Bianca: The Alto Mare Painter Whose Face Latias Borrows

She doesn't train a single Pokémon, and yet the movie hinges on her. Bianca lives in Alto Mare, paints all over the city and is one of the few humans to spend time with the two Pokémon the city shelters. The fifth feature film gives her an unusual place: neither Trainer nor opponent, but the face a Legendary creature borrows to approach Ash.

Contents

• The Painter of Alto Mare
• The Double Latias Borrows From Her
• The Kidnapping, the Soul Dew and the Farewell at the Dock
• Bianca at a Glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

The Painter of Alto Mare

Bianca is one of the main characters of the fifth Pokémon movie, which takes place in the city of Alto Mare. No team, no badges, no ambition to become a Trainer: her daily life comes down to two pastimes, painting all over the city and spending time with the two Pokémon who live there, hidden from view.

The story introduces her at the city's museum, busy painting. Ash mistakes her for the girl he has just helped out of trouble — it was actually Latias, who had taken on a human appearance — and runs after her. When he finally talks to her, she brushes him off without ceremony.

This introduction isn't a one-off gag. The whole plot will rest on this confusion between Bianca and the creature that borrows her features, so viewers discover the character through a misunderstanding — one the movie takes care never to fully clear up.

The Double Latias Borrows From Her

Shortly afterward, Ash finds the girl he takes for Bianca and follows her through a secret passage to a place kept apart from the rest of the city. It still isn't her: the figure guiding him is once again Latias, disguised as her friend.

Once there, the real Bianca and Latios try to drive off the intruder, until Lorenzo steps in. He's the one who puts the bond into words: the girl has long been friends with the two Pokémon, and that's precisely why one of them chooses her face to show itself.

The same scene sets up the legend of the Soul Dew, around which the rest of the story will revolve. Bianca is thus the character through whom the movie hands over its two keys: the identity of the girl seen at the museum, then the relic the city guards.

🔥 Two Legendaries watch over Alto Mare: check out the section Legendaries.

The Kidnapping, the Soul Dew and the Farewell at the Dock

What follows puts her among the victims: Bianca and Lorenzo are kidnapped by Annie and Oakley, and it's Ash who comes to free them. The character thus goes from keeper of a secret to hostage, without ever fighting a single battle.

After Latios's sacrifice, she's the one who receives the Soul Dew. The movie entrusts the object to the one who, along with Lorenzo, knew the two Pokémon before Ash and his friends arrived, and the gesture feels less like a reward than a way of closing the story where it began.

The final scene belongs to her once again. As the Trainers are about to leave the city by boat, a figure joins them on the dock, hands Ash a drawing, kisses him, then walks away after one last silent look. Nothing says whether it's Bianca or Latias: Misty asks the question out loud, Brock throws a jealous fit, and Pikachu and Togepi are both delighted.

Bianca at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Bianca in the fifth Pokémon movie?
  An Alto Mare local and friend of Latios and Latias, mostly seen painting around the city. She has no Pokémon of her own and never battles, yet the entire plot runs through her.
• Why do people mix up Bianca and Latias?
  Because Latias borrows her appearance to show itself to humans. The two have been friends for a long time, and that's the bond Lorenzo explains to Ash after catching him in the city's hidden spot.
• Does Bianca have any Pokémon?
  No. The movie gives her no team. Her only companions are Latios and Latias, who live in Alto Mare and don't belong to her.
• What happens at the end, on the dock in Alto Mare?
  A girl brings Ash a drawing, kisses him goodbye, then leaves without a word. The movie never says whether it was Bianca or Latias, and Misty asks the question out loud.
• Is she the same as the other Bianca in Pokémon?
  No, two separate characters share this name. The one from the fifth movie lives in Alto Mare and never battles; the other belongs to the games' lineup of rivals and has her own profile.

In short

Bianca holds a rare place among movie characters: no team, not a single battle, and yet the pivot of the story. Everything Ash learns about Alto Mare — the secret passage, the friendship binding the city to its two guardians, the legend of the Soul Dew — reaches him through her, or through the creature that took on her face. The series brings her back much later, for a single shot in an episode of Pokémon Journeys, busy doing exactly what she was doing the first time: painting.