Pokemon X & Y Reimagined

Chapter 17: Serena's Chance

"Ta da!" Serena threw hew hands up with Amaura and Fennekin beside her. All three panted, soaked head to toe in sweat. Despite aching muscles from hours of practice, their performance went off just as Serena envisioned it. Bonnie applauded with Dedenne, stars in her eyes.

"So beautiful! Serena you guys are ready for your first showcase!"

"Merci, Bonnie."

Serena hugged her two pokemon. All the wonderous routines she imagined were starting to take shape. Soon, she imagined them in their first showcase before a vast crowd with untold joy across their faces. But was Bonnie right? Practice was one thing, but to perform in front of a live crowd was another. Fennekin and Amaura seemed to agree with Bonnie by the way they beamed. This joy spread back to Serena who caressed their heads.

"Are Ash and Clemont still training?"

"Ash is, Clemont passed out a half-hour ago. Ash kicked it up another notch again." Bonnie gestured over to a her brother who lay half dead, along the grass while Chespin and Bunnelby slept against him. Serena and Bonnie giggled together before noticing Ash's intense training regiment. He coated his fists in aura armor while sparring with Lucario. Soon trainer and Pokemon almost became indistinguishable in their movements as hand met paw. Serena sweatdropped a little when she saw Lucario's jealous pout had not changed after evolving when Ash move on to Tyrunt.

Despite his victory over Grant, as Bonnie pointed out, Ash only pushed himself even harder. Blushing a little, Serena thought perhaps everyone deserved a little reward for hard work that morning. Returning to the nearby pokemon center, she worked fast but diligently and returned just in time to see them finish. Ash and Frogadier clashed with a cut attack and an aura infused fist, competitive grins on their faces as the match ended in a draw.

"Grou." Lucario growled, arms crossed.

Ash's other Pokemon, however, cheered alongside Bonnie and Serena.

"Finished, Ash?"

"Hai, just about."

"Perfect. Since we all worked so hard this morning. I thought I'd make us something. Ta da!" Serena opened a basket filled with colorful macaroons. The moment she did so, Chespin sprung to life and raced over to claim his.

"Ahh, merci, Serena!" Bonnie likewise took one for her and Dedenne while Bunnelby and Clemont stumbled over, still exhausted for theirs.

Ash's eyes also lit up and he distributed them to his pokemon first. Even Lucario could not resist and Tyrunt almost did a backflip. Ash was about to eat his when the sweet started to glow blue and flew from his hand.

"Eh?!"

Ash and Serena yelped together and the others gazed in disbelief as it floated away to a pink pokemon nearby who wolfed it down. Ash's mouth dropped and a thick bead of sweat ran down his face while Serena narrowed her eyes. She opened her pokedex revealing the creature as a Slurpuff. As much as she hoped it was a wild pokemon, a soft voice cried out.

"Slurpuff, don't just run off like that."

A young woman Ash and Serena's age came up beside the Slurpuff and patted her head. She had fair skin and short dark blue hair with reddish eyes, which soon met Serena's.

"You didn't feed her did you?"

"No, she took Ash's macaroon." Serena just kept herself from shouting, but the girl's lack of concern for what her pokemon just did graded her.

"That's odd Slurpuff usually only goes after the quality sweets I make" She said rubbing her pokemon's head. Serena almost gasped and Bonnie pouted. It was only then that the young woman took a proper look at Ash. Her eyes glistened while a hint of red shined in both cheeks.