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 eighty-two: Eevee Enigma
The heroes, after much traveling, made it to Terminus Cave. They headed inside, with light provided by the combined efforts of Serena's Braixen using her fire as a light, Clemont using one of his Clemontic gear inventions for more light after Godzilla looked at it and decided it wouldn't go off randomly, and Dawn calling Chi-Chi out; the named Infernape didn't have to do anything, as her crown of fire provided ample light. Further assisting the heroes as they made their way were Ash's Noibat and Dawn's named Noibat Freed, both using echolocation to help the group get a hang on their bearings. Clemont even called out his Luxray to use its x-ray vision to help.
Within short order, the group soon reached the deepest part of Terminus Cave, but just before they entered the lowest level, Kenny who was leading the group suddenly yelled for Clemont to have Bonnie hang back. The hint of alarmed panic in Kenny's tone made it clear that this wasn't Kenny's usual brand of eccentricness, so Clemont obeyed and told Bonnie to hang back and not enter the deepest room. Kenny, pulling out his (oversized) pocketknife, flipped the knife open and had Dawn and Trip both follow him in, asking for Ash, Serena, and Clemont to hang back first. When the reborn trainers got into the deepest room enough, Dawn and Trip saw why Kenny was being so panicked.
Laying on the ground in the deepest room of Terminus Cave was a dead human body. With the light provided by Chi-Chi's crown of fire, Dawn was able to visually identify the deceased as a female Team Flare Admin; a standard one and not one of the special ones. The Team Flare Admin's throat was slashed, and a pool of blood had formed around the body, mostly along the front. Dawn, due to a knowledge on bladed weapons she had in her previous life, was able to tell that the throat slash was NOT the work of a human using a bladed weapon; the wound looked more like a Pokémon had used Slash on the female Team Flare Admin to inflict the fatal wound.
The reborn trainers, with Kenny leading the way, led the rest of the group out of Terminus Cave, with Kenny grimly explaining what he, Dawn, and Trip saw. Predictably, Bonnie was the most freaked, with Serena a very close second. Ash and Clemont, though not as freaked, were still cringing very clearly. Once the group got out of the cave, Dawn made a call to the authorities. A little less than an hour later, the authorities came. The reborn trainers led the authorities down where they found the body, which was still there, and allowed the authorities to take things from there. Despite the less than stellar way it turned out, the heroes did get in their visit to Terminus Cave on the way to Snowbelle City.
There was then a relief for the group when they took a picnic break. During said break, they group came upon a wild Breloom who was starting business with Ash's Noibat for one reason or another. As it turned out, Breloom was upset Noibat had accidentally ruined a bunch of flowers Breloom prepared for a Floette, and to make the matter worse, that very same Floette struck up a friendship with both Ash's Noibat and Dawn's named Noibat Freed. Seeing the situation for what it was, Dawn called for the whole group to settle down. The matter was resolved when Clemont offered to let both Breloom and Floette come with him, letting them be together.
Both Breloom and Floette agreed and Clemont caught both of them, and Breloom settled down once it saw Floette merely saw the two Noibats as friends, as they both saw Floette herself. To help break the ice, Freed offered both Breloom and Floette a fig bar each as a show of friendship; Dawn noted that Freed liked to keep fig bars to himself, so him offering to share some with other Pokémon was kind of surprising, but ultimately sweet. Clemont, similar to how he's letting Bonnie care for Dedenne, also let her care for Floette. Breloom was annoyed Floette wasn't in the same party as him, but the annoyance lessened because Bonnie is Clemont's little sister.
After all of that, the heroes reached a Pokémon Center located close to the mansion residence of Monsieur Pierre, the host of Pokémon Showcases. It was there that the heroes would encounter a truly notable event...
...
At the Pokémon Center, the heroes had just collected their Pokémon after they were treated by Nurse Joy. After they got their Pokémon back and the reborn trainers did some party rotation, they heard a familiar female voice call out to their group, "Hey! You guys are Serena and her friends!" The heroes then all turned around and saw Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor come waling up to them. It had been Shauna who had called out.
"Oh, Shauna!" Serena replied, "How have you and your friends been?"
Jerking a thumb at Shauna, Trevor said, "Shauna wants to drag us all to a dance party being held at Monsieur Pierre's mansion nearby. Originally, only Performers and dates brought along would be allowed to attend, but Monsieur Pierre said he's 'opening the doors up a bit more' and extending the invitation to all trainers who are in the company of a Performer." Gesturing to himself, Shauna, and Tierno, Trevor replied, "That's why all three of us are going."
"Hey Serena," Trip said, "You being a Performer means you can go and bring the whole gang here."
Serena smiled a bit, excited for the dance party. "Sounds exciting. But I only have one Princess Key, so I'm not sure if I'm qualified enough."
"One key is more than enough for you, Serena," Tierno said, "For it is the key to my heart!"
Clapping her hands together, Shauna said, "That's right! Performers are still encouraged to have dates! That being said, Serena do you want to take Tierno as your date to Monsieur Pierre's dance party?"
Before Serena could say anything, Kenny without anyone noticing it was him tripped Ash a bit so that he stumbled up towards Serena. "Oh, well would you look at that," Kenny said, "It seems Ash wants to go as Serena's date instead."
"But I just stumbled by accident," Ash replied.
Kenny, with a mischievous and knowing smirk on his face, remarked, "Like how Serena had stumbled her way into your heart? Oh Ash, I never knew this side of you!"
Ash was blushing a bit out of embarrassment. "Oh come on, Kenny," Ash said, "It's just-"
"...Actually," Serena began, cutting Ash off, "I, well, I would be willing if you are, Ash."
Ash, a bit surprised by Serena accepting him just like that, relaxed and offered her a smile. "Sure thing, Serena," Ash said, "I'll go to the dance party with you as your date."
"Aww," Tierno said, "But I was going to ask Serena!"
"I'm available, Tierno."
Tierno stopped short, and indeed everyone else present was surprised, when Dawn held her hand out to Tierno. "If you're looking for a girl to take as a date to the dance party," Dawn went on, "Then I'm free." Before Tierno could say anything, one of the pokéballs he had burst open on its own, and out came his Arcanine. In a similar fasion, one of the balls Dawn had burst open on its own and Argent, Dawn's named alpha Hisuian Arcanine, came out. The two Arcanine proceeded to greet one another and jump around a bit with each other as if they were dancing.
"The Arcanines wanna dance too!" Bonnie cheered.
Tierno, still surprised that a girl was offering to go with him, turned his attention back to Dawn. "...Okay," Tierno said, still sounding a bit surprised.
"Well now," Trevor said, "It looks like we'll be seeing you all later at the dance party." Trevor then took off, with Shauna and a still mildly surprised Tierno leaving.
After the three friends were gone, the others turned to look at Serena and Dawn, but focused mostly on the latter of the two. "Why did you offer Tierno to be his date to the dance party, my main man?" Kenny asked Dawn.
Shrugging, Dawn said, "Well he seemed kind of bummed the girl he wanted to go with wasn't available, and I thought it'd cheer him up if I offered to go with him. Also, I bet it'd be cute to see his Arcanine dance at the party with Argent."
"Well now," Clemont said, "It looks like we got a party to go to."
Later, the heroes eventually made their way over to Monsieur Pierre's mansion for the dance party. Upon arriving, the heroes saw that there was a large crowd in front of the gate. What stood out to the heroes was that Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna had beaten them to the mansion, and that they were standing off to the side with Miette as May, Ash's traveling companion from his journey through Hoenn, was apparently having a shouting match with Nini, the rude Performer girl. May's younger brother Max, with his shiny Furfrou standing next to him, stood near Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna.
Getting close enough, the heroes heard May shout at Nini, "...der no obligation to trade his Furfrou to you!"
"May?" Ash spoke up, getting everyone to turn to face him and the rest of the heroes as he came up, "What's going on?"
Jerking a thumb at Nini, May scowled, "This chunky jerk is essentially trying to bully Max into trading his Furfrou to her!"
"I have every right to get him to trade his Furfrou to me!" Nini declared, "And what do you mean 'chunky'?"
"Not gonna lie, I can see May's point," Kenny remarked, "You do look a little plus sized compared to the other girls here."
"How dare you!" Nini scowled at Kenny, "I am by no means plus sized! Besides, that big guy with Shauna is the REAL fatty here! He's basically the human equivalent of a Snorlax!"
"Did you just insult the boy who's my date to the dance party?" Dawn snapped at Nini, partly because she secretly had always wanted to get in on a girl fight and saw this as her chance, "Girl, I am ready to fight you on this one!"
Nini, clearly too worked up to realize that she had just antagonized the Champion of Sinnoh, snapped back at Dawn, "Bring it, weirdo! I'll own any girl dumb enough to wanna date a fatty!" Tossing up a pokéball, Nini said, "Go Smoochum!"
"Alright, Tobias!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Darkrai, "Let's get goin'!"
Once Dawn sent her mythical Pokémon out, everyone stopped short when they saw not only was someone using a Pokémon commonly thought to exist only in lore, but also saw who it was exactly who was controlling said Pokémon. Even Nini, the dawning look on her face making it clear she knew who she was fighting, was also looking like she had just realized how badly she had fucked up. "...I surrender?" Nini said, sounding both scared of the opposition and hopeful her surrender will be accepted.
Pointing at Tierno, Dawn said to Nini, "Apologize to Tierno and I'll accept."
"She also should apologize for slapping me that one time even though I didn't do squat to deserve it," Trip said, with Dawn nodding in agreement. By the time Nini had sheepishly apologized to both Tierno and Trip, the front gates to Monsieur Pierre's mansion opened up, letting everyone inside right as Dawn and Nini recalled Tobias and Smoochum respectively.
As everyone made their way to the mansion, Miette said, "So Dawn, Tierno's your date to the dance, huh?" Looking to Serena, Miette said, "Who are you with, Serena? Assuming you are with anyone, that is."
"Oh, I'm Serena's date to the dance party," Ash replied.
Miette, although she looked a bit surprised by Ash saying he was Serena's date, relaxed a bit. Turning to look at Serena, Miette said, "Well you did pick well, Serena. Ash as a boy is nothing to scoff at."
"Hey Max," Bonnie said, getting Max's attention, "Wanna be my date to the dance party?"
Before Max could even say anything, May replied, "I think that's a wonderful idea! Max, you should go with Bonnie."
"If it wasn't for the fact I'm still trying to process Dawn bringing out a Darkrai of all things to threaten that pushy girl with, I'd probably be more shocked a girl asked me to be her date for anything period," Max remarked.
...
Once all of the guests were inside of the mansion, they went up to a front reception desk where, one at a time, they were each given a card. When they asked, the receptionist who handed the cards out explained its for a special event later. The guests were then directed to a room where rental dresses and suits were available for them to try on and use.
The girls, aside from Dawn due to not being as into fashion, were in awe at the sheer amount of clothing available. Dawn was able to find a dress that had a strong resemblance to the Pokémon Infernape. As for Tierno, he got a formal looking teal suit, same as what Clemont ended up wearing, but Tierno's was sized to fit Tierno. Ash and Trip wore blue versions of the suits Clemont and Tierno wore, Kenny and Trevor wore maroon versions, and Max was put into a yellow version by May who said it'd match the yellow dress Bonnie was wearing.
Serena wore a lovely red dress, while May wore a Blaziken inspired dress similar to the Infernape inspired one Dawn wore. Miette sprung for a light blue dress herself, and Shauna wore a lovely green dress. The Pokémon got in on accessorizing, with the boys wearing blue bowties and the girls wearing tiaras. The staff member helping with the accessories was surprised when Tierno explained his Arcanine is a girl when he asked for a tiara for her; meanwhile a blue bowtie had to custom made from some cloth for Dawn's alpha Hisuian Arcanine Argent, due to his sheer size.
After everyone was ready, they all went out into the ballroom. Bonnie had asked the girls in the group to take a picture of her and Max together, an offer May immediately took up while saying that she will send the photo to her and Max's parents back in Hoenn, saying that she bet they'd get a kick out of seeing Max in the company of a girl who had the cutest little crush ever on him. The two younger kids stood together for the photo, although Max was clearly a bit embarrassed. Max's Furfrou kept sniffing at Bonnie's face and licking it, making May have to retake the photo several times, mostly because Bonnie kept giggling because of how Furfrou was being friendly and affectionate.
Pikachu, who wore a blue bowtie, looked a bit uncomfortable to be dressed formally to any degree; looking up at Tierno's Arcanine who wore a tiara and Argent who wore a big blue bowtie, Pikachu saw that both Arcanines were indifferent, as they just stood there, wagging their tails while calmly panting. Shauna took a photo of the two Arcanines standing together, saying it was cute how they were dressed up for a date. Seeing the two different kinds of Arcanine together had actually reminded the reborn trainers about a study that Professor Oak wanted to do.
But that business had to wait until later, as the lights suddenly dimmed before spotlights were shone down on where Monsieur Pierre and Aria the Kalos Queen stood at the top of a staircase. Aria's Delphox was out wearing a tiara, and Pierre's Klefki was out wearing a blue bowtie. The two humans and two Pokémon came down the stairs together. As the pair came down the stairs, Aira spotted Serena and her friends. Aria and Serena made eye contact for a moment before Aria and Pierre reached the bottom of the stairs with their Pokémon.
Then, Pierre and Aria shared a dance, as did Delphox and Klefki. The dancing was beautiful and showed great skill on part of all who were involved. Serena, seeing Aria's dancing, knew that even if she made it all the way to face Aria for the title of Kalos Queen, she'd be a very hard person to beat. Eventually, the dancing ended, the lights turned back on to normal, and everyone applauded. The guests were then encouraged to begin their dancing as well, with Pierre even making an announcement about it. With nothing holding them back, the guests began to dance.
...
As the guests danced, Serena who was dancing with Ash met up with Dawn who was dancing with Tierno. "You picked your dress because it had reminded you of your Infernape, didn't you Dawn?" Ash asked as he and Serena danced near Dawn and Tierno.
"Well Chi-Chi has been with me since the very beginning of my journey as a trainer," Dawn replied, letting Tierno twirl her around a bit. When she stopped twirling, Dawn asked Tierno, "Did you pick your suit based on how it's a shade of blue, and Blastoise is blue aside from its shell?"
"Actually I picked this suit on the basis that it fits," Tierno admitted, "But yeah, Blastoise is the head of my Pokémon dance crew." Looking over a ways, Tierno gave an amused smirk. "And it would seem Arcanine is showing that she fits right in on the dance crew." Dawn, Ash, and Serena all turned their heads to see Tierno's Arcanine dancing around with Argent and, despite Argent clearly being the overall more powerful of the two, was a bit clumsy when it came to dancing, at least until Arcanine led him through a few steps that had to be adjusted for Argent given his alpha size.
Serena let out an amused giggle. "It's kind of cute to see two Pokémon dance together like that."
"I totally agree," a female voice spoke up, getting Ash, Dawn, Serena, and Tierno to turn to look while they danced. As such, they were met up by Aria and Pierre. It was clear that Aria was the one to have spoken up. "I wasn't aware that some Arcanine could look like that bigger one, though," Aria remarked.
"Oh, Argent is a variant of the Arcanine species from the Hisuian period of Sinnoh's history," Dawn explained, "How he came to modern times is a bit of a story, though."
"But he does seem strong," Pierre remarked as he and Aria danced together, similar to how Dawn danced with Tierno, and Serena danced with Ash, "Makes me all the more glad I extended the invitation requirements," Pierre said.
"Yeah, I did hear about that," Tierno remarked, "Why was the invitation extended beyond Performers and one date per Performer?"
Aria had a troubled look on her face in response to what Tierno said. "Pierre's worried that Team Scorn may strike the party for one reason or another. That's why he let more trainers come, hoping that enough good trainers would discourage Team Scorn from trying anything."
Things made a lot more sense to the heroes and Tierno now. Team Scorn had given Pierre enough of a scare that he invited as many strong trainers as what would be interested in coming to the event. "Well it's a good thing we're here," Serena said, "Especially Dawn, Kenny, and Trip, given that they own some really powerful Pokémon that can mop the floor with Team Scorn. Although I for one hope that there won't be a need for it."
Dawn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, this dance is actually the first place I ever went to on a date, so I would rather that the moment isn't spoiled."
"Well now, I'm glad I was able to help make the moment special for you," Tierno replied, "I also wasn't expecting a girl like-"
"Oh now that is just precious!" Aria spoke up, interrupting Tierno and making him and the others turn to see what was so precious; Tierno's Arcanine and Argent had walked over to the side of the staircase Aria and Pierre came down from, laid down on the floor cuddled up next to one another, and fell asleep with their snouts pointing at each other. "I just hope they won't mind the rude wake up," Aria said.
"Rude wake up?" Tierno asked, "What do you me-"
"Attention party guests!" Pierre announced to the party as a whole, "Now that we've had some dancing done, it's time for the event you were all given cards for! You see, there's no battling done in Showcases, but here we'll have a tag battle! The participants are chosen at random via the cards you were all given, and those whose cards match will be partnered up!"
The party guests were excited to see who would be battling who, and soon the teams that were chosen were the crown and bow teams. To Serena's surprise (and secret delight), she and Ash both had crown cards. "I guess this means you and I are teaming up for the tag battle," Ash said to Serena, "And whoever our opponents are better be ready, because we're gonna-"
"Yay!" Bonnie cheered as she hopped up and down over where she and Max were, cutting Ash off in the process without realizing it, "Max and I both have bow cards! We're gonna be tag battle partners!"
Serena had a rather surprised look on her face. "Ash and I... are gonna battle Bonnie and Max?"
...
Later, the ballroom floor was cleared up and converted into a battlefield, waking up Tierno's Arcanine and Argent in the process. The two of them were recalled by Tierno and Dawn before the teams of Ash and Serena and Bonnie and Max took to the battlefield. Bonnie sent out Dedenne and Max sent out his Granbull. Ash, as what could be reliably expected of him sent out Pikachu, while Serena sent out her Eevee. "Dedenne," Bonnie said as she took the lead in the battle, "Use Nuzzle on Eevee!"
"Granbull," Max said, "Use Play Rough on Pikachu!"
"Eevee, use Protect!" Serena called out.
"Pikachu, use Grass Knot on Granbull!" Ash commanded.
With Eevee throwing up a protective barrier, it was safe for the round, meaning Dedenne bounced right off of the barrier. As for Pikachu, its use of Grass Knot tripped up Granbull, keeping it from reaching Pikachu to attack it. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Granbull!" Ash commanded.
"Eevee, use Swift!" Serena called out.
"Dedenne, use Nuzzle on Eevee!" Bonnie ordered.
"Granbull, use Fire Fang on Pikachu!" Max said.
Eevee released a spray of stars that flew at and hit both Dedenne and Granbull. Furthermore, Pikachu's Thunderbolt struck Granbull and was able to paralyze it. However, Dedenne was able to get in and use Nuzzle on Eevee, paralyzing it as well as a result. Also, Granbull's Fire Fang managed to hit Pikachu and even inflicted a burn. "Oh no, this doesn't look good!" Serena said in a concerned tone, "Eevee, are you okay?"
Eevee, struggling through paralysis, forced itself up and gave a loud defiant cry of, "EEVEE!" Then, Eevee began to glow a bright white as its form shifted and grew. There were even ribbon like feelers coming out of Eevee as it was clearly undergoing the process of evolving. After the form shifting and growing had stopped, Serena's Eevee had evolved into Sylveon. "Sylv!" Serena's now Sylveon cried out as it conjured and cast a Fairy Wind attack at Dedenne, hitting it and dealing a fair hunk of damage to the dual electric fairy Pokémon.
"Your Sylveon had just used Fairy Wind, Serena!" Ash said, "That's amazing!" Turning to look forward, Ash called out, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Granbull!"
"Sylveon, use Fairy Wind on Dedenne!" Serena called out.
The two Pokémon cast their attacks at their opponents, who were too surprised to do much of anything. The combined force of Thunderbolt and Fairy Wind hit Dedenne and Granbull, blowing up around them and, then the dust settled, showed that Dedenne and Granbull had both been defeated. "And we have a winning pair!" Pierre called out, "Let's hear it for Serena and Ash!" Everyone at the party, even Bonnie and Max, applauded Serena and Ash for their win in the tag battle.
...
"Seeing a Pokémon evolve in the middle of a battle," Max began, "And for that evolution to lead to a win, is something I'd expect out of Ash. Here it was his partner in a tag battle instead, but it still has all of the Ash hallmarks." Turning to look at Serena, Max said, "Ash is a real good trainer. I'd follow his lead if I were you."
"Yeah Serena," Trip said, "I would easily put Ash somewhere in the top five trainers out there."
Laughing a bit out of mild embarrassment, Ash said, "Oh come on, guys. I don't think that I'm that good. I need to prove it first, not only to Kalos, but also to myself."
Dawn nodded in understanding, approving of Ash's modesty. Dawn also knew, thanks to her knowledge from her previous life, that Ash becomes good enough to become a region Champion himself. She wasn't quite sure if that will happen here, as things had occurred differently here and there, but Dawn is certain that Trip's and Max's praising of Ash's skill and competency as a trainer is well founded. As the group was talking among themselves, they were met up by Pierre, who was alone for some odd reason; Aria must be handling business elsewhere.
"A wonderful performance, you two," Pierre said, "Only only had Serena shown the skills necessary for Pokémon Showcases, but Serena and Ash both showed the skill and power in battle I hope to see used to keep Team Scorn at bay."
"Everyone here will bring the fight to Team Scorn where and when they rear their ugly heads," Kenny remarked, drawing agreeing nods out of Ash, Serena, Bonnie, Clemont, Dawn, Trip, Max, May, Trevor, Tierno, and Shauna.
"Well I just hope that next fight won't be in Fleurrh City," Pierre said, "That's where the next Pokémon Showcase will be."
"Well, I guess that means I know where our travels will take us next," Kenny said, drawing agreeing nods out of the rest of the heroes.
"I actually got the third Princess Key I needed to qualify for the Master Class Showcase," May explained, "I just came by here for the party."
Serena's attention was drawn to May. "...You qualified for the Master Class Showcase."
Nodding once in the affirmative, May said, "I'm not the only qualifying Performer here, you know." That drew a surprised look out of the heroes, who wondered what May was talking about.
...
To their surprise, the heroes were led by May and Max over to where Ochaco, the fossil Pokémon research girl, was sitting off to the side, clearly in need to rest for a bit as the dancing must have taken a bit out of her. To the further surprise of the heroes, Ochaco was in the company of Ideku Badorigo, the roaming trainer from Johto. Looking to the side, the heroes saw the shiny Lopunny and shiny Raichu that Ochaco had been known to use in her appearances in Pokémon Showcases.
"Well yeah," Ideku said when the heroes asked him about it, "I'm letting Ochaco borrow Blitzkrieg and Fiaro to use in the Showcases. There isn't anything in the rules barring Performers from using Pokémon they borrowed from others, provided both the borrowed Pokémon and the original owners of said borrowed Pokémon are in agreement to the deal."
Dawn folded her arms over her chest, a look of suspicion on her face. "I kind of had a feeling Ochaco was in some way connected to you, Ideku. She had used a shiny Raichu AND a shiny Talonflame, and there's only one other person I know of who has both of those."
Gesturing to Ideku, Kenny asked, "Well why did you agree to let Ochaco borrow your shiny Pokémon? Do you also support her desire to bring more attention to the need to research Pokémon revived from fossils?"
"Well there is that, yes," Ochaco replied, "And there's... also something else." Holding Ideku's hand, Ochaco said while blushing, "Ideku and I... are dating."
"You're a couple?" the heroes exclaimed in unison.
Ideku nodded once in the affirmative. "Yeah. Again why I agreed to let Ochaco borrow both Blitzkrieg and Fiaro. Ochaco is my girlfriend."
Serena and the others now knew how Ochaco was so lucky to be able to spam shiny Pokémon in the Showcases like she had been doing; she was actually borrowing most of them from her boyfriend Ideku. The shiny Lopunny was confirmed to actually belong to Ochaco, though. Regardless, thanks to the help from Ideku, Ochaco had easily blasted her way through the Rookie Class Showcases, and now stood poised to make her way boldly into the Master Class Showcase. With an allotment of three shiny Pokémon, Ochaco would pose a major threat to the other Performers competing for a shot to challenge Aria for the title of Kalos Queen.
Even May who had also made it into the Master Class would be hard pressed to win against Ochaco, and she was gearing up to use multiple shiny Pokémon herself. That being said, Serena, who still needed to earn two more Princess Keys, found herself in a tight spot. Still, with her Eevee having evolved into Sylveon, Serena felt a boost of confidence giving her the drive she needed to meet Ochaco and May in the Master Class Showcase. Serena felt determined to let nothing stop her from making her way into the Master Class Showcase, she was planning to fight tooth and nail to claw her way to where she could challenge Aria for the title of Kalos Queen.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter skims over the Terminus Cave escapades because Squishy didn't show up (there's a reason for that), replacing what normally happened with the heroes finding a dead Team Flare member; a sign that another power doesn't like having to deal with competition. Then some filler is skimmed over, right before the dance party episode is adapted, mainly because of its importance to Serena's character, also it's where Serena's Eevee evolves into Sylveon. Additionally, the heroes learned that Ochaco's generous usage of shiny Pokémon is because she's dating Ideku who is letting her borrow his shiny Raichu and shiny Talonflame.
This borrowing of Pokémon will be gone into detail later; if one is familiar, the Fleurrh City Showcase is the last Showcase in the anime Serena takes part in before the Master Class Showcase. Here, even if Serena wins there, she'll be one Princess Key short to qualify for the Master Class Showcase. Well... I got something planned for that, don't you worry. Anyway, the next chapter will see a certain thunder-stealing trainer meet up with the heroes (he did steal Ash's thunder), as well as cover a few other topics of note before Ash makes another big catch, also Ash and Dawn will see some evolutions.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tobias (Darkrai), Germany (male Garchomp), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Ban (male Sabeleye), Goofy (male Houndoom), Shallot (male Glaceon), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Fourze (male Electivire), HedonismBot (Magnezone), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Greninja), Deelia (Dialga), Todoroki (male Goodra; alpha; Hisuian)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Goodra (male), Steelix (male; shiny), Greninja (male), Noibat (male), Charizard (male)