Chapter 9
After separating from Ash for a small while because of Ash's work as the president of the company, Alice is now walking back to the Castle, but the walk made things somewhat worse, as it comes in the form of the Kalos Queen, Serena.
"Hello, Aurora." Serena says, with a small sneer in her tone, and Alice can see that her eyes show jealousy and anger.
"Hello, Serena." Alice replies as she doesn't add the Kalos Queen in her name, since she doesn't respect her.
"Where's the Kalos Queen in front of my name?" Serena asks.
"Respect has to be earned, but you didn't earn mine for sure." Alice replies.
"You have to respect your betters." Serena says.
"How is turning an innocent boy to the authorities and trying to seduce our Champion makes you a better person?" Alice asks.
Ash has told her that he has managed to find Serena on the way to Kalos, but she just lashes out at him and even calls the police to arrest him, it is thanks to Greninja that he manages to escape.
"If I didn't stop him, who knows how many people he's going to kill? At least I know who I want." Serena counters.
"Our Champion won't be that stupid to fall for your tricks." Alice replies.
"We'll see." Serena says, "Put up with me, Aurora. Once I join your group, you'll be seeing me more often."
After Serena leaves, Alice says, "As if Red and the others would let you join our group...after everything I've done for him..."
Ash arrives and he walks to Alice, he asks, "Something wrong?"
Alice stares into Ash's eyes as if the meeting with Serena never happened. Alice says, "Just run into someone who tries to seduce you."
"Should I need to be worried?" Ash asks. "I already have you."
"I don't know about that answer." Alice replies as they leave together.
The next day, as it is free for them because the next Gym Leader meeting won't be happening until 2 more days when Ash is alone on the road, he is spotted by Serena, and she drags him so that they can have lunch together. Ash is inwardly pleading with Alice to help her, but Alice was just watching the whole scene.
"Mama, aren't you going to help Papa?" Manaphy asks Alice.
"Ash has shown plenty of times he's capable of taking care of himself, and besides, he can gather more information from that Kalos Queen so that revenge will be sweet." Alice says.
At the same time, the other members of Sevestar are talking to the other leaders in 9 regions. Eve is sharing her own theories about Rayquaza with Steven and Cynthia, as Cynthia asks, "How did you know that much about Rayquaza?"
"Let's say that our Champion used to have a Rayquaza in his team." Eve replies. "It is not much of a big deal."
"After the battle, we've seen from your Normal Type Gym Leader, Nate. I wonder what kind of training you guys do in normal circumstances?"
"Oh, we do all sorts of training whenever we are free." Eve replies.
"You shouldn't tell them much, Eve." Alice walks towards her, who sighs and says, "Sorry, Aurora."
The other regions' guests look at Alice and Eve curiously, what were they wanted to say before being interrupted? And what kind of training do they actually do when they are free?
Drandon is also talking to the guests, especially some Dragon-Type users, who try to ask them about the true identity of the Dragon Prince and the Dragon Princess, but all they get is that he won't reveal their identities no matter what, much to their frustration.
"Besides being the Dragon Knight, you're also a model for male clothing, right?" Lance asks as he decides to change the topic. "Does that mean you have to go to the photo shoot often as well?"
"That's right, sometimes it gives me a hard time because not all of the clothing in D&W is suitable for me, but I still have to wear them." Drandon says.
"But you've been doing a great job as a model." Lucine replies.
At the same time, our poor victim Ash Ketchum is with Serena at the restaurant having lunch, they are talking about Showcases and the Sevestar Region in general. Well, mostly Serena is talking, Ash is just eating quietly, ignoring her attempts to gain his attention, and answers with a yes or no, or just staying silent. To Serena, it only makes Champion Red even cooler in her eyes.
"So can you tell me more about Sevestar Region?" Serena asks.
"Like what?" Ash mutters.
"How about...The Contests that you've held here?" Serena asks.
Ash frowns a little before answering, "The Contests here in Sevestar are different from the other regions. We have the appealing rounds and the battle rounds, but the battle rounds are four-way and the judges will pick one winner to earn the ribbon. It is until one gets 20 ribbons that he or she gets the Ribbon Cup in Sevestar. We also have themes and difficulty as well, Cuteness, Coolness, Toughness, Beauty, and Cleverness. And the difficulty is Normal, Super, Hyper, and Expert."
At the same time, Alice already uses her aura to create a double team, and she is sitting not far from the two of them. Alice still has some doubts, she knows that Ash isn't going to be with the manipulative bitch, but she can't help but feel a little jealous, after all, Serena is still considered a childhood friend for Ash.
Manaphy whimpers when he overhears his Papa and Serena. He doesn't want Serena to be his new Mama. Alice is a good Mama, and he won't leave her. But what if the two of them separate? Just the thought worries Manaphy a lot. Alice notices Manaphy's distress, and she silently rocks and pets him, which makes him feel a little better. Then she also hears how Serena talks about how she enjoys the library and the books there.
"Maybe I should've pushed one of the bookshelves on her...I wonder how would you like that..." Alice mutters, but when Serena starts to ask Ash about his career and his training methods, Alice knows that it is time to step in.
"Alright, that's enough, Champion Red. Don't you think you've given too much information to some foreigner?" Alice asks.
Ash is inwardly delighted that Alice comes to his rescue, but Serena is not as happy, as she demands, "And who do you think you are? Telling your Champion what to do?"
"Considering that I'm the Leader of this Elite, and I have been here as long as Champion Red has. I'm sure I have some say over what we tell other people." Alice says.
"Oh yeah? He's still the Champion, which means he still has more say, and the final decision is his!" Serena says. Ash wonders why Serena is standing up to him as to what information he can give away, but Ash knows that she might leak the information to the traitors and it will also be a bad thing for him.
Serena notices the Manaphy in Alice's arms, she remembers that May told her about a Manaphy that called her Mama, and she wonders if that is the same Manaphy in her arms right now.
"I don't think you're fit to be this little one's mother." Serena says as she tries to gain Manaphy's attention, but Manaphy looks frightened as it clings to Alice's dress.
"Considering what you did, I don't think you would last long here, and I hope you commit suicide in the end." Alice spats, clutching Manaphy protectively.
Serena mock gasps, and clutches her heart, maybe to others, it seems real, but Ash and Alice know that it is just an act. Serena is the Kalos Queen after all, and she might have acted in some movies because of it.
Serena pretends to be in distress as she runs off the restaurant, and Ash turns to Alice, "I know you want to get me out of this mess, but don't you think you might be going a little too far? I mean, all she wants to know is what jobs I'm doing."
"Considering that she didn't listen to you when you were Ash Ketchum, what makes you think she'll listen when you're Red Satoshi?" Alice asks.
"You might have a point right there, and I really don't want them to sneak into my office because of Serena telling them everything about me." Ash says as he notices Manaphy. "But why is Manaphy out of his Poke Ball? I mean, what if May or the traitors see it?"
"He wants to stay with you, that's why." Alice replies, "And besides, it is already late. From what Serena has said, May must have told her everything about Manaphy and no doubt that she's going to tell May about Manaphy as well."
"In that case, we need to be careful." Ash says with a nod while taking Manaphy from Alice's arms and rocking him slightly.
After getting back to the castle, Ash and Alice find the Ketchum siblings and the Urup siblings tired in their seats. Ash asks, "What's going on here?"
Mark says, "I think we might have revealed a lot of information about our region's services to others. And we also accidentally tell them about our secret training."
"And now they are wanting to know what kind of training we have." Golly adds.
"They are all curious about us since while we are world-famous, this is the first time they have met us in person, in addition, they learned about our Elite statues and our careers, they'll only ask questions about our lives." Eve says.
"That's why we have to be careful." Ash says. "I admit, if it wasn't for Alice, I could have slipped everything as well."
Alice shakes her head and says, "But still, we are late for some information to be leaked out...and it was my fault..."
"Don't worry, Alice. I won't blame you. We can overcome this together." Ash replies to her.
"What kind of information does she leak?" Flora asks. "Why are you so gloomy?"
"Manaphy..." Ash says, causing them to widen their eyes. Before they can say anything, the door knocks. Ash opens the door, only to find Bonnie, Lillie, Gladion, and Adam at the castle gate.
"Dad!" The Ketchum siblings are happy to see their father again, ever since their mother is killed, the only thing good for them is that their father is still alive.
"Hello, children. I hope we're not here for a bad time." Adam says.
"Not at all, Dad. Please come in." Ash says as they all enter the room.
"I guess your brother is not going to spy on you, Bonnie?" David asks.
"Yeah, since he dropped the key to his hotel room and was kicked out of it, he probably is trying to find where I am instead." Bonnie says. "I guess it was you're doing?"
"Mostly Alice, since she's the Ghost Type trainer." Ash says.
"I must say you have done a good job, they don't deserve to be in the same rooms as us." Lillie says, and the others are laughing as well.
I'll end the Chapter right here right now, as you can see, this is basically an interaction chapter, but Serena notices that Alice has a Manapahy and it might belong to May, what are the traitors going to do when they find out the Manaphy is the same one? I hope you like this chapter.