"Sandslash, swift! Ivysaur, razor leaf!"
The stars and leaves flew into the two opposing pokemon, throwing them both to the floor.
"Murkrow and Butterfree are unable to battle! Which means, with three minutes to spare, Mac is moving onto round 2!"
The crowd cheered excitedly as the big screen flashed up pictures of Mac, Sandslash and Ivysaur. Mac returned Sandslash and Ivysaur, thanking them as he did. Then he strode off backstage as the MC began to commentate on the second match.
"So you're through to the second round," drawled Elise. She was lounging on a nearby sofa, eating a bunch of fair trade, organic grapes.
"Of course I'm through Elise," growled Mac, "I'm winning this contest, whether you like it or not."
"I'm glad you're through Mac."
"Really?" said Mac, surprised.
"Yes, I want the pleasure of crushing you myself," she snarled. "So make sure you get to the finals, because we're on opposite ends of the tournament so we wont be seeing each other until then."
"I'm looking forward to beating you," he giggled, ambling off happily.
"I'm the first one through," he muttered to himself, "that ribbon has my name on it."
"Get ready for the start of round 2!" Shrieked the MC, gesticulating wildly. "It's Mac vs. Ann Marie, they both won convincingly in the first round, but who will be moving on to the finals?"
"Sandslash, Ivysaur, take the stage!" Mac's two pokemon appeared, ready and waiting for battle.
Mac looked at his opponent. She was small and had long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked nervous and Mac could tell that she was a first time co-ordinator.
"Kadabra, Staryu, let's do it!" She cried throwing out two poke balls. They opened to reveal a yellow human-shaped pokemon, with a long moustache. It held a long spoon and a red star shone on its forehead. The other pokemon looked like a starfish, but with a large red gem clutched at its centre.
"The time starts… now!" Announced the MC.
"Sandslash, rapid spin! Ivysaur, razor leaf!"
Sandslash rolled quickly into an insanely fast spin and Ivysaur unleashed a flurry of leaves.
"Kadabra, psychic!" Cried Ann Marie.
Kadabra's eyes glowed and it levitated its spoon in front of itself. Sandslash found itself stuck in its tracks and unable to continue spinning.
"Send it back!" Kadabra raised one finger and then made a slight flicking motion. Sandslash was thrown across the field, above it Mac's points fell.
"Staryu, bubble beam!" Staryu shot out a stream of bubbles and the incoming razor leaf, negating both attacks.
"Ivysaur, leech seed!"
Ivysaur shot out a large seed from its flower. The seed landed on Staryu's chest and burst into life, unfurling vines which encircled Staryu's entire body.
"That leech seed is sapping Staryu's health and Ann Marie's points!" cried the MC.
"No… uh… Staryu… rapid spin!" she spluttered.
Staryu began to spin like a buzz saw, heading towards Mac's two fighters.
"Ivysaur, use vine whip, throw Staryu into Kadabra!" Ivysaur unfurled its long vines and tied them round Staryu. Then with a twist he threw Staryu, still spinning, back towards Kadabra.
"Um…Kadabra…use… psychic," she blustered, but she wasn't fast enough, Staryu slammed into Kadabra while it was preparing to use psychic, leaving them both lying on the floor.
"That's going to cost Ann Marie a lot of points!" gasped the MC.
A buzzer rang out across the room and X's appeared on the judges screens.
Kadabra, a psychic pokemon, could not take hard, physical hits especially when unprepared.
"So Kadabra's out! Can Ann Marie and Staryu pull through together?" Asked the MC.
"Let's finish this!" Cried Mac. He glanced up at the clock and saw that there were two and a half minutes left to go, he was sure he wouldn't need them.
"Sandslash, dig!" Sandslash burrowed underground, adding a dimension of danger for Ann Marie.
The leech seed was still sapping Staryu's energy and it wasn't looking good.
"Ivysaur, tackle!" Yelled Mac. Ivysaur raced across the floor towards Staryu, head lowered like a battering ram.
"Staryu, Hydro pump!" Shrieked Ann Marie. Staryu shot out an enormous jet of water at Ivysaur. The torrent crashed into the bulb pokemon and threw it, skidding, across the field, towards Mac.
"Wow, a good hit by Staryu, shows us that this battle isn't quite over!" Yelled the MC.
Suddenly the floor crumpled beneath Staryu and Sandslash burst out, striking Staryu and throwing it high into the air.
The buzzer sounded once more announcing Staryu's and therefore Ann Marie's defeat.
"There you have it folks, Mac is moving on to the final but who will he face? Elise or Derek?"
Mac ambled backstage, making sure to give Elise a smug smile as he passed. As Elise and Derek left for their battle, Mac found himself alone backstage.
"Sandslash, Ivysaur, come out," said Mac, releasing his two battling pokemon.
"You two are doing absolutely amazingly," he smiled, stroking Ivysaur's back and scratching under Sandslash's scales just the way they liked it.
"Elise is going to be our final opponent, I just know it. She's using a Grovyle and Seviper." He whispered, more to himself than to his pokemon, "I know that we can beat her. She may have beat us in the appeal, but we are going to get that ribbon!" He promised.
He looked up at the screen, the only focal point in the whole room. There were two minutes left on the clock, but Mac was pretty sure that Elise wouldn't need them. He saw her two pokemon. The first was a human sized green lizard with a red stomach and a long green tail and arm spikes. The second pokemon was a huge black snake, it had purple and gold embellishments down the side and the tip of its tail was shaped like a blade.
"Grovyle, leaf blade! Seviper, Poison tail!"
The blades on Grovyle's arms glowed green and Seviper's tail spike glowed purple. Grovyle's leaf blade sliced into the enemy Jolteon, sending it, crashing to the floor. Seviper's poison tail, slammed into Derek's Dratini, causing it to fly up high into the air and then fall back with a pathetic thud.
"Ooops, looks like Derek's all out of points. That means that our final round will be between Elise and Mac!"
"Mac, if you drop out now, its better than losing horribly!" Jeered Elise, in front of her Grovyle and Seviper fixed Ivysaur and Sandslash with evil glares.
"Elise, I'm looking forward to wiping that smug smile off your face," Retorted Mac.
"Well here it is! The final of the Celadon contest! Elise vs. Mac! Both of them have battled and performed fantastically to get to this point. But there is only going to be one winner!" Announced the MC. On the screen the timer appeared; 5 minutes. "Let's start the battle!" Yelled the MC, behind her the timer started to tick down.
"Sandslash, dig!" Yelled Mac.
"Seviper, you too!" Snarled Elise.
Both Sandslash and Seviper burrowed into the ground leaving Ivysaur and Grovyle alone on the field.
"Sandslash, use rapid spin!"
"Seviper, haze!"
Black smoke began to pour out of the holes on the battlefield and Mac was sure that Sandslash wouldn't be able to see a thing.
"Now Seviper, Poison Tail!" Chuckled Elise. A flash of purple and moments later Sandslash came spinning back out of the hole.
"Wow an underground hit from Seviper is going to cost Mac a lot of points!"
"Ivysaur, razor leaf!"
"Grovyle, counter with Bullet seed!"
The seeds and leaves crashed into each other cancelling both attacks.
"That Grovyle's strong…" muttered Mac.
"Seviper, bite!"
Seviper burst out of the hole in front of Sandslash, latching its teeth around the small armadillo.
"And Elise scores a sneaky hit!" Cried the MC.
"Now Sandslash, rapid spin!" Grinned Mac.
Sandslash jumped into the air and began to spin, Seviper still attached to it. Sandslash rolled faster, trampling Seviper into the ground and tying it in knots round the armadillo's spiny shell.
"Sandslash, rapid spin into Grovyle!" Yelled Mac.
"Oh no you don't!" Snarled Elise, "Grovyle, Leaf blade!"
"Ivysaur, stop Grovyle with vine whip!" Screamed Mac frantically.
Grovyle charged forwards its arms spikes glowing bright green. However Ivysaur's vines smacked into Grovyle before it could dart out of the way. Moments later the rolling ball known as Sandslash and Seviper crashed into Grovyle, throwing the lizard back across the ground.
"Wow! With that great combination Mac is back in the game and the points are equal at 40!" Mac's heart leapt as he heard the words equal, was he about to win?
"Ok guys let's go! Sandslash, focus punch! Ivysaur, tackle!" Both of Mac's pokemon raced towards Elise, ready to attack.
"Grovyle, hit Sandslash with your quick attack! Seviper, Take down Ivysaur with your flamethrower!"
Sandslash was thrown backwards by the force and speed of Grovyle's sprint. Seviper took a deep breath and unleashed a jet of flames which swallowed Ivysaur and left him blackened and bruised.
"Elise has got the edge and with only one minute to go, can Mac catch up?" Shrieked the MC.
"Come on guys we can do it! Get back up!" Wailed Mac.
"Seviper, back underground!" Ordered Elise. The huge black snake burrowed into the ground, above it the timer hit forty seconds.
"Grovyle, use pound!"
"I know what to do this time Elise!" Roared Mac, "Sandslash, earthquake!"
Sandslash slammed its foot into the floor, splitting the earth in front of it. Seviper was thrown into the air, bits of rock flying up around it.
Moments later Grovyle slammed the long leaf on its head into Ivysaur.
Two loud buzzers indicated that Seviper and Ivysaur were out of the battle.
"A double KO, with only 10 seconds left on the clock!" Shrieked the MC, the crowd was on the edge of their seats, the battle could still go either way.
"Grovyle, Bullet seed!" Grovyle opened its mouth and spat out a line of seeds towards Sandslash.
"Sandslash, Swift!" Sandslash waved its claws in front of itself, sending out streaks of glimmering stars. The stars and seeds hit, showering the audience in a glimmering light.
"TIMES UP!" Sang the MC, "And after that heated battle the winner is…"
Mac held his breath, Elise bit her lip ferociously. Sandslash and Grovyle stared at the screen in tense nervousness. The audience was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"MAC!!"
Mac screamed with excitement and Elise fell to her knees, sobbing, "it's not fair! I deserved to win!"
"Mac I am honoured to give you the Celadon Ribbon," Smiled Mr. Contester, handing Mac a shining green ribbon. Corphish, Pachirisu, Sandslash and Ivysaur looked up happily as Mac slid the ribbon into place beside the one from Vermillion.
"Mac!" Snapped a voice from offstage. "You better be at the Lavender contest so that I can kick your ass!" Elise roared.
Mac smiled as he saw the tall blonde woman storm off. Nothing could dampen his mood.
He had two ribbons and he only needed two more for the grand festival.
"Look out Allegra! Because I'm going to see you and beat you at the grand festival."
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