Part CLI: Do Baking and Dancing Mix?

"Bonjour et bienvenu Pokémon lovers to another competition magnifique as ze Couriway Showcase is about to delight you all." Monsieur Pierre's voice said as the lights began and a pink mist billowed up from the center of the stage to indicate that the Couriway Showcase was finally beginning thus causing the crowd to cheer in excitement before the smoke cleared as Pierre himself appeared in the center of the stage with a simple mask on that he removed as he continued to speak. "I am your 'ost today, Monsieur Pierre."

With that he thrust his arms wide, one holding his Klefki topped cane in the first Showcase Ash had been to all year where the host's Pokémon was with him at the start in one hand and his mask in the other in a rather dramatic pose that was fitting for the enthusiastic MC. The crowd continued to roar on the bright, sunny day at the outside venue that was the Couriway Showcase Theater.

It was 2 days after the Couriway Contest that Amelia had won and at last it was time for the Couriway Showcase to begin. The stage had remained clear, the stuff for the theme round already set up on the special platform in the bowels underneath the lake where the performers also waited to come up via the small lift for them.

The change over from Contest to Showcase hadn't been a difficult transition unlike in Anistar where the academic theme they used for their Showcase that had to be completely cleared for the Contest so the whole set up had been nice and smooth. Now, though, it was time for the Showcase and Misty's first attempt at her 3rd Princess Key and thus securing her place in the Master Class. Hopefully it was her only attempt as well.

There really hadn't been much for the quartet to do since the Contest. In the wake of the Contest, Amelia had been congratulated by Misty and May and they'd exchanged some small chat that was pleasant, but it had been a little tense as Amelia was aware of Misty's performer career and challenge before Amelia left to prepare for the Master Class now that she had her first ribbon. After that Serena told Misty all she knew of Amelia and what to be careful about regarding her which Misty took seriously but put on hold for the moment.

That was because she had to get to the Master Class first and that meant spending the next day perfecting her freestyle routine for this Showcase. While she didn't know exactly what the Theme Round would be, Serena could guess what it likely was based off how the other Showcases had reused the year before's Themes but for the sake of competition and fairness she didn't tell Misty anything.

This had been their rule from the start and Misty respected it completely so was in the dark for the Theme Round. However, helping her with her freestyle prep was fair game and as such Serena and May had been doing just that the day before to smooth out the final rough edges.

This time around Misty had opted for another 3 Pokémon appeal with her first repeat Pokémon in Piplup but bringing in two of her 3 new Pokémon that hadn't been seen before in a Showcase thus saving the last one for a Master Class debut. One was a Pokémon that some would expect from a performer as it was small, cute, and agile while the other was in keeping with Misty's unofficial style of bamboozle the crowd with a complete unknown, unexpected, and seemingly un-Misty-like Pokémon that she had on her.

The trio had been selected after the Anistar Showcase though so they'd had plenty of time to work on it and perfect their routine. They all knew what they had to do and as with all of Misty's freestyles it was going to be very different from what she'd done so far. Gotta keep the fans guessing after all.

Now it was the moment of truth as the Couriway Showcase was underway and Pierre was in the spotlight again. That meant one thing, it was time to learn of the Theme Round for this Showcase.

"Prepare to witness a competition par excellence." Pierre said as he thrust his cane into the air and his Klefki flew off it to gracefully loop in the air above him and show off the Couriway Princess Key to the cheering crowd while the cameras zoomed in on it so that the performers in the waiting room could see what they were aiming for. "Ze winner get's to be one step closer to entering ze Master Class and having a chance at becoming ze Kalos Queen. Today we 'ave several going for zeir zird Princess Key today, so zis is going to be one amazing Showcase."

Pierre paused for a moment so that they could all look at the Couriway Princess Key and get hyped up by his words. This one, as with all of them, was different to the others and for the first time the difference was even more pronounced than usual.

That was because the main body, head and crown like teeth of the key was silver and not gold like the others had been with the only gold being the tip, elaborate head on Klefki's loop, and the bands connecting the elaborate pink design to the main stem and the stem to the teeth section. To top it off small colored orbs were on the tines of the teeth, the crown around the head, and between the cup-like design that made up the elaborate part of the key. It truly was, like all the Princess Keys, a work of art that all the performers present wanted to win.

"Ladies et gentlemen, today's exciting zeme round is…" Pierre said with a pause before he gave a flourish with his cane and the lights went off while he pointed at the large screen above him to really add to the suspense of the reveal. "On ze screen now!"

The theme wasn't actually on the screen but rather being made from the lights in pink in front of the screen though the performers in the waiting room were there looking at it on the TV screen there nervously. It started with the top and gave the impression that it might be a Pokémon hat making competition, an interesting theme for sure, before the full image appeared showing a Poke Puff in lights indicating the base of the theme but this one was bound to be different to the last time a Poke Puff had been the basis of the Theme Round.

"It is a Poke Puff performance." Pierre said confirming the nature of the Theme Round with gusto as the lights making the Puff popped and behind Pierre the center of stage opened up as the set up for the round appeared behind him to the crowd's amazement though May and Serena just nodded as this was what had happened the year before.

On the stage now, in the dead center and withing a Poke Ball design, was a single baking station complete with a sink, plates, pans, all the necessary tools, a fully stocked fridge with all the ingredients they'd need, and of course various replicas of donuts and cupcakes to really accentuate it. It was well thought out and impressive for sure, but the one thing Ash noticed was that it was only one station which confused him. Thankfully for him Pierre was about to answer that question for him.

"In ze Poke Puff performance it is not just about ze baking of ze Poke Puff." Pierre began as he explained the rules to them. "But elegantly et imaginatively performing while baking. Ze judging is very simple. If you zink zat ze performance is exceptional please cast your vote with ze glow casters zat you 'ave at your seat. If a performer gets enough votes she will pass ze zeme performance and advance to ze freestyle performance. So, without further delay, please welcome our first performer, performer…"

As Pierre had been speaking a keyhole silhouette had appeared above him in white the way they sometimes did for the voting in the freestyle round and filled up with pink lines until it passed a white one in the center of the head of the keyhole indicating the number of votes, at least a super majority if Ash had to guess, needed to pass. It was an ingenious system and gave the crowd the chance to choose who advanced but there was one thing to this that struck Ash.

"Wait, if that is how it is done and it is one at a time then surely it would be possible for all the girls to advance to the freestyle round." Ash said to May and Serena as the crowd cheered for the first performer, the same one with the Lunatone that had been in Misty's group in Anistar's Theme Round. "Right?"

"Theoretically yes." Serena said. "This is how it was done last year, a tradition that I am seeing as a given at this point though of course the Wallace Showcase will be completely unique and a one off which I am excited to see. As for last year only 5 of us managed it including Nini who beat me in the final."

"It's a unique Theme Round for sure." May said. "Of all the ones I know about this one is the only one with the chance of all or at least more than 5 advancing as all the others pitted the performers against each other with only one advancing to the freestyle. Couriway alone of the 6 we saw last year had an individual Theme Round that required a certain percentage of the audience vote to advance."

"I see well I am sure that Misty has got this." Ash said. "Her Puffs are great, and she's already got baking experience thanks to her Poffins, so this is nothing to her."

"Yes this is one Misty should do well in for sure and her freestyle is going to be as good as ever, she's really kept her standard up from Anistar." Serena said with a nod. "And let's just enjoy them until her go."

Ash and May nodded in agreement with that as they sat back to enjoy the Theme Round. Ash knew that Misty was ok and couldn't wait to see how she was going to do this theme as she went for that final Princess Key.


So that was what the Theme Round would be, it was certainly different to what Misty was expecting and had kept up with the idea of how every theme was different in its own way. This wasn't the first Poke Puff based Theme Round she'd been in but this one was different in several key aspects. Unlike in Dendemille, the judging would come from the audience and to advance you had to get a certain number of votes that roughly seemed to correspond with about 75% of the audience so you had to impress them with your baking skills.

That wasn't the only thing, however. No, this time Misty would have to dance and perform with her Pokémon during the baking as well because it was a blend of that with the baking itself thus making this theme really stand out to her.

Honestly it was a clever system as it tested different aspects of Poke Puff baking, a trainer's bond with her Pokémon, put the passing on the performance and presentation rather than the taste, and allowed for an uncertain number of finalists. Well Misty wasn't one to shy away from a challenge and was already ready to embrace this one.

It didn't hurt that Jessilee was here as well thus making this a really challenging Showcase between two of the top rookies on the circuit this year. The stunning, elegant, and slightly mysterious woman was on her own in the back of the waiting room with her Wobbuffet and Meowth ready for the challenge as well and this time she was going to beat Misty.

What Misty didn't know was that Jessie had tried to cheat and messed up thinking the theme for this Showcase was a Pokémon hat making competition, she'd even stayed up all night and made 23 hats in preparation for it, but she'd already adjusted and had the perfect outfit for this Showcase ready just in case. Jessie may be many things but when it came to a competition like this that allowed her to be center stage showing off her beauty and talent, well she was competent in ways her day job could only dream of.

For her part Misty went to a corner with her Pokémon for the theme round, Helioptile making his Showcase debut and Piplup, to prepare for it with them and as she was last up she had the time to do so. Her freestyle routine would bring in one of her two remaining Kalos Pokémon who had not yet been in a Showcase to round out the team and show a good mix of types, styles and moves, but that Pokémon was too big for this round.

No, with the way the station was set up Misty would need to go with her smaller Pokémon to maximize their size and agility in her impromptu baking routine. Plus, she could really use Piplup's experience helping her and Helioptile's electric moves in this one.

The only thing Misty had to decide on was what to wear as some of the performers were changing for their own attempts at the theme. She noticed that Jessilee was as prepared as ever and had a full chef's outfit minus the hat that would look good for this while a few others had similar styles or maid outfits in the classic Kalos fashion that was now universal, but Misty was ready for this in her own way and began pulling out the outfit.

She kept it on her for this just in case she felt like she needed it and began changing into it as she whispered instructions to her Pokémon. They were going to advance she just needed to be ready for it and use this time to prepare to amaze the crowd with her Poke Puff Performance.


"Et now, let's welcome our next performer." Pierre said as the crowd cheered following the first performer's advancement to the freestyle after an impressive and Psychic move heavy baking performance. "Going for 'er zird Princess Key et a place in ze Master Class, it's performer Jessilee."

Jessie just smiled as she was raised up through the smaller lift in front of the station with Wobbuffet and Meowth who were helping her with this and stood confidently, one hand on her hip as she looked out at the crowd. She may have messed up in her attempt to cheat but Jessie wasn't going to let that stop her from advancing and finally beating the Sinnoh twerpette for real in one of these kind of competitions.

Ever the perfectionist with her looks for events like this, Jessie had a full chef's outfit minus the hat ready to go just in case she had to bake for some reason. She was now in it with a maroon scarf thing around her neck, her special Jessilee styled hair tied in a lilac ribbon to keep it in place, a black skirt apron for her legs and her golden key reciprocal with a green core on her ample left breast, her earrings matching it though only the left one was visible.

With a kiss to the crowd to really get them reeved up for her performance, Jessie spun elegantly as she began to get prepare her Poke Puff. She could adapt to this easily to this theme, after all a shot at her final Princess Key was on the line and she had a Sinnoh twerpette to beat, and she was about to wow Couriway Town into advancing her to the freestyle round.

Jessie's style for her appeal was a simple one in keeping with her mature theme that blended elegance, class, sophistication, and a grown woman's raw sex appeal into one smooth persona that the fans loved. Rather than be fancy and dance around like the younger girls would to get their point across, Jessie was a full-fledged woman who would show that now as Wobbuffet began to sift the flour fast into the mixing bowl without spilling any of it while ensuring that it was properly ready for whisking into a good Poke Puff icing.

As she worked, Jessie commentated to the crowd on what she and her Pokémon were doing and gestured to Wobbuffet so that they could see his work thus showing off how her Pokémon worked with her in this performance. To complete it, Jessie added a touch of milk with a flourish to interject herself into the process and begin making the icing.

At the same time Meowth was needing the dough with his paws, claws in, and really giving it a full working the way only he could with his unique bipedal style, physiology, and intelligence. As he was doing this, Jessie got back into her enthusiastic commentary, her love of the spotlight and acting really selling it to the crowd, as she described the effects of how Meowth's paw massage worked for the dough to make it better than what any human could manage.

At the same time phase two of the plan was in action as James, in disguise as her manager as always, was playing off her commentary within the crowd to continue hyping up the Poke Puff Performance that was occurring on the stage before them. This was really working as the crowd was loving the two-fold commentary, something that was different from the last one, and really showing the crowd an in depth look at the preparations of the Poke Puff that Jessie and her Pokémon were baking.

James's part was to also show that there was more to the whole performance as the baking was completed and the resulting puff looked ready to eat once the finishing touches were added. Those were done when Jessie, with a flourish and in a sing song voice, topped it off with a chocolate icing in a random but beautiful pattern as she moved, on hand holding the plate the other the squirter with the glazing, to show expert coordination as she spun not messing a single thing up in her performance.

Then as she was done, it was time for the piece de resistance of the whole thing that would really take her over the edge and advance her to the freestyle round. On top of the puff was the fluffy frosting and chocolate and then as she finished her spin, Meowth bent forward and stamped his charm into the center of the top not damaging the baked Poke Puff but leaving an imprint in the frosting as if a signature from the Pokémon who helped make it, something one only a Meowth could leave. It was unique and the crowd, including the twerps, were loving it.

"And now Meowth, Furry Swipes." Jessie said as she put a specially provided pink egg filled with chocolate on the center of the top of the Poke Puff. "Show off your expert precision with your claws."

Meowth activated the one attack he knew and sliced up the egg with a speed so fast and accurate that only the egg was effected. It burst open and the chocolate filled the stamped imprint in the center of the Puff while the cuts in the shell formed a heart shaped design that fell around it. With a flourish, Jessie added the final touch to it a golden decoration in the shape of a Meowth's head in the icing to the side of the now gooey filled charm stamp.

"A Poke Puff with a Pokémon's stamp of approval on it, now that's original." James said to the crowd to continue hyping it up as the crowd cheered at it and even Ash and May commented on how unique this one was. "You won't find that anywhere else but with Jessilee."

"Now is ze time to cast your votes." Pierre said as it was clear that the performance was done, Jessie had shown that by bowing to the crowd still holding her creation, and he gestured to the crowd with his cane. "Should Jessilee advance?"

Instantly a large number of green, Jessie's color for this Showcase, orbs flew from the crowd towards her. She didn't need to show anything at that, she knew that she'd advanced and sure enough her keyhole thing above her head filled up to the line and past it in seconds showing that she'd received around 85% of the audience voting for her to advance to the freestyle performance.

"Zere you go, Jessilee has advanced to ze freestyle performance." Pierre confirmed as the keyhole thing light up to show that Jessie had surpassed the threshold needed to advance.

Jessie just smiled and blew a few kisses to the crowd, and some winks at her more enthusiastic male fans to tantalize them and ensure that they voted for her even if there was only one man for her not that she would admit that to herself, as Pierre announced that she'd advanced to the Freestyle Round. There was only one performer here that could challenge her in that as far as Jessie was concerned, the Sinnoh twerpette, and this time Jessie was ready for it as she descended into the bowls of the stadium to prepare for her 3rd Princess Key.


"Et now, ze final performer of ze Zeme Round." Pierre said as he gestured to the baking station with his cane as the Theme Round came to an end with 4 of the 14 performers so far having advanced and only one remaining to go for the shot of advancing to the Freestyle Round. "From ze Sinnoh region et going for 'er zird Princess Key, performer Misty."

There was a whine and a puff of smoke as Misty ascended to the stage from beneath it where she'd been waiting to the cheering of the crowd. With her was Piplup who was on her head and leapt with a flip onto the counter behind her while Helioptile used one of the bouncy additions by the station to bounce onto the other side as Misty appeared before everyone. There was a surprised gasp from those in the crowd who knew her and her history when they saw her little outfit change.

Rather than wear her usual Kalos outfit, Misty had decided to go with a throwback and was now in her full, unedited, Sinnoh attire from her first few years as a coordinator complete with her locket from Ash and the cuff she always wore on her left arm that contained her Ability Symbol. Those two items never left her unless she was sleeping or in the shower as they held significant importance to her.

Right now Misty was wearing exactly what she'd worn when she'd claimed her Ribbon Cup in Kanto. She had even foregone the left forearm sleeve she wore these days to hide the scar on her arm, and with her mini skirt the one on her leg was also visible when she danced around the stage though as she was going to be behind the counter most of the time it was only visible at the very start.

The only change to the outfit was the shockingly pink apron that she wore, the same she'd used in the past for when she make her poffins, to keep her clothes clean as she worked, and which also had her key reciprocal on it with a hot pink gem in the top to show her color for this Showcase. This was her baking outfit and now it was time to really show off how well she could bake and perform at the same time.

"Alright let's start this off with Thunder Shock." Misty said as she tossed a few berries into the air high enough to be safe in her mind and spun towards Piplup's side of the counter where she put the dough for the Poke Puff down. "Piplup, if you please, show how a beak can really soften up the dough better than human hands ever could."

"Pip, Piplup." Piplup said enthusiastically as he began to need the dough with his beak for all to see while Misty spun back to work on the base ingredients, turning the oven on in the process so that it could heat up while she worked.

As she did this the berries had reached the top of their arc and Helioptile leapt into the air to hit them with a Thunder Shock. He didn't have the power to affect, and Aspear Berry like Misty had wanted to do based off that pie she had had in Sinnoh thanks to that Raichu, but she could still use the electricity to fry the berries and get them nice and ready for the baking. The only thing she missed as her back was to it was that her throw hadn't been high enough and a few sparks of electricity flew down and into the station in the worst place possible.

Misty didn't notice any of this as she hummed and danced, pulling out a knife and expertly cutting the berries as they landed on the cutting board right after she set it down while Helioptile landed to help Piplup. Everything was going according to her plan and the crowd was loving it. All she needed to do was mix everything and then bake the Puff while preparing the frosting and garnish for it to create a beautiful Puff that would be great for a normal, electric or a water type thus highlighting the types her Pokémon had.

From here it was a simple matter of mixing the berry bits into the dough with Helioptile's tail making it all possible and finishing the preparation of it, while Piplup danced around awaiting his final order. Once that was done, Misty needed the dough into the form and put it in the oven, now heated to the temperature she'd set it to so that the dough would rise and form the Poke Puff.

As that was happening Misty would work on the icing and pulled out two Poffins, her special ones of Piplup and Helioptile respectively, to ensure that they were added to the end in her now signature garnish. It was going to look so good and between the moves, dancing, and her great Pokémon Misty knew that she was going to advance.

Of course, as soon as she thought that it all went wrong for Misty. The earlier Thunder Shock had caused the system that would stop heating the oven at the set temperature to malfunction and thus the oven was saying it was the temperature was what Misty had set it at, but it wasn't. No, it wasn't, it was higher and only getting hotter thus ruining the Puff inside, and it was still climbing so that by the time Misty saw the smoke coming it was too late.

"Piplup!" Piplup yelled at Misty as she spun around to get the last thing she needed from the back for the finish on her Poke Puff and the crowd finally saw that smoke was now billowing up from the oven.

All Misty could do was turn around in time to see the oven on fire before it blew up unable to stop the rising heat from causing it. In the aftermath she'd be cleared of any issues as the fault was in the oven, but it was still not something she'd expected to happen during her theme performance. Well, that and the sudden shockwave that the explosion caused.

Misty was thrown back by a wave of heat and force and through the back of the set to crash into the stage and roll over a few times protected from more damage by the part she'd been flung through while Piplup and Helioptile, as both were still on the counter, were thrown to either side and across the stage. However, as Pokémon they were a lot hardier and would be fine with only minor injuries that Nurse Joy could easily heal up. Even Pierre had to hit the deck as bits of oven, Poke Puff, equipment, and counter rained across the stage.

Thankfully it was too far from the crowd to reach them and there had been preparations made for such an eventuality and the stage was doused in fire suppressant foam while the center fell down into the bowels to be dealt with leaving just a mess of debris on the stage as Misty, Piplup, Helioptile, and Pierre all slowly got to their feet. Misty just let out a sight and hung her head, she knew what had happened and that she had failed to advance, there was no way one could do so after this and she recalled Serena's story of her own failure in her debut.

Still, Misty was strong, she'd failed in appeals before, so she pushed past her latest failure, raised her head to the crowd and smiled before giving a curtsy to show that she was done while suppressing a grimace from the fresh wounds on her arms and face from the explosion. Then she just walked forward, gathered Piplup and Helioptile in her arms and stood on the circle that would take her back to the waiting room and the Nurse Joy there who would take care of all their injuries.

"Well, zat was, er, different et unexpected." Pierre said recovering and getting back into his role, this wasn't actually the worst disaster he'd seen in his many years of doing this, so he just pushed on and was grateful for the longer than usual gap between Theme and Freestyle Rounds in the Couriway Showcase that would allow them to fully clean the stage. "But ze baking is over et now it is time for ze crowd to judge zat Poke Puff Performance."

As Misty expected, she did not see enough pink orbs flying her way to advance. She expected the ones from Ash, May and Serena, they were her boyfriend and close friends after all, but she was actually surprised to see a decent number fly down. She didn't know it but even James had voted for her as she was Jessie's rival here so deserved it, plus it would look better if Jessie beat her in the Freestyle Round and he knew she'd want the chance.

Alas that was not to be the case as she barley cracked 40% of the vote, which was higher than she felt she deserved, and was eliminated. It looked like she'd have to wait for that 3rd Princess Key.

"Unfortunately, Misty 'as not advanced but I am sure zat we will see 'er again shortly." Pierre said as Misty descended into the bowls to get patched up and see her friends for the long break before watching the Freestyle Round. "We will now 'ave a 2-hour break before nightfall et ze Freestyle Round of ze Couriway Showcase."

Misty heard this but ignored it as she apologized to her Pokémon, taking full blame for it, and hurried off to get them and herself sorted while they reassured her that this wasn't her fault. Even Piplup was being supportive despite once again getting hurt because of her.

She'd failed to advance but she wouldn't let it break her. Misty had two Princess Keys already and she would continue to go for that final one with her next chance the Wallace Showcase. That she wouldn't lose, she swore it.


"Well, that could have gone better." Misty said as she joined Ash, May, and Serena on their picnic blanket in the park area of the theater complex naturally plopping down next to Ash as she accepted the food they'd made that morning for this picnic dinner while May served the Pokémon food for Piplup and Helioptile. "Been a while since I messed up that badly at baking for my Pokémon."

"Better?" May asked quirking an eyebrow at Misty and giving her a once over. "That's a bit of an understatement Misty."

Misty was back in her Kalos outfit and looked a little worse for wear with numerous bandages and band aids on her arms and cheeks from the explosion and aftermath though it was nothing compared to how she looked after Ash's decimation of Kenny. She'd taken a little more damage than she would have liked from it, though none of it would scar this time, and had been patched up by Nurse Joy, after her Pokémon had been healed with berries, and told to check in with her before bed for another session. Still, she was trying to look on the light side of it all.

"Blowing up the entire setup is certainly new in my experience." Serena said. "And more spectacular than my failure last year in Coumarine which just involved Fennekin tripping because of my own mistake with her outfit. You just had to one up me again, didn't you Misty."

"What can I say, I am just a bit better even in how spectacularly I can fail." Misty said with a smile. "Still, I am not sure what happened there. Pierre told me while I was being patched up that they are going to investigate to figure out why it exploded as it shouldn't have, it was built for this kinda of stuff, but it was likely a fault in the design not me and he apologized for it on the Showcase Committee's behalf."

"Could he have advanced you?" Ash asked. "I know you were training really hard for the freestyle performance."

"No rules are rules and as the audience didn't vote for me to advance I can't move on." Misty said shaking her head as she began to eat. "And frankly I wouldn't want to after that. I failed that Theme Round and don't deserve to advance just because I accidentally blew the oven up. Don't worry I'm ok with this and I think it is good in the long run."

"It is?" May asked.

"Yeah now I can go for the 3rd Princess Key in the Wallace Showcase." Misty said with a grin. "I can't compete in the Wallace Cup this time around which is annoying, but I understand why I can't given my status as a Top Coordinator and this being an expansion region, so this is the next best thing. I'm still in the event somehow and it helps with all the crossover that Kalos is going for to have the Top Coordinator and the current unofficial face of the Wallace Cup compete in the Wallace Showcase and if I win, well that will look really good now won't it."

"True it would." Serena said thinking on it. "And you can unofficially claim to have kept your streak alive in a sense by winning the Aqua Princess Key and thus secure your place in the Master Class with it. Add in that it is a one-off Princess Key only available when the Kalos region hosts the Wallace Cup, and it will look really good to enter the Master Class with it."

"Exactly which is what I will go for." Misty said as she swallowed a mouthful of food. "So, you see this setback is just that, a setback. Nothing more, nothing less, and it won't break me in anyway."

"That is a mature way of looking at it." May said before giving Serena a sideways glance. "And better than lopping off almost all your hair after a single setback that was just a learning experience."

"It was my first ever Showcase and I had really messed up in my mind." Serena said defensively. "And I'd just found what I thought was my future path and faced such a setback right out of the gate, so I wasn't mentally prepared for it at the time. Plus, I was comparing myself to you May and you did well in your first Contest and advanced to the battles. In fact, you've never failed in an appeal."

"True I haven't which is odd when you think about it." May said realizing something for the first time. "I've had struggles sure and failed to reach the final of regular Contests plenty of times, especially in Johto when I was constantly dealing with the asshole duo and little miss still competing despite being a Top Coordinator but I've never failed in an appeal and yet Misty has, twice, and she's the one with the family pedigree not me."

"That is true and a little odd, but I think I have a theory there." Misty said thinking on it. "And it comes down to the pedigree and our respective histories. You found Contests by accident when you left for your adventure to see the world without a real plan, similar to Serena and Showcases, while I had my heart set on them from the start because of mom."

"That is true and probably why we clicked so quickly." Serena said. "May and I were similar in that regard."

"That we were." May agreed. "But as Misty pointed out, she was always going to be a coordinator the moment she set out on her journey."

"Correct, it was my dream from a young age." Misty said with a nod. "Then won my second one, same as you May, and got overconfident which led to my first appeal failure. I overcompensated in my next Contest and failed to advance again and really lost myself. It took a mix of Zoey's help, Ash's own drive, and seeing what was going on with Maylene and her own confidence after she dealt with Paul to get back into it. That gym battle helped both of us, her more so but I got a lot out of it myself, and the Wallace Cup really recentered me. Just advancing in it was enough but when I won it, well I knew that I was back."

"For sure, you've made it to the final of every single Contest since then bar one." May said recalling Misty's record-breaking streak of finals appearances that included 3 Grand Festival finals during it. "And that was more because you were giving Mamoswine experience right?"

"To an extent but Jessilina was better than me that day, she was really good with her Carnivine." Misty said recalling it. "But yeah finals since then and only loses to Ursula in the Johto Grand Festival, Ash in HopHopHop Town and Molly in Gardenia Town but I wouldn't have managed it without facing the hardships of those loses and how they shaped me for the future."

"That really is a mature way to see it and then use it to grow." Serena said. "And while I may have overreacted I did grow from my failure in Coumarine so when I lost here last year I didn't blame Eevee or myself for it but accepted it and tried harder so that I could win in Fleurrh and then do well in the Master Class. Alas I am still no match for someone like Aria, but that loss just fueled me even more to complete myself so that next time I face her I am the one walking off stage as the Kalos Queen."

"Yeah I always get better after a loss no matter where it is." Ash said. "When I lose a gym battle I reevaluate why I lost, train harder, and bounce back for the next one. I don't give up no matter what."

"Yeah we've heard the story of Saffron." Misty said to which May nodded though Serena didn't but she also knew that she'd meet Sabrina herself soon enough according to May so she would here it then for sure given how important it was Sabrina. "And how stubborn you were there, and I recall you bouncing back in Sinnoh after losing to Roark."

"Same in Hoenn with Brawley." May said. "Though we don't know about Unova. Did you lose there?"

"I lost the second gym battle I had there and that was it." Ash said. "And again, I bounced back after it and won it on the second attempt. I'm going for the clean sweep this year, however. Only one more battle and I'll have gone 8 and 0 for the first time ever and that will be huge for the Lumiose Conference. I didn't lose a full battle last year though I only had 7 not 8 and made it to the finals so this year I'm going for it all without a loss this time around. That's why I'm going to train extra hard for the Snowbelle Gym and the Wallace Cup will help a lot with that."

"That's the spirit Ash." Misty said smiling as she drew strength from him just as she always did, Ash just had a way of inspiring others when he got like this. "And I'm going to train for the Wallace Showcase. I'm going to use the 3 I haven't used yet in a freestyle in it. I think I know who I'll go with in the appeal, one of them is much better than the others if Wallace keeps his traditions, and then work all 3 for the freestyle. Two have already worked together in training for this one so it's just some tweaks as I replace Piplup with the third."

"Piplup." Piplup protested as he wanted to be in another freestyle. "Pip, Piplup."

"I know you want another go but I want to give all the new Kalos lot a chance before the Master Class now that I have that opportunity, well other than Ursaring." Misty said "Seriously that one is still adjusting to being part of the family, but Professor Oak says it's only a matter of time. I think once Ash sends Conkeldurr there full time it will really help."

"Yeah Conkeldurr has fully adjusted and become a great member of my team, and he was close with that Ursaring so I think it will really help." Ash said. "And then you can use your Ursaring more Misty."

"Oh, I intend to but all in good time." Misty said as they finished their food and began to clean up. "We need to focus on what is to come first rather than on the more distant future."

"Yes we do and there is so much to look forward to." May said. "And even with this loss we've adapted to it all already just in case it happened so let's get pumped because Snowbelle is going to be wild."

Ash, Misty, and Serena all just nodded at that because it would be as they finished clearing up and digesting the meal. They still had an hour or so which was spent just chilling and chatting about what they were going to do when they got to Snowbelle City until a bell rang for 10 minutes before the freestyles and they got up to go and enjoy them.


The Freestyle Round for the Couriway Showcase was fun but in all honesty it wasn't much of a competition with Misty out of it. Despite two of the finalists having one Princess Key each, the level of skill that Jessilee had was on a different level to the others this time around. She'd clearly prepared to go all out against Misty and without one of the other big favorites she was just too good for the others. It also reconfirmed why she was one of the favorites with only one loss to date.

Jessilee went second in her Freestyle and went with a more upbeat, slightly circus themed, performance though in her usual attire with that elegant hint of seductive mystery that she was so good at. As always she put herself in the center and had her Gourgeist use a Seed Bomb on her to lift her high into the air before leaping down from a high height and onto her Wobbuffet that was using Counter to bounce her back into the air and into her Gourgeist's waiting arms.

It was an impressive display of teamwork between Pokémon and performer but above all else it showed that she had the utmost trust in her Pokémon. Despite Wobbuffet being a psychic type, it couldn't actually learn Psychic, so Jessilee was using what it did know to her advantage and ensure that she was moving between her Pokémon while in the air without any additional support this showing how much she trusted them and their moves to avoid serious injury. The mix of trust, spectacle, and grace really got the crowd going.

She then went all out to finish with a Shadow Ball at Wobbuffet who used Counter to blast it back only for a second Seed Bomb to intercept it right above Jessilee in and explosion of sparks to end on a flurry as she landed on her feet in the center of the stage. They all then posed for the crowd as they cheered. Even with only two and not her usual Meowth Jessilee really upped her freestyle performance and Misty had to be honest she wasn't sure her planned freestyle would have surpassed that in the end.

The remaining two finalists were decent, but they weren't on Jessilee's level, so it was clear to the quartet that the mysterious mature woman was going to win the Couriway Showcase and thus qualify for the Master Class. All that was left was the vote now that the final performer had gone however there was a little delay in that because Pierre had an announcement to make at the end.

"Fantastique et magnifique." Pierre said as the finalists gathered on the stage with their Pokémon from both the Theme and Freestyle Rounds to await the audience vote. "Our lovely performers 'ave finished ze Couriway Showcase et now it is time to vote but first allow me to make an announcement."

This got the crowd murmuring as they were all eager to hear what Pierre had to say that would delay the audience vote and it added to everything as the crowd was now on edge while May and Serena just smiled as they were certain that they knew what this was going to be. Ash and Misty were confused however but that would clear up soon.

"Every year I 'ost a special ball with ze Kalos Queen at my estate zat is to ze south west of 'ere." Pierre said to the crowd. "It is always towards ze end of ze season but not after ze final Showcases, rather after ze Couriway one et is ze same time zis year despite ze pushing back of ze Master Class due to the Wallace Cup et Showcase."

The crowd cheered at this as Ash and Misty began to understand. It made sense that something like this would exist in a region that was known for it's fancy parties and excuses to dress up and it was a great idea to really give back to the performers who'd worked so hard that year with something fun for them to enjoy at the end of the year.

"Any lady who 'as ever competed in a Showcase is welcome et of course zis is a party so make sure you bring a date ladies." Pierre said with a grin. "A formal invite is going to all zose with a performer card et ze details will be on it, but it is in a week's time so I 'ope to see you all zere. In addition, zis year we 'ave a very special surprise guest who is going to be at ze party at my personal invite due to being in Kalos zen et zere will be a lot of entertainment just like zere always is."

"Woah sounds fun." Ash said as the crowd cheered at this. "And as Misty and Serena have been in Showcases we can go, right?"

"I've done one as well just to try it out so I'm on the list as well, it was a lot of fun last year." May said. "And I'm bringing Clemont in to be my date because, well, Misty gets to take Ash and this way I can drag him to it for it. Max said that Bonnie has done a Showcase or two for fun and to get the invite because she loved it last year and as they are competing in the Wallace Cup they'll be there as well with Bonnie taking Max while her male Dedenne takes his female Gardevoir."

"Oh, I see what this is all about." Misty said with a grin. "And I take it that this is really formal, right? Like full dress up to the nines kinda of thing?"

"So much so that we actually rent the dresses there, that's how fancy it is." Serena said feeling a little pain at not being able to bring Ash as her date, but she did know how the dance worked so maybe she'd get one with Ash during that part of the party. "And there's dancing so all that waltzing practice you did will come in handy."

"You mentioned that it would come in handy, this is what you meant, wasn't it?" Misty asked Serena to which she nodded before Misty realized something. "That's great but Serena, what about you? Do you have a date?"

"I don't…" Serena began knowing that Misty meant nothing by the question, but it was still painful coming from the girl who'd beaten her in love.

"Don't worry Serena, I've sorted it all out." May said with a grin that Serena really didn't like. "With the Wallace Cup nearby and almost all our friends competing in it I've persuaded a bunch who are male and a few of the performers we know to show up for this so we will be balanced between the genders and as such everyone will have a date. Shauna and Miette should be there as well so between them and Serena and the three boys I know will need dates, hence why I am bringing in Clemont, we can have that covered. It's going to be great."

"Can't wait." Ash said already getting into it. "A party is always good, and I can bring in that outfit from the Kanto Grand Reception for it."

"No, this is for me and I'm not letting you wear that, it won't go with the style here." Misty said shaking her head. "I take it there are guy's outfits there as well in the Kalos style."

"Yes, the guys will be renting suits in the Kalos style as well." Serena said recalling the outfit Misty was referring to and while it looked great on Ash it wasn't right for this party as it didn't fit the style currently in vogue in Kalos. "And it will take all day to get the outfits ready, so we need to get there and registered early. Plus, Pikachu and Piplup will need dates, they're both male."

"True." Misty said before an idea hit her. "My Buneary has a huge crush on Pikachu, and she hasn't been with me all year so she can come in as his date."

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked surprised by that and starting to get nervous, he liked Buneary, but she could be a bit clingy at times. "Pi, Pikachu?"

"Yes that would work and Sylveon can be escorted by Piplup." Serena said which Piplup readily agreed to.

"I'm confused but whatever." Ash said trying to see why the Pokémon needed dates. "Though I am curious as to how Dedenne will be escorted by Gardevoir."

"Pierre's make Klefki escorts Aria's female Delphox while he escorts her so it can be done." Serena said. "But we can sort more out nearer the time though May won't tell me who my date is."

"That's a secret." May said shaking her head. "And it will remain that way because now it is time for the vote."

The others just nodded and picked up their glowsticks because it was true, while they'd been talking Pierre had been finishing up his announcement about the party and called for the audience vote. They barely had the time to make them green and vote for Jessilee, she may be Misty's rival, but she was the best in the freestyle, so she deserved to win, and cast them for her. It was clear by the wave of green that she would win.

That was confirmed a few moments later when the keyhole counter thing above each of the performers' heads finished counting and it was clear that Jessilee had the most with over 60% of the vote. It would turn out to be the highest vote percentage in a 4 or more-person final that year though still behind Misty's record from Dendemille Town, but she had gone for utter shock value there.

"Et ze winner is…" Pierre said though it was just a formality. "Performer Jessilee!"

The crowd cheered as Jessilee smiled, shook hands with her fellow finalists who then stepped back to be taken down to the bowels of the theater on the large platform while Jessilee stepped forward with her Pokémon. Once she was alone she was face to face with Monsieur Pierre relishing her moment.

"Jessilee, 'ere is your Princess Key, your zird one zis year." Pierre said to her with a smile as his Klefki floated up, unfurled his loop and gave her the Couriway Princess Key. "Congratulations, you 'ave qualified for ze Master Class, I look forward to seeing you in it."

"I can't wait for it." Jessie said as she raised the key above her head to the cheering crowd. "I'm going to be the Kalos Queen."

Ash, Misty, May, and Serena all cheered with the crowd for Jessilee as she enjoyed her moment on the stage. She'd earned it and Misty couldn't wait for her own third Princess Key, reaffirming her commitment to win it in Snowbelle as they made their way to the second city with an event for all of them this year. First though they had Pierre's party to look forward to and they had no idea what was in store for them there as their journey continued.