Chapter 33

Performing with Fiery Charm

*Serena's POV*

We had finally made it to Dendemille Town, where I hoped to earn my first Princess Key in the Pokémon Showcase. We arrived a day before the Showcase, so we rented a room at a motel nearby. The next morning, I woke up early to get in some morning exercise. I left a note stating I would be back in time for breakfast, and then went out for an early morning jog. After a good mile or two, I stopped briefly on a ridge to admire the beauty of the town. I was just in time to watch the sun climb behind the blades of the local windmill.

My mind went back to my Showcase debut back in Coumarine City. It had been such a long time since then, and I failed to qualify for the second half. But I learned from my mistakes, and I was determined to go further this time. I turned around to see my Pokémon partners - Braixen, Pancham, and Solsol. They were all smiling with confidence, and for good reason… "This time, we're going to win for sure!"

After breakfast, I got a call from Vaniville Town. I told my mother about the Showcase I was entering and she wanted to wish me luck. "Looks like all your Pokémon are all fired up," she told me. "And you must be Magearna. I was curious as to what an artificial Pokémon looked like."

Magearna smiled sweetly. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

Mom laughed. "There's no 'ma'am' here, sweetie. You can call me Grandma."

"Grandma… I like that!"

I smiled as I watched them. "You're taking this better than I hoped."

"Well, it's not the craziest thing I've seen through you. Eh, Aila?"

"Touché…" Then, I remembered something "Oh! Mom, look at this!" I reached into my bag and pulled out the furisode I got from Valerie. "This is what I'll be wearing for the Showcase today!"

"Isn't that just a little too flashy?" She asked.

I then turned to everyone with me. "If that's what she thinks, it's perfect!"

She rested her chin on her hand. "Very funny…"

"Anyway, today's Showcase is on Channel 531. Be sure you watch us, okay?"

"That's a promise! Go for broke, dear, and be one with your Pokémon!"

"Thanks! I will!"

*Brianna's POV*

We made our way to the local Event Center afterwards. There was a large crowd of individuals weaving through each other. Some of course were Performers, but most of them were the collective members of the pending audience. We got a little lost in the crowd. We were trying to find out where Serena could register.

Then we heard a familiar voice from behind. "Well, if it isn't Miss Trippy…"

Serena winced. She knew precisely who it was. "Miette…" She turned around to see the girl in question coming toward us from the stairs. She was followed close behind by her Slurpuff, her Meowstic, and introducing a Pidgeot. None of us were particularly pleased to see her, not after what Shauna told us she did back in Coumarine City. "I take it you're entering the Showcase, too?"

"How could I not?" she told us. "This is the start of the Miette Era, girl! The title of Top Idol is mine!"

Magearna tugged on Ash's shirt. "Daddy? Is she the one you told me about?" and he nodded in confirmation.

"Daddy?!" Miette was surprised, but still smiled. She then approached the little one. "In that case, you can call me Mommy…"

The mechanical one clung to Serena. "My only Mommy is Mommy!"

She was even more surprised by that. As she stood up she looked at the girl in question. "Wait… Are you two an item?" she asked as she pointed between her and Ash.

"Sounds like you missed the Coumarine Festival's climax," Ash answered. "Long story short, we're semi-officially married." As he said that, Serena held up the Keystone Ring she got from the ceremony.

She still smiled in a rather mean way. "Well, sorry I missed the wedding, but I was gaining a sponsorship for the Showcase."

"What's a sponsorship?"

Clemont explained. "It's when a company helps someone out for promotional reasons."

"That's right!" she proclaimed proudly. "My sponsor provides funding and other resources to help me become the best Performer in the Showcase. And check this puppy out!" She loosened the collar of her shirt to reveal a choker around her neck. Dangling from said choker was a Key Stone.

We were all surprised… especially me. "J'ai tellement de... sentiments mitigés," I muttered quietly to myself.

"Well, I'm not gonna lose like I did back at Coumarine!" Serena rebutted. "Especially since I'm not taking my eyes off you!"

"Oh, I'm really scared…" She then leaned in towards her rival. I could barely hear what she was saying. "And just for the record, 'semi-officially' doesn't count." I grew cross as Serena blushed a little.

As she left for the registration booth, we all trailed slowly behind. I placed a reassuring hand on my best friend's shoulder. "Serena, rends-moi service pendant que tu es sur scène... Montre-lui pourquoi elle devrait avoir peur."

Dexter hovered over. "Brianna wants you to do her a favor while you're performing… and show Miette why she should be scared." She smiled as she heard that.

The Shoecase would start soon, so Serena went backstage. Jessie followed to assist her and keep an eye on Miette. We were fortunate enough to find a seat for ourselves. We were chatting idly while we waited for the showcase to start. Ash became rather curious. "I wonder who Miette can Mega Evolve?"

Dexter came over to me. "That would be Pidgeot." And he showed us his information.

Pidgeot
The Bird Pokémon
A Normal and Flying-type
It spreads its gorgeous wings widely to intimidate enemies. It races through the skies at Mach-2 speed.

Then another image appeared of a different Pidgeot with a broader build, longer wings, and some cyan highlights in its plumage.

Mega Pidgeot
With its muscular strength now greatly increased, it can fly for two weeks straight without resting.

'That looks like a powerful Pokémon,' Diancie commented.

"I wouldn't be worried for Serena's sake," James told us. "From what I understand about the Showcase, strength has nothing on finesse."

"I agree with James…" Ash told us, "Serena may have suffered a setback, but this is far from over!"

A few minutes later, the lights began to dim, and the host Monsieur Pierre appeared under the spotlight. "Welcome, lovers of Pokémon. Welcome, lovers of beauty! Welcome to the Dendemille Rookie Class Pokémon Showcase!" he began. "Performing today for the ultimate title of Top Idol will be a bevy of beautiful young ladies performing right before your very eyes. Per ze norm, the winner will be awarded the coveted Princess Key, bringing them one step closer to the Master Class Showcase and the season title! Alors, will this year's Top Idol be from amongst these fair ladies? We will just have to wait and see, but for today, the spellbinding battle for the Princess Key begins!"

As soon as he said that, three trapdoors opened on stage. A series of what looked like kitchen counters emerged, along with various Berries and baking materials. "For today's Theme Performance, our Performers will bake delicious and beautiful Poké Puffs treats right before your very eyes!"

"Serena was born for this one!" Clemont commented.

A spotlight lit up in front of the stage. It revealed a small table with three individuals, one of which we recognized from our first encounter with Miette way back when. Pierre continued to explain. "The one who shall advance to the Freestyle Showcase will be determined by our guest judges - S-Class Pokémon Connoisseur Santo, Poké Puff Pâtissière Gena, and the Showcase's first Top Idol Delilah!"

With the rules explained, the first round of Performers emerged from a fourth trapdoor. Miette was among them. They took their positions behind each cooking station, and within seconds, a holographic hourglass formed above, which flipped over. The competition had begun.

As Miette started to gather the bowl and other tools, her Slurpuff rushed over to the ingredients. She held her nose up close to the bottles of milk, and after a second or two, she took a specific one and handed it to Miette. She then proceeded to a different ingredient.

"Why does Slurpuff get to choose the ingredients?" Meowth wondered.

Clemont explained it to him. "Slurpuff have extremely sensitive senses of smell. Looks like Miette is having her Slurpuff sniff out the freshest ingredients among the stock."

"I guess that makes sense…"

Once she added the ingredients into precise measurements, she passed the bowl onto her Meowstic, who vigorously whipped the batter with his psychic powers. She turned her attention to Slurpuff once again to select the toppings.

As time passed, the batter had hardened in the oven. Miette pulled out the pastries, and her Pidgeot started flapping its wings to cool them off. In the final seconds, she quickly decorated the Poké Puff with frosting and specific Berries.

Each Performer created three Poké Puffs, one for each judge. They brought their confectionary treats to the table. And so began the judging.

"These Poké Puffs smell so fragrant! They're exquisite!" said the former Top Idol.

"Each of these treats are a work of art," said the Connoisseur.

"The most important thing about Poké Puffs is that the Pokémon truly love them!" said the Pâtissière.

As they finished their sampling, they wrote down their vote for their favorite pastry. Santo bequeathed the parchment to Pierre, who read the writing aloud. "And the Performer who will advance to the Freestyle Performance will be… Miette McDowell!"

The victor sniffed with pride. "Naturally…"

None of us were truly thrilled to see Miette advance, but at least she did not cheat her way in… as far as we know…

*Serena's POV*

Jessie and I saw everything from the dressing room. They had monitors installed therein specifically for such. "That Miette is a real genius when it comes to making Poké Puffs…"

"You're no slouch either, kid…" Jessie reassured me as she rubbed my shoulders. "Meowth told me the Poké Puffs you make can't be compared to any other."

I smiled as I heard her say that. "I'll have to thank him later!" I replied. "I know we can do it too!"

A few seconds later, one of the stage managers came from the door. "Performers Clarise, Serena, and Harper - you're next!"

As I followed her to the stage elevator, Jessie was cheering me on. "Go get 'em, Tigress!"

We three Performers took our spot on the elevator. As Monsieur Pierre declared the next Performers, the elevator listed us to the stage. We each took a spot within our baking session and the holographic hourglass flipped over. "It's time to bake your Poké Puffs!"

Pancham started to mix the batter as I chopped the Berries needed for the toppings. Solsol scoped out the best ingredients with her clairvoyance, while Braixen stood by to bake the batter, rather than using the oven.

"Serena and her Pokémon are displaying some impressive teamwork!" Pierre commented. "But no one is giving an inch! This is a true top-notch battle!"

Between everyone's coordination and my decoration skills, we managed to finish just in time. I placed my three Poké Puffs on the plates, and they were presented to the judges. While I did not show it, I was nervous. This was as far as I came in the last performance, and I did not want a repeat. Then Pancham held my hand in his paw. Braixen did the same with my other hand, and Solsol rubbed herself against my leg. Though they could not speak, I felt as though I could understand what they were saying. "You're right! We did everything we could do!"

"The color, shapes, and aromas are quite impressive!" said Santo.

"Each Poké Pukk clearly demonstrates it was created with love," said Gena in agreement.

"This is going to be a very difficult choice…" Delilah concluded.

The judging seemed to go on forever, but at last a decision was made. The spotlights waved around the stage between me and the other two Performers. "The Performer who will advance to the Freestyle Showcase will be…" I shut my eyes in worry. "Performer… Serena! Congratulations!"

My Pokémon leaped to me, and I embraced them. I squealed happily because of this. At last, we cleared our first hurdle. All we had to do was win the Freestyle Performance and take home our very first Princess Key.

*Jessie's POV*

After the intermission, Pierre addressed the crowd once again. "Welcome back! Five different ladies have made it past the Theme Performance! And now, it is time for everyone's favorite part of the Pokémon Showcase - the Freestyle Performance, where you - Mais oui, you, the members of our audience shall vote upon who gave the best performance!"

Each performer would return to the stage in the same order as they appeared in the Theme Performance. As such, Serena would be close to last, giving her and her Pokémon more than enough time to change into their wardrobe. I left the changing room briefly to get some water for her.

As I searched for a vending machine, however, I stumbled into the wrong room - one where I found her competition Miette alone on the video phone. The recipient was a little distorted, but I could vaguely see the image of a man in a chair. "Dendemille Town…" said the recipient in a distorted voice.

"That's right," Miette replied. "One of them has entered the Showcase with me."

"Excellent. Thank you for the intel." The call ended.

Thankfully, I was able to silently close the door before Miette could notice me. "What is that twerp up to…? I better warn the others…" I turned around and ran down the hall to inform Serena first, but she walked out into the hallway, and we crashed into each other, falling to some props nearby. I quickly got up and then saw who I ran into. "Oh, crud… I am so sorry! Are you okay?"

Her Pokémon saw everything. They got between us and shouted at me angrily. But Serena told them to stand down. "It's okay, you three… it was an accident, and nobody got hurt." She started to brush some of the dust off of her, but then she noticed something… "My skirt ripped!"

"Oh, no! What have I done?!" I whined. From what she told me, this was just like what happened back in Coumarine City - a wardrobe malfunction being the end of her stage time. Only this time, it was my fault. "Please tell me we can bounce back from this!"

"Of course we can! I'm not giving up until I've gone as far as I can!" She stood up. "I've got it! Jessie, speak with one of the managers, have them change the order so I go last!"

"What're you going to do?" I asked before I did anything.

"No time to explain! Please hurry!"

*Brianna's POV*

Meanwhile, the rest of us were completely oblivious. Miette was in the middle of her Freestyle at this point. Her partners of choice were Pidgeot and Slurpuff. She tapped the Keystone on her headpiece, and it began to react to her Pidgeot's Mega Stone. "Pidgeot, MEGA EVOLVE!" The Pidgeot transformed before the audience, and then per her command, it grabbed Slurpuff and took to the air. "Pidgeot, use Brave Bird! Slurpuff, use Cotton Spore!" The winged one glowed a yellow-ish aura as it flew around. Meanwhile, Slurpuff cast a stream of sparkly dust behind him, creating the illusion of a shooting star.

"Even I have to admit, that's kinda cool…" Ash muttered to James, who nodded in agreement. "They're showing excellent teamwork!"

"Don't forget," Magerarna reminded him. "Mommy's teamwork is great too!"

"You bet it is! After all the hard work she put in!"

We did not know why at first, but apparently the order had been changed. We watched Performer after Performer display their Pokémon in the most beautiful way they could. Some of them were great, others… not as great as others.

"And now," Pierre began, "It is time for our very last Performer! Please welcome back to the stage… Performer Serena!"

Serena and her Pokémon seem to eject from the trapdoor on purpose. The rest of us were elated, but I noticed something. "Hé... est-ce que son furisode vous semble différent?"

Dexter zoomed in. "You're right! The size of her skirt had decreased by approximately 43.8%! I wonder why she would do that?"

Serena tapped the Keystone on her "wedding ring," and it reacted to Solsol's pendant. "Solsol, MEGA EVOLVE!" Just like how Miette Mega Evolved her Pidgeot, Serena Mega Evolved Solsol for the first time since her previous life. Then Pancham backflipped onto Solsol's back. The quadruped leaped into the air, while her rider used a mild Dark Pulse to scatter purple sparkles everywhere. Serena and Braixen danced beneath them, and the latter summoned pillars of fire, surrounding the four of them with flames and sparkles.

As Braixen did so, Pancham followed up with Stone Edge, which broke apart into more sparkles as Solsol and Braixen leaped onto them. The two Pokémon then respectively used Psycho Cut and Flamethrower. The moves collided, creating an explosion of sparkle which scattered all over the auditorium.

With their performance complete, Serena and all her Pokémon were greeted by the loudest applause of the night. Pierre returned to the stage, followed by the Performers who preceded Serena. The girls lined up next to Serena, while Pierre addressed the audience "What a spectacular sight for our final performance! Alors… the moment of truth. Who will win our exciting Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase this year? It is time for the audience to vote! Everyone, please retrieve the glow stick from the seat in front of you."

It took a moment, but everyone was ready.

"On the count of three, please use your glow stick to fire off the color corresponding to the Performer who you think was number one! Un… deux… trois!"

Naturally, my friends and I all voted for Serena. A small orb of light emerged from the tip of our glow sticks and floated to the stage. They all flew into the key-shaped pendants each Performer was wearing. I was not sure at first, but it seemed there was more of Serena's color than everyone else's combined…

…and I was right! "The winner of the Dendemille Town Pokémon showcase has been decided! Performer Serena wins by a landslide!" The audience erupted in applause for the victor, who stood dazed and surprised until her Pokémon all wrapped her in a big group hug.

Soon came the award ceremony. After the runners-up left the stage, Pierre approached Serena, his Klefki holding the Princess Key in its grasp. "Performer Serena," he began, "this is your first victory in the Pokémon Showcase, is it not? Tell me, how does this make you feel?"

She smiled and answered him. "Well, after that wardrobe disaster back in Coumarine City, this is an incredible comeback!"

"Well, that Showcase was not a complete loss. Rumor has it you found your true love shortly after that, correct?"

She nodded in confirmation. "In fact, he and several more of my friends are somewhere in the audience right now! They're the ones who inspired me, in their own words, 'not to give up until it's over!'"

"Words to live by," Pierre commented. "Well, ma cherie, congratulations on your very first Princess Key win!" He also reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather elegant looking hoop decorated with ribbons. "Also, to commemorate, here is your official Showcase Keyring to hold all your collected Keys for you!"

She gladly accepted her prizes. "Thank you so much!"

Pierre then turned back to the audience. "S'il vous plaît, everyone! Let's give Serena and her Pokémon one last round of applause!" We were all quick to comply. "Thank you all once again for coming, and we'll see you all next time! Au revoir!"

Later that day, as we were leaving the Event Center, Serena explained what had happened back stage. "It was an accident - one which I think worked in our favor. I should probably call Valerie and apologize for ruining her outfit."

"Ruining it?" Ash asked. "I think you made it look even better!"

"Daddy's so right! You looked so much prettier than before!" Magearna commented.

Serena blushed. "Thanks, everyone… I-!"

Just then, Miette charged over to us. "I let her win, just for the record!"

"Vraiment?" I asked with a smirk. "Pourquoi ferais-tu ça?"

"You wanna know why?" she asked. "It's mind your own business! That's why!"

I was about to step up to confront her, but Serena stopped me. She then approached the blue-haired one and extended a hand out to her. "I look forward to the next Showcase, Miette. I'll see you then." Everyone was surprised… especially Miette herself. She hesitantly accepted the handshake, and then Serena pulled her closer. "And for the record, 'semi-officially' means I'm one giant leap ahead of you."

Miette turned bright red. Call it jealousy, call it anger, who knows… but she bid us farewell and took off toward her next destination. The rest of us smiled in our friend's favor. Ash placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. He did not say it, but she knew he was proud of her. "Okay…" Ash told us. "Find a place to sleep. We'll leave for Anistar City first thing in the morning." The rest of us agreed to the plan going ahead.

With her first victory secured in the Dendemille Town Pokémon Showcase, Serena has taken a giant leap in her dream of becoming the next Top Idol. Where would our next Pokémon Showcase take place? The answers to come as the journey continues…