"Let's congratulate Gary on becoming the champion of this year's League Conference!"
In the end...
Gary claimed the championship.
When Professor Oak watched his grandson lift the champion's trophy with his own eyes, tears of excitement welled up in the old man's eyes.
"He won..."
"Gary really did it!"
"He's my pride! My greatest pride!"
Seeing Professor Oak moved to tears, the League officials who had been avoiding him like the plague all came forward one after another to congratulate him.
At that moment, Agatha slowly walked over, leaning on her cane.
The crowd surrounding Professor Oak immediately stepped aside, creating a path for the lifelong rivals to face each other.
Professor Oak looked at Agatha with an awkward expression.
There was even a trace of panic.
Just as he thought she was about to scold him again...
Agatha looked at him and spoke slowly.
"Congratulations, you old fool."
"You've got a fine grandson..."
"...and a master who's taught him well."
After speaking, she took a small box she'd prepared beforehand out of her pocket and tossed it to Professor Oak.
"This is my gift for the boy."
"Consider it a congratulatory present for winning the championship."
Professor Oak stared blankly at the gift in his hands.
For the first time in decades...
Agatha had spoken to him like that.
Seeing him standing there in a daze, Agatha's tone instantly returned to normal.
"You old fossil! You're standing there at your age—what, did your legs stop working?!"
Only after being scolded did Professor Oak finally snap out of it.
Without another word, he dashed toward Gary, who was proudly holding the championship trophy aloft.
Unable to wait another second to celebrate with his grandson.
Meanwhile, Agatha simply remained where she stood, watching from afar.
A faint smile, so slight it was almost impossible to notice, appeared at the corner of her lips.
The nearby League staff exchanged glances.
Quite a few of them silently thought,
"Why does this old couple suddenly seem... kind of sweet?"
"Hard to say..."
"Professor Oak's wife passed away years ago, and Agatha's been waiting around all this time..."
"Could it be..."
Just then, Agatha seemed to sense their gossip.
She turned toward the League officials with an icy glare.
"What are you all staring at?"
"Get lost!"
Everyone jumped in fright.
Without another word, they scattered immediately.
"Master!"
"I did it! I won!"
"This is the championship trophy I promised I'd bring you!"
Looking at Gary, Red couldn't help smiling proudly.
"You did well."
"Keep working hard, and don't let success go to your head. Understand?"
"Yes, Master!"
Before Red could say anything else, Gary was completely surrounded.
Reporters.
Fans.
League officials.
Within moments, there were so many people around him that not even Professor Oak could squeeze through, let alone Red.
Seeing the scene, Red shook his head with a smile.
"Sigh..."
"Let him enjoy celebrating for now."
He swept his gaze across the stadium.
Soon enough, he found his other disciple.
Paul.
Sitting alone in a corner.
Looking at his defeated student, Red offered no criticism.
Instead, he simply said,
"I heard about your brother."
Paul nodded silently.
Red didn't continue.
Because he knew...
The person who could truly help Paul wasn't him.
After saying that, Red looked into the distance.
Ash was currently wrestling with Gary over possession of the championship trophy.
...
Taking advantage of the thinning crowd, Red quietly slipped out of the stadium by himself.
However, because the announcer had earlier put him on the giant screen for the entire audience to see, quite a few people recognized him.
Many passersby came over asking for photos and autographs.
"Well, well."
"Isn't this our famous Gym Leader Red?"
"Looks like you're a celebrity now."
Following the voice, Red turned around to find Nurse Joy Xue standing beside him in casual clothes.
She greeted him with a bright smile.
Red nodded in return.
"I'm planning to continue training."
"Training?"
"Mind if I tag along? I may not be much help otherwise, but I can at least keep your Pokémon healthy and recovered."
"Then let's go together."
The Fighting-type Gym Leader, Li Qing, lay sprawled on the ground with an expression of utter despair.
Looking at Red, he asked weakly,
"Gym Leader Red..."
"Tell me honestly."
"You've really never trained Swampert in hand-to-hand combat before?"
"Absolutely not."
Li Qing glanced at his bruised and battered Machamp.
Silently, he made a life decision.
"From now on... if I ever see Red coming, I'll just walk the other way."
But when he heard that Red intended to visit another Gym Leader for more training...
He instantly sprang back to life.
"Gym Leader Red!"
"Whose place are you going to next?"
"Take me with you! I want to watch!"
Red couldn't help protesting.
"I'm going there to train!"
"To train!"
"I know! Training!"
Soon afterward, Red, Joy Xue, and Li Qing headed together to visit Mi Xue.
At first, Mi Xue found it rather strange.
Why had Red brought so many people this time?
But after noticing Joy beside him, she immediately understood.
"Oh, I get it now."
"Gym Leader Red, you've been constantly challenging different people to train."
"Miss Joy is here to restore your Pokémon's stamina, isn't she?"
Red shook his head.
"No."
"You're mistaken."
"Joy Xue is here to restore your stamina."
Mi Xue stared at him in confusion.
"Mine?"
"Just how absurd is that Swampert's stamina?"
Meanwhile, Li Qing was already grinning eagerly from the sidelines.
"Yes!"
"That's exactly it!"
"Now she gets to experience what I went through!"
"Being exhausted to the point of collapse..."
"Yet still having to keep training!"
"That's the feeling!"
Before long...
Mi Xue finally learned that training could actually be this exhausting.
And she also came to understand why Red, despite his young age, possessed such terrifying strength.
Of course...
This level of high-intensity training also led to astonishingly rapid improvement.
It was the kind of experience that was painful...
...yet strangely addictive.
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