Author: BebePanda401
Story Title: Summer Rain
Warnings: None.
Rating: 'K+' to be on the safe side.
A/N: Ha! Told you guys I would eventually write another DualRivalShipping one-shot!...Okay, I did write another one over on Deviantart, but I didn't post it on here because...well, I don't really have a reason. I guess because I was too lazy? Yeah, that about explains it. But anyway, I decided that since last time it was Cheren that provided the emotional support, it should be Bianca's turn! And um...well, no more spoilers! So, I hope you all enjoy this, I worked hard on this one! I didn't think my stories were as good as you guys said, but thanks to all of you!

~Summer Rain~

Tranquil.

An emotion that Cheren did not feel in the slightest at this point in time.

He knew he was like a robot- almost emotionless, if he were to present himself to a complete stranger. It was once in a blue moon he would allow his lips to perk upwards, and that was only for special occasions. Nor would he explore or sightsee very often, if he had a goal in a certain city, he would go toward it- he didn't have time to sidetrack off of his precious schedual and experience something so trivial such as joy or a temporary adrenaline rush.

Only around his friends and family, would he convey emotions that would be considered close to a normal human being. He would smirk if Bianca did something completely idiot (yet highly amusing), or perhaps frown if Touko made a bad pun on a TV show she had only seen once in her life. His eyes may sometimes widen in shock if he was proven wrong or given extremely good advice, and very scarcely, would he blush around a girl. Only one girl, mind you, but it still happened.

However, now all he could do was cope with this gut-wrenching feeling.

Cheren couldn't smile at a time like this.

How could he? The raven-haired trainer had just lost one of the most important battles of his whole time of being a trainer- one of the key events in his whole career as a Pokemon trainer...in his entire life had ended in complete chaotic disarray. Even after all that extensive training at victory road, even after all that experience he and his Pokemon had gained during that last Team Plasma showdown...he still wasn't ready to face Alder, not in the condition he was in.

Cheren had failed his team, in that war of ideals he had started. And because of this, for the first time in his young life, he felt completely and utterly humiliated. Most of his Pokemon had been wiped out almost instantly by Alder's first comrade, not sparing so much as a second glance towards his fallen team. It was only when his last Pokemon, his loyal Samurott, managed to take it out with an aqua-jet, did the battle seem to point in a decent direction.

But Samurott fell within the next ten minutes of fighting with honour, in the stead of his tired team-mates. But eventually, the battle proved too much for him to handle on his own. The water-pokemon could only offer an apologetic glance toward his trainer, only lasting a split-second, before collapsing onto the ground, the familiar clouds of fatigue in his eyes. Cheren could remember his onyx eyes dilating, before rushing out into the middle of the battlefield, cradling his starter in his arms.

At that moment, he felt like doing so many things; screaming, shouting, punching- anything to release and vent his anger.

Alder only offered the defeated teenager a few words of broken advice that would supposedly allow Cheren to change, to move forward from this foil to his pride. This was supposed to... 'allow' him to open a new door towards his so-called 'destiny', that would be decided by him, and him alone. Was it meant to be a lecture on how to live his life after this? This...this defeat?

Cheren sighed deeply to himself, taking a look at his surroundings.

It was peaceful in the Western area of Striaton City. The clear water gently lapped against the man-made marble structure, creating an invisible aurora to the people sleeping in the town. The night sky, once vast and littered with many wispy clouds, had now been replaced with dotted lights, scattered so meaninglessly it was as if a child had just grabbed them and launched them into the sky without a care of what the after-effects would be.

Many people would have described the sky at the eve of the blackness as terrifying or un-inviting, but Cheren saw it nothing more than a coat of pain encased in a shadow, soon to be overcast by something bigger. The breeze wasn't cold, nor was it inviting any kind of warm- it was in the middle, just like the grey side of black and white. Never quite at either side, but always yearning to be accepted by both.

Perhaps he had managed to briefly dance on both sides of truth and ideals in the past.

But now? Well, now he was in a cataclysm of rage and sorrow- two emotions that should never have been able to meet in a hormonal, teenaged body. All of those feelings of humiliation and guilt he was experiencing at that moment in time, would be the very fuel to ignite a fire that would continue to burn- continue to burn inside his body until no power source was left to fight the air any longer.

"Damn it...damn it all to hell!" He shouted at the sombre sky, as if he expected for it to send some kind of peaceful solution for what he had gone through that day. Panting heavily, he grunted in pure frustration. The raven-haired trainer had practised and prepared for weeks- months even, to face Alder that day- and according to his protocol, he should have won. At the very least, it should have been a close battle- but he couldn't even have that satisfaction.

What was he supposed to do with this life now? Wander Unova aimlessly for the rest of his days? Become some kind of professor? A musician? A conservationist? Why were there so many questions racing through his mind- he wasn't getting any answers at all! He just wanted someone- something, to answer his call...he just wanted a sign, and hint-

Anything to help him move forward!

Burying his face in his hands, he knelt down towards the now-darkened plain platform. He was trying to hide his distress away from the rest of the world- even through all of today, he still held onto his shattered pride. Maybe that was his biggest weakness: his inability to accept help from others that were not close to him.

He slowly crawled to the edge of the bank, and saw his reflection manifest in the waters he gazed down at. He could almost whimper pathetically at his reflection below- his lips were tightly clasped, his eyebrows had furrowed into an ugly frown, and his grey eyes were downcast and clouded with anguish and pure hatred. His once calm and composted stator had diminished within seconds of a barely fought battle.

Cheren felt like a complete incompetent fool. How could he fall to such a lowly status like this? No longer was he the intellectual one of the trio...if there was a trio anymore. Touko had gone to do some soul searching in distant regions, to reflect on her life and where she would head. Cheren could almost inwardly scoff- she had probably gone to search for N. He wasn't jealous of their relationship, but he didn't trust that guy, not one bit. But it was Touko's decision, not his.

And as for his friend Bianca...well, she was in near enough state as him. Not sure what to do next. Only, however, there was a difference. She was currently helping Professor. Juniper with odd affairs, and would soon probably strive to be her assistant. So in conclusion- who was he to distract her from a new dream from forming with his petty issues? He didn't want her spirit to shatter, her heart to be tainted with doubt from another person she held so dear.

Hitting the water with an iron fist, his reflection suddenly distorted. The water was suddenly, and rather cruelly, ripped away from it's peaceful state, as the ripples came into effect when the force reach maximum stature. He, for a brief moment, felt the small droplets of the liquid pass to his fingertips- it was cold, too cold, much like his cocooned heart of ice.

He didn't want to be cold anymore.

"Cheren?" A familiar sound called.

That voice...it was like a warm blanket, cradling him in the tender, thermal love of cherishing someone important to you. A heartbeat started beating in an irregular fashion as soon as his name was called. He felt his eyebrows raise up in disbelief, and his lips slightly parted, as if to catch the ushered words on his own tongue- to confirm they had actually been spoken into this world. Glancing upwards, shock filled his eyes almost instantaneously, as they widened in bewilderment.

For standing in front of him, was the very same girl he had previously been thinking about. As he gazed up at her in awe, he noticed how much she had changed in the duration he had been training- in particular, her eyes. They were still shimmering with childish innocence, but they no longer held naivety within them. Instead, they were a perfect concoction of compassion and maturity, but also had a door open for new ideas. It was if she had been growing, whilst he had been falling.

It was ironic, really. Seeing him knelt at his feet, whilst she was standing up with the strength and strive for life he had once possessed.

"Are you okay, Cheren? Do you want some help?" No, please don't use such a soft, kind tone of voice...it only made him feel so much weaker than he really was, and besides- he didn't deserve her sincerity! He had always been belittling her on their journey, always rushing ahead of her...and she still spoke to him with such a non-pompous voice?

"Chere-" He decided to cut things off, before they got worse.

"Leave. Me. Alone." They may have only been three words, but the way he said them to her- it was like ice had just pierced her heart, without a shred of remorse or mercy for doing it. Her hand slightly reached out to him, but almost had a magnetic attraction to her side, as she felt it being pulled back. Even after all this time, he was still so cold?

Or could it be...he had lost to Alder? Bianca couldn't comprehend why Cheren was acting so bitter towards her, aside the fact she was rather annoying and perky all the time. Looking at Cheren's face though, it was clear his emotional wall was breaking down. His hair was engulfing the view of his onyx eyes, which would probably reveal the situation to her in an instant.

However, what could she do? In this situation, all she could do was offer a peppy smile and cheer people on. She didn't even know if her suspicions were correct or not- and even if they were, Cheren wasn't always sure how to say how he felt. Maybe if she left him alone, he would calm down and tell her, but she highly doubted it. So, without anything else to do, she would have to be the support beam this time.

"I lost to him again, okay!" His voice took her by sudden surprise- and that was an understatement in Bianca's mindset. Compared to earlier though, to her, his voice just sounded merely...lost. Broken, even. Like a bell that had lost it's chime, after so many years of use.

"Eh?" Was all she could muster up, a pathetic use of a reply.

"I lost to Alder- and it wasn't even a close finish! Samurott only managed to take down his first Pokemon, and he went down with the second Pokemon within ten minutes of the battle! We trained for weeks, maybe longer- how did Touko manage to beat him so easily? I prepared for months! I should have at least come close! Why...why must I always loose? Why do I always fail my Pokemon?"

It was a vent of personal complexity, but by the time he had finished, he was huddled against his knees, in a vice-like grip on himself- as if he were almost ashamed to look her in the eye. She was dumbfounded, to say the very least. He may as well have been crying like a child and clinging onto his mother, begging for forgiveness for something they had done wrong.

She knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder, in a vain effort of condolence. He didn't respond- not even a flinch from the sudden warmth of her hands, which seemed to slightly surge throughout his veins as soon. It wasn't enough to warm his heart again, though.

Looking around for some inspiration on what to say, she wished deeply in her heart for someone to help her- it was almost as if she was trying to contact a spiritual force, or maybe even a mystical deity, to help her with her friend's emotional demise. What could she say, without sounding too corny or stupid in his mind? Not much, considering she wasn't exactly of the 'intellectual' type, but she could say something useful once in a while, right?

And then, she remembered a line from the many books Cheren had read to her when she was a child-

'Sometimes, the surroundings of where you are can be the best source of condolence.'

So, with that brief memory circulating her mind, her eyes drifted towards the water. On the side she and Cheren were at, it was illuminated with golden, decorative lights. Yet, as the water got deeper, the light seemed to vanquish within the murky depths of the display. The darkness enveloped any source of light that passed by the centre of it. And yet...and yet, even so, at the end of the water-decoration, when the shallower waters resurfaced, so did the radiance of light again. Plants decorated the edge, intertwining with the man-made structures of crafted stone work, almost covering it with the natural beauty of the world.

Placing one hand to her heart, she knew what she could do.

Gripping his free hand, she dragged him to stand up. His face held the very definition of shock- his mouth was wide open, and his eyes had almost dilated with the bewilderment of what she was doing. However, she merely smiled at his confusion, and walked him over to the edge of the water display, as if to give him a lesson for once in his life, not the other way around.

"Cheren, do you see the water in front of you? Where we're standing right now, is like the beginning of a journey- always lit up with new dreams and multiple hopes, of what a trainer can achieve. However, as soon as they get deeper into their journey, so does the depression and new darkness of something that everyone is afraid of- failure."

It was if she was speaking with words beyond her years. It was incredible how much the world had carved this once-sheltered young girl, into a wise, truthful young woman. Cheren was admiring her without any limits, nothing to hold him back- not even his pride. Snapping out of these thoughts, he allowed her to continue with her 'lecture' of life towards him. There were some things you couldn't learn in books.

"However...even in the centre of darkness, if you have a hand to hold through all of it, you can get past the deepest, and scariest part of your journey. And like the end over there, the end of your journey will be filled with that feeling of accomplishment, like you have done something to change the world. And even if you feel like you've done nothing at all, someone will always recognize your efforts. If you put the effort in, that is. Are you going to do that?"

He blinked, before he felt his brows crease with the hint of tears.

"Sometimes, you need to break emotional walls you have put up, before you can move onto a new future. Neh, Cheren?" His eyes were trembling by now, as she looked at him, with pure concern for his well-being. Her hand was warming up his shattered soul, his ice-encased heart. Although he wasn't cruel, she still stuck with him all this time.

He gently ripped his hand away from hers...

"Cheren-"

...before she found herself rapidly being locked in his arms, refusing to let her go from his grasp. Her cheeks pepped a heavy blush, unsure as to why he was embracing her in such a fashion- was this not how couples held each other? No, they were just friends. None the less, it made her heartbeat speed up, and her eyes remain as wide as they could possibly go. No, scratch that- they could go a lot wider than this.

"I...don't quite know how to say how I feel all the time, but...thank-you, Bianca. For everything you have ever done for me, I thank you profusely. However, please...please let me use you to comfort myself for tonight. If you left me in this state...I don't know...I..." His voice trailed off. No matter how strong he tried to be, there were times you just had to let go of that front.

He brought her head closer to his shoulder, as tears began to form in the crevices of her eyes. She allowed them to fall freely onto her rouge complexion, unable to hold them back anyway if she tried. Gripping his shirt, she returned the embrace. She felt his heartbeat just as fast as hers- was he nervous about holding her? That didn't matter though. Her friend needed her, and she could be of help, for once.

It seemed, with Bianca close to him- the internal war he had been fighting for the past few hours had held a ceasefire. Maybe even bringing the issue of conflict to a peaceful resolution, with nobody getting hurt anymore. She was showing him what it was like...to be the last one standing in the hell of an emotional turmoil. All he could see in that moment was her- nobody but her, and that was all he'd wanted.

He didn't even notice that light pellets of rain had began to fall on the city.

"Cheren..." She whispered gently.

"What is it?" He replied, his voice also quiet.

"Have you ever considered becoming a gym leader?" Her question threw him off guard, as they slightly parted their embrace. He arched one eyebrow, as if to not take her seriously with this suggestion. But her expression did not falter, so he could count on the fact she wasn't joking around.

"Huh?"

"Lenora is going to be leaving her gym soon, maybe in about a month. Why not ask if you could take her place there for a while- you would get challenged by different kinds of trainers and learn different things from them. In addition, you will also serve a purpose instead of chasing a dream you're clearly not ready for yet."

Blinking again, his lips perked upwards slightly.

"Since when did you become the smart one?" In return, she smiled as well. Her faced was becoming drenched, her hair going slightly darker from the falling sky-water, but held no care in the world for her health. She felt alive, with the one person who constantly kept her life fresh and always on her feet. He was like the summer rain anyway- washing away the winter stains.

Within a distance, it sounded like instruments were playing in the background. Exotic, yet sweet notes filled the night sky, harmonosing with the cloud-littered sky that stretched across the whole world. It may have been raining, but the joy was hardly contained by the blonde trainer, and she pulled Cheren back onto the plaza, her face beaming with the same smile he hadn't seen since they started their journey. It was filled with the splendour of a carefree childhood abundance.

"Cheren! Let's dance!" She awkwardly span him around, laughing incoherently to herself. Unsure what to do, he just let her drag him around with her little meaning of what 'dancing' was to her. It appeared however, she wanted him to participate as well, as she grinned at him. Placing his hands around her waist, their feet slightly out of synch as they waltzed with one another. Their feet tapped against the marble in an awkward way, both seemed out of place.

It seemed, that a traditional waltz did not suit the pair, however. She began to twirl herself under his arm, outstretching one arm when they were furthest apart with joined hands. Starting to get the idea, Cheren began to lead the dance faster, his smile growing. He kept her close, yet they parted as well. After a while, they constantly alternated between a slow waltz and fast spins, not giving a care in the world about the onlookers giving them strange looks.

They were happy.

And then, Cheren and Bianca laughed. Yes, both of them began to laugh, with the knowledge that they held the freedom of two young people in a developing, flourishing new world- feeling high elation as the raindrops kissed their faces. Clapping once, clapping twice- this was the very symbolic nature of what true beauty really was. Being in an environment with someone you cared about deeply, whilst your heart skipped more than one beat, and when they were living in a dream.

It may be the start of something, but when he looked into those jade eyes, he had nothing to fear. It may be a new dream for her, but she didn't really mind much. They may be polar opposites, but they fitted together perfectly. Perhaps their were jagged edges to the piece, but they needed one another, at the end of the day.

They were at the start of their lives. And nothing would hold them back- if it did, they would face it.

Together.

A/N: 0.0...Holy sh!t. This may be the corniest, yet sweetest story I have ever written. I loved the dance part at the end. Maybe me squeal like a fangirl...even though I am one. ^^ Please review guys, I really would love reviews.