My Little Pokémon: Grander World

Equestria. Las Pegasus. The Grand Festival. Day.

The day was here at last. The day of the Grand Festival.

And at the Festival, everyone who had qualified had shown up, ready for the event. And as everyone who had a Pokemon Contest pass had gathered at the massive place, the Grand Festival itself was being held over at Las Pegasus.

All took a gander at the building that would hold this amazing event. It was a large and grand building, with two giant wings and a massive stage. Many of the coordinators had already made their way to the Festival.

"Haaah..." Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up when looking at it. "I can't believe I'm here. The Grand Festival..." She couldn't stop the excitement in her body from making her shake. She could hardly contain herself at this very moment, and she was shaking. It was like she could hardly believe it herself. "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, geeking out over the place and drawing some attention to her. "O-Oh! S-Sorry!" She chuckled nervously as some others had looked at her for screaming in joy.

But she was not alone. Afterwards, multiple screams of joy from various coordinators went off. All of them were excited for the event.

"Nice." Ash admired the building, slowly nodding. Fanfare along with confetti rained down upon him and everyone else, making sure that this was a truly grand event. Not wasting any time, the young coordinators rushed indoors. They didn't have any time to lose, wanting to see just how grand the inside was compared to the outside. The same went for everyone else who came here just to watch it as spectators.

But before they could really get started, they had to go through the earliest part of the Grand Festival. The Coordinator Meet and Greet. Upon entering, they were met with a vast and rather fancy room that looked to be the size of a banquet room.

Many, many people were already present. All were wearing formal attire and were talking to one another. The Pokemon were present as well. There were so many Pokemon and people in the same room. Sweetie Belle and all the eligible coordinators were taken aback.

The sight of everyone there was enough to get her nervous. "H-Ha..." Sweetie Belle gulped. She wasn't used to such a setting. " A Coordinator Meet and Greet? We get to talk to Top Coordinators?!"

"Actually..." Appearing behind them all was Dawn, leaning over. "They're here to talk to you all instead of us."

"Ahh! D-Dawn?!" Sweetie Belle turned back, her face a blushing pink as she became flustered. The sight of Dawn had caught her by surprise.

"Hehe. I'm not going to scare you that much, am I?" She laughed. "Congrats on making it here. And for that, you've already got fans who wanna talk to you and everypony that made it here."

"...I...I have fans?" Sweetie Belle was lost in space for a while when hearing that. She couldn't believe that people were fans of her. It was hard for her to fathom that. She's only been a coordinator for a few years now, but to think people were already fans of hers made the young filly ecstatic.

"Well, go on and talk with your fans, Sweetie Belle." Rarity encouraged.

"Oh! Oh, okay!" Sweetie Belle perked up before dashing off. And speaking of dashing off, as soon as Ash and Pinkie Pie saw the massive array of food here, they couldn't resist the temptation to get some of the fancy food, dashing towards the tables and digging in. Their Pokemon didn't help at all, Pikachu and Mew stuffing their faces as well.

Speaking of interacting with fans, Diamond Tiara was no exception. And unlike Sweetie Belle who was caught off guard by this, Diamond Tiara was practically prepared to speak with others due to how she is. Naturally, she had a proud smile on her face while her eyes were closed, her eyes gladly taking in all the praise that came her way.

Since she was in the Grand Festival, all the young and fresh coordinators of Equestria looked up to her as a role model. And Diamond Tiara was living it up, feeling herself shine. "Hehe...Glad to know that all of my talents have been recognized. It was bound to happen, right?"

"Tiara! Over here! It's your mommy!" A voice rang out from the crowd, causing the filly's smile to vanish, replaced by a mortified look on her face. As soon as she turned around, she was given the tightest hug ever from a very proud mother.

"Oooh, Tiara! I am so proud of you!" Spoiled Rich had the biggest smile on her face, happy to see that her daughter had qualified for the Festival.

"Mom...Not now..." She muttered under her breath. It was clear she was not happy at this moment. While she admired the love her mmother gave her, in front of all these ponies was embarrassing, especially since she's never acted like this before until now.

"Are you ashamed that your mommy came to watch?" The mother was hurt, having thought her own daughter was embarrassed to see her.

"No! I'm just..." She looked around. "...You know what I mean, right?"

"You've come a long way, honey." Her mother let go, smiling down on her daughter with a gentle expression. She felt tears coming from her eyes. "I'm so proud of you." You're all grown up."

"Oh, mom..." Diamond Tiara's cheeks were tinted a light red, finding this a little too embarrassing.

"And I've been waiting for you to grow. You've gotten so big. A little bit." Her mother smiled at her.

Diamond Tiara, however, was a bit concerned at that last remark. Her cheeks puffed a little in irritation. "Mom! That better not have anything to do with my size."

"No! Not your body, you're perfect just the way you are. I meant your height. You're so grown, my dear Tiara. You're not as tiny as you used to be. I remember the day you came out of the hospital. So small, you were." The mother cooed. She still had the memories of her daughter in her mind, even if they hadn't been the greatest at times. But she was still proud of how much Diamond Tiara had grown.

"Mmrgh...I preferred it when you had higher standards." Diamond Tiara grumbled but still loved her mother greatly.

Despite all the eligible coordinators getting meet and greets, actual high-level coordinators were present here such as Fantina and Zoey, and even some from different regions that came to spectate the Festival. It was no surprise that many, many coordinators were excited for the upcoming event.

"Hello!" Fantia waved at the cameras in front of her, feeling a lot more relaxed than usual. This wasn't her contest, and she was just here to enjoy the show as well and be a guest commentator.

"H-H-H-H-Heeellloo..." Gelidity, however, wasn't feeling as relaxed as her superior was, having been swamped with interview after interview. It was getting a bit much for her and her nerves were on the verge of breaking. The pressure of the spotlight had caused her to freeze up. She was already having a difficult time with this, but when her mind thought about the upcoming contest, her nerves only worsened.

Sweetie Belle was having an easier time, being more than eager to interact with others. Her friends were right there beside her to support her as she spoke with the people, all of them excited that Sweetie Belle was in the Festival.

"Can I get your autograph?!" One pony said to Sweetie Belle, holding a paper up. She gladly accepted and took a pencil, scribbling a messy autograph onto it.

"I'll take an autograph too, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo said, grinning. "If you've got fans, I'll be your fan too!"

"Same here!" Apple Bloom slid over, wanting an autograph as well.

"Hey!" Sweetie Belle pouted at the thought that her signature would be used as something for Scootaloo's amusement. She had signed a sheet of paper for the pony and passed it back to the pony. After that, the next one that was passed to her had been two pieces of paper, one from each of her friends. With an unimpressed look on her face, she scribbled her name on both pieces of paper and gave them back.

"Heehee...I was just kidding, Sweetie Belle. But I'm gonna keep this forever and ever and ever!" Apple Bloom giggled. "It's just so exciting to see ya at the Grand Festival! I wonder who you'll be up against."

"It's not like we can choose our own opponents. We just gotta hope we're not up against someone really strong." Scootaloo was already dreading that thought. If her friend was going up against anyone really tough, then it could spell trouble.

"Actually, I'd want that." Sweetie Belle obviously wanted to go up against a skilled coordinator who can give her a tough time. Microphones were immediately brought close to her once he started speaking. "If I went up against somepony that doesn't stand a chance against me, I'd be upset. Where would the fun be in that?"

"I think I'd be terrified. Facing an experienced coordinator." Gelidity scanned the area, seeing that it was filled with many, many coordinators who could give Sweetie Belle and herself a run for their money.

"I know I'm not scared!" Yelling at the top of her lungs was another eligible coordinator. None other than Premium Polish, the android pony as she caught the attention of many interviewers. "I've been waiting for this day for the longest! To finally show the world what I can do!"

"I don't think the world can take it." Diamond Tiara silently said.

"I heard that!" The mare yelled, making the filly jump. She didn't think that the android could pick up on what she was saying. Those Android benefits do come in handy.

"You'd better not get too ahead of yourself." Appearing behind her was Zoey. "If you get too confident, that'll mess you up."

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot." Premium chuckled as she looked to Zoey. "I got a bit too ahead of myself."

"Aaahm!" Meanwhile, Ash and Pinkie Pie were too distracted by the food to focus on anything else, stuffing their faces as much as possible. Joining them was May, who also enjoyed a good buffet.

As she reached for some food, Ash had already reached for it, the duo grabbing it. "Ash! You're already eating a bunch, and I haven't had any!" She pouted, having not had any food to eat.

"Mrgrngh!" He kept stuffing his face, his words impossible to read.

"Ash! Swallow first!"

The trainer nodded and did just that, gulping down everything in his mouth in an instant. "Baaah! I was just saying that fritter's a bit too good to pass up on, ya know."

"Mrphgmrh!" Pinkie Pie spoke up, her mouth still filled with food. Mew was on her head and helping with the eating process, the two sharing everything they could.

As all these interviews and consumptions went off, Team Rocket had shown up, wearing disguises as always. Viewing this was Jessie, who was not as bitter about this as she should be. She previously tried participating in Equestria's Pokemon Contests and while she did get far, she did quit. But not on a bad note. At the end of the day, she passed on all her onto Sweetie Belle, having seen her future in the young pony. It wasn't like her to do something so kind, but she felt something within the pony.

"She'd better win. I gave all of this up after all." Jessie sighed. "It would be such a waste."

"Look at you having all that faith in someone for once." James nudged her. "How come you never have that much faith in us?!" He raised his voice at that.

"Because I don't have faith in losers, James." Jessie remarked. She had a smirk on her face as she said that, knowing just how it'd irritate her partner and Meowth. She didn't expect the same amount of success out of the three as she did Sweetie Belle. She felt as though the filly had a bright future in the Contest world, one that could lead to her winning it all. "That girl had more potential than you three had."

"I don't know whether I should feel insulted or proud." James shrugged. "But! If she does win this, that'll be the first big accomplishment you'll ever have. In spirit at least!" James laughed afterwards while Jessie grizzled her teeth. The woman's brow furrowed in frustration and anger.

All this had happened before the contest itself started, which was going to be a few hours later. Eventually, each of the coordinators would leave to get changed and prepare themselves before it can all begin. And as they were all gearing up, checking up on their Pokemon as well, Sweetie Belle faced each of her Pokemon while holding up her ribbon case. She stood at the outer parts of the Festival building, where a beautiful lake was nearby.

Meowstic, Plusle, Minun, Prinplup and Teddiursa were all lined up before her. All of them looking at their trainer, waiting for what she was about to say next.

"Okay, team! It's the Grand Festival. Finally, we've gotten this far!" Sweetie Belle's excitement was rising, her body shaking as it all came to this. She opened up the ribbon case, viewing every single ribbon she's achieved from all her hard work. "It's the first Grand Festival in Equestria, so even if we don't make it to the second ever one by chance, let's make sure that we leave an impact that everyone will remember! Are you with me?!"

"Meowstic!" Meowstic cried, her voice being joined with the voices of her Pokemon.

"Thank you...Thank you all so much!" She would bow her head to all five of them, truly grateful to have such amazing friends. Without them, none of this could be achieved in the first place. "You're all the reason why I got this far. I'm so glad that have you met you all. I actually wish one more friend was here to see this. Manaphy. But she's doing what she can out there right now, so I'll do what I can." The filly smiled at all her friends, feeling the determination swell inside her body.

As her Pokemon shared her enthusiasm and passion, the water in the lake would ripple and move. As if something was rising from it, the water moving upwards in a circular motion. "Teddi?" Teddiursa noticed, her gaze being drawn to the moving lake.

She would tilt her head and approach the water. She would gaze into the water as the movements would only become more frequent and swift.

"Plus..." Plusle was the first of her other friends to notice the water as well, with Minun being next to join him. "Prin?" And then Prinplup. All their eyes were drawn to it. And then finally...

Sweetie Belle was the last one, looking to her left and noticing that her Pokemon were gathered at the lakeside. She saw that all her friends were looking into the water as it moved and rippled.

"Hey! Don't fall in now!" Sweetie Belle warned. She was a bit nervous at the sight. What could've caused her Pokemon to become this entranced with the lake. "Get back from there!"

But they didn't listen. They were all looking into it and they couldn't peel their eyes away. It was as if they were hypnotized by whatever it was. But what could it have been?

That's when it all became clear.

The water began to ripple even more as the shape in the middle became even larger, growing outwards and upwards in a circle. The water moved and rose even higher until finally...

Something burst out from it. The water scattered in every direction, raining down on the Pokemon. The shape that had appeared out of the water was none other than Manaphy.

"Mana!"

"..." Sweetie Belle's eyes were as wide as they could be, the droplets of water flying by and shining beautifully under the golden sun. The friend she had just mentioned made her return unexpectedly. "Mana....Manaphy!"

"Manaphy!" The Pokemon cried, descending towards Sweetie Belle. It's been quite some time since she's last seen the filly and she was excited to meet up again.

The filly ran over and gave Manaphy the tightest hug she could give. Her eyes had welled up, tears running down the sides of her face as she was happy that Manaphy came to her.

Manaphy hugged her right back, nuzzling the young girl as she was glad that her friend was safe. The two would share an emotional reunion with one another, being grateful to be in each other's grasp once more.

"You came?! You actually showed up?!"

"Mana! Mana-Mana!"

"You came to watch me..."

"Phy!" She would let out a determined cry as she nodded at her friend, the filly understanding her perfectly.

"Oh, Manaphy!" The two shared another tight hug with one another. Sweetie Belle couldn't have been happier, as she knew she was going to have a great time now that she's here. Her friends all surrounded her as well, each of them happy to see their old friend.

It's a great day for everyone to be happy and to be full of cheer, for they've all finally made it. Now they're ready to win it all. It was the best day ever for Sweetie Belle even before the contest had truly begun.

And as all the trainers were getting ready for the event, so did our young coordinator and her team of Pokemon. Sweetie Belle stood in the middle of a spacious room in the Festival building, which had a lot of space to work with. In the middle of it, all of her Pokemon were lined up along with every other trainer and their Pokemon. All of them were dressed up in formal attire. It was a rather impressive sight.

108 Coordinators Max had shown up, all having their eyes set on victory. All of them earned their five ribbons to pass, some even taking on extra contests just to earn more than five. And as music was playing for this grand event, narrating this would be Marian, the usual commentator for Pokemon Contests, straight from Sinnoh itself.

"The Pokemon Contest Grand Festival of Equestria!" She announced. "With all 108 Coordinators here, they'll be showing off their greatest Pokemon right here in Las Pegasus! Today's contest will be all Double Performances! Each stage will showcase several Pokemon and the variety of moves will be on display. And our final winner will be awarded the prestigious title of Top Coordinator! And allow me to introduce our guests who will be judging this competition!"

She turned everyone's attention to five guests in total. First up was Mr Contesta, the one who runs the Pokemon Contests in the first place. "Hello, hello. Being here feels like when I first set up the Grand Festival all those years ago. It feels nostalgic. I'm truly glad to be here for this magnificent event."

"Let's see if these contestants can impress us!" The next was Mr. Sukizo as always. "We'll be seeing a total of 108 Remarkable performances here."

"And our next judge! The Gym Leader of Hearthome City, and now recently the Lich Queen herself, all the way from Sinnoh and a Top Coordinator herself, it's Fantina! Or Queen Fantina as some of you may like to call her!"

"Aha!" The Gym Leader of Hearthome City raised her hands in excitement, glad to have a front-row seat to this amazing show. She was just as thrilled as any coordinator would be in the building, for she used to participate in them all the time. She was the only Gym Leader who was also a Top Coordinator, so she would definitely be able to tell if these contestants were any good. And she knows for a fact that they were good to have made it this far. "I can't wait to see all these Powerful, Cute, and Gorgeous Pokemon in action!"

"Finally, up fourth and fifth are the Princesses of Equestria themselves! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" As the camera shifted over to them, both of them waved to all those watching, both of them having smiles on their faces.

"Thank you, Marian. It is truly an honor to witness so many young Coordinators showing off the beauty of Pokemon and the passion that they have. We hope to see all the Coordinators do their very best today. Well...and I also came here because of more pastry reasons."

"Equestria's Pokemon League still isn't ready, which is a shame..." Luna sighed. "But, I'm still excited for its sister event and will love to see what it brings anyways."

"It is an honor to be here. We will make sure to be fair judges to all." Celestia finished, smiling as the audience cheered for them.

"Now that we've got that settled..." She spoke up again, turning the attention of everyone to her. "Take a look at this. For the performance stage, we've got three stages operated today. The Red, Blue and Green Stages. Each stage will have its judges and the coordinators will have to make it past them if they wish to get to the second stage!"

All 108 would have to perform on different stages, meaning that this was going to be a long one without a doubt, until some are inevitably eliminated to leave room for the ones that are the best of the best. But that's what they've all come to do in the first place. They'll have to do everything it takes to win this thing. But only one will be crowned as the winner of this Festival.

And it's going to start with the Performance Stage. This stage will showcase a variety of Pokemon moves that'll wow the judges and the audience, and only those who can perform their best will pass to the second stage. Each coordinator and Pokemon will only have five minutes, so they'll have to use them to the best of their ability.

"So, let the Grand Festival, begin!" Marian announced to everyone in the area, getting everyone excited. After the opening ceremonies, everyone was pumped up and ready to begin, starting off with the first performance.

The first coordinator would run up and that ended up being Gelidity. As soon as the curtains opened for her, she stepped onto the Blue Stage, having two Poke Balls ready. Launching them up, out of them emerged her Alolan Ninetales and Jellicent. They landed with a graceful poise, standing in front of the judges with confidence and elegance.

"Hm." Gelidity smiled, her eyes twinkling as she was already in the zone. "Ninetales, use Aurora Beam! Jellicent, use Scald!" She called, throwing her hands to the right.

"Ninetales!" Alolan Ninetales opened her mouth and fired out Aurora Beam. It would form a beautiful rainbow ring as it was fired off into the sky.

"Jelli!" Jellicent unleashed a hot blast of Scald. The boiling water would swirl upwards and around Aurora Beam, following its motions as it rose to the skies as well.

"Good. Ninetales, use Dazzling Gleam!"

"Nine!" Ninetales leaped in front of the Aurora Beam and Scald and released a powerful flash of Dazzling Gleam. The Scald was immediately vaporized, the water turning into steam as the rainbow lights reflected off of the vapor. This created a rainbow mist, which was a rather nice sight.

"Oh, a rainbow mist! That looks lovely." Fantina said, being amazed at how fast Gelidity was able to pull this off.

"Jellicent, use Shadow Ball!"

"Cent!" The Shadow Ball would shoot upwards and it would break apart, breaking into many Shadow Balls that would scatter around in a circular motion, falling back towards Gelidity and her two Pokemon.

"Meet it with Aurora Beam!"

"Tales!" The rainbow beam approached the various orbs of shadows. Instead of clashing, the Aurora Beam would gently wrap itself around the Shadow Ball. The Rainbow and the Shadows merged together as Ninetales would hold the attack there for a while. With all of her focus, she began transforming both attacks into something magnificent.

The attacks were taking shape in the form of an entity of Ice, Rainbows and Shadows. A figure that was tall and imposing, a giant creature of many shapes. But it had a shape, a figure, a body. The body was that of an elegant creature, the Ice, Shadow and Rainbows all making it up.

The body of the creature looked like that of a tall dragon. The creature looked as though it had no feet, instead hovering over Gelidity. The body was made up of ice with the rainbow forming a shell-like body and the shadow ball creating the skeletal frame. It had long, icy arms with sharp claws that were made up of shadows and had wings that would reflect rainbows off its body.

The crowd was in awe of the amazing creature. The dragon's neck would extend forward as it would roar. But the roar was the sound of ice falling instead of the usual draconic roar. The body of ice would fall down to the stage as it would break apart. And with that, Gelidity's performance had ended.

"And that was the performance from Gelidity! An absolutely marvelous performance, if I do say so myself." Fantina clapped as she was in awe at the performance. She's seen plenty of great ones but it was always a sight to see the best ones.

"She did quite well." Mr Contesta said. "The usual approach of creating beings from energy seems to be the Equestria Special and it never seems to fail or get old."

"Magic in Equestria certainly helps Contests a lot, doesn't it?" Princess Celestia commented, her smile widening. She loved to see such amazing Pokemon, even if this was the first time seeing many of them. "They were able to work so perfectly with each other. A great display. I did love the ferocity of it as well."

Gelidity smiled, her cheeks becoming warm. That would be a tough one to beat. Gelidity's amazing skills were one to behold as always. Sweetie Belle gulped, knowing that Gelidity would a problem for everyone here, even if they weren't going up against her. But they'd still have to try to surpass that.

All of them had to do what they can to be the best that they could. After all, there can be only one winner. And on this fateful day, only one of them will be crowned Equestria's first-ever Top Coordinator as the journey continues.

Chapter 634 End.