Note! This chapter is divided into two chapters, because it would otherwise have been so long! So this is part one and part two is right after this :)
Previously:
Ash faced the dangers of publicity, Lucario had deep conversations with Kirlia, Chairman Rose introduced himself, Ash activated Dynamax with Pikachu, and Serena and the girls went shopping. And there they're still...
"This is already the tenth dress, do you think she's about to find the right one soon?" Bonnie thought, laying on the small couch and waving her legs in the air. "Otherwise we'll never get out of here"
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll find the right dress very soon," Chloe comforted and Bonnie sighed. "I should have stayed to watch the boys' training anyway, it's a thousand times more interesting than this," she mumbled and Dedenne patted her sympathetically on the shoulder.
They had found a small clothing store right in the center of Circhester, which also sold party dresses. Serena had immediately grabbed at least twenty of them and fortified herself in the fitting room. The others, meanwhile, had wandered through the store, albeit finding nothing, and were now just waiting for Serena to finally find the dress she liked.
"At least it's warm here," Melissa said, tapping something on her laptop that was in her lap. They had run into Melissa on their way to the store and asked her to join them. Melissa agreed, taking a supposed lunch break, even though she was still working all the time. However, unlike Bonnie, she didn't mind waiting in the store. "You should have gone with Kirlia to the boys"
"I guess," Bonnie mumbled and Chloe suppressed a grin. Kirlia had been an arbiter of taste for Serena for a while, but soon got bored and disappeared. Braixen had taken her place, but she also had little other things in mind, as she had found some pretty pearl jewelry set and mirrored herself in the large full-length mirror that was next to the fitting rooms.
"I wonder what they are..." Chloe began, but interrupted as the door to the fitting room opened and Serena stepped out wearing one of the many dresses she had been fitting. "Guys, I guess I found the right dress," she said cheerfully and the others agreed.
By the time Serena had finally found her dress, they were finally able to leave. Serena paid for her purchase and seemed very pleased. In addition, to dress for Rose's party, she had bought another dress that was for normal days. In addition, she had tied her hair to a ponytail with a red silk ribbon given by Ash and she felt it was time to redesign her outfit.
They walked the streets of Circhester and admired the winter city. Serena stopped at a few more stores, but after doing so, they decided to go back to the Pokemon Center.
"Have the boys noticed that we've been gone?" Serena thought as they walked the streets and watched as Braixen looked at herself through the shop windows. She was wearing the set of pearl jewelry she had found, and she wondered what Greninja might think when he would see her.
"I highly doubt it. When Ash is battling, he doesn't notice anything around him," Bonnie said, and Chloe hummed and agreed. "Yeah, you're probably right," Serena said, and was about to say something when she suddenly heard a sound like a bolt of huge lightning strike the ground.
"What was that!?" she exclaimed and looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Others did the same, and suddenly Chloe said slowly, "Is... is that Ash's Pikachu?"
She pointed in the direction of Pokemon Center and Serena turned her gaze in the direction Chloe pointed out. She was really surprised when she saw a huge Pikachu's head rising from behind it.
"It is, but only magnified a thousand times bigger," she said, amazed. "I guess Ash and the boys have been testing Dynamax bands."
"Well well, the boys have been playing big games then," Bonnie said cheekily, and referred others to follow. "Come on, I want to see this!" she exclaimed and set off to run towards Pokemon Center.
The others glanced at each other and then Serena exclaimed, "Bonnie, wait for us too!" And then they all set off to run after Bonnie and head toward Pokemon Center.
When Serena and the girls arrived at the Pokemon Center, Pikachu's G-max form was just coming to an end. Serena saw Pikachu begin to shrink and gradually return to his normal size. She saw Bonnie look a little upset and heard her say, "Aww man, I would have liked to see how big Pikachu is!"
"You'll see it later for sure," Chloe tried to comfort, but Bonnie shook her head. "No, I won't, because Clemont said we'll be back in Kalos tomorrow," she said and sighed. "Oh," Chloe said as she understood, and Dedenne on Bonnie's head sighed, too.
"Raboot is unable to battle, so the winner is Pikachu!" Clemont's voice was heard just then and Gou returned his fainted Pokemon back to its ball. "Thank you, Raboot. You did your best," he said, and on the benches Lucario looked pleased with Ash's victory. Ash, on the other hand, was just about to hit the high five with Pikachu when he suddenly felt a severe headache. It made him press his fingers to his temples and rub them, as if to ease the sharp pain in his head.
"Ash!" Serena exclaimed suddenly and Ash looked up. He saw his girlfriend running towards him and looking at him a little worried. "Are you okay?" he heard Serena say and he nodded. "Yeah, no problem," he said and luckily the headache started to ease. Serena still looked a little skeptical, so Ash hurried quickly to the other topics. "But did you see how Pikachu performed his G-Max form? It was awesome!"
"I'm sorry, but we only came when Pikachu returned to normal," Serena said, shaking her head. Ash looked a little disappointed when Serena wasn't seeing Pikachu's first G-Max turn, but then picked up. "Well, it was totally great. You should also try your Dynamax band, it's really an interesting experience," he said and Serena smiled at his words.
"You bet I will," she said, winking, and Ash grinned. "But not now. Now we have something else to think about. Namely, Rose's party. It'll start in a few hours," she continued, and Ash's expression suddenly turned a little horrified.
"A few hours?! But I have nothing to wear!" he exclaimed and Lucario, who had come to them with Kirlia, facepalmed. However, Serena did not look worried, but separated one of the clothing bags in her hands apart from the others.
"I thought this would happen," she said calmly and Ash looked at her a little puzzled. "So I knew how to prepare. Here, this is for you," she continued, pushing the bag into Ash's arms.
"What is it?" Ash asked a little stupidly, but Serena just smiled. "Your suit for the evening. It's rented, so don't mess it up," she said, and Ash wondered how Serena knew to prepare for every kind of situation. "But now, my dear prince, the princess must set out to prepare." And winking again, she set out to step back inside the Pokemon Center, Braixen following her.
"Prince, huh..." Ash muttered and peeked into the bag Serena had given. Inside, something black was seen neatly folded. "You should probably go get ready too, a few hours will pass pretty quickly," he heard Lucario saying and he looked up. Lucario didn't look at him, but Braixen. Kirlia noticed it and looked at Lucario disapprovingly. However, Lucario did not pay attention to her and now turned to Ash. "Your friends apparently think the same way, as you may notice"
He nodded toward Gou, Chloe, Clemont, Bonnie, and Melissa, all of whom headed back inside. Gou seemed to notice that Ash was missing from the crowd and blinked around. Seeing Ash still standing on the edge of the field, he waved his hand and exclaimed, "Ash, come on! Let's get ready for the party!"
"Yeah," Ash said, then looked at Pikachu. "Let's go, Pikachu. Let's get ourselves ready so Serena will see that we know how to prepare, too," he said and Pikachu smiled. "Pika pika!" he said cheerfully and jumped back on Ash's shoulder. Then they, too, headed for the back door of the Pokemon Center, and Lucario and Kirlia followed suit like two shadows.
"Now I know why I don't wear this kind of outfit very often," Ash complained and twitched the collar of his suit. "These are death traps, indeed"
"Come on, this isn't so horrible," Gou said, preventing himself from snickering at Ash's disgusted look. He was wearing a dark blue suit with a white bow and was sitting casually on the sofas in the lobby of the Pokemon Center where they were waiting for the girls. Ash, wearing a black suit with a red bow, slowly began to get nervous, and the others noticed it.
"I agree with Ash, suits like this aren't for me," said Clemont, who also wore a light blue suit with a white bow. He, too, did not feel very confident in it, and he wondered how some could wear it every day.
"Be glad you even have a suit," Lucario grunted, but twitched a little bow around his neck, too (the bow was black). "If Serena hadn't taken care of it, you'd have to go to a party in jeans. I highly doubt Rose would have liked it."
"Shut up," Ash mumbled out loud and Pikachu, who also had a small bow around his neck, (red) shook his head slightly. Greninja, who was sitting next to Gou on the couch, suppressed a smug grin. He didn't mind wearing a bow (white) for one night and instead thought about what Braixen would be wearing. Whatever it was, she would definitely look pretty in it.
Gou suppressed the yawn and looked at the clock on the lobby wall. "It's half-past seven. The girls should be here soon or we might get late. Right, Ash? Ash?" he said, but Ash did not answer. Instead, he stared at the hallway leading to their room and a very familiar person who had just appeared from their room.
Serena stepped toward the boys on the couches with a smile on her face and wearing the most beautiful dress Ash had ever seen. It was dark blue and glistened in the lights of the Pokemon Center. It resembled a night starry sky and Ash immediately remembered his and Serena's date nights under the starry sky of Galar. He liked Serena's dress right away.
The dress extended to Serena's ankles, but its front was open and revealed Serena's thin legs and the black high heels she had on her legs. The top of the dress was also dark blue and shimmering, with black, beaded straps. The waist of the dress had a black striped "belt" on which hung white, pearly ribbons. Serena had a pearl necklace around her neck, on which hung a blue stone. Ash hadn't seen it before, so he assumed Serena had bought it today.
Since Serena's hair was still very short, she hadn't done anything very special to them. She had just brushed them shining and Ash noticed that she had tied her blue ribbon to them. He noticed that Serena had also attached some kind of jewelry to the ribbon, but he didn't see what it was like properly.
"Serena, you look... amazing!" Ash breathed as Serena and the other girls (Melissa had left earlier) arrived at them. Serena smiled broadly at Ash's words and the smile made her look even more beautiful. "Thank you, Ash. And you look handsome, too," she said with a smile and blush and then handed Ash a small, black evening bag. "Would you hold that for a moment so I can put on my jacket?"
"Sure," Ash said, watching Serena put on a white and fluffy short jacket. She buttoned it and Ash handed her her bag back. "Thank you, Ash. So, shall we go then?"
"Yeah," Chloe replied, checking from the Pokemon Center window that her hair was okay. She had assembled them on the side into a bun to which she had attached a white flower, and the back of her head was circled by a braid. She was wearing a dress with a mint green hem and it was light chiffon. It reached to her ankles, yet revealing black high heels. The top of the dress resembled a jacket with long sleeves, a white fur collar and black buttons. It had a black belt with a silver buckle at its waist and that belt brought out feminine shapes. Serena noticed that Gou had blushed very red after looking at Chloe and Serena doubted it was due to the heat.
"Let's go then, I don't want to be late," Ash said and the others nodded. Clemont then opened the door of the Pokemon Center and they stepped out, Clemont and Bonnie first, then Braixen and Greninja, Lucario following them, grumpy as usual. Then went Gou and Chloe and Ash and Serena stepped out last.
Outside them was the night of Galar and the street lights that had just lit on. Because the evening was clear, there was a beautiful starry sky and almost a full moon. They created a dim light on them and caused Serena's dress to shine. However, the air was colder than during the day and made Serena shiver a little and wrap her arms around her fluffy jacket.
Since Hotel Ionia was not very far from the Pokemon Center, they could easily walk there. Fortunately, the roads were ploughed almost clean of snow, so it was easy for the girls to walk along with them in their high heels. They walked in silence along the winterly Circhester and wondered what a gala might be like. At least they were sure that Rose would not hesitate to spend money on it.
Soon the Hotel Ionia was visible in front of them and they saw other people in formal suits and dresses coming on the spot, either on foot or by car. There was also a media crowd with cameras and microphones and they tried to see if Melissa was seen among them. However, she didn't show up, but that didn't really surprise them. Namely, there were so many different journalists from many different Galar media out there.
Hotel Ionia was an old and beautiful building located in a small square just outside Circhester city center. The hotel was divided into two different buildings and Rose's party was apparently held on the left one. This was told by the guests going there and the beautifully lit doorway. Ash and friends also navigated their way there and eventually arrived at its main door. The door was also big and decorative. It was two-piece and had large glass windows. There was a symbol engraved on both halves of the door, apparently the Ionia's logo. It was somewhat reminiscent of a golden V with spiral ends. The logo was well suited for an old and dignified building like Ionia.
Ash pulled the door open. They stepped inside the building and looked around in amazement. They had arrived in a glorious hotel lobby, lit by a large chandelier on the ceiling and beautiful, old-fashioned lamps on the walls. The floor of the lobby was made of white and black decorative tiles and decorative columns made of marble supported the ceiling. Directly in front of them was a counter that usually served as a reception, but it was now empty. Instead, there were coat racks on which guests could hang their overcoats, if they had one.
They stood there for a moment, admiring Ionia's beautiful lobby, until behind them was a cough and a voice saying, "Excuse me, but could you move a little? You're a little on the way now." They hurried out of the way, and the old and rich-looking couple stepped past them, looking at them a little puzzled.
"Where do we have to go?" Serena whispered a little nervously. She had taken off her fluffy jacket and held it in her arms as she blinked around her a little nervously. However, Ash didn't seem to be nervous, but nodded toward the couple past them and said, "Let's follow them."
That's what they did. Serena went to take her fluffy jacket to the coat rack and returned with a small black plastic pad with a white number. The pad told her what her place was on the coat rack. Then they continued their journey to the left until they came in front of two large wooden doors, which apparently led to some sort of banquet hall. In front of the doors sat a man in a black suit on a chair, who, noticing them, got up and stepped in front of the doors so that they could not get through them without his permission.
"Name?" the man grunted and brought up a list that apparently contained the names of all the guests invited to the party. The man was wearing a black suit and had black sunglasses on his eyes. There was a small hearing aid in his ear, from which the microphone came out. He was very muscular and Ash got the feeling that messing with this guy would lead to a not-so-good result. Chairman Rose had apparently taken security seriously and hired Galar's biggest and most muscular guys for the job.
"Ash Ketchum," Ash said quickly, then nodded at Serena. "And she's Serena Yvonne. Chairman Rose invited us himself."
"We'll see that soon," the man grunted again and carried his finger along with the names of the guests. Eventually, he seemed to find their names right on the end of the list and nodded to himself.
"Right, Alolan Champion Ash Ketchum and Performer Serena Yvonne. And of course Mr. Pikachu. Chairman Rose wishes everyone a good evening. Welcome!" he said and opened the door for Ash and Serena to enter. However, he immediately closed it for Chloe and Gou, so Ash and Serena had to wait for them, and Clemont and Bonnie had to get inside, too.
Eventually, they too got past the security guard and inside the banquet hall. Gou looked a little sour as he hadn't had a great title like the others. However, he quickly forgot it when he saw what kind of sight unfolded before them.
They had entered a large banquet hall full of people dressed in beautiful clothes with Pokemon. There seemed to be all the richest, most important and famous people in Galar and they felt they fit none of these categories.
"Okay, come out!" Ash then said and let Lucario and Greninja out. He had kept these in their Pokeballs on the way to the Hotel because it had been easier. Now the two looked around with varying looks, and Ash said very emphatically, "And no fighting or you'll be grounded for the rest of the year."
"I promise to behave if the frog behaves, too," Lucario growled and twitched his bow. Ash narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing. Greninja didn't say anything either, as he had noticed Braixen, who Serena had also released from her ball and was now rushing to her.
Braixen was wearing the pearl jewelry she had found in the clothing store, and she had also brushed (with Serena's help) her fur shining. Greninja thought she looked very beautiful and he smiled at Braixen. Braixen smiled back and from what one could tell from her face she was blushing. Lucario couldn't look at them, so he turned his gaze away and was examining the chandelier hanging from the ceiling very interested.
Pikachu had also noticed a pretty Pokemon girl. Serena had also released Sylveon and this one looked around with interest. When she noticed Pikachu, she waved one of her feelers and Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder to the floor and ran at Sylveon. Sylveon immediately wrapped her feeler around Pikachu's little hand and for some strange reason Pikachu's red cheeks turned a degree redder.
Now that everyone (or at least almost everyone) had found a companion, Ash wanted to move on. "Okay, where should we be...," he began, but couldn't go any further in his sentence, because that's when he heard someone exclaim in a loud voice, "Aah, Ash, my boy, I'm very pleased that you've found your way to my party!"
They turned in the direction of the voice and saw Chairman Rose walking towards them with a wide smile on his face and a glass of wine in his hand. This time he seemed to be alone, as Oleana was not following him like a shadow. Instead, he was followed by many gazes, and it wasn't really a miracle after they saw what Rose was wearing.
He was wearing a suit that was light blue and patterned with large snowflakes. He had a dark purple tie around his neck with a strange yellow Snom pattern. He had gray shoes and spruce-green socks on his feet, and overall the outfit was so tacky that some of the guests looked nauseous.
Rose reached out to them and immediately wrapped his left arm around Ash's shoulder, as if wrapping him in a hug. "I'm so glad you got to come, Ash. I can't wait to get to introduce you to a few important people, they're guaranteed to be happy...," Rose blabbed and waved his free hand so that the wine almost spilled over. "But I was rude. Come on, come on, what are we doing at this door?" As he said this, he dragged Ash into the crowd and Serena quickly followed.
"Ah, isn't that beautiful Ash?" Rose said, referring to the interior of the banquet hall in question, and continued before Ash even had time to open his mouth. "Oleana chose this place, of course, that blessed woman, I wouldn't have figured it out myself. She even came up with the theme, smart woman, I'm so glad I have a secretary like her," Rose explained cheerfully and hiccup a little. He had apparently drunk more than just one glass of wine. Then he looked at a waitress carrying a drink tray and shouted, "Waitress, bring something to drink for my guests, please!"
The waitress hurried to them and Rose took two glasses of something red liquid from the tray. He handed them to Ash and Serena, who stared at them in confusion. "Well, aren't you going to taste it? It's the best in the house, of course, and there guarantee has no poison in it." He laughed at his own joke.
Ash and Serena looked at each other, and then Serena raised the glass closer to her face. She was clearly about to ask what was in the glass when Rose seemed to notice something again and said in a loud voice, "Ah, and there's another one of my guests of honor! Come here, lad, I want to introduce you to someone!"
Ash and Serena turned to see who Chairman Rose was talking to and saw Galar's own Champion, Leon, walking towards them. Leon looked a little surprised to see Ash and Serena, and when he finally reached them, he asked, "Who did you want to introduce me to, Mr. Rose?"
"To this Ash here, of course," Rose said, sounding like a proud father. "You see, he's also a Champion, Alolan Champion!" He expected Leon to be surprised, shocked even, but certainly not to nod with a smile, and say, "Yeah, I know." It almost made Rose choke on his wine and look at Leon in disbelief.
"What... how?!" he asked, surprised and almost excited. Leon was about to explain, but didn't have time, because then Chairman Rose slammed his hands together so hard that the wine glass almost shattered, and said, "You can explain later. It's going to be great, just wait until the press hears! "Galar and Alolan Champions befriend each other" I can already imagine the headlines!"
He seemed to imagine something to himself for a moment, before quickly turning to face Serena. "Mind if I steal your boyfriend for a minute?" he asked Serena and Leon looked surprised to hear that Ash and Serena were dating.
"Uh... I guess not," Serena replied a little confused, but that was enough for Rose. "Excellent! Then, if you please, this way, gentlemen!" he said cheerfully, and before Ash or Leon could say anything, he had ushered them both away.
Serena remained a little silly to stand still, but then she shook her head and set off. Where have Gou and Chloe gone? she thought as she walked among the people and Pokemon and smiled kindly at everyone who looked at her. Or Bonnie or Clemont or my Pokemon. I wouldn't want to be alone during the whole party.
Eventually, she found her way to a large table covered with all sorts of savory and sweet food. Serena took one cream-coated little pastry from the table and turned it in her hand to examine the crowd. She occasionally picked up small pieces of her pastry and sipped her drink, which was turned to be berry juice, while trying to find even someone she knew among the people and Pokemon. However, it didn't work and in the end, Serena just focused on listening to the orchestra playing the music in the background and wondering what kind of evening this might be.
Lucario was bored. He hated this kind of formal parties where had to be dressed nicely and where people just talked and did other boring things. He leaned against the wall next to a very large window and wondered if he could run away.
Just as he pondered the possible consequences of escaping, a familiar voice came from next to him, saying, "Sup Luca. I thought I'd find you sneaking up somewhere next to the walls, and apparently, I was right." Lucario quickly turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw Serena's Kirlia standing next to him, a smug grin on her face. She didn't notice it, but she gained curious glances from people, and the reason for that was pretty obvious.
"You! What you're doing here, I thought you were with Serena," Lucario said in a little wonder, but Kirlia just scoffed. "Nah, Serena has other things to do. Besides, you're a much more interesting company, Luca," she said with a smug grin and Lucario frowned.
"How so? And stop calling me Luca, I said I don't want to be called by that name," he growled and Kirlia smiled happily. "All right, Luca," she said and Lucario opened his mouth to argue. Then, however, he seemed to find it useless and just sighed deeply.
"So, do you know where the others are?" he asked Kirlia to change the subject and Kirlia shrugged. "I don't know, or I saw Braixen and Greninja a moment ago, but I don't know where the others went," she said casually, looking at the reaction her words would cause to Lucario. To her chagrin, Lucario didn't seem to care or he just decided not to show it.
"I see. And why did you choose to come to me?" Lucario asked and Kirlia shrugged again. "Because I like you," she said casually again and Lucario stiffened. "I mean, you're an interesting Pokemon, at least your scar makes you look like that," she continued, glancing at Lucario's ear and its an eternal cut of Greninja's shuriken. "So, I thought at least I wouldn't be bored with you."
"Right," Lucario said, wondering if Kirlia meant something else by her words. "Well, is it? Interesting, I mean"
"It's no worse than the others," Kirlia replied, staring at the crowd. Lucario looked at her a little thoughtfully for a moment, before opening his mouth and hearing himself ask, "By the way, what made you leave home? I mean, I get the impression from your speech that you haven't been alone for a long."
Kirlia looked at Lucario in surprise. She hadn't expected such a question. She seemed to think for a moment about what to answer, before saying slowly, "I wanted a change. And it's not that I didn't like living at home, no. I just wanted to see more of the world. Living in the same forest can get a little boring, you know."
"I think I understand what you mean," Lucario replied. "Even though I have no experience of it. You see, I've spent my whole life with Ash and his friends. They... they are my family. I don't have others."
He didn't know what made him say that last sentence, but it surprised him. He didn't know if he had ever admitted it even to himself, but for some reason he felt that was the case. He stared ahead of him, a little confused, wondering what was so special about Kirlia that he was comfortable discussing such topics with her.
Kirlia watched Lucario quietly and sympathetically. "Do you want to hear about my first day alone? It was quite an interesting experience," she said and Lucario nodded slowly.
"Yeah, go on," he said, and so Kirlia began her story. And for once that day, Lucario felt he could relax.
Ash was already regretting coming to this party. Chairman Rose had already dragged him and Leon to who knows how many people, all of whom were rich or boring or both. None of them was interesting at all, and Ash wondered if this was Rose's way to keep his status up.
Rose was also interested in how Ash and Leon had met. Leon had started the story, but it hadn't lasted very long, though, as they were quickly surrounded by a horde of journalists, all wanting to get a photo, an interview or both.
Ash had tried to look as presentable as possible in the photos, wishing that Serena or Pikachu were next to him. Hopefully Rose would let me go soon, he had hoped, but knew that Rose wouldn't let his new 'treasure' out of his sight for a while. So Ash had just resigned himself to smiling at another picture, wondering if this was what Leon's life was every day.
To Leon's credit, he handled the interviews and shoots with honor. He had even managed to dress appropriately, although Ash wondered if someone had helped him with that. Leon was wearing a dark blue tuxedo with gold buttons on the chest and a white ruffled collar. He was wearing black trousers, black shoes and had managed to leave off his ridiculous cape. He did have a cap, though, a black one, but for some reason it matched the outfit.
When the reporters had finally had enough of them, Rose had dragged Ash and Leon to the next celebrity. This had been an old, rich woman with a slightly arrogant look on her face, holding an equally arrogant-looking Glameow in her arms, and when Rose had introduced Ash as Alolan Champion, she had just scoffed. They hadn't stayed with her for long, until Rose had again taken boys to the next person (this time a banker with a big mustache) and the next (some rich guy who financed most of Galar's building projects). After a while of this, Ash had had enough and wished the party would already be over.
So, after Rose had dragged them off with yet another new guy (again someone who was in an important role in some important place, Ash hadn't been paying that close attention) Ash decided to sneak off. Leon was already left, he had said that he needed to go to the restroom (though Ash was pretty sure it was just an excuse) However, he himself got nowhere when yet another swarm of reporters found their way to them and surrounded them. And this time Ash spotted Melissa among them.
Melissa too was dressed for the party. She was wearing a grey, knee-length dress with a black and dark grey tree pattern. She was wearing dark grey tights and black, long-legged boots. She had her hair in two buns and wore pearl earrings in her ears. She was holding a notepad and pen in her hand, and around her neck was her black camera and a sign that told that she was part of the media.
She seemed to notice Ash, but said nothing to him. Instead, she winked at him, then turned her attention back to Rose. "Chairman Rose, is it true that Galar is facing a major energy crisis in the future?" she asked and Rose, whose face was flushed red after drinking very many glasses of wine, looked surprised.
"Where did you hear such rumors?" he laughed and the journalists seemed ready to write down every word. "But yes, it is certainly possible, not in the next few years, but in the future. But Macro Cosmos is working to prevent any kind of crisis, so there is nothing to worry about."
"What does this 'work' mean in practice?" asked a young male journalist with a short beard and a grey business suit. Rose, however, seemed reluctant to share this information, and replied in a roundabout way, "That is private information of Macro Cosmos, but I assure you once again: there is nothing to worry about. Now if you'll excuse me, Champion Ash and I have to go somewhere."
He tried to clear a path through the reporters, but they wouldn't let Rose out of their sight. "Chairman Rose, I have heard that you are very interested in the ancient event known as Darkest Day. Would you like to tell us why?" asked a reporter in the crowd, but Ash couldn't see who it was.
"I don't want to, now could you just let me through?" Rose said suddenly, a little grumpily, and again tried to make his way away from the reporters. His response, however, only served to heighten their interest, as the crowd only got tighter and shouts like, "Mr. Rose, do you have a reason for being so mysterious?" and "Mr. Rose, why do you find Darkest Day such an interesting phenomenon?" could be heard from the crowd of reporters.
Ash saw this as his opportunity. With Chairman Rose distracted by the lights of the reporters' cameras, Ash snuck away and made his way as far away from Rose as possible. He decided to avoid him for the rest of the evening and now he just wanted to find one of his friends or Pokémon.
He meandered among the guests, trying to spot any familiar faces or Pokémon in the crowd. He didn't see anyone, though, and that made him huf in a bit of frustration. The banquet hall wasn't that big, they couldn't have completely disappeared.
Eventually, Ash spotted Lucario next to the big window with Serena's Kirlia. He was about to go to join them, but then noticed that Lucario was laughing with Kirlia about something she had just said. That made Ash stop. Lucario didn't laugh, never, at least not that kind of genuine, joyful laughter. Ash realized that Kirlia must be special in some way if she made Lucario laugh like that. So, that's why he decided to leave them alone and find someone else of his friends.
Luckily, Ash didn't have to look far this time. The orchestra had just started an upbeat song, and it had gotten most of the guests dancing. Since Ash didn't think Serena or the others had gone dancing, he was able to keep the dancers well out of sight. That left those who remained standing at the edges of the hall, and Ash watched them.
Soon he found two familiar faces near the main door. He saw Bonnie and Clemont in front of the door, apparently arguing about something. Since Clemont's face was very red and Bonnie was straightening her dress, Ash concluded that it was another one of Bonnie's attempts to find Clemont a girlfriend. And as he got closer, Ash's conclusion was confirmed by the siblings' conversation.
"Bonnie, I've said this a million times, but do. not. do. that! You can't propose to every girl you meet, it's embarrassing!" a blushing Clemont scolded and Bonnie glared at him.
"But how else do you find a girlfriend?" she said innocently and Clemont sighed heavily. "I don't need a girlfriend! At least not now!" he huffed and Bonnie rolled her eyes, Dedenne mimicking her too. Ash, who had been listening to their conversation, decided to intervene at this point and he stepped closer to the siblings and said, "I thought I heard your voices from here and I was right"
Bonnie and Clemont turned to look in his direction and Bonnie seemed to immediately forget her quarrel with Clemont. "Ash! We were wondering where you disappeared to!" she said cheerfully and then looked around. "But where's Serena, I thought she was with you," she continued, but Ash shook his head.
"I don't know, Chairman Rose dragged me away from her and now I don't know where she is," he explained, feeling strangely empty without Serena. "I hope she's okay."
"Why wouldn't she be, she's fine," Bonnie said with a smile and Dedenne on her shoulder nodded along too. "Yeah, I guess so, but I still feel a little empty when she's not with me," Ash sighed and wished Serena could somehow magically appear next to him.
Bonnie and Clemont seemed to have stayed true to their "normal" colours. Clemont's suit was very close to the colour of his overalls and Bonnie was wearing a dress with a beautiful yellow and white hem. The top was a bit like a short jacket and was mint green or pastel blue, depending on the viewer. The dress reached Bonnie's knees and she wore white tights and white ballerinas. She had her hair done in the same way as when they travelled around Kalos. The hairstyle and outfit were finished off with a white, lily-shaped hairpin and Dedenne on her shoulder.
Bonnie was about to say something to it, when suddenly there was a loud voice in the hall saying, "May I have your attention for a moment, please? Thank you. I'd like to say a few words." Ash turned his head so quickly in the direction of the voice that he almost break his neck, and saw Chairman Rose at the orchestra with a microphone in his hand, which he had apparently found somewhere.
The entire hall seemed to suddenly quiet down and turn to see what the host of the party had to say. Rose waited a moment to make sure he had everyone's attention, coughed and began:
"First of all, I want to thank everyone who has come here today, I'm very happy about that," he said with a broad grin on his face. "But this evening would not have happened without one woman who plays a very important role. So let's thank my wonderful assistant Oleana for putting on such a wonderful party!"
Rose clapped and some of the guests also realized to join in. Then Oleana stepped out from somewhere, Ash couldn't see where, and gracefully strode up to Rose's side. Ash couldn't quite see the expression on Oleana's face, but if it was a smile, it certainly wasn't a genuine one.
Rose slipped his hand into the crook of Oleana's arm and then smiled broadly. Here and there the clicks of the cameras were heard again and Ash noticed that Rose's flushed face glowed in the light. Oleana, on the other hand, showed no interest in the reporters, but stared ahead with no expression of emotion on her face.
Oleana was wearing a red, skin-tight dress that, like Serena's, shimmered in the salon's lights. The top and bottom of the dress were covered in black fur, which also glittered in some way. The neckline of the dress was v-shaped and extended well down. On her hands Oleana wore loose sleeves of the same fabric as the dress and on her feet she wore black, very high-heeled shoes. Her hair was loose and wavy, as always. Looking at the outfit, Ash wondered how it fitted in the theme of "winter" unless the fur on the dress took care of that.
Rose let the people digest his words for a moment before moving on to the next topic. "Then a slightly different matter. As some of you may know, we have two very special guests here today, namely two Champions." People immediately began to whisper amongst themselves. "And this gave me a fun idea. What if we put these Champions in a battle with each other? A bit like a practice match, wouldn't you say? So, if I may ask, a little bit of space here so we get a battlefield."
The guests seemed to pick up on Rose's clue quickly, as an empty, almost square space suddenly appeared in the middle of the banquet hall. Rose then left Oleana standing alone next to the orchestra and stepped into the middle of that empty space. "And now, of course, we need our battlers. So, Champions, Ash and Leon, please!"
He looked around with his arms outstretched, clearly waiting for the Champions to enter the "field". "Ash, he means you," Bonnie whispered, gently nudging Ash on the back. Ash nodded and then started walking towards Rose and his "battlefield". He heard people whispering and pointing at him on the way there, but he couldn't bear to pay it any mind. He just kept his eyes on Rose and wondered what kind of match he and Leon would have.
Finally, Ash made it to the "field" and found Leon already there. He smiled encouragingly at Ash and Ash grinned back. "So now we can start, with both our stars finally on the field!" Rose exclaimed and managed to smile so that every single white tooth shone in the banquet hall's lights. "So, what are we waiting for? Let the match begin!"
And so it began.
Serena didn't know how long she had been standing next to the table, but she had eaten quite a few pieces of cake. She stared a little absently at the crowd, who had just started dancing, and wondered if she should go out and find someone to join her, just so she wouldn't be bored to death. She decided to do so, but had no time to carry out her decision, for just then she heard a strangely familiar voice next to her saying, "Hi, babe, I see we meet again."
Serena quickly turned her head to see who had spoken. To her great surprise (and annoyance), she saw the same straw-haired boy next to her who had recognised her from that magazine story in Ballonlea. Serena remembered that the boy's name was Roy, and that he had challenged Ash with his Sirfetch'd and lost. But why he was there now, she didn't know.
"You! How on earth did you end up here?!" she exclaimed and Roy moved a little closer to Serena and leaned against the table. "I don't really know myself, but I have a feeling it was this gorgeous face of mine that charmed Chairman Rose so much that he had to invite me," he said, looking at his nails against the banquet hall's lights. Serena didn't believe the explanation for a moment and she raised an eyebrow. Roy seemed to realise that Serena was not convinced by the explanation, so he sighed theatrically and said, "Fine. Chairman Rose saw me battling, said I had "extraordinary talent" and invited me. Better?"
"At least more believable," Serena hummed, wondering how drunk Rose had been when he said Roy had "extraordinary talents." Probably much, she thought, and grimaced. Roy didn't notice, though, but moved a little closer to Serena again and spoke again, "Speaking of which, I have other extraordinary talents, too. Wanna know what? I can show you... in bed. I don't think your loser boyfriend will care." He gave Serena a slick smile and brought his hand to the spot on Serena's dress where her thigh was.
"What?!" Serena exclaimed and her face flushed bright red as she heard Roy's words. She move a little farther away. Roy, on the other hand, seemed to understand this completely wrong. "Yeah, I know certain extraordinary moves, which I think would...," he continued, but his sentence ended quickly because Serena had grabbed a wine glass from a passing waitress and threw its contents of it in his face without thinking.
Roy was taken back by that and stepped a step back. "How dare you!" Serena instead exclaimed angrily, as the wine spilled down Roy's face onto his white suit, leaving a red trail behind. "How dare you suggest something like that, it's... it's disgusting!" She glared at the boy and her face was the almost same color as the wine on Roy's face.
Roy coughed and rubbed his eyes, as he tried to get the wine away from them, though it only made it worse, for now, they were stinging too. He looked at Serena now fear in his eyes and Serena hissed, "It was only right for you. Never again say something like that to me." Then she slammed the wine glass on the table with such force that it shattered. "And stay away from me or any of my friends!" she finally exclaimed and marched away with a huff, leaving Roy to cry over his ruined suit.
Serena marched so angrily away from Roy that she didn't look where she was going. No wonder she realized she was walking straight into someone, so that someone said, a little irritated, "Hey! Watch where you're going!"
The voice sounded familiar to Serena and she looked up instead of just muttering, "Sorry," and continued on her way. And she was right. Sonia was standing in front of her with a wine glass full of some white liquid in her hand and a slightly irritated look on her face. But it quickly turned into a smile when she realised who was in front of her and she said, "Oh, hello Serena. I didn't know you were here, I thought you only came to Circhester for the Ash's Gym Match."
"Hi, Sonia. We thought so too, but Rose happened to meet us earlier today and insisted on inviting us over. I didn't even know there was a party here tonight," Serena explained and Sonia nodded. "Yeah, he didn't advertise it much," she hummed and then nodded towards the reporters who were buzzing around one of the celebrities. "The media still seem to have found the place, as they always do."
"Yeah," Serena said absentmindedly as she looked in the direction Sonia was pointing. But then she turned her gaze back to her and asked, "What are you here for? I thought you were busy"
"Actually, the 'busy' was this," Sonia grinned, slightly embarrassed. "You see, Galar's leading Professor is always among the first people Rose invites to these annual parties. Grandma just doesn't like him, so she never comes to these. So that task is for me, because it would be a bit embarrassing if Galar's leading Professor wasn't represented here. That's why I'm here. I even got an outfit just for this. What do you think?"
She gestured herself with her wine glass-less hand and Serena looked. She had to admit, Sonia's outfit was pretty cool.
Sonia's outfit wasn't actually a dress. It consisted of black pants, a green shirt and a green long coat that reached Sonia's knees. The sleeves and collar of the jacket were darker than the rest of it and the bottom was decorated with a diamond pattern. In addition, the sleeves and collar of the jacket and the waist of the trousers were decorated with gold embroidery and the neck of the shirt was slightly ruffled, also with gold embroidery. Sonia also wore a black choker-style necklace around her neck and silver spruce tree-shaped earrings in her ears. She had put her hair up in a high ponytail, replaced the silver hearts in her hair with similar spruce tree-shaped ones and painted her nails spruce-green. It wasn't hard to guess the theme of the outfit.
"It's great!" said Serena and Sonia smiled. "Thank you. Yours is too. I bet Ash liked it too," she said, winking, and Serena blushed slightly. "Well, yeah... he did..." she stammered and Sonia giggled. "But anyway, you said the Professor was one of the first ones. Who else does Rose usually invite first?" Serena asked quickly to divert the conversation to the other topics and Sonia thought for a moment.
"Well, Leon of course, and the Gym Leaders at least," she then said. "Though I doubt they're all here. Kabu certainly never shows up, Piers hates parties like this and Allister now won't even go to the grocery store. Milo doesn't usually come either, because he doesn't like Rose very much. Nessa is here, I saw her a while ago, her dress is gorgeous! I think Raihan is there too, if you see a flying Rotom he's probably close by too. Oh, and Melony is there too, she looked a bit grumpy, I wonder if she's had another quarrel with Gordie? And then of course there's Opal, who...," Sonia listed, but was interrupted by a sudden voice behind them.
"Who sees that Rose has again wanted to party as big as possible," the voice continued at the end of Sonia's sentence, though certainly in a slightly different way to what Sonia had been thinking, and they turned to see who had spoken. They saw Opal standing behind them, leaning against her parasol, a slightly bored look on her face. "And he still hasn't managed to get any pink in it. Well, thank goodness I'm here with someone who should also be here!"
She said the last part a little louder than the others and after a while the reason became clear. For out of the crowd came a very sour-looking Bede, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.
"What?" he said rudely and in response Opal hit him on the head with her parasol. "Language, young man! Although Rose clearly doesn't care for manners, I do. Especially now that you are officially the future Ballonlea's Gym Leader after me."
Bede grimaced at this. Serena, on the other hand, looked a little confused. "What do you mean?" she asked and Opal turned to look at her. "You see, Chairman Rose found out what Bede did to that mural in Stow-on-Side and he didn't like it very much. And so it happened that he stopped supporting Bede immediately and frankly abandoned him."
"Wow, that's pretty harsh," said Serena and Bede grimaced again. "Maybe, but the harshest thing of all is she -" he nodded towards Opal. "- forced me to come here, to his (for everyone who is now confused, Bede meant Chairman Rose by this) party, and wear this ridiculous clown suit. The only good thing about this is that I haven't seen the jerk who did this to me yet."
Bede fell silent a little annoyed and Serena took a quick look at his outfit. She didn't think it was that bad, the outfit consisted only of a pink jacket with a darker floral pattern and pants of the same color. Under the jacket was a white shirt and around his neck Bede wore a white bow tie. On his feet he was wearing black shoes.
Opal, on the other hand, was wearing a dress with a black velvet hem. The top was made of purple and pink fabric with gold thread embroidered on it. The shoulders of the dress were ruffled, but the rest of the sleeves were also black velvet. The neck was white with ruffles. On her head, Opal wore a pink hat with a black feather, and also had her familiar mint green and pink parasol. Serena knew that velvet was a very warm fabric and she wondered how Opal could be in a room like this, where there were lots of people and so must be very warm.
Opal was obviously about to say something to Bede, but didn't have time, because just then a voice magnified by Chairman Rose's microphone came from the front of the room. "This evening would not have happened without one woman who plays a very important role. So let's thank my wonderful assistant Oleana for putting on such a wonderful party!" Rose was heard saying and Serena and the others saw Oleana step up next to Rose. Serena tried to see what kind of outfit Oleana was wearing, but couldn't really see that far.
"So, if I may ask, a little bit of space here so we get a battlefield," Rose then said and the crowd retreated from the center to form a small clearing. Serena instead tried to see if Ash had gone into the clearing, but couldn't see anything as the people blocked her line of sight. So she finally said "Excuse me" to Sonia, Opal and Bede, and then started wandering towards the clearing.
"Excuse me, could you step back a little? Excuse me, I'll go through here, thank you," she muttered to the people as she pushed through the crowd. Eventually, she made it to the very front of the line and searched with her eyes to see where Ash was.
And there he was. Across from Leon, ready to summon his Pokemon and start the match. He looked focused and Serena wondered if Ash, for once in his life, was making some sort of strategy for the match. Hardly had this thought formed in her head when Chairman Rose shouted, "Let the match begin!" and the match began.