DISCLAMER: I do not own Steven Universe or Super Smash Bros. They are the legal properties of Cartoon Network and Nintendo, respectively. Thus, no copyright infringement is intended.

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Six chapters in, I think it's time to round out the original trio for their Smash movesets. Presenting the overly protective mother hen of the Crystal Gems and arguably the closest that Steven has to a mother figure: the renegade herself, Pearl!

When one thinks about it, Pearl is arguably the most important member of the Crystal Gems, as her actions are what lead to Pink Diamond choosing to become Rose Quartz and start the rebellion against Homeworld and the Diamond Authority. Furthermore, she has been Rose's closest companion since day one and sworn to be her loyal knight, eventually falling in love with the former Diamond. Said love would be unrequited, however, as Rose would give up her physical form to give birth to Steven, whom Pearl would eventually realise is someone completely different from her beloved leader in almost every way. She may be overprotective and somewhat salty for a millennia old warrior, but she still holds the values of loyalty, respect and compassion that one would expect from a true knight.

Naturally, with Pearl being the lithest of the core three Crystal Gems, it makes sense for her to be a lightweight fighter, sacrificing strength for agility and speed. This also makes her dodging abilities in the higher tiers if we went by her stats. That doesn't mean she's a slouch as a combatant, however; she has a vast array of abilities that would help her in Smash and give her a good advantage if one knows how to use her moves correctly. She would also have two jumps and would be able to wall jump and wall-climb, as we see her do the latter in the Season 1 episode "Rose's Scabbard".

The Standard/Aerial/Smash Attacks:

Pearl will naturally be using her signature spear for these moves, which allows for both long range and close combat if needed. And every time that she uses an attack that involves throwing said spear, she'll instantly conjure a new one from her Gem. The spear will also have the trident attachment that was given to her by Bismuth in her eponymous episode, but only during the Special moves. Along with her weapon, I also want to be incorporating some Ballerina moves as a means of showcasing Pearl's emphasis on swift, skilful strikes that deal surprisingly heavy blows, as well as showing off the characters incredible flexibility and versatility.

Starting off, her jab can have her thrust her spear forward and swipe to the right, knocking her target back. Her dash attack can have her do a forward leap and swing her spear at her target, referencing Pearl's main attack from "Save the Light". Due to the nature of this attack, however, there will be a bit of start lag for Pearl to swing her spear. Her forward tilt can simply have her hit her opponent in the gut with the butt of the spear. Her up tilt can have her launch a holographic projection of Rose's sword from her Gem, with it flying into the air to knock opponents out of the sky, although it will dissipate if it happens to hit the bottom of a floating platform. Her down tilt can have her do a Plie and swing her spear at her opponent's ankles, tripping them up. This will have some end lag due to Pearl needing to spin twice in order to build the momentum needed to trip up her enemy.

Her forward-Smash can have her launch an energy ball out from her spear, the ball itself moving about the same speed as a small shot from Samus's arm canon. This is a reference to a similar attack seen in "Save the Light". But while somewhat slower than preferred, the shot itself will have a powerful knockback on anyone hit by it, as it can also break shields while leaving them stunned when they get back up. For her up-Smash, she can do a double spin kick that can help to launch two opponents into the air, each one corresponding to either the first or second kick. The best comparison I can make is to Sonic's up-Tilt. Her down-Smash can have Pearl do an on the spot pirouette with her leg out, which more or less acts as a means of knocking an enemy back.

Pearl's neutral-Aerial can have her summon 6 more spears to spin around her like a pinwheel. On top of knocking back opponents hit by them, they will also act as a temporary shield that can reflect projectiles and leave them on the floor for Pearl to pick up. This spear shield will only last for about 8 seconds, however, and if the player attempts to use it again as soon as it's done, then Pearl will only summon 1 spear instead; this naturally prevents the player from simply spamming the attack for a cheap advantage over other players. Pearl does fight fair, after all. Regardless, her forward-Aerial can have her throwing her spear at whoever happens to be in front of her. Her back-Aerial can have her bend her back over to fire a small energy ball from her spear, with the ball itself being smaller and weaker but having greater speed than the one used for her forward-Smash. Her up-Aerial can have simply swing her spear in an upward arch. And finally, her down-Aerial can have her drop down on her opponent with a downward facing kick, not too dissimilar to Captain Falcon's down-Special.

Grabs/Throws:

Pearl can grab her opponent by using a Ribbon Wand and bringing them to her, referencing Pink Diamond's former Pearl nicknamed "Volleyball" (incidentally; couldn't Steven have come up with a better nickname? Peeps? Pinky? Buns? Anything other than Volleyball? Sorry, little pet peeve). Her pummel can be a simple punch to the gut (or maybe to the face to reference when she did the same to Peridot in the Season 2 episode "Back To The Barn"). Her forward-Throw can have her summon a holographic rapier from her Gem and knock her opponents away. Her back-Throw can have her spin the opponent on the spot, jump to the opposite site and kick them away. Her up-Throw can have her cradle her opponent like a baby before quickly tossing them in the air. And finally, her down-Throw can have her snap her opponents neck and drop them, leaving them stunned. This last Throw, as dark as it sounds, is a visual reference to when she does the same to a Centipeedle in the Season 1 premiere "Gem Glow".

Specials:

Pearl's neutral-Special can have her use one of her sadly rarely seen abilities; she'll create a holographic version of herself to act as extra support during a fight. The Holo-Pearl will only use basic attacks such as swinging or throwing their spear and can easily be taken down upon dealing 20% of damage. However, good luck actually hitting it, as they will also have incredible speed, agility and recovery; almost on par with Sonic's in regard to how quick they can be. Pearl can only summon one Holo-Pearl at a time and will need a 15 second recharge in order to use the attack again, so players can't simply spam this ability in order to cheat and get an early victory; this once more calls back to how Pearl believes in a fair fight and feels that peoples victories should be earned instead of given.

Regardless, he forward-Special can have Pearl pull out a pair of rapiers from her Gem and land a cross slash on her target, putting them back after the attack. This attack will naturally have a lot of knockback, but has some start lag for Pearl to summon these weapons. Her up-Special can have her Plie and then leap into the air with a mid-air pirouette, with her swinging out her spear out. This not only acts as the hit box to attack other players but can also be used as a propeller of sorts to give Pearl a chance to grab a ledge if she gets knocked off the stage. And finally, her down-Special can have her stab her spear into the ground, which then has two other spears appear on either side of her pointed at an angle, allowing for spiking an opponents' weak spot.

Final Smash:

For her Final Smash, Pearl can summon one of Rose Quartz's deadliest weapons; a trio of Laser Light Cannons, better known as the Quartizine Trio. The player can then aim the cannons at any player they wish, though they will have to do so in 5 seconds. Once the timer runs out, Pearl will, albeit reluctantly, shout out the activation code "If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs!" The cannons will then fire and deal major critical damage, resulting in an instant K.O if the damage is over 100%.

While these cannons did belong to Rose, and naturally now belong to Steven, I wanted to give these cannons to Pearl to emphasise her loyalty to Rose and everything that she fought for and trying to set an example for Steven. Besides, it would also be funny to hear her say the activation code given her general distain for food.

Other Stuff (Taunts, etc):

Pearl's base outfit will be the one she starts wearing in the Season 5 finale "Change Your Mind", which is also my favourite costume for her; a short-sleeved teal jacket, teal top, dark blue trousers, and pink plimsole shoes. And as opposed to having different colour schemes, Pearl will have entirely different costumes. The first three alts will have her coloured as each of the other Pearls we see following the Diamond Authority; Yellow Pearl with her spiked hair, Blue Pearl with shaggy hair covering her eyes, and Pink Pearl, or "Volleyball", with her Princess Leia hairbuns (with the option to have her in the monochrome colour scheme as seen in the final 4 episodes of Season 5). All of them will be wearing their signature ballerina style outfits. Her next alt can have her wearing her "punk" outfit, only ever seen in the Season 4 episode "Last One Out of Beach City". Her next costume can have her wearing her original outfit when she began serving Pink Diamond, seen in both the Season 5 episode "Now We're Only Falling Apart" and the movie when she got hit by Spinel with the Rejuvenator. Her final costume can have her wearing her tuxedo and top hat, first seen in the Season 3 episode "Mr Greg".

As for why she doesn't have any alternate colour schemes… I dunno. I guess I couldn't think of any without resorting to original colour schemes.

Regardless, her stage intro can have her appear on the Warp Pad with a bow, pulling out her spear and resting it on her shoulder. Her up-Taunt can have her spin 5 times on the spot, then stop and jab the butt of her spear into the ground as she stands proud, proclaiming "I'm doing this for me!" which references the Season 5 episode "Reunited". Her side-Taunt can have her pull out the scabbard to Rose's sword and cradle it with affection. Her down-Taunt can have her take out a can of soda and, reluctantly, take a sip before she recoils in disgust. This won't heal any damage she had taken during the match.

For victory animations, her first can have her stab a Rose Quartz flag into the ground with her fist clenched, proclaiming "I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz!", referencing the extended opening theme song. Her second animation can have younger Steven jump into her arms as the two take a selfie. This doesn't really reference anything, I just thought it could be nice for Pearl to have a different wallpaper than what Amethyst gave her. And for her final victory animation, she can be duelling with Connie before the two bow and kneel towards the camera, both saying "I'll do it for him", referencing the Season 2 episode "Sworn To The Sword".

Conclusion:

Remember how I said Amethyst would be the hardest to create a moveset for? I take that back. Pearl might've been the hardest one to do because of how I wanted to try and balance her skills as a fighter with her ballet style flexibility. Due to my lack of knowledge on ballet, this made it harder to create a sensible moveset for the character as I really wanted to do her justice. Whether or not I succeeded is up to you guys, but I really do hope that I managed to get my ideas across without being too complicated.

Nonetheless, if you liked what you saw, please let me know in a review below. Also be sure to follow and favourite the story to be notified of when it gets an update. Requests are still open, so please let me know who you'd like to see next and if you had any ideas for their movesets. Special shout out goes to Deadaccountsuperallstar for requesting that Pearl get the Smash treatment.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!

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