Haven't thought about this one in a while. I think I'm coming into my own as a writer. Though, my YouTube channel has been getting in the way lately. I should try to divide my time better. Enough of that, let's get on to "the exciting conclusion!"

"What's happening?" Red cried as Charmander became nothing but a silhouette of white light.

"It's- it's evolving!" Brock stammered.

Charmander's shape grew and a horn shape appeared on the back of his head. When the light faded, Charmander's body had turned fire red. Red checked his Pokédex.

"Now you're Charmeleon…" Red breathed. Both Red and his Pokémon smiled. "Let's go!"

"You just lucked out when your Pokémon evolved!" Brock declared, "You still can't beat my Onix!"

"We'll see about that, take a taste of our razor sharp Metal Claw!"

Charmeleon launched forward and raked his steel-hard claws against Onix. But as devastating as the blow was, Onix still had plenty of fight left.

"Onix, attack from underground!" Brock ordered.

Onix slammed head first into the floor of the gym and disappeared under the rock. The entire building began to shake.

"I guess we'll just have to smoke you out…"

Charmeleon knew what to do right away. He darted to the hole Onix dug and released a Smokescreen attack into it. Onix burst from under the gym floor, bringing a cloud of smoke black as pitch with it.

"Flamethrower!"

Charmeleon released a blast of fire that reached his opponent's face, which was near the sealing two stories up. Onix's face was charred, it barely had the strength to hold its self up.

"How could your Pokémon learn such a powerful attack so young?" Brock demanded.

"We're not amateurs like the opponents you're accustomed to facing," Red answered.

Brock steadied his shaken nerves. "You're right. You're not. But you've clearly pushed your Pokémon to its breaking point."

Brock was right. Flamethrower was too much for Charmeleon at such a tender age. He was exhausted, but so was Onix. The fight was to be determined by one last exchange.

Onix coiled around the entire battlefield. There was nowhere Charmeleon could escape to. It lunged forward in a tackle, but Charmeleon still had the strength to leap into the air. While it avoided the bulk of Onix's attack, the tall spike on Onix's head clipped the fire Pokémon.

"Charmeleon! Grab onto its horn!" He complied. "Now use Slash!"

Charmeleon raked his claws down the top of Onix's head. The giant rock snake bucked and twisted with all its remaining might. Charmeleon was tossed violently from his opponent, but landed on his feet. Just as he steadied himself, Onix brought its tail down on its opponent. Charmeleon had only enough time to roll out of the way. Because he didn't have the time to see what direction he was going, he found himself falling down the hole Onix dug earlier.

"I've got you now!" Brock grinned.

Onix pummeled the entrance of the hole with its tail. Dirt and rock fragments cascaded down the hole in an improvised Rock Throw attack. If Charmeleon stayed down there too long, he'd be buried alive!

Just as Red was ready to throw in the towel (only for the sake of Charmeleon's life), he saw Charmeleon pop up from the spot Onix had after the Smokescreen. He used his claws to climb up the side of the tunnel, Red realized, that's my buddy! Charmeleon was now behind Onix. Neither Pokémon, nor Trainer, could see the small lizard behind Onix's bulk.

"Ember!"

Onix turned just in time to see Charmeleon's burning tail smash directly into its nose. The battle was too much for either of them and they collapsed.

"Charmeleon, are you alright?" Red asked his partner. The fire Pokémon stood just for a moment. Onix didn't have a prayer, it was out cold. "Charmeleon, you did it! You won!" Charmeleon started to celebrate, but was too weak. Red rushed out onto the battlefield and caught him just before he fell.

"I took you for granted and so, I lost," Brock said as he recalled his unconscious Onix. He started to walk over to Red and Charmeleon. "As proof of your victory, I confer to you this…" he held out his closed fist, "the official Pokémon League Boulderbadge." Brock opened his hand to reveal a grey hexagon with a raised square in the middle.

Red took the badge, "Thank you, sir."

"Just having the Boulderbadge makes your Pokémon more powerful. It also enables the use of the move 'Flash' outside of battle."

"The move 'Flash'?"

"I'm sure it will come in handy on your journey. Of course, a Pokémon must know the move Flash to use it." Red recalled his exhausted Charmeleon and turned to leave with a friendly wave. "Wait, take this with you." Brock handed Red a brown CD with the number 39 on it.

"What's this?" Red asked.

"A TM." Red's quizzical look warranted a brief explanation. "A technical machine contains a move for a Pokémon. Using the TM teaches the move it contains to a Pokémon. A TM is good for only one use. So when you use one, pick the Pokémon carefully."

"But I couldn't take this," Red said, trying to hand the TM back.

Brock wouldn't hear any of it. "After that battle, you deserve it. I'm sure you'll make good use of it. After all, it contains the move Rock Tomb, the move that just gave you so much trouble."

Red smiled widely. "Thanks, sir!" He turned to leave again, but stopped after only a few steps. "I almost forgot," he said, "How do you use it?"

"You press the disk to the Pokémon's head, of course."

"You press the… Never mind, I'll figure it out."

As Red made his way to the door the warm-up trainer asked him from atop one of the boulders, "So you won, right?" Red flashed the thumbs up. "Good." After Red left the building the kid laid back and stared at the sealing. No wonder he smoked me with a Pikachu, he thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the door opening and shutting. Another challenger had arrived. Here we go again!

Red returned to the Pokémon Center to heal his exhausted Pokémon. His win hadn't really sunk in yet. In one of the rooms at the Pokémon Center Red released his Pokémon. Pidgey and Pikachu were clearly surprised to see Charmeleon. Pidgey kept looking for Charmander. "Look at this," Red said, producing the Boulderbadge. "This is the Boulderbadge we won together. This was the first hurtle to the Pokémon League." His Pokémon cheered. It wasn't going to get any easier, but if he could pass this test, Red figured he could pass any test.

One down, seven to go!

Here's another one I like but never work on. Though there was a very specific reason for my stalling on this one. I cut the last chapter wrong and it painted me into a corner. It took me a while to figure out how to fill up the extra space, but my schedule forced me to get it done. It's funny to see my author's note at the beginning. I was just thinking when I was trying to find a way to finish this that it was this story that I really gained some maturity in my writing. I guess I was right. Well, I suppose we'll see.

…

I'm going to be referring a lot of people to Duel 26 of Darkness (again), aren't I?