If you were expecting a victory in the last chapter, I completely understand. But I have quite a bit planned for future installments, which I will go into much more detail about at the end of this epilogue.

Epilogue

Soul searching didn't seem like something that would've ever been on the cards for Chris as a child. Survival never seemed like a guarantee with the way he was treated over the years, so having or needing the time to do something like that sounded like a luxury he'd never have. And yet, there he was. He spent all of the next week, and the week after his lose to Cynthia mostly in isolation. Several people called him throughout those days, and whether or not he answered would depend on his mood at that moment. With no set path, Chris was little more than a wanderer, and if he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found.

Eventually, Chris fulfilled his promise to Giratina. Returning to Sendoff Springs, he returned to the Distortion World to find his Giratina returning to the same form he had captured it in. Flying through the Distortion World on the back of his legendary partner was an exhilerating experience, to be sure. Interestingly enough, the two spotted Cyrus while soaring through that world. The sight of the former leader of Team Galactic only left a feeling of indifference, and both trainer and Pokémon ignored a man they both once despised. Allowing Giratina to go wherever it wished, the titanic master of antimatter eventually brought Chris to a platform with a distinct object in the center. A fragmented golden orb laid in wait, and Giratina was intensely drawn to said orb. Chris handed the orb to the Ghost/Dragon-type, and Giratina seemed to absorb it within its body. Once the orb had been procured, Giratina returned with Chris to his world. Whatever exactly that orb did, it seemed to keep Giratina from changing forms once again upon crossing dimensions.

After returning from the Distortion World, Chris traveled back to the Medina's. The parents of the little girl he had befriended, who lost her life to cancer were more than happy to take him in for as long as he wished to stay. Chris had never told them about what had happened to his parents, and now that he could put a name to the legendary Dragon Pokémon that had haunted his nightmares over the years, he could tell the full story. The Medina's in turn, were kind enough to provide him with whatever resources they could offer, so that he could learn as much as possible about Rayquaza.

Two months passed since his first ever defeat at the hands of Cynthia, and Chris finally decided it was time to call her. She had a ticket waiting in his name for a ship sailing from Snowpoint, to the Fight Area of the Battle Zone. It was a straight line to the Resort Area from there, but Chris took Cynthia's advice. There was much to do as he moved around the island.

At the Fight Area, Chris ran into none other than Barry. Flint and Volkner were also in the fight area, the combination of the final Sinnoh Gym Leader, and a member of the Elite Four attracting quite a crowd. Between those two, Chris and Barry, the tag team battle the crowd got to watch gave them quite a show. Barry revealed after the battle that he had taken the Elite Four challenge afterwards, and had given Cynthia another excellent battle. But much like Chris, Barry didn't have an answer for Cynthia's Garchomp either. Then he got to meet Barry's father, Palmer. Palmer was a Frontier Brain, a title given to Elite Four-level Pokémon Trainers, that could offer great rewards to trainers who took their challenges. After his short conversation with Palmer, taking the challenges of both he and the other Frontier Brains was something Chris would have to circle around to.

Heading north, Chris eventually rode into the Suvival Area. This small town looked like it had only recently been established, with only a small number of buildings, and a crew working on cutting back some of the vegetation. Chris ran into Lucas here, who had been sent on some research assignment from the Professor, or another. He managed to find some time to train despite his work, and he took full advantage of it. Continuing to improve and catch up with the trainers he had taught, Lucas and Chris had their best battle, and Hawke pulled the win off in the end. Lucas revealed that he too had taken the Elite Four Challenge. Lucian had ended his challenge, so he himself never got to battle Cynthia. Lucas stated that he was heading to Stark Mountain in the morning, and Chris decided to accompany him.

At Stark Mountain, Lucas and Chris met a man named Buck. Buck had come in search of something called the "Magma Stone," which was actually what Lucas was looking for as well. All three men braved the mountain together, until they reached the cavern Buck knew the Magma Stone was located. The remaining admins of Team Galactic were also in search of the stone, at the behest of the small man Charon. Charon had taken over Team Galactic's remains after Cyrus's disappearance. With Lucas holding off any grunts, Chris and Buck defeated Jupiter and Mars. Unexpectedly, Chris's detective associate Looker arrived on the scene out of nowhere, accompanied by law enforcement agents. Charon, Jupiter, and Mars were all arrested, which seemed to all but kill off Team Galactic's organization.

Chris moved on to the Resort Area not long afterwards, expecting to find Cynthia waiting for him. Instead before he could find her, he found Dawn waiting for him. She wasn't even aware that Cynthia planned to meet up with him here, so she had no answer as to why he couldn't find her. Even so, between the fact that Cynthia was no where to be found, and that Chris had arrived in the Resort Area early in the morning, it gave the two former lovers an excuse to spend a pleasant day together. After relaxing around, and enjoying two good meals together, Chris and Dawn concluded the day by doing what Pokémon trainers do. Chris won yet another close battle, and Dawn afterwards told him that she had also taken the Elite Four challenge. But Cynthia was far too much for her team, especially after her Togekiss had used Shock Wave to defeat Dawn's Gyarados.

While inside the Pokémon Center, Dawn had to have a conversation with Chris. Of course, said conversation was about Danielle. Whether it could be accurately described as last ditch effort or not, Dawn took one last chance, hoping that Chris had finally come around to her. "So, what do you plan on doing from here?" She asked him.

"Hopefully in the next few months, I'll be setting sail for the Hoenn Region. I have a lead on a Pokémon called Rayquaza, and I've been wanting to begin the hunt for said Pokémon for over a decade."

Chris's answer caught Dawn by complete surprise, as he said absolutely nothing about Danielle. "Why Hoenn?"

"I asked Cynthia about it actually. That's how I got the name. Between the research I did, and what she told me, the most likely place I'll find it is Hoenn." Chris pauses, and looks away from her to prepare to take a sip of his soda. "Maybe I'll find Danielle there, as well."

And there it was. It was probably far too much to hope that Chris had moved on in his isolation. But even so, Dawn did have to lay down the truth to Chris. "Well, I know I can't talk you out of this, Chris. So I just want to say that I hope you find her. If you ever decide to move on, then I'll wait for you." She then gets up. "But I won't wait forever."

Chris nods, then gets up on his feet as well. "I understand. What are you gonna do now?"

"Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading back to Twinleaf Town. I'll spend some time with my mom while I decide what to do next."

Chris nods again, then smiles at Dawn. "Sounds like a good plan to me." He gives Dawn a hug, and she can't stop herself from returning the hug. "Take care of yourself, Dawn."

She smiles as she pulls away from him, then nods as well. As stubborn as Chris was, as much as he frustrated her, she couldn't be angry at him. "You too, Chris. Good night."

The next morning, Dawn was gone from the Resort Area before Chris had even taken his morning shower. It wasn't something he could be upset about, as they had said their goodbyes the night before. So he didn't think about it at all. Not that he would have had time to do so, as Cynthia soon stepped inside the Pokémon Center, looking for him. "Good morning, Chris." She said behind him, as she finally spotted him eating breakfast.

Chris looked behind him, and there she stood. She was wearing a light blue tank top this time around, which actually left surprisingly little to Chris's imagination. She sat down next to him, and he succeeded in hiding his blush. "Good morning. I thought you'd have been here yesterday."

"I had someone let me know when they saw you. The Nurse Joy that was working yesterday is a personal friend." She made herself comfortable, an orange juice set on the table being how she started her day. "Have you enjoyed the Battle Zone?"

"I have. I ran into my friends, had battles with them and several other people. It's been enjoyable."

"Planning on coming back to the League facility in the near future?"

"I don't actually. Ever since you helped me to put a name to Rayquaza's face, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind."

"So a trip to Hoenn then?"

"Absolutely. I've got to find it."

"I understand completely. The facility will still be there whenever you decide you want your rematch."

Chris cracks a half smile, then tilts his head up. "I'll remember that." He says. He finishes the last bite of his breakfast, before posing a question to Cynthia. "Hey, you said you had a gift for me. What was it?"

"Are you ready to step outside for a bit?"

"Sure."

"Then follow me." She says as she stands back up. Chris gets up to follow her, and he leads her right across the street. A beautiful villa with its own pool out front, and four designated parking spots is waiting for the two. Chris is about to ask Cynthia if it belongs to her, before going completely still as she hands him keys. "It's all yours, Chris."

Looking down at the keys Cynthia is holding out for him, he slowly moves his hands up to take the keys. Then he looks back into her eyes. "Are you serious?" He asks, seeing her smiling face do nothing but nod at his question. He takes the keys, and walks over to the front door. The keys sure enough unlock the front door, and he and Cynthia step inside. The furniture certainly isn't his style, but at the same time this was genuinely the first place he ever had that he could make his own. And as he saw the deed to the house with no signature on the dotted line, Chris couldn't keep the tears from sliding down his cheeks.

And those tears were something Cynthia was guaranteed to notice. She stepped up next to Chris to look at him, and immediately saw the tears. She took him into her warm embrace when she saw them, comfortingly massaging the back of his head as she held him. "You deserve it Chris. Regardless of how our battle played out, it doesn't change the fact that your a true hero after your actions at Spear Pillar."

Chris sighed, as he managed to stop his tears. "Thank you, Cynthia. Only thing I've ever had to call my own was my Harley. But a bike could never be home."

"But this will be." She and Chris sat down on the couch in front of the table, so Chris could sign the deed. "I'll have some friends of mine work with you, so you can make this place your own. Any furniture you don't want, I'll find a place for." Chris nods in response, taking a look around the house. "The bed is brand new, I figure the colors of the sheets aren't exactly your preference. We'll get those switched out in the future for a color you want, but..." Chris goes still and stiff as a statue, as he suddenly feels Cynthia's hand sliding up his thigh. "Maybe you'd want to test it out right now?"

Chris looked at Cynthia, finding her eyes staring into his own with a domineering lust. "Maybe."

Her hand takes his, as she leads him to the villa's master bedroom. Not at all concerned about closing the door after locking the front door, Cynthia closes the distance between Chris's lips and hers fast. As nervous as he was, Chris at least faked having his composure, as he slid his hands up to softly squeeze her breasts. Cynthia giggles against his lips in response, breaking their first kiss for a moment. "Good boy." She says, before pushing Chris onto the bed. She climbs up on top of him, and starts kissing him again. Although they weren't all over each other for the rest of the day, neither the Champion, or her former challenger left his new house for the rest of the day.

Sorry if that last scene was getting you excited, but for the time being I want to avoid having to make this series rated M. Yes, you read that right: series.

So here's the deal. I spent about a month planning out Chris Harper's story before uploading the first chapter of his Sinnoh arc. I have plans on going to every region except Paldea at the moment. Hopefully it doesn't take me nearly an entire year to write each individual arc like it did this one. I have two trips planned to Hoenn in fact, with obviously the first one taking place in the next addition of the series. It does seem likely that Pokémon itself will go into the tenth generation before I finish, but I do hope to have the entirety of the character's story written within four years.

Like I said, I've got quite a lot of content that I plan to write, and for those of you who enjoyed this first part, I hope you join me for each subsequent arc. I can't thank you guys enough for getting as into the story as you have at this point, and I will do my best to ensure it only gets better and better. Since I'm about to go on vacation, I'll be beginning the first chapter of the next arc right away, but it likely won't be uploaded until some time next week. It also will be mostly- emphasis on mostly- based on Pokémon Emerald version's story. Basically what I mean by that is that Brendan (and Norman by extension) and May won't be featured in this first Hoenn arc, and Chris won't be challenging any gyms. Several Pokémon from Hoenn will be captured, and trained up, but there is not a Hoenn gym challenge in the next arc. I'm realizing as I type that that it might be the most challenging arc to write, but I said more or less the same thing about the Distortion World chapter, right?

At the risk of making this author's note too long, I'll end it by saying stay tuned, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story of Chris Harper.