Author's Note

(DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, places or anything else; they remain property of Nintendo and Game Freak. This is a work of fanfiction and love: please don't sue me.)

Yup. I'm bored again. New one-shot for all!

I still have fond memories of being ten years old, playing Blue Version on my old Game Boy Pocket… I always wanted to convey the wonder that came with that first play-through. But, now I'm older, and that wonder has faded with more than ten years of Pokémon games. And I kinda thought to myself 'what happens to the player characters after the game?' This is my attempt at a smidgeon of an answer.

I don't even know if there IS a canon for the Pokémon world; anime-canon, game-canon, manga-canon… there's a lot of different stories in the world of Pokémon. This is my attempt at a little humour, a little fun. I'm not even going to try and make it canon with any of the three canons, so bear that in mind. If I had to choose, though, I'd say it leans a little more to the game-canon than anything else. However I'm just using the canon names for the characters; their personalities are all me, because I'm too lazy to do any research and wade through hundreds of hours of Pokémon episodes for a short-story.

Whatever. I don't think it's too bad for an afternoon's worth of work. Read, review and enjoy the boredom induced one-shot.

Daily Lives of Retired Pokémon Masters

Ethan reclined with his feet up on a warm and fuzzy lump out on his front lawn in New Bark Town, his closed eyelids hidden by dark sunglasses as he sipped a glass of juice. It was cool out, cool enough to enjoy basking in the sun on his day off from helping out at Elm's lab up the road. New Bark Town was a quiet place, an idyllic place if one liked quiet. But after travelling nearly a third of the planet by foot, even if it had been a few years ago now, Ethan had grown used to excitement.

"Hey! Hey you!"

The teenager wearing jeans and a t-shirt reading 'Buena's Password: Listen Live on 105FM!' on it in big, bold letters cracked one eye open as he lifted his shades, snickering at the kid glaring at him and blocking his sun.

"Can I help you?" he asked, noting the two pokeballs hanging off his belt.

Because we don't want to make it too easy for Team Rocket, Ethan thought sarcastically as the kid's hand drifted towards the balls.

"You're Ethan, right?" the kid asked, obviously mustering his courage. "The Indigo League Champion?"

"Yeah, not for a few years now. I'm retired," Ethan sighed, dropping his shades back into place and settling into a more comfortable position. "Go find Lyra or something; she's always up for a challenge. But it's my day off, so… vamoose."

"No way!" the kid persisted. "I came all the way here from Azalea Town, and I'm not leaving until I get a battle with the Champ!"

Ethan sighed, putting his feet down and pulling his shades off, sitting up and glaring at the kid all in one fluid motion.

"Like I said, go and find Lyra," Ethan reiterated. "Or Kris. All three of us were League Champ at one point or another; go bother one of the girls!"

The youngster shook his head doggedly, spinning his cap backwards and flashing Ethan a victorious grin.

"No way!" he practically shouted. "It's gotta be you! You're the only one actually in New Bark Town, and you did it first, so you're my goal!"

"Technically Lance did it first…" Ethan grumbled before sighing.

"Fine. We'll do a standard one-vs-one tournament-style battle. Choose your Pokémon."

"Alright!" the youngster cheered, plucking one of his balls off his belt. "I'll choose… Venonat!"

Ethan raised a brow as a furry purple ball with big red eyes appeared on his lawn, the ball's antennae twitching in anticipation as it planted its feet and lowered its head in, what was no doubt to the other kids' Pokémon in Azalea Town probably an intimidating fashion. Not that the Venonat was raised poorly, either; obviously the kid had put some real effort into raising it. Its fur had a healthy sheen, and its eyes had a determined set to them. Six years ago Ethan might even have felt a little competitive spirit stir in his chest.

"Alright then," Ethan sighed. "Let's begin. Typhlosion. Use ember."

The big fuzzy lump at his feet growled out a lazy yawn, glancing up when Ethan prodded it in the stomach a few times for emphasis when it didn't react to his instruction. The large Pokémon glanced up at him irritatedly, turning its head towards the challenger when Ethan jutted his chin in that direction.

Typhlosion snorted through its nose, a small jet of flame knocking the Venonat back off its feet and making the whole yard stink of burnt fur before the fire-type lowered its head and curled back up.

"Aaaaand we're done," Ethan said, lowering his shades back onto his nose and ignoring the flabbergasted look on the youngster's face as he put his heels back up on Typhlosion's back. "Better get that bug to the Lab; they have a miniature Pokémon Centre in there. So long now."

The kid nodded, scooping up his knocked-out and rather crispy Venonat, glaring at Ethan the whole time before racing off down the street towards Ethan's workplace.

"You'd think that the people around here would be sick of losing by now. Right, buddy?" Ethan muttered, Typhlosion snorting in agreement at his feet.

He was retired, but he and Typhlosion still remained fit and in fighting condition, just in case Team Rocket or someone else decided to rear their villainous heads again and Ethan had to put them back in their place. There were stories about organized crime cartels in other parts of the world, and if they ever set foot into Johto they'd be sorry.

Ethan only kept three Pokémon with him these days, the rest living a quiet life at the lab with the Professor Elm and the others' catches, where he could visit with them every day. Pidgeot usually roosted up on top of the house, or on the large bar Ethan had installed near the living room ceiling when it was raining, much to his mother's displeasure. After all, a large bird left behind really, really large droppings. Typhlosion and Haunter were a little different; the fire-Pokémon spent most of his time outside in the sun, and Haunter only came out of the attic when Ethan thought up a particularly nasty practical joke to play on one of his friends. Or his mother.

Maybe I ought to start treating Mom a little nicer… Ethan thought absently, taking a long sip from his juice.

While he'd never actually gone ahead and completed his pokedex, he'd come pretty darn close; with the data from Kris and Lyra all added together the three of them more than made up the data Professor Elm had needed. Until, of course, Hoenn, Unova and Kalos all reported finding hundreds of new Pokémon. Each. However at that point Ethan had already turned fourteen and been retired from 'the game' for nearly two years. After catching almost two-hundred and fifty different varieties of Pokémon he was content to just let some other kids do the rest of the work. Heck, even the majority of his own pokedex data came from Red and Blue's original data on the first one-fifty. Ethan and his friends had only added to that, really.

Red, huh… Ethan thought, staring up at the sky. Wonder how that guy's doing.

Ethan still made the trip to Kanto once and a while to catch up with the Viridian City Gym Leader Blue, but… Red was another matter entirely. The other former League Champion had been a monster to battle, and it had taken every ounce of Ethan's and his team's skills to finally win out over the serious mute. Even fighting Lance, the reigning Champion at the time, hadn't been as taxing.

Those were the days, he reminisced, a light smile rising to his face. I miss the fire… I miss the passion. I wonder what happened…

"Ethan! I need you to take out the trash!"

The retired champ and his Typhlosion both sat up in a jolt, melancholy thoughts forgotten as they looked around themselves in a panic before locking gazes.

Typhlosion let out a soft growl, and Ethan nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I agree," Ethan muttered, pulling out Typhlosion's pokeball. "Let's beat feet, buddy."

"Pidgeot!" Ethan called in a hushed whisper as Typhlosion disappeared back inside the pokeball. "Pidgeot! Get down here! We gotta get outta here!"

The large bird Pokémon, practically as tall as Ethan was now, fluttered down from the rooftop in all his majestic predatorial glory, coming to land just in front of his master and cooing softly.

"Ethan!? Are you outside!?"

"Go," Ethan urged the bird-Pokémon as he climbed onto its back and took hold of the sleek feathers. "Fly far, fly fast. Get us out of here!"

"Ethan!" his mother called one last time, emerging out onto the veranda just as Pidgeot took to the air.

"Sorry, mom! Gotta fly! Be back later!" Ethan called as Pidgeot beat its huge wings, giving Ethan a knowing and smug look out of the corner of its eye.

"Don't look at me like that," Ethan grumbled as Pidgeot soared over New Bark Town. "I'm a Pokémon Master. Pokémon Masters don't take out trash."

Man, she is gonna be so mad at me when I get back, Ethan internally groaned, glancing over his shoulder to where his mom was waving her arms and shouting at him from their yard.

Ethan breathed out a sigh of relief as he relaxed again, hands resting behind his head as he used Typhlosion as a back-rest, the warm and fuzzy fire-Pokémon always more than happy to oblige.

Just like old times, right? Ethan thought, smiling as he affectionately ran his hand over the big Pokémon's back-fur, recalling the way that he would snuggle with Ethan back when he was just a Cyndaquil and Ethan had just been a beginner, when they had camped outdoors every night and their only goal was to beat the Pokémon League. Typhlosion let out a happy breath, yawning and shifting a little.

Ethan glanced up irritatedly as his sunlight was blocked for the second time that day, lifting his shades again before dropping them back into place.

"Oh. It's you," he said, shifting and getting comfortable. "What's up?"

"What are you doing here?" a girl in tight gold and black bike-pants and a short white jacket over a red tank-top asked him, a bemused smirk on her face.

"Oh, you know me, Kris," Ethan yawned. "Just… charging for a solar-beam."

"Uh-huh. You're mom's really mad at you right now, you know," Kris chuckled as she sank down to the ground next to him. "I'd say you'd probably want to steer-clear for a little while."

Ethan 'hrmed' thoughtfully as Kris gave Typhlosion an affectionate hug, the big Pokémon nuzzling up to her before she leaned back against him next to his trainer as the boy wondered when exactly Kris had run into his mother.

"Think the Prof would let me sleep on the couch in the break room?" Ethan asked hopefully as Kris pulled her jacket tighter around her, getting comfortable like the other trainer.

"Wow, I'd almost forgotten how comfy this big lug is," she cooed, leaning over to give Typhlosion another hug.

"Hey, focus," Ethan grumbled. "We're talking about me, not fluffy here."

Typhlosion looked over his shoulder, snorting indignantly and making a little plume of smoke come out of his nostrils.

"Alright, I take that back," Ethan said, rolling his eyes. "I should never make fun of your sleek, perfect coat. You are far from fluffy."

Typhlosion nodded, mollified, and sank back to his sleeping position, Kris giggling, rising and lowering with the Pokémon's movements.

"Knowing him, Elm would probably tell you to just make up with your mom," Kris sighed, running her fingers through her long dark-blue ponytail where it draped over her shoulder. "Remember what happened last time he got caught up in-between one of your arguments with her?"

"Remember it?" Ethan snorted. "I'm still paying for it! How she managed to convince Haunter to do that to Elm's lab equipment…"

"Yeah, I still have the picture of your face as my Pokegear's background!" Kris laughed, holding up the little screen of the pokegear on the cord hanging from around her neck for a non-pulsed Ethan to see.

"Gee, isn't that something," Ethan groaned as Kris burst out laughing. "What're you doing here anyway? Get bored of the ruins or something?"

Kris shook her head excitedly.

"I'm reporting my findings to the professor!" she said, a familiar twinkle in her eye. "You have no idea how close I am to a breakthrough! I'm sure the Unknown are just the tip of the iceberg!"

"Yeah, just don't go all 'S.S. Anne' on us, miss iceberg," Ethan muttered dismissively.

It wasn't unusual for his old friend to get caught up in her work at the Ruins of Aleph outside of Violet City to the point where they wouldn't see each other for months at a time. With Lyra living in Goldenrod City with her Grandparents because of her new job working at the Radio Tower Ethan was starting to feel a little like a failure-to-launch stuck in New Bark Town all alone.

"Why don't you come back with me?" Kris asked hopefully. "We could always use more hands to help with research…"

"Oh no," Ethan cut her off. "I know that when you say 'research' you mean 'manual labour'. Take a Machoke with you or something; I work at the lab now. Remember last time Typhlosion and I went to help at the Ruins? Nuh-uh. Not again."

Typhlosion snorted in agreement beneath the two trainers, making Kris sigh defeatedly.

"We managed to dig the ruin back out eventually…" Kris mumbled.

"Yeah, and Doctor Hale still throws things at my head every time I step foot in the ruins," Ethan chuckled. "Pass."

"Fine then," Kris sighed, crossing her arms and looking away from him. "But you have to make it up to me."

"Fine, fine," Ethan groaned, leaning his head back in the sunlight and closing his eyes. "What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness, oh mistress of the ruins and icebergs and… stuff?"

"Come with me to the Sunflora Contest in Bloomingvale next month," Kris said, twirling her dark hair between her fingers a little more harshly than she usually did.

"Sure," Ethan shrugged with barely a thought in his head.

"What? Just like that?" Kris asked, her head snapping around.

"Er… yeah?" Ethan said, eyes still closed and completely missing the fading blush on Kris' cheeks. "We went right by it when we were on our journey, right? We never got the chance to see it."

"Er… yeah…" Kris muttered, looking away.

Ethan groaned loudly as his pokegear started to ring with his mom's ringtone, interrupting his idyllic afternoon sunbathing and catching up with his old friend.

"You not going to answer that?" Kris asked as Ethan let it ring.

"I have a better idea," the other trainer answered her, rejecting the call and flipping his pokegear to the radio function. "Let's listen to Buena's show for a while. Lyra's supposed to be on this afternoon, right? Yup. I like that idea. Let's do that."

"You know eventually you'll have to face your mom and do your chores," Kris laughed as they both got comfortable again against Typhlosion's broad back.

"Nuh-uh," Ethan said. "Pokémon Masters don't do trash-duty; even retired ones."

Ethan looked around as he walked down the sidewalk in Goldenrod City, stretching out his neck a little as he wandered through the late-afternoon town. Typhlosion trundled along behind him, wide-eyed and full of energy after spending all afternoon napping. Ethan's old red hoodie was back on, the trainer braving his home and his mother's wrath long enough to actually grab the garment, retrieve his Haunter and actually relent and empty the garbage before he'd high-tailed it for the safety of the big city.

He'd just go and stay with Blue in Kanto until his mother cooled off a little… Besides, he always did like Viridian City. Plus that cute girl that worked at the Viridian Pokemart always gave him extra potions…

One of the things that Ethan liked most about Goldenrod was the fact that it was so full of people; it was one of the last places in the mostly-rural Johto region where he felt truly anonymous. People walked by him and his Typhlosion, ignoring him the way he was ignoring them. Occasionally someone would turn and do a double-take, but by then he was already gone, lost in the press. He had even been considering moving there at one point, but the thought of living so close to a certain Day-Care couple's excitable and loud granddaughter was hardly appealing, so he'd opted for staying at home for now.

But Goldenrod wasn't his port-of-call; he was just using it as a stepping-stone to Saffron, where he could just fly on Pidgeot to Viridian. All he had to do was get to the Magnet Train station located next to the Radio Tower, avoiding…

"Ethan!" a high-pitched voice cried out moments before the trainer found himself choking, the life being strangled out of him by one of Lyra's 'hugs'.

"Typhlosion!" Ethan croaked. "Fire Blast! Fire Blast! Save me you stupid-WHOA!"

Typhlosion let out a deep, hushed chuckle as his trainer and his trainer's friend went tumbling to the side-walk, sitting back on his hind legs and watching the show with what approximated a smirk on his badger-like face. An ovaloid blue-and-white Azumarill waddled up opposite Typhlosion, watching her trainer roll around in the dirt and shaking her head, elongated ears swaying with the movement.

"Traitor!" Ethan shouted at his laughing Pokémon companion as he tried to pry the excitable girl off his mid-section.

"Ethan! It's so good to see you again!" Lyra shrieked happily, wrapped around the other trainer like an Ekans around an unsuspecting Pidgey. "I never see you anymore! Let's battle! Or get a coffee! Eek! I'm so happy I could die!"

The male trainer gasped, the hug tightening and squeezing the air out of him further, feeling something in his chest creak with the pressure. People walking by were starting to cast the duo funny looks now, too…

"Alright, Lyra!" Ethan pleaded. "Alright! I'll buy you a coffee! What would your bosses say if they saw you right now!? Please, just stop before you break a rib!"

The pressure ceased all at once, leaving Ethan gasping on the ground as Lyra retreated, emulating Typhlosion and sitting back on her legs, watching him intently.

The young man sat up, glaring evilly at his old friend as she grinned happily up at him. She had long ago traded in her blue overalls and poofy white hat for a more subdued office-lady look now that she was working in the Radio Tower, but her energy was still the same. You could put the girl in a pant-suit, but you couldn't put her into an adult-attitude… or something.

"Coffee, right?" Ethan asked, climbing to his feet and dusting himself off before offering her a hand.

Lyra nodded excitedly, practically yanking his arm out of its socket as she pulled herself up.

"So where's your hat?" Lyra asked as Ethan sat down, sliding a cup of coffee over to her.

He rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his own paper cup.

"You ask me that every time we meet, and every time I tell you 'I retired it two years ago'. It's in a glass case in my room along with the badges I earned."

"Really?"

"No. I think my mom stuck it in her memory box. My badges are actually at the bottom of my desk drawer. I think."

They were sitting in the small rest area off of the platform for the Magnet Train, Azumarill and Typhlosion both sitting next to their respective masters chewing on whatever cheap treats had popped out of the vending machine that was next to the one Ethan had gotten the coffee from. Lyra sat back in her chair, smiling as she relaxed. Apparently she had spotted Ethan on her way home from work and instinct had taken over.

"How do you afford to travel back and forth on this train so much?" Lyra asked curiously.

"Royalties," Ethan said, glancing up at his friend. "The trading cards? Postcards and endorsements? You were a League Champion, too, right? Didn't you sign any merchandising deals?"

Lyra shook her head. "No… I didn't really hang around very long once I was inducted. There was just so much other stuff I wanted to do."

Ethan snickered a little; he had been a little surprised when people had started approaching him about merchandising, but it was only logical, really. As far as the world was concerned, he was on the same level as a sports star. Pokémon League Champion was a pretty big deal. He still occasionally did photo-shoots for trading card sets when the company called him. It was funny to think that Lyra, who had always been the larger-than-life member of their little party, had missed out on all of that.

"I heard you on Buena's show today," Ethan said conversationally after a few moments of thoughtful silence. "You were great."

Lyra turned an interesting shade of scarlet at her companion's compliment, folding in on her cup of coffee and staring at the dark liquid intently.

"A-all I did was read the news…" she managed to mutter.

"Yeah, but you didn't stumble or stutter once," Ethan pointed out. "Quite the feat, considering how clumsy you were when we were kids."

"Aw… thanks, Ethan, I-" she started bashfully.

"Hey!" Lyra shouted, slamming her hands on the table indignantly. "I was not clumsy!"

Ethan burst out laughing as Lyra threw herself back into her chair, pouting and crossing her arms as she glared at the boy. Typhlosion and Azumarill didn't even glance up at this exchange, so used to it's like they were.

"So…" Lyra said in the silence that followed Ethan's laughter.

The boy raised a brow at her, glancing up from his coffee.

"When's your train getting here?" Lyra asked curiously.

Ethan shrugged. "They run every hour. I can catch a later one if you had something in mind?"

"No, no," Lyra said hastily. "Just trying to make conversation."

Ethan chuckled a little.

"You always were like that. You never could just sit quietly and enjoy someone's company."

"You… really enjoy my company?" Lyra asked in surprise.

"Are you kidding?" Ethan laughed. "I'm probably the only one in Johto besides Kris immune to your personality at this point! Besides, we grew up together; New Bark Town just isn't the same without you."

Lyra started to say something, her face turning an interesting shade of pink but her words lost in the loud screeching sound of the Magnet Train's brakes as it pulled into the station.

"Whoops, gotta go!" Ethan said, downing his coffee in one go and standing quickly, Typhlosion emulating him by cramming the last of its treat into its mouth and taking off after its trainer.

"We'll catch up properly when I get back, okay?" Ethan called as he dashed to the train. "I'll call you!"

Lyra pouted for a moment before trading looks with Azumarill.

"Men," she sighed, standing and leaving the station, the round blue rabbit-eared Pokémon following behind her.

Ethan took a deep breath of the cool night air as he stepped off the train in Saffron City, rolling out his shoulders and smiling a little as he looked at the familiar metropolitan surroundings.

"Whaddya say, buddy?" Ethan asked, dangling his pokegear from two fingers as he winked at Typhlosion. "Feeling like a little exercise before we drop in on Blue?"

Typhlosion nodded, growling excitedly as Ethan flicked through his contacts, grinning as he looked for someone that he knew was always up for a fight on Friday nights… He held the small device to his ear for a few seconds as he walked slowly down the street, Typhlosion practically skipping beside him the Pokémon was so excited. After a few rings a familiar voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Clair?" Ethan asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Ah, Ethan," the Gym Leader from Blackthorn City said in a similar tone. "It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm currently walking through Saffron City in the direction of the Dojo," Ethan said as nonchalantly as he could. "I was just thinking if you were free…"

Clair snickered over the pokegear.

"Lucky for you it just so happens I just finished a training session with the Karate King," she said. "Don't keep me waiting."

Ethan grinned down at Typhlosion as he flipped his pokegear closed, his competitive spirit beginning to burn bright again.

"I think we've got a match to win; I'll race you to the Dojo," he said, before taking off like a shot as Typhlosion bounded after him.

Suddenly Ethan was glad he'd decided to wear his running shoes, rather than the flats he usually wore around New Bark Town. Of course, as they neared the old Karate Dojo next to the Saffron Gym Typhlosion pulled ahead, his four-legged gait making him much faster than Ethan was. By the time the trainer finally caught up outside the Dojo he was panting and out of breath, Typhlosion sitting back on his hind legs waiting patiently, a smug look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah," Ethan gasped. "Just win the battle, too."

"So you've finally come," Clair said dramatically as Ethan entered, striking a pose at the other end of the Dojo.

"Clair, we had another match just last month," the other trainer chuckled. "You can drop the theatrics."

"Oh you're no fun at all," Clair sighed.

The older woman was still striking despite the time that had passed since they had first met back on Ethan's original journey with Kris and Lyra. Her teal hair was tied up in a ponytail like usual as she grinned at Ethan, already holding a Pokeball in her hand, her dark cape billowing a little in a way that Ethan hated to admit was actually a little cool.

"Evening, K.K.," Ethan called to the older man in the Gi that would be acting as their referee.

The Karate King merely nodded, single-mindedly focused on his role as referee.

"Standard one-vs-one?" Ethan asked Clair, proposing his favourite type of tournament-style battle.

"If you insist," Clair agreed quickly, throwing her ball into the arena and releasing her favoured Dragonair, the thin blue serpentine Pokémon eying its old opponent Typhlosion warily as soon as it caught sight of him.

"Yeah, didn't see that one coming," Ethan muttered as Typhlosion looked up at him expectantly, a heat-haze rising from the excited Pokémon.

Ethan nodded at the field and Typhlosion drew itself up to its full intimidating height, letting out an energetic roar as flames blasted from its shoulders for a few seconds before dying off as it strode boldly into the arena.

"Gym Leader Clair has chosen Dragonair!" the Karate King announced. "Former Champion Ethan has chosen Typhlosion! Prepare to battle!"

Ethan smirked as he and Clair eyed each other across the arena; of course, all of this was being recorded. The Fighting Dojo's exhibition matches were a favoured part of the Battle Network's Friday Night Line-up, not to mention another major source of Ethan's income. Hamming it up for the cameras at this point was just par for the course.

"Begin!" the Karate King shouted.

"Dragonair, start off with slam!" Clair ordered, her Dragonair coiling itself tightly before launching at Typhlosion.

"Predictable! Typhlosion, dodge and use slash!" Ethan called out.

Typhlosion lowered its head, flames flashing out of its shoulders again as it leapt to the side at the last second, Dragonair's slam hitting the ground hard enough to send a web of cracks radiating out around the impact point. Typhlosion roared, bringing its razor-sharp claws down on Dragonair's exposed back in what would have been a serious blow.

The attack hit, Dragonair crying out in pain, but rather than be thrown off by this Clair grinned.

"Now, Dragonair!" she called out. "Point-blank Thunderbolt!"

Arcs of golden electricity flared as this time Typhlosion cried out, stumbling back a few steps and shaking its head as residual electricity danced along its fur.

"Shake it off, buddy!" Ethan called out encouragingly. "If we can't get up close we'll do this the hard way! Flamethrower!"

"Counter with a Hyper-Beam!" Clair ordered.

Typhlosion drew itself up again, letting out a loud roar as its shoulder-flames flared and a jet of white-hot flames leapt from its mouth towards Dragonair. The blue dragon-type wasn't idle, though, opening its own mouth with a high-pitched cry and shooting a beam of energy directly into Typhlosion's flames. Ethan's fists clenched as he anxiously willed Typhlosion's attack to be more powerful, the two opposing forces meeting and sending a rain of fire and energy flying off in all directions.

There was a loud bang as the two forces finally exploded, releasing a thick cloud of smoke into the arena, neither attack having gained the upper hand and both Pokémon being sent reeling.

"Now, while their blinded!" Clair called out. "Use Dragon Pulse and finish this!"

Dragonair let out a shrill battle-cry hidden by the smoke, an arc of red-blue energy flying out of the smoke and crashing into Typhlosion's chest, forcing it back a few steps towards Ethan.

"C'mon, buddy, she's got nothing on us!" Ethan shouted. "Now while its guard's down! Blast Burn!"

Typhlosion let out a cry of its own, dropping forward to stand on all four feet and sending another jet of flames towards Dragonair; however this one wasn't a single jet in an arc. Typhlosion actually leaned forward, adding the enraged flames from its shoulders to the attack, and soon the entire arena was full of a searing wall of fire, the smoke being burned away as Dragonair desperately tried to dodge.

"Finish it!" Ethan ordered. "Flame Wheel!"

Typhlosion didn't hesitate for a second, throwing itself forward and rolling towards the cornered Dragonair, the fire from its shoulders creating a 'wheel' around its spinning form as it flew across the arena and hit the thin Dragonair dead-centre. The Dragon-type let out a whine, collapsing beneath Typhlosion's onslaught as it continued to roll, circling the arena and coming to a stop back where it began, protectively between Dragonair and Ethan.

"Dragonair is unable to battle!" the Karate King announced as the thin blue Pokémon lay still, knocked out. "Ethan is the winner!"

"Boo-yah! That's right, baby! Still the Pokémon Master!" Ethan cheered as Typhlosion reared up, letting out a deafening victory roar.

"That was fun," Ethan said, giving Typhlosion a congratulatory pat on the head before descending into a fit of chin and neck scratching while the Pokémon groaned happily.

"That was really one hell of a fight," Blue pointed out, walking into the living room with two bottles of soda and tossing one to Ethan. "I mean, it's really been a long time since I've seen Clair get so pumped up. Gratz, bro."

Ethan grinned at his friend as they settled in to watch the rematch (again) in the living room of Blue's Viridian City apartment. It was only a small place, but apparently for the Viridian Gym Leader it beat walking all the way from Pallet Town to work every day. It also sported a very comfortable couch; one that Ethan was more than happy to make regular use of.

"So what did you do to piss your mom off now?" the crass Gym Leader asked curiously, putting his feet up on the coffee table as they watched the replay.

"Eh. She just lacks my sense of humour," Ethan shrugged, offering Typhlosion a sip of the soda.

The big Pokémon took a few gulps before sinking to the carpet beneath Ethan's feet, the trainer bringing the bottle to his lips and finishing it off.

"So what've you been up to lately?" Ethan asked conversationally.

"Killing time, training the other trainers at the Gym, making life difficult for my sister. You know, the usual," Blue said nonchalantly. "What about you?"

"Pretty much the same," Ethan sighed. "Except Haunter and I make life difficult for everyone in New Bark Town."

"Nice," Blue laughed, holding up his fist which Ethan bumped with his own.

Blue was a few years older than Ethan, but the younger trainer got along so well with the Gym Leader that they hung out at every possible opportunity. Ethan often found excuses to do work in Kanto for Professor Elm, just to hang out with his friend. Blue was much the same, travelling to Johto every chance he got.

They watched the rest of the replay in comfortable silence before Ethan felt the urge to break it.

"So have you heard anything from Red lately?" he asked curiously.

Blue snorted.

"Who, old 'I'm gonna be the mountain hermit for the rest of my life'? No, I haven't. What about you? Hear from Silver recently?"

"No, I haven't heard from mister angst-and-doom-and-gloom for a while now," Ethan sighed. "Starting to wonder if he's okay…"

"He's probably just off in Hoenn looking for his dad or something," Blue commented offhandly as the replay on the TV ended. "You know what he's like. He'll show up out of the blue one day and start challenging all of us to battles again, just like last time."

"Yeah, probably," Ethan agreed uncertainly as the Gym Leader rose and stretched. "I dunno. I just wish I could find a real challenge again. Without hiking all the way to the top of Mount Silver."

Blue grinned down at his friend.

"Well, it just so happens that I've gotten some new news lately; just before you got here, in fact…"

Lance smiled as he looked over the Champion's Room at the Indigo Plateau, back where he belonged. It had been quite some time since he'd been able to claim the mantle of 'Champion', and he was proud to admit that he had won out over the upstarts and the rest of the Elite Four to claim his rightful position back again.

His Cousin had been the first to congratulate him, of course. That's just the kind of person Clair was. However she did drop some hints about a certain Johto trainer trawling around, looking for a challenge again.

Lance shrugged, running his hands through his spiky red hair and flipping his cape over his shoulder.

It didn't really matter; right now he was about to face his first challenger as newly-reinstated Champion, and he needed to be focused. There was apparently some kid breezing through the rest of the Four, and it was Lance's duty and great pleasure to put these kids back in their place.

The doors opened and Lance adopted his best intimidating pose and glower, glancing backwards over his shoulder and-

"Hi Lance!" a familiar voice called out excitedly. "I heard you're Champion again! Thanks for keeping my seat warm!"

"No!" Lance cried out, practically falling off the low platform at his end of the arena in the room as Ethan walked boldly into the room. "Go away! I just got the position back! Please, just leave me alone! Why do you do this to me every time!?"

The trainer stopped at his end of the arena, grinning and petting the head of the Typhlosion waiting patiently next to him.

"Because I'm the Pokémon Master," Ethan said. "And I'm sick of retirement."

Lance let out an involuntary whimper, drawing his first pokeball and preparing for the inevitable loss that was coming. Ethan had the old fire burning in his eyes again.

"It was nice while it lasted..." the Dragon Master groaned dejectedly.