//------------------------------// // The seeds of enjoyment // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The second Pokemon Festival is currently underway. With only 20 minutes passing by, humans, ponies and Pokemon are already enjoying themselves. A whole 2 weeks of this sounds good to them. With all the groups going on their own little adventures in the festival, it can be hard to keep up with it all due to how gigantic it is. And this is just Canterlot. Scootaloo's group being the more adventurous group out of the others arrived at one of the many attractions plastered across the festival, specifically the ones in Canterlot at the moment. Or rather, it couldn't be seen as an attraction, even though it was. The attraction that they had decided to take their interest in was something known as the Pokemon Camp. "Pokemon Camp?" Scootaloo said as she and her friends gawked at the sight of this attraction. "Hm." Sweetie Belle looked over to see what this Pokemon Camp was all about. "Curry-Cook-Off? What's that?" "I think it's that." Diamond Tiara pointed her hoof over at a table full of the bizarre food known as curry. Bizarre to them at least. "Looks tasty but..." "Can we even cook?" Silver Spoon said. "Says here we don't need to know how to cook." Sweetie Belle read the instructions. "It's pretty simple. Just toss the ingredients inside, fan the flames, stir and...pour all your heart into it?" "Well, if it's that easy, I wanna know what that stuff tastes like." Scootaloo went up to the table. She looked at the curry as she got a good whiff of it. It was already making her hungry as she almost took a bite out of it. "Ey." The man running the curry stand grabbed her attention. "If you wanna eat it, you'll have to cook it first." "Oh, sorry." Scootaloo backed up. "You five. You interested?" "Mhm!" They nodded in unison. "Well, in that case, you can take part in the cook-off. If you want, that is. No pressure." "Oh, sure! If it's that easy to just make some curry, I'll take it!" Apple Bloom slid past her friends. "Hah! Then you'll have to bring your A-Game. Cause you'll be going up against someone who's been doing pretty well in this even though she just started." "Who?" They asked. "Her." The man pointed over at a very familiar face to all five of them. That familiar face was the pony from Manehattan. Babs Seed. "Hm?" Babs shifted her attention to the five of them whilst having some curry in her mouth. Right beside her was what seemed to be her partner Pokemon. A Chespin. "Babs?!" "Mrrmph!" Babs had a mouthful of curry, rendering her unable to speak at the moment. "Mrrmpmrp!" "W-We can't understand you." Apple Bloom shook her head. "Mrrr!" Babs closed her eyes as she swallowed the entire curry down, gasping afterwards. "Aah...I said how ya doing?" "Oh great! Wait, you're in this too?" "She sure is." The man replied. "It's only been 12 minutes since she started and she's already a natural. This curry right here is her's." He pointed at the curry. "It's pretty easy and nice, ya know." Babs nodded her head. "But I kinda learned a thing or two about cooking back home too." "Chespin!" "They weren't kidding when they said so many familiar faces would be here." Diamond Tiara whispered to Silver Spoon. "Oh. Well if that's easy, let's get started! What do we use?" Sweetie Belle looked around. "Right there." The man guided them towards a large cooking pot. "Curry is a great delicacy in the Galar Region. We couldn't go a day without it!" "Hm?" Scootaloo noticed that there were a plethora of various ingredients used for the curries. The most common were berries of all kinds. "This stuff is used to make curry?" "Oh yeah. All the ingredients you need are here. And each one of them can make something interesting." The man picked up a bag of pasta. "For this contest, you'll have to shoot for the highest class." "The highest class?" Apple Bloom turned to him. "Mhm. There are 5 classes. Koffing Class. Wobbuffet Class. Milcery Class. Copperajah Class. And the big one, Charizard Class. Depending on how good your curry is, that's the class it'll be determined by." "Oh, so you're gonna taste them and judge them?" Silver Spoon said. "Nah. You and your Pokemon are the judges. You're each gonna have to make some curry and let your opponents eat it to let them judge. That's how it goes." "I tasted a bunch of 'em and a lot of 'em weren't all that." Babs shook her head. "But mine tasted pretty good. Check it out." Babs held out a Copperajah Class medal, showing how good her cooking was. "Oooh!" They all gawked at it. "I'm trying to get that Charizard Class medal. So I'm gonna keep cooking until I get it!" "So. Now that you know how it goes, you all ready to compete against each other?" "Yeah!" They all shouted in unison, ready to get this cook-off started. All of their Pokemon had been sent out since the Pokemon are the judges as well. They all gathered up on separate tables with no teams. The CMC couldn't partner up in this so they had to go against each other for once. They each grabbed themselves their own ingredients that they believed would be very effective and delicious and would surely get them either a Copperajah Class medal or a Charizard Class medal. Scootaloo chose a boiled egg as her main ingredient. Apple Bloom chose a fancy apple. Sweetie Belle went for a salad mix. Diamond Tiara selected a large leek. Silver Spoon decided on mixed mushrooms. And finally, Babs chose instant noodles. "I want some spicy food!" Scootaloo then held up some Cheri Berries. Simple berries that are easy to use even for novice cooks. It's spicy hot taste is addictive. Scootaloo dumped the berries into the stew whilst her Pokemon watched. Ponyta, Cyndaquill and Horsea were looking forward to tasting something hot, but Pachirisu, not so much as the EleSquirrel Pokemon was trembling. "Is this berry sweet, spicy or sour?" Diamond Tiara looked at a Lansat Berry. A very rare berry that is said to bring joy. It has an intriguing flavour that makes it distinct. "Oh well." She tossed it in the pot anyway as her Purrloin watched. "Granny told me that sweet's always the way to go!" Apple Bloom chose some Papaya Berries. A berry with a sweet flavour and juicy fragrance. The rounder the berry swells, the sweeter and juicier it gets. "Hm..." Sweetie Belle was looking at what some might consider the rarest berry of them all. A Starf Berry. A berry that's considered a myth. It's said to have extremely strong power. Its delicious flavour is otherworldly. Not knowing what this berry was capable of, she tossed it inside anyway out of curiosity. Speaking of curiosity, Silver Spoon used Enigma Berries as her extra source of ingredients. The enigma berry is rare and a completely enigmatic berry. It doesn't have a specific set taste as it's always random. "Works for me!" She slammed it in the pot. As for Babs, she went for the Babiri Berry. A berry that's incredibly hard and spicy. It was used as medicine in the past. They all placed their final ingredients inside, finalizing their decision. Now it was time to fan those flames. "Ponyta. Cyndaquill. Ember." Scootaloo chose her Pokemon to start the fire. The two Fire-Types sprayed out flaming projectiles onto the rocks beneath the cooking pot as a fire started to boil from underneath. Everypony else just used traditional fire to start it up. To fan the flames, they would use a giant Magikarp fan to do so as they used their mouths to move the fan. Although, Sweetie Belle used her magic instead. Most of them weren't sure how fast they were meant to fan the flames to really make the curry pop, so they either went a very slow pace or just moved like lightning. Babs knew what she was doing so she fanned the flames at a medium and perfect pace. Scootaloo wasn't sure if she was doing it right. Fanning the flames whilst using her mouth was a bit tricky, especially if she's trying to focus. She looked at her flames and decided that they weren't big enough. "Hmm..." Scootaloo dropped the fan. "Needs more fire maybe. "Ponyta. Cyndaquill. Another Ember." "Pony...?" "Cynda?" Ponyta and Cyndaquill looked at each other, unsure if more fire was the right decision. But, they listening to their trainer anyway as they added more fuel to the fire by shooting Ember. The flames underneath began to rage as they grew in size, causing Scootaloo to back away. "Oh, yeah! That'll do!" Scootaloo then began fanning the flames as fast as she could. As for the others, Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon had reached the stirring stage. They bit onto the stirring stick to hold it in place, although, it was going to be a bit tricky to stir the stick due to them being smaller than the pot. "Glameow." Silver Spoon's Glameow used her springy tail to help her trainer up so that she can stir at the right height. "Thanks, Glameow!" "Emol!" Emolga picked Apple Bloom up, allowing her to stir whilst Emolga floats in the air. "Good thinking, Emolga." Sweetie Belle reached that stage but all she had to do was use her magic. And even if her magic wasn't strong enough to stir, her Espurr will help her out with its own psychic capabilities. Scootaloo, however, was going to town on the pot by rapidly stirring the pot faster than all of her friends. She was stirring so fast that some of the stew flew out as Pachirisu jumped up to taste it. "Pachi!" The rest of the flying stew managed to end up inside of everypony else's pot without them even noticing. The curry they were all making attracted many of the ponies nearby. It had pulled them all in like magnets as the ponies were intrigued by this beautiful scent. Some of them being Pinkie Pie and her Slurpuff's with their very sensitive noses. The ponies had stopped what they were doing to come and see if they could get a bite out of these curries. "Oooh! Watcha doing?!" Pinkie bounced over to Scootaloo's pot. "Making curry! I need a ton of focus right now!" Scootaloo was stirring at an aggressive speed as some of the stew got on Pinkie's face. The pinky pony licked it, getting a quick taste of what the full thing might be like. "Mmmm! Can't wait!" The ponies stood by, watching the six of them make their curries as they were already feeling the urge to eat some, even if they weren't competing. 12 minutes later, after fanning the flames and stirring the stew, and apparently pouring a ton of heart into it, however that worked, the five curries had been made. Scootaloo made a Spicy Boiled-Egg curry. The spicy taste of the curry roux helps to bring out the abundant umami in the egg. One of the ultimate curries. Apple Bloom made Sweet Apple Curry. The meeting of sweet curry roux and sweet apple. The sweetness strikes the tongue and heart so profoundly, it leaves the individual feeling almost numb. Sweetie Belle made what seemed to be ordinary Salad Curry. But due to the strange nature of the Starf Berry, it was unknown what it might taste like. The same can be said for Silver Spoon's curry. Thanks to the Enigma Berry, her Mushroom Medley Curry was unpredictable. Could it be spicy, sour, bitter, dry? There was only one way to find out. Diamond Tiara had made some Leek Curry. Thanks to Lansat Berry, it was now Spicy Leek Curry. The fruit-like sweetness of the savoury grilled leek creates an exquisite balance with the spicy curry roux. And finally. Babs made some Spicy Instant Noodle Curry. A taste preferred by young people. The spicy curry roux and the instant noodles create an unexpectedly good match. "Ooh, these look good." The man observed. "What does everyone else think?" "Mhm!" The crowd nodded as they were drooling by the mere sight of these curries. They wanted to taste them so badly right now. "Now that you've made your curries, it's time for the taste test. Swap your dishes around and grade each other. Everyone else can have a taste later." "Alright. I'll give you mine." Sweetie Belle swapped with Scootaloo's, Apple Bloom swapped with Diamond Tiara whilst Silver Spoon swapped with Babs Seed. At the same time, they took deep breaths, feeling a bit nervous about what each of these dishes could taste like. They could either be wonderful and enchanting, mediocre and average or downright horrendous. For them to physically eat, Sweetie Belle could easily use her magic whilst the others would have a bit of trouble. Luckily, they had their Pokemon to help. Glameow used her springy tail to hold the spoon and scoop up the curry as the others did the same. At least, the ones who could stand in a bipedal position. And if that didn't work, Sweetie Belle's Espurr had their back with its psychic levitation. By having the curry near their mouths, they collectively took a bite out of their curries. Although, they did have alternative approaches as some decided not to use the spoons. The first to experience true bliss was Silver Spoon and Glameow who instantly fell in love with Babs' curry, showing just how good she was at this. "Mm!" Silver Spoon began going to town on the curry by rapidly slurping up the noodles. "Glam! Glameow!" "Hm..." Sweetie Belle noticed that Scootaloo's curry had a bit of heat coming out of it. It was probably from either the effects of Ember or the Cheri Berries. She scooped up the egg curry, seeing that spoon was melting. Quickly, she bit the egg along with her Pokemon. And the result was as expected. The moment her taste buds responded to the curry, Sweetie Belle's face suddenly turned red in a heartbeat. "M-Mmmm!" She whimpered as she was sweating bullets along with her Pokemon. "HOT!" She breathed fire from her mouth, torching the face of the man. Her Pokemon experienced the same thing as the aggressive heat of Ember and the Cheri Berries revealed themself. But despite that, it was still pretty delicious either way. The other experiences were fairly normal. Diamond Tiara chomped the apple in front of her without having to rely on a spoon. The apple curry Apple Bloom made was almost comparable to the apples back at Sweet Apple Acres. But they were a bit lacking as the sweetness was too much. Despite that, it was still pretty good. "Mmhmm!" Apple Bloom looked down at the leek curry on the spoon, seeing how the effects of the Lansat Berry were almost melting the leek itself due to its spicy nature. It was best to eat it quickly before it all melts. And that's what she did. She had never eaten a leek before, considering that this leek belonged to a Galarian Farfetch'd due to its large size, so when she did, she found herself a brand new favourite food to eat from now on. "So good..." Apple Bloom slumped on the table, chewing the rest of the leek. She then ended up devouring something as large as the leek as if she was a bird gulping down its food. Babs enjoyed the mushrooms by slamming her face onto the plate and scarfing it all down with ferocity. Her Chespin was a lot like her in which he did the same. Both of their faces were now a mess. "Pretty good!" "Pin!" And finally, Scootaloo, who slammed the table, causing the salad to fly into the air. She opened her mouth wide, letting the salad fall into her mouth like some sort of mailbox. When she ate the salad, the effects of the Starf Berry kicked in. For a split second, Scootaloo could feel her mind accelerate along with her eyes suddenly flashing repeatedly. From her reaction, it was safe to say that the salad was great. But the question was, how would they rank each of them? Each of the 5 classes will dictate how good the curry truly is. Koffing for downright bad. Wobbuffet for decent. Milcery for pretty good. Copperajah for great. And Charizard for outstanding. "So...what are your decisions?" The man asked as everypony leaned in. They wanted to know the quality of the curries so that they could taste the right ones when they get the chance. "Well, Scootaloo's was hot but pretty good. I'd say it's Milcery Class!" Sweetie Belle ranked it. "That apple curry from Apple Bloom wasn't as good as Sweet Apple Acres's apples, but just as sweet. Even if it's too much. I'd give it a Wobbuffet Class." "Sweetie Belle's salad was uh...it was something." Scootaloo nodded. "But great! That's a Copperajah from me!" "I ain't a fan of mushrooms. But...That one was kinda neat. I'd say Milcery." Babs had her say. "Well, I don't know about all of you...but those noodles...were soo good..." Silver Spoon was starting to melt as she laid on her back. "Charizard Class...Easy." "It's that good!?" The rest of them exclaimed as Babs had a proud smile on her face. "What a natural." The man picked up Babs. "With curry skills such as that, you could make it big in the Galar business one day, kid." "Really? Yeah!" Babs hopped on the man's shoulder. "Chespin!" "Enough chit-chat!" PInkie suddenly yelled as she and the ponies had some dinner napkins on. "Slide them over. I wanna taste one so badly right now!" "Alright, alright. You can have the leftovers. And if any of you are interested in making your own, just ask." By being introduced to the potential of Pokemon Camp, they all found something to occupy themselves as they were each eager to try new curry recipes. Back at the streets where the lively parts of the festival are, Roxanne, Brawly and Roxie with her band were about to indulge in some music with Roxie being their teacher. Roxie gave Brawly some drum sets whilst Roxanne received a guitar like Roxie's. Brawly had some experience with drums when he was a child. Although, he only played them for 8 minutes and afterwards he just gave up and focused on exercising. Roxanne is a complete novice to playing the guitar. She was a very sophisticated person who has spent her entire life teaching others about Pokemon whilst participating in Gym Battles against upstart trainers from Hoenn. A guitar is the last thing she'd ever play, but here she was. "How does something like this work...?" Roxanne looked at the guitar strings. "Don't even worry about it," Roxie said. "I'm already worried about it. Is there any criteria I should follow?" "Criteria?" Roxie raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Criteria. That's always important when learning something new." Roxanne nodded as her teacher side was showing. "Ugh...I guess tone quality, weight, shape and neck size is pretty important. So us girls pick ones with thinner necks. But ah, what do I know? I was a natural when I picked up my first guitar!" "...Were you now?" Roxanne squinted her eyes. "But who cares about appearance. It's all about the energy!" Roxie raised her fist into the air. "But you know, you can just start with the first two chords, that's cool too. In just 10 minutes, you'll be rocking out like me and my band!" "You honestly expect me to make a rock song in just 10 minutes...?" Roxanne grumbled. "Alright." She made her first attempt. By placing her fingers on the E chord, the first sound that came out of the guitar was not great at all. It didn't sound right and was completely off. "Hold on!" Roxie dashed over, tuning the guitar with a guitar tuner. "Okay, go." "Hm." Roxanne made another attempt. This time, when her fingers went across the six strings from the thinnest to the thickest. By interacting with the frets, the sound that Roxanne was making ended up being below average at best. It sounded like thunder rumbling as any nearby humans, ponies and Pokemon got a sudden chill through their bodies. "Eeugh..." Brawly winced. "Hmmm...!" Roxie puckered her lips as she observed Roxanne's finger movements. Roxanne herself was already aware of how dry her music sounded, and she would just give up here. However, Roxanne's nature did not allow her to stop. Roxanne can be seen as a go-getter at times. When she says that she can do something, she will spend hours trying to show everyone that she can achieve whatever goal is in front of her. So Roxanne didn't stop playing the guitar as she put all of her focus into getting it right. Roxie didn't even try to stop her. Because she saw how much passion and effort she was putting into it. "What was that you said again? It's all about energy?" Roxanne growled as she followed Roxie's simple and short instructions. "I'll show you energy!" All of a sudden, the usually composed and calm Roxanne was beginning to act like a full-on rocker. "Ooh..." Roxie's eyes flashed as she was starting to see great potential. "It's always the calm ones isn't it?" Brawly said under his breath. Roxanne was completely in the zone now. Her practice turned into something personal as she was starting to create better sounds now. The sounds coming from the guitar were actually somewhat decent. Decent enough to get Roxie moving a small bit. "That's it! You're doing great!" Roxie exclaimed as she was feeling the passionate energy from Roxanne. Unfortunately, even if she was displaying impressive skills that have yet to reach their full potential, Roxanne could only keep it up for so long. "Ow!" She chipped her fingernail as she finally stopped playing. "Oh..." She looked at her nail, blowing on it. "That was pretty neat!" Roxie slid behind Roxanne, putting her arm around her neck. "It was?" Roxanne turned her head to Roxie. "Oh yeah!" She gave a thumbs up. "I thought I was a natural when I was a kid. But looks like you've also got some natural guitar talents as well. Pretty neat." "Right." Brawly nodded. "I didn't think you'd have that much energy boiling inside of you." "Hmph. Well, of course, I have that much energy. I may be composed but I am still a Pokemon Trainer after all. We need strong energy from the get-go." "Right on that." Roxie grinned. "Wanna have another go? And if you get super good, I could let you join my band." "Join? I'm not fit for a metal band actually..." "You'll come around." Roxie went back to her guitar. "Now come on. Brawly. Get ready to play those drums." "I thought you would've forgotten..." Brawly sighed as he went over to the drumset. Some smooth progress was being made thanks to Roxanne's surprisingly decent guitar skills that she has yet to release. Back with Ash and Rainbow Dash at the Canterlot Gardens, they were watching as Soarin was finishing up his battle against the colt he was going up against. Long story short, he beat the colt who failed to achieve the 5th Gym Badge. "Good try, buddy." Soarin gave the colt a pat on the head. "But maybe next time, you'll get it." "Okay! Thanks!" The colt spread his wings out as he flew off, leaving the Canterlot Gardens. "Alright, Dash. You're up." Soarin turned to Rainbow Dash. "Alright!" Rainbow Dash flew off the bench she sat on. "I've been waiting for this! Let's make this a good one, Soarin!" "Woah, slow down! My Pokemon need to rest first." "Oh. Sorry." Rainbow Dash landed down. "Out you all come." Soarin had sent out all of his Pokemon, which consisted of Corviknight, Snover, Archeops, Buizel, Torkoal and Boltund. Soarin let them all have a break to recover themselves. Even though they won against their opponent, the young colt's Pokemon were formidable and shouldn't be underestimated at all. "Sorry, Buizel. Maybe next time you'll get to pull off Swift Swim." Soarin said to his Buizel. "Bui-Bui." "He didn't use those two..." Rainbow Dash noticed that two of Soarin's Pokemon were not used that she's never seen before as she took out her dex to know who they were. "Boltund. The Dog Pokemon. This Pokémon generates electricity and channels it into its legs to keep them going strong. Boltund can run nonstop for three full days. It sends electricity through its legs to boost their strength. Running at top speed, it easily breaks 50 mph. "Archeops. The First Bird Pokemon. Said to be an ancestor of bird Pokémon, the muscles it uses to flap its wings are still weak, so it needs a long runway in order to take off. This ancient Pokémon’s plumage is delicate, so if anyone other than an experienced professional tries to restore it, they will fail. It runs better than it flies. It takes off into the sky by running at a speed of 25 mph." "Checking out my Pokemon?" Soarin said to Rainbow Dash. "You know, it's not gonna be easy just because you saw me battle and all." "Hm? I didn't say that." Rainbow Dash whistled. "Besides. I've got a counter for most of your Pokemon anyway." "I know you do. You've been really making a name for yourself as a trainer in Equestria. Especially since you're the first pony to take part in the Equestria League." "Yeah, I know." Rainbow Dash nodded with a proud grin. "Too bad being the first doesn't mean I'm number one. How'd Spitfire even get so many wins...?" "Oh, Spitfire's wins? She didn't tell you about how she climbed the ranks so fast?" "Huh? Wait, did she tell you?!" Rainbow Dash got up close to Soarin, causing him to fall on his back. "Y-Yeah. She did. Most of us Wonderbolts know. "Tell me! How'd she get so many wins in a few months!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Ash and Pikachu leaned in to hear this. "Well, you could say that she went on a rampage." "Rampage?" Both Rainbow and Ash said. "Pikachu?" "Mhm. You see, everypony in the Wonderbolts academy took interest in the league too. Most if not all pegasi did. And Spitfire took the most interest in it out of all of us. She wanted to reach the top from the get-go, so she immediately put all of her focus into battling." "But how did she battle 8120 ponies with 8119 wins and only one loss. And it was only for a few months and she won all 8 gym badges. Back then, it wasn't even a full year yet!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "That. Well, it's simple. First, she took on all of the ponies in the Wonderbolts Academy and mopped the floor with us. That gave her the first couple of a hundred points." "Uh-huh...?" Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. "Then, she used the gateways to take shortcuts around Equestria. She battled all the trainers who were taking part in the Equestria League and annihilated them too." "Woah! She really did go on a rampage. But how in a few months? She's still the chief of the Wonderbolts, so shouldn't she be busy?" "Yeah. She should. But that's the thing. Spitfire didn't battle at just morning. She battled at night too. She went over to cities that were more lively at night and took on the trainers there. Left and right, she was beating so many trainers that it bumped her win ratio up to the thousands." "Talk about persistence..." Ash gawked. "Pika..." "And the Gym Battles? Well...let's just say most of them lasted around 7 minutes at best." "Only 7 minutes to beat a gym..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "So then...who did she lose to?" "Who? Well, there was one pony who really gave a rough her a time and finally cut her winning streak off." Soarin had actually remembered this pivotal point in time since he was there and he saw the battle himself. He began reminiscing on how it went. This pony already beat all 5 of Spitfire's Pokemon without breaking a sweat at all. And she wasn't even that high on the leaderboards. She was ranked 750. Way lower than Spitfire. And yet, she smacked her Pokemon silly with just her Aggron. She hadn't even revealed the rest of her Pokemon yet. "Sciz...Scizor!" Scizor got on his knees as he was already pretty beat up by his opponent which was a single Aggron who had taken out all of his teammates. Scizor was on the verge of fainting from how heavy he was breathing in and out. "Aggron." The Iron Armor Pokemon growled, intimidating Scizor. "Don't give up, Scizor! We can turn this around somehow!" Spitfire yelled. "If I were you I'd just call it quits. Just accept your loss." The mysterious pony said. "No way! We aren't out of the picture yet! Scizor! Superpower!" "S-S-Scizor...!" Scizor got up as he surrounded his pincers in an orange aura, running forward. "Zor!" The Pincer Pokemon jumped up, using all of his strength with this one single attack. "Fire Punch." The mysterious mare commanded. "Ggron!" Aggron moved faster than Scizor due to Scizor being tired out. The Steel-Rock-Type engulfed its arms in a pale red aura with flames bursting out of them. The Iron Amor Pokemon then smashed its fiery fists onto Scizor's stomach, hitting him before Scizor could even land Superpower. "Z-Zor!" The Pincer Pokemon's eyes widened as an explosion of fire happened afterwards, launching Scizor back as he tumbled on the ground with a fiery trail coming out of him." "Scizor, NO!" Spitfire bellowed. She watched as her partner Scizor, who was seemingly unstoppable since he had never fainted once before nor has ever been backed into a corner once, fall to the ground, defeated. "Sc-Scizor..." "I told you it would only take one Pokemon to win this. Return, Aggron." The mysterious pony smirked as she had given Spitfire the taste of defeat. The pony really put a mark on Spitfire. She was the first one to beat her in a battle and in a pretty rough way too. Spitfire didn't even stand a chance. Because of that one loss, Spitfire decided that one day, she would meet up with that pony again and challenge her in a rematch and win for sure. So she's been getting stronger and training harder than ever before. She even got herself a Mega Stone for her Scizor too, ya know. "Who was this pony that gave her such a hard time?" Rainbow asked. "Hm? Oh, I think her name was Skyblue Shine or something like that. Yeah." "Skyblue Shine...To think there's somepony else stronger than Spitfire." Rainbow Dash said under her breath. "She may be number one, but there's always a bigger fish out there." Soarin nodded. "Then..." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "That just means I have something bigger to shoot towards!" "Hm?" Soarin turned to her. "I thought that if I beat Spitfire, that was it. I'm the strongest trainer in Equestria. But now that I know that there's somepony tougher, I just gotta aim higher than ever before!" "That's the spirit, Rainbow Dash!" Ash exclaimed as he nodded vigorously. It was like seeing a father being proud of his daughter. "Just you wait, Soarin. I'll beat Spitfire one day and then I'll beat Skyblue Shine too! But first, I gotta win my badge from you!" "Well...Somepony's fired up." Soarin's eyes widened. "But okay." He stood up. "I think we've had enough chit-chat. Let's get this Gym Battle started." "Yeah!" The stage had been set. Rainbow Dash on the left. Soarin on the Right. And one referee in-between. They were both looking forward to going up against each other for a second time. Due to the history between Rainbow Dash and Soarin, this battle will be on the more fun side instead of the traditional Gym Battle in which the only main objective is to win and nothing else. Although, Rainbow Dash was aiming to do that too. "The battle between Challenger Rainbow Dash and Gym Leader Soarin will be a 5v5 and a Double battle!" The referee exclaimed. "The battle will be over once five Pokemon on one side are all unable to continue. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute for this challenge. You may both bring out your first two Pokemon." "Let's set em up. Your time to shine, Castform." "Form!" "Castform! Mienfoo! Let's go!" The first two she sent out were Castform who flew out of her bag and her Mienfoo. "Mienfoo!" "Those two huh...?" Soarin smirked. "Okay then. Buizel! Snover! You know what to do!" He sent out Buizel and Snover first. "Bui!" "Snover!" When Snover was sent out, its ability had been activated. Snow Warning. By just entering the battlefield, a hailstorm had been summoned, filling the entirety of Canterlot Gardens but strangely enough, only Canterlot Gardens and not all of Canterlot. One of the many mysteries of Pokemon yet again. Not only that but due to there being hail now, Castform's body was reacting to the weather change. With The Weather Pokemon's cells being shifted, Castorm transformed into his Snowy Form. "Castform!" "I know what you're planning and it won't stop me, Clipper!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "We'll see about that, Crash!" "Battle Start!" "Mienfoo! Rush in with Agility and use Mega Punch on Snover! Castform! Tackle on Buizel!" "Foo!" Mienfoo and Castform both charged forward with the Martial Arts Pokemon running ahead of her teammate. "Buizel! Sonic Boom on Castform! Snover, use Reflect!" "Sno!" The Frost Tree Pokemon raised its arms, covering both him and Buizel's body in a red veil that halved the physical attack of the opposing Pokemon. "Bui!" Buizel's two tails glowed white as it flipped around, sending a large white shockwave at Castform. "Cast!" Castform had been knocked out of the sky by Sonic Boom as it was a direct hit. "Mien!" Mienfoo got in front of Snover, striking her paws onto the Frost Tree Pokemon's slightly rotund body with a strike packed with heavy power behind it. "Ver!" Snover cocked back, but thanks to Reflect, Mega Punch didn't hurt as much. "Use Wood Hammer, Snover!" "Snover!" Snover leaned its body forward as its arms were surrounded in the energy of nature itself. "Move back, Mienfoo! Castform, Weather Ball, go!" "Mien!" Mienfoo gasped as she used Agility to dash backwards, avoiding the swinging arms of Snover's Wood Hammer. "Cast...Form!" Castform created a blue ball of energy that was full of ice as he shot it towards the opposing Buizel. "Destroy it with Ice Punch, Buizel!" "Buizel!" Buizel shattered the Weather Ball by smashing its ice-covered paws onto it. "Zel!" "You two doing okay?" Rainbow Dash asked her Pokemon. "Mienfoo." Mienfoo whacked the Hail away from her face. "Cast!" "We've just started and I'm already feeling pretty tense." Rainbow Dash grinned as she let out a single sweatdrop. "He's gonna try and break my focus with all this hail probably. But that Buizel's pretty fast and thinks fast too. Alright, Castform. Return for now!" "Castform!" Castform flew back inside of Rainbow Dash's bag as he reverted to his normal form. "Luxio! You're up next!" She used her wings to toss the Poke Ball, sending out the Spark Pokemon. "Luxio!" "Just you watch, Soarin! That 5th Gym Badge is ours!" As the first day of the Pokemon Festival is still in its early stages, Rainbow Dash is about to experience a heated battle against Soarin for her 5th Gym Badge. But she'll have fun battling him in the long run as the journey continues. Chapter 298 End.