With our final few performances from Gabrielle and Serefina, we're going to bring the Cuteness Competition to a close with this chapter! What do our ladies have to show us next?

KedharS: She's head over heels, that's for sure. She loves him no matter what.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Ayame definitely didn't come to play, she's giving it everything she has.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Definitely cute and adorable, I would rank her that way too probably.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 746

The crowd stood in stunned silence at Ayame's performance. She had taken their breath away.

Cynthia was the first person to regain her composure, clapping wildly for Ayame, followed quickly by Claire. Soon, more people joined in the applause, cheering for the adorable performance that Ayame had given them.

"I think this is an excellent look into what those two get up to in the bedroom," Cynthia cackled under her breath. Kitty turned bright red as she heard that, shooting her friend a wide-eyed look of shock and disbelief.

"D-Don't tell me stuff like that!" Kitty wailed. She didn't want to picture stuff like that, she didn't want anything to do with it! Cynthia just laughed it off, though, not really making a big deal of it. She thought the fact that Kitty was STILL this pure and sweet was adorable enough to give Ayame a run for her money in the Cuteness Competition.

When the applause finally died down, the judges were ready to share their feedback.

Stunningly, Akira was the one to speak first.

"I thought that was adorable," he admitted. It was one of the nicest things he'd said all day. "Ayame made it abundantly clear just how much she cares for her boyfriend. And I think that love really came through in a cute way."

"Yeah, exactly!" Ian said, nodding in agreement. "It was really cute, seeing just how devoted she was, and when she got flustered, but still went through with it anyway? It was exactly the air of a good girlfriend, and a good maid, even if she was embarrassed! I thought it was perfect."

Kanone was the last one to speak. And he was smiling. Ayame looked warily at him. Akira and Ian's words were nice, but the person whose opinion mattered most to her was Kanone. He was the one whose approval she thirsted for, and she'd wanted to show how dedicated of a girlfriend she was for Blake.

Although, thinking about it a little clearer in hindsight, maybe it wasn't the idea to appeal to him as a good girlfriend wearing clothes like these…

But she wasn't going to let that get the better of her! She'd shown off her best, and everything else came down to what the master trainer thought of her performance.

"I thought it was lovely," Kanone said, and Ayame let out a sigh of relief. It was like all the tension drained out of her with those words.

A relieved "really?" escaped Ayame's lips before she could catch herself. It was considered rather tasteless to express relief directly to the judges, after all. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel grateful that Kanone approved.

"Really?" Blake asked hopefully, under no such restrictions about decorum. Like Aya, he was relieved that his brother was approving of their performance.

"Yes, really," Kanone laughed. "I got to see the two of you behaving quite adorably, and Ayame certainly proved that she's a devoted partner, even if she is a partner who can be easily embarrassed by all sorts of things. But I think that was a rather clever way of appealing to the judges, so yes, well done Ayame, top marks."

Ayame tried very hard not to let out another sigh of relief. She held her head high and nodded, and walked off the stage hand in hand with her boyfriend. Whatever the results of the contest would be, they didn't matter to Ayame anymore. She'd gotten Blake's compliments for her performance, and his brother had given her his blessing, and that was more than enough for her.

Really, what else did she even need?

"What a great performance from Ayame Toujou!" Lukas gushed, watching the loving couple depart. "Let's give her another round of applause! And now, for our next performance…"

As applause filled the air, Lukas turned his attention to the stage and paused. The cooking equipment and table were still sitting there. He sighed, and slumped over. "Never mind. I guess I'll have to clean this mess up first," he groaned. "We're going to take a brief break so that stage can be stricken, and then we'll resume with the Cuteness Competition."

This competition was starting to get really annoying for Lukas. It was like the rules of the competition were made to be exploited, and people were looking to drag it out. It was great that such good performances were being given, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel enraged by the fact that girls like Ayame were so thoughtless as to leave the cleanup to him. But luckily it didn't take that much work to clear things off, and it was time for the competition to start again.

Lukas smiled. Things were almost over. He channeled that relief into his performance, encouraging everyone to turn their eyes forward and get ready because there were still too more girls who needed to perform.

"Now, our next competitor is a our lovely ice queen, Gabrielle Breaux," Lukas said, turning to Gabrielle as she stepped out onstage. "What performance is she going to show us, I wonder?"

Cynthia had it in her mind exactly what sort of performance she wanted to see out of the cool beauty. Like Lukas said, Gabrielle was known all across campus for being a stoic ice queen who seldom smiled or expressed any emotion at all.

So in Cynthia's eyes, the one kind of performance that would make her the winner would be to see that cool beauty get flustered. And not just like Ayame, no. Ayame was known for a certain type of coolness, built on confidence. Gabrielle's cool aura was something else entirely, a product of detachment and emotionlessness.

So while Ayame's cuteness was the kind brought out by seeing the normally cool and savvy tomboy prince get flustered and embarrassed like a maiden in love, Gabrielle would need something different. She'd need to embrace that inner cuteness and let the ice melt, showing a bright smile to the audience and wishing them their best.

Whatever it was the ice trainer was going to show for her talent performance, she needed to do it with a smile on her face and a lilt in her voice if she wanted to score points in Cynthia's books as being something cute!

If those were Cynthia's expectations, they would be dashed handily.

Because Gabrielle Breaux did not do "cute". She was elegant and graceful, a picture of beauty, if she were the type to boast, but she did not do "cute".

And no, she did not have a chip on her shoulder whatsoever that no one had ever called her cute n her life before, not at all.

It wasn't like she cared that her performance wouldn't meet up with the standards of the competition, either. After all, she hadn't joined this contest trying to win. She had done it because she wanted to stand on the same stage as Alcea, and perform in competition with her. Just getting closer to her rival was enough.

Alcea hadn't tried to be "cute". She hadn't put on some false face to win people over. She had done what she always did, exhibit her regal air with grace and poise, showing off just how exceptional she was to everyone.

Gabrielle would do the same.

Carrying on tradition, like the other girls Gabrielle had stepped out onstage in a brand new outfit, trading her dress aside for an icy blue leotard. That was definitely something that drew Cynthia's attention alright. Normally, Gabrielle wore rather unflattering clothes, preferring to wear coats over her school uniform. The dress had been nice, but now Cynthia was getting a good look at the girl's body with very little hidden, and she liked what she saw.

Gabrielle had an athletic build, like Sango and Ayame, but with a bit of stockiness, especially in her strong thighs. And as she knelt down to set a bag on the stage and took something out, Cynthia quickly realized why that was.

The first thing to come out was a pokeball. But the next thing were a pair of periwinkle and blue ice skates.

If you asked Cynthia was Gabrielle did for a hobby, she would not have guessed "ice skating". Sure, it wasn't like ice skating was UNSUITABLE for a master of Ice types, and in hindsight, yes, she could definitely imagine that a cool and elegant girl like her would enjoy a graceful hobby like ice skating, absolutely.

It was just that when Cynthia pictured Gabrielle's hobbies, they always seemed to be a bit more cerebral, a bit more reserved, like reading some difficult book in the peace of the library, not something as… performative as ice skating.

Gabrielle lifted her pokeball up and flung it into the air. "Froslass. Ice beam." Even her words were terse and cool, she wasn't going to puff things up. Her Froslass opened her mouth and sent a burst of freezing ice out, the cold beam arcing across the stage. It was an excellent display of control. Soon, the stage had frozen solid. A perfectly flat arena of ice.

Gabrielle finished lacing her skates and righted herself, setting the blades onto the ice. Pushing off of her pokemon, she then shot forward and began her performance.

As Gabrielle turned across the ice, twirling and skating in figure-8s and wide circles, she paid no attention to what she was doing. She was lost in the haze of her performance, feeling the cold of the stage rise up to greet her as she moved. It had been some time since she had performed in front of people, but she wasn't distracted or nervous. To her, skating wasn't about showing off or pleasing the audience.

It was about moving the way she wanted, showing off her own exceptional performance, all for the joy of skating. What other people thought of her movements didn't matter to her. And as she carried herself with the grace and pride of someone who didn't care about the judgment of anyone around her, she captivated the people watching.

Of course, a big part of that came down to something that Gabrielle wasn't even aware of. And that was that her performance was certainly a form of gap moe, even if it was a different sort. For the Gabrielle everyone saw her as, a reserved Gabrielle who did little in excess, expressing no emotion at all, a performance like this was completely out of the question.

Gabrielle was normally stoic, but stoicism didn't work on an ice skating rink. Her emotions carried in every move, every lift of her arms, every turn of her heel, with every pattern she made and figure she weaved, she was expressing more emotion than anyone had ever seen from her, and all with the same icy expression she always wore.

Finally, it came time for her to fulfill her finale. She drew to the center and began spinning on the tip of her skates, rotating so fast it defied belief. And she held it for an absurd amount of time, spinning tightly and going faster and faster, raising her hands.

Then, her Froslass sent a gust of cold air from her mouth, the icy wind swirling around Gabrielle and dancing around her in a spiral, carrying the cool sky as it wrapped around her. Then, with a fling of her hands, the snowflakes dispersed and the spinning ceased, and she came to a stop on the ice in a graceful bow.

It had happened so suddenly the audience wasn't sure what to make of it. It took a few seconds to process that the performance was actually over, and when it did they immediately began to applause, which startled Gabrielle, although she didn't show it. She wasn't used to people applauding her ice skating, because she so seldom performed in front of others.

Gabrielle skated to where she'd left her shoes, one of the few patches of the stage she'd left free of ice, and began unlacing her skates as she waited to hear what the judges had to say.

"I think it was a great performance!" Ian began. "Full of emotion and passion!"

Gabrielle's head shot up and her eyes widened imperceptibly. What? Something thought that performance was full of passion? That made no sense.

"Yeah, I can definitely see that," Akira agreed. Another surprise, for Akira to be so animated in his descriptions. "She really put her everything into that performance."

No, no, they were getting it wrong. Had they even been watching? Gabrielle hadn't been putting in passion or emotion or anything like that, she was merely ice skating the way she always did, letting the joy of movement roll through her as she skated.

"Definitely," Kanone agreed, flashing a broad smile. "She really tried her best, I'm impressed!"

No. None of them understood. She just did things the way she always did, why did they think she was giving some grand performance?

Stunned into silence, which wasn't that different from her usual volume level, Gabrielle shook her head in disbelief and recalled Froslass to her pokeball, quickly slipping on her shoes and walking off the stage to clear her head.

"Now, wasn't that a great performance?" Lukas asked, smiling brightly. "I think Gabrielle really showed us all something special!" He shivered in the cold air, and couldn't wait for the heaters to begin thawing the stage. "Now, for our last competitor, Serefina Kagefusa!"

He cleared his throat, and mumbled under his breath, "after another short break to wait for the stage to thaw out," he added.

It didn't take long at all. A few minutes later, things were more than ready to go, and Serefina walked onstage.

Her opening performance blew everyone else's out of the water, with the exception of maybe Ayame. She walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt, odd enough as it was, along with a red apron. Her long black hair was tied behind her in a ponytail and pushed back by a red bandana, and over her shoulder she carried a bag filled with caretaking tools. In her hands she held a large basket filled to the brim with berries.

If it was just an outfit, it wouldn't have been that impressive. But just like Sango, she walked onstage with her pokemon. But while Sango had only brought Silver with her, Serefina had pulled out all the stops. Every last one of her pokemon came in behind her, a parade of pokemon that stunned the audience.

Her Goodra, Slushy, came first, the large pokemon wearing a mean scowl on an otherwise cute-looking face. Following her was Barneby, her Banette, her Vigoroth, Caffeine, Freddy, her Teddiursa, Trunks, her Phanpy, and Tortimer, her Torkoal. But those weren't her only pokemon. She also had a Wooloo, and a SirFetch'd, rounding out the total pokemon she had to 8.

They all gathered around her, and Serefina began to take care of them. She hummed a peaceful little song as she fed them all their favorite kinds of berries, taking out her brush. For the ones with fur or feathers, she brushed them until they were perfectly maintained, showing off her dedication for her beloved pokemon. For the ones like Slushy and Trunks, she brushed down with a warm towel to help them, as well.

And she did it all with a smile on her face. It was clear at just a glance how much Serefina loved her pokemon. She took as much time as she needed to make sure they were all at their best, that all their needs were met.

It was an utterly wholesome performance, filling everyone's hearts with joy and warmth as they watched her do what she did every day, take care of her beloved pokemon.

Cynthia fell in love with her all over again. But she wasn't even paying attention to her body, her boobs mostly hidden behind the bulky apron. She was focused on the beautiful smile on Serefina's face, and the way her eyes were gleaming with warmth and care.

Wait! What are you doing, you fool?! You like boobs, boobs! She shouted at herself, quickly shaking her thoughts free. She regained her focus and tried to drool over Serefina's body, but somehow no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't.

It was like the wholesome warmth of Serefina's love for her pokemon was purifying Cynthia's black aura and warming her soul. She could barely withstand it!

Serefina didn't address the crowd. She didn't even look their way, nor did she turn her eye towards the judges. Everything she had was devoted to her pokemon, they took up all of her focus until they were shining beautifully.

"There!" Serefina said, standing upright and wiping the sweat from her brow, a broad smile on her face. "Everyone's looking great!"

This was the amount of care she devoted to every pokemon she looked after, not just her own. That was what the smile Serefina wore seemed to say. No one who saw that smile could doubt her love for pokemon. It was one of the sweetest and most loving smiles they had seen, and it captured the hearts of many people in the audience.

Serefina would be in for quite the swarm of love confessions in the coming days, but that wasn't about to bother her. Right now, her heart belonged to pokemon.

In the end, she didn't even give the audience one note of acknowledgment. She packed up her equipment and picked up her basket, leading her pokemon offstage without turning her eyes towards the audience once.

She left before the judges even had a chance to deliver their feedback. That was how little their thoughts mattered to her, and in a way, that made her performance seem even cuter and more wholesome. It wasn't about the Cuteness Competition, it was about taking care of her cute and adorable pokemon.

"Well, that was… quite a performance by our last competitor!" Lukas said, wiping his eyes. "Seeing such wholesome care brought a tear to my eye… now then! Let's give her a hand, and hear what our judges thought of that performance!"

While the audience clapped, Lukas turned to the judges, who seemed surprisingly lost in thought. The first one to speak was, surprisingly, Akira.

"I thought… that Serefina did amazing," he admitted. "She's my friend, so… I know how much she loves her pokemon… no, loves all pokemon, and I think that she really conveyed that well to everyone, I definitely felt it."

"I think you're right, Akira," Ian said, nodding in agreement. "Seeing that warm smile of hers, filled with love for her beloved pokemon, it really goes without saying that she's the perfect type of girl to be in the Caretaker Course. She really loves them all."

"That girl… most people love their pokemon," Kanone said. His voice was distant and hollow, like he was deep in thought. "But the number of people who can even love other people's pokemon, that number is significantly smaller. And that girl… what I felt from her was far more than that. It was a love for ALL pokemon, and that's something that really can't be compared to most people."

If Serefina had been onstage to hear their praise, maybe she would have been flattered. But even if she was, more likely than not she wouldn't have seemed to care, her eyes were only for her pokemon, after all.

Luckily, Cynthia was there, and she was more than ready to add her own voice to the crowd. Having come down from the stunning aura of purity surrounding Serefina and back to her old self, she was shouting "yeah, definitely! Serefina is the best!" as loudly as she could. A few other people were joining in, cheering the wholesome girl on.

"Well, those were some nice words to close out our Cuteness Competition!" Lukas cheered. "Now, let's see what our judges think. What places have they ranked our competitors?!" Lukas turned and raised his hand, gesturing to the screen that lowered down to display the results of the Cuteness Competition. It was going to be a decisive round, after all, just past the halfway point of the competition.

The contest is really heating up with these last performances! Our girls are giving it their all! Who's going to come out on top? Let's see what the rankings have to say about it!