Final Chapter :)

Third POV

"Go Lloyd!" his friends cheered.

"Our new Champion!" the crowd yelled.

He was overwhelmed, almost mesmerized by the sight around him. The spotlight was turned on him as his face showed both in the stadium's large screen, as well as the various smaller ones scattered all around the stands.

He cheered and yelled with Candy by his side, letting her kiss and lick his face.

Cliff Gordon started talking on the microphone. "And now, welcome Ninjago's newest champion—"

"Lloyd?" his dream was interrupted as another squeaky voice spoke.

"Lloyd!"

He opened his eyes before shoving his face in his pillow. "Yeah, I'm up," he said, turning to Jay. "You wasted my dream..."

"And you wasted my alone time with Nya by snoring all night!" he crossed his arms.

Lloyd ignored him again, before two things hit him at once; a tongue and a stick.

He gasped, only to be attacked by Candy licking his face and hands. As for the stick—

"Learning to wake up early is a crucial part of being a Champion."

He knew that voice.

He looked up, only to see both his uncle, who was holding  his signature bamboo stick, as well as his mother, who was smiling mischievously.

"What are you guys doing here?" he sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"I could never miss such an important battle," Wu said, stroking his long, white beard.

"And I would never miss a chance to see you kick your father's butt," Misako smiled. "Metaphorically, of course."

"Where is everyone?"

Finally, Jay opened his mouth. "My dad is practicing his opening speech, Kai and Nya are training your Pokemon with Cole and Zane is probably with borg and Pixal. Oh, I think our dad's are hanging out too—"

"I get it, Jay," he groaned. Having just gotten up, his father was the last thing he wanted to see. "So do I just battle dad in a few hours?"

Jay took a breath and continued. "Well, first you have to beat the remainder of the Gym Leaders in a bracket," he said. "Let's see, you've gotten a badge from... everyone!" he squealed.

"That doesn't sound right," Wu said as he handed Misako the tournament's leaflet.

She looked through it carefully until she got her answer. "You still need to battle... Morro, the Ghost-type one."

His eyes widened slightly, gripping Candy tighter. "Just Morro?"

"I think so. And after that, you have to defeat your dad, of course."

"Isn't he the one who only uses like two Pokemon?" Jay popped in curiously.

Wu nodded. "That's him. He believes in his Pokemon enough to only use two of them."

"Huh," Lloyd said, when another query flooded his mind. "Wait, where are the others again?"

"Like I said, Kai, Nya and Cole are training your Pokemon—"

"Training my Pokemon? Without my permission?" He stood up with Eevee still in his arms.

Without even bothering to change, he put his slippers on and ran outside of the room, sprinting down the stairs as he exited the hotel with only Jay following behind him.

Without even bothering to pay attention to the looks people gave him when he stomped into the stadium.

He quickly showed the nindroid guard his trainer card, running up the stairs until he got to the training area.

There, Kai and Nya were battling their Pokemon, Flame and Delara, together as Cole sat in the other corner of the room petting... a snake.

A very familiar, royal, green snake.

"You evolved my Pokemon?" Lloyd yelled as he ran to Cinq's aid.

"It randomly evolved while we were training it. Relax," Cole smirked.

"Nice pyjamas," Nya said with a smirk. "Go and change, your battle is starting in like 10 minutes."

"But—"

"No buts," she ordered. "We'll be watching from the front seats."

"But—"

"Just go!" Jay pushed him towards the exit, closing the door behind him.

Except that it suddenly opened as he handed him two Pokeballs. "Forgot about these," he tossed them in his hands before looking the door again.

He sighed, making his way to the next door, digging through his locker. He let Candy down on the bench as he changed into the uniform with the signature green number five on the back. He fixed his collar, tied his shoes, picked up Candy and left.

He ran downstairs again, Pokeballs in hand as he rushed to the entrance.

He quickly put Candy back in her Pokeball, showing the nindroid at the front desk his badges.

"Accepted," it said, opening the gate.

He took a deep breath and walked through.

As he ran down the hallway, the sounds got louder. The audience cheered as he stumbled into the large stadium.

Although it was almost noon, every light and camera was turned on, all pointing at him and his rival.

"You'd think it'be more climactic at night..." he told himself, walking to the center of the field.

As he stepped closer and closer, he waved to his friends on the first row. On the other side, though, both his uncle and his mother were cheering him on, holding banners with his name.

He lowered his head and blushed, focusing on the person in front of him.

Although you couldn't see much behind his sunglasses, one thing caught his eye; the green streak in his raven hair.

"Wait, you're Morro?" he yelled at him, but he got no response.

Just then, two people came into view.

"Welcome to the semifinals!" Cliff Gordon told the world, microphone in hand. "Let's see if anyone will make it through this time!" he yelled as the crowd cheered a little too loudly for his own liking.

Next to Cliff was his father. Although he didn't say much, he patted Lloyd's shoulder, giving him a smile.

He nodded, stepping back as Morro through his first Pokemon onto the field.

He threw two Pokeballs at the same time.

One of the Pokemon had its body composed of a mixture of oblong, irregularly-shaped clay slabs, with an outline of a stylized serpent with sharp teeth painted onto it. Every slab was connected by a faint, black mist forming both its arms and torso. Finally, it had a single purple eye located in the same spot as the painting's eye.

Meanwhile, the other one was a dark grey, doll-like Pokemom. It had three short spikes both on its head and arms, as a single zipper acted as it's mouth. Its eyes were even creepier, being a bright magenta with slanted pupils.

"Runerigus and Banette!" Cliff announced as the cameras pointed to the two Pokemon.

Lloyd took a deep breath, sending out Candy and Cinq.

"Eevee and Serperior!" he announced again, making Lloyd roll his eyes.

"Take down!" Lloyd ordered Candy, but when it jumped towards Banette, it went right through it.

"You still don't know about immunities? Really?" Morro told him, sighing. "Sucker Punch," he ordered.

Banette raised its hand, punching Candy in the back. Candy went to attack, but flinched.

"Leaf Blade!" Lloyd yelled.

Serperior threw sharp leaves at Runerigus, quite literally knocking it out in one hit.

Lloyd's eyes widened. "How much did you train this thing?" he yelled to the audience, only to receive a shrug by Nya.

"Feint Attack," he heard Morro's voice say. Before he knew it, Candy was already at half health.

He looked around, thinking. "Bite! Leaf Storm!" he yelled.

Suddenly, Candy grabbed Banette by its hand, shaking it around like a ragdoll as a pile of sharp leaves attacked it. After a few hits, it was down.

Morro made his Pokemon return to their Pokeballs, sighing as he stomped out of the field.

"Well, that was quick," Cliff said. "But good news is, we have a winner!"

The crowd cheered before he continued. "Now, before we get to the final battle, we will let our contestant take a rest to heal—"

"I don't need healing," Lloyd interrupted with a smirk. "Bring it on!" he told his father, who only flashed him a grin.

The crowd cheered ever louder, but Cliff was hesitant to speak.

"I'll only use Zarude," Garmadon whispered to him. "If he can beat him, he can surely beat the rest."

Hesitant but thrilled, Cliff spoke again. "Let the match begin then!"

Lloyd let Candy and Cinq stay on the field as his father let out a single Pokemon.

The Pokemon resembped a baboon. Its body was primarily covered in coarse black fur, though its chest and belly were patterned with shorter grey fur. The fur around the side of its head angled into wing-like crests on either side of its eyes. The eyes themselves were primarily a mixture of black, green and red, as its pointed teeth where almost like blades when it opened its mouth.

"Hope you can beat this one, son," he said.

"Can't be that hard."

"We'll see," he smirked. "Hammer arm!"

Zarude rose its fist, banging it onto Candy. Just before it could avoid the hit, it fell to the side, fainting.

"What— hey!"

"You're the one who didn't want to heal."

Returning Candy to its Pokeball, he let Cinq join in. "Leaf blade—"

"Dig."

Zarude aboided the attack, burrying itself under the ground as it attacked Cinq from the other side.

"Power Whip," he said as Zarude knocked Cinq down to less than half of his health points.

"Solar Beam!" Lloyd cried as a large beam of light hit the opposing Pokemon, barely leaving it standing.

"Fury Swipes," he said as Zarude burried its claws into Cinq, knocking it out.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lloyd said, searching through his backpack. Just as Cliff grabbed the microphone again, he pulled out another Pokeball from his bag.

"Let's see what Nadakhan's got for me," he said throwing it into the ground.

A large, round, dragon-like Pokemon came out. Its orange skin, along with its teal wings and sharp claws contrasted with its friendly appearance, but they both knew very well what it was.

"A Dragonite? Didn't expect that from you," Garmadon said. "Hammer Arm!"

Dragonite avoided the hit, punching Zarude into the ground instead.

"We're close!" Lloyd said. "Dragon Beam!"

And with one final beam of light and dark combined, Zarude went down.

It all started happening a little too fast; the crowd suddenly became a background noise as his friends quite literally jumped over the fence, pulling him into one big, tight hug.

As Cliff began announcing the Champion, his father approached him.

"You'll need this," he handed him a badge. "It's a Champion Exclusive," he winked.

Lloyd ran into his arms. "Thank you," he said.

"You actually did it, huh?" Cole said as the others nodded along.

"I guess I did..." he said, petting the Dragonite beside him. He then turned to his father.

"I'm proud of you," Garmadon said, ruffling his hair and pulling him into a tight hug yet again.

"I'm glad," he smiled.

Even if his father was proud, he knew that he was the one most proud of himself.

Hope you enjoyed?