Chapter Eight: Showing Off with Style

Early the next morning, Serena and Ash set out east, heading for Mt. Moon and Cerulean City beyond it. There was plenty of time before the next Exposition, but just like before Serena wanted to have plenty of time within Cerulean City itself to come up with an appeal for the Location Round and then rehearse it to perfection. This time, though, she also intended to put more of an effort into preparing for the Showoff Round.

"So, Ash, do you think you can help me train tonight?" she asked around noon.

Ash nodded. "Of course. Anything in particular you'd like to practice?"

Serena thought for a moment. The main thing that had cost her the match in Pewter City had been her lack of initiative and the fact that Scott's adherence to his own plan had simply overwhelmed her. The initiative thing could really only be fixed by having something to show off with at all, but the second part should be easy for Ash's Pokémon to assist with.

"Keeping my composure while you're trying to hinder me," she said.

"Okay, we can do that. Do you want to have a round for each of your Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, I think that would be smart. Braixen's still angry, Pancham just wants to show off anyway, and it would be good for Sylveon to experience the pressure as well. Just make sure that whoever you use against her doesn't actually hit her, okay? That goes for everyone, but mostly Sylveon," Serena said warningly.

"I know. I'll use Pikachu against Sylveon since she knows him well. Hopefully that'll make it a bit easier for her," Ash said.

"Alright. And the others?" Serena asked.

Ash thought for a moment. "I'd say Charizard against Braixen and Sceptile against Pancham. Hawlucha would love to help too, I bet, but I'd like to use him in a different training scenario later," he said.

"Charizard against Braixen, huh?" Serena said.

Ash nodded. "Yep. Charizard's Fire moves are really something else, and he has Dragon Breath as well. Braixen won't be able to rely on her Flamethrower or Fire Blast as much as she usually does, so you'll have to come up with something different," he said.

Of course. Another reason Braixen had been beaten was because she'd been too stationary, like Ash had told her earlier. He apparently wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen again.

"Okay," Serena said after a moment. "Why don't you and Pikachu walk on ahead a bit, so I can make some plans with my Pokémon?"

Ash grinned at her. "Right. I wonder what you'll come up with."

He sped up a bit to open up a gap between himself and Serena, and Serena called out her Pokémon.

"Okay, everyone. Were you listening?" she asked.

("Yes, I get to show off,") Pancham said happily.

Serena nodded. "Yep. All of you get to show off. Now, knowing Ash he'll be trying his hardest to break our concentration, so we have to be smart about how we approach this," she said.

("I don't think it's a coincidence he's using exactly the Pokémon who fought against Brock. We've already seen them, just like we would have in an Exposition,") Braixen said.

Serena hadn't even considered that yet, but she was sure that Braixen was right. She felt a rush of affection for Ash for making the situation as close to real as possible.

"Okay, so do you have anything you think might work against Charizard?" Serena asked.

("I've got Hidden Power, of course, and I can move quickly. I might also be able to use Flamethrower or Fire Blast to try and take over whatever Ash is doing.")

"I think the initiative should be ours a bit more," Serena said, thinking out loud. "Taking over what Ash is doing would be reactionary unless we already know what we'd want to use it for. It should add to our performance, but we shouldn't need it for us to have something solid. But maybe… Do you think you could cut your own Hidden Power orbs with Scratch?"

Braixen considered that for a moment. ("I think so. Is that allowed, though?")

Serena shrugged. "I don't see why not. You're interacting with your own move, after all. The only thing you can't do is hit your opponent."

("Hey, so what about me?") Pancham said impatiently.

"I'm almost certain that Ash intends to have Sceptile use Leaf Blade to break apart anything you try to do with Stone Edge," Serena mused, "but that doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. We should just do it in such a way that it doesn't matter if Ash Leaf Blades it, kind of like how Scott used Hyper Beam to blow up his Stone Edge so Braixen couldn't. Can you shatter them with your Arm Thrust?"

("Of course I can,") Pancham said cockily.

"Alright, then we can work from there. Now, Sylveon, do you have anything you'd like to do against Pikachu?" Serena asked.

Sylveon was silent for a moment, but then she said, ("I want to dance with him.") She smiled mischievously. ("I don't think he could keep up with me.")

Serena nodded. "That's pretty good, actually. If you use Fairy Wind and Swift throughout, then you might be able to use Pikachu's Thunderbolt and Electro Ball as nothing more than strobe lights for your show. He might be fast, but you're more graceful… Yeah, I like that!" she said happily.

Sylveon smiled brightly at her.

"Okay, we've got some basics…now let's put together something cool…"

"So, Serena, did you come up with good performances?" Ash asked while they were having dinner.

Serena nodded. "We did! You'll see. We'll blow you away," she said confidently.

"Good, but I won't lose so easily either, you know," Ash said.

"Oh, we're counting on that," Serena said.

She was excited again, and her loss in Pewter City now only seemed like a minor inconvenience. There was no way she was going to lose again, not even to Ash.

("How are we going to determine a winner?") Braixen asked.

"I wanted to ask Hawlucha to be the judge," Ash said. "I think if we can count on anyone to be impartial in a contest, it would be him. He doesn't play favorites."

("You can count on me,") Hawlucha promised.

Braixen seemed to be okay with having Hawlucha as a referee as well, and after clearing away the dishes, Serena, Ash, and their Pokémon prepared themselves a bit down the grassy river bank they were camping on that night.

"Okay, Serena, who's going first?" Ash asked.

"Braixen," Serena said after exchanging a look with her partner.

Ash seemed to have been expecting it, too. He grinned and said, "Alright then, Charizard, I choose you."

Charizard stood across from Braixen and smirked at her. Braixen looked entirely indifferent and completely confident.

("Alright. This will be an Exposition Showoff scheduled for one thee minute round,") Hawlucha said. He held a stopwatch in his left hand to keep track of time. ("Defend yourself at all times, obey my commands at all times. Absolutely no contact is allowed or the offender will be disqualified. I want to see a good, clean fight, and good luck to both of you!")

("Is he going to do that for every round?") Sylveon wondered.

"Probably," Serena said with a sheepish look.

Pancham, however, looked ready to burst with excitement. ("That's so cool,") he said quietly, and Serena giggled before becoming serious again. She had a job to do.

("Fighters ready? Fight!") Hawlucha said, hitting an overturned pan with a spoon as if it was a gong.

"Alright, Braixen, move and Hidden Power!" Serena said, and Braixen burst into motion, creating stationary Hidden Power orbs in a circular pattern as she moved and flipped across the battlefield.

"Charizard, take off and use your Flamethrower!" Ash said.

Charizard beat his wings and took off, streaking low over Braixen to distract her, and then rolling onto his back to send a massive burst of flames into the air, outshining the Hidden Power orbs on the field, but that was fine for now.

"Keep going, Braixen, and get ready to throw a Fire Blast up into the air while you're moving!" Serena said.

"Charizard, the moment that Fire Blast goes up, use Dragon Breath on it, and use your speed!" Ash said.

Charizard clearly wanted to win, even though it wasn't an actual battle, because he kept using his Flamethrower while performing all kinds of acrobatics in the air, occasionally dive-bombing Braixen in her routine, but Braixen was agile enough to keep going without missing a beat.

Braixen backflipped over the center of the field and flicked her branch up, shooting a massive Fire Blast into the sky. Charizard, following Ash's instructions, pulled out of his Flamethrower acrobatics and inhaled to shoot the Fire Blast with Dragon Breath.

"Get ready, Braixen, watch the timing!" Serena yelled.

Braixen flipped forward and brought her paws together, drawing the Hidden Power orbs she'd created in a circle all around the field during her dance into the center all at once, where the normally blue glow became bright white, like the moon she'd created in Pewter City.

The moment Charizard exhaled his Dragon Breath, Serena shouted, "Scratch, now!"

Braixen dashed forwards, her claws glowing, and she sliced straight through her own Hidden Power the moment the Dragon Breath collided with the Fire Blast. The resulting flash of light was so bright that the fireworks Charizard had created in the sky were completely invisible, and while Braixen held her pose, Charizard had been blinded by the flash of light and was shaking his head to clear his vision.

At that moment, Hawlucha struck the gong. ("Time!") he yelled.

Braixen calmly and confidently walked back to her side of the field, while Charizard was still squinting when he landed.

("After an exciting round, we go to the judges,") Hawlucha said. ("Our judge has the score ten-nine for your winner by unanimous decision…Braixen!")

Serena and her Pokémon cheered, and even Ash's Pokémon, who had been cheering for Charizard, applauded for Braixen.

"That was excellent, Braixen, you did so well!" Serena said, and Braixen smiled at her.

("That was fun,") she said, and it spoke volumes about how much she'd been enjoying herself that there wasn't even a hint of smugness in her voice.

Charizard looked comically irritated at having been defeated, but Ash gave Serena a proud thumbs-up.

"Well done," he called across the field. "Very nice move in the end, there!"

"Thanks, Ash," Serena called back. "Charizard was really good too. He really knows how to fly."

"Hear that, Charizard? You did well," Ash said.

Charizard growled something in an annoyed tone and Ash laughed.

"Just go and cheer for the next performers, okay?" he said.

Charizard didn't look happy, but he did join the rest of Ash's Pokémon on his side.

"Who's next?" Ash asked.

Serena didn't have to think long. "Pancham, it's your turn," she said.

("Yes! Finally!") Pancham said, eagerly taking his place on the battlefield.

"Okay, Sceptile, I choose you," Ash said, and Sceptile stood across from Pancham, looking just as eager to get started.

Hawlucha did, in fact, give his introduction again, and when Serena and Ash's eyes met during it they both burst out laughing. Pancham, meanwhile, was mouthing along the entire introduction, to Serena's amusement.

("Fighters ready? Fight!") Hawlucha said eventually, and before Serena could even say anything, Pancham had already begun moving, eager to show that he had plenty of initiative, and following the plan Serena had already made with him beforehand.

"Great, Pancham, now set up the Dark Pulse!" she shouted.

"Use your Quick Attack to move around, Sceptile, and make sure Pancham can't aim where he wants," Ash said.

Pancham prepared to fire his Dark Pulse, but Sceptile read his movements and positioned himself in such a way that Pancham would certainly hit him if he fired off the Dark Pulse as he intended, but that wasn't a problem. The Dark Pulse wasn't really meant to be anything other than a nice and shimmering distraction. Now, though…

"Stone Edge, Pancham!" Serena yelled.

Come on, Ash, take the bait… she thought.

She had no reason to worry; the moment Pancham struck the ground to raise himself up on a Stone Edge pillar, Ash shouted, "Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!"

"Arm Thrust, go!"

As quick as Sceptile was, Pancham was already on top of his own Stone Edge pillar, so his attack landed earlier and the pillar shattered into glittering dust, which Sceptile harmlessly barreled through.

"Great, now use Dark Pulse and bind the shards together!" Serena said.

Pancham, who'd just made a backflip in midair as he launched himself up after his Arm Thrust, now fired a quick spiral of Dark Pulse rings, which created a shimmering pillar of light in the middle of the field.

"Leaf Storm, Sceptile!" Ash said.

"Pancham, hollow Stone Edge!" Serena countered.

Pancham slammed his paws into the ground when he landed, and a glowing blue pillar erupted around the still swirling vortex of Dark Pulse and the dust from the previous Stone Edge. The new wall shattered when Sceptile's whirling Leaf Storm hit it from all sides at once, but it had served its purpose.

"Now, Pancham, expand the vortex!"

Pancham gestured widely with his front paws, and the tightly spiraling Dark Pulse rings fanned out, also capturing the shards of the second Stone Edge and the remaining leaves from the Leaf Storm, creating a swirling storm of glitter and leaves.

Both Ash and Sceptile were momentarily stunned by the sight, and when Ash recovered and wanted to call out an order, Hawlucha banged his gong and shouted, ("Time!")

Pancham let go of his moves and the huge twister vanished into nothingness. He adjusted his sunglasses, folded his arms, and looked at Sceptile.

("How did you like that?") he asked.

Sceptile inclined his head respectfully, still apparently impressed by what he'd seen.

("As referee, I must admit that my awe at Pancham's last moves has led me to miss the end of the round by four seconds,") Hawlucha said, sounding as if he'd committed the gravest of sins, ("but those four seconds did not make the difference here. With a ten-eight, Pancham wins this round by unanimous decision.")

Sceptile cocked his head and asked something, and Hawlucha replied, ("You completely stopped moving when you saw that vortex. I'm counting it as a knockdown.")

Serena laughed, but Sceptile seemed to accept the explanation.

Pancham ran over to her and Serena hugged him. "Fantastic job, Pancham, really amazing!" she said.

She looked at Sylveon. "Now it's your turn. Go out there and have fun," she said.

Sylveon nodded and took her place on the battlefield, and Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder to face her.

"Wow, Serena, that last combination was beautiful," Ash said. "Did you plan that?"

Serena nodded. "We figured you would try to Leaf Blade the Stone Edge and then somehow try to break the light pillar, and we guessed you'd use Leaf Storm to do it," she said.

"Perfect," Ash said with a smile, and Serena gratefully returned it.

For the third time that night, Hawlucha gave his introduction, and just like Pancham had done, Sylveon jumped into action the moment the gong sounded.

("Come on, Pikachu, let's dance!") she said, beginning to use her usual flips and twirls.

"Use Iron Tail on the ground, Pikachu, and then Quick Attack to get around," Ash said.

Serena nodded. It made sense that Ash would want to disrupt Sylveon's landings and use the broken terrain to his own advantage, but that assumed that Sylveon needed smooth terrain to land on to begin with.

"Fairy Wind, Sylveon, spice it up a bit!"

Sylveon flicked her ribbons — Serena refused to call them 'feelers' even though her Pokédex did, because that made Sylveon sound like some kind of bug — and whipped up a sparkling breeze, which she then used to levitate herself in the landing.

"Electro Ball while you're moving, Pikachu, let's go," Ash said.

Pikachu, who was still hopping between the uneven bits of earth and grass he'd created by breaking the ground with his Iron Tail, now fired off his Electro Ball.

Knowing that Ash would probably try to have Pikachu intercept his own Electro Ball, she decided to pre-empt him.

"Swift, Sylveon!"

Sylveon gracefully twirled through the air and almost casually shot a Swift star straight through the Electro Ball, which exploded into sparkles that were then swept up in the Fairy Wind.

Ash looked momentarily uncertain, and Serena realized that both Ash and his Pokémon were used to using their moves on their opponents, and not just to look good, so Ash had probably been mostly thinking on his feet during the entire session, outside of a very basic plan. Too bad for him, then, because Serena wasn't done yet.

"Make it a group performance, Sylveon! Double Team!"

Sylveon blurred momentarily, and then the field was filled with dancing Sylveons, all moving as if they were weightless because of the Fairy Wind.

"Wide-arc Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, now really looking like he was out of ideas but refusing to give up anyway.

"Gotcha," Serena said quietly. "Sylveon, dance club!"

Pikachu fired off his Thunderbolt, arcing the electricity wide just like he'd done against Sudowoodo, and making sure he didn't hit Sylveon, though he clearly tried to unnerve her a bit by getting as close to her as he could.

By this point, though, Sylveon was having far too much fun to care, and she followed Serena's order by firing off Swift stars in all directions, but angled upward so they wouldn't hit Pikachu.

Between the still-active Fairy Wind, Pikachu's strobe-like Thunderbolt, and the many shooting stars from all of Sylveon's Double Team clones, it really did look like the riverbank had turned into a dance club, and Serena wished there would actually be some music so she could dance along as well. Pancham clearly didn't need music, because he was doing some kind of breakdance move next to Serena.

At that moment, Hawlucha struck his gong for the final time. ("Time! And one more time, we go to the judges!") Hawlucha said.

("I don't think it'll be much of a contest,") Pikachu said with a sigh. ("I loved our dance, though,") he continued to Sylveon, who smiled brightly.

("I had a great time too,") she said.

("The judge rules it ten-nine in favor of the winner, by unanimous decision, Sylveon!") Hawlucha said.

Sylveon cheered and happily made a backflip before running over to Serena, who hugged her close and said, "That was great, Sylveon. You really looked like you were having fun out there…and Ash and Pikachu had no idea what to do about it."

Serena stood up and walked to the middle of the battered field, where she shook hands with Ash.

"Fantastic job, Serena. I didn't expect this kind of thing to be this hard. I've really learned some cool things today," he said.

"Thanks, Ash, and thank you for agreeing to help me train. This is exactly what we needed," Serena said.

They looked into each other's eyes and for a moment, Serena just wanted to lean in and kiss Ash, but then they let go of each other's hand and Ash walked back to his Pokémon, thanking them for their hard work.

Serena sighed, but maybe there would be another chance in the future. For now, she had a victory to celebrate. Training or not, she'd beaten Ash three times in a row. In Cerulean City, she was definitely going to win.

On a meta level, this chapter was training for me as well, namely training in how to write scenes like this properly. These things are meant to be very visual experiences, so I need to not only envision everything myself, but then also bring it across clearly enough that everyone else gets what I'm going for as well. It's made even harder by the fact that the move sets of Ash's Pokémon really aren't all that suited for this kind of thing, especially Pikachu's. I'm sure I'll find some more creative applications for moves down the line, but here I'm glad I could simply say that Ash is a battler and was out of his depth. Let me know what you thought of it, and see you next time!