5th Gen Bianca's Destiny

[Ho-Oh]

Bianca, one of your two childhood best friends never really got out much. In the anime she's portrayed as an absolutely clueless girl, and in the games she's not much better. Cheren managed to become a GYM LEADER, like when you consider that he started out at the same time as you two... that's pretty cool. You? You just became a champion and disappeared, boom. GONE. Bianca on the other hand was left as... a professor's assistant. She wanted to make her mark on the world - she considered becoming a model, perform in musicals, becoming a professor. But nope. She's only an assistant two years later.

If you could become MIA in two years, and Cheren could become a gym leader... then why couldn't Bianca have made anything for herself? Was it fair that she only ended up as an assistant? Did she deserve her own glory? What would've you rather seen her become, or do? Or did you like that she got to play a somewhat useful role in the sequels?

 

[Nah]

I think it's fine actually. While not as glamorous as being a Gym Leader or a model or something, it's still what she wants to do and she seems to be happy with it. There's all different ways to find happiness really. It'd be a little soon for her to become a full professor anyway, and tbh she does more for you than Juniper does.

 

[Ho-Oh]

But! Is she really happy? Or is she just content? The games ended with no inclination that Bianca will ever replace Juniper. Although yeah it might be similar to what she wanted... she's only been out of home for a little over two years and the professor is already putting her into a box of "congrats, you're an assistant!" and we all know no assistant has ever escalated to professor in Pokemon.

And that's all we'll ever know of Bianca. For a girl with so little ideas of what she really wanted it seems as if the professor conveniently decided she needed an assistant and Bianca's had no opportunity to break out of the cycle ever since!

 

[Silently Slow]

"S-since the professor asked us, it's OK to go on an adventure, right? I can explore and maybe find out what I want to do in life. I think I'd like that."

"..I'm thinking how cool it would be to be a model like Elesa. And then, how cool it would be to research on Pokémon like Professor Juniper… Okay that's what I want to do, I'm gonna have to know a lot about Pokémon. Sooooo…would you please battle me?"

"You know… Since we've met our Pokemon and walked the same roads together, a lot has happened… We've all changed a lot! We found out that the things we want to do and the things we can do are different for each of us, right? That's what's made our journey so worth it. Somehow, all this just makes me happy."

"I always want to know more about Pokémon I like! That's why I started working as Professor Juniper's assistant!"

"Actually, I'm not sure being a professor's assistant is really what I want to do... But when I do the work, I have lots and lots of fun!"

I guess her story really is kind of sad. Not happy with what she's doing. In the end, she still doesn't know what she wants to do. Although I'm kinda disappointed that she never got a Lilligant. That Pokemon was made for her.

 

[Nah]

"Actually, I'm not sure being a professor's assistant is really what I want to do... But when I do the work, I have lots and lots of fun!"

oh....

I did not remember that line

that changes things a bit

 

[Rivvon]

Bianca is young. If you're in the position where you don't know what to do with your life, the best thing to do is to go out any try something! She tried being the professor's assistant because she was interested in learning about Pokémon, and she's having fun.

I like to interpret her "Actually, I'm not sure being a professor's assistant is really what I want to do... But when I do the work, I have lots and lots of fun!" line as more along the lines of someone who knows what they like but they don't know if the specific thing they're doing is the best fit for them. For example, someone who wants to work in a creative field may start working as a comic book artist. They're having fun but they can't shake the feeling there's something else they could be doing instead... A year or so later, they get hired as a storyboard artist, and suddenly they just know they're doing what they were meant to do. I think Bianca is the same way, just in a different field.

It's also interesting to compare how in BW there's the whole cycle of Cheren going from certain to uncertain and Bianca the opposite, but ultimately they go back to how things were at the start of BW during B2W2 (although not without Cheren getting a bit nervous on his first day at the job!).

One final thing, though--I know Gym Leaders are held in high regards, but we've had Gym Leaders who are literal children. Whereas professors... well you (generally) need a doctorate to become a professor. I know, I know, "This is the world of Pokémon, things could be different here!" Yeah, but Fennel admits to knowing Juniper from college (Pokémon College confirmed!). So I doubt just anyone can become a professor even if they're smart. Not to say just anyone can become a Gym Leader (obviously you must be an exceptional Trainer, which is nothing to sneeze at), but clearly there are different requirements at play. Bianca can't be older than 18 in B2W2--I think she's doing pretty well for someone of her age (and education).

 

[Astinus]

"Actually, I'm not sure being a professor's assistant is really what I want to do... But when I do the work, I have lots and lots of fun!"

Perhaps Bianca likes being a professor's assistant, but she's not really sure if she wants to actually make the commitment to go to college and study Pokemon that intensely in order to get her degree (as Rivvon pointed out). It's a pretty big decision to go from "I have fun doing this!" to "I want to dedicate my life to doing this, and spend money and time I won't get back for this." At the age of 18, it's fine for Bianca to be a little unsure about having her entire life planned out.

She's only been the professor's assistant for two years, and accomplished quite a bit in that time frame. She went from someone who barely knew a thing about Pokemon to someone who can be trusted enough to hand out Pokemon to new trainers (which usually the professors themselves do). It's a mystery as to what her future holds in the next two or more years, but she's already done enough for someone who could still be considered a child in some ways.

 

[TheLegendaryGuy]

I think it's fine actually. While not as glamorous as being a Gym Leader or a model or something, it's still what she wants to do and she seems to be happy with it. There's all different ways to find happiness really. It'd be a little soon for her to become a full professor anyway, and tbh she does more for you than Juniper does.

What makes you think that one needs to be glamorous to be a gym leader(i do know that most of them are), but Cheren obviously isn't. So, i think it would have been great if even Bianaca became a gym leader, or even if she becomes Unova's next professor(obviously in the future), that kinda event would settle the matter.

 

[Nah]

What makes you think that one needs to be glamorous to be a gym leader(i do know that most of them are), but Cheren obviously isn't.

I wasn't saying that you need to be glamorous to be a Gym Leader. I was saying that Gym Leader is a more glamorous looking job than assistant to most people.

 

[Ho-Oh]

Hm. What about if you consider that all the assistant does is hand out new Pokemon and hand you things... doesn't that seem like a boring job? Like in real life an assistant never gets to do anything exciting or worthwhile (nor do they learn). They just are... there. If the game follows this then Bianca's made the wrong decision. Of course she enjoys it, it's her first job, any person LIKE her would enjoy their first job simply because they're trusted to do something on their own. If Bianca went to trainer's school or something, to study Pokemon history and then go from there she'd have a million options open. As professor's assistant, her resume's gonna look pretty limited and since she's done it for two years... she'd already have been settled into it. Why leave? That's the other thing. The safe zone.

That's why I think that if she went back to exclusively study (and in the second games she's your friend who shows up to help you out as you remind her of her original friend) by the end of the games she'd actually be something important. If the games never get continued all she's left as is an assistant. At least with a degree that would open any option ever and it would've left the fans imagining what she could be. So... yeah.