A/N: Guess who's back, back again. I'm planning to do something for AmourShipping Day and I've got a drabble/one-shot thing that I'm working on that's not super shippy but maybe some of you will like it. ALSO, I took some creative liberty with one of the characters so if you're confused, just remember it is not canon or fanon and purely my brainchild.
"Welcome to this year's Wallace Cup, I am Wallace, the creator of this competition, and I would like to thank you all for being here to watch these talented coordinators perform, and without further ado, I will hand the announcements over to Marian."
"Oh my Arceus, it's really Wallace," Chloe squealed.
"Thank you, Wallace, I am thrilled to be presiding over this year's Wallace Cup, and without further ado, let's meet our judges. Head of the Pokemon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta, President of the Pokemon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo, the Vermillion City Nurse Joy, and finally, former Kalos Queen: Christine Palermo."
"Palermo?" Serena yelled.
"Do you recognize the name?"
"Of course she does, Palermo is the only reason she got this far."
"Uh-huh, sure Ursula," May said, recognizing the girl's voice.
"Well if you had eyes it might be easier to see. Palermo and Wallace are friends and who is one of the most influential coordinators, Wallace, he could've told the judges to let her win," Ursula sneered.
"Actually, I beat Harley by K.O. so that can't be true, and if it were Aria that would be a tad bit believable, but I've only talked to Palermo like three times and that's it," Serena said.
"Looks like someone's mad she lost in the first battle in the Grand Festival," May sang.
Ursula flipped her hair and walked away.
"What's her problem," a brown-haired coordinator said, walking over to the group.
"Hey Kenny, and we have no clue, Ursula's probably still salty about losing Gabite to Serena's Riolu."
Kenny nodded.
"Sooo, you excited to see your girlfriend perform," May sang.
Kenny's face went red as he stuttered out protests before hanging his head and looking at Drew and Serena, "Why is she doing this?"
Drew pointed to the honey-blonde next to him and explained, "May is trying to start a matchmaking streak all because Ash and Serena reunited."
Kenny nodded and turned to Serena, "You two do make a great couple."
The Kalosian performer sighed as the other three laughed.
"And our first contestant is the Sinnoh Sensation: Dawn Berlitz."
Dawn walked out on stage, she was wearing her pink contest dress with both Piplup and Espeon.
"Alright, Piplup, Pachirisu, start us off with Bubble Beam and Sweet Kiss."
"Pari," Pachirisu chirped as hearts began to appear in the air.
Piplup began spinning and using Bubble Beam.
The result was bubbles with pink hearts in them scattered in the air.
"Now, Piplup, use Ice Beam," Dawn called.
Piplup's blue beam danced around the bubbles and froze them, giving them a special shine as the bubbles reflected the stage light.
"Now, Pachirisu, let's wrap this up, use Discharge."
The golden lightning danced around the air, shattering the ice orbs on impact and reflecting the light so Dawn and her Pokemon seemed to shine. Piplup and Pachirisu both jumped into her arms as she curtsied.
She hurried off the stage, not fully hearing who the next competitor was.
"Dawn, that was great," Serena said.
Dawn smiled, "Well, I guess I was good if the Kalos Princess is telling me I did well."
Serena sighed at the nickname, causing the group of coordinators to start laughing.
"I'm pretty sure that the Kalosian judge was impressed too, I'm pretty sure she smiled a bit after you finished," Kenny said.
Serena nodded, "I think I saw it too, and Palermo is hard to impress, I had to almost beat Aria with an injured wrist to impress her."
"I forgot how tough you actually are," May whispered.
"Did anyone hear who was going up next?" Drew asked.
The group shook their heads.
"Wow, Dawn was awesome," Go said after the bluenette finished her performance.
"She did improve quite a bit while competing in Hoenn," Brock said.
"She's come a long way since her first contest, having seen it up close," Ash said.
"What do you mean 'up close'," Chloe said skeptically.
"Ash competed alongside Dawn in her first contest," Brock explained.
"He also did the same in May's first contest," Max piped up.
Chloe's jaw dropped while Go looked mildly shocked.
"I'm gonna have fun watching you tell that to Serena," Go said, laughing a bit.
The group laughed a bit before turning back to the stage.
The girl that had gone after Dawn left the stage quickly left.
"You alright?" May said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.
Serena turned around, "Yeah, just nervous that I'll mess up."
"Makes sense, the closer you go to the end, the more anxious you are, it's a science," Dawn said.
"Serena Yvonne, you're next," The stage manager said.
"Last one huh, you'll do great," May said.
Serena nodded, "You guys ready?" she asked Flectchinder and Riolu.
Both Pokemon cheered.
"Let's do this."
Serena walked towards the stage and heard Marian's voice.
"And now last but certainly not least, the winner of the Hoenn Grand Festival, the Kalos Princess, Serena Yvonne."
"Okay, Riolu, use Swift and Fletchinder use Steel Wing."
Riolu stepped one foot forward and created yellow stars sending them across the stage by forcing her palms forward. Fletchinder's wing gained a metallic sheen and glowed white while he sliced through the stars causing them to separate and exploded like a hundred tiny fireworks.
Riolu did some back handsprings and jumped into the air.
"Now Focus Blast and Flame Charge," She yelled.
Riolu created an orb of blue energy and fired it in front of herself while Fletchinder became coated in flames and flew directly into the orb before jerking up and the flames around its body flickered out.
"Alright, now let's finish this out," She said.
Riolu leaped back into the air, sending yet another Focus Blast into the air. Fletchinder coated itself in flames once again and flew straight up into the attack. As Riolu fell back down, she sent another Swift attack all around her. Fletchinder in the air folded his wings and began to glow. Most members of the crowd had sparkles in their eyes as they realized what was happening.
"TALONFLAME."
Serena pumped her fist at the evolution.
She waved her hand and bowed, same as Riolu as Talonflame landed on her shoulder.
"How the-" May said as Serena came back, interrupted by Drew slapping his hand over her mouth.
"Language, May," he said.
"You had no way of knowing," May shot back.
"I know you well enough to guess."
Dawn still had her mouth open in shock.
"How," she whispered.
"Luck, a lot of luck," Serena said.
"Alright let's go meet everyone else."
"That Johto girl had some good moves, but it was the girl from Kalos that blew me out of the water," Mr. Sukizo said with a grin.
"I agree, I've never seen an on-stage evolution, much less one that was planned," Mr. Contesta said.
"I was also impressed with the health of her Pokemon, she must work hard to keep them that way," Nurse Joy responded.
"Christine, what about you, isn't she one of your proteges?" Sukizo asked.
Palermo slightly lowered her glasses and looked the President of the Pokemon Fan Club in the eye, "Palermo is just fine, and no, you're thinking of Aria, I only nudged Serena towards contests to help her gain experience. And as for my thoughts on her performance, Serena, how should I say, she surprised me."
The other judges nodded and scribbled down notes.
I am impressed, but I'd like to see you battle.
A/N: This was probably really bad and cringey, it was my first time writing a performing scene and my knowledge of contests are coming from fanfiction and Bulbapedia because I haven't seen Advanced or Diamond and Peal so I did my best.
WhiteLotus21 - Hey, you changed your name on me and I mentioned Riolu in Chapters 2, 5, 7 before, just not as much as in Chapter 12.
Amourshipper35 - Well technically, Serena didn't notice either and Ash is just that dense.
UnKnownGuy2006 - I did not know that actually, but I'm including that scene cause it would be funny.
Ashpool - ok cool, thanks for the info, and maybe, if I can write it well and stick with the plot, if not, I'll just make it a bonus epilogue battle or something.
