1. Ash's Story (Part 7: Kalos)

Chapter 40

We have arrived at Dendemille Town, there is a Contest held there and I decide to enter for my final ribbon. Eevee wants to participate in the Contest this time so I use her in the Appeal Rounds. Then in the battle rounds, it is mostly Gourgeist, and in the end, I win my final ribbon and learn that the Grand Festival is held in Anistar City.

Now it is Serena's turn for her Showcases, and when we get there, we are surprised to find Miette. "Long time no see, everyone." She greets, and she also has a male Meowstic.

"So you're entering the Pokemon Showcase too?" I ask.

"Of course. How could I not enter?" Miette asks.

"I'm not surprised." Serena says. Just then, Miette moves forward and says, "You cut your hair. So why did you do that? Something big happens in your life?"

Serena blushes and yells, "What are you talking about? Forget that! I'm all ready to compete in this performance. And I'm not going to lose like I did with the Poke Puffs!"

"Well, the same goes for me." Miette says. "Now hear this! We're going to settle things once and for all! And remember I told you I might have a chat with Ash."

A chat with me? I see that Serena is really fired up, and this time Scarlet is not here, so I don't need to feel sorry if I take Serena's key like before.

The theme round for this time is the Poke Puff bake-off, with only one out of three in each group of participants being allowed to proceed. Gena, Pokémon Connoisseur Santo, and Showcase Expert Delilah will be judging.

Miette is up first along with two other participants, and she wastes no time in using Slurpuff's superior senses to choose ingredients and Meowstic's Psychic to help in mixing. At the end of the round, the Poké Puffs are brought to the judges for Santo's Mime Jr., Gena's Jigglypuff, and Delilah's Furfrou to sample; Miette is declared the winner.

"She's good." Elline says.

But all this time I'm trying to stop Chesnaught from rushing up to the stage for those Poke Puffs, I know that Miette and Serena can win this.

Finally, it's Serena's turn to compete. Trying to keep a cool head, Serena assigns Lucario to mix and Pikachu to bake. By the end of the round, the judges comment that all three participants have performed excellently, making for a difficult decision. Worried, Serena shuts her eyes tightly as the spotlights move across the stage, finally landing on her much to her surprise and joy.

Moving onto the next segment, Miette is the second to perform, and she has Meowstic lift Slurpuff into the air with Psychic as the latter uses Cotton Spore, casting a circle of sparkly dust over her.

Next is Serena's turn, we don't know what is going on, but her dress seems to be changed... This time she's using Pangoro and Delphox, and Serena begins with a dance with Pangoro, Serena has Pangoro use Dark Pulse to scatter purple sparkles around them as Delphox summons pillars of fire while she dances, surrounding the three of them with flames and sparkles. Pangoro follows up with Stone Edge, which breaks apart into more sparkles as Delphox leaps onto them, and the two Pokémon finish with another collision of Dark Pulse and Flamethrower.

At the conclusion of the Showcase, Pierre requests that the audience vote for their favorite contestant. And of course, Serena is the winner and we know it all. After getting outside, Serena says, "I'm sorry I tore the outfit Valerie gave me... I guess I should tell her how sorry I am."

She explains how one of the performers accidentally trips her, and the performer was also guilty about it. I say, "You know, it really looked great on you!"

Serena says, "Oh, thank you, Ash."

Miette then comes and says, "I may have lost today, but I'll win the next time! I'll see you then." Then they shake hands and then she leaves and Serena mutters, "Geez..."