Amelia circled in place on her rollerblades with Ash watching. Having gotten a tour of her dance studio the giant mirror running along the wall reflected the rest of the room. All necessities placed for a dancer of Amelia's caliber he found it no miracle she was as good as she is getting all she needed. Amelia struck her final pose with Espeon and Oricorio and asked for his opinion.

"Well, what do you think so far?" Puffing her chest due to the effort she put in wanting to impress her guest. Ash gave her a thumbs up and a big smile.

"Looking great. I can tell you're working really hard."

He enjoyed what he's seen so far. Relieved she felt comfortable enough with him to invite him to the room that's even more private to her than her own bedroom. Something seemed lacking though. She did not show him her idea for the big finale to her routine. Asking her where it was cause it felt down her standards she responded in kind while hiding a smile that he expected better.

"I just need practice the closing move more. I skipped it for now cause it will be the real surprise of my Performance." She told him. Ash didn't mind knowing practice makes perfect.

"You're coming along well. I know you can win that Showcase." Giving a vote of confidence once more her heartrate increased. He was on his way to becoming her number one fan at this rate and she embraced it with open arms. Amelia took a small break from her practice and just talked with Ash sitting next to him.

"I'm ready to blow away the competition. You just wait till you see the dress I made for it. At least I'll look the part as usual." Even if she failed she can take solace in her looks. After meeting Ash she liked to think she became more modest but the urge to look great still hid in a small sense of vanity. A boy she liked calling her pretty from time to time only fed that ego.

"Are you finished already?" Ash interested if Amelia had made good use of the fabrics he bought her.

"Just a few finishing touches left." She winked to him only needing to place a few more of the gems here and there but she's happy with it. The tone he questioned her in made her think about what her mother said and to probe the boy more.

"Sounds you're really eager to see me in it." She smirked. Ash picked up on the confidence she oozed and felt like joking with her not to let her get the upper hand. He was competitive after all.

"I'm just curious what you make out of it." Undeterred by his reflection on her looks Amelia's ego was beginning to fuel itself.

"Or how do I fill it out once I wear it."

"You haven't looked bad a single time I saw you. You'll look great."

"And just like father's miners, I struck gold." It became incredibly easy to make him admit she was pretty. Amelia finding a good starting point was eager to dig a little deeper to see what else she can get out of him getting a conversation going.

"Miss Amelia? Mr Ketchum?"

Their time, as so often was interrupted by a member of the staff. Alfonzo himself entered the dance studio without permission as Amelia's parents gave him special dispensation of some rules for tending to their little girl. Amelia bit her tongue withholding a deep sigh as he was only doing his job but annoyed at his presence.

"Yes?"

"Mr and Mrs Valuer request both your presence."

The aid telling the message the two did not had much say in the matter.

"Very well." Amelia wrapped up and cleaned up her material she needed for practice before moving through the house once more with Ash in tow. Both raven haired youths deep in thought about the other their walk was silent as Amelia directed him.

She was thinking about asking Ash as her date to a future dance party. Monsieur Pierre hosted them for Performers on occasion but despite her enjoyment from the activity of dance never found a date for one. A boy good enough for her taste was rare but thanks to good fortune she got it now.

"Would he accept?"

Even with her mothers words Amelia was nervous about asking Ash as her date. Questions on her head began to spin like would he actually enjoy it? Was he comfortable enough in public to dance with such a big group that were much better than him? Would he once again enjoy the close contact between them? Would he like the dress she'd wear?

"Did he go to one with Serena?"

That last one stung more then she would like to admit. She had to hurry on the choice of asking him though cause it was right before the vineyard visit.

"I'll seek it out after my parents talked."

Ash meanwhile thinking to himself about where his latest compliment to Amelia came from.

Instead of the usual 'you look great' he gave his friends he felt the need to elaborate more on Amelia's appearance. Again flapping out nothing is wrong with her looks she just had a great sense of style. Ash didn't want to see her as an object but she was easy on the eyes and he felt the need to just watch her do something.

After the mishap on the SS Shimmer she's been nothing but nice to him. Being good friends with her without going on a long journey they just hit it off in the right way. Apart from her Showcase loss he had fun with her and he felt himself growing really close to Amelia. It seemed she also felt a need to impress him with her acts but according to him she was already top notch.

"I'm glad she's like that and not like Jessebelle or James his parents."

Sure there were some rough patches with her father but those were not her fault and it made things interesting. The class difference between them not too bad as he at first feared she was in the same vein of rich girl like Lillie. Having experience with wealthy people he can place them on a certain scale of nice and awful. Amelia and Lillie belong to the nice group and he was relieved she was.

Amelia working hard on her performance Ash wondered if he can distract her by doing something nice for her. She seemed to love dancing so maybe he can ask her to teach him how to dance better. Serena might've tried doing it before his Gym battle with Korrina but failed no thanks to his own flaws. But Amelia seemed to be a good teacher from their small dance on the cruiser.

"Should I ask her? But doesn't that cut into her training time?"

Being pulled out of his thoughts by the girl he was thinking about he recomposed himself. Reaching the room her mother set up shop to study the materials the two knocked on the door and headed inside. The parents sat in chairs drinking from a cup while the younger ones waited.

"Ah good. Take a seat." Two chairs were put out for them to sit on. The air in the room was kind of awkward. The father stoic as he can be eyed the boy in the room that was not a relative. Louise wanted Ash involved into this matter cause with how well travelled he is he might have seen things like these before. His wife sensed the situation and defused it.

"To the matter at the hand. That package you delivered to me helped me out Ash." Not wasting time she thanked him again. Glad to have helped he still was kept out of the loop.

"Can you please tell me what's in it?"

"Yes."

"Finally."

"Before I say it, how well are you known with the legend of Arceus?"

Hearing the name of the Pokémon he remembered it from his time in Sinnoh. Arceus supposedly was the one that shaped the world and created Pokémon. A Pokémon like no other it lived up to the reputation if it was responsible for creating Dialga and Palkia, rulers of time and space.

"I know a thing or two." Skipping the obvious bit as he was known with the legend Louise held out a tiny green fragment.

"What you retrieved for me was a miniscule piece of one the plates that gave Arceus its power. The Meadow plate, a plate that gave Arceus Grass type powers."

"That's incredible! And you just got a piece of it like that!?" The mother smiled at his enthusiasm. One of the many perks that came to being a Valuer.

"When you're as well connected as we are, rare things become a common thing."

"So what is the connection to the purple particles? What does Arceus have to do with it?" Amelia eager to know what her mother discovered.

"Apart from the colors they match. We are now digging out the mine were we find to see if we can find larger pieces of the Toxic plate."

"Toxic plate?" Amelia wondered about the name as much as Ash.

"Same as the Meadow plate but for Poison types instead." Amelia put two and two together pretty quickly as she was bright and smart.

"Are you implying that someone has a Toxic plate, cut pieces of it and used it for poisoning fathers mines?"

Ash impressed with how quickly she figured it out. Amelia used to the attempts of others to sabotage the family business. They mostly involved trying to influence the stock market or attempts at sullying their name but if her mother was right about this matter the one attempting it now has as good connections as her.

"Is that even possible?" Amelia in disbelief that tiny particles like that poisoned an entire mountain.

"If the plates are capable of creating worlds, poisoning a mountain is a small feat." Louise said not thinking it is out of the realm of possibility. She needed to investigate further but this was the first thing that came out of it.

"But if it's a Poison plate and the Steel types have eaten the rocks that's in it, why are they so angry? Shouldn't they be sick instead?" Ash asking why the Pokémon in the Steel type resort were healthy instead of suffering from regular poison effects.

"Steel types are normally immune to Poison thanks to their shells but this is ingested. Perhaps the strange feeling of being tampered by something they never felt before confused them. Have you ever experienced something like this?" Louise asked her guest as Ash remembered something.

"I once travelled through Sinnoh. I got to Iron Island where there are a lot of Steel types too. There was a machine Team Galactic to make them angry though." Hearing about the same symptoms it might be worth looking into it.

"Thank you for your opinion."

Louise requiring more time she did not have she took the two youngsters aside for a few requests.

"Now. I need your help with something outside of this case. Since Charles and I are working on solving this there are some appointments that need filling in. I've arranged a substitute for all of them apart from one."

"And here it comes." Amelia already rescheduling her schedule cause this happened more than once at her dismay.

"There's an exhibition on rare stones in the Ambrette Town Fossil Lab. Can I request you to go to it instead of our place?"

"Of course father." Unable to reject her fathers demand Amelia just had to go with it.

"I know it cuts into your Performance training but an excursion like this might do you some good." The mother said before turning to Ash.

"You don't have to go with her but I'd appreciate it if you did. And your Dracovish would garner a lot of attention since it's a pretty rare fossil Pokémon." Louise suggested her guest to come along to keep Amelia entertained in his own way plus helping the researchers there with a fossil that's extremely rare.

"It be a pleasure Mrs. Valuer."

"Good. Once that has happened I expect you two at the vineyard. You can do what you want in between but make sure you both get there."

The two left the room again getting ready to leave Fluerrh City. As Amelia packed up her necessities she was already thinking about the ride to Ambrette Town.

"I'll ask him on the way there."

In privacy away from everyone she peeked over to her desk. On it the sewing machine with it the roll of cloth Ash gave her. The small gem box next to it all she had to was place the rocks before she can neatly fold it and be ready for the next Showcase.

"Might as well finish it now. I'll get the rest of my beauty sleep in the car."

Planning to pull an all-nighter and a very short sleep as she got to sewing and gluing the gems on her outfit she started to nod off but determined to finish the job. She had no idea if she would be able to go home and finish her design before her busy life caught up with her again afterall.

And yes, I know the piece about the Arceus plate lacked the movie reference. I don't know if the movies are canon or not so I don't delve into it deeper here.

Later.