Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter One-hundred and seventy-seven: Dendemille Dilemma

The heroes finally arrived in Dendemille Town, where Serena was taking in the sights as she walked around with Braixen and Pancham. "I can only assume that you plan to win this time around, Serena?" Kenny asked, getting Serena and her Pokémon to turn around and face the rest of the group.

Serena nodded in the affirmative, gave a single nod. "Oh yeah, I'm in it to win it!"

"That's the spirit, Serena!" Ash said, "Always give it your all and never give up!" Serena wasvery clearly flustered from Ash's words of encouragement, and Ash was rather oblivious to Serena getting embarrassed.

As Bonnie snickered over Ash being oblivious, Dawn got walked up to Serena. "...You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, Serena," Dawn said, "Not to mention brave. I can't really bring myself up to doing much in the ways of Pokémon Showcases."

"Didn't you once do a contest back in Sinnoh?" Serena asked.

"Yes and it was more nerve wracking for me than any battle I have ever had," Dawn replied, "Which is part of why I prefer straight up battles."

Trip smirked in amusement. "That's Dawn for you. Just give her an opponent she can point at, tell her Pokémon to sic 'em, and she'll be happy."

Dawn rolled her eyes at her foster brother busting her chops like that. "Serena, you got this," Dawn said, "Especially if you follow some advice that I'd like to offer, if you're willing to hear out someone whose path is different than yours."

Serena arched a wry eyebrow pf piqued curiosity. "What's that?"

"Learn from past mistakes," Dawn said, "Not just yours, but also those of others. That way, you can better avoid them."

"That does sound like sound advice," Clemont remarked, "I got similar advice back when I still was attending the academy." Turning to look at Serena, Clemont said, "I say that you ought to listen to Dawn on this one."

Serena gave a single nod. "Alright, I wi-"

"Serena, it is you!"

Serena was cut off when she and the others heard the voice of Miette call out, then they saw her come over and throw her arms around Serena in a hug. "Ooh, I like what you did with your hair," Miette said, "The shorter look is cute!" Turning to look at Dawn, Miette said, "What do you say, Champion Dawn? You wanna go for shorter hair like us?"

"It suits you and Serena, sure," Dawn replied, "But I prefer to keep my hair long, thank you."

"Are you sure?" Miette said, "If you want, I could give you a hairc-"

"Come at me with anything that can cut my hair," Dawn interrupted, her tone and expression deathly serious, "And I will have Tsukune use Spacial Rend directly on you."

Clemont arched a wry eyebrow at Dawn. "You... you didn't have to threaten her, Dawn."

"Actually... I wouldn't of backed off otherwise, now that I think about it," Miette admitted, "Yeah, hair is serious business for girls."

"Yeah big brother," Bonnie said, "Girls take their hair very seriously, I'll have you know!"

Turning to look at Miette, Ash said, "I take it you're here for the Pokémon Showcase as well, Miette?"

Miette gave a thumbs up to Ash in response. "You know it! I just hope that girl who won the Showcase in Coumarine City doesn't show up. I don't think I'd stand a chance if I'm in her round one bracket, given that she has a friggin' shiny Raichu."

"Well let's just hope that Ochaco doesn't show up here," Kenny said, "Or if she does, she won't wow as much as she did with her shiny Raichu during the Coumarine City Showcase because people have seen it before."

Serena nodded in agreement with Kenny; although she competed against her in an event where looking good was key, Serena still didn't wanna have to tango with Ochaco again if she could help it. Serena failed to make it past round one in the Coumarine City more or less because Ochaco had used a shiny Pokémon. If that girl who studied fossil Pokémon showed up here, Serena knew she'd be hard pressed to trump her, even if the wow factor of Ochaco's shiny Raichu wore off and Ochaco would have to try harder to wow the audience.

But Serena refused to give up on her quest to earn the three Princess Keys that she needed to qualify for the Master Class showcase. She, Braixen, and Pancham were all ready to give it their all.

At the registration counter in the Showcase hall, Serena registered first, followed by Miette who followed along with the heroes. "It would seem you and I have to face off against one another once again, Serena," Miette said, "I hope you're ready, for that Princess Key shall be mine!"

Serena offered an amused smirk that showed she was accepting Miette's challenge. "Bring it on, Miette. I still have to-"

"Oh, you're that one girl from my round one back in the Coumarine City Showcase."

Serena and Miette both stopped short as they and the other heroes turned to see Ochaco walking up, followed by her Amaura. "Ochaco!" Serena said, alarm bells instantly going off in her head, "You're here for the Dendemille Town Showcase, I take it?"

Nodding once, Ochaco said, "You know it! I heard that Performers can enter with two Pokémon, so I intend to milk that for all it's worth."

"Serena has been practicing ever since you beat her back in Coumarine City," Bonnie said, "Don't expect things to go as easily for you as they did last time around."

"I've been practicing as well," Ochaco said, "And I believe that my Pokémon and I are ready." Ochaco then made her way and registered for the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase. Turning to look at Serena and Miette, Ochaco said, "Good luck to you girls."

After Ochaco left with Amaura following her, Serena let out a troubled sigh when Ochaco was out of earshot. "I'm in deep trouble if she whips her Raichu out."

Clapping her hands together, Miette said, "I'll be in trouble as well if that happens. Hence why I intend to practice my butt off."

"I intend to do that as well! I still have Princess Keys to win!"

Everyone turned in surprise when they heard Shauna call out, and sure enough Shauna came running in, with Trevor and Tierno following along behind her. "That girl with the shiny Raichu is the girl to beat!" Shauna said, "So I intend to do all in my power to trump her!"

Serena chuckled in amusement. "So do I, Shauna, so do I."

"Ah, Serena!" Tierno said, "Such confidence from so lovely a girl as you is truly inspiring!"

Serena laughed a bit in mildly cringing embarrassment, a bit put off by Tierno's blatant flirting with her. As Serena took a step back from Shauna's group, Dawn walked up to them. "Well I think it's real nice of you to have such confidence in Serena," Dawn remarked to Tierno, "But then again you seem to be overflowing with all of that confidence, so I guess you feel the need to spread the wealth so to speak."

Smirking in amusement, Tierno replied, "Oh yeah, you know me! Always popping fresh!"

Shauna went on ahead and registered for the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase, and after she was done, the heroes and their friends all took off so that Serena, Miette, and Shauna could practice. The girls had the fight of the century ahead of them, so they needed to practice and give it their all if they were to even have a shot at scoring a win against Ochaco and her shiny Raichu. They even worked with one another despite how it'd be counter intuitive as they would be competing against one another in the Showcase as well.

A sign of just how important it was to them that any of them at all would be able to score a point against Ochaco.

The next day, the heroes aside from Serena were seated in the audience to watch the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase. Sitting with them where their friends aside from the ones competing in the Showcase. "I have full confidence in Serena's ability to win here," Ash remarked, "There's no way that she'll be going down. Not with how much she, Miette, and Shauna had practiced yesterday."

"Ooh, I just know Serena will do well!" Tierno cheered, "She's really awesome!"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Uhh, Serena is a friend sure, but aren't we closer to Shauna, meaning it'd make more sense for us to cheer for her?"

As the Showcase started, Monsieur Pierre began the proceedings, and to the surprise of the heroes and their friends in the audience, Pierre said that the first round will be a Poké Puff bake off. "That's Serena's specialty," Bonnie said, "And the score is based more on appearance and taste of Poké Puffs as opposed to how much wow factor a competing Pokémon has! Even if Serena faced Ochaco in this round, it's the Poké Puffs that will matter and not if a Pokémon is shiny or not!"

Trip nodded once in agreement. "Serena does actually have a chance to make it past round one, yes."

The Showcase began, and the first group competing in round one saw Miette against two other random girls; one had a pair consisting of Plusle and Minun, and the other had a Swanna. Miette entered with her Slurpuff who, thanks to its superior sense of smell and taste, was able to help pick out the very best Poké Puff ingredients for Miette to use. As a result, Miette ended up winning her bracket, ensuring that she'd go on to round two. This drew cheers from the audience, particularly from the heroes and their friends with them.

In the round one bracket after that, the heroes and their friends were surprised to see that Shauna was up against Nini, the rude and oblivious girl who left a bad impression with the heroes the last time she saw them, and also Ochaco, the fossil Pokémon researcher girl. Shauna was using her Ivysaur, which must have evolved from her Bulbasaur, and a Flabébé as her cooking assistants. Nini was using her Smoochum and Gothita as her cooking assistants. As for Ochaco, one of the Pokémon she had helping her was her shiny Raichu.

The other one? A shiny Lopunny.

The audience was surprised as well as excited to see one of the competing Performers using an all shiny Pokémon team. As for the heroes and their friends in the audience, they were instantly worried. "Ochaco also owns a shiny Lopunny?!" Trevor said, "Yeah, if Ochaco makes it past this round, the other competing Performers are in really deep trouble."

"Well then let's hope that Shauna wins because her cooking's the best," Kenny said, "Because Ochaco is overpowered in the Showcase scene, and Nini is a jerk who is oblivious to her faults and the faults of her Pokémon." The others all nodded in agreement with Kenny.

So it came to their worried surprise when Ochaco's Poké Puffs were the best in that round; as a side note, Nini's apparently were either really bad or they triggered an allergic reaction in one of the judges' Pokémon, because a judge's Furfrou threw up after eating a Poké Puff made by Nini. Kenny in the audience pointed and laughed at Nini's humiliation, not that anyone else noticed what Kenny was doing, aside from his friends who sat near and around him.

Even without the fact that Ochaco making it past round one with two shiny Pokémon, Serena was nervous as all get out. With Braixen and Pancham helping her, Serena put her all into her baking of Poké Puffs. When the baking was done, Serena was worried about how well she did. As such, it came as an immense relief to her when she was judged to have the best Poké Puffs in her bracket, allowing her to advance to the second round. Serena was happy and excited to have made it past round one, but she knew that the next hurdle ahead of her would put her to the test.

...

The next round was the freestyle performance round. Miette was the first Performer to go and, with Slurpuff and Meowstic by her side, she put on a rather amazing and dazzling performance that wowed the audience. After that, Ochaco came up with her shiny Raichu and shiny Lopunny. Similar to Serena wearing the kimono style dress she got in Laverre City, Ochaco wore a kimono style dress that had the same archaeologist theme as her dress from the Coumarine City Showcase. Ochaco ended up putting on a similarly as dazzling performance, highlighted by how both of the Pokémon she used were shinies.

After Ochaco had gone, it was Serena's turn. Stilling her pounding heart as much as she could, Serena went out and, with Braixen and Pancham, put on the performance of their lives, striking every move flawlessly, and finishing off with a sparkling burst of fireworks that came from Braixen using Flamethrower as Pancham's Stone Edge burst into it. The audience was certainly impressed, and the rest of the heroes and their friends (now including Shauna as she was eliminated) cheered loudly for Serena, cheering the loudest out of anyone in the audience although their cheering was lost in the sea of cheers from the audience as a whole.

Eventually, the remaining Performers who made it past round one were able to have their goes, and when the last performance happened, the members of the audience were able to cast their votes for which Performer they liked the best. Naturally, the rest of the heroes and their friends all voted for Serena, which netted a good pocket of votes for Serena to hopefully give her the edge that she needed to win. As the votes were all coming in, Serena was nervous as all get out, hoping that she would be able to overcome what odds she's facing here and secure her first Princess Key, putting her one step closer to her goals.

Serena thought of what all support she got from her friends. She remembered the challenges she faced along the way, particularly her first Showcase back in Coumarine City, as well as what all challenges she was with the rest of the heroes for, such as fending off Team Scorn. Serena shut her eyes tight, was even silently praying that she would see her first win here. The votes were all in, and they were being tallied up; Serena could feel her heartbeat in her ears as she nervously waited for all of the votes to be tallied up. A drum roll was played to build suspense as Pierre cleared his throat to announce the Showcase's winner.

"And the winner," Pierre announced to the audience, "Of the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase is... Ochaco! Let's hear it for Ochaco and her Raichu and Lopunny everybody!"

Although the audience as a whole cheered for Ochaco's win here, the heroes and their friends were disappointed that Serena failed yet again to earn a Princess Key. Looking to the stage, Dawn could tell that all of the Performers aside from the victorious Ochaco (given that Ochaco won) were putting on brave faces but were actually crushed that they lost. Dawn was also able to tell that Serena in particular was devastated; Dawn was also surprised, given that she remembered enough of the XY anime from her previous life to know that Serena originally WON the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase, so Serena losing here came as kind of a surprise to Dawn.

...But that's not important. Right now, the heroes and their friends knew that Serena needed to be comforted, given that this Showcase marks two losses, and in a row no less, for Serena. Dawn was also curious as to exactly how much Ochaco won the Showcase by in the voting department; it was clear that Ochaco's winning here was, same as her win in the Coumarine City Pokémon Showcase, reliant at least somewhat on the wow factor that using shiny Pokémon, which are incredibly rare, came with. Maybe that would answer some blanks for Dawn, as well as the other heroes. Maybe even Serena will get some answers as well.

...

The rest of the heroes sat with a clearly depressed Serena in the lobby of the local Pokémon Center, along with Miette, Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno. As they were trying to reassure Serena and make her feel better about her loss in the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase, Dawn came walking into the Pokémon Center and got the attention of the others. "Well, I was able to get some answers," Dawn said.

Turning to look at Dawn, Kenny remarked, "So tell me, my main man. How were the votes divvied up?"

Sighing, Dawn said, "A little over half of the total number of votes during the second round all went to Ochaco," Dawn replied, drawing surprised looks out of the rest of the group, "Silver lining, Serena got the second highest number of votes." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn went on, "I suspect that Serena and the others would of stood a much fairer chance of winning the Showcase were it not for Ochaco's generous use of shiny Pokémon."

Bonnie had an unamused pouting look on her face. "If using shiny Pokémon gives that much of an edge in Pokémon Showcases, then their use in Pokémon Showcases ought to be banned because of it. I mean, shiny Pokémon are super rare and hard to find, so those lucky enough to have them will be at an advantage that's unfair for the others competing in Showcases who aren't as lucky."

"Unfortunately," Trip said, "There's nothing in the rules that bans the use of shiny Pokémon in Showcases."

Dawn nodded along in understanding as she turned her attention back to where Serena was sulking. Serena's loss here came as a surprise to Dawn as well, and it put Serena's odds of getting into the Master Class Showcase into peril. Hopefully, Serena losing here means that she'll win a Showcase she normally would have lost; there's still a good number of Showcases to Dawn's memory from the XY anime in her previous life before the Master Class Showcase, so Serena still had a shot of winning the three Princess Keys that she needed in order to qualify.

Dawn, as well as the rest of the heroes, had to hold out hope that Serena will make it in time.

Much later, the heroes continued with their journey to Anistar City. Along the way, they helped out with a hotel that involved some time traveling shenanigans (which was made streamlined by Trip having Deelia helping out), stopped by a festival celebrating Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist where Dawn figured Jessie would be evolving her Pumpkaboo into Gourgeist and trade back to get Gourgeist back (none of the heroes actually saw it but Dawn figured it's where Jessie would evolve Pumpkaboo into Gourgeist), traveled over Kalos Route 17 on the backs of Deelia, Tsukune, and Black to avoid having to pay to rent Mamoswines to travel through, see Clemont's Chespin and Bunnelby off on an errand, and replace Serena's Braixen's stick wand when it broke.

The next adventure, however, would see Ash gain a considerable boon to the power he's able to field in Kalos...

...

The heroes, after much adventures with one seeing Kenny almost get into some really big trouble, finally made it to Mt. Molteau, which is an active volcano. As they looked around, they heard a noise coming out from one side, and to their surprise it was a Charmeleon, stepping out from behind some bushes. Pikachu and Dedenne both seemingly recognized the Charmeleon and ran out to greet it, but Charmeleon retaliated by using Flamethrower. "Chi-Chi, use Brick Break on Charmeleon!" Dawn said as she sent her named Infernape out.

Before Charmeleon could ready another attack, Chi-Chi rushed it and struck it hard on the head with Brick Break, knocking it out. After Charmeleon collapsed due to being out of it, Trevor came out into the clearing. "Hey! Why did you knock out my Charmeleon?" Trevor asked as he came running over.

Pointing at Trevor's Charmeleon, Dawn snapped, "It attacked us unprovoked!" Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn scowled, "Care to explain?"

Being told that his Charmeleon had been the one to instigate things, Trevor relented with a resigned sigh. "...Yeah, I guess that I do owe an explanation."

...

"The legendary Pokémon Moltres is here?"

Trevor nodded in the affirmative to the surprised reactions of the heroes. "My Charmeleon, having evolved from my Charmander, had earned me the badge over at the Santalune city gym more or less single-handedly. When we came here to Mt. Molteau to do some sight seeing and we heard about the sighting of Moltres around the area, Charmeleon decided that it wanted to challenge Moltres, feeling confident due to the aforementioned win."

"Let me guess," Kenny said, "You guys encountered Moltres but it kicked Charmeleon's butt."

Gently shaking his head, Trevor replied, "Actually, we haven't encountered Moltres yet. Charmeleon's just getting impatient with waiting."

Scowling in annoyance, Serena said, "Still doesn't excuse Charmeleon for attacking us unprovoked." Looking over at were everyone's Pokémon (aside from the legendary dragons of the reborn trainers) were eating, a revitalized Charmeleon was scowling a bit, only to be scowled back at by Chi-Chi, making Charmeleon zip it. Serena and the others turned back to look at Trevor. "Seriously, we could have gotten hurt, and it's solely because your Charmeleon is impatient?"

Trevor was about to speak up, but he was cut off when his Charmeleon cried out in angered annoyance and spewed a Flamethrower at Dedenne, making it cry out in alarm and scramble to get away. This prompted Chi-Chi to whack Charmeleon in the side of its head with Thunder Punch, sending it flying into some nearby rocks that broke when Charmeleon was thrown into them. Charmeleon landed laying on the ground out of it, and Chi-Chi snarled angrily at Charmeleon. "See?" Serena said, "Your Charmeleon attacked Dedenne for no good reason!"

"Actually," Bonnie said, "I saw Clemont's Chespin steal food from Charmeleon while it wasn't looking and then used Dedenne as a fallguy when Charmeleon noticed that some of its food was missing. So all of this is ultimately Chespin's fault."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Clemont said, "I seriously need to speak to Chespin about-"

"MOL!"

Clemont was cut off when he and the others heard a loud cry sound out from nowhere. Looking around, Dawn saw that some of the smaller fragments of rock from the broken rock Charmeleon had been thrown into fell into a volcano pit. A few more fell in, and a few seconds later another loud cry of, "MOL!" sounded out, this time coming more from the pit the rocks fell into. A burst of flame came roaring out from the volcano, and after the heroes and Trevor lowered their arms when they raised them to cover their faces, they were all surprised with what they were seeing.

Moltres, the legendary Pokémon, flying in place while looking down at the heroes. As Trevor took his camera out to take pictures, Moltres spotted where the defeated Charmeleon laid on the ground. Moltres, to the worry of the heroes and especially Trevor, then took aim at Charmeleon with Ancient Power. "Feltchinder, get Charmeleon out of there!" Ash called out.

Flying in swiftly, Feltchinder grabbed Charmeleon by the arm and pulled it away, rushing out just in time to avoid either of them getting hit by Moltres's Ancient Power attack. As Trevor recalled his fainted Charmeleon, Moltres cried out loudly at the heroes and their Pokémon. Fletchinder cried right back at Moltres, then to the wondered surprise of the heroes, Feltchinder began evolving. It glowed bright white, its form shifted and grew. When the glowing faded and the form growing and shifting was done, Ash's Feltchinder had evolved into Talonflame.

"Ash's Feltchinder had evolved into Talonflame!" Trip said, "Oh man, that is awesome!"

Ash saw that Talonflame was a bit shaky and panting hard. "...You're rattled by the close call you just had with almost getting hit by Moltres, huh?" Ash asked, drawing an affirmative nod out of Talonflame. Ash gave his Pokémon an understanding, reassuring smile. "...Don't worry, Talonflame. The rest of us can take it from here." Pointing forward, Ash called out, "Goodra, use Rain Dance! Braviary, use Esper Wing on Moltres!"

The other heroes and Trevor were surprised by how Ash was suddenly and now actively trying to challenge Moltres. Even so, his Pokémon obeyed. Goodra first used Rain Dance to make it rain, successfully summoning a heavy rainfall that would put a dampener on Moltres's fire attacks. Braviary, an alpha sized Hisuian variant of the Braviary species, then made its wings glow with psychic power before casting some crescent shaped projectiles at Moltres. The legendary bird of fire retaliated by using Flamethrower to counter Esper Wing, but to Moltres's piqued interest and mild surprise, Flamethrower wasn't as strong as it usually looked.

Even so, Flamethrower exploded into Esper Wing, making an explosion that distracted Moltres. Due to that explosion, Moltres didn't hear Ash call out, "Braviary, use Shadow Ball! Goodra, use Dragon Breath!" Moltres barely saw that Braviary now flew above it in the sky and cast Shadow Ball at it, striking it and luckily scoring a drop on Moltres's special defense. Then came in Goodra's Dragon Breath which, in addition to hitting harder than it normally would have thanks to Braviary's Shadow Ball scoring a special defense drop on Moltres, managed to paralyze Moltres.

The paralysis forced Moltres to land on the ground, although it could still go. Moltres was able to fight through the paralysis and hit Goodra with Flamethrower. However, Goodra being a dragon which resists fire attacks like Flamethrower, along with how it was raining which further curbed fire's bite, meant that Goodra wasn't too bothered by the attack. But even with those mitigating factors, Moltres's Flamethrower still stung; a testament to the power of legendary Pokémon. Pointing forward, Ash said, "Braviary, use Shadow Ball! Goodra, use Dragon Pulse!"

The two Pokémon fired their respective attacks at Moltres, and it was now starting to get a little winded from the battle. Moltres tried attacking, but paralysis kicked in and kept it from proceeding. "Is..." Trevor said, looking on as if awe-struck, "...Is Ash actually going toe to toe with a legendary Pokémon...?"

Serena, although she looked surprised as well, couldn't help but smirk. "That's Ash for you. He really is the best."

Ash then ordered another volley of Shadow Ball and Dragon Pulse on Moltres, with Braviary's Shadow Ball Scoring another special defense drop before Moltres took a more stinging Dragon Pulse from Goodra. Moltres was still in it, and it was able to use Air Slash which it threw right at Braviary. The alpha Hisuian Pokémon took a hard and heavy hit, but it was still in the game albeit barely just. Ash called for another volley of Shadow Ball and Dragon Pulse, and afterwards Moltres let out a loud and clearly exhausted cry, showing that it was getting very winded.

But a very winded legendary Pokémon was STILL a legendary Pokémon; Moltres was able to fight through paralysis and hit Braviary with Ancient Power, knocking it out and forcing Ash to recall it. "Pikachu, you ready?" Ash asked, drawing an affirmative cry from Pikachu who ran out to help Goodra deal with Moltres. "Pikachu," Ash said, "Use Thunderbolt! Goodra, use Dragon Pulse!" The two attacks were fired at Moltres and hit it hard; Thunderbolt was especially stinging given it was super effective. Moltres tried taking aim at Pikachu, but paralysis kicked in and kept the legendary bird from attacking.

After that, Ash saw that the rain had stopped. "Goodra, use Rain Dance!" Ash called out, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu fired another Thunderbolt at Moltres while Goodra summoned another rainstorm again. Thanks to that rain plus Goodra's resistance to fire due to being a dragon, Moltres's Flamethrower didn't do too much, but even so Goodra was getting near its limit. Again, the awesome power of legendary Pokémon shone through in the heat (both metaphorical and literal) of battle. Ash then called for Pikachu and Goodra to use Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse again, hitting the legendary bird of fire with another volley of attacks.

This time, and to the surprise of the heroes, Moltres actually collapsed from exhaustion, unable to continue fighting. It had one tired eye open, but it clearly couldn't get back up. "He... he did it," Clemont said, "Ash, he... he actually defeated a legendary Pokémon." Serena, Bonnie, and Trevor were similarly as gobsmacked. As for the reborn trainers, they weren't as shocked as the others but they were still surprised and impressed; they knew Ash would eventually get to a powerful point, but they'd not consider the possibility that Ash would make such a stride this soon.

"...Now that Ash had gotten Moltres to settle down," Trevor said, "We can try explaining things to-"

"Go Poké Ball!" Ash called out, cutting Trevor off and making him and the others see that Ash was throwing a poké ball at Moltres with the clear intent to try capturing it. The poké ball flew at Moltres, took it inside, then fell lightly to the ground with a slight clink. As the poké ball shook, Dawn was taking out one of the spare Master Balls she got at the Kalos Poké Ball Factory, intending to give it to Ash in the very highly likely event the standard red and white poké ball he had used failed and Moltres burst out from it. With a Master Ball, Ash would be guaranteed to-

*click*

Dawn, slowly putting the spare Master Ball she got out away, looked on in shocked and stunned surprise. The reason why Dawn acted slowly in putting the Master Ball away was because she was shocked; but then again, anyone back in Dawn's previous life would be shocked by someone successfully capturing a legendary Pokémon with just a standard poké ball. Which is what Ash just did, as he successfully caught Moltres. Pointing right at Ash, Trevor said, "Did Ash just capture Moltres? Did Ash seriously just catch a legendary Pokémon?"

After the kerfuffle at Mt. Molteau, the heroes were seeing Trevor off. "Hey Trevor, can you do me a favor?" Ash began, "Can you keep word of me capturing Moltres a secret?"

Looking confused, Bonnie said, "You don't wanna show off how you caught a legendary Pokémon, Ash?"

"I'm... still trying to process how I actually caught it," Ash explained, "Also, I wanna try working with it and getting it used to fighting alongside the rest of my Pokémon. We also need to explain to Moltres that we didn't mean to disturb it."

Gesturing to Ash, Kenny went on, "Plus, I bet you wanna keep Moltres a secret so that you can use it as something of a secret weapon in the Lumiose Conference." Ash nodded once in confirmation, saying he got the idea from Ideku.

Nodding once in agreement, Trevor said, "Yeah, my lips are sealed. Take good care of Moltres, Ash." The heroes then parted from Trevor on good terms. Ash, in addition to wanting to work with Moltres, also wanted to work with Talonflame since it had evolved from Feltchinder earlier. Bonnie asked if Ash would use Moltres in any of the remaining gyms in Kalos, but Ash said no. As he had said before, Ash wanted to work with Moltres first, and didn't believe using Moltres against either of the last two gyms he needed to beat for badges so he could qualify for the Lumiose Conference would be fair.

...But Ash DID say he'd strongly consider using Moltres on Team Scorn.

END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN

Author's notes;

This chapter sees Serena's second Pokémon Showcase, but in a surprising twist Serena loses there. This struck Dawn as odd, considering that Serena won instead in the anime in her (Dawn's) previous life. It clearly had to do with Ochaco the fossil Pokémon research girl, given she entered with her shiny Raichu AND a shiny Lopunny, making the most of the wow factor using multiple shinies can gather. Serena has a whole lot on her plate now, as she'll have to work double time if she wants to have a shot at qualifying for the Master Rank Showcase.

Then the heroes go to Mt. Molteau and encounter Trevor and his temperamental Charmeleon, only for their group to run afoul of the legendary Pokémon Moltres due to some rocks falling into its pit at the volcano when Charmeleon was thrown into a large rock and the rock broke and fell in piece by piece. Ash had Feltchinder rush in to save Charmeleon, and Feltchinder evolved into Talonflame in the process. However, Ash surprises everyone by attempting to capture Moltres after he wore it out, and what's more Ash succeeded. Ash now has some VERY serious firepower in his corner now, and it'll play a big role later.

Anyway, the next chapter will see some filler episodes skipped before Serena not only makes an important capture of her own, but also learns of a Pokémon Showcase that will be held in Anistar City. The heroes will also reach Anistar City, where they'll run into Tierno and Shauna again. Things are going to be getting heated, so don't go adjusting your set.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Germany (male Garchomp), Scorpion (male Drapion), Freed (male Noibat), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Hovernyan (male Meowstic), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Fourze (male Electivire), HedonismBot (Magnezone), Myde (male Empoleon), Tsunade (female Gastrodon; east sea), Deelia (Dialga), Todoroki (male Goodra; alpha; Hisuian)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Moltres (gender unknown), Goodra (male), Frogadier (male), Talonflame (male), Braviary (male; alpha; Hisuian)