It was beyond Alceides wildest dreams to have advanced through the contest's preliminary rounds, though the others who had advanced along with him were certainly not any pushovers. The judge's comments were honest and helpful, well mostly, and they provided him with ways to improve his performances. Advancing to the battling portion, the portion he had tasted with Annie, he was gleeful that he had gotten some insight into that aspect ahead of time.

With a wall dividing them, the two battles would commence with Alceides opponent being a man named Jaye Canterhold. With Bluebell's introduction, the boy waved to the crowd and smiled passionately. He was still donned in his best of clothing, only for the ocassion as he hated suits otherwise, and his two Pokemon were also cheerfully addressing the audience. Momo, his Aipom, was giggling endlessly as his Seviper, Ophiuchus, was bouncing her up into the air. The two were having so much fun today, and they were the driving force between his advancement.

He had managed to push aside his indecision, his resolve steeled as he fought to prove himself a worthy successor to the missing Anastasia.

"Let's have a lot of fun today, and may the best team win!" he proclaimed, with a wide smile, before he turned his attention to his Pokemon as they claimed the first move. They had been practicing as much as they could for this moment, praised by luck to have made it.

"Okay, Momo! Let's give them a taste of the Contest Thrill that Annie had instilled within us! Ophi, I chose you because I knew you'd have so much fun! Let's have even more, right here and now!" he cried out to his team, a short speech in an attempt to raise all three of their morale.

"Hey, you can have the first move!" he would announce to his opponent, hoping to show off a beautiful counter-attack in the process.

Jaye Canterhold // Notes: contesto battle // word count: ---

After emerging from his side, the opposition entered similarly ready for an all-out battle between to people with the aspiration of becoming the greatest Coordinator in the region. There was a very noticeable difference between Alceides' pokemon and the man introduced as Jaye's - he had adorned them in a very delightful glitter that he promised caused no harm. The flames and glitter from Ponyta reflected gorgeously, and he was sure that the same would be said with the Blitzle once she released sparks of electricity.

He did feel a momentary twinge of regret, but he shook it off and planted his resolve firmly. Though he would never put down someone for dressing up their Pokemon, it was fun for both of them after all, in the case of his Aipom and Seviper he felt that anything extra would sully the natural cuteness and beauty they possessed, respectively.

His Aipom's appeal, in this case, was how cute she was in her mannerisms as well as the slightly touseled portion of the fur on her head, and especially her giggle after she successfully completed an order. Meanwhile, though she was also equally exuberant and giddy, Ophiuchus was stunning without any adornments. He never got a chance to explain, but he resolved to do so with his actions.

He gave his opposition the invite to attack first so that he could counter-attack, though he lamented the fact that he wouldn't be able to reveal a combination attack just yet. The two began charging, the Blitzle toward the Aipom and the Ponyta toward the Seviper. The Seviper gathered flames in his gullet, prepared to surprise the Ponyta by matching whatever flames he would contain while the Aipom aimed to deliver a frosty technique to the Blitzle before the two switched spots. Alceides' couldn't help but grin at the ingenuity, this was what a contest battle was! To survive these and remain on top, fighting blood boiling battles showcasing beauty!

"Ophi, begin using Flamethrower but whip it toward the Fire Blast! Momo keep the course toward your original target with Ice Punch, leap over the flames!" he ordered Momo to ignore the feint and still target the Blitzle, using her lithe figure to hop over the Flamethrower that Seviper had begun spewing and aiming toward the large five-sided inferno. Using the gathered cold energy, the Aipom used Ice Punch to smash the bolt that was threatening her comrade and continued toward the Blitzle.

Meanwhile, Ophiuchus would continue to battle the vicious flames that had erupted from the Ponyta's maw with the hopes that the two attacks would cancel one another out and sizzle out to embers around them. If not, he had to remain on his toes because Jaye was already proving himself to be someone that couldn't be underestimated.

It was too friggin' great. His blood was pumping, he narrowly avoided a complete disaster at least hopefully, even if he lost he knew it would be okay... and yet. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to lose with all of his earnest soul. All of his battles up until now, even at the tower, had been half-hearted. But now he was going to put his whole being forward, determined to grasp at the top!



Seviper began a Flamethrower then whipped it toward the Fire Blast!
Aipom leaped over Flamethrower to use Ice Punch on Shock Wave/Blitzle!

Jaye Canterhold // Notes: contesto battle // word count: ---

It didn't matter what was going around him, the boy was all too engrossed in the battle in front of him. The roar of the audience was nothing more than background noise, his eyes decisively sharp as they gazed at his opposition. He would crawl his way up through the mud if that's what it took to achieve his ideas! To prove to himself and to everyone else that he was an amazing coordinator! Sharing his determination, Seviper managed to quell the flames but in doing so she unwittingly helped their enemy out as her body seemed to favor flames, assimilating them.

He had underestimated the Flamethrower that they launched toward the enemy, surprised at how amazingly strong his Seviper had become when she was serious. Aipom had completed her job beautifully, leaping over the flames before dashing forward and smashing into the Blitzle. The Pokemon withstood the hit, not even falling to her knees impressing the boy further. This was it, this was what he had been chasing after for so long. A battle between two people with similar goals, striving and straining without looking down or backward. It would be doing a shame for him to hold back any longer, he needed to let loose and show them what he was made out of.

The speed exhibited by the Blitzle was much too fast for the boy to react to and the same could be said for his Aipom who was sent flying back near his trainer from the sudden impact. Regaining her composure, she landed on her tail and chirped happily while Ophiuchus was being faced down by the Ponyta who wrapped herself in flames as she charged forward. This was going to be the first of their combination techniques, one that utilized both offense and defense - although their positioning was also a major factor.

"Alright, let's go! Combination: Dark Star!" the boy ordered, the two Pokemon not even giving one another a look before jumping into action. Oddly enough, it had appeared that his Aipom was intending to attack the Seviper - which was the point all along. He hoped to deceive his enemy with this confusion as several star-shaped blasts were aimed at the snake who moved back a few inches to enact her part of the combination. Once the stars closed in, now in-between the Seviper and Ponyta, the Seviper would gather dark energy before releasing as a radial blast. The stars would soak up the dark energy and take on the added momentum, spraying outward in their attempt to injure both the Blitzle and the Ponyta.

They had many other ideas and combinations in mind, but the boy didn't want to stay on the defensive forever! Momo and Blitzle had effectively exchanged blows, but Ophi was fighting the intensity emanating from the Ponyta. They would have to power through this, they had to win this battle and advance. There would surely be other contests to win, that may be true, but if he didn't give it his all now with the intention to take everything home then he couldn't live with himself.

Such a setting had invoked a fierce determination, steeling his resolve and encouraging to fight well beyond his means and limitations. They were striving for beauty among everything else and yet, to the boy, what was more beautiful than this? Both of his Pokemon were trying their best and uniting solidly. Their lithe considered movements, everything was gorgeous!



Aipom is HURT, no longer feeling PERFECT!
Seviper is still PERFECT, for the moment

Aipom jumps into the air and uses SWIFT down between Seviper and Ponyta
Seviper uses DARK PULSE to launch them toward Blitzle and Ponyta

Jaye Canterhold // Notes: contesto battle // word count: ---

Their combination had been a roaring success and the duo was about to be assaulted by the various stars in place, but at the last minute Jaye made a startling decision. Having his Blitzle knock the Ponyta out of the way, the poor zebra took the direct force of their combined attack on his own. Crashing into the electric-type relentlessly the dark empowered blasts ceased as the radial wave rode out. Thankfully they had stopped the Ponyta's movements, and now it was time to prepare for a counter-attack once more. It was kind of exhausting, switching back and forth between offense and defense. All the while, they had to conduct both with beauty and grace at the front of everything.

Normally, the boy got as pumped up as his opponents did and thus used their hype to fuel him and ascended his talents by bounds and leaps. Up until now, the man had not displayed much of a personality or a desire to fight that was outwardly obvious. Of course, everyone internally wanted to win but he fed off of the verbal and physical - astounded when the man brought a hand to his face after smiling.

So he was having fun, then? Well, that changed everything.

His demeanor shifted, he stood up straight and proceeded to stretch out as if he was about to join the battle. It wasn't anything as serious, but now that his opponent was really looking at him he was renewed. He wasn't about to lose, he had put too much time into his training. Countless hours agonizing over whether or not he'd make that woman proud - this ribbon was for the both of them.

Descending from the air, the man began his next offense and churned forth a great Inferno supplemented with electricity that surged forward. "Alright, sling her back up!" he demanded, despite how fired up he was the decisions he made were all cool and calm.

He could see it, the pathway that would lead him to a victory! In the air once more, Seviper was unfortunately left to deal with their combination technique. In a contest, not countering was sometimes better than a sloppy one and that was the mindset he advanced forward with. Allowing the flames and sparks to overtake her, Ophiuchus roared in pain as she was singed with a lasting burn even after managing to survive the devastation. Writhing in agony every so often, there was no way she was going to take a rest without giving them a taste of payback.

"Now both of you, aim at your original targets and fire!" Hoping to confuse them with his choice of wording, Aipom gathered energy in her tail before swiping and sending forth a dark ball of energy speeding toward Blitzle. Meanwhile, Seviper gathered various toxins within her body before expelling them in the form of a toxic bomb toward the Ponyta. The two orbs crossed by one another, leaving a faint trail in the form of an 'X' before advancing.



Aipom is still HURT
Seviper is still MODERATELY HURT, no longer PERFECT!

Aipom uses the help from Seviper to get flung back into the air, tossing a Shadow Ball at Blitzle
Seviper launches Aipom into the air, taking the full force of the Inferno + Shock Wave combo, uses Sludge Bomb on Ponyta

Jaye Canterhold // Notes: contesto battle // word count: ---