Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Pokemon Quest ❯ An End and a New Beginning ( Chapter 56 )

Pokemon Quest

 

After taking in a heavy beating, Lucario continued to hold his ground against Scarmory. But could Jacob defeat Janette? He couldn't allow himself to lose, not after all he had gone through.

 

Lucario cupped his hands together while a blue orb formed. As he launched the Aura Sphere towards his opponent, Scarmory simply took to the skies once more, dodging the orb as it flew into a wall.

 

But the infant would not allow his opponent to get away that easily. With that, he opened his mouth and unleashed the shock wave known as Dragon Pulse. Scarmory dodged that as well, preparing an attack. However, she'd failed to notice that while performing Dragon Pulse, Lucario was also preparing an Aura Sphere. As such, when the infant launched it into the air, the metal bird failed to see it coming, an explosion forming on her chest while she cried out in pain.

 

The crowd cheered while Izy grinned shouting, “THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT!!!!!”

 

Janette smiled while her Scarmory started to dive towards the ground, unable to stay in the air as a result of the Aura Sphere. The girl looked at Lucario then at Jacob saying, “You've really trained your Pokemon well. Even I didn't see that coming.”

 

Jacob's eyes sparkled in response to that as he let down a tear saying, “Lucario, you are incredible. I didn't even tell you to do that!”

 

The entire stadium erupted with cheers when Scarmory dive-bombed hard into the ground, dirt flying upward and surrounding the bird before descending back to where it belonged. However, those cheers died and were replaced by gasps as the metal bird's feet started to sway back and forth, Scarmory attempting to squeeze her head out of the ground.

 

“Lucario, don't let her recover!” Jacob spat as the infant nodded, cupping his hands together once more. But unlike before, the aura was a lot bigger.

 

Jacob's eyes went wide, a grin forming on his face. He knew that Lucario was going to use Aura Storm.

 

Izy breathed a sigh of relief while Anna's eyes sparkled. Can you blame her? This was a rare sight. Harold, on the other hand, bit into his collar with anticipation.

 

Jenna and Donavan watched with anticipation, especially Jenna whose Purugly had been beaten by that move. The gym leaders were also intrigued while Perona simply smiled thinking, 'I knew he would win.'

 

Moro started to bite his fingernails while Boredom did her best to seem interested. Roxanne rose her arms in the air and shouted, “YAY!!!! THAT CUTE LUCARIO'S GONNA WIN!!!!!”

 

There was no doubt about it. The battle would certainly end after Lucario's next attack.

 

Scarmory struggled hard and finally pried her head out of the ground only to see a devastating beam emerge from Lucario's hands. The metal bird's eyes went wide as she braced herself for the impact. And so the attack hit, an explosion forming around Scarmory while the entire stadium was filled with heavy cheering and applause. They knew that Jacob and his Lucario had won the battle.

 

Jacob grinned and shouted, “WE DID IT, BUDDY!!!!” while Lucario breathed a sigh of relief, doing his best to stand. After all, that attack took a lot out of him.

 

Izy hugged Harold shouting, “HE DID IT!!!!! HE ACTUALLY DID IT!!!!” while Harold grinned nervously, pulling on his collar.

 

However, Anna didn't seem nearly as confident as the others. She still had a neutral look on her face. But why? What did that mean? And the stranger thing was that Janette was still smiling. Why would that be?

 

The answer became clear when the smoke started to vanish from the area. The crowd gasped at what they saw next while Jacob's eyes went wide, jaw dropping. Lucario's eyes also went wide, his heart starting to pound at an incredible rate.

 

Scarmory was still standing. How was that possible? After all that work, the metal bird was still able to fight. Before anyone could even respond, Scarmory let out a battle cry and soared towards Lucario with her beak out.

 

Jacob shook his head, snapping out of his state of shock and shouted, “LUCARIO, DODGE IT!!!! WE CAN STILL WIN!!!!” but unfortunately, Lucario was far too weak to do anything after using Aura Storm as he took a fierce Peck to the gut.

 

The infant coughed up a bit of blood and passed out, the entire area silent. Jacob couldn't believe his eyes. Even after all that, he'd still lost. How could this have happened? What had gone wrong?

 

Izy's eyes were wide open, her body twitching as she asked, “What just happened?” Harold completely speechless.

 

Anna let out a sigh and said, “Janette just won,” as Izy remarked, “I know that, but how did she win?”

 

Perona was just as shocked as the others. She didn't even know what to say about this. Even the gym leaders couldn't figure this out.

 

Jenna and Donavan just stared with gaping jaws while Roxanne hung her head. All the while, Janette continued to smile while Jacob fell on his knees, his expression refusing to change.

 

Boredom looked at Moro with a small sign of interest in her expression and asked, “Hey, professor, what just happened?” the man shaking his head and saying, “Even I, a Pokemon professor, can't figure this out.”

 

Janette simply smiled and explained, “It's quite simple, really. Moments before Lucario's attack hit, Scarmory used Endure, an attack that leaves the Pokemon with just enough strength to keep fighting even if the attack is too much for said Pokemon to handle.”

 

Despite the explanation, everyone still had trouble believing it. However, Jacob was no longer in shock. The boy climbed back to his feet and walked towards Janette, holding out his hand and saying, “Thank you for a great battle,” Janette smiling compassionately while she shook his hand.

 

“And on that note,” Moro announced, “the winner and regional champion is Janette!!!”

 

Soon enough, the entire stadium erupted with cheers. Izy let down a sigh while Harold had a look of disappointment, but Anna had her usual warm smile on. Even though Jacob had lost, the boy took it well. That was good enough for her.

 

After the cheering died down, Jacob smiled saying, “Well, I lost, but I'm glad it was to you,” as Janette replied, “If I had lost, I would have been happy knowing it was to you.”

 

Moro let down tears shouting, “THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! THE DRAMA, THE EMOTION, THE FRIENDSHIP!!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BATTLE IS JUST SO... SO... MEMORABLE!!!!” as he proceeded to cry into Boredom's shoulder, the nurse letting out a sigh, rolling her eyes and unenthusiastically patting the man on the head.

 

“I don't care what that kid says,” Aragon grunted while folding his arms, “I can't help feeling gypped.”

 

“Hey, we all wanted him to win too,” Sarah said while placing a hand on the man's shoulder, “We just didn't get the results we expected. It's not a big deal.”

 

Aragon let out a sigh and said, “You're right. It's nothing serious...” then looking into the woman's eyes grinned, raising his eyebrows and asked, “Say, would you like to go out on a...” Sarah placing her fingers up against his mouth saying, “Not interested.”

 

And so, the trainers went to their assigned rooms to prepare for the award ceremony. They needed to look their best for when they received their medals. However, before doing that, Jacob had his Pokemon taken to the emergency room to have their injuries healed. They had, after all, sustained a lot of damage during that battle.

 

Janette was walking by when she noticed Jacob sitting in front of the room. She smiled and asked, “May I have a seat?” as the boy looked up, smiled and nodded, the girl sitting next to him.

 

“That was really something, wasn't it?” Jacob asked as Janette placed a hand on his shoulder asking, “Are you sure you're okay? I know losing can be hard on a person.”

 

Jacob let out a sigh and shook his head saying, “Don't worry about it. I was a little shocked at first, but I'm fine. Everyone loses sometimes, right?”

 

Janette nodded and said, “You were a fantastic opponent, Jacob. You were very close to winning.”

 

She then got up and headed to her room saying, “You also have a very good set of friends,” leaving the area for good.

 

The girl was right. Jacob did have good friends. He was very happy to have them.

 

While he sat, his eyes turned to the right as he noticed Izy approaching him, the boy signaling her to come over. The girl let out a sigh and sat next to him, a look of concern.

 

Jacob noticed her expression and placed a hand on her shoulder saying, “Don't worry about me, Izy. I'm fine. I'm just glad to have made it this far.”

 

“Well, that's good,” Izy said with a smile, that smile soon returning to a concerned expression as she asked, “Do you like Janette?”

 

Jacob stared at the girl, eyes wide and blinking. What an odd question to ask. But it was a fair question all the same.

 

“Yes, she's a good friend,” Jacob replied as Izy breathed a sigh of relief. She still had her chance.

 

“What are you going to do now that the tournament's over?” the girl asked as Jacob placed his hand against his chin saying, “I guess I'll return home. After all, it's not like I have anything else I can do now.”

 

Upon hearing this, Izy's eyes went wide as a small tear dropped down her face. She had completely forgotten that after the tournament, she wouldn't be able to see the boy again. He and his friends had to go their separate ways now.

 

The girl looked over at him, eyes darting back and forth as she held the boy in a tight embrace shouting, “I'M GONNA MISS YOU!!!!” Jacob's eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he smiled nervously, patting the girl on the back. While Izy held the boy tightly, she smiled and said, “If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you.”

 

Jacob blinked as the embrace ended and asked, “Really?” as Izy started to snicker, the two soon laughing.

 

“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” Jacob said as Izy nodded saying, “I'll miss you, buddy.”

 

Then the two just sat and waited for Jacob's Pokemon to be healed. The award ceremony wasn't for another hour, anyway. They had plenty of time.

 

And soon enough, the ceremony came. After a long-winded and boring speech, Moro handed the medals out. Since Sampson, who was originally to be placed in third due to his superior show of skill, had been put behind bars, Janette's semi-finals opponent, Heather, had received the bronze medal along with a cash prize of 60,000,000 yen. When Jacob had the silver medal placed around his neck, he stood tall and proud. Besides, a prize of 80,000,000 yen certainly wasn't bad.

 

Handing out the gold medal was Kevin, who placed it around Janette's neck whispering to her, “Now, you take good care of that medal,” the girl nodding and bowing to the man.

 

Moments before she was given her 100,000,000 yen cash prize, she looked over at the crowd of people watching and pointed at Harold saying, “I wish for you to give my prize to that boy over there.”

 

The officials looked at each other with confused looks, but shrugged and decided to accept it. If that's what she wanted, that's what she would get.

 

Harold's jaw dropped when the money was given to him, the boy biting his lip and letting down tears crying, “THANK YOU, JANETTE!!!!! THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!!!!!!!”

 

Izy had no idea what the girl's motive was, but she was happy all the same that Harold could pay for his mother's operation.

 

And when the award ceremony was over, everyone left the stadium to head home. However, Jacob was not ready to leave the city just yet. He had to stay behind at least for a while longer to say goodbye to his friends.

 

He said his goodbyes to the gym leaders, all talking about how it was nice to see him again. However, they couldn't stay very long. They needed to return to their gyms. Perona and the Elite Four needed to return to their headquarters. They had no time to chat with anyone.

 

Jacob said a quick goodbye to Harold who spoke of how he was going to show off the money to his Manfred and save his mother from the hand of death. He also promised to become a much better trainer and to beat Jacob in battle one day.

 

Roxanne ran out of the stadium, giving Jacob a big hug while the boy did all he could to endure it. He didn't want to be rude, after all, even if he couldn't stand her presence. During all of that, Lucario was holding onto Izy's leg for safety. Jacob's was currently in a danger zone, after all.

 

Moro also said his goodbyes, explaining how he and Nurse Boredom were going to stay behind. The two were in charge of repairing any damages dealt to the stadium during the tournament, and sadly, Jacob and Janette's battle had done the most damage.

 

As he and the nurse entered the building, the man turned to Boredom and asked, “Hey, Boredom, can I have a word with you?”

 

The nurse rolled her eyes and said in a snide tone, “Look, I'm sorry I don't get as excited about battles as you do!”

 

“No, it's not about that,” Moro replied as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “This is going to come as a shock to you, and trust me, I still can't believe it.”

 

“Oh no, you're not going to quit being a professor, are you?” the girl asked as Moro's eyes went wide, the man saying, “Let's not get hasty here.”

 

Much to the man's surprise, the nurse actually chuckled after he said that. The man then remembered where he was going with this and said, “Look, during these last few weeks, I've developed a strange attraction towards you.”

 

Boredom's eyes, for the first time, actually went wide as she stared at the man, Moro rubbing the back of his neck saying, “I don't understand it either. You're everything I'm not. You're mellow, you're careless, you're unenthusiastic... and yet you're the love of my life.”

 

Boredom's look of shock soon turned to a smile as she said in a mellow-sounding voice, “Well, professor, you are pretty cute. How's about the two of us have a coffee later? You're buying.”

 

Moro's eyes narrowed at the sound of that last part, but the man shrugged and said, “It's a date.”

 

Now was the hardest thing about this day. Jacob had to say goodbye to his two best friends in the world. This was going to hurt, but most goodbyes did.

 

Anna embraced the boy and shouted, “PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE!!!!!” as Jacob patted her back saying, “Don't worry. We live close to each other anyway. I could visit every now and then if you'd like.”

 

Anna's eyes sparkled as the girl said, “That would be great.”

 

Izy then walked over to him as Anna walked off, saying she was going flower shopping. But, of course, she really just wanted Jacob and Izy to have one last bit of alone time.

 

Izy was silent for a few seconds before holding Jacob tightly in one last hug, this one lighter than the previous one. She smiled and said, “Jacob, you're the best friend anyone could ever have.”

 

The boy let down a tear and said, “You know, goodbyes aren't always forever. I'm sure that someday, we'll meet again, maybe have another adventure.”

 

With all said and done, it was time to return home. Jacob boarded the plane and waved goodbye to his friends, Izy letting down tears while Anna patted her on the shoulder.

 

“Why didn't you tell him?” she asked as Izy sighed, “I didn't want to put pressure on him. If I'd told him my feelings, he'd only feel worse about leaving.”

 

Jacob returned home and had barely opened the door when his mother had him in her arms, eyes full of tears. His mom had allowed him to keep the Pokemon he'd caught during his travels. They were officially members of the family now.

 

Many citizens welcomed Jacob back to the village, many wanting now to be his friend after seeing his battles on TV. Lucario also earned himself quite the fanclub, and unlike the old Lucario, he liked it.

 

Anna had been accepted by her sister as a replacement gym leader for when Sarah was off duty. Of course, Anna needed to be reminded a few times not to choose the Pokemon her father had given her. It would have made things a little too unfair for the challengers.

 

A week after the events of the tournament, Jacob's mom decided to take him and Lucario to Rowerberg so they could spend some quality time with Anna. After all, it was the start of summer. They needed to do something.

 

However, upon opening the door, Jacob felt something knock on his head twice. That something was actually a young girl's fist reaching to knock on the door. The girl blinked and said, “Sorry, Jacob.”

 

The boy opened his eyes as they went wide. The girl who'd done that was Anna.

 

“Anna?” he asked, “Why are you here?”

 

The girl smiled and said, “Let's just say a familiar friend dropped by and suggest a visit.”

 

Anna stepped to the side as Jacob's eyes went even wider. Izy was standing right there as he raced towards the girl, embracing her in a hug.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE!?” he asked with excitement as Izy smiled saying, “We came with a proposition for you.”

 

Jacob blinked as the girl pulled out a poster from a backpack she'd brought with her. Jacob's jaw dropped when he saw the contents. The poster was an advertizement for another Pokemon Challenge in another region.

 

“I was thinking that if you can't be the champion of this region, maybe you can be the champion of another,” Izy said with a grin as Jacob turned to his mother who nodded her head saying, “I'm not going to stop you this time. Do what you want.”

 

And that was that. Jacob was off on the road again with his two best friends, taking a boat to another region to start a new adventure. And of course he brought his faithful partners with him. It wouldn't have been the same without them.

 

Izy still didn't have the courage to admit to her feelings, but she planned to some day, and now she had a lot more time to prepare herself. What challenges awaited them? What kinds of Pokemon would they find? They just had to wait and find out.

 

Author's note: Yes, this is the end of the story.