Chapter 11: Wake Up Snorlax! Battle in Parfum Palace!
"Great work this morning, everyone." Ash stretched with Pikachu and Riolu, who rested on his shoulders. The electric mouse noticed Riolu smirking at him and emphasized his seat on Ash's shoulder. However, this smile faded when Pikachu did not react and just kept stretching.
"Merci." Serena flashed a bright smile as she brushed Fennekin's fur while the little fire fox purred and rested in her trainer's arms.
"Not, 'huff' gonna make it." Clemont dragged himself along with a walking stick and hyperventilated.
"Geeze, big bro, why are you still falling behind?" Bonnie crossed her arms and narrowed both eyes at Clemont before Ash helped him along.
"Go easy on him, Bonnie. Don't forget we stepped it up a notch this morning. I think you and your team showed real improvement."
"Merci." Clemont stood up a little straighter after Ash said this.
"Still, I wouldn't mind resting indoors tonight. Fennekin too." Serena sighed a little with her pokemon, who nodded. Both their bodies ached from days of walking and every more strenuous training with Ash. It was not that they did not appreciate Ash's help or hated camping, but both longed for a proper bath and warm bed to sleep in.
"We should be at Camphrier Town soon. Why don't we spend the night there?" Ash offered and saw the others light up.
"Camphrier Town is a historic landmark. My parents once visited here and told me that a lord still lives there." Serena took out her information pad, and Ash came closer to get a look.
"Really? Kalos still has lords?" Ash almost blinked when he saw the manor depicted on screen.
"Oui, and a King too. Of course, he does not have any political power. He's mostly a figurehead, just like the lords." Clemont added while Serena nodded.
"A few hundred years ago, the Kings of Kalos grew decadent, and the people suffered as a result. Taking advantage of a famine, a series of intellectuals took power by intentionally keeping what food remained away from the masses and spreading lies about the nobility. They whipped up a revolution against the King and the other nobles, with many dying. However, the King's son was not like his family. He devoted himself to the poor and led the army against the rebels, decisively defeating them. After the revolution, he transitioned Kalos into a constitutional monarchy, and things slowly transformed into the way they are now." Serena went on a bit more, with Clemont chiming in, and Ash took it all in before they arrived.
"We're here!" Bonnie raced ahead toward a gate in a vast stone wall surrounding the town. Ash soon understood what Serena meant, for Camphrier had a rustic yet charming feel to its surrounding farmlands, brick buildings, and trees mixed in with the streets. The locals and their pokemon looked much the same, with many in farmer's attire or other simple outfits.
"So pretty."
"You're right Serena, it is-"
"Halt!" A harsh voice snapped Ash and the others out of their daze. All four and their pokemon almost jumped backward when they saw Officer Jenny with a few Kalos soldiers and pokemon standing at the gate in a makeshift checkpoint.
"Huh? Officer Jenny? What's going on?" Ash saw the bags under her eyes and multiple empty cups of coffee by her feet. Jenny's Manectric looked much the same, and struggled to keep his eyes open. Pikachu climbed down and gave him a jolt from his cheeks, and the manectric growled in appreciation.
"Ahhh, they're just kids. You lot better get inside before they come again." Jenny groaned and took a fresh cup of coffee from one of the soldiers.
"Is everything okay?"
"Not exactly. Please, just go inside." Jenny moved aside, but Ash's stomach hardened when he saw the same exhaustion across the townsfolk and their pokemon. Many yawned or stumbled about, struggling to stay on their feet.
"Eh? Did everyone here forget how to sleep?" Bonnie held Dedenne closer and looked around. The exhausted locals reminded Ash a bit of Neon City's inhabitants years earlier, though they proved more short-tempered.
"What's gotten everyone so tired-" Ash started before he and the others got their answer. A horrible noise reverberated across the town and shook everything around them.
"Ahh!" Ash, Pikachu, and Riolu groaned, each covering their ears.
"Ahhh! Make it stop!" Bonnie yelped as she and Dedenne tried to do the same. Clemont thrashed around his bag until he took out a pair of metallic soundproof earmuffs and slapped them over his head.
"No good, it's still coming through!" He moaned and wobbled.
"Ahhh!" Serena could not cover her ears without dropping Fennekin, who shrieked and tried to close up her big ears. However, relief came when someone did it for her. Serena's face shot bright red when she saw Ash behind her, teeth gritted as he endured the snoring and protected her.
"Ahh, ahh, merci." She stuttered. He grunted when the horrifying noise ended.
"What was that!?"
"Pika?!"
"Grou!"
The group looked around until they saw him. What had to be the biggest Snorlax Ash ever saw slept like a rock beneath a gazebo in the town center. Even from a distance, the mighty pokemon looked almost twice the size of his own, and Ash soon understood.
"Snore, that has to be one powerful Snorlax for it to do that." Ash sweatdropped with Pikachu and the others. They spotted a half-asleep woman nearby struggling to sweet with her Audino and approached them.
"Bonjour, could you explain what's going on with that Snorlax?" Serena asked and waved a hand in front of her. The pair removed cotton stuffings from their ears and sighed together.
"Bonjour, you lot must be new here. I suppose you want to know about our Snorlax."
"Aud." Audino moaned and rubbed her ears.
"Wait, you said he's our Snorlax. What do you mean by that?" Ash asked and stared back at the sleeping giant.
"Well, technically, Snorlax is a wild pokemon, but in a way, we consider him part of the town. He's very old and, as you can see, extremely powerful. Every year when we finish our harvests, Snorlax comes down and eats all the leftover roots in our fields."
"Huh? But isn't that a huge bother?" Serena asked with a baffled expression. However, she and the others noticed an abundance of food and crops brought in by the farmers.
"Bother? Not at all, dear. In fact, by doing so, he uproots the old roots and cultivates the field so our following crops can grow much better."
"Amazing, you and Snorlax had a symbiotic relationship!" Clemont's eyes lit up, and the woman gave a slight smile as she nodded.
"Oui, as a show of appreciation for Snorlax. Every year, when he finishes eating, we hold a festival celebrating another year of strong crops and offer him another banquet. The festival starts when our local lord, Baron , plays his Poke Flute and wakes Snorlax from his nap. However, the festival was supposed to take place several days ago, and Baron has not come out of his estate." She gestured to the castle-like manor on the hilltop overlooking the town, which shined like something out of a fantasy book.
"Has anyone tried talking to him?" Ash asked, and the woman nodded again.
"He is refusing visitors, though my husband works as part of his staff and claims he heard him sobbing to the chief servant last night. Something is going on up there."
"Alright, try again." An exacerbated voice groaned. They looked back over and saw a dozen Kalos soldiers alongside an Aggron, Chesnaught, and Machamp try to force the Snorlax onto his feet. Veins popped out of their muscles and foreheads as they grit their teeth from the strain of the effort. Two more men attached a wench around Snorlax and used a tank retriever to pull. However, a minute later, the cable snapped, and the soldiers collapsed alongside their dazed pokemon.
"Well, that didn't work." The Lieutenant moaned.
"Is his snoring really so bad the army has to help?" Serena almost gasped.
"Well, no. They're here because of Team Flare."
"Team Flare!" Ash yelped with the others.
"Oui, word spread of just how powerful Snorlax's is, and members of the organization attacked two days ago to try and seize him. Thankfully, Monsieur Jean drove them off and contacted the army in case they return."
"Monsieur Jean?" Ash and the others looked back at the woman.
"Ahh, forgive me. Jean is Baron son and heir."
"So you can't wake up Snorlax without Baron , and Team Flare might return for him." Serena covered her mouth, and Ash gritted his teeth. Getting his own Snorlax to wake up was difficult enough, but this was a far bigger, wild one.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm. Fear not, I have just the gear for this! Behold, Clemont gear! The Bonnie doesn't want to wake up cure!"
"Ehh!?" Bonnie pouted when Clemont adjusted his glasses, then took out what looked like a small robotic alarm clock and held it up.
"Ehh?" Ash, Serena, and their pokemon sweatdropped as Clemont started winding the device up.
"I invented this device for when Bonnie refuses to wake up. If it can get her sleepyhead up, it can certainly work on Snorlax."
"Clemont, wait." Ash reached for him, but he approached Snorlax regardless.
"Hmm, big brother." Bonnie puffed up her cheeks and then gave him the cold shoulder. As they went after him, Serena took out her pokedex and read the info on Snorlax.
"No need to fret, good soldiers, I have the means to wake up Snorlax!"
"Huh?"
"Clemont wait-" Ash started before Clemont slapped his earmuffs back on.
"Cover your ears!" Bonnie cried. Serena covered Bonnie's while Ash did the same for Serena. Another violent snore reverberated from Snorlax and made the entire town grunt in agony. However, Ash almost cursed when another metallic voice mirrored the horrible snore. Clemont's device began dancing and beating its alarm bell.
"It's morning, ring!" The machine repeated again and again.
"Ahhh! They're too loud!" Bonnie shrieked, and Serena wobbled in Ash's arms.
"Pika!"
"Grou!" Unable to take it anymore, Riolu grabbed his pokeball and sent himself inside.
"Huh? What's happening?" Clemont gulped, and Ash saw smoke rising out of his device.
"Lookout!" Ash picked up Serena and Bonnie in his arms and turned them away moments before the device exploded and left Clemont covered in soot.
"Another failure, brother."
"Perhaps, but that explosion had to wake him up." Clemont cleaned his glasses off but saw with everyone else that Snorlax still slept.
"Ahhh." Clemont fell onto his back.
"What are we going to do?" A townsman sobbed.
"If Snorlax doesn't wake up, it's the end of the town!"
"That's it! It sounds like Baron is the only one who can wake him up, so we're going to see him!"
"Pika!" Pikachu cried with Ash.
"Huh? But Ash, they said he refused to come out-" Serena started but then blushed as he stared down the estate with an iron expression.
"I'll make him understand."
"Oui! You're right, let's go!"
Ash led them up the hill and to the castle entrance, where two men in white suits with shades stood guard alongside a pair Doublades. Ash quickly read the pokedex entries and then faced the guards.
"We're here to see Baron Shabboneau."
"Lord isn't seeing visitors today. Come back another time, young man."
"It's important! He's the only one who can wake up Snorlax and save his town!"
"Pika, Pikachu!"
"We-" The guards started before another snore shook all of them, even from the hilltop. The guards and their pokemon trembled before it and sweatdropped.
"We, we were told-"
"Let them in." Another voice echoed from inside. Moments later, the drawbridge opened, and a young man emerged. He looked perhaps a year older than Ash and roughly Alain's size. Thick brown hair covered his head with greenish blue eyes in the center of his handsome face. Most distinct of all was the suit of knight's armor he wore and a white jacket with epaulets he wore around his shoulders as a cape, just like the one Alain wore.
"Frou." A strong Furfrou trimmed to look like a knight strolled beside the young man and shared his wary expression.
"Monsieur Jean." The guards inclined their heads, and Ash's eyes widened.
"Jean, you're Baron son?"
"Oui. You came to see him about Snorlax, didn't you."
"Hai, I'm Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu." Serena and the others also introduced themselves after him, and Jean nodded.
"Follow me. I'll show you to my father." Jean avoided their eyes and led the group into the manor. Its interior amazed the group with its fine artwork depicting Kalos history, including paintings, tapestries, and suits of armor. Ash noticed a Silver Furfrou sigil on the back of Jean's jacket cape that matched a few banners hung up in the halls. The castle's staff looked as exhausted as the villagers, with one leaning against a wall.
"Joc, take a nap in your room. You'll hurt yourself if you fall over." Jean helped the man to his feet before he limped off. Before long, they reached what looked like a small throne room where a short and plump man with gray hair slouched over the seat. An aging servant tried to help him sit upright, but the fine-dressed man struggled to stay awake.
"Lord , you have guests."
"Guests!? No, no, no! They can't see a failure like me!" The little man burst into tears and had to be held up by the servant and Jean, who raced up the steps.
"Father, more visitors have come to try and help us."
"Father?" Ash and the others looked from between the two with baffled expressions. How the little plump man could be Jean's father was lost to them until they saw her.
"Mon amour, you need to calm down." A gorgeous woman who bore a striking resemblance to Jean save the eyes, in a bright silver dress, hurried over to help steady Lord up.
"Merci, Alice." He hugged her and turned to face Ash.
"Bonjour." He muttered, struggling to meet their eyes.
"Lord , why won't you wake up Snorlax with your Poke Flute? Can't you see what his snoring is doing to your town and people?"
"I, well, the thing is. I don't have it anymore." Shabboneau poked his fingers together and started shaking again.
"What!?" Ash and the others yelped. Jean, Alice, and the servant all sweatdropped.
"Yes, the thing is, well, I was practicing for the festival when suddenly I developed a case of hives from the flute. It was terrible, and I threw the flute out in my panicked state. Now I'm too ashamed to face the town."
"Huh?" Ash and the others gave crestfallen expressions as once more avoided their eyes.
"Father, s'il vous plaît, don't bring shame to our family such such a bad lie." Jean sighed, and his Furfrou nuzzled , who teared up.
"Oui, the truth is, the Flute was taken from us. Just over a week ago."
"Taken from you? Was it Team Flare!?" Ash threw his fist up while Pikachu sparked his cheeks.
"No, they came after." Jean added, and Ash noticed his face turn a little pink.
"The Flute was taken by Princess Allie."
"Princess Allie?"
"The Princess!" Bonnie beamed with stars in her eyes.
"Oui, King Philip has a royal estate nearby called the Parfum Palace, and his daughter, Princess Allie, resides there. She came to visit us and challenged Jean to a Pokemon battle."
"And?" Ash turned back to Jean, who now shook like his father, and avoided their eyes.
"Well, I, she. I couldn't battle her." Jean poked his fingers together before Ash seized him by his armor with fire in his eyes.
"What do you mean you couldn't battle her!? You call yourself a pokemon trainer!"
"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu also scolded Furfrou, who mirrored Jean.
"Ash." Serena pulled him off Jean and looked closer at the young man's reddening and evasive face. Serena had an idea of what was going on and suppressed a smile.
"When Jean could not battle her, she insisted I do it and was soundly defeated." sobbed again as Alice patted his shoulder.
"She demanded a trophy for her victory and took the Poke Flute."
"Huh, and you just let her!?" Serena gasped.
"I had no choice. My house owes King Philip a great debt. Now my town will suffer because I lost."
"Because I could not face her." Jean muttered.
"No way! You can't take this sitting down. Where is this Parfum Palace?" Ash threw his hand up again.
"Ash, what are you talking about?" Clemont muttered.
"This Princess Allie won the flute through a battle. I'll get it back that way."
"You, you want to battle Allie!?" Jean threw himself forward and almost grabbed Ash. A fire lit in the young lord's eyes that caught Ash off guard. Serena and Bonnie noticed how Jean referred to her and smiled again.
"Hai, I'm going to battle her unless you do."
"...No. I'll show you the way." Jean sighed before jumped up.
"Oui! Merci, monsieur Ash! Bring back our flute!"
Jean led them west of Camphrier until they arrived at a spectacular manor the likes of which put Lord Shabbonea's to shame. Serena and Bonnie's eyes glistened before the vast windows, gleaming gates, and statues.
"It's, it's incredible!" Serena clasped her hands together while Bonnie tried to race toward the gate, only for Clemont's robotic arm to catch her. Ash noticed Jean still shaking and struggling to look at it.
"Jean, why couldn't you battle Princess Allie? I heard you defeated a group of Team Flare members."
"I, I did, it's just." He poked his index fingers together and tried to turn away with his Furfrou but Ash and Pikachu pulled them back. "Alright, she and I grew up together and battled a few times. The thing is, she's, she's the princess and I, I don't think I can bring myself to make her lose."
"Huh? That's crazy talk." Ash shook Jean while Serena and Bonnie sighed.
"Ash is so dense." Bonnie patted Serena on the back as the young woman nodded and then puffed up her cheeks at him.
"Well, we best go get the flute." Clemont waived the group on until they saw a group of guards in white suits like at Lord 's castle.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Lord Jean, and his companions. We come seeking Princess Allie." Jean forced himself forward but Ash saw him shaking again.
"Hmm, inform the princess." One said over his walkie talkie. Within a few minutes the gates opened and a squad of maids formed up tossing rose pedals.
"Kneel before her majesty, Princess Allie de Valois!" They all threw their hands at two figures that approached from the manor. The first was a young woman of Ash and Serena's age with skin as smooth as silk, and shoulder-length scarlet hair done up under a silver tiara. A glittering violet dress covered her hourglass-shaped body and matched her eyes while a yellow fan covered her mouth. Ash heard Jean gulp and watched sweat trickle down his scarlet face.
"Is he that afraid of battling her?" Ash thought to himself. Pikachu glanced at a very finely groomed Furfrou who walked beside the princess and stuck her snout up at Jean's, whose expression mirrored his trainer's.
"Well, kneel!" One of the maids barked and Jean promptly fell to one knee. Clemont did the same, soon followed by Serena and Bonnie. Ash, however, remained standing.
"Princess Allie, I-" Ash started before her Furfrou barked and snapped her teeth at him.
"Kneel before her!"
"Ash, just do it." Serena pleaded and with gritted teeth, he did so.
"That's more like it. Now, Jean, why have you bothered me and brought these peasants with you?"
"Peasants?!" Bonnie sprung up but Clemont covered her mouth.
"I, I. I came seeking my family's Poke Flute, Allie."
"I think you mean my Poke Flute, Jean. I beat your father fair and square after you refused to battle me." Allie laughed and her maids rushed out with carts full of various trophies and medals with different pokemon tournaments listed on them. "As you can see, I am quite the renowned trainer. My dear Fufrou is a champion, aren't you." Allie stroked her pokemon who wagged her tail.
"Princess Allie, we need that Pokeflute to wake up Snorlax. Without it, he'll stay asleep and keep the people of Camphrier up with his snoring!" Ash pleaded.
"Oui, and Team Flare is trying to kidnap him too!" Serena added. Allie, however, rolled her eyes and fanned herself.
"I was told soldiers came to drive off those criminals. Surely they can remove Snorlax."
"They can't! Only Jean's father can with the pokeflute. If you are a princess then you should care about your people!"
"Sheesh, you sound like my big brother-" Allie turned to face Ash but went silent when her eyes met his. The princess's eyes lit up and Ash blinked when her cheeks turned bright pink. "It's you! It's really you!?"
"Eh?" Ash muttered while Serena and Jean sprung up with narrowed eyes.
"Huh!?" They said together, voices deepened. Allie sprinted over and seized Ash by the hands.
"It's the boy who stopped the rampaging Garchomp in Lumiose! You're a hero, and so handsome too!" She beamed while Ash and Pikachu sweatdropped.
"What are you getting at!?" Serena's face shot fiery red and she pulled Ash away from Allie.
"Oui, what are you getting at!?" Jean turned to Ash with a feral gaze, but Allie grabbed him again.
"Mama and Papa talked about finding me a suitable husband. But you are just what I need. It's settled, you will be my betrothed Ash."
"What!?" Ash, Serena, Bonnie, Jean, and Clemont screamed.
"No! No way!" Serena answered for Ash and threw herself in front of Allie with fire in her eyes." Ash doesn't belong to you! He's-" Serena gulped and cut herself off before speaking too much.
"Who do you think you are, peasant girl!" Allie stuck her fan in Serena's face as her Furfrou snarled and two guards came to back her up before Jean stopped them.
"Allie, be reasonable. You can't force Ash to marry you."
"Hai! I'm not marrying you!"
"Pika! Pikachu!"
"You're turning down me down! Me, the princess of Kalos!" Allie shook and grit her teeth before a lightbulb appeared over her head and she grinned.
"Well, how about a little wager?" Allie snapped her finger and a maid came out with a flute with an end shaped like a pokeball.
"The Pokeflute!" Jean cried. He tried to go for it, but the guards and maids blocked him.
"Ash, as you can see by my countless trophies, I am a pokemon trainer like you. I'll wager the Pokeflute against your hand in marriage. Winner takes all."
"No way! Absolutely not! He'd never-" Serena threw herself in front of Ash but he nodded.
"I accept your challenge."
"Ehh!?" Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and Jean cried.
"Ash!" Serena grabbed his shoulders but he remained fixed on the Pokeflute.
"I won't lose, Serena, I promise."
"You'd better not!" She puffed up her cheeks while Jean likewise glared at him.
"Oui, you'd better not."
"Perfect! This way to the battlefield!" Allie and her staff lead them behind the palace to a vast garden of finely trimmed hedges, flowers, fountains, and statues of legendary pokemon. Serena wanted to bask in its beauty, but her heart raced at the thought of Ash having to marry Princess Allie. However, that was when something caught her attention. Through one of the windows, Serena spotted what looked like a black banner hung beneath a blue one. The blue banner had golden Fleur-de-lis flowers, the Royal Family's coat of arms. However, the black banner beneath it had a familiar Charizard head.
"Huh, why does that look familiar?"
"Here we are!" Allie snapped Serena back to reality and she saw her standing on one end of a battlefield with Ash across from her.
"Ash! Please don't lose!" Serena clasped her hands together while Bonnie and Clemont tried to comfort her.
"Don't worry, Serena, Pikachu and I have this!"
"Pika, Pikachu!"
"Hmp! Don't think I'll go easy on your adorable Pikachu, Ash. Let the battle begin, go Furfrou!"
"Frou!" Furfrou ran out while Jean's whined.
"Furfrou, Charge Beam!"
"Pikachu, Thunder!"
"Frou!"
"Pika, chu!" Both pokemon unleashed their electric attacks, but Pikachu's immense bolt of thunder tore the Charge Beam apart and enveloped Furfrou in an explosion.
"Ahh! Furfrou!" Allie screamed and held her now pale face.
"Frou!" Jean's Furfrou howled. When the smoke cleared Furfrou lay on her back, eyes swirled and hair frizzy from the electricity.
"Furfrou, is, 'gulp' unable to battle." A guard stuttered as he and the staff began to sweat.
"Oui!" Serena beamed and danced with Bonnie as Clemont exhaled in relief.
"Ohh, well, too bad." Jean likewise exhaled while his Furfrou ran out to nuzzle Allie's.
"Get her to the doctor now!" Allie screamed to her maids who carried Furfrou away on a stretcher.
"Great job, Pikachu! We won the Pokeflute!"
"Pika!"
"Hmp! No way!" Allie puffed up her cheeks and fanned herself as Ash and the others turned crestfallen.
"What are you talking about!? We made a deal!" Ash roared while Pikachu shouted with him.
"Hmp, you used a pokemon too powerful. If you want the flute, I'll need a more reasonable one."
"You can't do that!" Serena tried to run out but Jean restrained her.
"I'm the princess, I can make the rules I want."
"Oui, she can." Allie's maids backed her up and Ash sweatdropped.
"Alright then. We'll still win, I choose you, Riolu!"
"Grou!" Riolu howled and took a fighting stance with an eager smile.
"Riolu!? Ash, why not someone else, like Charizard." Serena pleaded.
"I think she'll make a similar complaint." Clemont said. Allie smirked and nodded when she saw Riolu.
"Perfect. Go Meditate!" Meditate took a sitting position and levitated.
"Uh oh, that's not good. She's strong against fighting types!" Clemont gulped.
"Riolu, do your best!" Bonnie cried.
"Riolu, please don't lose." Serena pleaded to the little Pokemon who winked at her and growled at Meditate.
"We can do this, Riolu!"
"Pika, Pikachu!"
"Grou!"
"Let's go! Workup!" Ash threw his fist out and Riolu matched the movement, their eyes flashing blue together while an orange aura glowed over him.
"Two can play that game. Calm mind." Meditate's eyes glowed a lighter, blue and she rose higher.
"Riolu, quick attack!"
"Detect!" Meditate closed her eyes, and moved out of the way an instant before Riolu reached her. The little aura pokemon snarled but regained his footing.
"Confusion!"
"Riolu! Dodge with Quick Attack!" Ash threw his hand out again and Riolu zoomed across the battlefield, preventing Meditate from locking in on him. I don't think so, Psybeam!"
"Med!" Meditate blasted the ground with beam after beam and Riolu grunted as the blasts knocked him off balance.
"Stay strong, Riolu! Work up!"
"Rio!" Riolu grit his teeth and channeled more attack power and ran straight for Meditate.
"Detect!"
"Riolu, Feint!"
"Feint!?" Allie yelped and Riolu's punch made contact, slamming Meditate into the ground.
"Now! Quick attack!" Riolu sped forward again, and struck Meditate again, knocking her onto her back.
"Meditate is, is unable to battle." The guard almost collapsed and Allie turned crestfallen.
"We, we lost."
"Alright, Riolu, we did it!"
"Pika!"
"Grou!" Riolu sprinted over and leaped into Ash's arms before Serena sprinted to his side.
"You did it!" Serena's eyes swelled with tears and she pulled Riolu into a hug.
"I, I-" Allie started when a premonition hit Ash like a splash of ice cold water. He tried to warn the others but only had time to grab and pull Serena out of the way. A series of smoke bombs exploded around them and engulfed much of the staff.
"Ahh! What's happening!?" Allie yelped as her guards fell down one by one with mysterious figures moving behind them in the smoke.
"Team Flare!" Ash put himself in front of Serena while Riolu did the same for Bonnie, and Pikachu Clemont.
"Get the Princess and that Flute!" Two Flare grunts emerged from the smoke and came for the group while three rushed Princess Allie.
"Ahh! Help me!" She wailed. Ash knocked away the first grunt's arm as he came in with his electric baton then kicked him into his companion. A pair of Marowak flanked the grunts and spun their bone clubs in preparation to attack the others with Bone Rush.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail! Riolu, Quick Attack!" Riolu, still bursting with enthusiasm from his earlier victory, rushed at the first Marowak, but Pikachu moved too fast. He slammed the second Marowak's bone away then sent him flying with the second hit. Pikachu then used this to propel himself into the first Marowak, who suffered the same fate. Riolu puffed up his cheeks and growled, even as Ash knocked both grunts to the ground with successive punches to the head. Serena beamed with pink cheeks and clasped both hands together when she remembered Allie.
"Oh no! Princess-" Serena went silent and soon realized her fear was unnecessary. Jean had already sprung into action and after drawing his broadsword cut all three grunts' batons apart. He then broke them with brutal blows using his armored fist and foot. All the while Furfrou knocked out three Golbat with three successive moves.
"Allie, Allie are you ok!" He took her by the shoulder, and Serena's insides tickled when she saw the princess's eyes glisten and face turn scarlet when she looked back at Jean.
"Jean, you, you saved me. I was so scared, but you stopped them." Her voice quivered a little but Jean remained as firm as steel.
"I had to, you were in danger and-" Jean now yelped with a bright red face as Allie wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face against his.
"My hero! Jean, you're my knight in shining armor!"
"Huh?" Ash blinked while Bonnie and Serena giggled.
"Hmp, Ash I'm ending our engagement." Allie gave Ash the cold shoulder as he sweatdropped.
"We were never engaged."
"And we never will be. It's decided, Jean will be my future husband."
"Ahh! I, I will!?" Jean's head looked ready to explode from the steam shooting out of his ears.
"Oui, mon amour! We're gonna live happily ever after!"
Ash, Pikachu, Clemont, and Riolu all sweatdropped together.
"Should we do something?"
"No! I think this is all working out just fine." Serena beamed and pulled Ash away as Jean hugged Allie back. The sun began its setting by the time they returned to Camphrier town alongside Princess Allie. Lord and Lady Shabboneau both leaped in joy as they embraced Allie.
"Our boy is gonna marry the princess!" They sobbed tears of joy.
"As a token of the joining of our families, I relinquish this to my future parents by law." Allie handed the pokeflute to Lord Shabboneau who seized the instrument and held it to his face.
"So the festival can begin!?" Ash asked and Lord Shabboneau nodded. Taking a deep breath, the little man began playing a delightful melody that carried across the town. The gathered townsfolk gave a collective gasp of delight when Snorlax's snoring ended and the enormous Pokemon rose to his feet.
"Lax?"
"Snorlax if finally awake!"
"Thank heavens!"
"Lax!" Snorlax danced his way over to the bounty of food prepared for him and began devouring it while more music echoed across the streets. Serena and Ash watched from the steps, fireworks shooting overhead.
"Dance with me, mon amour!" Allie pulled Jean into the streets where they joined the locals who danced together. Soon Lord and Lady Shabboneau did the same. Serena's smile faded and she stared at Ash while biting her lip. She tried to move closer and find the words but froze in place. A pit opened in her stomach when she saw Allie and Jean's Furfrou dance together.
"Here." Bonnie snickered and pushed Serena who stumbled and landed on Ash.
"Ahh! I'm-" She started.
"Huh? Did you want to dance too, Serena?"
"Ehh!? I, I!?" Serena stuttered, face bright red.
"Oui! She does!" Bonnie shouted and before Serena knew what happened, Ash led her down to the street and tried to lead her in a dance. The young man proved less than capable at the art, but Serena could not have cared less and savored every moment of it.
"Pika." Pikachu smiled with Bonnie.
"Bonnie, are you sure that was a good idea? Ash isn't very good."
"Brother, you're dense too."