Lily, or Karen, continued to rub on my head while we walked towards the champion chamber the next day after battling her. We had spend the night together and she wanted to be the one to take me here personally.

"Lily, will you stop?" I asked, getting a bit annoyed that she continued to do this.

"Sorry!" She let go and hid her hands behind her "I just miss you so much!"

"We talked all night in my room. I'm right in front of you"

"I know! But I meant these pass few months" she faced me "You don't know how badly I wanted to talk to you!"

"Lily, we've talked about this" she hugged my head again.

"Be careful, sweetheart! Don't feel bad if you lose or not! No matter what the outcome will be, you'll always be the best to me!" I chuckled and patted her hand.

"Yeah yeah, I got it" I moved away to approach the champion chambers "I'll see you later, okay?" I looked at the message Jasmine had send me earlier about the S.S aqua "My aunt lives in Cerulean City, so I'll see you there, maybe?" She nodded happily.

"Sure! And if not, I'll let you know!" I waved and walked into the grand castle that was a lot bigger than the other castles. Strange how Lance prefers to sleep at the house instead of taking my aunt here to sleep.

"Lance!" I called out, walking through the battle field and approached the staircase on the side. Lance walked from the top floor and approached me with his usual cape behind him.

"There you are, Valerie!" Lance smiled, coming up to me for a quick hug "It's nice of you to come all the way here to try to dethrone my crown" he chuckled "even if we will be in the same family soon, don't think I'll be holding back"

"I don't expect you to" I smirked "Well then, no time to waste. Let's get started" we walked to the battle field together "by the way, what's my aunt up to?"

"She's working at the hospital in Cerulean city"

"She use to work all the time in Saffron's hospital. It must be annoying to work at a hospital that may be much farther than where you live"

"She only has one job, and she loves it. If it has to do with eggs, I'm sure it is exciting for a Zoe" he has a point there "Didn't you tell me you weren't going to be participating here?"

"I just want to get stronger, that's all. I won't be mad if I lose, to be honest with you. The letter of acceptance to Mount Silver will be enough for me"

"You... want a acceptance letter? Why come all the way here then?" I held my hip.

"Didn't I just say I wanted to get stronger?" He thought for a moment.

"This is about Red, isn't it?" I looked at him surprised "Miranda told me about you and him. It actually surprises me how that situation came to be" I blushed and looked away "Red is a very helpful person, but he can be quite distant"

"You know him?"

"I use to be an Elite four member for Kanto, and he won against me and became champion after defeating Blue. He was silent and didn't interact with many people despite being quite popular. When he battles, you wouldn't think that a strong voice would come out of him, though he doesn't always use it. I may not know what you two had, but if you really just want to see him, I believe you're strong enough to just take my acceptance letter"

"I-"

"I know, I know. You want to become stronger. Listen, Valerie. It's not always about being stronger. You trust in your Pokémon and love them very much. You are already very strong. Why test that theory?" Well...

"I just have things I need to do and I can't just stick around without having a proper battle with one of the strongest people I know. I will do this on my own and do what I'm meant to do"

"Meant to do?"

"The master of the Bell tower had predicted a struggle and what I did there was the start of everything" I thought of Ho-Oh "I still have a long way until my journey is over" he nodded.

"If that's the case, let us take our place in the battle field. We will fight with 6 against 6 and whoever last with one or more Pokémon standing will be declared the winner. The champion title is at stake between the both of us. May this battle determine the fate of the throne" I nodded and got Meganium to come out and battle with me first.

Hours had gone by and the battle was already coming to an end. As I expected before, with all my Pokémon fainted and my Dragonair barely hanging on by a thread against Lance's powerful Dragonite, I could already see where the battle stands. My Dragonair had fainted while she tried to stand a little longer, but couldn't hang on anymore. I had lost.

"The title champion of Johto remains in my name" Lance said "This battle is over" he walked up to me caring for my Dragonair "You did good until the end... I really admire you for coming this far. You were pretty close"

"You still have 3 Pokémon active on your party. How is that close?" Lance rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, yeah, but I'm just trying to make you feel better" I returned my Pokémon and stood up to face him.

"It's okay" I smiled "I'm not hurt at all" he smiled back and took out a small card from his pocket before writing something on it.

"Here's the acceptance letter. You should keep this in your wallet if you want to keep going into Mount Silver over and over" I took the card and looked at it "Many people go there to train since the Pokémon there are very strong. It's locked for a reason, but I know you'll be fine" he pet my head. I looked up at him "What is it? Your eyes are turning red" I looked down to his chest "C-Come on... Valerie" Lance became nervous "It's not anything personal" I rubbed my eyes.

"It's fine... I just got a bit overwhelmed" I admitted "I knew I wasn't going to win... even if I have many type disadvantages. Being champion doesn't mean anything to me, so why am I bothered..?" Lance sighed.

"Probably because you're use to winning all the time?"

"No, I've lost battles before plenty of times. That's not the problem" I shook my head "I'll be going to Kanto to find my aunt. I have to go" I walked out the champion chambers without turning back at Lance yelling for me. I didn't want him to see me like this... I never planned on being champion, so why am I crying..?

I traveled down towards the Indigo Plateau and spotted Lily by the nurse in the Pokémon center. I walked pass Lily and got my Pokémon ready to hand over. Lily stared at me trying my best not to look at her. She didn't say a word and just hugged me. I let out a shaky sigh and left the place with her by my side once everything was ready.

"V?" Lily spoke, staring at me looking at the path straight ahead "Are you okay?"

"I'm not crying" I blurted out.

"I... I didn't say you were" she frowned "V... It's okay it didn't work out, but you were the one that said-"

"And I'm sticking to what I said" I looked at the view of the mountain below "Don't question me right now, Lily" she nodded "I'm going to Olivine City on a cruise to Kanto. Want to come?"

"A cruise?" She gasped "Sure! I'll be happy to!"

"Will your family worry?"

"No, for all they know, I'm working! It does take a few weeks and I haven't received a schedule for other trainers yet! Everyone will be fine. I need this break" she hugged me "And I get to spend it with you" I chuckled and send out my Togekiss as she send out her own Pokémon to head to Olivine City. There were many people heading to the cruise already.

"By the way... How are you getting in?" I asked. Probably should had asked.

"I got a ticket" she wiggled her ticket around "The Elite four gets these for free. It's a good perk" she winked, watching me take out my own "This will be fun!" She cheered and ran me towards the entrance of the ship, where I spotted the captain that gave me this ticket. He saw me approach him and bowed.

"Hello ma'am, I'm glad to see you're doing well!" I smiled and bowed back.

"I am, thank you" Lily looked a bit surprised.

"V, you didn't tell me you were so popular! You always avoided attention!"

"Yes well... I had accidentally did something that caused us our lives in the middle of a boat ride" the captain nervously rubbed the back of his head "I gave her the ticket as my apology"

"You don't need to bring it up" I frowned "It's okay" he looked too guilty to believe it, then perked up again.

"Oh! I also heard how you handled Team Rocket all on your own!" Lily looked at me surprised "You've helped a lot of people. Just by looking at you, a lot of people will recognize you" he bowed more deeply "Thank you for your service!" I waved my hands.

"I-It was no big deal!" I went a little nervous "I-I'm happy to help... I guess" he escorted us into the ship. Lily leaned down to me to whisper.

"What was he talking about?"

"He already said it"

"So it's true? You defeated the entire gang?! You never told me this!" I chuckled and walked up to the reception desk.

"Please treat these two to a luxury suite, this is the hero that single handedly defended Johto" the captain smiled. I blushed and looked away.

"I don't need special treatment" Lily laughed and hugged me.

"Of course you don't! You're always a stick in the mud! You deserve it for all you've been through!" The reception lady bowed and worked her magic on the computer.

The captain waved to me and wished us a good trip. I waved and waited for the reception lady to finish getting our cabin keys while Lily started braiding my hair.

"Your hair grew so long since the last I've seen you" she giggled, playing with my hair like she always liked doing. I sweatdropped at the fact that she would not stop messing with me like this "It has so much volume. Mine is so frizzy all the time"

"Lily, would you stop?" I sighed, a bit annoyed.

"You keep calling me Lily when you know my name is Karen" I shrugged.

"What can I say? I'm just use to calling you by that" she was about to speak "but if you dare to do the same to me by calling me by that revolting name, I'll call you Karen then"

"No no" she waved her arms "That's alright. I don't really mind you calling me that" she pet my head "I find it sweet" I don't really see how, but I accepted it either way and collected our room keys. I'm surprised she chose to get a room for herself, but it's better than having her rub her face on my cheek and playing with my hair all the time. She means well, but even through this long year of change, it's obvious that me getting annoyed easily never went anywhere.

"This ship departs quickly from Johto to Kanto" Lily said while searching for our rooms "I heard it takes about 3 days to get there. I can't wait to see what this ship offers before that day comes!" She clapped excitedly. I smiled and checked my Pokégear for messages from my aunt and even my friends. I can see that Lance had tried making me feel better about what happened back in the Pokémon league, but I reassured him that there was nothing he had to do to make it up to me.

I don't know what came over me after losing to Lance. I was absolutely certain that I was alright with losing if it went up to that point, and it did. There was a part of me that was excited to know that all my efforts of training my Pokémon was a success. Even if I know my training was great, I guess I just wanted to show off how great everyone was.

It's a real disappointment, really... but if one day I try to take on the Pokémon league again, I'll be more trained than ever before! If that time ever comes, just know that it'll be long after I finish my journey.

"V?" Lily brought me back to earth by calling me. She waved her hand in front of my face to get my attention "Are you alright?"

"Yes" I smiled "Sorry. I'm just thinking about the other day" she nodded, getting it, then looked at my Pokégear.

"Oh, I see" I looked at her confused "I'm sure you were disappointed because you think you wouldn't meet his expectations, right?" I looked at what she was talking about and saw that my screen was showing Red's number. I blushed and looked down, shaking a bit while looking at his name.

"What..?" I questioned, wondering if that was the real reason why I started crying. Was it that I just wanted to show off to him? That I was really trying to find a way to make sure he helped someone that was worth saving? I need to stop thinking like this... but, that's how it's always been "I... I don't know. Maybe?" I bit my lips, not knowing the answer to that. Lily stopped walking and faced me.

"I think I'm going to head out and get some food. Why don't you go to your room and I'll catch up with you later?" I nodded and watched her waving with a smile. She must have thought I needed some time to myself.

"I guess she's right..." I sighed "After a long year of this journey, a short vacation like this will be nice" I found my room, sat my things down, and jumped on my bed with Pichu jumping out the bag and land on the bed with me. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed "I competed in the Pokémon league... I traveled through Johto and met many people. I need this break, but there are still things that I need to take care of" I closed my eyes "my ancestors... that dream... What am I getting myself into..?"

Sorry this was a short chapter! This was the point where I've stopped writing this story and need to edit and continue to write everything! It's almost finished! Thanks for reading this far! A few more chapters will appear before a long halt will come! See yah later!