Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon Quest ❯ Tauros vs. Lucario ( Chapter 49 )

Pokemon Quest

 

The battle began with Tauros rushing towards Lucario with his horns out. Jacob simply gave a command as Lucario leapt to the side, Tauros charging past the infant and running head-first into the electric fence surrounding the stage, his body taking in a massive shock.

 

Jacob blinked and thought, 'I can't believe that worked,' as Tauros started to falter, his eyes spinning now. Up to this point, Sally had proven herself to be a serious threat, but that was just pathetic.

 

Sally's eyes went wide as she shouted, “Tauros, y'all know better than that! Don't ever let me catch you falling for such an obvious trap again, ya hear!?”

 

Tauros turned to his master with fear in his eyes as he gulped hard, Jacob confused. If Tauros was this unreliable, why had Sally chosen him last? Why not someone else? It wasn't as if Tauros could do much against a Lucario anyway. His weakness was fighting type moves.

 

Tauros shook the pain off of his body before letting out a battle cry, charging towards Lucario again. Jacob was shocked to see the same strategy used twice, but he had to take advantage of this. As such, Lucario once again leapt to the side, dodging the incoming attack, however, Tauros was not going to run into the electricity again. He instead rose his front legs up and slammed them again the ground, slowly grinding to a halt and causing the entire arena to vibrate.

 

Jacob tried his best to maintain his balance as Lucario ended up taking in heavy damage from the Earthquake. The infant was flat on his back while Tauros just stood there blinking while Sally rose her arms in the air shouting, “YEEHAW!!!! That's what I'm talkin bout! Now show him just what you're capable of!”

 

Tauros snapped out of his shocked state and resumed charging towards Lucario, but that shock he had put himself in seemed to have given Lucario more than enough time to recover, the infant rising back to his feet and cupping his hands together, a ball of energy forming. Izy cheered when Lucario unleashed his aura sphere directly into Tauros' face, the bull's running coming to a stop as he flew back-first into the electric fence, electricity running through his veins.

 

As the bull cried loud in pain, Sally just stared with her eyes wide before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. She simply turned her back to the bull who seemed to be still barely standing and said, “Ya know, Tauros, I chose you last because I thought you were my best ally.”

 

Tauros turned to her as Jacob blinked. The boy was now confused. Was Sally giving up?

 

“You've given me good reasons ta trust ya, Tauros,” the girl proceeded to say, “but right now, all I see is a calf, not a bull.”

 

Tauros' eyes went wide as he started to sniff, letting down tears. He had let down his master. What was a poor bull to do?

 

Jacob, however, was full of anger now. Up to this point, he had actually admired Sally's fighting spirit. However, seeing her talk down upon her partner just because he wasn't performing as well as she'd wanted him to... Jacob couldn't respect a person who didn't trust her own Pokemon. Sure, Jacob's Pokemon had let him down before plenty of times. But no matter how often they lost, he always had faith in them. For example, Lucario currently had a big open wound in his elbow and yet he still trusted the infant to continue the battle. Why? Because he trusted Lucario like a brother.

 

Izy, however, simply sighed with relief saying, “It looks like Jacob's gonna win this,” looking over at Anna who simply nodded in agreement. The girl sighed and thought, 'That's right. She's not predicting outcomes anymore.'

 

Sally reached for her Pokeball as Jacob shouted, “WHAT KIND OF TRAINER ARE YOU!!!!??”

 

The entire arena gasped at the sound of this as Sally turned back to the arena asking, “What do you mean?”

 

“You're giving up hope just because Tauros took in a bit of damage!?” Jacob snapped, “By the look of it, Tauros can still fight! He may be a little weak, but it's not like he's lost yet!”

 

Sally tilted her head to the side and said, “I dun follow,” as Jacob pinched his forehead angrily saying, “You can't lose hope until you know Tauros can't battle anymore. If he can still fight, then you haven't lost the battle yet.”

 

Upon hearing these words, Tauros' tears vanished as he let out a battle cry, rising back up to his feet as if all previous damage had meant nothing. He then turned to Sally who let out a weak smile saying, “Y'all one smart cookie, Jacob. I'm sorry, Tauros. I jumped to assumptions.”

 

Izy simply slapped her forehead before banging her head against the guard rail shouting, “WHY COULDN'T HE JUST LET HER GIVE UP!!!!??” as Anna smiled saying, “Jacob's too nice for that.”

 

Kevin simply smiled saying, “This kid truly amazes me,” while Miles groaned, “He needs to know when to keep his trap shut.”

 

Lucario turned to Jacob who said, “Hey, it's not like we can't still win, Lucario. Now that Tauros has more confidence, it'll feel more worth it in the end.”

 

Tauros once again charged toward the infant letting out a loud battle cry when Lucario sent another Aura Sphere to the bull's face. Unlike before, Tauros simply lowered his horn. The sphere seemed to be big enough to touch them as it stopped upon doing so, vanishing. Everyone's eyes went wide. It seemed as if the bull's horns had destroyed the Aura Sphere.

 

Normally, Tauros' horns wouldn't have been able to do that, however, right now, Tauros was so full of confidence that he was somehow able to defy that logic. And sure enough, Lucario, unable to respond due to the shock of it all, took the horns hard to his shoulders, blood flying out of them as he went flying into the electric fence, electricity coursing through his entire body while the crowd started to cheer for the bull.

 

Tauros looked back and forth at all the people cheering for him as he let down a tear of joy. Sally clapped happily pumping her fists in the air shouting, “Y'all be amazin, Tauros!”

 

Jacob's eyes went wide as he gulped thinking, 'Okay, I think I gave him a little too much confidence,' while Lucario slowly rose back to his feet, breathing heavily.

 

“Are you okay, Lucario?” the boy asked as the infant looked at him and weakly gave him thumbs up, the boy shaking his head and saying, “Sorry, I guess I took things too far, but hey, you can still win.”

 

Lucario nodded and turned back to Tauros, doing his best to remain focused. There was no way he was going to allow Tauros to beat him, confidence boost or not.

 

Sally saw the infant up an about as she grimaced shouting, “Tauros, hit him with anotha horn attack!”

 

Tauros nodded as he rushed towards Lucario, but Jacob needed to think. Sure, Lucario could easily dodge to the side. His back was too close to the electric fence, which Sally had overlooked, so Tauros wouldn't have been able to dodge it. However, there was a flaw in this strategy. Lucario may have been too weak to dodge this. He could duck under Tauros' horns, but the chances were high that the infant would take in damage at the same time.

 

Then he realized that he had no other options and said, “Lucario, hit him with Aura Storm.”

 

The infant nodded as he cupped his hands together, a force flowing within them. Sally grinned and said, “Y'all must be out of ideas ta try that again.”

 

As such, Tauros continued his assault. He was only a few seconds away, but when Lucario threw his arms forward, nothing came out. Jacob just stood there in shock as the infant took in the fierce Horn Attack.

 

Lucario cried out in pain as his back pressed up against the electricity, however, Tauros didn't look so good either. His horns had touched the fence as well, and since they were connected to his body, he took in damage as well, both passing out.

 

All was silent as Moro examined the two saying, “Well, it would seem both are unconscious, so both Pokemon lose.”

 

The crowd cheered as Izy breathed a sigh of relief, Sally returning her Tauros. Since Jacob's Cacturne hadn't yet been defeated, he had emerged the winner of the battle. However, he wasn't at all thrilled as his mind was elsewhere.

 

He walked over to Lucario and picked the infant up saying, “Cheer up. I'll take you to the nurse,” Lucario still out cold.

 

While the other battles took place, Jacob, Izy and Anna waited outside the nurse's office. Lucario had taken in some serious damage during that battle, and most of it was because of a Tauros. Jacob felt a bit responsible for that as he was the one who gave Tauros confidence, however, that wasn't the main thing on his mind right now.

 

Now, you're probably wondering how Lucario could be getting treatment when Nurse Boredom was spectating the battles? Luckily, another nurse, Nurse Optimism, had arrived to take Boredom's place when she was off duty.

 

The nurse poked her head out, tears in her eyes as she said, “Don't you worry, little boy. Your Lucario will be okay!”

 

Izy simply narrowed her eyes and said, “Melodramatic much?” while Jacob still looked down, Anna placing a hand on his shoulder saying, “Don't worry, you did great out there.”

 

“It's not that,” Jacob sighed, “It's just that Lucario wasn't able to use Aura Storm. Why is that?”

 

Anna simply thought hard about this but couldn't come up with an answer. Perhaps Aura Storm was just a one-time wonder, something that would never happen again.

 

“Don't worry about it,” Izy said, patting the boy on the shoulder, “It's not like you need Aura Storm. I'm sure you can win without it.”

 

Jacob nodded and replaced his worried look with a smile. The girl was right. He had done great without that attack. It wasn't like he absolutely needed it.

 

However, there was one thing to worry about. His opponent for the semi-finals was Sampson, and up to this point, he had proven himself invincible.

 

Anna let out a sigh before looking Jacob in the eyes and saying, “Jacob, I need to tell you something important.”

 

Janette had finished her battle with a boy named Peter at this very moment as the boy, who dressed like an opera singer, simply looked down at his defeated Chatot and sang, “Chatot, sweet Chatot, are you okay? I need you to light my way!”

 

Jacob had just heard some strange news from Anna. The girl had just told the boy about Sampson's mystery Pokemon, how his name was Spiritomb. She had also explained the history behind Spiritomb, how he had been sealed away for evil acts.

 

“So that's the only one of its kind?” Jacob asked as Anna nodded, Jacob's eyes sparkling as he said, “I'm going up against a one-of-a-kind Pokemon!”

 

Izy smacked him on the back of the head and said, “Stay focused. This isn't your typical everyday opponent, here.”

 

Jacob rubbed his head with a nervous smile on his face while Anna proceeded to explain, “Spiritomb has no weakness, so you'll have to be careful.”

 

Jacob and Izy's eyes went wide at the sound of this. How could Jacob stand a chance against this creature? As if his strange ability to counter almost anything that came at him wasn't bad enough, Spiritomb had the advantage of possessing no weaknesses. He had to rely on what could at least harm Spiritomb.

 

“Does he have any other advantages besides an immunity to psychic, fighting and normal moves?” Izy asked while Jacob narrowed his eyes, disappointed in himself for not asking that first.

 

Anna thought about this and said, “Poison attacks only deal half damage to him, but everything else is fine.”

 

Jacob sighed with relief. This just meant Cacturne wouldn't be needed. Nothing wrong with that. However, he'd failed to take Sampson's other Pokemon into consideration. They may have been defeated over the past unlike his Spiritomb, but they were still a threat. That Absol of his had proven to be a nuisance and after seeing a Golbat's wing sliced off, Jacob had a good reason to worry about the man's Weavile. But what of his other allies? What else did Sampson have?

 

Anna sighed and said, “I don't know why, but for some strange reason, no other Pokemon shows up in his profile.”

 

Izy simply blinked and asked, “How is that possible?”

 

Unfortunately, even Anna had no answer to this one, but Jacob at least had enough information about Spiritomb. He needed to win at all cost, and when it all came down to it, Spiritomb was the one to worry about the most.

 

Sampson, all the while, sat outside the building in his usual spot and pulled out a Pokeball saying, “I'm sorry I had to use you in that battle, but I had no choice in the matter. I needed to win at all cost.”

 

“Why are you apologizing?” a voice said as the man cringed. There it was again. Somehow, Spiritomb was communicating with him from the Pokeball. But how was that possible.

 

“How are you talking to me?” the man asked as the voice ignored his question saying, “If I'm not mistaken, I told you to send me into that battle, did I not?”

 

Sampson had to admit, the spirit had a point. That was exactly what happened. Sampson would have lost had he not sent Spiritomb into the battle.

 

'I don't know how you're talking to me,' he thought as he placed the ball in his pocket, 'but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I win that gold medal.'