Equestria. Batimare. Contest Hall. Afternoon.
The Baltimare Pokemon Contest had been underway. Currently, the performance stage had come to an end with only 8 Coordinators making it through. Going against each other for the second stage were Sweetie Belle and Velvetwind. Then, Jessie against another coordinator, Premium Polish against Diamond Tiara and two other coordinators going at it.
Soon, the second stage would begin as each coordinator were deciding which Pokemon to use. They had already seen what each other's Pokemon were so there was some basis to go off on. Some even took a peek. Mainly Diamond Tiara, who was peeking at Premium Polish's side, seeing which Pokemon she would go for.
"No peeking." But the older Flurry Heart, who acted as a secret bodyguard to Premium Polish, put her hoof in front of Diamond Tiara's face. But very soon, Premium Polish did the same, appearing behind Flurry Heart just to gaze at Diamond's Pokemon. "You too?!"
"Heh. Sorry. Just gotta prepare for the most, right?" Premium Polish wasn't ashamed of it. Diamond Tiara did it first anyway. This was just childish squabbling between two children after all. "So. Watcha doing?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out when it's our turn. Besides, I've got everything I need to know right here." Diamond Tiara proudly tapped her head, referring to her intellect. "You won't even know which Pokemon I'm gonna use."
"Aren't you the one who always has a Purrloin though?" Premium squinted her eyes as Diamond Tiara then twitched. There was some truth in that sentence. A harsh truth.
"N-Nevermind that!" She tried playing it off casually, acting like she was intimidated.
"You two are adorable aren't you?" Jesselle, AKA Jessie's contest persona, chuckled at the squabble that was made from Diamond Tiara and Premium Polish. "Then again, I would expect little kids to bicker about small things. You need to take advice from your senior over here. Who cares out about rivalries when you're so composed?"
"Oh, now that I think about it...You don't have a rival, do you, Jesselle?" Sweetie Belle questioned.
"Who needs one when you're constantly beating your opponents?" Jessie simply shrugged, getting ready to sit on the sofa with a royal pose.
"Wait..." Sweetie Belle pondered before quickly correcting her. "Didn't I beat you once?"
"Gh!" Jessie grimaced and twitched, almost breaking the sofa from the instant she sat down, overwhelmed by Sweetie Belle's reply.
"Sweet! That means I have another rival to compete with, don't I?" Sweetie Belle liked that very much. To her, there was something special and entertaining about having a rival. Someone to help push her. Then again, a majority if not all of her rivals have been friendly to her. Even the seemingly unstoppable Gelidity who was a natural-born prodigy in Pokemon Contests despite being new to the Pokemon World much like everyone else in this world. "At least we were on good terms that one time, huh?"
"Why you...!" Much like Diamond Tiara and Premium Polish, Jessie had been riled up, grizzling at Sweetie Belle. She knew this to be true and that's what agitated her. Sweetie Belle's polite and innocent grin only boosted that. "I'll leave you in the dust then!"
Jessie projected a virulent and heart-pounding projection of her anger. Sweetie Belle could see a massive figure of Jessie with crimson eyes as red as cinnabar gazing at her with a cruel aura as intense as a typhoon radiating out.
Whoever Jessie's opponent was in the battle stage, Sweetie Belle and the others could only hope that their punishment would be swift under the wrath of Jessie. Speaking of the battle stage, it was time for it to begin. And the first one between Sweetie Belle and Velvetwind was about to begin.
"Alright!" Marian shouted. "And now it's time for the Battle Stage! With a 5-minute time limit on the clock, coordinators much land their attacks as stylishly as possible, while lowering their opponents' points in the process. So sit back and enjoy the fantastic show with our first matchup! Sweetie Belle vs Velvet Wind!"
The two of them had entered the stage, standing at the opposite sides from each other. "It's time for the second stage to begin with this first battle! On my right, Sweetie Belle! And on my left, Velvetwind! Send out your Pokemon, please!"
"I'm going for you! Meowstic!" Sweetie Belle chose her ace, Meowstic. She used her magic to throw the Poke Ball as it opened up, releasing the Psychic sparkles from within.
"Meowstic!"
"Driblim, it is!" Velvetwind went for her ace as well. Drifblim.
"Drifblim!"
"Begin now!"
"We'll go first! Drifblim, use Haze and Gyro Ball!"
"Drif! Driblim!" It was Velvetwind and Drifblim who would go first. Drifblim did a cute twirl before shooting out a black haze that covered the area. After making the black haze, the Blimp Pokemon had started rotating. Drifblim rotated in the general direction of the Haze, beginning to orbit some of it around its body.
And by doing so, not only did it become a purple blur from its intense spinning, but it also had a spiral of black haze around it. As if it was a planet. It even sent out whips of black haze that flew all over the place, deviating from the planet motif a bit. And in the midst of it, Sweetie Belle lost some points.
"Look at that! It's identical to one of those ringed planets out in the cosmos!" Marian announced.
"Oh! Okay then! Meowstic! Stop it with Quick Guard!"
"Meow!" Meowstic would play it defensively first. She had put her hands together and becomes outlined in a bright red aura. After doing so, the Psychic-Type had then pointed her hands forward, forming a bright red hexagonal barrier of energy with hexagonal shapes everywhere in front of herself.
"Now Psyshock!"
"Meowstic!" After making the hexagonal barrier, she summoned multiple masses of Psychic energy. Each of those masses had then hit some of the individual hexagons, causing them to be launched. Soon, a plethora of glowing hexagons were unleashed. Each of those hexagons' were given a nice dual glow from Psyshock. Scarlet and Violet made an excellent colour combo.
Those glowing hexagons met with the haze, using the protective capabilities of Quick Guard to cancel some of them out. However, it only worked on the first batch. The second wave of Haze was another story. The remaining Haze had then overpowered the hexagons.
"Rats! Quick Guard can't be used in succession!" Rarity exclaimed upon seeing the failure of Quick Guard a second time. "Just how long can Drifblim use that spinning Haze?!"
The intensity of Driflblim's spinning helped to overpower the hexagons as the haze had also attacked the barrier of Quick Guard. Quick Guard's protection cancelled it out, but Gyro Ball was still approaching. And with Haze hitting the barrier, Quick Guard was ineffective the second time, allowing Drifblim and the rest of the Haze orbiting it to approach.
"Meow?!" Meowstic gasped as she closed her eyes once the haze covered her. She started coughing once the Haze appeared.
"Ah! Meowstic!" Sweetie Belle gasped as Drifblim had then approached. Using the power of Gyro Ball, it had crashed into the Constraint Pokemon, taking more of Sweetie Belle's points away.
"M-Meow!" Meowstic cried out. She could be seen being launched out of the haze, flying through the air. The Psychic-Type growled before recovering, landing gracefully on the floor. "Meowstic...!" She then hissed at Drifblim.
"I thought Quick Guard would protect me there..." Sweetie Belle said to herself, looking at the monitor. She had currently lost more points than Velvetwind with Velvetwind only losing a bit. "I can't keep using it or else it won't be as useful." Quick Guard, while useful since it was a protection move, would only work in sparse moments, much like the other protection moves or it would be weakened.
That's when Sweetie Belle decided to go for another approach. It wouldn't be the defensive approach that she and Meowstic had done in the first few seconds. Not even the offensive approach. "Let's take off those points with some cuteness alone!" Meowstic, dash around and use Play Rough!"
"Meow!" Meowstic went on the move. But she didn't approach Drifblim. Instead, she was going wherever, dashing and using her speed in this instance. But while doing so, she had also made the sparkling Aura of the Fairy-Type sparkle around her. Usually, Play Rough was physical and involved a massive puff of smoke in the process, but its utility had been altered.
Meowstic sparked with magical dust adding to this shine. She couldn't fire anything with this sparkling body, but that was never Play Rough's intention as Velvetwind was somewhat intending some physical contact.
"What's she doing?" Velvetwind wondered before shaking her head. "Go and use Phantom Force!"
"Drif! Drifblim!" Drifblim was prepared to meet face to face with Meowstic with its own Physical attack. And that required forming a void of purple shadows from below, descending into the void.
"I was waiting for something like Phantom Force...So that's the only move I gotta worry about. Keep moving, Meowstic!" Sweetie Belle already knew about Drifblim's Phantom Force. Out of all of the moves, that was the one that proved to be the biggest threat to Meowstic as a Psychic-Type.
"Meow!"
"Blimp!" The void from Phantom Force appeared elsewhere near Meowstic, ready to try and cut her off. And emerging out of the void was Drifblim, ready for a clear hit.
"Don't stop, Meowstic! Dodge and keep running!"
"Stic! Meowstic!" Meowstic roared before suddenly front flipping over Drifblim. Drifblim couldn't pull off its stylish contest move successfully once Meowstic evaded it.
"Huh?!" Velvetwind was taken aback as Meowstic's stylish front flip was not only surprisingly high, but the sparkles coming from her body helped with it. Meowstic then stuck a superhero landing before dashing once more.
"What a flip!" Marian gawked. "Meowstic is doing a great job at keeping her distance and looking good while doing it! Who needs conflict in this?"
"Phantom Force into Haze this time!"
"Drifblim!" Drifblim made another void, pursuing Meowstic once more. Yet again, moving through the dimensions and Drifblim caught up to Meowstic. However, despite catching up and summoning another void, Meowstic was prepared for a second one.
"Meow!" She did a ballerina spin, similarly to what a Kirlia can do, spinning gracefully around the void. Once Drifblim emerged, it had missed once more with Meowstic dancing away. The Constraint Pokemon then turned her head, sticking her tongue out a Drifblim.
"What's her plan? Tire Drifblim out?" Twilight wondered. "I don't think Ghost-Types can get tired. At least not for a long time."
"That must be a tip from either Dawn or Fantina," said Ash as he knew the reason for this. "Sometimes, you don't need to attack to remove your opponent's points. You can do a lot to earn points for cuteness or coolness. Or anything. That's always one way to win in a contest."
"Oh, I get it now!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she and her friends looked at the monitor. Indeed, each time Meowstic dashed with the sparkles of Play Rough, she took off points from Velvetwind's side. Drifblim couldn't take as much away as it was failing to catch Meowstic or 'wow' the audience. Meowstic would keep performing different stylistic and agile tricks to avoid Drifblim each second she got the chance to do so.
This went for a while. Sweetie Belle grinned as she was not only getting cuteness points off but also beating the clock was she had already taken up a fair amount of time. And poor Drifblim was struggling to keep up.
"So that's what she's doing!" But soon, Velvetwind caught wind of Sweetie Belle and Meowstic's approach. And by looking at the monitor, it was clear as day. "Sweetie Belle, that's not fair at all!" She pouted.
"Teehee!" Sweetie Belle winked before sticking her tongue out. "I learned from the best." She then shifted her eye in Fantina's direction as Velvetwind puffed her cheeks with her face also turning red.
"That's pretty smart..." She was both agitated and gave a compliment to her rival. "But I won't let it end like this! Dance with them with Gyro Ball!"
"Drif...Blim!" Drifblim suddenly got on its head, appearing upside down. Afterwards, it had used Gyro Ball, spiralling in the same manner as a spinning top. Or rather a Hitmontop as a better resemblance. Thus, Drifblim started pursuing Meowstic.
"Look at this! We've got a chase! Drifblim's now going after Meowstic while being that usual purple blur!"
"Meow?" Meowstic witnessed Drifloon gaining on her. She had the speed advantage, but the Gyro Ball helped greatly to keep up. Drifblim was finally draining Sweetie Belle's points thanks to this trick.
"Drif!" Drifblim had then mimicked Meowstic, jumping over her once it had gained enough momentum. Meowstic and Sweetie Belle after Drifblim jumped over. "Blim!" After jumping over, Meowstic was ready to make a sharp turn, only for Drifblim to be a bit ahead of the curve, hitting the Constraint Pokemon square in the face.
"Meow!" Meowstic cried out before sliding on the floor. Drifblim approached once more with Gyro Ball, still utilizing it. And most likely, it would perform something stylish for extra points. That's when Sweetie Belle saw a chance.
"Now's our chance! You can get in there, Meowstic!"
"Meow!" Meowstic roared as she used the full power of Play Rough at last. She lunged in, approaching the spinning Drifblim instead of fleeing from it. Velvetwind thought that Meowstic would keep running as this threw her off guard. Meowstic glistened, leaving a trail of sparkles as she had then grabbed Drifblim, dragging it into Play Rough. "Meowstic!"
What followed was a shining cloud of smoke that shot out glistening sparkles all over the place. Meowstic and Drifblim were roughhousing within the cloud ferociously as the shining cloud certainly took massive points away from Velvetwind.
And out of the cloud, Drifblim came flying out as Meowstic tossed it out. Drifblim was fairly lightweight due to being the Blimp Pokemon. Drifblim felt dizzy and winded from this before tumbling on the floor. Drifblim tried recovering itself from that pummeling, however, even with this strength, there was one issue. Time was up.
All that running was certainly there to buy some time and it paid out.
"And that's it! Time!" Marian shouted with the timer beeping. Meowstic quickly put an end to her movements along with Drifblim. Although, Drifblim being winded meant that it was feeling dizzy. Sweetie Belle and Velvetwind looked to the monitor to see which one of them had done better.
"The coordinator moving on to the next battle is...Sweetie Belle!" Revealed on the monitor, Sweetie Belle's points were higher than Velvetwind's. She played the safe game and struck at the right moment.
"Yes! Yeah-haha!" Ecstatic, Sweetie Belle pranced around, accidentally using her magic to lift herself due to emotional overflow. "We did it, Meowstic!"
"Meowstic." Meowstc stood pompously, believing that it was light work for her. Velvetwind went up to Drifblim to comfort it after the round was over.
"Thank you, Driblim. Return." Velvetwind said before holding out its Poke Ball, returning the Blimp Pokemon. "Sweetie Belle. Thank you for this. I finally got to battle you and it was worth it. A bit."
"You're welcome, Velvet. It was a blast too. Right, Meowstic?"
"Meow." Meowstic looked away, thinking otherwise. She only saw and thought about absolute victory. Sweetie Belle only chuckled at Meowstic's brief response that wasn't much of a response either. Now that their match was over, it was time for the next one to come in. Jessie against another coordinator.
The two coordinators returned to the waiting room as Velvetwind was ready to head home soon. As for Jessie, still having the wrath that Sweetie Belle managed to create, the next coordinator was in for an unfortunate surprise.
And it was unfortunate. Jessie had used the other Pokemon from the Rocket Prize Machine, which ended up being another form of Oricorio. This time it was Baile Style Oricorio. And much like her wrath, Baile Style Oricorio brought raging fires to the round, overwhelming the opposing Pokemon which was a Whimsicott.
"Burn it down with Revelation Dance!"
"Ori!" Oricorio's Revelation Dance ended up being FIre due to its typing. And because of this, the raging fires that were formed by its dancing moved in a strange and hypnotizing position that was hard to describe and look at. But it certainly took points off the opponent. And these ferocious yet glorious flames had wrapped themselves around Whimsicott, grabbing it as if they were claws. Oricorio's dancing also caused it to step on Whimsicott's head.
"Whim?!" Whimsicott gasped as the flames carried it into the air before combusting repeatedly. Fireworks went off in the skies as Oricoro gracefully spiralled back once the explosion occurred. It had then bowed afterwards with Whimsicott falling from the skies.
Whimsicott had fainted. Time wasn't even the deciding factor in this as Jessie's fury involved little time at all. "Whimsicott's unable to battle! Which means that Jesselle is moving onto the next round as well!"
"Hmph. Easy" Jessie smirked, closing her eyes before gazing through the curtains. Her main target now was Sweetie Belle, holding back the rest of her fury until she had the chance to go up against her. Sweetie Belle noticed this as she made a deep gulp, worrying what he might've caused.
"Man...She seemed mad." Ash observed after witnessing Jesselle's fury being added into this round.
"Pika."
"Uh-huh. Poor guy and his Whimsicott didn't stand a chance." Applejack shook her head.
But aside from that, there was something else heated brewing. And that was the current rivalry between Diamond Tiara and Premium Polish. Speaking of which, before they could head out there, they were preparing their Pokemon while also having their usual squabbling.
"We're up next. Ready to be outperformed?" Diamond Tiara uttered with a cocky attitude, returning her Purrloin into her Poke Ball.
"I don't think so. Even if I don't always win, nopony can outperform me. But I don't plan on losing here." Premium Polish replied with a similar attitude, recalling her Swanna. "Don't get too upset when that happens."
"Do you have to get involved and encourage her?" Flurry Heart whispered, personally wanting the squabble to end. But Premium Polish and Diamond Tiara's personalities bounced off of each other. But only when they were partaking in contests. Outside of that, it was a different story.
"The stage is where we'll settle things. Plus, my mommy and daddy made sure to make things pop for me." Diamond Tiara showed off her bright smile and her clothing as they had some faint sparkles. "Only the best bits used for it. What about yours?"
"..." Premium Polish went silent as Flurry Heart gasped, putting her hoof over her mouth. The little unicorn lowered her head, not responding and adding to the squabble.
"W-What?" Diamond Tiara, unaware of the deep cut she had made, looked around, wondering why Premium was down all of a sudden as Flurry Heart slid over.
"Um, Diamond Tiara..." Flurry Heart took a deep breath before whispering in the little earth pony's ear, revealing the truth behind her mother and non-existent father.
"O-Oh!" Soon, Diamond Tiara realized the grave mistake she had made. An expression of regret was made. "P-Premium, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean t- I didn't know!"
"It's fine." Premium interrupted as it was time for them to head out into the stage. But then, Premium grinned, raising her head. "Because aside from that...I've still got better-looking stuff from my mom than yours!" She then went back to the banter as Diamond Tiara twitched. She had been played a fool.
"Mmmrrrgh!" Diamond Tiara growled with visible steam exuding from her face. The only way to settle this was out on the stage. And they would do just that as they entered out into the stage. The third round of the battle stage would begin as they took their places. They already knew which of their Pokemon they would use in this instance.
"Now for our third round to begin! Please send out your Pokemon!"
"Go, Swanna!" Premium used her magic to throw the Poke Ball with feathers flying out of it.
"Swanna!"
"Purrloin's the only one for me! And the best!" Diamond Tiara's Purrloin was her go-to choice as cat scratches were seen once the Poke Ball opened up, bringing the Devious Pokemon into the mix.
"Purrloin!"
"Is it just Purrloin? Didn't she catch another Pokemon?" Starlight pondered. "Silver Spoon, you're her friend. Did she?"
"She did catch some new Pokemon." Silver Spoon confirmed. "But Diamond's just using Purrloin only right now. It might not look like it but this is her first contest."
"If that choice works, it works." No argument there according to Twilight. Purrloin hasn't failed Diamond Tiara yet after all. Although, that could change with this battle as Premium Polish had plenty of experience, especially with multiple of her Pokemon.
"5-minutes on the clock! Begin!" Marian pointed to the skies, allowing the match to be underway.
"Get ready! Swanna! Water Pulse and Ice Beam, now!"
"Swan! Swanna!" Swanna opened her mouth, shooting out an orb of water that packed a ton of power into it. Swanna made sure to keep it floating there for a while before then using Ice Beam. The beam of ice had struck the pulse, flash-freezing it immediately and forming an ice prison. But also one that had holes in it as there was water pouring out of it.
"It looks like a fountain right there!" Marian put it into a better perspective for others. "How neat!"
"Launch with Steel Wing!"
"Swan!" Swanna then launched the attack by first glistening her wings, covering them in steel. All of this took off points from Diamond Tiara as the Water Bird Pokemon gave the ice a good slap, causing it to rocket in Purrloin's direction.
"Hm-hm. That's a pretty neat looking attack. Would be a shame if someone stole it! Copycat into Double Team!"
"Purr!" Purrloin then grinned before duplicating herself with multiple clones. These clones appeared in a perfectly symmetrical line. But not just that, all of them had used Copycat. And by doing so, they had mimicked the exact same move combination that Swanna had made.
But with some quantity plus quality. One-half of the clones had copied Water Pulse while the other half had copied Ice Beam, making the same move that Swanna made. Multiple of these fountain ice orbs had been made along with the main Purrloin mimicked Steel Wing, growing fake going wings on her back and hitting the orb. "Purrloin!"
The other Purrloin used their tails to hit the orb, launching them. Each of the others had trailed out water in the process, moving at equal speeds. Most of them anyway. The middle one was moving faster due to the force of Steel Wing. And due to this, Swanna's attack had been obliterated by the others.
"Swan?!"
"It isn't over yet! Shadow Claw!"
"Purrloin!" Purrloin added the finishing touches. She leapt into the air, holding her paws out. Her sharp claws had been revealed as they extended, gaining a shadowy veil. She had then slashed the middle orb, giving it some darkness that trailed out.
"Swanna!" Swanna had been bombarded with the various fountain orbs that were mimicked from its own attack, causing an explosion of ice, water and a little shadow too. "Swan!"
"Not my Swanna!" Premium gasped. Swanna soon recovered as her resistance to Ice and Water helped tank it.
"Took your move and did it better!" Diamond Tiara laughed, taunting Premium Polish.
"You haven't seen anything yet! Ice Beam on the floor!"
"Swan!" A more environmental approach was made. Swanna used Ice Beam once more, spraying it on the floor. She sprayed it in a specific pattern, causing a flash-freeze on most of the surface.
"We all know this! Whenever there's ice involved in these contests, something amazing is about to happen!" Marian exclaimed as she had a point. If anything, Ice was always the biggest attraction in these contests due to how pure it looked a majority of the time.
"Follow up with Feather Dance!"
"Swanna!" Swanna's body became surrounded in gold as she had then waved her wings around in a dance-like motion. A golden powder could also be seen forming. Then, Swanna started skating and dancing on the ice floor while also spraying the powder.
The golden powder dropped onto the floor, giving a nice sparkle as it was a glittering lake. A shroud of white feathers had also dropped, mainly from Swanna's own feathers. They decorated the floor while also flowing in the wind. Swanna was approaching Purrloin at full force, despite Feather Dance not dealing any damage.
"Yikes!" Diamond Tiara was intimidated by this. "As if we're letting that hit us! Get ready to jump and use Lash Out!"
"Purr!" Purrloin roared, preparing for the right moment to jump. However, Swanna said otherwise. While skating, she had also performed a mighty jump before Purrloin could. "Purr?" Purrloin gazed into the onto as Swanna had not only gracefully jumped over her, but the powder from Feather Dance had also been dropped onto her. "P-Purr!" Purrloin started coughing because of this. The powder got in her nose too, threatening to make her sneeze.
"Ah! Purrloin!"
Afterwards, those same white feathers had been dropped on Purrloin, surrounding her on all sides. But they weren't too big to trap her, however, they did rack up some points.
"Swanna!" Swanna then landed on the icy floor without slipping, posing afterwards.
"Let's keep it up, Swanna! Add some Steel Wing into the mix!"
"I don't think so..." Diamond Tiara's eyes flashed. "Copycat!"
"Purr!" Purrloin quickly turned around, ready to copy Swanna. However, she ended up slipping afterwards from all the ice on the floor. "P-Purrloin?!" She fell flat on her back.
"Oh my gosh! Purrloin, are you okay?!"
"Can't do much on the floor, can you? Now's your chance, Swanna! Juggle her!"
"Swanna!" Swanna danced back in Purrloin's general direction, approaching with great speeds. However, instead of ramming Steel Wing into her, while she was on the floor, Swanna had used Steel Wing to pick Purrloin off the ground as she was using a spatula on a pancake. "Swan!"
And to add insult to injury, Swanna started juggling Purrloin, using Steel Wing and Feather Dance to do so as the Devious Pokemon was going left and right.
"That's just disrespectful," said Rainbow Dash after witnessing this mockery. But it was an amusing and beautiful mockery nonetheless. "I love it!"
"P-Purrloin!" Purrloin was unable to do anything about this at the moment as Swanna went higher and higher. Diamond Tiara growled as Swanna delivered the biggest juggle yet, launching Purrloin to the very top. "Purr?!"
"Now, Water Pulse!"
"Swan...!" Swanna opened her beak, ready for another Water Pulse that would be covered in golden power. Purrloin was also still covered in golden powder and feathers from Feather Dance falling on her.
"Heh." However, there was a catch. Thanks to Feather Dance, one of Purrloin's moves had a greater purpose. "Lash Out!"
"Purr!" Lash Out. Due to her attack being affected, the power of this move was increased. But not only that, Purrloin could act even in the air. She had made the tendrils of Lash Out appear with their usual black and red appearance.
And there was an extra benefit. The powder and feathers from Feather Dance. Using the same technique with Lash Out from before Purrloin transformed them into black, red, gold and white feathers that were flowing at its back.
"Oh!" Premium Polish was taken aback.
"Wow! It's like an angel with multiple wings!" Marian shouted at Purrloin's slightly angelic appearance. The Devious Pokemon then launched the extra-coloured tendrils over at Swanna's direction.
"Bigger, Swanna!"
"Swan!" Swanna had made Water Pulse bigger before firing it. And she did so by adding another Water Pulse to it that came out of her beak, increasing its size. And this size increase allowed Water Pulse to act as a shield against the tendrils.
They had been blocked successfully while also giving Water Pulse some more special effects. "Launch it!" Premium commanded as Swanna could finally unleash Water Pulse. Water Pulse and its new colours shot through the air, going after the free-falling Purrloin.
Purrloin received a swift hit to the face from that attack that was the equivalent of a slap. "Purr!" She winced before being consumed by the watery explosion and its many colours. Afterwards, Purrloin dropped from the sky, landing flat on her face. Some of the ice almost broke from her impact.
Swanna's Feather Dance eventually ended, reverting her body to its normal white colour. As for Purrloin, she, unfortunately, did not get up. She had fainted. "Purrloin..."
"Purrloin is down and out! Which means that Premium Polish is the winner and advances onto the next round!"
"Victory!" Premium Polish jumped as Swanna used her feathers to form the peace sign. This was her most recent victory and also Diamond Tiara's first loss.
"Aw. First loss on the first go." Silver Spoon commented. "Was really hoping she'd get past at least one of them."
"Thank you, Purrloin. You did great." A slightly saddened Diamond Tiara went up to Purrloin, helping her up. The Dark-Type then purred, nuzzling on Diamond Tiara.
"Purr..."
Diamond and Premium looked at each other as Diamond Tiara had no choice but to respect Premium Polish. She did have the most experience and was essentially her senior in this instance. "Alright. You beat me. That's a bummer. But it won't happen next time, okay?"
"If you say so." Premium Polish only winked in response, waiting for Diamond Tiara to challenge her another time if the chance comes. For now, this matchup had ended up as the last one could be underway.
Diamond Tiara wouldn't be heading home, unlike Velvetwind. Once she went backstage, Sweetie Belle congratulated her along with Flurry Heart for having a good first try, despite it ending in defeat. "You did great for your first one, Diamond Tiara."
"W-Who said it was my first?" Diamond Tiara was still trying to make it seem like she had been in contests before. But she wasn't fooling anyone. "Next time will be a breeze and I'll be at full focus, just you watch.
"You have some interesting friends, don't you?" Flurry Heart said to Sweetie Belle, giggling once Diamond Tiara went to pack up.
"Thanks, Princess Flurry Heart."
"Gh!" Flurry Heart winced as her cover was blown. Her wings stood up in shock afterwards. "Again?! How does everypony keep seeing through my disguise!"
"Because nopony looks like you." Sweetie Belle chuckled as she had a valid point. Flurry Heart's colour scheme was too unique to ignore.
The Baltimare Contest was slowly reaching its end with the ribbon still up for grabs. Three coordinators out, fewer will remain once time passes as the journey continues.
Chapter 694 End.