Part 36: The Champion and Fin

"There remains the Champion."

Oh crap.

"I should warn you, the Champion is far stronger than the Elite Four. Now, go on. Step through the doorway to your final battle."

*cries* I thought I was done...now I have to heal up and prepare for another battle?

Healed up, and starting off.

In the next room (which is all shiny and glowy and cool), Cynthia stood.

"Have you been keeping well? Thank you for Mt. Coronet. And for the Distortion World. I'm truly grateful. Together, you and your Pokemon overcame all the challenges you faced, however difficult. It means that you've triumphed over any personal weaknesses, too. The power you learned...I can feel it emanating from you."

(Must imagine crazy piano music all through this. Better yet, just listen to this: CLICK HERE).

"But that's enough talk. Let's get on with why you're here. As the Pokemon League Champion, I accept your challenge!"

Wait...She's the Champion? I thought it was gonna be Tim or something.

Her first Pokemon is a Spiritomb. I have Belle out, and Shadow Claw didn't do so much damage, so I send it to sleep. Waffle's up next. Waffle was able to get off a Flare Blitz, then Josh did Waterfall to kill it.

Next Pokemon is Roserade. Waffle would have been good for this, but, Oswald should do ok. Fly takes it out in one hit.

Next up I send out Starbit against Milotic. Thunder takes off a good chunk, but Mirror Coat takes out Starbit in one go. Bleh. I take out Sheldon, and it uses only Surf against me, so that gives me time to Revive and Heal my other Pokemon. Low health for Sheldon though.

Garchomp is next, and I'm told this is what I wanted Blizzard or an Ice move for. Was able to get a good hit on it, even froze it, but then it used a berry, and unthawed a second after. She withdrew it and sent out Lucario.

Lucario takes out Oswald. I had used his turn to heal up Waffle though. One Fire Blast faints it. The stupid Garchomp is next up.

It takes out Waffle, and I use Josh after Max Reviving. One Blizzard and it's left with a pixel. Earthquake takes me down to 2 HP. I go ahead and use Aqua Jet to faint it.

Togekiss is her last Pokemon. A bit of playing around with health, and Spark takes the last of its health.

Cynthia nodded. "That was excellent. Truly, an outstanding battle. You gave the support your Pokemon needed to maximize their power. And you guided them with certainty to secure victory. You have both passion and calculating coolness. Together, you and your Pokemon can overcome any challenge that may come your way."

I smile and look at my battle-worn team. She smiles and nods at them. "Those are the impressions I got from our battle. I'm glad I got to take part in the crowning of Sinnoh's new Champion! Come with me. We'll take the lift."

I step onto the lift behind her, and walk into the long hallway. Cynthia points to the doorway in front of us.

"The room ahead is the Hall of Fame."

Suddenly, I hear a voice behind us and see Rowan walking towards me.

"Donny! Your last battle was splendid!"

Cynthia waved. "Hello, Professor Rowan."

Rowan's eyebrow went up in that curious manner. "Hm! A child I enlisted for my Pokedex project has come this far. It's only natural that I come and witness the child's crowning glory." He stuttered. "Donny, I shouldn't call you a child anymore. You've grown into a real Champion!"

Cynthia giggled. "Professor, you still enjoy the enthusiasm kids bring to your research, don't you? Donny, step this way, please." She motioned to Rowan. "Please join us, Professor Rowan."

Rowan sighed and looked around the large room we entered. "It's been a long while since I last entered this room."

"If your last time here was when I became Champion, then yes, that would be quite a long time ago." Cynthia nods. She turned to me. "Donny, welcome to the Hall of Fame. Your names will be recorded for posterity here. What you are leaving are the memories of your adventure so far. It's time to record your names. You and your Pokemon. Remember, your Pokemon are partners that grew with you through many challenging battles. This machine will make a permanent record of your achievement."

88:40 was my total playtime through this fantastic game. As I see the credits roll, I think back on all the battles me and my Pokemon have been through.

My goal now is to catch the Legendary Pokemon left. I just need to get Mesprit, and now that new Pokemon will be available, try and catch them as well.

I started out with this game, not knowing much about Pokemon. I thought it would be somewhat boring, a little tedious, and just not my sort of game. Josh was able to show me otherwise. It's actually very strategic and thought-provoking, what with the whole plot of wanting to change the world and get rid of all spirit in the world. For a kid's game, it's very dark in some places, such as the creepy lab with the experiment that wasn't ever really explained.

It's nice to have a team to take through the whole game, and I look forward to doing so again in Black. I went to Toys R Us today and preordered both Black and White. I'm excited to pick that up on Sunday and see what new adventures await me.

Yeah, Pokemon is a little tedious at time, but the joy of exploration and such are very well-captured in this game.

I appreciate all of those who went along on this journey with me, and I hope to write a few things later on in this blog. I'm not going to do another text LP for a while, probably, because I'd like to really immerse myself into Black and what it has to offer, and not worry about capturing important text and such.

Thanks to all of you who read and enjoyed this Let's Play. See you on the other side of the controller.

FIN