"Blastoise is unable to continue the battle! Elite Four Misty has no Pokemon remaining! Therefore, the challenger is the winner!"
The crowd was already going crazy, and the announcement from the stadium loudspeakers just seemed bitterly redundant as Misty recalled her most powerful Pokemon after it had been defeated. The immense surge of noise from the crowd of thousands in the Indigo League stadium was deafening, but to her it seemed to fade as she glanced over at the young celebrating Pokemon master opposite her. A wave of nostalgia flowed through her and a small smile crept across her face. She couldn't help but feel anything but happiness for the young trainer.
As she began to traverse the distance across the battlefield toward the trainer she recalled fondly her early days as a trainer. How she just fell in love with water Pokemon and wanted to specialize in them. How her experience with her friends and then her many years as a gym leader had prepared her to finally become a member of the vaunted Elite Four. Twenty years of experiences. Twenty years of so many successes and failures. She didn't like losing, and she hadn't in several years. Not since, well… But as the nostalgia flowed through her, she was so happy to see this young girl, not unlike herself so many years ago, make it to the top. She felt…pride. Pride in being one of the people able to make this a possibility for this budding new Pokemon Master.
She finally reached the young trainer who beamed with pride, her family having descended from the bleachers and were hugging her and congratulating her. She smiled down at the girl and extended her hand for a handshake, but was a bit surprised when the girl ran to her and embraced her in a hug.
"Congratulations!" Misty said through a small chuckle.
"Oh thank you so much!" the young trainer began to talk a mile a minute, "You don't know how much this means and how much I've idolized you through the years, ma'am! You've been my inspiration! To see you as successful as you are is what has kept me going through my journey!"
More nostalgia flowed through Misty as she was genuinely touched by the young girl's respect.
"You are truly a remarkable young girl," Misty said, "you've beaten the four toughest trainers in the world. You truly are a Pokemon Master!" Misty kneeled down and looked at the young girl in the eyes, "No one can take this from you. You're amazing! The power of your Pokemon are a testament to what a remarkable young girl you are."
The young trainer beamed and looked like she might start crying with joy, but Misty knew what was coming next and wanted to gently prepare her. She didn't want her to become flustered or scared, so she put her hands on the young girl's shoulders and smiled.
"But there's one last challenge if you want to be the champion. You must beat the last person to have beaten me. He's the current champion, and only after beating him can you claim the title of Pokemon Champion."
The girl was surprised, but Misty saw a familiar determined look quickly replace the look of shock that had developed upon hearing that she had one more challenge to overcome. She'd seen that look for almost 20 years, albeit in another person, but it made her that much more proud of this girl.
Misty leaned in close and whispered to the young girl, "You can beat him." She stood up and began following the girl's family back to the bleachers as the information about the next match began to blare over the loudspeakers. She looked back over her shoulder and added teasingly, "And if you don't, I won't hear the end of it!"
The young girl looked a little confused, but smiled back. And with a determined nod, she turned around to wait for whoever she had to beat to walk through the stadium doors and onto the battle field.
Misty took her seat in the stands next to her old friend and fellow Elite Four member. He held up his fist and she bumped it with her own.
"Well this should be exciting," he said as he ran his hand through his spiky brown hair.
Misty looked down at the ring on her left hand and smiled. "It will. It's been too long since I've gotten to watch this."
Suddenly the stadium went dark. Spotlights began to shine and move through the stadium as an epic refrain began to blare over the sound system. The crowd began to go wild, and she couldn't help giving into the excitement and cheering herself. She looked to the field entrance as the main spotlight focused on the figure of a man with a red hat as he walked out onto the field. The crowd immediately recognized him and got as loud as she'd ever heard it.
Misty beamed with pride and chuckled as she saw the little girl who was sitting on the man's shoulders, whose slightly red hair almost gave the impression that it was pink. The man took the girl off his shoulders and sat her next to him, ruffling her hair a bit as he turned back to the young trainer who he was about to face.
Any lingering disappointment from losing quickly left her as the excitement for the upcoming match sent shivers through her body. Her husband turned his red hat around on his head and got a familiar determined look on his face and said, "Alright, Pikachu, let's go!"