NOTE: Okay so, my last preview isn't really on par with what's happening here. I changed a few things last minute. But, my previews don't really follow much. They are just a glimpse into a certain detail in the next chapter, so it isn't a huge deal.

Onto some questions. :)

Sol: one question: It's still canon that Miette met Ash and Serena when they were traveling together like a group?

You also said that the chapters were short. I know along the lines I said they were going to be longer. I have to work on describing better and such. haha My chapters are usually 3000 words long. But onto your actual question, yes it's canon that they met Miette along the way when they traveled as a group.

ThreshHook91: Yo why is Sycamore portrayed as such a dick?

I didn't realize he was a dick. haha I just wanted him to be a good teacher whose strict and strongly follows the rules. I guess that makes him a dick. I wanted him to also be a good friend tot he students, but I suppose we have yet to see that. So right now, yeah he's a dick? :P

Thanks to everyone else who left a review since last! - 3 Guest, skyblu23, StreetRacer-Sam, Pokemonmeat, UptownFunk, Q-A Authoress, FantasyLover88, gurkaran23, JayFan67, aliensinnoh, gabed1298, Daisy Pragnya, & PunishedEagle88.

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Seventeen: Snowbelle Showcase

She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. The noises around her slowly died down as she focused on the sounds of her breathing. She inhaled slowly through her nose, letting her stomach expand. After a few passing seconds, she exhaled once more and restarted the process all over again.

"No one believes that!"

Serena slightly flinched, but continued with her breathing exercise.

Just relax. Just relax. She chanted those two words in her head.

She tried to mute all the noises around her, but her concentration was interrupted by the sound of a smack against the wall. With her hands gripped tightly onto the edge of the vanity, she dug her fingernails into the wood, scratching bits of the paint off and letting it jam beneath her fingernails.

"Don't lie!"

She heard the door to her dressing room slam shut. Serena slightly jumped, the hairs on her skin standing up straight. Her eyes fluttered open and through the mirror she could see Dawn and the rest of the girls standing by the door, whispering words to one another.

She knew what they were talking about. They were talking about her and Gary. That's all they seemed to care about. Yesterday, when they settled into their rooms, the rest of the girls were interrogating her. They were all trying to get the dirt out of her. When she looked to her phone to shut out their voices, she received a dozen of texts from Alain doing the same thing.

Today was the big day – the day of her second Showcase. Serena wanted to practice after settling into their rooms. She wanted to go through her routine once more, but her friends wouldn't allow it. They were suffocating her and weren't listening to her pleas.

Now, she was in the middle of the Snowbelle City Showcase, out before the start of the third round. She made it so far, yet not far enough. She'd like to admit that she was doing well, but she wasn't. Palermo was going to be upset with her when she came back to the academy. If she were in top condition, she would have passed those rounds with perfect scores, but it didn't happen. During her first Showcase, she had problems with the communications round, and now she couldn't even give it a go in this Showcase to see if she improved. Ever since they arrived at the auditorium, all of her friends were bickering with Gary. None of them stopped to offer her some words of encouragement or hug her and give her support. Everyone was filled with negative emotions.

Calem wasn't there, but he was a busy guy. Serena wished that her older brother would be there to support her more, but she understood that he had his own duties to attend to. He was one of the most important figures in the art of Rhyhorn Racing. She just hoped that he would show up at the end of the contest. After yesterday, he certainly owed her and as embarrassing as he was, she could really use some advice from him.

Alain was absent, but Serena was glad that he was. Headmaster Redwood asked him if he was going anywhere for the long weekend. Alain informed him of the trip to Snowbelle City, so the headmaster arranged a training session for him with the guidance of Wulfric. As of this moment, he should be sparring with the tough gym leader. The same gym leader Ash had issues with when they traveled together back in the day.

And speaking of the Alolan Champion, Serena was surprised to see that the guy didn't even bother to show up to her Showcase. Even Arnold was there, and he was just May's partner for the project. Ash seemed to be the only one that wasn't wavered by the current situation. It bothered her that he didn't show one ounce of care to her new relationship with Gary. And now, he wasn't even here to support her. It pained her heart, but at the same time she was glad. If he kept that up, her newfound feelings were sure to die before they actually started.

"Serena," said Dawn, stomping over to the vanity table with the rest of the girls behind her. "Just tell us what happened. We can fix it."

"Yeah," May agreed. "You're making this harder than it should be."

"I told you." Serena gulped. She just couldn't risk her photo being leaked. It sucked that the Showcase was happening at this very moment. She could have used this time to somehow snag the camera from him, but her goal to obtain another Princess Key came first. "I'm dating Gary," she said. "Why can't you guys accept that?"

Her friends stared at her hard. They were all trying to understand her feelings, but none of them could. She supposed that's what she got for having friends that knew her a little too well.

"I'm just not convinced," said Dawn. "I don't know why you can't just tell us. Whatever he did, it can't be that bad."

But it was. A leaked racy picture could easily taint her image and ruin all her chances at being the next Kalos Queen.

Serena looked away from her friends piercing gazes before darting her eyes over to the door that swung wide open.

"Shauna, Monsieur Pierre would like you to join him on the stage."

Shauna opened her mouth, ready to respond to the backstage worker.

"I know you said you came here to support your friend," the woman interrupted. "But a lot of people have already seen you. They would like to see their Kalos Queen perform on the stage."

"I guess I can't say no to the crowd…" Shauna mumbled before heading over to the worker. "See you guys later," Shauna said, looking back, meeting the honey blonde's blue eyes. Serena looked away as she did. She couldn't bear to look at the concern plastered all over Shauna's face. May, Dawn, and Miette were the ones doing all the talking. Since yesterday, Shauna just stood or sat there quietly with very little words escaping her mouth. It was probably because their friendship was just mended and she didn't want to say anything that would break it apart again. Serena could tell that she had a lot to say though. She just wasn't sure what.

As Shauna left, Gary reentered the room, and once again a war ensued. Dawn stomped over to him with clenched fists and the two butted heads, ensuing with another loud, irritating argument.

Serena sighed. She wanted to go home. This day was going terrible. Correction, this whole trip was a disaster. And it was all because of Gary. She couldn't take it anymore. She had to find that camera. She had to find that SD card and get her Delphox to burn it. But she didn't know where it was. From the looks of it, it seemed that Gary didn't bring his camera. But maybe he brought the card with him. There were just too many possibilities. Too many precautions. It was giving her one giant headache.

The honey blonde bit her bottom lip. Without anyone noticing she exited the room, and wandered down the hall, her eyes set on the doors that would lead her outside. As she quickened her pace, she felt a hand grab onto her, pulling her back with incredible force.

Serena let out a quiet squeal before widening her eyes. It was Alain.

"Alain?" she questioned, eying him up and down. He was supposed to be training with Wulfric. They could have ended early, but he didn't look like he was training at all. If he was, his clothes would be a little ruffled and his hair would be slightly disheveled. There was no way that he left that gym unscathed. Wulfric was tough, and it surely had to cause him a little distress. In fact, with Alain's problem, it should have caused a ton of distress.

"What are you doing here?" Serena asked. "Your training is already over?"

"I came here to support you," he said. "You know that I want to be with you every step of the way until you receive the title." He grabbed onto one of Serena's hands, and held her fingers loosely between his own.

"So your training isn't over?"

Alain shrugged his shoulders. "It didn't begin. He was in the middle of a gym battle. It was taking awhile, so I left to come here. You're more important anyways."

Serena grimaced; disappointed by the actions he took. She really wanted him to take his second chance seriously. But he wasn't. He was always skipping his training sessions. Professor Sycamore was the one keeping track of his progress, making sure that he was actually doing what he needed to do. The headmaster was always setting up his training sessions. He was the one who was keeping the reporters at bay, and relaying everything to those who were in charge of the league. So many people were helping him, yet he was taking it all for granted.

"Alain, you should go bac-"

"Now," he interrupted. "Tell me about Gary. Tell me what's happening. "I promise you I can help. We can confront him. Everything will go back to normal." He squeezed her hand and began dragging her down the hall.

"But I-" she tried, but was pulled back into the room with the constant arguing. How could no one pay attention to what was happening in her dressing room? They were causing a ruckus. At this point, someone must have complained by now.

"Gary!" Alain raised his voice, causing the bickering to be put on hold. "What did you do to Serena?"

"I didn't do anything." Gary smirked. "You're just jealous because she likes me and not you."

"Watch it," Alain lowered his voice before walking over to Gary, grabbing him by his collar.

"Alain," said Serena, grabbing onto his hand, pulling him away from the brunette. "Don't do this." She stood in front of the brunette. Not to protect him though, but to simply prevent things from getting too ugly.

"Serena I'm done with all this! I'm your best friend! You need to tell me what he did!" Alain shouted, pointing at the brunette, his eyes burning with fury.

"Yeah!" Miette agreed. "What's holding you back?!"

"I-I…" Serena's eyes darted from one face to the other. She took a step behind Gary, slowly inching back towards the wall. They were all shouting at her, questioning her motives. Questioning her relationship. Whenever her vision came across Gary, all he was doing was nodding his head from side to side. In a way, it was some sort of threat, pressuring her to deal with all of this, or face the humiliation.

Serena shut her eyes before looking up at the clock that was suspended high on the wall. She had twenty minutes until the start of the next round. Even if she couldn't take part in it, she wanted to watch the contestants and learn from them. Nothing was going according to plan and all her friends weren't even realizing it.

They kept barking at her, their voices mingling into one giant mess. She could pick up a few words, but there were too many voices trying to speak to her at once to even comprehend one sentence. Serena found herself hyperventilating as they pushed her to a corner of the wall. Her eyes continued to dart from one angry face to the other. Today was her day, and they weren't even supporting her. They all had good intentions, but they were all aware of her determination to win the Princess Keys. But her dreams weren't in any of their minds, only their selfish reasons of getting her away from Gary.

Serena shook her head, trying to recompose herself. She shut her eyes tightly before fluttering them right open. "SHUT UP!" she yelled out from the top of her lungs. "SHUT UP!" She didn't intend to say her message so rudely, but it was the only way for them to be quiet.

With furrowed brows, she looked at her schoolmates. Not a single word was coming out of their mouths, and now they were all staring at her with shock on their faces.

"I came here to get a Princess Key. I came here to take another step closer to my goal, and all of you ruined it. In case you haven't noticed, I've been eliminated! None of you showed me your support, and none of you even noticed my mistakes on stage. It was all because of you!" Serena felt herself choking on the words as they left her mouth.

"Serena… we…" Dawn said in a soft tone.

"No!" Serena cried out before pushing everyone away from her. She then ran out of the room, shutting the door behind her, making sure that none of them would follow her.

She felt a few tears wanting to escape her eyes, but she wouldn't let the saltiness pass her non-waterproof mascara. She couldn't let the other contestants witness her weak side. It was unprofessional. Instead, she blinked several times, forcing the tears behind her eyeballs as she exited the stadium, walking into the empty lot behind the building.

Serena tucked a tress behind her ear as a gentle breeze brushed against her nape. She was wearing a silky dress, and the thin material wasn't enough to keep her warm from the winter air. It didn't help much that her dress was short and had thin straps either. Serena shivered, bringing her arms together, using her palms to rub her upper arms. It wasn't much help, but she didn't want to be in the building right now.

Serena walked forward, the sounds of her heels crunching against the thin layer of snow as she reached a boulder in the grass. She took a seat on a small flat part of the boulder, while continuously rubbing her upper arms. She then immediately stood up, the coldness of the boulder being too much for her rear to handle.

She exhaled, watching her breath drift off into the air, feeling the tip of her nose and fingertips go numb.

"You're going to catch a cold out here," a voice said before placing a jacket around her shoulders.

Serena looked down to the pair of mitten-covered hands that was fastening a few buttons on the jacket to keep it from falling from her shoulders. She followed the hands as they pulled away from her. They belonged to Ash.

Serena gulped as she watched Ash tug on the yellow knitted scarf around his neck. He then reached out to her again, placing the scarf over her head, wrapping it around her head until it was up to her ears.

"And finally," he said, removing his toque. He shook his head as an attempt to fix up his messy tresses. He then reached out to her once more, snuggly fitting his toque onto her head.

Serena blushed, feeling her heart beating faster than usual. She stopped rubbing her upper arms and began tugging on the zippered part of the jacket, pulling it closer to her body to retain more heat. She bit her bottom lip as Ash smiled at her.

If I never left, do you think it would have been you and me… instead of you and Alain?

That question was pondering her thoughts again. What did it mean? Because of Gary, she stopped thinking about it. But now, Ash was here, and they were alone outside and Serena felt incredibly nervous. Like she couldn't bear being alone with him. It was making her heart want to explode from out of her chest.

"I'm sorry for being late," he said. "I had something really important to do."

"Oh?" Serena looked up from the fresh veil of snow. "What did you have to do?"

Ash grinned before removing one of his mittens. He then reached into his pocket, and pulled out an SD card.

Serena's lips slightly parted and the pace of her heart quickened. She took a step forward, squinting her eyes to inspect the small card. "Is that? How did?" She wasn't sure what to ask.

"It was all Calem," he answered. "Right now he's with Pikachu, destroying Gary's camera. Well..." Ash rubbed his nape before letting out a small chuckle. "His Rhyhorn destroyed the camera with one stomp, but Pikachu wouldn't stop using Thunderbolt on the broken pieces. I guess Pikachu is really angry with Gary. Calem told me to bring this card to you."

Serena smiled, but she was still a little worried. What if Gary had another copy somewhere? Maybe he left a copy at the school.

"Don't worry. I promise you that he doesn't have anymore copies," he said, reading Serena's mind. "If he did, he wouldn't be sleeping with the camera in his arms, but if he does, this is for you." Ash reached into his pocket again, pulling out what looked to be a photo.

Serena grabbed onto the small, rectangular photo, her face turning redder than ever as her eyes came into contact with it. She's never seen a boy naked before, other than a few models of what she had to see in school. She's only ever seen the junk… not it attached to an actual human body. Serena blinked several times as Ash laughed. The photo was taken of Gary through a mirror. He was obviously admiring his body.

"Gary does that a lot…" Ash pointed out. "That pic was from this morning. Calem got a picture of it. Your brother really is… something."

Serena rolled her eyes, remembering the nickname her brother had back in the day. King Perv. He used to own all these little Pokémon gadgets that had a camera attached to them. Before he took Rhyhorn Racing seriously, making those tiny gadgets were his hobby. If she remembered, he used a remote to sneak his gadgets into his 'targets' (which were always girls) home to see them change or get into a shower. She wasn't sure if he actually enjoyed trying to see all those girls naked or if he enjoyed their reactions after they found out. Serena thought his perverted days were over, but to her, it was obvious he was still using his tiny gadgets for something. How else would he have been able to snap a picture of Gary naked? Just the thought of his naked stash of girls was sending shivers down Serena's spine.

"How did Calem know something was wrong though?" Serena asked, trying to rid herself of those memories. She was known as Little Perv for a while because of him. And she didn't even do anything. She only knew about his tiny cameras. Nothing else. How he treated girls when he was in high school was a complete mystery to her.

"Serena," he said, quietly. "I knew something was wrong the day it happened. Gary was suddenly smiling and looking at his camera all the time. He just got the camera so I thought it was nothing, but then he was hugging it in his sleep. I just didn't know what he was looking at until I saw you holding his hand at the bus stop." He looked down, kicking the snow on the ground. "I realized that he must have gotten an embarrassing picture of you… But I didn't have any proof that he did. He could have been looking at something else."

"But why does Calem know about it?"

"Because I asked him for help," Ash answered. "I remember he was always helping you out during the summer camp we went to. I figured he was a good brother, so I thought that he would be able to take Gary's camera and see what he was hiding." He paused for a short second. "And he did…" He glanced to the side, his cheeks turning crimson. "He somehow convinced Gary to leave his camera back in our room."

Serena smiled to herself, feeling grateful. She tightened her grip on the SD card before reaching into a small pocket in her dress. Her fingers grasped her pokeballs, looking for the right one. When she did, she threw her pokeball out in front of her, a bright light emanating the shape of her Pokémon before revealing her Delphox.

"You know what to do Delphox." Serena winked before throwing the SD card towards her first Pokémon.

Delphox nodded at its trainer before twirling its stick within its grasp. It then released a spiral of fire towards the SD card, burning it to smithereens. The intense amount of heat warmed Serena's freezing body and as the flames began to dissipate, Serena felt a huge burden being lifted from her shoulders. She might have had to apologize to her friends for her sudden outburst, but at least she no longer had to listen to them bicker.

"Thank you Ash," Serena said softly before stretching her arms and pulling the Alolan Champion into a hug. "You're a great friend." She pulled him in closer, savoring the warmth coming from his own body.

"No problem," he said, returning her embrace. "It's what friends do right?"

She felt a little strange. She wanted nothing more than to be Ash's friend. She wanted him to be the friend that kept her positive energy going. Yet it felt weird saying the word friend. Like it was supposed to be something else. Something more.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Serena pulled away from Ash's grasp and shyly thanked him once more before thanking her Delphox. She then returned her Pokémon back into its pokeball before turning around, unable to handle Ash's presence.

"I guess we should go in then, huh?" Ash said, behind her. "Don't want to miss you in the next round."

"I've actually been eliminated," Serena mumbled.

"What? Why? I didn't come fast enough to show you the good news?" He sounded disappointed.

"It's okay," Serena said quickly. She could no keep up with her thumping heart. The only way to get it to calm down was to be away from Ash. Or at least, in a room filled with other people. She turned her body, looking at him with a wide smile. "It's not a big deal. I still get to learn from watching the others perform, and it will help me with the next Showcase."

Ash smiled back. "Don't give up till it's over, right?"

Serena's eyes widened. She hasn't heard that saying in a long time. She lived by it for years, but ever since she tried ridding Ash from her life, she buried that saying along with the rest of the memories they had together.

"Right," she mumbled before looking back ahead of her.

Serena took a deep breath, trying to contain the feelings that were overwhelming her senses. It was cold, but she felt herself sweating. It was because of her thumping heart and the adrenaline coursing through her body. Her face was also burning and she felt her knees getting weak. She closed her eyes for a second, placing a hand on her chest while she walked towards the door.

She didn't want to admit it, but she knew what this feeling was. She liked him again, or maybe she never really stopped. She was so sure that her tiny infatuation would come to an end once the Showcase was over. After all, he wasn't there to support her. But then he showed up, and did something she didn't think he would do. Instead of trying to force the information out of her, he took action and tried to make it better. That's who Ash was. The boy that always tried to make everyone happy. And maybe that's what made Serena suddenly give into all these feelings.

Serena reached for the handle, but pulled her arm back as the door opened in front of her.

"Hey squirt," Calem greeted with a grin on his face. Pikachu was perched up on his shoulder, and the second the electric Pokémon saw its trainer, it jumped off of Calem and returned to its rightful spot.

"Calem? What are you doing here?" Serena asked, shocked. She didn't expect Calem to be waiting by the doors.

"Someone had to talk some sense into your friends. But I guess I came in a little too late. Apparently you already did." He patted her head before gesturing her to come in from the cold.

Ash followed behind her and Calem told him to join the others on ridiculing Gary. Serena was going to come clean to her friends, but she guessed that Calem already did that. She sort of felt bad for Gary but at least their seventeen-hour relationship was finally over. After what he did, he deserved every kind of teasing her friends were going to throw at him.

"I'm a better brother than you think," said Calem after Ash disappeared into her dressing room. "I do feel bad about yesterday, but it's my job as your older brother to tease you from time to time."

Serena rolled her eyes, glaring at her brother. "I don't tease you about anything though."

"Because you're the squirt." He patted her head again while letting out a hearty laugh. "You know, I figured something was off the second Gary introduced himself as your boyfriend. I just didn't know what and why. And then while you were all checking into your rooms, I saw Gary by a window, looking through his camera. I peeked and saw that picture of you shirtless."

Serena's face turned bright red. She then raised her arms, covering her chest, feeling violated by the fact that her older brother saw the picture of her half naked. "Calem!" she shrieked. "How could you!?"

Calem laughed. "How was I supposed to know that you were going to be naked? Besides, I've seen you naked a million times as a baby. What's the difference?"

"I'm older and developed!"

"Really?" He deadpanned. "I haven't noticed."

Serena slapped her brother on the arm, getting a groan from out of him.

As he reached to rub the pain emanating beneath his skin, Calem met Serena's eyes, a serious expression overtaking his face. "You know, I saw that picture and pieced it together right away. I just didn't know who to ask to help me with getting rid of the picture. Alain would give you a hard time, plus whenever I'm around your girl friends, all they ever do it drool around me. But then Ash came to me asking for my help. I don't know what's going on between you and Ash anymore, but he's a great guy Serena. To be honest, I think I'll always be rooting for him."

Serena looked down, flustered by Calem's words. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she answered after some time.

"I'm not dense when it comes to love," he countered. "I can obviously tell that you like him again." He leaned down, his lips just a couple inches apart from Serena's ear. "And I can tell that he likes you too."

Serena gulped. Ash's question was echoing through her mind again.

"Serena!"

The honey blonde looked up to see her friends running her way.

"We are so sorry!" Dawn called out. "We'll make it up to you!"

"I guess your friends are waiting for you," Calem said, pushing Serena forward to reconcile with her friends.

As Serena stumbled forward, her friends pulled her into a hug while Alain stood to the side, an apologetic look on his face. Beside him was Gary who looked tired and defeated and next to him was Ash with a smile on his face. Serena's eyes lingered over Ash. She liked him. She just didn't know what to do about it.

Next Chapter Preview: Below the Mountains

"C'mon you guys," said Serena. "We need to work on our assignment. Tomorrow is our last full day here. We should finish our work first and go skiing tomorrow."

"But my gear is already on," May complained.

"I'm not in the class so I don't care," Miette said, sipping on some hot cocoa.

"I agree with Serena," said Ash. "We should finish our assignment."

"I vote we do it tomorrow. Who agrees with me?" Dawn asked, raising her cup of cocoa.

Serena looked around her to see that everyone in her class, but Ash had their hands up.

"I'll help you Serena," said Alain, unstrapping his ski boots.

"No!" Dawn and May yelled out at the same time. "You're teaching Shauna how to ski!"

And that was it. Serena was going to have some alone time with Ash.

NOTE: I really hoped to finish this story before school would start, but sadly, I will not be able too. So my updates may not be as frequent. I haven't been to school in like 2 years. Gosh. I'm gonna be rusty. Also, I've been really into writing for Miraculous LadyBug, so I've been updating that more. haha... I'm still an amourshipper though!

Anywho, Happy Holidays & I wish you all a great start to the new year :)

As usual... Like, Follow, PM, or Review! :) They are all greatly appreciated.