“Congrats on becoming champion Gold!’ Professor Oak said with a chipper tone as the newly crowned champion of the Johto region walked back into his Lab, triumphant.

Gold blushed and scratched the back of his head. His journey has been hard fought, he had made a ton of friends along the way and met brilliant species of pokemon he could have only imagined in his dreams. But he achieved his goal. He was the best trainer in Johto.

“I knew my assessment of you wasn’t wrong.” Professor Oak said with a knowing smile. “I have a little surprise for you.”

“Oh? What is it?!” Gold said excitedly. He knew that the professor had something planned, but he had no idea what. Thats why, after getting the championship and finishing the interviews, he rushed back to his hometown.

“Well I made a little arrangement for you, there’s something special waiting for you on Mount Silver. I promise you won’t be disappointed.” He grinned. “But before you go lemme give your pokemon a once over, i’ll even heal them for you while I’m at it, a chance to get a close up look at the champion’s team? The scientist in me can’t help but be excited.” He laughed.

Gold obliged, turning over his pokeballs to the professor, but his excitement was nearly uncontainable, he desperately wanted to know what this surprise was. The professor hasn't given him a single clue and is making him go to the top of a mountain to learn. He knew it wouldn't be an ordinary surprise.

There was a bit of time before the professor finally released Gold, energetic as ever to get going. “Thanks professor! I can't wait to see what the surprise is!” And without another word he ran off outside wasting no time getting to Mount Silver.

After he had fully left Professor Oak picked up his phone and dialed a number. “I found you a good one. I think you’ll like him.” 

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It took a little bit for Gold to arrive and get near the top of Mount Silver. A fact of not having a large flying type to carry him around. His Togekiss was able to carry him on its back for short distances but he didn’t want to overburden his friend by forcing him to carry him all the way to, and then up Mount Silver. Luckily he was quite in shape after running all over Johto, even the vaunted Mt. Silver was nothing. However as he began to near the peak of the Mountain he started to get confused. Where was this surprise the Professor had in store for him, he had climbed nearly to the top and still saw nothing. Well aside from some really cool pokemon, which, to be fair, was a fun surprise. But he felt it couldn't be that simple, there had to be more.

Then he saw him. There was a boy, a few years older than him, standing on the top of the highest peak, overlooking the world as if he was looking for something. Gold slowed down as he approached the steps to the very top, stopping about 10 steps before he too would reach the peak.

“Excuse me who are-” Gold paused as he spoke, even from behind there was something familiar about this guy. But his thoughts didn’t have too long to ruminate as, wordlessly, the guy turned around.

The guy wore a blazing red jacket cut with white trim, blue jeans, and a black belt. He had on his back a yellow backpack hidden mostly from view now, and on his head was a red hat, the front a stark white. But more importantly than all of that for Gold he had around his waist 6 pokeballs. This guy was a trainer!

But still there was something about this guy that felt so familiar to him. And then it hit him. He was Red! Gold’s idol!

There is a reason Gold wanted to be a pokemon trainer. True, he had always wanted to become one, much like many kids growing up. It was a hard profession to reach the peak of but it had an easy entry level, and entire schools dedicated to teaching it were very common, Gold had even attended one for a summer. But more than all of that, the one who inspired him to reach for the top was none other than this man, this boy who, at a young age, tore through all of Kanto, getting every single Gym badge, stopped the evil team rocket’s plans, and then made it to become the champion of the entire region. His televised battle for the championship with his rival Blue was broadcast all over the world. And it was his battle, his fight, that inspired Gold to take his own shot at the title. And now Red was standing before him.

“You are-!” Gold began before he is cut off by Red tipping his hat to cover one eye, the way a cowboy would. Then running his two fingers along the brim of it and reaching for a pokeball. 

Before Gold could even get out another word, The ball was already in the air, the iconic noise of the ball opening could be heard as the red beam of light spat an energized pikachu onto the staircase before them.

Gold, for a moment, was intimidated. Of course who wouldn’t be? This was Red! Champion of the Kanto region. But then he remembered. He was a champion too. No, more than that, he was a Pokemon trainer, and he would never turn down a fight!

With a grin Gold reached for a pokeball on his own belt. With a flash out popped his Typhlosion which roared loudly upon arrival, the flames on its back picked up in intensity as if to respond to its readiness to fight.

Words were meaningless now. Two trainers had locked eyes. It was time for battle, nothing else would matter.

“Pikachu. Volt Tackle.” Red’s words were swift and precise, he took the initiative, giving gold no chance to act faster.

Pikachu responded to the command with a little yell of its own, electricity began to swell around it forming a small ball of almost perceptible electricity. As soon as the energy was charged it dashed forward, right into the Typhlosion.

For Typhlosion's sake, it seemed to have already braced itself for this incoming attack, roaring once more as it widened its stance, putting one foot behind the other ready to take on the attack full force.

Pikachu’s attack hit Typholsian hard, knocking it right off its feet and onto its back. 

Pikachu on the other hand used the energy to land on its own two feet as it seemed to, cockily, wipe its mouth, where it had caught a bit of the scuff from the rebound.

Typholsian, however, was not yet out of the fight. It stood back up, tall and strong as ever, ready to get its own lick.

“Typhlosion, Fire blast!” Gold said with energy as he commanded his Typhlosion on the counter attack. He was happy to oblige. The flames on its back seem to roar to life as the flames, for a moment, envelope him. 

“Pikachu, double team!” Red ordered quickly, seeing the incoming attack. The little mouse began to charge electricity around itself as it blurred between a few places, however it didn’t have enough time to get up to speed, it couldn't.

Typlosian, with an enthused roar, let forth a huge blast of shaped fire right at the twin pikachus before him.

The fire kicked up a lot of dust and dirt creating a screen that was hard for everyone to see through. But when the dust settled Pikachu stood there, still ready to fight, it had clearly taken damage though, its double team had given it the mobility to avoid some of the fire but not all of it. So it was damaged but not enough to KO it. And the Pikachu seemed more than ready for another go at his Typhlosion. But it seemed Red had other ideas.

“Pikachu Return!’ He called out as he held its pokeball up. The pikachu then returned to its ball in the same red light that had carried it in.

“Lapras!” He called out as he summoned his next pokemon, a perfect counter to his already weakened Typhlosion, but Gold wasn’t about to make this easy for him.

“Typhlosion Return!” Gold called out too, bringing Typhlosion back. “Ampharos, I need your help!” Gold called out, summoning his electric type, his best shot at taking down the Lapras, and a total reversal of Red’s type advantage from only a moment ago. But it seemed like Red had no intention of backing down.

“Lapras! Ice beam!” Red called out as he pointed at the Ampharos. Gold did not have time to react, neither did his Ampharos.

The ice beam hit it straight on, almost as soon as it was summoned to battle. And worse yet, to Gold’s dismay, the Ampharos was frozen solid.

There was a small grin that formed on Red’s lips as he saw the situation play out in his favor.

“Lapras, Body slam!” He ordered with extra gusto.

Gold could only brace for the incoming impact alongside his frozen Ampharos as the huge ice pokemon slammed full force into it. It hit into the side of a large boulder sticking up out of the side of the mountain. It hurt the Ampharos badly, but it did seem to have shaken off the freeze that had it gripped a moment ago.

“Apharos, use thunder!” Gold ordered, trying to KO the Lapras as quickly as he could, in the hopes his Ampharos wouldn’t go down in vain.

The lightning is called from the Heavens and strikes the Lapras dead on, the entire battlefield is lit up in a brilliant glow. However when it was settled and both trainers looked at the battlefield again, the Lapras was remaining, wounded, but not ready to give in.

“Lapras! Hydro pump!” Red ordered the moment his pokemon had the opportunity.

A massive flow of water erupted from lapras and hit the Ampharos full force. Once more throwing it against the same rock as before, just as hard. As the blast of water settled down, the Ampharos was knocked out cold.

Gold swapped out his Ampharos and swapped in his togekiss. Wanting to get this Lapras out of the field before it absorbed too many of his pokemon’s hits. “Togekiss! Metronome!” 

There was a pause as the entire area seemed to stand still as Togekiss seemed to be waiting, but before Red could order lapras, Togekiss seemed to speed up to an extreme degree, so much so that in a split second it appeared behind Lapras, and, despite its small size, threw lapras up into the air and then back down hard. After this togekiss returned to gold’s side a moment later.

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However Gold was not so lucky to have gotten rid of lapras so easily, it certainly looked to be on its last legs but it didn’t seem ready to bow out  yet.

“Lapras, Ice Beam!” Red ordered again. Togekiss flew up in the air a bit trying to dodge the beam but Lapras adjusted the angle and hit it anyway. Togekiss was sent flying back a bit from the force of the blast but luckily didn’t seem frozen like Ampharos. In response gold decided to gamble on a move.

“Topekiss, use Wish!” He ordered as the Togekiss seemed to sparkle for a moment before the sparkles disappeared. He hoped he had enough time to wait for the wish to come into effect but Red had no intention of letting him make it.

“Lapras! Sheer cold!” Red ordered, hoping his one hit KO move was enough to finish off the Togekiss before it got a chance to heal.

A massive blast of freezing cold air is released from Lapras towards togekiss, mixed in was snow and ice, and snowflakes the size of Gold’s head. However, despite the impressive display, it seemed that Togekiss was able to avoid the brunt of it with some careful flying between the coldest points of the blast. Gold was quick to capitalize on this luck.

“Togekiss, Extreme Speed!” As soon as the words were spoken, almost as if anticipating the order, Togekiss was already moving, slamming its small body into the larger Lapras at full speed. But it was enough.

With a last whimper the Lapras is knocked out and Red recalls it.

“Charizard, it's your turn.” Red said with a grip of his hat as he threw out his trusty dragon. The charizard roared with intensity as the flame on its tail blazed a brilliant red as it came onto the field. 

However as soon as it had made its dramatic entrance the wish had come to fruition and Togekiss was healed. It was nearly back to square one.

“Charizard, fly.” Red ordered in a cold calculating tone as the Charizard began to take flight from the mountain top. 

Gold saw this as an opportunity though. “Togekiss, Fly.” He ordered too as the Togekiss also began to hover higher and higher over the mountain. The two pokemon now hovered high into the air, the mountain was already cold, one could only guess how cold it was up there. The clash then began in the air, the two pokemon striking each other from the sky over and over, like aerial dogfighting, Togekiss was faster but Charizard was seemingly more maneuverable and larger so it seemed to be winning out.

The engagement didn’t last long, however, as after a few clashes between the two both pokemon descended again, landing next to their trainers. However Gold was the one to act first this time.

“Togekiss, use metronome!” There is another pause before togekiss’ eyes begin to glow a violet hue followed by Charizard’s doing the same, there is a ripple in the air that followed before Charizard roared out in pain, however it did not seem to yield.

“Charizard, Inferno.” Red said cooly as the blast from the air made his coat wave softly in the wind as he gave the order. Instinctively he held onto the brim of his hat, not to let it fly away.

The blast that followed was immense. The fire that the charizard let off was so massive it nearly engulfed the entire top of the mountain where they fought. Gold had to take moderate cover behind the same rock that had KO’ed his Ampharos to avoid the heat. Though, truthfully, he doubted Red would hurt him, still it was hot.

When Gold emerged from the rock he saw his togekiss still standing, however it was on fire and not long for this world.

“Togekiss! Life Dew!” He was quick to order. The togekiss seemed to start making the motions to follow his order but a lick of flame that slipped off of it seemed to push it over the edge. Its eyes rolled over and it collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Gold called back his Togekiss and brought out his next pokemon. 

“Gyarados! Come give me help!” He called out as he threw out his shiny red Gyarados. The sudden appearance of a red Gyarados even seemed to make Red pause for a moment, seeming to grow excited and wide-eyed with a smile before he shook it off and brought himself back to the fight. Realistically, Red should withdraw his charizard and bring out something else, but Red didn’t go with Gold’s expectations.

“Charizard! Fire Spin!” Red called out. Oh, Red was planning to use the charizard to trap gyarados.

Within a moment a pillar of fire was surrounding the gyarados, the flames licking at its similar colored body. Fire was not very effective against it, but not only did the pillar of fire make it hard for the water moves to be at full force but fire was still fire, Gyarados would not come out unscathed, even after the charizard was gone. But this was as far as the charizard went. 

“Gyarados, Hydro pump!” He called out, and within moments a massive stream of water blasted the charizard full force. There was no time for it to react. It was KO’ed instantly.

Red withdrew his charizard but the damage was done, it had achieved its goal. 

“Snorlax!” He called out as he summoned his snorlax to the field. As it arrived it seemed to make a happy noise and then pat its large belly, unbothered by the water dragon engulfed in flame before it.

“Gyarados! Hyper beam!” There was no time to mess around, Snorlax was tanky and the longer this went on the more advantage Snorlax would be in, so a hyper beam now was his best bet.

The beam of energy emerged from the dragon’s mouth and hit the snorlax right on. However it did not get KO’d, the worst case scenario.

“Snorlax, Rest.” Red ordered with a smirk after which Snorlax just seemed to go to sleep, but it was very clearly healing, all the wounds inflicted by the hyper beam were now going away. Meanwhile the Gyarados was stuck unable to do anything for a bit while it recharged after that last attack, all while still in a fire tornado.

“Snorlax, sleep talk.” He ordered, to which Snorlax seemed to stand up and throw itself into the gyarados head first, right through the fire tornado and headbutt it, however as it does a beam of light seemingly materializes from the sky and then the two of them fall to the ground. Snorlax, still asleep, and Gyarados now Ko’d.

Gold is quick to recall it and swap in his Tyranitar. He had to go for broke, there was no other choice.

“Tyranitar! Use Hyper Beam!” He ordered, hoping this time he’d be able to one hit Ko the Snorlax. However Red was not waiting either, at the same time the hyper beam was called, Red ordered his Snorlax, who had just awoken, to use a move as well.

“Snorlax, use Body slam!” The snorlax stood up and dove into the air just moments before it was hit with a second massive blast of energy in the form of a hyper beam.

However this time Snorlax was not so lucky, it seemed the small bit of damage it took from its own move earlier as well as a lucky critical hit from the hyper beam knocked it out in one go. However Red did not look discouraged.

“Vaporeon!” He calls out his next pokemon as he recalls his KO’d snorlax. He did not give Gold any time to rest.

“Vaporon! Water Pulse!” A series of rings of water shot through the air and hit the Tyranitar right on. And worse yet it didn't even have the opportunity to react due to the hyper beam it just used. All Gold could do is hope it was not confused.

But Red was giving no quarter. “Vaporeon! Hydro pump!” “Tyranitar Giga Impact!” The two trainers call out almost simultaneously. However it is the eeveelution that gets its attack off first as it throws out a massive blast of water that hits Tyranitar square on, before it could even have a chance to take a step.

The attack hurt it badly, but it was still standing, albeit barely, and then it was Tyranitars turn, it charged forward to use Giga Impact, but something was wrong. It ran past the vaporeon and right into a nearby rock full force. Was it confused when it was hit by the water pulse!? What rotten luck. Worse yet it seemed to stumble a bit after hitting itself into the rock before falling over unconscious.

Gold couldn’t help but regret his bad luck as he called out his next pokemon, his own eeveelution. “Umbreon, It's your turn!” Umbreon pops out with a cute meow of ferocity as it stares down its kin.

“Vaporeon, Aqua ring!” Red called out before Gold had the chance to make a move. A few floating rings of water appeared around the vaporeon but nothing else. Gold did not hesitate to act.

“Umbreon, Dark pulse!’ He ordered, to which the umbreon obliged, sending out a wave of negative energy at the vaporeon, hitting it directly.

“Vaporeon, Water pulse!” He ordered his vaporeon only to notice it was still reeling from the last attack, it had flinched, giving Gold a chance to follow up.

“Umbreon! Dark pulse!” He ordered again, hoping two in a row was enough to seal the deal.

No such luck. Red’s vaporeon seems to take the hit better this time than the first time, and as it was getting healed by its rings it was not yet teetering on the edge, but close.

Gold, once more, decided to gamble. “Umbreon Quick attack!” As he said these words Red also spoke up.

“Vaporeon Hydro pump!’ However it was clear which move would go off first. In a flash umbreon ran over and struck the vaporeon and retreated before it could do anything. Hopefully it was enough to KO it. Gold quickly learned he had lost the gamble.

The massive blast of water flew from Vaporon’s side over to Umbreon and hit it directly. It may not have been a super effective move but it certainly had taken its toll on Umbreon, the move just so happened to be a critical hit.

“Vaporeon Water Pulse!” Red ordered quickly, but gold was quick to react too.

“Umbreon, quick attack!” Once more it was clear which move would hit first, and this time Gold got his wish. Before the water pulse could be fired off Vaporeon was down for the count.

Red withdrew his Vaporeon and threw out his next pokemon, another of the eevee family tree, and unfortunately a pokemon with a poor type matchup for red.

“Espeon!” He called out as the psychic type arrived on the field.

“Umbreon use dark pulse!’ Gold said, as quick as he could to make full advantage of the type advantage.

“Espeon! Confusion!” Red called out as soon as the Espeon was on the field.

Both attacks seemed to be in the air, the espeon’s eyes lighting up violet as the dark pulse rippled through the air. The umbreon roared in pain as the Espeon was hit dead on with the dark pulse. It was sent flying backwards landing right at Red’s feet, Ko’d in one hit.

Umbreon was still standing, however it did not last long as it swayed back and forth before seeming to launch another dark pulse right at its own feet, the resulting impact caused it to get knocked out as well.

Both trainers paused as they looked at each other for a moment before recalling their pokemon. They each had one left. Their openers.

“Pikachu, Let's finish this!” “Typhlosion, I need you now more than ever!”

The two pokemon roared back onto the battlefield, their old wounds still visible on their bodies, bu both pokemon glared at the other ready for a rematch, they would get their wish.

“Pikachu, Double team!” Red said, getting the move off early this time.

“Typhlosion, Flamethrower!” Gold ordered in response as the Typhlosion began spewing fire all over the battlefield. However unlike last time the Pikachu was not so easily caught, dodging and weaving in between each bout of fire that came its way.

“Pikachu, Volt Tackle!” Red ordered, planning to end this with the next move.

Gold seemed to have the same thought when he made his next order to Typhlosion. “Typhlosion, Flame charge!” it was his special move, a TM he had taught to his Typhlosion for just such an occurrence. Hopefully it would be enough.

The resulting clash between the two pokemon as they each collided in a spectacle of fire and electricity was a sight to behold, once more kicking up dirt and stone from the mountain peak. However as the dust settled there was a clear winner.

Pikachu lay down, at Typhlosion's feet, unconscious. Gold had won.

For a moment Gold was incredulous. He had won? He had beaten Red of all people? He had managed to come out on top?!

While Gold was having his moment, Red quietly called back his pikachu and slipped the ball back onto his belt. He then slowly began to descend the stairs from the top of the mountain.

Now Gold was a bit scared, was Red going to be mad? He was his hero! He would hate to make Red hate him!

But as it turned out, his fears were unfounded. Red simply walked up to Gold and placed a hand on Gold’s shoulder, patting it twice with a satisfied smile to him before he kept walking past, now back down the mountain.

“Thank you for the match! It was a ton of fun!” Gold called out to him as he watched him very slowly descend the mountain.

Red said nothing, but raised his open palm in the air without turning around. In a “yes it was, I had fun too” Kind way. Before he slowly slipped out of view of Gold leaving on him and his Typhlosion left on top of the mountain. The victors in this clash of titans. He couldn't wait until he told Silver about this!