To say the past few days have been busy for Blake would be an understatement. After Leon took over the League from Chairman Rose and officially coronated Blake as the new champion, he and Hop went back to the Slumbering Weald to return the sword and shield that were responsible for summoning the two legendaries during the fight with Eternatus, though they didn't stay put when those nutcases with the weird hair stormed in and tried to steal the rusted weapons away.

Blake was able to stop the one called Sordward from taking the rusted sword, but the shield ended up being taken, much to Hop's disappointment. What followed was a chase across the entire region, stopping Dynamaxed Pokémon from destroying the gyms and finally tracking the two self-proclaimed "true kings of Galar" all the way to the top of Hammerlocke Stadium, only to find Shielbert using Galar Particles to make Zamazenta go crazy. It ended up backfiring on the brothers, much to Blake's delight, though it took some calming down from Zacian and even Hop before the legendary finally got itself under control.

After that, the legendaries stayed with the two of them; Hop with Zamazenta and Blake with Zacian. The newly-crowned champion quickly announced his need for a vacation and high-tailed over to the Isle of Armor with his team, hoping to find some semblance of relaxation. A hope that was quickly dashed to pieces once he set foot outside the station and was haphazardly roped into the Dojo. Training under the same man that trained Leon was certainly a surprise, even if Mustard was quite the character when he wasn't battling. Now that Blake's "training" was finally over, he could take that well-deserved vacation he came to the Isle for.

Aside from the crashing of the waves on the beach, Blake could hear the sound of his team around him. On one side, Lacy and Jiro were chasing each other up and down the beach and occasionally stopping to examine the Slowpokes that laid out lazily on the sand. On the other side, Zane and Gaius were busy sparring with each other, as if the training at the Dojo wasn't enough to satisfy them. The fighting duo shared a strong bond between them to the point where Blake could swear Zane looked up to Gaius as a father-figure ever since he evolved into a Lucario, something that always made him smile when he thought about it. As for Zacian, Blake couldn't hear the legendary, though he was sure it was napping underneath a tree nearby.

And then there was Sapphire who was sprawled out next to him, taking in the rays of the sun along with him.

"Ahhhh, now this is the life..." Blake sighed out as he readjusted his sunglasses against the glare of the light overhead.

"Cinder."

"I'll take this over running across the entire region and fighting dynamaxed Pokémon one after another any day."

"Cini bun ace cinder?"

Blake glanced over at her, "You forget that I'm not blessed with the same endurance that you have, unfortunately."

"Ace bun. Cinderace cin ace."

"Well, sorry that I can't quite compete with you yet," he smirked, "Once I start doing flips, kicking flaming pebbles, and sprinting across the entire Wild Area in thirty seconds, I'll let you know."

Sapphire sat up and scoffed playfully. For a trainer that boasted about adventuring, he sure knew how to be lazy when he wanted to be. Of course, she couldn't exactly blame him. Those two weirdos with the strange hair certainly tested her stamina as much as her patience. Even now, she bristled at how they mocked him at the Weald and swaggered across the region as so-called "celebrities". Just thinking about them made her want to blow them up with a Pyro Ball.

"Sapph? You okay?"

She snapped out of her thoughts to find Blake sitting up and staring at her with a concerned look on his face.

"Cin?"

"You got really quiet all of a sudden. You're not still thinking about those two creeps, are you?"

"...Ace," she grumbled.

Blake smiled softly and rubbed her head, "Hey, they're not gonna bother us anymore and even if they did, they wouldn't get very far."

The feel of his hand on her fur helped calm her down immensely. She thought she heard him chuckle as her ears drooped forward, but she was perfectly fine with this. Of course, that stopped when Blake flicked her forehead.

"Now stop moping! We're supposed to be on vacation after all!"

"Bun cini ace bun!" she scowled at him.

"Sorry. Had to do something to get you out of that funk of yours."

Sapphire huffed and turned away from him. Oh, how she always put up with him…

Blake snickered, "Well, if you're gonna act like that, you could always help Hop with his work."

"Arceus knows I need it."

Blake turned around to see Hop looking at the two of them with his trademark smile. After Blake became champion, Hop admitted to him in the Weald that he felt lost and didn't know what he wanted to do in life. Dealing with the "celebrities" only seemed to make it worse until the very end when Hop was able to calm down Zamazenta and finally decided to become a professor. Sonia quickly took him under her wing and now the young trainer was determined to become the best professor in the region, much to Blake's delight.

Blake got to his feet and gave him a fistbump, "Well, speak of the Giratina and he shall appear! What are you doing here? I thought you were still working on your Dynamax research."

"Funny you mention that 'cause I'm just about done with it!" Hop grinned with his arms behind his head, "I just got a few things to finalize and then I'm heading back to Wedgehurst. I wanted to let ya know before I head off."

"Are you still planning on mentioning how I nearly got kidnapped by that Vespiqueen?"

"Lucky for you, it'll probably sound a lot less embarrassing than how it actually happened. Consider it a professional courtesy, mate."

"Hooray…" Blake sighed before glancing over at his Cinderace, who was still pretending to sulk but wasn't sneaky enough to avoid eye contact with him. As she snapped her head away from them, Blake chuckled, "Do you need some help finishing up? I have a Pokémon that is just DYING to help."

Hop snickered, "I don't think Sonia would mind an assistant for the assistant…"

Suddenly, water crashed into Blake, knocking off his glasses and getting his shirt soaking wet. He blinked and turned to see Sapphire innocently whistling and looking anywhere but at him.

"'Ey! I don't ever remember teaching you Splash!" he exclaimed.

The Cinderace looked around in mock confusion before pointing a paw at herself, "Cin?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I know it was you."

"Cind bun cini ace," she shrugged.

Blake narrowed his eyes at her before rolling his shoulder, "Hop?"

"Yeah?"

"Change of plans. It seems I've got a battle on my hands."

Blake and Sapphire stared each other down while the waves crashed around them. A flex of the hands, a small twitch of the ears; neither of them moved an inch. As another wave crashed into the beach, Blake quickly shot off towards the incoming water, bending down to wave his hand through it, sending a stream towards the fire-type. Unfortunately for him, all he hit was empty air.

Sapphire simply whistled as he sent another attack towards her and again dodging it with relative ease. The good thing about the training over the past months, she was easily one of the fastest on the team, only slightly beaten by Lacy, but that didn't count since electric types were naturally fast.

Yet another splash was sent after her and again was nowhere close to her. Seeing the opportunity for a counter-attack, she raced forward and closed the distance. Blake could only helplessly watch as the Cinderace slammed into his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and him to the ground. Blake attempted to get back up, only to find his arms now pinned down.

"Hop! I need your help!"

When no response came, Blake twisted his head around to see Hop hunched over and shaking, trying his hardest to not laugh and failing quite miserably. Blake furrowed his brow, "Earth to Hop! I'm pinned down and could really use some backup!"

Hop took a deep breath and finally stood up, "Uh, sorry mate. I think I'm getting a call from Sonia right now."

Blake furrowed his brow, "I'm right here and I can't hear your phone-"

"Oh geez! I shouldn't keep her waiting! Good luck, Blake!" Hop yelled back as he raced away from them, laughing all the way.

"I WON'T FORGET THIS BETRAYAL!"

As the sound of Hop's laughter faded away, Blake looked up at the seventy-three-pound Pokémon sitting on top of him who was currently smiling with all the sweetness of a Pecha Berry.

"Ace bun."

"You might think so, but I still have one last trick up my sleeve. I'll give you one last chance to surrender since I'm feeling merciful."

Sapphire rolled her eyes and pulled him up towards her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and legs around his torso, essentially trapping him within her grasp.

"Cinderace cini!"

"I'm warning you, Sapph. This will not be pleasant."

She merely responded by tightening her hold on him.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Blake sighed before shifting his arms until he was able to wrap them around Sapphire's back. With a surprising amount of strength, he slowly got to his feet. She didn't know what he was planning, but as he started trekking into the water, her confusion swiftly morphed into fear.

"Cin! Cin bun!"

"It's too late. My final plan has already begun."

Blake came to a stop when the water came up to his knees and leaned back to look Sapphire in the eyes. Her grip on him tightened even more as she stared wide-eyed at him. She knew she was trapped. If she let go, she'd fall into the water, and if there was one thing a fire-type hated, it was being completely soaked.

"So? Want to reconsider?" Blake smirked, "Think quickly though 'cause I'm feeling pretty tired from having you curled around me."

To help prove his point, he let himself fall forward a tiny bit before regaining his balance. Sapphire couldn't stop the squeal that fell out of her mouth.

"Cini cini! Cinderace bun ace!" she finally relented.

Blake smiled triumphantly, "Ah...sweet victory."

"...Bun cind ace."

"Aw c'mon. You know I'd never actually drop you."

"Bolt! Bolt!"

Blake and Sapphire both froze as the sounds of Lacy's barks started getting closer and closer to them. Sapphire frowned while Blake smiled sheepishly at her.

"...Uh, I'm sorry?"

Lacy finally crashed into him with a yip, sending all three of them sprawling into the water. Sapphire broke above the water gasping for air and immediately trying to race back to the shore, Blake was busy wiping the salty ocean water out of his eyes, and Lacy continued to hop around him, barking and yipping with a wide smile on her face.

He shook his head and followed after Sapphire, who was busy shaking out the water that clung to her fur.

"...Okay. Maybe I deserved that," he sheepishly laughed.

Sapphire groaned, "Cinder bun?"

"Yeah...but it was kinda fun."

She huffed and looked away from him, but Blake wouldn't be beaten yet.

"C'mon, none of the past couple of minutes were fun?"

Sapphire said nothing.

"Sapph...I know you can hear me...or are those ears just for show?"

Her lips pursed as she attempted to block out his voice.

He moved closer to her, "Not even a little smile? Nothing at all?"

Blake could see her mouth start to tremble, prompting him to keep going.

"Are you sure you didn't have fun? Maybe just a little bit? I'm sure splashing me was amazing, right?"

A faint snort escaped from her mouth. Blake slowly edged his way into her vision, grinning like an idiot as he waited. It was only a few seconds before Sapphire burst out laughing, a laugh so infectious that Blake joined her as he hugged her close, not caring about the dampness of her fur.

"Glad you agree."

"Ace, ace…"

Blake let go and dug through his bag to hand her a spare towel. The next minutes were spent cooling down after the time spent throwing water at each other. Lacy and Jiro had tuckered themselves out from running all along the beach and were napping close-by. Gaius and Zane were tired from their sparring but weren't quite ready to fall asleep, finally allowing themselves to relax. Zacian was still napping under a berry tree nearby.

"So, has this been a pretty good vacation?" Blake asked his Cinderace.

Sapphire nodded sleepily.

"Out of all the places we've been so far, where does this rank?"

The fire-type gazed up in the sky in thought before writing the number eight into the sand next to him.

"Eight outta ten, huh? That sounds about right for me too," Blake replied before yawning loudly, quickly followed by Sapphire's. He smiled, "You up for another nap?"

She responded by laying her head close to his and shutting her eyes.

"Yeah...amen to that," he muttered as he shut his eyes too, enjoying the rest of his well-deserved vacation.