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Chapter Text

Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie have arrived in Couriway in time for Serena’s 4th and maybe final Pokémon Showcase before the Master Class. The town rests in a basin where two valleys meet and is surrounded by waterfalls. The citizens of Couriway find the constant low rumble of the far away waterfalls along with the higher pitch splashes of the smaller nearer waterfalls as a soothing effect, one that not all our travellers seem to be able to enjoy.
The streets and buildings are all built on man-made platforms with lots of bridges crossing the gaps between the areas. The reds and oranges of the rooftops with the cream of the building walls stretch out across the watery basin seeming to stretch all the way down into the valleys and through them.

While walking through the town towards the Showcase stadium Ash notices that Serena and Eevee who is walking at Serena’s side seem nervous. Stopping at one of the many bridges to look up at the cliffs where the multitude of water falls crash down far off in the distance from Ash says, “You’re going to do great Serena.”

“You and Eevee are going to do excellently; we’ve all seen how hard you been practising for this so I am sure you will do your best” Clemont says hoping to help reassure Serena.

“Yeah, Thanks Ash, Clemont.” Serena responds not seeming as joyful as she normally is.

Following the wide streets down through the town they head towards the side of the cliffs where the Couriway Showcase stadium is. The Stadium this time is nested just below an outcropping which has a myriad of small waterfalls flowing down it. The small waterfalls become streams that all flow into the stadium flooring, where it makes a pool which separates the performance area from the audience. This Stadium was also immediately visible as it wasn’t put inside a contest hall which surprised Ash and Clemont as they expected something similar to the Dendimille, Anistar or Courmarine showcase halls. Serena however seemed to take it in stride having obviously already researched the location.

Clemont then says, “This time the stage is incorporating terrain and Waterfalls.”

“It’s our first performance outside” Serena says. Hearing Eevee’s worried whine she continues “I was really nervous my first time also and I still get nervous. But I’m also really excited! Aren’t you” Eevee jumps up while Serena says this and Serena looking towards Eevee while finishing. Serena then continues “Lots and lots of people are going to watch us perform, just look at all the cameras. With this many around we will be able to share our joy of dancing with even more people, Isn’t that Wonderful.”
Eevee yips happily back. “You’re going to dance in the freestyle performance, ok?” Serena says before putting Eevee back down and heading towards the poke centre to get booked in and set up a room for the night.

**During the night Eevee is worried and Serena and her team all go out to Eevee on the balcony to reassure her before all heading back to sleep before the big day tomorrow.**

The next day after arriving at the Showcase Stadium Ash, Serena, and Clemont all quickly discuss the plans for today and give some last-minute encouragement to Serena before she heads backstage meanwhile Bonnie is off looking the performance area thankfully not going to far from the main group. As the trio are starting to finish up their plans for today which involve using the break during the performances to have a picnic out the way a bit on one the grassy mounds around this section of the town Serena’s friend and fellow Pokémon Performer Nini turns up.

Meeting up they find they both acquired a new pokemon, Nini got a Gothita and Serena has an Eevee. While showing off their new partners they confirm their commitment to win their third princess key and get into the Master Class. Then they both head backstage to prepare for the theme performance.

Following this Ash, Clemont and Bonnie all take their seats and prepare for the showcase. A little while later the light show around the stage stats and Monsieur Pierre’s voice can be heard as he rises up from a central spot in the middle of the stage.

‘Bonjour Pokemon lovers and welcome. Get ready for a competition magnifique. The Couriway Pokemon Showcase Rookie Class Division will delight. Alors, I’m your dream world guide Monsieur Pierre” Finally taking a short break in the introductions the audience erupts in applause.

“Prepare to witness a competition par excellence where the winner will get one step closer to the title of Kalos Queen with this princess key.” He says as his Clefki holds up the key for all of the audience to see.

“But first I have some exciting news for those who love Pokemon performances. As the Theme performance and the Freestyle performance are split up today, we are lucky enough to be graced by some elegant stars who have been sent by the International Committee of Pokémon Performances. The Committee have arranged an exceptional performance for all of you today following the theme performances! As some of you may know this committee assist in the managing of our lovely Pokémon Showcases here in Kalos, however they also help to manage the Pokemon Contests over in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. And they have graciously organised for some of their top coordinators to come over here and give us a show. But that is for later, for now please look above at what our theme performance today is before we welcome our first wonderful performer.”

As he finishes his speech the lights dim and the pokepuff disappears from the screen projected above. In the darkness a kitchen is assembled for the first performer of the day to start their theme performance.

**Backstage a little earlier**  

Backstage was full of nervous energy. Monsieur Pierre had just made his appearance everyone was trying to plan out their theme performance and get into the proper outfit if they were appearing soon.

Serena was looking forward to seeing the special performance later but for now she was focussed on the theme performance. And it was pokepuffs, thankfully, this made things much easier. Now she just had to figure out how to make her poke puff while being a performance as well. She saw the order and realised she had some time to plan before she was on. Knowing she was going to use Pancham as his aerobatics would allow for the best performance using the ingredients, she just had to think of how it would happen before she explained it to Pancham.

Noticing a trio over toward the back of the room Serena saw that two of them seemed nervous with a third who maybe was trying to help but it was hard to tell.

“Dawn, May, you’re going to be fine. You’ve done this plenty of times before in situations where it matters much more. You’ll be fine” Serena overheard the redhead saying as she walked over.
They must be worried about the theme performance, but it sounds like they have plenty of experience. Maybe they’re just worried about the creating of Pokepuff not seeming like a performance. They probably competed in Pokepuff completions where taste and final presentation mattered more than the journey to that result. Like the one she went up against Miette in before she wanted to be a performer.
“Don’t worry about making your baking a performance. Just have fun with your Pokémon and everyone will enjoy it regardless.”
At this point three girls turned around to look at Serena with a mixture of confusion and surprise. It was at this point Serena realised she might have misunderstood what was going on, but too late now. “Well, when making your Pokepuffs here the main focus isn’t the Pokepuff but how you and your partner interact and how you can share your love and trust through baking.” Serena stated pressing on, hoping to at least give some good advice even if they didn’t need it.
At this recognition slowly dawned on the girls faces. The Brunette responded “Oh no, we aren’t participating in the Showcase. But thank you though, that was really nice of you to come and try to prepare us like that.”
“And although the specifics are different she does raise a good point” The red head noted.
“Oh, you’re not Performers, then why are you backstage, you don’t have any staff lanyards so I presumed you were performers.” Serena said feeling slightly embarrassed from the misunderstanding and wondering how she was going to get out of this without embarrassing herself.
“We’re Coordinators not Performers” the blue haired girl responded.
“Well best of luck coordinating everything then, I should probably go and prepare for my performance.” Serena said back while wondering what the coordinators did that made them go backstage but not need staff lanyard without being a performer.
“Thanks, and best of luck to you too” the blue haired girl said back.
As Serena was heading away she thought she could hear something about the red head being confused about knowing what a coordinator was, but she didn’t have time to dwell on that. She had a third princess key to win.

**After the Theme Performances had concluded where Serena, Jesselie and Nini all make it through to the next round**

“This exceptional performance today has been organised by the International Committee for Pokemon Performances. The International Committee for Pokemon Performances oversee the Pokemon Activities Committee and the Kalos Showcase Association.
They have graciously organised for some of their top Coordinators to come over here and give us a show. So now please warm Kalosian welcome Hoenn Grand Festival Quarter finalist and Kanto Grand Festival Semi-finalist, the Princess of Hoenn, May Maple AND Sinnoh Grand Festival Runner up and Wallace Cup Winner, the Star of Sinnoh Dawn Berlitz!”

At this Serena who was sitting off the side with the other performers in a special section set aside for them clapped loudly for Dawn and May, but she noticed that Jesselie was not clapping and seemed to be shocked and was talking with hushed tones to her Pokémon. ‘Maybe she’s heard of them. They do sound like they are pretty big in the contest scene.’ It was at this point she also realised these we’re two of the girls she was talking to earlier, the brunette and the blue haired girl. Now the comment about now knowing what a Coordinator was that Serena had overheard made a lot more sense and speaking of the redhead she seemed to be down with Nurse Joy on a table at the front of the stage area at the edge of the front walkway towards the audience.

Back up in the stands Clemont and Bonnie are clapping along with everyone else while Ash seems to really be going for it. “Typical Ash, always giving 100%” Bonnie half-whispers to Clemont. Clemont is not so sure but he’s not going to find out anytime soon so relaxes to watch the show.
Ash quietly says to Pikachu “I wonder how much they’ve improved. We say Dawn a while ago in Unova, but I haven’t seen May since Sinnoh and even then, we haven’t seen Dawn perform in a full setting like this since the Sinnoh Grand festival.”

Back on the stage Monsieur Pierre starts to explain how Contests work.
“Traditionally the Contest will be judged by three people, two members picked for their speciality in Contest as well as the local Nurse Joy. However, this is Kalos so instead we have the:
Lovely Couriway Town Nurse Joy,
Zoey Williams Top Coordinator in Sinnoh who has been sent as the representative of the Pokemon Activities Committee
And Kalos’s own Santalune Gym Leader Viola! Who has taken a trip over here to Couriway town to help judge.
And Pokemon Lover’s, the final judge shall be you. The lovely people of the audience. We have given both of these incredible Coordinator’s a colour on your glow wands which you will see above their heads now. However, you can only vote on the Appeals section that is happening first. Afterwards we shall just go down to three judges as the Contest battle is much faster section, we need a more immediate result that unfortunately you cannot give in time. However, this means you can fully focus on enjoy the show you are about to see. So, without any further ado, The Couriway Town Showcase Exhibition of Contest Excellence begins with May Maple. “

May rises up onto the stage in her performance outfit, a red knee length 3 tired ruffled skirt leaving a gradient that lightens down the skirt and a top that doesn’t quite connect leaving a small gap between the two with a base colour the same red as the top of the skirt with two portions of a deep sea blue curving round near the bottom. Then the arms that only just seem connected have the same gradient as the skirt. It’s obviously a new look but May comes out confidently.

“Beautifly Take the Stage” Beautifly comes out of its poké ball and beats its wing gently while waiting for May to give the Signal to start. “Beautifly, Silver Wind,” Beautifly lets out a cry and releases of arcs of Silver Wind in the circle all around the stage though it seems they don’t have much power and hang in the air around the stage making it sparkle.

Then once Silver Winds cover the stage May calls out “Morning Sun.” Beautifly raises slightly up into the sky above the stage. Glowing brighter as it rises with the sun spilling through its wings and causing little hues of yellow, red, and blue to shine onto the stage.

Then as the sun light starts to dissipate May shouts again “Aerial Ace.” Beautifly does a backflip taking on a shining white appearance as it does so. Soaring down in front of the waterfalls it gracefully pulls out of its dive just before hitting the stage. Gliding across the stage breaking the remaining Silver Winds as it does so and causing the silverly sparkles to be carried along behind.

Finishing by flying upwards in front of the judges, Beautifly spreads out its wings as the silverly sheen of Aerial Ace falling away and the drifting sparkles from the Silver Wind taking its place. Mixing with the light reflecting of the water around the stage as they fall to the ground.

The audience burst into applause as May shouts “Done” from centre stage as Beautifly returns to her. Couriway Town due to the Showcase stage being outside can’t have the Pokémon Showcase Master Class so many of the inhabitants who had come to watch the performances had never seen anything at this level in real life. Ash while clapping says to Pikachu “I had no idea she would be able to hold the Silver Wind for that long, they must have been practising for ages to get that.”

“What a magnificent performance from Coordinator May, and now we welcome Dawn Berlitz to the stage for what is sure to be another engaging performance,” Monsieur Pierre says while standing at the front of the stage at the judging table.

Dawn appears on the stage coming up through the lift in stage in a deep blue dress in a style Ash recognises is similar to the one she wore at the Wallace cup but instead of the pink with white she wore then it’s a blue colour with white accents at the waist and neck that seem to flow like the edges of a wave. The style is slightly different with more focus on the flowing nature of the dress seemingly made to both highlight her gracefulness and make her appear as is she is dancing among the waves of the dress like it was made out of water itself.

“Piplup, Spotlight!” Dawn cries out with a flourish and Piplup springs out with a strong but jubilant chirp standing firm on the stage in front of the judges. Starting off Dawn calls out “Whirlpool” and Piplup starts to build a swirling vortex above its head bigger and bigger until it can grow no more and is almost halfway up the mountain behind the stage.

Then after holding it in place for just under half a second Dawn moves on calling out for an Ice Beam while stretching her hand skyward.
Piplup launches the Whirlpool off its beak, where it was resting. Letting out an Ice Beam which spirals up the Whirlpool until it has encased all the water. The Icy Whirlpool keeps on spinning though slightly slower than the original water one as the light shines through and basks the stage in chilling glow.

Then just as it seems the light has finished shining across the stage and audience Dawn calls out for one last move “Piplup, Drill Peck from the top.” Piplup launches into the air. Reaching the top of the Whirlpool starting to spin. Then it collides with the top edge of the Icy Whirlpool and breaks it. As Piplup spirals down the ice shatters leaving the now frozen water droplets to spread out and hang in the air all around the area and seating surrounding it.

Unlike when Whirlpool is broken up and a rainbow is formed Icy Whirlpool causes lots of little sparkles to appear to hang in the air slowly falling to the ground. As Piplup finally reaches the end of the Icy Whirlpool it moves just slightly to hit the direct centre point of the Whirlpool. As it hits the central point the remaining ice shatters outward. Now from all the tiny ice particles spread across the stage it appears to shine as if silver glitter has been thrown out by the penguin pokemon.

“Done” Dawn calls out and the Stadium erupts into thunderous applause. A true treat for anyone in the stands, one boy and his Pikachu though had a bit more to say, “They haven’t lost their charm, still got all those great new ideas as well. I don’t know which of them will win but the Kanto Grand Festival this year sure will be interesting to watch if we can catch it”

“And now before the judges reveal their scores Ladies and Gentlemen, if you would, light your glow sticks Orange for May and Blue for Dawn. Cast your votes now!” The light balls stream down however unlike in a Showcase they collect around the judges table to they can be counted with the other scores. At this the audience slowly puts up their glowsticks but lights are not as quickly gathered compared to earlier and quite a few audience members seem to be struggling to choose which way to light. Eventually after almost twice the length of time it took during the Showcase Rookie class all the audience scores are collected in.

Standing back up and taking to the stage between Dawn and May, who had returned to the stage following Dawns performance, Monsieur Pierre starts “I will now reveal who has won this Appeal round of the Couirway Town Pokemon Contest Appeal round is…

Dawn Berlitz!” Dawn looks shocked and picks up Piplup who was by her side to hug the penguin pokemon.

And now we get to the Contest battle. Here the aim is not to knock out your opponent like you may have seen in a Gym battle but to dazzle and provide a spectacle. Each action will impact either the opponent or the Pokemon doing the move. You can follow the scores on the screen up above.” As Monsieur Pierre says this a hologram of contest battle points appears above the battlefield “There is a time limit of 5 minutes. The battle will end when either a Pokémon is knocked out, one coordinator’s points run out, or the time reaches 0. And from there we will be able to announce the Winner of this Exhibition shall be announced.

“Nurse Joy, Zoey Williams, Gym Leader Viola. Are you ready?” Monsieur Pierre says looking at each one in turn as they nod before turning to May and Dawn. “Coordinators are you ready?” May and Dawn nod in response. “Then let the Contest battle begin.”

As Monsieur Pierre says this the 5-minute countdown starts and Dawn throws out her Poké Ball “Spotlight Pachirisu!” as Pachirisu comes out in a shower of electricity from the ball seal. As the electricity hits the ground May calls out “Blaziken, Take the stage!” and her Blaziken appears in a ring of fire from her ball seal.

“What was all that electricity and fire? It seemed to appear before the pokemon” Serena asks. A few seats down Jessilee says quietly, “That was a ball seal, they cause an effect to appear when you open a pokemon. Quite common in Contests, I’m surprised they didn’t use them for the Appeal section, but they aren’t used in all regions so might have left it out to show both sides.”
Serena both impressed and curious asks Jessilee “How do you know so much about Contests?”
Jessilee being slightly more flustered responds “Oh, I just loved to watch them as a kid when I could so learn all about that them, that’s all.”
Serena nods to Jessilee and then returns her focus to the stage and the two Coordinators and their Pokemon there while Dawn calls out “Pachirisu Super Fang.”
Pachirisu jumps towards Blaziken its front teeth getting coated in a bright white light and seeming to grow before biting down on Blaziken’s side as it tries to face away. Then backflipping away to once again stand in front of Dawn. As this happens May’s points reduce slightly.

As Pachirisu lands May calls out “Sky Uppercut Blaziken” and Blaziken charges forward with its fist being coated in a white light and connects with Pachirisu launching it skyward and Dawn’s point reduce by about double May’s.

Monsieur Pierre, who was commentating this match says “And Dawn comes out with a flying start with that Super Fang on Blaziken who was unable to dodge. May comes back with a hard-hitting Sky Uppercut launching Pachirisu into the sky. How will Dawn respond?”

Dawn takes advantage of Pachirisu being so high and calls for Pachirisu to keep spinning and use discharge which hits Blaziken, and the spinning creates a look like a helix of crackling blue light is being strung between the two pokemon and is spinning round. May responds “Blaziken Fire Spin!”, and Blaziken opens its mouth and surround the crackling blue helix with its own spinning cone of fire heading right for Pacirisu. At this point both coordinators points are approaching the 50% mark with Dawn having slightly less. But there is still 2 minutes 40 seconds on the clock though, so this is anyone battle.

“Pachirisu’s Discharge has been engulfed by Blaziken’s Fire Spin yet seems to be going strong even inside the fire. Both competitors are still neck and neck, it’s anyone battle” Monsieur Pierre announces.

Serena is looking on and wondering how pokemon can have such power but also such visual flare. She’s used to the visual aspect of her showcases and the raw power of Ash and Clemonts battles but never combined in a way like this. Is this something she could do to make her Master Class Showcase performance even better.

As Blaziken’s fire spin end Pachirisu hits the ground and can be seen still spinning slightly. However, Dawn goes straight on the offensive “Sweet Kiss Pachirisu.” Pink hearts seem to flow out from Pachirisu and over to Blaziken, but Blaziken with May’s call covers their leg in fire and Blaze Kicks the hearts away leaving May just above half points and Dawn slightly below and only 1 minute and 20 seconds left.

Pachirisu uses Spark letting off blue light and brings them even on points, Blaziken uses Overheat sending a much more powerful cone of fire than before and half’s Dawns points.

“The sweet kiss from Pachirisu is knocked away by that powerful Blaze Kick for an incredible recovery by May there. That Spark sure was powerful but once again getting overwhelmed by Blaziken’s fire type attacks. Is May pulling away for a victory or will Dawn take it back.”

Then as the timer approaches 0:00 they both call for One last attack.
“Discharge Pachirisu”
“Fire Spin Blaziken”
As they collide in the middle of the stage they seem to fight against one another until a massive black explosion cloud covers the stage and obscuring the score board as the timer reaches 0.
Eventually as the smoke clears it becomes obvious that May has won with about 20% of her points left compared to Dawns 10%.

“Well Pokemon Lovers, we have our winner. Congratulations to May Maple for Winning the Contest Battle. Please give a big round of applause to both Coordinators for their lovely performance today” Monsieur Pierre says, Though the second half of his speech was drowned out by the sound of the crowd clapping and whooping for the two Coordinators on the stage.

Dawn, May, and Zoey now back in their regular clothes are walking round admiring the architecture of Couriway Town and the surrounding waterfall mountains. Serena sees them off to side ahead of them and mentions “I would love to learn some skills from them before the Master Class but I don’t want to bother them. They have so much more experience than me with all those contests, and all their pokemon probably need some help anyway.”

Ash then responds “You want to learn from them, I’m sure they will be happy to teach you some stuff. Just wait and see” before then shouting down the road “Hey May, Dawn, Zoey”

As Zoey, May and Dawn turn their heads to hear who shouted their names Serena starts to splutter to Ash in shock “You can’t just shout their names at them. They are highly trained Coordinators and don’t need to be bothered by my silly questions” but that last bit was said slowly and in a much quieter voice with May and Dawn shouting back “Ash!” and Zoey turns and waves.
At this Serena Clemont and Bonnie all stare confused at the three Coordinators at how they seem to know Ash.

As Zoey, May and Dawn walk back down towards the group Ash starts shouting “How have you too been. I haven’t seen either of you in ages.”

“Not too bad, Contest season has been busy this year, but it’s been fun going round Kanto with Dawn.” May responds.

“Oh nice. Both of you taking on the Kanto circuit this year then.” Ash asks.

“Yeah, it’s been great, and we’ve also been dropping back in on Brock whenever we need some good food or someone to pick us up after a bad loss” Dawn replied.

“I’ve been going round Hoenn myself. But decided I could take some time out for this. It’s nice to see you Ash, but I’ve actually got an appointment to catch so see you later” Zoey said.

Just as Ash was about to comment about how great Brock was and especially his cooking he was interrupted by Serena. “Wait Ash. You know these three! How?”

“See you round Zoey!” Ash said as Zoey headed off with a nod backwards. Continuing “Well yeah, I travelled through Hoenn with May and through Sinnoh with Dawn, and Zoey was a rival of Dawns back then. I was going to talk to them later but you mentioning you wanted to talk to them just made me say Hi now.”

At this Clemont perked up “Wait Ash I though you said you travelled through Kanto”

“Yeah, I have”

“Are you telling me you’ve travelled through Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh” Clemont asked incredulously.

“And Johto and Kanto again” May added.
“Plus Unova” Dawn responded.
“And didn’t Brock mention a trip through the Orange Islands too” May chimes in with again.

“Ash, how. You’re like 16”

“15 actually”

At this point Clemonts voice went up a notch “Your 15 and have travelled through 6 full regions and 1 province now including Kalos. How have you had time?”

Ash then simply responds “Clemont, you’re a Gym leader and great inventor at 16. I could just as easily ask you the same.”

Dawn then butts in with “You picked up another Gym leader then. Do you also make this one do all the cooking?”

Bonnie then jumps in “My big brother makes the best food in the whole world.”

Here May then goes “I see you picked up another young kid. You know Max still adores you even though he’s 10 now”.

“I’m 9!” Bonnie says wanting to show how she’s so mature and just as important as Max even though she has no idea who Max is.

“Oh, wow you did grab another one. And similar age too. Well as long as she’s staying safe, and I suppose a Gym leader goes along way with that” May says looking fondly at Bonnie.

At this point Ash goes in with “I would have you know this is not like Misty and Brock at all. Because Clemonts gym is designed to be tackled 5th or later rather than in your first 3 like Brock and Misty’s are. And Serena makes some amazing Pokepuff as well, so Clemont doesn’t do all the food preparation.”

At this May and Dawn just start laughing “Of course you see that as totally different.”
“Typical Ash, seeing an early gym leader different to middle one” Dawn chimes in with and May follows up with “Ash, I saw those pokepuffs, that is exactly the same as me making pokeblocks, you haven’t changed much, well apart from the outfit I suppose.”

“Serena also makes macarons for us so we don’t have to eat Pokepuffs” Ash responds and in a slightly quieter voice adds “thought the Pokepuffs do taste nice most of the time.”

“I knew you would try them!” Dawn jumps in with “Ever since I saw them I was saying to May that you would try them. But she didn’t believe me, I told you so.”

“I know he tried Pokeblocks but humans actually taste test them, Poke Puffs seemed like a Pokemon only thing.”

“And when has that stopped Ash?”

May just shakes her head conceding the point to Dawn.

Serena then comes in with “I can tell we aren’t going to have a short conversation here so how about we head over to a Pokemon Centre. I’m also hoping I could chat with you about Contests. I didn’t want to bother you but seeing as you’re here I might as well ask. I’ve already got two out of three Princess keys so I’m not clueless about performing with my Pokemon but Contests seem like such a different style it could be useful if I picked up a few tips.”

May then responds “Great idea … sorry what’s your name, you didn’t mention it earlier and I’ll was a bit busy preparing my appeal when you went up and your name was mentioned. Also, thanks for coming up to us earlier, what you said was right though slightly less applicable than perhaps intended.”

“Serena, and no problem. Though I do feel a bit embarrassed that I thought I could actually give you advice. I hadn’t even heard of a Coordinator and you sound like you’re the best Coordinators.”

“Serena, it’s fine. No matter the performance everyone gets nervous and what you said was right. A Pokemon centre does sound great, we were planning to go there and get Blaziken and Pacirisu checked out but ended up being distracted by the view. Kalos has some really beautiful towns and it’s pretty easy to get lost in the beauty of it all. Especially with the waterfall in the background. It makes a nice backdrop to it all.” May says.

“Yeah, Kalos is really pretty, I guess I don’t notice it as much as it’s just sort of always there for me. Though travelling with Ash has helped me see a bit more of that beauty in everything” Serena said slightly blushing when she looks at Ash. Trying to move the conversation away from her potential faux pas Serena continues “The Pokemon Centre is this way” and starts leading the group down the streets and bridges of Couriway Town.

As the group head towards the Pokemon Centre May and Dawn catchup with Ash and how he is doing with the Gym Challenge. Ash shows of his 7 badges so far and lets Greninja out of his Poké Ball to show him to May and Dawn. Bonnie starts talking about how Greninja is really powerful as Ash tries to play it down seeing as he hasn’t even gotten 8 badges with him yet he doesn’t really compare to his Battle Frontier and Lily of the Valley Conference Teams May and Dawn know respectively, though he hope Greninja and him can one day be just as strong, if not stronger and beat the Kalos League.

Arriving at the Pokemon Centre May and Dawn drop off their pokemon for a checkup before heading out to meet up with everyone else near the battle field outside the pokemon centre. Finally having enough space to let everyone out of their Poké Balls there are there is a set of shouts from each trainer calling their Partners out. In a flash of red light the rather empty battle field is suddenly full of almost 25 pokemon. Dawns Mamoswine overshadowing everyone as it stands toward the back of the group.

Just as soon as everyone comes out Pikachu and Ash are launched at by most of Dawn’s and May’s pokemon to say hello. Eventually after lots of reintroductions and questions answered by Pikachu, they all moved away so Ash and Pikachu can help the two groups to meet. Just as this is happening Nurse Wigglytuff comes out with Blaziken and Pachirisu who join the rest of group.

Serena suddenly remembers she needs to train for her Showcase, so everyone watches and May and Dawn give tips to help Serena’s Pokémon. However, they aren’t as much help as thought as they aren’t used to the trainer being in the spotlight as well as the pokemon. They do see some combos they could take into appeals from Serena’s performance but all 3 are realising that once you get down to it. The two styles are very different due to the lack of involvement of the trainer in Appeals compared to Freestyle performances in Showcases.

When Serena and Eevee start winding down to rest and regain their energy before the performance in a few hours’ time Dawn speaks up.
“Serena how would you like to do a 2v2 Contest battle?”

“2v2 with who, I haven’t ever done it before and I’m not sure it would be very fair to one of you to be stuck with me while the other one uses 2 of their own. Whichever one of you was on their own would have way better coordination than I could. And I certainly couldn’t do it alone either.” Serena responded, initially excited but mood dropping slowly as she talked.

Dawn then turns to Ash “I know you only won that unofficial one joint with May back in Terracotta Town with, but do you think you remember enough of contest to direct one of you Pokémon in a 2v2 Contest battle Ash?”

“Me and Pikachu can have a go at this, Afterall Counter Shield was originally a contest move and we use a variation on that all the time and we both did the Terracotta contest, right buddy?” Ash says while Pikachu responds in the affirmative. “Though it would be interesting if I could use Greninja and our bond to work on contest moves, or even just move combos. If only I knew how it works” Ash said under his breath.

“Alright there we go, 4 people with roughly equal levels of experience in contest battles.” Dawn says, continuing directing her gaze at Ash’s shoulder and the yellow rodent sitting there “Pikachu be nice here and don’t just knock us out with a shock straight away please. I know you’re probably the strongest of anyone here so don’t go too much on us.”

“Pika” Pikachu responds brightly.

“Yeah, Dawn don’t worry we won’t go all Tobias level on you, any way since Zekrom hit us when we started in Unova getting that level of power has been difficult anyway” Ash says joyfully.

“Ok Ketchum, I’m trusting you to not go overboard here and if you do you know I won’t hesitate to get Mamoswine to sit on you and Pikachu” Dawn says with a light threat.

“Ok got it, Pikachu keep it low key, flashy not powerful” Ash responds slightly backing away at the threat of being sat on by Mamoswine.

With the battle about to start Clemont jumps up and exclaims “Now if you’ll allow me, The future is now thanks to science. I knew we would encounter a situation precisely like this one and so I present the Fully Automated Showcase and Contest all in one judging and scoring machine.”

“Science is so amazing” Ash gasps wide eyed while staring at the device on the ground.

“Another typical boring name” Bonnie says dryly.

“I started this as a way to help grade Serenas performance but once I heard of Contests, I started to recode it to allow it judge not only Showcase performances but Contest appeals and Contest battles. It firstly gets set to either Showcase theme, Showcase freestyle, Contest Appeal or Contest Battle mode. Then it scans all the Pokémon and displays them on the score screen it projects. Then once everything is in place you press the button and it begins a timer. Though it may not be completely accurate as I haven’t had time to code the minute details of the scoring system for a contest battle” Clemont explains continuing on looking a bit nervous “though I hadn’t gotten to the part of the rules saying there could be double battles so it will only have one point counter per team it should be able to display both Pokémon though.”

“That’s great Clemont, I was trying to work out how we were going to score the match, but this should solve it, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Anything at all will be better than the rough guessing we were going to have do overwise” May says looking both relived and intrigued.

“This won’t explode right Clemont” Says Serena nervously, “It sounds like extra coding might have been done a bit quickly and working quickly never goes well for you Machines.”

“Don’t worry I’ve been working on this for ages just so it wouldn’t explode while doing your performance practise. I put my full trust in the Fully Automated Showcase and Contest all in One Judging and Scoring Machine.”

“Alright then let’s get ready. Clemont if you could operate that machine while me and Ash go up against May and Serena” Dawn says taking in the new device and apparent scoring method with some scepticism.

“May has about a year on me Serena so she should be able to guide you through it if needed.” Dawn continues as explanations for the teams.

“Alright everyone bring out your Pokémon.”

“Pikachu, I choose you!”

“Spotlight Piplup!”

“Glaceon, Take the stage!”

“Let’s go Braixen!”

“This will be 2v2 Double Contest battle between Ash and Dawn vs Serena and May. The Battle will be over once both pokemon from one side have been knocked out, the 5-minute timer is eliminated or the points of one team reach zero as decided by my Machine. Do all Trainers agree to these rules.”

“He really is a gym leader, fancy language even for a casual Contest Battle” Dawn mutters to Ash before speaking loudly “Our team accepts these terms” knowing exactly how to respond to this after all her time with Brock.

“As does ours” May responds.

“Alright then, best of luck to you all. You may begin once the countdown on the screen reaches zero” Clemont says pressing a button the machine and starting a countdown on the screen projected above.

3

2

1

BEGIN

The screen flashes to a typical contest battle screen but with the Pokémon instead of the trainer photos. Both teams have a full circle of points to starts but that is all about the change as

When the countdown reached 0 Dawn called out to Piplup for a Bubble Beam sending a spray of bubbles across the battlefield. Serena seizing the chance called for Braixen to Hidden Power through the bubble beam. The balls of white light shattering all the bubbles before they could reach Glaceon and Braixen and leaving a mist that hangs in the air. Ash seeing this, shout across the field “Serena that was Awesome!”

“Thank Ash” Serena responds with a slight blush at the praise. Dawn however turns to Ash going “We’re battling against them, not with them. By stopping Bubble beam like that we’re behind on point”

“Oh yeah, sorry. Alright Pikachu Electro Ball” At the command Pikachu built up the ball of electricity on its tail before launching it at Glaceon where it connects reducing Serena and May’s points. May retaliates by calling for Secret Power, Glaceon is covered in a pink glow before launching at Pikachu who is unable to dodge in time and gets hit.
Dawn looking over at both teams are around 60% of their total points with Ash and Dawn’s having slightly less points than Serena and May do.

Dawn then call Piplup to use Drill Peck on Braixen. Flying forward with a glowing beak hitting Braixen before jumping back next to Pikachu. May calls for Glaceon to use Ice Shard hitting into Pikachu and causing Pikachu to stumble backwards a little bit.

“Alright Ash let’s go all the way, Thunder Whirlpool” Dawn says looking over at the score determined to win before the time is up.
“You got it, get ready buddy you know what to do.”
“Piplup Whirlpool” Dawn calls out and Piplup starts to build the Whirlpool above its head. As the Whirlpool build May turns to Serena. “Get Braixen to use Flamethrower, I have a plan to combat this.”
Then as Piplup starts to release the Whirlpool Serena calls for Braixen to use Flamethrower and almost in time Ash shouts “Now!” to Pikachu while May shouts Shadow Ball.

The giants Whirlpool that is sparking out electricity everywhere heads over to the other side of the battlefield while from the other side a Flamethrower that is being surrounded by the ghostly energy of Shadow Ball launches out. As they start to get closer and closer Clemont’s Fully Automated Showcase and Contest all in One Judging and Scoring machine screen starts to fizzle out. Then as the moves crash into each other it starts to smoke.

The brilliant red and purple light with the yellow sparks and water splashing out causes the machine to be overloaded and just as the effects from the moves dissipate, and everyone looks expectantly at the display to see who won the machine explodes covering everyone in a large explosive cloud and black soot. Though Clemont and Bonnie being the closest get the worst of it and Serena and Dawn being the furthest away are only partially covered.

Bonnie is the first one to shake off the shock, “I thought you said you fully trusted that machine Big Brother.”

Clemont who was standing next to the machine looks the worse for wear. “Well, I did, however it seemed the calculations required for the double battle wasn’t something it was ready for. Considering the ability levels of two of the participants that perhaps could have been foreseen. Sorry everyone”

Now that everyone else has come down the focus of battle and the shock of the machine exploding, they finally start chiming in.

“Guess it needs a few more versions before it’s ready then Clemont” Ash says while Serena, May and Dawn all look at their Pokemon.

“Now I need to give Braixen a bath and full brush” Serena complains.

“And Piplup is going to need a deep clean now” Dawn follows on.

“Glaceon too” May says.

“I think I have a Pokémon grooming machine in here I could get out it would” Clemont starts hoping to win back some favour but gets cut off with a loud “NO!” from the 3 girls.

“That’s fair I suppose, It is still in version 1” Clemont says while lowering his head “Please forgive me” Clemont continues.

“It’s fine Clemont, I think we were just surprised. Let’s all head inside and meet back up once we are all refreshed” Serena says realising she may have been too harsh on the young inventor.

“Good idea Serena, we’ll meet you all back here once were done” May says.

Slowly the group reconvinces outside the Pokemon Centre, Ash and Clemont talking about Ash’s Strategy for Wulfric, Dawn and May are looking at Squishy while waiting for Serena.

Eventually Serena comes back out looking slightly stressed but happy to see everyone. “Sorry I took so long but I had to make sure Braixen was ready for our performance later.

“Wait your using Braixen in the freestyle performance. I’m so sorry Serena” Clemont says apologetically.

“It’s fine. Thanks to a suggestion from Dawn to just try brushing off the soot instead of washing her it took way less time that I thought. Thank goodness Braixen was out of the way of the blast though and only got the edge. A lot of brushing later and it’s all fine” Serena says trying to put Clemont at ease which is easier said than done due to her stress at her performance later. “Though I am going to need to head down to the performance area now to get ready.”

“We’ll come with you. Come let’s go everyone” Ash says and Clemonts pleads for the group not to run as Ash sets off with Serena not far behind. May and Dawn stick a little closer to him but as always Clemont brings up the rear.

As the group near the stage everyone starts to give Serna some encouragement before she has to head into the performers area.

“Thanks everyone.” Serena says as she heads down the Tunnel to the performers area. Ash shouts down the tunnel “You’re going to do great” Serena just looks back and smiles before turning a corner and going out of view.

“We should probably all head to our seats now, you’re welcome to join us” Clemont says at first to Bonnie before looking up to May and Dawn.

“Thanks, but we actually got special seats down at the front, and if we don’t show up to them they will probably start looking for us.” Dawn says.

“Ah that’s annoying. Oh well can we meet up with you all after the Showcase before you head off?” Ash says.

“Of course, you can’t get rid of me that easily” Dawn says cheekily.

“Alright see you later then!” Ash says before the group splits in two and heads towards their seats.

**After the freestyle round where Jesslie won the Princess key** 

Serena has met up with Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie. May and Dawn are walking over after finishing a chat with Monsieur Pierre. Serena and Nini are commiserating with each other over their shared loss as Ash is saying. “Eevee don’t be sad. You did great for your first showcase.”

Eevee lets out a disappointed mewl as May and Dawn arrived.

Serena says “He’s right. And what’s important is to never give up. No point in being upset.”

“She’s right,” May says “If I had given up at my first loss I never would have gotten to where I am now.”

“And I would have never gotten to have to so many great experiences, never give up Eevee always try your best and keep practising and I know you will make it there” Dawn says.

May then turns to Nini and Serena “You two were amazing too, best of luck in your future Showcases.”

“Thank you” Nini says “I’m going to head back to the Pokemon centre now, See you in the Master Class Serena!”

“See you there Nini!” Serena responds.

As Nini moves away from the group May turns to see Zoey heading towards them.
“Hey Zoey, Meeting all done and ready to head off?”

“Yep, all good, By the way Serena, I managed to catch your performance. You’ve got some real talent, don’t let it go to waste.” Zoey said.

“Thanks I won’t” Serena said slightly blushing from taking praise from someone so skilled.

May then turning to Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie. “Thank you, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie, for helping to show us the beauty of Kalos.”

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you, having that guide able to tell us about what’s similar and different in all the different areas.” Dawn says.

“It was out pleasure, please reach out if you come back to visit, I’m sure at least one if us will be able to meet up with you at some point” Serena says.

“The same offer applies to you, just let me know if you’re visiting Kanto anytime soon, we should be around for a while,” May says.

“Or Sinnoh, even if I’m not there I can recommend some people to give you a tour.” Dawn offers.

“Same for me in Hoenn, or just visiting Kanto later on. If nothing else, we can direct you towards some of Brocks amazing cooking. Maybe you could swap recipes Clemont. Or even Johto just let us both know if you’re visiting anywhere around there, and we will try to help you out.” May says.

“I may not have hung out with you before, but any friend of Ash is a good person in my book. Feel free to send them my way if I’m in the area.” Zoey says, finishing looking at May and Dawn who nodded back.

“Thanks a lot. We really appreciate that and if you are ever in Kalos even if it’s just in Lumiose overnight let me know. I’m sure me and Bonnie will be happy to have you over for some food.” Clemont says.

“We probably need to get in the car to go now Zoey, Dawn.”

“Yeah, your right May, See you all around. Best of Luck in the Master Class Serena I know you’re going to get there. And best of luck in the Kalos League Ash go for the win!” Dawn says.

“Best of luck Ash and Serena! I hope to see all of you soon!” May cries out as she leaves.

“Nice to see you again Ketchum. Try not to be a stranger” Zoey says.

“Thanks May, Dawn, Zoey, best of luck in your showcases!” Serena says full of emotion at losing such great friend so soon.

“Great to see you again May, Dawn, and Zoey. Good luck in the Kanto and Hoenn Grand Showcases, I’m going to win the Kalos League, so you better win one to match me”!

“You got it Ketchum!” Dawn says.

“Not if I do it first.” May says.

“Got to keep my lead on you of course.” Zoey says with a smirk.

As Zoey, May and Dawn get into the car set aside for them on the road back to Lumiose City for their flight back to the Kanto region Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie head towards the Pokemon Centre with a smile on everyone’s faces.

After an eventful day with meeting friends old and new and a showcase debut for Eevee everyone is ready to get some rest. Feeling secure in the new found friendships and strengthened old ones they move onwards… as the journey continues