It had stopped being a surprise to either of them when they met in Driftveil City. They'd left Nimbasa with no particular plans to meet at the next locale, yet once again they had bumped into each other. White had already gotten her Gym Badge, so Bianca suggested they go explore the grassy hills just north of the city, and that is where they were when the first drops fell.

"Hey, did you feel that...?"

Bianca squinted at the eternally overcast sky as White looked her bare—and dry—arms over. "No?"

"I swear I felt rain." Bianca shrugged, and turned to gaze out over the Driftveil rooftops. "What a great view!"

White thought even from that distance she could make out the odd, grayish-purplish hair of Heartbreaker Charles as he rode his motorcycle endlessly back and forth. "Great view, but not the most exciting city."

"Hey, don't say that! Okay, it's not as exciting as Nimbasa, but where us?"

"Maybe it's just because it's always cloudy. I want to go somewhere alive, like... like Black City!" White looked wistfully at the horizon. "That would be incredible."

Bianca smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll make it there one day. But don't you want to see White Forest, too? After all," she teased, "it's named after you."

At that moment, the skies opened up. The rain was instantly torrential, soaking both girls in a matter of seconds, and White couldn't help but laugh as water began to cascade off her hat. "You know, I definitely feel rain!" Boom! She tugged Bianca's arm, shouting over the thunderclap and the howling winds. "Come on, let's go! I don't want to get hit by lightning." She was only half joking.

But Bianca tugged in the opposite direction. "No, look! Over there!"

White looked and saw resting on a distant hill a large building, somewhat old in appearance, with two wings on either side of a tall bell tower. She raised her eyebrows at Bianca. "You wanna?"

Bianca gave her a why not? look. "Yeah!

"Then let's go!"

The hills rang with their happy shouts as they ran together up and down the slick slopes, slipping and sliding on the et grass and steadying each other when they neared an unceremonious tumble down a hill. White couldn't believe how free, how alive she felt. Just like when she was in Nimbasa, she was having more fun than she'd had in a long time, and it was all from the simple joy of being with Bianca Being able to get loose like this, with no one to judge her behavior and with her friend there to join in...it was exhilarating.

At last they reached the building, pushing aside the heavy wooden doors and entering. Inside there were rows of benches and chairs all facing one side of the room, where some sort of stage or raised area had been removed, leaving only marks on the floor. A television had been more recently installed atop a table in a corner, but the look of the place suggested it had once been a town hall or perhaps a courthouse. White blinked the rain out of her eyes and flicked a light switch a few times, but no lights came on.

"Aww," said Bianca. "It's locked." She was looking at a door marked TOWER, which had chains and a padlock across it."

"I wouldn't trust the stairs in this place anyway," said White.

Bianca shrugged, removing her beret and sitting on one of the benches. Her normally perky hair was slicked down against her face. She patted the spot next to her, and White sighed in a been-standing-too-long kind of way and took the seat. "Looks like we're waiting it out without power."

"Who needs it?" Bianca squeezed White's arm.

White smiled. "What do you want to do to pass the time?"

"Ooh, let's play a game!"

"Okay, what game?"

"How about—"

A blinding flash lit the room for a instant, making Bianca stop midsentence with a "Whoa." White waited, but no thunder followed the lightning. "That's weird..."

"It must be too far away," said Bianca.

They sat in silence, hearing the sheer volume of rain create an endless rushing sound against the building, until again there was a burst of illumination. This time the light was followed rapidly by several more, creating a quick flicker. As the staccato patterns flashed repeatedly, White shivered.

"What's wrong?" Bianca peered over at her.

"Nothing," said White. Then, at Bianca's unsatisfied stare: "The lightning, I just...just don't like it. Lightning's supposed to flash a few times and have thunder, not...flicker."

"Mmm." Bianca gave White's shoulder a rub. "So, you're going all the way to Black City... What do you think the chances we'll bump into each again are?"

"Pretty high," said White with a laugh. "We keep ending up in the same city..."

"I was wondering..." Bianca sounded hesitant. "Since we're going the same way and all, do you want to travel together?" She blurted the last part.

"What? Travel together?" White was surprised.

"I mean, not if you don't want to!" exclaimed Bianca. "That's totally okay. I don't wanna pressure you or anything—"

"You aren't," interrupted White, "and I'd love to."

She was distracted from Bianca's reaction by another round of the silent, continuous lightning. She could swear she felt it through her insides, and if simply felt wrong. "Bianca," she said suddenly, and the blonde sopped whatever she was saying; White hadn't head, "when we leave for the next city, stay close to me all right?"

"Sure," said Bianca, puzzled though also more than happy to agree. "Why?"

"I don't know," said White, gazing through the murky window to the perpetually lit sky. "I just feel like something bad is going to happen."

A/N: This chapter is too short.