After a long day of training, Ash was almost happy when Fantina called them to let them know she was going to be picking them up in half an hour.
"Pika-pi…"
"I'm exhausted too, Pikachu…" Ash said, toweling off his hair. He pulled on his new jacket and cap, and stood in front of the mirror. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. He could see what Fantina had been going for. The high collared and slightly longer jacket gave him a lot of the imposing effect of Lance's cape, without looking so… well… flashy. He'd be scared to face himself on the battlefield now. Maybe that's what she'd meant by "dress like a champion." He could see how it might psyche someone out.
The doorbell rang, and Ash left his bedroom with Pikachu in tow. Lance opened the door, and in front stood Fantina. She'd traded her usual flared gown for a more svelte, floor length number in a much darker, nearly black material which shone purple when it caught the light, and matching gloves. Of course, her trademark hair-style still gave her away instantly.
She kissed each of them on the cheeks, even Pikachu.
"Mes chéris. I come bearing gifts." She whipped out a white box and opened it.
"Pika-pi?" In it was a smaller version of Ash's cap, with what looked like ear holes. Ash took it out and looked at it.
"Well I am a pokémon stylist after all. Now go on, try it on." Ash held it up to Pikachu who quickly shoved his head through it and chirped happily.
"Pika pika!" Ash laughed. Pikachu had stolen his hat before, and he was apparently happy to have his own.
"Thanks, Fantina."
"Now, allons-y! We have places to be!" She grabbed Ash and pushed him out the door.
She turned to Lance. "Well, mon chéri, is this how you treat a lady? Am I to walk to the car on my own in these heels?"
"You didn't seem to have a problem walking from the car," Lance sighed, holding out his arm.
She took the outstretched arm and let Lance escort her to the car.
Huh. Ash noticed she wasn't pulling close to him like Serena had to Ash in Coumarine. Instead, despite the seemingly close contact, she was giving Lance a comfortably wide berth. He had no clue what that could mean, but it seemed interesting.
"Mon petit chéri, you may take the front."
Fantina's order jolted him out of his thoughts, which had quickly wandered back to Kalos following the observation and he got in the car.
"Gérard, take us to the contest hall."
"My pleasure, madame."
"Now, mon petit chéri, I saw the results of your debacle with Lance on landing. When you get out of the car, remember what I told you about posture. You will follow us. Look straight ahead at us and match our pace. If you fall behind, walk at a brisk pace, but do not jog or run.
"Halfway down, we will stop and pose for pictures. First myself and Lance. While this is happening, look engaged. Perhaps look off into the crowd and wave, or pose for the cameras, or play with Pikachu. Remember that every moment will be photographed and will be in tomorrow's papers. Then you will join us for a group picture.
"Parle pas… Do not speak to the reporters. You do not offer them the time of day. Do not even look at them. If you find yourself forced to say anything to them, the only words out of your mouth should be 'no comment.'"
Ash blinked at the rapid barrage of information. "What?"
"That is, unless you wish to see more headlines like this." She handed him a magazine.
Champion Lance on vacation to Hoenn with new boy-toy?
"Wha–!"
"The paparazzi is the lowest species on earth. Si tu lui donnes… If you give it ammunition, it will use it. If you give it a gift, it will use it as ammunition.
"Mon chéri Lance does not particularly care about reputation, which is why he did not warn you. I do, and I would presume, like 90% of the people on this planet, you at least care about avoiding humiliation."
The drive took a while, but they arrived in front of the VIP entrance to the contest hall. True to Fantina's words, a red carpet had been laid, and crowds lined both sides.
The valets opened the doors for them, and Lance and Fantina stepped out.
"Champion Master Lance, is it true that you have a secret base north of Slateport?"
"Madame Fantina, what are your comments on this year's Lilycove Collection?"
"Champion Lance, are you involved with the establishment of the Alola League?"
"Madame Fantina, any comment on the rumors that the PAC is considering a merger with Kalos's Showcase Committee?
As Ash got out of the car to follow them, his own bombardment began.
"Mr. Ketchum, what is your relation to Champion Lance?"
"Mr. Ketchum, any comment on being the favorite for this year's conference?"
"Mr. Ketchum, is it true that you were at the center of the Kyogre-Groudon incident?"
Ash paused, how the hell did they know about that?
"Mr. Ketchum, you were seen during the LaRousse incident, any comments?"
"Mr. Ketchum, any comment on your resemblance to the late Champion Master Red?"
"Mr. Ketchum, have you considered a return to contests following the Wallace Cup?"
"No comment." He hurried to catch up to Lance and Fantina, who had stopped to pose for photos. Lance had a somewhat annoyed expression on his face, while Fantina was basking in the adoration and waving at the crowd. Once he was close enough, Ash stopped and decided to do the same. Pikachu mimicked his wave. Fantina beckoned him over, putting an arm around his shoulder. After what seemed like an eternity, she let go of him, and they started forward again. When they finally made it through the doors, Ash let out a deep breath.
"Well, that's finally over."
Fantina laughed. "Mon petit chéri, if you do become champion, this is just the start. I take it you do not watch much television, given your travels. Ask Monsieur Lance about the events he must attend."
Lance gave her an annoyed look. "It's your fault half those things are mandatory!"
"Pah! I do not have that kind of sway in the league. I merely made a suggestion to Dianthéa and Cynthia."
"How is it that whenever the three of you talk my life becomes a living hell? At least Wallace is off doing his own thing now so I don't have him to worry about."
"Mon chéri, such anger! It is exactly this sort of publicity which funds your travels around the world and your missions to save it. We all have our role to play. Or would you prefer the world return to how it was before the league?"
"Of course not."
"Then you do your job, and I'll do mine."
"Pika-pi…" Ash shared Pikachu's sentiments; this was weird.
"Mon petit chéri, je suis désolée, we completely forgot you were here for a moment," she glared at Lance. "Shall we make our way to our seats?"
They sat down at a table almost as close to the contest field as the judges, and Fantina beckoned over a waiter.
"A bottle of Auffrac-les-Congères icewine, s'il vous plaît. 814 vintage please, if you have it. And a cheese platter and bread."
"Right away, Madame Fantina."
Lance raised an eyebrow. "40 year-old wine?"
Fantina smiled. "It is an occasion, is it not?"
"Don't you go to five of these every year?"
She batted her hand at him. "You are splitting the hair four ways, mon chéri."
Lance rolled his eyes. "It's 'you're splitting hairs.'"
Fantina smirked, "Once more."
She turned to Ash. "You can stop staring at the field mon petit chéri. There's still some time. We are not the only ones to arrive in style. Sit back, relax, have a sip of wine; tu vas bientôt voir ta copine."
Despite her words, Ash found it difficult to relax. The box seats were certainly comfortable and provided a better view of the field than the stands where Ash had been before, but there was a certain stuffy atmosphere which reminded him of the post-showcase ball in Kalos.
A couple people stopped by to say hi to Lance and Fantina, Ash recognized some of them but most of them weren't really people he knew.
"Elesa!" Ash almost jumped out of his seat, happy to finally see a friendly face.
"Ash, Pikachu, it's been a while!" The Unovan gym leader patted Pikachu on the head. "You're still glowing like the day I met you."
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu was definitely glowing at the compliment.
"How've you been?" Ash asked.
"Oh, you know, same old same old. Sometimes I miss the days when I was a travelling trainer like you. I saw you in the Vertress Conference. It's a shame how that ended, but I assume you're here to compete in Ever Grande?"
"Yeah! Lance is giving me some special training, I'm sure to win this time!"
Elesa smiled. "That's the spirit!
"We really should catch up sometime. I need to get to my seat, it looks like the show's about to start." She nodded towards the field.
"It's great seeing you!" Ash told her, before the supermodel strode off to her own seat.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I want to thank you all for coming to this year's 50th annual Hoenn Grand Festival! In honor of our semicentennial, Mr. Contesta has prepared a speech! Please give a round of applause for our very own Director of the Pokémon Activities Committee, Raoul Contesta!"
The man walked onto the stage in his trademark red blazer to a roaring applause.
"Thank you, thank you. Fifty years ago, myself and a group of close friends came up with an idea for a new type of pokémon competition. One which stimulated a pokémon's love of battle without them truly getting hurt.
"To be honest, we weren't sure what the public would think; there wasn't anything similar at the time. But to our delight, the first Hoenn Pokémon Contest Spectacular—it wasn't the Grand Festival yet—was a resounding success. Since then, we've expanded to four other regions, and as some of you may have heard, we're working on number five.
"Pokémon Contests are more popular than ever, matching or perhaps even exceeding the League itself."
There was a round of applause and Mr. Contesta waited for it to die down.
"We come together here today to see the bond of coordinator and pokémon in its purest form—a bond of love, care, and mutual passion. Without further ado, let the festivities begin!"
The crowd began to cheer, and only grew louder when the first set of coordinators came onto the field for the preliminaries. Ash knew from his experience travelling with May and Dawn just how tough the preliminaries could be. With so many coordinators to go through, even with performances being held in parallel—three at a time—each coordinator only got about two minutes to showcase their pokémon.
For the first two hours or so, there were a handful of people he recognized, but no one he was particularly close to. Of course, he still cheered. Ash may not have been much of a coordinator himself, but he loved watching contests, there was no denying that they were, well, spectacular.
~ ⁂ ~
Serena came out onto the field to a roaring crowd. This was it, her chance to make a name for herself. She was one of the last performances, which was always a good chance to leave an impression on the judges. She smiled.
"Gyrados, let's show them a performance they'll never forget!"
She threw the pokéball, which opened with a shower of blue flames. Just as they'd rehearsed, the large dragon-like pokémon immediately twisted through the air with majesty belying its size performing a rain dance. The water began to fall so fast it seemed as if it was what put out the flames from the seal.
"Surf the waves!" The pokémon let out a roar and the rainfall seemed to intensify, forming a wave, which caught it without ever touching the ground. It did a circle around the ring, the wave turning unnaturally to avoid spilling off the side.
The audience oohed and ahed.
She kept an eye on the timer over the field. She had to get the timing perfect for maximum effect.
"Now get some air time with dragon tail!" Her performance partner kicked off with blinding speed into a coiled summersault which was executed so perfectly it almost made it look like she was flying.
"Now for the big reveal, twister!" The pokémon began to spin rapidly.
It was hard for Serena not to cringe as the costume she'd worked on so hard for months was eviscerated by the move, but it'd be worth it if it got her through the preliminaries.
Blue scraps of fabric littered the field as her partner revealed herself to be a Milotic under the costume.
"Finish it off with an attract for good measure." Milotic came to a stop next to her and wrapped the thinner part of its tail around her, pink hearts surrounding the both of them. The audience went wild.
Milotic bowed her head, and Serena curtsied and waved to the audience.
She heard the announcer's voice. "A phenomenal performance from one of our newest competitors! Serena Delpech's Milotic dazzles the crowd with a stunning transformation!"
She returned Milotic to her pokéball, and headed off the field.
"That was amazing Serena!" She recognized the voice. She turned to see Ash waving at her from the boxes.
"Ash!" She yelled, waving to him. She was about to run up to him, but she saw one of the ushers gesturing at her to get a move on. Her cheeks turned pink, and she rushed to get off the field.
~ ⁂ ~
Ash was stunned. Serena's performance was one of the best he'd ever seen, and this was only the preliminary round.
"And with that, the preliminary rounds of the semicentennial Hoenn Grand Festival draw to a close! There've been some amazing performances here tonight, and it's only getting started! We hope to see you all again here tomorrow for the announcement of the placement results and the beginning of the contest proper!"
Ash bolted up out of his seat. Fantina laughed.
"Go find her, mon petit chéri. It'll be good for you to catch up." She pulled a card out of her purse. "May I suggest taking her to dinner at one of Slateport's best Kalosian restaurants?" She shoved it into his hands. Ash looked at it.
Gift Certificate
Dinner for two
Les Trois Groret
He scratched his head. "Isn't that a bit forward?"
"Mon petit chéri, when une fille kisses you out of nowhere, the time pour les subtilités is long past.
"Now go find her before I drag you to her myself. Your reservation is in an hour."
Ash gulped and ran off.
~ ⁂ ~
Lance raised an eyebrow. "That was uncharacteristically kind of you."
"Well I'm not paying for my own dinner tonight, now am I, mon chéri. I may as well pay for someone else's. Now shall we be off?"
"You always have an angle, don't you?" He got up and offered her his arm.
"I have no clue what you could possibly be referring to mon chéri."
~ ⁂ ~
Ash ran through the courtyard to find Serena. He felt someone bump into him, but when he turned around he couldn't see them. Suddenly he noticed a weight missing from his shoulder. Pikachu was gone.
"Hello, twoip!" He turned towards the direction the sound had come to see a familiar trio standing there.
"Not you guys again! Can't you ever give it a break? I was in the middle of something!"
"Uh uh uh, twoip, don't interrupt!"
"Prepare for trouble, our middle name!" The red haired woman began.
"And make it double, it's a high stakes game!" Her blue haired partner in crime continued.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, and fight!"
"Meowth! That's right!" The cat-like pokémon joined in.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet gave his familiar salute.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu cried out, banging against the sides of the glass case Team Rocket had unceremoniously shoved him into.
"Don't you three ever learn!" Ash reached into his jacket to pull out a pokéball, but he found them missing.
"Looking for these?" Meowth held up his paws, showing 6 pokéballs clutched between his fingers. "We do loin. I loined thief!"
"Maybe you should do a better job of watching out for pickpockets!" Jessie remarked, and both her and James burst out in laughter.
Ash gritted his teeth. What could he do without his pokémon?