Ash stared at the ceiling above. It was too early to get up but he was wide awake. The weird sequence of events continued to replay in his mind. He was happy that he was able to catch two potential additional members to the team. A fire type and a ground type pokemon. Each of them were very different and would prove to be extremely helpful in Ash's future endeavors. But on the other hand, he had caught them without their consent. It was not like he caught them in a battle like Luna. He caught them on a whim due to the fear of their lives being in danger.
Confused, Ash decided he should be trying to get answers rather than lying in bed. He quickly got dressed and tiptoed past the rooms of sleeping trainers. He silently made his way towards the southern side of Cerulean City. There was a small clearing of grass and ledges that led to a small house at the end. Wanting to keep his distance, Ash made sure he was a bit aways from the house so as to not disturb anyone inside.
Ash pulled each one of his pokeballs from his belt and released all his pokemons. Aura, Luna and Pikachu spotted each other immediately and greeted each other with smiles and hugs. While Charmander and Sandshrew awkwardly stood there in cluelessness. They felt out of place and nervous around so many new faces.
Not knowing what to do, Ash looked back and forth between the two groups, unsure of how to ease the nervous energy. He began second doubting his decision to release his other pokemon in front of Charmander and Sandshrew.
Fortunately, it seemed as though the god of pokemon was smiling down on him as Luna curiously approached the golden Charmander. Noticing the large Nidoran, Charmander nervously glanced to the side and ran to hide behind Sandshrew. Occasionally, the fire lizard would peek to see what was happening. Even Sandshrew took note of Luna and was slightly agitated due to its intimidating size.
"Nido?" Luna stared at the shivering duo. She tilted her head and slowly approached the group. Her large head was too close for comfort and was making Charmander and Sandshrew more uncomfortable than welcomed.
Noticing Luna's lack of manners, Aura stepped in and smacked Luna's head. It sounded like a hard hit, but to Luna and her tough skin, it felt more like a gentle slap. Understanding Aura's intentions, Luna stepped aside for him to do whatever he wanted to do.
"Ri. Riolu, rio, riolu!" Aura said with lots of hand motions. It seemed as though he was trying to introduce himself and the rest of the team.
"Pi! Pikachu!" Pikachu pitched in. Ash's older pokemon waited for a few moments, expecting a reply from the new recruits.
"Sand, sandshrew." Sandshrew spoke up. It turned to stare at the original trio of pokemon almost as if it did not know what to do. Noticing the thick atmosphere between the two groups, Sandshrew decided to extend its hand as if it was offering a handshake. None of Ash's pokemon understood the gesture except for Ash himself. He found it extremely odd that a Sandshrew was acting more like a human than its own species.
"Nice to meet you Sandshrew." Ash decided to meet Sandshrew halfway by shaking his tiny hands. Sandshrew simply nodded as if he understood Ash perfectly. "After meeting the rest of the team and Nurse Joy's check up yesterday, you guys are perfectly healthy to do whatever you want. I'm not forcing you, but you have a choice. You can stay with us and we can have a fun adventure. Or you can return back to home or back in the wild. It might be hard but I know you guys have each other."
Ash was mentally praying they would stay with him. Having two new additions to the team really boosts his strength as a trainer and brings more type diversity. But the longer it took for Sandshrew and Charmander to answer, the faster hope was dashed away. The rest of Ash's confirmed team looked on earnestly, awaiting for an answer.
After a few seconds, Sandshrew swiftly turned around to face Charmander. "Sand. Sand- Sandshrew." Sandshrew spoke to the golden Charmander. Charmander tilted his head in slight concern but something Sandshrew said made Charmander begin to shake in fear. Charmander's arms began to jitter in place while his legs trembled so hard it looked like he would fall over any moment. Concerned for the flame pokemon, Ash kneeled in front of Charmander and hugged him tightly. The rest of Ash's pokemon also joined the fray to help soothe Charmander.
"Ch-Ch-Char…" Charmander whimpered in sadness.
"It's okay. We're here for you." Ash reassured.
"Pikachu!"
"Riolu!"
"Nido!"
Ash's pokemon cheered in encouragement. A small nudge from Sandshrew made Ash realize he was missing a member in the group hug. Without a second thought, Ash pulled Sandshrew in. It was at this moment that Sandshrew made up his mind of staying on the team.
"Morning." Serena plopped herself down across Brock and Ash as they ate their own breakfasts. Brock had already finished his main meal and was slowly picking away at a bowl of berries. Ash on the other hand was stuffing his mouth with eggs while reading a report from Nurse Joy. The mess he made while eating made it surprising at how he was able to read the report. To be fair, the mess was mostly to his left. The cons of being half blind.
"Hey Serena." Brock greeted.
"Mournein Seena." Ash said in between bites. As ridiculous as he said it, he was more focused on reading. The intense look in his dead eye would scare even an adult Ursaring.
"Pika!" Pikachu popped his head out from under the table. He was holding a nearly empty ketchup bottle.
"Jeez Ash. Could you be any more of a slob?" Serena said jokingly. "I have my showcase at 12. Here are the tickets so you guys can come and watch if you would like."
"Thanks Serena. We'll definitely be there to watch." Brock accepted.
"Yep. We'll be there!" Finally taking his eyes off the paper, Ash took a hard swallow before responding. "Can you give us a hint as to what you're gonna do?"
"You're just gonna have to come and watch Ash." Serena answered before also digging into her own eggs. "What're you reading there Ash?"
"Oh. It's a medical report from Nurse Joy. When I brought Dusty and Charmander in, she said in her physical check up that Charmander had some mental issues." Ash said.
"Oh no. Sounds very serious." Serena sympathized.
"Well, according to Nurse Joy, it's actually nothing too crazy. Charmander is still very young so as he grows older, he could grow to overcome his fears." Ash recalled from the report.
"That's good then!" Brock said. "The last thing anyone wants is a pokemon with irreversible mental damage."
"Yeah but Nurse Joy also wrote in the report that it is unlikely Charmander would go back to normal. There may be certain things that he would find traumatizing." Ash said.
"Whoever did this to Charmander deserves the worst. Honestly." Serena grimaced. Ash and Brock nodded in agreement.
"Is there a reason why you nicknamed Sandshrew and not Charmander?" Brock asked out of curiosity.
"Well, Dusty didn't really care. It's weird. I get the feeling Dusty used to be a human or something. Anyways, when I tried to give Charmander a nickname, he would look at me as if I was crazy or something. So I'm just leaving it at Charmander." Ash explained.
"Maybe Charmander doesn't like nicknames like Pikachu." Serena gave some food for thought.
"Maybe." Ash said as he dove back into his breakfast.
The group all sat together and spoke about certain plans for the future. Ash decided on fighting the Cerulean Gym Leader in a few days while Brock wanted to head back to Bill's place to organize the process for his amber.
"I should get going." Serena stated. "I need to prepare for the contest and do some stuff beforehand."
Understanding Serena's abrupt departure, Ash and Brock wished Serena good luck before she left.
The venue for the contest was brimming with people all around the world. The contest in Cerulean City was going to be one of the first contests in the Kanto region so it was expected to be overcrowded.
"It's already 12:15, looks like they're going to start late with all the people." Brock observed. He glanced around the indoor stadium, watching as entrances flooded with eager people.
"We actually got some pretty good seats if I'm being honest." Ash remarked. Despite Ash's disability, he was able to clearly view the stage. "We're nearly front row!"
"Char!" Charmander pointed at the host who just appeared on stage.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu spoke and looked at the direction Charmander pointed in.
"I wonder how much Serena spent to get these seats." Brock asked. Before Ash could answer, loud blaring music drowned all noise in the stadium.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to Cerulean City's First EVAAAAARRR! POKEMON SHOWCASE!" The host hyped up the audience. The crowd roared with excitement as the lights dimmed and a spotlight was aimed directly at the host. Brock, Ash and Ash's pokemon looked at each other and shrugged as they did not know how to react. Instead of obnoxious jeering and shouting, they opted to simply applaud.
"For those who are new to the Pokemon Showcase scene, allow me to explain! Each showcase begins with a Theme Performance where three performers will be pitted against each other in a specific theme. Before I say too much, allow me to pass the mic to our guest… Former Unova Champion! Alder!" The host introduced. The spotlight then moved to a seasoned man with fiery orange hair. Although he appeared to be extremely old, with many wrinkles of experience gracing his facial features, one look at his eyes will tell you he would not go down without a fight.
Despite the original uproar in the beginning, the audience only applauded at Alders entrance. Everyone except for Brock and Ash. Brock's clapping sounded more like boulders pounding against each other as he whooped in excitement. Meanwhile, Ash stood up and screamed as loud as he could.
"WOO! CHAMPION ALDER! YOU'RE AWESOME!" Ash announced, unaware of the commotion he was causing. Ash and Brock assumed that if people were going to get excited for a random host speaking, then they would go insane for a former champion.
Sadly, they were quite wrong about this assumption. And they paid with blood rushing to their cheeks and finding a strange interest in hiding their faces in shame. Pikachu and Charmander looked at both trainers and giggled at their stupidity. Unfortunately, most of the people present were much more interested in performances than battles.
"HAHA! It's nice to hear some battlers out there!" Alder laughed heartily. He then pointed at Ash who was standing and Brock covering his face and shouted back: "HA! NO, YOU'RE AWESOME!"
A row of laughter echoed throughout the audience at Alder's antics. Ash quickly sat back down and did his best to ignore the awkward stares coming his way.
"Anyways, where was I? Theme Performances! I could spend all day talking about Theme Performances but I think it will be better if people just saw how it works. C'mon out performers! Three at a time. I know you're lined up in there!" Alder gestured his hands for the first three performers to come out.
Three performers came up on stage with puzzled expressions. They were still in their regular clothes and the crowd whispered in confusion.. The original host came up on stage and whispered something to Alder.
"What do you mean I have to explain? Do I look like a performer to you? I'm a former Champion!" Alder spoke out loud. Brock and Ash laughed to themselves at Alder's blunt personality. "Don't worry, I can take it from here."
Alder shooed away the host and began his explanation. "Listen here people. This showcase's Performance Theme is… Pokemon Quiz!" Alder revealed the topic of the performance. "But there is a catch, ladies and gents! Performers will need a button if they want to answer my question. This button can only be retrieved by their pokemons. First performer to click the button gets to answer. If they get it wrong then their pokemon will have to get another button to answer."
The crowd murmured in rising eagerness. They were all preparing for a good show.
"Of course there are a few rules to this performance. Performers are not allowed to walk past their podium!" As Alder said spoke, workers quickly placed three podiums that were equidistant from each other. One hundred feet across the podiums was a table with neatly placed buttons. "And Performers are allowed to use any pokemon they have, but are only allowed to use one pokemon at a time. They are allowed to switch during rounds but they are prohibited from having more than one pokemon out. Failure to comply with these rules will result in failure!"
'Oohs' and 'awws' can be heard from the audience. The performance was beginning to intrigue Ash and Brock. They have seen performances on TV but like most other pokemon trainers, they overlooked it out of boredom.
"Now first to three correct answers will be allowed to participate in the Freestyle Performance!"
A loud cheer exploded within the crowd. It seemed as though the audience was a sucker for pokemon performances because they were growing obnoxiously louder by the second. Some were already holding glow sticks; waving it around in the air like a spinning Hitmontop.
"Are you ready Performers!?" Alder asked the performers. They all took their spot behind a podium and released their pokemons. A Pidgeot, Metapod and Clefairy made an elegant appearance on stage. Well… the Metapod tried but it rolled on its side the second his trainer called it in.
"Metapod? Don't you think they're uh… you know..." Ash tried to find the nicest thing to describe it.
"Slow. Yeah I'm a bit confused too." Brock bluntly admitted. The duo continued to watch, expecting the Pidgeot to easily claim the victory.
"FIIIIIIRST QUESTION!" Alder shouted. The lights slightly dimmed around him and the crowd grew silent. "What are the 3 water/dragon dual type pokemons?"
The split second Alder finished his question, the Pidgeot took to the skies and zoomed forward toward the buttons. It's large wings propelled the bird's body towards maximum velocity. With a spin just for show, Pidgeot gracefully softened its landing and gently plucked a button off the table.
"Metapod! Mass String Shot!" Metapod's trainer ordered. To Ash and Brock's surprise, the Metapod unleashed millions of strings from its mouth. The scene was quite perverse and unsightly, but Metapod managed to cover nearly the entire stage in String Shot, even the buttons that were a hundred feet away. To make the move even more impressive, the source of the strings was still attached to Metapod's mouth.
Ash and Brock slyly looked at each other as if they were reading each other's minds. They both laughed at their own dirty thoughts.
"Metapod! Pull the button back!" Metapod's performer shouted. Metapod focused on the many strings and pulled its body to the side. A single button flew into the air and straight into its trainer's hands.
Ash and Brock were both surprised at Metapod's ingenuity. Although the action was questionable, it proved to be useful and unique against the Pidgeot.
"The three water/dragon duel types are Horsea, Seadra and Kingdra." Metapod's trainer smugly answered.
"Err. No. You only got one of the pokemons correct. I guess you will have to try again." Alder responded. A frustrated look appeared on the performer's face. As he was going to receive another button, Pidgeot was able to retrieve a button for it's performer.
"Three water/dragon pokemon. Uhh, Horsea, Dratini and uh… uh… Cloyster!" The performer guessed. Ash, Brock and Pikachu all facepalmed at the answer. Even Charmander scratched his head at the unintelligent answer.
"You think Cloyster is a dragon." Alder looked at the performer. The audience giggled at Alder's question.
"Well it's a water type pokemon right?" The performer said.
"It's an Oyster." Alder smiled. The audience exploded in laughter. "Try again."
"Horsea, Dratini—"
"No I meant grab another button." Alder reiterated. But before his Pidgeot could grab another button, Clefairy's performer pressed his button.
"The three water/dragon pokemon are Kingdra, Palkia and the newly discovered Dracovish." The performer perfectly answered.
"CORRRECT!" Alder pointed at the performer. "One for you! Zero for the others!"
The audience applauded the performer on the correct answer while Alder proceeded to the next question.
"Dracovish? I've never heard of that pokemon before." Brock whispered to Ash.
"I've heard it a few times when I was in Professor Oak's lab. It's one of those fossilized pokemon in the Galarian region." Ash offered his limited knowledge. The round of performances continued with Clefairy's Performer winning his matchup. It was not because Clefairy was the fastest or the cleverest. It was because the performer was able to answer the questions. After the first round, the following performers that appeared wore a graduation gown to fit the Theme Performance.
"Oh look! There's Serena!" Ash pointed out. His full attention was now focused on Serena and her performance.
Serena wore the generic graduation gown but tiny details made her more distinguishable. Her hair was in princess curls compared to the usual straight hair. Aside from the obvious makeovers such as make-up and shoes, she had a legitimate golden Honor Cord around her neck. Underneath her Honor Cord was a blue Ribbon Sash from Kalos' Pokemon Academy.
"Wow. Serena actually seems… like a very smart person." Ash said awkwardly as he recalled all her little flaws. Down the rows of seats, boys can be seen guffawing at Serena.
"Yeah, maybe she's actually the smart one of the group." Brock agreed. The boys took note of the lovey-dovey eyes Serena's fans were making at her and mentally gagged.
"They've obviously never seen her sleep in a sleeping bag before." Ash remarked. Brock chuckled at Ash's joke and continued to watch the performance.
"Hm… I see we have quite the studious one here." Alder narrowed his eyes at Serena. The audience went wild for Serena, completely out shining her competition. "Our last trio will be Summer, Serena and Damian!"
"Top of your class in Kalos Academy… but this performance will need a lot more than brains!" Alder declared.
Serena's competition consisted of one female and male performer. The female performer chose her Staraptor while the male performer picked his Scizor.
"Brock, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Ash noticed the oddly familiar male performer.
"He looks like Charmander's old trainer." Brock began to realize. Charmander stared at his former trainer on stage before starting to shake. His tail slowly lowered as he covered his eyes in anxiety.
"It's okay Charmander. We're all here with you." Ash reassured. Brock handed Charmander an Aspear Berry to keep him occupied and Pikachu made sure to stick next to Charmander until his old trainer was off the stage.
"I hope Serena creams him." Ash smoldered.
"I second that." Brock muttered.
Serena chose her Braixen to retrieve the button. Braixen twirled her stick-like wand and oozed a confidence that definitely shook the surrounding pokemon's morale.
"FIRST QUESTION!" Alder said boisterously. "In the legend of Sir Aaron, what pokemon form did the legendary pokemon Mew take during the war in Rota?"
Staraptor whizzed ahead while Scizor snapped at Braixen before also running towards the button. Yet Braixen stood by Serena, awaiting her orders.
"Braixen, focus on Staraptor." Serena said. Both Scizor and Staraptor have already claimed a button for their performers and were racing to beat one another. "And… now!"
Braixen waved her wand at Staraptor and pulled the button out of its talons. The button zipped past Scizor and was caught by Serena. The motion happened so fast that Staraptor uselessly fluttered in the sky, unaware of what just happened.
"Mew took the form of the legendary rainbow pokemon, Ho-Oh." Serena answered Alder. She gave a winning smile fully knowing she won this round.
"Correct!" Alder confirmed.
The female performer glared at Serena while Damian switched his pokemon. He recalled his Scizor and picked his Mightyena to the stage.
"Next question!" Alder shouted. "Everyone knows the current reigning champion of Kanto, Lance the Dragon Master. But can one of you name three of Kanto's former champions?"
Once again, Staraptor rushed forward but this time, slightly more cautious of Serena and Braixen.
"Let's wait Mightyena." Damian ordered. He smiled at Serena as he formulated a plan to counter her strategies. But Serena was a well seasoned performer. She had more tricks up her sleeve.
The audience sat on the edge of their seats, all eyes on Serena. After winning the first round astonishingly fast, they all wanted to see what she would do next.
"Braixen. Let's switch things up a bit." Serena kept her calm and professional demeanor. She understood Damian's plan to disrupt Braixen's telekinesis with Mightyena's type advantage. It was a good idea, but it will only work if Mightyena used a dark attack in the same area where Braixen used her telekinesis. And this time, Serena had her eyes on the prize. "Braixen, a button please."
Instead of waiting for Staraptor like she did the previous round, Braixen focused on the table of buttons and pulled one for Serena. With only her hand raised, Serena caught another button, securing her the opportunity to answer yet another question.
"Three of Kanto's former champions are Sam Oak or better known as Professor Oak, his grandson Blue and one of the strongest trainers in the world, Red." Serena answered with her head held high.
"Oak is still stronger." Brock scoffed at Serena's answer. Ash simply smiled fully knowing he contributed to that piece of knowledge.
"Correct again Serena! Though, I would like to challenge that claim of 'strongest trainer'… " Alder commented. "But we're in the middle of a Pokemon Showcase! Next question! Possibly the last!"
Glares can be seen from both of Serena's rivals. They hated how they were being outclassed and it reflected in their expressions.
"In the Johto region originated the method of making pokeballs out of Apricorns. Different colored Apricorns were used to make different types of pokeballs. What type of pokeball did the Yellow Apricorn make?" Alder asked.
"Staraptor! Use Agility!" Summer ordered. Agility allowed Staraptor to enhance its speed even further. As if Staraptor was not fast enough, it became a blur in the air.
"Mightyena! Trick Room on Staraptor!" Damian hastily said. The speed of Starapotor caught Damian off guard. He reacted on instinct and realized only too late that he had lost. If he truly wanted to win, he would not have let his guard down around Serena.
"Braixen… we're gonna light the stage." Serena smirked in glee.
"Light the stage?" What do you mean—" Before Alder could finish his sentence, a pleasant heat overcame the stage. It warmed every person in the stadium to their very core. Because of this warm sensational feeling, all eyes immediately stuck onto Serena and Braixen.
Small flames can be seen dancing on the stage. But they were not normal flames. They wriggled and twirled across the stage almost as if they were dancing. To add to the effect, they were trailed by faint rainbows which only enhanced the performance. Every person and pokemon were immediately stunned and in awestruck at what they were watching. Even Mightyena and Staraptor forgot what they were doing and stared at the glowing Braixen as she walked towards the table and handed Serena a button.
"Champion Alder," Serena caught the attention of the former Unova champion. "The answer is Moon Ball."
As Serena gave her answer, Braixen stopped the action and the warm feeling immediately subsided and the flaming rainbow show disappeared. Braixen can be seen breathing hard but her eyes showed more pride than weariness.
"Ta-da." Serena lightly whispered underneath her breath.
"Amazing! And there you have it folks. The winner of this round is Serena and Braixen. This concludes the Theme Performance" Alder said. "Now please wait while we prepare for the Freestyle Performances."
"That was insane." Ash finally said. He was dumbfounded at what Serena just pulled off.
"I know she said she came in second in the Kalos' Master Showcase. But wow, she wasn't kidding." Brock said, equally as dumbfounded. "And she totally demolished Damian."
"Huh. Yeah and I don't even feel bad." Ash admitted.
"Char?" Charmander sat there still mesmerized by the rainbow flames.
"Pikaaa." Pikachu said as he felt as though he just witnessed the birth of a phoenix.
Everyone in the audience was buzzing about Serena. Her display was praiseworthy and it was not even the Freestyle Performance yet. The audience could only imagine what Serena had in mind.
"Well if I'm being honest, I don't think Serena will be using Braixen in her Freestyle Performance." Brock stated. "So no fire show in the next one."
"Why's that?" Ash asked.
"Braixen seemed to have exerted a lot of energy just for that little show. Braixen definitely won't have enough for the next performance." Brock explained his train of thought.
"Well, I'd rather have a bad performance than an injured pokemon. But knowing Serena, she'll probably pull out another amazing performance." Ash retained his faith in Serena.
"Alright, alright folks! Settle down, settle down." Alder collected the audience's attention back to him. "We will be beginning the Freestyle Performances shortly. But before we start I will need all of you to do me a small favour. Can you all check underneath your seats and check if there is a glowstick?"
Ash and Brock searched underneath their seats and sure enough, there was a glow stick attached to the bottom of it.
A chorus of 'yes' and 'Ooo a glow stick' came from the audience.
"I'll take that as a yes. Anyways our first performer will be… Serena!" Alder turned to face Serena as she made her second appearance. Generic background music began to play once Alder spotted Serena. "Well Serena, the stage is yours."
The crowds grew silent as Serena walked to the center of the stage. She was followed by her trusty Sylveon and Pancham. They were all dressed up for the occasion. Serena in a straight blue skirt and black leggings. A large ribbon was placed over her chest and a blue headband to finish her outfit. Overall, she looked like a princess from the Azoth Kingdom. To complement her theme, Pancham and Sylveon were also dressed appropriately. Pancham wore blue shades while Sylveon's blue and white collar flowed behind her.
Serena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She listened to the beat of the music and deduced she was going to begin in half a minute. She has done more practice rehearsals than she can remember and more actual performances on all her fingers and toes. Yet every single time, practice or not, she was always unsure of herself. The possibility of making a mistake always scared her. She may exude an awful amount of confidence in her performances, but deep down where it counts, she was as unstable as any rookie on their first performance.
A loud exhale escaped her lips as she mentally prepared for the next few minutes. Serena opened her eyes and immediately made eye contact with her companions. She may be their trainer but in this performance, they were a team of equal standing.
"Now." Serena mouthed to Sylveon and Pancham.
Sylveon leapt to one side of the stage while Pancham the other. Sylveon used Dazzling Gleam while Pancham unleashed a Dark Pulse. Both attacks were going to meet at the center where Serena calmly stood. People in the audience gasped as the attacks collided, worried for Serena's wellbeing. Instead of massive dust clouds to temporarily blind the audience, a plume of smoke shaped like a pokeball was formed for a whole second before collapsing into the audience.
"Whoa." Ash said as the clouds rushed past him and Brock.
Before the clouds could part ways, Serena leaped from behind the clouds, with bare feet and heels in hand, similar to a Pyroar pouncing and rolled onto her back. Only a few feet behind her was Pancham who was riding Sylveon. They also leapt towards Serena, landing on her heels with perfect balance. Feeling the pressure of her pokemons' weight, Serena pushed with her legs, propelling them straight into the air. Combined with Sylveon's own jump, Pancham was able to grab a hold of Sylveon's paws and Fling her to even greater heights.
To cushion Pancham's fall, Sylveon blew soft Fairy Winds at Pancham while in the air. As Pancham reached the floor, his fist began to emanate a faint blue. Upon making contact with the stage floor, Pancham was able to strike a pose of him dramatically punching the floor. Pillars of ice sprouted soon after. The further the ice pillar, the taller it was.
Seeing this as her cue, Serena took a few steps back before sprinting towards the pillars of ice at a full sprint. Using the ice like stepping stones, she scaled the pillars with ease, using her hands to hold her skirt so it would not interrupt her strides. The ice behind her collapsed after every complete step making it impossible to descend if Serena was not in control. Making quick eye contact with Sylveon, Serena rose to the top and attempted a leap of faith. She twisted her body to face the audience watching her fall thirty-five feet into the air. There was nothing to save her if her performance went wrong.
Sylveon, who was falling considerably faster than Serena, passed Serena and landed on Pancham's steady paws. Slightly cushioning Sylveon's graceful fall, Pancham was able to redirect Sylveon gently onto the floor where she unleashed another flurry of Fairy Winds beneath Serena.
Being completely in tune with her pokemon allowed Serena to end her performance with her in the air. Sylveon's Fairy Wind allowed her to gently float thirty feet in the air. Pancham's immense strength paved the way for softer landings and safety. If Braixen was here, Serena knew she would always add that extra finesse that all performances needed.
Seconds in the air felt like minutes. Serena was acutely aware of her surroundings. Being so high, she noticed her racing heart. Her rigid breathing. The sweat falling off her forehead. Her shaking hands. The cold numbness in her feet. The crowd looking in amazement. Up at the top, she could see everything and was free to do anything.
The Freedom of Falling.
This was the name of the performance that Serena took so long to perfect. In the past, she has nearly died practicing this very same jump. But perseverance and grit gave her enough determination to see that it was achieved.
Her blue skirt delicately waved in the cool air of the collapsed ice pillars. Cold chills pushed its way towards the audience as the largest pillar fell and Serena silently landed on the stage floor beside her pokemon. She took a short bow and looked at the audience expecting an applause but nothing came.
The entire audience was speechless but Serena was unaware of this. Nervousness began to taint her emotions. Was her performance not good? Did they see a mistake in something she did?
But suddenly, clapping can be heard in the crowd. It came from a few individuals but Serena can make out four doofuses obnoxiously clapping and screaming their heads off.
"PIKA!" Pikachu elicited cheers of joy at Serena's performance.
"Ch-char!" Charmander squeaked out in support.
"Great performance Serena!" Brock complemented loudly.
"Man it was so good, I think we need to see it again." Ash jokingly shouted. He smiled at Serena and she swore, it seemed as if his dead eye was also seeing her wave back at them.
After the audience heard Serena's group of friend calls of support, they were quickly released from the spell of being amazed. They began clapping and chanting Serena's name.
"Well, Serena, that was quite the performance." Alder finally appeared on stage. He genuinely looked surprised at such a well put performance in a Rookie Class Showcase. "Ladies and gents, please settle down, we still have five other performers."
Needless to say, the audience took longer than usual to temper down. It should also go without saying, Serena won a flawless victory.
At the end of the showcase, Serena was awarded her first Princess Key in Kanto. She was also awarded a handsome sum of money and vast amounts of phone numbers which she politely rejected all of them.
The trio were all sitting in the pokemon center waiting for Serena's pokemon to be checked by Nurse Joy and discussing the recent showcase.
"Serena, that was an amazing performance." Brock stated. "It must have taken a lot of practice and trust with your pokemon to even attempt something like that."
"Char!" Charmander nodded in agreement.
"Yeah well, what can I say? My pokemon are the best." Serena redirected the flattery towards her pokemon.
"After your performance, it made me realize just how insanely cool pokemon performers are." Ash said. He felt a tight tug at his legs and looked down to calm down Charmander. "I used to think pokemon trainers were the only ones who had it bad.
"Well, I'm glad you see us performers creating just as strong bonds as regular trainers are." Serena replied.
"Maybe I should partake in some per—"
"Hey, Serena right?" A person approached the table where the trio was sitting.
"Hey sorry, look I'm sorry, I already said no. I appreciate the phone number and all but—" Serena began.
"No, don't worry about it. I'm actually here on something else." Damian arrogantly pulled up another nearby chair and flicked off Ash's Pokemon League hat. He took a seat beside Ash and only stared at Serena's travelling companions. "I just want to know why this kid has my Homura."
Confused, Ash finally took a better look at the person who sat to his left. It was Damian. Rage immediately overcame Ash as he was about to stand up and do something he would regret. But one look at Brock shaking his head was enough to prevent it from happening.
"Homura?" Brock asked in confusion. Unknown to Damian, there was a thin veil hiding the boiling anger inside Brock. "You mean Charmander?"
"Yes. Why does he have it?" Damian repeated himself louder. This time, the surrounding people were beginning to take notice of what was happening. They began to whisper to one another and stare.
"I found him in the wild. Near the northern outskirts of Cerulean City. He was wandering about the city limits so I caught him." Ash curtly responded. "He was wild when I found him."
"No he wasn't dumbass. I told him to wait because I needed to get something back in the city. When I came back, he was gone." Damian accusingly stated. "You stole Homura from me!"
At Damian's raised voice, Homura tightly hugged Ash's leg. He was afraid of being taken back by Damian. The small crowd surrounding Ash's group and Damian was slowly growing with bystanders.
"Look, if you are who I think you are, I think it's best you leave." Serena threatened. "You're not the trainer you think you are. So leave before things get ugly."
"I'm not talking to you." Damian spat. Serena widened her mouth at Damian's audacity. She looked at Ash and he simply balled his fist, ready to strike.
"Come on Homura, let's go." Damina spoke to the golden Charmander. But Charmander did not listen. Instead he looked at Ash and hugged him even tighter. Ash patted Homura's head and gave him small reassurances.
"Homura! Come here now." Damian glared at Homura. Realizing he was making a fool out of himself, he turned to Ash. "Give me his pokeball."
Damian stood and held out his hand, expecting Homura's pokeball. "Give me his pokeball."
"Let me take care of this okay Homura?" Ash spoke to Homura. He turned to speak to Damian but someone else beat him to it.
"Hey! You're disrupting the pokemon center. Why don't you stop acting like a whiny brat and leave." A certain boy called out. He walked out of the crowd and approached the table while swinging his lanyard around. "No one likes a loser."
"Who're you?" Damina spun around to face the boy who was of similar age to Ash.
"The name's Gary Oak." Gary smirked. He looked straight at Ash and his smirk only deepened. "Hey there Ashy-boy."
Before I say anything else, I am sorry. Mistakes appear and happen. Forgive me.
With that out the way, man it's been a while since I updated. I've been recovering from school the past few weeks as it was break. Happy New Years by the way. A bit late. Anyways, during break, I really had the time to do stuff that made me happy so I was not able to write as much as I would have. Plus, I usually write when I'm feeling like crap lol. With break, I was just happier overall. But school is starting again so I thought it would be such a waste of time if I did not update at least once for this story. Plus I genuinely enjoy writing this story.
A few things about this chapter I guess. It's a but longer than usual but reading back on it, I kinda wished I was more descriptive on what the stadium the showcase took place looked like. But I guess that doesn't really impact anything. Also, I kinda had to pull out some bullshit here cause I don't know if Mightyena can learn Trick Room. I don't think he can! But I left it in anyways. To be honest, I feel very proud on how I wrote Serena's Showcase turned out. Prompts to me for practicing my writing in my other story Forbidden Land (Shameless plug).
All in all, thank you for reading if you made it this far. I plan on having many overarching themes in this story that I can really relate to and to see someone out there taking the time to read what I write is honestly crazy. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are right now. Until next time I guess?