We rejoin our heroes as they make it to their next destination, Redfox Town, the site of Serena'a next Pokémon Pageant!

The group made their way into a large, bustling town. It was a big beach town, sitting along the coastline, where tropical palm trees and sandy beaches lay alongside a huge ocean.

"Wow!" said Ash as he ran up to see a beach. There were people sunbathing, some kids playing in the sand, and some people going out to swim in the ocean. Still others Looking in the distance, Ash could see a small pier, where people were boarding boats to sail out on the water. "So, Redfox Town, it's a huge tourist destination, isn't it?"

"That's right, Ash!" said RotomDex, flying up. "You see, Redfox Town was built right on the edge of the Ralia regions most tropical area. It sits not just close to a coastline, but on the edge of Misty Jungle!"

"Misty Jungle, you say?" said Ash. He peeked over to see something in the distance: a giant sea of green, trees taller than the biggest building in the town. "Is that it over there?"

"Yep," said Vernon, walking up. "Misty Jungle is actually considered a national park. It's like a big rainforest where all sorts of Pokémon make their home. Redfox Town was constructed as a bit of a tourist destination for everyone who wants to see the rainforest."

"Really! That's so cool!" said Ash, looking over at the rainforest. "I wanna go see it!"

"Slow down, Ash," came Serena's voice as she walked up. "Don't forget why we're here."

"Oh, right, sorry," said Ash, rubbing the back of his head. "They're holding a pageant here soon, aren't they?"

"That's right!" said Serena, as she looked over to the town. "And this time, I'm winning for sure."

"I really hope you do, Serena," said Vernon. "Well, then you better go sign up before you run out of time, then, huh?"

"Oh, right!" said Serena, suddenly running off. "I'll be back soon guys!"

After she had left, Ash said, "Well, then, as long as we're here, we can have some fun here on the beach!"

"Never fear, my adoring public!" came a voice from inside the Pageant Hall. Everyone looked over to see a red-haired lady wearing a pink and purple horror extravaganza of an outfit, dramatically posing at the entrance. "At long last, you beloved Madame Jocelyn has returned to grace you all with your presence once more!"

Of course, everyone just looked at her confused. "Uh, do we know you?"

"Grr, how dare you! You filthy peasants!" "Madame Jocelyn" growled. "I know I was gone for a while, but I've returned to claim my rightful place as the Pageant Queen!"

"Uh, right, sure, whatever." The people in the Pageant Hall just went back to their business.

Jessie growled as a disguised James walked up to her. "Calm down, Jessie, it's just been a while."

A disguised Meowth walked up as well, and said, "You know how it is. 'Madame Jocelyn' had to lay low for a while after what the psycho twerp did. People were bound to forget."

"Grr, well, this time, I'm going to sear my beautiful image into the minds of the common folk forever!" said Jessie as she walked over to the sign-up sheet.

James and Meowth had to sigh to themselves. "She's been even more high maintenance then ever."

"Well, she's been looking forward to this for a long time," said Meowth. "We finally made it to a Pageant Hall where none of the twerps are around to blow her cover this time."

But then, they heard the door open behind them, and turned in horror to see Serena making her way inside.

"Gak! Why did I open my big Meowth!?" said Meowth.

Serena briefly saw the two of them, before they tried to hide their faces. "Um, I'm sorry, do I know you guys from somewhere?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, little missy, you must be mistakin' us for someone else," said James.

Serena looked at them confused, but then she saw someone she definitely recognized at the front. A loud outfit, a ridiculous hairdo, and booming voice. She was turning was from the sign up sheet, and her eyes suddenly met Serena's, and got scared.

"You!" said Serena, suddenly running up to Jessie. "It's you! Jessie! You're not gonna fool me with that disguise anymore!"

"Grr, you know what!? NO!" said Jessie. "I have waited too long to return to the pageant world all because of your little friend, and you are not going to ruin it for me now!"

"Wanna bet!?" said Serena, before she began pulling on Jessie's clothes.

"Ack! Someone help me!" screamed Jessie. Seeing this, some security personnel ran over to get between Serena and Jessie.

"Hey! What's going on here!?"

"Guys, you don't understand!" said Serena. "This woman, she's a wanted criminal in disguise!"

"What? No, she isn't, this is Madame Jocelyn. We have records of her from other Pageants."

"Huh?" said Serena. "But I saw her! She's a crook who's always chasing me and my friends around!"

"And your proof is?" said Jessie. "I'll have you know that I am but a simple Pageant goer, and I am here simply to dazzle these little peasants."

"But- but-!" Serena complained, before a staff member spoke up.

"Young lady, you need to stop this nonsense right now! Or so help me, I will escort you out of the building myself."

Suddenly, Serena felt herself getting pulled back, and she turned to see James and Meowth. "Wait a minute... it's you two! If you-"

"Enough!" said Meowth. "Look, I know you don't want us here, and we certainly don't want you here! But we've worked hard to cover up that incident in Violetrose Town. There's a grand total of one Officer Jenny who actually believes in Madame Jocelyn's true identity, and we're prepared for you twerps to rip our disguises off again!"

"Look, we promise you, we're only here so Jessie can join the Pageant. You have our word we won't be stealing any Pokémon, and Jessie won't be cheating this time," said James.

"And why should I believe that?" said Serena.

"Doesn't matter if you do," said Meowth. "I told you, we're prepared, so if you wanna keep chasing us while we're here, then all you're gonna accomplish is getting kicked out of here for your trouble!"

Serena glared at them, and then back at Jessie, who gave her the smuggest smirk imaginable, and Serena growled under her breath.

Meanwhile, Ash and Vernon still at the beach, walking along the shoreline. "It sure is beautiful around here," said Ash. "It's too bad we have no time to just relax at the beach for the day."

"That's okay," said Vernon. "We'll have plenty of time after Serena's Pageant."

"Alright, Froslass, use Ice Shard!" came a voice. Ash and Vernon turned to see a young girl with long, lavender hair, purple eyes, and a black shirt and skirt. She was standing in front of a Froslass, who threw ice shards at its opponent, an Ariados, pummeling it until it fell down unconscious.

"Aw man," the Ariados's trainer said as he recalled his Pokémon. "Well, I guess we did our best, huh?"

"Yeah, thanks for the battle," said the girl as the other trainer walked away. The girl then patted the head of her Froslass. "You did great, Froslass! We're getting stronger every day!"

"Whoa, you look like you're pretty strong," came Ash's voice. The girl turned to see Ash running up to her.

"Oh, yeah, thanks," said the girl. "I certainly hope so. I've been training with my Pokémon for a while now."

"I'm Ash, and this is my partner, Pikachu."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted from the ground.

"And these are my friends, Vernon and RotomDex," said Ash.

"Nice to meet you," said Vernon.

"Pleased to meet your acquaintance!" said RotomDex.

"I'm Olga," said the girl. "And this is my partner, Froslass."

"So, you've been training with your Pokémon for a while, huh?" said Ash. "What are you training for, exactly? Are you trying to make it to the Ralia League?"

"Well, actually, I'm training to take my grandmother's place as Gym Leader," Olga explained.

"Gym Leader?" said RotomDex.

"Yeah, my grandmother runs the Ghost-Type Gym in Esterfall City. But she's getting ready to retire, and I've always wanted to be my home town's Gym Leader, so I'm training to become strong enough to convince my grandmother to let me take over."

"Oh, really?" said Ash. "You know, if there's a Gym in Esterfall City, I'll probably be challenging it soon. I gotta get to the Ralia League."

"That so?" said Olga. "Say, I don't suppose you'd like to battle with me?"

"Sounds awesome!" said Ash. "Oh, but I can't right now. We're waiting on a friend. She's going to be in a Pageant soon."

"Well, that's okay," said Olga. "We can battle some other time."

"So, you really come from the Esterfall City Gym, huh?" came a voice. Everyone turned to see a purple-haired girl with a pale face walking down up to Olga. "I've been there before. The Pokémon there are very lovely. So mysterious and elegant."

"Uh, thanks?" said Olga.

"You guys were always such an inspiration to me, you know," said the girl. "You know how to make the strangest Pokémon express their inner beauty."

As Ash listened to this, he suddenly recognized the girl. "Wait a minute! I know you! You're Violet!"

Violet looked over to see Ash and friends, and she made a tiny smile. "Ah, yeah, I know you guys. You were with the princess, weren't you?"

"Her name's Serena," said Ash. "Don't tell me, you're in town for the Pageant too?"

"Of course I am," said Violet. "Sounds like the princess is in town as well. Sounds good to me. I've been dying for a rematch."

"Ash! Vernon!" came Serena's voice. Everyone turned to see Serena running up to them, with an angry look on her face.

"What's wrong, Serena?" said Vernon.

"You're not gonna believe this," said Serena. "At the Pageant Hall! I just-" Suddenly, she stopped as she saw Violet. "Violet? Is that you?"

"That's right, princess," said Violet. Suddenly, her tiny smile turned into a serious look as she said, "I hear you're going to be in the Pageant. Make no mistake. I will defeat you this time. My Pokémon are going to show the world their great inner beauty." Before Serena could even respond, Violet was off.

"Violet's here too?" said Serena. "This day just keeps getting crazier and crazier..."

"I don't believe it!" said Ash as everyone was walking back towards the Pageant Hall. "Team Rocket's seriously got the nerve to show up now?"

"I'm afraid so," said Serena. "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do to expose them this time."

"Not good," said Vernon. "Where's Slater when you need him?"

"Well, they promised not to do anything wrong this time, not that I believe them," said Serena.

Suddenly, Wobbuffet popped out its PokéBall. "Wobbuffet!" it cried out.

"Huh? What is it, Wobbuffet?" said Serena.

"It's saying it can help," said RotomDex.

Who's that Pokémon?

It's uncontrollable if enraged. It flies around spouting flames and scorching fields and mountains.

It was about time for the Pageant to start, and James and Meowth were sitting in the crowd. They anxiously looked around, but saw no sign of Team Twerp anywhere.

"Hey, you guys!" came a voice. They looked over and were anxious to see Ash, Vernon, Pikachu, and RotomDex walking over.

"Ah, geez," said Meowth. "Well, congrats, you know we're here. But we already told you, there's nothing you can do about us being here."

Vernon sighed, and said, "Look, as long as there's no funny business, we've decided you can stay. But to make sure that happens, we're keeping an eye on you at all times."

James sighed, but said, "You know what? Fine by us. Jessie would kill us if we ruin things for her anyway."

The heroes sat down behind them, keeping their eyes on them at all times. "And as for Jessie," Ash said, "We've sent someone to make sure she doesn't try to sabotage Serena again."

Serena was preparing backstage, getting dressed up. She was wearing a pink dress, with short sleeves, and had long black leggings, and with a rose in her hair, and white gloves. Braixen and Lunoth were behind her as she turned to pose for them. "Well, what do you guys think?"

Her Pokémon gave cheers to show their approval. Suddenly, though, Serena felt something move in her pocket, and out popped Quokkawatt. It saw Serena and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Oh, thanks for your approval, Quokkawatt," said Serena. It was about then, she eyed Jessie fussing with her own outfit, and gave her an angry look. Jessie seemed to notice as she walked up to Serena, and said mockingly, "What's wrong? Afraid to lose to me now that you can't get rid of me?"

"I'm not afraid of you, Jessie," said Serena. "We'll beat you fair and square."

"Hmph, well since when does fair have anything to do with it?" Jessie gloated. But then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Wobbuffet!" She turned her head to see Wobbuffet looking at her disapprovingly.

"Wobbuffet?" Jessie said, stunned. She honestly didn't expect to see her old Pokémon here of all places. Unless... "Whoa, Wobbuffet! You're not going to be performing with- with HER, are you!?"

"Wob?"

"I don't believe you!" said Jessie, suddenly pouring tears out of her eyes. "After all those performances we shared! Now you're going against me!? I know we're going through a rough time, but... y-you know what this means to me!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down!" said Serena. "Wobbuffet is just here to keep an eye on you. To make sure you don't cheat again."

Jessie slowly stopped crying, before she looked at Wobbuffet and then at Serena, and felt a little embarrassed. "...Oh. I-I see."

"Yes, well, you see, Wobbuffet said it might consider performing with me if you do anything bad, actually," said Serena, giving a tiny grin to herself. "So, if you don't want that to happen, better play fair!"

"Wob!" Wobbuffet agreed.

Jessie groaned to herself, but as she looked at Wobbuffet giving her a stern look, she decided that they were right. "Alright. I promise I'll play fair, okay."

"That's more like it," said Serena. Of course, then, she saw Violet, getting dressed up. She had a dark, purple dress on with black streaks, and black gloves. She looked over to see Serena and Jessie, but quickly turned away again.

"Quokka, quokka!" Serena heard Quokawatt shouting at her feet. She looked down to it jumping up and down, before it jumped into her arms.

"Huh?" Serena was confused, but as she looked into Quokkawatt's eyes, she understood. "Quokkawatt, do you... want to come on stage with me?"

It's Salamence!

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" came a voice. Ash and Vernon turned to see Olga walking over, squeezing her way through the seats.

"Oh, Olga," said Ash. "Yeah, you can sit here."

Olga sat next to him, and said, "So, you're friend's a Pageanter, huh? I never could get into this kinda stuff. A little too cutesy."

"Tox, tox," Toxel jittered in Vernon's arms.

"Hey, if that's the way you feel," said Vernon. "That girl you met out there should have a surprise for you."

Then, the show finally began. The spotlight on stage fell on Fenwick, who struck a pose for the audience. "Welcome, one and all, to our Pokémon Pageant. I am your host, the one and only Fenwick! And I'm happy to say we have a plethora of lovely ladies with us here today!"

The spotlight revealed all the girls for the Pageant. The spoltight hit "Madame Jocelyn", who happily danced alongside Napiat, soaking up the attention. "Drink it up, peasants! Madame Jocelyn has graced you with her presence yet again!"

The spotlight then hit Violet. She rose up from below the stage, but one her head was a Mimikyu. It danced upon her head, charming the audience with Baby Doll Eyes, sending hearts around the arena.

"I-is that a Mimikyu?!" Meowth stuttered. "Ugh, please, anything but that!" Seeing Violet's Mimikyu brought back bad flashbacks of Jessie's from Alola. He felt himself shrinking back into his seat.

Jessie noticed it too. So this girl's got a Mimikyu, too? Hmph, if only I had my own. Maybe I could win this crowd over too.

Finally, the spotlight hit Serena. She waved and winked at the audience, before and explosion of electricity came from behind her. Once it died down, Quokkawatt appeared on her head.

"Whoa, so she's using Quokkawatt this time," said Ash.

"I'm sure it'll be great!" said Vernon.

"Yeah, right!" said James. "Hate to burst your bubble, but Jessie's gonna mop the floor with your Twerpette friend!"

"No way! Serena's gonna beat the pants off Jessie!" Ash insisted.

"Our first round is simple," said Fenwick, as the spotlight shone over a little obstacle course. "We have laid out an obstacle course of our contestants' Pokémon. Each contestant will take turns having one of their Pokémon complete the obstacle course as quickly as possible. The four who complete the course in the least amount of time will move on the second round. Now then, first up is Miss Serena!"

Serena stood before the obstacle course, and she looked down at Quokkawatt in her arms. Her Pokémon looked up at her reassuringly, so Serena smiled and told it, "Alright, Quokkawatt, this is your pageant debut, so let's show everybody what you've got!"

Quokkawatt jumped down stood before the course, as the screen above the stage read "0:00". A buzzer was sounded, and the timer started, and Quokkawatt ran forward. It crawled under some wooden planks, then it was met with some hurdles. It jumped over the first few, but it tripped over one of them and fell to the ground. Serena gasped, but Quokkawatt quickly shook it off and jumped on top of the next hurdle, jumping onto the other before making it back to the ground. It then jumped through some hoops before swinging on the last one. Finally, it made it to a balance beam, carefully scurrying across it before it arrived at the finish line.

A buzzer sounded as the timer stopped at "3:02". The audience applauded as Serena ran over to pick up her Pokémon and give it a hug. "Nice job, Quokkawatt! That was great!"

"Watt!"

"Next up, Madame Jocelyn!" Jessie stood before the course with Napiat, and the snake Pokémon took off as soon as the buzzer sounded. Serena watched this from backstage, but was surprised to see Napiat slithering through the obstacles no problem. It slipped through under the planks, slithered up the hurdles and jumped onto the next hurdles, moved through the hoops and carefully slithered across the balance beam, making it to the finish line. As the buzzer sounded, Serena looked up to see that Napiat had beaten out Quokkawatt at two minutes and fifty seconds.

"That's right, my adoring fans!" Jessie boasted as she put an arm around her Pokémon. "My lovely Napiat is full of grace and style, just like its master!" Despite her showboating, the audience still applauded her.

I don't believe it. How could Jessie be so good at this? Serena thought.

"Ha! That's our Jessie!" said James as he looked back the "twerps" behind him. "In your face!"

"Pfft, nothing but luck!" said Ash.

"And finally, we have Miss Violet!" Violet had her Mimikyu in her arms, and she noticed that it was looking at the crowd nervously. However, she closed her eyes and whispered to the ghost Pokémon, "Don't you worry about them, Mimikyu. You are a Pokémon of style, and of gracefulness. Just like any other Pokémon here. Now is your time to shine."

She set Mimikyu on the ground, and the buzzer rang out. Mimikyu began slithering across the ground, slinking under the wood, and jumping on top of the hurdles one by one. However, when it made it to a hoop, its cloth snagged on the hoop, making the thing fall over with a crash.

The crowd gasped in shock. Mimikyu tried to get back on its feet, but it knocked another hoop over. As it looked out at the anxious crowd, it began to feel embarrassed, but then, Violet called out to it.

"Mimikyu! You can do it! Don't you dare give up!"

Hearing this, Mimikyu quickly grabbed the hoop it knocked over and set it up again. It saw that it was running out of time, but feeling a wave of determination wash over it, it jumped through the remaining hoops with grace. Finally, it made it to the balance beam and slithered across, before jumping to the finish line. The buzzer rang out, and its time showed as three minutes and forty seconds.

"Wow! Just made it!" said Fenwick. "Mimikyu cut it pretty close there for a moment, but it just managed to make it into the top four! Which means we have our four winners of round one!"

The audience applauded, and Violet picked up Mimikyu and gave it a little hug. "You see? I told you had it in you!" she said as Mimikyu purred.

"Nice work, Serena!" said Ash, as he and Vernon met up with Serena in the lobby. "You guys were great!"

"Heh, thanks, Ash!" said Serena as she held Quokkawatt in her arms. "Quokkawatt was awesome out there!"

"Ha, but Napiat was better!" came a familiar voice. The heroes groaned as they looked over to see Jessie walking up, James and Meowth right behind her. "Our grace and beauty puts you to shame any day!"

"Too bad! Looks like Team Rocket's about to get a win on Team Twerp today!" said Meowth.

"Too bad your little friend isn't here, huh?" said James smugly.

The heroes just growled as Serena angrily looked Jessie in the eye and said, "You really think I'm afraid to lose to you? My team and I are going to blow you off the stage!"

"My, my, someone's getting full of themselves," said Jessie. "Don't forget, I was there to beat the pants off you in Pokémon Showcases back in Kalos, now wasn't I?"

"Me, full of myself? You're one to talk!"

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet suddenly appeared, standing in between the two ladies.

"Grr, you're right, Wobbuffet," said Jessie. "Come on, guys, let's play nice."

"Of course," said James. "We'll be civil... for now."

"Come on, Jess, you've got a performance round to prepare for," said Meowth as he dragged the other two off.

"Man, those guys are annoying, aren't they?" said Vernon.

"Yeah, but still, Jessie actually beat us out there," said Serena. "It's hard to believe but she's got talent."

"Well, you should probably get ready for the next round, too, Serena," said Ash.

"Oh, yeah," said Serena, before she looked down at Quokkawatt. "Well, thanks for the first round, Quokkawatt, but now I-"

"Quokka, quokka, quokka!" Quokkawatt protested. Serena looked at it confused, but then she understood. "Are you saying you want to perform with me?"

"Yeah, why don't you give it a try, Serena?" said Vernon. "I think it's been waiting to perform with you for a long time now."

"But I've never practiced with Quokkawatt before," said Serena. "I don't have a performance ready with it."

"You can just have it work in the background," said Ash. "Just have it enhance a performance you did plan out."

Serena looked at Quokkawatt, who looked at her with pleading eyes. "Well, maybe I can come up with something for you."

Backstage, Violet was sitting down, holding Mimikyu in her lap, stroking its head (its true head in its costume's torso). "Alright, Mimikyu. You ready for your first performance?"

Mimikyu was silent, though, as if it was nervous.

"Listen, I know you still think you're not beautiful enough, but that's just not true. You ARE beautiful. You are a graceful and lovely Pokémon with great talent and potential. Don't worry about what your old trainer said. She was a fool to throw you away. Starting today, people are going to see you and love you as you are."

Hearing this, Mimikyu perked up.

"Alright, it's time to begin our performance round!" said Fenwick. "Please welcome our first contestant to the stage, Miss Violet!"

The spotlight shone on Violet, who stood with Mimikyu and her Krabby. She took a deep breath, and she looked out at the audience before her, watching in anticipation.

The Redfox Town Pageant is heating up! And the performance round is about to start! Find out who will win next time as the journey continues!