For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP146: Dressed for Jess Success! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.
Chapter 35
"And now it's time for the Battle Stage!" Marian stated as the four got back to their seats. Piplup also decided to come with them to watch its Trainer battle. After a random selection, Dawn and the Coordinator with the Granbull were the first ones to battle. The two were on both sides of the stage now, looking at each other with intensity. "With just five minutes on the clock, Coordinators must land their attacks as stylishly as possible, while lowering their opponent's points in the process! So enjoy the dazzling display of moves!"
"So Round two is a battle round!" Khoury understood.
"But unlike a Gym Battle, Coordinators and Pokémon are judged on the style of their moves," Brock elaborated. "And the way they're able to dodge their opponent's attacks."
"Let's meet the Coordinators for our first match!" Marian suggested. "To my left, it's Dawn. To my right: Mario!" Both Coordinators' photos appeared on the large screen above, and underneath their picture was a round circle with a Poké Ball in the middle. Around the Poké Ball was a yellow circle, and in between the two circles was a digital clock that read five minutes. "And, begin!" As soon as she said this, the clock started counting down.
"Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn cried, pulling out her Poké Ball and tossing it onto the stage. The ball opened up, and, instead of the usual white light, a large puff of pink smoke came out from the Poké Ball, and Mamoswine came charging out of the smoke and stopped in front of Dawn as the smoke evaporated from its fur.
"Now, Granbull go!" Mario called, tossing his own Poké Ball forward. The Poké Ball burst open and, this time, an explosion of fire came out from the inside of it, and Granbull charged out from the flames, standing in front of Mamoswine with one leg forward, ready to battle. Both Coordinators smirked at each other before they began to battle. "Granbull, use Fire Fang now!" The Fairy Pokémon jumped into action right away, charging at Mamoswine with its mouth open. Red-yellow fire then poured out from the corner of its mouth and it snapped its jaws, causing the flames to travel down its bottom jaw and around its fangs.
"And Granbull unleashes a powerfully-flaming Fire Fang!" Marian announced as some of Dawn's points, the yellow circle underneath Dawn's picture, went down. When she saw this, Lyra gasped in surprise.
"Wait, how come Dane's points just went down?" she questioned.
"In a Pokémon Contest battle, the successful use of a flashy move can lower your opponent's points," Brock explained to her.
"I see; that's amazing!" Khoury replied. "Only in Contest battles."
"Quick, dodge it and use Ice Shard!" Dawn commanded her Pokémon. As Granbull reached Mamoswine, it opened its jaws and jumped forward to snap them around the Twin Tusk Pokémon, Mamoswine jumped backwards, and Granbull snapped its jaws in the air. As it did, the fire around its mouth flickered away as well.
"And Fire Fang misses!" Marian said as it was Mario's turn to lose points. When Mamoswine landed on the ground again, it opened its mouth and formed a bright blue, glowing ball of ice in front of its mouth. "After a quick dodge, Mamoswine unleashes Ice Shard!" Granbull skipped back to its side of the battlefield, and both Coordinator and Pokémon readied themselves for Mamoswine's attack.
"Let 'er rip!" Dawn instructed, and Mamoswine lurched forward, closing its mouth around the Ice Shard it formed. Everyone in the audience, as well as Mario and the three judges, gasped at the action it took.
"Mamoswine has just eaten its own Ice Shard!" the MC exclaimed in surprise as well.
"Go for it, Mamoswine!" Ash cheered, and Pikachu and Piplup cheered loudly for them. Like before, the thick fur on Mamoswine's back stood up straight in rows of spikes and thick, sparkling ice covered over the strands that stuck out.
"Unbelievable! Mamoswine's fur has just frozen over and its body is covered in icicles! It's as if Mamoswine were wearing ice armor!" Marian stated as Mario's points went down from the unique attack.
"That did it! Look how their opponent's points went down!" Lyra stated, and behind her, the audience started to cry out loudly in excitement from the new attack. Mamoswine's beady eyes looked around at the audience cheering for it and let out a breath of confidence before crying out proudly.
"We're on a roll, Mamoswine!" Dawn complimented, then reached her arm forward. "Now, Hidden Power!" Obeying its Trainer, both of Mamoswine's tusks started to glow yellow, and its body became surrounded in a yellow outline as well. Multiple blue-green orbs of energy then formed and orbited around the large Pokémon. The bright light from the Hidden Power attack reflected off the ice on its back, making it reflect and sparkle beautifully.
"And Hidden Power makes Mamoswine's Ice Armor sparkle brilliantly!"
"It's beautiful!" Lyra commented, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, and by combining those moves, Dawn's making Mamoswine look even more fearsome," Brock added.
"Take Down!" Dawn commanded, pointed at Granbull across the stage. With the Hidden Power still spinning around it, Mamoswine took a running start and ran forward, its sights set on Granbull.
"Uh oh! Dodge it!" Mario exclaimed to his Pokémon, but before his Granbull could react, Mamoswine slammed its body into the Fairy Pokémon. It spun in the air before landing on the ground and bouncing off. When it landed on its back, Granbull was unable to battle. "Granbull!" At the judge's table, all three pressed a buzzer in front of them, and a red X appeared on the screens on the front of their booths, making a loud noise.
"That's it! And the team of Dawn and Mamoswine moves onto the semi-finals!" Marian judged.
"Mamo!" Mamoswine grunted proudly. However, Dawn stared out at the battlefield with wide eyes, and she blinked a couple times as she muttered to herself.
"Using a triple-combination move of Ice Shard, Hidden Power, and Take Down, Mamoswine masterfully takes the match!" As Dawn recalled her Mamoswine and walked off the stage, Lyra noticed the disappointed look on the Coordinator's face, and she raised one of her eyebrows.
"What's wrong with Dane? Why does she look disappointed?" Lyra asked Ash and Brock. The two looked at her, but her back was already to them as she walked off.
"I dunno. Let's go find out! I want to congratulate her anyways," Ash suggested, and the group stood up and walked out of the main arena as Jessilina and the red-headed girl with the Jumpluff stepped out onto the arena.
o 0 o
"Man, that was a letdown," Dawn sighed as she fell back onto the comforted benches in the Coordinators' room. They had caught up with her in the hallway and they walked together into the room. Both Lyra and Khoury gasped and raised their eyebrows.
"Let down?" the brunette repeated. "But Dane, in case you didn't notice, Mamoswine won!"
"Mamoswine was into it, but that was only in the beginning of the battle," Brock answered for the blue-haired girl. "And since it actually won with Take Down alone, I bet Dawn wishes she could have done more." Dawn pulled her head up and looked at her friend.
"Brock's right; it's true," she responded. "There were a lot more things I wanted to try."
"But a win is a win, right?"
"Yeah, but I think Dawn wishes she had won the battle in a different kind of way," Ash elaborated. Beside her, Khoury crossed his arms and frowned, letting out a small groan of confusion.
"Hmm, Contest Battles are more complicated than I thought," he muttered, and suddenly, Dawn jumped up and raised her fists excitedly as if she just got a brilliant idea.
"Yes! So I'll just make the semi-final battle flashier!" she cried.
"Piplup!" the Pokémon beside her cheered on, nodding its head in agreement. Lyra looked up on the monitor to see how the current battle was doing. Jessilina's Carnivine was battling against her opponent's Corsola, and the two seemed to be fighting it out. Carnivine was trying to snap its jaw around Corsola, but the pink and white Pokémon was leaping around nervously to avoid the attacks.
"Let's go back to our seats and watch the rest of the Contest," Lyra suggested to everyone. "That way, Dane can think of new ways to improve with her Mamoswine by herself."
"Thanks, Lyra," the Coordinator said, smiling at her. The other nodded and made their way back to their seats with Piplup and Cyndaquil following behind.
o 0 o
When the group returned to their seats, Carnivine had Corsola wrapped up in its light green and red roots and was using Bind to squeeze Corsola. It was also squeezing the points out of the Coordinator as well, and with each second that went by, the girl's points continued to go down. "Corsola, BubbleBeam!" the Coordinator cried, and a light blue ball formed in front of Corsola's mouth, and it fired a barrage of light blue bubbles, but Carnivine quickly moved its head while still latched onto Corsola so it wouldn't get hit with the attack. Dodging the attack also lowered the female Coordinator's points as well.
"And Carnivine dodges that BubbleBeam attack with incredible ease! Will Corsola be able to get out of this tight squeeze?" Marina questioned, and suddenly, a loud ping sounded as the time dropped to zero. "And time is up! The winner of the match is... Jessilina and her Carnivine!"
"We did it, Carnivine!" Jessilina exclaimed. Right away, the Bug Catcher Pokémon leaped off Corsola and jumped onto Jessilina, wrapping its arms around her and biting onto her head in happiness. Meanwhile, Jessilina's opponent took in a deep breath of disappointment, but recalled her Corsola into its Poké Ball and walked off the stage.
"Great battle! Now let's bring out the next set of Coordinators!" The two Coordinators stepped out from backstage and walked onto the battlefield. The Coordinator with the hat who had the Sentret last round took the spot to the left, and the mean-looking Coordinator with the Flaaffy walked to the right. Both of their pictures appeared on the scoreboard. "The Coordinators here will be competing to go to the Semi-finals. To my left, meet Clayton. And to my right, meet Daryl." Both Coordinators faced each other and prepared their Poké Balls. "Coordinators, send out your Pokémon... and begin!"
"Shuckle, let's go!" the Coordinator with the hat, Daryl, shouted, tossing his Poké Ball forward onto the battlefield. The Poké Ball opened, and in a burst of light that also produced a large amount of red confetti, a yellow worm-like Pokémon with a red shell around it came out of the ball.
"Flaaffy, I choose you!" Clayton called, and in a puff of pink smoke, the man's Flaaffy from the first round appeared in the middle of the stage. The Coordinator wasted no time in calling orders, as well. "Flaaffy, Thunderbolt!"
"Flaa!" the Wool Pokémon cried, and jumped into the air as its body became surrounded in yellow electricity. It then fired a beam of yellow electricity from its body at Shuckle.
"Block it with Protect, Shuckle!" Daryl retorted. Two snake-like arms came out of holes on the front of Shuckle's shell and it raised them. Just then, a green energy barrier appeared around Shuckle's body just as the Thunderbolt reached it, and the electrical attack fizzed out, doing no damage to Shuckle at all.
"That was quick thinking on Daryl's part. We saw how much control Flaaffy has over its Thunderbolt attack. Because the attack didn't work, Clayton loses some points as well."
"Okay Shuckle, fire back with Stone Edge!" Daryl commanded, pointing at Flaaffy. Raising both of its arms, two rings of light blue energy appeared around. The energy started to glow white and it separated into two rings of glowing white rocks that orbited around Shuckle in an X-like orbit. Pointing its head forward, the Mold Pokémon let out a cry, and the glow around the stones faded, and fired at Flaaffy, one after the other.
"Destroy them with Signal Beam!" Putting its hands together in front of it, a white orb appeared in between its two arms, and it fired a rainbow-colored beam from the white orb. The two attacks collided and fought for dominance before Signal Beam broke through and obliterated the Stone Edge attack before going through and hitting Shuckle. The Pokémon bounced back, but quickly recovered.
"Ouch. Though Bug-type moves aren't very powerful when put up against Rock-type moves like Stone Edge, Flaaffy's higher level helped them pull through this!" Marian explained, watching as Flaaffy immediately took action, taking a running start as it charged.
"Swift attack, go!" Clayton shouted. Skidding to a stop, Flaaffy lowered its head and fired multiple golden stars out of its mouth straight at Shuckle.
"Safeguard!" Daryl gasped as the Pokémon released the golden stars. However, just in the nick of time, a green energy shield appeared around Shuckle's body, and as the stars hit it, they bounced off and disappeared in a golden dust. Because the move failed, Clayton's points went down a bit. The man grumbled as he looked at the scoreboard, then looked back at the battlefield. However, he smiled, looking at Daryl's points, who had lost a quarter of his.
"Flaaffy, jump back and try Swift once more!" he instructed. The Pokémon nodded, leaping backwards and spitting out more golden stars again. "Now, use Thunderbolt and Signal Beam!" As the stars zoomed at Daryl's Shuckle, the Wool Pokémon released a bolt of yellow lightning from its body, zapping the stars and giving them a beautiful golden aura like before. When Flaaffy stopped with the Electric-type attack, it reached its arm forward and fired a rainbow-colored beam quickly, hitting the stars with it and giving them a beautiful shine.
"Oh my! It's the attack that brought them up to the second round! Clayton's showing us that it isn't just for show as well! The beautiful attack cost Daryl a handful of points, too." The capped Coordinator bit his lip, but grinned as the attack soared through the air at Shuckle.
"Too bad it won't hit us, right Shuckle? Protect, let's go!"
"Shuckle, uckle!" the Pokémon uttered, and raised both of its arms, a green force field appearing around its body. The stars hit it and crashed into the shield, but did no damage at all, and the shield fell, leaving Shuckle unhurt.
"Boy, that guy with the Shuckle isn't doing so well," Lyra muttered to herself.
"That's because Clayton and his Flaaffy have flashy moves," Brock explained. "Daryl's Shuckle is using a defensive strategy by making the opponent's attacks fail. But Clayton's Flaaffy has many tricks up its sleeve, so the flashiness of the moves is costing Daryl his points.
"Flaaffy, Charge!" Clayton commanded. The pink Pokémon in front of him nodded and crouched its body together, yellow sparks of electricity appearing around it as it gathered its electricity.
"Stop it with Stone Edge, Shuckle! Don't let it gather electricity!" Daryl shouted. Once again, two rings of energy appeared around Shuckle's body, and from the rings, it fired multiple stones like bullets from around it at Flaaffy. Flaaffy braced itself as the Stone Edge barrage hit it, and was pushed back slightly as it continued to gather energy.
"That Stone Edge attack is doing its toll on Flaaffy, but it continues to gather electricity!" Marian announced, looking up at the scoreboard as Clayton's points started to slowly go down.
"Okay Flaaffy, Thunderbolt!" Clayton yelled.
"Flaaa... fffffyyyy!" the Wool Pokémon shouted, letting out a fierce cry as it released all of its charged electricity. The electricity fired at Shuckle like a huge rocket ship, but Daryl smirked.
"Shuckle, Protect!" he ordered. The Mold Pokémon raised its arms to bring up the energy shield, but nothing happened, and the Bug-type Pokémon looked around in surprise.
"Rapid succession of Protect has caused it to fail! And such horrible timing!"
"Okay then, Plan B! Endure!" Daryl retorted, and Shuckle lowered its head, bracing itself for the impact of the electricity. In a flash of bright light that seemed to fill up the room, the huge Thunderbolt hit its mark. Finally, the light faded, and everyone looked to the battlefield, squinting to see the results. As the smoke cleared, Flaaffy was standing on Clayton's side of the battlefield, breathing heavily from launching the powerful attack. On the other side, Shuckle was inside its shell and lying still on the other side of the battlefield. Smoke rose from its shell from where the electricity sizzled, and sparks still danced across the top of it. The audience was silent as they waited for the results of the attack. Suddenly, the shell began to rock back and forth, and Shuckle's head and limbs stuck out from the holes. It was crisp, but it was still able to move.
"What amazing defense! Because Shuckle was able to use Endure at the last moment, it managed to survive the powered-up Thunderbolt!" Marian declared. Suddenly, the buzzer went off as the time on the scoreboard reached zero. "And at a dramatic finish, time is up! The winner of the match is... Clayton and Flaaffy!" The audience began to cheer as Clayton kneeled down. His Flaaffy rushed up and hugged him, and he petted the top of its head happily. Daryl sighed in disappointment, but walked out onto the stage and picked up his Shuckle. Both opponents shook hands and walked off back stage. "Let's begin the last match of the quarter-finals! Coordinators, come out!" The audience cheered as the two Coordinators up stepped out onto the stage, and Lyra gasped, intertwining her fingers as the blond Coordinator with the Hitmontop from last round stepped out.
"Oh! It's my Prince Charming!" she squealed.
"But look who he's facing," Khoury muttered, pointing to the other Coordinator that stepped out. It was the young man from earlier who brought out the Meganium.
"Let's meet the last bunch of Coordinators!" Marian suggested, stepping in the middle of the battlefield. "To my left, it's Neil! And to my right is Julio. With five minutes on the clock, let the match begin!"
"Tyrogue, it's you!" Julio, the blond Coordinator, called, tossing his Poké Ball up gracefully. The Poké Ball opened up, releasing a bright light that poured down onto the stage. In a flash, a small pink Pokémon that looked humanoid appeared, and around it, multiple yellow quarter notes came out of the ball, and Tyrogue jabbed at them and batted them away.
"Meganium, you're up!" Neil shouted, tossing his Poké Ball forward as well. In a flash, accompanied by a large amount of bright pink flower petals, the large dinosaur-like Pokémon appeared on the other side of the stage, facing Tyrogue.
"Oh god! I don't know who to root for!" Lyra complained, flailing her arms and legs.
"Lyra, shh!" Khoury whispered, trying to calm her down as the people around them started to stare at the brunette. "People are staring!"
"Tyrogue, begin with Fake Out," Julio started, running his fingers through his hair. Without even hesitating, Tyrogue charged forward, front flipping into the air and jumping in front of Meganium. Before either Pokémon or Trainer could react, Tyrogue clapped its hands together in front of it, releasing a shock wave from its hands at the Herb Pokémon. The shock wave blew back Meganium and it skidded across the stage, managing to stop before it skidded into its Trainer.
"And Tyrogue begins with a speedy Fake Out attack, throwing Meganium off-guard!"
"Hi Jump Kick," Julio followed up, smiling confidently as Tyrogue jumped forward, bending its knee as it soared through the air.
"Use Sweet Scent to calm it down, Meganium!" Neil retorted.
"Ganium!" the Grass-type replied, and raised its head, releasing a thick pink mist from the flower petals around its neck all around the stage. Tyrogue seemed to disappear inside the mist, and Neil smirked, knowing his counter-strategy worked. Suddenly, Meganium gasped and the Scuffle Pokémon leaped through the mist, striking the Grass-type with its knee before kicking off it and landing on the ground. Meanwhile, Meganium fell to the ground from the strike of the attack.
"Using Sweet Scent, Meganium dropped its guard, thinking Tyrogue got caught up in that marvelous scent, but Tyrogue came back with a vengeance!" the MC announced.
"Like my Pokémon is going to be affected by a measly distraction," the blond Coordinator told his two opponents as Tyrogue landed on the ground, kneeling down as the powder's fragrance threw it off guard.
"C'mon Meganium, get up! I know you can!" Neil urged, and the Pokémon did so with a loud groan. Shaking its head from being knocked down, it finally faced forward and locked its eyes on Tyrogue. "Energy Ball!" As he issued his command, Meganium opened its mouth and the petals around its neck started to glow bright green. A bright green orb of energy then formed in front of Meganium's mouth and it fired the Energy Ball at Tyrogue. The Pokémon was still trying to focus on getting rid of the Sweet Scent's effect, and didn't even notice the Energy Ball until the last moment, and it exploded as it made contact, knocking back the Scuffle Pokémon.
"And a nice comeback from Meganium! These two are neck-and-neck when it comes to points, as well."
"For now. Rock Smash, Tyrogue, go!"
"Tyrogue!" the pink Pokémon cried, jumping forward and pulling back one of its fists and clenching it tightly. It then started to glow white and it jabbed its fist forward as it approached Meganium. The power-punch knocked Meganium off its feet, and it went sprawling to the ground.
"Fire another Energy Ball!" Neil ordered, his voice starting to quiver with worry. Lifting up its head, the Herb Pokémon opened its mouth as the petals around its neck started to glow green with energy and it fired an energy orb from its mouth. The ball zoomed by, and Tyrogue jumped over it with little effort. In doing so, this gave Meganium the chance to stand back up without the Scuffle Pokémon attacking it in the process. "Once more! Energy Ball!"
"Is that all you can do? Tyrogue, Low Kick!" Julio countered. As Meganium fired another ball of energy from its mouth, Tyrogue jumped high into the air, jumping over the ball, and extended its foot as it landed. Meganium gasped when it saw Tyrogue's leg diving at its feet, but didn't have any time to react as the Fighting-type Pokémon landed and swung its legs underneath the large Pokémon's two front legs. The Herb Pokémon tripped as it lost its balance and fell forward with a big crash. Tyrogue jumped back to its side of the battlefield and crossed its arms across its chest, watching Meganium closely. However, the Pokémon had fainted from the barrage of attacks, and Neil cried out when he saw Meganium was knocked out. The judges each pressed a button on their tables, letting a buzzer sound to know that the battle was finished.
"And after a fascinating barrage of attacks, Meganium has been knocked out, and Julio advances to the Semi-Finals!" Marian concluded, and the crowd clapped at Julio's and Tyrogue's victory. Recalling his Pokémon, Julio smiled at the audience, gave a bow, and walked back to the Coordinator's room. Neil also recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball and walked back, his head slumped in disappointment.
"Poor guy. I hope he's okay..." Khoury muttered as he watched him slink off through the curtain.
"At least Prince Charming won!" Lyra replied, smiling from ear to ear as Marian stepped out onto center stage.
"Folks, its been one stylish Contest Battle after another, and your applause shows me how much you love it!" Marian stated. "Now, let's bring out the Coordinators for the Semi-Finals!" From behind the curtain, walking side-by-side, was Dawn and Jessilina. Jessilina seemed to have lost all of her previous nerves and had a smile on her face as she stepped out. Dawn was also smiling confidently as she walked out. The two split apart when they got to the stage, and Jessilina took the left side of it while Dawn took the other. "The first Semi-Final match will be between: Dawn on my left, and Jessilina on my right! And with Dawn having won four Ribbons, and Jessilina having won two, who will win the Contest Battle and move onto the final round?" Marian paused as the audience cheered and clapped, ready for the battle to begin. "We've got five minutes on the clock! Begin!"
"Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn called, spinning around elegantly and tossing her Poké Ball forward. In a poof of pink smoke, Mamoswine charged onto the battlefield. After seeing her opponent, Jessilina took out her Poké Ball and kissed it before throwing it.
"Carnivine! Show time!" she cried. The Poké Ball opened up, and along with the white light, a large amount of pink hearts accompanied the light, raining onto the stage. As soon as Carnivine appeared, however, the green Pokémon turned around and jumped at its Trainer, biting onto her head and hugging her tightly. "Not chow time! Showtime!" she exclaimed as she struggled to get out of Carnivine's grip.
"And once again, Jessilina puts everything into her performance," Marian commented, watching Jessilina struggle with an amused smile on her face. Finally, Jessilina managed to pop out of the Bug Catcher Pokémon's mouth and it jumped forward.
"Didn't that Team Rocket member's Carnivine do the same thing?" Lyra asked Khoury, raising one of her eyebrows as she turned towards him.
"Carnivine have a tendency to bite things, so I guess it makes sense for all Carnivine to do that," Khoury replied, shrugging his shoulders. Lyra looked at Jessilina and studied her for a moment, but then shrugged and watched the battle as Dawn gave her first command.
"Mamoswine, Ice Shard!" she began, and the Twin Tusk Pokémon opened its mouth wide, forming a bright blue ball of ice in between its tusks.
"And Mamoswine uses Ice Shard! We'll see if it uses that power-up again!"
"Use Vine Whip!" Jessilina shrilled, and two light green vines extended out from under its head, zooming towards Mamoswine. Just as Mamoswine was about to bite down on the Ice Shard, Carnivine's Vine Whip attack wrapped around the Ice Shard and pulled it back. Mamoswine bit down in the air, and its teeth crunched together, and both it and Dawn gasped as Carnivine snatched up the Ice Shard.
"Mamoswine's power-up fails!" the MC declared as Dawn's points went down.
"No way!" Lyra mumbled as everyone around her gasped. Placing the Ice Shard in its hand, Carnivine stood there on stage, tossing it up in down in its leaf-like hand as the Vine Whips swung around in the air.
"And Carnivine's quick thinking Vine Whip has stolen Mamoswine's Ice Shard!" Taunting Mamoswine, Carnivine held the Ice Shard attack in the Vine Whips and waved it around, giggling mischievously at the Twin Tusk Pokémon. Mamoswine glared at Carnivine's taunts and stomped its foot in anger.
"Return that Ice Shard to sender!" Jessilina shouted with a grin plastered on her face. Jumping into the air and pulling its head back, Carnivine threw the Ice Shard in its vines right back at Mamoswine, and it soared straight at the brown Pokémon.
"Mamoswine, dodge it!" Dawn ordered, but Mamoswine was stomping on the ground in anger and wasn't prepared. At the last moment, it looked up and the Ice Shard collided with its head. The Ice attack shattered when it hit and Mamoswine stepped back a couple steps, grunting in pain.
"And Mamoswine gets pummeled by its own Ice Shard!" Being hit by its own attack didn't seem to thrill Mamoswine, and it stomped on the ground again, and dragged its foot across the stage, its angry gaze fixated on Carnivine. "Woah! It appears Mamoswine is getting all fired up!"
"Please Mamoswine, calm down!" Dawn told it, but the Pokémon ignored her and charged forward, running right towards Carnivine. "Wait Mamoswine!" Just then, Mamoswine's body started to glow bright orange as it charged, and the four Trainers in the audience gasped.
"Mamoswine's making a move without Dawn's command is bad news..." Lyra heard Brock mutter to himself.
"Mamoswine, chill out!" Ash yelled to it.
"Pika pika!" his Pokémon added. Despite the giant Pokémon charging towards them, Jessilina and Carnivine didn't seem to be worried at all.
"Jump and dodge it," Jessilina ordered. Carnivine nodded, and as Mamoswine approached it, it leaped high into the air and effortlessly jumped over the large brown Pokémon. Mamoswine wasn't done, however, and when it saw it missed, it whipped around and tried to attack Carnivine again. The same thing happened and Carnivine jumped over Mamoswine once again. The scene repeated itself for a couple more times as well.
"Carnivine elegantly dodges over and over, while Mamoswine is getting more and more upset!" Marian announced, her eyes following Mamoswine's movements. Behind her, the scoreboard showed that with each dodge Carnivine made, Dawn was losing more points.
"Mamoswine! Watch your opponent's moves, please!" Dawn begged, looking helpless as she overlooked the battle with a horror-stricken face. Meanwhile, on the other side, Jessilina had one of her hands on her hips and was waving her hips from side to side. She had the other hand pointed up in the air and waving it around in circles.
"Carnivine now twirl and dance!~ Keep them in a tipsy trance!~ They don't stand a chance!" she sang. Giving one last hop, Carnivine flew through the air and spun like a ballerina in midair, then landed. Mamoswine skidded to a stop and glared at Carnivine, then began to glow bright orange again and charged at the Bug Catcher Pokémon.
"Mamoswine, you've gotta calm down!" Dawn screamed, but to no avail.
"It's like Mamoswine can't hear Dane talking!" Lyra commented.
"Even with my untrained eye, I can tell Mamoswine's moves aren't normal," Khoury added, and they watched as they began their dance; Mamoswine charging with Take Down while Carnivine jumped over it easily. "I'm afraid Carnivine's totally in control." Out of breath, Mamoswine skidded to a stop in front of Dawn, the orange glow fading from around it as it breathed in and out heavily. Lyra let out a sigh of relief as Mamoswine looked like it was going to stop attacking, but gasped again when its body became outlined in a golden outline and both of its tusks began to glow as well. Raising its head, multiple light blue orbs of energy surrounded in a golden light then appeared around Mamoswine's body and circled around it.
"Don't attack unless I tell you to!" Dawn yelled, but Mamoswine reared up on its hind legs and crashed down, leaning forward and firing the orbs from around its body at Carnivine.
"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!" Jessilina screeched.
"Carrr... nivine!" the green Pokémon cried, leaping into the air and opening its wide mouth, firing a barrage of golden glowing seeds from its mouth. The Hidden Power and Bullet Seed attacks collided in the middle of the stage, and Carnivine managed to pop all the orbs with its own attack. When the smoke from the two attacks cleared and Mamoswine saw its opponent was undamaged, it slammed its feet into the ground and reared up on its hind legs again. This time, its body started to glow silver, and the silver energy rose up and collected as a large silver ball in front of Mamoswine's tusks.
"Swine!" the Pokémon exclaimed, whipping its head around and tossing the AncientPower attack at Carnivine. The Grass-type stood still until the orb was near it, and then spun elegantly and moved to the left simultaneously, dodging the attack and lowing even more of Dawn's points. At this point, Dawn only had a quarter of her points left while Jessilina had only lost a bit of hers from Carnivine's failed Bullet Seed.
"Mamoswine, you've gotta listen to me!" the Coordinator demanded as her Pokémon quivered with anger. Deaf from madness, Mamoswine once again charged forward and started to glow as it went in for another Take Down attack. "Mamoswine, stop!"
"Carnivine, use Vine Whip to grab Mamoswine's tusks!" Jessilina instructed. Leaning forward, Carnivine grinned as it released two green vines from under its head. The two vines extended forward and wrapped around the ends of Mamoswine's tusks. When it grabbed it, Mamoswine stopped and looked down at the vines in surprise. "And now... pull back!" With surprising strength, Carnivine pulled back and its vines snapped back as well, pulling Mamoswine right off its feet for a few moments. The Twin Tusk Pokémon's eyes widened and it fell to the ground, skidding across it as Carnivine continued to retract its vines.
"C'mon Mamoswine! Get a grip!" Ash exclaimed. Next to him, Lyra turned her head away, making her hat shadow over her eyes.
"I... can't watch anymore!" she muttered. Finally, Carnivine let go and jumped out of the way, but not before giving a flick of its vines, causing Mamoswine to bounce off the stage and roll off to the side away from it. The three judges, who were overlooking the battle from their table, all gasped when they saw Mamoswine was skidding right towards them, and dashed away. With a collision that shook the whole stadium, Mamoswine slid into the judges' booth.
"Mamoswine..." Dawn mumbled, walking out on stage and slowly towards the middle where she stopped and looked at the destroyed table worriedly. When the dust that was kicked up cleared, Mamoswine was in the middle of the rubble, its body shaking in pain. It looked up and struggled to get up, but before it could, the high-pitched buzzer sounded, meaning time was up for the match.
"Alright, time's up! Marian called. "And the team moving on to the Final round is... Jessilina and Carnivine!" The crowd began to cheer wildly from the battle's conclusion, but Brock, Ash, Lyra and Khoury stayed quiet, looking at each other for answers on what to do next. In the middle of the stage, Dawn looked up at the scoreboard and her head fell sadly, but on the other side, Jessilina ran forward with her arms outstretched.
"Carnivine, we're in!" she exclaimed. Carnivine grinned widely and hopped towards its Trainer, giving her a great big hug and biting her head. "I love you too, but I still need to use my head!" The audience around them laughed and cheered louder for the two, but Lyra's, Khoury's, Ash's, and Brock's eyes were glued on Dawn as she turned around and walked up to her Mamoswine. The Pokémon was sitting in the middle of the rubble, looking down at the ground in pity.
"Cheer up, Mamoswine," she told it, and Lyra saw that instead of a sad look on her face, she was smiling at her Pokémon. "C'mon, there's always next time. And when that time comes, we'll be in better shape, right?" She giggled and grinned at it, but the Pokémon looked back down sadly, feeling guilty. She recalled her Pokémon and both her and Jessilina walked backstage.
"W-what should we do, guys? Should we go see if she's alright?" Lyra asked, looking at Brock and Ash for answers. "I know she seemed happy, but she must be devastated." The two companions looked at each other, and then Brock leaned forward to look at Lyra.
"I think we should give her a little time to herself before we check up on her," he replied. "Why don't we watch this last match and then see if she's okay."
"Okay..." Lyra mumbled in response, biting her lip and watching as the next two Coordinators walked out onto the stage. The two were Clayton and Julio, but not even Prince Charming could uncloak the thoughts from her head.
"You two are worried about Dawn too, aren't you?" Ash inquired, looking at Piplup and Cyndaquil. The two Pokémon turned and looked at him, but with their heads down sadly. "No need to worry; I'm sure she's fine."
o 0 o
Lyra didn't even watch or pay attention to the match. She couldn't. The whole time, she stared down at her lap, worrying about her friend. Poor Dane... Her chance at getting her fifth Ribbon just slipped right out of her fingers, and not even by her own mistake. I'd be devastated right now if that happened to me, she thought. Suddenly, the loud buzzer interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up, seeing that Julio's Tyrogue had knocked out Clayton's Flaaffy, and he had won the Semi-final match, allowing him to move onto the Finals.
"And Julio moves onto the Final match! We'll take a three minute intermission for Julio's Tyrogue to take a breather before Jessilina comes out and begins the Final match!" Marian explained. As she walked off stage, Brock and Ash stood up, and Piplup and Cyndaquil leaped off the barrier they were standing on and made their way out of the arena area. Now wanting them to get lost, everyone else stood up and chased after them. They met up with the two Pokémon, and together, they rushed as fast as they could to the back room. Finally, they reached it, and both Lyra and Ash pushed open the two doors, crying out at the same time.
"Dane!"
"Dawn!" Piplup and Cyndaquil also walked forward. Dawn was standing by the bench, placing her white ski hat on her head. Her hair was back in its usual hairstyle, and she was back in her normal outfit, her Contest dress tucked neatly in her backpack. The room was fairly empty, as most of the Coordinators who had been knocked out had either left, or were crowded around the television in the front, watching as Jessilina and Julio walked back onto the arena. The girl raised her eyebrows when they came inside and turned around to look at them.
"Hi, guys," she greeted.
"Sorry about your match," Ash apologized, frowning apologetically.
"Lup..."
"Quil..." her Pokémon added. Dawn turned around fully and kneeled down to get closer to her Pokémon, a smile growing on her face.
"Hey, no need to worry," she replied, grinning at them.
"Maybe you should have used Piplup and another Pokémon after all..." Lyra suggested lightly, and Dawn got back up and looked at the brunette.
"You might be right, but there are a lot of things you don't know until you're actually up on stage," she explained, and turned to Ash. "One thing's for sure, Ash: I know what Mamoswine and I have to work on after today, y'know? Hope you're okay with being our practice buddy some more."
"Sure!" Ash agreed, raising one of his fists confidently. Behind him, Brock nodded approvingly. Lyra, however, gasped in surprise; her eyebrows raising up as well.
"Dane, you lost but you're so positive in spite of it!" she exclaimed. Instead of saying anything, Dawn giggled to herself, and Lyra couldn't help but smile along as well. On the flat screen television behind her, the buzzer sounded, and hearing the noise, everyone turned and looked at it. In the middle of the screen, Julio's Tyrogue was lying on the stage floor knocked unconscious.
"Tyrogue has run out of points! So the final stage winner and Oreburgh Champion is... Jessilina!" Marian's voice sounded through the speakers that were placed around the room.
"Jessilina?" Lyra repeated. "Wow, she really won!"
"Too bad your Prince Charming didn't win, huh?" Khoury teased, laughing at his joke. Lyra turned to him and glared, but quickly wiped it away and grinned, laughing along with him. Dawn, however, looked at them with a confused look on her face, as if she was missing something.
"Prince Charming? What?"
"And now, Mr. Contesta will present Jessilina with the Oreburgh Ribbon!" Marian announced, and the camera panned to the middle of the stadium, where Jessilina and Carnivine stood on a platform. The judge in the red jacket held a tray forward, and Jessilina reached forward and held the pink Ribbon that was lying in it in her fingers. Unable to contain her excitement, she raised the Ribbon high in the air.
"Behold! The Oreburgh Ribbon!"
o 0 o
"Here you go, Mamoswine," Dawn said, reaching her hands forward. In the middle of them were a large helping of Dawn's pink Poffin. Mamoswine happily put its head down and sucked up the Poffin, chewing on the treats thankfully. After the Contest cleared out, everyone decided to go back to the Pokémon Center and let Mamoswine spend some time with Nurse Joy. She reported that Mamoswine was doing just fine. Now, the group were out on the Pokémon Center's backyard area. The sun was setting above them, a beautiful end to the end of an amazing day. "Eat up, cause starting tomorrow, you and I are gonna practice even harder, okay?"
"Mamo!" the Pokémon replied, letting a breath of air out of its nose confidently. The breath of air almost blew away Piplup and Cyndaquil, who were below the Twin Tusk Pokémon.
"Wow, Mamoswine's really stoked!" Ash commented.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu, who was on his shoulder, added.
"We'll do whatever we can to help you win a fifth Ribbon," Brock assured the Coordinator.
"Thanks Brock. I'll do my best," she replied, and clenched her fist confidently, looking at Ash. "What do 'ya say?"
"Yeah!" the spiky-haired boy remarked, nodding his head.
"Nice. At times like this, isn't it great to be with friends?" Khoury, who was standing beside Lyra, asked. They were a little bit separate from the group, but still close enough to be with them. Responding to his question, the brunette nodded with her hands crossed across her chest.
"You're right, Khoury." She looked up and smiled, looking at the three Trainers in front of her. "Cause whether you win or lose, you always have your friends."
Well, how was the Contest? I tried to get in as much flashy moves as possible and be as descriptive as I could, but it's hard when there are so many things going on at once. XD 1). Battles 2). Marian doesn't shut the hell up 3). the points. Just know that with each flashy move, points go down, etc, etc. Also, we only have one or two more chapters left until the Johto Festival arc is over! I'm so excited! :D
This was kinda a long chapter, but that's okay. ^-^ Long chapters are good, right? XD Also, information on Pokémon Black and White 2 has been coming out a lot. What are your thoughts on it? As for myself, I'm just excited for information to come out. I'm not liking how they're replacing everyone, though. :/ Just when you start to love them.
Anyways, next chapter, Tohmas finally calls Lyra and Khoury, and tells them that he's getting ready to leave the Sinnoh region. Sad to be separated from their friends, they decide to have one last battle to commemorate the occasion. It doesn't sound like much, but this will be a big chapter! Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing. You're all amazing people. See you next update, and thank you again for reading/reviewing!