"Alright. Metagross, use Agility to get in close and then strike wih Zen-Headbutt." As commanded, Metagross started to move at blinding speed while its cross began to glow. Silver's Gallade made no effort in trying to dodge, but rather took a defensive stance. When Metagross' Zen-Headbutt connected, Gallade didn't seem to be fazed at all. It used the force of the attack for a backflip and leaped over Metagross' head.
"Don't think about it. Just attack. Bullet Punch." Still being in the air, Gallade had no chance of dodging this time. It took a direct savage hit from the metal beast's monsterous claw, sending it flying several feet back and tumbling on the floor.
Then something happened, none of them saw coming. Gallade literally glitched out. As if its limbs had a lag, Gallade got back up on its feet. An arm, then a leg stopped existing just to pop up one second later. Twilight's mind compaired it to a corrupted video file.
"Now then, HAVE you solved my riddle? Go on, I'll wait."
"What does he mean? What do deserts and the ocean have in common? Well both of them are vast landscapes with barely anything in them. Was he referencing the light conditions there? Maybe Fata Morganas? Wait a second, not 'fall from', 'fall FOR'. He was referring to a trick. A card trick, a trick brought forth by smoke and mirrors. The answer's an-"
"ILLUSION!", Silver yelled as he pointed towards the sky, shortly before Gallade's physique completely broke apart. In its stead, a black, fox-like creature appeared, howling at the sky. Its crimson claws and scarlett hair gave off an air of bloodshed.
"So, it's been a Zoroark all along. And you made it take the form of Gallade so that my next Pokémon, a Psychic-type presumably, would be at a disadvantage. Am I right?", Twilight yelled. The boy named Silver Screen started to seriously piss her off.
"Finally seeing some gears turning. Good to know that you can use that brain of yours", he said in a condescending way. "My apologies, that was mean. You can't blame me, though." He was, however, right about that. Twilight mentally slapped herself for not figuring it out sooner.
"Fine, I'll just do this. Metagross, another Bullet Punch." Metagross' claw was surrounded by a grey shimmer as it lunged forward again, but Zoroark is simply faster. Just before Metagross actually threw the punch, it slid on its knees underneath Metagross, finding itself facing the sentient tank's underside.
"Metagross has so much strength. Mind if we borrow some? Foul Play, now." Zoroark rushed behind its opponent, grabbing its leg. With one swift motion, the grey fox used the borrowed strength to spin Metagross around and slam it into the ground. It then used the rest of its strength to throw Metagross back on Twilight's side of the arena.
"This is worse than bad. No matter what I do, he's always two steps ahead of me. But one thing is clear. His glass cannon fighting style is his weakness. I just need to land one good hit. I must catch him off guard. Somehow."
CRASH
When Metagross finally landed on his back, the audience was shocked to see another one of Silver's traps. The arena collapsed from the impact, leaving the Steel/Psychic-type in a giant crater spanning the entirety of Twilight's half of the field. The floor of the arena was cracked, large rocks protruded everywhere, making it difficult for Metagross to move. The ground could give way at any moment, further putting Twilight at a disadvantage.
"Magnet Rise", she quickly thought and despite Metagross only being able to float inches above the surface, it was at least able to move freely.
"Oh, quick thinking. I love it."
"What did you do?", Twilight asked, even angrier than before.
"When you used Heat Blast, I used the smoke and had Zoroark hide underground with Dig. The Gallade you saw was created with Double Team. Then I bought myself a bit of time with my riddle so that Zoroark could destabilize the field, but I did NOT think it would work this well. Your little freak-out gave me even more time."
At that moment, Twilight Sparkle would've liked to do nothing more than to slap that smug grin off of his face.
"Now then, I've got a game for you. Double Team."
Dozens of Zoroark copies appeared on the field. They made their way towards the crater. But they didn't attack. Quite the opposite. They used the rocks sticking out of the ground to hide, before jumping from rock to rock, staying in groups of two or three. Most of them moved clock-wise, but some chose to go counter-clock-wise. It didn't take long for Twilight to lose sight of the real one.
"Find the real one. And just to make it extra interesting, Night Daze." Every Zoroark fired off a shockwave of dark energy at Metagross, not missing one beat of their Old Army Game. Of course, only one of them was actually doing damage, but with all this commotion going on, it was impossible to single out the real one. "I love it when a plan comes together", he added.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS BASTARD ON ABOUT? No, I can't dwell on that now. How am I supposed to find the real Zoroark? I'm sure if I concentrate, I could sense which direction its attack is coming from, but that would take too long. And I can't rule out single ones I see passing through the rocks, because I'll just lose them in the next second."
She looked over to Metagross, which was already getting dizzy and had trouble staying afloat.
"Stop it, Sparkle! You're thinking too conventional for this guy. Think backwards. Where is it NOT?" Twilight let her eyes wander around the field, analyzing the doublegangers' pattern. "I'm sure they have passed behind every rock by now. Every rock except..." Twilight's eyes fell on a monolith further in the crater's center. For some reason, the Zoroarks avoided it.
"Metagross, it's behind the most central rock. Rush over there." The fact that it got more and more difficult for Metagross to move forward was the only proof Twilight needed. "HAMMER ARM." Metagross slammed its claw down on the huge monolith, shattering it without even looking if its opponent was even really there. The disappearing clones confirmed that however.
"Zoroark is unable to battle. Metagross wins." Twilight couldn't withhold a cheerful jump in the air at that announcement.
"It seems that I won your game. Happy?", she asked. Now she understood how Rainbow Dash must feel, when she beats someone in sprinting. She knew Schadenfreude was a bad thing, but dammit if it didn't feel great to beat him.
"I am pleasantly surprised. Thank you for asking. Sceptile, spotlight."
The first thing Twilight noticed about his Pokémon was the bandana it wore around its neck, attached to it was a Mega-Stone.
"So I was right after all. But that also means this might be the most challenging part yet. Please, I'll leave the first attack to you", she offered, a drop of sweat running down her temple.
"No no, a gentleman always lets the lady go first", he retorted with another bow.
"Fine, Bullet Punch."
"Dodge it with Dig", he commanded, after which Sceptile quickly hid underground, just barely missing Metagross' punch. The audience got the impression that he must really like that move.
Metagross, whose Magnet Rise was still active, hovered back a few feet. It was paying attention to the ground, preparing for the moment Sceptile would appear again. It didn't have to wait long though, as Septile soon jumped out of the ground.
"Jump onto its back", Silver commanded. "Dragon Pulse, now." As it fired from Metagross' blind spot, the Steel-type had no chance of avoiding the wave of draconic energy. Yet it tried anyways, dashing back and fourth on the battle field with Sceptile on its back.
"Now who's predictable? Front flip." Twilight used the moment Magnet Rise stopped to squash Sceptile under the tank, before the inertia carried Metagross further ahead. While Sceptile struggled a tiny bit to stand up, Metagross was busy with getting on its feet again, but eventually, both were able to recover and face each other again.
"I absolutely hate to admit it, but you're really good." Twilight was a bit out of breath, but still complimented her opponent.
"Being complimented by such a lovely face is always a pleasure."
"Just out of curiosity, what would you have me do if you win? Just so I can judge the stakes."
"Before I answer, you might want to look where our Pokémon are positioned on the field", he said, calm like the eye of a storm. Twilight looked down at their feet and realized that Metagross was directly above the hole he had made with Dig earlier. And Sceptile was positioned at the other end of the tunnel.
"Dragon Pulse! " Sceptile shot the draconic energy from its mouth directly into the hole, from which it travelled underground to hit Metagross in its underside with a massive, concentrated blast. Unfortunately, Metagross had taken too much damage from Zoroark earlier and slumped to the ground.
"Metagross is unable to battle. Sceptile wins", Applejack announced.
Twilight called Metagross back into its ball and took a deep breath, before analyzing the field.
"Okay, I think I have a plan on how to win. But to do it, I need him distracted. He also has to get close, for which I best use HAXORUS, I choose you." Out of the ball came a yellow and grey dragon with axe blades sticking out of its face.
"Start with Dragon Dance", she commanded after which Haxorus let out a loud cry. Red energy erupted from its body. "Now, Dragon Claw." Haxorus rushed at its target.
"Oooooh, a head-on fist fight?" He took a second to look into the audience. "Hit me up, Pinkie." Pinkie Pie understood immediately. She pulled a boom box out of nowhere and started blasting music. "Oh YEAH!"
Sceptile blocked the incoming attack with Leaf Blade and immediately counter attacked, but Haxorus grabbed its arm and re-directed it. After that, Haxorus kept attacking with Dragon Claw, two of them Sceptile dodged, but the third one hit in the gut. Sceptile then grabbed Haxorus and wrestled it to the ground, but Haxorus was able to throw it off with its legs.
The green lizard did a couple of backflips and rushed to attack Haxorus as soon as it got back on its feet. It used Leaf Blade as it rushed past the Yellow dragon, only to turn on its heel and Leaf Blade it again, which it repeated a couple of times.
"Trip it with your tail", Twilight shouted. Haxorus complied and Sceptile was about to face plant on the ground. "Poison Jab." Before it could though, Haxorus helped with the process by jamming a toxic fist into Sceptile's spine, cracking the ground underneath it.
"Dragon Pulse", Silver screamed. He didn't use the move to attack but to propell his Pokémon backwards, gaining some distance. Unlike Twilight, Silver Screen felt the full force of every blow Sceptile recieved. That didn't stop them though.
"Yes, that's it. That's what I wanted. Give me everything, you've got, TWILIGHT", he announced, out of breath. "Let's show them our combined force." He pulled his goggles over his eyes and took his Mega-Ring out of his pocket, which then resonated with Sceptile's Mega-Stone.
"All of what I was. All of what I am. All of what I might become. My full potential. It will be revealed through you", he shouted while Sceptile mega-evolved.
Twilight thought to herself "This could be good or bad for me. On the one hand, he's getting a boost in its attack stats and speed AND a STAB boost for Dragon Pulse, but that also means my Dragon attacks will have more effect on him. But I can't take any unneccessary risks. I'm sticking to the plan."
"Leaf Storm", was the first move he chose once the transformation was complete. Sceptile shot its tail like a harpoon surrounded by leafs at Haxorus, which sent it flying into the crater behind it.
Sceptile followed it. As the yellow drake was just in the middle of the crater, Septile caught up and used Leaf Blade. The force of the blow was so intense that it sent Haxorus flying against one of the stone pillars located at the edge of the crater.
Even though Twilight didn't feel the full force like Silver Screen, she still had a massive headache, her muscles ached and she was almost out of breath. She theorized that the deeper the connection to your Pokémon, the more you'll share its pain. For some reason, Axew reminded her of Spike. That's why she chose Haxorus to be on her team. That must be why she felt so beaten.
For a while, Haxorus didn't attack. All it did was fall into the crater again, where Mega-Sceptile waited for it. Another Leaf Blade. And another. And another. Each time blowing Haxorus against the monoliths, until it seemed that Haxorus got stuck. It could still move though.
"One more Leaf Blade and it's done, Buddy." Sceptile rushed over to the half-beaten dragon. The blade almost connected, but then...
"Now, Haxorus." The dragon opened its eyes and moved its head out of the way, causing Sceptile's blade to be stuck inside the rock behind it. Haxorus didn't waste a single second, as it picked up the giant boulder and threw it down into the crater's center.
"What?" Silver asked in confusion.
"Surprised? Allow me to elaborate", Twilight answered. "I fucking deserve this", she thought to herself.
"You see, with the exception of the first one, Mega-Sceptile's Leaf Blades didn't do half the damage you thought they did. Just as they grazed my dragon, he jumped back into the rocks, creating the illusion of a massive blow, while also loosening them. I only waited for the right moment so I could immobilize you or else we couldn't do this."
With Sceptile still laying in the center of the crater, trying to free its arm, Haxorus picked up the rocks it slammed into before and piled them up on top of the Grass-type until only its head was still in the open, destroying any chance of it to escape.
"What did you say before? You love it when a plan comes together? You've been so sneaky that I had to make sure you didn't have any more tricks up your sleeves before dealing the finishing blow. Which is now. Haxorus, Guillotine."
Silver Screen and his Pokémon could only watch in terror as Twilight passed judgement on Sceptile.
"Sceptile is unable to battle. Haxorus wins."
Despite feeling like she should jump up and cheer, Twilight only had the energy for a weak smile left, before her head fell forward out of exhaustion.
"It's over", she thought. "I wo-"
"Golisopod, only a little more", Silver announced. He was in a similar state as his opponent, as he had barely enough strength to throw his Pokéball.
"What?" That's right, Twilight didn't defeat his Golisopod. There was still more left to do. Realizing this, Twilight felt like crying, until...
"You know what?" Silver said. "Fuck it. I give up." Those were his last words before falling over on his face. The match was over.
WINNER: TWILIGHT SPARKLE