Chapter 3: Meeting Miette
A/N I will be on vacation next week, starting on the 5th of June. I will be back by June 16th, and you will have your next chapter after that date. (I can't bring my phone.) Until then, enjoy this chapter!
Serena is working furiously on the stove, baking some Pokepuffs for her Pokemon, and they come out of the oven, fresh and ready to eat. "Pancham, Fennekin, call the rest of our Pokemon and tell them Pokepuffs are ready!" The two Pokemon call the others to the table. At that moment, Ash Ketchum comes out of his tent, and sees the Pokepuffs and decides to try one. Serena looks at him and says "Ash! That's not for humans!" He then tastes a fruit-flavored Pokepuff, and sighs in delight. "Yum, these Pokepuffs are good! Hi Dedenne, why don't you try some?" he asked, about to hand Dedenne a Pokepuff.
Before Ash can hand over the Pokepuff, a Slurpuff snatches the Pokepuff out of Ash's hand, and its trainer comes up from the bushes. "Your Pokepuffs are so-so. Here, try some of mine, a performer's treat." she says, smirking as she hands her Pokepuffs over to Ash and the other Pokemon. Even though, the Pokepuffs were of moderate quality, the Pokemon knew that Serena's had something more to it when they ate hers. It wasn't something that could be taught, her treats had a more authentic taste, and were more flavorful. Pancham growled his approval of his trainer's wonderful Pokepuffs. "I'm a performer too, you know." argued Serena. "Well then, let's see who's performer's Poke puffs are better." said Miette, smirking.
"Look over here!" Serena gestures to Pancham. "My poke puffs are clearly better than yours." Miette shaked her head. "No way, mine are the best!" she responded. "Yours smell so bad, that they used them for Vileplume's smell." Miette said, clearly satisfied that she had roasted this newbie. At this second, Bonnie came and groaned, knowing what would ensue. Here comes another roasting session, she thought, entertained and amused by the fact that they were in the middle of one.
"Well, yours are so bad that Xerneas can't even restore them if they turned to stone. Oh wait, they probably taste like that already." Serena smirked, as Ash said "Damn, that was good." Clemont knew the roasts might get better (even more cruel) than this if they continued bickering, so he said "Can't we just get along? In my opinion, I would say Serena has the best Pokepuffs."
"Thank you Clemont, that was kind of you to say." said Serena.
"Yeah, I wish they were for people too!" added Ash.
"Hey, I know how you two can settle this fight!" Bonnie exclaimed. "There's a Pokepuff contest in town today! That'll show who is the best baker!" Bonnie said.
The group agreed to this, and with Serena and Miette scowling at each other, they went to the venue where the contest was being held.
Soon, they arrived at the place and Clemont, Bonnie and Ash found a seat while Serena and Miette registered for the upcoming contest. I'm not going to lose! both girls thought in their minds. Team Rocket were also here to compete, in disguise. The announcer came up on stage. "Contestants, you must make original Pokepuffs for our judges, who will choose three people to move on to the final round. Ready, begin!" they said. Everyone got to work making their treats, with Serena and Miette glaring at each other as they did so. All the contestants were working steadily, with the exception of Team Rocket, with Jessie yelling her face off at James. "Can't you do this right!" yelled Jessie. "Can't she stop being so annoying," whispered James to Meowth. Unfortunately, Jessie heard the statement. "I heard that! Now get back to work!" she screamed. James and Meowth let out a sigh. "Some days she's nice." groaned Meowth. "Today isn't one of them." replied James. "Guys, after I win this round, let's steal everyone's Pokemon!" Jessie said, excited. "She forgot about us two." muttered Meowth and James to each other.
The announcer came back up to the stage. "The round is over! Put down your baking supplies." she announced. "And now, Gena will announce the final three who will move on to the next round!" Gena came up and started to give a speech. "Pokepuffs are more than treats to me. To me, they represent-" She was interrupted by Bonnie, going on stage begging, "Can you marry my brother! You're a keeper!" Some of the audience chuckled at the girl's face as she said this, however, Clemont was not amused as he dragged Bonnie back to the bleachers with his Aipom Arm. (Most people were just staring at the Aipom Arm) "And now," Gina finally said, chuckling nervously to make sure there were no interruptions, "the first contestant to move on to the final round is...Miette!" The crowd cheered for a while before the noise died down, but Serena could obviously see Miette smirking at her. Serena made a "neck yourself" sign at her. "Now, the second contestants to move on to the final round are..the Berrybaker kids!" A substantial amount of cheering followed the announcement. As the crowd got quieter, Serena crossed her fingers nervously. "The final person to move on to the next round, is...Give it up for Serena!" Loud cheering from her friends and the rest of the crowd ensued. Take that, Miette! Serena thought, as it was her turn to smirk. The contestants had time to buy berries for the next round. Serena and Miette started to look for vendors who sold berries, going in different directions, but to no avail. They met up near a chocolate stand.
"Wow, how far do you have to go to get a few berries?" asked Serena sarcastically. "Maybe a couple hundred miles." said Miette in reply. "The vendors are all sold out here.
"Hm, that's weird. Berries usually never run out. I hope we can find some before the next round starts." Serena said with worry in her voice.
"Maybe you bought them all." muttered Miette. "DID NOT!" yelled Serena. "You were jealous of my Poke Puffs, so you stole all the berries." Miette said. "No, I think it was the other way around." Serena retaliated.
"How about we go to the forest?" Ash suggests.
"Great idea, Ash!" Serena said.
"Okay, it seems Slurpuff wants a head start in this. Lead the way!" Miette said, happy that she might be able to find berries.
However, when the group walks into the forest, there are no berries to be seen. "Someone must have took them all." concluded Clemont.
"I'm going deeper into the forest to look for a berry bush." said Serena. "Be careful!" said Ash. "I will," Serena reassured Ash, while blushing.
A few minutes later, the rest of the group heard a scream. "I hope Serena's okay," Ash said with concern. When Ash saw Serena, she was surrounded by wild Swirlix. Serena was doing an adequate job of defending herself with a Scratches and Embers from Fennekin, but she needed to drive the Swirlix away from her.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" yelled Ash, which frightened the Swirlix away from Serena. "Fennekin, use Flamethrower!" Serena said. With that attack, most of the Swirlix floated away from them.
"Guys, I think the Swirlix are angry. We should follow them to figure out why. My Slurpuff won't run off unless it's scared or angry like this." said Miette. They reach a cliff, and there are many berries. Soon, however, a giant berry-sucking machine built by Team Rocket is revealed. "Tada! Do you think we would let you take our spot in the finals that should have been ours? We will suck up all of the berries so you twerps can't use them!" cackled Jessie and James.
"Team Rocket! Why did you guys have to ruin the fun!" yelled Bonnie. "Uh, who's Team Rocket?" asked a confused Miette. "A group who likes stealing other people's Pokemon and things." responded Serena. "Oh no, Team Rocket is sucking berries!" yelled Bonnie frantically.
"Guys, if we stop the airflow on that machine, Team Rocket's berry-sucking will come to an end!" exclaimed Clemont.
"That's good." said Bonnie. The team gets to work reversing and stopping the airflow, with Ash grabbing on to the tube, and everyone else going to the engine. "You won't get away with any berries today!" yelled Serena. "Flamethrower, now Fennekin!" shouted Serena with determination, sending a large amount of flames towards the Rocket Balloon.
"Slurpuff, use Energy Ball!" said Miette simultaneously, as the pure ball of energy spun towards the sky and towards the direction of the Flamethrower.
"We should get going," said Team Rocket, rising slowly in the balloon.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" yelled Ash. As the bolt made its way up, it collided with the other attacks on the Team Rocket Hot Air Balloon, sending Team Rocket shooting into the sky. "We're blasting off again!" they yelled in defeat.
"Thanks for helping us defeat Team Rocket." said Ash gratefully. "No problem." responded most of them. "Now can we get the berries?" asked Serena. "Yeah, I want to start baking!" Miette said, excitedly. Luckily, both Serena and Miette find the berries they needed, this time, without bickering. They both head back to the competition with amazing Pokepuffs to show the judges. When both girls arrived at the outdoor venue to present their Pokepuffs, the announcer with the judges, who were examining the treats. "And now, we are ready to announce the winner!" Gina coughed and said, "May I have your attention please! The winner of the Pokepuff contest here is...The Berrybaker twins, with a Japanese style Pokepuff!" The audience cheered and clapped for them as the winning team bowed. Serena and Miette both were disappointed.
"Well, I guess you aren't bad at baking Pokepuffs after all." said Miette with a smile.
"You're good too. Now I'll become a better baker, so I can compete with you. If only one of us had won the competition." said Serena.
"I wish I knew who was the better baker. But although I may not have won this competition, there's another one I can win." said Miette with a smirk.
Before Serena could turn bright red, she composed herself and responded, "Oh, I think that competition will be mine to win." Miette reminded her, "I'm going to beat you in the next showcase. Rivals and friends, till the end okay?"
"You can bet on it." said Serena, grinning from ear to ear as she went back to her friends. "Now, let's settle in for dinner guys!"
Ash's stomach rumbled on the word "dinner." Serena sighed, though she still was grinning. "Oh, Ash." she said, rolling her eyes.
All in all, everyone had a good day, and with hungry stomachs, everyone found a spot for a good, hearty meal cooked by Clemont and Serena.