The sun had gone down over Lilycove City in the Hoenn region, and the nightlife was beginning to emerge and take over downtown. Citizens and tourists, young and old, were stepping into restaurants or theaters or nightclubs, ready to let their hair down and party. While most of them were busy chatting with their friends, or looking down at their phones, several of them were paying just enough attention to notice the celebrity in their midst.

"Oh my gosh, you're Serena! I saw you in the Contest Spectacular tonight! You were amazing!"

A young, honey-blonde girl had been stopped right outside of her hotel, by a gaggle of teenagers who had recognized her from the Pokémon Contest earlier that night. The annual contest season was the pride and joy of the Hoenn region, and this particular event had drawn thousands of spectators into the Lilycove Contest Hall, with thousands more watching on television. Serena was surprised that more people hadn't recognized her.

"Thank you, very much!" she responded, giving the group a bright smile that came naturally to her face. She continued exchanging pleasantries with the starstruck group for a few moments, before bidding them farewell and stepping into the hotel lobby. She walked as quickly as her tired feet would carry her, wanting to get to her room without being stopped by anyone else. She was fading fast, and wouldn't be awake much longer.

Serena was feeling drained after the busy day she had just had, but at the same time she was elated. She had competed in the top level of the Contest Spectacular and tied for first place, showcasing her skills in front of the entire Hoenn region. She had made a new friend, a girl her age named Chloe, and introduced her to the joy of competing in contests as a Pokémon Coordinator. Most surprising of all, she had a brief but invigorating encounter with a boy named Ash, a boy who had encouraged and inspired her to go on her own journey, a boy who still set her heart aflame even now, months after they had parted. This was a day she would likely remember for the rest of her life.

She finally opened the door to her spacious hotel room, stepping inside and lazily shutting the door behind her. She flopped onto the bed and closed her eyes, covering her mouth as she yawned, and lay on top of her covers for a few moments, entertaining the idea of simply falling asleep there, in her red-and-white skirt and her black sleeveless turtleneck. Eventually she opened her eyes again, forcing herself to stay awake for just a bit longer. She still had one more task in front of her before she could call it a night.

She propped herself up on one elbow, reaching into her bag and retrieving her phone, along with a piece of paper. The bag dropped lazily to the ground as she let herself plop back down onto the mattress, holding her phone over herself; her gray hat fell off of her head and over her eyes as she landed, and she set it aside. She held the paper between her middle and ring fingers, reading the phone number written on it as her index finger dialed.

It took less than two rings for her phone call to be answered. The screen switched over to a girl of Serena's age, with turquoise eyes and matching hair. This was the girl that had competed against Serena in that night's Pokémon Contest, tying for first place. Serena noticed that the girl's long hair was down, instead of tied up in a ponytail. She must have also been winding down for the day.

"Serena!" the girl exclaimed, her eyes sparkling and her voice filled with energy that clearly hadn't been there moments before. "What's up? I didn't think you'd be calling so soon. Do you need something?"

"Hi, Lisia." Serena smiled back, trying and failing to match the other girl's energy. "I just wanted to let you know that I have an answer for you."

"And?!" Lisia was nearly vibrating with excitement, eagerly awaiting the answer to the question she had posed to Serena after their contest. "What is it?"

Serena's smile grew, along with her own excitement. "I'm in. Let's form an idol group together."

"Yes!" Lisia shouted, thrusting her fist into the air. "I knew it, knew it, knew it! I knew you'd say yes! This is going to be so amazing!"

Serena laughed tiredly. "I hope so. I've never done anything like this before."

"Oh, you'll love it!" Lisia reassured her. "We'll talk more tomorrow, alright? Come by my place here in Lilycove. I'll text you the address."

"What time?" Serena asked, rubbing her eye.

"As soon as you can. We're going to have a lot to discuss. Names, acts, roles… there's a ton of planning that goes into making an idol unit. We're not going to do this by halves. I want this to be perfect."

Serena grinned. "I'm sure it will be." She covered her mouth, failing to stifle another yawn. "I'll see you then. Have a good night, Lisia."

"Take care, Serena!" Lisia flashed a V-sign with her fingers before her image vanished, replaced with a photograph of Serena and a five-year-old, blond-haired girl, which acted as Serena's phone background. Serena couldn't help but grin. Lisia was a consummate performer, through and through.

She set her phone aside and forced herself off of her bed, needing to get herself ready to sleep. She was in a bit of a daze, her head swimming, as she went through the motions of changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth. This was not how she expected her journey through Hoenn to turn out. She had intended to grow more skilled as a Pokémon Coordinator, along with her Pokémon, in order to prepare for her return to her home region of Kalos, where she would compete as a Pokémon Performer. She had not planned on teaming up with anyone else to become an idol, dancing and singing on stage in front of thousands of fans… could she even sing? She wasn't totally convinced that she could.

Even so, there wasn't even a hint of apprehension or hesitation in her mind. She knew that whenever she was in doubt about her plans or her future, she needed to just dive in headfirst and try everything she could. Every experience she had would teach her something about herself; nothing she did was ever a waste of time. These were the lessons she had imparted to Chloe earlier today, the same lessons that Ash had taught to her during their journey together in Kalos. She spent every day trying to live up to his ideals, wanting to become the kind of person he would be proud of. This would be just another step forward on the long and winding road that was her life.

She slipped back into bed, plugging in her phone to charge before curling up and closing her eyes. Within moments, she was out like a light.

The next morning, Serena was walking through the lobby of a luxury condo building in downtown Lilycove City, looking around in wonder at the decoration and furniture. This had to be one of the ritziest dwellings she'd ever set foot in, only beaten out by the Parfum Palace in Kalos, which was a literal castle. How could Lisia afford to live in a place like this? Was her family already wealthy, or did she earn this lifestyle herself as a celebrity? Would Serena achieve this level of success by becoming an idol? She'd never given a thought to the financial repercussions of success, and suddenly being confronted with the reality of it was a bit overwhelming.

She stepped into an elevator that took her up to the seventeenth floor, and it wasn't long before she was ringing the doorbell for unit 1704. She stood back with her hands clasped in front of her, suddenly feeling more nervous than she had the previous night. She felt as if she was about to leap into a rushing river, unsure if she would be able to keep her head above the water. Would she be able to conquer the world of idol performances, or would that world conquer her?

She didn't have much time to reconsider. It was only a handful of seconds before the door in front of her flew open, with Lisia's beaming face on the other side.

"Serena!" She stepped forward and threw her arms around her visitor, squeezing her tightly. Serena smiled politely and hugged back, her grip much more loose. Lisia was big on physical contact, she was learning.

"Good to see you, Lisia."

"Come on in!" Lisia stepped back and grasped Serena's hand, gently but firmly pulling her inside, shutting the door behind them. Serena quickly scanned the room around her, noting that it was just as luxurious as the lobby she had walked through, though it was much… fluffier. She could feel a shag carpet under her feet, and she spotted an overlarge couch covered with comfortable-looking pillows; she suspected that if she sat on it, she might be swallowed up by the soft cushions and never come out.

Her evaluation of her surroundings was interrupted by a gentle nudge on her arm. She glanced over to see Lisia offering her a glass of water, to her surprise; Serena hadn't even noticed her going to get it. She accepted it with thanks and took a sip, as Lisia walked over and flopped onto the gargantuan couch, gesturing for her guest to take a seat as well.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Serena asked aloud, taking a seat on the other end of the sofa. "I haven't spent a lot of time watching idol performances… I don't really know what to expect."

"Don't worry about that. I can help you through it," Lisia offered reassuringly. "I've been watching idol groups since I started walking. I can tell you everything there is to know."

Serena nodded, taking another sip from her glass. "So what is there to know? Is being an idol a lot like being a Pokémon Coordinator?"

"Not at all," Lisia answered, far less reassuringly. "At least, not with most idol groups. Coordinating is all about the Pokémon. Idol performances are all about the idols. We're the main act."

"Oh… so are there no Pokémon involved at all?" Serena could feel trepidation settling in her chest. "That… doesn't really seem like my specialty…"

"That's how we're going to be different, though!" Lisia sat up energetically. "We're going to be an idol group that combines our performances with Pokémon performances. Nobody at our skill level has ever done it before. It'll be something like nobody's ever seen!"

"Oh!" Relief washed over Serena in an instant, as she felt herself re-entering familiar territory. "Well, that sounds great! That's really exciting!"

"I know!" Lisia agreed. "That's why I really wanted you to be a part of this. Your experience as a Pokémon Performer is really going to come in handy."

Serena's eyebrows raised. "You knew I was a performer?"

"Of course! I looked you up after I saw you on television with your Sylveon. That's when I got the idea in the first place. The contest just confirmed that we would make a great pair."

"Well, I'm honored." Serena smiled wide, pleased that someone of Lisia's caliber thought so highly of her. "So that's going to be our act? We'll be like Pokémon Performers?"

"That's part of it," Lisia responded. "But it's not the main act. Pretty much all idols are singers."

Serena froze. "Singers…?"

"Of course! We're going to be singing, dancing, performing with Pokémon… we'll be the complete package!" Lisia clenched her fists excitedly, her eyes gleaming, already imagining herself on stage with Serena. Her guest was far less excited.

"I… um…" Serena began nervously. "I'm not sure I'm that much of a singer…"

"Well, let's find out!" Lisia sank back into the couch. "Show me what you've got!"

Serena's eyes bugged out of her head. "Right now?!"

"Of course, right now!" Lisia responded. "We need to know what kind of singer you are sooner or later. I'm sure you're better than you think. And besides, it's just the two of us here. No one else is going to hear you."

"Alright…" Serena sat up and placed her glass on the coffee table in front of them, standing up and turning to face her companion. "What sort of song should I sing?"

"Give me something poppy," Lisia answered. "Something you'd hear on the radio. Something with energy."

Serena nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She could feel her heart starting to beat out of her chest, feeling as if her entire idol career was suddenly on the line. She did her best to force her nerves down, not wanting to let Lisia down, or herself. She would need to sing in front of much larger audiences than this, if this idol group was going to go forward.

She closed her eyes and started to sing, choosing a pop song that had been a favorite of hers and Bonnie's when they were traveling through Kalos. The words came out naturally, one after the other, as she recalled them as easily as she recalled her own name. She was suddenly grateful that Bonnie had insisted on listening to this song so many times during their journey. There was no way she could forget any of it, despite her nerves.

The longer she sang, the more she got into the energy of the song, which came through in her voice and her movements. Her nerves began to melt away, replaced with energy, the same energy that she brought to all of her performances in the Kalos Showcases. She kept her eyes closed, picturing herself singing and dancing on stage alongside Lisia and her Pokémon, with lights shining down on her and music booming in her ears. A grin spread across her face, as she began to grow excited for what lay in her future.

As the song finally wrapped up, Serena opened her eyes again, and was greeted with the most uncomfortable, unconvincing, forced smile she had ever seen on anyone's face.

"Oh, no." She covered her mouth with her hand, her heart dropping and her face turning red. "Was I really that bad?"

"Well…" Lisia began, which to Serena was just as bad as an emphatic yes. She spent a few excruciating seconds trying to find her words. "You're fine for like… people in general? You're not a bad singer, like bad bad. But for professional singers, you know…"

"Yeah, I get it…" Serena sat back down onto the couch, embarrassed and demoralized. She gave a silent thanks that Ash hadn't been around to hear her. "So… is that it? Is our idol group over already?"

"No! No, no, no." Lisia sat up and waved her hands in front of herself. "This isn't the end of the world or anything. This is just a… wrinkle. We can work around this."

"We can?" Serena sat up again. "How do we do that? Do you just do the singing while I dance?"

"No, that won't work," Lisia answered matter-of-factly. "That's the thing about us being an idol duo. If it's just the two of us, we need to share the spotlight equally. If it's just me singing and you dancing, it's like… it's a little too…"

"Yeah… like one of them doesn't really belong there." Serena groaned, understanding the point Lisia was driving at, though it didn't exactly make her feel better about herself. "So what do we do, then?"

"We need a third person."

Serena's eyes widened again, as the image of the two of them on stage suddenly morphed in her mind. The image of herself and Lisia was swept away, replaced by a trio of girls wearing colorful dresses. Lisia stood at the front, taking the lead, while Serena and a faceless third girl stood to her sides, their voices blending together and masking the imperfections in Serena's own.

"Oh, I get it!" she exclaimed. "We all sing together and harmonize, and then we dance and perform while you sing lead?

"Yes, exactly!" Lisia's voice was more energized now, as she continued constructing their career in her mind, as if she was forcibly grabbing pieces of the future and assembling them into a complete picture. "What do you think about being in a group like that?"

"I like it!" Serena answered, suddenly feeling much better about the situation. A small part of her didn't like the idea of being secondary to Lisia, but her lackluster singing voice had forced her into this position. She didn't want to be the sort of diva that would only perform if she could be the star of the show. "Who would be our third person, though? Everyone I know is in Kalos, and I'm not sure how many of them-"

"Forget about who you know," Lisia responded. "Think bigger. We can make connections if we need to. If you could have absolutely anyone in the world as part of our group, who would it be?"

Serena sat back, eyes flicking upward as she thought. Her mind ran through all of the performers she had seen in Kalos, quickly settling on Aria, the current Kalos Queen. That idea was rejected immediately, however. She already had a position that kept her extremely busy, and she would definitely overshadow both Lisia and herself. She mentally shifted back to Hoenn, and all of the performers she had seen or heard of during her journey. It didn't take long for one name to appear in her mind - the name of someone who was considered to be royalty in the Hoenn region, nearly as famous as Lisia herself.

Lisia could see from Serena's grin that the girl had someone in mind. "You know who you want to ask?"

"Mhmm, I do."

"Me too." Lisia grinned wide. "Let's both say who we're thinking of, on three. One, two… three."

Both girls spoke at the same time, grinning and laughing as the same name came out of both their mouths.

Two days later, the two girls were standing on a train platform at Lilycove Station, wearing dark sunglasses and large hats to prevent themselves from being recognized, even though there were few others around them at the time. They waited roughly ten minutes before a loud horn signaled the arrival of the next train, which brought with it a gust of wind that blew the girls' hair back. They watched and waited patiently as the train doors opened, and passengers began filing out. As the train emptied, both of their faces lit up as they finally recognized the face of a girl roughly their age, with shoulder-length brown hair and a bandanna wrapped around her head. This was the third celebrity they had been waiting for, the girl known far and wide as the Princess of Hoenn.

"May!" Lisia shouted, reaching up and removing her sunglasses with one hand, and waving with the other. "Over here!"

May grinned from ear to ear, racing over and wrapping her arms around Lisia, greeting her like she would an old friend. Serena removed her sunglasses as she watched the two exchange excited greetings. She was probably going to have to get used to regular hugs, working with these two.

Lisia eventually stepped away from May and toward Serena, grasping her arm and pulling her forward. "This is Serena! She's going to be our partner in crime."

Serena smiled warmly, extending her hand as her eyes met May's. "It's really great to meet you! I've seen so many of your contest performances. You're amazing!"

"So are you!" May echoed cheerfully, as the two girls shook hands. "I've watched a bunch of your showcases from Kalos. You did some things there I've never seen!"

Serena's smile grew. "You looked me up?"

"Of course!" May withdrew her hand. "I wanted to know who I was going to be performing with. I can't wait to see what you bring to the table!"

Serena felt her face flush, humbled that the proclaimed Princess of Hoenn thought so highly of her performances. "I'll try not to let you down."

May grinned. "You won't, trust me."

Serena's felt her lips curling up even further, her heart thudding in her chest. May had the sort of magical smile that Serena herself had tried to cultivate for months, the kind of smile that made her face heat up and her heart flutter - a smile that Serena had only seen on a small handful of girls in her life. She hoped that her own smile could make people feel the same way, one day.

"Ahh, this is so exciting!" Lisia proclaimed, throwing one arm around each of the girls' shoulders. "Three of the best coordinators in Hoenn, all on stage together! We're going to be the biggest thing since sliced bread!"

Serena giggled, not certain that was exactly the phrase that people used, but she let it slide, not wanting to bring the mood down. She was no less excited than Lisia was, even if her excitement didn't come out in such explosive bursts. She had no idea where this next stage in her journey was going to take her, but she was eager to find out.

May and Serena stepped out of Lisia's arms as the three of them started to exit the train station, going to get some lunch before they started planning their idol debut.