Okay, so I apologise its been exactly 30 days since the last update. Now that it's September and things are getting busy and back to normal, I only have so much time on my hands now!
So please, DaX0315, Dev1ce, StRAngE ToASt, QUEENSPELLER67, and now BeautifulDisaster 05, enjoy a fresh cup of coffee as Steven's cake will now be presented!
Chapter forty-four: A Bitter Taste of Victory
After Cynthia tried to comprehend the flavours she was experiencing, she had finally caught wind of what Steven was trying to get at so far. Even so, she knew which sweets and desserts were good or bad. Steven's attempt was, to be honest, admirable.
Diantha stood up from the table to catch the attention of the gathered crowd.
"Okay, okay, tout le monde, we have made our decision," she said. Now she looked to Steven and Cynthia, who were both waiting for the verdict. "You two have fought a fierce battle, but there can only be one winner. Our decision is unanimous and…"
She paused to look in the direction of a clicking camera in the crowd, held by Viola of course. It appeared that Diantha was trying to stare down Viola intentionally.
"… actually conclusive, unlike someone who couldn't make up her mind the other day."
The colosseum was supposed to feature a cataclysmic battle, but in fact, it was the opposite. Steven was supposed to have a fighting chance, but he was outclassed. Not only that, it looked comical!
The battleground featured Lucario on one end and a severely outmatched Pokémon on the other. It was enough to bring tears to everyone's eyes.
"You would bring a Magikarp to a championship battle?!" Cynthia thundered. "Face it. It's over."
"It's brought me this far," Steven said. "You'd be surprised."
In the next minute, though, Magikarp was hit with a violent Aura Sphere and fainted instantly.
Steven had no choice but to admit defeat. He fought a good fight but it was over.
"Cynthia! Without a doubt, we all agree with what Diantha said earlier," Fantina said loudly. "Your cake, la Crème de Lune Opéra, is without a doubt the best so far. The flavour is very nice, the richness of it is magnifique, and then we have its incomparable texture that puts Steven's cake to shame!"
Thanks, Fantina, Steven thought grudgingly. Her words were like a punch to his stomach.
Still, Korrina furiously waved her hand in the air, saying, "But Steven's Slateport cake gets an honourable mention too! It was innovative and extremely delicious."
"But Cynthia's cake displayed perfection," Diantha finished the comment. "Like I said, it was a really tough battle and you both fought bravely. Yes, the Slateport cake was delicious, but the Crème de Lune Opéra is a league of its own."
She lazily cleaned off the rest of her plate with her fork and tasted whatever chocolate or hazelnut remained. If anything, she was enjoying it.
"Indeed, le gagnant est Cynthia. Please give her a round of applause!" Diantha finally said.
Cheers erupted within the square plaza as Cynthia gave approving nods to everyone around her. She even snuck a smirk at Steven, who was looking the other way. In his bones, Steven figured that this might produce a loss for him against Cynthia. Even so, he would have to retaliate one day.
At the very least, his new creation was made public so the world could know about it. That reminded him of one thing…
"Steven? What are you doing?!" Diantha said while her eyes followed Steven's movement. Steven was walking into the crowd, amongst the camera flashing and constant chatter, to drag Viola out into the limelight.
"Tell us, Viola," Steven demanded. "Who had the better fondue?"
The only one who saw this as a distraction was Cynthia. In her opinion, it was a feeble attempt to soften his defeat. Of course if Viola said her own Oran chocolate fondue was the winner, then that would only add salt to the wound for Steven.
Viola grinned, saying, "Oh, I decided there was no contest. Didn't you read my and Alexa's article in the Lumiose Press? They are so perfect for each other, they're like two dancers… eh, more like two dancers in a waltz! That is so like you, Steven! You and Cynthia…"
Steven put a hand over Viola's mouth to keep her from talking.
"Just… keep to yourself. Write about today's happenings if you want, but nothing about me!" he demanded. "I'm going to retreat…"
He walked away, and whatever media had appeared came to surround him with buzzing questions. But Steven ignored them and escaped into his bakery before anyone could catch up. Well, almost anyone.
"So you really couldn't do it, eh, Steven?" Lisia asked him. "It's kind of a throwback to your ongoing love story, eh? Let's start your third chapter after all this time. Uh…"
Lisia stood for a moment blocking the door to the bakery and then struck a pose. "Let's call it, "My Heart for Her!" Yeah, that sounds perfect!"
That was bad enough already, but Steven chose to ignore her and went through the door. Rather than face the press, Steven notified his bakery staff of his failed efforts to overcome Cynthia's opera cake. However, he dropped down a written recipe for his new Slateport cake before retreating further into seclusion. How could he face Cynthia now? He definitely needed a break.
The press hardly left him alone, though. Ironically, streams of people began pouring into the Stone Bakery just for a taste of the new Slateport cake, just as Steven left. Among them, Wallace and Lisia were the first ones in to order the new Slateport cake.
"Nous voudrions un…," Wallace ordered. "S'il vous plait!"
"What, la Cake Slateport dorée?" the cashier said. "Bien sûr. Avec un café?"
Dorée? That's 'golden', Wallace thought. "Non, merci." He paid the amount and took his seat with his niece. After their cake was ready, Winona walked into the bakery shortly after and sat with them, with a slice of Crème de Lune Opéra alongside a cup of Cynthia's coffee.
"Bon appétit," Winona said. By then, she took the freshly baked Slateport cake dorée and rested it on top of her coffee cup.
Lisia smiled. "We can't let all this go to waste either," she said, as she started on the opera cake first. She took a bite and then there were stars in her eyes. "Oh my gosh! It's so sweet but… there's so much flavour! It's so creamy…"
At the same time, Wallace removed the Slateport cake dorée from the coffee cup and was first to take a bite. His eyes lit up as his thoughts melted.
"So liquid-y… My dear, is there sugar in the coffee?" he said, as he lifted the coffee to his lips.
"No, I figured after hearing Diantha's review, she has a point. The honey will make up for it," Winona replied. She took both the cake and coffee out of Wallace's hands (to Lisia's surprise) and went to eat the Slateport cake dorée and drink the coffee together.
Winona breathed a sigh of relief.
"The honey just melts into the coffee already…" she said dreamily.
"Winona! That was my coffee!" Wallace complained.
"It's our coffee! I'm your girlfriend, so you should at least give some kind of priority to me!" Winona said, annoyed. In Lisia's opinion, she wondered how Winona went from a graceful girl to an easily irritated one.
Even worse was Wallace's response.
"But my dear, just because you're my girlfriend–"
"WHAT?!"
Winona's scream got the attention of surrounding patrons who stared at the scene. Winona looked like she was about to throw another punch at Wallace, but her hand was restrained by Lisia and… none other than Korrina. Thankfully, Korrina was strong, so holding Winona's arm was easy.
"Whoa whoa whoa, Winona, what's going on here?" Korrina asked. "Are you going to break up with Wallace, finally? He's probably taking more beating or slapping he could bear!" She could feel the tension in Winona's arm just begging to punch Wallace in the face again.
The opportunity was too good for Wallace to miss.
"Your fangirl just has to come to your rescue, eh, Winona?" Wallace said. "She's not that bad, you know! You have plenty in common!"
"Argh!" Winona cried, urging Korrina to let go. The tension in her fist kept rising, but Korrina's strength was enough to hold it. "Let me at him! He deserves it more than anyone!"
Korrina chuckled. "He's probably used to it by now. After all this time, I'm surprised you haven't broken up with him. That is one dedicated boyfriend you have there."
Winona almost blushed at first, but her face went dark again. "He is just toying with me! Besides, I bet he has his eyes set on someone else! Someone who not only dresses up like me but actually has a ponytail too!"
It took a moment before Korrina realised Winona was glaring right at her.
"He won't break up with you, I guess," Korrina casually said. "Did you say you broke up with him once before? He'll do anything to keep you! After all, isn't he treating you to dessert right now?"
"It's not like that!" Winona complained. "He thinks I'm impossible to break up with! Well, I'll prove him wrong! I… I… NO kind of sweet talk will get him out of this!"
In an instant, Wallace held up the Crème de Lune Opérato Winona's lips.
"Just like this cake, my dear, our relationship has many layers. Blend it with the coffee, and that's how inseparable we are! Besides, as rocky as our relationship may be, it holds better than Steven's," he whispered. "This cake won't fall apart, just like us!"
Winona's twisted reaction earned a howl of laughter from Korrina.
"You know, Wallace is quite the poet!" she said. "It's hard to find boyfriends like him!"
"Gah… What do you know about relationships, Korrina?" Winona grumbled. "I broke up with this guy once, and he just had to beg to get it back. You would wonder why I've been hitting him–"
"You mean hitting on me," Wallace interrupted.
"Right, hitting on him," Winona 'corrected' herself, as Korrina realised what Wallace had said and laughed at how easy Winona was manipulated. Shortly after, Winona's face went red with embarrassment and her fist relaxed. That made Korrina's grin even wider.
As a result, Winona's arm was forced down and Wallace was spared a fistful for once. Instead, Wallace brought a comforting hand to Winona's shoulder and offered the rest of his cake to her.
"I bet Winona could learn a thing or two from you, Korrina," he said. "Hold that thought: are those rollers you're wearing?"
"Oui," Korrina replied. "But don't you think it's the other way around? I mean, I could learn some things from Winona too. That is, she could start with learning how to use these rollers."
Whether Winona looked embarrassed or angry, it didn't matter. The emotions blew her mind, in a way, and she collapsed on the table headfirst. Smiling, Lisia and Wallace continued eating.
"I think Winona has had too much to think about," Lisia said.
"I quite agree," said Korrina.
Cynthia couldn't understand most of what was going on now. On the plus side, at least, she had proven her cake was much better than Steven's and that customer volume had increased since the event. Yet she could clearly see that people were lining up outside Steven's bakery for what she guessed was the new Slateport cake he made. Given her coffees in Le Café Sinnoh were also selling out faster than Rayquaza pulling an Extremespeed, she suspected the public was keen to try out the new food on the block.
Not to mention her Oran berry chocolate fondues were selling out too. Maybe these duels with Steven were a good thing! Unfortunately, Cynthia could tell Steven was still bent on annihilating her. Why couldn't he understand her situation?!
If only he could spare her the benefit of trying out her food too. Actually he did, and he was still rejecting her…
"Cynthia!" Henri cried. "Are you okay?"
She realised she had spilt coffee over her table. Grumbling, she wiped the table with a napkin as she kept sipping slowly. "Yeah… I'm doing fine," she replied.
Afterwards, she put her face in her hands. Why was she feeling like this? It was all so confusing for her. What was she thinking? It was all because of him that she was feeling like this. If only there was a way for him to make him understand.
If only.
But there was no chance of that happening, because he had made it clear. Steven wouldn't listen to her, even though he credited her cake; he just wouldn't stop. After removing her hands to look outside, Cynthia thought, what could she do now? Would things cool down from now on? But that wasn't going to resolve anything.
And especially when she wanted him to understand.
Sighing again, Cynthia felt like she was in the exact same position as she was when she was two days ago. She almost wanted to cry, but she didn't want to do that in public. Instead, she felt like going shopping – that would make her feel better! And then she could go watching 'Vulpix! On ICE' when she got home!
Afterwards, she got out of her seat with a slight smile. Now she wondered what the boutique had in store for her. Now that she thought of it, if she had won that competition at the beach… Argh! There she was, thinking about him again!
Henri soon took away Cynthia's cup and poured her a fresh cup of coffee.
"You look pretty bad," he said.
"I know," she replied groggily. "I need a break again."
It didn't help that plenty of camera crews were trying to sneak shots of her in Le Café Sinnoh, and thankfully the crowd of people lining up for her cake was providing some relief. Why, even Diantha and Fantina were busy conducting interviews with the media, needless to say Korrina. As the interviews went on, even food critics were curious to what the attraction was.
But Cynthia really wanted to get away from all that.
Ha! Now what's on Cynthia's mind now? Review, and enjoy a slice of Slateport cake dorée with your coffee!