Dust and Jewels | A Pokémon XYZ Fanfic

4 》Snowbelle Chateau

"Ahh!" Serena jolted awake, a hand clutching the window ledge.
"You okay?" said Ash, looking up from the chess game he was playing with Pikachu.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," She answered unsteadily. 'If you called having repeated nightmares fine,' She thought, 'Especially if dancing Mareep are involved.'
She took a few deep breaths, then looked back at Pikachu, who reached out to move a pawn forward.
"Uh, Pikachu can play chess?" She said incredulously.
"Pika pi!" He replied angrily.
"Sorry, it's just that I'm not really used to-"
"Don't worry, it's okay," Ash said, jumping his knight over one of his pawns, "I taught him to play it an hour ago and he got the idea pretty quickly,"
"Smart Pikachu," Serena smiled, scratching him on the head.
"Pika!" He said cheerfully.

After a few minutes of observing their chess game, Serena got up to get some water to drink. As she walked to the kitchen, she heard a noise coming from one of the nearby doors.
Serena curiously peered through the window and saw a brightly colored room filled with all sorts of obstacles and toys, even including a mini slide at the back of the room. Braixen, Chespin and Sylveon were chasing each other around the room, and Pancham was sulking in a corner. Braixen threw a small plush toy at Chespin who dodged, and threw a rocking horse at Sylveon.

"It's a very nice Pokemon playroom, if I do say so myself," Clemont said, making Serena jump.
"Oh, hello Clemont." She said.
"And just so you know, we'll arrive at Snowbelle City in a few minutes."
Serena nodded and got her water, then sat down again at the window, watching the mountains and the trees blur by in hues of green.

~<>•••••<>•••••<>~

"WE'RE HERE!" Shouted Bonnie, careening into the room.
"Geez, Bonnie," Clemont said, "You don't have to ye-"
"YES I DO," yelled Bonnie, trampling over Ash's chess set and to the window.
"Look, it's Snowbelle Chateau!" She exclaimed, pointing at a large castle-like mansion sitting outside in the sun. It was colored white with gold-tiled, snow-covered turrets and balconies, along with bronze-framed windows and decorations - all surrounded by a cream-coloured wall with a large silver gate at the front.

Serena had to admit, she was very excited - the chateau looked like an extremely nice place to stay in and she couldn't wait to meet her fellow program participants.
"Come on, guys!" She said, excitedly sliding open the TravelCar door. The group stepped outside into the snow and made their way to the chateau.
As they got closer to the front gates, Serena noticed a group of people gathering at the front, snapping pictures with their cameras and asking questions.

When Serena and her friends got to the gates, all the cameramen and reporters crowded around her like a group of angry bees.
"So, Serena Yvonne, could you tell us how you feel about being one of the privileged few to enter this program?" A reporter said, sticking a microphone in Serena's face.
"Uh, w-wait, you're asking me?" She stuttered.
"Yes we're asking you, Miss Yvonne," said the reporter, "Now could you be so kind as to answer the question?"
"Um, sorry, what was the question again?"
The reporter muttered something under her breath, then sighed. "The question, Miss Yvonne, was how you felt about being in this-"
"Circle of annoying reporters who make it their habit to violate everyone's personal space?" Said a smooth voice, "I don't think she'd be terribly happy about that, right Yvonne?"
Serena felt a hand on her left shoulder, with perfectly manicured nails.
"Uh, n-no," she stammered.
Then, the voice lowered to her ear, "I distract them and you make a run for it, okay?"
Serena gave a small nod and looked around for a gap in the circle of crazed paparazzi. There! Next to the man with the red scarf!

As Serena's savior began to talk, she slipped through the small hole and ran to Ash and her friends.
"Come on, we've got to go," she said hurriedly.

~<>•••••<>•••••<>~

Serena ran to the silver gates and hesitantly knocked three times.
"Who's there?" Said a guard, squinting through the security window.
"Um, Serena Yvonne - I'm here for the Performer's Program."
The guard fiddled with the lock of a small case, then took out a pair of glasses and set them carefully on his face.
"Do you have a ticket?" He said, peering over the rims of his lenses.
"Yes, yes, I do," said Serena, taking out her gemstone, "Here."

After some more questions and a closer examination of the gem, the guard let them through the silver gates and into the chateau walls. As the gates closed, Serena turned to look back at her savior, who was still chatting away to the cameras with a honeyed voice.
Now from a distance, Serena could see her more clearly.
She had dark raven hair tied up in a wavy ponytail, and an angular face that was held high. She was wearing a white crop top with a sapphire necklace, and a short white business-skirt with small purple stitch marks lining the bottom. A black studded belt was fastened around her hips with a single purple jewel sitting in the middle.

She turned her head, spotting Serena, and flashed a smile with a thumbs up.
Serena replied with the same gesture.
Her friends stood behind Serena, still recovering from the chaos.
"Wow, what just happened?" Ash said, scratching the back of his head confusedly.
"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that I think I made a friend," Serena smiled.
"Will all the participants be as awesome as her?" Bonnie asked hopefully, skipping around Serena.
She laughed and patted Bonnie on the head. After making sure no one was listening, she gave a quiet sigh.
'I sure hope so.' She thought.

~<>•••<>~

||Word Count: 983||
||Chapter~4||
~•~

A/N: Hi guys! Hope this chapter wasn't too much of a writing failure 😁!
I'm on my way to Australia right now, and just as a warning: I might not be able to post new chapters as there might not be much wifi. *cries* But anyways, by the time you read this, I'll probably be hanging out with the koalas 🐨

One last thing:
[Disclaimer: This is a fanfic so obviously I don't own a lot of the characters --- Serena, Ash and other main characters all go to the Pokemon company, except for my OCs]