In which future plans are made.

Rosa had insisted on taking the rest of the day off. No one could blame her there.

She and Nate said goodbye to Hugh just outside of the Giant Chasm, and they returned to Humilau City in pure celebration. It wasn't every day that a so-called coward shut down an evil organization, after all, and Altaria was doing a little dance in the air as she led them back.

No more Team Plasma, Rosa thought, and every cell in her body relaxed. There's no more Team Plasma. I'm free.

"So, Rosa," Nate said, distracting her from her very happy mood. "Can I get an interview, giving you the practice for when word gets out on exactly what you've just done?"

"I won't give interviews," Rosa protested. "You'll be my agent, and you'll tell people no...won't you?"

"If that's what you want," Nate shrugged. "But could you at least do this for a friend?"

Rosa sighed. "You're not giving me a choice, are you?" Nate just smiled. "Fine then. Bring it on."

Nate flicked on his camera and put on his best professional voice. "So, Miss Rosa," he said, making Rosa smile a little. "You've just defeated the leader of Team Plasma and are heading into Victory Road tomorrow. How does that make you feel?"

Rosa pretended to think it over. "Exhausted," she admitted. "I know it was my Pokémon that did most of the work, but that doesn't make it any better."

"And what do you plan to do if you defeat the Champion?"

"Go home. Hang out with my mom. Try to contact Curtis and give him back his communication device."

Nate cleared his throat, suddenly nervous about whatever he was about to ask next. "What about a young filmmaker who may or may not have had a hand in assisting you with this? Would your future plans happen to include him, by any chance?"

"Only if he wants to," Rosa said lightly. "He does have to get back to Pokestar Studios soon, after all."

"And what if he wants to still see you? Only if you're comfortable with it, of course."

Rosa gave him a look that could only be called 'smug.' "Is this your way of asking me out, Nate?"

"Um...sort of," he admitted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding the camera. "The 'date' thing might be up in the air. It was more making sure we're still friends after I made you do all of that."

Rosa laughed. "I'm messing with you. A friend-date sounds like a great way to kill time after I beat the Champion, since I have no intention of keeping the title."

Nate shut off the device, and held out his free hand. "Well, then. I suppose you and I should start discussing exactly how this documentary is going to work. I'm thinking it should be less of a documentary and more of a based-entirely-on-a-true-story kind of action movie, don't you?"

"With professional actors?"

"Naturally. Maybe we can get Brycen to play Ghetsis!"

"Do I get to help write the script?"

It was Nate's turn to smirk. "Did you really do much besides panic before we reached Opelucid?"

Rosa responded by throwing the nearest harmless projectile at his head. In this case, it was a newspaper.

When they went up to Victory Road the next day, the person greeting them at the entrance to the Badge check was not Alder, but N. He didn't notice them at first. He was twisting yarn into small, human-like shapes, Zekrom half-shielding him from the outside world and refusing to let anyone break his concentration.

Anyone, that is, except himself. His roar startled N, who dropped the doll-like thing he was working on and whirled around in surprise. Once he saw Nate and Rosa, he scooped up the yarn doll and went forward to make proper introductions.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to thank you enough back in the Giant Chasm," he said, "but with everything else that happened..."

"You healed my Pokémon right when I needed it," Rosa reminded him. "If it weren't for Altaria and Greg, Julian would have been gone before I even faced the Hydreigon." Something clicked in the back of her mind, and she suddenly reached for a ball at her belt. "Hold on, N, I have to give you something."

The ball clicked open. A flash of light later, and there stood Zoroark, not even bothering with an illusion. For a moment, she and N stared each other down.

Then Zoroark stuck out her tongue, and N brightened considerably.

"It's you! I knew I recognized you!"

Zoroark made a very happy noise, and a few moments later, the creature that Rosa had thought was Zekrom got rid of his own illusion to rejoin his small pack.

And then the Zoroark that had traveled with Rosa started telling the whole story, or at least her own adventures. N and his Zoroark heard all about how Rood had carried her to safety two years earlier as the castle began to crumble, after they'd discovered that Ghetsis was evil, and how the other Team Plasma still operated in Driftveil City. She mentioned how Anthea and Concordia had taken very good care of her. But when she told the story of her adventures with Rosa, N grew more serious.

"I see," he said after she'd finished. "It is your choice, of course. I can't interfere with that. But if you change your mind..." As she said something else, he looked over at Rosa.

Rosa knew before he said it. "She wants to stay with me, doesn't she?"

"She did say she wanted a human capable of taking care of her," N explained, "and that while I certainly understand her needs better than any other human, I'm much more of a brother than a trainer. And she likes Nate far too much to just leave him."

Rosa glanced over at her faithful fox companion. "You really want to stay?" At Zoroark's slow nod, Rosa launched herself at her friend, throwing her arms around her.

Zoroark leaned away from the hug, clearly embarrassed by the sudden gesture of affection. "Rosa, stop! You're messing up my mane!"

Almost as if she'd understood, Rosa let go. N just said goodbye, and then he and his Zoroark left them all alone.

The path through Victory Road was a long and confusing one. While it was good enough to just try to figure things out on their own, eventually, they all grew tired of trying to choose the right path through anything. Not to mention the dark, ghost-infested cave took quite a bit of persuasion to get Rosa to enter, proving that she hadn't changed as much as they'd thought.

"I hate this," she whined, flinching every time she heard the echo of their own footsteps, and downright freezing in terror each time a Golurk could be heard. "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this. I really do."

"You're brave, Rosa," Nate reminded her. "You're done with your fears. Right?"

"No. I beat Team Plasma. Now I just want to go home and think happy thoughts."

"Do you really?" he challenged, and she whimpered like a lost Pokémon. "Or are you just saying that to get me to turn around?"

"I don't know," Rosa admitted. "Maybe both?"

Nate reached for his belt, finding Sneasel's ball easily. When the Pokémon appeared, he gave the command. "Sneasel, you stay out with us and get rid of any ghosts, ok?"

Sneasel clicked his claws together, and Nate took that to mean that he was agreeing to the terms. Rosa, seeing this, released Zoroark to assist, figuring that between the two of them, they'd be able to make it out of there in one piece.

There was no real need for that. The Ghost-types left the group alone, and once they were out in the open, they returned their little creatures of darkness to the safety of their containers, letting them save their energy for when they really needed it.

Which actually happened about ten minutes later, when a young man calling himself an Ace Trainer approached and asked for a battle with the one who had earned the way to Victory Road in the first place. Fortunately, Rosa had a response to this: "My Emboar has almost never lost a battle, and my Minccino has defeated a Hydreigon. If you still want to battle me, be my guest. But you can't say I never warned you."

The Ace Trainer smiled happily. "Oh, you sound tough," he admitted, "but all that could just be a show."

"She stopped Team Plasma's return," Nate informed him, casually sitting on a rock as if he'd like nothing more than to see this guy get trashed. "I don't think you really know what you're doing."

The Ace Trainer looked from Nate to Rosa, noticing how she seemed to be backing down now that her threat had failed. "Her?" he repeated, gesturing. "She's the one that stopped Team Plasma?"

"I know, it's hard for me to believe, too," Rosa admitted. "But I'm just trying to get through Victory Road so my friend here can finish making a movie about me."

The Ace Trainer just picked out his first Pokémon. "Then here, I'll help you out. Come on, I'll even let you make the first move!"

Rosa looked at Nate, begging for his assistance, but he just shrugged. "It's his funeral. Show him, Rosa."

She rolled her eyes but selected a Pokémon of her own. "Altaria," she said sweetly, "destroy them for me."

Altaria had somehow known that Rosa had never wanted to accept the challenge, and knew that the donut-headed trainer wanted to channel all of her irritation into this battle. So, with a loud battle cry and a rage only matched by Hugh, Altaria alone managed to sweep the guy's whole team. Rosa, impressed by this sudden surge of battling skill, rewarded the little bird-dragon with a treat before she and Nate continued on.

When they arrived at the Pokémon League headquarters about three hours later, Nate and Rosa were greeted by a vaguely familiar face. Alder himself was waiting for them at the Pokémon Center, casting frequent glances at the nearby clock as he continued to try to find what was keeping them so long.

"Good news and bad news," he declared when he finally saw them, as Rosa went up to the counter so the nurse could heal her Pokémon. "Which do you want to hear first?"

"What happened to hello?" Rosa asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of her tone. She was trying not to focus on what she was about to do, but the former Champion was making that incredibly difficult. "I mean, we haven't seen you since you forced us to battle those kids all the way back in Flocessy Town. The least you could do is greet us properly."

"But you need to be warned!" Alder protested, not seeming to notice as Rosa grew even paler at the thought. "The good news is that the current Champion has given orders to take it easy on you, feeling some sort of sympathy for what you've been through recently."

"Does everyone know?" Rosa wailed, and Alder nodded briefly.

"What happened between you and Ghetsis in the Giant Chasm was a complete mystery," he explained. "So, naturally, it took only twenty minutes before a young grunt came forward and explained it all. Said he'd been working as a spy for Rood when he heard a man's voice declaring that Team Plasma was over and that anyone who still sided with Ghetsis could find a new ride. He said he figured that a boy and a girl with stupid hair had stopped them for good."

"Our hair isn't that stupid!" Nate objected.

Alder laughed out loud. "Sure it isn't. And neither is mine." But he grew serious once again, and delivered the bad news. "The bad news is that the Champion wants to be the one to put a stop to your adventure."

"Then let's see if it's possible," Rosa said. Faking determination, she turned back to her partner. "Come on, Nate. Let's do this."

But, of course, 'doing this' involved one thing Rosa would soon never want to look at again: stairs.