Chapter Twenty: To the Fiery Finish
"Hey, Serena! You guys were amazing out there," Ash said when Serena returned backstage.
Serena smiled at him. "Thanks, Ash. We worked hard on that performance."
("See, that is how you give a good performance,") Pancham said cockily.
("Yeah, yeah, you were great, but now it's time for the Showoff Round, and that's where we're going to shine,") Pikachu said confidently.
Pancham looked up at Serena and said, ("We have to win this one. If Ash takes the gold after that Location Round, the reputation of Expositions is going to be ruined forever.")
Serena nodded and said, "Don't worry. This time, that gold medal is ours." She smiled at Ash. "If we have to face off, let's make it a good match, okay?"
Ash grinned back at her. "Of course! I wouldn't want it any other way!"
For some reason, Serena really hoped that she would get to perform against Ash. With her current team, she was confident she'd be able to beat him in a Showoff Round, even though she'd practiced against him countless times on the road.
Ash was simply too much of a battler, and his Pokémon, like him, were very straightforward in their approach to everything. While they were extremely powerful and had flashy moves, their first solution, first and foremost, would be to knock out their opponent, and Serena would probably be able to use that tendency against them.
First, though, she'd have to wait for all the other appeals to end and for the rankings to become available. Most other Pokémon in the Location Round seemed to be well-trained, and it felt like the level of competition was rising, now that people were beginning to get more familiar with the Exposition format.
Finally, the last Artisan had performed, and a short while later the rankings were published. This time, twenty-five people had made it past the Location Round, and Serena was ranked second. Ash was ranked twenty-fourth, so while Serena had a bye just like in the previous two Expositions, Ash would have to work immediately, facing off against the ninth-ranked Artisan, a girl called Vanna.
When they were called to the arena, Serena and her Pokémon found a seat with a good view of one of the monitors to watch Ash's battle. Ash, of course, used Pikachu, and Vanna went with her Dusknoir.
Dusknoir opened by setting up balls of blue fire with his Will-O-Wisp, while Pikachu used a combination of Quick Attack and Iron Tail. By swinging the attack just past the balls of fire, Pikachu was able to use the air current to blow out the flames, at the same time striking the arena floor to shatter it for dramatic effect.
Dusknoir then used a combination of Night Shade and Hex to set up what looked like a cage of ghostly lightning, but Pikachu's Electro Ball blew it up, after which he used a wide-area Thunderbolt to make it hard for Dusknoir to move at all.
Whatever Dusknoir tried to set up, Pikachu tore to shreds with his own attacks — and his attacks were so powerful that even when Dusknoir tried to take actions against them, he simply got overpowered.
When the round ended, it was obvious that Ash had been controlling the match, and all three judges voted in his favor. Serena could see that many people in the audience were stunned that someone whose Location Round had been so shaky could be so solid in the Showoff Round, but they clearly seemed to like it.
("Wow, I didn't think Ash would be this good,") Misdreavus said.
("His Pokémon are crazy strong,") Pancham said. ("I trained with them a couple of times and even when they hold back they're hard to fight.")
"Let's go and congratulate them," Serena said, and they made their way over to the entrance to the arena, where Ash was just entering the waiting room.
"Congratulations, Ash and Pikachu! That was a good fight!" Serena said.
Ash smiled. "Thanks! We wanted to show what we could do right from the start; that's what we learned from watching your Expositions in Pewter City and Cerulean City."
("I felt a bit bad for that Dusknoir, though. He was so intent on showing something beautiful and I kept destroying it,") Pikachu said.
"Well, it is a competition," Serena said, remembering her own first loss. "They'll come out stronger for it, I'm sure."
"Yeah, that's what the judges said, too," Ash said.
Together, they walked back to the waiting area where Noivern and Talonflame also congratulated Ash and Pikachu on their first win. They watched the next rounds, and Serena paid particular attention to the match between the two whose winner would be her first opponent.
It turned out to be a young man called Henry, and when it was time for Serena to go into the arena against him, she saw that the Pokémon he would use for their battle was his Froslass, who'd used at least Ice Shard and Powder Snow in the Location Round.
"Okay, Pancham, do you want to go first this time?" Serena asked.
("Obviously yes!") Pancham said immediately.
Serena grinned and said, "Alright then, let's go."
Her other Pokémon wished her and Pancham good luck, and then Serena followed Henry into the arena. She knew that Delphox, being a Fire-type, would easily be able to melt any kind of ice Froslass wanted to use, but the judges might consider that to be a bit lazy and detract points for it. Even if they didn't, though, Pancham had been wanting to go first ever since Pewter City, and Serena felt she owed him the chance.
Serena was on green side this time, and after a short introduction by Nikolaos, it was finally time to get started.
"Alright, Pancham, here we go!" Serena said.
Pancham jumped forward and began with his usual flips and rolls.
"Use Powder Snow, Froslass, and then Hex!" Henry ordered, and Froslass quickly created what appeared to be a sculpture of herself out of snow.
"Dark Pulse, Pancham, break it down and take it over!" Pancham jumped up and fired Dark Pulse rings in two different directions, forming a double helix around the snow-Froslass. Then he slammed his paws together and the Dark Pulse went through the sculpture, tearing it apart into several swirling columns.
"Blow them up with Shadow Ball!"
"Give them a shield! Stone Edge!"
Pancham stomped the ground and encased his Dark Pulse columns into Stone Edge pillars, which glowed purple from within as the Dark Pulse continued to spin.
"Now Arm Thrust in sequence!"
Pancham kicked off from the ground, his arms glowing, and shattered the first pillar. He then used his momentum to flip forward to the second pillar, and without touching the ground even once he smashed through all of his own pillars, allowing the dust to scatter around the field in a shimmering haze.
"Freeze the dust clouds with Ice Shard, Froslass!"
"Dark Pulse again, redirect those shards!"
Froslass fired shards of ice into the cloud of dust, controlling their trajectory with Hex, but Pancham's Dark Pulse rings broke the Hex and snatched up the shards, fusing them into a block of ice surrounded by Dark Pulse rings.
"One more Arm Thrust, Pancham!"
Pancham landed on the ground and kicked himself off again, punching through the ball of Ice Shards and Dark Pulse rings, which again scattered into sparkling snow.
"And time!" Nikolaos yelled.
Pancham immediately ran back over to Serena, grinning widely.
"Well done, Pancham! I think we've got this," she said.
("Of course we do! Aside from that snow statue, they had nothing,") Pancham said.
Clearly, the judges agreed with Pancham, because all three of them voted for Serena, and when she headed back to the waiting area, she felt good about her chances in the upcoming matches as well.
Shortly after Serena's match, Ash and Noivern also cleared their round of sixteen, and then it was time for the round of eight. Ash would go first, and he would be facing off against Robert, who had placed first in the Location Round.
Robert, however, was clearly one of the people who felt that Ash's performance in the Location Round had been a complete mockery, because before they went into the arena, Serena heard him tell Ash that he would wipe the floor with him, which Ash of course just took as a challenge.
When Serena, her Pokémon, and Pikachu and Noivern went to find a good spot to watch the match on the screens, though, she had a bad feeling about Ash's match.
Robert used Golurk as his Pokémon, which would seem to favor Ash as he would be using Talonflame, but Robert knew how to use his moves to put together a routine.
Talonflame opened with a series of Flame Charge acrobatics, and Golurk used Earthquake to deform the battlefield, before firing up a series of Shadow Balls into the air. Talonflame then used Brave Bird to skim through the jagged pieces of the battlefield, while Golurk connected his Shadow Balls together with what looked like a Night Shade web.
When Talonflame began to gain altitude again, Golurk vanished using his Phantom Force, using his Shadow Balls and web of Night Shade as a launching point. Every time he landed, he deformed the battlefield in a different way, making it hard for Talonflame to reliably Brave Bird through it, but then, just before time was up, Golurk executed his real plan.
He lowered his construction of Shadow Balls and Night Shade, rearranging them as he did so, and while that didn't really look like much from the ground level, the camera angle Serena was watching from — which was the same as the one the judges and the audience had — clearly showed that Golurk had used his moves to create a glowing figure of himself in the battlefield, using the Shadow Balls and Night Shade lines as accents in the carvings in ground he'd made using Earthquake and Phantom Force.
While Talonflame's moves had looked great, they had nothing on what Golurk had managed to create in a mere three minutes, and it came as no surprise that all three judges voted for Robert.
("That was insane,") Pancham said.
("I had no idea what he was doing until the last moment,") Delphox said.
"Well, there's a reason he was ranked first. His Pokémon have incredible control over their moves," Serena said.
("We'll avenge Ash, though, right?") Misdreavus asked.
("Obviously!") Pancham said. ("Serena, we have to make it to the finals so we can beat this guy!")
("Do you think you can?") Pikachu asked. ("Because that guy was good. I'm sure Talonflame could have beaten him in a fight, but if all his Pokémon can do things like that you're in for a tough match.")
"We'll be fine," Serena said with a smile. "Yeah, he's good, but so are we. We're going to win, you'll see!"
Serena's own round of eight and the semifinals went very well, thanks to great performances by Misdreavus and Delphox, so now all that remained was the final, and as she had expected, Robert had managed to reach them easily. While none of the routines he'd shown had been as spectacular as the one against Ash, he had still clearly outclassed his opponents.
"I wonder if he'll use Golurk again for the finals," Serena said as she and her Pokémon were discussing who would be performing in the final. Ash and his Pokémon had gone to find places in the stands to watch.
("I don't think so,") Delphox said. ("I only saw him using it against Ash, and for everything else he used his Houndoom and Scizor. Of those two, Houndoom seemed more impressive. I think Golurk only had that one routine.")
("Do you think he was planning to use it in the finals?") Sylveon wondered.
"He might have," Serena said. "But since he used it against Ash, I'm sure he's got something at least as spectacular planned for the final round. I think Delphox is right and that he'll use Houndoom. His moves have more potential for something big."
("I don't think I'm ideal for this one,") Delphox said, though she sounded annoyed to admit it. ("It would be fire against fire and we've already seen he likes to go big.")
("I could do it,") Pancham said. ("I could probably control his flames just like I did with Froslass's ice earlier.")
"I think that for him, that would be too reactionary," Serena said. "I think we need to take the initiative and disrupt his control from the beginning."
She smiled at Misdreavus and said, "Do you think you can scare that Houndoom without using your Confuse Ray?"
Misdreavus nodded and smiled brightly. ("Of course I can! Scaring people and Pokémon is what I love. He won't know what hit him,") she said.
("But make sure you look cool while you do it,") Pancham warned her. ("That's the whole point of this competition, after all.")
("Don't worry, I can be cool,") Misdreavus assured him.
("I know you can,") Pancham said softly, looking away a bit.
Serena smiled. Apparently Delphox and Sylveon had been at least partially right in their observations.
"Okay, then, Misdreavus, I'll be counting on you. Just do your thing, and I'll give you some pointers every now and then," she said.
Not much later, she was called up for the final, and as expected, Robert would use his Houndoom.
"You had a good Location Round," Robert said before they headed out to the battlefield. "Why is someone so talented friends with a guy like that Ash?"
"Ash is one of the bravest, kindest, and strongest people I know," Serena said, feeling a bit annoyed that Robert was still talking down Ash even after already beating him.
"Not strong enough, clearly," Robert said unconcernedly. "Just ditch him and travel with me from now on, and you'll see."
Serena blinked. Was Robert…hitting on her? If so, he was really, really bad at it. Surely he couldn't think that would work, right?
("He's trying to distract you,") Misdreavus said quietly. ("I can see it in his eyes.")
"See? Your Pokémon thinks I'm right," Robert said with a smirk.
("I think you're a complete creep,") Misdreavus said, looking Robert straight in the eyes and then turning to Houndoom and saying, ("Feel free to translate that for him.")
Houndoom growled something back at her, and while Robert said, "Yeah, Houndoom, you tell her," Misdreavus just said, ("He can't?")
Houndoom just seemed to shrug, and then it was time for them to enter the arena, where, just like in the Cerulean City finals, Serena and Robert were lined up in the middle of the field with their Pokémon.
"On the green side, from Vaniville Town in Kalos, reaching the final for the second Exposition in a row, Serena, and her partner Misdreavus!" Nikolaos announced, and Serena waved at the crowd.
"And on the red side, from this very town, reaching the final after being ranked first, Robert, and his partner Houndoom!"
Serena and Robert shook hands, Robert still wearing his stupid smirk, and Serena keeping her expression carefully neutral. Whatever happened, she would not lose to him. She took her place at her side of the arena.
"And…begin!" Nikolaos said.
"Go, Misdreavus, you know what to do!"
"Houndoom, begin with Incinerate!"
Misdreavus disappeared into the floor, and Houndoom inhaled, preparing to launch his attack — and then Misdreavus floated up from the ground just next to him. She wasn't touching him, or using any moves at all, but Houndoom clearly hadn't expected her to suddenly be so close and he stepped to the side, before recovering and firing off balls of flame into the air.
"Use Hex, Misdreavus!"
Misdreavus seemed to know what Serena wanted her to do, because her eyes began to glow and she grabbed Houndoom's fireballs out of the air with her Hex.
"Line them up and Psybeam!"
"Crunch, before she can fire!"
Houndoom jumped up, his fangs glowing white, but Misdreavus gave a high-pitched shriek and Houndoom, startled, only hit the first of the five lined-up balls of fire in the air, allowing Misdreavus to cleanly fire her Psybeam through the remaining ones, blowing them up and raining embers onto the field.
Serena smiled. Things were going just as planned. "Shadow Ball!" she shouted.
"Houndoom, Inferno!"
Serena could hear the frustration in Robert's voice.
Misdreavus fired a Shadow Ball into the air, and Houndoom roared, surrounding himself in a raging fire that began to take the shape of a much larger Houndoom.
"That's it, now Crunch on that Shadow Ball!"
"Play fetch, Misdreavus!"
Misdreavus waited for the fiery Houndoom to lunge at the Shadow Ball, and then she sharply yanked it down, out of the way.
"Great, now go for a game of chicken!" Serena yelled.
The Shadow Ball now flew directly at Houndoom, picking up speed as it went.
"Stand your ground, Houndoom! She's not allowed to hit you!"
"I don't intend to," Serena said quietly.
Just before the Shadow Ball would hit Houndoom, it split into two halves — but Misdreavus had hidden herself inside of it and ended up right in front of Houndoom's face, grinning wickedly and shrieking again.
Houndoom jumped back, as did his Inferno-clone, but because his focus was disrupted, the flames began to lose their cohesion.
"Misdreavus, Hex and double Shadow Ball!" Serena shouted, pointing directly at the now formless Inferno and hoping Misdreavus would understand what she meant.
Fortunately, she did, and she used her Hex to grab the flames, firing off two small Shadow Balls from her necklace at the same time, and shaping Houndoom's flames into a giant version of herself, with Shadow Balls for eyes.
The figure grinned down at Houndoom for just a second before Misdreavus dispersed it into a shimmering haze.
It was probably pretty difficult to force such a large amount of fire into a shape, even briefly, but the effect had been achieved, and not a moment too soon.
"Time!" Nikolaos yelled.
Serena clenched her fist. "Yes! Great job, Misdreavus!"
Misdreavus eagerly flew over to her. ("I did it!") she said happily. ("I couldn't really hold the shape for long, but I did it!")
"I saw it," Serena said proudly. "And I bet the judges did, too. You did great, Misdreavus, really fantastic!"
She looked at Robert, across the field, and smiled at him. She may or may not have looked a bit smug as she did so, even though the judges had yet to make their decision.
"And now, once more, we shall take this to the judges," Nikolaos said. "As ever, we will begin with Nurse Joy."
"This was an impressive final," Nurse Joy said. "It appeared to me at first that Serena's only intention was to distract Robert, without really showing anything big herself. While that is, of course, an integral part of the competition, on its own it would not warrant a favorable vote. However, the level of the misdirection employed rose as the match progressed, and the final action of taking over the Inferno to end with a statement of her own does lead me to my final vote for Serena."
With that, her table turned green and Serena breathed a sigh of relief. The first half of the explanation certainly hadn't sounded too positive.
"Mr. Fuji?" Nikolaos said, and Serena looked up at the middle judge. All she knew about Mr. Fuji was that he was well-known in Lavender Town for taking care of lost Pokémon, but because she'd won all her matches thus far, he hadn't actually spoken directly to her yet.
"Robert's performances, all day long, have shown that he possesses both great skill and great pride in that skill," Mr. Fuji began. "While this has served him well in his performances, his penchant for going big does have the weakness of requiring equally big concentration. Should this concentration be disrupted, the performance fails. Elementary in theory, yet no one has been able to pull it off today until now. Indeed, being distracting alone is not enough to win the vote, but Misdreavus also showed great skill in taking over Houndoom's attacks, while using her distractions at exactly the right moments to maximize their effects. I too vote for Serena."
His table turned green and Serena felt like she'd been shocked. She'd won! She forced herself to remain calm to listen to Nikolaos, gently nudging Misdreavus because she was sticking her tongue out at Robert. Not that she didn't feel like doing the same, of course, but it wasn't appropriate to do it on stage, at least.
"Well, it would seem we already have a winner, so my sincere congratulations to Artisan Serena," Nikolaos said, "but before we move on to the awards ceremony, I will also give my verdict. Robert has been very impressive all day long, and here, too, I could see that there was clearly a plan. It even seemed to be a plan that could deal with someone trying to counter it by force…but that was not what happened. It was by clever play that the careful setup was disrupted, and while that may seem dishonorable, it is well within the rules of the Exposition to distract the opposition to throw them off their game. To then, in the spur of the moment, pull off a gesture as grand as what Robert had shown up until that point in the match shows to me that Serena was willing to take a big risk, and today that risk has paid off.
"I too give my vote to Serena, which means that the decision is unanimous! Artisan Serena has won the Lavender Town Exposition, and what's more, through her victory here and her silver medal in Cerulean City, she has now become the very first Artisan to have placed herself for the Grand Expo at the end of the season!"
Serena blinked stupidly. She hadn't even thought about that, but of course! She needed five bronze medals, and with one gold and one silver she had the equivalent of six.
Before she could start cheering, Robert came over. He grudgingly held out his hand and said, "Smart play."
Serena shook it and said, "Thanks. You and your Pokémon are really skilled, too."
Houndoom growled something to Misdreavus, who giggled and said, ("Thanks! I had fun messing with you.")
Houndoom gave a good-natured roll of his eyes and then followed Robert out of the arena. Shortly after, the medal ceremony was held, and Serena couldn't stop grinning when the gold was hung around her neck.
Her Pokémon were ecstatic as well. ("You were great,") Pancham said to Misdreavus. ("Houndoom definitely didn't see that last one coming, and that flame version of you was awesome!")
("Thanks! It was really difficult, though. You always make it look so easy to mix all of your moves and those of your opponents,") she said.
("It gets easier the more you practice. I know, we should train together more so we can work on it!") Pancham said, and Misdreavus nodded enthusiastically.
("Yeah! And then next time, we'll be even better!") she said.
Serena looked at their excited conversation and smiled. They were clearly already looking forward to the next Exposition, and they weren't alone in that. Even though she'd already qualified herself for the Grand Expo, there were still plenty of Expositions to go, and she had no intention of skipping them. The challenge had only just begun.
This is getting more and more difficult with every one of these. The problem is that there really are only so many times I can use the same combinations without them getting stale, and it always ends in sparkles and a light show anyway. I'll need to come up with more creative ways of using these moves, and before the Vermilion Exposition I hope to have come up with something. I'd better, because a lot of familiar characters are going to be in that one. I guess I'll need to step up my game, but we'll see how I fare with that when I get there. See you next time!