Manehattan, day.
At long last, the first contest hall in Equestria had been fully built. And it only took a few months.
Built like most contest halls across Hoenn and Sinnoh, this one took up a lot of space in Manehattan. Some renovations had to be done for the city to even fit the building.
And of course, the one pony who was the most excited for this was Sweetie Belle as she came along with her friends to this contest. Which is another way of saying, she woke them all up early and dragged them here.
But, unlike Sweetie Belle's first contest back in Chrysanthemum Island, there weren't two competitors involved in this contest. Instead, there were now more contestants involved. A total of 24 contestants.
"Finally...!" The little unicorn had the largest grin on her face with her pupils expanding. "My second contest! Eeee!" She pranced about whilst looking at the exterior of the contest hall. "Come on! I gotta sign up!" The hyperactive unicorn dashed off, blitzing away from her friends.
"She couldn't wait until the afternoon sessions?" Applejack rubbed her eye.
"Excitement and anticipation never waits for anyone," Ash said.
"Pikachu..."
Once they entered inside of the contest halls, something caught the attention of Sweetie Belle. And it wasn't the interior. Instead, it was a familiar face to all of them.
Dawn was here. Along with Piplup.
She was currently looking through the curtains of the waiting room, seeing the contestants who were present here today.
"Dawn?" Sweetie Belle said.
"Hm?" The Sinnoh Trainer heard her name, prompting her to turn around. Dawn was graced with the sight of Ash and the others. "Ash! Everyone!"
"Piplup!"
"You're here too? Are you gonna take part in this contest as well?" Ash asked.
"Pika?"
"No. I'm just here to spectate. After all, this is the first contest in Equestria, so I just had to check it out for myself. I heard you're taking part in it as well, Sweetie Belle."
"Mhm!" Sweetie Belle nodded. "I've worked hard to prepare myself for upcoming contests. And I'm ready to win my second ribbon!"
"Great to hear. Let's hope that hard work paid off. There are some pretty formidable looking coordinators here." Dawn looked back inside the waiting room.
"It will! Scuse me!" Sweetie Belle rushed over to sign up for this contest before it was too late.
"You all helped her learn some tricks for her contests, right?" Dawn asked.
"Well, Ash helped her with some stuff. Most of it was just her." Scootaloo answered.
"But even if it was all her, she's managed to come up with some amazing tricks on her own." Rarity commented.
"Hm. But I am a bit worried about one thing." Dawn put her finger on her chin.
"What's that?" Fluttershy questioned.
"How'll she'll end up reacting to her first loss." Dawn brought up something major. "I'm just hoping she doesn't take it too badly."
"Well, we don't have to get nervous now. After all, weren't you the one who created the No need to worry catchphrase? Sweetie Belle's gonna be fine." Pinkie flailed her hoof.
"I hope you're right. Anyway, I'll see you in the crowd!" Dawn ran off with Piplup to take her seat whilst Sweetie Belle had just finished signing up, dashing over to the waiting room.
Dawn mentioning how there were formidable-looking coordinators here wasn't an understatement. When Sweetie Belle entered the waiting room, she could see how everypony here had heavily stylized costumes along with Pokemon that are just screaming style.
Despite them being rookies like Sweetie Belle, they all had their own kind of skills and tricks that they are more than ready to show in this contest.
"Ooh..." Sweetie Belle looked around, seeing the coordinators alongside their partners. One coordinator stuck out in particular since she had a Pokemon Sweetie Belle hadn't seen before. Or rather an alternate form of a Pokemon she's already seen.
An Alolan Vulpix.
"Aaah...!" Obviously stunned by this altered Vulpix, Sweetie Belle had to take out her Pokedex to know about this one.
"Vulpix. The Fox Pokemon. Alolan Form. After long years in the ever-snowcapped mountains of Alola, this Vulpix has gained power over ice. It exhales air colder than -58 degrees Fahrenheit. Elderly people in Alola call this Pokémon by an older name—Keokeo. If you carelessly approach it because it’s cute, the boss of the pack, Ninetales, will appear and freeze you. If you observe its curly hairs through a microscope, you’ll see small ice particles springing up."
"Wow! There's still a lot of regional forms that I haven't seen yet." Sweetie Belle went over to the coordinator and her Alolan Vulpix.
"Hm?" The blue-maned earth pony focused her attention to Sweetie Belle. "Oh. Vulpix. You like the look of?"
"Sure do." Sweetie Belle nodded. "It's just as pretty as the normal Vulpix. I wonder what Ninetales looks like when it evolves."
"Great. A good thing to hear." The earth pony smiled. "Meeting you is nice. Fellow coordinator." She held her hoof out as Sweetie Belle noticed how her speech pattern was different from everypony here.
"Uh, nice to meet you too." Sweetie Belle connected her hoof with the other pony. "My name's Sweetie Belle.
"Sweetie Belle? Gelidity. That is me." Gelidity introduced herself. "The Performance Stage. Hope to see you pass through it."
"Same to you, Gelidity. Oh! I better send out my Pokemon then. Out you come." She sent out her Teddiursa.
"Ursa!"
"Alright, Teddiursa. Let's make this count! You're gonna have to really show those judges just how impressive your skill can be, okay?"
"Teddiursa!"
With all the trainers signed up, the contest could officially begin. The announcer was the same woman who's very present during contests. Marian as she was ready to introduce everypony and human here to the contest.
"Welcome, my little ponies and humans to the first-ever Equestria exclusive contest here in Manehattan! And as a bonus, it's live!" She announced. "The winner of today's contest will receive this." Marian held up a newly crafted ribbon. "The Manehattan Ribbon."
"Ooh! It looks like a unicorn horn!" Pinkie gawked.
"Our coordinators are aiming to win a total of 10 different ribbons and earn a spot at the Grand Festival!"
"That ribbon is mine!" Sweetie Belle stomped her hoof.
"Alright then. Now it's time for a word from our judges!" Marian introduced the three usual judges that are just as present as her.
The organized Mr Contesta, the remarkable Mr Sukizo and a random Nurse Joy that comes straight from Camphrier Town in Kalos.
"I've been wanting to see how multiple ponies perform in contests. Especially in their homeworld." Mr Contesta commented.
"Coming here to this world was also worth it since Manehattan does look remarkable," said Mr Sukizo.
"Oooh...did you see how cute the little ponies looked in their dresses?!" Nurse Joy gushed.
"Okay! Without further delay, it's time for our first round! The Performance Stage! And here is contestant number one!"
The first coordinator to come out of the curtains was Gelidity. "Vulpix. First up. That is you." The earth pony tossed the Poke Ball up, sending out her partner.
But when she sent Vulpix onto the floor, a stream of ice came out of the Poke Ball to instantly dazzle the audience with the very first opportunity. The stream of ice then swirled around as Vulpix emerged from it, shattering the ice.
"Vulpix!"
"Oooh!" Seeing this new form of Vulpix for the first time prompted Twilight and the others to take their Pokedexes out.
"Vulpix. Aurora Beam. Use that one."
"Pix!" The Fox Pokemon opened its mouth as a multicoloured orb emerged in front of it. Vulpix kept the orb in place, waiting for Gelidity to make another command.
"Extrasensory. That one next."
"Vulpix!" Vulpix's eyes let out a dazzling blue and gold light as a purple aura surrounded the orb of Aurora Beam. The psychic properties in Extrasensory were manipulating the orb, giving everypony the illusion of the orb multiplying and growing in size.
"Up. Send them up." Gelidity raised her hoof in the air.
The Fox Pokemon then utilized Extrasensory to send all of the orbs into the air at once. They all spun around in a circle with their beautiful aurora lights shining across the floor.
"Release!"
"Vul! "Vulpix released Extrasensory and Aurora Beam at the same time. Once both moves went off, the psychic power of Extrasensory had destroyed the orbs of Aurora Beam, causing a rainbow explosion with stardust falling all over the place.
"Great use of Aurora Beam! Keeping the move in place whilst also using Extrasensory to lift it is a great example of two types working well with each other!" Marian said.
"Vulpix. Splendid job." Gelidity congratulated her partner.
"Vulpix."
"Using the advantages of Psychic moves to levitate and give off an illusion is a nice show of intuition!" Mr Contesta spoke up.
"Remarkable, that's for sure!" Mr Sukizo nodded.
"I can tell how well that Vulpix has been raised if it's able to use two powerful moves with such a small body." Nurse Joy clapped her hands together.
"Oh...That might be a bit tricky to compete with." Sweetie Belle bit her hoof. "But it's fine."
"Psychic moves really do help with contests, don't they?" Ash said.
"Pika."
"It's either that or Fairy!" Dawn raised her finger.
"With skills like that, I'm a bit worried for Sweetie Belle..." Rarity uttered. "And that was just the first coordinator."
"No need to worry, Rarity." Ash grinned. "Sweetie Belle's got some new tricks that'll really stun em, for sure!"
"Pikachu!"
"Okay! Moving right along!" As Marian announced the next coordinator, many performance's had come and gone.
From a Sentret lighting up its white ring by using Charge Beam, a Jumpluff expanding its cotton whilst letting our rays of light from the insides and a Swadloon creating a statue of its trainer made out of string and also using Electroweb to give it decorations. Everypony had something unique to show and present.
It didn't take long for Sweetie Belle to finally have her turn. "Next up, let's welcome Sweetie Belle!"
"Yes!" Sweetie Belle rushed out of the curtains. "Come on out, Teddiursa!" For the Performance Stage, Sweetie Belle chose Teddiursa.
"Ursa!" Once Teddiursa came out of the Rarityball, moon-shaped symbols that represented Teddiursa's own symbol flowed out of the ball.
"Stay cool, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo and the others cheered her on.
"Teddiursa! Use Night Slash!"
"Teddi...!" The Little Bear Pokemon held its paws out, surrounding them in a dark aura. "Ursa! Ursa!" Teddiursa then swung her paws upwards, sending streaks of purple energy in the air. The Night Slashes stayed airborne for a while as they were moving around like razor blades.
"Now use Hidden Power!"
Following up with Night Slash, Teddiursa then used Hidden Power Normal. Teddiursa's body became outlined in a white light as he hit the floor, sending a force strong enough to launch himself upwards.
"Oooh...!" The crowd watched as they saw the Little Bear Pokemon ascend whilst leaving behind a while trail.
"Teddi!" Teddiursa came in contact with the Night Slashes's, waiting for Sweetie Belle's command.
"Now! Hit them all fast with Thunder Punch!"
"Teddi...Ursa!" The Little Bear Pokemon's paws erupted with electricity as it repeatedly swung its paws with Thunder Punch involved.
The speed that Teddiursa was swinging made Thunder Punch send out sparks of electricity all over the place. Not only that but when the move connected with Night Slash, the Dark aura and the Electric volts merged into one, creating a mixture of purple and yellow.
"Let's finish it with one extra strong Thunder Punch!"
"Ursa!" Teddirusa finished things off by using one last Thunder Punch. By striking its paws on the mixed Dark and Electric energy blades, Teddiursa caused the blades to scatter as they each shot out lightning bolts.
The lightning bolts hit the ground whilst having a dark aura around them as Teddiursa returned to the floor, leaving behind a streak of lightning as if it was a lightning bolt itself.
"Have a look at that! It looks like five great thunderbolts are crashing down at the same time!" Marian gawked.
"That's the stuff, Sweetie Belle!" Pinkie Pie stood up. "Woo!"
"It really paid off. Nice." Ash nodded.
"Pikachu!"
"Reminds me of the time I was startled by a thunderstorm long ago! Horrific memory! Great performance!" Mr Contesta exclaimed.
"It gave a whole new look to Thunder Punch that really made move at lightning-speeds. Remarkable!"
"I never took Teddiursa to be that agile. Very impressive!" Nurse Joy said.
"You were great, Teddiursa!" Sweetie Belle squeed.
"Ursa!"
With Sweetie Belle and others impressing the judges and crowd in the performance stage, they all stayed in the waiting room, anticipating the results and who will end up advancing to the second stage.
Sweetie Belle held Teddiursa in her hooves as she sat down with the Little Bear Pokemon. "Here it comes..." Sweetie Belle scrunched her face as she kept her eyes on the TV, waiting to see if she managed to succeed.
"Sorry for the delay! Here are the victors of the first stage!" Marian in the TV shouted. "Here are the results! The 8 coordinators moving on to the second stage!" The TV shifted to a results screen as all the coordinators held their breaths in, leaning forward along with the crowd.
On the upper row, 4 coordinators made it. One of them being Gelidity. And on the lower row, the others were starting to pop up.
One coordinator made it, but Sweetie Belle's face hadn't been seen yet. A second one, but no Sweetie Belle. The third, still no Sweetie Belle.
The young unicorn, her Pokemon and her friends were getting a bit nervous. Sweetie Belle and Teddiursa closed one eye, waiting for the final face to pop up on that screen.
And once that fourth face showed it was revealed that the eight coordinator who made it was none other than Sweetie Belle.
"Whew!" Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief. "Got a bit nervous there."
"Teddiursa..." Teddirusa laid on its back.
"Now, let's shuffle the coordinators and see who'll face off against who in round two! Our computer will give it a random shuffle!" The faces of the coordinators had all been shuffled around in random positions.
Everypony here would be facing off against someone here. And Sweetie Belle's opponent was none other than Gelidity herself. Not only that, but it was also the first matchup on the screen.
"Us two going against each other first." Gelidity walked up to Sweetie Belle. The best of luck. I wish to you and I. Right Vulpix?
"Pix!"
"Same to you!"
Over at the crowd, Rarity slumped on her seat, glad that Sweetie Belle made it to the second stage. "That had no right being so nerve-wracking."
"Sweetie Belle's got this in the bag!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "She's already got the makings of real good coordinator! Though I don't know about contests myself.
"I'll say." Dawn nodded. "Her skills are pretty promising, aren't they Piplup?"
"Piplup!"
"Now it's time to see how much she's improved when it comes to battling!" Ash leaned forward.
"Pikachu!"
"It's time for our second round contest battle! In just 5 short minutes, 8 coordinators will work to show off their most beautiful moves whilst shrinking their opponent's total points as much as they can! Now for our first matchup!"
The first matchup between Gelidity and Sweetie Belle was about to begin as both little ponies were ready to head outside.
"It's Sweetie Belle on one side and Gelidity on the other!" Marian pointed over to how Sweetie Belle was on the left and Gelidity on the right.
"With how she used that Night Slash and Thunder Punch combo, Sweetie Belle's sure to win this!" Scootaloo grinned.
"Yeah, but that Gelidity and her Vulpix have some pretty impressive skills of their own," said Twilight.
"Watch closely everypony...I'll show them all that I'll make it big." Sweetie Belle said to herself.
"You all have 5 minutes, my little ponies. Let's go!" Maria raised her arm, giving the signal as the battle had begun.
"Teddiursa! Go!" Sweetie Belle once again sent out her Teddiursa.
"Teddiursa!"
"Vulpix. Go out there." Gelidity rolled her Poke Ball forward as out came the Fox Pokemon once more.
"Vulpix!"
"Don't mind if we go first, Gelidity. Teddiursa! Use Night Slash!
"Teddi...Ursa!" Just like before Teddiursa swung out purple streaks of energy but this time, it was forward instead of upwards.
"Flip over and shine! With Aurora Veil!"
"Pix...!" Vulpix used its small body as an advantage as the Fox Pokemon flipped over the streaks of Night Slash whilst rolling in the air multiple times. At the same time, Vulpix used Aurora Veil as its body became surrounded in a veil of rainbow-coloured aura. Not only that, but any further attacks have been cut in half.
"Use Thunder Punch!"
"Ursa!" The Little Bear Pokemon rushed in as her paws had been sparked up with 10,000 volts.
"Extrasensory. One both you and Teddiursa!
"Pix!" In a surprise, Vulpix had not only controlled its own body using Extrasensory to stay airborne, but it had also grabbed Teddirusa as well whilst still having Aurora Veil active.
"That Vulpix is strong if it can do three things at once!" Pinkie gasped.
"T-Teddi?!" Teddiursa had no control over its body as she was now floating in the air.
"Ah! Quick Teddiursa! Use Hidden Power to break free!"
"Teddi...Ursa!" Teddiursa curled up into a ball as her body became outlined in white energy. It tried to break free by sending a blast of Normal Energy forward, but Vulpix had them both held firmly in one place.
"Up! Throw Teddiursa!"
"Vul!" Vulpix then used Extrasensory to send the Little Bear Pokemon high into the air whilst still having full control over her.
"We have to break free somehow. Use Night Slash!"
"Uras!" Teddiursa channelled dark energy in its paws as it swung violently at the field of psychic energy. Night Slash being a Dark move worked against the Psychic move that Teddiursa was trapped inside.
The Extrasensory field had shattered with purple shards falling from above like rain. That was also enough to dazzle the audience.
Despite that, Sweetie Belle had lost more points that Gelidity, who had lost little points due to how her Vulpix was performing.
"That Vulpix has full control over Teddiursa with Extrasensory!" Apple Bloom bit her hoof. "Teddiursa hasn't landed a hit in yet!"
"Okay! Aurora Beam! Go for that one next!"
"Vul..." Vulpix charged up Aurora Beam as it kept its focus on the Little Bear Pokemon.
"I don't think so! Thunder Punch on Aurora beam, go!"
"Ursa!" Teddiursa came falling from above whilst also charging up its paws with electricity. Both Pokemon looked like they would enter a clash as Vulpix fired a beam that looked like an aurora from its mouth.
"Pix!"
"Teddiursa!" Teddiursa's paw of lightning connected with Aurora Beam as an electric and rainbow shockwave emerged from the clash.
"Push through, Teddiursa!" Sweetie Belle leaned forward.
"Teddi..." The Normal-Type clenched her teeth as she was trying her very best to break through the Aurora Beam.
"Apologies!" Gelidity bowed her head. "Extrasensory! Force Teddiursa in it!"
"Vulpix!" Yet another surprising command from Gelidity who never fails to amaze. Vulpix controlled Teddiursa once more with its mind.
But this time, Vulpix forced Teddiursa to fly into Aurora Beam, making her paw that had Thunder Punch slip. "Teiddursa?!"
Before she knew it, Teddiursa had been engulfed by Aurora Beam as a beautiful rainbow connected with the ceilings itself.
"Teddiursa, no!" Sweetie Belle gasped.
"Ursa...!" Teddiursa fell from above as she tumbled on the floor. "Ur!"
"Are you alright?!
"Teddi...!" The Little Bear Pokemon had one eye closed as she got up from the ground as her body stung from that Aurora Beam and Extrasensory combo. She looked over at Vulpix, seeing how the Fox Pokemon hadn't been touched once. Teddiursa felt a drive to at least get one hit in, but unfortunately, that combination move was enough to cause her to faint. "Ursa..."
"That's all she wrote! Forcing Teddiursa into Aurora Beam was both beautiful and fierce at the same time!" Marian announced. "And with that, Gelidity and Vulpix are on to the third round!"
"Vulpix!"
As the crowd cheered at that amazing display, Sweetie Belle froze for a moment as she had just realized that she lost this contest along with Teddiursa.
"I...lost?" She said to herself.
"This is what I was afraid of..." Dawn said. "But how will she take it?"
"Oh, Sweetie Belle." Rarity shook her head, devastated that her little sister had lost her second contest like that.
Normally, Sweetie Belle would break out into tears after losing this match. However, with her experiences with Rainbow Dash's third Gym battle and her friend from Trottingham Velvetwind, Sweetie Belle managed to power through and understand that at times, you just can't win them all.
As a result, she held back the tears and went over to Teddiursa. "Nice work, Teddiursa. Bit overwhelming wasn't it?" She picked her up.
"Ursa..." She nodded in agreement.
"That's how it's done." Ash was proud of Sweetie Belle for taking the loss so well. "Great job, Sweetie Belle!"
"Pikachu!"
"I'm so glad to have such a strong-hearted little sister!" Rarity was the one who ended up breaking into tears.
"Gelidity. Good luck in the finals." Sweetie Belle said to her opponent.
"Luck. We'll have it all. Sorry for beating you. I apologize." Gelidity bowed her head.
"No need to worry. This just means I have a lot to work on after all. I'll be back with better skills and I'll for sure meet you in another contest!"
"Teddi!"
After that, Sweetie Belle called it a day. The other battles carried on with coordinators emerging victorious. But the true winner of this entire contest was none other than Gelidity. The Manehattan Ribbon now belonged to her officially.
"Here you go. A marvellous job well done!" Mr Contesta gave out the ribbon to Gelidity.
"Shiny...Very shiny." Gelidity gawked as she took the ribbon, gazing at its glory.
"You and your Vulpix were remarkable!" Mr Sukizo nodded.
"And we all look forward to seeing you in the next contest here in Equestria, Gelidity," said Nurse Joy.
"Many thank you's!" Gelidity bowed.
"And that wraps up the very first contest in Equestria! Thanks to you all for coming by for all the fun and excitement! And we'll be keeping a sharp eye for you in the next contest!" Marian bid her farewells as everypony and human here had left the building.
Sweetie Belle looked at Teddiursa's Poke Ball, already planning on ways to improve herself in the next contest she partakes in.
"It's great that you're not beat up by it, Sweetie Belle." Apple Bloom said as she and Scootaloo walked beside her.
"Mhm. Seeing you all have your bad days really made me prepared for something like this." Sweetie Belle squeed. "Like all of you, I just have to improve. But uh...it might mean I have to stay up at night again. A bunch of times."
"Or..." Dawn suddenly stopped walking. "I can help you."
"Huh?" Sweetie Belle turned around to Dawn. "You...help me?"
"Mhm. I'm pretty well-versed in Pokemon contests, ya know." Dawn said with a confident grin and her hand on her hips. "When you're not in the Pokemon School learning from Fantina, you can come and visit me and I'll be glad to help!"
"That's great! Thanks, Dawn!" Sweetie Belle jumped up in joy. "I get to learn from two experts now! Where can I find you?!"
"You can just call me anytime with the Xtransceiver. And I'll be there."
"Piplup!"
"Gotta get going now! See ya!" Dawn ran off as she waved goodbye to the others along with her Piplup. As Sweetie Belle and the others waved back, they all made their way back to Ponyville as soon as they can.
Sweetie Belle may have lost the Manehattan contest, but it's that loss that'll drive her to improve in the near future. With the Pokemon Contests established in Equestria, she would have to expect many coordinators who are skilled in their own way, much like the formidable and untouchable Gelidity as the journey continues.
Chapter 280 End.