The 3rd day of the Canterlot Tournament had eventually come to an end.
And from how everypony was feeling currently, a fast and growing fatigue was getting to them. Luckily, they could rest for the night until tomorrow.
However, from the rate this tournament was going and how intense the battles were getting the further they went on, it was unsure if they could really make it through the whole week. Although, some had better stamina than the others so they could probably carry on either way.
As for the crowd, they either stayed in Canterlot or headed home for a rest. Those that come from Ponyville chose to head back home and sleep whilst those who live further away like in Trottingham or the Crystal Empire stayed over at Canterlot for the night.
Inside of Canterlot Castle, Ash and Pikachu fell asleep in their usual goofy manner. With Ash hanging from the side of the bed and Pikachu lying on his head with both of them snoring.
"Mrrgh...Pikachu, use Thunderbolt..." Ash grumbled in his sleep.
"Pika...Chuuu!" By instinct, Pikachu could somehow hear Ash even in his sleep. As a result, he ended up shocking his trainer, waking him up.
"Gaaagh!" Ash yelled as he fell off the bed with his body smoking. "Ugh..."
"Pikapi?" Pikachu looked down at his partner.
"I'm fine, buddy." Ash groaned. Now that he was awake, he felt like doing something to pass the time until he heads back to sleep. By getting off the floor, Ash and Pikachu took themselves out of the guest room to fetch themselves a glass of water.
When entering the hallways of Canterlot, they came across Luna who was currently grabbing a hold of her Musharna, moving around the place.
"Luna?"
"Pika?"
"Good evening, Ash. As you can see, I'm having a bit of trouble keeping Musharna still. Musharna please, stay put!" Luna tried using her magic to hold down the Drowsing Pokemon, but Musharna kept advancing."
"What's wrong with Musharna?"
"Nothing. It's just that she keeps trying to attach herself on the heads of everypony in here!"
"Sharna!" The Drowsing Pokemon used Psychic to open up the door whilst Luna used her magic to close it.
"Guess this Musharna has a different way of eating dreams. Have you tried using your Poke Ball to bring her back?"
"Of course. But she forces herself out every time!" Luna groaned as Musharna had hovered high up, causing both her and Luna to be airborne. "I require assistance, please!"
"Sure thing. Musharna!" Ash called for the Drowsing Pokemon. "Try eating my dream. You'll be full in seconds." He pointed at himself.
"Musha?" The Psychic-Type turned around, facing Ash. If he says his dream will make her full then its a dream she's willing to eat on sight.
The Drowsing Pokemon attached herself to Ash's head, beginning the dream munching process. "Musha-Musha-Musha."
Ash simply stood there, letting Musharna eat up his dream without any problem whatsoever. And what he said was true. Once Musharna had eaten Ash's dream, she was full up in a second, falling asleep in the process.
"Finally..." Luna sighed, sitting on the floor. "Your dream must be larger than I originally thought."
"Yeah, it is." Ash pointed at his head.
"Pikachu."
"Many thanks for your assistance, Ash." Luna bowed her head.
"Are you all still up?" One pony in particular who was always awake due to her being two in one was Queen Pyrestar. She couldn't fall asleep due to the conditions in her own universe, making it impossible for her to ever get tired.
"Yeah. Just got done helping Luna here." Ash replied.
"In you go, Musharna." Luna returned the Drowsing Pokemon into her Poke Ball. "That solves that problem. Until the next night that is."
"You can always catch a Pokemon with a super big dream, ya know. Like one that wants to evolve super badly. Musharna will be full in a few seconds flat." Ash suggested.
"A fairly good idea, Ash." Luna nodded. "Perhaps I have one already..."
"I know Riolu's probably one of them from how he looked at Korrina's Lucario. But uh...not sure if he would like that."
"Pikachu..."
"Are you two unable to sleep?" Pyrestar asked.
"Well, I woke up from a shock and Luna's just active at night the most."
"Not as much recently. Ever since Queen Pyrestar came to our world, my night time duties have been less frequent than they usually were."
"As they should be. After all, I volunteered to fill in both you and Celestia's duties on my own. With a few exceptions here and there. All for the sake of having you two enjoy life. There is no telling when this world's Grogar might show up."
"No need to worry, Pyrestar. You can count on a lot of us to keep this world safe." Ash responded.
"Pikachu!"
"Such confidence. I wish I had that same level of confidence back in my own world." Pyrestar sighed. "Then perhaps I would have been able to solve the issues of my world."
"Your version of Equestria is suffering since the unicorns are the only pony race left, correct?" Luna asked.
"That is correct. They're unable to perform the same actions as earth ponies and pegasi. And even if they can, they lack the strength. That is why three pony races' exist in the first place. If one or two are taken out of the equation, then it would be nothing but a mess."
"I can't even imagine what it must look like. Especially under Ghetsis's new rule." Luna shuddered. "How long do you believe it will take for you to rebuild your own Equestria?"
"I'm unable to say. I still have not found a spell that can break the seal that is imprisoning the earth ponies and pegasi." Pyrestar shook her head. When she looked over to Pikachu, she realized something. "Unless...there is a Pokemon that can."
"Pika?"
"Ash Ketchum." Pyrestar walked up to Ash. "There is a Pokemon for everything, correct?"
"Sure is." He nodded.
"Then, is there possibly a Pokemon that can break the seal? Or even perhaps restore my land?" Pyrestar pleaded as her voice sounded desperate.
"100%!" Ash gave her hope. "Fairy and Psychic-Types are actually pretty good at stuff like that. And Psychic's aren't even magic. But it's gotta be a super strong Pokemon."
"Super strong? Which ones would categorize as that?"
"Hm. Well, Celestia's Kirlia is super strong, and she hasn't even evolved yet. So she could probably do it."
"That is true," said Luna. "I can only imagine what it would be capable of as a fully evolved Gardevoir."
"But for Psychics...they're all super strong. But one Psychic-Type comes into mind that's always gonna leave an impression on me."
"Which one is that?" Luna and Pyrestar asked.
"Mewtwo."
"Mewtwo?" They both pulled back.
"Right." Ash looked up, remembering Mewtwo. "Aside from Arceus, Mewtwo's the strongest Pokemon there is. I'll never forget those moments for sure."
"Pika..."
"Well. If this Mewtwo Pokemon is that powerful, then could you possibly have it help us? You are friends with practically every Pokemon from what I can tell." Pyrestar commented.
"About that...Mewtwo and I are friends but uh...not sure if he's one to do favours." Ash chuckled nervously. "But, maybe if we cross paths again someday, then maybe he'd be willing to help out. Mewtwo's a good Pokemon by heart. And just wants the best for everyone, ya know."
"He sounds like an honest Pokemon," Luna said.
"Oh, he is for sure. He can be a bit forward and pretty strict, but he's a great guy overall. I just wonder what he's doing right now?" Ash yawned. "Anyway, I'm heading back to bed. See you all tomorrow."
"Pikachu!" Both of them returned to their guest room to continue dozing off, hoping that another electric shock doesn't happen.
"Well. This gives me even greater hope. Ash already bestowed hope to me back at the Pokemon Festival when he made a promise to retrieve my world. And now that I know a that a way to break the seal exists, I am relieved." Pyrestar sighed.
"Ash knows how to spark up hope, doesn't he? One of his many admirable traits." Luna nodded.
"Mhm. It would make sense why you are fond of him." Pyrestar exposed Luna, causing the Moon princess to freeze on the spot. "You thought I wouldn't notice?"
"I-I just admire him greatly! It is not like I am i-infatuated or anything!" Luna stuttered on her words.
"Hmrrgh..." Pyrestar narrowed her eyes at Luna.
"Alright, fine! It was when he saved me from the Nightmare Pokemon. It was also when I started referring to him as Ash instead of Ash Ketchum. It was an evocative feeling. One I've only ever experienced when mother and father were around."
"I see..."
"Please don't tell him that!" Luna covered her face.
"I promise."
Along came the morning.
The golden sun graced the sky-blue skies once more, shining its radiance over all of Equestria with its usual overflowing energy.
Although, the same cannot be said for the ponies in Canterlot at the moment. More specifically, the ones who were participating in the tournament.
Many of them were actually going through a somewhat expected fatigue at the moment. The moment they got off their beds, they felt like going back to sleep immediately.
From all that battling they've been doing, it's all taken a bit of a toll on their bodies. After all, this is far different from their daily routines. Some of them even have important jobs they have to attend to.
The ones who weren't fatigued could obviously continue the tournament, but those who were out of it and low on stamina couldn't.
BigTime Ben had just recovered from his illness, returning to Canterlot to see how things were going.
"Good work filling my role, Gothitelle. We should do it more often." Ben said to his partner.
"Goth."
"Alright. How's every-" Ben's words were put to a halt when he noticed how most of the ponies were currently feeling drained at the moment. Many of them were laying on the couches in the waiting room or even laying on top of each other or the floor. "Oh, what's wrong?"
"Nothing..." A pony grumbled, falling off the couch. "Just a bit...you know..."
"Is it the 4th day or the 6th?" A confused mare yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, dear. A lot of you are fatigued, aren't you?"
"A little bit..." A colt nodded.
"Hmm..." He looked over the sea of fatigued ponies, seeing how some of them could barely stay asleep. "I should've thought this through. Perhaps a whole week wasn't a good place to start for your first-ever Pokemon Tournament."
"Come on, Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash shook the half-asleep filly.
"W-Wha? I'm up." Scootaloo's eyes widened.
"Okay, listen. How about this? This tournament was only to see how far you've come, not really to have a certified winner. So, if you want, some of you can head home if you feel too tired to continue. How does that sound?"
Perfect to the ponies who were exhausted. They took that offer in a heartbeat. This tournament was great and all, but home sounds like a better place to be at the moment.
As such, many of the trainers here had left the tournament, heading back to their homes for a well-deserved rest. Because of this, a huge majority of the matchups had been eliminated. Although, the matchups that were remaining were major ones involving the current best trainers this tournament has to offer.
This does mean that the poor unfortunate souls who have to go up against the Top 3 are in for a rough time. So there's that problem.
News of this quickly spread to the crowd who learned about the sudden decrease in trainers. But they knew it was for the best. Pokemon battling is still something that can take up a lot of their day, completely removing the memory of their other important jobs and activities.
Scootaloo went over to her friends, joining them in the seats.
"Shame you got a bit tired through all of this, Scootaloo," said Apple Bloom.
"It's no big deal..." Scootaloo yawned.
"With how many trainers are left...that means the 5th day's the last day." Ash realized as he did the math.
"Pikachu."
"Well, might as well enjoy it while it lasts." Sweetie Belle shrugged.
The first match of the 4th day would be between two Canterlot ponies and after that, it was Rainbow Dash and DJ-Pon3. Vinyl wasn't fatigued at all due to obvious reasons.
"Bummer that the tournament got cut short." Rainbow Dash sighed. "Oh, well. I'm still gonna get a chance to face Spitfire. So I'm not upset at all. I'm still gonna win this either way!"
An abrupt moment for the tournament with the decline in trainers. However, the crowd was still looking forward to the matches that would come later. There were still enough trainers for today and for the 5th day which would be the final day as the Canterlot Tournament continues.
Chapter 257 End.