Chapter 609 - 609: 609. G3 champion

"Parasect, use Spore!"

Parasect was not a strong Pokémon, but it had learned Spore, one of the best sleep-inducing moves in the game.

Jeb's plan was simple. He would have Parasect use Spore to put the enemy to sleep, then switch in another Pokémon to attack while it slept.

But to his disappointment, Jacob shut down the plan with a single move.

"Salamence, use Heat Wave!"

Salamence circled through the air. A burst of Fire-type energy exploded from its body, its blood-red wings beating up a fierce wind, and a wave of heat rolled out of its mouth, sweeping across the whole battlefield.

The Spore that Parasect had just released was burned away by the Heat Wave before it ever reached Salamence.

At the same moment, the scorching heat washed over Parasect and set its small body ablaze. Being part Grass-type, Parasect was doubly weak to Fire-type moves, and it could not endure Salamence's attack. It went down hard, badly hurt and barely clinging to consciousness.

The battle was completely lopsided. Even between Pokémon of similar strength, something like Parasect could never stand up to a Salamence.

This wasn't a video game, after all. In a game, a low-level Caterpie might somehow take down a Rayquaza of the same level. In the real world, that kind of thing simply does not happen.

. . .

"Salamence, Hurricane!"

Fierce winds gathered, Flying-type energy swirling around Salamence, and in an instant a hurricane tore across the field and swallowed Parasect whole.

Salamence crushed Parasect with pure power, and the win triggered its Ability, Moxie, boosting its Attack stat even further.

From that point on, the rest of the match was Salamence's show alone. With overwhelming strength, it tore through Jeb's team one by one, sealing the victory for Jacob.

It wasn't really fair to say Jeb was weak. His Salamence's Dragon and Flying typing gave it a heavy resistance to Grass-type attacks, which made it almost unbeatable for a Grass-type specialist like him.

No one had expected the final match to end so quickly. It was a total one-sided sweep.

"Jacob wins the match! Let's give him a big round of applause!"

"That match ended way too fast."

"I barely had time to process what happened before it was already over. Was Jeb really that outmatched? He didn't even put up as much of a fight as Ashlie did."

. . .

By the time Jacob stepped onto the stage for his interview, the crowd had finally caught up with what had happened.

Was it really over already?

No way. That was way too quick.

. . .

"Congratulations on your win, Jacob." Standing beside him was Jaslene, a host from Capital TV.

Jaslene was twenty-three years old and a graduate of Capital University. Her bright, sweet look had made her very popular online, where fans had nicknamed her the "Otaku Goddess."

"Hello." Jacob nodded, though his eyes drifted toward the crowd.

Nina, Julia, and Amelia were all waving at him with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"First, congratulations again on taking the Gym Leader G3 League title. You went undefeated through every match today. How are you feeling right now?" Jaslene smiled warmly and held out the microphone.

"Um... I'm fine." Jacob answered, his mind more occupied with how he was going to deal with Nina, Julia, and Amelia later. His reply came out a little distracted.

"It looks like Jacob is keeping his composure." Jaslene said, smiling. "Since that's the case, let's move on to a question our viewers are eager to hear the answer to. When do you plan to enter the G2 League?"

"I'll sign up as soon as I get back. The exact date depends on the Pokémon Association's schedule," Jacob said.

"Oh?" Jaslene's eyes widened. "That's big news! Fans watching at home, keep an eye on the official Gym Leader Professional League website for event updates, so you can grab your tickets the moment they go on sale."

"One last question, Jacob. This is the one our audience has been talking about the most, and honestly, I'm curious too." Jaslene's smile grew wider, her eyes narrowing like a clever fox.

Something about that look made Jacob uneasy right away.

"In your last interview, you admitted you're in a relationship, and it caused quite a stir among your fans. Everyone wants to know who the lucky person is. Would you be willing to share?"

"Um... I'd rather not." Jacob said, his face darkening.

. . .

After the interview wrapped up, the real trouble began. Three women were waiting to corner him.

Luckily, Director Aaren of the Pokémon Association came to his rescue, appearing backstage in person to invite him to dinner that evening.

Jacob accepted without hesitation. He quickly sent a message to Nina, Julia, and Amelia, telling them he had something to take care of, then left for the restaurant with Director Aaren.

. . .

"Jacob, I'm a bit older than you, so let me just call you Little Jacob." Director Aaren looked at him with a warm smile. "Little Jacob, as your elder, let me pour you a drink."

Today's matches had gone extremely well. Both ticket sales and viewership had brought the Pokémon Association a huge profit, especially the match between Jacob and Hui Xie, which had broken the Gym Leader Professional League's all-time viewership record.

"You mentioned in your interview that you're planning to enter the G2 League?" Director Aaren, already a little tipsy, looked at Jacob with gleaming eyes.

In his mind, Jacob had become a walking gold mine. The revenue from the hastily arranged week-long G3 League alone could match dozens of regular G3 League events combined. If the G2 League were promoted properly, with enough advance hype, Director Aaren couldn't even guess how much profit it might bring.

Jacob alone could carry the Association's entire performance target for the year.

"Mm." Jacob, who had also had a few drinks, nodded and looked back at Director Aaren. "I want to qualify for the Gym Leader Ranking Tournament as soon as I can."

"Qualify for the Gym Leader Ranking Tournament... you mean..." Director Aaren frowned, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. He hadn't expected Jacob's ambitions to reach quite this far.

"You're aiming for this year's Dragon-type Gym Leader selection in June?" Director Aaren's eyes lit up as he studied Jacob closely.

"Mm." Jacob didn't try to hide it. He nodded in confirmation, knowing that to enter the Gym Leader Ranking Tournament, there was no way around going through Director Aaren first.

. . .