Now I know what you're thinking: "Where is the monthly update for Culinary Rivals? It's been almost two months!" (Yes. No updates since August 7, and it's October 1)

Let's just say that these past two months have been a really rough time for me. No thanks to university. Also, I regret to inform that I have doubled my workload this term and am looking for a temporary job for next year. In short, I have LOTS of work to go through!

But "Culinary Rivals" continues to soldier on...

So, let me reward you with a berry Lumiose Galette as you enjoy this chapter. Yes, yes, DaX0315, StRAngE ToASt, honoured Guest, TrueLightHikari, Yodatwicefan, and darkwolf0909, that's a dish for you.

DaX0315 and TrueLightHikari: You enjoyed that, didn't you?

darkwolf0909: I'm way more overdue that you!

I'm sorry that I've taken two months to upload this chapter...

Chapter fifty-six: Crêpe Clash

It was clear the media had been busy leading up to the cook-off.

Coverage of the cook-off had been published everywhere from Lumiose Press, the still-popular Kalos magazine, and on television. Covers of newspapers and magazines showed the boutique hotel where the chefs were staying at, and also the chefs themselves. Not to mention, Clemont and Wallace had also made it onto the media face too. Needless to say, Chef André Bordeaux greeted everyone in the morning by lending his voice to the local radio morning show.

No thanks to all this media coverage, a modest crowd had lined up to welcome the chefs who had arrived by taxi. Journalists lined up with cameras and notebooks trying to detail the scene before them, even though nothing had really happened so far! There was no cordon, so the Pokémon (namely Clemont's and Diantha's) ended up doing the work to clear a path into the tower. While they chefs walked, dressed in their iconic restaurant chef jackets, they also carried in bags full of groceries and cooking supplies.

Steven was met with an unexpected surprise once he stepped in.

"Monsieur Stone!"

Martine.

"What… are you doing here?" Steven was at a brief loss for words. "This is a restricted area." Meanwhile, Cynthia walked ahead to the elevator. She knew it wasn't her business to stick around listening on Martine. Otherwise, she guessed other people would get the wrong idea.

"Oh, you probably know that lots of people will come in here once access is allowed," Martine said. "You know Wallace has to be here, and then Lisia got a favour to allow me in early. So here I am."

She looked at her boss very closely. "You seem to be sweating, boss! You must be really feeling the pressure, eh? Don't worry. You've got this, though I really question why you needed to hold this cook-off in the first place, and get the best chefs to judge you…"

"I probably don't need reminding," Steven said. "Let me guess: you have a good seat too?"

"Eh… It's close to the judges," Martine replied. "Wallace wanted to have a good look at what kind of food you'll bring to the front, though I think it will make him hungry. Have you looked at what the stage will be like?"

"Can't say I have."

"Neither have I! But I thought Chef Bordeaux or Wallace would have briefed you or something." Martine led Steven away to the elevator. "I do know that Clemont has been busy. Oh, and do you need a hand with those groceries, boss?"

"Um… I'm okay. Thanks."

They waited for the elevator to reach their level before walking in. The trip up to the top of the tower was a short one, and when they walked out they were met with a sight of cordons and velvet ropes separating the battleground into rows and sections.

The gym's battlefield had been transformed into a literal stage, as Martine described. Set on it was a variety of kitchen equipment from stoves and ovens to blenders and slow-cookers. Everything was needed, it seemed. As well as having the equipment, the stage was surrounded by benches and seats for the spectators. Normally, they were used for spectating Pokémon battles, but this was a different kind of battle.

Behind the stage, not far at the back, was a dining table. Three seats were set aside for probably the judges' use, and a screen display, presumably for displaying votes.

And the camera equipment! In addition to all the necessities, there were camera crews working around the stage and near the judges' table. A large screen also towered over the entire battlefield, which Cynthia guessed would show what would be televised. At the very least, everyone would have some view of the action before them.

"Impressive," Steven remarked.

Martine looked at him again.

"It's like cooking at that plaza again, but you have a lot of space too. You think Cynthia will impress you at last?"

"Impress me…? I think I'm trying to impress her! Isn't that the point?" Steven replied. "She chose to bring this onto herself. I'm just returning the favour. Eh, enough of this madness. I need to prepare."

Martine watched Steven walk away with his groceries. For her case, she wondered just how things boiled down to today. She decided to push those thoughts aside and look for Lisia, and by then, she could take her seat to watch everyone set things up. As an afterthought, Martine wondered where Sophie and Laurent would sit.

The stage was set, and the curtain was up. The lights focused on the stage now.

Television cameras were live, Viola and Alexa were in the media seats covering for their jobs as did many others, and the crowds had filled up the gym's seats. Clearly, from the looks of things, this was something no one wanted to miss. Perhaps the media exposure of two former Champions, their culinary rivalry, and the speculative romance between them, had something to do with it. In addition to all this, there were food critics present who were given priority seating by the organisers.

"Bienvenue! Welcome! Today, we present the first of a cook-off series held here, in the glittering Prism Tower in Lumiose City!" the host said. The host, in question, was Siebold. "For those of you who need to know, this is a cook-off between two superstar chefs who have been battling out with each other for weeks before they had thrown down the gauntlets."

Cheering ensued from the crowd.

"Unfortunately! This competition is hardly friendly," Siebold went on. "We know that under an agreement, the winner of this cook-off will force the other's restaurant to close for a week. Not to mention, there might be a Richissime Star on the line! That's how deep it is! Then again, I heard rumours that that other restaurant has to be controlled…"

Siebold was met with a disapproving glance from his mentor (Bordeaux), who kept an eye on the clock.

"…Right. So without further, let's introduce them to you! From the Hoenn region, the former Pokémon Champion and head chef of the Stone Restaurant and Bistro… Steven!"

Steven waved casually to the roaring crowd. He had to admit, he hadn't been on a stage like this in so long. For much of his recent life, it was taking care of business transactions on one hand, and managing his restaurant business in the other. For the first time in a while, he felt nervous but felt nostalgic at the same time.

"And from the Sinnoh region, the former Pokémon Champion and head chef of Vue sur la Lune… Cynthia!" Siebold said.

In Cynthia's eyes, like Steven, this was nothing new to her but the whiff of nostalgia of being in the spotlight like this was a shocker at first. Nevertheless, she kept up her form and patiently stood waiting for Siebold to continue, but not before giving the crowd a friendly wave.

"The circumstances of why they are contesting is unclear, but whatever. Now that that's done, I shall introduce to you our judges for this competition!" Siebold said. "Please reserve your applause, please, until every judge has been introduced. First, from Unova's Striaton City, and part-time cook and Gym Leader of Richissime-recognised Striaton Gym: Cilan!"

The reaction was a series of indistinct murmuring from the crowd. Cilan sat patiently at the judges' table, taking the middle seat, with an empty seat on his one side and Chef Bordeaux sitting on the other.

"Second, we have a legendary chef operating out of here in Lumiose City. Experience is an understatement for this man, because he is respected pretty much by everyone in the culinary world, not to mention those at Hotel Richissime. Bearer of an incredible three Richissime stars: André Bordeaux!"

Upon mentioning his name, the murmuring from the crowd grew even louder, that were it not for the speakers, Siebold's voice could have been overpowered. He still kept to his script, though.

"And lastly, the final judge is a respected chef who holds title to two Richissime stars. You may wonder why his seat is empty over there." Siebold glanced at the empty chair. "Heh, not to worry, tout le monde, because he's standing before you in plain sight."

Steven couldn't help but facepalm. Now was not the time for jokes! It was like Siebold was becoming the third Wallace, after Lisia! Hopefully Siebold wasn't learning anything from Wallace. That would result in terrible things.

"Oui, that last judge is moi. I'll be your host for tonight, but for only half the time! For the other half, I shall assist with the judging," Siebold said, and his words were followed by the loud applause from the audience. Smiling, he made his way to the judges' table to take his seat, and passed the microphone to Chef Bordeaux.

Chef Bordeaux stood up and waited for the applause to die down.

"Merci beaucoup, Siebold. Welcome, everyone, and chefs Cynthia and Steven, to this cook-off series once more. For each session, you will focus on creating a dish for us using a theme ingredient, after you've had ample time to prepare beforehand. When the clock is done, you will present your dishes to us, and we will judge accordingly and award the winner. However, we expect you to create three servings of this dish, so don't think you're being let off easy."

"You have a time limit of forty-five minutes to complete your three dishes, but I'm sure that's more than enough time for you to prepare," Chef Bordeaux explained. "So, without further, the theme ingredient for the first round is…"

An image of a pastry displayed on the massive screen.

"Crêpe!"

Cynthia and Steven looked at each other with a competitive glare in their eyes.

"Commoncez!" Chef Bordeaux announced, and from that moment on, the image of the crêpe was replaced by a 45-minute timer counting down. Immediately, Steven and Cynthia got to work to prepare the food. The ingredients they needed were already brought to their stations, so now all that was left was to create the food.

Steven and Cynthia immediately got to work, first by preparing the ingredients before even thinking of turning on the stoves. It would not take long to cook the crêpes themselves, but they had to be careful not to overcook them either. It was the preparation that would take up time.

From the rear seats, beside the judge's table, Martine Grenadine watched in anticipation of what Steven and Cynthia would pull off next. However, she was curious as to what their motives really were. What was Steven trying to prove?

"Are you okay, Martine?" Lisia's voice poked into Martine's thoughts.

"Oh! I'm alright, I guess," Martine said. "I'm just really curious as to what Steven is preparing."

As it happened, Diantha was also seated nearby. She scratched her head. "It's a tough call, I think. I know that given these are crêpes, Cynthia might have the upper hand in this one."

"But you never know," Cress, Cilan's brother, said. "Steven is a chef, after all. He might be able to pull off a tremendous counterattack. It's just like the art of battling."

Martine stared. She had never sat this close to celebrities before, but then again, that didn't matter. What mattered was the competition before her eyes. To keep her mind focused, Martine opened a bottle of fresh water and drank from it.

They watched Steven and Cynthia prepare their crêpe batters simultaneously. It seemed like a simple-enough process to do so, but then again, there was no telling what they could have done with them. But then again, there was no point serving a burnt crêpe if it came to that.

Soon enough, a slightly savoury aroma began to fill the battleground, signalling that Steven must have moved first. But its dominance didn't last long, because a sweet aroma entered the battlefield and tried to fight for ground. The flavours, together, made everyone's mouths water. Now what everyone was interested in was how the final product would turn out. However, cooking would have to wait: there was no point in cooking the batter yet until their arsenal was ready.

Not far away, on the regular seating, Sophie and Laurent were unsurprisingly sitting together. To anyone, it was sort of obvious that they were on a date. They were sitting relatively close to each other, and they were also sharing a baguette and LaBrie cheese together, which prompted some to wonder how they could eat that, when there was a culinary competition before them.

"I'd really want Monsieur Stone to win, but I think he might struggle for this one," Laurent said.

"You said it. Besides, are those strawberries I see?" Sophie said.

Laurent looked at Cynthia first, and then at the screen. From the looks of things, Cynthia was going for something classic. Strawberries and crêpe, eh? On the surface, it seemed obvious with her approach, but what the question really became was how she would amplify it.

"You can already tell how this will play out." Laurent looked at Steven, who had a wheel of cheese set out before him, whereas Cynthia (as Sophie pointed out) was preparing strawberries. So it was savoury versus sweet again: how would the judges cope?

As Cynthia had all her ingredients prepared, she started to apply the batter to the heat.

"It's like that fondue battle that Viola published in the paper," Sophie said. "Hmm… She had trouble comparing sweet and savoury in this case, so I'm sure the judges will be more definitive."

Laurent watched Steven also apply his batter too, not too long after Cynthia's. "It's not like that time when he tried to face off against Cynthia with cake. I mean, sure, that Slateport cake was proving popular for the bakery, but he was outclassed."

The smell of sweet and savoury in the air started to make their mouths water.

"So… You're saying that Monsieur Stone might be outclassed again? Because this is a crêpe battle?"

"Something like that."

Steven was thankful he had that Lumiose Galette yesterday. The flavours he tasted from it, and recognising the galette qualified as a crêpe, formed the basis of his strategy. Nonetheless, he still had reason to worry, because he knew how powerful crêpes worked as sweet treats, and this was right in Cynthia's playing field.

After applying the batter, he immediately went to use the spreader to ensure the crêpe was nice and thin. He knew that he didn't have a lot of time before needing to flip it over, but nonetheless had snuck a glance at what Cynthia was doing. She had strawberries placed on top of her crêpe already, but what was that dark bottle she was using to drizzle her crêpe with?

He had no more time to think, because now he had to focus on getting his own ingredients out there. He brought out his food mixture, which was a creamy blend involving artichoke and Miltank cream cheese conditioned with lemon and Nomel berry and started to dump a spoonful onto his crêpe, and then went to roll up the crêpe. There were three judges, eh? Three crêpes a serving was in order, and that would mean nine crêpes in total.

It would take a minute or so to complete the crêpe, and adding on the time it took to complete the dish would make this difficult. Nonetheless, Steven managed to get his first serving done. All he needed to do was start on the second, and there was still a chunk of time left on the clock.

A few steps away, Cynthia was slightly ahead of Steven, but not by much. Like Steven, she had been repeating crêpes such it had become methodical for her. Add the batter, spread the batter, flip the crêpe, and then add the necessary ingredients. Of course, preparation took the most of her time, but after that was done, things were going smoothly.

She completed her second serving.

The buzzer sounded to signal the end of the cooking time, but it seemed that was unnecessary, because Cynthia and Steven were well finished and had their dishes set out before them. To keep the presentation on edge, and partly to keep the food contained, all their dishes were covered with cloches.

"And that is that," Chef Bordeaux said. "Let's see how your dish turned out, Cynthia."

She brought her dishes to the judges' table carefully, first with two dishes and bringing the third after. Cynthia's expression remained neutral, but as a chef she showed a degree of confidence. What mattered was how the judges would react, and whether they would be impressed.

Chef Bordeaux was first to remove the cloche, just so it could be televised and seen by everyone else. Cynthia's crêpes, which looked simple enough as they were wrapped around strawberries, looked appealing to say the least.

"It looks appetising," Siebold remarked. "So you have strawberries already entrenched within the crêpe, but I can smell rosemary in there too, and something… sour. Let's see what it is."

Cilan was first to cut into the crêpe and start eating. His eyes widened as he stared into space, as if he was lost in thought while he chewed.

"The flavour is balanced, somehow," Siebold said. "You infused rosemary into the crêpe to strengthen the crêpe's flavour, but that is how the strawberries are amplified. That's a very good execution method, Cynthia."

Cilan nodded. "Just from the flavour, I can tell you've had the strawberries marinated with balsamic vinegar, and that shows a good use of your time. You knew it would take time to marinate the strawberries, but you managed to compile the flavours into this one crêpe. That tastes excellent! But how does it manage to be not overly sweet? That's impressive."

Chef Bordeaux had his eyes closed as he was eating, and they still were closed as he spoke. "Cynthia made use of a bit of Mago berry and a bit more of Wiki berry to keep the flavours bound. It's like trying to keep a scale from tipping. The dryness of Wiki berry is infused into the crêpe with the rosemary, while the Mago berry is there inviting you to taste it again."

Despite having made their comments, Cilan, Siebold, and Chef Bordeaux went ahead to complete their servings of Cynthia's balsamic strawberry crêpes. In Steven's opinion, he wondered if this would also jeopardise his chances of winning.

It was his turn now, so he brought up his crêpes before the judges. Chef Bordeaux, again, removed the cloche first.

"Ah," he remarked.

The crêpes Steven had prepared were anything but dessert. Stuffed inside the crêpes was the mixture he had prepared earlier.

"Is this… crab?" Cilan said.

"Oui, tu as raison," Chef Bordeaux said.

The judges cut the crêpes at the same time and tasted them at the same time.

"Interesting," Siebold said.

If Cynthia's style was balancing offence and defence, Steven's style was to be tactical and carefully reveal his hand when the time was right. That is, to play defensively until he saw his opportunity to switch his strategy.

It was like watching a kendo match.

Their bamboo swords clashed at each other in strategic and thought-out ways. Cynthia would strike carefully, but Steven would always be ready to deflect the attack. Little did Cynthia know, that Steven would have some plans ready for her.

But one or two plans would backfire, because Steven found that the moment he dealt a series of blows to Cynthia, she remarkably was able to keep her balance and pace. This did not unsettle Steven, but he began to grow frustrated.

Steven couldn't understand how Cynthia hadn't fallen yet, but he was patient.

Cynthia went forward with another round of strikes. Steven blocked them easily, and it was at that moment that he saw an opening to strike her once before she could counter or evade. That gave him the upper hand.

Soon enough, Cynthia was on the receiving end of defending against all of Steven's attacks. Steven was mercilessly pummelling Cynthia's bamboo sword with his own. It was only a matter of time before he would be able to completely disarm her.

3-0 in favour of Steven, the final score displayed. A total victory. A round of indistinct chatter and muttering from the audience followed, and it took a while before it died down. Only then could the judges offer their commentary.

"You've played a strong move, Cynthia, and almost at level with Steven's," Cilan said. "But Steven's just had that savoury edge that was about to oust your style."

"That goes without saying, that your crêpe was very delicious. We all agree on that." Chef Bordeaux. "Your use of vinegar and strawberries was the star, while crab meat blended with cheese flavours was Steven's. Nonetheless, the acidity of those flavours was really at odds with yours, and that made the difference in our decision-making. Steven's acidity was minutely more optimal then yours."

Siebold scoffed. "It's like watching two kendo fighters of equal skill at each other. You know, you two are like rivals mirroring each other in every way, so it's no wonder the little details mattered here. Mixing cream cheese and crab, and then applying that to the crêpe, was a twist we weren't expecting. Perhaps it was Steven who carried the element of surprise here."

Cynthia crossed her arms, but she kept up a professional look. Steven only wore a brief smile.

"Anyway!" Siebold said. "That wraps up our first round! We will now break for twenty minutes, so the stations can be cleaned, and we'll continue with the second round of this cook-off series. See you soon!"

As the audience clapped and cheered, Cynthia snuck a glance at Steven, who looked pretty confident in himself. She sighed. Steven sure thought he had the upper hand, didn't he? To keep her mind off of him, she turned her attention to wiping her station's counters. She may have lost this one, and Steven may have shown himself to be a serious contender, but that wasn't going to stop her from stopping him. He will know what she is made of, or so Cynthia hoped.

And THAT, is the first round! That was tasty, wasn't it? Leave a review, and have a serving of these crêpes! Steven's crab and cheese crêpes on one end, and Cynthia's strawberry and vinegar crêpes on the other! That's right. You're getting two servings!

Hope I can get the next chapter up in a month.