Equestria. Magehold. Nightfall.
"Bonsoir, everypony!" Appearing on a stage smack-dab in the middle of the Magehold Contest Hall was Fantina. At last, her Pokemon Contest was ready to begin with her at the helm. She appeared standing on a tower of bones which elevated her. The Vampire Ponies who all gathered here let out resounding cheers for Fantina. These were probably going to be the biggest cheers here since Fantina has made quite the name for herself.
"Welcome to Magehold's first-ever Pokemon Contest! Made by yours truly! It took a while but now it's here and I'm glad you could make it! This is just the first of many! And I can promise you it will be worth the anticipation for another one! The trainers here will do their best to earn the Magehold Ribbon!" She lifted the ribbon into the air, showing it to everyone here.
It was obviously made to match the style of Magehold since this was its first-ever Pokemon Contest. Thus, the ribbon would have to be striking to the vampires and get them excited for the future. That was always going to be Fantina's major goal even with her current circumstances.
"Just to make sure that things are judged fairly, I grabbed some of the finest judges I could find! Three of them are parents of the young ones but I can assure you there won't be any heavy bias here!"
"Well, there might be a bit of it..." One of the judges spoke, rooting for his child. But that was natural for any parent to do. The parents of the children and even the older ponies were all in the crowd, eager to see what their children have managed to spark up under Fantina's supervision.
"Now, this will be a long night, I can assure you. So many of the young ones and even older ponies were eager to try this Pokemon Contest out. I want to thank them for showing up and practising for this moment. You can expect to see the most wonderful of performances and witness what a Pokemon is truly capable of. But for now...let's start with a feast!"
Surprisingly, things started off differently from how they usually do for Pokemon Contests. Fantina took a different approach for the beginning. Popping out of the floor next to the large crowd were pedestals. They emerged from the floor via Dark Magic being utilized as they appeared to have food on them. The crowd were treated to a delicious feast before the contest could fully begin.
All their favourite selections of food were here, bringing smiles to the faces of the vampires. They could chow down on what they loved before the coordinators could show up. The vampires gladly indulged themselves in the feast that Fantina had prepared. Fantina left the scene, letting them all eat without disruption. The Hearthome City Gym Leader entered the backstage as Fractured Note was there waiting for her.
"This looks nice." Fractured Note commented. "You love to go the extra mile, don't you?"
"Mhm. It's only natural for me." Fantina giggled. "I have a good feeling it will all go splendidly well. It's sure to even catch the attention of the Lich Queen, don't you think?"
"It will. Right now, she's in a Mental Battle with Princess Celestia. Most likely, before she has to do things physically, she'll be confronting Princess Celestia more than anything. If she's greatly thrown off by what's about to happen here at the Pokemon Contest, we need it to also affect the barrier here. I've already sent some vampires to try and attack the barrier so that way when that big moment happens, the barrier could break."
"Excellent. Now, I need to check up on everyone else to see how they are doing." Fantina walked off, approaching the coordinators who were all in the Waiting Room or the Dressing Room. Fractured Note would also leave, making sure that the barrier was the main focus of all of this.
The only way that barrier was breaking is if something was interacting with it while Rosa Maledicta was already confronting someone. And so far, that seemed to be the case. At least, one of them. Since she was clashing with Princess Celestia in the Mindscape, she was already focused on something rather important. And when that big moment comes, Fractured Note will be expecting the barrier to shatter in response to Rosa Maledicta being caught off guard by whatever Fantina has planned.
Coming backstage, she saw all the coordinators suited and dressed up for the occasion. Some were even just wearing what they previously had at the Fashion Contest. And already, they were practising even when they weren't out there. The children were certainly the messiest when practising, moving around frantically with their Pokemon. Meanwhile, the older ponies were more refined than them, simply instructing their Pokemon on what to do instead of acting it out.
"Miss Fantina! Check out my magic bombs! Aren't they sweet?!" A young colt vampire said, holding up magical spheres that would combust. The explosions weren't all that destructive. They were comparable to toys and the explosions might as well be glints.
"Lovely. Remember. You're free to use magic with your Pokemon. Sometimes the Trainer can be just as daring as the Pokemon when they need to. Just make sure not to harm them, okay?"
"Okay!" The children bellowed.
"Oh, we're allowed to use magic?" Eccentrick and the other older vampires collectively said. They didn't expect to hear that. They believed that this was entirely up to the Pokemon. But for Fantina's Pokemon Contest, they could go the extra mile and really make the show stand out.
"I know you'll do an excellent job, Eccentrick. I see it in your eyes." Fantina approached Eccentrick, kneeling to face her.
"I know I will. And especially my partner." In her hooves, she held out a Poke Ball, dropping it to the ground as the wonderful creature within would emerge. It was revealed that she had an Inkay. "Isn't that right, Inkay?"
"Inkay!"
"Alright." Fantina then stood up, putting her hands together. Her time around the coordinators would be brief as she had a Contest to oversee once the feast was complete. "Everyone will finish up and then it's showtime."
Within a Mindscape.
Meanwhile, in Celestia's Mindscape, she was not only facing down the Lich Queen Rosa Maledicta but also the Pony of Shadows. At least, a part of it. The Pony of Shadows had sent those that it caught from Shalour City against the Princess of the Sun. This included Korrina, her Lucario and Shalour City's residents. Each of them appeared in Nightmare Forms, akin to what Luna once had. Celestia was certainly outnumbered but she did not feel outclassed.
"Gardevoir!" Appearing into her Mindscape in a flash of light was her trusty partner Gardevoir. She appeared as a flash of light above, gently descending next to Celestia.
"I have Passion with me. So I have fairly high hopes."
"Just the one Pokemon?" Rosa spoke. "But to be fair, it is your Gardevoir. I've heard things about you and your Gardevoir."
"What you heard is true. We're much stronger together." Celestia smiled as Gardevoir generated a flare of Fairy Magic in her hands, trying to intimidate the Shadow Humans and Pokemon. "Rosa. Your eyes will be on me fully. You won't be spectating over the rest of the Black Crusade while I'm here."
"Bah! As if that's going to happen. All I need to do is to prevent you from keeping the Sun up and my job here will be done. And with the Pony of Shadows on my side, that is most likely. And are you really willing to harm these innocents?"
"Watch me." Celestia's words surprised Rosa Maledicta as she didn't expect that response from her. It sounded like Celestia was willing to attack Korrina and the others. Then again, it was seemingly her only choice.
"Lucario...Bone Rush!" Shadow Korrina spoke, ordering Shadow Lucario to attack Celestia and Gardevoir.
"Ca!" Lucario puts its paws together and spreads them apart, creating a light green bone or two blue bones of energy. Oter Pokemon were ordered to attack Celestia and Gardevoir since they were all being spearheaded by the Pony of Shadows and his magic.
Celestia was essentially battling against another nightmare variant. The first was her little sister Luna. And now it was Shalour's citizens. But this time, Celestia had someone here to assist her during this Nightmare attack. Celestia and Gardevoir looked at each other for a brief moment, nodding in unison as their connection was strong enough for them to communicate in this way.
"Gardevoir!" Gardevoir slid past Celestia, getting in front of her. The Embrace Pokemon held her hands out, using Dazzling Gleam as it appeared as two spheres in her hands. But those two spheres would generate a vibrant flash of light that was blinding to the eyes. Blinding enough to stun Lucario and the others who tried approaching Celestia and Gardevoir.Lucario's Bone Rush missed Gardevoir completely thanks to this blinding act, allowing the Psychic-Fairy-Type to move aside, letting Celestia perform the next action.
Celestia was already building up some magic. And once the way was clear for her, she would unleash it on Lucario and the others, sending out a golden flash. This golden flash was wide enough to reach all the residents of Shalour City. Lucario, Korrina and everyone were eclipsed by this light, screaming out in pain. Rosa Maledicta squinted her eyes in the flash of this magical flash.
The sound of the Pony of Shadows could also be heard from this as a semblance of him was within these Shadow People and Pokemon. Celestia narrowed her eyes, increasing the intensity of her magic until it completely masked everyone. Rosa Maledicta already saw what Celestia was trying to do and immediately interfered with it. She got involved, using her Dark Magic to counteract Celestia's light.
The Dark Magic creepily stapped into a piece of Celestia's light, only appearing as a small spike. But that spike instantly spread out darkness, sucking the colour out of Celestia's attack. Celestia gasped as her Light Wave was completely drowned out in the darkness. She could stop the spell entirely and pull back before it could reach her.
"Trying to free them, are you?" Rosa Maledicta uttered. "Not one bit! Even if this is all taking place within our minds, I can't afford to let you succeed in this! Get her!"
"Lucario! Bone Rush, once more!"
"Ca!" Shadow Lucario would go in for another attack, using Bone Rush a second time. Celestia wasn't going to easily free them from this Shadow State. She would need to really work for it.
"Alright then...Passion! Use Thunderbolt!"
"Garde!" Gardevoir arms were surrounded in lightning as she kept them there while Lucario approached her. The moment the bones were swung at her, Gardevoir used her electrified arm to block the bone. The impact of the bone hitting Gardevoir's arm was hefty, sending out sparks. But not enough to deter the Embrace Pokemon. Her eyes flared when looking at Lucario, giving an intense presence off. "Voir!" After blocking Lucario's Bone Rush, Passion would then electrocute the Aura Pokemon, sending 100,000 volts through its body. Shadow Lucario yelled out before being knocked back by a swift kick from Gardevoir.
Shadow Lucario went flying while electricity was trailing out of it. Afterwards, the other Pokemon approached Gardevoir, attempting to swarm her with their superior numbers. They appeared in all shapes and sizes. But a common theme was that most of them were Water-Types with a few other types around.
"Thunderbolt, once more!"
"Garde...Voir!" Gardevoir bellowed as she unleashed more of her Thunderbolt. This time as a radius attack, similar to what is done with Discharge. Lightning flew out of her body in the shape of a dome, enough to reach all the Pokemon that tried to attack her. They couldn't get their opportunity at all as they were all electrocuted. The Water-Types got the worst of it without a doubt. But right as the Pokemon were all dropped by Gardevoir's electrical outburst, that was when the Lich Queen intervened.
Moving past the fading lightning was the menacing face of Rosa Maledicta. Gardevoir gasped after seeing her appear. But her shock only increased once she saw Rosa Maledicta's hoof which had been enhanced in size. The Psychic-Fairy-Type received a hit from this massive hoof which had been manipulated to be larger, sending her flying.
"G-Gardevoir!" Gardevoir cried out before recovering on her own, using her levitation to save herself. But she was certainly blindsided by that.
The massive hoof was then followed up by a large visage of Rosa Maledicta. She enlarged herself as well, appearing as a massive giant that loomed over Celestia and Luna. Celestia grit her teeth in the face of this tyrannical titan who brought down a large blast of magic from her horn. The dark green light from the blast coloured Celestia and Passion's bodies before crashing into them, resulting in a fierce magical outburst.
However, this was soon retaliated by a flare of light shooting through the dark green magic, replacing it in an instant. Rosa Maledicta gasped as she was then met by a larger Princess Celestia. Since this was a battle of minds, Rosa wasn't the only one who could increase her size and manipulate things how she wishes.
But it was also Passion had grown in size as well. Once she appeared, she immediately slapped the Lich Queen's large face with her hand, sending a sound so loud that it harmed the ears of the Shadow People and Pokemon. Rosa was quite offended and shocked at that. Of all the things Gardevoir did to her in this fierce confrontation, a slap was rather shocking and disrespectful.
Rosa Maledicta wouldn't let that pass at all. Right after being slapped so hard she stumbled back, the shadows from the Shadow Victims below would rise up. While they weren't enlarged, they could still generate shadows that were enough to match the size of these three giants at the moment. Celestia and Gardevoir looked around them as the shadows lengthened, reachings sizes larger than what they were.
Celestia immediately tried blasting away at these shadows before they could reach her, however, the smaller ones were already ahead of the large shadows. Sent up by Korrina, these smaller shadows were harder to see but were much faster. And once they reached Celestia and Gardevoir, they ended up increasing in size, matching the larger shadows
Celestia found herself being struck by these shadows, right in her neck too. Gardevoir never saw it coming either as they went straight through her arms when they enlarged. They were unable to deal with the other shadows thanks to these staggering blows they received. This resulted in the remaining shadows beating down on them.
"Gah!" The Sun Princess bellowed before being viciously attacked by these shadows. It felt like multiple hammers were being swung at her constantly from each direction.
"Voir!" And for Gardevoir, it felt like she was being cut and slashed by multiple swords. Celestia received heavy attacks while Gardevoir received sharp attacks. Both were painful to them.
But adding up to that pain was a fierce and massive blast from Rosa Maledicta who took advantage of this situation. Unable to defend themselves, Celestia and Gardevoir found themselves enveloped in this blast of Dark Magic. Dark green lightning cracked once they were struck by it.
The Magical Duo fell over, sliding on the dark surface which was covered in shadows. The two of them groaned as the dark surface was rigid. It wasn't as smooth as it appeared. It felt like being dragged along multiple nails and rocks on the ground with how rough they were. The force of the blast was definitely worse though. Rosa's attack had more weight compared to the Shadow Attacks Celestia and Gardevoir received.
"Are you alright, Passion?" Celestia grunted, holding her head as she got right back up. As if this was enough to greatly weaken the Ruler of Equestria.
"Gardevoir." Gardevoir stood up back on one knee, still having lots within her. They both looked up to see Shadow Chains suddenly appearing, threatening to hold them down. These chains were summoned by the Shadow Pokemon who summoned them from the darkened floor.
"I don't have time for you in here. I have a Crusade to get back to. Right now, with this battle, the Sun and Moon's fate has already been decided. But I'm going to make sure that-" Right as Rosa was about to leave, she realized something that surprised her.
She couldn't leave.
Normally, Rosa Maledicta would simply lower her magic, allowing herself to exit the Mindscape with ease. But when trying to do so, the Lich Queen soon noticed that it was impossible for her to do so. Rosa had no power when trying to leave the MIndscape. Her horn would flash violently, desperately trying to leave.
"What is this?! Why can't I leave?!" Rosa roared, seeing her magic fail her. How could the magic of the Lich Queen fail? It seemed impossible considering how powerful she was. But she failed to realize someone just as powerful as her was in the same mindscape as her.
"I told you...Your eyes will be on me and me alone." Celestia put on a rather devious grin when standing back up She let out a small chuckle that caught Rosa's agitated attention. "You won't be seeing your crusade at all. Because right now, you're stuck here with me for the meanwhile."
"Celestia...!" Rosa growled as dark lightning crackled around her body.
"I will give my subjects the opportunity to do what they can without your interference. It's always been you that's given the Dread League massive advantages in a majority of their attacks. But the one time when you're most certainly needed, you won't be there for them at all. But for me, I always have someone for me."
"Tch! All I Have to do is beat you and your spell will be out of the picture!" Rosa thundered at Celestia. "Then, I'll make sure that your entire world is laid to waste in the most horrific ways possible! I also have the Pony of Shadows on my side and he will send me more forces in this mindscape! Expect some familiar faces eventually, Celestia!"
Celestia and Rosa Maledicta were stuck here together. All thanks to Celestia's power. Their showdown in their mind wasn't quite done just yet. Princess Celestia was aiming to drag it out as long as she could. No matter what, she couldn't let Rosa Maledicta harm her subjects.
Ponyville. The Pokemon House.
As for Ponyville, it was also stuck in this odd balance of Day and Night. Because of Celestia and Rosa's clash, the Celestial Bodies were undecided at the moment, creating this juxtaposition of Light and Dark.
Aside from that, returning to Ponyville at last were Fluttershy and Applejack. They could be seen on the back of Flygon, making their comeback to their lovely town with the cure at their disposal. Fluttershy had already taken it as seen by her cured body. No longer were there any spots around her.
"I'm back! I got the cure!" Fluttershy said with excitement, hopping off Flygon's back and rushing over to her Pokemon. Thankfully, they were still in one piece. None of them have been injured or even affected by the Disease Mist. They were as healthy as they can be. But the same couldn't be said for those outside of the Pokemon House.
"Great!" Twilight turned to face Fluttershy, seeing the Swamp Fever cure in her hooves. "But we still have one major problem. Everyone else. But hurry and get this to Zecora."
"Ya'll ain't got a cure for them yet?" Applejack asked.
"We do. Daisy and Paradise are the cure. But if they cure even one of them, they'll received heavy amounts of damage to their bodies." Rarity answered, shaking her head. "We're hoping for the Sun to stay up and heal them but even with all of the Sunny Days, the Moon is still present with it."
"Sorry about that..." Daisy apologized for not being strong enough to withstand at least one cure. "I wish we were stronger."
"Same..." Paradise sighed.
"It's not your fault. No need to worry, okay?" Ash kneeled to face them. "We'll make sure you get tons of sunlight and everyone's cured. We just gotta find a way to do it as fast as possible."
"Pika..."
"The Sun's on one side and the Moon's on the other side. Do you think we could do something about that?" Ash asked the others.
"I don't know." An ill Roseluck replied as she wasn't sure what to make of this. They're constantly moving but never leaving our sights. I'm not sure what it would do to Daisy and Paradise."
"I've never seen the sky like this. There's not enough brightness here or even enough darkness to really make it clear what time it is." Twilight couldn't even tell what this kind of time could be. Day or Night was out of the question. They had to find something fast before Ponyville's residents succumb to the terrifying Magehold Diseases. They all thought as much as they could but nothing was coming up just yet.
"Well, we won't know if we stand around like this," Ash uttered. "We're gonna find all the solutions we can. And I think I've got something that we can use."
"What's that?" Twilight asked, unsure as to what Ash was going for. Ash smiled as there was one place that never left this memory and he knew he'd have to use it again someday.
"The 18 Realms."
As the journey continues.
Chapter 151 End.