Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon Quest ❯ I'm Going to be the Champion! ( Chapter 37 )

Pokemon Quest

 

Jacob had to accept the truth. He wasn't allowed to use Infernape for this battle and Cacturne was the only Pokemon he had left. This was certainly a bad turn of events.

 

On one hand, Cloyster was not only without a shell, he had also taken in extensive damage from Lucario's Aura Sphere. Also, Cloyster was weak against grass type moves. On the other hand, Cacturne had a weakness to ice attacks and with his fear of water, his grass type attacks most likely wouldn't be able to hit his opponent since all of them were short-ranged.

 

Then again, who said Cacturne had to use grass type moves? It wasn't as if Cloyster had extra defense against bug type moves.

 

The cactus trembled as Jacob grinned and said, “Don't worry, Cacturne. You don't need to go into the water. Just use Pin Missile!”

 

Cacturne nodded and sent an array of needles from his arm towards Cloyster. However, much to Jacob's surprise, Cloyster was able to dodge, rolling his body around like a beach ball to get some distance from the needles.

 

It didn't end there. Cloyster proceeded to conjure up a large chunk of ice with magic from his horn. This was known as Ice Shard and unfortunately, Cacturne's fear of water prevented him from being able to dodge the incoming attack.

 

“BLOW IT UP WITH PIN MISSILE!!!” Jacob snapped, but the cactus' missiles didn't seem to effect the ice in the slightest as it hit Cacturne fast and hard.

 

Then the unthinkable happened. Cacturne took in more than enough force to be sent flying off of the platform and back-first into the water. Jacob's eyes went wide as Clarissa smiled, knowing the battle was as good as over.

 

Cacturne did all he could to stay afloat then realized that he wasn't even sinking. It seemed that just like Cloyster, he had enough buoyancy to stay above the water's surface. The cactus' look of fear turned to one of tranquility as he started to perform a back stroke, a look of relaxation crossing his face.

 

Jacob blinked and sighed, “I guess all he really needed to do was try the water first.”

 

However, Cacturne had lost sight of his reason for being in this pool. He was supposed to be battling, and as one would expect, Cloyster took full advantage of this, sending an ice beam towards the cactus.

 

Cacturne saw the beam coming and started to panic, quickly swimming to the side while spinning his arms around like pinwheels to build momentum. Cloyster's eyes went wide, the Pokemon truly amazed by Cacturne's speed in the water. He was even faster than most water type Pokemon.

 

As such, Cloyster was unable to prepare himself as Cacturne's arm started to glow before ramming into the purple pearl's face. That one Needle Arm was more than enough to send Cloyster flying out of the water and into his master's hands.

 

Clarissa smiled and said, “You did a great job out there, Cloyster,” the pearl-shaped Pokemon sighing with shame.

 

Jacob smiled wide as he embraced his precious partner. Sure, the needles surrounding Cacturne's body dug a bit into the boy's flesh, but Jacob didn't mind. He had finally won the battle.

 

Clarissa walked to Jacob's side of the pool and handed him a badge shaped like a vortex saying, “You were a wonderful opponent, Jacob. You have truly earned the Whirlpool Badge.”

 

Jacob sniffed and let down a tear. This was truly a happy moment for him. Jacob had just qualified for the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge. All of his hard work had been worth it.

 

Jacob felt bad, though. Lucario was in terrible condition after his battle with Cloyster. As such, he had to rush the infant to the Pokemon Center and miss Izy's final contest battle.

 

However, when he arrived, he was shocked to see his friends already there waiting for him, the contest already over. Izy had won, of course, and Jacob couldn't have been happier.

 

“Well, this is it,” Izy said, “You now have 8 badges. That means you have a chance to become a champion.”

 

Anna smiled her warm smile that everyone was used to and said, “I knew you would win, Jacob.”

 

The boy then remembered something and sighed, “As much as I hate to do it, I think I should call my mom right now to see how she's doing. I know she's gonna nag me for it, though, and it's eating me up inside.”

 

Izy blinked and asked, “Does your mom hate getting phone calls from you or something?”

 

“No, it's not that,” Jacob sighed, then he felt the need to explain. He told of how he had become a trainer against his mother's wishes and how he never directly told her he was leaving. He explained how the only reason he was shooting for the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge was to prove his mother wrong and make her regret never allowing him to pursue the life of a trainer.

 

Izy had no idea what to say to that. On one hand, she understood doing anything to achieve one's goal in life. On the other hand, what Jacob did was selfish and insensitive to his mother's feelings.

 

“I think you did the right thing,” said a small voice, Jacob and Izy turned to their friend with shocked expressions.

 

“What do you mean, Anna?” Jacob replied as the girl smiled and replied, “If you had listened to your mom, she would spend her whole life worrying about you even when you're old enough to make your own decisions. By going off on your own journey, you've proven your independence.”

 

Jacob smiled proudly as Anna continued, “Also, Darkrai sent you that egg because you were to save the world from Team Advent and Giratina. If it hadn't been for you, the world would have been doomed. It's not like you were to blame for the legends' capture. If you hadn't been around, Giratina would have truly destroyed the world.”

 

That was certainly true. If Jacob hadn't disobeyed his mother's orders, what would have happened to the world? Would it have been destroyed like Anna had predicted? As she said, Jacob leaving his hometown had nothing to do with Giratina's reawakening. One could only imagine what would have happened if Giratina had been revived and Jacob hadn't been around to stop him.

 

“Thanks, Anna,” Jacob said with a smile, “I know just what to tell mom when I phone her.”

 

Jacob slowly made his way towards the Center's phone, which was like a big screen TV. Most phones these days were like this. When in use, they would show the face of the person on the other end through the TV screen.

 

Jacob let out a sigh and punched in his phone number. He just knew this wasn't going to end well, but even if his mom didn't see things his way, he was proud of what he had accomplished.

 

The young woman was sitting on the couch holding a book when the phone rang. She slowly approached it, a look of depression on her face. As it turns out, she wasn't even reading the book. She was merely flipping through pages to ignore the long absence of her son.

 

As soon as she saw a familiar face on the other end, her look of sadness turned to one of joy, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Jacob!” she sniffed, “Where are you right now, son? It's wonderful to see that you're okay!”

 

“Yes, I'm fine, mom,” Jacob sighed, “I'm currently in Grandin Town and I'm headed to Horolov tomorrow.”

 

His mother's look of happiness turned to one of sadness as she said, “Son, I'm worried about you. Stop this Pokemon training nonsense and come home.”

 

“No,” Jacob remarked as his mother had a look of shock, “Mom, I have come a long way. I'm not a child anymore.”

 

His mother was silent as he proceeded to tell her everything. Jacob told of how he had won all 8 gym badges and how he had faced Team Advent. He went on to tell of his confrontation with Giratina, the Pokemon who had killed his father. When he mentioned that he had killed Giratina, his mother was both impressed and worried at the same time. Jacob left out the brutal details, such as the death of Lucario during that battle and Shaymin's sacrifice, but he did mention having an alliance with the legendary Pokemon and how the end of the world would have been inevitable had it not been for him.

 

All of this information left his mother speechless. While she was certainly proud of her son for all of this, the fact that his journey had been so dangerous made her worry. But with the worst over, was there really anything for her to worry about?

 

“Jacob…” she sniffed, trying her best to hold in her tears, “I would love for you to come home…”

 

Jacob looked at her with disbelief until she added, “but I know very well that I can't make you come back. If you want to battle in that tournament or whatever it is, you're free to do so. I'm sorry to have kept you from this for so long.”

 

The boy had never felt happier in his life. He wanted his hug his mom so much. It was shame, though. She wasn't really there with him. The TV screen with her image was, but she wasn't.

 

Nevertheless, things were finally going Jacob's way. His mom had even made a promise before the call was over to watch Jacob's battles on the TV at home. With his mother supporting him, Jacob no longer had a reason to worry.

 

He returned to his friends and noticed that his Pokemon had been fully healed. This was it. There was no turning back now. As Jacob had explained earlier, the group was headed off to Horolov. Horolov was the largest and most highly populated city on the continent. This was where the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge was to be held.

 

There would be many entering, of course. The Ultimate Pokemon Challenge always had at least 36 contestants. Needless to say, Jacob would have some very tough competition, but he was determined to become the champion.

 

But what was some tough competition to him? Jacob had dealt with some of the best trainers known to man. He had seen the worst and pulled through to the end. He just needed to remember that there was no way this could possibly be as bad as Giratina was.

 

The only downside was that Lucario no longer had his amazing power from before. Nevertheless, the infant was still a strong ally, so this didn't worry Jacob in the slightest. He had confidence in his team, after all.

 

Also, he had his friends cheering him on from the sidelines and his mother watching at home. He had a lot of support during all of this. He'd also heard rumor that the gym leaders and the Elite Four would be spectators for the event. That also gave him confidence as he was on good terms with all of them.

 

Yes, Jacob had gone where most trainers dreamed of going and beyond that. Even if he lost the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge, he knew that all he had done up to this point had been worth it. The boy had not only become a great trainer but a hero. It was a sad shame only a small percentage of the world's population knew this, though.

 

His heroic acts had never been featured on the news and everyone who had been present during the whole situation refused to breathe a word of this as mentioning Giratina's awakening would most likely cause panic. Nevertheless, Jacob felt proud of himself. His accomplishments had been far greater than he had ever dreamed they would be.

 

As such, he was confident in his abilities. He was more ready than ever to take on the challenge ahead and nothing was going to stop him. And sure enough, the trio and Lucario arrived in Horolov.

 

The city was even bigger than Jacob had imagined, and that was saying something when one thinks of its reputation. There was all kinds of excitement throughout Horolov, and why shouldn't there have been? Everyone was looking forward to the Ultimate Pokemon Challenge.

 

“This is it, guys,” Jacob said with a smile, “I promise I'll do my best out there!”

 

Izy and Anna nodded, giving the boy thumbs up as Jacob headed towards the stadium where the tournament was to be held. With his 8 badges and his will to make it to the top, nothing was going to stop him from achieving his dream.