A line was formed outside on the streets leading toward an ancient-looking stadium nestled into the side of the mountain that Canterlot was perched upon. Inside, nearly every seat was filled with the coliseum only getting fuller by the moment, the back of the queue just entering inside. Sitting along the center front rows of the right side were Sam and Alice’s human and Equestrian friends, who looked around at the last of the newly arriving ponies pouring in or down on the grassy ground of the arena where the diverse array of human camera crews and field reporters were set up and broadcasting on the battle that was about to commence, a few of them equipped with large drones set down by them and ready to fly.
A middle-aged female reporter with short-brown hair wearing a turquoise vest, a light-green blouse underneath, and white pants tapped her microphone as she stood near the lower left corner of the arena. “Ty, am I coming in?”
Her cameraman, sporting messy medium-length black hair held down by a backwards-facing dark-blue cap, a grey t-shirt, and baggy-jeans, gave her a thumbs-up with one hand with the other supporting the large camcorder on his right shoulder. Ty then looked down at a chord hanging from the back of his camera that was fed down into a small transceiver box displaying the EarthQuestria logo with a small antenna coming from the top with two finely-carved glowing blue crystals beside it.
Pressing a button on a remote on the chord below the bud of his earpiece, Ty then held the remote close to his mouth. “You’re getting this?”
“Can hear you loud and clear, Ty!” A voice spoke on the other end. “You both sound great!”
After, brushing any stray dust off her clothes and shaking her body with a warbling sigh escaping her mouth, the reporter felt comfortable to start her broadcast. “Rolling?” With a small red light appearing on the camera and another thumbs-up from Ty, she began to speak.
“Hello, Hoenn! This is your favorite field reporter Gabby speaking, live from the kingdom of Canterlot in the land of Equestria! Guys, it is truly an honor to be here, as we are just one of a handful of lucky news crews from across the globe who have been invited by the EarthQuestria foundation to hold the first interdimensional broadcast ever conducted!
“From what we were told by one of EarthQuestria’s founders, Sun Smith, we are going to be capturing the Pokémon battle of Sam and Alice Brier, two young trainers originally from the Kalos region who had moved to the Alola region to conduct the famed Island Trials. After completing them together and supposedly defeating each of the four trainers in the region’s Pokémon League just hours ago, they are now going to be facing each other to fight for the title of Champion of Alola, which was last held by Melemele Island’s current Kahuna, Hau, before he stepped down to fill the role of Kahuna last held by his late grandfather Hala.
“From where we’re standing, the stadium is looking to be getting pretty full, so we hopefully shouldn’t have to wait too much longer before the two trainers arrive and conduct their battle. We also hope to hold an exclusive interview with one or more of the siblings following the conclusion of their battle, so stay tuned everyone!”
After ending the recording on his camera, Ty held the remote on his earphone chord back up to his face. “Got it?”
“That was great, guys!” the voice on the other end assured them. “Going to commercial now. Hope to hear from you soon.”
With their break announced, Ty blew a hard sigh from his pursed lips as he put his camera down beside the transceiver, walking up to his trusty reporter. Clasping their hands together and pulling themselves in for a pat of their fists on each others’ backs, Gabby and Ty celebrated what was certain to be a tremendous program.
At Benji and Susan’s restaurant, many of the tables in the dining room had been parted to the side, the center now being taken up by a cart carrying a laptop that was placed beside a digital projector aimed at a large screen at the other end of the hall. A longer table was set up closer to the kitchen featuring a wide spread of appetizers, pre-mixed cocktails, and a large container of ice containing bottles of white wine and beer. While several people sat at the bar to watch the broadcast on the TV there, even more people filled the dining room and stood by the snacks, looking on as Benji ran through the input options, a blank and then blue screen seeming to flash on and off ad nauseum.
With another press of the button, the image of a coliseum with a grassy floor appeared, one of the patrons snatching Benji’s arm as he instinctually prepared to hit the button again. “Whoa-ho! Hold on, I think you got it!”
A round of cheers erupted around Benji, prompting Susan to walk in from the lobby to see the video playing as it was supposed to. With a sigh of relief, she heard the front door come open as more guests uncertainly walked in.
“Come in, everyone!” she called out, motioning them forward as she stepped backwards into the dining room. “Just grab a drink and a plate and get yourselves comfortable!”
Benji stared at the screen, awaiting the moment that he could see both of his children.
With the stadium more or less full, there was nothing for the Equestrians and humans to do except wait for their friends to emerge so they could begin their battle.
“Ooh…” Fluttershy whimpered with her body trembling. “How much longer is it going to be? The suspense might literally be killing me!”
“Okay?” Ember turned around and pointed to the pegasus, making her jolt in fright. “You need to relax! You worrying about them coming isn’t going to make them come any faster!”
“Sorry!” Pinkie Pie’s voice was heard shouting. “Pardon me!”
Looking over to the left, each of the humans and Equestrians were aghast to see only a pink body and a pink pair of legs behind a titanic mountain of concessions including multiple boxes of popcorn, cotton candy on sticks, a couple of trays of nachos, and several cardboard trays carrying soft drinks, all somehow balanced atop each other. As the ponies that Pinkie Pie passed got as low and as out of her way as possible, Twilight stood up from her spot and charged her horn. With the magic covering each item Pinkie Pie tried to carry, they floated out of her grasp and spread out directly above her other friends.
“Woo!” The pink pony shouted. “Thanks for the help, Twilight! I actually didn’t plan for a way to pass all those out!”
Pinkie Pie began to pluck cups, boxes, and trays from the air and began passing them out to her human and Equestrian friends, some of whom appeared less eager than most to accept a snack.
“You do know this match isn’t going to last for that long, do you?” Plumeria asked her before taking a sip of the soda she was given. “On second thought, this’ll really hit the spot. Actually, yeah, can I have one of those popcorns?”
Pinkie Pie and Twilight worked together to pass food and drinks around, Guzma reaching out at one of the trays of nachos coming his way. Upon also grabbing his drink, he looked down on the tray of tortilla chips and built-in cup of gooey, melted cheese.
“What?” he jestingly sneered. “No hot peppers?”
A blue magic aura floated toward Guzma’s face which held onto a paper cup of jalapeño peppers kept closed by a plastic lid. Looking at Starlight, who turned back to look at him, Guzma smiled thankfully upon the pink unicorn winking at him, getting to work on taking the lid off right after.
Sam and Alice stepped up near the exit to the gateway that would lead them out into the arena with Lillie standing between them. Standing and leading on either side of the walls were Sun and Gladion, who turned and perked up upon seeing Lillie and the two trainers arrive.
Both Sun and Gladion briskly walked up to them. “Ah, good!” Sun spoke. “You made it alright.”
“Hard to see why not,” Sam responded. “The whole of Canterlot must be in here; this city’s a ghost town now.”
Alice peered past Sun and Gladion, looking into the arena and finding a couple of the camera crews set up outside. “Uh, guys? Are you filming this?”
“Hold on! You’re filming this?!”
Sun looked back, seeing that the cameras were indeed more noticeable than he thought. “We wanted to run an official test of interdimensional broadcasting; see if we can send signals to and from Equestria in real-time. Sorry you had to find out this way, but hey, look on the bright side!” Sun gently slapped Sam’s shoulder. “You get to make history twice today!”
Gladion grimaced as Sun’s attempt at sating Sam only served to make him more nervous. “Not to mention, we personally ensured that your parents were made aware of the broadcast, so they’re probably watching you right now.”
Alice gasped as Sam breathed more slowly in, already feeling a little better, something that made both Gladion and Lillie smile.
“Are you two ready?” Lillie asked. “If you’re not, we can give you a few more minutes and–”
“No, no!” Sam waved his hand frantically. “If I have to wait any longer, I might just get cold feet. No, it’s now or never, do or die, so let’s do this!”
Sam punched his fist into his hand before he and Alice tapped their fists together, ready to take their final step together.
Sun nodded as he brought out his EarthQuestria phone from his pocket. “Great. I’ll let the reporters and the announcer know, and we can get this show on the road.”
“Now hold on!” Alice spoke up, her words ignored by Sun as he waited for the person on the other line. “There’s an announcer too?”
“Hey! Sam and Alice are here, and they’ve confirmed they’re ready. Be sure to let the crews know so we can start this.” Sun hung the phone up and put it back into his pocket, looking out at Sam and Alice as they looked to him for their next instructions. “Just wait out here until they call you. Don’t worry, I’ll be joining you out there.”
Sam and Alice nodded, satisfied with this information. With the gears now in irreversible motion, Sam and Alice just continued to breathe in and out, the mounting seconds of nothing but the crowds outside doing little to ease the anxiousness mounting inside of them.
In Benji and Susan’s restaurant, the atmosphere had grown casual as another commercials came on the screen, the patrons chatting amongst themselves with small plates, glasses, or bottles in hand.
Suddenly, the screen quickly faded to black, something that Susan noticed immediately. “Okay, everyone, everyone shut up! It’s on! It’s starting!”
Sure enough, the screen faded back to an aerial shot of the Canterlot coliseum, the noise of the crowd being heard faintly below. A small burst of cheers came from the patrons, glad to see that the event they came for was finally starting.
The first voice to be heard was the surprisingly monotone voice of a woman. “This is the Alolan Broadcasting Network, reporting to you live for the very first time from the land of Equestria.”
“Come on, Sam, Alice,” Benji nervously whispered. “Come on, Sam, Alice.”
In the arena, none of the humans or Equestrians sitting in the stands seemed to be aware of the start of the broadcast, continuing on with their thunderous mutterings.
“Fillies and gentlecolts and ladies and gentlemen!” With the booming voice of an announcer blaring through the stadium from an unseen sound system, the audience began to immediately quiet down. “Are you all ready for the big battle?!”
With the crowd shouting and cheering in reply, a blueberry-coated pegasus stallion with a wavy medium length mane and tail wearing a black jacket soared down from the sky and landed in the center of the circle chalked onto the middle of the arena.
“Before we begin, please give a warm and enthusiastic welcome to our beloved princesses, Celestia and Luna!”
With a swing of his arm toward the eastern side of the stadium, the audience spotted both Celestia and Luna coming into view on a balcony overlooking the field, screaming and applauding their arrival. Smiling, both rulers waved to their citizens in greeting before sitting down into two carved marble chairs set beside each other.
“And now,” the announcer bellowed, “the moment you’re all here to see! These two humans helped save our world from certain destruction, and now, they’re here to have a battle to determine which one of them is going home the champion! Without further to do, put your hooves and hands together for Sam and Alice Brier!”
With an even louder cheer, Sam and Alice took a deep breath as their raucous calls nudged them to step out from the safety and comfort of the gateway’s shade. With Sun already walking out between them, a small case held in one hand and a microphone in the other, Sam and Alice became suddenly compelled to follow him out, their appearance outside making the audience scream even louder.
Sam and Alice looked about at their spectators; a vast, colorful sea of unfamiliar equine faces that only put more pressure upon them. Turning to their right, they spotted a large group acting noticeably roudier than the rest. Looking in their direction, they found the whole of their friends, proud, excited smiles and content, caring eyes on each of their faces. With the support they could virtually feel them giving, Sam and Alice felt a lot of their fright melt away from them.
The announcer stepped aside to make room for Sam, Alice, and Sun as they walked into the center of the arena, ignoring the camera lenses boring into them from the sidelines. With a testing tap of his microphone, Sun stepped forward upon earing the harsh boom erupting from the phantom speakers, putting the device near his face.
“Good afternoon, everyone!” he shouted, the audience quieting themselves. “Thank you all for coming! Before we begin this match, I would just like to remind everyone here that this battle you’re about to watch is perfectly safe for all involved. These Pokémon, the creatures that Sam and Alice control, are engaging in a tradition that’s been practiced for thousands of years.
“These Pokémon are not tools, they are not weapons, and it would even be a tremendous stretch to call them pets. Sam and Alice’s Pokémon are friends first and foremost, and the battles they’ve engaged in up until this point are what made them as strong as they are today, and why they stand before all of you right now!”
Putting the microphone down and turning back to Sam and Alice, the crowd began to cheer and applaud again as Sun hoisted his case up and opened it. Held inside the foam lining were two Full Restores and two Max Revives, which Sam and Alice seemed a little confused about at first.
Sun put the microphone back up toward his mouth. “Sam, Alice. For your final battle, you will each be given one Full Restore and one Max Revive to use at any point during the match. I will also be officiating your battle to check on the statuses of each of your Pokémon throughout. Other than that, the best of luck to both of you.”
Sam and Alice looked to Sun once more before reaching into the case and each taking both items offered to them. Sun closed the case and slightly bowed to both siblings before he jogged off to the sideline, the pegasus emcee trotting toward the gateway where Lillie and Gladion were observing. Now alone together, Sam and Alice faced each other once more before they prepared to take their places on the battlefield.
Sam blew out a sigh, which Alice noticed as very shaky and unnerved. “Well… this is it.”
“We’ve come a long way since battling from the porch of our house in Lumiose, right?”
Sam forced a smile. “Haha, yep!”
Alice stepped forward and placed her hand upon his shoulder, giggling. “Bro, relax! You and your Pokémon are going to be just fine. Hey, you earned this, all of you.”
“Right.” He put his hand up to her. “All of us.”
Alice nodded before shaking her brother’s hand, causing another ovation from the audience. “Knock ‘em dead, Sam.”
“You too, Alice.”
With their final words and well-wishes spoken to each other, Sam and Alice turned their backs to each other and began to pace backwards as they placed their Full Restores and Max Revives into their pockets. Seeing the marked-out box that he’d be standing in, Sam closed his eyes and counted the steps he took in his head, waiting for the number he felt he’d have to reach before he would finally stop and turn around. Upon counting to five, he opened his eyes; only two steps away. Stepping into the box, he spun around and took one step back beside his other foot, watching as Alice turned to the right and swung around to face Sam in the center of her space.
Sam and Alice both put a hand on a Poké Ball on their belt, hardly able to believe that they each possessed five more than they had since the last time they faced each other. Glancing their eyes over to their friends, to a camera pointed in their direction, or up toward Celestia and Luna patiently awaiting the first move, the tension was impossibly taut between both brother and sister as they awaited for just one of them to break the stillness between them and toss out the first Poké Ball.
Sam’s face contorted in a frown, unable to let any more time pass as he tore his ball off his belt and sent it flying toward the center circle. “Go, Aegislash!”
The ball hit the grassy ground, unclasping open and getting launched back up with the stream of energy leaving it. As the ball flew back to Sam, the white energy formed into Sam’s shield-and-sword Pokémon. Save for Celestia, Luna, or any of Sam and Alice’s friends, every other pony in the stands was awash with awe and amazement with the never-before-seen-creature and the way Sam had summoned it.
Alice smirked, reaching back for a different Poké Ball and throwing it forward. “You’re up first, Mimikyu!”
Alice’s ball opened before it hit the ground, spilling out the white energy inside of it and forming into Alice’s disguised spirit creature on the field. Much like with Sam’s Pokémon, the vast majority of the audience was also aghast at the appearance of this new creature as well.
“Of course, you’d send Mimikyu out first,” Sam huffed.
“You were the one who sent out Aegislash first, bro!” Alice shouted. “You make your bed, you gotta’ lie in it! Mimikyu, attack Aegislash with Shadow Claw–”
“Shadow Sneak!”
Acerola loudly gasped as she sprung to her feet. She and her friends around her watched as Aegislash hopped out from the handle of its shield and swung the tip of its blade forward in Mimikyu’s direction, sending its shadow racing quickly along the ground. Just as Mimikyu unfurled its shadow arms from under its disguise, Aegislash’s shadow went directly beneath it and exploded upwards, the whiplash snapping the neck of its costume.
“Sam…” Alice fearfully looked back to her brother, who was grinning confidently. “You…”
“That’s right!” Sam exclaimed. “I secretly retaught Aegislash how to use Shadow Sneak so that it’d outmatch Mimikyu’s speed, not that I would tell you before now!”
“So that’s why he didn’t use any Ghost-type moves on me!” Accerola shouted. “He didn’t want to take any chance that she’d find out!”
“Hey!” Guzma gruffly yelled at her. “Down in front!”
“Oops! Sorry, Guzma!” Acerola fell onto her bottom, leaning over to even further clear the view for those behind her.
By now, Mimikyu had fallen back onto the ground, its disguise’s head now loosely hanging by the cloth that was its neck.
“Come on, Alice!” Grubber yelled, hopping up to get his friend’s attention. “You can’t let tricks like that trip you up!”
“He let Alice walk right into that,” Acerola whispered to herself, “and if there’s anyone who would know she’d take a bait like that, it’s him. There’s no doubt about it… Sam is playing this to win.”
Still impressed by the ingenuity, Acerola huffed out a chuckle, a corner of her mouth sliding to her cheek in a grin.
Mimikyu, it’s disguise busted, leaned out at Aegislash and screamed at it. Even with its size and location inside the spacious arena, its shrill, ear-shattering cries could be heard from the stands, a torrent of groans and wails coming from the audience as they covered their ears.
Alice looked forward as she kept the bases of the palms of her hands pressed into the sides of her head. “Forget about it! You still have power too! Now hit him with Shadow Claw. Go!”
Mimikyu let out another quieter scream as it charged out at Sam’s Pokémon as commanded. Leaping up off its shadow arms springing out from underneath itself, Mimikyu fell upon Aegislash and lashed across the broad side of its blade. The strike was strong enough to force Aegislash to dig the tip of its blade into the ground to keep itself from flying back into its trainer. Sam noticed his Pokémon pant, already hurt badly by the hit it took.
“You may have busted Mimikyu’s disguise,” Alice called out, “but Shadow Sneak’s a way weaker move than Shadow Claw, and you won’t be able to land enough of those to take Mimikyu down before it takes your Aegislash down! Mimikyu, another Shadow Claw, now!”
Mimikyu ran at its target with its arms out, whose back was already nearly against Sam’s front side.
“You’re right,” Sam exclaimed, “but my Aegislash has this! Use King’s Shield!”
Alice let out a huff of terror as Aegislash swung around its shield and slipped back into the enarme with its cloth arms folded behind it. With Mimikyu lunging once again at Aegislash, Sam’s Pokémon thrust itself forward for Mimikyu’s claws to connect with the surface of its shield. Mimikyu’s claws made contact with Aegislash’s blue hexagonal barrier that formed, the stored up energy blasting Mimikyu hard back toward Alice.
“Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed, several of her nearby friends, including Discord, Rockhoof, and Somnambula also expressing their shock.
Mimikyu tumbled back toward its trainer and weakly pushed itself back upright, worrying Alice. “Come on, Mimikyu, you still have this! Attack Aegislash with another Shadow Claw!”
Mimikyu dashed back at Aegislash, who coolly awaited its foe’s advance. Mimikyu jumped up and slashed its claws against Aegislash’s shield, though the attack was only able to spin Sam’s Pokémon around a bit to the right, inflicting far less pain than before.
“Alright, Aegislash!” Sam called. “Attack Mimikyu with Iron Head!”
Aegislash launched itself out from its shield once again, catching the enarme with its cloth arm before flipping forward to pick up momentum. With a hard, fast swing, Aegislash slammed the edge of its shield onto the top of Mimikyu’s body, driving it hard into the ground. A wave of groans and gasps erupted from the crowd, a large divot left on the top of the base of Mimikyu’s disguise.
“Good going, Sam!” Celaeno shouted, her cheers backed by the whoops and shouts of her crew. “You can do this!”
Fizzlepop pursed her lips as she tried to stomach the support levied against Alice, hoping that a turnaround would be coming soon. Alice and Sam then both watched as the spot where Aegislash’s attack hit Mimikyu began to fill back up with its form.
“That’s it, Mimikyu!” Alice cried out, clapping. “You can still beat him! Just give it one more Shadow Claw!”
Upon its body and disguise appearing mostly remended, Mimikyu whipped its head back behind itself, the two eyeholes on the disguise’s stomach glimmering with a hostile shimmer. With a low guttural growl that morphed into another one of its loud, shrill shrieks, Mimikyu dove at Aegislash and lashed both claws as hard as it could against Aegislash’s blade.
Unlike the last attack, Aegislash was sent flying backward, forcing Sam to duck out of the way of its trajectory. Sam watched on his hands and knees as Aegislash took a hard tumble down the field that left large splashes of dirt and loosened grass with each bounce its body made. Finally, it came to a stop, Sam’s Pokémon laying face down with the grip of its shield relinquished. Starting with a forceful roar of support from Fizzlepop, more of the crowd began to cheer, filling Sam with dread.
Susan gasped and she put her hands over her mouth while Benji glanced away, pained to see his son’s strategy go to waste like it did. The patrons near both of them only stood mystified, amazed by the strength and resilience both Pokémon possessed.
Sun ran toward Aegislash from the sidelines, not seeing the Pokémon move in the entire time during his approach. Just as he motioned his arm toward Alice to declare her Pokémon victorious, Aegislash began to stir, Sun putting his arm back down in sudden response.
Sam crawled up back to his feet and slowly stood as Aegislash pushed off the ground to stand. “Aeg… Aegislash?”
With a guttural huff, Aegislash sprung up with its shield in hand spinning around to face Alice and Mimikyu once again. Another rush of cheers filled the stands, Fizzlepop and Grubber’s mouth left agape as her friends around her all clapped and cheered.
“Yes, Aegislash!” Sam barked. “I knew you could handle it! Now, finish Mimikyu off with one last Iron Head!”
Alice hissed in a breath through clenched teeth, knowing her Pokémon would not survive this next hit. “Mimikyu!”
On her call, Mimikyu ran back toward its trainer as fast as its cumbersomely weighed head would allow. Cartwheeling back toward the field, Aegislash whizzed by Sam and chucked its shield on the way up, sending it spinning down at exactly where Mimikyu was headed. Alice opened her mouth to warn her Pokémon, only for the side of the shield to strike lengthwise down the center of Mimikyu’s back and its disguise’s head.
Upon the shield bouncing off of Mimikyu’s body, the momentum of its run and the strike threw it up into the air, its shrinking form underneath its disguise causing it to float toward Alice before folding messily several feet away from her. Sun, sprinting over to Mimikyu, stood over it for a few moments before he felt comfortable throwing his hand in Sam’s direction.
“Mimikyu is unable to battle!” he declared. “Aegislash wins this match!”
Alice’s clenched fists relaxed open as she slumped over, the crowds surrounding her and her brother cheering the first takedown of the battle. Aegislash turned toward Sam, who squeezed his fist and gave it a congratulatory shake at it. Aegislash happily closed its eye as it rolled up its arm in as similarly a shape as it could make and also shook its fist at its trainer.
A mixture of breathing and muttering sounded throughout the patrons in Benji and Susan’s restaurant, the tension having been momentarily lifted. Susan stared with her mouth slightly agape and in stunned silence as she watched Alice return her fainted Pokémon into her ball.
Benji clasped his hands together, gripping them hard enough to make them shake. “That’s my boy.”
Alice stared at Sam and Aegislash as she put Mimikyu’s ball back onto her belt and moved her fingers onto another one.
“That was pretty well-played,” Alice told him, “but you do know that I can just bring him right back, right?”
Sam crossed his arms with a cocky smirk. “So what, you’re just going to tell me all your plans and tricks?”
“I don’t need to have any plans or tricks in order to defeat you, bro.” With her mind made up, she plucked her next Poké Ball off her belt and threw it forward. “You’re up, Noivern!”
The energy that exploded out from the ball spread out wide until it formed into Alice’s longtime dragon Pokémon, a display that the audience could clearly see and gawk over.
“Unbelievable,” Hau muttered, “both of their ace Pokémon are facing each other now!”
“Thing is,” Olivia mentioned, “Aegislash has already taken a hell of a beating. I doubt this is going to be less of a long-awaited matchup and more of a finishing kill for Alice.”
“Let’s go, Alice!” Pinkie Pie screamed. “You too, Sam!”
Sam looked into Noivern’s eyes, who were tightly focued on both him and his Pokémon. “King’s Shield isn’t going to do much against any of your attacks, is it? I guess that settles it then… Aegislash, attack Noivern with Shadow Sneak!”
Aegislash swung the tip of its blade forward, sending its shadow racing along the ground to come underneath Noivern, something Alice nervously gritted her teeth over.
“Noivern!” she shouted. “Dodge it!”
Noivern waited for the shadow to slip beneath it before it hopped back as hard as it could, getting even further away with a flap of its wings as the shadow blast detonated where it had originally stood. Gliding just above Alice, Noivern beat its wings to get airborne again, once again viewing the spot that it had managed to escape in time.
“Yes!” Alice howled. “That’s what we needed! Now, finish Aegislash off with Flamethrower!”
Noivern swooped over and gained speed as it breathed in. Passing Alice from above, Noivern then shot out a concentrated stream of flames that struck Aegislash at the center of its blade. As Noivern flew closer, the fires striking Aegislash got stronger, the blaze branching off to the sides to keep Sam safe from their blistering heat. Finally, it relinquished its attack just before flying over Aegislash and Sam, flying to the end of Sam’s side of the arena.
Aegislash let out a series of pained grunts as it trembled in agony, a series of blackened scorch marks splattered all over its body. After losing the strength to hold up its shield, it fell to the ground with it shortly after, its cloth arms drifting down like ribbons before laying still. Sun ran back close to Aegislash and observed it closely. With only a few moments of deliberation, he felt comfortable throwing his arm to Alice’s direction.
“Aegislash is unable to battle!” he declared. “Noivern wins this match!”
With the battle now moving at a noticeably quicker pace, the crowd’s cheers became noticeably louder, a fact that Sam could not ignore based on his growing, difficult-to-hide grimace. As Noivern flew back toward its trainer, it flew just over the spectators, further pumping them up and winning them over to Alice’s side. Hearing Alice’s name from some of the ponies around her, Fizzlepop smirked to see such a sudden bout of support for her close friend.
With quick motions and a downward glance, Sam removed Aegislash’s ball from his belt and returned it back inside. He looked back up with a more furious glare upon Noivern landing back in front of Alice right over the small crater left from Aegislash’s Shadow Sneak. Baring his own teeth, he put Aegislash’s ball back onto his belt and then threw out his next ball in the following motion.
“Drampa, you’re up!” he yelled.
The ball burst open, the white spilling out and spreading around just as wide and as long as Noivern’s entrance. With Sam’s dragon appearing on the field, the crowd gasped and hollered in awe before they began to scream with excitement again. Alice faced Sam and Drampa, both of whom looked intensely determined about finishing Alice off. Alice grimaced as her Noivern also seemed to get into it, aggressively getting down lower and ready to make the first attack on its trainer’s call.
“Sorry to disappoint, everyone.” Alice reached back and aimed her Poké Ball at her dragon. “Noivern, return!”
Noivern became incredibly surprised upon feeling the red beam of the ball make contact with the back of its leg, having no time to do anything else before its body was converted into the same red energy that receded into its ball. Even Sam and Drampa broke their angered façades seeing Noivern leave the field. Soon, the same confusion plaguing Sam and his Pokémon filled the stadium, especially those among Sam and Alice’s friends.
“Alice,” Hapu hissed, “what are you doing?!”
“Seriously!” Spike asked out loud. “What is she doing?”
“Sam’s Drampa knows Ice Beam,” Dexio explained. “Being that Noivern is both Dragon-type and Flying-type, two types that are weak to Ice-type attacks, she doesn’t want Noivern sticking around to take on a move it will likely not survive.”
“Whoa, seriously?”
“I think Alice is making a very sound decision here.”
“But,” Skystar butted in, “won’t that mean she’s skipping her turn, or something?”
“Whichever Pokémon Alice sends out,” Twilight spoke up, “it’ll probably be one that can survive any of Drampa’s attacks and still have one of its own that’s strong against it.”
“Which Pokémon would that be?”
Everyone turned back to the battlefield just as Alice reeled her arm back to throw her next Poké Ball. “Your turn, Lycanroc!”
Alice’s ball burst open, and though its entrance from the white energy spilling out wasn’t as large and spectacular as Noivern’s, for the ponies to see a wolf emerge before their eyes was still a sight to behold. Alice also seemed to breathe a subtle sigh of relief that went completely unnoticed to everyone around her.
“And there it is,” Olivia muttered. “Her Dusk-form Lycanroc.”
“And that’s good, right?” Skystar asked back.
She nodded and hummed in reply. “Depending on how hard of a hit he takes and survives, that Lycanroc knows a move that’ll make short work of Drampa. Just watch.”
Sam crossed his arms. “So you replaced Noivern with Lycanroc? Actually, that’s not a bad move at all. If I want any chance of defeating it, I’m going to have to take a gamble here, but I didn’t make it here to play it safe!”
Alice hissed in disappointment, her strategy seemingly seen through. “Then come on, Sam! Let your Drampa show us what he’s made of!”
“Drampa! Attack Lycanroc with Ice Beam!”
Drampa threw its head back with mist spilling out from its mouth before throwing it forward, firing off a thick, frigid beam that struck Lycanroc in the head before it slipped around the contours of its body. Alice backed away from the gales of mist that washed over her, unable to see her Lycanroc past them. With a thick cloud engulfing Alice’s side of the field, more gasping and amazed exclamations emerged from the audience. Once Drampa stopped its attack, the mist began to quickly evaporate and unveil Lycanroc, whom Alice was horrified to find frozen in place with its body entirely frosted over.
“Lycanroc, no!” she screamed.
“Unbelievable!” Gladion gasped, his sister also in similar shock. “He actually managed to freeze it!”
“Hah!” Sam threw his hands onto the sides of his head, also unable to believe his incredible luck. “Drampa, you… HAHA!”
“Amazing!” Stygian puffed. “Drampa may have just sealed its victory!”
“Lycanroc, come on!” Alice shouted. “You can get out of this!”
When her Pokémon failed to respond, she backed away, hardly able to accept that her championship battle could turn out so poorly.
“Okay, Drampa! Let’s try and finish this off!” Sam threw a pointed finger forward. “Attack Lycanroc with Thunder!”
Keeping its eyes on the literally petrified wolf out in front of it, Drampa’s fur began to charge with visible static as the electricity coursing through it began to make it levitate off the ground. Soon, there was hardly a spot on the dragon’s body that did not have bands of plasma orbiting around it. Finally, it roared at Lycanroc as the energy it had pent up shot up towards the sky.
Everyone in the stands, including Celestia and Luna, looked up where the static had traveled, their mouths hung open at a dark storm cloud hanging above the stadium and expanding out. From the cloud, a pillar of intense electricity pummeled down from the sky and onto Lycanroc, the force of the blast shaking the ground and the foundations of the arena.
With the electricity running through the field, static began to flicker on and off the screen at Susan and Benji’s restaurant, causing many of the patrons to moan and shout in worry as it appeared that the signal would be lost to them entirely. Susan and Benji’s eyes widened as far as they could go, fearing this possibility the most.
Almost in an instant, the attack had ended, leaving a tower of dust and smoke covering Alice and Lycanroc in its wake. Alice backed away from the cloud, coughing and gulping for fresh air as she continued to wait out the result of Drampa’s attack.
“Lycanroc?” she softly called out.
Sun carefully approached the dust cloud as it finally began to settle back onto the ground. With them standing the closest to it, Alice and Sun caught their breaths in their throat upon seeing Lycanroc standing up straight and strong inside the cloud. Unsure of the reason for Alice and Sun’s reactions, it wasn’t long before the audience finally got to see Lycanroc still standing strong, the layer of ice covering it now just a coat of moisture. With cheers prompted by Fluttershy, the audience began to cheer thunderously once again. Ember turned back to Fluttershy, who bumped fist to hoof in celebration for their friend’s comeback.
“No…” Sam let out a couple of quiet, dry sobs. “Way…”
Alice pumped her fists as she saw Lycanroc stand in position to prepare its next attack. “You still up to fight?” With a loud howl from her wolf that rung throughout the stadium, Alice blew a calming breath through pursed lips. “Atta’ boy! Now, take Drampa out with Counter!”
Lycanroc sprinted out, gaining speed with each leap forward from the ground. With Drampa still in shock over its failed take down, Sam spun his body over to him, hoping his drastic body movements would be enough to warn his Pokémon.
“Drampa, dodge it, hurry!” Drampa pushed its claws off the ground, throwing itself airborne just as Lycanroc arrived.
With tremendous strength, Lycanroc jumped high up toward its target and leaned back as hard as it could, swinging its back paws up into Drampa’s chin. Disoriented and hurt, Drampa was tilted back, weakly flailing its arms to keep its balance, honking as it failed to do so. Once Lycanroc landed upon the ground, it began to chase after Drampa once again as it got lower to the ground. With another high leap, Lycanroc sped toward Drampa’s exposed belly, flipping forward and jutting its right leg out to drive its paw straight into the center of it.
Drampa let out a final, terrible wail of pain as it was thrown harder to the ground before colliding with a massive boom and crash, shooting dirt and chunks of sod high up toward the end of the arena, nearly reaching the first row of spectators. Though he, along with Sam and Alice, were nearly paralyzed by incredulation, Sun managed to run his way over to Sam’s Drampa, passing by Lycanroc as it sprinted back to Alice. Looking down into the massive ditch left in the wake of Drampa’s landing, Sun hardly had to see much of the large dragon as it laid still and half-covered in dirt, throwing his arm back to Alice’s direction.
“Drampa is unable to battle!” he declared. “Lycanroc wins this match!”
With the cheers crackling on the speakers of the projector, the patrons at the restaurant were glad to join in, raising their glasses or bottles up in toasting Alice’s turnaround. Susan clapped her hands as she breathed in as hard as she could, making a high-pitched squeal.
“Oh my god, Alice,” she suddenly roared out, “you are amazing!”
Benji laughed at his wife’s unquenchable enthusiasm, unable to disagree with her assessment.
“Pretty damn good stuff, Alice,” he spoke with a nod. “Damn fine stuff…”
Applejack and Rarity both stamped their hooves on the stone banister they sat before, completely enthralled by the match and their friends’ fighting spirits.
Applejack then turned to Big Mac, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who screamed in excitement as they clapped their hooves together. “So what’cha thinkin’ of your first Pokémon battle, girls?”
“This is what was going on where you ended up?!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Kind of messed up to say, but I’m totally jealous!”
“Maybe we can have our own Pokémon battles one day!” Sweetie Belle suggested. “But where to get our own Pokémon…”
“I’m sure the possibility will present itself in due time,” Rarity answered, “but for right now, let’s just continue enjoying our match!”
“Sam sure seems like a strong fighter,” Apple Bloom commented as she watched him return his fainted Drampa into its ball, “but this Alice feller sure seems to know ‘er way around a tough situation! Boy, this battle is just gonna’ keep gettin’ more interestin’, ain’t it?”
“Knowing Sam and Alice,” Applejack said, “that’s probably a certainty.”
Sam already grabbed his next Poké Ball, reeling his arm back before lobbing it out in Alice’s direction. “Lurantis, finish him off with Leaf Blade!”
Sam’s ball opened up and shot out its energy, Lurantis falling down from it and nimbly tumbling down the field before keeping its momentum up with a straightforward sprint at its target. Seeing Lurantis once again, Lady yowled in delight as she clapped her paws and both pairs of feelers.
“Come on, Lurantis!” Starlight cheered, trying to match her Pokémon’s enthusiasm.
With Lurantis getting closer, Alice threw her hand in its direction. “Lycanroc, attack Lurantis with Stone Edge!”
Lycanroc barked as it sprung up off its front two paws, thrusting back down and pounding the ground with them. Ignoring the vibrations beneath its feet, Lurantis continued to run until it was caught from below by a rock tower jutting up and into its back, throwing it high up into the air. Worried gasps and murmurs befell the pony audience, who were unsure if another of Sam’s Pokémon had been summarily defeated.
Sam frowned, certain that this wasn’t the case. “Lurantis! Keep going!”
With its eyes shooting open, Lurantis found itself in freefall right over Lycanroc. With a fast twist of its body, Lurantis darted down toward the wolf, who looked up to see Sam’s insect Pokémon approach too fast for it to avoid. With an extention of its arms and a spin, Lurantis slashed both of its scythes against Lycanroc’s head and face, throwing it down into the ground. It took a hard, limp bounce onto its side before settling still.
Sun ran over and spotted both Lycanroc’s motionlessness body and the red marks etched onto its head, prompting him to point his hand to Sam. “Lycanroc is unable to battle! Lurantis wins this match!”
With a third of Alice’s Pokémon down, Sam breathed uneasily as he backed away toward the back of his space, despite the deafening cheers and shouts he and his Pokémon received from both his audience of friends and the sea of Equestrian strangers. As Alice returned Lycanroc into its ball, Lurantis ran back out near Sam’s side, ready to face whichever of Alice’s Pokémon remained.
“Nice work again, Lurantis!” Sam’s Pokémon looked back at its trainer to see him giving it a thumbs up.
Without any fingers of its own, Lurantis settled to nod to him before refocusing on the battle ahead. Alice put her forehead to her ball, transferring her thanks and gratitude to her fainted Pokémon before returning it to her belt. After tapping her fingers along her four remaining Poké Balls, she settled on one that she felt comfortable plucking off and holding in her hand.
“Okay,” Sam whispered, widening his stance, “what’s up next?”
Alice threw her ball forward. “Go, Gyarados!”
The ball opened up, the amount of energy quickly shooting out and forming from it making many ponies in the audience jolt in fright. Upon its features fading in, its scales gleaming in the mid-afternoon sun quickly turned the audience’s fright into wonderment.
“Wow!” a unicorn filly one row below Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie squeaked. “Look at how shiny it is!”
Alice then threw another finger forward. “Gyarados, attack Lurantis with Ice Fang!”
Swimming against the magnetic push of the pads stuck to its underside, Lurantis charged to meet it in the middle.
“Wait a minute!” Flash Magnus questioned. “Why isn’t she Mega Evolving it?”
“No,” Dexio quietly disagreed, “what she’s doing is smart.”
“Huh? How do you mean, Dexio?”
Gyarados dove down at Lurantis and scooped it up in its maw, its frosted fangs pressing down onto Lurantis’s gut where it was held.
Sam grit his teeth on hearing the pain-addled wails of his Pokémon. “Fight through it, Lurantis! I know you can! Now, hit her with Petal Blizzard!”
With its arms still free, Lurantis threw them out to the sides, sending a flurry of bright pink petals out from underneath its scythes which began to blow about in a harsh twister. As the tornado spun faster and faster, the petals began to slice, pierce, and pelt into Gyarados’s body from nearly every point. Gyarados let out a loud growl of immense discomfort, but it still appeared to hold on strong.
“Gyarados in its regular form is a Water and Flying-type. Water-types may be weak to Grass-types, but Flying-types aren’t.”
“So…” Flash Magnus questioned, “they just cancel out.”
Dexio nodded with vigor. “That’s exactly right!”
“Hehe!” The pegasus nudged Mage Meadowbrook. “Looks like I’m catching onto this Pokémon stuff pretty well!”
Mage Meadowbrook smiled and rolled her eyes.
With Lurantis’s attack weakening, Alice smiled as Gyarados managed to continue holding on. “Nice job, Gyarados! Now, finish Lurantis off with one more Ice Fang!”
Widening its jaws just slightly enough, Lurantis attempted to break free from its bite only for Gyarados to clamp its freezing teeth down onto it. Lurantis let out a final high-pitched whine before it leaned back and hung from Gyarados’s mouth. Sun ran up to both Pokémon as Gyarados lowered its head to gently set its defeated foe down in a pile onto the ground.
Seeing enough, Sun threw his hand to Alice. “Lurantis is unable to battle! Gyarados wins the round!”
Applause and screams came from the crowd as Sam reached for Lurantis’s ball from his belt. Mistmane and Starswirl clopped their hooves together as they sat side by side, enjoying the match.
“They both have such incredible command of their creatures,” the wizened mare said to her companion.
Starswirl heartily chuckled. “I hardly think there’s anything commanding about it. Those Pokémon have traveled great distances with these two children and have remained as loyal as the greatest of friends.”
Mistmane continued to observe as the rest of the red beam of Lurantis’s ball receded back inside the center button, Sam lovingly patted the side of it with the device close to his chest. “Hmm… I suppose they are, aren’t they?”
Sam reached back for his next ball, only to be suddenly stopped by the shouts of his sister. “Already halfway down! No Mega Evolutions, no Z-Moves, not even any items! How you think you’re getting out of this one?”
Sam cocked his head to the side as he plucked a ball from his belt. “Guess we’re just going to have to soldier on, aren’t we?” He then sent it soaring. “You’re up, Absol!”
The ball opened up with the energy inside zapping down to the ground like lightning, morphing and forming into Sam’s long-furred white feline Pokémon. Sam then smiled and he threw his left fist down toward the ground, his Z-Ring facing Alice with the Key Stone inside of it glimmering auspiciously.
“So what do you think, sis?” Sam egged on. “Come on! Mega versus mega, no holds barred!”
“You really think that I would do something so stupid as to make my Pokémon suddenly weaker than yours just to see if I can still beat you?” Sam smiled, pushing her even harder. “Because you’re absolutely god-damned right!”
Now smiling wide enough to show their teeth, Sam and Alice both held up their Z-Rings and pressed their fingers onto the Key Stones, bright bands of light shining and shimmering like spotlights across the stands and up through the roof. Uncertain of what was now happening, loud chatter ranging in emotion from fearful to incredulous filled the equine audience.
“Respond to my heart, Key Stone!” Sam and Alice both bellowed. “Beyond evolution! Mega Evolve!”
DNA-shaped tendrils of light shot forth from their Key Stones as they each connected with the Mega Stones equipped to their Pokémon. As the Key Stone’s energy gradually filled both Absol and Mega Gyarados and covered their body in light, the ponies were no less confused than when Sam and Alice had activated the Key Stone’s power.
“Shining Armor?” Cadance snuggled up to her husband as she held Flurry Heart close to her bosom. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t worry, honey,” he cooed, putting his arm around her back. “Just relax and enjoy the show.”
The ponies then watched on as the height of Absol and Gyarados’s evolutions begun, the former’s fur and horn growing longer with a pair of wings flaring out while the latter’s chest expanded wide as two larger fins unfolded out from its back. Finally, the light of the Key Stone shattered off in nearly every direction, the farthest-flung fragment coming within only a few feet of one of the audience members of the front row. With their metamorphoses complete, Mega Absol and Mega Gyarados now faced each other, their glares hungry, intense, and ruthless.
Celestia and Luna leaned in closer, wanting to see the full surface of the arena and the epic match that was about to begin. Lillie gasped to see both Mega Evolved Pokémon out and in front of each other as they were, Gladion himself unable to keep from smiling in excitement.
Silence now fell over the restaurant, the tension formed by both Sam and Alice’s Pokémon forbidding anyone from making any kind of noise. Even Susan and Benji were too awestruck by what they were seeing to make the slightest of sounds, knowing that no part of the battle before this moment would come close to topping what was soon to happen.
Sam and Alice’s friends in the stands sat with bated breath as they could only wait for either Pokémon to make the first move. Sam and Alice stared into each others eyes as passionately as their Pokémon were staring into each others, all four of them ready to give it their very all at this most crucial point in their battle.