This was it, he was now facing Ash's most powerful pokemon and the Bond Phenomenon that Ash and Greninja possess is more powerful than mega evolution. They certainly had their work cut out for them but he was super excited.
"Greninja, move in close!" Ash commanded.
Greninja ran forward with incredible speed, if Red hadn't trained so thoroughly there was no way he would be able to visibly keep up with him. "Use Flamethrower!" said Red.
Charizard breathed out his powerful blue flamethrower but Greninja managed to jump in time to avoid it. "Use Water Shuriken!" said Ash.
Greninja grabbed the water shuriken off of his back and threw it at them with intense speed. "Use Dragon Claw!" commanded Red.
Charizard's claws glowed green and he sliced through the water shuriken. "Now, use Aerial Ace!" said Ash.
"Dragon claw again!" said Red.
The two pokemons' attacks met creating a shockwave upon impact; Greninja punched and kicked at Charizard with glowing hands and feet like a martial artist while Charizard defended and parried with his glowing green claws. The two continued to attack with blow after blow coming together until Greninja left himself an opening and Charizard slashed him right in his midsection sending him flying back to the other side of the field. Red saw Ash clutch his body in pain, the downside of using Bond Phenomenon, Red didn't like that he was hurting his brother by doing this but he knew Ash wouldn't want him to hold back just because of that. He had to press on. "Blast Burn!" commanded Red.
Charizard slammed his fist into the ground causing the earth to light up beneath him like an eruption. "Water Shuriken at the ground!" Ash commanded.
With a shout, Greninja slammed his giant water shuriken into the ground and canceled out the powerful fire-type move, creating a huge blinding steam explosion. The crowd was amazed at the power but blinded, what was going to happen next. "Aerial Ace!" said Ash.
In a flash, Greninja dashed forward kicking Charizard in the stomach with all his might before doing a jump and flip and doing an ax kick on Charizard's head slamming him into the ground. "You OK, Charizard?" asked Red.
Despite the damage, Charizard pushed himself back on his feet. "Great! Use Dragon Claw on the ground!"
Charizard swiped his now glowing green claws at the ground throwing a bunch of debris at Greninja. "Dodge and use Night Slash!" Greninja jumped to avoid the debris and sliced up any that he couldn't avoid.
"Charizard, Flamethrower!" said Red.
Charizard shot the flamethrower at a moment when Greninja was stuck in mid-air and nailed him with the attack causing him to cry out in pain. But Ash was a quick thinker, "launch off the debris and use Night Slash!" he cried.
Greninja launched himself off of a piece of airborne debris straight at Charizard. "Use Dragon Claw!" said Red.
Charizard slashed with the attack but this time his missed Greninja entirely and Greninja landed right behind him. Red's eyes went wide as he had caught them at their most vulnerable. Greninja spun around with his glowing purple blades and slashed Charizard right in the back between his wings. Charizard cried out in pain as the attack sent him rolling forward and on his stomach. Once again, Charizard pushed through the pain and pushed himself up. "Use Water Shuriken, Greninja!" said Ash.
"Use Dragon Claw!" said Red.
Once again, Charizard sliced through the water shuriken but this time he charged toward Greninja with his claws still glowing and he swung at him. "Block with Night Slash!" said Ash.
Greninja created two purple kunai just in time to block the oncoming attack and the shockwave from the impact shocked everyone in the audience. The deadlock was broken between the two pokemon when the attacks ended forcing them apart and back to their respective sides. Greninja and Charizard were starting to breathe heavily, they hadn't had a battle this tough in a long time but they weren't gonna give up. "This is so much fun isn't it?" asked Ash.
"Yeah, nothing beats this kind of excitement. Whoever wins, no hard feelings," declared Red.
"Always, we've not gonna lose though. So get ready for a full-powered attack! Greninja, use Night Slash!"
Greninja charged forward with the purple kunai again. "Use Dragon Claw!" said Red.
Charizard's claws lit up and he flew in once again meeting Greninja's attack. The two continued to swing at each other making shockwave upon shockwave with each strike until finally Charizard swung at the ground and Greninja was forced to dodge. "Now, Aerial Ace!" said Ash.
Once again in the air, Greninja came back down and kicked him in the back, but this time Red had other ideas. "Grab him and use Dragon Claw!" he commanded.
Charizard turns around and grabs Greninja's leg right as he's about to kick and swings at him with his glowing claw. The attack sent Greninja flying as he cried out in pain and Ash once again felt the pain from the attack. Greninja, shakily got back on his feet staring readily at Charizard who stared right back. By now both pokemon were severely injured and running out of strength, they were both eager to win though. At this point, it was a battle of strategy and sheer will. This could be it here. "Can you go on Charizard?" asked Red as he cried out showing he was.
"How about you Greninja?" asked Ash who got the same reply.
"I think it's time we finish this! Charizard, use Dragon Claw!" said Red.
Charizard flew in again, this time managing to get a clean hit but despite taking a direct hit Greninja managed to keep from falling as he was sent flying backward. "Now, Flamethrower!"
"Water Shuriken!" said Ash.
Greninja pulled the shuriken off of his back but instead of throwing it, he held it up like a shield to block the incoming flames, and once the Flamethrower ended he finally threw it nailing Charizard in the stomach and making him slide backward.
"Give this one all you've got Greninja! Water Shuriken!" Ash commanded.
Greninja held the new Water Shuriken above his head and it collected a ton of water before revealing itself to be a giant gold water shuriken. Red's eyes went wide for a second, this was it. "This is it, Charizard! Use Blast Burn with everything you've got!" he commanded.
Charizard once again slammed his fist into the ground making the ground light up like a volcano and Greninja threw his giant Water Shuriken at Charizard. Instead of colliding, the attacks went right past each other nailing their targets, the result was a massive explosion that forced everybody to cover their eyes. After that, it was dead silent as Red, Ash, and the crowd waited for the smoke to clear. When the smoke finally cleared, they found Charizard and Greninja still standing, both were heavily injured and too tired to continue, but who was the winner?
That question was answered; Greninja flinched before falling over and turning back to normal, he was out of the fight. "Greninja is unable to battle, Charizard wins!" announced Professor Oak.
The crowd cheered, the fight was finally over and Red had won the battle. It took a moment for Red to comprehend that fact, "We won..." he muttered, "We won Charizard!"
Charizard, weakly roared in happiness before he turned back to normal and collapsed as well.
Red rushed up to him to make sure he was OK, luckily his partner just seemed exhausted more than anything else. "Thanks for all your help out there Charizard, get yourself a good rest," Red said returning his pokemon.
"He did it! He did it! He did it!" Leaf cheered as she and Lyra hugged in celebration.
"That was unbelievable!" Ethan shouted.
"Wow...I'm blown away..." Rosa said in shock over the spectacle she had just witnessed.
"Yeah, no kidding," said Nate, "That Red is amazing."
"Definitely, one of these days I'm gonna be as strong as he is!" said Hilbert.
"ME TOO! AND NEXT TIME I'LL REALLY STICK IT TO HIM!!!" Hilda said all fired up.
Hilda's friends all looked at her exasperated.
Serena approached Red as he stood back up, "Congratulations, Red. You put up a tough fight out there," she said cheerfully.
"Thanks, Serena, it was a lot of fun. Although, I'm guessing you were hoping Ash would win this," said Red.
Serena looked away sheepishly trying to come up with the words to say, Red just laughed. "Don't worry about it, Serena. It's only natural for you to support your husband. Speaking of which."
As soon as Ash returned Greninja to his Pokeball, he fell on his butt. Serena rushed over to him with Red trailing behind. "Ash, are you OK?" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said comfortingly, "Just wiped out."
"You were amazing about there," Serena replied as she hugged him resting her chin on his shoulder.
"She's right," said Red, "that was an incredible battle."
Serena stood up and she and Red helped Ash to his feet. "Yeah, I had so much fun. We've got to do that again sometime," Ash replied.
"Definitely."
They were suddenly swarmed by excited campers, Red was first tackled by Leaf who gave him a big kiss and clung onto him as Ethan, Yellow, Nate, and all of the other familiar faces congratulated him on his win while many others came to Ash and Serena to ask about them. Blue watched from a distance, he scoffed as he turned away. Don't they know he's a powerful trainer too? Red and Ash may be strong but he's the one and only Blue Oak, he'll show them one day.
Professor Oak watched proudly as the Pallet Town natives were celebrated. He then groaned as Kevins started celebrating for a different reason, "Woohoohoo! That was some beautiful battling footage. I KNEW if I could get somebody who's the real deal out here it would do wonders for my camp. Oh, I can imagine the attention it's going to get now."
Those who saw including the familiar cast looked at him with deadpanned expressions. Ethan's expression turned to a grin as he remembered something. He walked up to Kevin as he was still celebrating. "Sounds like you've got quite a bit of stuff to work with now," Ethan commented.
"Oh, you have no idea, kid. Look at this, like printing my own money."
"Yeah, yeah that's cool...Kevin look at THIS."
As soon as Kevin turned to face him, Ethan punched him right in the face, the crowd oohed at the sight while Kevin stumbled for a moment before falling and dropping the stuff he was carrying. Kevin looked back up at him shocked as he held the spot where Ethan punched him while Ethan looked at him with a sh**-eating grin. "Now THAT was beautiful," he said as he returned to Red and the others.
Some like Hilda and Hilbert were laughing their butts off at what just happened. Leaf was stifling a giggle while Red and Lyra looked exasperated. "Hey, I said I was gonna do it," he said.
He was right, he did. Professor Oak was trying his best not to burst out laughing, that was the most satisfying thing he had seen all summer. Ethan was more than welcome to keep coming back after that.
Outside the crowd, Leaf's parents stood watching happily. "I've never seen such an amazing battle," said Isaac, "or any trainers as passionate as them."
"You've raised two wonderful kids, Delia," said Rebecca.
"Thank you, Rebecca," Delia said as she wiped away a happy tear, "I'm so proud of you both, my beautiful boys."
xxxxx
With the aftermath of the battle over, the camp was bustling again; everybody was pulling their stuff out of the cabins and packing it into their vehicles. Most had already driven away from camp while most of the others were just leaving. Red and company were all packed and ready but they weren't ready to leave yet, they were waiting for their last little surprise to happen. Pika and Chuchu sat close watching their egg with Red and the others watching from behind as it glowed repeatedly, the moment was finally here. Finally, the egg cracked and cracked and cracked until the shell bursts off with a big flash of light. In place of the egg was an adorable Pichu with his eyes closed and his ears folded down. Pichu slowly opened his eyes and perked up his ears, "Pichu?"
"SO CUTE!!!!!" Leaf, Lyra, and Yellow swooned.
Pika and Chuchu revealed themselves to their child rubbing their cheeks against the little pokemon who cried out happily.
"The little guy's adorable isn't he," said Red.
"Yeah," Ethan said as he stepped forward and reached out to pet the little electric mouse. "Hi there, Pichu. I'm Ethan, you're a cute, little guy but I'm willing to bet you've got a lot of fight in you."
Pichu smiled at the contact and after Ethan finished up, he jumped on Ethan's arm and ran up to his shoulder rubbing his cheek up against Ethan's. "Aw, he likes you," Lyra swooned.
"Hahaha, I guess so," Ethan laughed as he lifted the little Pichu off of his shoulder and looked at him in his hands.
"Such a friendly little guy, you'll definitely be a great partner."
Ethan's words made Pichu smile even more and he jumped forward nuzzling his face into his chest. "Look at that, Pichu's been in this world less than a minute and he's already found his trainer," laughed Leaf.
"You think so huh?" Ethan said looking down at the adorable little pokemon, "Is that true, Pichu?"
"Pi, Pichu!" he cried indicating that he wanted it.
"How can I say no to that?" said Ethan, "I'll be happy to have you as my pokemon."
Pichu cried out happily and Ethan turned his attention to the Pikachu pair, "I hope this is OK with you two," he said.
Thankfully the Pikachu pair voiced their approval, "Awesome! You and I will make a great team, Pichu," said Ethan.
"Pichu, Pichu!"
xxxxx
Professor Oak stood at the doorway of the dining hall; everything was cleaned up and the chairs were stacked on the tables. Time to lock up. He turned off the lights and shut the doors for the last time this summer.
With that taken care of, Professor Oak approached Jack and Mira who were loading the last of their stuff into their vehicle. "I guess it's that time again isn't it?" said Professor Oak.
"That it is," said Jack, "I wish this summer didn't have to end, this has been a great one."
"I know right? So much excitement has happened," said Mira, "Then again, life and work are elsewhere. There's always next year and with all the developments this year I'm sure next year will be even more exciting."
"Can't argue with that," said Professor Oak, "I'm going to miss you two."
"We'll miss you too, Professor, things are gonna be a lot quieter now. At least we'll still have them to keep things interesting," Mira said looking at Ethan and Lyra and the others.
"This just might be the greatest generation of trainers the pokemon world has ever seen, I'm so glad I can live to see it," Professor Oak said.
"I agree, they're so young and yet so strong and so full of life. They're the kind of trainers our world needs and I know they'll continue making the pokemon world a better place," said Jack.
Blue came by, "Hey Gramps, we done here yet?" he asked impatiently.
Professor Oak sighed, "Yes Blue, we're just making sure everybody is on their way before we leave."
"Finally, I need to get out of here."
xxxxx
"Alright, everybody ready?" Ethan asked as he sat up the camera.
"Yeah, let's do it," said Red.
Ethan sat the timer and rushed back to the group standing next to Red giving the camera his biggest smile. The camera took a few photos in succession and the group broke up to see the results. The pictures were perfect; Red and Ethan stood in the middle with their girlfriends at their sides. Yellow stood in front in the middle since she was the shortest, and Pika and Chuchu stood in front of her with their Newborn Pichu in between them.
"These are perfect! I'm gonna treasure this forever!" said Yellow as she held her copy.
"Yeah, this has been a summer I'll never forget," said Leaf.
"I know right?" Ethan followed up.
Everybody got their own copy, except for Ethan and Lyra who were going to be sharing theirs. They looked over to the parking lot to see their waiting families; Delia was once again chatting with Leaf's parents, Ethan's grandparents closed the trunk on their car as they talked with Professor Oak, and Yellow's uncle was standing by his truck waiting patiently for her. Guess it was time to go. Upon reaching the parking lot Red turned to his friends.
"Well everyone, I guess this is it," he said.
"Yeah, I can't believe it's over," Yellow muttered sadly.
"Me neither," said Lyra, "I'm gonna miss you guys."
"Aw, I'm gonna miss you too," Leaf cried as she gave her a hug.
Red and Ethan gave each other a bro hug. "It's been lots of fun Red," Ethan said.
"For sure, if I hadn't met you my summer probably would've been pretty boring," Red replied.
"You all heading out I'm guessing?" Hilbert said as he and his friends approached them.
"Yeah just saying our goodbyes," said Red, "You're heading out then?"
"Yeah, we've gotta get back to Unova. That flight's gonna suck," said Nate.
Ethan chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure. I wish you guys safe travel."
"Thanks, Ethan," Nate said shaking his hand, "we'll definitely be back again next year, maybe we'll see you guys then."
"Maybe, if these guys all wanna come too," said Red.
"I'm definitely on board with that," said Ethan.
"DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA GO THE SAME WAY NEXT TIME RED!! NEXT TIME WE FACE OFF I'LL HAVE YOU BEGGING FOR MERCY!!!!" Hilda shouted getting right in Red's face.
Ethan was pretty sure he saw Red's soul leave his body. "U-U-Uh, O-O-OK, if you say so," Red replied nervously.
"I DO say so," she said menacingly.
Hilbert grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back, "OK Hilda, we're not gonna see them for a while let's not end on that note."
Hilda huffed, "Fine."
"Anywho, hopefully, we'll see you guys again at some point," said Nate.
"Yeah, for sure. Maybe next time we see you we'll have another battle," said Red.
"YOU BET YOUR A** WE WILL!!!" said Hilda.
"OK, let's get going," Hilbert said as he dragged Hilda away, "Till we meet again!"
"Good luck you guys," said Nate.
"Take care!" Rosa said cheerfully.
Ethan watched for a minute as the Unova friends left the camp, this definitely won't be the last time they see them. Meanwhile Red was still recovering from the wrath of Hilda. "On our first encounter she scares me and on our last encounter, she scares me," Red muttered making Ethan laugh.
"I'd hate to be in your shoes buddy," said Ethan.
Yellow had just been released from a big hug by Leaf and Lyra, the girl took a deep breath as she regained her composure. After that, she went up to Red and Ethan, "This won't be the last time we see each other right?" she asked.
Red smiled, "of course not, you live in Viridian City so I was planning to come by and visit sometime."
Yellow had the biggest smile on her face as she gave Red the biggest hug she could possibly give. "I'm so glad I made a friend like you," she said.
Red smiled down at her and hugged her back, "I'm glad I could be your friend too, Yellow."
"Hey, don't I get a hug?" Ethan said as she separated from Red.
Yellow smiled and gave Ethan a hug as well though not as long as the one she gave Red. "I'm gonna miss you all, take care!" Yellow said as she left. Chuchu nuzzled against Pika one more time before joining her trainer.
"Ethan, Lyra, are you two ready?" called Mira.
"Yeah, we'll be right there," said Ethan.
Leaf pulled the two into a group hug, holding them there for a minute before letting them go. Seeing as Red was still standing alone, Lyra decided to properly say goodbye to him too. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Red," she said as she gave him a big hug.
"Thanks, Lyra," Red said as he hugged her back.
Once they separated, the two made their way to Ethan's grandparents but not without one last goodbye, "Till next time you two," Ethan waved.
"See you later!" said Lyra
"Have a safe trip," Red said as he and Leaf waved back.
Red and Leaf watched as Ethan and Lyra left camp with Ethan's grandparents. "Looks like it's just you and me now," Red said as he wrapped his arms around Leaf who wrapped her arms around him as well.
The two leaned in for a quick kiss, "It'll just be a few weeks right?" said Red.
Leaf nodded, "Yeah, I'm still going to miss you though."
"I'll miss you too."
Red and Leaf leaned in and kissed over and over again trying to enjoy the feeling of their soft lips against one another for as long as possible. It was only when they ran out of breath that they separated. "Are you two ready yet?" Delia asked.
The two jumped in embarrassment as they looked at Delia who just smiled warmly at them. "Come on you two, It's time to get going," she continued.
Red sighed, "OK, Mom..."
They walked over and rejoined their respective families who were waiting patiently for them. Before they did anything else, Red took Leaf's hands and gave her one last big kiss. "I'll see you soon, Leaf," he said.
"I'll see you soon, Red," Leaf said before she let go of his hands and got in her parents' car.
"Take care Red, Delia. We'll be in Pallet Town before you know it!" said Isaac.
"We can't wait!" said Delia as she and Red waved goodbye.
With that, they took off leaving just Red and his family left, as they took off Leaf looked out the window waving goodbye at Red who waved back. When they were out of sight, Red took one last look at the camp, it sure was quiet now. It felt so weird. He took a deep breath before he hopped in the front seat of the car with Pika sitting in his lap. In the back seat, Ash was laying on Serena's shoulder passed out. "I never thought I'd live to see the day where Ash falls asleep during the day," said Red.
Serena giggled agreeing with his sentiment, "Last night, he was up until 3:00 training for your big battle," she said.
"I'm sure using Ash-Greninja that much took a toll on him too," Red added.
"Yeah, even Ash has his limits I guess," said Serena.
"Well now that we're on our way he's got plenty of time to catch up on sleep," Delia said as she started driving away.
As they drove through the beautiful Kanto countryside, Red looked at the group photo they took with a smile on his face. He then stared out the window thinking about everything that happened over the summer. So much has changed for him in those three months; he's experienced so many new things, so many new experiences, so many new feelings and emotions. He finally knew what it was to have friends, true friends who would stick by his side through thick and thin. He was no longer afraid of people knowing who he was. He experienced love for the first time.
So many moments flashed through his mind; the first day when he met Leaf and Ethan and Lyra, the all-out war he, Nate, and Tracey waged against the other team in Capture the Flag, befriending Yellow and Chuchu, sitting and watching the fireworks with Leaf during the Mixer, the rage he felt when Leaf's roommates humiliated her, the panic he felt when Blue leaked his secret to the camp, The battle tournament where Team Rocket attacked, Ash and Serena's wedding and kissing Leaf for the first time, their date at the bowling alley, their hike up the mountain, and the beautiful view at the Ho-Oh statue.
All moments that he would treasure no matter how painful some of them may be, made him into a better person, a person he never thought he could possibly be. Red could say without a doubt this was the greatest summer of his life.
THE END
Allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllright, that is all folks!!! This ending has been two and a half years in the making and I can't believe it's finally happened. As burned out as I was getting through the last week of camp, I had a lot of fun writing this story, thank you so much to all of you that have kept up with my story and voted and commented and encouraged me all this time. Seeing your reactions and thoughts at every turn made it worth it, so thank you all so much. I still like hearing all of your reactions so feel free to tell me what you thought of this chapter as well, did you like it? Was there anything I could have done better on? Did you think that ending was cheesy too? lol. Constructive criticism is always welcome as per usual.
This won't be the end of my writing time on Wattpad. Now that I'm done with this story I'm probably gonna take a short break before moving on to the next story, maybe revise some early chapters because I cringe at the quality of the early chapters. Anyway, for the next story I'll be writing, I'll be moving away from pokemon. If my lack of updates this past year has shown anything it's that I'm ready to move on to other content. The next story is going to be a male x reader harem story and it will feature some of my favorite anime and waifus and unlike the other story I was planning on a while back, this one is set in stone so be on the lookout. I don't want to leak any major details on this yet because I want the content to be a surprise. You won't be waiting long though.
Anyways, that's all I've got. Once again, huge thanks to all of you who have followed and supported this, I can't tell you how happy that has made me especially during all this craziness that has been going on since last year. I hope all of you have a great day, God bless :)