Oh my goodness, chapter 7! I'm really getting bad at introducing chapters aren't I... yeah I am. Anywhosles. Last chapter was a little odd, and yes Zinzolin did lie to White, in case you guys didn't catch that. In this one it'll reveal where N actually is at the moment. Yay!

This one has some N stuff in it too! Two chapters in a row; bonus! That's why the chapter title isn't right below this.

Oh and also for those of you who haven't read the story before this. When I say 'final team' or anything along those lines I mean the six Pokemon (not counting Zekrom) that White used to face N and Ghetsis. Which are, Klinklang, Chandelure, Excadrill, Vanilluxe, Sigilyph, and Talace. Okay, I'll shut up now. XD

Anyway, I hope everything makes sense and you enjoy!

"Oy, are we really doing this?"

N gave his Carracosta a stern look and a single nod before turning back around. N and his team were currently taking a break by the side of a beautiful lake. It was miles away from any town and so N had felt comfortable with letting out all of his Pokémon, even Reshiram, to help him.

"Are you sure I have to be a part of this?"

N gave a glare over his shoulder, not dignifying Carracosta's almost constant objections with an answer.

N had told his Pokémon that he needed their help in figuring out exactly what was going on with White. He realized there was a very small chance that they would actually be able to help, but he wanted to get all of his known facts out there so he could make an educated guess as to why White hadn't become the Champion of Unova.

N slapped the large rock in front of him, effectively scaring a few stray Goldeen swimming in the lake.

"We'll use this as a drawing board," he said, smiling at the large boulder, perched precariously on the edge of the lake, threatening to fall in any moment.

N's Pokémon all gave nods. They were sitting in a half circle around N and the rock, wings, legs, and flippers tucked underneath them as they watched their trainer with interest.

"Vanilluxe," N said, pointing a finger at the ice type, "Draw me up a map."

Vanilluxe gave an excited jingle before grabbing the red crayon it had been given and sloppily scribbling on a piece of paper. N had said that someone needed to be the one to draw things to put up on the so called 'drawing board' that would mark events and places. Vanilluxe had eagerly volunteered and even though N didn't know that it was possible for the Pokémon to even hold a crayon, he agreed.

With a happy sound Vanilluxe tossed the paper to N. On it was a very odd looking circle with the word 'Unova' written messily inside. N gave Vanilluxe a smile and a nod which caused the ice type to giggle to itself and twirl around in happiness.

N gently placed the piece of paper against the rock on the far right side. The wet surface adhered to the paper easily and it stayed perfectly in place.

N was thrown another piece of paper with another even scarier looking circle drawn on it labeled 'Jotoe'. N didn't bother to correct the Pokémon's spelling and placed it on the far left side of the rock.

"Alright," N started, turning to his Pokémon like a professor in a classroom, "White is here." N smacked his finger to the piece of paper that said Unova. "And we are here," he said, pointing to Johto. "The task is to figure out why she didn't take the Championship… go," N said, giving the floor to his Pokémon.

N knew that his team knew just about as much about the happenings in White's life since they had left as he did. They had listened to White's voice messages as well, much to N's dismay, and so they had a general idea of all that she was going through.

"Well, she said she was living in the Champion's quarters what… four months ago?" Archeops chimed in, holding a feathered arm into the air.

"Yes," N said, verifying it as a fact and then pointing to Vanilluxe.

With a few scribbles N was then handed a scrap of paper with the words, 'White, for monthes, Champeons qarters' written on it. N suppressed a chuckle, just glad White's name had been spelled correctly before placing it towards the top of the sheet of paper named 'Unova' where the Pokémon League was.

"Ooh ooh, and then didn't she say about three and a half months ago that she started looking for the Sages?" Archeops blurted. It was obvious he was much more enthused about this 'game' than the rest of the Pokémon. Zoroark had already dozed off and Carracosta was looking at the lake water longingly, his attention no longer on the situation at hand. Klinklang had already wandered off. Reshiram just simply looked amused, and with Vanilluxe drawing to its' hearts content, Archeops was the only one really making suggestions.

"Yes, she sure did," N said, completely content with the answers he was given.

After Vanilluxe had drawn up another sheet N stuck it close to the one near the Champion's quarters.

Over the next half an hour the rock became littered with sheets of paper. After they had re-listened to a few voice mails and determined when and where White had been to capture each Sage, a small piece of paper was stuck in each location. After that was done, they went back and marked out where N had been throughout the time White had spent looking for the Sages. By the end they had three more regions up on the rock labeled, 'Ho-N', 'Sin-O', and 'Cantoe', along with multiple scraps of paper littering each with locations N had been.

N sighed and stepped away from the rock. He slowly counted each region, and then mapped out White's travels, and then his own. Everything seemed to be in the right place and on the right timeline, but it still didn't answer the question as to why suddenly White wasn't going to be Champion. N had expected to see some sort of gap in White's timeline. Something that would signal to him that something somewhere went wrong, and yet he didn't see one, and that frustrated him.

"She never mentioned it in a message?" Archeops questioned, still just as invested in the project as he had been in the beginning.

N shook his head. Indeed she hadn't. Not once had she even mentioned leaving her residence in the Champion's quarters. N assumed she had, at least for the time she was searching for the Sages, but he had figured she would go back afterwards and then be sworn in. However he couldn't have been more wrong.

"Ever thought of the possibility that she lost to Iris?" Carracosta who was still bored out of his mind grunted.

N shook his head, "She would've told me. Plus I don't think there's anyone out there rather than myself who can hold a candle to her. She's amazing."

Reshiram looked over at his trainer, noting the awe in N's voice as he spoke of the girl. Reshiram had figured long ago that White had declined the Championship to go look for N, but the white dragon hadn't wanted to tell his trainer. He didn't know how N would react.

"Well, if she didn't lose she had to have broken some rule right?" Archeops added, looking up at his trainer.

N nodded slightly. It was all he could think of. There were only two ways to be kicked out of the position as Champion. One, you could break a rule or do something wrong and be forcefully pushed out by the council. Or two, you could be beaten. If White hadn't been defeated it meant that she had indeed done something wrong, which bothered N even more.

"U-Um, isn't there a chance she… decided sh-she didn't want it?"

The question from Vanilluxe silenced the entire group as all eyes were suddenly on it. The ice type cowered away under the pressure, sneaking behind Reshiram and out of sight.

"Vanilluxe has a point," Carracosta added, finally giving into the temptation and sliding into the water of the lake, disappearing from sight.

N's brow furrowed. "She would never just decline. She wants that title more than anything; what would be so important that she would give it up?" N snapped.

"Argh, this is frustrating," Archeops hissed, flapping his wings in frustration and shooting into the air, flying around frantically in an attempt to blow off steam.

Reshiram looked to N again, his eyes softening. He felt bad for the boy. When Reshiram had chosen N as a hero he had been strong in both body and will, now he was depressed and confused, a far cry from what he had been. Reshiram never once considered he had made the wrong choice for a hero. N was perfect for the role. He understood Pokémon better than anyone. Even if he wouldn't have been able to speak to Pokémon, Reshiram concluded that N would still have had a special bond with them. And so as the dragon looked upon his distressed trainer, he figured he should be completely honest with him.

"She did decline it, you know," the dragon said in a low voice.

Zoroark who had been asleep throughout the entire ordeal awoke with a jolt, his eyes snapping open and fixed on Reshiram.

"What?" N asked, his head whipping to the dragon, a look of complete confusion on his face.

Reshiram gave N a single nod of conformation. "She declined before she went to search for the Sages."

Although in the beginning Reshiram had only been going off of gut instinct in his hypothesis that White would leave to find N; later when he had seen a news article on the shocking events of a ceremony in Unova, he had known for sure. It had been a tough few weeks trying to keep N from seeing anything about it, but with help from Zoroark he had successfully kept the green haired boy in the dark. N didn't know the ceremony had even taken place.

N's eyes widened slightly before turning into slits. "How would you know?"

Reshiram had expected N to be uncertain at first, and indeed he was. He explained quickly about the articles in nearly every newspaper and the stories on nearly every news show. It was a big deal when someone became a Champion in any region and usually the entire world watched; but it was insane when someone declined the position, let alone in the middle of the ceremony. It had been the top news story for weeks.

N's eyes twitched as he contemplated whether or not to believe Reshiram, but after a few moments he gave in, realizing the dragon would never lie to him about something like that. N slowly dropped to the ground, putting his head in his hands.

"Why?" he asked in a nearly inaudible voice. "Why would she decline?"

Reshiram didn't have a for sure answer for that one. He figured it was to search for N, but it wasn't a sure thing.

"I don't know, N. I'm sure she has her reasons."

0=0=0=0=0=0=0

Chapter 7: Catching Up

I woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than I had felt in a very long time. My small emotional breakdown the past day had taken a lot out of me and I had slept like a baby, even if I was sleeping on a couch in the Professor's lab where it smelled more like bleach than anything else. I figured that was due to the fact that Professor Oak liked things clean, even if he was a rather messy person. I guessed that was why he had hired an assistant.

I threw off the covers and stretched, the blood flowing through my body quickly and a smile spreading across my face. I felt invigorated, plus it didn't hurt that I was going to get to see all of my Pokémon.

With the promise of Pokémon I flew off of the couch, dashing down the hall and up the stairs to the Professor's office. I didn't bother knocking and flew through the door to see a very surprised Professor Oak, with papers and documents scattered all around his computer.

"Well good morning, White," he said, chuckling to himself.

I gave him a nod of recognition. "Can I see my Pokémon now?"

I knew my Pokémon were staying at his facility, however I knew it would be a difficult task to find them. Sure I had about fifty of them staying there, but the Professor had acres and acres of land behind the lab to observe Pokémon and to house the Pokémon that trainers from Kanto left with him. There would be thousands of Pokémon in that land and I didn't want to spend hours looking for mine.

"Sure thing," Oak said, standing from his chair and letting the papers on his lap fall to the floor.

The Professor only asked once if I wanted to chance out of my pajamas. I honestly hadn't realized I was still wearing them, but shook my head 'no'. I was too impatient to wait any longer. I hadn't seen my five Pokémon from my final team in months, let alone the Pokémon I had trained before that. For some it had been nearly a year.

Oak led me downstairs and out the back door, and just as I had suspected there were Pokémon as far as the eye could see. Ponytas and Rapidashes grazed on the lawn while in lakes Magikarps and Gyrados' swam free. I knew the Professor mostly had Kanto Pokémon in his facility, with a few from Johto and Hoenn from more ambitious trainers. However I knew mine were most likely the only ones he had from Unova. I assumed most likely Ash was the only one to make it all the way to our region.

"They're in field 67, just down this path. They have their own area," Oak said, pointing down the large dirt path in front of me, pride touching his voice as he bragged about where they stayed.

I smiled and gave him a nod before jogging ahead. That road had to be one of the longest I had ever walked on. I passed area after area, field after field, lake after lake, all with varying numbers. On the fence lining the road were cards with the numbers on them, every once in a while a name written beneath one for trainers who had so many Pokémon Oak had decided to keep them in their own area.

After what seemed like forever I finally saw the number 67 nailed to a gate and looked beyond it. A wave of excitement flew through me as I saw my unsuspecting Pokémon happily lazing around without a care in the world.

"Hi guys!" I yelled, waving to them before I even opened the gate. It was obvious I hadn't seen my Pokémon in a while by the response I got. There was a stampede, and a large one at that. My Zebstrika was the first to meet me, whinnying in glee as I patted his nose and ran my hand along his neck. I had expected my Pokémon to be out of shape, lazy, maybe even a little plumper than usual, but it was the exact opposite. They looked pristine, in shape, and beautiful. I knew I had a determined bunch of Pokémon, but I hadn't realized that they would take it as far to battle one another. And by the muscles on some of them I realized that was the only way they could have gotten so fit.

I was tackled by my elemental monkeys next, the Pansear, Pansage, and Panpour climbing up my limbs and entangling themselves in my hair.

It was an amazing reunion as I greeted all of my Pokémon. From my Boldore's near body slam to the quiet hello from my Minccino they all seemed beyond happy to see me.

Once the crowd of Pokémon I hadn't seen in forever had cleared I finally got a clear visual on my more powerful Pokémon. The ones I had missed the most. My Excadrill, Vanilluxe, Chandelure, Klinklang, and Sigilyph had accompanied me for most of my journey, fighting with determination against every opponent. I watched them evolve and grow before my eyes as they slowly became the most powerful team in the region, and it had been heartbreaking to let them go, even if they were just a phone call away. They had beaten N and proven me to be the one who was right. They were champions.

Sigilyph let out a happy screech and flew towards me, Klinklang right on his heels. I hugged my psychic type tight, reminiscing of the times I would fly on his back instead of on Zekrom's. He was a little faster than the dragon, and a whole hell of a lot smaller. Klinklang was next as I gave him a pat and he spun his gears in happiness.

Excadrill was fused to my leg in an instant, his eyes looking up at me desperately, asking once again if he had done a good job, while Chandelure twirled around in front of me, careful not to singe my hair. Vanilluxe danced around as well, letting out jingles of pure joy as I laughed at my bunch. Sure they were strong, and yet they still acted like their tiniest evolutionary forms, even if Sigilyph didn't have one.

Once Excadrill was detached from my leg I went ahead and called out Talace, letting the old team get back together and catch up.

Talace got a similar response as all of my Pokémon greeted him with vigor. All except Excadrill who crossed his talons and chattered unhappily at my Emboar, no doubtedly letting me know that he thought he had done a better job. Even though I didn't exactly know what he would be comparing.

Slowly my Pokémon dispersed, many of them going back to napping in the shade of trees. My Seismitoad lumbered back to the back of the field to where a small pond resided and slipped in with nearly no splash, and my Tranquil flew up into a tree to nestle down for a nap. I sighed, walking back towards the lake and peering in. Inside was my Alomomola, my two Basculin and two Frillish. I smiled down at them and they gave me either a small wave of a tentacle or a squirt of water.

I sighed, standing back up and stretching once again. I had missed these Pokémon, I really had.

Over the next few hours I relaxed. I played with my smaller Pokémon, I trained a little with a few, but mostly I just observed. They seemed so happy. I had worried many times that they would get bored, possibly wondering why I ever caught them if I was just going to leave them with the Professor. But as I watched them frolic around playfully and nap the day away with a smile I realized that they were quite possibly even happier here. It was a Pokémon paradise.

My unbeatable team had continued talking the entire time before one by one they dozed off, even Talace as his snorty snores echoed out in the field every once in a while.

I smiled, now sitting on the grass in the middle of the field. I was surrounded by my partners. My Pokémon that I loved so much. I laid back on the grass, putting my hands behind my head.

I missed N more than I could put into words and that fact seemed to plague my thoughts almost constantly. However the one thing that seemed to distract me enough was my Pokémon. I cared about them just as much as I cared about N. I had set out to become a powerful Pokémon trainer and I had done that. Then I had set my sights on Champion, and I nearly obtained that. All I needed to do was get myself under control, train a few new Pokémon, and then beat Iris and I'd be back in tip top condition to be Champion.

I sighed, closing my eyes in contentment. I really did love Pokémon.

My silence was short lived however as I heard a voice call out to me.

"White?"

I opened one eye in half annoyance as a boy jogged down the road, a glass container in his hand. I recognized him to be Tracey, Professor Oak's helper.

"Yeah?" I called.

He nodded and opened the gate, slowly walking to where I was laying.

"Good, I'm glad it was you. We haven't met before, I'm Tracey." The boy held his hand down to me and I reached up to take it, shaking it a few times. I had known about him, but had never met him before.

"Nice to meet you," I said, squinting into the sun as I gave him a smile.

He smiled back before continuing. "Professor Oak said that these are your Pokémon?"

I nodded.

A wide grin stretched across his face. "Wow! I always wondered who they belonged to. They are definitely my favorite to take care of!"

I chuckled, "I'm glad to hear they aren't causing any trouble."

He shook his head before continuing. "Anyway, the Professor said to give this to you. He said that you were having a tough time and so he thought he'd give you a present."

With that Tracey held out the glass cylinder to me and I jolted upright, causing Tracey to jump slightly. An egg. A small brown egg sat inside the container, perched on a layer of woodchips. I had heard about Pokémon eggs but I hadn't ever seen one in person.

I took the container hesitantly, gently pulling it into my lap.

"What kind of Pokémon is it?" I asked.

"Well, we don't really know since it somehow just popped up in one of the empty fields, but the Professor thinks it's an Eevee egg."

My jaw dropped. An Eevee. I had heard about them, even seen a few, and had always wanted one. The evolutionary possibilities with it were endless and I couldn't wait to have one of my own.

Tracey smiled, giving me a wave and walking away, calling out behind him, "Take good care of it!"

"I will!" I called out after him, my eyes still fixed on the egg.

I set the container down on the ground, wiggling down so I got a good view of it. Alder had said that I needed to find some new little ones to train if I was going to be Champion, and this seemed like a perfect option.

I smiled, again rolling over to look at the sky. Even though I still had the N ordeal hanging over my head, I was happy here. My Pokémon surrounding me, seemingly not any place to be, and even a new Pokémon egg to take care of.

I sighed and closed my eyes. This place seemed like a little slice of heaven, and I figured it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to stay a while. I just hadn't figured on staying there for as long as I did.

So there it is! I hope you like it! White's gonna get herself an Eevee, so this should be interesting. Which Eeveelution will it be?... *rubs hands together* I don't know yet. XD

Oh my goodness you guys, thank you so so much for the reviews last chapter! They were wonderful! And they had some great questions for the podcast in them! If you ever have any more feel free to send them my way! And I'll be sure to put a link in the author's note of a future chapter when we finally get the first one out!

Oh and a tiny bit of shameless self promotion. *does dance* I just started a collab with the wonderful DitDitto! There is a link to it near the bottom of my profile if you're interested.

Okay I'm done now, I promise. I hope everyone has a great week! :D