I couldn't help but write this quick one after watching the forty-seventh episode of Pokémon XY, featuring Serena and her new Pancham, as well as the third ending. The sources weren't kidding that it was going to be the "girliest" ending ever (something along those lines at least), but it was nice nonetheless. That girl was due for some major character development.
Anyway, please read on.
It was another fine day at the Kalos region, where seasons seem to fly by without notice. It was already the end of summer, yet there were barely any signs of fall coloring the majestic green scenery or cooling the land-crossing breezes down a few degrees.
Of course, our main heroes were on their way towards Coumarine City for Ash's fourth Gym Badge. But along the way, the gang had helped Serena become firm in her new goal of becoming a Pokémon Performer, visiting Pokémon Showcases along the way for her to gain experience in hopes to reaching and surpassing the current Kalos Queen, Aria.
The group had taken a lunch break by a peaceful forest area and was just cleaning up and about to hit the road. Ash and Pikachu washed and cleaned up the dishes while Clemont carefully stowed away his portable table and various other appliances in his large backpack. Bonnie had decided to entertain herself with Dedenne while Serena was off to the corner with her current Pokémon.
Ash and Clemont had already recalled their Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, save for Pikachu and Dedenne, but Serena was too anxious to begin working out potential performances for her debut that she wanted to begin right away.
"Okay, gang, we've got to make a fabulous first impression when we enter the upcoming Pokémon Showcase," Serena began. "We've already seen what Aria and her Braixen are capable of, but we can top that, can't we?"
"Feh-nehkin!" Fennekin exclaimed.
"Pan-Pancham!" Pancham agreed with a quick adjustment of those red sunglasses Serena gifted on top.
"Perfect! We'll have an act that'll knock the socks off of everyone in the audience!"
Her Pokémon cheered on again before Pancham took the initiative and performed a breakdance on the ground. Serena smiled at her newest Pokémon's agility and energy as the Playful Pokémon demonstrated several more acrobatics only a Fighting-type Pokémon would have the stamina to do.
Ash had just wiped the last dish clean when he discovered Pancham performing several backflips on the ground before making the final leap high up and dismounting on the rock with flair. Pancham struck a victorious pose upon impact.
"Hey, wait… That's it!" Ash mused as his brown eyes lit up with inspiration.
Pikachu followed his best friend along as he went over and approached Serena. Clemont, Bonnie, and Dedenne were also gathering around her as well, having finished what they were just doing a while ago since lunch ended.
"Hey, Ash, are the dishes all done?" Clemont inquired.
"Yeah, here you go," Ash replied, quickly handing the Lumiose Inventor the stack of plates he finished cleaning up before facing Serena.
In the rushed exchange though, Clemont nearly lost balance and Bonnie and Dedenne wound up catching the plates while her older brother fell on his back.
"Ash, what's up?" Serena asked, wondering why he seemed eager to talk to her.
"I just saw Pancham's performance and it actually gave me an idea that can help you out with your next performance," Ash explained.
Serena leaned in close, apparently very interested to hear what the Pallet Town Trainer had to say. After helping her brother sit up, Bonnie also came closer to listen in. Clemont simply sat where he was, admittedly curious on what his friend came up with. It had to be something really important if Ash came up with it, after all.
"It's got to be crazy awesome if Ash came up with it," Bonnie commented, followed up with Dedenne's side agreement.
"Let's have a battle, you and me," Ash declared, catching the Vaniville Town Trainer completely off guard. "Me against your Pancham."
"M-Me?! Battle y-you?!" Serena stuttered, blushing a bit before looking away nervously. "B-But I can never beat you in a battle, and Pancham is still freshly caught… And…"
"Serena, it won't be a regular battle," Ash clarified reassuringly, looking her in the eye. "I want to test Pancham's strength. Your Pancham is eager and is capable of many feats. But once you know where Pancham's limitations are, you two can work on becoming stronger together. You've made it this far since you started your journey, haven't you?"
"… That's right."
Serena briefly reflected back when she first started her Pokémon journey with the original intent of finding Ash after discovering his presence in the Kalos region. But since she had begun traveling with him, she had learned more about Pokémon and about herself ever since she took that step. Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie were supportive through and through on helping her find a dream. It was ultimately thanks to meeting Shauna and her friends at Professor Sycamore's summer camp that she finally had a firm direction into becoming a Pokémon Performer, and it couldn't have been possible were not her friends supported her every step of the way.
"Back then, you weren't sure what you wanted to do and that's okay," Ash continued. "It happens to people time to time, so don't feel like you're the only one going through this. Now that you've felt that you have something to aim for, Clemont, Bonnie, and I will support you all the way. That's what friends are for."
"Thanks, Ash, I really needed to hear that," Serena replied, mildly blushing before looking away. "You really are amazing…"
"Hmm? What's up?" Ash inquired, unable to hear his friend's mumbling.
"Nothing! Let's battle!"
Clemont and Bonnie smiled to each other before helping their two friends find adequate spacing in the forest for their practice battle. Bonnie, Dedenne, Pikachu, and Fennekin were off at the sidelines, sitting on a log. Clemont took up the role of the referee. And Ash and Serena were at opposing sides. The only one on the battlefield right now was Pancham.
"Ash, you're not going with Pikachu?" Bonnie asked.
"I told Pikachu to sit this one out," Ash explained, taking out a Poké Ball. "I have someone else in mind to test Pancham. Hawlucha, I choose you!"
High in the air, the Wrestling Pokémon somersaulted down after being released and landed a pose that closely resembled that of Pancham's previous performance.
"Lu-cha!" Hawlucha grunted, spreading its wings outlandishly.
"Going with Hawlucha? Interesting choice," Serena commented.
Pancham had observed Hawlucha's style and looked away with a pout. That Pokémon may have some style, as far as Pancham would admit, but that kind of flair alone wasn't going get the crowd craving for more.
"Alright, both Trainers ready?" Clemont called out before giving the signal. "Now, battle begin!"
Ash & Hawlucha vs Serena & Pancham
"Serena, you can have the first move," Ash called out.
"A gentleman as always," Serena grinned with a wink. "Thanks, Ash. Pancham, let's wow them at the start with Dark Pulse!"
Pancham leapt up high in the air with a quick flip before conjuring the dark energy of the attack overhead. The Playful Pokémon positioned its hands to the side and released the Dark Pulse straight towards Hawlucha's chest.
"Hawlucha, take it on!"
Hawlucha braced its arms in front and defended well against the attack. Despite the Dark Pulse rings slightly pushing Hawlucha back, it stood firm before brushing away the attack through sheer will. In addition, it flexed its arms out to show off its successful defense.
"What power!" Serena gasped. "I shouldn't be surprised. Hawlucha is really strong. Let's see them try this one. Pancham, use Stone Edge!"
"Dodge it!"
Pancham had summoned several glowing rock spike pillars out of the ground, each extending one after the other towards Hawlucha. As if on cue, the Wrestling Pokémon leapt up right as the final pillar meant for it arose.
"Go after Hawlucha, Pancham!" Serena commanded, having understood what Ash was trying to get her to do.
Demonstrating sharp acrobatics, Pancham jumped onto its conjured Stone Edge before the pillars began to sink back into the ground. The Playful Pokémon performed flips from tip to tip before making a powerful final jump to catch up to the airborne Hawlucha, who appeared to be slowly rotating its body vertically in the air casually.
"High Jump Kick!"
Hawlucha became alert at the new command, spotting Pancham heading towards it. Positioning itself where its legs were in the air, Hawlucha allowed a bit of flow and rhythm to control its movements as Pancham came closer.
Once Pancham was close enough, Hawlucha powered its leg and swung down, giving the Playful Pokémon quite the meteor smash on the head. Fortunately, Hawlucha's attack did not damage the sunglasses. Pancham was sent hurdling down, crashing face first on the ground.
"Pancham, no!" Serena cried out.
"This is turning out to be quite the battle," Clemont commented. "Ash is having Serena learn more on how to improvise her Pokémon's attacks and unique abilities with his demonstration. Having Pancham chase after Hawlucha through that Stone Edge was pretty creative, but then, that's Ash for you. That High Jump Kick hit pretty hard, though."
"Hawlucha! Pancham! You both are awesome!" Bonnie cheered on with the other Pokémon.
"Pancham, can you keep going?" Serena asked as her Pokémon pulled its head out of the ground.
"Pancham-cham," Pancham reassured with a thumbs-up.
"Serena, you can't let anything disrupt your concentration in battle," Ash warned. "Be prepared for the unexpected, no matter what shape or form it comes as."
"Right, I'm sorry," Serena replied. "Pancham, are you ready?"
"Cham-cham!" Pancham exclaimed.
Pancham watched Hawlucha descend from the sky with such grace, it couldn't help but fully acknowledge and accept its flair. Maybe it was that High Jump Kick to the head that was messing with Pancham's senses, but the Playful Pokémon couldn't help but see more and more of Hawlucha's style and other eye-catching movements. It shook its head to get back into the game, not knowing of the lingering blush in its cheeks that rose up from watching Hawlucha descend.
"Okay, Pancham, use Arm Thrust!"
"Hawlucha, match them with your own rapid-fire Karate Chop!"
Both Pokémon dashed to the center with powered hands and arms, ready to strike at one another. Pancham made the first move, to which Hawlucha easily blocked. Hawlucha then retaliated with an overhead Karate Chop, where Pancham leapt out of the way.
"They're even," Ash remarked as he and Serena carefully observed the confrontation.
While Hawlucha had more intent to knocking out Pancham, the latter had been aware of each other's swipes and escapes the entire time. Their movements at a higher perspective resembled vigorous, yet exotic dancing. Pancham wanted to see more and more of Hawlucha's fluid movements. In addition to Hawlucha's dashing appearance, its movements and fighting style were just so captivating to watch and even desirable to imitate and dance alongside. The blush from before was glowing brighter. It didn't care that its opponent was stronger and would likely win in a battle against it.
It was there that Pancham made its decision and, to the Reverse World with its pride…
Right as Hawlucha send in another Karate Chop, Pancham caught it with both hands. This act surprised both Serena and Ash as she had not given a command to stop Hawlucha's Karate Chop. Hawlucha was about to use its free left hand, but seeing that strange expression on Pancham's face confounded it from going through with the attack.
"Haw-lucha?" Hawlucha muttered.
"Pancham, what's wrong?" Serena asked.
"Now what?" Ash followed up.
The both of them, along with Clemont, Bonnie, and the other Pokémon, were heading to the center of the field to see why the attacks have suddenly stopped. Upon reaching the center, they saw Pancham with an expressive look of fond admiration while Hawlucha, though would normally be accepting of all attention, appeared uneasy and uncomfortable, especially with its opponent holding its hand the way it did.
"What's with Pancham all of a sudden?" Ash inquired.
Serena had a hunch of what might be happening and blushed as she took out her Pokédex to check on something. Clemont pondered on the possibilities while Bonnie and the others looked on curiously if anything else was going to happen between Pancham and Hawlucha.
"Um, guys?" Serena spoke, calling up everyone's attention. "We should've been doing this after every capture. According to the Pokédex, my Pancham is a female while Ash's Hawlucha is male."
"What's that got to do with what's going on now?" Ash pointed out.
Almost miraculously, everyone around him save it for the two Pokémon spoken about resisted the urge to face-palm. They were still amazed how he still didn't get it, even after Serena revealed their genders.
"Ash, you need help," Bonnie giggled.
"Now, Bonnie, settle down," Clemont said in an attempt to calm her down.
Serena had already pieced together the pieces of the puzzle that was the situation between Pancham and Hawlucha, so she couldn't help but smile fondly at the scene. It was not long since Pancham became her Pokémon and already her Pokémon was imitating her, in a way. Much like how Pancham appeared to be admiring Hawlucha, Ash's Pokémon, she still admired Ash for being such a huge inspiration in her life and couldn't imagine what she would be like had he not been around to encourage to never give up.
As far as she considered it, maybe it was his example that helped her tolerate living at home and training as a Rhyhorn Racer day in and day out. Serena still wondered this day how she was able to survive her mother having her follow her footsteps when she didn't know what she wanted to do. Nevertheless, she's learned and developed enough now to pursue a goal of her own decision.
Serena then approached Ash and placed an affectionate hand on his shoulder, much to the Pallet Town Trainer's confusion.
"Ash, you wouldn't mind helping me with Pancham next time, would you?" she asked. "I think Pancham wants to learn more under Hawlucha about style."
"Of course not, I'd be happy to," Ash replied with a friendly grin. "Pancham's performance reminded me a bit of Hawlucha, so I figured I could take a shot helping you out."
"It means a lot to me, you know," Serena admitted, guiding Ash along as their group was ready to leave despite not finishing the battle. "Tell me, have you had any experiences in putting a show?"
"Uhh…"
The group was already heading into the forest in the direction of the next town, but somehow, they forgot about one minor detail.
"Lu-chah! Haw-Hawlu-cha!" Hawlucha yelled out, unable to pull itself out of Pancham's grip and comically struggled to break free. "Cha-Cha! Haw-lu!"
Pancham, at the meantime, continued to gaze at its newfound partner and gave a surreptitious wink.
It already had some ideas of its own for Serena's debut performance involving capes, masks, and strangely, castanets.
I know that Hawlucha's and Pancham's genders haven't been explicitly defined right now, but it would be convenient if they were a boy and a girl respectively. After all, Hawlucha already parades around like a manly macho 'mon while Pancham is fond of dressing up in accessories (not to say that kind of behavior is limited to females, but as far as I've heard, Pokémon Performing is limited to only girls. Still, I wouldn't take my word for it as Pancham could very well be male).
Anyway, I'm sorry for those that have been waiting for a new update for Revival at the Champions League, but this semester has hit me hard. I will say that the next chapter is past halfway done, but I unfortunately cannot make these promises. But I did promise that I won't give up on it. I just need to get my priorities straightened out.
Please review on how I did with this one-shot!
L-ater!