Chapter Thirty-Three: A Flashy Performance

"Stay close, okay? I don't think we'll run into any trouble, but I'd really rather not find out," Serena said as she and her Pokémon walked around the waiting area, looking for an official. She could always simply go directly to the organization, of course, but for some reason she didn't really understand herself, she wanted to talk to someone…closer to the participants first. Maybe she was just afraid that the organizers wouldn't believe her, but if that were the case, why would any official believe her?

Stop that, she sternly told herself, but it was difficult to calm down. Just the idea that someone would go this far to win a competition made her skin crawl, as did the very idea of being forced to do someone's bidding.

Didn't you choose being brainwashed over getting your face scratched the first time you ran into Malamar? a smug voice in her head asked.

As much as she wanted to deny it to herself, that was exactly what she'd done back then, but that was before she knew exactly how it felt. Not that it hurt, or anything, but essentially blinking and then opening her eyes somewhere else altogether after an unspecified amount of time had passed without having a clue what happened in between was an extremely uncomfortable thought. If Hadrian did this sort of thing to win a competition, what else did he use his Malamar's power for? She decided that it was probably better not to follow that train of thought any further and focused on her search again.

Fortunately, right at that moment she saw two crew members walking by.

"Excuse me," she said, raising her hand to draw their attention.

The crew members stopped and turned to look at her. "Yes?" the man on the left asked.

"I, um… There was an- an incident with another participant just now," Serena said hesitantly.

"What happened?" the man on the right asked.

"Well…the other Artisan — Hadrian — he…he tried to hypnotize me with his Malamar to make me forfeit the competition," Serena said.

The crew members exchanged a troubled look. "That's a fairly serious accusation," the man on the left said. "Were there any witnesses who can confirm it?"

("We can!") Pancham said.

Serena, though, slowly shook her head. While there had been other people around, none of them had been close enough to really see what was going on. The waiting room was brightly lit and Malamar would've had his back to the rest of the room, aside from being partially hidden from view by Hadrian himself. No one but her and her Pokémon would've known anything was wrong.

"I don't think so," she said softly. "Not unless there are cameras on every angle of the waiting room."

The crew member shook his head. "I'm afraid not. There are a few, but mostly near the offices and the entrances. The waiting room isn't a high priority area. But if no one can verify the story, then it's very difficult for us to take any action. We can't simply disqualify him on an accusation alone," he said.

Serena nodded. "I understand. But if you could at least keep something of an eye on him, I'd feel a lot better. I don't know if he's been trying this to other people as well."

"We'll see what we can do, but don't expect too much," the crew member on the right said.

With a last nod, they walked off, and Serena sighed.

("Why didn't you just say we saw it?") Pancham asked.

"You're my Pokémon. Obviously you'd side with me," Serena said. "I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open and hope we don't run into Hadrian anywhere for the rest of the day, but I have a really bad feeling about this."

It was uncomfortable for Serena to try and watch the other Artisans perform while constantly having to pay attention to everything going on around her just to make sure she wouldn't get blindsided by Hadrian. For all she knew, he'd just given up after his failed attempt and wouldn't even try to go for it a second time, but she just couldn't believe that given his attitude. So, for the rest of the Location Round, she was incredibly twitchy, jumping every time something near her moved.

"I'm just driving myself crazy," she groaned to herself after she'd nearly launched herself off the couch when Delphox shifted positions next to her.

("I could go and scare him a bit,") Misdreavus offered. ("I'd love to do it, you know.")

"That'll just get me disqualified," Serena said with a shake of her head. "If he starts acting crazy after I accused him, I'll be the first suspect, especially since everyone knows I have you with me."

("But this isn't good for your concentration either,") Delphox said concernedly.

"I'm not forfeiting," Serena said firmly. "Then I'd just end up giving him what he wants anyway. No. We're going to win this competition and we'll just rub it in that way. And if he comes after us outside of the competition…well, then he's all yours, and I bet Ash and his Pokémon won't be too happy either."

She leaned back with an unhappy sigh. "But I don't want to have to be this vindictive. I just want to make people smile with our performances."

She was silent for a moment, just staring at one of the tiles in the floor. "Okay," she said after a moment. "Here's what we'll do. We're going to have fun. Win or lose, we're going to have fun. That's why I'm doing this in the first place. Let's just relax, watch the last couple of Artisans, and then do our best in the Showoff Round, like we always do. We'll worry about Hadrian later."

To her own surprise, Serena managed to actually follow through on her own declaration fairly well. Though she still occasionally glanced over her shoulder, she became a lot more relaxed, and she was even able to discuss some potential strategies with her Pokémon while she was spectating the performances of her competitors.

She felt a spike of unease when she saw that, after the Location Round, she was ranked third and Hadrian second, meaning she'd have to face him in the semifinals, but other than that, she was able to remain calm quite easily.

("I want the semifinals,") Delphox said the moment she saw the ranking. ("If he tries anything during that match, I want to be able to fight.") Despite being a Fire-type, the tone in her voice was so icy that even Pancham didn't argue with her.

"You can have them," Serena said immediately.

Out of all her Pokémon, Delphox was probably the strongest, and even though Sylveon would be a better match for Malamar type-wise, Delphox was a better fighter.

Of course, before she could even think about the semifinals, Serena would first have to make it through the rounds of sixteen and eight, once again having a bye for the round of thirty-two. But whether it was because Serena had become stronger, her opponents were nervous about having to face her, or something else, Sylveon and Pancham faced no real problems in defeating their opponents, and then it was time for the match against Hadrian, who would, as expected, be using Malamar against her.

Serena kept her eyes firmly glued to the ground as they stood in the tunnel, waiting to be called in, wary of any last-minute tricks, but Hadrian seemed to be ignoring her entirely, and soon they were standing on opposite sides of the field, awaiting Nikolaos's call to start.

The moment he gave the command, Serena said, "Okay, Delphox, fire dance!"

Delphox began to move graciously across the field, trailing streaks of Mystical Fire which lingered beautifully in the air.

"Now add Psyshock!"

Not missing a single step, the back end of Delphox's wand began to glow purple, and she began drawing in the air with that as well. With her free paw, she held a Hidden Power orb in front of her face. While it certainly added to the mystique of the dance, the real reason was to make sure she wouldn't be able to see Malamar's hypnotic light, if he decided to use it.

"Psycho Cut and Night Slash, Malamar!"

Malamar's tentacles began to glow, the left one pink, the right one dark purple, and he fired off shimmering crescents into the air, cutting through the patterns Delphox was creating, all the while moving as if he were dancing a waltz.

"Now use Flash!"

Malamar twirled by and there was a flash of bright light –

"And time!"

Serena blinked. Already? But they'd barely begun…

But before she could even think about it clearly, an angry voice said, "That is enough!"

Sabrina had stood up from behind her judges' table and even from where Serena was standing, she could see the red glow in her eyes.

With a small flash of light, Sabrina teleported herself down onto the center of the battlefield, turning to face Hadrian and Malamar.

"Did you really believe I would not notice what you were doing?" Sabrina asked coldly.

Hadrian put on a surprised expression and looked around at the audience, as if to ask for support.

"I was merely performing to the best of my ability," he said.

"Do not lie to me, Hadrian," Sabrina said, and despite having her back turned, Serena knew that she was narrowing her eyes, and that they were still glowing. "Did you think I would not recognize Hypnosis for what it is? That 'Flash' your Malamar used, which then coincidentally led to Serena giving just the wrong orders to disrupt her performance?"

Of course! So that's why the round had felt so short. And after being so careful, too! Serena angrily clenched her fists, not necessarily at being defeated, but at letting herself get caught off guard at the last moment.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Miss Gym Leader," Hadrian said. He tried to sound calm, but Serena could hear the waver in his voice.

"Your lies will not save you. I recognized you for what you were the moment you came on-stage, and I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get you removed from the competition," Sabrina said. "I have warned my fellow judges, but they are more…forgiving…than I am. And while I lacked evidence, I had nothing. But you foolishly chose to have Malamar use Hypnosis on Serena, which is a grave breach of the rules. As a judge, I hereby disqualify you from this Exposition, and I will see to it you will not be allowed to enter any further Expositions for at least the rest of the season, and longer if I can manage it."

"What proof do you have?" Hadrian asked, angry now. "What proof is there that Serena didn't simply make mistakes of her own accord? Are you favoring her because she is currently the leading Artisan? That sounds like corruption to me!"

"Proof?" Sabrina asked, and to Serena's surprise her tone was amused.

A blue glow surrounded Sabrina's body and she levitated into the air.

"Surely, you know who I am. Surely, you know about the abilities I possess. I can sense Psychic energy as well as I can command it. If your Malamar truly used Flash, I would not have been able to sense anything. But very well, I shall give you a chance to prove yourself to me."

She lowered herself back down to the floor.

"I have seen your Malamar using Psybeam earlier. Combined with Night Slash, Psycho Cut, and 'Flash', that's four. Command your Malamar to use Flash on me, right now. If it is genuine, then I will rescind your disqualification. If not…"

She let the threat hang, but Serena felt her blood run cold. Didn't Sabrina realize the danger? If she willingly looked at Malamar's light, then surely, she'd be hypnotized into saying that everything was fine.

Judging by Hadrian's renewed confident expression, he was thinking along the same lines. "That's generous of you, Miss Gym Leader. I'll happily comply," he said.

Malamar floated forwards and Sabrina stared him down.

"Flash, Malamar," Hadrian said, and Serena quickly looked at the ground. The glow dimmed and Serena looked up again, to see Sabrina still standing in the same position. Had she been hypnotized?

"You are a fool, Hadrian," Sabrina said scathingly. "Your Malamar cannot hope to control me. My mind is too powerful for such a paltry attempt at domination."

Hadrian took a step back, a clear look of alarm on his face, and Malamar too seemed shocked at seeing his powers fail.

"I will have to turn you over to the authorities for assaulting a Gym Leader, in addition to your opponent…but I think you were aware of that possibility, weren't you? You brought your Dark-types so that I would not be able to restrain them with my powers."

Now, Sabrina momentarily glanced over her shoulder at Serena, and rather than glowing red, they were now dark blue. She gave Serena a small smile and then turned to face Hadrian again, who still stood frozen as if he'd been bolted to the ground.

"But your opponent's Location Round gave me the solution I sought. For who better to deal with rowdy Dark-types than well-trained Fighting-types?"

As if on cue, the doors on Hadrian's side of the arena opened, and Officer Jenny walked in, followed by Terri, a Machamp, a Hitmonlee, and a Hitmonchan.

"It's almost as if I'm…psychic, isn't it?" Sabrina asked Hadrian, and to Serena's immense surprise, she saw Sabrina briefly chuckling at her own joke.

"What…but…you can't just…" Hadrian sputtered.

"I'm afraid she can, Mr. Hadrian," Officer Jenny said sternly.

"Recall Malamar and hand his Poké Ball over to me," Sabrina ordered, her voice now cold again. "I will see to it that he is returned to you, but I dare not leave him with you while there is no guarantee he won't help you escape custody."

Hadrian seemed to be desperately looking for a way out, but when it clear there wasn't one, he finally relented. He pulled out Malamar's Poké Ball, recalled him, and handed the ball over to Sabrina, after which he was escorted away by Officer Jenny, flanked by Terri and her Pokémon.

Sabrina now approached Serena, who felt a bit nervous to be staring down someone so powerful even without the aid of her Pokémon. At least her eyes weren't glowing anymore.

"Are you okay?" Sabrina asked, and all the ice was gone from her voice.

"Y-yeah, I think so," Serena said. "I, um…thanks. For…for dealing with him," she added awkwardly.

Sabrina shook her head. "It was your appeal for friendship that showed me the solution to my conundrum. I could see that Hadrian would cause problems, both because of my precognition and because of how he acted, but I also foresaw that he would be hard to stop, even for me and my Pokémon. When you showed me the solution…I knew things would end well, for the time being. Sadly, I do have some bad news."

She took a step back and addressed the audience as well when she continued. "Due to the nature of Hadrian's misdeeds, I cannot guarantee that he has not manipulated events behind the scenes, leading to the early losses of Artisans who might otherwise have gone on to perform well. As the integrity of the Exposition itself has been tarnished by these events…I must ask Nikolaos to declare the competition invalid. I see no other way to guarantee a fair result."

Serena was taken aback by the weight of the decision, but she couldn't entirely disagree with Sabrina either. Who knew how many people Malamar had hypnotized?

The crowd murmured frantically, clearly also surprised by Sabrina's decision.

"It pains me to hear the request," Nikolaos said, "but I see merit in it. This is not the way anyone in the organization wants to see an Exposition go, and before the Celadon City Exposition, we will be looking into measures that can prevent something like this from happening again. We will keep all Artisans informed of that as we go forward, but this particular Exposition…will be declared a no contest."

The whispers from the crowd now became even louder, and there was even some booing.

"I realize this is not a welcome announcement to hear," Nikolaos said over the noise, "but our hands are tied on the matter. We value honesty and integrity, and if those principles are compromised, we cannot in good conscience declare a winner. With this decision, that also means we come to an abrupt and unwelcome end to this Exposition. In spite of everything, we do hope to see you again at a future event. Good day to you all."

Still awash with muttering, the crowd began to file out, and Sabrina turned to Serena once more.

"It was good to meet you, Serena," she said, "though I wish the circumstances had been better. Still, I look forward to seeing you again soon, when Ash challenges me once more."

She smiled, and Serena was surprised to see that it was an excited, happy smile. "My precognition has not shown me how the battle will end. I seem to be subconsciously preventing myself from finding out, because I'm looking forward to it. He has grown strong, and we have never properly battled. I owe him that. Tell him that I will be waiting."

With that, she teleported away, leaving Serena and Delphox on the arena floor alone.

Giovanni scanned the news reports and the various social media channels, trying to find out all he could about the events that had taken place at the Exposition in Saffron City that day, and how Gym Leader Sabrina had stepped in to personally handle the situation. He knew her, of course, for they had both been Gym Leaders at one time. Her powers were formidable, and the person herself unapproachable. Oh, what a fantastic subject she would have made, but for the time being, she remained out of reach. It didn't matter. The various snippets of information now displayed on the monitors showed that there might be a valuable subject in Saffron City yet…

First off, the names Serena and Sabrina are irritatingly similar, and I switched them up a bunch of times while writing. I think they're all fixed, but no promises. Then, the 'Pokémon only know four moves' thing. The anime seems to treat this as canon, where any given Pokémon only knows four moves at a time, but I genuinely don't know if they can only have four. In this fic, I'm choosing to say it's just the limit. Oh, and as to how Sabrina warned Terri and Officer Jenny…she sent her Pokémon out to them and they explained the situation telepathically. It didn't matter enough to the story to add it in, so I'm just putting it here in case anyone was curious.

Tomorrow, I've got an end-of-season barbecue at my fencing club, so most likely no chapter then. I'll be back on Saturday, so see you then!