Author's Note: Sorry, this chapter's really long. As much as I wanted to split it into two chapters, I wanted to keep the chapter count at a solid 40 total. I promise the next ones will be shorter, don't worry! But anyway, here's Wonderwall! And by that, I mean the next part of the story! Enjoy, you lovely people!
As expected of Lance's position, his room was embroidered with mainly a shiny gold coating, the six Dratini statues and tall pillars (which were a paler and shinier shade of the color) included. The part that didn't match the gold color was the crimson carpet that led to Lance; the one I was currently walking on until I reached the battlefield where the current Champion was.
"Ritsu, you made it!" Lance exclaimed with a smile and a wave, "I guess I was right to have no doubt in you whatsoever. After all the challenges I've seen you conquer, it's only natural that you'd be able to beat Will, Koga, Bruno, and Karen."
"W-Wow, thank you, Lance," I giggled, my face turning a shade of pink again at the very sight of him and hearing his words. "Now that I've come this far, it's your turn to face me!"
"Indeed it is. And should you beat me, I am to step down as Champion and bequeath the title to you. My ten years of being Champion shall come to end!"
Lance's first Pokémon was a ferocious Gyarados, whose roar of tenacity reverberated across the room. It was loud enough to shake the ceiling cameras, which I could only assume were the same ones that televised the Champion Match. Gulping a little, I called Erin to the stage to fight.
"Gyarados, use Ice Fang!" Lance commanded.
Before I could get any command out, Erin was struck by the icy fangs of her opponent, causing her to cry out in pain when it released its bite. Her left side was frozen solid, so I sprayed her with another Full Restore to heal her completely.
"Gyarados, attack with Dragon Pulse!" Lance shouted.
"Erin, counter with Giga Drain!" I ordered.
Gyarados fired its powerful indigo blast of Dragon-type energy at Erin. But, the attack never got the chance to hit her as my Gloom instead used her Giga Drain to absorb the move into her body along with Gyarados' own energy. The whole thing left both Pokémon extremely winded, Erin especially so from the amount she had absorbed.
"Gyarados, use Ice Fang!" Lance told his Gyarados to do.
"Erin, Acid!" I said to my Gloom.
The moment Gyarados opened its mouth, Erin fired her traditional toxic liquid. But, due to the Dragon Pulse charge she had been holding back from moments ago, the blast seemed much more lethal than usual. The gunk still landed directly into Gyarados' mouth and left it poisoned, but it also struck it hard against the jaw and tongue.
"Finish with Giga Drain again!" I commanded.
Erin drained Gyarados of the last of its energy, causing it to crash to the ground with a mighty bang (Lance thankfully jumped out of the way in time). It was called back to its PokéBall right away as Lance tossed the Ball containing his second fighter, which turned out to be a Charizard.
"Urgh, Ritsu…" Erin groaned, woozy, "I don't feel so good. Can I take a break?"
"Of course, Erin," I confirmed, calling her back to her PokéBall in a flash of red light. "You've definitely earned it. Louie, it's your time to shine!"
Louie appeared in a bright flash from his PokéBall, flapping his wings until he was in the air once again. Charizard tried to attack him with Dragon Claw, but Louie only flew higher until he was out of reach from the failed attack. In retaliation, Charizard ascended to Louie's level for a fairer fight.
"Oh, so you wish to have an air battle?" Louie questioned, "Very well then, chap! Let's begin!"
"Louie, use Zen Headbutt!" I called from below.
The crown of Louie's head began glowing bright blue from behind his massive light beige eyebrows. Flapping his wings faster until his flight speed increased, Louie rammed his head into Charizard's torso, inflicting critical damage on it.
"Charizard, hang in there!" Lance cried, "Use Fire Fang!"
Charizard's sharp fangs ignited with burning hot flames before it sunk them deep into Louie's wing. The pain of the brutal attack caused Louie to fall to the ground harshly. When I sprayed him with a Full Restore, the medicine quickly took effect, and Louie's wing was thankfully not broken, so he was able to take flight once again.
"Louie, Extrasensory!" I commanded.
As with Koga's Muk earlier on, Charizard's form was bent and altered when Louie's eyes glowed bright with a mystical force. When Charizard was still winded from the damage, Louie used Zen Headbutt one last time, sending Charizard crashing into the ground. It tried to get up and take flight again, but Lance's Pokémon had no energy left and fainted as a result.
"Return, Charizard!" Lance said. "I expected no less of you to be this strong, Ritsu. But, let's see how you do against my strongest Pokémon! Dragonite, I choose you!"
From the trustful look Dragonite gave me upon taking its form, I could tell that this was the one Lance had been partnered up with for so long. However, this was in no way going to convince me to go easy on it. If anything, I would give it all my might because Dragonite was the strongest.
"Louie, you did good," I spoke, recalling him. "Rose, you take this one!"
I threw Rose's PokéBall into the air, and she remained in flight upon being released from her orb. She looked ready to fight, even when she flinched a bit at the sight of Dragonite below her.
"Rose, use Shadow Ball!" I told her to do.
"Dragonite, Safeguard," Lance said.
Rose's Shadow Ball proved to be unsuccessful when Dragonite conjured a green shield and repelled the attack in the blink of an eye. When the Shadow Ball made contact, it faded into nothing.
"Good job!" Lance called, "Now, use Fire Blast!"
Closing its eyes, Dragonite took a deep breath. When it exhaled, the flames it released were in a remarkable 大 -shape. But, the move was strong enough to leave critical damage on Rose once it inevitably hit her. She started falling to the ground as she cringed in pain from the heat, but I managed to catch her in time.
"Hang in there, Rose," I assured her, spraying my Togetic with a Full Restore, which quickly relieved her of her pain and burning.
"Thanks, Ritsu!" Rose breathed, flying up to the air again.
"Dragonite, use Hyper Beam," Lance instructed.
"Rose, dodge it!" I told her.
Dragonite's strength made it possible for it to charge the Hyper Beam much quicker and fire it off the spot. Instead of flying out of the way, Rose instead warped the Hyper Beam using Extrasensory and sent it back to Dragonite, making it take its own critical damage.
"Wonderful!" I cheered, "You're doing so well, Rose!"
"Aww, thank you!" Rose chirped, flattered.
"We're not done just yet," Lance stated, spraying Dragonite with a Full Restore and resetting the damage. "Use Outrage!"
I flinched a bit in fear as Dragonite's eyes grew redder and full of rage. Its teeth bared and it let out a roar of fury as it flew up and charged at Rose, not hesitating to pummel her into the ground. Once she had crashed down, it kept punching and hitting her in its rage.
"Rose! No no, stop it right now!" I pleaded.
My eyes started tearing up at the fact that I couldn't help Rose, so I had no choice but to shut my eyes and wait for the horror to end. But, that didn't last long when I heard things falling from the sky and a loud crashing sound. I opened my eyes to see the remains of a Draco Meteor attack summoned from a Metronome attack, with a fainted and anger-free Dragonite underneath, but Rose was nowhere to be seen.
"...No…" I choked, tears flowing faster as I ran to the meteor, "NO! Rose, why?! We were… we were supposed to make it to the end together!"
"Ritsu, I'm so sorry," Lance said genuinely as he returned Dragonite to its PokéBall somberly, "I didn't… I didn't think it would go this way-"
Just then, Lance and I heard a rumbling coming from the Draco Meteor rock. My eyes were still weary from the tears, but they widened with surprise and complete relief when it had been smashed into thousands of pieces by Rose, who was miraculously still alive, but also critically injured.
"Rose! You're okay!" I wailed happily, hugging Rose jubilantly. "Don't you go and scare me like that!"
"S-Sorry…" Rose coughed, "I guess I got a little carried away. I didn't… mean to worry you like that, Ritsu. I'm gonna take a little break for now. That attack wore me out big time."
"Yes, take a nice long one. You did wonderfully, my friend," I said to her, recalling her so she could rest up.
"Wow," Lance commented, "never before have I seen a Togetic strong enough to survive a Draco Meteor attack. You, Ritsu, have raised a fine Pokémon in Rose."
"Thank you, Lance," I replied, feeling the oncoming blush again.
We both returned to our respective sides of the room, where we sent out our next Pokémon. Lance's was a rare Aerodactyl, and mine was Lady as an acceptable choice.
"Aerodactyl, Aerial Ace!" Lance ordered.
Aerodactyl flew rapidly towards Lady and landed a sharp slash onto her life bubble, which quickly repaired itself despite Lady still taking moderate damage.
"Lady, use Surf!" I commanded.
Her horn glowing white and bright, Lady summoned a large tidal wave that rose above Aerodactyl. No matter how high it flew, the wave would follow it until it ultimately crashed down onto its adversary, resulting in an instant KO. Aerodactyl was recalled to its PokéBall, prompting Lance to send out a second Dragonite of his.
"You have two?" I asked.
"No, the Dragonite you just faced is mine," Lance answered with a chuckle. "I have three on me right now, but the other two belong to my great-grandparents."
"Oh, okay," I said, nodding before tossing another Pokémon onto the field. "Merida, go!"
This Dragonite's first attack was Dragon Rush, in which it flew into the air temporarily before ultimately flying down surrounded by a blue aura. The attack made harsh impact with Merida, but she was still standing strong.
"Merida, use Thunder Punch!" I instructed.
Merida's yellow fist began sparking with electricity until it became completely engulfed in it. She charged out at Dragonite and inflicted moderate damage upon it. Dragonite's next move was a Thunder attack, which unsurprisingly did very little damage on an Electric-type like Merida.
"Now, use Cotton Spore!" I told her, "Then, use Discharge!"
From where her old wool once stood, Merida produced itchy and puffy spores from her body that began sticking to Dragonite until it was slowed down prodigiously. Once it couldn't move all too well, Merida took it down with strong waves of electricity being fired from her red orb and her body.
"This is it, Ritsu," Lance said to me as Dragonite was returned to its Ball. "I'm down to my final Pokémon. Should you defeat this one, then you shall finally take my place as Champion."
Lance's true words made my heart stir with excitement at the possibility. I only regained focus when he sent out his third Dragonite, prompting me to send out the Pokémon who hadn't yet battled Lance in this round: Blaze.
"Hey, we made it!" Blaze realized, "I knew ya could do it, Reets! I just knew it!"
"Save the celebration for after the match, Blaze," I told her. "Right now, you have to attack with Lava Plume!"
The moment Blaze was beginning to burn with the explosive ignition, Dragonite suddenly struck her with Thunder Wave, cutting the move short before it could be fired and paralyzing Blaze.
"Now, Dragonite, use Dragon Rush!" Lance commanded.
As the other one had done, this Dragonite flew into the air, illuminated itself in a bright blue aura, and rammed itself into Blaze, leaving critical damage. Blaze was injured, but she still attempted to move herself forward to attack until I stopped her.
"If you keep moving, your paralysis is going to get worse," I said to her, spraying her with a Full Heal and healing her mild condition. "We might as well nip it in the bud if we wanna win."
"Right…" Blaze sighed, "Can I fight now?"
"Yep! Go ahead and use Flamethrower!"
Blaze set her mouth aflame and released the flurry of flames from her mouth, damaging Dragonite on the spot. It cringed with pain, but it didn't look like it was ready to fall just yet.
"Dragonite, use Blizzard!" Lance ordered.
Rather than the typical flames or dragon energy escaping its mouth, Dragonite instead conjured a mighty fusion of ice and snow from its mouth and fired directly at Blaze. While the attack wasn't a critical hit, it still left a fair amount of damage on my Typhlosion. But, due to Blaze's high body heat, the snow residue began melting immediately.
"Blaze, attack with Blast Burn!" I had no choice but to command.
Standing firm, Blaze inhaled a great amount of breath as her eyes glowed completely scarlet as they had on Victory Road. The ring of burning heat surrounded her as the flames in her mouth grew larger and hotter. With a mighty roar of power, Blaze unleashed the scorching flames at Dragonite, the power enough to leave an extremely critical hit and ultimately defeating the mighty beast as it fell to the floor with a thud. Blaze collapsed wearily from the strain of the move, so I called her back to her PokéBall to give her a break. When I saw Lance do the same with his fainted Pokémon, I could only realize what had happened.
"...I lost," Lance breathed. "You've finally defeated me. I can't believe it, Ritsu!"
"I… I won?" I gasped with amazement, "Does that mean-"
"Correct." Lance's tone was calm and approving as he approached me with pride. "Ritsu, come with me, please."
I was ecstatic about finally defeating Lance and at finally becoming Champion. Lance led me through the door in back of his Champion room, where we were faced with a room that looked similar to his, only darker gold in color and only filled with pillars and a machine that resembled the ones at the Pokémon Center.
"Place your PokéBalls on there," Lance instructed, pointing to the machine.
I followed his directions and placed my six teammate's PokéBalls onto the platform. It made the same sound as the Pokémon Center machine, so I could only assume that meant everyone was healed up completely. What happened next amazed me. A giant screen on the back wall flashed on and began displaying everyone's stats and pictures one by one. After my Pokémon were shown on the screen, my entire Trainer ID was displayed, full name and all of my stats.
"There it is," Lance pointed out before looking at my full name. "Huh, I didn't know your last name was 'Levare'. It's pretty."
"Thank you," I said, blushing. "Am I officially the Champion now?"
"Not quite. You are indeed registered in the system, but now you have to wait until this Saturday for the Champion Coronation Ceremony. Afterwards, you will be officially appointed as the new Champion and your portrait will be hung over here."
On the side wall, I saw portraits of several Champions from the past arranged in chronological order. Among them, I saw a young woman with crimson hair and deep green eyes. Below the portrait was a plaque that said "Jinsune, Hitomi", and all the years she was Champion for.
"Hitomi used to be the Champion?!" I gasped in awe and shock.
"Yes," Lance confirmed. "Her reign didn't last too long, but she told me that she seemed much happier when she stepped down. Grandma said the life of the Champion was way too stressful for her."
"I guess the experience is different for everyone. What will it be like for me after Saturday's Coronation?"
"Who knows? But with your skill and kind heart, I'm sure you'll make a wonderful Champion! Also, as part of tradition, you'll have to stay in Saffron City for the next couple of days until the ceremony ends. Will you be ready by Saturday?"
"You'd bet! I'll even find something nice to wear for it!"
Lance nodded with a smile and began making his leave. However, I knew there was something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Gulping with a nervous blush spreading across my cheeks as I told Lance to stop for a second.
"Is everything alright, Ritsu?" he asked me.
"Y-Yeah," I gulped, the rosiness in my face still burning. "Lance, th-there's something I wanna ask you."
"Okay, go ahead."
"Umm, d-do you… maybe sometime soon, could we go out sometime? You know, just us together? I mean, I really, really like you, so it's something I've been wanting to do for a long time!"
I saw that Lance was rather stunned by my flustered confession and request, as evident by the pink color in his cheeks. I also noticed that the slightly confused look on his face that made my heart sink a little.
"Ritsu, how long have you felt this way?" Lance wondered.
"For quite some time," I confessed further. "Ever since the Red Gyarados mission."
"...Look," he told me sincerely, "Ritsu, I really like you. You're a wonderful person to be around, and I'm so grateful to know you and call you my dear friend. But, I'm afraid I don't feel the same way about you as you do me. You're exactly half my age, so I don't think things would work out between us. I'm really sorry…"
Although I saw Lance's words coming from a mile away, that didn't make the painful clench in my heart any less disappointing. I hung my head somberly as Lance placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I looked up at him with a sad smile.
"Don't feel bad," I sighed, still hurt on the inside. "I mean, we're still good friends, right?"
"That's right. And I'll always care about you dearly, Ritsu. Never forget that."
"I won't, Lance."
"Are you going to be alright? You're not too upset, are you?"
"Well, I still feel pretty hurt, but I kinda saw this coming. The more I think about it, it is a little silly for a 13-year old to date a 26-year old. Listen, I'll see you on Saturday, Lance. I should be okay by then."
"You sure? Because if there's any way I can make it up to you-"
"No, there isn't. It's not your fault, Lance. I'll be fine, okay? I'll see you in a few days at the Coronation."
Before I left the room after Lance did, each heartbeat I felt clenched with disappointment. This wasn't something to dwell on for too long, so I promised myself not to let it get to me. With that in mind, I took my team's PokéBalls back from the machine and headed off in my own direction to begin preparations for the big weekend.
It hadn't felt that long, but a few days had passed and marked the arrival of Saturday. The ceremony wasn't supposed to start for another half an hour, but I was still in the process of getting dressed. I carefully pulled the long and flowing red satin gown over my body and turned to Lady once it was on my body.
"How do I look?" I asked her.
"Trés belle, mademoiselle!" Lady beamed as her horn started glowing. "Hold still, I want to add something to ta robe."
Lady's horn conjured up some ocean blue beads that linked themselves around my waist like a belt. I looked at them for a few seconds with awe and smiled at their elegant beauty.
"Lady, merci!" I told her, "That's how you say it, right?"
"Oui, that is the, how do you say, word?" Lady confirmed.
"That's the exact word for it, you stupid guppy!" Blaze shouted from outside of the Pokémon Center room's bathroom, "Stop pretending you don't know how to say 'word'!"
"Blaze, calm down," I told her as I finished curling my hair and arranging it into a low ponytail over my shoulder. "The Coronation is going to start soon, so let's get going!"
I walked out of the room as Lady enchanted the cold bathtub water around her to form another breathing bubble, presenting myself to the rest of my team. They all remarked on how nice I looked and that they couldn't wait for the ceremony.
"I must say, Ritsu!" Louie commented, "You'll be a wonderful Champion from how far you've brought us."
"That means a lot, Louie," I giggled. "Come on, everyone. We don't wanna miss my own ceremony."
Careful not to ruin the dress by stepping on it, I lifted it up so my dark brown heeled shoes were visible and walked carefully, my team parading behind me out of the Center building. Thankfully, the walk from there to Silph Co. wasn't painfully long, so we got there in almost no time. On the way to the building, I could see some of the citizens trying to get close excited glances of me because I was the one about to be crowned Champion.
I managed to make my way up to the venue room after the team and I fought through a crowd. According to the security guard who helped me, this would be the only time the top floors of Silph Co. would be open to the public due to past events that I wasn't aware of. Eventually, I found myself in the back of a stage, about to reveal myself and my team to what looked like thousands of people.
"Here we go," I breathed, taking a deep breath.
I graciously walked onto the stage, greeted by a loud uproar of applause and cheers. Looking through the crowd, I saw the Johto and Kanto Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and my Mom holding hands with Jared; both waving at me as I returned the favor. I also caught a glimpse of Nico, who kept stealing glances every now and then before finally turning with indifference. Just then, Lance walked onto the stage and looked at me, feelings shifting from slight guilt to serenity after I told him everything was alright. Lance walked up to the microphone, the crowd silencing when he started talking after I knelt on the stage.
"Citizens of Kanto and Johto," Lance spoke, "on this day, October 10th, we are gathered to crown a new Champion. This young girl before me has not only single-handedly taken down the eight Gym Leaders of Johto, Elite Four, and myself, but she has also shown bravery in disbanding the nefarious Team Rocket for all time. Through and through, young Ritsu has shown compassion and love for her Pokémon, which also helped them all go the distance."
Lance then pulled out a beautiful, silver cloak that sparkled with a tint as blue as the sea, and gold diadem embroidered with red and green jewels. He fastened the cloak around me while I was still kneeling, holding the diadem above my head.
"And now, with this honorary diadem, I officially bequeath my title onto you," Lance announced, placing the diadem onto my head. "All hail Neo-Champion Ritsu Levare!"
The crowd erupted into more cheers once I stood proud upon the stage, waving to everyone I knew in the crowd. Mom and Jared clapped happily along with the crowd, Karen was affectionately hugging Will (with the person who appeared to be the Sinnoh Elite Four's Lucian protectively pulling his sister off of his friend), and Nico was looking on the stage with a calm smirk.
Unfortunately, everyone's happiness was cut short by the once-sunny sky darkening up with ominous storm clouds and a sudden burst of lightning shattering the windows open, allowing the fearsome wind to blow in. Among the pandemonium in which some people fled the room and building, a dark violet aura of mystery slipped in and took the form of a young boy around ten years, his eyes like that of evil scarlet lights.
"It's him…" I heard Lance breathe, "He's returned."
"Who's that, Lance?" I asked him.
"Heh-heh, so, is this dumb broad your new successor, Lance?" the ghost boy chuckled. "Pretty pathetic that you've stooped so low as to recruit such a feeble looking girl as the new Champion. You must have really gotten so weak to be defeated by someone like her!"
"Hey! I worked hard to get to where I am now!" I objected.
"I'm sure you did." The ghost boy looked closer at me as he approached me on the stage by levitating over to me using the black mist. "Hey, come to think of it, you look a little… familiar."
"Get away from her!" Lance bellowed, standing in front of me protectively. "Ritsu will be a much better Champion than you have, Red! You turned into a power-hungry tyrant!"
"Hmph, so maybe I did. So sue me, Lancey~," Red teased. "Now, listen here! If this girl truly is the Champion, then I'll ensure a little challenge. From this moment on, you have until the end of the year to complete it. You shall journey to Mt. Silver and defeat me. If you do, then you are truly worthy. But if not, then I shall claim Kanto and Johto as my own once again. Remember, you have until New Year's Day. Any later, and it counts as an automatic forfeit. Farewell, Neo-Champion Ritsu~!"
Red let out a malicious cackle before leaving the building in the same dark mist as when he had entered before. The room was now entirely evacuated save for the Johto Elite Four.
"Who was that?" I asked them.
"His name is Red," Bruno answered, "he is Lance's predecessor."
"But," Karen sighed, "things went wrong during his reign."
"Was he a bad Champion?" I questioned.
"Initially, he was a fantastic one," Koga answered. "But over time, he changed greatly."
"With each day, poor Red grew greedy with power, claiming he felt himself 'growing weaker' as Champion," Will added. "His heart shrank, and he never once hesitated to stomp on anyone who dared challenge him or bring him down."
"Until one day," Lance finally said, "he disappeared to Mt. Silver to train. However, he eventually froze to death after becoming stranded at the peak. Because of that, I had to resume my position as Champion. I thought we were all free of Red for good, but we were wrong."
"And now that this Red boy is back, I have to stop him," I said. "I won't let you guys down! I'm going to save Kanto and Johto from him!"
"Ritsu, we don't doubt you," Karen told me, "but Red is stronger than all of us combined. It definitely won't be easy."
"Karen's right," Will agreed. "If you wanna beat him, you're gonna have to train hard over these two months, okay?"
"You can count on me! I'm gonna win for sure! As the new Champion, I'll take care of things! I'll use my time to train my team, and we're gonna stop Red once and for all!"
"We're counting on you, Ritsu," Lance said, placing two hands on my shoulders. "Good luck, my friend."
"Thanks, Lance," I replied, nodding with a smile before I left the room with my team by my side.
As I walked further from the Silph Co. venue, I realized that my adventure was far from over. I had one more chapter left in my adventure, and as the new Champion of Johto and Kanto, it was up to me to end it. I felt more than pressured about this since it was bigger than my Team Rocket mission. Because if I failed this one, then everyone I held dear to me would be doomed forever by the evil spirit of an ex-tyrant of an ex-Champion.
Pokémon obtained: None.
Deaths: None.
Boxed/Unboxed: None.
Author's Note: Ritsu's last name is pronounced "Lay-vaw-ray", and it's the Italian word for "upbeat". Her first name means "rhythm", so it literally translates to "upbeat rhythm" when you put it together. I thought it was fitting for her cheery and optimistic personality. Stay tuned for the final three chapters, the next being Chapter 38!