"Fine, you did manage to defeat some of my pokemon." Douchebag admitted. "But now the best ones are coming out! Muhtar, get him!"
"Let`s go, Moment! I need your speed!"
Now battlers face each other: mighty flaming Arcanine and cunning tricky Golbat. The intimidating growl of the opponent may look scary, but I know we can handle him.
"Start with Confuse Ray!" I began the next round.
"Let`s burn it to the very core! Flamethrower!" With maniacal tone, my opponent ordered.
Battlers shot each other with their attacks – both were landed successfully. Moment got a shot of flame in his face, while Muhtar was confused by our mystical light.
"Poison Fang, Moment! Unleash your wild rage!" I felt myself turning into a maniac too.
"Focus, Muhtar, and launch another Flamethrower!"
Moment immediately headed towards his opponent, skillfully dodging the nasty stream of flame, heading at him, and closed his jaws on the tail of Muhtar. The confused enemy howled loudly from the pain and tried to shake off the blood lusting Golbat, but our grip was tough as ever.
"Shake `im down, and use Flamethrower still he`s close!" Douchebag instructed his pokemon, taking the advantage of our move.
"Doesn`t matter, keep the grip!" I gave my order to Moment.
We need to take our time, let the poison get into Muhtar`s body. This pokemon is fast, strong and tough – we definitely need to use one of our tricks to win this. But, looking at the strength Arcanine crushed my Moment into the ground with his tail, I wished we could attack this thing from a distance. Maybe, the effect of confusion even somehow made him wildly stronger.
But, as they say, 'don`t hit the bat biting your tail'. This strengthened Moment`s grip on tail and Muhtar howled even louder and rushed forward – into the nearest column to ram it with his head. Good boy.
"Ugh…" Douchebag swallowed his words, reminding himself that his curses will be broadcasted across the whole world. "Shake him with Extreme speed!"
Noticing the small traces of poison marks on the tail of our opponent, I decided to act more careful.
"Fine, retreat back and use Wing Attack!"
Arcanine shook his head, crouched and then rushed forward like a lightning to make a circle around himself and land a hit on my Golbat still not made away. Yeah, at such speed this dog definitely can bite his own tail…
Yet, my hurt partner released the pained tail and then headed to the body to strike with his tough wings. Arcanine took the hit and jumped away, shaking from the pain everywhere. Only then he felt the poison spreading across the whole body and howled to show that.
This pokemon sure can take lots of damage… But even he is not eternal. I can see him suffering from everything he already withstood. We only need to finish him, that`s it. But…
My Moment isn`t in a good shape too. He got some straight hits from flamethrowers, was smashed into a ground… He is not as endurant as Arcanine, so even just one hit can become the last for us.
"Okay, Moment, prepare to use Reflecting Whirlpool and then… Wing Attack to the legs!" I gladly shouted.
"Wha…? Stop him, Flamethrower, go!" Douchebag shockingly shouted, definitely hearing a new maneuver for him.
The trap closed.
Arcanine shook his confused head and found the approaching Golbat in the blurred vision to launch another Flamethrower somewhere in that direction. We were expecting exactly that and so got prepared.
Moment hovered in the air and spread his wings, welcoming the heat coming at him. And then he just made a spin around himself, turning himself into a tornado like Dumpling during Corkscrew maneuver, but this time we just retracted the damage from flamethrower. It still was hurt, but we managed to lower the effect.
Quickly recovered after that, Moment continued to spin while heading to Arcanine and rushed below his body to strike all his legs at once and fly away after a nasty maneuver. Muhtar roared loudly and fell on ground, losing his balance… even after some seconds he didn`t get up.
"Amazing! Arcanine is unable to battle! Golbat is the winner!" The announcement explained everything to everyone.
"Gr-r-r…" The young champion angrily growled, looking up at the commentator.
This guy sure doesn`t like how much the audience cheers for me and not for him. How much the very League cheers for me against him. Well, he is no fool - knows that they don`t care much for him anyway. All they want is a new show. So… if I manage to dethrone him – this wild crowd will be pleased the most. No one wants OLD champions. This is the cruel reality of our world..
"No, I refuse to believe this!" Douchebag shouted loudly. "Just you wait! My next pokemon will stop you."
I already know who that is.
My opponent hurried to replace his fallen comrade with another pokemon – a tall fat palm tree-like creature, just like Erika had during our attack on Celadon base. In Saffron Douchebag already had this guy. But the last time he was just an small pack of intelligent eggs…
Now it is a mighty Exeggutor.
Okay, I haven`t had a chance to battle Exeggutor, but I`m sure this battle will be tough. He looks really hardy and strong. But we need to give everything we`ve got!
"Wing Attack, Moment!" I gave the starting command.
"Use Egg Bomb, Eggman!" my opponent answered.
We began with launching a powerful attack on the opponent`s middle head, making him to retreat a bit and angrily growl at us. But then a small egg appeared between the leaves and was shot at high speed right at Moment, exploding really strong on the contact. Such shock wave shook even me, as for my Golbat… he was tossed back and pressed into the wall, no more unable to move. He already suffered much, and now he reached his limit.
"Golbat is out of the battle now, by the hands… or eggs of our champion`s Exeggutor!" Commentator announced, causing another wave of loud cheers from the audience.
"You did a great job, Moment…" I praised my Golbat and returned him back into a pokeball. "Take a moment to rest. You deserved it."
For some reason I felt extreme sadness… My pokemon are coming to an end with only Reaper, Dumpling and wounded Harry remaining. But Douchebag has two pokemon – and I already know them. I may have the chance to finally defeat him! Each defeated pokemon from my side is another step to victory, because each one of them takes down a pokemon from the opponent. They ALL fight amazingly today.
"Come on, Reaper! Deal with this creep!" I said with a bit raised mood and sent out my awesome Beedrill on the field. "And so start with Twineedle!"
"So, back to brute force, hey?" Douchebag shook his head in disapproval. "You`re not the only one who doesn`t care much about type defenses. Use Sleep powder!"
Really? Douchebag decided to play safely? That doesn`t look like him. I expected him to bring us down with Psychic or something… Maybe he just feels that risk for him is too high? Nah, that`s not him. He is just stalling time.
Reaper listened to me and headed straight forward to sting Exeggutor right in the stomach with his empowered stings. Being a really painful move, Twineedle shook the coconut pokemon and left a nasty scar on its skin, but opponent quickly recovered and launched a cloud of green powder at my pokemon to instantly put him to sleep.
"Nice! Now we can easily finish off this nasty bug, ha-ha!" Douchebag evilly laughed. "First of all, heal yourself with Giga drain!"
"Come on, you had enough sleep two battles ago!" I scolded my Beedrill loudly. "Get up! Attack with Twineedle!"
But Reaper didn`t hear me through the loud snore he made. Exeggutor approached him clumsily and began to suck out the life out of him through the green energy channel. This weakened the strength of my pokemon and healed a bit the last wound of Exeggutor.
"Great, now aim carefully and give a good shot with Egg Bomb!"
Damn it! This is not good. This is SO not good… The sleep may last for quite long, and Eggman will deal lots of damage on Reaper. If we can`t think of something really quick, then my current warrior may just lose for nothing! I can replace him or even use the Full Restore of my own, but… what if something even worse happens in the REAL final battle? Something that I will need my support for. What if we… try to exploit that thing?
I`m sorry, Reaper. This is for you good.
"Just stand and fight, Reaper!" I yelled at my sleeping pokemon, trying to be as much like lieutenant Surge as possible. "Stand! And! Fight! What, are you a WEAKLING of some sort?"
I tried to press on Reaper`s actual weak point to awaken him at any cost. His reaction to such comment was really unexpected. I can just hope I do the right thing…
To my extreme surprise, this worked. Reaper buzzed loudly and at the last moment before the collision with explosive egg he rushed from place and launched a combo of hits with his stings right at the opponent`s mug. Exeggutor trembled and retreated back, surprised too.
"Yes! You`re strong, Reaper! Show them what you can! Pin Missile!"
"Come on, give them one more Egg Bomb!"
Battlers retreated back and launched their attacks – our pins met with opponent`s egg right between them and caused the large explosion, but some of the pins continued flying towards the enemy until the impact. Exeggcute yelled loudly from the pain and bended a bit back… but managed to stand on his feet.
"Quickly, finish him with Twineedle!"
"Egg Bomb, one more time!"
Filled with determination, Reaper jumped and flew towards the opponent with his stings ready, but the distance was too big just to reach him first. Exeggutor launched another Egg bomb that literally knocked down Beedrill, making him fall on ground without any motions…
"Oh, that must have been hurt!" The host commented that. "Is this over for Beedrill?"
No, it was not. When close to over, for Beedrill everything is in the beginning! With his Swarm ability activated, he made a threatening roar and headed to Exeggutor, reaching him in a single second and piercing him with powerful stings… THAT must have been hurt!
But his stings went too deep under the tough skin of Exeggutor, so he could not take them out. Falling unconscious, Eggman bended down and crashed on my Reaper, resulting the battle in another draw.
"Just you look at that! A draw! Both Exeggutor and Beedrill are in no condition to continue!" The commentator amazedly exclaimed. "Does this mean… our champ is down to his last but BEST pokemon?"
"Yes…" Douchebag said, expressing anger, disgust and evilness on his mug while returning his Exeggutor.
The time has come for his Quartz.
We have been waiting for this moment for so long… And many days ago I gave a promise to one little guy… A promise that I can turn into reality right NOW.
"Dumpling… LET`S GO!"
Charizard literally fell out of his own pokeball, emerging in a special manner, making a spin and crushing the ground with all his might before roaring at his opponent.
They saw each other, the life-long rivals.
During our adventures Dumpling always wished to become stronger – at least, strong enough to defeat the guy that dominated over him even before we met. A small Squirtle that exploited the typing to make fun of Charmander in their childhood. A small Squirtle that now turned into a huge monstrous turtle with double cannons sticking out of is shell.
The only difference – he is now strong enough to overthrow the previous champion. He has become bigger and better. He gained confidence in his gaze. I can see a real rival for my Dumpling in here, just like Douchebag himself for me.
But something was a bit odd… Looks like Quartz has something behind on his cheek. Or this is just a bruise? For a forged battler like him it is possible.
So, pokemon exchanged a couple of threats with each other and took battle stances, ready to rush into fight any second. Ooh, I clearly see how hard he keeps himself away from jumping on Quartz and tearing him apart. This even looks dangerous… This Blastoise over there was a really mean ass to my partner in their childhood. So their bloody rivalry actually edges with… hatred. I actually thought about it – and today I will let Dumpling to unleash his rage upon the Quartz… but only that.
"Ha! Do you really think that your fire-type can defeat my water-type?" Douchebag arrogantly asked. "These two always fight each other. Yours… NEVER wins. Not a single time. Why do you think this time is special?"
"Everything must happen for the first time." I answered calmly and surely. "Also, I made a promise…" For a second I met my eyes with Dumpling. He remembers this promise. "And I`m going to keep this promise!"
"Feel free to try. In the end… you will always be a loser for me." The champion spread his hands and smiled. "Quartz… Skull Bash!"
"Let`s go, Dumpling! Iron Rogue maneuver!"
Finally, the last battle has begun.
Dumpling jumped over Quartz and exhaled a cloud of smoke that blinded our opponent and covered both of them in the dark veil. Meanwhile Blastoise took his defensive position and covered his head in the shell.
Now the time has come for the attack. Dumpling hid himself in the smoke and landed a strike from behind, pushing Quartz forward… but also uncovering his position. Blastoise quickly turned around and hit him with head, thus throwing him out of the smoke with immense power. Charizard growled displeased and got up, holding the hurt stomach.
"Hold on, pal!" I shouted at my partner. "Use Steel Wing!"
"Ah, it doesn`t matter… Rain Dance!" Douchebag lazily ordered.
He is definitely preparing for something… His pokemon began to shoot short spouts of water into the ceiling, summoning an evil cloud that brought the rain on us. Even a powerful hit from Dumpling didn`t stop him – Quartz stood solid on his place, barely moving.
The rain will give our opponent a lot of advantage… and a disadvantage to us. Our fire-type moves will be even less effective against him now.
"Keep pushing, use Hydro Pump!" The champion ordered.
"Don`t let him push you! Use Fly!" I replied to that attack.
Dumpling ascended high, to the very ceiling to prepare a destructive attack from above. Quartz stood right under him and used this opportunity to take aim and launch a waterspout right at my partner… successfully.
Hit by a very strong stream in his stomach, Dumpling lost his focus to attack and dropped down like a stone. This definitely was painful. Even more painful is to see Quartz triumphing over us.
"It`s no use, give up!" Douchebag kept on pressing my nerves. "Quartz, Bite him!"
"Stand up, Dumpling! Don`t let him win! Use Shadow Retreat!"
Suffering from mulpitple very strong wounds, Charizard tried to get up and meet Quartz face-to-face. On the last seconds before the collision with Blastoise, he spit a cloud of smoke that blinded our opponent and jumped back into the cover of dark veil. The enemy roared from anger and looked around searching for Dumpling.
"Look for him! Find and attack with Hydro Pump!" Douchebag fiercely commanded.
"Steel wing… With everything you`ve got!"
Like an assassin, Dumpling approached his foe from behind and struck with a slash of his empowered wings. Finally, Blastoise showed signs of pain, but he quickly recovered and attacked in return with Hydro Pump that once more pushed Charizard away and dropped to the ground.
Damn it! Even if we attack suddenly and carefully, he still attacks us in return. Douchebag must have trained him quite a LOT! Or fed him with drugs a lot. I can`t understand how can this heavy monster move so fast?
Despite we deal damage to Blastoise too, it is not enough – he is definitely more trained than Dumpling. He still has lots of strength to continue the fight…
But then suddenly Quartz himself made it even worse. He opened his jaw wide so I could see it from my place. The bruise on his cheek actually appeared to be a hidden sitrus berry that he crunched and swallowed immediately. This invigorated him and gave more strength to continue battle. I even noticed some scratches on his side to heal up.
"What is this?" I shouted at Douchebag indignantly. "Another rule that I didn`t know?"
"The holding items?" He sounded even a bit surprised. "You didn`t know about them too? What a joke!"
"Never heard of it." I honestly replied. "Otherwise you would be already down!"
So, the League allows giving pokemon some items that help them during the battle? How interesting… I managed to get to the League knowing almost NOTHING about actual battling! I actually heard about berries that can cure poisons and paralysis conditions, but I would never think of giving them to pokemon for them to use by themselves! This… could change much. Really, really much.
I looked up at the ceiling. The rain cloud already dissolved and stopped this damn weather… Maybe now, as the rain stopped, we can take the use of our Flare Blitz! It may be strong enough to finish Quartz even though his resistance. But still… it is very risky.
Then I noticed Dumpling`s eyes on me. It's like he read my mind and tries to tell me he is ready. He knows this is too much at stake, but for defeating Quartz, he is ready to sacrifice anything.
To risk anything.
"Let`s do it." I nodded to him and then looked straight forward my opponent, pointing my forefinger at him. "Use Flare Blitz!"
Douchebag just smiled after this.
"Skull Bash."
Quartz lowered his head and prepared to take an attack from my pokemon. Dumpling crouched a bit to rush from a low start. One single second – and Charizard rushes forward, enveloped by flames, reaches his victim just in mere seconds and creates a huge fiery explosion on the point of impact…
I can feel my heart beating like crazy. I wait for the conclusion of this…
Just seconds after that the cloud of dirt and smoke began to dissolve, and Quartz flew out of it, ramming my poor Dumpling with his head. They flew past me and both crushed into the wall behind. The monstrous turtle left my partner on the ground, completely powerless, and loudly announced his victory over him.
"Just you look at that!" Very loudly, the commentator exclaimed, recovering after the shock he just saw. "This Blastoise sure doesn`t want to leave his champion`s seat! Charizard is…"
DEFEATED.
No way! It cannot be! We have got so far, we trained so hard, we prepared ourselves to fight Quartz…
I promised to help Dumpling defeat him. I swore to make it real!
Now Charizard is down, and Blastoise is proudly walking past me, triumphantly looking at my eyes. And I feel the urge to beat him myself just to save Dumpling`s pride.
But this won`t work such way. I cannot do that. All I can do now is to send my last pokemon to finish the job. Harry may have an advantage in type, but Quartz is strong enough to spit on type effectiveness. Hurt in battle, blinded by smoke Blastoise keeps on posing a threat to everything I did there.
I silently released Harry on the battle and threw a quick glance on Dumpling lying right behind me. I did not return him yet… and I don`t want to. I have released him only on one purpose – to defeat Quartz, and he failed it.
But I do not fault him. I fault only myself. I could have done better.
But what can I do now? How can I defeat this candy-fed monster?
Wear him out.
"Harry, use Razor Leaf!" I said, clenching my teeth.
"Heh, why don`t you surrender? You have miserable chance…" Douchebag laughed at me. "But you know what? I`ll bring it down to ZERO!"
He grabbed a bottle of Full Restore and threw it at his Blastoise, spilling the medicine and launching the cure process. Right before the stream of leaves reached him and made numerous cuts across his body, all previous wounds quickly healed, and Quartz completely restored. But our attack affected him, causing new wounds and again bringing us a bit of new hope.
"Ugh, you`re not going to stop, are you?" Douchebag evilly asked me. "Very well. Quartz, Skull Bash `im!"
This may be our another chance.
"Harry, Razor Leaf, once more!"
Opponent again blocked himself in the hard shell, but all razor leaves from us hit him really hard, dealing him some critical damage.
Now it is his turn to attack. To attack with such strength that will not give my Harry any more chance to win.
I uncontrollably grabbed the Revive crystal from my pocked and gently squeezed it in my hand, still looking at Harry.
"I`m sorry. But this is not your fight." I told him and rushed back to Dumpling still lying near the wall. Victreebel eyed me on my way, understanding but still feeling a bit betrayed.
With all my strength, I squeezed the crystal and dropped its insides on Dumpling, helping it to absorb into body quicker. After some seconds Charizard moved a bit, showing signs of life.
But at this moment a loud smack reached me from behind, telling me that Harry`s battle is over now. I even missed the comments from host, completely lost in my thoughts. All my attention was locked on Dumpling now, as he slowly comes to senses and looks up to me.
"I still need you." I addressed him. "You battle is not over. I need you to follow me to the end."
Dumpling quickly looked over my shoulder to notice lying Victreebel behind. He understood that I sacrificed Harry to buy us some time.
"Only you have the right to do this." I seriously said to my Dumpling. "Only you can defeat Quartz. No one else. So get up and fight!"
"Grrar!" He roared at me with determination. I gave him my hand and helped him get up. Returning to standing position, Charizard spread his wings again and spit a small flamethrower into the air.
"Looks like Charizard in back into the game!" Commentator announced the return of Dumpling. "Now our trainers have nothing more to hold back!"
We together ran back to our positions and faced our opponents once more. I quickly returned Harry into his pokeball and looked up at the champion.
"Yes. Nothing to hold back. Dumpling, Steel Wing!"
"Quartz, Bite!"
Two pokemon roared at each other and headed into a direct collision until they were able to start attacking. Wings, legs, teeth – everything was used, much more than just our commands. Blastoise grabbed my pokemon and tossed him away, taking a distance for maneuvers. But I do not want to use any tricks anymore. I want to prove that my Charizard is stronger! So only pure strength, only the strongest move we have!
"Dumpling, use Fly!" I loudly yelled.
"Quartz, use Skull Bash!" Douchebag yelled even louder, like trying to shout me down.
Now battlers jumped back and retreated to their positions to prepare the upcoming attack. Quartz, again, prepared his head to go into ramming. Dumpling headed high up to drop down like a meteor. Only seconds after that both of them rushed to each other with wild cries, until they collided and got thrown away from each other, hurt and brought to the edge. I saw Dumpling`s blaze starting to burn, I saw Quartz`s Torrent ability empowering him the same way. Both of them got to their strongest… But also both pokemon are tired. Tired from this battle, not only physically but also mentally. And not only from this exact battle – from all this war between them. This is the culmination of their rivalry. Like the high-grader mocks younger and weaker one, they began their way. Now both grew up, both became stronger, and a previous victim challenged her offender to avenge everything.
This. Ends. Now!
"Flame Burst, Dumpling, GO!"
"Hydro Pump, full-power!"
Quartz bended forward and aimed his cannons at my partner. The double shots from two guns mixed together into a huge stream of water that headed to Dumpling. With no doubts, he turned into a flaming meteor and rushed right THROUGH it. He resisted the upcoming stream, resisted the pressure, the pain – he gained determination to pass it. One single mistake will lead to fatal consequences. One single second of weakness will lead to defeat. One single moment will lead to eternal shame.
Just like me, he was doing the impossible just because he can`t do it the other way.
Despite Quartz making his attack stronger, Dumpling was just accelerating. The blazing flame was vaporizing the water around him, filling the whole stadium with wildly thick steam. Only seconds of resistance later he finally reached his target…
…and exploded like a fiery star, raising a huge cloud of dust…
And when the dust cloud began to dissolve, everyone around could see just two blurred silhouettes…
Fighters are on their last breath, on their last drop of strength. Two strongest pokemon, barely standing on their feet. Quartz was bended down with his head lowered, heavily breathing, but still standing. Dumpling was near him, trembling with all his body. Each breath was hard for him, maybe even painful. He has exceeded his limit, but he could not let himself fall. Not now, not before Quartz.
Both stare at each other`s eyes, full of anger and lust for blood. The first able to move will emerge victorious. Trainers don`t need to tell what move it should be – no one has strength to use anything elemental. Only their rage and bare fists remained. This battle exceeded its rules… And their everlasting rivalry has come to an end.
And then HE made his move.
He was shaking with all his body, hurt even to breathe. Each step was like hell for him. Each shake of his body reflected with extreme pain. But he had to proceed.
He stretched his hand to the enemy`s head and grabbed it. Opponent tried to find more strength to resist this jest, but there was no more. His foe was already over him.
So he gathered all the last bits of strength he still had in his weakened body… and PUSHED Quartz down the floor, putting an end to this war, and once and for all stating, who is the strongest of them with loud roar:
"WRAARGH!"
The tensed moment of silence stopped the time around Charizard… He looked around the stadium, the people watching him now… He looked at me, waiting. And then he roared again, even louder than before and finished his triumphant war cry with a huge stream of flame released into the air above him.
"I… I don`t have words to describe this!" The amazed commentator finally found strength to speak. "Charizard… defeats our champion`s Blastoise! Unbelievable! The challenger Vengeance finally emerges victorious from this tensed and heated battle! I have never seen anything like this in my life!"
Stadium was flooded with a synchronous wave of cheers, shouts and other cries. People were cheering for me, congratulating me, admiring me and my pokemon. They threw small ribbons and petals in a sign of my…
…victory.
Everything went blank before me. I lost the sense of direction and everything. I could only feel my hands shaking and heart beating like crazy.
I… have… won?
The whole body was shaking, I felt like I`m going to pass out… So much pressure kills me. So many feelings at the same time.
Only one thing stopped me from blacking out right in the middle of stadium – the familiar silhouette of red monster before me.
Vision slowly came back as I saw Dumpling standing right before me. He is powerless, wounded and tired – but he is standing. Quartz is not.
"…Dumpling…" I quietly said to him. Each word, each letter echoed with pain through my lungs. I was so exhausted it`s like I battled there myself, got wounded and everything. Maybe, my state wouldn`t be so bad if I actually did. "…you made it."
Charizard slowly nodded and closed his eyes, just raising his palm. He wants a high-five.
"Heh…" I breathed out and smiled. How can I say no to him now?
And I gave him a high-five, with all strength I have.
"We did it, Dumpling!" I yelled loudly. "We passed the Pokemon League! And what`s much more important…" I pointed at lying Blastoise. "…we finally got your revenge."
"Raaaar!" Charizard happily roared, hugging me. Damn it…
Over his shoulder I saw Douchebag returning Quartz into his pokeball and putting it into pocket. His hand was shaking too, and his gaze was completely crazed and blank.
"No… This can`t be…" He mumbled to himself, not believing all this. "You beat me at my best. After all that work to become the LEAGUE CHAMP? My reign is over already? It's not fair!"
Without any other word he ran back into the gate behind him.
I was even lost there for some time, not understanding what to do now. Dumpling released me and mistrustfully growled at the sight of running away Douchebag.
"Congratulations, my dear challenger Vengeance! Now you may proceed into the Hall of Fame! Your work is finally over!" The commentator made a tip for me. I guess, he wants me to follow Douchebag. I have no idea what to do now, but I definitely need to talk to my old pal now.
"You were marvelous today, Dumpling. You`re the best!" I praised my pokemon and petted his chin a little. "Now you need to have a rest. You deserved it more than anyone."
After a positive nod from Dumpling, I beamed him back into his pokeball and headed forward, through the crumbled ground and devastated stadium. Today we got carried away in this a lot…
I reached the opposite side of final battlefield and entered the room called the Hall of Fame. It was a pretty large room reminding me of a luxurious museum. It had just a computer with pokeball slots in center, but the main sight was on the walls.
Walls were decorated with dozens of photos showing trainers and their pokemon teams. I can guess all of them were the champions of this League. Oh, here is our old pal Douchebag… On this picture he looks as impudent as he can be. I bet he loved this moment.
But I don`t need a Douchebag from the picture – I need a real one. He is standing right near the computer, leaning on the slot machine. Hearing me approached, he started saying without looking at me:
"Why? Why did I lose? I never made any mistakes raising my pokemon…"
"Maybe it is not about how you raised your pokemon, but how you treat them? How you treat everything around you?" I calmly supposed. "You have pretty hard attitude to everything."
"Don`t you?" He sharply turned to me and clenched his teeth. "You never were better than me. So how could you manage to beat me in MY game?"
"I… can`t tell you right now." I carefully walked away from an answer. "Maybe it`s just life that taught me to improvise and bring out the best of myself?"
Douchebag looked down, deepened in his thoughts. Maybe he feels that I`m partly right, but he doesn`t care about that. Not anymore.
"Darn it! Looks like you are the new Pokemon League champion! Although I don`t like to admit it…"
Another moment of silence fell upon the room, soon disturbed by familiar voice of old man approaching us:
"Vengeance, my boy! So, you've won! Sincerely, congratulations! You're the new Pokémon League Champion!"
We both turned around to see professor Oak marching to us.
"Gramps…" Douchebag frowned seeing his grandfather.
"I will talk to you later, young menace, right now I want to your friend!" Professor strictly replied to him and turned then to me. "You've grown up so much since you first left with Charmander to work on the PokéDex."
"Erm… Thanks…" I replied carefully, remembering how I actually destroyed his PokeDex and possibly the whole faith in all trainers.
"How did you call him that day?" Old man shortly asked me, pointing at his grandson. "Ah! The Douchebag, I remember!"
"Gramps!"
"Don`t gramps at me, young boy. I'm disappointed in you." Professor began to scold the ex-champion. "I came when I heard you'd beaten the Elite Four. But, when I got here, you had already lost!"
"It`s been two weeks!" Douchebag tried to excuse himself. "It was you who was taking too long!"
"Don`t disrupt me! Do you understand why you lost? You have forgotten to treat your Pokémon with love and trust. You forgot to respect other people! Ugh… You grew up a really nasty boy without your father`s belt."
From my side it was just hilarious to see professor Oak lecturing a small Douchebag like a kid that broke the TV. Yeah, I remember how his father`s belt looks like.
"All you need is trust and respect for everyone, including your pokemon, your friends! Without them, you will never become a Champ again!" Professor raised his forefinger and pointed straight at me. "No one can work alone."
For some reason I felt like he is now lecturing me and not Douchebag. My old pal has always been a lone wolf, but comparing to me… I feel the past me would need this lecture more.
Now it actually feels I changed. In the past, I have always been on my own. Since childhood when I was always behind our little gang… Since the war where I was the only one without a pokemon partner… Since later, where I was working completely alone, not trusting to other people at all.
But that were other people, not Vengeance. Right now, I am Vengeance that is different. For the first time in my life, I actually have someone that I can trust. My pokemon never betrayed me. They never lied to me. I showed them care and respect, and they returned it back. They helped me to destroy Team Rocket and free Kanto from their vile influence.
For the first time since my early childhood, I know again, what it is to have a friend…
"Vengeance." After finally ending his lecture, professor addressed to me. "You understand that your victory was not just your own doing. The bond you share with your Pokémon is marvelous. There is one more thing we need to do. Come with me!"
Professor headed to the computer in the middle of room and invited me with a jest. Douchebag snorted loudly and walked away in the direction of entrance. Old man stood near me and coughed, preparing for a speech.
"Er-hem! Congratulations, Vengeance, for getting there! This floor is the Pokemon Hall of Fame. Pokemon League Champions are honored for their exploits here." He quickly showed me the pictures around us with his hand. "Their Pokemon are also recorded in the Hall of Fame. You have worked hard to become the new League Champion."
"Wait, what?"
This revelation opened my eyes, and only NOW I realized what I have done. As I have defeated the previous champion of Pokemon League, now I have to take his seat.
"Yes. You are now the new champ. Congratulations, my boy Vengeance. You and your Pokemon are Hall of Famers!" With pathos, professor Oak spread his hands.
I didn`t know what to answer. I never wanted to become a League champion! This is absolutely not what I came here for. I just wished to test my strength against the strongest trainers, that is all! Douchebag once had this dream, not me. I don`t know what to do now.
"There is just one more thing to do." Professor told me, like reading my mind. "Place your team in this computer, Vengeance. Insert your trainer card there and become a legend remembered for eternity!"
I got the greatest honor of being recorded into a history of Pokemon League champions. But… what is use of it? Do I actually want it?
I took out my trainer ID with a shaking hand and looked at the name printed on it.
Vengeance.
The fate of Vengeance definitely changed me. Just a year ago, I would never imagine to have a pokemon team protecting me and helping to break through the obstacles. All my previous personalities had their own… special trait, but Vengeance has lots of them at once. Maybe, this is my destiny? To become a champion – a rich and famous guy that doesn`t crawl sewers anymore. Is this what I need - my chance to change my life?
…
Or this is a chance to ruin everything.
I lowered my card and seriously looked at professor Oak near me, finally making a really tough decision that lots of people will hate me for.
"I… refuse to take this title."