"So, we're champions. Now what?" Gloria and Chris were looking at the picture they'd taken, now hanging on the wall.

"Not just champions, the first pair to do so. I've never seen two people work so well together. You two would have won even under normal team rules, with the three each."

"Thanks, Lance. That's pretty cool," they replied together.

"So are you two." Lorelei responded.

"Well, now, who wants some lunch?" Agatha was standing by a side door into the room.

"Lunch sounds very good right now." Lance started towards the door.

"Yeah, let's eat! C'mon, Chris!"

"Hey, alright, I'm coming!" Chris protested as Gloria pulled him after the others.

They all went through the door, and down some stairs. They came out in a dining hall. "We sometimes eat in here, especially after we get a new champion. Or two, today." Bruno went and sat in a slightly larger chair, obviously meant for him. The others took their places, and passed a menu to the pair.

"The cooks already know what we want, since we always have the same when we come here." Lorelei looked like she was ready to eat what the cooks were about to bring.

The two of them looked over the menu. "Grilled Cianwood trout with Conu fruit!" they called together.

"Ah, a piece from each of your homes, I see. We'll bring it right out." The waiter walked into the kitchen.

"You two have expensive tastes."

"Not in our experience. I grew up on those fish."

"And my family grows those fruits back home."

Then together: "We'd never tried both until we met, though."

The waiter returned with two others, all pushing carts of Pokemon food. "Ah, it's ready." Lance let out his Pokemon, and the others all followed suit. Chris noticed that both Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee wore splints. So did the others.

"Wow, broke their bones? Must've been a vicious fight." That was Lance.

"Yeah, they took me the whole way with the Cubone and Tyrogue. Should heal up pretty soon, with the medicine they've got."

Cubone and Tyrogue went over to the two fighters, and apologized to them. They, in turn, bowed as best they could, acknowledging them as superior.

"Both of them could go far in the P1 fights. Until they faced each other, anyways."

They talked until their food came out. Then they dug in. The food was wonderful. "Oh, my compliments to the chefs!" Gloria exclaimed.

"Ah, this is absolutely delicious!" Chris agreed.

After they finished eating, they headed out into the lobby. Agatha gave them some tips before they left. "You asked earlier what was next. Well, I suggest traveling. Hoenn, Kanto, Shinnoh, there's a bunch of stuff out there to see. And maybe meet up with more of the Legends."

"Ok, cool."

"Thanks, we'll look into that. We'll keep in touch!"

"Hey, we'll see you guys again!"

Gloria and Chris headed out, as did Gary, on his way to reopen Viridian Gym. "Remember, come visit me at the Gym."

"We will, Gary!" He then took off down the mountain, leaving the two of them there.

Then Chris's phone rang. "Hey, Chris. This is Rick."

"Hey. Let me put you on speaker."

"Alright. Hello, Gloria."

"Hi. What's up?" she asked.

"Is there any way you two could head over to Hoenn right now?"

They looked at each other quickly. "Sure. Why?"

"Archie wants to meet you."

They were both stunned. "Really? When?" Chris asked cautiously.

"As soon as you can get there. He's expecting you to take a ship, of course, which adds a time buffer, but you'll probably want to head down to Vermilion right now. Olivine is closer to Lilycove, but I just checked the register, and they don't have any ships headed for there today. If you get there quickly, there's a few from Vermilion you can choose from."

"Thanks Rick."

"One other thing. Don't do anything hasty; we're not yet ready to make our move. Good luck you two!"

"Bye Rick," they called, and then Chris hung up.

"Well, let's go, Glo." He brings out Dratini, and Gloria brings out Skarmory. They both hop on and start for Vermilion.

"Looks like we'll get to use these international champions' passes real quick, eh Chris?"

"Considering that our other alternative is to ride Kyogre all the way there."

They made really good time to Vermilion, and landed out by the docks. Chris went and looked at the dock's register, then started down the path.

"Chris, which ship are we getting on?"

"The St. Anne has the earliest arrival time."

"Oh, really? The St. Anne? Awesome!"

"It is? The name rings a bell, but..."

"That's probably the most famous cruise ship in the world! They have big parties, for about a week, in every port they stop in, and tour the world every year."

"Oh yeah! They stopped back at my island every year, too, though they'd only stay for four days, instead of a whole week."

They headed over to the ship, and headed up the gangplank.

"Ah, hello! We are honored to have such renowned guests aboard! No need for your passes, I know you have them."

"Wait, what?" Gloria looked at him strangely.

"I'm confused..." Chris had an even odder look on his face.

"Why you two are celebrities! You've been on television more in this past week than most people are in their lifetimes. And League Champions as of just this morning. Indeed, you are most welcome here."

Suddenly another passenger noticed them standing there. "Hey look! Look who it is!" A flood of people started to cram into the receiving room as word of their arrival spread.

"Oh wow! It's really them!"

"Such a quick rise for both of them."

"They beat the Rockets and the League!"

"Here, come with me." The attendant led them out of the crowd and down a hallway. Surprisingly, no one followed.

"They're most of them celebrities in their own rights, so they know when to leave well enough alone," he responded when they asked him about it. "But yes, we watched the broadcast of your victory over the League this morning, on the televisions here."

"It was broadcast?" Chris was still a little dazed by it all.

"Yes. League challenges always are, on the League's own channel. And once people found out who was challenging…let's just say that it was hard to take our eyes off of such an amazing display."

"It was weird seeing people that I recognized from TV and such fawning after me." Gloria was a little flushed from the experience.

"I was surprised by it myself. Actually, we would have sent you two an invitation to the party, if you'd beaten the Rockets before we got here. Instead it was the day after we put into port, and I had no way to get ahold of you. However, I do have one perk to offer. One of the Executive Suites is still open for this next leg, if you would like. And you are also invited to the party in Lilycove Port."

"Thank you sir. How do you know all of this?"

"Well, Gloria, I'm actually the captain. I saw you two flying into the port, and approaching my ship, so I wanted to come and see you personally. Also, Chris, I'd like to spar with you some time. I'm also a blademaster."

"You're a blademaster? Wow. I'm actually not one, at least officially."

"Well, judging by the way you fought in Silph, you should be. I have the authority to give you that title, actually. Let's spar, and we'll see. Anyways, here's the suite." He opened the door, and handed each of them a key. "There's a map of the ship in there on the table. It's time to get going, so I'll see you two later."

"Goodbye Captain!" they called, then walked into the room.

They were awed by the setup. It was huge! There was a television, a private heated bath in the next room, enough space that they could do the sparring match in there, and one huge bed.
"Ooh, one bed." Chris winced.

"Come on, Chris, it's not like it's small or anything. You could cut this in half and we'd still both fit comfortably on one of the halves."

"Um yeah, I guess."

"Chris, we slept closer than that the night you caught Kyogre. Get your head on straight and don't worry about it. It'll be fine." She took a swing at him, and he quickly ducked.

"Yeah, you're right. And we can cross that bridge when we get there."

They suddenly felt the ship starting to move. "When he said he was ready to go, he wasn't kidding. Look, the bridge isn't far from here." She pointed to it on the map, while Chris double-checked the schedule.

"We're going to get to Lilycove around this time tomorrow. So we've got a while to just relax. What do you want to do?"

Gloria went over the map. "Let's see...pools, gyms, sports courts, ballrooms, artificial hot springs, game corner, more places to eat than I can count...let's just head out and see what we encounter. It all sounds fun."

So they did. They ended up socializing in one of the ballrooms first, talking with the other people there. More than once they met up with people they'd heard of before, from TV or radio, with whom they traded autographs. One of these was Bill, who had started the computer storage system. "They've been inviting me to these parties for years. I used to just give away my ticket, but I finally started coming out to them, and found that I actually enjoy them. Especially since I need to go see Lanette in Hoenn anyways."

"Well, that's cool," Gloria said.

"We've got someone we're meeting, too," Chris told him.

"Ah, well good luck out there."

"You, too," they said together.

After a while in there, they moved on to one of the gyms. The captain met up with them while they were in there.

"Ah, hey guys. So, Chris, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure." Chris pulled his sword out of his pack and extended it. The captain had brought his own with him. The floor cleared, and the two combatants faced each other. Gloria stood in the middle to officiate. "Ready? Begin!"

Chris prepared to launch the first strike, rushing in almost recklessly. The captain moved to counter the anticipated blow, and Chris shifted. He slid on the floor, slicing at the captain's legs as he slid past. The captain jumped over, and attempted to stab at Chris as he slid. Chris blocked, and swung again, the momentum carrying him to his feet. The attack was blocked, and they faced each other, ready for anything.

The captain moved next, swinging low. Chris jumped and swung, hitting the captain's right arm. "Ow, nice one. However, I'm actually left handed." He shifted his sword to his other hand, and attacked in earnest. Chris found it hard to block the onslaught of blows. He bided his time, though, waiting for an opening.

Suddenly, the captain pulled a reversal, hitting Chris's right leg. "Ooh, that smarts!" Chris started to hop on one leg, since by standard sparring rules, he now had no right leg. He was having a harder time blocking than before, so he went on the attack. He used the momentum of his hops to add to his attacks, setting the captain off balance. The captain took a swing at his other leg to try and end that onslaught. Chris hopped onto the sword, knocking it from the captain's hand, putting his own blade at the captain's neck.

"Ah, well, it would appear that you have won, Chris. You indeed are a blademaster. I've never seen anyone else block a series of attacks like that for as long as you did. Not to mention the way you can fight off a group of people. I doubt that I'd actually be able to fight as many enemies as you were against the Rockets and win, let alone multiple times. You have endurance, too. You have indeed earned your new title." The captain bowed, and the spectators applauded them both.

"Nice job, Chris! You did great!" Gloria ran over to him, and she jumped into his arms and they kissed. The applause got louder.

"Wonder if there's any way you can get certified as a great fighter, Glo."

"I'd definitely say she's earned the highest rank I can think of." The Karate King came forward from the crowd. "I've watched the footage of your fights, and was especially impressed with how you fight, Gloria. It is very hard for most fighters to take on that many enemies, yet you seemed to do it with ease. Your father would be proud."

"I can beat my father, and that made him proud enough. But thank you, King." Gloria started to blush, obviously flattered.

Later they went into a dining hall to eat dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening in one of the pools, diving, splashing, or just relaxing and floating with their Pokemon. Except for Cubone, who still hated the water. Then they headed straight back to their rooms, keeping their swimsuits on. They headed into the artificial hot spring attached to the room together, relaxing somewhat before bed.

"Today was a really great day, don't you think?"

"Of course, Chris. Winning the League Challenge, taking this cruise, it's been incredible."

"Yeah. And we spent it all together."

"Aw, that's sweet."

"So are you, my dear." He went over and kissed her, long and lovingly.

"Oh I love it when you do that!"

"Of course. That's why I do it." He shot her a sly look, and then kissed her again.

They spent a little longer in there, then got out and split off to get changed. Chris got dressed quickly, into a soft pair of pants that he usually kept stored away. Gloria took a little longer, and came out in a flowing nightgown.

"Wow. I've never seen you not in pants or a swimsuit. Looks good."

"Thanks. I only get this out for when actually sleeping in a bed. This really isn't well suited for sleeping in the wilds."

"Same with these. I used them only for traditional dances back home, because they are really comfortable, but they aren't durable. In fact, the last time I wore these was on the ship that brought me to Kanto."

They both got into the bed, lying in their own spaces. They found that they could actually lie down sideways and their feet wouldn't quite meet in the middle, the bed was that wide. They settled in to sleep.

"Good night, my dear swordsman."

"Good night, my beautiful brawler." They kissed one last time before settling in to sleep.