Both contestants were down to two Pokémon. Applejack had lost her Mudsdale, while Rainbow Dash lost Blastoise to Cacturne.
Rainbow Dash was at a point where the mind scape created a faint heat shimmer over her head. She had been at Applejack's mercy ever since the fight began. The cowgirl had an ace up her flannel sleeves for just about everything Rainbow threw at her.
"Zebstrika, hold on, just a bit longer!" Zebstrika, still beaten up from its battle against Mudsdale, came out of its ball hunched over and panting. "Alright, I think I got a plan", she thought to herself.
"Discharge!"
"Sucker Punch!", Applejack ordered Cacturne, a strategy that had proven effective so far. With incredible speed, the spiky scarecrow lunged forward, trying to flinch its opponent.
"Dodge it! Quick!" And just barely did it react fast enough to avoid the hit. And it released the surge of electricity right after, which blew Cacturne away. Applejack felt her body convulse from the electricity going through Cacturne's body.
"Come on, come on", her cyan friend muttered through her teeth.
As the Grass-type tried to stand up, it found that it could barely move, sparks flying out of its body.
"YES!" Cacturne was paralyzed. That was exactly what Rainbow Dash was hoping for. Luck was finally on her side.
Applejack on the other hand grew nervous. "Crapbaskets. Should Ah go fer Plan B? No, she might switch out again if Ah do it now. Ah gotta keep tryin' ta flinch 'er."
"Wild Charge." Zebstrika covered itself in electricity and stormed forward at Cacturne. The air in the arena was sizzling. The audience had trouble controlling their hair through the static.
"Sucker Punch!" But it was for naught. The paralysis proved to much and Cacturne was unable to move. Seconds later, Rainbow Dash felt the attack's recoil tickle throughout her body, as if she was pranked with a hand buzzer. But her adversary wasn't quite down yet.
"Finish it with Flame Charge!" Applejack was at her wit's end. There was little she could've done to prevent her opponent from attacking her. The risk of paralysis was too high. "If Ah go down, Ah'm gonna take 'er electric pony with me."
Applejack gave Cacturne a command inaudible to Rainbow's ears. Cacturne' s eyes lit up in a purple light, but Rainbow didn't pay enough attention to notice.
"Eat this!" Flame Charge hit the cactus-like creature head-on. It flew several meters backwards and right in front of Applejack's feet, unable to move.
"Cacturne is unable to battle. Zebstrika is the winner."
"Woohoo, Go Rainbow, go!", Fluttershy 'shouted' from the stands. She knew her friend would pull through in the end. Pinkie assiszed her in her cheers. There was, however, something that bothered two others, Sunset and Twilight. Both of them observed the field with crossed arms. And without even looking at each other...
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That was too easy at the end. Even with paralysis, Applejack could have at least tried to counter attack or maybe use Spiky Shield again."
"Exactly. Something's wrong."
While Rainbow Dash celebrated her victory with a hearty laugh, Applejack returned to her calm and stoic state.
"What's, wrong, Jackie? Too hot for you? Did someone Charge you too much? Kekekekekeke."
"Yeag, yeah. Ya turned ma Cacturne into a plate o' grilled Nopales."
Grilled Nopales is a dish made of grilled cactus leaves. It is said to be quite delicious.
"But be careful, missy. Are ya sure ya got rid o' th' needles?"
After saying that, a purple aura enveloped Zebstrika. But it left just as quickly as it had appeared, taking every last bit of Zebstrika's strength with it. As such, Zebstrika fell unconsciously to the ground, much to our blue friend's confusion.
"What? What just happened?", Rainbow shouted baffled. She knew it was Applejack's doing, but the thought of her being tricked again made her blood boil. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Rainbow Dash was almost ready to storm the field to give her rival a piece of her mind face to face, but she knew she could be disqualified for that.
"Have ya ever heard o' Destiny Bond? When a Pokémon uses this move, then the one defeatin' it also goes down."
"What she did was not against the rules", Silver re-affirmed. "Please call out your last Pokémon. Both of you."
"Shoot, I made a mistake", Applejack thought to herself. "I should have switched out and used Destiny Bond on her last 'mon. Guess I can't hold back either." A smile kreeped on her face.
"That's it. I'm gonna win this. I'll show her that I can beat her even without my best Pokémon", Rainbow thought to herself. The heat shimmer over her head intensified.
"Tyranitar, we're gonna win this", Rainbow shouted furiously and a sandstorm raged in the arena. The audience was cut off from the fight, as they couldn't see through the curtain of whirling sand. It was only Applejack and Rainbow Dash. And their referee, who put his goggles to good use.
"Aggron, you got this."
Through the sand storm, the two rivals stared each other down.
Immediately, Rainbow Dash took the offense. Her Tyranitar charged at its opponent with a bloody rage in its eyes, while Applejack ordered Aggron to use Iron Defense.
"Crunch!" Tyranitar bit down hard against Aggron's shoulder. Applejack tried to get rid of it with Iron Head, but the rock monster chomped down too hard. A second one did the trick and sent Tyranitar tumbling backwards.
"Iron Defense, again!", Applejack ordered.
"Dammit, this is getting me nowhere. If I wanna beat her, I'll need a plan. What's its weakness again?" "Earthquake, now!" Upon Rainbow's order, Tyranitar commanded the ground beneath them to shake violently.
Aggron, however, had already increased its defense so much, the attack didn't do nearly the amount of damage it should have.
Meanwhile, Sunset had just finished creating a protective bubble for her friends, shielding them from the sand particles.
"What is going on down there?"
"I think Rainbow Dash has a plan."
Across the field, Applejack saw Rainbow prepare her next move.
"Hyper Beam!" Tyranitar needed a moment to charge the massive blast and Applejack did not let that moment go to waste.
"Oh no, you don't. Aggron, Automatize and Iron Head!" Faster than before, Aggron stormed at Tyranitar, its head shining, and easily dodged the incoming blast. Godzilla's stone-cold lookalike had to take another hit.
"Looks like Rainbow Dash in a pretty tough spot", Twilight commented.
"I hate to say it, but I think the winner is clear", Rarity added.
"The match is not over yet", Fluttershy protested, however. "Come on Rainbow Dash, YOU CAN DO IT!", she cried out in desperation.
"It's not just that Applejack has a better strategy", Sunset added, much to the confusion of the others. "Even if Applejack's Aggron hadn't tried to dodge that Hyper Beam, it probably still wouldn't have hit. I noticed it before with Blastoise, but chalked it up as the result of lowered accuracy. But my suspicions have been confirmed. Rainbow Dash is getting sloppy."
"DAAAAMMMIIIIIIT!!!", the blue athlete screamed at the top of her lungs. She was at a point where she couldn't see straight anymore. Her breathing was ragged and she had a pain in her side.
Applejack was faring a bit better, but keeping the pressure on Rainbow was almost as taxing for her as it was for her opponent. And yet, she kept her cool, the only indicator for her fatigue being a bit of sweat on her forehead.
"Ah gotta finish this fast! Aggron, Stone Edge!" With a punch on the ground with a glowing fist, rocks shot out of the earth around the still recharging Tyranitar. Not doing much damage, but trapping each of Tyranitar's body parts in its current position.
"You did well, Dash, but you were just too shortsighted fer this."
Rainbow Dash shot her rival a piercing glare.
"Oh no." Fluttershy knew exactly what Applejack had invoked just then.
"Aggron, finish this with Iron Head." And Tyranitar took it. The spikes of stone holding it in place crumbled from the force.
However, this instant offered an opportunity. And Rainbow Dash wasn't going to waste it. With a thundering roar, Tyranitar grabbed Aggron by the wrist and threw it over its shoulder, slamming it into the ground. But it wasn't done yet. It continued to do so over and over and over again, in what can only be described as a savage tantrum. All the while Rainbow Dash roared along with her Pokémon.
One of Aggron's horns broke away from its head and its body became so dented Applejack felt like she was gonna be crushed.
With one final throw, Tyranitar smashed its opponent into the ground, creating a huge crater. And Rainbow still hadn't had enough. In its mouth, Tyranitar gatgered the energy for another Hyper Beam.
"It's over, Applejack. I WIN!" And with that, Tyranitar fired the beam, hitting Aggron point-blank and sending it flying across the field, right in front of Applejack's feet.
"Aggron is unable to battle. Tyranitar wins. Which means, Rainbow Dash advances into the Double Matches. The audience, especially Fluttershy, cheered for her.
Rainbow Dash was tired though. After Silver Screen announced her victory, her legs gave way and she fell on her butt, desperately gasping for air.
An orange hand came into her field of vision, which she happily accepted. Applejack had walked over to her. The two of them gave each over a confident smile, acknowledging the other's efforts and without any hard feelings.
FIRST ROUND - 4RTH MATCH
WINNER: RAINBOW DASH
After everyone congratulated Rainbow Dash, Silver felt like he had to speak up.
"Great, now Applejack can be your referee. Can you please let me go now?"
"Oh come on now", Sunset told him. "We're having fun, here. Why don't you stay a-"
"Why do you pretend to want me here?", he interrupted her, much to the shock of everyone. This caught Sci-Twi's ear especially.
"People don't like me. I'm a socially awkward jerk, who almost gave your friend a mental breakdown. Why in the name of everything Equestrians deem holy, would you like me being here? Do I look like I want to be happy like that?" In his voice was... nothing. No rage, no sorrow, no joking attitude. Just nothing.
Sunset got out of her seat and got closer to him." I think you would like to, but you've never been given the chance."
There was a pause between them. After a few seconds, he walked a couple of meters away and sat down away from the others, his foot proped up on the seat in front of him.
"I'm gonna talk to him", Pinkie Pie said.
"Wait!" But Twilight had other plans. "Let me do it." With that, she walked over to him.
"Oh great." Pinkie said sarcastically. It was one of the few times they saw Pinkie Pie actually bummed out. "And here I thought an afternoon with you guys and one of his favorite things would cheer him up a bit."
"Let's see how Twilight handles this."