Gold- A Pokémon Story

Chapter Forty- I Can't Believe It

A blanket of silence covered the entire stadium for a moment. The referee was the first to break from his spell. "Ch-Charizard is unable to battle! The winner is Meganium which means the match goes to Gold!"

The audience exploded into cheers as the screen changed to display me as the winner. "I did it," I whispered. I couldn't believe it.

"Astounding!" The announcer shouted. "We have a new Champion folks! It really happened! After an incredible battle, we now have a new Champion!"

I ran across the field and threw my arms around Meganium's neck. "That was incredible! You really did it!"

Red walked up to his Charizard and gently pat it on the head before returning him. That was an amazing battle, thank you Gold. He said.

I smiled bashfully. "Don't mention it! I don't think anything can top that battle!"

Red nodded. It was an amazing way to go out. Now come with me, we have something important to do. Red led me across the field and back to the entrance he came from.

There was a Pokémon healing machine in his locker room that he restored his Pokémon on. Then, he took me out back and sent out Charizard. Climb on.

I hesitated for a moment, I was sure everyone wanted to congratulate me on my win and would be looking for me.

Red noticed my hesitation. It'll be fine. I'll have you back in no time. He assured me. With that, we climbed onto Charizard's back and he flew off into the sky.

At that point, the sun had set and we were flying through the night sky. Charizard flew through the sky with ease and carried us over the Kanto region.

I was still having trouble processing that I was The Champion now. I had actually achieved my life goal.

It felt surreal. Accomplishing the one thing I had spent my entire life dreaming of. It hadn't fully set in for me but this was only the start of my new life goal.

Staying as The Champion and preparing to inspire a whole new generation of kids like Red had done for me. "Red, thank you. I don't like to talk about it much but I was attacked by a Pokémon when I was young. I was hurt really badly and spent a few weeks in the hospital and a few more bedridden.

"I was able to get through it by watching hundreds of your old matches and looking forward to every new match you had. I know I just beat you and everything but I wanted you to know that I'm sure there are thousands of people like me who'll remember you for years to come."

We flew through the night in silence. Thank you, Gold. That means a lot to me. If I'm being honest, it's a lot of pressure to be The Champion as long as I was. So I'm happy to know I was able to impact someone's life so positively.

Charizard started descending and we landed at the Indigo Plaza again. I jumped off of Charizard and Red followed me. He then returned his Pokémon and walked inside.

The Indigo Plaza was nearly completely empty other than a Nurse Joy. "I saw the match and it was incredible! Congrats, Gold!" She told me.

I thanked her and then followed Red into the next room. We strolled across the empty battlefield and into the new room.

The next room was another battlefield. This time it was much smaller and had a blank TV screen on the side of the wall. Red turned around and walked backwards through the room.

This was where I held most of my battles as a Champion until three years ago. He explained. It's also where I became The Champion.

"I remember a ton of the matches you've had in here," I recalled. "Like the one with your Dragonite that beat a whole trainer's team or when your Kabutopps barely won you a match."

Red's eyebrows went up. Impressive. Do you have every one of my battles memorized?

I laughed and shook my head. "Of course not. Though I know a lot of them, they're pretty memorable most of the time. Like the Blissey that nearly stalled out your entire team."

Red laughed without making a sound. Oh yeah! I remember that! That was an infuriating battle. Made me wish I had brought Ivysaur.

We finished reminiscing and Red led me into the next room over. The room was a small hallway that had a machine in the back designed like a healing machine.

Red pointed at the machine. Place your Poké Balls on the machine and it'll record the data for your Hall of Fame entry. He explained.

I ran up to the machine and placed each of my Pokémon down onto it. The machine started glowing once I finished and then a small screen lit up to display the recorded information.

Now, Red grinned at me while I retrieved my Pokémon. Let's get you back for the celebration.

Red and I arrived back in Saffron City to a massive ongoing party. Music was being played and people from all over Johto and Kanto were celebrating.

My friends and family made their way over to me to give me their congratulations. "Honey you were amazing!" My mom said as she hugged me.

My father nodded in agreement. "I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. You're a fantastic trainer, son."

Silver hugged me next and seemed unable to contain his excitement. "You actually did it! You became The Champion! Gold you're so awesome!" He squeaked.

"Now you have to keep your end of the bargain." I reminded him. "I better be having a rematch against you soon."

Silver chuckled. "Maybe. I need to train up my team more though. At some point, you got stronger than me and I need to catch up."

Alex cleared his throat. "Just because I put my League Challenge on hold temporarily doesn't mean I'll be putting those 8 badges I got again to waste. Expect me to go all out when we battle again."

"Maybe for our battle we can pit Suicune and Raikou against each other?" Eusine suggested.

I raised an eyebrow. "Geez are you all battling me now."

Jess nodded. "You bet! Now that you're the end goal I'm motivated again because I need a rematch from you." She joked.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Blue standing over me. "What did I tell you all? I told you all this kid would go places! And I was right!"

Daisy rolled her eyes and playfully punched his arm. "Ok big bro. If you say that about every trainer who gets a Gym Badge then you're bound to be right eventually."

Bill strolled up to me. "Saaay, since I gave you that Espeon of yours do you think you could return the favor by endorsing me as the smartest inventor in Kanto?"

"You don't need your ego being inflated any further," Daisy told him. "It's already overblown these days."

Bill feigned offense. "How dare you!"

Yellow sized me up. "If I ever have free time again after havin' my kid I bet we would have a mighty good battle."

"All you people think about is Pokémon battles." Lillie sighed and shook her head jokingly. "Let's just enjoy the celebration for once."

I nodded. "I'm with Lillie! There's way too much good food around here to waste time talking!" I pulled Silver along with me over to some of the food set up and prepared for a long night of celebration.

Because I had done it and I could barely believe it. I was The Champion.