The tournament was over, every trainer was standing in the middle of the stadium as Lance and Goodshow were giving out the participation medals, meanwhile Ash, Gary, and Green were waiting on the side talking.
Green held the two boys under her arms in a playful manner, "Hey no fair you two, I thought we weren't going to use our 'big' moves!"
Ash and Gary were still sitting down and trying to recover after that stressful battle, Ash took off his hat and Gary opened his jacket, "Yeah no duh we used them, we never said we couldn't," Gary responded, rolling his eyes.
Green squished Gary's head a little tighter, "No fair, if I had known I would have won, I want my rematch!"
"Sure, tell yourself whatever you want, but in the end, I still won so that's it," Gary said smugly, breaking out of Green's arm.
Ash looked over and smirked, "And I'm, still the winner of the whole thing,"
"You shut up you," Gary said, "Although I don't like it, yeah you're the strongest… for now!"
"Sure keep telling yourself that number 2," Ash said smugly.
"You don't have to rub it in,"
"Don't worry me and Daisy will take care of that," Green said, smiling, making Gary frown.
Ash noticed it and smiled as well, "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the Orange League is starting, you can go win on that if you want."
"Ha! Not a chance, that thing more backwater than Alola, and they don't even have a League," Gary said shaking his head.
"Alright then, how about Johto?"
Gary smirked "Try saying that when you're old enough to get your Johto license, you're younger than both of us so you should show some respect,"
"Yeah and this kid can kick your ass, so what does that say about you," Ash jabbed back, making Gary's eye twitch.
Green leaned over, "I mean you kinda asked for that one,"
—
Eventually, when the participation medals were given out the contestants moved out of the way, some just sat in the corners and some left altogether, indicating it was time for the top 3 to step up.
Ash, Gary, and Green walked up the stage followed by clapping, cheering, and photos being taken, and when they arrived on the stage they saw a podium where they would each stand with the words 1st, 2nd, 3rd under each of them.
They took their place as Lance and Goodshow walked up with some assistants walking up behind them holding ornate boxes.
"It is time to award the top 3 trainers of this Year's League!" Lance announced
Goodshow walked up slowly as the assistant followed, "And this year seems to be extra special, all of our winners are from Pallet Town and even started at the same time, something unheard of."
The crowd started clapping and gasping and all that other stuff as Goodshow walked in front of the podium where the 3 were standing.
Goodshow took a bronze trophy and walked up to Green, "Now let's begin, the trainer to take the third place in the League, a trainer that showed determination with grace, Green of Pallet Town,"
Green took the trophy and grinned as she raised it into the air letting people take a good look at it before hugging it tightly.
Goodshow nodded as he clapped for her with the crowd, then when it quieted down he walked over to Gary and picked up the silver trophy.
"Second place goes to the equally skillful and powerful boy who showed he isn't bound to his family name, Gary of Pallet Town!"
Gary took the silver trophy and raised it to the air so that the crowd could look at it, receiving cheers as they clapped for him.
Goodshow smiled and nodded as he walked over and grabbed the Gold trophy from his assistant and walked up to Ash.
"Now finally the moment has come to crown the winner of this year's Indigo League, Ash of Pallet Town, who showed us just how much his strategies and hard work paid off, please welcome the champion of the Indigo League!"
Ash stepped forward Pikachu on his shoulder and took the trophy as everyone cheered for him, then a photographer quickly came out and took a photo of him with Goodshow and Lance to commemorate his victory.
After, Goodshow stepped to the side and Lance stepped up, "Congratulations, all of you, you have all come so far."
Then Lance looked at Ash, "And since you won you now have the right to challenge the Elite 4 if you want,"
Then in a whisper tone, "And 'that' finally happened, I gave it to Oak,"
Then he went back to his normal tone, "And now, is there anything you want to say to everyone," he said as he handed Ash the mic.
Ash took it and smiled, "Yeah I have 1 thing to say," as he said that he looked around, Gary and Green both knew what he was doing, Green was smiling and nodding, but Gary was shaking his head mumbling 'Don't you do it-'
And as he looked at the crowd he could see Misty doing the same shaking her head and mumbling, but Ash just smiled as he brought the mic closer.
"Hey Lance, to challenge the Elite 4 just to have a chance of challenging you, well you can keep your title I don't want it!" Ash said, making people gasp, "I don't want to be champion and you're not sticking it on me!"
Then as he said that he tossed the mic back and Lance caught it but then Ash reached out and grabbed Gary and Green and pulled them in, then Abra appeared on his shoulder and they teleported away.
For a moment the crowd stayed silent, but then Goodshow chuckled, "Well, I'll say 1 thing, he certainly is interesting,"
Lance also chuckled, "Interesting certainly is a word for it, but I can't even be surprised,"
Then he took the mic and looked up to the crowd, "And that concludes this year's Indigo League! Thank you, everyone, for coming and your constant support, so from me your champion, thank you all for coming!"
The crowd after being silent for so long started cheering loudly as some people started leaving and some stayed to keep cheering.
Misty was holding her head, "That guy can never just be normal can he, of course he wins and then also publicly says he refuses to do that,"
"But hey, that's just Ash isn't it," Brock said holding his egg.
"Yeah, Ash is just Ash," Yellow nodded.
Misty sighed, "So what now? He kinda just left and left us here."
As she said that they heard a crunch and when they looked down they saw Abra sitting down eating the popcorn, when she realized she was found out she teleported onto Yellow's shoulder and teleported all 3 of them.
—-
{Later}
After Ash, Green, and Gary came back they were greeted by all of Pallet Town ready for them holding a huge celebration for them.
They were pretty much pulled into the party and were being pushed and raised into the air being celebrated for coming so far in less than a Year.
After Ash brought Brock, Misty, and Yellow to join them, that's how the celebrations continued all day with the 3 of them being celebrated for getting the top 3 places.
After a moment when they were let go, Ash went over to his house and ran up to his room, there on the shelf he set down his trophy and then he put his badge case down in front of it.
As he looked at it he smiled, then quickly went through his storage and pulled out his old Jacket and hat, the ones that were destroyed during the S.S. Anne and he put them next to the trophy.
After that he walked back out and looked on his Rotom Phone, he could see that people were messaging him and sneaking into his DMs, he could see it was mostly people congratulating him but there was the occasional person wanting an interview or signature, and all that.
Ash shook his head and put it away as he walked back out where he was greeted by the sight of 3 children he recognized, Chase, Elaine, and Trace, the protagonists from the Let Go games.
They ran up to him with sparkles in their eyes, "Wow, big brother Ash, you're amazing!" Elaine said excitedly.
"Yeah, you won and it was super cool!" Trace said, shaking his arms excitedly.
"When I become a trainer I'm going to have a Pikachu just like you do!" Chase said
"What, no I want the Pikachu," Elaine said angrily.
"I called it first, and if big bro Ash had it then I want one too so I can be just like him."
Ash chuckled as he could see Green and Gary both looking at him and chuckling that he was dealing with them, so Ash leaned down and gave them a pat on the head to call them down.
"Hey you guys don't need to fight, you can do whatever you want, but remember you guys don't start your journey until next year, remember you're all still 9,"
Chase and Elaine looked up at Ash with stars in their eyes and smiling at the head pat, "And when we become trainers let's have a battle!" Chase said
"Ok, sure,"
"Hehe, ok, and if I win then you have to marry me!" Elaine said innocently, in truth none of them realized what that meant since they were all still young.
Then Trace leaned in looking upset at Ash, "Hey, how come I don't get a head pat!"
Ash smiled and moved the hand that was on Chase's head and gave him a pat, "Ok now get out of here you 3, enjoy the party alright."
They all nodded happily and ran off, so he kept walking and looking around when he came across the place where the other 5 kids that would be starting their journey soon, Pink, Brown, Orange, Cyan, and Violet. He could also see that they already had Pokemon.
In order they had a Cleffa, Geodude, Krabby, Machop, and a Gastly, just as he was about to walk by he was pulled in by Orange's mom, "Oh Ash, glad you joined us," she said, getting the attention from the 5.
"Ah, you're such a good boy, so obedient and even a successful Pokemon trainer, I don't know how Delia raised you but she did something right, not like my failure of a son Orange."
Orange yelled at his mom, "Oi, Old hag, I told you already call me Saffron!"
Orange's mom looked over at him angrily, "Ehh, who are you calling an old hag, I am your mother and I will call you by your name!" she said as she punched Orange over the head.
In truth Orange didn't really like the name Orange, he preferred going by his last name Saffron, because it sounded cooler and he had a huge crush on Pink and Violet, who were both sisters and the daughters of a rich businessman here in Pallet.
As Orange was taken away the other 4 walked up to him, "Hey, so Mr. Champion himself decided to grace us with his presence," Brown said, clasping hands with Ash.
Ash smirked, "Well I thought if Gary can't beat me then maybe I should cultivate such talents for the future."
"Oh har har," Cyan said rolling his eyes at the choice of words, "So you actually won, I'm actually impressed, we here had a bet to see who would win,"
"Oh really, who voted for me then," Ash asked putting his finger on his chin.
"Well, Pink and Violet both voted for you, me and Orange AKA 'Saffron' voted for Gary, and Brown voted for Green because he has a cr-" Cyan said as Brown quickly covered his mouth.
"He means that I thought the underdog would win, but I guess that didn't happen eheheh…" Brown chuckled nervously, getting a deadpan stare from everyone.
Ash shook his head, "Well whatever, by the way, I wanted to ask, but you guys already have Pokemon, did your folks get them for you so you could start with 2?"
Violet spoke up, slightly more nervous, "W-well no, you see Professor Oak asked us which Pokemon we would like, and we all told him and he gave them to us as starters."
Ash blinked owlishly, "...Oh did he, well I might have to go talk to him about that…"
"R-right," Violet said, fidgeting her fingers, in case it wasn't obvious Violet also had a crush on Ash, just Ash unlike her sister Pink who also has one on Gary, and also unlike her sister she is much more subtle about it.
Speaking of which Pink grabbed Ash's arm, "Hey I need to ask you something,"
Without waiting for an answer Pink dragged him away and Ash let it happen half knowing where this was going, as he was he could see Gary and Green chuckling looking at his misfortune.
When they got to a place where Pink couldn't see anyone, although Ash could sense the other 4 were just on the other side of the building eavesdropping,
Pink stood in front of him, "So now that I'm almost going to be an official trainer I wanted to ask you again,"
Ash sighed, "Seriously, that's what this is about again,"
"Yes seriously, I need you to know something, something I've been keeping close to my heart for a long time… I-"
"You love me?" Ash said making Pink freeze,
"Y-you knew?"
"I think that time you had your maid kidnap me and Gary gave it away, I'd have to be blind not to notice,"
Pink felt a shiver down her spine "T-then, do you…"
Ash sighed, "Sorry. Pink, I don't love you,"
"Why. Why, I can give you anything you want, you don't ever have to work, what is it that you need?"
"Pink, you're probably most people's dream girl, you're pretty, rich, and everything. But we're barely friends, maybe if things were different but right now I can't force myself to love you, nor do I want to, so goodbye I have things I want to do." Ash said as he walked past the shocked Pink.
As he walked out he could see the other 4's poor attempt to hide but he didn't acknowledge them as he walked to go see Professor Oak.