The final match of the quarterfinals was about to get underway. Applejack was the first of the group to have to face off against one of her friends, Pinkie Pie and Steve. Still, Applejack had no intention of going easy on her, or Rarity after her. After all, should Twilight lose in the semifinals, somepony would need to knock Trixie on her rump, and Applejack was just the mare to do it.
"The last match of the round is about to begin!" The emcee announced. "Let's get this battle underway!"
"Come on out Steve!" Pinkie giggled. Skiploom sprung from him pokéball and began floating about in the air.
Wordlessly, Applejack threw out Flaafy. Come on AJ. Y'all can't give her an inch cuz she's your friend. It's time to be tough.
"If both challengers are ready, then the match may begin!"
Steve was easily able to outspeed Flaafy. "Okay buddy, let's open with a poison powder!" Pinkie commanded. Steve began the familiar routine of dousing Flaafy with toxic spores, afflicting him with poison.
Well that puts us on a timer. Applejack would need to finish this battle off before Flaafy succumbed to the poison. "Open with a thundershock!"
"Flaa…" Flaafy cried as he wound up the attack. "Fy!" The electric bolt was discharged from his coat, arcing through the air and striking Skiploom.
"A solid hit from Flaafy!" The emcee declared. "But it's not going down that easily!"
"That guy's right!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Use your bullet seed!"
"Skip! Skip! Loom!" Skiploom spun in midair and began firing a barrage of seeds from its mouth, skirting around in the air while keeping his aim focused on Flaafy.
"This ain't good..." Flaafy didn't know any moves that were super effective against Skiploom. Its typing was fairly tricky to deal with, as while Flaafy knew electric moves like thundershock and a bug type move in signal beam, Steve's grass and flying typing reduced both of those moves to normal effectiveness. Ice on the other hoof would devastate the pokémon, but in this one on one scenario, Applejack couldn't take advantage of that weakness.
Looks like I'm gonna have to resort to the secret family strategy… Applejack tipped the brim of her hat down and prepared to announce her tactic to the world. "Alright Flaafy, time for the old Apple Family strategy. Lets him 'em really hard!"
Applejack's declaration had been heard by every set of ears in the stadium. "Looks like Applejack is going to give it all she has! No point in beating around the bush when you can just beat down on the bush!" The audience gave a collective moan from the terrible joke, but watched intently regardless.
"Alright Flaafy, let's finish this with a takedown!" If this move hit, Applejack knew Flaafy would be able to keep beating down on Steve before he could finish off Flaafy in return. Flaafy began a headlong charge, dropping down onto all fours to rush down the low-flying Steve.
Pinkie Pie looked unusually stoic, and had been uncharacteristically silent while this had been transpiring. She and Steve remained motionless as Flaafy drew closer and closer. Finally, when Flaafy leapt into the air to tackle Skiploom, she reacted with a command. "Up Steve!" She ordered. Steve caught an updraft and soared into the air as Flaafy dove past and landed face first in the dirt. "Let's finish this off with a bang! Hit 'em with seed bomb!" Steve bombarded Flaafy with a barrage of explosive seeds, sending a cloud of dust into the air. When the dust settled, the result came as a surprise to nopony. Flaafy was unconscious.
"And that's all she wrote folks!" The emcee cried. "Congratulations to Pinkie Pie for qualifying as the fourth contestant to move onto the semi finals. She will be going up against Rarity, right after our next match, Twilight Sparkle versus Trixie!"
"Good job Flaafy, you gave it your all." Applejack smiled. She trotted over to Pinkie and shook her hoof. "Good job out there sugarcube. You put up a mighty good fight."
"Thanks AJ." She smiled. "Steve's been doing a great job." She giggled and rubbed her pokémon, which elicited a delighted cry from him.
"We'll be back in an hour folks! Take some time to stretch your legs and get something to eat, because I promise, you won't want to miss the next few matches!"