Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 57: Spelunking

The waves lapped gently at the shoreline as Wingulls squawked overhead. The December air was frigid, more so when on the beach feeling the cold sea winds hit you in the face, but a warmth spread through me as I leaned up against Arcaneis on the sand. Ninetales curled up next to him, and wrapped in her tails was Alex, who seemed to be sleeping.

I smiled as I watched her breath, her almost entirely blonde hair now blowing gently in the wind. We'd been taking it easy for the last month and a half since Neo Team Plasma had been taken down and their tyrant leader Ghetsis imprisoned for his crimes against Pokemon and humanity. After almost a month in the hospital, certain affairs had to be taken care of.

Due to certain legalities revolving around how the battle between N and I had been conducted, it was deemed that while I proved myself to be a Champion, I had not officially won the title. It was also deemed that even though N had beaten the Elite 4 and Alder, because he was a member of the villainous Team Plasma and operated the organization while as Champion, his title was withdrawn. Thus titleship returned to Alder.

I smiled as I remembered the conversation the three of us had. Alder had said that if we were ever wanting to take back the Champion title from him we may do so. However, he had already taken the liberty of engraving our names into Unova's Hall of Fame, so even with the legalities, we still both had certain Champion privileges. Not all, but it still came with perks.

Speaking of N, he had been pardoned of most of his crimes when it came to light of the upbringing he had and his intentions of not actually wanting to harm others. However, it was deemed he would need to perform community service, something he didn't mind doing.

Is he still in Castelia helping with the clean-up efforts? I wondered idly. N hadn't minded the punishment given to him. If anything, he appreciated it. It gave him the chance to interact more with other people and come to see that they really aren't all as bad as he once thought. From what he told me last we talked, it seemed he wanted to keep Team Plasma alive, but as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Pokemon poached by hunters, living in bad situations, etc.

Alex shifted beside me, her eyes fluttering open. "Hey, how long was I asleep for?"

"Not long," I said. "Tired?"

"Just a bit-" She broke off into a yawn. "Man, all this downtime has made me tired a lot. Definitely not used to this."

"It's been nice though," I said, staring at the cloudy sky. "After everything."

Alex nodded. "How was Robert when you talked to him earlier?"

"Throwing himself at his work, what else?" I joked. While Alex had been shopping, Robert had called to give me a few updates. "Not much change in the stones, but he's positive he may be able to reawaken them through other means than gathering new heroes. Oh, and Purrloin is adjusting well with Hugh and his sister. Took a while, but she's finally gotten used to them after being stuck with Team Plasma."

"That's wonderful!" Alex grinned. "Ah, it's nice to see that their legacy isn't going to be one of darkness. N has his hands full, but I think he'll do quite well."

I nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he will."

"Say, have you made a decision yet?" Alex asked, wrapping more of Ninetale's tails around her, making the Fox Pokemon glance up at her. "About challenging Alder?"

"Hm..." I shook my head. "I probably won't."

A frown. "Why not?"

Shrugging, I said, "I'm not really that interested in the title. I really only went after it so I could take on N. Plus, if I become the official standing Champion of Unova, I'd be tied down to this place. Sure I could leave, but I would need to make regular visits here. And that'll be hard to do if we're travelling on the road elsewhere."