Las Pegasus. The Pokemon Festival. 11:00
The 20-minute break was over. It was time for the coordinators to continue the contest in hopes of obtaining the Las Pegasus Ribbon. Sweetie Belle and Coco had qualified for the second stage as only 8 coordinators would be facing off against each other.
The main limit for the battle stage is that it only lasts 5 minutes. So the coordinators and Pokemon will have to give it their all while beating out the 5-minute time limit.
Speaking of which, Sweetie Belle had managed to defeat her opposing coordinator with the help of her Espurr and Teddiursa in just under 3 minutes. She was obviously advancing to the next round.
As for Coco, thanks to Rarity and Sweetie Belle's words of encouragement, she was able to regain her confidence and absolutely demolish her opposing coordinator with high spirits and energy.
Because of those two obtaining victories over their fellow coordinators, the next round, the semi-final round. And it'll be a battle against Coco and Sweetie Belle, which Rarity was looking forward to the most since this was a close friend and her little sister going up against each other.
"Alright...Keep it in." Rarity took a deep breath. "It's just two ponies who are close to you going against each other. That's all. No need to worry."
"You look like you're worrying a lot, Rarity." Sweetie Belle pointed out. "It'll be fine. It's just a friendly competition. Even though...we're both aiming for the same ribbon."
"You're right. It's just a friendly competition. Even if one of you wins or loses, I know you'll both come out of it smiling."
"Sure will!" Sweetie Belle nodded. "But if either of us wins then we'll have to go up against that really strong coordinator. What was her name again?"
"Premium, wasn't it?"
"That's Premium Polish to you." Speaking of which, the pony they were chatting about, Premium Polish, was standing right behind them.
"Oh, uh...Hi there." Sweetie Belle greeted. "Premium Polish."
"Sweetie Belle," Premium replied to her. "Good job with your performance and battle. You sure do live up to your reputation."
"Reputation?" Sweetie Belle pulled back. "Wait? I'm popular in Pokemon Contests?"
"Sure are. Not the most popular but you're up there, that's for sure."
"Oh!" Sweetie Belle's excitement was boiling up. "You hear that Rarity?!" She grabbed her older sister's face. "I'm popular! I might be a Coordinator Celebrity!"
"Not as popular as yours truly though." Premium suddenly shut Sweetie Belle down. "You're looking at the best coordinator in Equestria so far."
"You?" Sweetie Belle turned around to face Premium.
"That's right. Observe." Premium tapped her hoof on the floor which prompted large stallions who acted as bodyguards for the little unicorn to reveal themselves as they have been hiding in the shadows this entire time.
"Oh my." Both Sweetie Belle and Rarity said.
"Alright. Back in you go." She ordered the bodyguards to return as they dashed off, disappearing into the shadows. "I'm that kind of popular."
"Yeah...I can see that." Sweetie Belle nodded.
"But don't let it intimidate you. Especially when we go up against each other."
"Coco might go up against you, though." Sweetie Belle walked forward.
"Coco? You mean the pony that almost hurt everypony else during her performance?"
"She didn't mean to! It was just a slip-up, that's all." Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"Of course it was a slip-up. Nopony does it on purpose. But she did look good during her battle stage. If I go up against her, I'll have something interesting to look forward to."
"And me?" Sweetie Belle pointed her hoof at herself.
"Sure, you too. It'll be interesting enough. After all, you're the sister of one of the ponies who saved Equestria from Eternatus, right?"
"Uh..." Sweetie Belle turned to face Rarity who grinned back at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Great. See you in the semi-finals, Sweetie." Premium walked past Sweetie Belle and Rarity.
"Hm. Charming child. She certainly has a passive-aggressive nature to her, doesn't she?"
"That's for sure." Sweetie Belle sighed. "She was right about the intimidating part. I am a bit intimidated. I mean, she has bodyguards for Celestia's sake."
"Who's to say you don't have bodyguards of your own? Observe" Rarity sent out all of her Leavanny's.
"Leavan!"
"Thanks, Rarity. But I don't need bodyguards."
"Suit yourself." Rarity returned all of her Leavanny's to their Poke Balls.
"The next matchup is Sweetie Belle vs Coco Pommel! Please enter the stage you two!" Marian called out for the two coordinators.
"That's our cue." Coco walked over. "Let's make it a good one, Sweetie Belle."
"Okay!"
The semi-finals could finally begin as only 4 competitors were remaining in the Las Pegasus Pokemon Contest. And those remaining 4 were Sweetie Belle, Coco Pommel, Premium Polish and a pegasus coordinator who went by the name Wispy
Speaking of Sweetie Belle and Coco Pommel, their time had come. The moment they've been waiting for and the moment where Rarity would have to cheer for both sides at once.
They had only 5 minutes in the battle stage and only 5 minutes to decrease each other's points before the clock runs out. It's a fairly harsh time limit but it does push the coordinators to really go all out.
"It's Sweetie Belle on the Right side and Coco Pommel on the left! You all have 5 minutes, my little ponies! Let's go!" Marian raised her finger, giving the call to begin the battle.
"Okay! Teddiursa! Espurr! Out you two come!" Sweetie Belle was the first to send out her Pokemon.
"Teddiursa!"
"Espurr."
"Here goes. Mawile! Glaceon!" And finally, Coco sent hers out.
"Glaceon!"
"Maw-Mawile."
"If you don't mind, Sweetie Belle. I'll go first. Mawile! Run in and use Brutal Swing! And Glaceon! Use Icy Wind!"
"Maw." The Deceiver Pokemon ran forward with her large jaw enveloped in a dark-reddish aura. Mawile then began spinning around with Brutal Swing as the dark red aura covered her entire body, including the large jaw she had.
"Ceon!" Glaceon helped her teammate out by shooting a whirlwind of Ice out of her mouth.
This whirlwind of ice made contact with Mawile's Brutal Swing as the light blue colours meshed well with the dark red. Now, there was an approaching Mawile who was swinging her jaw around while being carried by a tornado of ice.
"Here they come! Alright, Teddiursa! Use Night Slash! Espurr! Boost Teddiursa forward with Disarming Voice!"
"Ursa!" Similar to Mawile, Teddiursa's paws and claws were enveloped in a dark aura as she bolted forward.
"Espurr!" Espurr opened her mouth which doesn't usually open wide as pink sound waves came out. The soundwaves of Disarming Voice mixed with the darkness of Night Slash as Teddiursa now had the power of Dark and Fairy at her disposal.
Both Pokemon ended up clashing with Teddiursa's paws colliding with Mawile's gigantic jaw. When they collided, Teddiursa could feel the weight of Mawile's jaw as her paws twitched from the collision.
"T-Teddi!" She winced. And to make matters worse, Mawile's jaw was strong enough to push the Little Bear Pokemon as Teddiursa went flying from a deadly shockwave. "Ursa!"
"Esp?" Espurr noticed that Teddiursa was coming towards her from the direction she was launched at. The Restraint Pokemon gasped as her partner crashed into her, prompting both Pokemon to tumble on the floor. "Purr!"
"Ah! Teddiursa! Espurr!" Sweetie Belle gasped.
"Wile." Mawile stopped spinning as the dark-red and light blue aura faded away from her as her jaw snarled at Espurr and Teddiursa.
"You two okay?!"
"Espurr...!"
"Teddi...!" Both of them were able to continue as they held their heads, getting a small concussion.
"Okay! How's about we handle this from afar? Teddirusa! Hidden Power! Espurr! Wonder Room!"
"Ursa! Teddi!" The Little Bear Pokemon raised her paws as her body was outlined with a glistening silver aura. Then, small white orbs emerged, circling Teddiursa as her aura rose into the air.
"Espurr!" Espurr played her own part by summoning a large light purple rectangle with light blue and white transparent walls and ceiling appear around the battlefield.
Everyone was now encased in Wonder Room as the Defence and Special Defence of Mawile and Glaceon had been swapped with Espurr and Teddiursa.
Teddirusa then fired each of the orbs as they flew forward. Their glistening white lights shined around the Wonder Room as silver rays emanated out of the rectangle, giving the contest hall a bright and wonderful light show akin to that of a disco room.
"Let's change that! Mawile! Guard Swap! Glaceon! Ice Beam!"
"Wile...!" The Deceiver Pokemon swung her jaw around as she sent an instant blue light that shot out of her mouth, passing the orbs of Hidden Pokemon.
"Glace!" Glaceon did the same by sending Ice Beam out of her mouth. The beam of Ice combined with Guard Swap as two different blue energy beams merged as one, creating an azure-coloured beam instead of a traditional light blue. As a bonus, the beam grew wider to a point where it would be able to hit multiple targets instead of one.
The merged beam had two properties behind it that were about to be discovered. The beam collided with Hidden Power, creating a tiny struggle as a fissure appeared in the middle of them.
This fissure was wobbling about, creating a pulse that caused the walls and floor to glisten along with Coco and Sweetie Belle's manes. They look a little bit like Crystal Ponies because of the glow.
Unfortunately, for Teddiursa, Hidden Power couldn't hold back two combined beams at once, so eventually, the merged azure beam engulfed the orbs of Hidden Power, hitting Teddiursa and Espurr both due to its size increase.
Both of Sweetie Belle's Pokemon had not only been frozen in place by Ice Beam, but their defence and special defence had returned to normal. The effects of Wonder Room had been cancelled out as the guards had been swapped.
And to make things extra difficult for Sweetie Belle, Mawile had not only regained her defence and special defence since she was the one who fired the attack in the first place, but because the merged beam hit both Pokemon at the same time, Mawile got a double boost in defence and special defence, but not Glaceon, unfortunately.
So now, Mawile had her original defence and special defence along with both Teddiursa and Espurr's. And they were all just for her. It didn't help that Teddiursa and Espurr were now frozen in an icy prison.
"Uh-oh!" Sweetie Belle's eyes widened.
"She got around Espurr's Wonder Room!" Rarity gasped.
"Not bad." Paul nodded. "Causing a move like Ice Beam that only hits one target to hit multiple due to size increase is pretty clever. Guess she's a completely different pony when she's all energized."
"This is looking rough..." Sweetie Belle was getting nervous now. Not only were her partners frozen, but her points had decreased more than Coco. Not to mention that time was running short and 4 minutes had just transitioned into 3. "But there's no need to worry. This is risky...but it's the only way to break free of this ice."
"What's she planning?" Paul asked Rarity.
"Oh no." Rarity knew exactly what was about to happen. "She's going to let Espurr cut loose..."
"Wasn't she doing that already?"
"Not quite. Have a look, Paul." Rarity showed Paul Espurr's dex entry.
"Espurr. The Restraint Pokemon. The organ that emits its intense psychic power is sheltered by its ears to keep power from leaking out. It has enough psychic energy to blast everything within 300 feet of itself, behind that blank stare is an intense struggle to contain its devastating psychic power. There’s enough psychic power in Espurr to send a wrestler flying, but because this power can’t be controlled, Espurr finds it troublesome."
"Hm. So if Espurr removes its restrains..."
"Espurr! Release all of your strength!"
"Purr..." Deep inside of the ice prison, The Restraint Pokemon responded to Sweetie Belle's command. If Espurr releases her true psychic power then it's an instant fraught with danger. She'll be going for broke and moving on slippery ground. But, she took the risk for the sake of her trainer's victory. "Es...ES! ES!"
The entire contest hall was suddenly trembling, prompting everypony to lose their balance along with the judges and Marian. Nothing was safe from this trembling as the walls were cracking.
Beneath Espurr's ears are two ring-shaped yellow organs. These organs emit Espurr's intense psychic powers. Psychic pulses kept emanating out of the icy prison as it sounded like a heartbeat going off. These pulses came straight from Espurr's organs.
The outside was no exception. The buildings near the contest hall were being affected by Espurr's potent psychic pulses as everyone in the festival could feel and hear this heartbeat pulse echoing through the city. Windows were shattering, hooves and legs were shuddering, everyone stopped what they were doing as they all looked at the contest hall where the pulse was coming from.
Everyone around 300 feet were being affected by the pulse to a large degree. Everyone except Mawile, who was able to resist the psychic pulse because of Steel-Typing and some Dark-Types owned by trainers. The same couldn't be said for Glaceon. Because of this powerful pulse, Espurr was actually taking points off of Coco's side without having to do much.
And of course, with a pulse this powerful, the ice prison had shattered, freeing both Espurr and Teddiursa. Unfortunately, Teddiursa was affected by the pulse as well.
"Alright, that's enough, Espurr!" Sweetie Belle gave the call for Espurr to stop.
"Es?" Espurr put an end to her psychic power by restraining them once more.
However, the aftermath was highly aggressive. Because of how potent the pulses were, Glaceon and everyone else had been given splitting headaches, minus Mawile and Teddiursa. The ponies and humans weren't too affected by the headaches but the Pokemon certainly were.
"Ugh..." Sweetie Belle winced as she put her hoof on her head. "Worth it. Can you go on, Teddiursa?"
"Ursa..." Teddirusa held her head as she got up from the floor. It was clear that Espurr releasing her psychic energy was a huge risk and reward scenario. Even though her opposing Pokemon, minus Mawile, received headaches, that meant that her teammate suffered the same fate. It was more of a double-edged sword than the move Double-Edge.
"You just stay back for now. Alright, Espurr! Spin with Disarming Voice!"
"Espurr!" Espurr quickly regained her composure as she started spinning around, blasting pink soundwaves from her mouth. The spinning caused these soundwaves to move in various directions as melodic sounds were passing through every direction of the contest hall while heading straight for Mawile.
"You're all we have left! Mawile! Bite!"
"Wile!" Mawile being unaffected by the psychic pulses meant that she was Coco's last hope since Glaceon is currently out of commission via a splitting headache. It was just a one on one battle now.
Mawile's jaw became engulfed in a dark veil as it opened wide, going for the biggest bite it's ever done yet. The voracious and deadly force of Bite had connected with Disarming Voice in a unique way.
The pink soundwaves had been split in half because of Mawile's Bite. Fairy stardust had glistened all over the teeth of Mawile's large jaws, giving them a fairly neat shine. As a bonus, Mawile was now carrying some condensed fairy magic in her mouth.
"Send it back!"
"Mawile!" Mawile then used that condensed Fairy magic as a retaliation weapon. She opened her mouth up as she sent her own Disarming Voice back at Espurr.
"Es?!" Espurr gasped as she had been hit by her own attack which had been sent right back at her. Espurr cowered on the ground, covering her ears as the points on Sweetie Belle's side were decreasing.
2 minutes now remained.
"It's not over yet! Fire Disarming Voice on the floor!"
"Esp! Espurr!" Instead of aiming forward like usual, the Restraint Pokemon aimed downwards, using Disarming Voice as a means to launch herself up into the air as a large pink soundwave lifted the Psychic-Type. Espurr was now airborne as a spiral of Fairy magic could be seen standing like a tower that dazzled the audience and judges.
"We'll follow her! Use Brutal Swing on the floor!"
"Mawile!" Mimicking Espurr, Mawile slammed her large jaw on the floor, launching herself up as she even shattered a bit of the floor from the impact. The Deceiver Pokemon was now heading straight towards the Restraint Pokemon.
"Espurr!" Espurr's eyes widened as she had been hit in the chest by Mawile's head. Thankfully, it wasn't her jaw that made contact with Espurr.
"Disarming Voice, again!"
"Esp...Espurr!" Even with Mawile crashing into her stomach at high-speeds, the Restraint Pokemon still had enough to keep on going.
With all her might, Espurr let out one more Disarming Voice by opening her mouth. This soundwave was larger than the last as it engulfed Mawile, forcing her back down to the floor while it sent Espurr further into the air.
"Wile!" Mawile hit the ground hard because of Disarming Voice forcing her down. Even though Disarming Voice barely does any damage to Mawile, the impact of her hitting the ground was enough to make up for it.
"Espurr!" Espurr landed down on the floor with her stomach in a bit of pain due to Mawile smashing into it. Unfortunately for Sweetie Belle and Espurr, because of the Guard Swap that Mawile used, she was more durable than ever.
Even with that heavy impact on the ground, Mawile got right back up. The combined defence and special defence of Espurr and Teddiursa were helping her greatly. What was once a somewhat fragile Pokemon was now a walking tank.
"You're amazing Sweetie Belle!" Coco suddenly said. "I know this is only my second contest but I'm having so much fun!" She pranced on the spot.
"Glad you're having fun, Coco. Even if you're making things rough for me. But I'm still winning this! Are you good to go now, Teddiursa?"
"Teddi!" Teddiursa was back up as the headaches had ceased.
"Can you still go on, Glaceon?"
"Ceon!" Glaceon as well had recovered from the headache. Since Espurr did not use all of her true psychic power, the headaches were very temporary. Now the full team was back in action.
"Let's finish this! Thunder Punch, Teddiursa! And Espurr! Light Screen, go!"
"Teddiursa!" With all her might, Teddirusa's body suddenly erupted with a destructive burst of lightning that surrounded her paw. The Little Bear Pokemon bolted forward with her teammate summoning a golden aura around her.
"Mawile, use Bite! And Glaceon! Icy Wind!"
"Glaceon!" Glaceon helped her teammate out as well. By using a cold wind of ice to carry Mawile, she gave her teammate a boost in movement as Mawile's jaw was chomping away, ready to bite onto Teddiursa.
With one final hoorah with both points on both sides being at critical points, the final clash between both teams had occurred with Teddiursa's electrified paws clashing with Mawile's dark-covered mouth along with a gust of ice. Teddiursa's paw ended up getting caught by Bite.
Their struggle lasted longer than before this time. Teddiursa was giving everything she had as sparks of electricity flew out of her paws. Meanwhile, Mawile, who's jaw had caught Teddiursa's paw, was sending out rays of darkness instead.
"Teddi...Ursa!" Teddirusa could feel Mawile's sharp jaws bite onto her paws, the chilling cold beating on her body and sending shivers through her, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She had a lot to prove and a strong drive to win for Sweetie Belle.
But the same could be said for Mawile, who shared Coco's passion for victory. Because of this, both Pokemon absolutely refused to let their trainer down and guide them to the very top. Their identical goals clashed with each other as the sparks from Thunder Punch were increasing in numbers.
Soon, millions of lightning bolts were flying across the contest hall, prompting everyone to keep an eye out for any approaching lightning bolt that may shock them.
But with how many there were, someone was going to get hit either way. With each hit on each crowd member, they were met with 40,000 volts of electricity. Paul wasn't too bothered since he just stood there with his hands in his pockets as every lightning bolt avoided him.
"Ursa!" With a mighty roar akin to that of a full-grown Ursaring, Teddiursa drove her paw into Mawile's large jaw. The sparks from Thunder Punch ended up filling Mawile's jaw as Teddiursa let out one last spurt of energy that caused a shockwave that launched both her and Mawile back. The shockwave was so potent that even Glaceon and Espurr had been launched back, despite them not being in the middle of the clash.
As both Pokemon tumbled, the time limit had been declared over as Marian shouted. "Time! What a rush! That last moment really amped up! But let's see who came out on top!" Marian pointed at the screen to showcase the winner. "And the winner is..."
Sweetie Belle, Coco and their Pokemon each stopped what they were doing to focus on the screen in front of them. The points were very low from the back and forth of both Pokemon, but one of them really stuck out.
Thanks to the extra addition of Espurr's psychic pulses, Sweetie Belle had emerged as the winner as she beat out Coco by a smidge. But Coco came very close despite the psychic pulses coming into play.
"Sweetie Belle!"
"Yes!" Sweetie Belle ran over, hugging both Espurr and Teddiursa. "We're making it to the finals!"
"Ursa!"
"Espurr!"
"Good job, you two. We came really close." Coco went over to her partners.
"Glaceon."
"Mawile."
"Whew..." Rarity sighed. "That last moment had no reason being so aggressive."
"Hmph. What a battle." Paul smiled. "I'm looking forward to the finals."
"Great work, Sweetie Belle." Coco went up to her fellow coordinator. "You and your Pokemon."
"Thanks, Coco." Sweetie Belle stood up. "Sorry about the psychic pulses. That was a bit cheap of me."
"It's fine. You were just using everything you had." Coco giggled. "Good luck in the finals. I know you can win it."
"Right! I will!"
With Sweetie Belle succeeding in the semi-finals, she could advance to the finals. Her next opponent is without a doubt Premium Polish who is definitely a coordinator who can really show her style to the fullest.
Premium watched as she knew that Sweetie Belle was her next competitor. She was really looking forward to going up against her fellow unicorn especially considering both her and Sweetie Belle's status as the journey continues.
Chapter 326 End.