//------------------------------//
// Spiteful Battle 
// Story: My Little Pokémon 
// by Amarvax 
//------------------------------//

As the tournament to see how far everypony has come in terms of Pokemon battling continues, the Canterlot Tournament is slowly reaching the end of its first week.

Around the corner, Adagio's matchup was nearing. 12 ponies had gone before with their battles coming to a conclusion, including this current one.

"Nidorino is unable to battle! Mightyena Wins! Thus the victor is Pumpkinboast!" said the referee, closing off this current battle.

"That leaves only 20 trainers left until the end of the first round and the first week of the tournament!" The announcer shouted.

"After this, I might just catch myself one of those Mightyena's," Aria commented.

"If you want, I can help you find one at the Pokemon House. Although Dark-Types aren't very common there." Fluttershy spoke.

"Chikorita."

Meanwhile, Ash noticed that Sonata was somehow looking both excited and nervous. When those two emotions combine with each other, that could only mean one thing. Something major was about to occur. "What's wrong, Sonata?" He asked.

"Pikachu?"

"Mrrgh..." Sonata was shaking uncontrollably. It almost looked like she was about to explode.

"You're acting weirder than normal." Aria winced, raising an eyebrow.

Her constant shaking caused her popcorn to fall on somepony's mane, filling the seats with salty and sweet snacks. The young pony knew that if she said why she was acting like this, it would surprise everypony else. Especially Aria. So that shaking was due to her trying to hold in the truth.

She wouldn't need to hold it in for long as Adagio was about to enter the stadium. Inside the waiting room, Twilight and everypony who recognizes Adagio looked at the siren pony with disdainful eyes.

"Looks like it's my time to shine," Adagio smirked, looking back at everypony who gave her scornful looks. "Get a good look at this Twilight. I'll show you how to really dazzle an audience."

Adagio knew how to rile somepony up with the way she spoke. Especially her snarky tone. Ponies were either showing animosity to her and some were nervous, mostly the younger ponies.

"Somehow, I prefer Suri to her." Rarity whispered to Twilight. 

"Just watch it, Adagio. You'd better not try anything funny." Twilight warned her.

"Hah. Why should I listen to you?" Adagio chuckled at Twilight's warning. Once the doors opened up, the pony behind her had followed, feeling a bit nervous about this since she's going up against somepony who is practically considered a public enemy to Ponyville.

Finally, once Adagio came through those doors and into the stadium, Sonata had spilled the truth in an outburst with a single word.

"ADAGIO'S BATTLING!" She roared. Realizing she had just revealed Adagio's presence to everypony else, she covered her mouth, slumping on her seat. And the reaction was to be expected from her friends. 

The reactions were both shocked and confused. Shocked since Adagio is here and confused on how she even got the chance to participate in the first place.

"Adagio's in this tournament?!" Pinkie Pie gasped.

"You're kidding...right?" Aria was a bit judgemental, not sure that Sonata was telling the truth. But lo and behold, the truth was right in front of their eyes. 

There she was, on the left side of the battlefield while her opponent was on the right. Adagio's presence is only known by a limited amount of ponies. Everypony in Ponyville being that limited amount. Canterlot and the Crystal Empire have zero clues on who Adagio is. They just thought she was another ordinary pony like them all.

Adagio could tell that the ponies from Ponyville were flabbergasted that she was here. As a response, she shifted her eyes to the crowd, giving a confident and cocky smirk to the citizens of Ponyville.

"Eep!" Fluttershy and Chikorita hid behind Audino, intimidated by Adagio's ominous glare.

"What's are you up to Adagio...?" Aria wondered.

Celestia kept a close eye on this particular matchup. After her chat with Adagio during the 40-minute break and giving her the information on how both their mothers knew each other, Adagio was now the pony that Celestia gave all her attention to. Not Twilight or even Luna.

"Let's have a great battle, okay?" A pegasus by the name of Speedriff said to her opponent.

"Hm." Adagio scoffed.

"Both trainers. You may now send out your Pokemon." The announcer spoke.

"Show them what you can do! Breloom!" For Speedriff, her partner was the Mushroom Pokemon.

"Bre!"

Adagio took the Ultra Ball out of her fluffy mane, looking right at it. "All I need is one Pokemon to win all of this." She casually tossed the Ultra Ball forward, sending out none other than the Lissome Pokemon. UB-02 Beauty. Pheromosa

"Pheromosa." The Lissome Pokemon crossed her arms, looking down on Breloom as if he was beneath her.

Once the Ultra Beast had come out, the reactions from Twilight and her friends was exactly what Adagio wanted.

The Mane 6, other than Rarity, were aghast at the sight of Pheromosa. So aghast that they were reminded of the horrible experience they had with Pheromosa back in Manehattan. Memories that they didn't want to remember. How they were beaten, bruised and crushed by the Lissome Pokemon were awful memories to reminisce.

Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were trembling with fear whilst Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Starlight held their breath. The only reason why Rarity wasn't too affected by it was due to the fact that she was saving Coco around the time Pheromosa attacked. But from what she heard, this Ultra Beast made her cautious and weary.

"P-Pheromosa?" Twilight stuttered. Even their Pokemon were terrified. Pheromosa did pummel them as well after all.

"Good..." Adagio was actually feeding off their fears thanks to Pheromosa's presence. That's exactly what I like to see. "Let's show them what we can do, Pheromosa.

"Mosa."

"Battle start!"

"Breloom! Let's start off with-"

"Throat Chop." Adagio interrupted Speedriff's command with no respect whatsoever. With speeds that were difficult to comprehend or even keep up with, Pheromosa left the spot she stood on as her feet were surrounded by purple energy.

And with a swift yet devastating kick, Pheromosa's foot struck Breloom's throat, causing the Mushroom Pokemon to choke.

"Loom!" Breloom's eyes widened. His vocal cords had been attacked without him even expecting it. The impact of Throat Chop was potent enough to flinch a Pokemon since their necks are the last place they'd expected to be attacked at. "Bre..." The Mushroom Pokemon staggered back, falling on his knees. There was a large red bruise on his neck due to the attack.

"Ah! Breloom!" Speedriff gasped. It wasn't just her. Everypony watching this battle was in absolute shock from Pheromosa's brutal attack. It made Tyranitar's early Hyper Beam on Altaria look like a joke.

"Now. Poison Jab." Adagio continued the attack with yet another ruthless move. Pheromosa casually walked up to Breloom, not even running, leaping or any rapid movement. A purple aura had emerged this time as the Lissome Pokemon gave a powerful boot to Breloom's face, leaving yet another bruise on the Mushroom Pokemon.

"Loom!" Breloom had been sent back, tumbling on the ground from the kick. Not only that, but he had been poisoned, unfortunately.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy covered her eyes, already unable to bear this.

"Breloom! Quick! Use Mach Punch!"

"B-Bre!" It's a good thing that Fighting-Type Pokemon are the most resilient Pokemon types of them all. They do not go down easily. The same can be said for Breloom. His fists became engulfed in a white orb as he rushed towards his opposing Fighting-Type.

"Dodge it." With ease and no effort, Pheromosa just nonchalantly moved to the side, avoiding the usually speedy Mach Punch. But in this case, Pheromosa's speed makes Mach Punch look like a joke. "Use Poison Jab to step on Breloom."

Yet another deadly command. Once Pheromosa was beside the Mushroom Pokemon she raised her legs up, smashing them down on the Grass-Fighting-Type's back.

"BRE!" Breloom had been smashed into the ground with a violet stomp from the Lissome Pokemon. With Pheromosa's brutal and destructive kicks followed with her unfair speed, this seemed to be heavily one-sided.

"Pheromosa. Keep your foot there." As if Adagio's commands couldn't get more ruthless. With Poison Jab still active, Pheromosa stepped on Breloom's back with her feet, forcing the Mushroom Pokemon to stay in that one spot.

With Breloom writhing in pain, the poison from Pheromosa's feet was slowly harming his own life. "Breloom! Get out of there by using Quick Attack!"

"L-Loom..." Breloom closed his eyes, scurrying his feet along the ground, trying desperately to break free from Pheromosa's hold. 

Unfortunately, Pheromosa's feet were just that powerful that they could keep a Pokemon pinned down for hours on end. And poor Breloom was just another example of that. Not even the always speedy and useful Quick Attack could save him.

"Mosa," Pheromosa made it worse by adding more pressure to her Poison Jab kicks. The Mushroom Pokemon screams only intensified further. There was nothing he could do to escape this.

"That's it..." Adagio smirked. Her actions were causing a mix of emotions from the crowd. Horror, shock and her favourite disdain towards her. 

In fact, since some of the ponies were showing animosity towards Adagio and Pheromosa's actions, the siren was feeding off of it, getting a sizable amount of negativity for herself. This was her plan from the very start.

And Celestia could tell. She now knew the true reason why Adagio entered this tournament. But there were two reasons that she could spot. The most obvious one was absorbing the negativity from everypony. 

The second one, however, was out of spite. "Adagio...You're taking out all your malevolence and malice that you have against Twilight and using it here..." said Celestia, figuring out the whole thing easily.

With Ash and Pikachu, they had instantly known how this battle was going to end. They remembered a certain battle that occurred all the way back in Alola that had a similar scenario with the exact same moves. Poison Jab and Throat Chop.

"Pika..."

"Finish it." Adagio had decided to put an end to this battle. She didn't come here to have fun. 

"Phero." Pheromosa raised her leg up, preparing to deliver one final Poison Jab to the Mushroom Pokemon.

"Now! Quick Attack!" This was Breloom's only chance of escape. With the last ounce of his health, Breloom moved at blinding speeds, escaping from the Lissome Pokemon's vicinity.

Pheromosa's foot had smashed the ground, leaving a crack from the impact. The Ultra Beast averted her eyes over to her opponent, standing firm.

"Energy Ball!" 

"Breloom!" Breloom's time to strike was now. He had finally gotten the chance to do something. By creating an orb out of nature itself, the Mushroom Pokemon shot the Grass-Type move towards the Lissome Pokemon with all he had.

"Send it back." With ease, Pheromosa had kicked the Energy Ball with her feet, forcing the attack back to the one who fired it in the first place.

"Loom!?" Breloom gasped as he had been hit with his own attack, resulting in an explosion of green energy. 

In an unexpected turn of events and a horrifying display of skill, the result was clear. Once the smoke vanished, Breloom had fainted. But not in the same way every other Pokemon has fainted so far. There were horrible bruises on his neck and back along with some poison oozing out from his body. 

"Uh..." The referee had the exact same reaction as everypony else. But he had to call the battle anyways. "B-Breloom is unable to battle. Ph-" He was having trouble remembering the name of this unidentified Pokemon but Adagio's words flashed him back. "Pheromosa wins. Thus the victor is Adagio."

"That's the end of that. Return, Pheromosa." Adagio held out her Ultra Ball, returning the Ultra Beast. She didn't even stay behind to chat with the defeated pony.

And speaking of Speedriff, she was in absolute disbelief after seeing her partner take a horrible beating. "Breloom!" She flew over to her friend, picking him up from the ground. She could see that he needed to be tended to immediately. That poison was sticking to him like glue.

Returning to the waiting room, the trainers were no longer feeling anger towards the siren. Not anymore. After witnessing that, it was nothing but fear. Adagio's plan played out perfectly and exactly how she wanted it.

She walked past Twilight, giving a snarky look to the now terrified alicorn princess who was still remembering her past experience with Pheromosa. Even if the one Adagio has isn't the same one as before.

"Good luck to all you in the second round. I'll be waiting." Adagio laughed, leaving the waiting room.

"Why that..." Luna was feeling the urge to attack Adagio after what she had done. Her glowing horn was an indicator of that. But it was promptly stopped when Speedriff came through the doors, holding her fainted partner who was currently suffering from poison.

"Can somepony help my Breloom!" Speedriff pleaded. The way Breloom was injured made the pegasus tear up a bit.

"Put your Breloom down here!" Luna commanded. She had just the Pokemon that could handle status effects. Speedriff had placed her Breloom on the floor who was twisting and turning, just wanting the pain to be over with already. 

"Bre..."

"I'm counting on you. Florges." The Pokemon that could solve this was none other than her Florges.

"Flor!"

"Use Aromatherapy!"

"Ges..." The Garden Pokemon had made a pink mist come out of its bouquet-like hair as it coated the Mushroom Pokemon in this beautiful mist. With ease, the poison that was seeping in Breloom had faded away, along with his stamina and energy replenishing. What a move Aromatherapy was.

"Bre?" Breloom opened his eyes, feeling revitalized in an instant. "Loom!" The Grass-Fighting-Type stood back up with boundless energy, itching for another fight already.

"Breloom! You're okay!" Speedriff gave her partner a hug, surprising the Mushroom Pokemon. "Sorry that we didn't win back there."

"Bre!"

"That's been settled but..." Luna turned her head to the outside, thinking about Adagio. "That Adagio pony. What a disgusting way to battle."

"That Pokemon...is that the same Pokemon that attacked everypony back in Manehattan?" Rarity asked a still terrified Twilight.

"Vul?" Vulpix and the rest of Twilight's Pokemon nudged their trainer, trying to snap her out of it. But it was difficult to do so. Pheromosa was a Pokemon that had truly ingrained itself in her head, among with the rest of her friends. Seeing that Pokemon again brought up a traumatic wound within.

"Twilight? TWILIGHT!" Rarity bellowed at her alicorn friend. That definitely made Twilight snap back into reality.

"Wha-" Twilight gasped with her eyes flashing.

"That experience really gave you an upheaval, didn't it? You and everypony." Rarity looked over at Rainbow Dash and Applejack next. They weren't as mortified as Twilight, but the fear in their eyes could be seen.

"It was just as terrifying as it was back in Manehattan...The way it just moves and attacks..." Twilight shuddered. Her shaking was so tremendous that she was even struggling to keep her balance. "Rarity, I-"

"Twilight." Rarity held Twilight's face. "I know you're regaining horrible memories due to that thing. But now is now the time to dwell on it. What you should be thinking about is how somepony could overcome it depending on who gets paired up with Adagio. Ash said it best, didn't he?"

"R-Right..." Twilight nodded gently. "Defeating it...But...What if Rainbow Dash or Applejack go up against it? Their Pokemon might get hurt too!"

"They won't unless we think of something. We have until tomorrow before the next battle with Adagio and her Phero-whatever it's called. You remember its typing, correct?"

"Y-Yes! Bug-Fighting!"

"Good. Then that means if you're most likely to go up against Adagio in this tournament, you'll have to rely on your Espeon for this. And if you don't end up facing her, then Rainbow Dash's Braviary is our best choice." Rarity was being the voice of reason here, encouraging Twilight.

She knew exactly what to say to break Twilight out of her state. The words of encouragement that Ash passed down really had their effects. The young alicorn shook her head, immediately thinking about a way to defeat Adagio's Pheromosa.

"Okay! Thanks, Rarity!"

"That's what I'm here for darling." Rarity smiled. "Now...my turn is around the corner. Just keep thinking about a way to defeat that Pheromosa. I would focus on that ludicrous speed first." 

Rarity walked off, preparing herself for her upcoming battle. Once two other ponies finish their battle, Rarity will be going up against a pony from the Crystal Empire.

With the crowd, many of them were currently chatting and gossiping about the current battle and how brutal it was. That poor Breloom didn't even stand a chance. They couldn't even see Pheromosa's movements at all. But that was understandable. Pheromosa does move at 200km/h. Not many Pokemon can keep up with speed such as that.

"That was horrible..." Fluttershy whimpered.

"I didn't expect Adagio to battle like that," Sonata said. She was expecting Adagio to have fun in this tournament like everypony else. But that was far from the truth.

"Should've seen it coming." Aria, however, knew that Adagio would never do anything for fun. No matter the scenario. She could read her older sister's personality like a book.

"She can't just get away with that!" Pinkie raised her hooves up. "Right, Ash?!" She then turned to Ash, who had a concentrated look on his face.

"Is that why huh?" Ash silently said to himself. Like Celestia, he figured it out with ease. Adagio's battle was to make a point. Much like a certain hated boss from Alola. 

"Pikapi..."

"What's wrong, Ash?" Goh asked.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just curious on the second round tomorrow." He answered.

Celestia watched as Adagio stood outside, away from everypony once more. Seeing that Adagio was aiming at playing with the emotions of everypony here, she couldn't help but wonder if there really was a way to find the perfect balance between ponies and sirens. But that wouldn't let her lose hope. Not at all.

Atop the clouds, Lucien and Sienna had gotten a good look of that one battle. Even they were surprised. Sienna especially.

"Holy moly. That was brutal." Lucien's jaw dropped.

"That poor Breloom." Sienna shook her head.

"Man...When Adagio takes all her anger and hatred out on something it shows. I can only imagine how rough things are gonna get if she sends up facing either one of Twilight's friends."

"Right you are on that." Sienna stood up. "But Lucien...should we tell her?"

"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow. "Tell her what?"

"You know...about how her sisters' fate is much different in the original timeline?"

"Nope!" He shook his head. "Can't have that. The Rift has already decided that Adagio is among one of the most interesting characters in this little world connection. So we can't tell her the truth...Well...not yet at least."

"Yeah, that's right. I'm just a bit scared about what else she could do later on." 

"That's what makes it interesting, right? But I can see what you mean. Let's just keep watching this tournament. I'm looking forward to Luna's battle." He turned his attention back to the stadium, where the next battle between two other ponies was about to take place soon.

A cruel and abhorrent battle has just come to an end. With Adagio channeling all her vindictive and vengeful nature into Pheromosa, the next pony that goes up against her might have the misfortune of feeling her wrath as the journey continues.


Chapter 227 End.