Authors Note at the end

Chapter 3: Departure! The Legend Of The Johto-Kanto Battle!!

Gold sat at the edge of the battle worn stadium as he slid his hand through his sweat drenched hair. Red was right next to him fanning himself with his own cap trying to catching his breath. Both trainers looked worn and drained, too tired to speak. Never before had Gold been pushed like that in battle, not even against the Elite Four. The adrenaline, the energy, putting everything you had on the line in battle, it was a dream come true for a trainer. His body was still catching up when Red looked over at his newest rival.

"That was one for the history books." he began wearily, "How you holding up?"

Gold adjusted his collar before clearing his voice; the arena felt like a sauna after their last battle.

"Well..." he started," I still can't feel my legs but the good news is my ears stopped ringing."

"And here I thought you may have cracked something the way you were breathing!" replied Red smacking Gold on the back heartily.

Gold jutted forward coughing uncontrollably before glaring at Red

"And what about you!?" roared Gold looking over at Red's laughing face." I had to drag your unconscious butt to the side of the ring!"

Both trainers stared at one another for a moment before breaking out into hysterical laughter. They couldn't help but laugh at their tattered condition. Neither of them had had such an epic battle to the point where their bodies hurt. Gold looked back at the stadium and still couldn't believe what they had done. The center of the stadium looked like ground zero. Edges were worn, stairs were cracked and you couldn't look anywhere in the rocky dome without seeing chunks of arena on the floor base. Their battle had gutted the inside of the dome like a pumpkin at Halloween.

"Sorry about your arena." spoke Gold in an apologetic tone. "We can help you rebuild it if you'd like."

"That's ok," spoke Red steadily getting to his feet. "I was thinking about traveling again actually."

"Traveling?" inquired Gold. "Where to?"

But he didn't answer. Instead Red got to his feet and brushed his cap off before looking back at the ravaged field. The veteran trainer stood silently, staring at the field as if replaying their epic battle in his mind. Gold just sat there, staring at his rival but not as he did when he first arrived. When he first arrived Red was a legend, an untouchable prodigy whose name shot fear into even the most seasoned trainers. But now…now he was a trainer who had given his all. He was a trainer who loved the thrill of battle and joy of raising pokemon. What would he do now? Would he just continue raising his pokemon and seek his next opponent?

"It's strange isn't it?" began Red startling Gold."You and I gave it our best. We just had the match of the century yet we're both thinking the same thing."

"And that would be?" grunted Gold as he got to his feet.

" Where do we go from here?"

There was a moment of silence as Gold pondered this. He wasn't sure what he'd do after this. He had spent so long trying to get to the Elite Four and find Red that he didn't really think about the future. Of course Gold wasn't really one to look too far ahead. He figured if you plotted out your life then where's the excitement of the unknown?

"Who knows." he responded stretching his arms behind his head.

"You don't seem too bothered by it." replied Red giving Gold a strange look.

"Nah," responded Gold. "Looking for the next challenge is all part of the adventure right?"

Red shook his head and let out a low chuckle.

"Spoken like a true pokemon trainer."

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Gold and Red managed to reach the entrance of the cave just as the sun began to rise over the peak of Mt. Silver.

"Fitting huh Gold?" motioned Red cocking his head towards the rising sun.

"Yeah, you could say that." replied Gold putting his cap back on.

"Well I think I'm gonna head home first before setting out again." began Red as he motioned to the road leading to Kanto.

Gold nodded as he extended his hand towards Red's. The two shook with a deep respect beyond the years of their youth. Red turned and started down the path to Kanto, his image fading with each passing second.

"Next time we meet let's go all out again Red."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Red shouted back extending an arm. "Until next time Gold."

Gold grinned as he promptly started heading back towards New Bark Town. The fight still remained fresh in his heart as he began to think about his next great adventure, ready to turn the corner and face whatever came his way.

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AN Note: And that concludes this story everyone! A note about the beginning if you got lost, I decided not to write who won the battle and instead picked up right after it. I much rather leave it up to the readers imagination as to what happened. Reviews would be much appreciated as always. Thanks for following the story folks; I hope you enjoyed it and will follow my next project!