So yes! The mistletoe idea finally takes place. I might even use it more often. I'm trying to update rapidly but given I'm on the job, I have much, much less time on my hands. I'm trying my best! For DaX0315, our honoured Guest (tell you what, I'll factor in your idea later; thanks!), and Key321, please, have a noodle bowl of Razz and Wiki berry broth!

Chapter four: Spreading Good Cheer in Ambrette

By nightfall, as expected, the little competition had spread across local media. By the sunset, everyone in Coastal Kalos was aware of Wallace's fundraiser as it went to Ambrette Town. Like Cyllage City, a light layer of snow had blanketed the streets even though it was a seaside town.

Cynthia and Steven walked through the Ambrette Aquarium at the edge of town, since it bordered Route 8. It wasn't as extravagantly decorated like Cyllage City yet the lights on their own were enough. Wherever the pair walked, they wanted to see the twinkling Christmas lights and trees at night. Yet the aquarium was in a festive mood having set up its own Christmas tree.

Once they emerged from the aquarium, they welcomed by houses covered in differently coloured lights and some with same colours. For the latter, they saw homes covered in either all white lights illuminating the house like crystal, or yellow lights making the house shine like stars. The sight of them was welcome in the cold night. Any tree they saw either had lights wrapped around it or laid in its branches.

"We still have time before dinner begins," Steven said, looking at his watch. "I don't think we could spend it all outdoors though."

Cynthia looked around. "There's a fossil lab here, right? Why don't we check that?"

Steven's eyes lit up. He straightened his coat.

At the fossil lab, Cynthia could tell Steven was fascinated by the machines alone, seeing there were those capable of transforming fossils back to Pokémon. A collection of fossils and rocks lined up the walls, causing Steven to stop and stare at them.

"Um… If you don't mind…" he muttered to Cynthia.

"Not at all." Cynthia nudged him closer to the display. She had an idea in mind now that Steven was distracted and in his own world. Quietly she slipped away to talk briefly with the researchers at the back, hoping they might have something she wanted.

And they did, so Cynthia made a small purchase and had it boxed. She wondered if Steven would like it and rejoined him shortly after.

"Oh, what do you have there?" He looked at the box in Cynthia's hands.

"It's just a little something…" She grinned. "I told the researchers about the event and they said they'll check it out."

The both of them left the lab. It wouldn't be long before the dinner hour came and this time, they had to dress extra warm because the cold of night and winter combined would seem challenging. As they walked to the Pokémon Centre, they felt the snow gently land on their faces. It made them shiver.

An even bigger crowd had gathered at the Pokémon Centre than in Cyllage City, which was a surprise to the chefs given Ambrette Town was smaller than its neighbour.

The moon was not visible tonight, but the snowflakes were. As they fell from the night sky to the ground, they became more visible, like stars beginning to twinkle as night fell. It would have been the perfect setup for a quiet evening, but the crowd at the Ambrette Pokémon Centre were not having it. They wanted to see the two famous chefs battle it out like Lumiose, and when they were told it was a fundraiser, they were generous to help.

From what Lisia saw, they gave just as much as Cyllage City did, even though the population was smaller. Maybe it was because they were a small town and knew their local Pokémon Centre well? Or maybe because as a small community, they were closer with each other. Or maybe they just wanted to see a romantic battle between the chefs.

Tonight's dish was quiche, so Cynthia and Steven had to make use of the limited oven space amid the already-limited floor space they had. To save time, they had pre-made the doughs necessary to creating the crusts, but they still needed pre-baking and that would take time. No sooner had they rolled over twelve doughs, molded them into crusts, weighed them down with rice and foil, and had thrown them in their ovens at the end of the aisle.

But it is a problem, Cynthia thought, that the oven doors had just enough space for both to open at the same time.

And it was such that the doors would almost touch each other when they both went down. Of all the cooking methods, baking was the most time-consuming. Add multiple customers on top of that, and Cynthia knew she was in a real fight with the clock. Never mind Steven! And she was slightly faster than Steven, given her experience in making pie crust.

While she hurried to the oven, she had slip by him as he returned to his station to prepare quiche filling. They both had slip by each other sideways because it was so narrow!

There was also the mistletoe problem to consider, which Wallace had deviously placed above the space between the ovens. Of all places, it had to be at this spot? It was like he wanted to entertain the crowds with a nonstop romantic comedy show.

Their noses touched too. Cynthia resisted an urge to kiss him as she tried avoiding standing under the mistletoe with Steven.

Just a few steps away from the cooking stations, Martine was finding it entertaining that her bosses would be locked together like this. They looked like a team but clearly were not. She watched them chop what would be the main driver of this quiche: Figy berries. Known to be packed with natural spices of different kinds, Martine could smell it from where she stood, making her shiver.

She also watched them crack several nutritious Chansey eggs, using chopsticks as was their preferred tool back home to whisk them. It really was like watching home cooking! Soon enough, the smell of the Figy berry spices had surrounded the cooking stations and around the Pokémon Centre. Martine thought, if this was how strong the spices were when they were uncooked, how much stronger would they be in the oven?

Beside her, Sophie and Laurent watched Steven and Cynthia blend the Chansey eggs with the Figy berries, along with some cheese that was the pride of Cyllage City: de Cyllage. Seasoning was kept to a minimum in order to save time and preserve the natural flavour of the mushrooms and Figy berries. Just sparse pinches of salt and pepper were added by Steven and Cynthia to each of their mixes.

"Are those leeks, Laurent?" Sophie asked her boyfriend (though she questioned whether Laurent really was her boyfriend).

"Oui, they are," Laurent said. A thought crossed his mind. "Oh gosh, can you imagine how leeks, mushrooms, and Figy berries would taste together? That would be amazing."

Steven and Cynthia were busily chopping up leeks and mushrooms, and no sooner were the raw ingredients sautéed to bring out their flavour. They would only be precooked, but they would eventually be added to the enormous Chansey egg mix they had prepared, which had Figy berries and de Cyllage mixed in already.

They heard the sound of their personal timers go off and they rushed to the ovens to retrieve the crusts. Their hips and backs bumped against each other as they did and there was little space to move.

"You're in my way, Steven," Cynthia said irritably.

"You're in mine, Cynthia," Steven replied.

For Martine, it was amusing to see that they weren't fighting, but they were clearly annoyed with each other. They brought their crusts, poured the egg mix into them, spread the surface evenly, and immediately threw them back into the oven before starting on their next batch. One quiche could make six servings, and when multiplied by the number of guests…

Wallace walked by to see how they were doing. "Alright you two, kiss! You have to do it. Do it!"

Like that was of any help. But Steven pressed his lips to Cynthia's again. It was only a peck, which he hoped was enough.

It wasn't.

"Come now, boss! You have to do better than that!" Martine said, watching them with a smile.

Cynthia, exasperated, brought her lips to Steven's this time and held it there for longer. It seemed like a better use of time considering the baking time. Why did it have to be herself and him in this situation? It wasn't fair, considering Wallace was holding all the cards.

Nevertheless, within twenty minutes the mouth-watering aroma of baked quiche had filled their surroundings and cut through the quiet cold atmosphere of Ambrette Town. It was such that it attracted even more people to the Pokémon Centre, like a living advertisement.

They had prepared a new batch of crusts and Chansey egg and Figy mix for the next order. From the looks of things, it was a dead heat between the chefs. It came down to whose methods and planning were more efficient, let alone the processes in between, that would make the difference.

And when their timers rang at the same time, they went back to retrieve their cooked quiche while also putting in a new batch of crusts. As their backs touched again, Steven was in such a hurry that he stumbled when closing his oven door.

So Cynthia had to catch him.

"Are you okay?" she said, looking at him in the eye.

"I'm okay," Steven replied.

They could have looked at each other for longer, their faces close enough just to kiss (as Cynthia had hoped) but a camera flash interrupted their moment. Surprised, Cynthia turned to look at where it came from.

It came from Santalune City's Gym Leader, Viola, who was also a worker for the press.

"Keep it up, vous deux! This will be good!" Viola cheered and waved.

Steven groaned. He wanted to facepalm but his hands were full. And because of that momentary pause, Cynthia had gotten ahead of him. She had her quiche divided into six even pieces and plated, which she brought to the service area.

Sophie and Laurent each took three plates each and made their way into the Pokémon Centre. Martine meanwhile served two plates at a time to the customers, mainly Ambrette Town locals, seated at the dining area. Heat lamps were emitting generous warmth to the locals and amplified the smell of the quiche as they went out.

One seat in particular greeted Martine warmly when she served them their quiche.

Martine said, "Please return the plate to the Pokémon when you're done, please."

"I will," the man dressed in a winter coat replied. In his hands was a cheque which he passed to Martine. "Give this to Wallace over there, on behalf of Hotel Ambrette."

Hotel Ambrette? Was this man possibly the owner? Martine thought.

He seemed to read the question off Martine's puzzled and surprised face. "I am indeed the owner," he said. "My friends at Hotel Cyllage told me what you were up to, and I agreed to match them, on condition that I try this. They said to give it a redhead server."

Martine smiled. "Serious? It looks like you hotel owners have a bit in common! Bon appétit." She took the cheque happily and went to tell Lisia and Winona.

The Hotel Ambrette owner smiled and started on his quiche. It tasted heartwarming and hot, with the Figy berry spices bringing abundant flavour in this slightly snowy night.

By the end of the hour, the dishes had been returned to the cooking stations so that the Pokémon could get them cleaned quickly and returned. Unlike in Cyllage City, Wallace took the liberty of counting the orders to see who won. Though Steven seriously questioned the reliability, he figured he would better spend his time in the Pokémon Centre with Cynthia.

The nurse here in Ambrette Town looked just as ecstatic as the one from Cyllage City.

"Merci pour le repas!" she said.

Cynthia smiled. "It was nothing. Did your patients enjoy it?"

The nurse nodded expectantly. "No one here, even the staff, has had quiche like this; some for a very long time. The Figy berry spices were delicious! Amazingly, no one wanted more, maybe because it was so filling." She started to tear up and sniffled. "Honestly, it was a real joy seeing the patients and Pokémon enjoy it like this too. They wanted to pass along their thanks."

There was a gift-wrapped bottle that the nurse handed to Steven.

"Um…?" Steven was speechless.

"It's one of our Ambrette wines, as a token of appreciation," the nurse explained, still sniffling. "Keep on doing what you're doing… Spreading good cheer."

Spreading good cheer.

Neither Cynthia nor Steven had thought of it like that, but it made sense. If the nurse saw so many joyful faces that brought her to tears, then there was no harm in continuing this. Even if they were competing!

Want some Figy berry and de Cyllage quiche? Then leave a review!