The Canterlot Tournament is currently ongoing.
With the first match between Applejack and Roseluck ending with Applejack taking the victory, 8 other matches took place between other ponies. Once those finish up, it'll be Scootaloo vs Velvetwind from Trottingham. The battles between those ponies had begun, giving the others a lot of time to relax and plan for their upcoming battle.
All the while, Adagio was just lurking in the corner, waiting for her turn to come by. In the lounge, ponies were given a comfortable couch to sit on as time passes by. Outside, you could hear the sounds of Pokemon moves being unleashed along with the voices of the trainers and their Pokemon echoing across the arena. Plus, they could view it on the screen anyways or just head out to the crowd and watch from there.
"Okay. Since Velvetwind's got a Drifloon, I'm counting on you to win it for me, Pachirisu." Scootaloo spoke to her Pachirisu.
"Pachi!"
"Quick Attack won't do a thing. So we're gonna have to rely on Charge Beam and Spark, okay?"
"Chirisu!" Pachirisu hopped on Scootaloo's back, giving her a small jolt.
"Good luck out there when it's your turn, alright?" Rainbow Dash flew over to her fellow pegasus.
"Thanks!" Scootaloo grabbed a cup of juice, drinking it. "Mmm."
"But uh...you might wanna keep a lookout right now," Rainbow whispered to her.
"Why?"
"Twilight and Rarity have just spotted Adagio here. She's joined this tournament too."
"Adagio? The scary siren lady?"
"That one. We don't have a clue on what she's doing here or what she could be up to. Just make sure you stay far away from her, alright?"
"Alright. But uh...why aren't Princess Celestia and Luna doing anything about it?"
"Ah-" Rainbow paused at that response, wondering that herself. Celestia might not have noticed Adagio due to their current locations. But Luna should since they're both in the same spot. "Hold on." She dashed on over to the Princess of the Night, ready to give her the information that was required. "Uh, Princess Luna. We have a bit of a problem."
"What is it, Rainbow Dash?"
"That." Dash pointed her hoof and wings over at Adagio who was just casually sitting on the couch, not doing a thing, just waiting for her turn to arrive.
"...Isn't that the Adagio pony you and your friends have been mentioning lately?"
"That's the one. She's just sitting there all quiet-like. I don't think Princess Celestia's even noticed her joining in."
"Her being completely stationary and calm is a bit unusual. I would expect her to cause some disharmony at this very moment." Luna nodded. "Allow me to speak with her." She took the option of speaking to the siren, meaning that Adagio had more company to deal with. This time, in the form of Luna.
"Hm?" She raised her eyebrow, looking straight at Princess Luna. "Not again..."
"Adagio Dazzle, is it?" Luna spoke to her whist looking down at the siren-pony hybrid.
"Yes...Can I help you?" Adagio grumbled.
"Why is it that you are here? Are you by chance up to something?" Luna narrowed her eyes over at Adagio.
"This question again? I already told your fellow princess and her unicorn sidekick that I'm here because I want to be. Nothing more to it." She slumped on the couch, crossing her hooves together.
"Really?" Luna pulled back, surprised at her answer. "Out of your own decision? Are you sure?" She as a bit sceptical, however.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure. Besides, once I'm done here, I'm off to complete my goal."
"Taking revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends, correct?"
"Got that right. I still haven't forgotten about that. But, there's something else I want to gain out of all of this."
"What could you possibly gain after revenge? World domination?"
"Pssh." Adagio stood up, looking up at the alicorn princess. "That's none of my business anymore. No, I've got something else in mind. Something bigger."
"Hoh? I assume you won't tell me then." Luna was prepared to deal with Adagio since she's basically revealed that there were even bigger plans on her mind. But that wasn't the only thing that she revealed.
"Oh, I'll tell you. I want to make sure you hear this clear as day. I plan to get a wish from Jirachi." She revealed her big plans to Luna, catching the Princess of the Night off guard.
"Jirachi...? You mean the Wish Pokemon?" Luna stammered.
"That's the one." Adagio sat back on the couch.
"Aha! So you plan to have Jirachi grant you a wish that spells the end of Equestria itself! A see-through plan!" Luna smirked.
"Tch. Yeah, right. You'd wish that as the reason why I'd want a wish."
"It's not?" Luna was starting to get more and more confused. Adagio's responses weren't exactly what she expected.
"No. I'll let Ghetsis handle that. He's the one person who knows how to deal with scenarios such as that. Me? I want Jirachi's wish for one reason."
"And that is...?" Luna curved herself forward towards Adagio.
"I want to save my family and bring them all back." The truth had been revealed to Luna's ears. "They say that Jirachi Pokemon can grant any wish, no matter how ludicrous it is. It's the Pokemon I need to fix all of this."
"Wait...T-That's the reason why?" Luna was shocked at her response.
"Of course it is. I want to keep my sisters from meeting their inevitable end and bring back my mother. And I'm not gonna let Twilight Sparkle and her friends get their wish to keep this weird mish-mash of a world intact. You got that?"
"Well...this is certainly an unexpected revelation. But Adagio Dazzle. You do realize that the wish Twilight Sparkle and her friends are aiming for will end up saving you and your sisters. If they can get Jirachi to change the fate of both worlds, then you'll see that you will keep these memories within you."
"Hmph! You don't get it." Adagio scowled at Luna. "Even if these two worlds stay connected, that won't change the fate my sisters have to go through. When I get my wish and when the day comes when both worlds return to normal, we'll start over. The Battle of the Bands won't go the exact same way as before."
"And how are you sure that it shall change? Fate is a mighty and all-powerful force that nopony in Equestria can control. Not even my sister and me. It is perfectly represented by our Cutie Marks after all. Our destiny. Even when the two worlds return to normal, you will be destined to repeat history once more."
"Hoh? You think I don't know that?" Adagio gave off a smug smirk. She knew something that Luna didn't. And she'll never know. "I'm done talking to you. I've got a match coming up in a few hours maybe." The siren turned away from Luna.
"Wait! Are you telling the truth? About your sisters? Will they truly meet a horrible end?"
"Horrible doesn't even begin to describe it. But I shouldn't expect you ponies to know what I'm talking about. After all...I doubt you even have a book that has the full scope of our history." Those were the last words that Adagio spoke before laying on a couch, resting up until her match.
Walking away from Adagio, Luna had been given a multitude of thoughts that were swirling through her head right now. The conversation she had with Adagio did not go the way she planned. In that instance, the words that Adagio said almost made it sound like there was something deeper occurring within. Something that was not out of malicious intent.
Curious about all of this and still worried about the outcome of Adagio's possible victory in the tournament, Luna relied on the one Pokemon who could foresee past, present and future events. She held out a Poke Ball, sending out the Mystic Pokemon Xatu.
"Xatu..."
"Xatu. I need your help. There might be a possible disaster that is just lurking around the corner, waiting to strike. Can you please see into the future for any indication? And Darkrai, please translate for me."
"On it." Darkrai emerged from the shadows, ready to speak for Xatu.
"Xa..." The Mystic Pokemon's 4 eyes emanated a blue and purple light, putting it into a meditative state. With its amazing precognition, Xatu had seen into the future. What he saw was something that was unexpected.
From his vision, he saw the Twilight and Adagio in one spot. Where they were standing seemed to be an unknown collapsing tower that was falling apart. Inside the crumbling tower, both ponies seemed to be horribly injured without any of their friends in sight even.
Xatu couldn't see beyond that, but the last thing he saw was the image of Twilight breaking down into tears whilst Adagio was struggling to get up. Twilight seemed to be yelling at Adagio who had a sneer on her face. The Mystic Pokemon's 4 eyes returned to normal as he had left his meditative state.
"Tu. Xatu." Xatu had spoken to Darkrai, telling him what he has foreseen.
"Really now?" Darkrai's eyes widened, shocked at Xatu's revelation.
"What? What did he see?" Luna asked, curious.
"Xatu saw that both Twilight and Adagio Dazzle were standing inside of a tower that was on the verge of collapsing. Twilight was crying for some reason, yelling at Adagio as both of them seemed injured. And that was about it."
"Oh. Oh my." Luna gasped, shifting her eyes left and right. That wasn't the answer she was expecting. What could this mean? Why was Twilight crying? What happened that caused both of them to be in an injured state? And what tower were they in? Was it located in Equestria or the Pokemon World? "Is that really it?!"
"Xatu..." Xatu gave some more information over to Darkrai to pass onto their trainer.
"Even though Xatu saw into the future, it's possible that it can change. So those events that he saw might not play out or at least, they'll take different paths."
"I see..." Luna bit her hoof. She then began thinking back to what Adagio said about her sisters. Perhaps, it could relate to the vision that Xatu had seen. "Hm. I know what we can do. Darkrai. When nighttime hits and the first part of the tournament comes to an end, we'll both head into Adagio Dazzle's dream to see what is occurring with her mind."
"Got it." Darkrai hid back in the shadows, already understanding what Luna was going for.
"I still have my suspicions but..." Luna scraped her hoof on the floor. "Could she really be doing this out of a good cause?"
As those thoughts continue to swirl around Luna's head and the tournament continues whilst everypony watches and waits for the next batch of rounds to begin, up above the clouds, as always, are Lucien and Sienna who stopped by to watch this whole tournament go on.
"This is some pretty neat stuff!" Lucien grinned.
"Is it? I mean...we're gonna have to sit through this for a whole week." Sienna wasn't too ecstatic about this. Pokemon battling isn't really her thing.
"Lighten up! I've been waiting for something like this! And yeah, it's not the Equestria League but it's a start!"
"Hm. Well since we're really watching this for a week..." Sienna sat down, summoning a Skitty in her hands as she gave it a pat on the head. "Who do you think is the strongest pony trainer?"
"Skitty!"
"Isn't it obvious? It's obviously Princess Celestia. That whole Kirlia event proved it."
"I mean for who's participating in this tournament."
"Oh." He raised his head up. "Well, in that case, Luna. She's got a Darkrai. No way anyone's getting past that."
"Ah. So..." Sienna rubbed her hands together, leaning in. "You think we should meddle in this?"
"Absolutely not!" Lucien raised his voice at her, startling his fellow Rift human. "This is a full-on no-holds-barred tournament to see who's the best of them all! I've been waiting for this ever since the two worlds crossed over! It has to be done without any interruptions!"
"A-Alright..." Sienna smiled nervously as Skitty hid behind her. "You seem pretty passionate about this stuff."
"Of course I am!" Lucien stood up, crossing his arms. "I don't know if you've noticed but...I'm a huge fan of Pokemon battling. When my role as villain is up and done, I wanna become a trainer!" He summoned a Poke Ball in his hand, sending out a Charizard. "It's gonna be so cool!"
"CHAR!"
"You say that as if they're actually gonna succeed in getting Jirachi's wish." Sienna turned to Charizard.
"Well, duh. They're the good guys. There is a 100% chance they're gonna keep these worlds connected."
"Don't say that doofus. That means there's a chance they'll fail." Sienna smacked him in the head.
"Ah!" He held his mouth. "Right! Well then... there's a super good chance they'll succeed!"
"Or it might be Adagio. She seems pretty serious about getting Jirachi to grant her wish."
"Nah." Lucien gave his Charizard a head rub. "By herself, she's already set herself up for failure."
"Yeah. But that's got me thinking. You think it'll be okay if Twilight and her friends get their wish instead of Adagio?" Sienna asked a question that was descending into something huge.
"What makes you say that?" Lucien turned to her.
"I mean...If the two worlds get connected forever, then Sonata and Aria are doomed, right? Wouldn't that mean that they've sacrificed two ponies for something else?"
"Hm. I get what you mean. It'd be pretty messed up actually." Lucien chuckled. "But, what can ya do? Everything good in existence comes with a horrible side effect. Even Jirachi's wishes. Most of the time anyway..."
"I guess you're right. Probably overthinking it." Sienna rubbed Skitty's neck.
"Cheer up. We've got a tournament to watch all week. Oh! You wanna go up against my Charizard?" He nudged her.
Both Sienna and Skitty looked up at the Flame Pokemon and its intimidating stature. "...N-No thanks."
Getting back to the tournament, 6 ponies had already finished their match with one of each heading to the crowd to spectate over the remaining matches.
"It's almost my turn. Let's go over this one more time, okay Pachirisu?"
"Pach! Pachi!"
With Rainbow Dash, she was just biding her time until Spitfire and Daylight Blazer. They were the two ponies she had her sights set on. She had already seen how both of them battle. Spitfire once and Daylight a few times. Her main objective was to see how she could work around their Scizor and Blaziken. That is if they use the exact same Pokemon for the upcoming matches.
"If I use Braviary's Superpower on Spitfire's Scizor, that'll really give me the advantage. But I also went into Rainbow-Braviary, then that means it's a One-Hit-KO for sure! Right, buddy?"
"Braviary!" The Valiant Pokemon raised his wings up in agreement.
"And if Daylight uses his Medicham like before, I can count on Braviary again. But that Blaziken's gonna be a problem..." She thought to herself, thinking of a way around Daylight's ace.
The current match had come to an end, meaning that very soon, Scootaloo's turn was arriving. Two other ponies would be going up against each other next, both from the Crystal Empire. After that, Scootaloo and Velvetwind would be up next.
Over at the seats where the crowd spectated, Pinkie Pie was devouring huge loads of popcorn that wouldn't stop coming by.
"Weird. Where's Jade?" Ash looked around.
"Pikachu?"
"Somepony has to take care of the Cake Twins for a whole week. I'm sure Jade's got it covered!" Pinkie licked the salt from her mouth.
"Achoo!" Sonata sneezed all of a sudden.
"Caught a cold?" Aria snapped her head over at her sister.
"It's nothing..." Sonata grumbled, wiping her nose. "Ugh..."
"By the way...did anypony catch Adagio on the screen earlier?" Aria squinted her eyes.
"Did we? I didn't see her." Sonata shook her head.
"But I did. I could've sworn that she was there..." Once Aria kept thinking about it, the next match was about to start, causing everypony to pay attention.
Over at the balcony where Celestia sat and watched from above, her Kirlia noticed that Queen Pyrestar was moving about the halls of Canterlot with her eyes shifting across every corner of the castle. It didn't take long for Celestia to notice as well.
"Kirlia?"
"Still looking out for any threats?" asked Celestia.
"The Royal Canterlot Wedding ended up teaching my other half a valuable lesson. I cannot turn a blind eye to anything that may look out of the ordinary."
"You're a bit high strung about this. But that's understandable considering which reality you come from."
"I'm more concerned about any Rift actions that may be occurring. The Rift meddling in your reality means that around every corner, its influence can be in the most unexpected places." She made her horn glow, shining it across the hallway, illuminating it.
"Right..." Celestia chuckled nervously. She looked over at her Boundless Cutie Mark and then Pyrestar's. "I have a single question though."
"What is it?"
"This Boundless Cutie Mark. I know that in every universe, one reality has one thing the other doesn't. But is there something similar to this Cutie Mark somewhere in your world?"
"Not at all. A Cutie Mark that owns all other marks from the past present and future is unheard of in my world. It has always been one and one alone."
"Right. So this might really be the only world where it exists. But it's still so odd to me. When Tirek came to steal my magic, the mark had remained along with a small bit of my magic. Not only that, but it was slowly regenerating over time. I can see why Star Swirl wanted to keep any information about this mark a mystery."
"Magic regenerating? That certainly didn't happen with Tirek in my world. Perhaps this Boundless Cutie Mark holds other secrets that you haven't discovered yet."
"Most likely. My knowledge of it is pretty limited. Who knows what else it's capable of..." Celestia looked down at the mark. She continued to watch over the tournament, seeing somepony's Gengar going up against another pony's Nidorino.
The match between those two lasted a good 7 minutes before the winner had been decided. Gengar. Since that battle ended up coming to an end, that meant that Scootaloo and Velvetwind were both up next. And after that, it would be Vinyl Scratch against a pony from Manehattan.
"That's my cue!" Scootaloo squeed as she picked Pachirisu up. "I'm a bit nervous!" She breathed in and out. "But also excited! I'm gonna be in front of so many ponies...but it'll be so much fun!"
"We're up next, Scootaloo." Velvetwind walked up to her similar colour palette pony. "Good luck."
"Good luck to you too, Velvetwind. Sorry if I go a bit overboard."
"Don't worry. You can go all out however you like."
"Goth..." Gothitelle raised her hand up, calling for the next batch of contestants to step forward. It was showtime.
As the two pegasi walked out in the stadium, all eyes from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were locked on to their friend and Velvetwind. After this battle a few more, that'll be the end of the first day of this Canterlot Tournament. There's a guarantee that everypony here will be exhausted for a while. Some already were after their battles.
"Both trainers, send out your Pokemon." The referee called.
"Go and do your best, Pachirisu!" Scootaloo held her hoof out as the EleSquirrel Pokemon jumped off it.
"Pachi!"
"Here goes!" Velvetwind tossed her Poke Ball into the air, sending out, not Drifloon, but the evolved form, Drifblim.
"Drifblim!"
"Wait, Driflblim?!" Scootaloo wasn't prepared for this. She expected the smaller and lighter Pokemon. Not this. Once she took out her dex, she got all the information she needed about this one.
"Driflbim. The Blimp Pokemon. It’s drowsy in the daytime but flies off in the evening in big groups. The raw material for the gas inside its body is souls. When its body starts to deflate, it’s thought to carry away people and Pokémon. There’s a rumour that if you catch a Drifblim floating on the wind at dusk, you’ll be carried away to the afterlife. There was once an incident in which a man took a trip riding a Drifblim, only to go missing. Where do they go? Nobody knows."
"Her Drifloon evolved?!" Sweetie Belle stood up.
"I didn't expect an evolved form." Scootaloo gulped. "But it's fine. It's still the same typing after all. I can do this!" She stomped her hoof on the ground, having confidence burn within her.
With both Pokemon and trainers staring each other down, waiting for the referee to make the call, the Canterlot Tournament continues.
Chapter 222 End!