After the referee quickly announced the match results, he immediately directed the medical personnel on standby around the arena to step forward and place Gastly on a specialized stretcher.
To prevent any Pokémon from being severely injured without receiving timely treatment, the event organizers had long prepared a dedicated medical team on standby around the arena.
As soon as a serious injury occurred, they could immediately provide emergency treatment and quickly transport the Pokémon for medical care, which came in handy at this moment.
As for Gastly's Trainer, Leonardo, he had already lost consciousness before Gastly collapsed. He fainted in the battle seat as if completely drained, being carried away by the medical staff along with his Pokémon.
"Phew..."
After the match, David also let out a sigh of relief.
Completely releasing his Aura for the first time was still a considerable burden for him, and he thought to himself with a wry smile.
"Looks like I need to train more! I don't want to end up like that guy, having to be carried off."
Watching the figure being carried away on the opposite side, he wasn't too worried.
With the medical technology of the Pokémon world, as long as someone didn't die on the spot, they could definitely be saved.
Moreover, at the last moment, he had Zorua pull back in time; injuries were unavoidable, but they definitely wouldn't be too severe—at most just a day or two in the hospital.
After all, he just wanted to teach him a lesson, not seriously harm anyone or any Pokémon.
It was just some verbal disputes, not something worth going overboard for, though that guy might be weakened for a while.
Walker, who lost the previous match, should actually thank him.
Originally, after the finals, there was still a third-place match between him and Leonardo, but now it wouldn't be necessary; he could just go up and receive his award directly.
After the two matches, it was almost eleven o'clock.
Surprisingly, after using his Aura at full power for such a short time, his stomach was already rumbling with hunger.
The finals wouldn't start until the afternoon, so after leaving the battle arena, David went to the audience stands, found his companions who had been cheering him on, and happily went to lunch together.
---
"Zorua, Bitter Malice!"
"Umbreon!!!"
"Bang!"
"Umbreon is unable to battle! The ultimate winner is—Trainer David!!!"
Accompanied by the sound of a heavy fall, Umbreon's figure ultimately couldn't stand up again.
The referee quickly waved his flag and loudly announced David's victory.
At the same time, both the live audience and the streaming platforms erupted in celebration, but compared to the enthusiastic cheers from the live audience, the online viewers seemed even more ecstatic.
"David! So handsome, my darling!"
"Zorua is adorable!"
"That Aura ability was incredible!"
It was fortunate that David couldn't watch the live comments; otherwise, he truly didn't know how he would react to seeing them.
Perhaps it was amusing when he used to leave such comments himself, but when he became the subject, he probably wouldn't find it as funny anymore.
The moment the referee announced the victory, a task completion notification also sounded in David's mind.
However, David didn't pay attention to it immediately.
Instead, he flipped over the railing and rushed onto the battlefield, forcefully lifting the tired little fox high with both hands.
Trainer and Pokémon enjoyed the cheers of the entire stadium in the center of the Imperial Capital Arena, a reward exclusive to the victor.
This was the first Champion title they had won together, and also David's first step toward becoming a legendary Trainer.
"Let's continue to work hard together in the future, Zorua!"
"Zorua!!!"
A moment later, David lowered his raised hands, letting Zorua return to his shoulder.
At this point, Josephine from the opposite side also walked over and extended her hand.
"Congratulations, Trainer David. I hope we can battle again next time."
"Thank you. You and Umbreon also performed exceptionally well."
David also extended his hand and lightly shook hers.
Speaking of which, he had barely engaged in such polite post-match pleasantries between Trainers during this tournament.
Either he had overwhelmingly defeated his opponents, or they were on the verge of tears, and the previous match was even more extreme, with his opponent being carried off entirely.
It was quite unusual!
However, his words weren't entirely polite.
Although Josephine's Umbreon had no hidden special abilities or secret moves, its foundational strength was solid; it had no particularly outstanding areas, nor any obvious weaknesses.
As the saying goes, having no special features is its greatest feature.
Her Umbreon was a well-rounded fighter, and coupled with a deep bond with its Trainer and extremely resilient determination, it was a very tough opponent.
Because he had expended a lot of energy battling Leonardo in the morning, the process of defeating Umbreon hadn't been easy.
The little fox, now tired and resting with closed eyes on David's shoulder, was the best proof.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, due to Leonardo's condition, the originally planned third-place match was canceled, so they quickly moved on to the classic and much-anticipated awards ceremony.
There were three types of rewards.
The first was the least useful of the three for David: a cash prize of 800,000 Pokédollars.
It was worth noting that since becoming a Trainer, his family had provided him with financial support multiple times.
Moreover, most of the resources he needed were directly obtained from the Gym, so these 800,000 Pokédollars were just a few months' worth of food for the little fox and Arcanine—nothing particularly significant.
The second was the qualification to choose rare items provided by the organizers.
As the Champion, David could select two items from the collection.
Since these were rewards provided by the Imperial Capital Trainer Association, there were many relatively rare held items and ancient artifacts of unknown purpose among them.
This was a very valuable reward.
Not to mention he could try to find some unrecognized treasures; even just taking a random item would be more valuable than the 800,000 Pokédollars mentioned above.
The third was a competition trophy, a symbol of honor.
The top three all received one.
David casually touched the surface of the trophy; the quality was quite good, and the gold plating on the Champion's trophy was genuine.
This was the first trophy David and the little fox had won together.
Even if he would win more and increasingly important trophies with more companions in the future, this trophy would always symbolize his first step on the path of a Trainer.
After receiving the awards, David, as expected, accepted media interviews and delivered a victory speech, finally bringing a perfect conclusion to this Novice Cup tournament.
In the evening, after having a celebratory dinner with his parents, David finally returned to his room and comfortably collapsed onto his bed.
Now, he finally had time to check his gains from this competition.