to something besides either the bedroom where they’d played video games, or whatever flat ground he could fit a sleeping bag on.
Even with a Lilligant dancing on a street corner, her attention kept returning to him. He was a little taller than before, but what surprised her was that he walked differently. He used to slouch and power walk from one place to the next, like he knew exactly where he was going but didn’t feel good about it. Now, she still had a hard time keeping up with him, what with how she kept pausing to peek into store windows or look at a flower that had grown in a sidewalk crack, but he didn’t seem bothered. In fact, he waited for her with his shoulders held straight.
While he told her all about his first Gym battles, she listened intently—mostly. The rest of her attention was on how his hair had grown to look similar to hers, except like he hadn’t learned about combs. She’d never realized it was so thick. Part of her wanted to pat down the bit that stuck up, but she mostly wanted to run a hand through it to mess it up more.
Which of course, would’ve been totally weird to say, so she managed to keep it as an inside thought. Instead, she stuck her hand straight into his hair. He cut off his description of Rosa’s tactics, his mouth partially open, making Bianca giggle. She dropped her hand, her fingers trailing against the soft ends of his hair.
“A Gym Leader can’t show up with bedhead,” she said. “If you’re not gonna comb it, you might as well wear a hat.”
She took off her own hat and plopped it onto his head. It sat a little crooked above his bemused expression. He cleared his throat and adjusted it.
“I guess we’ve already swapped who wears the glasses,” he said.
“Exactly! Look, it even matches your tie clip.”
He fiddled with his tie. “Yes, well, that’s…” He coughed and looked away before finally removing the hat. More carefully than her, he placed it back on her head, his thumbs brushing her temples. She stood completely still, her chin tilted up, while he looked down at her with his lips pursed.
A Lillipup ran between them, and she stumbled back a step.
“We’d better get to the lookout while there’s still light,” he said, and turned briskly to continue on.
They climbed the stairs just in time to emerge into a blaze of orange. She ran to the railing to marvel at how it warmed the green forests, like Unova was waving goodnight to her with her favorite colors. All the little things she’d been both delighting in and fretting over faded away. Below, Flocessy Town curled up in its cozy little nook, and in the distance, the mountains hid the crackling gems she’d seen float in Chargestone Cave. So many places she’d been, and still so much to explore.
“It’s incredible,” she breathed.
“It really is.”
She hadn’t noticed Cheren coming up to stand by her shoulder. When she glanced up, he was gazing down at her.
“Seeing it laid out like this…we’ve really journeyed all over, haven’t we?” she asked.
“We’ve seen a lot, that’s for sure. Though by now, our friends must have seen more.”
She stared off at the horizon, where even the mountains were blurry. “Have you heard from them recently?”
“Probably not more recently than you. Xtranceivers don’t seem to get great reception everywhere…though last I heard, Hilda was fighting at someplace called the Battle Chateau.”
“I bet she’s taking it by storm. Hilbert seemed to be having fun exploring Alola, too.”
When they were little, they’d cooed over some travel guides he’d found, photos of lush greenery and beaches that were beyond belief for two kids from a small town. Maybe he was on one of those beaches now, hours away from sunset.
“Unova always felt so big,” Bianca said. “But…”
“But there’s far more out there.”
Even though he was finishing her own thought, a spike of anxiety drove her to turn to him, reaching for the lapels of a jacket he wasn’t wearing. Her hands ended up fisting in the front of his shirt.
“Y’know, it’s still really big! I mean, we never even came over to this end before. It’s always changing, too. Professor Juniper said the biodiversity is increasing at a shocking rate, and I heard Clay is setting up a new tournament, so you don’t have to go anywhere to fight or see cool things! You can—”
“Hey, hey! It’s okay, Bianca.”
He’d thrown his palms up, looking frazzled, and she dropped her hands.
“Sorry, I just…I thought…”
Her eyes started to burn. She squeezed them shut. Sometimes, when she’d helped Juniper with a breakthrough in her research, or even fought a hard battle, she’d thought of showing her old friends how far she’d come. That she wasn’t the same old crybaby they grew up with.
With her eyes closed, she missed the flash accompanying the sound of a Pokémon being let out of its ball. She opened her eyes to see a Lillipup staring back at her, level with her face.
Cheren’s voice was almost unrecognizably soft. “He’s worn out from today’s battles, but he’s good for moments like this.”
She laughed wetly and took the bundle of joy, as soft as any Lillipup but less wiggly than the one she’d been training. “Aw, it was his first day on the job, wasn’t it? He did so good!”
She kissed the fur between his ears. He bumped his head up against her face, and when a hot tear escaped, he licked her cheek. As she looked up, she found Cheren giving her a strained look.
“I didn’t mean it,” she said. “I just miss them, you know? I’d never want to keep someone from going on a journey.”
“I understand, really. But between both of my jobs, I’m going to be too busy to travel much. Besides…” Tightening his tie, he turned to look out over Unova. “I’m no legendary hero, but Unova doesn’t have those anymore. Someone needs to stay and protect it. That’s what strength is for—or at least, what getting stronger means to me.”
“Wow, two jobs isn’t enough, huh?”
His mouth twisted up. “It’s plenty, really. I’m just…antsy. Team Plasma has been quiet, but so many of its leaders are still at large.”
In Bianca’s arms, the Lillipup began to paw at her. She shifted him to paw at Cheren’s shoulder instead. “Hey, if you don’t relax sometimes, you’ll get your friend worked up. He’s doing his best.”
Softening, Cheren took back the Lillipup and cradled him to his chest. “He’s done more than enough for today.”
Without a friend to hold, Bianca’s hands felt empty. She laced them together before she could do something as silly as stick them in his hair again. “But I think it’s really great, you know? How you’re looking after everyone. Some days, I feel like I’m still trying to prove I can look after myself.”
“You’re doing much more than that. The fact that Rosa and Hugh have already formed strong enough bonds with their Pokémon to beat me is proof enough.”
They deserved the credit, but she’d take it. If nothing else, it warmed her heart to see.
“You know, Bianca…”
That inexplicable shyness crept back. “Yes?”
“I’ve been so focused on moving forward. I think…I was afraid of what I’d find if I looked back.”
Her heart sunk. Was he talking about her?
Without looking at her, he continued, “But I wasn’t trying—you weren’t meant to be—what I mean to say is…”
“Hey, hey.” She petted his Lillipup, who had grown antsy again in his trainer’s arms. “Cheer up. We’re both here.”
Cheren’s hold relaxed, and Lillipup shook itself out in a fuzzy little blur. Dusk had begun to blanket the mountains, tucking Unova into bed. Clasping her hands behind her back, Bianca tilted up to watch the stars poke into view.
“Soon, some of my students will be ready for their first Pokémon,” Cheren said.
“Aw, really? They grow up so fast.”
“I was hoping…Professor Juniper would be too busy to come all this way.”
In the light of the street lamps, she found her own shyness reflected in his smile. It made her not mind the way her heart seemed to zigzag. If Pokémon Centers had taught her anything, it was that people could always come together, even if they took different paths to get there.