A few days after Ash's intense Gym battle, the trio decided to head forward towards Stow-On-Side. Ash's side and back no longer ached and he started to get a little uneasy anyway when he couldn't make it to the next place.
Serena packed her belongings in a room in a Pokemon Center. They had lived there for a few days and things had begun to spread a little around. Ash and Gou had gone out to train with their Pokemon and Serena had been left alone in the room.
Serena just put her nightgown better in her backpack when her Rotom on top of her bed ringed to indicate she had received the message. She was a little startled when she heard the sound and got up from the floor. She walked to the bed, sat down on it, and took the Rotom in her hand.
She opened it and saw that she had received one email. Who is it supposed to be? Serena thought as her email opened to Rotom. May or Dawn don't usually send an email and Mom would call if she had something to tell. Clemont or Bonnie would probably call, too. And Ash could just walk in the room.
After the email opened for Rotom, Serena saw that the message had been sent by an unknown person. Something trash, she thought, but clicked the message open nonetheless.
"Hi Serena," the message began and Serena read curiously forward. At least the sender knows my name, she thought. "Here are these pictures I promised to send you. I would be grateful if you would choose the ones you think are the best to be published in the magazine.
Regards
Axel Reinolds"
Now Serena realized who the message was from and what it was about. That photography thing there in Hulbury, she thought and felt her cheeks blush a little as she clicked on the image file attached to the message. I had forgotten the whole thing, I hope these pictures are successful.
Just when the file had loaded properly open, the room door flew open and Ash stepped inside, exclaiming, "Yeah! Gou, that was awesome! Scorbunny is really good!"
"Yeah, agree," Gou said distractedly as he browsed his Rotom, and Pikachu and Scorbunny ran into the room and started some kind of tag play on the floor of the room.
Ash noticed Serena sitting cross-legged on her bed, her cheeks slightly flushed and staring tightly at Rotom. She's cute, Ash suddenly thought and immediately wondered why he had thought so.
However, he shook his thoughts away and stepped up to the girl. Apparently she hadn't even noticed him, for she was staring so tightly at Rotom's screen.
Ash crawled behind Serena and peeked over the girl's shoulder at what she was looking at so closely.
Serena seemed to be browsing pictures of herself, and she was wearing very summery clothes in the pictures. Some of the pictures also had Pikachu or some Water-type Pokemon and some of Serena also posed with Nessa, the Hulbury's Gym Leader.
Now Ash recognized where the pictures had been taken. "Hey, aren't these the pictures that photographer guy took of you and Nessa in Hulbury then?" he asked and Serena was startled.
She turned to look at Ash and said, a little annoyed, "You scared me." Then, however, she relaxed a little and added, "But yes, they are just those pictures."
Ash seemed to be sorry when Serena was startled by him. But when the girl didn't seem to be angry with him anymore, he grinned and said the first thing that came to his mind: "You look good in those pictures. Especially this."
He showed one picture on the screen where Serena winked her eye mischievously and grinned and where she showed a peace sign in front of her face.
Serena blushed at Ash's praise and stammered, "T-thank you, Ash." Ash didn't seem to notice anything special, but from the other side of the room, Gou grinned and Pikachu and Scorbunny looked at each other knowingly.
"By the way, why are you even browsing those pictures?" Ash thought and Serena replied, "Axel asked me to choose a few of the best of them. They will reportedly then be published in the same magazine as Nessa's pictures."
"Oh, well then at least choose that, that's the best for me," Ash said, pointing to a picture he had just praised and Serena nodded and sent Axel a reply.
It didn't take long for Axel to respond back, saying that Serena had made a good choice and that the magazine and pictures would certainly be published soon. Serena seemed content with the answer and then closed her Rotom.
"That was it then," she said, stroking Pikachu, who had jumped on the bed, to his head. "Now I just have to wait for the magazine to be published"
"Great. And now I want some food," Ash said and they all left laughing in search of something to eat.
****
They ate at the Pokemon Center and when the belongings of Ash and Gou were also packed, they handed over the room key back to Nurse Joy and set out to continue their journey towards Stow-On-Side.
"Serena, where do we have to go?" Ash asked and Serena quickly tapped something on her Rotom.
"Over there," she said, pointing straight in front of her. "That's how we get out of this city and on the road that takes us to Stow-On-Side."
"Great," said Ash and Pikachu on his shoulder also said, "Pika pikachu!" Then Ash picked up one of his Pokeballs, magnified it, and began, "Corviknight, let's..."
"Wait!" exclaimed Serena and Ash stopped in the middle of the sentence. "Wait what?" he asked in confusion and Pikachu also looked at her a little in amazement.
Serena hurried to explain her thing to the end: "Wouldn't it be better to walk outside the city first before letting Corviknight out? It's a pretty big Pokemon, and the streets in this city aren't very wide. And the wingspan is pretty big."
"True, I didn't think of that," Ash said, putting the Corviknight ball back in his belt. "So, let's move on"
They walked along the narrow streets of Motostoke that meandered around and with Serena's guidance they arrived at some sort of opening that, to their surprise, was full of people and Pokemon.
"Why are there so many people here?" Ash thought aloud as they walked closer. The open was so full that moving forward was pretty hard and they rumbled forward, apologizing to the people they happened to bump into.
"I don't know, but there seems to be some sort of event," Serena said, apologizing to an older woman who had been accidentally pushed. "I'm just wondering what it's like"
"Let's ask someone," Ash said resolutely, patting a slightly older girl standing in front of them, on the shoulder. The girl turned to look at him, a little confused, and Ash said briskly, "Excuse me, but what's going on here?"
"Oh, don't you know?" the girl asked a little surprised and the trio shook their heads. "Well, the well-known Kalosian fashion designer and Gym Leader Valerie Mache has come here to present her new collection, which has been inspired by Galar's Pokemon. Even the real critics have arrived."
The girl showed them a sourly-looking older woman as well as a man with a bushy mustache sitting near the stage, which they had only just noticed. The woman clapped her fingers to a small, black notebook and the man blinked impatiently at his watch.
"Wait, did you say Valerie, Gym Leader Valerie?" Serena said and the girl nodded.
"That's right," she confirmed, and an exciting spark ignited in Serena's eyes. "I want to meet her when this show is over!" she exclaimed excitedly and slapped her hands together. Ash chuckled at her and Gou looked confused.
The girl in front of them smiled a little at her excitement until she suddenly sighed. "If this show even starts," she sighed and Serena got a little more serious.
"What do you mean?" she asked and the girl explained, frowning, "It should have started fifteen minutes ago. That's why those critics look so impatient."
Just when she had gotten her thing said, on the stage appeared a little older girl who was holding the microphone and proclaimed it: "I'm sorry, but the start of the show may be delayed for a while. We have some... technical problems."
The announcement caused a furious mutter in the audience and the girl in front of the trio muttered, "Why?" The critics sitting next to the stage looked even sourer and the woman wrote in her notebook something that is guaranteed not to bring at least five stars to this performance.
"Did something happen to Valerie?" Ash thought and Gou asked, "Hold on. How do you know this Valerie?"
And when Ash was left to explain the matter to Gou, Serena quietly disappeared into the audience and went to clear her way to the tent behind the stage, where she thought Valerie and the models were.
****
"Miss Valerie, the show should have started already, the audience is not happy"
"Miss Valerie, critics don't like this at all, we're trouble"
"Miss Valerie, what are we doing now?"
"Miss Valerie, can you hear me?"
"Miss Valerie?"
Valerie sat absently in one of the large chairs in the model tent, wondering how bad luck she had.
How was it possible that her best model managed to break her ankle just an hour before the show and no one else could replace her? That just didn't make sense and Valerie wondered if Galar, Arceus, and the entire universe had anything against her.
"Miss Valerie, some girl wants to talk to you. I told her the audience wasn't allowed to come here, but she's just saying she wants to talk to you and that she knows you. What am I going to do?"
Valerie looked up when she heard this and wondered who the girl might be. "Let her in," she said and the girl who asked for advice nodded and disappeared for a moment.
She then returned with a girl a little younger than her, whose short, honey-blond hair landed beautifully on her shoulders, and who was wearing a fuchsia dress. The girl clenched her hands and said uncertainly, "Hey Valerie, do you remember me?"
Valerie looked at her for a moment and then a small smile appeared on her face. "Of course I remember you. How could I forget you? Hi Serena, nice to see you for a long time"
She saw Serena's expression relax a little as she recognized her and she asked, "What's going on here? Why doesn't the show start? Is everything okay?"
Valerie sighed deeply and shook her head. "No, not really," she said, and Serena asked, a little worried, "Why not?"
"Because the model who was supposed to introduce the starry dress in my collection managed to break her ankle just an hour before this show," Valerie explained and rubbed her temples with her fingers.
"And of course I don't have anyone else who could replace her. And the critics and the audience are starting to get uneasy. So, yeah, everything isn't okay."
"Oh. I'm sorry about that, if there's anything here I could help with, I'd be happy to do it," Serena said and suddenly Valerie got a great idea.
"Actually, there could be one way," she said slowly as the idea unfolded in her mind.
She looked at Serena. Approximately the same size. Similar hairstyle. Appropriate length, maybe a little shorter than it should be, but that wouldn't bother now.
"Look, Serena, is it okay if..." and so Valerie told Serena about her plan and after Valerie's seemingly eternity deliberation, Serena agreed.
****
"Where's Serena?" Ash asked, blinking around, looking for the honey-blond girl with his gaze. This had just stood beside him just now, but now she was nowhere to be seen. Where has she gone? Ash thought and Pikachu said, "Pikaa..."
"I don't know, I didn't see her leave," Gou said and also started looking around. "Maybe she went closer to the stage, this is just the kind of event she should be."
"You're right," Ash said, then pointed his hand at Gou to follow him. "Come on, let's see"
They staggered closer to the stage and when they almost reached the front row, another girl ran onto the stage and whispered something in the ear of the girl holding the microphone.
"Really? That's awesome!" the microphone girl said and then announced to the audience, "We apologize for being late for the start of the show, but we got it fixed.. our technical problems. The show can begin!"
She then quickly ran off the stage and at the same time gave the microphone to another girl who appeared to be the presenter of the show. The audience seemed to calm down as she stepped closer and the critics wrote something in their notebooks, albeit still sour-looking.
"Hello everyone and welcome to watch the show from Valerie Mache's collection, which has been inspired by Galar's awesome Pokemon. Without further ado, let the show begin!"
The audience applauded and the presenter girl moved slightly to the side. Then a bright spotlight came on the stage, and a model with a shimmering white, almost translucent dress that appeared to hover around her emerged from the tent behind the stage.
"This adorable dress is inspired by Galarian Cursola, the ghostly Pokemon," said the presenter and the model spun at the end of the stage. The audience applauded and Gou groaned.
"I hate fashion shows. Ash, let's go, find Serena later," he begged, but Ash shook his head.
"No, I have a feeling this is worth watching," he said and Gou stared at him. "Are you serious?! You want to stay and see THIS!" Gou exclaimed, pointing to a stage that had just become a model in a white, fluffy dress that had obviously been inspired by Wooloo.
"Yep," Ash said with a grin and Gou couldn't help but throw his mouth open. "But you can go if you want. Wait for me and Serena at the Pokemon Center"
"No, I'll stay," he growled and folded his arms. "If Ash Ketchum can watch at a fashion show, then I can do it too."
"Great," Ash said distractedly, wondering when he had begun to take an interest in something like fashion.
****
The show flew forward and models showcasing all sorts of dresses and other types of outfits went spinning on stage.
Finally, it was time for the show's starry costume and the presenter girl stepped onto the stage with a wide smile.
"And now, everyone, it's time for the starry costume of this show," the girl announced, and then moved to the side a little again. Then the same spotlights came on again and then the model stepped on stage again, and this time there was a gasp from the audience.
Gou had at first thought only to glance at the model and then continue to stare at his nails, but quickly shifted his gaze back to the model when he noticed something very familiar here.
"Ash, look at the model, doesn't she look familiar," he whispered to his friend, but this one didn't answer. "Ash?"
Ash stared. He had identified the model immediately. So Serena went there, he thought as Serena stepped on stage wearing the outfit Valerie had designed and smiled a little uncertainly. She looks beautiful.
Serena was wearing a kind of overalls that left her belly bare, and her second noun ran almost below her hips. The coverall was baby blue and its other noun left the knee open.
There was a loose collar with a pink bead around Serena's neck. Pink strips of fabric came out of the collar around Serena's right arm and they formed as if a sleeve. A fuchsia ribbon was wrapped around the other arm and a similar ribbon was also wrapped around the right leg and just below the chest.
But the thing that properly caught their attention was the long, pink drag that dragged behind Serena as she stepped on stage. The drag appeared to be a loose part of the outfit and was attached to Serena's hips with a strip of cloth similar to what was in her hand. The drag on the outside was darker pink and lighter on the underside.
Serena had pink boots on her feet with pink fabric on the shaft and earrings resembling fuchsia drops. A pink strip of fabric was also wrapped around her left wrist and along with her fingers was a fuchsia red ring.
Serena spotted Ash and Gou almost from the front row and saw Ash staring at her mouth slightly open. She blushed when she saw Ash's look and flashed the boy a wide smile and then walked slowly to the end of the stage where she smiled brightly at the audience.
Ash heard the audience applaud Serena and he saw a few men wolfwhistling among the audience. For some reason Ash didn't like it at all and he made up his mind to go clog the men's mouths in some unpleasant way.
As Ash pondered excuses as to why Pikachu happened to electrify a few guys, all the models had come back on stage and the presenter girl said, "All the lovely outfits have now been seen, so it's time to welcome the stage designer, Miss Valerie Mache!"
The audience applauded and then Valerie stepped onto the stage with a wide smile and waved to the audience so that her special sleeves waved.
She stepped right to the end of the stage and as soon as she had done so, a herd of reporters rushed to the stage, whose cameras flickered with flashlights and all sorts of exclamations around them, such as, "Miss Valerie, where did you get the idea to make these outfits?" or, "Miss Valerie, would you tell me why the start of the show was so late?"
Valerie smiled and asked the reporters to calm down. They silenced a little reluctantly and then the presenter girl brought Valerie a microphone.
"Thank you," Valerie said to the girl and then coughed. Reporters were immediately vigilant to write down what she said. "Thank you all for coming, it's a great pleasure for me," she began and the reporters seemed interested.
"I got my idea for these outfits, of course, from Galar's gorgeous Pokemon. I was especially impressed by the lovely Hatterene, who served as the inspiration for my starry outfit."
Then Valerie told them a few more things and then thanked models and once again for all who had bothered the scene. She then handed the mic to the presenter girl and flew back to her back tent, leaving a herd of reporters to shout questions behind her.
"Come on Gou, let's look for Serena," Ash said as the crowd began to disperse away from the square. The models had gone back to the tent to change their clothes and Serena had been with them.
They slid among the people and finally found the entrance to the tent where the models were.
"Ash, hold on now, isn't it somehow wrong to go inside a tent full of girls who probably don't like the two guys coming up to them at all?" Gou thought as they stood in front of the tent, but Ash shrugged.
"Nah, they probably won't mind," Ash said carefree and stepped inside. Gou glanced at Pikachu, who was sitting on the ground, and this one shook his head. "Fine. Ash, wait!" Gou exclaimed and then he and Pikachu followed Ash inside the tent.
****
Serena sat on a bench in front of the makeup table and stared at herself in the mirror. What was Ash supposed to think about my outfit? she thought and swept the curl out of her eyes.
She was still wearing the outfit designed by Valerie and the earrings in her ears weighed down as she was not used to them. She took them off and put them on the table and then stood up.
She stretched out her arms and then she heard familiar sounds from the hallway.
The tent had been divided into smaller rooms by movable walls, and Serena peeked into the "hallway."
She saw Ash chimed loudly with one of Valerie's assistants and Gou standing a short distance away with Pikachu, arms folded.
"I'm sorry, but you can not come here," the girl tried to explain to Ash. "This area is for models only, as well as Miss Valerie's assistants and the Miss herself."
"Ash, she's right," Gou said as Aah was starting to argue against the girl. "It's best that we wait outside for Serena to be ready."
"Ash? Gou? What are you doing here?" Serena asked and walked over to them. Ash's face brightened when he saw her, and the helper asked doubtfully, "Do you know them, miss?"
"Yeah, they're my friends," Serena confirmed, and then asked Ash, "Ash, what are you doing here?"
"Ash wanted to see you, so here we are," Gou explained and Serena shifted her gaze from him to Ash.
"I guess you knew outsiders shouldn't come here?" Serena asked and Ash laughed and scratched his neck. "That's what I'm trying to say here!" the helper gusted and then behind them was a familiar voice saying, "Maybe it won't bother this time."
They all turned in the voice's direction and saw Valerie standing with a smile a little distance away, next to Sylveon. "Miss Valerie! I'm sorry, I was trying to say to them, but they would not listen!" the assistant girl exclaimed and bowed quickly, but Valerie just laughed.
"It doesn't matter, Lydia," Valerie said to the helper girl and this one looked up. "You can go now, I'd like to talk to these three alone."
Lydia nodded and quickly left the scene. Valerie watched her go until she turned to the trio again.
"Nice to see you for a long time, Ash Ketchum," she said and Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and Valerie continued with a smile, "And Pikachu of course too."
Ash grinned and said, "As well. There's some time from our last battle, maybe we should renew it one day."
Valerie laughed. "True, but not now," she said with a smile and then noticed Goun. "I don't know you either. What's your name?"
"He's Gou and he's our new friend," Aash explained and Gou nodded. "Nice to meet you, Miss Valerie," Gou said, bowing his head slightly.
Valerie smiled at him and then turned to Ash. "So, what are you doing at Galar? I guess you didn't just come because of the fashion show," she said and Ash shook his head.
"No, we didn't come," he said. "We're on our way to Stow-On-Side, because my next Gym battle is there."
"Oh, I see. So you're going to take part in the Galar League," Valerie said and Ash nodded with a grin.
"Yep," he said, scratching Pikachu behind his ear. "And Serena and Gou travel with me"
"Well, good luck with that," Valerie said and turned to leave. "Oh, and Serena," she said suddenly, turning her head slightly. Serena looked at her curiously. "You can keep that outfit for yourself. Maybe it'll come in handy someday."
And winking her eye, Valerie flew away, leaving Serena to stand blushed, Ash to stare at her in confusion, and Pikachu and Gou to laugh at their expressions.
****
Shortly after, Serena had changed back into her regular clothes and packed the suit donated by Valerie neatly into her backpack.
"The journey continues," she stated to the boys waiting outside her "room" and these nodded.
"Valerie was kind when she donated that costume to you, Serena," Ash said when Serena rejoined their company. Serena nodded.
"Yep, it can be good in Showcases," she said, and Ash thought in a low voice, "Yeah, and looks good on you."
"T-thank you, Ash," Serena stammered and Gou sighed. "Ash, when were you thinking of getting rid of that density of yours?" he sighed and Ash stared at him.
"What do you mean?" he asked and Gou shook his head. "Nothing, forget it," he said and headed for the tent exit. "Let's go already"
"I have to do one thing first, but I'll be right there," Ash said, and walked quickly toward space where Valerie had gone. "Wait for me outside"
Gou was just continuing his journey when he stopped suddenly. "Serena, I'm going to make sure he doesn't get in trouble," he said and went after Ash. "Can you make it through this time without us?"
"Sure, I can wait for you at a nearby cafe," Serena said and Gou nodded. Then he hurried after Ash and Serena headed for the tent exit.
She found it quickly and stepped out. She was just heading for a cafe when three men slightly older than her hanging out near the tent stepped in her way.
"Who's that?" one of the men said as he stepped closer to Serena. "Is it one of those little models?"
"Hey baby, come along, let's have some fun," one of the men said slippery to Serena. He tried to grab Serena by the hand, but Serena shied away from the man.
"Don't touch me," she said firmly and the man raised his eyebrows.
"Did you hear, this chick doesn't like me," the man said and his friends laughed. "Well, I'll teach you to like me, whether you liked it or not"
He stepped closer to Serena and Serena stepped farther. She didn't like the men's looks and she hoped she would have gone with Ash and Gou.
"Stay away," she said desperately, but the men just laughed. "C'moon, are you afraid of us?" one of them asked vulgarly and stepped closer again.
"You heard what she said. Stay away from her," a toxic voice came from the tent and Ash stepped out with an angry look on his face.
"Aww man, the little chick's boyfriend came, we seem to have left," one of the men said in a complaining voice, but none of them made a gesture to leave.
"I'll count to three. If you haven't disappeared from here by then, I'll give Pikachu permission to electrify you thoroughly. And if that's not enough, Greninja will be happy to make acquaintance with his Shurikens," Ash growled and Pikachu's cheeks sparkled. "One.. two.."
The men were in a hurry to disappear. "Sorry... we're nothing.. we're getting lost in this...", one of them stammered in horror and then they set off to run as hard as they could.
"Thank you, Ash," Serena said and smiled gratefully. Ash smiled dryly. "If those jerks had done anything to you, they would have been allowed to pay a heavy price for it," he said smugly and Pikachu said, "Pika!"
"Wow, Ketchum, you're pretty scary sometimes," Gou stated and Serena giggled. Ash grinned and then they finally set out to continue their journey towards Stow-On-Side.