Part CXXXV: Fashionista Show!

"So that's the Laverre Gym." Ash said as they looked up the large building before them. "But, um, this isn't normal Kalos style, is it?"

"Not in the slightest." Serena said her eyes wide as she finally got the chance to see Valerie's gym. "This whole city is different to anything else in the region though we are now in what is known as Mountain Kalos so maybe and all cities here do have their own style to them."

"This is different." Misty said. "This is more like where the rest of us are from."

"Yeah, if I had to place a similar style I'd say Ecruteak City out in Johto." Ash said and Misty and May nodded having both been there as well during their own days in that region. "But with it's own flair to it."

"Well, that is Kalos for you, everywhere has their own style." Serena said. "I guess this is Laverre's chosen style."

They had arrived in Laverre City late the night before after finally bidding farewell to Max, Bonnie and Owen and walking the half day journey from the Fire Festival village to this place, but the journey felt longer with the different style of the city they were in. Ash was right, this city was a lot like Ecruteak out in Johto only with some more Kalos style additions to the buildings.

They'd gotten to see more of the city today as they made their way from the Pokémon Center in the main part of the city to the gym that was actually located in the rolling hills on the outskirts of the city to the north of it. Laverre itself seemed to be built on either side of a long river that winded its ways through the area with several bridges spanning it in various designs with most of the building on one bank or the other.

As for the gym itself, it was in the northeast side of the city and right now all 4 travelers were standing atop an arched bridge staring at the strange building before them. Even by Kalos's standards this place was odd, but it still had nothing on the uniqueness of the Unovan gyms that Ash had been to.

The Laverre Gym itself was a strange blend of Johto and Kalos styles with the lower levels, along with what looked like an open sided battlefield facing them on a higher level, in the Johto style though there was a catwalk of sorts jutting out of one corner for some reason. Then on top of it was a Kalos style, 3 story mansion for some inexplicable reason. To add to it all it seemed to be set before a massive tree, the second largest they'd seen in Kalos after the Pledging Tree they'd seen and climbed in Coumarine.

"Well, no point in dawdling." Ash said walking forward at his gym battle pace causing the 3 girls to hurry up behind him knowing that there was no stopping him when he got like this. "Let's see if I can face Valerie now and start this week strong for us."

The girls just shrugged and followed Ash. None had bothered with cheerleader outfits as they'd figured it was a long shot what with the Fashion Week about to begin but Misty had all of them in her bag just in case. Plus, this was Ash, anything was likely to happen as they followed him through the entrance of the gym and into what could only be described as a scene of utter chaos.

The room was large and looked more like a hotel lobby with a carpeted floor, desk to the side manned by a haggard looking woman in a blue dress that had to be one of Valerie's designs, and stairs in the back leading up to the next level. That alone was strange, but it was the commotion going on inside it that was the big surprise.

All the quartet could do was watch as a cadre of women all dressed in brightly colored dresses that had the same design hurried around with boxes and carts to prepare for the coming week while other workers helped out at the instructions of a woman in a black dress. The dresses were all knee length designs with a slightly flared skirt, a two-tier belt sash, white or off-white V collar thing and an undershirt that matched the dress.

The most unique thing about it all though was that the dresses were sleeveless, but all the women wore strange, impractical looking, half sleeve things from their wrists to the elbows that fell to the hems of the skirts when the bent their elbows at the waist. They topped it off with calf high socks and slippers of some sort.

Then there was the smorgasbord of colors assaulting their eyes. The girls were in all colors from bright blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows, to blood red, jet black, and gray. Ash and his friends just stepped in and walked further into the chaos as the doors closed behind them, but the girls didn't stop for a moment and simply moved around them as they executed their tasks.

"What am I looking at?" Ash asked in utter confusion.

"They're the Furisode Gils." Serena said her eyes wide and sparkling. "Our plans meant that we couldn't come here last year but I've wanted to visit this gym for years as it is where Valerie makes all her outfits. They're all wearing Valerie's signature designs and she's the top fashion designer in all of Kalos."

"Kept that in didn't you." Misty said to Serena.

"Didn't want to go overboard until I came here at last and saw it for myself." Serena admitted. "But now that I'm here I can't wait to meet Valerie properly. Plus, the Contest here in a few days is going to be amazing. I have to get one of these dresses for it, there's no other thing to compete in for the Laverre Contest, anything less would be dishonorable."

"We can go shopping for you later." May said looking around the least comfortable of the three girls as while she enjoyed girly outfits they weren't her usual style though she was leagues above Ash who looked like he'd been thrown into the deep end of a pool with weights around his waist and told good luck. "I am sure you can find something here."

"I know I will, and I already have an idea what to look for." Serena said. "Valerie is famous for one fashion skill above all her others, and I must find it while in Kalos. You two will help me."

"We don't have a choice, do we?" Misty asked May as Serena continued to geek out at all the outfits.

"I don't think so." May said with a sigh as Ash just looked around in utter confusion. "So, Valerie has an army of female assistants, somehow this doesn't surprise me."

"If even half of them were here when Max and Bonnie showed up." Serena said her eyes going wide as she suddenly realized what this might look like to her friend.

"Then there's no way that Bonnie wouldn't go off." May said her eyes just as wide as the bandage on Bonnie's ear when they saw her at the Fighting Tournament now made perfect sense. "And Valerie is a beautiful woman as well. They were doomed the moment Bonnie entered this room. I don't think Clemont will ever be able to visit this city."

"And I think Bonnie's ban will last a while." Serena said with a sigh. "I don't think a year will be long enough for them to forget her."

"So where is this Valerie?" Misty asked. "Ash, you…oh you're totally lost."

Ash was looking around trying to understand what the hell he'd walked into when he saw someone who was different from the others. There was a woman with jet black hair that fell past her waist and matching, large, eyes, standing to the side of the stairs talking to a stream of girls that came up to her, asked something, and then left just to be replaced by another one.

The biggest reason why Ash noticed her was that she was differently dressed them the others, she was more extravagant. The woman wore a knee length dress like the others but her V collar was black with pink for her shoulders and had no undershirt showing her pale skin in a patch there. She also wore a yellow corset over her middle with a lilac border, bindings, and bows while the bindings fell past her skirt's hem in long strings. The skirt itself started lilac then went to pink and finally black in three bands with a wavey design.

That wasn't all though, her sleeves were just as spectacular. They were pink and fell down past her hands with a yellow underside and ends and black borders at the base and a random black dot in the middle along the bottom for some reason. She finished her look with two lilac ribbons in her hair that had long strings off it that fell down to her knees, a lilac choker around her neck, black tights and black platform heels with a pink base.

It was as Ash's eyes reached the woman that she looked up from what she was doing and met his eyes. He'd never seen the woman before but instantly he knew who she had to be but that wasn't what was on Ash's mind in that moment. No that was reserved for the fact that the moment their eyes met she seemed to recognize him as her eyes went wide with shock before a massive smile broke out on her face.

"It's you, it's really you!" The woman exclaimed causing the whole room to stop dead and turn to her and then to see who she was talking to. "I had heard you were in Kalos, and I've been waiting excitedly for the day you'd come to my gym. At last, the Ash Ketchum, the revealer of fairy types has graced me with his presence and challenge."

With that Valerie, for there was no doubt that the woman was indeed the Laverre City Gym Leader Valerie, dropped everything she had and charged across the entrance hall at Ash smiling the entire time. All Ash could do was wonder how the hell she could walk let alone run in those ridiculous shoes before she was on him, knocking Misty clean out of the way and onto her ass as she did while sending Piplup flying into the nearest wall much to his indignation.

The next thing Ash knew a gym leader had literally thrown herself on him to embrace him in a huge hug of a lot of fabric right in front of a now stunned crowd of people. Most of them Valerie's loyal followers who'd never seen her act like this before and who had dropped anything they were holding as they stared like Magikarps at the sight before them.

Ash had to hug Valerie back and stagger back as step to stay standing as she gave him a Kalos greeting with a kiss on each cheek. The moment she did both May and Serena began backing away slowly knowing what fuse Valerie had just lit.

Misty was just staring opened mouthed from the floor in utter shock at what had happened. The gym leader had just embraced her boyfriend and kissed his cheeks. She'd expect this from Dawn, maybe, though it was Dawn and she understood but not from someone they'd only just met and who didn't hold deep feelings of love for Ash.

It was also so surprising that no one was surprised when a Poke Ball opened and Misty's Malamar appeared behind her to help her up and then put a firm tentacle on her human's shoulder to stop her from doing something rash in the middle of the room. Machamp, however, didn't come out which meant that he approved of Malamar's actions for once.

"We haven't met, have we." Ash said as Valerie finally backed off him but stayed a little too close for comfort.

"No but I know all about you, you completely changed my life." Valerie said excitedly. "I have always had a deep empathetic link with Pokémon to the point that I can communicate with some as I wished I was born one myself. However, about 2 years ago I noticed a shift in all my Pokémon, something had changed but they didn't understand it, nor did I. I first noticed something major was off when my Spritzee shrugged off some kid's Bagon's dragon type attack last year, but it wasn't until what you and that stunning Mr. Mime of yours did in the Indigo Conference and the paper that was released about fairy types did I understand."

"Oh, I see." Ash said though he was a bit lost with some of what Valerie was saying but he understood the last part. "I did hear that you were quickly declared a specialist in the new type and this gym changed to fairy type."

"Yup, Professor Sycamore already knew that all my Pokémon had changed from normal to fairy or added it other than my Mawile which would also be confirmed as well shortly afterwards." Valerie said as everyone just watched the exchanged in slack jawed silence. "So, he contacted me right after you revealed to type to tell me everything and ask if I wanted to make the switch as I was already pre-approved for it. Naturally I did as this all fit my style perfectly so overnight I became the first fairy type specialist in the world and it's all thanks to you. Well, you and that Sinnoh girl who started this. I hear she travels with you, is she here too?"

"She is called Misty and is Ash's girlfriend." Misty said from the side wishing that Malamar would let her go so she could give Valerie a piece of her mind, but she knew Malamar wouldn't and for once was grateful for her Pokémon's restraint of her. "And she's over here."

"Oh yes you are." Valerie said turning to her with a dazzling smile and leaping at shocked Misty to embrace her just as she had Ash with a hug and a kiss on each cheek. "Do you have her on you? Please say yes, I want to meet the Pokémon that started this journey that led to the discovery of fairy types and hear the story of that battle against a Gyarados that showed the immunity."

"Um no, Togekiss is back in Kanto at Professor Oak's ranch." Misty said completely taken aback by Valerie and disarmed by her actions. "I can get her in though, but you seem busy at the moment."

"Yes the Laverre Fashion Week begins this afternoon so the gym is closed which means no battles until next week, but Ash will be first once they resume." Valerie said. "But more importantly yes, please can you bring her in. We can have tea together once this week is over and I can meet the first fairy. I'll even design a special dress for you to match your Togekiss once I meet her, free of charge of course."

All Misty could do was nod at that as she took it all in while Serena just stared wide eyed at how lucky Misty was and May looked at everything in confusion. Well, this was Ash, they should have expected a high-level reaction to his arrival after all the other leaders recognized him and Valerie was the fairy specialist so the one most affected by Ash's reveal of the type.

"Good to see that you've gotten even more excitable Valerie." May said breaking the whole silence and hoping to end what this situation as soon as possible. "Though I think it is understandable given the circumstances."

"Huh, I know that voice." Valerie mused to a still recovering Misty before turning around to see the brunette girl in a hot pink bike top and recognizing one of the saviors of Kalos instantly. "Ah, May, been a while and we only met that one time. I see you know these two as well."

"Last time I saw you was after you helped me and Alain get to that monstrosity's core with Spritzee." May said with a smile at Valerie. "This is a better meeting. As for how I know these two, I traveled with Ash in Hoenn when I was a rookie and then again the next year in Kanto before we went our separate ways for a few years so that I could find myself. He's now in Kalos challenging gyms and as I was already here for my work with the Contests we are traveling together. I know Misty through Ash as we met in Sinnoh when I visited the region for the Wallace Cup."

"Ah I see and she's a rival of yours." Valerie said with a smile that made May go red. "One you lost to."

"Let's not talk about that." May said quickly changing the topic. "I hear you recently faced my brother Max."

"Yes, the short guy with a Scolipede, that was a tough one and showed me how much I need to learn about poison types." Valerie said. "I didn't realize he was your brother though. He came with that charming, cute, but rather persistent little girl, Bonnie was it. A shame Officer Jenny had to get involved but, well, it was a bit much."

"I am so sorry for her." May said with a bow of her head. "Please don't hold it against her brother."

"I won't." Valerie said with a smile. "She's just being a good little sister who needs to learn to control herself a bit more which will come in time."

"Valerie, it is an honor to meet you." Serena said finally finding her voice. "I just want to say that I love all your clothes."

"Thank you." Valerie said looking at Serena and recognizing her. "You're the girl who won the Master Class Showcase and faced Aria, right? You were part of the incident last year but provided aerial support if I recall so I didn't see you on the battlefield."

"That is correct." Serena said. "And now I am a coordinator this year so I can't wait for the Laverre Contest in a few days."

"Neither can I, it's going to be beautiful." Valerie said. "And I'm designing all the women's dresses for it, so registration has already started at the Contest Hall they built just south of the city. Just let them know your appeals Pokémon and your measurements so I can make sure I have all the information I need."

"Thank you, I will." Serena said her eyes wide. "This is a high honor; you don't know how…"

Serena didn't get to finish her sentence before the doors to the gym were blasted open and everyone's stunned silence was broken as they turned to the sudden interruption. A tall, lithe, feminine figure was illuminated by the sun as she held a dramatic entrance pose before she waltzed in with a confident, poised, gait ignoring the stares as she looked around.

"Where's Valerie." The woman said as Ash's eyes went wide at the newcomer. "I'm finally here to challenge her and as this is her Fashion Week it's the perfect time to do so."

The woman was tall, slender, and confident in her poise as her piercing light blue eyes found Valerie's black ones and they locked gazes. She had short blonde hair cut short with a noticeable fringe at the front and v cut out of it just to the left side. Then there were her clothes, the hadn't changed since the last time Ash had seen her.

She was wearing a simple yellow, sleeveless dress that fell just past her ass and hugged her curves perfectly. The middle of the dress was cut out though with black vs over her breasts, naval, and crotch though that might be part of her pants Ash realized and a black choker around her neck. She topped it off with black tights, yellow high heels, and a black head band with two large white earmuffs over her ears that had cords coming down from them with the left blue where it met the earmuff and the right red.

"Elesa, we meet at last." Valerie said calmly as the woman walked up to her showing no issues with her heels. "I take it you finally got some time away from Nimbasa City to make it here."

"I've closed the gym for a week to come to the Laverre Fashion Week personally." Elesa said as she reached them. "They can do without me for a bit, it will make them more excited when I return, and I've been meaning to face you, one designer, model, gym leader, and woman to another for a while. Thought this was the right time."

"It can be." Valerie said glad that one of them had finally taken the initiative to seek the other out, she'd just been too busy to do so, so Elesa had been the one. "I assume that you brought your latest designs with you."

"Of course, I just need volunteers…" Elesa said looking around and that's when she noticed Ash and Pikachu and suddenly broke out into a wide grin. "Why hello Ash and Pikachu, long time no see. Pikachu, you are looking as amazing and handsome as always."

"Pikachu." Pikachu said with a smile.

"Um, who's this?" Misty asked now lost.

"Oh, right some introductions." Ash said rubbing the back of his neck nervously before he pointed to the girls as he introduced them. "Misty, May, Serena, this is Elesa, the Nimbasa City Gym Leader out in Unova and an electric type specialist. I faced her when I was there and won. She's a model and fashion designer there as well so that's what her gym does. In fact, she was in the middle of a show when we first arrived at it. It was a strange trip."

"And don't you know it." Elesa said making a pose before noticing the three girls. "Yes, these three will do. Chose three of your best Val, I'll take these three lovely ladies and this magnificent male Pikachu and make them beautiful and in Pikachu's case even handsome then he already is."

"You're on, El." Valerie said seriously using an abbreviation of Elesa's name just as she'd done for Valerie's. "Blossom, Katherine, Kannon, with me. We have to get ready. The rest of you, get the word out and set up the runway. The first show of the Laverre Fashion Week will be a design off between me and Elesa to see who's are better and we will show off three designs each as well as ourselves. Take your ladies and get ready to lose Elesa. We have an hour to prepare."

"You're going to be eating those words." Elesa said with a grin before looking at the three draftees she'd just selected. "Ok ladies, you all know Ash so no doubt he has confidence in you. Come with me, I'm going to make you so beautiful his heart will stop. Ash, you don't mind if Pikachu comes with me?"

"Up to him." Ash said looking at Pikachu.

"Pika, pi." Pikachu said jumping off Ash's shoulders and onto Elesa's.

"Thank you, I'll make you the most handsome Pikachu out there." Elesa said before she got behind her three volunteers and forced a still startled May, Misty, and Serena out as Valerie left with her own girls.

"Piplup?" Piplup asked having finally reached them and looking around confused at what was going on.

"I'm with you Piplup." Ash said as he picked up Misty's starter. "I have no idea what just happened."

All the pair could do was stand around as the chaos resumed not knowing what the hell was going on but going with it as the two fashion-oriented gym leaders began to prepare for their fashion off. Things were certainly about to get interesting in Laverre.

-break-

About an hour or so after Ash and Piplup were left alone to watch the chaos in confusion, someone came up to them to inform them that the event would be taking place soon and they should head out to the runway. At Ash's blank stare at that he was led to the random thing that was jutting out of a corner of the building that he'd seen from the bridge and told to stand there and wait.

As he did Ash and the gathering crowd looked around at what was going on. The runway thing was raised at the first level of the building and so you were looking up at it and the women who'd walk it. At the end that connected to the gym there were a pair of TVs flanking the curtain covered entrance. All the people who'd gathered were murmuring about the upcoming show.

From what Ash could gather this was a surprise show as the main show debuting Valerie's latest line was supposed to be later that day but no one was complaining. No one knew why it was going on though, but they all waited for the moment it would begin and Ash would finally see what the hell was going on.

"Attention gathered fashion fans, welcome to a very special show." A female announcer said from somewhere, he voice traveling through speakers. "I know this is a surprise, but we had an unexpected visitor and challenger this morning, none other than Elesa, the Nimbasa City Gym Leader out in Unova and the only woman considered to be our own darling Valerie's equal when it comes to the intersection of fashion, beauty, and battling. As such they will now be engaging in a fashion off. Three of Valerie's girls and three volunteers for Elesa will come out in pairs to show off their styles and then the gym leaders themselves will come out."

At this the crowd cheered loudly at the surprise they'd been given with many commenting on how lucky they were to see such a show. Ash was still lost to all of this, but he just went with it as he knew that he had to and waited for the start.

"Valerie will be debuting her new line of outfits based off her own Pokémon and an homage to the new fairy type revealed by Ash Ketchum during last year's Indigo Conference." The announcer said. "While Elesa is known for using her own type preference of electric in her styles. So, without further ado let's begin with the first pair. Representing Valerie and her Mr. Mime is Blossom. Representing Elesa is a Top Coordinator from Sinnoh called Misty. Give them a big cheer."

The crowd did just that as the two women walked out of the curtains and down the runway. Ash had to admit, Misty looked amazing in the outfit that Elesa had put her in.

Misty was now wearing a form fitting bright yellow dress that fell to her mid-thigh and hugged her in all the right places to accentuate her curves and had a deep cut to show off a hint of her modest cleavage. To add to it she wore knee high blue boots with a noticeable heel and matching blue wrappings on her forearms that matched her hair which was fully down at the moment. Then there were the accessories.

Unbeknownst to Ash, Misty had refused to part with the locket around her neck, the one he'd given her over a year prior in Saffron City, so Elesa had worked around it but giving her a bright yellow choker set with a blue stone in the center of her throat. She'd also given Misty a pair of thunderbolt earrings that were tasteful without being gaudy and a pair of rings, one a blue minus sign and the other a red plus sign to be worn on her middle fingers. The red and blue polarity of electricity was something that Elesa worked into all her fashion designs.

Next to Misty was the Blossom person. She was about the same size as Misty with dark skin about the same color as Iris's, pink eyes, and pink lips who was smiling and waving to the crowd in her outfit and what an outfit it was.

Blossom was wearing a white sleeveless dress that fell to just below her bottom before going into a pink hem with matching pink shoulder pads. She also wore a pair of white gloves with pink finger tips, white garter belts around her knees, blue high healed shoes, and a special bow in her hair that showed off what a Mt. Mime's ears looked like. It was clear that the outfit was an homage to a Mr. Mime and a really good job at that.

The women just walked calmly and smoothly to the end of the runway before turning and walking back as the crowd cheered. Misty couldn't resist giving Ash a wink as she passed him. Elesa had said she could keep this outfit and she fully intended to get some use out of it though maybe not the bindings as they'd only been added to hide the scar on her forearm. The length of the dress just about hid the one on her thigh, but Elesa had given her a sexy blue garter belt for hiding it that she was eager to show Ash in private, along with the blue lingerie Elesa had put her in as well when she found out that she was Ash's girlfriend.

Piplup just gawked at his human, as did Ash for that matter which made Misty smile. Piplup knew Misty was good at fashion and styling herself and her Pokémon, but this was a level above what she could do. Whoever that strange human was, she was good.

"Thank you Blossom and Misty." The announcer said as they left the runway and moved onto the next pair. "Next up we have Katherine representing Valerie and her Mawile and a Top Coordinator from Hoenn called May representing Elesa and showing us that a true fashion designer is about all kinds of fashion."

Ash didn't know what that was about until May walked out and he understood it. Unlike with Misty, Elesa had dressed May in, well, an Elesa version of May's typical biker style.

May now wore a form fitting, bright yellow, short sleeved bike vest with a black zipper, black lightning bolts on the arms, and the crest of Nimbasa City on the back that did a great job of highlighting her impressive bust. May also wore a jet-black bandana over her hair with a yellow Poke Ball design on it, black knee length biker shorts with yellow lighting bolts on them and her usual choker with her Key Stone in it. The only big difference were the gloves and shoes.

May now wore a red glove with the plus sign on her right hand and blue glove with the minus sign on her left. It was the same with the shoes only switched with red on left and blue on right and the signs on her heels.

As for Katherine, she was a short, lithe, blonde girl with bright yellow eyes and her hair in a pair of twin tails from the sides of her head. She wore a standard Valerie style knee length off yellow dress with cuts in the skirt and long black sleeves that covered her hands and went past her elbows before going back to yellow.

To add to it she wore a black headdress that had a pair of black strap things hanging down to frame her face and a long, thick, black tail that shot out of the back and reached the ground behind her. She also wore simple black slippers on her feet.

It was clear with Katherine that she was going with a Mawile inspired dress, and the headdress even had white teeth like things on it and a yellow oval near the top. It was an interesting style, but Ash had to admit the fact that Elesa had shown versatility was different and in a sense better to him, but he also knew nothing about fashion, so his opinion likely mattered little.

The women just walked to the end, turned and walked back. This wasn't really May's scene. Sure, she liked to dress up when she could but the whole fashion show was a bit much. However, she'd been roped into it and at least she didn't have to wear a dress that showed cleavage like Misty was or what Serena was wearing. It was just a little fun and she'd gotten to know Elesa a bit during the fitting as the girls told her their stories as she worked on them and Pikachu.

Plus, it was only a brief walk and then they'd be back and could change. May would stick to her Kalos outfit for the rest of her time here, but she was allowed to keep the outfit Elesa had dressed her in, and she felt like it would be a good one for her next adventure as the yellow and black looked good on her. Plus, the crowd liked it which was good.

"Thank you ladies, another great showing." The announcer said as the girls left the runway. "And now onto our last pair. Representing Valerie and her Sylveon it's Kannon. Representing Elesa it's a local girl, Kalos's own contest Princess and the Master Class Showcase winner, Serena from Vaniville town."

Serena was much more nervous, and blushing compared to her friends as she walked out in the more Showcase style outfit Elesa had put her in. She was used to showing off, but this was a bit much even for her. Still, she smile and waved as she walked out.

The Kalos girl was wearing jet black, sleeveless dress that hugged her chest and accentuated her modest assets, boosted by the strapless pushup bra Elesa had given her to really show off her cleavage, and slim through the waist before it flared out as it passed her waist the way Kalos Showcase dresses tended to do. Elesa had kept the two-tone style with a bright yellow underskirt that created a hem for the skirt part, matching yellow sash around her waist and yellow straps that held the dress to her upper arms.

The final things were yellow gloves, yellow stockings, black high heels, and a yellow choker with a black stone in the center of it. To accessorize, Serena had in a pair of positive and negative earrings in keeping with Elesa's style and a black headband made out of interlocking lighting bolts.

Overall, it was a nice and electrifying dress, one that Serena couldn't deny was totally her style and she was going to wear it in a future Contest that wasn't the Laverre one as Elesa had given it to her which was really kind of her. Still, it was a bit much, but Serena pushed through it while her partner was loving it.

Kannon was an assertive and confident girl with black hair done in a similar style to Katherine's though she had a noticeable cowlick in her fringe and bangs framing her face. Her keen amber eyes took in everything and one odd thing that Serena had noticed about the girl was that she was wearing red nail polish. She was clearly a girl who looked great in black and darker colors, which made her outfit rather different to her usual style.

The final Furisode Girl drafted for this was wearing a pure white dress that fell down to just past her ass in a simple, innocent style with no sleeves, a pink V and a pink belt sash. Her forearms though were covered in the typical long half sleeves of Valerie's style, but bright pink and she wore pink stockings and slippers. At her throat was a pink and white bowtie with twos white ribbons that were perfect replicas of Sylveons come from it and a matching bow in her hair on the left side with ribbons coming from it as well.

As announced, Kannon's outfit was very much an homage to a Sylveon and looked good and the girl rocked it. Serena had to admit, she really liked the dress, but she was going to be wearing something different for the Laverre Contest as Sylveon wasn't her appeal Pokémon.

The girls made their way to the end to the cheering crowd before turning and walking back to the curtain. Serena was bright red the entire time but made it and was glad that this was over though she did hope that Ash liked how she looked. Now her, Misty, and May could change and have tea with the three girls who wanted to chat with them about things and see if they would be willing to help out over the week.

"Lovely as always, thank you ladies." The announcer said as they left the stage. "And now we have our crowning jewels of the day. Presenting the Laverre and Nimbasa Gym Leaders, Valerie and Elesa."

The curtains were pulled open and both women walked out to the roars of the crowd. Valerie hadn't changed, sticking with her usual outfit but Elesa had, and boy was she getting a lot of looks as she posed in the doorway before walking down the runway next to Valerie though both had to give the other space give what they were wearing.

Elesa was now wearing even less which was impressive. All Elesa had on was a blue and yellow vest with a deep V and a matching blue and yellow short shorts that hugged her ass and showed off her long legs spectacularly. The two items were connected by a sideways buckle over her navel.

She did accessorize it with a large, puffy, yellow jacket that was open and lose over her shoulders and came down to her waist. She also wore a white headband with large white earmuffs that had a red and white antenna out of the right one and blue and white out the other. She kept that up with her slip-on shoes, red on her right, blue on the left and her nails were now done with blue on her left hand and red on her right.

In front of the women were a Spritzee that had to be Valerie's and Ash's Pikachu. Pikachu was absolutely loving it as he strolled down the runway showing himself off in a black tuxedo jacket, white shirt, black bowtie, and a black top hat with a yellow band. Pikachu looked good and knew it and Piplup couldn't help but be jealous of this as it should be him on the runway getting all this praise not Pikachu.

This time though, the women didn't walk to the end but stopped in the middle of the runway and stood back-to-back as the wave to the crowd. Ash wasn't sure what this was about until the announcer spoke.

"Well folks, who is the winner?" The announcer said. "Valerie or Elesa."

This was followed by a cacophony of cheers for each of the women, but it sounded evenly matched. Ash wasn't sure at all who was going to win this competition.

"Um, I'm not sure." The announcer said. "So, I think it's a tie."

That was enough that Elesa could take but she had a way to properly settle this. She just walked forward a few paces before she posed for the crowd. Then she turned and pointed right at Valerie.

"This won't be settled by a simple fashion show, both of us are too good for this." Elesa said simply. "So, let's settle this like gym leaders. I challenge you to a 3 on 3 battle with no substitutions allowed, to be held here on your official battlefield to determine which of us is stronger and more graceful with our Pokémon. Neither of us have a type advantage so this is a very evenly matched battle."

"I couldn't say it any better." Valerie said with a smile. "My hidden fangs are ready for your electricity Elesa. Let's settle this properly. The gym is closed for the week but for this I'll make an exception. Tomorrow morning, you and me, we'll decide it then."

"One thing though." Elesa said. "I want a neutral judge for this battle, not one of your girls. Given that it's us I think it's only right to use a third party for this match."

"Fair, Kannon is my usual referee and she's properly trained for impartiality, but I agree that this is different." Valerie said. "Who do you have in mind?"

"Our mutual acquaintance." Elesa said with a smile as she turned and pointed to Ash in the crowd. "Ash Ketchum will officiate our battle."

"The revealer of fairy types officiating a battle of mine against a rival like you, I couldn't have asked for a better person." Valerie said with a smile. "Then it is settled, tomorrow we battle. Now though, I must get back to my planning and you have to prepare."

Elesa nodded at that before she strolled forward and past Valerie to leave and say a few parting words of thanks to her volunteers before getting ready. Pikachu just leapt onto Ash's head as Valerie turned and left while the crowd too went to their own things.

The only one left there was a stunned and speechless Ash, again. He had no idea what was going on or what he'd just gotten himself into but apparently he was now officiating a gym battle between gym leaders. What was going on today? Ash had no idea, but he did know one thing, this was just the start of the week. It was bound to get crazier.